So you want to strike up a conversation with some other crew but all the answers you've been receiving have been in the form of cannonballs?
Fear not, as I truly believe that most of the pirates out at sea have a good heart, but they've been betrayed a few to many times to trust other ships heading towards them. If you want to strike up a conversation with someone, you need to build trust and that's not always easy. Lucky for you Captain FishSt1ck has got your back, follow my advice and I can assure you that you'll be sailing around with some other crew in no time!
TL;DR Finding friendly pirates isn't easy, if you want to find friendly pirates you better read the entire text!
Preparation
Before we find some others there's already some simple things you should keep an eye on.
- Select a friendly hull/sail color
Avoid the darker colored sails/hull as they're harder to see in the dark. This would be a benefit when you want to avoid people or sneak up on people, but you want people to see you from miles away. I usually sail the white or the green sail when looking for friendly people.
- Select a friendly flag
Avoid the jolly roger / red flag as both are usually seen as a sign for aggression. All the other flags should be fine, when I try finding other people I usually fly the rainbow flag of peace :)
- Keep the lights on
As with the hull/sail, people that want to keep out of sight turn of their lights. So for visibility reasons, keep your lights on.
- Raise your cannons to the sky
If you sail around with your cannons raised to the sky, the others can see from a distance that you won't shoot. Keep in mind that this also means you can't easily defend yourself.
- Consider bringing a gift
Depending on what you want from the other pirates and how badly you want it, you might want to consider bringing a gift as a incentive to help you. Keep in mind though that having treasure on board could also be a incentive to just take it from you and it'll require some extra time. So far I've never needed a gift, but I've been offered one as payment after helping others.
Just a friendly reminder, gunpowder barrels are BAD gifts!
Looking for others
Time to set sail and find us some ships!
- Be active, don't expect others to find you
During the first couple of days of an event you might be lucky to just find everyone around the location(s) for the event but as time passes chance of finding people will get slimmer. Instead of spending hours at one location, try sailing to different locations of the event or sail between outposts around the middle of the map.
- Your spyglass is your friend
Keep an eye on the horizon, preferably from your crowsnest. Scout the sea and the island shores to check for masts.
- Avoid the skull fort
Although the chances of finding others might be higher at the skull fort, it's also an event which usually has crews fighting over treasure. While it might not be impossible to talk to people there, it'll be extremely hard to convince them that you're not there to steal the treasure.
- Be careful with ships that are stopped at an outpost
Usually ships at the outposts are there for two reasons, they have just started or they're unloading treasure. You can spot if they've just started if the flag isn't there, the sails are up, the ship is perfectly parked and has no colors. Otherwise approach with extra care because nobody likes other ships around when they're unloading treasure.
- Can't find any others? Check out the only "Safe zone" in the game!
The ferry of the damned is a place where everyone from the server can end up at and nobody feels threatened by other pirates, as they're all dead already. You're still able to communicate though, which gives you the perfect opportunity to talk to people and see if they're up for meeting you at some island to sail together.
Getting the other crews attention
So you've spotted a ship, great! So we rush our galleon towards that little sloop right? No, wrong!
- Approach with caution
Don't head towards them in a straight line at full speed. Try to stop your ship a good distance away from them, stay out of cannon range and don't point your cannons towards them. If you're close don't drop anchor as you might have to flee if things go bad.
- Blink your lights (when it's dark)
If it's dark you can get some extra attention by blinking your lights. If they blink back there is a chance they're friendly, but they definitely saw you.
- Smile and wave
If you notice the other crews lens flares of the spyglass it might help to have your crew visibly dance or wave towards them.
- Don't return fire
Some people will instinctively shoot their cannons at approaching ships, just because at the start of the game everyone was hostile. However if you return fire, you lose any chance of diplomacy. Try to scout with your spyglass, check out what they're doing and try to figure out their intentions. If they suddenly turn around and head towards you, this might be a good time to flee.
- Shoot a diplomat
If you're not sure about the situation and you're still outside of cannon range, you might want to consider approaching people without your ship. Especially when you're on a galleon, you might scare off sloops when you approach them. By shooting someone in their general direction but not on their ship you can assess the situation by talking to them from the water and get out with your ship intact if needed.
Striking up a conversation
First rule of talking to others, know that not everyone can hear ingame chat. People on Xbox that are in party chat won't hear ingame chat, which is really annoying.
- Keep your gun in your pocket
You're there to talk to people so don't go around carrying your gun or sword as that naturally comes off as hostile. Instead equip the speaking trumpet or play a tune on your instrument.
- Use the speaking trumpet!!!!
This addition to the game is the most useful one to approach others. Not only does it increase the proximity chat distance it also offers you helpful chatwheel options. Always spam the "WE'RE FRIENDLY" option a few time as that's something everyone can see. After that use the trumpet and talk ingame to see if they can respond with microphones as well.
- Never board another crews ship without invitation or announcement
No matter how friendly you think you are, if you invade another persons privacy and surprise them on their ship you might get shot. So try to announce yourself before getting on the ship or better yet, ask if it's ok to board their ship.
- Be polite, be diplomatic
So if you actually manage to get people talking, remember to be polite. Not everyone that talks to you is also willing to help. Use all your charm and be honest about what you want, if you had treasure with you be sure to offer that in return for their help. If they seem hesitant, ask if there's anything you could help them with, maybe propose running a fort together and letting them keep the loot, help them with some voyages or event related things or even try to get them some achievements.
However if all your charm and convincing still results in a no, be polite and leave them to their business. Don't be rude, just thank them for their time, head back to your ship and look for another ship.
Success
You've done it! I knew you had it in you. I'm truly proud of you! So what's next?
- Try to bring your own ship
Depending on what you're going to do, if it might result in your death at a certain point, you might want to bring your own ship. If you want to do a certain encounter together for which it's easier if you're on the same ship then still bring your ship too and park it close by. Nothing ruins some friendly pirating fun as having to sail back from the other side of the world because you didn't bring your ship.
- Consider going in party chat
The speaking trumpet works fine, but at certain times it's just not very useful. When you're interacting with the ship, out of range or dead you can't talk to the other of your new friendly fleet. So before you set sail you might want to consider if you can get party chat going as it could make for some much smoother sailing. When you're on Xbox though you should realise that doing party chat will remove the ability to talk to or hear other pirates ingame.
- Don't betray the ones that helped you
After you're done with whatever you wanted help with and celebrating with your newfound friends, nothing ruins a good day of sailing more than having a crew suddenly turn against you. Be respectful till the end and if you want to engage into combat ask if they're ok with it first. They just went out of there way to help you and gave you their trust, don't make them reconsider doing that for the next pirate they meet. Nothing ruins a friendly get together more than someone that suddenly starts drinking to get his "Tactical C*****r" achievement. Once the trust is broken, you won't easily get it back.
There you have it, my personal guide to finding friendly crews. I hope that my guide will help some of you pirates experience the joys of working together with another crew. The sea isn't as salty as you might think :)
Signed,
Captain FishSt1ck
Disclaimer
While this guide may improve your chances to approach others, there's always some rotten apples that are only in it for the sinking or murder. Just be careful, use common sense and approach everyone with caution.
If you have any questions, remarks or additions to the guide please feel free to leave them in a post below.
