Hey my fellow pirates, merchants, and peasants. I sure you have noticed that there is a bit of discontent lately among the Piratecraft population concerning the proper protocol of game play, rules, and staff enforcement.

I am in a place where I have a broader view of all these things being in an admin position as well as being friends with folks on all sides of the current issues. So I hope you will indulge me and take some time to not only read what I have to say but to keep an open mind. Also know, I harbor no ill will against anyone, nor do have a favorite side in any of this so as an outside observer I hopefully can provide some unbiased insight into our present situation.

This is not a new conflict or discussion by any means the names and crews change but at its core the drama/discussion/debate what have you remain the same. I want to address the specific issue as well as some of the causes and what we as a community can do to coexist in an ever changing server population.

Since this latest upheaval is primarily about the group Horsia we will start there. This is simply a recounting and in no way an endorsement for Horsia or any other group.

Horsia the backstory as I know it

The most obvious hot topic as of late has been the formation of Horsia. Now Saltpigeon may want to add some caveats here as it is his concept and I am painting with a broad brush here but as I understand it Horsia initially formed as a direct opposition to TAS.
TAS –The Asylum Have had been around quite a while forming after the COV an infamous pvp crew that terrorized the waters of Piratecraft from years past finally disbanded. Many of the COV members joined TAS and the focus was less on pvp raiding and more on building, trade, and resources although raiding/pvp is still part of the TAS ethos.

The reasoning behind targeting TAS was that TAS had too much power to dictate server policy since it is comprised of a few staff members and many legacy (long term) op players that were around since the beginning of the server. There are other reasons for sure but this was a big one from my understanding.

Horsia is not a crew although there has been a crew formed as of late HOSRE. It began as a league or coalition of players from different crews across the piratecraft world and some pvper’s from other places to fill in the ranks and add strength to the military wing. Each individual that join the coalition had their own reason for doing so and a specific role. Some were fighters, some were resource makers, some want to rule the Piratecraft world, and others just came on for the ride.

There have been many crews and coalitions that have risen to challenge what in their minds was a domineering crew, stir up the builders, or bring down empire at the time. There have also been many strictly pvp pirate crews that formed with only mischief and mayhem as their goal. But anytime a group tries to come to power via force there is always kick back from the rest of the server and rightly so. Whether it is pirates, a powerful empire, or just some crew that was disliked, wars are part of the fun here.

The issues started not because of the ideals of Horsia but when the outside players were recruited as sort of mercenaries to combat the pvp power of TAS. These players were strictly pvp whom had logged 30 + hours on FFA and 1v1 pvp servers.

Now we all go play on different servers to practice our pvp so we don’t lose our stuff and so we can be better prepared to defend or raid here on Piratecraft. So we all know that a lot of the players that live on these other servers can be a bit brash and cocky. This case was no exception hence the kickback.

From the first moves Horsia made, the toxic and brash attitudes left a bad impression on most people on the server. This put Horsia in a bad position from the start. The pvper’s clashed with the Piratecraft culture and immediately caused a backlash.

The community rebelled and staffs inboxes were full of complaints and one day some of the staff had had enough and unleashed all these complaints in the staff hangout. Since no formal reports had been made at the time Godsdead felt a bit caught off guard by all of the negativity which led to “The great cleansing” by Godsdead shaking Horsia to the core.

There was shock on one side while rejoicing from the other side ensued after the cleansing. While there were a few players that absolutely deserved to be banned others were just caught up in the storm. Once emotions subsided things were sorted but Horsia had sealed their fate to be seen as troublemakers and all members were put high on staffs radar.

Horsia could see their mistake and vowed to chill and work on their attitude but were given a no tolerance policy by staff and the server.

Then came “The time of the Hammer”. Warnings and bans were handed out like candy on Halloween during the time following “the great cleansing”. Horsia members still a bit salty from “the great cleansing” were pushing back and getting banned and warnings right and left. Some of which were a bit heavy handed.

We as staff began to hear grumblings from the wider player base that weren’t even part of the Horsia drama that felt a bit uneasy and not safe because of the strictness that was in play. We realized that in the heat of the moment we may have been to strict and decided to have look at some of the discipline given and looked at it from a more objective point of view unbanning or changing it to lighter punishment for a few players where the punishment may have been unbalanced to the offense.

Side note

I want to state that all those that received discipline from staff were guilty and discipline was needed but in a few cases a perm ban was not needed. We actually discuss and get a consensus on things that aren’t obvious and blatant bans such as xray/hacked client together as a team. Our goal as staff is to catch cheaters, help players when there are server related issues, work on the backend server things (maintenance/upgrades/events/etc…) that make this place an awesome and fun place to play, but not gameplay drama. We do get pulled into it from time to time but in truth that’s not our job description. So when staff is pulled into these gameplay issues sometimes the frustrations of everything else cause a quick and harsher punishment.

End side note

OK back to the back-story. After the “Time of the Hammer” the young Horsia members got the message and under Salts guidance dialed it back some more and laid low. But the pvpers started getting restless and looking for a fight. The war with TAS had become stale and mostly forgotten when the crew DD -Dealers Deck was formed by some of the local pvper’s that have been on Piratecraft for a while.

Galaxy219 the leader of the Blackbeard Clan which is part of the Whitherbeard Kinship Had aligned himself with Horsia as a pvper since the beginning which also meant that the kinship was aligned as well. We would, from time to time, supply Horsia with building materials while Gal lent his pvp skills.

So when Gal killed Javainvader, one of the Leaders of DD, a war insued between DD and the Witherbeard clan. There wasn’t much offense from the Whitherbeard side as we were plotting how to fight such a formidable and way above or pvp skill as a crew opponent. But after an unfortunate event where one of our clan members betrayed us and tp’ed DD into our base some of our allies as well as Horsia members that were bored and looking for a fight came along sideus to take the fight to DD and start attacking. Within a very short time the war turned from DD vs Witherbeard to DD vs Horsia as a lot of our members left the crew out of fear and cowardice and Horsia became the main rivals of DD.

This gets us caught up to the current rash of reports and kerbuckle.

Wolf packin

Horsia has always employed the ‘pack hunting/fighting’ strategy. As all crews do in reality when they want to ensure a victory. Isolate the few and overwhelm with many. This has been very successful for Horsia and now it has become their style.

I will say most every crew has used this from time to time some more than others. It is a valid form of warfare. I think it’s safe to say everyone who has engaged in pvp on this server has both been a victim and or a part of a pack.

The deckie drama

This pack mentality has caused them once again to find themselves embroiled in controversy. The first report as of late was that Horsia members went in as a pack of 6+ in god gear to kill gearless new players and the harassment of the said new crew of fresh players consisting of deckies and cadets.

The report is well done and valid. The killing of new players repeatedly is certainly frowned upon and why we have a deckhand protection in place. This brings TAS and Horsia head to head again as it’s a TAS leader that made the report.

The reality is though, for the almost 2 years I’ve been playing here, this is the way things were. If you are a new player and start boasting or making yourself known in chat you would be visited by 1 up to 6+ more established players who would kill you repeatedly and loot all your hard earned stuff. Usually every day or so either the same people or new people who saw an easy target would come knocking until you could defend yourself or at least hold up in a safe room. As a victim you either learn how to defend better from each attack or you join a strong crew or hide but eventually you get a foothold and can stand on your own.

I endured many such visits as a new player. Its like they had radar when I got a decent amount of loot my front door would be blown off XD. If I was working in the yard or building I would look up to see 4 or so guys in god gear chopping me to bits. I believe most all of us can identify with this story.

The standard response to someone complaining about a raid or repeated killing was “it’s a pirate server so get over it”. Normally from the one who did the killing or some of their friends.

While I am strongly against the attacking of new helpless players as I see it to be a cowardly and without honor and it is highly frowned upon as a whole, I understand the temptation to do so. Especially if they are a loud mouth XD.

Targeting new players is not a staff punishable offense though. For staff discipline to take place in this scenario it would have to be a harassment issue. Although if a staff member is on they may take it upon themselves to say when enough is enough and tell the attackers to stop. Then if they do not stop after a staff member has told them to they may be punished by a trip to the jail and lightning to the head for not doing what staff said.

Harassment is: repeated and prolonged verbal abuse, attacking multiple times a day for multiple days as to impede someone’s game play, producing personal information without consent with the intention of intimidation.

Conclusion of the deckie drama

If you see someone suffering from an over aggressive prolonged attack it is your duty to help them out. Not just by calling the offenders out in chat but by putting yourself in harm’s way to defend the weak and defenseless. Do it together as a server with every able body person tping in to stand with the victim. Do that and I promise you will see deckie attacks drop significantly.

The tp trap

The second report as of late is the tp trapping/spawn killing on Donator Island. This is also a valid gripe and report. I was not on to know much about this specific incident. There seems to be a bit of confusion for me as to what each side says was going on. As with everything in life there is always more to the story than whats on the surface.

The truth is when we get caught in a tp trap and killed that’s on us. Listen to your gut. If it’s someone who has a questionable reputation just stay put no matter the temptation. That’s what makes this one so hard to swallow. Deep down we usually knew better and just got greedy wanting whatever it was they were offering but its not always the case. Sometimes it’s a person you thought was a friend or a newby asking for help.

I can say is as a victim of several tp trap style killings I find deplorable, cowardly, and without honor.

Yeti’s thoughts

It does however really suck when you are the one that is singled out and killed. It makes us angry, vengeful, and feels like we were unfairly treated. We have that sick feeling in our tummy and the feeling of grief as we just lost all of the things we worked so hard for. It hurts our pride, wounds our security and brings mistrust.

It’s the same feeling we get when we’re building and some invisible guy pops out of nowhere and kills us before we can even register its happening. It’s the same feeling we get when we are tricked into tp’ing to someone or them to us just to be killed before having a chance to blink. It’s the same feeling when someone camps a public spawn and kills us when we are just going about our business. And it’s a totally normal reaction but it’s how we choose to respond that defines our character.

The response from all parties involved in this latest drama has not been a very good one. Its been to tirelessly work to get the other side banned by whispering in a staff members ear, using whatever influence they can to turn people against the other, Making a stink about the littlest things with incomplete or no evidence, harass, call names, The list goes on.

This my friends won’t end the way you hoped. It will keep driving you to do more and more desperate things until a line gets crossed and you’ve laid you own head on the chopping block and possibly harming the server you were trying to protect. Winning at all cost is not winning at all, it’s a lose-lose endeavor. I know I have used this philosophy in my real life from my teens to mid twenties. It destroys you from the inside as you’re consumed with victory and start crossing lines that make you no better than your enemy.

I know that’s sounds a bit over the top but its truth. Fight for what’s right but forgive in the process. Like I’ve said before, when someone is acting out there is something deeper that motivates it whether they or you understand it or not. So its important to try and not let a wrong done to you control your thought life. You don’t have to be friends with them and you can still hold them accountable but try to let the anger go.

I believe that as a community we can stand together to stop these things we don’t like. Whether it’s a crew or individual doing things that are not cool we can pull together and take them down. If you feel strongly about something find others that feel the same and do something about it. Like every time you see someone get tp or spawn killed go to their aid and kill the offender/s. If they’re stronger than you grab some other players and go as a group. Rise up \m/

Everything that’s been talked about are valid forms of pirate style killing and warfare. Pirates routinely used deceit as a way to lure unsuspecting victims to their death and/or relieve them of their valuables. The same goes for pack hunting and killing those weaker than yourself for loot or enjoyment. These were some of the tools of a pirate crew’s trade. That’s why they are allowed. But because it causes drama and sucks when it happens its not encouraged.

At the end of the day Piratecraft is a RPG pirate server. But if you feel as though someone is being taken advantage of by some nasty pirate, you be the hero, the pirate hunter that saves the day 😀

Thanks for reading and remember report but also act as a community.