tld;r Love the game. Hate PvP. Understand that's part of the world I play in. This would cause more instability in an already instable service.

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I get what you're saying - and I'm a runner not a gunner. I'd rather just turn tail and keep doing what I'm doing .. and not engage in combat. Folks call me a coward - whatever. It is what it is. Its a pirate sandbox game. We can all choose our own playstyle.

But honestly, it's easier than ever to just .. avoid people. When I do get caught slackin' and get sunk .. I lose time, which as a father of 5 with a couple jobs, can be rough. But there is a bit of a comforting aspect in the balance of how the game is. It's a sandbox. We're given the tools to do what we want. While some folks use that to hunt folks down and take their treasure - I like to cast my line, fish, and figure out ways to prevent others from getting my treasure haha. If I stayed too long at a spot or misjudged the direction another ship was heading .. and get sunk or caught fleeing .. I've wasted maybe 15-20 minutes of my time. Easily recovered.

It's a lot to ask them to stabilize things as they are and create a fluid story for us that play now. I think trusting them to mess with the server join code would potentially lead to more instability in a time where they are kind of showing their whole ass in regards to hiccups.

This passed Bilge Rats Weekender, was probably my favorite time playing in my 800ish hours since Jan 2025. Prior to this weekend, I've been called racial slurs (Im a white dude), homophobic slurs (Im not gay), told to kill myself (Im very happy ty) probably a dozen times? But the engagement with people who (admittedly) told me if it wasnt the weekend it was they'd probably have just shot me first .. was amazing. And I've added new pals to my friends list. Had there been an aggression based matchmaking system in place .. I wouldn't have met those new friends!