Any tips for starting crews?
 

I am pretty new at this and I have been starting crews lately sailing out of Padres. With the crew utility it seems to fill up with some random people pretty quickly but I have noticed that no one seems to speak. If they do they scream in local chat, other times they come aboard my ship and then leave the crew but stay on board.

Are there any tips to managing crews a bit better? Also why do most people never ever talk? Its like they have no chat interface at all when I try to talk to some people.

Thank you :)

I try to only crew with people who are in my guild or on the friends list, so they are always chatting. It just irritates me too much to be on a crew like the one you mentioned. It does, however, limit the crews I can be on, since we are a guild of 36 and I only have 18 people on my friends list (8 from the guild). I guess I'm just too selective with who I keep on there. I wish I knew a better way to get a good crew for you.

Loot Hard!

yea i dont like crewing random people although it is nice to be abale to choose levels u want its very odd when someone u dont know is on your ship

LOL I tried random crewing to see what would happen when it came out... over the course of about half an hour I got NO ONE. Still can't get anyone on my crew to this day. XD

once i made a few friends I just started sailing, the ones interested in manning a cannon show up, it just takes some time building trust with others, so that they know your good on a crew, cannon and or steering.

Lucy you aren't the Lucy from DeosShadow are you?

And thank you all, hopefuly I will be able to establish a friends list from crewing more often . Not any on it yet and my guild is just starting so I'm alone there. Luckily with a few drinks dealing with the random strangers screaming to take the helm of my ship is getting a bit easier :P

Since I don't know what Deoshadow is I'm guessing no, lol.

I used to jump at any chance to join a crew or let anyone from the docks join my sailing ventures. I'm pretty picky these days, if its my boat, I'm steering and I expect my gunners to follow directions and not shoot at everything, those people don't get crew'd the next time around. I'm also picky about who I gun for as well, I expect them to keep me informed about what there plan/target is and get us back to port with a full hull, kamakazi Captains don't do it for me, lol.

I'd rather have one good gunner than than ten trying to do what they want.

I would much rather crew with guildmates or friends. You never know what your gonna get for random crewing. I dont mind sailing but randomly shooting at everything and getting u sunk......noo

Snorri, we all have to start somewhere. Remember that. Some ventures turn out great, you make new friends, and all have the same goal in mind. Others, not so much. But really, what are you losing?? A few bits of gold to repair your ship. At least you get to keep quest items even if you sink.

My bit of advise, if the pirates are around the same level as you, and are willing to crew, go for it. If the pirates are way above your level and willing to crew, go for it. If it's a level one pirate, and is willing to crew, go for it, and show them the ropes.

Lay out the rules before you shove off. You're the Captain, it's your ship. You are allowed to lay down some rules. "Only shoot at so-and-so" "Shoot what I call out" et al.
If you're the crew member, listen to the Captain. If the Captain ain't talking, ASK what they are looking for. If they don't answer, find a new one.

Lastly, try a Guild. Paruse the threads here and see if one catches your fancy. Many a time I've shouted out to guild members when I needed help sinkining something for a quest, and they ALL wanted to jump on board. Not enough cannons for all of ye! LOL!

Fair Winds Mate!

I don't know if you meant specifically the new crew options, if so then just chalk this up to another idea for the bin, but I've had really good success with people met through this forum. The upshot is that even if you don't hear from people ho post regularly, you still often hear from people who read the forums, and the upshot there is you usually get players who already have some awareness of good crew etiquette because they read it here. I have to admit a lot of the crews I've sailed with started outside the POTCO Crews and Mateys forum here; however, with a little planning ahead, you find you have better luck picking up better random crew members.

For me, I sort of just accepted that I had no reason to own a war galleon unless I was going to take a crew aboard, and so I just started responding to random threads where people were looking to sail or needed sailing help.

I take any random gunner that comes along, and steer the ship like I am the only one aboard. That way, I stay out of range of enemy fire, while picking them off. The extra gunners are icing on the cake. My method fills the hull a little slower than others, but I get to shore with a full war galleon nearly every time.

Set limits to people who are within a decent level range close to you. 18 & up people are fine for me. Get ready to kick people out who don't do much to your liking.

Then again, some people like me just join a crew to make the most of XP.

If you want crew but don't really care who you get then run into tortuga on the first server and shout "who wants to crew on my war ........." people normally come flocking, not really high level though.

If you want high level crew that have decent cannons then your best chance if probably your guild or befirend some high levels first and ask them if they want to go plundering.

the only real issue with varied levels in your crew is cannon usage, if you have one or two players with lightning, chances are the onces with out will never get a shot in as they do not have the range the lightning has.

Thank you all for the tips :)

Man, I've been trying to use the crew options to create my own crews since the feature showed up. It's really a 'dice-game'-shoot. Random crew-up story to follow:

I'm level 16 and last night I got hooked up with a crew 6 in a matter of minutes...but all were level 4-8 because I like to give it a good +/-. First, one of them wanted to take his new ship...which ended up only having 4 cannons....?...I couldn't even get on one of them for most of the time. We finally got on my galleon and I wanted to take out the grey-names for some Phantom hunting. Found some easy enough, pulled the sails and opened up the cannons for easy picking....well, they couldn't hit it and were wondering why we weren't sailing. I told them that I'd rather not sink, but moved the ship a good deal closer so they could hit it. Then a Colossus showed up and they got excited and half of them started shooting that...well, they hit them both at the same time. They were both on a charge at our ship. Man, that was some intense sailing!! I actually was able to sink them both with broadsides without being hit! (and nobody said anything like, 'good sailing')...even went between them sandwich style. So anyway, with a hull not harmed and a half plunder, one of them starts yelling in caps to go port. I stayed out and took some hits from multiple ships and this guy wouldn't quit yelling at me to port and repair. Man, sometime some people just don't get it. But then again, they sure make the game interesting and intense sometimes!!

I'm all about the random crews....great fun!! Join Crimson Rabbit's crew if the opportunity ever shows up.

I had a similar incodent last night, I don't know how or where they all came from but in a matter of like one minute after launching my frigate I had 7-8 people on my boat, so I crewed them all and went with it, I try'd to tell the ones I didnt know to stop shooting at everything and let me get away from the island(I normally launch from padres so theres a plethra of big ships right there evertime lol) I managed to stay a float and make a couple of hauls and then they were hooked, when the lower levels see that kind of loot they tend to start listening all the sudden lol. anyway with the numbers we had I started targeting flag ships, found a nice little flag spawn, think it was a man owar. Anyway, one of them kept using fire and of coarse it kept sinking, we all kept telling him to stop, after 5-6 sunken flag ships with no boarding and no loot i made port, removed him from the crew and friends list and took everyone else back out for some good fun boarding those flags.

Sometimes you get a good, talkative and cooperative crew. The other day I got a crew of six people to help me drive my light frigate. They responded orderly, talked and only fired on what I ordered. We didn't get damaged once and fought several level 30-40 ships before returning to port. That's a nice example of a good crew.

Other times you get the naughty, crazy and un-cooperative crew like the ones you (the thread starter) is mentioning. They won't listen to you and will fire off cannons at ships you don't want them to attack. It's like having a crew of mimes on your ship except it's twice as annoying because they practically mock your existance as a sailor with their presence.

Overall I'd just say keep using the newer crewing features and go for it. Sometimes you'll be lucky, other times you won't be so lucky. It's all random. Good luck and have a nice day. Or... have the nicest day you possibly can :-)...

-Leon Sharkshot-

I like the new crew features, but still find them lacking.

What I would _really_ like to see is, when creating a crew, a way to type in a description of the crew's goal as a way to help potential crewmates decide whether to join (which helps the creator as well). For instance, you could set it to "high level plunder", "L7+ EITC ships", "going to Kingshead for grenade quest", or "whatever we find". I hate when I join a crew and spend the time just sailing to an island to go hunting, w/o attacking any ships along the way. On the flipside, if you wanted to do something on an island, a description tag could really help you find assistance.

My crew nightmare: Sometimes as captain I like to raise the sails and take one of the rear cannons on my frigate. I HATE it when someone else takes the wheel and starts sailing, and then refuses to let it go after I ask/demand repeatedly. This has happened more than once. I'll always offer to let them have it next launch, and they just ignore me. This has sometimes resulted in me targeting all of the highest level ships in an effort to get us sunk. :psmiley27:

nice idea squidshot, I to think it would be beneficial to know what the crews goals are. When crewing with friends or guildies is usually not a problem because we all talk about what we're up to and what we are going to do.

Also, if its your boat you should be able to kick them off the wheel whether they want to listen to you or not.

you can take over your own ships wheel at any time,

just go up to it and hit shift, will kick who ever is steering off the wheel.

what i wish for though is an option to turn crews off..least temporarily, as well as friend requests, as i really dont like unwanted invites from either.

I never tried that... Thanks! Your next pint of grog is on me. :beer:

Is there a way to kick people off your ship if they aren't in your crew? Its really annoying how some people board with the crew then leave the crew and stay on but keep shooting at everything :P

And thanks again for all the great tips :)

I've only been playing for a few days. Mostly when I get off work and a few times during work haha I'm a graphic artist so I'm at a computer all day. I also work fast so I end up having a lot of spare time. I'd say most of my play time has been during work.

Anyway, I still only have a basic (free) account. I'll randomly get bored with something and then never touch it again. So I want to wait and see if I max out everything I can and I'm still interested in the game, then I'll upgrade. But I'll join random crews just to go out and plunder for a while. There are some crews where it just seems like a free-for-all. Everyone's just doing what they want, shooting at anyone they see and the captain isn't paying attention to their damage. I still have low levels but I'm pretty good on the cannon. I can also maneuver my ship so that I can take out a Ghost Ship and other much bigger/stronger ships without getting hit once. I'll stay behind them and alternate sides while the other sides' cannons are reloading. Then I head towards one side and turn so that all my cannons are aimed right behind them.

Yesterday I joined a crew where the captain seemed to forget it was their ship we were on. We all got on the ship and the captain went over to one of the cannons and was just waiting. So I went to the crew chat and asked, "Are we waiting for more or should I take the helm?" ....there was no answer and they stayed on the cannon shooting at things too far to even hit. So one of the other crew members just went and took it over and we went off. After we got back to port me and the one who took over the helm went off on our their ship.

I also hate it when there aren't enough cannons. I like to get right in there but sometimes all the cannons are full on one side and there's nothing going on on the other side. I also use my compass a lot while on the cannons. If I just took down a ship and there's another in the distance heading towards us but my compass shows a closer ship on the other side, I'll go for that one first. I've had people on my own ship who just stay on one side when the battle is on the other side of the ship.

Lol, I hate when that happens. I'm trying to broadside the ship on my port side, and everyone just sits around the starboard cannons. One person even asked,"So, when are we gonna take down a ship?". I was like "Wake up!!".:mybadki6:

one time i was in a crew with my friends on potco i was actually the chopher first perdida then devils anvil then tortuga i couldnt take it but then i had to leave so i left

I'd only sail with a crew I started of non-personal relations to gain XP, and if only I was prepared to sail evasively (which I most always am). Otherwise, I'll just take a cannon or help out in a crew I searched for. Helping a little guy is always fun too, mind you.

I'm a newbie player and right now I'm just joining any crew that has the door open for those to join. I think I am at level 7 on the cannon and level 15 overall in the week I have been playing. I tend to shoot at anything that shoots at the boat first unless it is the clear target the captain is going for or what the captain says to go for but that hasn't come up yet. The crews I don't like being with right now are the ones that sail on a ship to go to a certain area to sword fight. I'll do that more later. I do give it my all when boarding a ship to fight though as if I die I just TP back to the captain.

I do like doing the cannons on top of a a bigger ship and I go from side to side as needed. I can't see staying at one cannon if the attack is on the other side. And since I am on the top when up close the only real target to hit then is the sails and mast and with a good captain steering I can take them out pretty quick. I have even targeted the captains at the wheel on the target ship for more gold although it can be hard when they are on fire.

After two days as a basic player I payed out the yearly fee as the game is easy enough for me to play without getting annoyed cause I can't play.

so it's not just me aye?! everybody's all, not talkin and what not. is EVERyone on that little "protection thingy" :P. but anyway, well it depends. Sometimes if i wanna start a "quick crew" i do click the search crew button. (but they usually don't talk to me) but otherwise, when they do, i always ask if they know anyone on the crew (because potc can "dis-connect/" at any moment. ;)


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