A few weeks back I asked on Reddit for tips and tricks to get myself out of my 900-hour PvE “run away from PvP” funk.

I am terrible at fighting other players. And, unfortunately, it shows.

The common theme in the responses was pretty simple: just do it.

Some people suggested grinding Hourglass. Others suggested avoiding Hourglass and just fighting on the open seas.

So, I’ve decided to force the issue.

The Month of Reapers

For the next month, whenever I’m playing, I’m flying the Reaper’s Bones emissary flag.

The idea is simple: no matter what I’m doing, the fight comes to me.

I’ve set a few rules for myself:

• Raise the flag immediately. When I log in, I’ll set up the boat, cook some meat, and the moment I raise anchor, the Reaper’s flag goes up.
• Engage anything I see. If I’m stopping at an island and spot a ship on the horizon, plans have changed. Time to plot an intercept.
• Don’t be a jerk to new players. If I run into an obvious new crew, I’m going to hop over, rep them, and peel off. If they decide to engage me, though… well, I guess we’ll see whether I can avoid being sunk by a swabbie.
• Go after world events. I’m going to avoid the quest board except when I specifically need it for Reaper commendations. World events make great natural PvP hotspots, so I’ll be looking for fights there.

Other than that, I’m going into this knowing I’m probably going to be pissed, beat down, humbled, and questioning my life choices more than once.

But hopefully, after a month of deliberately putting myself in situations where I have to fight, I’ll come out the other side at least a little better than when I started.

Looking for a PvP crew/guild

As part of this, I’d also really like to find a PvP-focused guild that is willing to take on a scrub like me.

I’m not looking for someone to carry me. I want to learn — fight alongside people who know what they’re doing, see how experienced crews communicate and work together, and hopefully get better through the shared experience.

If you have a group like that and don't mind adopting a PvP disaster, hit me up.

Introducing: Free Supplies

To celebrate the Month of Reapers, I also created a new ship.

The Free Supplies is ready to set sail.

My gamertag is Dawgeth. I primarily play on Xbox, although I occasionally play on PC as well.

If you want to jump on a ship sometime, add me!

Maybe we’ll sink together. Maybe we’ll sink other people.

Either way, it’ll probably be entertaining.