I’ve been enjoying Sea of Thieves lately and it struck me that it is a perfect analogy for the freelancer market.
You’re hired by various firms or collect random jobs in order to get paid. If this is not most freelance websites I don’t know what it is.
At the core of the game you are a pirate. Sailing the seas, gathering loot, exploring islands and forgotten areas all while dealing with the dangers of the ocean and other pirates.
This is where the game gets boiled down to its most basic parts. You find loot in various forms and transfer it to trading posts where you sell it for money. Some times it’s basic currency other times it the premium currency for the game. Either way, it’s nice to have.
But there is another factor to consider. Sometimes you’re not a lone pirate in a sloop, going around scavenging the seas and fishing. Sometimes you’re a small crew of two or at max a crew of four people on a single ship. Other times you form alliances with other ships and become a small fleet terrorizing the seas.
The more people you have the more potential problems, but the ability to make money and succeed in tasks is greater. You can have multiple people fulfilling roles on the ship, which is extremely important in ship to ship combat.
However this all requires a certain amount of cooperation and agreement. And sometimes people decide to get off on the wrong foot when it comes to making those partnerships.
I have two examples of partnerships in this game, one that was pretty decent and one that was… terrible.
Let’s start off with the good example.
My friends and I were running a Brigantine, a ship with two masts and a max crew of three. We were one of the biggest ships that we encountered. My crew and I work well together and we encountered two smaller sloops.
We formed an alliance with them because we were there to have a good time and most of the other crews seemed chill.
Eventually we had a fleet of four ships all going around to take on one of the world events. We ended our alliance with much loot shared despite some one the other crews being irritating.
All together it was a great partnership, everyone tried to help each other as best they were able.
Now let’s look at the worst way to start an alliance.
I was doing a solo-run of the seas. Running a sloop by myself. I just wanted to go around, find some treasure and enjoy the seas.
Out of no where another ship comes up on me. They hale me in the general chat. “Wanna form an alliance?” I had forgotten how to type in game and I didn’t feel like talking, so I used the quick chat options and emotes to say I was not interested.
“Join our alliance or we have to shoot you. You know the rules” was the response I got. Now I really don’t like it when people force me into things. And an alliance with someone who’s first instinct is to offer peace and then threaten you is probably going to betray me in the end.
Like dry sand slipping out of my hand I could feel the situation deteriorating. I was out numbered and they were more than likely going to get aggressive. I stood behind the cannons of my ship and probably looked bewildered.
Instead of waiting for them to make the first move, I decided it was better to strike first. Firing my cannons as and as accurately as I could I got a “You’re a naughty kid” as a response.
They managed to get me to respawn and boarded my ship. Once I was back I fought them off, one of them even tried to make fake peace with me and try the old “Look behind” you trick.
Eventually, my ship was sunk and I set sail again. I cam across that same ship making “I’m peaceful” motions. As I got closer, one of their crew jumped off the boat to secretly board my ship. So I fired first again and they started chasing me.
I had bought myself enough time and was aided by a skeleton ship to keep them off my tail. However, when people decide they are going to ruin my day I feel obliged to try and ruin theirs, at least in video games.
While they we fighting that skeleton ship, I slipped of my sloop and swam towards their ship. It took my five to ten minutes to get where they were. I hopped on board and started setting everything on fire, then I tried to take their firebombs to continue my rampage.
Unfortunately I failed in sinking the ship. But I had a great story to tell afterwards.
The moral of the story is be sure to partner with people who are going to help you but are respectful. If they try and force you into a deal, leave.
Cooperation and a willingness to cooperate make a big difference in your potential success.
Think about it.
Sincerely,
The Irreverent Gentleman
gentlemansuniversityofmanliness 