Sea of Thieves Wiki
It wouldn’t be a pirate game if you couldn’t get locked in the brig. So if you are looking to avoid a Sea of Thieves brig sentence, we’ve got you covered.
The brig is located on the lower deck of the ship where a crewmate can be held. You’re sent to the brig via a unanimous vote by the other players. If there are three crew mates, then two of them must vote to put you in the brig. If there are four, then three must vote on your incarceration. According to the Sea of Thieves wiki, the brig on the Sloop is currently not functional because it’s reserved only for one and two-men crews and you need more than one vote to incarcerate someone.
This system is implemented so that players stay on tasks and don’t compromise voyages. The only penalty you get by being sent to the brig is simply waiting there until you’re freed by other players, but according to Venture Beat you can be locked up for as high as 80 minutes. It’s also possible that you could drown if your ship sinks and you’re still in the brig, but we need to test this theory. However, you can exit whatever game you’re in and find a new crew to sail with via matchmaking.
There are many reasons a player could be sent to the brig, both legitimate and not-so-legitimate. So here are some reasons you can be sent to the brig so you can learn to avoid them:
Legit Reasons to be Sent to the Brig
- Sabotaging Voyages – By far the biggest reason to throw someone in the brig is if they go out of their way to ruin missions. For instance, during a merchant quest you can kill the animals that your team wants to capture either by hitting them with your sword or by drowning the caged animal in the sea. Or you can take a treasure chest or skull and send it to the bottom of the ocean. You could even sink your teammate’s ship with cannons on enemy ships. Or you can simply release the anchor over and over again to halt progress. These and other forms of griefing are ripe for giving players a reason for tossing someone in jail. So don’t do it.
- Being Hateful – This should hopefully be obvious to most players, but spewing hateful, derogatory, or just plain mean things over the voice chat is a one way ticket to the brig. Simply being annoying over the chat will most likely cause you to get muted but crossing the line is another thing entirely. So don’t do it.
- Not Doing Your Job – If you’re new to the game and still getting a bearing for the mechanics, then that’s fine. But make sure to clearly communicate your greenhorn status to other players so that they understand. But if you’re consistently failing to do certain tasks or your inaction leads to the mission failing, then you’re at a greater risk of being sent to the brig as punishment.
- Being Annoying – Look, I’m not going to judge you if you decide to blare “Sailing for Adventure” from Muppet Treasure Island over the voice chat but you can certainly expect to be muted by other players for doing so. But if you keep being annoying over the chat then you can be sent to the brig. Now you may be annoying players without even realizing it. Sea of Thieves give no indication over whether or not your microphone is registering in the game so if you have background music playing then your crew mates will hear it to. So be sure to get a mic with a mute button so that you’re not constantly bombarding your teammates with random noise.
Not-So-Legit Reasons to be Sent to the Brig
- You Took Over Someone’s Crew Slot – Sometimes if you have a group of friends but one of them doesn’t join you before your crew starts a game, they can be replaced by a random player. According to Venture Beat people may throw that player in the brig in order to force them to quit the game so their friend can join. Now that person may have intruded on their game but it’s not really their fault because they were randomly matched into it. If you find that a random player has taken up a crew slot for your friend, try to explain the situation and politely ask them to leave so that your friend can join.
- Miscommunication – Unfortunately just because you have a voice chat option doesn’t mean that other players are guaranteed to have one as well. Doing well in Sea of Thieves requires a lot of clear communication. If you’re doing something that your crew mates don’t like then you’d never know because they won’t tell you. And then you’re in the brig without knowing the reason. That’s what happened to us as well as user Almighty0Turtle on the Sea of Thieves forums. Try to use the text chat if other players don’t have voice chat and communicate that way.
Now the brig system has its flaws but it’s the best way the game has for dealing with nasty players. As design director Mike Chapman told US Gamer, the brig is not only tonally appropriate but takes power away from trolls and gives it to the people affected by them.
In short, just do your job with efficiency and etiquette while adhering to the official Pirate Code and it should be smooth sailing from here.
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