TheWoWDBI had this same problem. Got the quest and then headed over to the ship. My mini-map had the '?' on it but Capt. Keelhaul didn't. He was also red but not aggressive and I couldn't attack him or any of the other pirates. I logged out and then back in and then he had the '?' but was still red to me.
I dropped the quest and got it again, same result. Did that a couple times, still no change.
I came to this thread and saw the post from a rogue name Erum and he said he logged out and logged back in and the pirates were then friendly. Others talked about disabling addons and then trying it.
First, I disabled my addons and then logged in and out multiple times - and it worked. The pirates were then friendly to me. I wondered if it truly was my addons (I don't run anything exotic - bartender, recount, omen, dbm) so I logged out and enabled them again. On logging back in the pirates were red. I then logged in and out a couple times and got them to be friendly to me again, so it wasn't my addons.
So, in summary: if the pirates aren't friendly to you just spam logging out and back in until they are. Addons don't seem to be causing this. That's what worked for me.
Quest
Your First Day as a Pirate
A World of Warcraft quest in The Cape of Stranglethorn. Facts and objectives from the current retail game data.
The highest voted Wowhead comments for this page. They are community notes, not TheWoWDB comments.
After reading whole quest line, i rofled so hard upon laying eyes on the quest item given. "Yer Papers" God I love pirates.
For those who still have the silly reputation bug: Simply grab a mount and fly to the nearest zone, causing you to loose the "Piracy" buff. I recommend the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale (The sea where you get fatigue) as that's nearest.
Quest facts
Check whether you have already completed this quest
in-game: /run print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(26631))
What to do
Description
Ye may be a slayer of Fleet Masters, but rules is rules and orders is orders. And MY orders say that all new pirates start out as swabbies. It's the rule. You're to be working for Captain Keelhaul, the commander of the Riptide. It's the westernmost ship in the fleet, which is parked south of the tip o' the cape. Find him in his captain's chambers, and bring yer papers.
Where to go
Pins are the quest’s own POI points from the current retail client, projected onto the in-game zone map. The game marks one blob as the quest’s turn-in; the rest are objective areas. Points that fall outside a map’s window are dropped rather than guessed at.
Nearby on the The Cape of Stranglethorn map
- Anyway, I Started Bribing about 380 yards
- Money, Money, Money! about 380 yards
- Crystals Shmystals about 380 yards
- Settled with the Baron about 380 yards
- Information is King about 460 yards
- No Such Thing as Bad Luck about 470 yards
- A Lighter Shade of Fel about 500 yards
- The Booty Bay Journal about 500 yards
- Bill Buckler about 550 yards
- Desecrate this Fire! about 600 yards
Quests whose map markers the client places closest to this one on The Cape of Stranglethorn, nearest first. Distances are straight lines between the markers.
Getting there
Flight points closest to the quest’s turn-in marker on The Cape of Stranglethorn:
- Booty Bay, Stranglethorn
- Explorers' League Digsite, Stranglethorn
From the turn-in, the objective areas lie:
- Objective area
Straight-line distances in yards between the quest’s own map markers (QuestPOI) and the client’s flight-point positions (TaxiNodes); flight paths and terrain are not modelled.
Community notes from Wowhead · 46 comments
Top 3 shown aboveThe comments below were written by Wowhead users. They are community notes, not TheWoWDB comments. See them in context on Wowhead.
The top 3 are shown in Top Comments above. Read all 46 on Wowhead.
Other quests on the Cape of Stranglethorn map
Storyline
The Cape of Stranglethorn
Part 42 of 62.
Previous: Seeing Where Your Loyalties Lie · Next: Swabbing Duty
- 37Details of the Attack
- 38Up to Snuff
- 39Keep An Eye Out
- 40Getting In With the Bloodsail
- 41Seeing Where Your Loyalties Lie
- 42Your First Day as a Pirate
- 43Swabbing Duty
- 44The Bane of Many A Pirate
- 45Cannonball Swim
- 46Attracting Attention
- 47Ol' Blasty
- 48Our Mortal Enemies
Showing steps 37 to 48 of 62.
Storyline order is the client’s own QuestLine data from the current retail build.
Where this quest fits
Before this quest
Taken from the storyline's own step order.
- Seeing Where Your Loyalties Lie
Thar be just one thing... Yancey hears things. A few o' me hearties were pretty deep in their cups when they told me about some <race> <class> that came a-rollin' through the Southern Command lookin' for charts and orders. Even ran a couple o' good pirates through, he did.
After this quest
Taken from the storyline's own step order.
- Swabbing Duty
I want the surface of the Riptide t'shine like a star ruby, Swabbie <name>. I keep a tight ship around here, and it's swabbies like you that make it happen! Well, what're y'waitin' for, y'cockle-brained bilgerat? Head updecks and start swabbin'!
The storyline at a glance
The Cape of Stranglethorn has 62 steps, from Dask "The Flask" Gobfizzle to Bloodsail's End.
Maps its steps are placed on (steps per map): The Cape of Stranglethorn (62).
Steps of this storyline count toward:
Other storylines on The Cape of Stranglethorn map
- The Blue Dragons
- Goblin Heritage Armor
- Battle Pet Tamers
- The Dreadblades
- The Great Gnomeregan Run
Steps, storylines and map placement from the client’s QuestLine, prerequisite and QuestPOI data; neighbouring quest text is Blizzard’s own (quest API), shortened to its opening sentences.