Gav

Seems fair, but would love an @admin comment on it please. Crosbie

The world is only too big with 700 players. With 2000+ it isn't. The game is not economically viable if it remains with only 700 concurrent players . And like i said i'm sure they're developing with more in mind. I took a look at the steam stats pages just now to see how it was fairing. I really do hope this is the start of another upwards trend. Anyway, i do agree with you, and i think my suggestions would still give you information per region opposed to giving you too accurate (port) information. I think it would also encourage community play a bit more, benefiting people joining up etc etc. But man what i'd give for the option for my mates and I to just set sail into the unknown, say down by the mexican coastline (never been there in 150 hours play, rarely left the Bahama's Florida/Haiti area) and find hidden treasures and sunken wrecks and other cool stuff. ///of course it is a PvP server so maybe you're right... Gav

Let me preamble this by firstly saying i think a lot of these suggestions take away any mystery and sense of adventure. I am of course assuming that the developers have designed their servers for 1000's of concurrent players are not just the 600-700 odd that are now currently playing. Hence, when i want action (like when the alpha launched and we had 2200 users) it was never hard to find, and you also never knew who was waiting around that headland or in the cove up the coast. I'm an old man and remember the halcyon days of puzzling over games and the frustration of being forced to solve the problem, not just google the answer. I do love the maps that people have created and I have looked over the spreadsheet containing port and taxes information and the effort and talent that has gone in to creating them is astounding. This isn't meant in any way to detract from the efforts and works of those creators... But where is your sense of adventure, of exploring the unknown, Be it seeking out towns you've never visited before to see what they sell cheap or finding and capturing traders who have done just that. I think this removes the want to explore, and the sense of exploration is already kinda diminished in the OW because there are no rewards our there. No buried treasure, no secret hamlets willing to trade their gold for guns etc etc... Now with that all said there is still need for some map information... Rumours between captains, towns and the folks of the Caribbean would be collected and recorded by intelligence agencies and savvy pirates alike. But information would be vague, old or just plain inaccurate. So in place of definite information like what has been suggested, i would put forward these options: -Players Visited port in last hour - Total Active players per region/island, giving a vague indication of how busy the shipping lanes/sea roads are. -Active Clan members and what port - A clan browser, public clans can advertise and information on them, their holdings and their members are available to all -Active Friendly players and what ports - I would say that your group chat or direct chat solves this problem. -Players sunk around X port in last hour - Incorporated into point one, I would say remove the Clerk who reports player deaths and replace with hotspots or regional information. -Active players Docked in Port - Absolutely agree, you should be able to count the sails in port. -Active players in the Region - agreed Regards, Crosbie

wind changes heel leeway (sideforce) and ship differences general turnrates (using rudder or yards or both) speed curves and ship difference tacking time downwind turning time 1, Variable wind speed and weather both in open world and in battles would be my wish. - As regards the wind changing in port battles i think it's a nice tactical addition. I would however suggest that it doesn't just rotate in direction but varies side to side with a 50% chance? So a northern wind can become either a westerly or easterly wind over a given time. 2, 3 5, - Both the heeling and leeway additions that i've noticed since returning to the game are really nice. Love the more natural feel of the ships and the difference between them. One thing i do find strange though is the fact that some of the larger vessels can overtake or at least keep up with the light 6th and 7th rates. Not sure if it was like this in real life but it feels odd in game not being able to get away from a Endyimion in a 6th rate square rigged ship. All other changes i thought were fine or didnt notice due to being away from the game for so long. Crosbie

Beautiful map. the pop-ups for each town only flick up for a second then disappear for me. Tried in both chrome and and older version of firefox. something i'm doing wrong? Gav

If the Spanish really wish to tip the balance they could have words with some of their allies in the region, Gav

Simply enough, Create forums for each Server. This way all the diplomacy and national news posts are as confusing. G

why not use a vector map creation system like they have in a bunch of other games for personalisation, like Call of Duty and Battlefield. of course that would mean the inclusion of Dick-Butt flags... Gav

Had a quick search for weather suggestions, came up blank (assume there are some though)... Thoroughly enjoying the game. I really like sim games and realism in my games, I'm especially fond of the Arma series, so map reading and navigation was a skill that could really turn the tide of a battle. I've a couple of suggestions for adding realism to the Open World. I would like to see areas of the Open World that have very different weather, including wave height, wind strength and tidal influences, some of these effects should be so strong as to actually damage, wreck or throw your ship off course. I also think shallows should be dangerous. wrecks should be seen on coasts or driftwood floating in the seas. Variable Winds would be really interesting in Battles, cutting winds entirely or making the area so dangerous for your Vessel than retreating would be more sensible than fighting. Masts and sails could be damaged unless you tacked? back on your sails. Tidal Influences would make for tougher time navigating, especially over larger differences. River mouths could influence the flow of water near their outlet. Shallows could damage your ship and you could be able to run aground. It might take some time to pull your ship back from shallows and initiate a repair. I think the addition of options likes these would make the Open World more realistic. I think it might lend some weight to navigation, make it more enjoyable to master and to make it feel like navigating an Ocean opposed to moving a ship icon around a map. Crosbie

I'm not sure but i suspect that people might be confusing slow with unrealistic.... maybe not. I think the navigation, ship speed, turning etc etc is great, (i know nothing about ships) but i feel like the cannons do next to nothing in terms of damage. Surely 6-10 flying 9pd Cannonballs would rip a ship asunder and cause unrepairable damage, so why sometimes does it take 10 broadsides to sink something? I think increasing the damage of all weapons by 10-20% would make life of the sea a little scarier - and make mistakes harder to pay for. Gav

this mechanic would also allow for some proper spies, opposed to players who are "in" the faction but just reporting the whereabouts of vessels back to their original faction. Gav

I think reinforcements (especially on the PvP servers) should take time to turn up. This time should be dependant on the range from their local town. So if i catch someone just on the edge of the reinforcement zone then the ships should take 30 minutes to turn up, but if i'm right by the harbour when i attach someone then their reinforcements should turn up in 2 minutes. Crosbie

Surprised you managed to have your articles printed Sir, what with us boarding and capturing your ship the other night. C.

Pvp1, afaik.

Any addition to in-character politics and organisational stuff would be a welcome addition in my view. Something that just came to mind would be the option to offer Pardons to pirates. Or indeed for that matter to renege your colours (of any faction) and join another. Surely such things must have happened in real life. Not that this pirate would take up the offer but it might be of some nice addition for some folks. Some ideas of how it could be implemented Anyone can craft a Letters of Pardon - or - Highest tier players could create (for free) them (maybe 1 per week/month) and give them away. Gav