WilsonMG

Until today, I would have said the infamous "wind patches", because they're the primary reason I stopped playing. However, after the announcement of a Chinese faction, I'm going with that, because that's what pushed me to finally uninstall the game entirely...

I cover some other points regarding this mechanic in this post here:

Even though it's probably statistically unlikely with individuals using them on their own, I wonder if it's possible for more than one player using Loki Runes to join into the same battle if there are multiple NPCs still alive in it? If so, I could see some Clans saving all of their Loki Runes to use simultaneously for some next-level trolling...

Being called a carebear by someone who fled Pirates when the going got tough to go play the game on easy mode with Russia... so hurtful... I never claimed to be "hardcore". I said I actively participate in PvP on a daily basis, and I'm good with the consequences of it. Undocking into the open world is consenting to PvP in Naval Action on the PvP server. I feel I should clarify that my chief complaint about the Loki Rune's isn't the nonconsensual nature of the mechanic so much as the fact that it is being intentionally hidden from the victim, and, more importantly, that the player using the Loki Rune isn't risking anything. Knowing whether you are fighting a player or the AI is important and whether you are experienced enough in PvE to tell the difference is really irrelevant. You're going to have to fight a player differently than you would an NPC and it helps knowing at the onset of the battle what you're getting into. Personally, I also tend to take on more challenging NPC fleets when I engage in PvE, and my safety is anything but certain, so a player taking control of one of the NPCs I'm fighting could mean the difference between a net gain from the battle, or taking a major loss. I mean, let's face it... grinding a lot of PvE is not something that can be avoided--at least not if you need Doubloons or XP--or I think a lot of us would. When I do it, I try to get the best results for my time and effort, and losing a ship and its upgrades, while the other player suffers no risk at all, just doesn't make for good gameplay. If the game used a banner announcement (like with conquests) that said something like "An enemy captain has fallen and an aspiring officer has taken command of the ship; John Ramsey's ship is now controlled by TrimSlayer69!", it would probably sit better with me, but it still wouldn't address the fact that the player who is using the Loki Rune isn't taking on any risk. The way it is now, it's just a troll mechanic.

This is seriously one of the worst mechanics ever implemented in this game, and I still remember the update where everyone immediately sank if two ships barely touched, and the other one where a single broadside of ball shot killed the majority of your crew... The PvP isn't consensual and there's no warning given to the player who believes they are engaging in PvE. That's simply not OK, under any circumstance. If there was a warning that was displayed that told a player that the NPC he was fighting had just been taken over by another player, then that would make it more acceptable. As it stands, it's a shitty mechanic designed specifically to cater to trolls. Just for clarification, I'm good with PvP. I play solely on the PvP server and I engage in PvP every single day. You see, though, I'm a Pirate, so all I have to do is undock from any major Pirate port and there is usually a fair number of gankers trying to kill me. All you people that are always bitching about not getting enough action need to try putting yourselves in someone else's shoes before you try to dictate how the game experience should be for everyone. Maybe stop being a bunch of pansies and join a nation that actually offers a challenge?

I did the math last night and there were more "Online Members" in the top ten Pirate Clans than the entire server population... I think it's safe to say it's broken.

There's almost no correct information anywhere on it. I spent some time trying to figure out why our "PvP Kills" weren't being recorded and were even being erased, why our "KD" was going down even when kills were being made and no one had been sunk for days... I eventually just gave up and wrote it off as completely broken...

Loki Runes... because consensual PvP apparently wasn't good enough, they're now turning our PvE battles into PvP without the consent of the player who sailed out to grind some PvE. Sure, let's fine tune it to make sure it favors the troll with nothing better to do than randomly drop into some poor bastard's battle! I feel like the title of the post-release development roadmap should be "New Ways to Keep Frustrating Our Players Until They All Quit".

The lack of maneuverability would be something we'd have to adjust to, but that's already the case with the current implementation... The greater concern is that now, some ships can magically go faster than other ships because 10 minutes back they clicked a button that their victim doesn't have access to. Let me present a scenario that happened just last night... I was alone outside Baracoa, in a 15 kn Snow, looking for some of that PvE I'm being pushed to engage in now, grinding to rebuild my level 3 Shipyard (again), and a squad of five British gankers in two Bellonas, a Le Requin, a Pirate Frigate, and two Snows (one in fleet) came screaming at me from the west, up the coast. Knowing I had no hope of escape, since I could tell they were already magically boosted from a wind zone and I was basically sitting still in comparison, I made for the closest wind zone I thought I could reach. I managed to click it just in time and reach one of the square forts at Baracoa right as they got to me (their wind zone must have been slightly better than mine, as they were still faster). I was able to escape from a very lopsided PvP fight only out of pure luck. If they had taken an interest in me any sooner, they would have had me dead to rights. Unfortunately, one of my Clan members had just logged on, and having his headphones off, he didn't hear my warnings. He wasn't speed boosted, so he became their victim. This was his first experience with the new update. He surrendered against an impossible fight, and immediately logged off to go play another game. He says he'll be taking a break. Most of my other Clan members have said the same after yesterday's update. I don't blame them...

Creating a complex system for wind isn't necessary... There's already a lot of mechanics in the game that work off of the principal of circular zones around ports, so here's a really simple solution to make open-world sailing faster that doesn't involve a mechanic that can be easily exploited like this current implementation we were just cursed with... Using the distance tools at https://na-map.netlify.com/, I was able to quickly perform a few tests and determine that a circular zone around every port, with a radial distance of anywhere from approximately 10K to 15K, based on in-game distance units, would create overlapping zones around all ports, and therefore most coastal regions, as well. Inside of these circular "speed zones", ships would travel at traditional open-world speeds. Everywhere else in the game world, outside of these circular speed zones, everyone would receive the same speed boost; thereby, allowing people to cover the large, open, and empty regions of the game map quickly and in a way that's fair to everyone. TLDR: Create circular speed zones around ports. If you're in them, you go the traditional open-world speed. If you're outside of them, you go fast like Ricky Bobby...

There is a workaround... Just place a buy contract for the price of a sell contract. It will then be available to claim. It requires a few additional steps, but it worked for me.

A "Chinese invasion" of the Caribbean will cause a lot of us to stop playing Naval Action because it would be deviating too far from the historical setting we expect. Is that feedback clear enough?

Well, we would try to, but we can't build any ships...

Regarding "seasons", you can reset ownership of the ports and port investments, but if you ever wipe anything related to a player, i.e. their rank, crafting level, ship slots, skill books, recipes, money, etc., you will lose more players than you gain. Regarding crafting buildings, if they are wiped, then all Reals and Doubloons should be refunded to the player. If you wipe these things, then I know for a fact that I would quit playing forever, as would everyone in Military Gamers. "No more wipes or resets!"; that was the promise that was made, and it should be kept. The only reason any of us came back to the game after the release wipe was because of this promise, so don't just assume from some statistics that the wipe was what brought players back.

Can we have a serious conversation about implementing some kind of incentive system like this before the major nations drive everyone else from the game? The Russians have now set their sights on Baracoa, which is the last port that Pirates have to build competitive ships at. Instead of uniting with us against a common threat, every other nation is content to join in on the attacks, or to simply sit outside of Mortimer Town and Baracoa to get their PvP kills, while blissfully ignoring the fact that they will soon find themselves in our position, once the few remaining Pirate holdouts can no longer be bothered to log in. Most of us aren't like this Russian player here, happily sailing his 56 Indiamen around in perfect safety near Vera Cruz. A lot of us only have one character, on one account, and even after hundreds of hours invested in this game (since release), we can barely rub two Reals together, let alone try to compete in this kind of environment. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be a brand new player, this being their first impression of the game... It's no wonder that retaining new players has been challenging, to say the least. Against these odds, why would anyone who doesn't want to roll over and join the winning team bother to keep playing the game, when there are far less punishing options available? There are many games vying for a person's free time these days, and eventually, even those of us who love this game and have played it for thousands of hours will reach the point where we can no longer justify the effort. Give the minor nations some incentive to keep playing, even when we're back on our heels. Make the time we invest more rewarding than that of someone who jumps on the bandwagon to avoid a challenge. If a nation grows too large, it should be hit with some form of penalties or diminishing returns; that's just good game balance, even if some might not like it.