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Blackjack Morgan

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Blackjack Morgan last won the day on April 22 2016

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About Blackjack Morgan

  • Birthday 06/29/1972

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  1. As a long time fan of both UG: Gettysburg and UG: Civil War I am really excited about the two new projects. However, I am curious as to why there are not any plans to incorporate a multiplayer component going forward? I get it on UG: Gettysburg as it was the first in the series and probably limited somewhat in its design scope. UG: Civil War improved in so many ways and really advanced the entire game....just a superb title. I can't help but wonder about the untapped potential of adding some form of multiplayer to these new upcoming series....AoS and Dreadnoughts. If you have the same team that did Civil War working on these projects I know they will be great regardless but man multiplayer/co-op would really be outstanding. Oh, and lastly....please for the love of all things holy please tell me that the NA dev team will not be sticking their dirty paws into these two upcoming projects.
  2. I always kind of figured they were going to end up doing a full wipe regardless of what was said. One of the reasons I never liked the whole notion of having to grind out ship slots and grind for books. But plenty of people kept saying it wasn't a big deal because they already had everything and thought they were going to get to keep it. So, if the shoe fits wear it.
  3. I don't play NA anymore but I still like to monitor the forums to see how it is progressing ( or not ). I was very heavily invested from the time before it came to Steam up to slightly after the 10.0 patch. Game just went in a completely different direction with grind, gear, magic healing....wasn't for me so stopped playing. I don't expect them to revert back to the old days of NA even if I wish they would. However, on this topic I'd like to ask a simple question: Why? What was the purpose of multi repairs? We tested this game for a few years before they decided to go with the multiple repair kits and I don't remember a single tester ever asking for it. In fact I remember testing when we had 3 repairs and people thought that was too many. Yet for some reason this change was brought about which actually ran counter to what the original hardcore fans wanted. The only reason I recall reading was a money sink for the economy. A money sink. The single most important aspect and mechanic of NA was to create a realistic age of sail game and this change was made for a money sink? Something to spend resources on? Does anyone besides me find that to be a completely flawed thought process? This wasn't instituted after months and months, or years, of player feedback and testing calling for this change as a way to improve the PvP experience.....nope this was because they wanted something for the players to spend resources on. Not only do you put multiple repairs in the game you introduced magic gear and abilities that work to exponentially make those heals even more powerful? The whole premise is asinine. It isn't historical....it isn't realistic....it's DUMB. NA is way closer to magic than it used to be. Magic heals....magic gear....magic books....it's all crap. Somehow grinding out NPC's for gear or books was meant to placate the PVE crowd by giving them the 10 year old "magic on a stick" generic blueprint of how to build an MMO. Anyone who thinks NA should follow the old blueprint of MMO'ing with a niche crowd that NA attracts I think is mistaken. Simple fact of the matter is this game still doesn't know what it wants to be....that or it has no idea how to get there. I remember very early statements from devs when they said NA was meant to be a PvP focused game. That simple mundane things like repairs, ammo, crew replenishment were not to be focused on because they took away from what was fun....yep PVP. I wish I had saved those early posts and responses from them. Well to be honest I'm not sure the original team is even still working on this game....it's changed so radically I have a hard time believing someone new didn't come in with a new direction to take. I sincerely hope for the best for NA. I will also say that if it ever moves closer to what it used to be I would happily return. I don't expect that to happen though.
  4. I quit playing long ago...that was pretty much my word on it. I still consider NA to be one of my all-time favorite games but it decided to take a very different path from where it started many years ago. I finally realized my complaints and concerns were not going to change anything and rather than be a negative all the time it was probably better to just stop playing. I still check in on the forums holding out that small glimmer of hope things will change....but I don't believe they will. I will never consider any game that depends on mindless PVE or worthless timesink grinding to be a serious PVP game. Took a game that was supposed to be skill based, historically leaning, easy access to PvP, and turned it into magical gear grind and what build counters what. Bleh....
  5. Well point is really that you can grind NPC's and still completely suck in PvP.....the grinding out ship unlocks for EVERY SINGLE ship serves no purpose than add to the boredom of the game. Making something a timesink for no other purpose than to try to help newer players makes no sense really. Make leveling rank longer if need be but unlocking every ship is pointless.
  6. Any chance you could do something similar for all ships? Like when you have over 4,000 hours played but you still need to "unlock" every ship skill slots you want to try sailing....it really sucks and accomplishes nothing. Maybe, just have a ship skill unlock by Tier of ship? Like you unlock all slots for all 5th rates or all 4th rates.....instead of needing to do it for each individual ship in those classes? I''ll send you a Christmas card this year if you make this a reality!
  7. I might be in the minority but I believe the proliferation of ship mods and books has been one of the worse developments in NA. The more you add the worse things have become. Why? Because you are trying to balance things like cannon penetration, armor thickness, sail hp's, mast strength, ship speeds, even healing ability.....but its not being done using anything remotely resembling a stable baseline. There are so many damn possible variables it has become increasingly difficult to balance the game. Not only from a pure combat mechanics point of view but I would argue from a economy perspective as well. Were vanilla ships armor thickness too great before the latest patch or could it be that it was due to stacking of various mods that made ships armor thickness too high? Were masts too weak if you ran certain mods or were they only too weak if you didn't use those mods? Are cannons absurdly accurate compared to the Age of Sail time period or is it due to various mod stacking? I don't think most of this can be truly evaluated because you simply have too many variables. It's going to get even more complicated with 4+5 and 5+5 ships.....sure the number of them is relatively small right now but give it 3-4 more months and I bet it is quite a different situation. Mods need a serious review and beaten down with a nerf bat. Make mods available to everyone and make pvp marks give access to more cosmetic upgrades maybe. I like that ships can have some customization but the bonuses need to be toned down and mods/books should be available to everyone.....
  8. Well even though I have brought the same argument up more times than I can remember I guess I will do it again. You simply will never have a successful game that FORCES people to PVP....the motivation has to come from the fact that it is enjoyable to people. I for one HATE PVE in this game....well most games truth be told.....like I absolutely detest it with every fiber of my being. I would gladly drop $100 tomorrow to avoid the need to do any PVE. It is complete and utter garbage.....even those words are too kind for it. Yet.....here I am looking at massive PVE timesink to get loot or to unlock ship xp slots on every single ship I want to sail. By the way whoever came up with that idea at Game Labs....well lets just say I'm not wishing you a Merry Christmas. This game has placed a huge emphasis on gear and now it looks like we are going to make things even worse with 4+5 and 5+5 ships. So, we have newer players who are at a huge disadvantage with PvP experience and most likely an even bigger disadvantage with gear, ships, and money....and you want them to go forth and engage more in PVP? C'mon man are you serious? The deck is so stacked against them they have virtually zero chance of success. You want to encourage more PVP then stop hiding behind upgrades and ships that are not available to all. Sure, some will still choose to not participate in PVP but those people never will...they simply do not enjoy it. However, I suspect an awful lot more people would be willing to engage in fights if they knew they were at least on a more level playing field when it comes to gear and ships. And also when the loss of that ship isn't going to completely cripple them financially. The mods and books right now in this game are a complete joke. Having 4+5 or 5+5 ships are an even bigger joke. The only thing that has changed in NA over the last 3.5 years is that it is way less skill dependent and way more who has the numbers....better ships....and better gear. Asking newer players to venture forth into an arena that they are nothing more than fodder is just absurd. Offering up PvP, CM, VM are all crap ideas....what has it fixed? We switched to these 1 dura ships as a way of encouraging more ship production and drive the economy...did it work? Nope. Only reason people are crafting shit now is because they are rich as hell and can afford to burn money hand over fist to get a new super ship that will give them an advantage over their opponents. This whole system is just a joke......
  9. I started a giant bonfire and tossed this idea and the OP in it......
  10. Hey I'm not too proud to admit I've been hanging out in the safezone plenty lately since returning. Why? Because of this stupid ass ship knowledge unlock grind. I don't feel like sailing out my 1 slot unlocked ship by myself to get ganked. Setting up those boring ass combat missions close to port is the easiest way for me to grind them out. Don't need to waste repair kits, don't need to pay attention to what I'm doing much....can watch TV while I engage in the soul crushing PVE grind to unlock skill slots. It is a complete waste of my time but some brain dead people claim I'm supposed to get that feeling of accomplishment from grinding this ship xp.....nope. I'm all for getting rid of safezones as soon as you get rid of the timesink needed everytime I switch to a new ship. Ship experience grind has to be one of the worse things ever introduced into NA.....and anyone who thinks its cool, well I hate you.
  11. I did not say to eliminate Mods though.....I have NEVER called for eliminating mods. What I said is that they should be nerfed so that they do not play such a dominate role in determining the outcome of fights. This is exactly how NA was for it's first 2.5 -3 years of existence.....this dumb shit didn't go full retard mode till the 10.0 patch came out. I don't know what acid trip they decided to go on over in the planning room to go down this path. Nobody should be able to stack mods so many mods that there ship becomes virtually impenetrable to cannon fire....or ships that are going way faster than what was even close to historical.....or masts that become virtually indestructible....or boarding mods that turn your crew into shock troops of instant death.....or penetration mods that turn your cannons into rail guns. STOP THE INSANITY!!!
  12. Well they might want it but this game is becoming a joke of a pvp game if you ask me. I still will take that $100 bet with any pro players over on Legends.....5 average players versus 1 veteran....all in the same ship and all with the same gear and see who wins. Nobody became uber pro post 10.0 patch.....hell the same "pro" players were playing prior to the patch and were not even remotely close to pulling off the same "heroics". Anyone who is saying otherwise is full of shit..... The fix is not that complicated: 1. NERF THE HELL OUT OF ALL MODS 2. LIMIT THE ABILITY TO STACK MODS 3. MAKE MODS THAT GIVE BONUSES TO STATS HAVE NEGATIVES AS WELL 4. FIX MASTS SO THEY ARE NOT MADE OUT OF PAPER 5. ELIMINATE RNG.....EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO HOW THEY WANT TO CUSTOMIZE THEIR SHIP 6. DEVELOP SOME REAL CONTENT AND REASON TO EXPLORE THE WORLD
  13. Well, I wont say I disagree with a lot of what you have suggested and agree that a lot of the grind and RNG loot is so dated they never should have introduced it. However, I don't have a huge problem with the safe zones and really they have made the game so skewed toward gear it almost necessitates it. The truth of the matter is that new players already have, and always have had, very limited chance of success against veteran players. However, this game has become so gear driven that whatever slim chance they had before is a million times smaller than it is now. In fact they have ZERO chance of success.....absolute ZERO. Why the hello kitty would these guys leave a safe zone when the only outcome they will experience in any fight against another player is to lose everything? If you take two very experienced pvp'ers and give one mods and the other no mods they all agree who wins. Hell....you give one certain mast mods and not the other and we pretty much know who wins. This game has way less to do with skill and way more to do with mods and skillbooks.....so why the hell would they leave the green zone? Meanwhile, we got the pros camping outside these zones feeding on easy targets with little risk vs the reward. The whole game is in a way shittier state than it was when I stopped playing I'll say that. You want to encourage PvP? My first suggestion would be to make the playing field a bit more level for starters. Nobody wants to be cannon fodder for guys with gear and skillbooks that make them untouchable to those who don't have them. And anyone who tries downplaying the effect of mods and books is so full of shit I for one laugh in your face and will be the first to tell them they are a complete hypocrite. Anyone who really likes competitive PvP doesn't hide behind exclusive gear and try acting like it doesn't matter.
  14. Mods in general are completely out of control. The bonuses and ability to stack them have created a complete mess of balance. I've said the same thing forever now.....every time you add a new mod or wood type etc. it makes the ability to properly balance the game more complicated. We still have people who act like knocking down masts is difficult. I could literally train a NASA space chimp to shoot masts in this game....it's not difficult. If you cant hit masts then you really should never try playing any type of shooter for goodness sake. Sure some will be a better at it than others but to say its a difficult skill to master I will always disagree. If you don't want to give a significant boost to mast hp's then you might as well just give out more mast mods so it can be countered. This game already relies so heavily on gear compared to at any other point of its development it's absurd. Why we went down this path of making gear more important than player skills and tactics is beyond me.....but it sucks.
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