Tonnerre de Brest

I can see how it makes sense, more data to crunch in real time equal more lag for slower connections or nodes that are far away. Still I'm impressed at how well it play even with all the shortcomings that people complain about. Even playing on EU server from the USA is fine. (I'm on fiber though that might help a bit too)

Not thick but really hard to hit intentionally while shooter and target are both in motion (and rolling as well) . Not being a programmer I don't know how this is modeled but the target to hit while aiming at the mast for guide from a distance is the base of the shrouds. It is a wider target than the mast, especially on a large ship, and easier to hit and also it is a much softer target that can get significant damage from even small ordinance like a 6 pounders. Once damaged it is hard to balance the huge pressure from the sails and the ship must be handle gently. If one side of the shrouds lets go, the rig falls from the pressure of shrouds on the other side of the boat where full tension is still pulling. I think that loosing a rig was happening more often than not because of that and not from direct hit(s) on the mast itself.

I like the idea of one dura ships, however at this time I think they're sinking way to easy. I would want mechanics that allow these ships to survive even when the outcome is dire just like they actually did in real life. Also everyone would avoid sinking them most of the time, on one side to save their own skin and on the other to preserve the prize. I like the idea that ships stay alive after battles are lost and can be re-captured later in a future encounter. Recently someone presented to me a ship I had lost and they had captured it back from my opponent. It only happens after boarding and never any other way. I think there should be other way to cap a ship. This is an excerpt of a post I made in another area of the forum that addresses that issue: >> I again take inspiration from real world for guidance. I don't think that captains would let ships sink so easily whether on the defending or attacking side. The loss of life alone, including their own would be enough incentive for the losing captain to make an effort toward the survival of the ship. For the winner, the prize is one of the incentives for getting in the fight. The ship can be taken and added to your own war effort, the crew taken as press gang, etc... Also I don't think that wooden ships sank that easily as they do in the game. I understand that we need to have a clear "win" or "loose" status for game play clarity. However this create a loss of opportunity in other areas. Once the majority of the crew has been dedicated to keeping the boat afloat and can no longer fight... Once the pumps can't overcome the water coming in and repair kits have been used... Once the main mast is down after repair kit has been used... (insert more instances of unrecoverable loss here) I would think it's time to cry uncle and maybe, once this level of damage is achieved (when water line is high enough that cannons are inoperable for instance but boat is still afloat?), the white flag should come up automatically in the game, declaring a "stranded status" as the damaged ship is no longer maneuverable, no longer in the fight, and is not as much to be boarded as it is to be rescued. At this point the winning side would have a certain time limit to board the ship before it sinks, assign crew to it, use repair kits of its own to prevent it from sinking, etc... If they fail to get to the stranded boat in time, it is doomed and sinks with all hands. The losing captains loses boat, crew and officer. If they get to it in time, on the losing side, part of automating this end game process gives the vanquished captain the choice to surrender this one durability boat as well as surrender his crew to replace the lost crew of the winning captain in exchange for keeping the life of his officer. If he refuses he basically refuses to be rescued and sinks with all hands, looses the boat, crew and one officer's life. So choices, are surrender and you keep your officer's life or sink and loose all but deny the winner from taking the boat and crew. This is not a boarding battle, it is essentially a rescue. >> Anyway this is the full post if you want to read the whole thing (it's a bit long) http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/16836-upgrades-one-durability-ships-battle-end-game-alternatives/

I have crafted an Indiaman specifically for capping traders. Once properly fitted with all boarding and enhanced maneuvering/speed upgrades it is a capable boarding ship and certainly can own its own in a fight against a 5th rate (depending on the skills of the other captain of course.) The funny thing is if I'm going against an npc they try to chain shot me because I'm a trader for them to chase and board and they seem very confused that I'm the one attacking/boarding.

Maybe I have been playing the wrong games(?) but but I have never seen a BETA look as good and polished as this ALPHA. Please devs don't listen to complaints from impatient gamers, take time to polish this game to your already high standards. Personally I'd rather wait as long as it take and play a stable, beautifully finished game. NA is well worth the wait.

Loss of ships from capture is one thing, sinking of ships is another. When a ship is captured it can always be captured again at a later time. When it sinks.... it's gone. I think ships sink way too easily in this game and there should be more chances for ships to survive battles. I posted about this very subject just a while ago. Winner or losers, captains would not let ship sink. It was a loss for all without even talking about loss of lives. There should be alternative end game for disabled boats that have not been boarded and are about to sink. Check out my post here: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/16836-upgrades-one-durability-ships-battle-end-game-alternatives/ -T

Here are some suggestions that in my opinion could improve game play in some areas. At least, if technically possible some of these should be tested/assessed. SHIP NON-PERMANENT UPGRADES _______________________________ The easy way to address the non permanent upgrades would be to look at reality. If I have 2 ships, I most likely will have a set a amenities in each and they will not appear at the docks magically for availability in an upgrade window before I set sail. It's a convenience that is not possible in the real world unless the ships are moored next to each other. You can't just move all upgrades out of a boat in one place, teleport 400 miles away and voila! all the upgrades are still here ready to be used in another boat. Granted the teleportation is needed to help game play otherwise we would all get old and senile traveling for days between areas on the map. (reduce the map so everything can happen in real time?). In short, make the non permanent upgrade that are in one boat, only transferable to another boat in the same port. If you want to move them to another port they have to travel by boat in the hold or be sent by delivery system in free towns. BATTLES WITH ONE DURABILITY SHIPS _________________________________ The ideas below pertain only to battle end game and not to boarding mechanics. At this time boarding is the only way to capture a ship in PVP. I would propose an additional way to capture a ship during battle: I again take inspiration from real world for guidance. I don't think that captains would let ships sink so easily whether on the defending or attacking side. The loss of life alone, including their own would be enough incentive for the losing captain to make an effort toward the survival of the ship. For the winner, the prize is one of the incentives for getting in the fight. The ship can be taken and added to your own war effort, the crew taken as press gang, etc... Also I don't think that wooden ships sank that easily as they do in the game. I understand that we need to have a clear "win" or "loose" status for game play clarity. However this create a loss of opportunity in other areas. Once the majority of the crew has been dedicated to keeping the boat afloat and can no longer fight... Once the pumps can't overcome the water coming in and repair kits have been used... Once the main mast is down after repair kit has been used... (insert more instances of unrecoverable loss here) I would think it's time to cry uncle and maybe, once this level of damage is achieved (when water line is high enough that cannons are inoperable for instance but boat is still afloat?), the white flag should come up automatically in the game, declaring a "stranded status" as the damaged ship is no longer maneuverable, no longer in the fight, and is not as much to be boarded as it is to be rescued. At this point the winning side would have a certain time limit to board the ship before it sinks, assign crew to it, use repair kits of its own to prevent it from sinking, etc... If they fail to get to the stranded boat in time, it is doomed and sinks with all hands. The losing captains loses boat, crew and officer. If they get to it in time, on the losing side, part of automating this end game process gives the vanquished captain the choice to surrender this one durability boat as well as surrender his crew to replace the lost crew of the winning captain in exchange for keeping the life of his officer. If he refuses he basically refuses to be rescued and sinks with all hands, looses the boat, crew and one officer's life. So choices, are surrender and you keep your officer's life or sink and loose all but deny the winner from taking the boat and crew. This is not a boarding battle, it is essentially a rescue. This potentially would make ships themselves stay longer in the game and change hands in a more diversified way as battles go on. Ship would still sink regularly when they are not salvaged in time or when captains refuse to surrender. You might loose you ship and capture it back at a later date which is an incentive to not let it sink in the first place. Some ships might become famous for having been captured many times and survive many battles which brings up the next topic: SHIP PAINT AND CUSTOM NAME __________________________ Once ships have more chances to survive battles and becoming famous it would be nice to give them personality by allowing custom ship names that stay with the boat once christened as well as making custom paint readily available at ports to give them distinctive character. Paint is not something special in the world of ships. Maybe gold leafing or special custom figureheads could be rare items but not paint. Making "rare" ships has also the unwelcome side effect of captains avoiding combat to preserve the custom paint of their "special" ship. This behavior alone degrades the quality of PVP on the server. DEALING WITH CAPTURED SHIPS ___________________________ As much as I like to teleport a captured ship it should not be possible to cross the entire map at the click of a button. You capture a ship, you deal with it. When a ship is captured, the victorious captain must assign crew to it after emergency repairs have allowed the ship to stay afloat, then it can be added to the FLEET and sailed back by the regular open world sea ways. If the captain already has a full fleet (2 slots as of now) provision should be made in the game mechanics for towing the captured ship without fully crewing it and of course taxing the open world speed accordingly. ​There should also be an option in the event of multiple ships captured, to allow the victorious captain to either to pass the control of the captured ship to a clan's mate or group mate. __________________________________________ Thanks for reading this far, please critique, comment, improve etc... -T

I must admit that my willingness to take a chance in fight with unfavorable odds has gone up with rank and more so with the ability to craft high quality ships. When I was not in a position to replace a lost ship I was must less willing to take a chance and therefore was missing out on some great action. I think that real expertise comes faster if one is not afraid to loose, as lessons learned through defeat or failure are vividly felt and retained in contrast to the ones learned through success or luck. I think for folk who don't pvp a lot, the lesson to learn is that no matter how bad it looks, you can always get another ship later and what you think is a great ship now, you'll be looking at it as junk later when you move up in rank and skill. For me, I'm having more fun not being too attached to the ship. I think it is a good mind set when to go into battle so you can pay attention to just the fight.

The scumbags you're referring to know enough to kill easy preys but not enough to be able to stand their own against seasoned captains. They probably need as much help as the newbies to feel up to face a real fight. I think the BR system in place for the rookie area will help a bit level the field. Even if the seal clubbers have an advantage as far as know how over new players, they at least will not have an advantage with ships and weapons within the confines of the Rookie Region. I think experienced captains will have a real opportunity to show sportsmanship to our community as a whole. It makes a big difference when you're new and you see that high level players are welcoming you and help you grow with the game.

it's also nice for more seasoned captains to take on new recruits and help them rise through the ranks as we've been doing. If we isolate different level players it's harder for the newbies to get to next level.

I would add that everyone is in a shark frenzy for new ships and keep changing at every battle. I find that if you know one ship really well and equipped with a specific set of weapons and you stick to it for a while to get really proficient with it, you'll have more success than trying to adapt to a new situation with a new set of cannons setup on a new firing platform at each battle. Captains who have been in the game a long time might be ok doing this but if you're a beginner to intermediate player it really will make a difference.

Ethics? morality? ideals? pride? It all depends on folks being interested in playing this game because they actually want to sail and fight with these great warships and uphold the virtues associated with captaining them. If someone wants to bug the whole thing by bypassing the fun part of the game (sailing, battles, etc....) just to be able to "win" whatever they think that means... I don't think you'll be able to avoid these situations. I suppose It's for the rest of the community to ban these behaviors when witnessed. Some folk don't get that the winners in this game are the people who are having fun playing it and not defeating the systems of it. Aren't we doing this just for the fun after all?

I guess what I don't know is what mechanism triggers the door to open the port battle. Maybe my issue is with "hostility level" label. I doesn't illustrate the dynamics of what is supposed to happen. Maybe it should be referred as defense status or border protection or something that shows that when defenders fail to keep the area under control or clear of enemies it opens the passage for foes to enter the port and fight over it. If a gang of 25 1st rate show up at the border I would hardly call that low hostility level just because I was able to repel them.

Yes, and also hostility is not an end in itself, in this case, it is a precursor to the possibility of a port battle and potential capture.

Hostility drops every day by a certain amount - so if attacking nation does nothing the region will eventually become peaceful -Yes, that makes sense, if there is no war, then it is peace. If both sides in a battle lose 5 sols the effect on hostility will be somewhat neutral -No, that does not make sense. It would be like saying that there is no hostility between Palestine and Israel because nobody is actually winning. As long as there are battles in one area, hostility is building. Even if nobody is a clear winner, a certain level of aggression is present and in my opinion there should be no drop of hostility in the scale until people stop shooting.