Edward Canaday

Would it be outside of possibility to include some actual navigation? Before there was nothing to use but landmarks, then there were GPS coordinates (many did not like this), so we went back to nothing but included a protractor...which basically only works if you're travelling in a straight line with no turns. Can we have some way to measure distance between grids - or just make it well known - and then a way to calculate distance traveled? This would allow us to make more complex route plans and would really open up the middle of the ocean.

That's actually not a bad idea. Would probably need some mechanics to be worked out, but I certainly like the initial premise.

I think I agree with the other OW hunters in this. I applaud the attempt to create more PVP in the game, but I prefer finding a ship (or being found) on open water. This is a big part of the reason I don't like taking missions. This game started as a series of battle instances, with no OW, and now it seems like it's reverting back to its origins. If that's what people want, then that's what people want. It's not my cup of tea, and I for one hope that's not the outcome. I will say I don't have any answers for how to fix OW interactions, and I wish I did. Perhaps the crafting is causing some, perhaps the hostility missions (and the inherent difficulty in finding them) is causing yet more. I know I'm out every day looking for likely combat. Some days I find it, most days I don't. I'm not big on World of Warships (or tanks) or Call of Duty, or any of those other arena based PVP games. I liked the majority of the last patch for my part, but I know I'm a minority in that. Here's hoping this doesn't completely ruin OW sailing.

I'm watching this now. He's a genius! Things I never really thought about. Thanks for sharing.

No no, you'd know if it was me. The names are the same. It's almost pure jealousy. The constant resource collection, the disappointment every time I look at my collection of fine woods (nowhere near 400). Then to see you asking "What will I do with ALL of my spare fine wood. It's a humble-brag and you know it.

This...this right here makes me hate you.

So I agree, BS logoff is required for the needs of real life. But why not put in a timer - say five minutes or so (long enough to perform repairs and grab another drink). If you don't exit the battle screen, it logs you out automatically. You then have to log back in to the battle completion screen, finish out your crew and cargo adjustments, and move out. Camping is at least mostly solved, but you also get to have a real life. Now moving on to the original post, I agree. It's ridiculous that some people (by all means not all) decide they're going to tag you until you just give up out of frustration. There's no skill in that. I think a random pop within the original grid would work, but I don't know how difficult it would be to make sure you don't come out on land. Or perhaps make the attack timer significantly longer for anyone you were in the battle with. I don't know. But those little twerps that just follow and tag regardless of whether or not they can actually capture your ship are nothing more than irritating, and exploiting a system to attempt gain through sheer frustration.

In a way, no matter how you play it, it is the players' faults. We wanted these changes and we got them. For my part, I like most of them (but it's also not that hard for me to find resources, or I make do with something else in the case of wood) Silver is a significant issue, as the production is highly limited. But there are several areas that can produce it. The answer to the shortage could be to take a region with silver production. These areas should be highly contested. However - I will agree that the crippling effects of not having silver are too great. I think the introduction of Fine woods has mitigated the need for silver in notes. So increasing Silver availability would probably help.

I used to think the same way, when I played on PVE. But the simple fact of the matter is that the game does reward PVE much more than PVP. Hostility is raised most effectively through both War supplies and Hostility (PVE) missions. You can join PVE missions, but it is incredibly rare to find active missions while you're sailing around OW. Additionally, if I want to make money or find potentially useful supplies through privateering, I don't go looking for players. For the most part they sail in open water, far away from land whenever possible. It's much easier to find smugglers close to home (AI), or go to enemy waters and take their traders. In a slow day I can take an LGV with AI backup and take half a million in ships and cargo. Don't even get me started on trading. So I completely understand the desire to incentivize PVP more than PVE, because PVE is already the norm. People want to win. So they play in the way with the most guarantee for success. They avoid areas of contention and do all they can to get rich, build the best ships, and own the most land. The actual PVP that happens is when pirates seek it out (they're pirates because they want PVP, I've come to realize) by sailing to enemy waters and free ports, searching for any prey. Otherwise everyone is still trying to play the meta of hostility missions and empty port battles. Now I have no problem with making PVE events rewarded, in fact I'm sure I saw that on the notes. But don't force the PVP events to also offer yet more options for PVE.

At first (before I finished reading) I thought it was just going to be another way to create sheep to slaughter. But I like that the owner has the chance to keep the rare items if the attacking ship doesn't also have the perk enabled. Could be a nice way to get the waters more populated.

While I understand the distaste for the lack of realism, Crew loss is a significant issue for manning a ship in battle. For my part, I hate going back to port after every battle (or two, depending) just to rehire crew. The medkit (and unshipped crew) offers the chance for players to stay out and engage in more combat or exploration. Removing this would make it even more difficult to find action. Consider if you're trying to build hostility or (in my case) just cruising enemy waters in hopes of finding a fight. You get one battle with a skilled opponent, and even if you win you have to sail twenty or thirty minutes (or more) to get back to a friendly or even neutral port in order to refit. So it does add realism, which I admire. But it takes away from game play significantly.

My only genuine concern with this concept is that rum is also used in Medkits. This would potentially make it unreasonable for a newer (or habitually poor) player to carry medkits on his ship. I know with doctor perk that medkits are less critically needed, but they can be a vital part of a player's ability to stay on the ocean longer. I always hated it when I had to return to port because I didn't have any way to replenish lost crew. The money sink concept I like, I just don't know if rum is the way to go when it's already used in a variety of ways.

This really gets back to "I want the game my way, not your way". It's a mentality that all of us have, but I think some things should be considered. While it is a Game first and foremost, it's also a simulation of a particular time in our history. You're running into a battle between Arcade and sim, which is going to be rocky until we hit a balance between the two. I personally like the two circle system, because it allows me to play solo. I shouldn't have to join a clan or sail around in large groups just because you want to. While it is an MMO, it's not WoW. There are "Raids" in the Port battles, but not everything revolves around playing with other people. In general, I like to do MY thing in a game, not something that some group of other people want to do. There are many people just like that. We're a little anti-social (we are playing a game on a computer), and just want to enjoy a good game. You can still sail in large groups, you just can't ambush other lone players or smaller groups without them having some kind of warning. I spent the weekend in battles with other lone captains. It was great. No one jumped in after the battle started, and it was a pretty even distribution of power between the two sides. That's what this game is (I personally believe) all about. A contest between Naval captains to determine who is the better sailor and gunner. Your version of the game is just about who is more popular. So (again, this is only my opinion) if you want to get in a big battle, use one of the MANY mechanics designed around large fleet actions. But for the rest of us, let us have our Cruises and smaller actions between ships. I know this is a tired and worn comment, but it rings true: Age of Sail fleet actions were fairly infrequent. They were incredibly costly and usually cost hundreds of lives for a primarily moral victory. Ship to ship actions happened much more frequently, and didn't involve massive fleet backup sailing (At speeds unheard of in those days) in to crush the enemy ship(s).

I think you're mistaking Hunting for Finding. Hunting is the act of seeking out prey, Finding is the end result. An expectation of finding is replacing the thrill of Hunting. I know everyone plays differently, but for my part, I enjoy the hunting as much as I enjoy the finding (More so, if the Prey turns out to be predator!)

It's that WoW raid mentality. Everyone works for HOURS to get a port battle that may last half an hour or so. And even worse for us (PVP2) is that they are mostly attacking uninhabited Spanish ports. For every person complaining about the PVE grind and how the game is falling to garbage, stop doing missions and get out there and hunt.