Hello gents,
There is a lot of talk on the forums about how the Open World will work, whether or not players will have skills or progression and questions of how many ships we will be able to own. I've pondered some of these things and would like to share a few ideas of my own.
Families:
Imagine this, you've loaded up Naval Action and hit New Game. You are taken to a screen where you choose a name, a family crest and set a number of parameters (e.g. wealthy family, midshipman as a youth, joined a Navy) that determine your starting stats and skills (for those who have played it think Mount and Blade). This character now becomes your Patriarch/Matriarch, as you play the relationships you create, reputation you earn or deeds you achieve all factor into the standing and power of your Family. When you die, whether through combat, illness or age. You can continue playing as a descendant of your original character, perhaps even earning a starting bonus (you'd expect the son of a Naval Officer to have more familiarity with the Service for example). Alternatively you could retire the Family which would enter it into a Leader board/ Hall of Fame. I know some people will flinch at the heavy RPG elements I'm suggesting but I would put forward that as fantastic as sailing around is, adding a human element would ultimately enrich the gameplay. Both for player agency and allowing player narratives into the game. Additionally, I think a system like this offers some recompense if NA goes with a more 'hardcore' core model. (i.e. No insurance of any ships, player death possible).
Fleets and Open World:
Addressing the idea of owning multiple ships. To me, the less restrictions placed on the players the better. But there are no free lunches. Players should have one active ship, the one they are sailing, which they pay upkeep/maintenance on. For every additional ship you pay upkeep/harbour fees/ supplies/ wages and so on relative to the size of the ship. Depending on which port you call home those fees will change, decreasing proportionately with how safe the Port is to hostile nations and pirates and perhaps things like Forts, the number of cannons, the size of the garrison. So what is the point of owning more than one ship? Well, I suggest that players would be able to set automated trade routes. (Whether by specific way points or a simple Boston>Nassau>Boston with a buy/sell order attached). You would buy the supplies, prep the ship, and it would sail off. You'd be told the number of days expected for the round trip and that would be it. This information would then go to a server and if a self-styled pirate (Player 2) was patrolling somewhere between Boston and Nassau the server would spawn in Player 1's ship loaded with sugar in real time. Not only would these ships be driving the economy of the world but they would physically be apart of it. You could negotiate player contracts to escort the ship, form patrol fleets and if you wanted to, sail with your own trade vessels to guarantee their safety (hopefully). They would also be affected by storms or unfavorable winds and could be lost at sea.
I think by doing this you can create a more organic Open World. One where you would need to watch for sails on the horizon and gauge the wind to take a prize or run from a fight. Where the need for instanced battles or nodes is reduced as the likelihood of ships being on a popular trade route would be high. Ultimately all this still comes back to the core gameplay loop of sailing and... naval action.
Thoughts, questions, queries?
Regards,
BadVoodoo
p.s First post, let me know if I stuffed anything up you seadogs.