[PVP2] Server "Health"

[Benedict Arnold]

Move your main outposts to behind the front lines and you will get both the PVP to keep you having fun and the PVE AI fleets you so desire for leveling your newbs.

 

FTFY o7

[BarnesBL0278]

In regards to the ships of the line, I think the game mechanic to change would be to make then prohibitively expensive. It's also conceivable that the could introduce renown, or some similar system, that requires a player to fight and deal a certain amount of damage (equal to his ship?) in PVP while fighting equal or greater BR. This would motivate players to seek battle when outclassed. These renown points could be cashed in for orders, which would authorize a rated ship. So you could own the ship, but you can't sail it without orders. Orders could be a mod slot as well. You lose a santi, you lose the orders. You lose a 3rd rate 3 times, you lose your orders. Go pvp for more. This would make people:

1. Keep the 3rd rate+ at home until needed.

2. PVP more when outclassed.

3. Sail Trincs more. Given the prolific nature of the frigate IRL, this would add a certain level of realism that is lacking.

The Connie of course would reign supreme, but that's better than gobs of 3rd rates sailing around like it's Trafalgar every day.

Problem solved. Nobody would risk a Victory or Santi if they'd have to grind renown to get a new set of orders. This would also play to RvR, as well as the historical grognards this game originally marketed to. It'd also cut back SOME of the ganking, and at least reward the ganked.

Edit: We could also reward renown for both the capture and defense of player traders. This would be historically equivalent to the primary mission of navies, as well as adding more game play elements like convoys and convoy defense.

Edited March 16, 2016 by BarnesBL0278

[Casgar Rovelle]

//rp off

 

All,

 

This forum thread has been hijacked by certain French and Swedish Captains regarding the War of the Lesser Antilles, which already has two open threads regarding it.  The primary point these agitators would like to point out is that as a direct result of the British defeating the French at Fredericksted, 400 players left the server. It would also have you believe that because the British are doing PVE missions, crafting, PvPing, and RvRing, that they are exploiting the game and ruining the server for new players.  These two arguments could not be farther from the truth.

 

The French have Second and Third rated ships, but failed to use them at the Frederikstad. These large ships were acquired by "PvE grinding", and also by using the "pirate exploit" (and switching nations).

 

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/11705-france-declares-unrestricted-naval-warfare-on-britain-pvp2/page-4

 

In the thread above titled "France declares Unrestricted Warfare on Britain", you will see the French making Youtube videos harassing British players and later in the forum post attacking the British in a 8v25, then making fun of the British for only having 8 players. Mind you, this isn't a 25v20 port battle, this is a open sea fight in which 25 French engaged 8 British players (with 10 Swedish players sitting outside the fight).  The simple fact is, when the French have the numerical ship advantage it is alright to sink and then harass sunk players on the forums. However when the numbers don't support the French (i.e. Frederiksted), the opposing forces are "zerging, game-exploiters, and gankers who are ruining the game". This argument is at best hypocritical and at worst open forum flaming.

 

The second argument on this forum is that a new Swedish player cannot play the game because the British have taken all of the resource ports. While it may be true that the British have taken many Swedish ports, the British sought a peace agreement with the Swedish days ago, posted here:

 

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/11556-pvp-2-the-british-aggression-against-sweden/page-8

 

In it, SoulPython, a leader of the Swedish nation, openly mocks a British player for seeking out a peace agreement regarding the War in the Lesser Antilles. Simply put, the Swedish leadership refused a British peace agreement to allow the Swedish to keep the four key resource ports or more. Where is the Swedish leadership of yesterday that made that decision? They are French today.  They in fact left the new Swedish player in this post along with twenty other Swedish players to clean up the political mess they made in Sweden.

 

Britain is the model nation for health in this game. Its a nation that people want to play (not one that people pay other people to play). It is a nation that regardless of personal opinions, rallies together to accomplish goals using all aspects of the game.  It is a nation that seeks player communication from other nations in an effort to ensure the longevity of the server. It is a nation that spends more time in the game and less time on the forums requesting the game developers to distort the game to certain players play style.  It has been my pleasure to sail with all of the members of the British Nation, and I am proud of what we have accomplished.

 

Now, I would highly recommend that we get back to the real reason this thread was created, which is why 400 people left the server over a two week period, and what is the way forward for PvP2.

 

Respectfully,

Casgar Rovelle

Edited March 17, 2016 by Casgar Rovelle

[[MCC] Die Antwoord]

The pirate on pirate exploit accusation is a serious one, I hope you have proof to back it up. I can't say I never had doubts myself, but despite having several people close to these guys I could never get confirmation about any of them using any kind of exploit. Without giving out names two guys in my clan were fishy in that reguard and again, I have never caught them in the act nor have I ever had any other player give me proof or even substantial gossip to back it up.

So please, if you do have proof, put it forward or at the very least provide it to the devs. I would be the first to kick anyone doing this out of our clan, cheating and exploiting is bad for the game and I have strong convictions and principles against it. I also know for a fact most accusations that come without proof are baseless.

All that said, to get back on topic, the issue is not the server but the game. Our pop cut in half... So did all other servers... The game is bleeding, not the server.

[Slamz]

I thought it'd be easier to understand how to solve your problems

 

I still don't think you understand.

 

We do not have problems. You have problems.

 

You think our problem is that we can't defend our ports. This is not really a problem. Truth be told, there are only 3 reasons to own ports right now:

* You want to grind crafting levels and need tons of resources.

* You want reinforcement bubbles.

* You want places to carry flags out of (which, for the most part, results in you obtaining more ports you have no actual use for).

 

The RvR game is a bit of a joke in its present state. So losing ports really is not a serious problem to have. I would be content PvPing out of free ports and buying just the ships I need from willing sellers, of which there are plenty, using the money I obtained mainly from PvP. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

 

 

Your problem is you are all geared up for a massive 25v25 port battle game that does not exist at the moment. Maybe the U.S. team can give you that fight, but I'm not even sure about that.

 

Sweden can't give you that fight.

France can't give you that fight.

I assume the Dutch, Danes and Spanish can't give you that fight.

 

So your problem is you have a playstyle that you cannot feed. What are you going to do, I wonder?

 

Offering an increasingly higher XP and gold reward for ships with BR lower than the average BR in a fight would be a great way to encourage a more historical mix of ships on the seas.

 

Short term, sure.

 

Long term -- say, 6 months from now assuming we all keep playing -- everyone will be max level. XP will be totally meaningless. I'm rather afraid that gold will become meaningless too, especially for the players who tend to win a lot and therefore get a lot of gold and spend very little.

 

I don't think improved rewards is really a good answer to this game's problem. We just need more fighting and more war and less PvE grinding that takes people out of the war for long periods of time.

 

If this game was pvp only there would be less than 250 people playing it.

 

Which actually makes me wonder, "Would it be so bad if the PvE people quit?"

 

I mean, they are basically non-entities anyway. The U.S. may have 300 people online but if 250 of them are mission grinding in the hinterlands then they are as good as offline anyway, so far as the rest of the game goes. Whether they log in or not literally does not matter with respect to the health of the game or the server. We almost need the online count broken down more:

"Number of people online: 650"

"Number of people doing anything remotely relevant to the other players: 70"

"Number of people dicking around in PvE being basically worthless and would not be missed if they logged off right now: 580"

 

The game supports them, but they don't really do anything that supports the game. They would be just as happy (maybe happier) if they were offline playing single player -- or standard Left4Dead style single-group coop.

 

My argument being that we literally do not have to do anything to support those players or their playstyle. They are already uselessly irrelevant.

 

At best, they are working hard to become relevant later, but I wonder how many of them will stick with it to that point.

[Arsilon]

Maybe port battles should be like nation battles with a set and equal number of ships and BR. People that join would be assigned to ships, higher ranked players having first picks and any attackers vs defenders diff would be filled by NPC captains.. This way all port battles would be equal BR and skill would determine who wins.

 

Now this is an interesting idea.  Perhaps you enter with your ship that puts you in queue for what ship you get to pick.  If you lose your "proxy" ship, you lose your dura for the ship you brought.

Come with a 1st rate you get first pick.  Come with a basic cutter, you get last pick or perhaps shut out if there are more than 25 players?  Then the Port battle fleet could be a more realistic mix of ships on both sides.

 

Interesting idea, indeed.

[[MCC] Die Antwoord]

Which actually makes me wonder, "Would it be so bad if the PvE people quit?"

 

I mean, they are basically non-entities anyway. The U.S. may have 300 people online but if 250 of them are mission grinding in the hinterlands then they are as good as offline anyway, so far as the rest of the game goes. Whether they log in or not literally does not matter with respect to the health of the game or the server. We almost need the online count broken down more:

"Number of people online: 650"

"Number of people doing anything remotely relevant to the other players: 70"

"Number of people dicking around in PvE being basically worthless and would not be missed if they logged off right now: 580"

 

The game supports them, but they don't really do anything that supports the game. They would be just as happy (maybe happier) if they were offline playing single player -- or standard Left4Dead style single-group coop.

 

My argument being that we literally do not have to do anything to support those players or their playstyle. They are already uselessly irrelevant.

 

At best, they are working hard to become relevant later, but I wonder how many of them will stick with it to that point.

 

You are missing the point here. A game is a business. If a business has little to no clients, it dies. The carebears or whatever you want to call them are supporting the game by making it viable monetarily, by providing money for the dev studio to actually improve all aspects of the game.

 

This game might be PVP, but despite what the devs say, it does not have PVP at it's core. The huge map, the small player base, the HUGE grind to become meaningless, etc. are all things that go against this game being core PVP. What do hardcore PVP games have in common? Little to no investment/grind and instant action... I don't see how this game could ever evolve towards that without radically changing.

 

All that said, there are many ways to promote and incite PVP. An achievement and mission system that involves killing players for instance...

 

1 kill = Murderer 500xp, 10k gold

100 kills = Conquerer 20k xp 150k gold

1000 kills = God 50k xp, 500k gold

 

Participate in a 25 on 25 battle = xp+gold

Participate in 1, 5, 10 small battles

Participate in 1, 5, 10 large battles

Participate in 1, 5, 10 defended port battles

 

Die 1, 5, 10, 100x to enemy players

 

Mission: Kill 3 Frigates+ ships (condition: the 3 players must be of different nationalities)

Mission: Sink 10 french players

Mission: Cap a British player Pavel

Mission: Get in the protection bubble of all nation capitals

Mission: Kill 10 players after they have called in reinforcements

 

etc.

 

All this would promote PVP if the rewards are good enough and are complex enough to be hard to farm/exploit.

 

Kicking out or shunning the PVE guys is not how you do it... Drawning them to PVP via necessity or monetary/progression gain is a damned good way.

Now this is an interesting idea.  Perhaps you enter with your ship that puts you in queue for what ship you get to pick.  If you lose your "proxy" ship, you lose your dura for the ship you brought.

Come with a 1st rate you get first pick.  Come with a basic cutter, you get last pick or perhaps shut out if there are more than 25 players?  Then the Port battle fleet could be a more realistic mix of ships on both sides.

 

Interesting idea, indeed.

 

I'll think on it and create a suggestion thread in the appropriate section... I think it would be nice

[Arsilon]

 

I'll think on it and create a suggestion thread in the appropriate section... I think it would be nice

 You would need to think of a way for it not to be abused, ie 25 people showing up in cutters.  You still want people to bring out meaningful ships but it shouldn't be 25v25 1st rates either.

Edited March 16, 2016 by Arsilon

[Taralin Snow]

I don't get the impression that the developers are so in need of business that they want to make this a PvE game, or more to the point that they want PvE grinding to be the best way to level up:

 

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12026-dare-to-dream-whats-your-ideal-port-conquest-system/?view=findpost&p=215785

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/11749-game-is-bleeding-players/?view=findpost&p=211193

[Nikodemus]

I see a lot of good ideas here but to be honest PvP2 players (like myself) should not be making the call for major changes like this. The server pop is way to low for us to know what things would be like with a full server. If there are any PvP1 people reading this I would like your take on things,

[Ci'Ki]

The Brits go on about PVP then as the Pirates defend port Howe then attack Nassau they buy a flag for Parrot Cay, as if we have the numbers to fight more than one, that is not a nation wanting pvp.

[Lord_Howe]

It's entertaining the way that every nation claims it's only them that wants PvP, and every other nation avoids it.
 

If everyone were right then these would be the safest waters in the world to sail.

[HMCS Warrior]

The Brits go on about PVP then as the Pirates defend port Howe then attack Nassau they buy a flag for Parrot Cay, as if we have the numbers to fight more than one, that is not a nation wanting pvp.

 

The flag for Parrot Cay was purchased in the hope that a Pirate fleet would be formed to engage us. We were looking for an open world sea battle. Parrot Cay was chosen for the longer sail to allow more time for a Pirate fleet to respond. The two flags were purchased within seconds of each other. It was coincidence. Could really careless about another port. It was a strategic purchase in the hope that the Pirates would have more incentive to come after our fleet. Your assumption that we do not want pvp is entirely incorrect. Britain is starved for PvP. We were really happy to see a USN fleet knocking on our door at St. Nicolas 2-3 weeks ago. Unfortunately after a couple of battles the US had fallen back not to be seen again. Plan A was to engage a Pirate fleet Plan B was taking the port.

[RURickJames]

I am a new player to this game, only started last week with two of my friends. I think this is an incredibly fun game and have had a number of fun skirmishes with other players. Only one problem, we chose to join Sweden, I don't think we chose poorly, it was enjoyable for the first couple days. Now every time I log in I see that we have lost another port...................nations that want to PvP, that's great, just remember if you want the game to stay healthy, you have to make it fun for people to get into. Attacking lower level people who just got their first snow, I can't imagine that is fun for anyone.

 

 

Fair sailing to all captains.

 

 

Ah.....Ode to where have all the Danskere-Nordmann gone....

Edited March 17, 2016 by RURickJames

[Critique]

We do not have problems. You have problems.

 

France can't give you that fight.

 

 

 

What was the 25v23 fight at Fred? A loss because you chose not to use the third rates that Casgar pointed out.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Critique

[Arbour]

What was the 25v23 fight at Fred? A loss because you chose not to use the third rates that Casgar pointed out.

 

"Chose" is an interesting choice of words.  Do new players choose a cutter? Or is that just what they can crew?  The problem with port battles, in general, is that levels are determining the outcome, not fighting.  Think about it.  Battles are being won and lost without a ship from either side sinking.  How is that good?  How is that fun?  Who can level the quickest to get into those 3rd and 1st rates, wins ports without even having to fight.  Port battles are won and lost by PvE grinding, and who does it more before the battle.  Not a really competitive, or fun, way to do it.   

 

This thread is supposed to be about ways to improve the game and why people are leaving.  Casgar, above, claims this has been high-jacked by French and Swedish players to complain about their current situation.  But what I see are people discussing mechanics and problems with the game, using some examples we've witnessed, and then Brits coming in and being overly defensive about these legitimate complaints.  One of the big complaints that has come up throughout this thread is that PvE is the best way to win a PvP game.  That is serious.  It is not a attack on Britain, or a "woe is me" from the French, it is a fact about the game, in it's current state, that does not bode well for it continuing to be fun for anybody, British, French, Swedish, whoever.  

 

Not solving the "whoever levels the fastest wins the whole map" problem will turn more and more people away.  Half the population has already left.  Without changing anything, my guess is that the population will drop even more in the coming months.  Those that aren't willing to commit to 100s of hours of grinding before they can significantly have an impact will leave, and new players that have no hope to catch up will get discouraged and leave. This needs to be said and brought to light.    

 

Now leveling is not a bad thing, but what is a bad thing is that lower tier ships mean nothing.  There is a realistic and historical reason fleets in the age of sail had multiple sizes and types of ships to fill different roles.  This game needs to bring that into the game, otherwise, in about a month, there will be only 2 types of players, those in 1st rates and those that are not.  And those not in 1st rates in a month will just quit, leaving the Caribbean filled with 1st rate captains that, in many cases, have not even sunk an enemy player once....in a PvP game.    

Edited March 17, 2016 by Arbour

[Arsilon]

I see a lot of good ideas here but to be honest PvP2 players (like myself) should not be making the call for major changes like this. The server pop is way to low for us to know what things would be like with a full server. If there are any PvP1 people reading this I would like your take on things,

 

PvP1 might be a good place to see what they have done differently to perhaps not lose as many people as we have.  But they would have no perspective on what we have chosen to do collectively and how we have chosen to play here that might have led to it being more 'unfun' than other servers that have not seen as much of a drop off.

 

Does anyone know if PvP1 has had issues keeping people?  Perhaps they have given you see them coming over to our server all the time trying to recruit people over there.  So perhaps the grass isn't any greener.  Has anyone spoken to some of the folks that switched?

[Sir Lemon Wedges]

PvP1 might be a good place to see what they have done differently to perhaps not lose as many people as we have.  But they would have no perspective on what we have chosen to do collectively and how we have chosen to play here that might have led to it being more 'unfun' than other servers that have not seen as much of a drop off.

 

Does anyone know if PvP1 has had issues keeping people?  Perhaps they have given you see them coming over to our server all the time trying to recruit people over there.  So perhaps the grass isn't any greener.  Has anyone spoken to some of the folks that switched?

 

This is pure speculation on my part but if you look at the harbor map for PvP 2 US over here http://www.navalactioncraft.com/mapand then compare it to the harbor map of PvP EU 1 it looks like it is more of a struggle to control harbors. Still looks like there are underrepresented nations but it looks like a better split. Once again, pure speculation but it may have something to do with it.

 

Fair sailing Captains

[Capt. Rice]

"Chose" is an interesting choice of words.  Do new players choose a cutter? Or is that just what they can crew?  The problem with port battles, in general, is that levels are determining the outcome, not fighting.  Think about it.  Battles are being won and lost without a ship from either side sinking.  How is that good?  How is that fun?  Who can level the quickest to get into those 3rd and 1st rates, wins ports without even having to fight.  Port battles are won and lost by PvE grinding, and who does it more before the battle.  Not a really competitive, or fun, way to do it.   

 

This thread is supposed to be about ways to improve the game and why people are leaving.  Casgar, above, claims this has been high-jacked by French and Swedish players to complain about their current situation.  But what I see are people discussing mechanics and problems with the game, using some examples we've witnessed, and then Brits coming in and being overly defensive about these legitimate complaints.  One of the big complaints that has come up throughout this thread is that PvE is the best way to win a PvP game.  That is serious.  It is not a attack on Britain, or a "woe is me" from the French, it is a fact about the game, in it's current state, that does not bode well for it continuing to be fun for anybody, British, French, Swedish, whoever.  

 

Not solving the "whoever levels the fastest wins the whole map" problem will turn more and more people away.  Half the population has already left.  Without changing anything, my guess is that the population will drop even more in the coming months.  Those that aren't willing to commit to 100s of hours of grinding before they can significantly have an impact will leave, and new players that have no hope to catch up will get discouraged and leave. This needs to be said and brought to light.    

 

Now leveling is not a bad thing, but what is a bad thing is that lower tier ships mean nothing.  There is a realistic and historical reason fleets in the age of sail had multiple sizes and types of ships to fill different roles.  This game needs to bring that into the game, otherwise, in about a month, there will be only 2 types of players, those in 1st rates and those that are not.  And those not in 1st rates in a month will just quit, leaving the Caribbean filled with 1st rate captains that, in many cases, have not even sunk an enemy player once....in a PvP game.    

All i see here is people being up set at higher ranks players because they pve more then you?   I can then just say the same thing about a lot of other mmos then that are still doing great.  You say you want and even pvp experience but blame it due to some one else being in a higher ship then you.   What would be the point of ranks then if every one was even pvp and sailing 1st rates ... i see ranks a goal that can assist you and being better at pvp.  In almost every mmo being a higher lvls has advantages when it comes to pvp. The benefits of being higher lvl give you access to gear that helps you in pvp.  Yeah there are games that boost you in pvp to match  other players lvls but even those dont make pvp completely even as it give those who lvl up and grind rewards for doing so. 

[Arsilon]

All i see here is people being up set at higher ranks players because they pve more then you?   I can then just say the same thing about a lot of other mmos then that are still doing great.  You say you want and even pvp experience but blame it due to some one else being in a higher ship then you.   What would be the point of ranks then if every one was even pvp and sailing 1st rates ... i see ranks a goal that can assist you and being better at pvp.  In almost every mmo being a higher lvls has advantages when it comes to pvp. The benefits of being higher lvl give you access to gear that helps you in pvp.  Yeah there are games that boost you in pvp to match  other players lvls but even those dont make pvp completely even as it give those who lvl up and grind rewards for doing so. 

 

OK, we can close this thread now.  The game is great.  The mechanics are perfect.  It's purely just coincidence that we see players getting bored and leaving or re-rolling from their current nation to some other nation since everything is perfect and fun.  /rant

 

Seriously, do you see no problems whatsoever with the way the game is being played right now by a good chunk of people?  This isn't an issue of complaining about x or y.  This isn't an issue of pointing at one nation or another or specific individuals or clans.  Tell me you think what is happening right now on this server is a good thing and will not make another 50% of the population leave in another month.

[Arbour]

All i see here is people being up set at higher ranks players because they pve more then you?   I can then just say the same thing about a lot of other mmos then that are still doing great.  You say you want and even pvp experience but blame it due to some one else being in a higher ship then you.   What would be the point of ranks then if every one was even pvp and sailing 1st rates ... i see ranks a goal that can assist you and being better at pvp.  In almost every mmo being a higher lvls has advantages when it comes to pvp. The benefits of being higher lvl give you access to gear that helps you in pvp.  Yeah there are games that boost you in pvp to match  other players lvls but even those dont make pvp completely even as it give those who lvl up and grind rewards for doing so. 

 

I don't see anywhere, anything about fights being even.  I've only said that port battle mechanics should encourage fighting, doesn't matter if it is even.  I will agree that in other games, higher levels mean better at PvP.  But are those fights won by just showing up?  No.  I would even argue the contrary since a well handled Frigate can beat a 3rd rate, but according to BR, 3.5 Frigates are equal to a 3rd rate.  That is flat out not the case.  Battles are being decided by an arbitrary and inaccurate number, not by fighting.  This is being exploited by people and encouraging players from all factions to grind fleets, which is boring, and they are not get better at fighting cause as it stands now, if you just show up with more big ships you win without a fight.  

 

I personally have fought countless uneven battles while on the small end, even won a fair amount of them.  I don't care.  Fighting is fun, win or lose.  Losing is not a big deal, which is surprising since it seems a lot of players are so risk-adverse that they go out of their way to avoid fighting even when they have the advantage.  PBs are not about fighting, they are about showing up.  That simple fact is discouraging players, in my opinion.  I could be wrong, but something is happening to the server population.  This is a "ship fighting game" were key battles are decided without fighting.    Get rid of your "they are just complaining cause they lost" attitude, and purpose why you think the server population has dropped by 50% in a month and this trend is still continuing.  I'd be happy to hear your input on that.  But if you are just going to posture, then gtfo.  

[Teamski]

The flag for Parrot Cay was purchased in the hope that a Pirate fleet would be formed to engage us. We were looking for an open world sea battle. Parrot Cay was chosen for the longer sail to allow more time for a Pirate fleet to respond. The two flags were purchased within seconds of each other. It was coincidence. Could really careless about another port. It was a strategic purchase in the hope that the Pirates would have more incentive to come after our fleet. Your assumption that we do not want pvp is entirely incorrect. Britain is starved for PvP. We were really happy to see a USN fleet knocking on our door at St. Nicolas 2-3 weeks ago. Unfortunately after a couple of battles the US had fallen back not to be seen again. Plan A was to engage a Pirate fleet Plan B was taking the port.

 

 

As Warrior already knows, prior to the Parrot Bay sortie, a Pirate fleet of about 16 ships were camped outside Port Au Prince.   This was a hefty force including six 3rd rates. The Brits only had something like 6 good ships to respond and there wasn't much of a battle....just a couple of skirmishes as the Pirates called it a day and headed back north.  As Warrior mentions, the whole intent of the Parrot Bay attack was to get a good PvP battle with Pirates that were possibly still around after their show of force at PaP.

 

The game is getting down to where we almost have to have a set-piece battle function like the battles in the mission section where you can literally schedule a huge battle between factions.  Sad, but  It is all about timing in the end and it seems like we are going back and forth without a decisive battle to get people their solid PvP action......  This isn't just a British issue.  Ask the pirates how well they did yesterday in drawing an opposing force.

 

-Ski

[Arbour]

As Warrior already knows, prior to the Parrot Bay sortie, a Pirate fleet of about 16 ships were camped outside Port Au Prince.   This was a hefty force including six 3rd rates. The Brits only had something like 6 good ships to respond and there wasn't much of a battle....just a couple of skirmishes as the Pirates called it a day and headed back north.  As Warrior mentions, the whole intent of the Parrot Bay attack was to get a good PvP battle with Pirates that were possibly still around after their show of force at PaP.

 

The game is getting down to where we almost have to have a set-piece battle function like the battles in the mission section where you can literally schedule a huge battle between factions.  Sad, but  It is all about timing in the end and it seems like we are going back and forth without a decisive battle to get people their solid PvP action......  This isn't just a British issue.  Ask the pirates how well they did yesterday in drawing an opposing force.

 

-Ski

 

You are right.  There is so much back and forth happening by one side or the other to avoid a meaningful engagement.  People are logging into a ship-fighting game and spending hours either avoiding or chasing a fight, and not actually fighting.  This is a problem.  I've seen whole fleet wait in port for over an hour cause they are afraid of a smaller force waiting for them outside.  There needs to be something to discourage this.  It's a game of wake-a-mole with no guarantee that you can actually hit the mole, or that the mole hits back.  People are spending hours and hours waiting for chasing or avoiding a fight and that is frankly boring. 

[HMCS Warrior]

From Arbour: "But what I see are people discussing mechanics and problems with the game, using some examples we've witnessed, and then Brits coming in and being overly defensive about these legitimate complaints."

 

From Slamz: "Not trying to be political here, just not sure of another way to put it, but what we've seen of the Pirates and the Brits is what's killing the game: grinding their way up to higher ranks and then simply showing up with so many numbers and so much weight that you can't fight them." Cannot believe this had to be dug up again.

 

Of course we are going to get defensive when we are being accused of ruining the game according to your perception. These are the games mechanics, deal with it. Everyone is most certainly entitled to their opinions and suggestions. This is the game that the devs have created. Take it up with them and do not accuse a certain group of players for ruining this game. Every other mmo is about leveling and gearing up. Ultimately it is up to the devs on how to carry forward with development and mechanics. In the mean time put on your big boy pants and level up if you want or don't, does not matter to me. Play how you like, sail the ships you like and I will be doing the same. Do not ever try to force a certain play style on me when the mechanics allow me to do what I am doing.

 

Next Port Battle we do that is defended I want to leave the last tower up and see what the outcome of that battle is like. Might be interesting. We did do this a few times in the past and I think we should look at doing this again. Ultimately I believe most of us want more pvp. I have seen a lot of good ideas that would promote open world sea battles. Hope to see some of these ideas implemented for testing. I am done with this dead horse. Moving on.

 

Cheers

 

Good Luck and Have Fun

[Arbour]

I agree Warrior, Slamz should have replaced "pirates and Brits" with "some people" to avoid backlash, but his point still stands, and the population is still dropping, almost daily.  The game mechanics are the game mechanics and if it works for you then it works for you, but there are 400+ players that were on the server that it didn't work for.  I have my opinion as to why.  Like I said, I may be wrong, and Slamz may be wrong, but there is a problem.