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Abuse of flag mechanics to block assault on port - Pirate Edition


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 Alrighty, I think that a lot of people are going to be waiting/dreading for this Tribunal post to be put up here. I don't feel like I am personally the best when it comes to forums, but it seems that this is the only avenue that allows for justice to be served in a case like this. I am fine with there being spats in chat and even attacks on the open sea as I think most of us are, but I do not believe that this kind of abuse should be allowed in game, and the people responsible should be punished. The people who griefed our entire clan out of attacking ports that we had planned the entire week waiting for and blocked our ability to play the game, are willingly destroying our gameplay on purpose out of spite. I hope that all of you will agree this should not be allowed, but the only question that should be asked is, what will the punishment be?

 

So I am the leader of the clan FTS inside of Naval Action, we play on the Pirate faction as most of you know. Today we decided to get on early with as many members we could muster during the European Timezone, people dedicated time and effort getting this to happen. 

 

So we all logged in early and when the time window for the first port that we planned to attack opened, we sailed out and successfully captured Samana with minimal resistance. This did not go over well with a few of the Pirate Clans who do not agree with what we were doing, that was fine they prefer a certain playstyle and that is ok. They didn't just leave it there though, they had two of their officers purposefully pull flags to to prevent FTS from attacking the remaining ports.

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As you can see in that screenshot these two officers pulled flags at the same time for ports that were next to the ones we had just recently taken. So now you ask, did they plan on attacking those ports? Probably not, but give them the benefit of the doubt. Until they openly admit it inside of pirate chat. Now, not that Kuthara is the leader of the clan that these two players come from and they are both officers inside of the clan.

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Now, I'm not one to normally post on the Tribunal trying to get other people punished, but these 2 or 3 players essentially robbed my friends and I of our time and effort, by abusing game mechanics and then gloating about it. To top it all off, we were not able to pull the flag for those ports after they expired, eliminating any possibility of our plans of taking them.

 

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 Will all the evidence that is here, it is obvious the intention of these individuals and the abuse of current game mechanics that caused a huge discussion on a previous Tribunal post. http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/11759-abuse-of-flag-mechanics-2-decision-needed/

 

 These players are obviously guilty of griefing even if not necessarily exploiting. They had the clear intent for this outcome and were probably aware of the Tribunal post discussion about this same topic, but they decided to pull the trigger on their plan regardless.

 

 So the question remains, do we want these types of players knowingly abusing game mechanics and griefing other players who are testing the game? Or will we make an example of these two and prevent players from using this style of gameplay in the future, because they know that they will not get away with it. If you made it through this entire post, thank you for reading down this far and I would appreciate any discussion in this thread.

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I think this is a clear case of flag purchase mechanics.   The spanish had an alt purchase a flag as a british midshipman, given money from another british midshipmen...who were both conveniantly deleted.  This denied us from attacking the port of Misteriosa last week.  This is completely convicting evidence of the same thing being done but within one's own nation.  Buying a flag to deny an enemy throught cheating or by malicious means is completely wrong, it wrecks the game for players.  Pirates who came on and spent hours moving ships into place, getting up early, planning and starting attacks taking ports making money.   Just becuase you don't agree with another fleet doesn't mean you have right to mess with thier plans.

 

I move for punishment and the evidence is very incriminating.

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This is the second time this exploit has been used to block an offensive flag. And this time it was used openly too, a flagrant display of exploitation not by an alt but two main accounts.

Edited by Henry d'Esterre Darby
Removed unfounded accusations.
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disagreements between clans and undertable agreements are part of the game. its all part of the experience with a game like this (same things happened in eve online). however that line is crossed into griefing here as KOTO was blatantly disrupting and stopping the gameplay of many players all because thier leader Kuthara decided for himself that he did not like what FTS was doing. take note that no hostile action was taken by FTS against any pirates in this instance. Kuthara himself took the hostile actions against FTS. his decisions here are a form of griefing and he should be punished for it.

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This behavior is disturbing, and anything short of drastic action will be insufficient. The precedent that needs to be set here is that exploiting mechanics as such is unacceptable. Anything else will result in a slippery slope of increasingly flagrant infringements upon the spirit of PvP conquest. If this is not quashed, than who is to say that loading another clan's deepwater port battles with cerbs is not unacceptable? In this particular instance the motive, method, and perpetrator are clearly established, and there appears to be no attempt to take statements out of context to smear otherwise innocent players.

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Definition of Griefing via Wikipedia : 

 

Griefing is the act of chronically causing consternation to other members of an online community, or more specifically, intentionally disrupting the immersion of another player in their gameplay.

 

 

FTS is a gaming community, we have members that do not play this game anymore / taking a break that we got to log on just for these attacks. This griefing has put a very bad taste in their mouth, and is not helping Naval Action grow its player base / recapture players that are taking a break from Naval Action. 

 

I really hope something is done about this for the sake of Naval Action.

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Buying a flag with no intention of sailing it to the port for the purpose of misleading the enemy is generally accepted gameplay and, more importantly (in my own opinion, and hopefully others'), fun; it's part of the tactical dance of misdirection and planning.

 

But this is different. This is buying a flag with no intention of sailing it to the port for the purpose of interrupting the plans of players on your own team.

 

But...

 

And this is a big but...

 

The pirate faction is unlike other factions, in that it expressly allows members to fight with each-other. And that complicates things. Were this any other faction, this would be an easy case of green-on-green, which isn't allowed. But it's not. It's pirates, where green-on-green is allowed and expected.

 

So, honestly, I can only really say this; what did you expect? If you want faction solidarity, don't be a pirate.

 

And whenever another pirate screws you over, remember these words:

 

 

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 Were this any other faction, this would be an easy case of green-on-green, which isn't allowed. But it's not. It's pirates, where green-on-green is allowed and expected.

 

Uhhh, it doesn't matter who you are, green on green is not allowed and is punishable.

 

Obviously the mechanics need to be changed so this can't happen.  I think that port battles should be 24+ hour multi stage events.  Have a zone around each port.  All combat that takes place in the zone counts to the outcome.

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Uhhh, it doesn't matter who you are, green on green is not allowed and is punishable.

 

I was under the impression that pirates are able to attack and fight each-other. Am I in error?

Obviously the mechanics need to be changed so this can't happen.  I think that port battles should be 24+ hour multi stage events.  Have a zone around each port.  All combat that takes place in the zone counts to the outcome.

 

I like that proposal!

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I was under the impression that pirates are able to attack and fight each-other. Am I in error?

 

You are absolutely right. This is just an example of poor pirate mechanics which leads to these sort of actions. 

Seems legit to me within current *pirate* mechanics.

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I was under the impression that pirates are able to attack and fight each-other. Am I in error?

 

 

no. but there is no way you could stop a flag carrier: you can "join pirates" or "join pirates" in ow battle. mechanics is not allowing fleet battles between pirates.

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You are absolutely right. This is just an example of poor pirate mechanics which leads to these sort of actions. 

Seems legit to me within current *pirate* mechanics.

 

These are the current green on green rules for these mechanics. And this is what is "legit".

 

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/6419-warning-friendly-kills-for-all-nations-are-not-allowed/

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These are the current green on green rules for these mechanics. And this is what is "legit".

 

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/6419-warning-friendly-kills-for-all-nations-are-not-allowed/

 

Ah, I was not aware that it had changed. So pirates cannot initiate battles with other pirates now?

 

If that's the case, then my opinion is the same as it would be with any other faction, then; this is green-on-green in intent, and therefore shouldn't be allowed.

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Pirate can fight pirate, and stay within the current rules. I'm not talking about green on green.

 

So they CAN fight each-other?

 

Apologies to everyone if my language choice was confusing; by "green-on-green" I mean "attacking/fighting other members of your faction".

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