Update on the port battle set up

[Fripwud]

Good attempt imho.

 

Just - can we have the port battles 46 hours after flipping please instead of 48 hours?

 

I think, it might take long clan events to flip ports to the afforded hostility level and if it - lets say e.g. needs up to 11:00 pm in the night to flip the port (with couter activities from the attacked enemy). Then the port battle should not start at 11:00 pm two days later, cause it will take until far beyond mid-night to end the port battle then. I think the end of the flipping time shows approximately the end of the peak online time of the server population. So a port battle event should start at least 2 hours before the peak time ends. What do you think about it?

Edited August 17, 2016 by Fripwud

[themule08]

I agree. But if there is no-one in that zone and you want that port. What do you do?

Use the AI! I 100% agree that POTBS had this idea all wrong.. I for one love shooting ships..but to grind up a port by killing ships is not the correct way. Blockading was how you cut off a nation and port, and then sending troops on land after a battle ensued.

So in my implementation of port battles in this game is as follows.

Nation A decides as a nation which port it will attack. The nation then sends AI to blockade the port.. I mean a blockade of epic proportions! big fleets of frigates and a few 4th rates where you can not get in or out with out a battle..the AI will hit everything.. and will have fleets for traders too.

Blockade lasts for 8 hours to 24 hours can be determined.. meanwhile pvp is there as well as you protect your blockade from the defending nation and their allies.

When I say epic blockade.. I mean it will take your nation to get out of it.. no 12 players killing npcs to unblock it.. it will be a national effort..

No mindless grinding of AI ships to do the same thing as Potbs..a lot of us have done this and it has run its course. Be unique and have fun with it.

If it is the same system as potbs.. pirate looks very attractive.

Discuss and let me know

**edit**

- 1 or 2 blockade allowed at a time.. to simulate nations ship size. This would be based on size of port you are capturing.

- If the defending nation destroys the blockade then the port is safe...if they can not by the time the timer is out then you are looking at a port battle.  Why I think a blockade of 8 hours would be ideal.. would get a lot of people into the action and would be something a nation could do in a day.

Edited August 17, 2016 by themule08

[themule08]

Back to the port battle mechanic, I would like to see whaleboats and troops be added.

• Whaleboats are a craftable item weighing, lets say, 50.
• Troops are a regenerative resource in friendly ports (low in shallow, medium in deep, fast in regional and ultra fast in capital).
• Troops are hired for gold.
• Each whaleboat allows you to drop troops near an enemy port to build up hostilities.
• Each whaleboat can drop an X number of troops in 2 minutes (same as a flag drop right now). Multiple whaleboats increase the number of troops dropped.
• If the dropping ship moves or is engaged within 1 minute, the troops and whaleboat(s) are lost.
• If the dropping ship moves or is engaged within 2 minutes, the troops are delivered, but the whaleboat(s) are lost.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vigo_Bay#Breaking_the_boom

Could use this in conjunction with the blockading idea.

[Thomas Boyle]

https://sketchfab.com/models/388d6f34156a4ff0a6e0be6e4cd7fa35

https://sketchfab.com/models/d5af45bf94204b03adcc9702dfb3ccc1

 

It looks excellent. I'm sure PBs will become exciting.

 

 

 

[Wilson09]

I agree. But if there is no-one in that zone and you want that port. What do you do?

 

Not sure if this is already mentioned.

Hang around? Fishing?

 

I mean, what´s the point farming AI over and over again...why not just be in a zone / circle. #

Reminds me to Wot, just capture an area if more tanks are in, capture accelerates.

 

Transformed to NA, just be near this port = hostility rises....

I mean, just camp this area = blockade the port.

 

Maybe a combination, but "camping" should count.

advantage: enemies need to know (ah there are players in there...lets go and scout and defeat)

I am not so sure about AI farming....

 

Another point ADMIN mentioned:

he said something like: Port Battles will not / never be initiated without any PvP?

 

Best defensive strategy: defenders never go there...

 

Camping alone should suffice, my opinion. Takes time, but if enemy chickens out, they do so...

Edited August 26, 2016 by Wilson09

[KrakkenSmacken]

Not sure if this is already mentioned.

Hang around? Fishing?

 

I mean, what´s the point farming AI over and over again...why not just be in a zone / circle. #

Reminds me to Wot, just capture an area if more tanks are in, capture accelerates.

 

Transformed to NA, just be near this port = hostility rises....

I mean, just camp this area = blockade the port.

 

Maybe a combination, but "camping" should count.

advantage: enemies need to know (ah there are players in there...lets go and scout and defeat)

I am not so sure about AI farming....

 

Another point ADMIN mentioned:

he said something like: Port Battles will not / never be initiated without any PvP?

 

Best defensive strategy: defenders never go there...

 

Camping alone should suffice, my opinion. Takes time, but if enemy chickens out, they do so...

 

 

I could see a mix of several methods for raising and lowering hostility.

 

Method 1, hostility raises by the lowest value based on the Enemy BP in the radius.

Method 2, hostility raises by the results of a PvE battle within the area.

Method 3, hostility raises by the results of PvP battles within the area.  (1 and 2 could be directly tied to XP earned)

Method 4, hostility lowers while your waters are clear of enemies.

...

...

...

 

 

Why oh why do people insist on a magic bullet model of "this is the best and only way to do X"?  With a system as open as hostility could be, you could create all sorts of inputs for affecting it, from combat and control as describe above, to economic and building impacts on the same.

 

I think it should be built like the "perks" were.  Create a base model with things that are obvious to build/reduce hostility, and things that can modify the impact those changes have (multipliers/divisors) like how developed/used a port is, and then put in the simplest things first.

 

After that open it up to as many modifiers as you like, with players suggesting new modifiers for the devs to implement.  With a good core system, adding additional ledger items (think accounting balance sheet), is as easy as identifying them and adding the calls to the correct controllers (MVC developer thinking here), that update the values.

[Jeheil]

It will be important that the map UI is much improved so we can see 'aggitation levels' (and not just top 10) and 'port battle schedule' easily.

[Knobby]

Any indication how long it will take to put a port into full hostility when there is no push-back from the owners?

And is there still a limit of 10 ports in full hostility?

And if a port is pushed past the limit to actually start a port battle 48 hours later, will that port still take up a top 10 spot for those 48 hours waiting for the PB to open?

[Sea Archer]

May I ask for some Pirate AI to sail around?