Basic PvP Sail Spotting - Masthead those Mids!

[Tenet]

Get the Captain off the Masts and back into the Cabin! (during wait times)

Basic Feature:

Button Toggle On/Off - Sends spotters to the Masts in Open-World. The spotters will report every Player-Ship that has Sails-Up within visible range.

The report will have an Audio and Visual component, for example: "Enemy Ship Spotted!" (ding)(ding)(ding) - "Ally Ship Spotted!" (ding)

Edit: Limited to 5th rates and above.

This basic feature is critical to facilitate PvP in remote locations and ambush situations on the Open-World map, particularly when the server has a low-population.

The basic version of this feature should be implemented ASAP, without delaying for more advanced versions.

 

Examples of use:

- Ambush - sail your ship to the ambush point, reduce sails to 0, turn on Sail Spotting. You can now step away from your PC until there is a chance for PvP happening. You don't have to keep scanning the horizon for the next minutes-hours. You will spot the enemy likely before they spot you because your sails are down.

- Patrol - same as the above but while sailing somewhere, both you and anyone else with spotting will get a notification, resulting in a player interaction or PvP

When close to an active port  the feature can be turned off to avoid overload of notifications.

 

Advanced Features: Not important right now. Could add extra features from a perk or improve the detail of scouting orders. Could add items and skills that improve range and detail of information.

This was suggested in more elaborate ways many times in the past - I believe that when some servers are near-dead this feature is CRITICAL to keep OW alive. 

Many people log-off simply because it's too much of a hassle to find others in the OW. More Ambushes, more Patrols, more PvP = More people playing over time.

Edited October 5, 2017 by Tenet

[Archaos]

and such a system would be used by every afk trader to warn them of raiders.

It sounds a nice system but do we really want to encourage more people to be afk while playing the game?

[Tenet]

51 minutes ago, Archaos said:

and such a system would be used by every afk trader to warn them of raiders.

It sounds a nice system but do we really want to encourage more people to be afk while playing the game?

It would only warn you if the ambusher has sails up. People already AFK-trade, this actually hurts AFK traders by encouraging more people to ambush.

Right now AMBUSHERS / RAIDERS stopped playing because keeping eyes glued to monitor is horrible - high effort, low result. 

Having the captain spend 24/7 on top of the mast is neither realistic, user-friendly, or contributing to PvP. 

Edited October 5, 2017 by Tenet

[Archaos]

1 minute ago, Tenet said:

It would only warn you if the ambusher has sails up. People already AFK-trade, this actually hurts AFK traders by encouraging more people to ambush.

So it is just a mechanic that allows raiders be lazy while their prey and the people that hunt them cannot go afk. Raiders already have great advantage over traders with most traders knowing that if they are seen by raider they have little chance of escaping. With this mechanic there will be alts stationed everywhere in fast lynxes just to set alarms for ships sailing by.

Sorry more I think of it the worse the idea becomes.

[Tenet]

Just now, Archaos said:

So it is just a mechanic that allows raiders be lazy while their prey and the people that hunt them cannot go afk. Raiders already have great advantage over traders with most traders knowing that if they are seen by raider they have little chance of escaping. With this mechanic there will be alts stationed everywhere in fast lynxes just to set alarms for ships sailing by.

Sorry more I think of it the worse the idea becomes.

Can bump up the requirement for this feature to a certain rate - like 5th rate or higher. 

If people want to leave 5th rates around to spot, let them, the response will be more targets for raiders. 

[Archaos]

Just now, Tenet said:

Can bump up the requirement for this feature to a certain rate - like 5th rate or higher. 

If people want to leave 5th rates around to spot, let them, the response will be more targets for raiders. 

A raiders speed built surprise is hard to catch especially if they have warning in advance.

The idea of lookout to give warning of sail spotted sounds nice and realistic, but I think it would not be good overall for the game. I had considered the exact same suggestion myself when I first started playing and we had limited teleports and a lot of long sails to do but I thought it through and felt the downside outweighed the advantages of such an idea.

[Tenet]

11 minutes ago, Archaos said:

A raiders speed built surprise is hard to catch especially if they have warning in advance.

The idea of lookout to give warning of sail spotted sounds nice and realistic, but I think it would not be good overall for the game. I had considered the exact same suggestion myself when I first started playing and we had limited teleports and a lot of long sails to do but I thought it through and felt the downside outweighed the advantages of such an idea.

I thought about that, but a Surprise is a sufficient investment and can be cornered much easier than a Lynx. 

People will not be able to afford 3x Speed Upgrade Surprises to serve as scouts - any time it's caught it's a harsher punishment than losing the trader in the first place. 

If they bring anything slower, it will be chased off or captured. People already have ALT spotters on trade routes, this suggestion gives Raiders an advantage. 

Edited October 5, 2017 by Tenet

[Captiva]

I had suggested a similar idea last year. 

My idea was that an audible "Sail Ho!" is announced whenever any player ship from another nation comes into visible range; no ai ship or ship from the players same nation is announced, only player ships from other nations. This is the equivalent of having a lookout in the crow's nest - and this is historically correct. It is then up to the Captain to scan the horizon to locate the enemy ship.

If the player is truly away from his keyboard then these announcements won't help him anyway. But they also shouldn't have to be locked into staring into their computer screen for an hour or two during long, tedious voyages.

On a similar note, I also suggested that an audible  'Drum Beat to Quarters' be heard whenever a player is tagged. And again, historically correct. Currently, the silent tag circle that appears when tagged is too sterile. There should be an audible sense of urgency when tagged in open world. 

I would even like to hear "Land Ho!" when you first come within visual range of a land mass.

We're not suggesting things such as;  auto-evasion skipper, afk defender or anything like that - just common sense crew feedback while in open world.

These ideas would help ease the mind numbing experience that the player endures during long voyages. I am in favor of players having to make these long voyages, but the player should  not be locked into staring at his computer screen for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in total silence while sailing long distances. These audible crew alerts would help eliminate the feeling that you're sailing a ghost ship. Currently there are zero signs of human life aboard a players ship while in open world. 

These suggestions would add greatly to the Age of Sail experience while playing Naval Action.

For me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Both ideas - pro and con - have merit. Let's see what the developers think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by Captiva

[Eyesore]

Afk-hunting?

[Macjimm]

I would like some sort of alert when a ship or land is sighted. "Sail to Port"  "Ding, Ding".  And I don't sail AFK.

But if it were implemented it MUST be optional with a toggle to turn it off/on.  Would be irritating in many situations. 

[Tenet]

People who respond to these threads need to indicate whether they are currently trying to play as Hunters or OW PvPers, and if they are active in the game.

You should particularly have to prove your credentials if you dare use the word "carebear". 

It's easy to forum warrior when not playing the game as a hunter and realizing it's a huge amount of effort for the low chance of a player interaction. 

No wonder most of the hunters quit and the remainder are trying to  concentrate between US coast and Mortimer.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Tenet

[Eyesore]

Allright. I do pve, pvp, crafting, trading and some rvr for 18 months now. Not superactive, definately not the best sailor compared to many other players.

I say 'no' to your suggestion.

Yes, it takes a while to find a decent target when hunting, nowadays it is mostly a waste of time (especially sailing alone, as you really are a target yourself then). Still, that is part of the hunt, you don't know what you'll find or if you'll be able to get away when you meet a stronger opponent. Hunting is a waitinggame, finding a good spot, luck.

If you get bored while hunting ... stop hunting, find a better area, come back at a different time, whatever.

Or you could try to find some sort of wildpark where they lead the prey to you or the prey can't escape? And you pay the groundskeeper to let you 'hunt'? "We'll wake you up sir when that antilope shows itself"

Now, when you add 'alarms' for whatever it is that shows up in OW ... you can just sail/wait afk until you hear a soundcue. That is like 'trapping' (which I don't consider 'hunting').

If you want to ambush, you can sit next or behind an island. You can look over and behind it and see the 'target' first, an approaching ship will always be in a bad position to spot you. Advantage is already for the attacker.

If you want to 'patrol', and you spot enemyships, you can use the chat to post a contactreport. Many don't, laziness? I don't know, some of those I have identified and they won't get any help from me if they get attacked.

[z4ys]

next step let the game autoslove a fight, because its easier, faster and nobody has to sit in front of the screen?

Edited October 23, 2017 by z4ys

[z4ys]

I am sorry when you feel offended, but every automatization of spotting takes away the elemnet of surprise. And the element of surprise is "The" ow feeeling. why people decide to play NA over NAL. I know that you personally dislike surprises. So maybe you should stick to WOT gameplaystyle and play NAL. At least you can be certain you will get enemies in your BR range.

[Tenet]

You compared the "automation" of not having to stare at the horizon for hours on end for the hope of a player ship to the straw-man argument of automated-fights. 

This suggestion is the exact opposite.

The interesting chases IN THE OPEN WORLD MAP and the ship fights AGAINST OTHER PLAYERS are the meat and potatoes of this game. The losing of eye-sight on staring at a boring horizon is not.

The hours of staring at horizon waiting for a player with raised sails should be Automated as an option on long raids or ambushes. 

PvP should not require having a Toilet mounted under your seat so you can stay in the same place for hours.

This game simulates Age of Sail - where Captains stayed in their cabins unless a live chase or course correction was required.

If you can't see the difference and still think the comparison between action and inaction is fair, there is no hope for you or this game. Building strawman arguments is not an argument.

Edited October 31, 2017 by Tenet