Jump to content
Game-Labs Forum

Modify the names over the ships ?


Recommended Posts


To steal or take something that does not belong to you.

"i didnt have money so i ganked it"

 



It is a word commonly used in online video games, usualy used in an MMORPG. Ganking is the process in which a group of charecters gang up on one or more players that do not have a chance to defend themselves, Or when one high level player does the same action to a player way below his or her own level


 

  So yea, did a quick definition search. The first is just Piracy renamed, the second is more along the lines of what I see it as. A surprise or underhanded attack because blank you we're goonswarm. Bah. Underhanded tactic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Focus fire, however, seems to imply, to me, a coordinated attack by a group of ships onto one, and then in theory focusing on the next and next til you win/lose.

 

Pioneered by Admiral Ackbar of Mon Calamari, many nerds from then on would put it into practice to save their fleets from certain doom. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the names were to be removed there would still need to be something above the enemy to help designate a target. You could focus but just wouldn't know who you were focusing on. The ability to see friendly names as is would be a good idea as well.

It's why I support the spyglass suggestion of only seeing names over ships in spyglass view.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It could be as easy as flying a pennant or flag off the stern of a ship.

Enemy has it friendly doesn't. Easy side by side views and would have to have position on the ship to see it so long distance view might be difficult but not impossible in a turn.

That should give you all the info you need and no sighting cannon help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my opinion it would be a bad idea to remove the names. It is after all a game. What about the info box where you see their armor, sails, ports etc? What about the wind direction indicator on the compass? The yards indicator? Why not remove the UI altogether? No thanks. Ideas like these make games a hassle to play and offer no substantial increase in enjoyment, if any at all. I want to concentrate on tactics and maneuvers, not pointless memory games.

 

We are the only ones... God help us

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

At this point in development I don't think it matters. The number of people playing is extremely small and there is really no other game mode besides team deathmatch. We have no idea how or what the open sea will look like....how open sea engagements will be handled.....what if any the death penalty will be.....and about a million other things that will effect the overall game. So for right now.....yea leave the names above the ships for now. I'd at least wait till we get into a closed or open beta with a substantially larger population and open sea with various things to do in game before I'd worry about stuff like this.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get your point Morgan, but we're just speculating and theorizing and brainstorming and trying to show the developers ideas we have that may be something they were working on but did not know how we wanted it, or how they wanted it exactly.  But one thing that needs to be added, and I doubt you will disagree, is color blind mode.

 

  I still say the flags are fine enough, BUT I know not everyone is like me who will wait to get a proper target ID.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The poll isn't really clear... i voted yes to remove the names over ships, at least ennemy ones.

 

You can undo your vote and change it if you so desire

 

Yes - is a vote to keep things as they are

No - is a vote to get rid of the names or modify them

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go ahead and remove the ship name for aesthetic purposes, but replace this by a captains name being and friend/foe being very very clear up at the damage indicator location when scanning the near or far horizon. Even if the damage is not shown due to range.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

matain names on friendly ships (for organisational reasons)

 

tag enemies with alphabetical letters (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, ...)

like this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet#mediaviewer/File:FAA_Phonetic_and_Morse_Chart2.svg

 

if there will ever be more than 26 ships on enemie team you can combin stuff like Alpha One, Bravo One, ...... , .... , Alpha Two, Bravo Two)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Arena mode, remove enemy names and replace with an enemy indicator you can turn on/off. Keep friendly names.

Open world, remove players names and only reveal them within hailing distance.
.

Please remember its a game and you are not really on a ship so the funnnnn factor need to take apart in this aswell. Focus fire is alot easyer when you have a name

spec when we dont have ts and all that comm that really is needed. type  target Grim,  insted of.  3 ship from the front with white sails nonono 4 ship didnt c the lynx

 

The harder(realistic)  you make the game the better it is for those who can play everyday, and if its to hard to learn/handel we will loose those

people that wanna play a few times a week very fast. And i have a feeling alot of you forum guys just cant get it realistic enough :(

 

I have NO clue how a real ships was sailed or handled, but i could imagin that they had a guy or 2 that had one job and that was to find out who

the ships they where about to fight where, and the captain just got this info, not that he, himself had to read all the flags, names signs ect ect.

 

So to me the sign over the ships is just the info the captain is given bye those of his crew that have that job.

 

Not knowing the name of the guy you're shooting at or chasing down doesn't make the game harder at all.

It's not only the same for both sides but simply changing "Focus Fire Dansih" to "Focus Fire North Most Victory" or "Focus Fire This Victory" as you fire a broadside at a Victory will take one engagement to get used to, if that.

And captains had no more prior info than we can discern from looking through the spy glass. Basically, the type of ship. If they knew any more they were either well informed or kept a track of who sails what ship and where to expect them. Information we should be able to gather to our advantage in game.

 

Am I the only one here that thinks removing names is a bit extreme even for NA. I suppose the better question to launch here is that is this really necessary as a mandatory step. There is a line that becomes drawn at total immersion and game play practicality. It sounds like a good idea up until the point people start fumbling around because there is a sudden lack of direction via using people as a reference point unless everyone is on comms and knows what they are doing. I also do not see the issue of people being spiked out purely by consequence of name. I am at the front of the division in almost every trafalgar game I enter and I almost never die given our team does not loose and gets entirely wiped out by default. 

You could just as easily ask "are enemy name indicators really necessary as a mandatory step?" too. I would say that they aren't. Honestly, how big a deal would removing the names be? Is it a game breaker?

I would also argue that a game without them would have an extra level of intrigue. "who is the captain of this ship on the horizon? Is he friend or foe?" as opposed to, "That's "Mr Doran" again, he chased me for 10 minutes then captured my ship in a frigate last week, I'll go the other way"..

Let's at least try it first. Once within a certain distance (within hail I would propose), the name is then revealed.

 

In my opinion it would be a bad idea to remove the names. It is after all a game. What about the info box where you see their armor, sails, ports etc? What about the wind direction indicator on the compass? The yards indicator? Why not remove the UI altogether? No thanks. Ideas like these make games a hassle to play and offer no substantial increase in enjoyment, if any at all. I want to concentrate on tactics and maneuvers, not pointless memory games.

We aren't discussing the yards & wind indicator, which is information that you would have available to you anyway. Simply the names above our enemies ship and as I've argued above it would add an extra level of subterfuge, disguising your ship to get closer before opening fire etc. as well as an extra level of tactics and maneuver.

After all, picking your fights and judging how to approach an unknown enemy is the most important part of any engagement, surely?

 

All the concerns are merited but I just don't think this is the time to raise them as you loose so little and gain so much (I'm talking long term, granted not so much in arena mode) by restricting enemy name indicators to extreme close range.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could just as easily ask "are enemy name indicators really necessary as a mandatory step?" too. I would say that they aren't. Honestly, how big a deal would removing the names be? Is it a game breaker?

 

Yes. A huge one.

 

This is not going to be "inside game" forever. This is aimed to be an MMO. MMO is many times, for many, MANY people much more about social interactions than about game itself. It's a place to hang out, playing the game.

 

Making it so you need to close in to combat range? Sure. Removing enemy / friendlies names completely? Putting MMO argument aside for now, realism is NOT an be all end all argument. Realism is good only until realism is good. Realism doesn't fit everything, everytime, everywhere. Most of the game don't even care about realism that much. And you know why? For the sake of fun.

 

Fun > realism, NOT fun = realism. There are dozens of different types of people and dozens of different concepts of a perfect balance between arcade and realism. For me? Realism can and will decrease a game's value in some scenarios. "Because it's more realistic" is not an argument - it's a statement of one's opinion. You cannot argue with "more realistic = better" - that's lazy and simply wrong. Each scenario needs to be considered singularly, considered against the expected result and considered against expected audience. And if the expected audience are only people who put realism in the first place... well... the game I could play, the ghost-town I would mind. MMOs need audience, as onto their core is the social element. Marketing singularly only to a very niche gamers is not the best of plans for an MMO.

 

There is also another part that I didn't see mentioned here. Immersion, right? It's more immersive to have to look at the flags to recognize ships? Contrary to popular belief, I would say no. And this is simply due to the fact that a chat will be there and has to be there - so in the end you get people asking who's flying what flags, who's in what ship, mistaking one another for someone else and generally having a bad time. That would get me out of the game right away. If I could really be immersed in a MMO in the first place. Let's be honest here... at every turn in an MMO you're going to be reminded you're in a game. That's simply the case with MMOs.

 

And that being said, limiting spotting distance? Limiting the ways to know a name of random passerby or an enemy? Sure, ain't got nothing against that. Making it so you have to look at flags and ships to recognize someone? I'll pass.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not replace them with 'ship names'?

 

A captain names their ship just before battle, if someone wants to report them or talk to them they use the ship name.

 

That way you can see who your enemy is and who your friend is but you can't gang up on the good players as they can always choose a new name!

 

I'd still like to see a hardcore gamemode with no indication other than flags and nothing but manual sails but ship names could be a good way to solve the ganking issue for the normal battles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. A huge one.

 

This is not going to be "inside game" forever. This is aimed to be an MMO. MMO is many times, for many, MANY people much more about social interactions than about game itself. It's a place to hang out, playing the game.

 

Sure, if you're playing with friends, sailing together, fighting together, traveling in a convoy, chat away... I would be the first person to complain if they decided you couldn't socialise in game. Not having enemy's names above their head doesn't effect that at all.

If you're in port or out at sea (within hail) trading or pressing crew etc. talk to the other players (everyone in port/town would be within hail), swap anecdotes and information all you want... no harm.

 

What difference does the 'social aspects' have to do with knowing what ship you're closing down or what their intentions are though?

I see no scenario where you need to say anything to an enemy or and unknown ship until they're within hailing distance and if you can suggest one that's game-breaking then I'll be happy to concede here.

 

Again, I'm not arguing realism over fun. Re-read my post. I will argue there will be more fun without the names (over distant ships), not because of realism but because it gives you more options on attack and more uncertainty, which creates immersion and nerves. This is what got people so excited when Day Z came out, that uncertainty about the intentions of another player. Is that a game you can't play with friends? Definitely not.

There will be no need to ask who has what flags in chat, non at all. Unless there are 10-15 of exactly the same ship at any given point on the open ocean at once and you're trying to locate a friend amongst them (..and even then saying "I'll fire one cannon now" would do the trick) then the names above the head are of little use other than to remove that nervy immersion Day Z became so popular for.

I'm not trying to change your mind about anything other than the overstated importance you have for the names always being above the ship. Please, understand that I think they should be there for friendly ships and ship from the same navies anyway. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I already made a post giving my opinion on keeping names during Sea Trials but thought I'd give a few more reasons why having names in a battle will be important when the game goes live.

 

1. Can't build personal fame, infamy, reputation etc. while being anonymous = BORING

2. Punishes PuGs way more than two or three people in a guild on vent. Trying to focus fire on a target without a name and without voice comms isn't going to happen.

3. I suspect a big part of the game will be open sea engagements that might not be numerically or class very evenly matched....might want to know who it is your fighting to help gauge your chances of success.

4. Helps to build identity of players in the community. Also makes it easier to identify someone who is engaging in unscrupulous play potentially.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I already made a post giving my opinion on keeping names during Sea Trials but thought I'd give a few more reasons why having names in a battle will be important when the game goes live.

 

1. Can't build personal fame, infamy, reputation etc. while being anonymous = BORING

2. Punishes PuGs way more than two or three people in a guild on vent. Trying to focus fire on a target without a name and without voice comms isn't going to happen.

3. I suspect a big part of the game will be open sea engagements that might not be numerically or class very evenly matched....might want to know who it is your fighting to help gauge your chances of success.

4. Helps to build identity of players in the community. Also makes it easier to identify someone who is engaging in unscrupulous play potentially.

 

 No one is suggesting that opposition players not be KNOWN - the suggestion is they NOT have their name on a big red banner over their head!

 

A simple push of the Tab key will reveal all who are in the instance - and you can screen shot it if you want.

 

In Open World I would suppose Tab might be modified to show who is within cannon range IDK? An entirely different alligator to kill there. ;)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Can't build personal fame, infamy, reputation etc. while being anonymous = BORING

2. Punishes PuGs way more than two or three people in a guild on vent. Trying to focus fire on a target without a name and without voice comms isn't going to happen.

3. I suspect a big part of the game will be open sea engagements that might not be numerically or class very evenly matched....might want to know who it is your fighting to help gauge your chances of success.

4. Helps to build identity of players in the community. Also makes it easier to identify someone who is engaging in unscrupulous play potentially.

1. Jack the Ripper? ... but seriously, having a set distance at which point the names are visible would mean that in close engagements or boardings the name of the of the victor would be known. Then, once a player with a 'reputation' is in the area, every distant ship would potentially strike fear into a convoy or nearby port.

 

2. If they really wanted to, they could easily... "Everyone follow my lead and focus fire" *fires at enemy ship*  .. I refuse to accept that not having a name above the enemies ships would make focus fire impossible. Let's just pretend it did, even then it's still the same for both sides.

 

3. I would argue the opposite would be far more fun and risky in attack, especially for pirates. This has to be a good thing.

4. That is one valid point you have. A player out of identification range couldn't be immediately known and noted for reporting. I'm sure with some thought though a work around could be found.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure, if you're playing with friends, sailing together, fighting together, traveling in a convoy, chat away... I would be the first person to complain if they decided you couldn't socialise in game. Not having enemy's names above their head doesn't effect that at all.

If you're in port or out at sea (within hail) trading or pressing crew etc. talk to the other players (everyone in port/town would be within hail), swap anecdotes and information all you want... no harm.

 

What difference does the 'social aspects' have to do with knowing what ship you're closing down or what their intentions are though?

I see no scenario where you need to say anything to an enemy or and unknown ship until they're within hailing distance and if you can suggest one that's game-breaking then I'll be happy to concede here.

 

Again, I'm not arguing realism over fun. Re-read my post. I will argue there will be more fun without the names (over distant ships), not because of realism but because it gives you more options on attack and more uncertainty, which creates immersion and nerves. This is what got people so excited when Day Z came out, that uncertainty about the intentions of another player. Is that a game you can't play with friends? Definitely not.

There will be no need to ask who has what flags in chat, non at all. Unless there are 10-15 of exactly the same ship at any given point on the open ocean at once and you're trying to locate a friend amongst them (..and even then saying "I'll fire one cannon now" would do the trick) then the names above the head are of little use other than to remove that nervy immersion Day Z became so popular for.

I'm not trying to change your mind about anything other than the overstated importance you have for the names always being above the ship. Please, understand that I think they should be there for friendly ships and ship from the same navies anyway. :)

 

 

So far, every single multi game I played, a enemy who's name I recognize and fear was much more unnerving and immersive than "a guy". Sorry, but I do not understand your argument. For me personally, a named and recognized enemy is insanely more scary than... well, "a guy". Again.

 

I seriously hate idea of removing the personal element from enemy encounters. Why play this as MMO then, anyway? Why not co-op? You say it's pointless to know your enemy's name, and for me it is game breaking. I don't want to go against a bunch of random encounters. I want to make enemies, I want to remember the name of a guy who put that broadside in me, I want to play with people. Not with nameless proxies.

 

It IS that important to me. Yes, I do dare to disagree with you, even understanding you want to keep friendlies names. No amount of pleading will make me understand it more. And I will not re-read your post. My opinion is NOT a result of misunderstanding a higher truth :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So far, every single multi game I played, a enemy who's name I recognize and fear was much more unnerving and immersive than "a guy". Sorry, but I do not understand your argument. For me personally, a named and recognized enemy is insanely more scary than... well, "a guy". Again.

 

I seriously hate idea of removing the personal element from enemy encounters. Why play this as MMO then, anyway? Why not co-op? You say it's pointless to know your enemy's name, and for me it is game breaking. I don't want to go against a bunch of random encounters. I want to make enemies, I want to remember the name of a guy who put that broadside in me, I want to play with people. Not with nameless proxies.

 

It IS that important to me. Yes, I do dare to disagree with you, even understanding you want to keep friendlies names. No amount of pleading will make me understand it more. And I will not re-read your post. My opinion is NOT a result of misunderstanding a higher truth :/

 

Again, no one is suggesting that the enemy not be KNOWN - you are arguing against a phantom. :angry:

 

The suggestion is simply to either lose the big RED PENNANT with their name on it or replace it with a more unobtrusive marker - it's what "Blood" would want also. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...