Traders need to be reworked

[Captain Comery]

As the name suggests the traders in NA need a smal fix. They always run at the start of a battle which means I have to chase them and when I get in firing distance they escape.

I agree that traders should run but not from the second the battle starts. The old system caused the traders to sail circles around us which was no fun either.

Is there a way to combine the two? Maybe the traders run rings up until they lose a cerain amount of crew or we come within a certain distance?

If the current system still exists when we open up the game for new players they will catch no traders and probably lose interest in the game. (Maybe an over exaggeration)

Personally I think that this is something we need to consider in the future, how would new players handle the game combat and boarding mechanics? The current mechanics are fine for most of us as we have been here since sea trials but the possible new guys won't have been.

Please take the above into account and any better ideas are welcomed on this topic.

[OlavDeng2]

The devs have allready addressed this and i agree the way they handled it, as it acts as a mini tutorial.

 

1. square rigged ships you want to attack them with you downwind from you as that is the direction they try to escape, load chain start extreamly close if you can and start chaining them

 

2. same with fore and aft rigged ships except you start upwind from them.

[MrWhuping]

Well why catch something if its not working in the first place.

Players should be able to adapt to the difficulty of the game. I tried to hunt traders with the intention I can catch, but to no avail after multiple attempts I failed each one. I attacked a Lynx with no clue what it was and attack me in return. I chose to attack these types of ships for actual experience of these game mechanics and even ingame XP.

Before then I went back to attack traders. I noticed by placing yourself in a correct position in the Open World map before initiating you can gain the upper hand or lose it immediately. Chain shots became a variable of catching your prey or losing it.

All this in a matter of experimenting within' 1-3 hours of playing the game. I'm practically new and I like it the way it is.

Now if you're in a PvP Situation and you're in a battle you don't want to be in - what are you going to do? Run away right? Just exactly what that Trader AI would do in that situation. Run.

[sterner]

Next patch will contain a change related to mentioned above problem.

[Tief N Tote]

may be they can add another ship for beginners like native war canoe. just something for people to practice the basics on 

[GoldenEagleLeader]

I don't think the current system needs to be fixed, it is historically accurate because if a armed ship was going to attack a trade ship usually the trader would always run the second they see the armed ship coming to attack them.

 

90% of being able to catch and kill/capture traders is all about your open world positioning and luckily I have followed the Ow positioning tutorial that Admin gave  us and I have had no problems catching traders

[akd]

The system is fine, except it puts too much of premium on chasers. I think there should be a longer window to allow ships without chasers but with superior sailing ability to be able to use that advantage.

[Prater]

Next patch will contain a change related to mentioned above problem.

 

 There is no problem.  Should we give rocket boosters to fore and aft vessels so they can catch square riggers?

[sterner]

 There is no problem.  Should we give rocket boosters to fore and aft vessels so they can catch square riggers?

Only one change - bot won't exit when battle timer is out. Bot will increase distance until 750m and only then exit. 

[Flavalicious]

Perfect. Time and distance = excellent. Welcome change.

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

I wondered why the bot didn't just escape today Sterner. That's a great compromise, I like it a lot!

Thanks for the quick update.