An Approach to Piracy

[William the Drake]

NOTE: Pirates are in-game and playable. Any discussion or debate as to the necessity or want of pirates is now irrelevant. Please avoid any pirate-based flaming (or flaming of any nature for that matter). Thank you.

 

As alluded to in a separate post, I hope very much so that Pirates and Piracy will be handled rather uniquely in comparison to other nations in Naval Action. (it is my ultimate hope that each nation will operate in their own unique way, but that is a discussion for another day)

 

As stated in many other topics discussing it, I agree that Piracy should be seen as the "Hard mode" of Naval Action; it should not be for the faint of heart, heavily PvP oriented (but not exclusively PvP; a player should be able to make their way without PvPing, but have a much harder time of it), with simple goals. This all hinges on how Piracy is implemented, including the very first step of actually becoming a pirate:

 

Turning to Piracy-

...I believe that changing the mechanic from choosing to start as a pirate to making a conscientious decision to "go" pirate will help fix any issues with new players who feel that playing Pirate is too hard to get off the ground: it should be.

 

Ultimately, a player should have to start off as any a sailor in any of the other factions. Then, when they feel comfortable enough, they can go pirate. By going pirate, they lose the protection of the navies, any type of PvP protection system (peacetime mechanic, etc.), and all economic connections. going pirate will essentially be a new beginning, but the player will know how to play (and should know the glaring repercussions of going pirate, which should be hefty)

 

In my opinion, Piracy should be a middle-to-late game decision. If done too soon, the player could (and should) be run into the rocks without mercy. The Pirate's Life is not an easy one. Because Pirates are KoS for basically everyone, this is a good thing in that new arrivals will not enter into a 100% hostile environment with the bear minimum of resources. Going Pirate should be like a fry deciding they have grown big enough to swim  out of the protection of the shallows, at which point they are at the mercy of the sea and all its malicious mechanizations and inhabitants.

 

The Pirate's Ship- Emphasis should be placed on smaller ships for Pirates. The speed and maneuverability of smaller vessels was more fitting for Pirate's hit-and-run tactics historically, and should be reflected in game; Pirates should want to hurry up and capture a ship, plunder it, and sail away (also the fact that pirates preferred ships with low draughts so as to navigate shallow waters). Long, drawn-out fights with heavier armed and armored navy ships should not be something a pirate is eager to do. The largest ship that a pirate should be able to efficiently able to pilot in my opinion is a Surprise at the moment, although I could be swayed to bump that up to the Trincomalee (Any ships yet added between the Surprise and Trinc should also be taken into consideration).
NOTE: I am not arguing that pirates should be restricted to small ships; If a pirate get's their hands on a Heavy frigate or ship-of-the-line, so be it, let them sail it. But it should A: be no small feat to do so, and B: Incentives should be placed where sailing a smaller ship would be more lucrative/safe than a larger ship. The good captain Darby discussed this here and I am in agreement:

[...]if a pirate can capture a Bellona from a player, he/she should be able to sail her.  I think, however, that there should be some sort of degradation process, or that the cost of sailing her should be so high that it acts like the QAR scenario - they can sail it until it breaks or they run out of money, which should be quickly. 

 

In short, set a cutoff point, and any ship above that will have repair costs raised to exorbitant prices, to the point that either scuttling it or keeping it simply as a Trophy ship are the only viable options. 

As for Pirates with SoLs? I for one think that SoLs should be a rarity in general, even more so with pirates. (Historically accurate? Of course not, but if the ability is there it will probably happen, although if pirates operate as they should, an SoL for a pirate will be more of a trophy-ship and not have any practical use, except for a big beacon that says "Lol, here I am, come sink/capture me")

 

The Pirate "Economy"- Much is up in the air as to what the in-game economy will look like. But regardless, I believe that Pirates should have a minimalist approach to the overall economy as far as direct supply. Should pirates be allowed to have a plot of land to farm some sugar here and there? Sure. Should they be able to prop up a (single) ramshackle rum distillery (which produces a paltry amount of rum)? Eh, ok. Could they even sell their rum (No! Not the Rum!) to shady/desperate traders or smugglers for a spot of coin? Absolutely. Should they be able to corner the rum market in their region? No. In my opinion these things  should only be a secondary option to a pirates income.

The pirates main place in the overall game economy should be to simply be as a parasite on said economy; "Take what ye can and give nothin' back".. or, you know, sell it back for some gold (sell-back price will depend on where and who you can safely sell it to).

But in short, Pirates should not be trying to compete with trade companies to corner any markets.

 

Mobility of Pirate Ports and Havens- Pirates shouldn't be camped in areas heavily trafficked by navies, nor should they be occupying a plot of land that has an incredibly valuable resource sitting in it, thus being a major target for nations. A pirate want's his safe-house to be just that: safe. Sitting on a massive gold mine that England wants is just asking for some major overkill on England's part.

That said, pirate ports probably shouldn't be permanent: what good is a secret hideout if it is no longer secret:

[...]The power behind the pirates should be their flexibility and mobility; the ability to hurry, pick everything up and get the hell out of dodge and set up somewhere new. In short "To embrace the oldest and noblest of pirate traditions...We must fight, to run away." 

 

"A (simple) Pirate's Life for me!" - "Politics? Domination? A Pirate craves not these things." Pirates should not be concerned with "conquering" a map, nor should they be concerned with capturing ports. Raiding them of their valuables, perhaps, but only the most daring and cunning (and foolish) would attempt that, and it should be considered a major gamble.

Pirates should have their own separate RvR system/goal, and not give a hoot as to whether the Nations are killing each other or not (although, navies being preoccupied with war and less with Pirate-hunting would be nice).

 

Other mechanics such as crew recruitment could be tweaked, such as crew could only be recruited when boarding and capturing a ship, or have crews harder to come by in pirate ports. Things such as smuggling and port accessibility will have to wait until the game is developed further.

 

Cheers,

William Drummond, the Drake.

Edited June 18, 2015 by William the Drake

[thomas aagaard]

 

In short, set a cutoff point, and any ship above that will have repair costs raised to exorbitant prices, to the point that either scuttling it or keeping it simply as a Trophy ship are the only viable options. 

 

 

I think all ports should have limit to the "class" of ships it can handle. since the harbor facilities to build, maintain and repair larger ships was simply not that common.

So Port A can handle up to class 6 normally, class 5 poorly and 4 and u not at all.

And the "poor" result in 200% higher price when repairing and lower price when selling.

Ships of the not supported classed should naturally not be sold.

Repairing should be impossible. Selling and buying should be more expensive. 

 

And naturally most pirate harbor should be rather low and they simply should not have any that can effectively handle a 1st rate. (and that should be very rare for the nations too)

Edited June 18, 2015 by thomas aagaard

[William the Drake]

Aside from the things listed above, there is a discussion and concern as to how Pirates will participate in RvR, though it originated in a separate post: The Case Against A Pirate Nation

 

RvR will be an odd and "tricksy" aspect to approach as pirate. 1st I believe we will have to wait to see what type of RvR and economy are implemented and then go from there. Right now we are just speculating as to what Pirates could do in certain, hypothetical RvR scenarios.