Macjimm

Good idea. So much potential for this game. Imagine, switching cargo between ships. That would be good. Or if we could enter and instance anywhere we choose to, And could pull up beside one of the ships in the fleet and transfer cargo and crew, and it would take time (depending on how much work had to done) and we could even take control of a fleet ship (transfer myself to it so it was my ship in OW) when it was along side. Or we could provide orders to the ship to sail to some outpost. And while it was sailing there, it would in OW and subject to attack. All that would be great. So much potential to this game. Sigh.

Some people suggest we need thousands not just hundreds of players. Previously we played when we had thousands and needed three servers to accommodate the numbers and implemented an auto-kick for inactivity to prevent players from camping and occupying a valuable spot. My comment was in response to the sediment that increasing the population will save the game, and merging the servers will increase the population. Merging will not increase the numbers. Merging will decrease the amount of players. The numbers that we currently have will just not really matter if we merge the non-peak times. It simply won't make any difference. If we had 4 servers with 100-500 players and merged them all then the population difference would be noticeable. I'm not convinced that just having a couple hundred players (rather than 60 or 100) when the server is low will make a such a huge difference to the game. I checked the numbers also. For about 3 months in 2017. The difference between the servers (if everyone stayed) was about 60-80 players. And you will never have the full 60 players at your disposal to fight with. If you are lucky you may have an additional 10 or 20 players within your grasp on the merged server during the low period. You might see a number on the bottom of your screen that says "Online 186" rather than "Online 125" but you will not notice a difference in the game play. You won't see the 30 extra players in ports crafting and trading, and you certainly won't see 10-15 players sailing about in more remote areas because they enjoy it. And you will not notice the 15-20 players spread out over the entire OW looking for you to fight with. Some players play because they are fond of the players they interact with. Others like trading. Or crafting. Not everyone is interested in PvP combat all of the time. It's not so bad making trade runs when the server is quiet and a little safer. Forcing everyone on to a single server will result in some players quitting. Some just don't like the culture of the other server. Some think they get reduced performance, and it really doesn't matter if they do or don't. What matters is that they will quit because they are having their faces forced into a dish that they dislike. There are players that use both servers and they may drop the game if the choice is removed. Merging the servers will not increase the numbers significantly. Naval Action is a good game. People will stay and play because of the content, not because you remove their choice of servers.

The old misconception rears it's head. Merging the servers will not increase the population on the remaining server significantly. When one server peaks the other is at the low ebb. There is no magic that will allow the players that are playing at the peak time on the EU server to mix with the peak time on the Global server. At best we may make a small gain in population at the expense of a bunch of players quitting because they are forced onto a server they detest.

Trouble with the way you have framed this question is that you will get the most elaborate responses from those who agree that the grind is unbearable. Those that like the game and find it enjoyable the way it is are less likely to make strong arguments that the game grind is NOT unbearable. We have already created superfast ships with turbo speed that rocket across the water. Magic teleportation is allowed where players can set up transporter rooms by creating outposts. We already have a compromise between playability and realism to appease players who hate sailing. One of the biggest attractions to Naval Action is the experience of sailing long distances and open sea. They are many gamers who get bored easily and sooner or later will prefer that the environment is a lake and not the Caribbean. There is a thought that all of us must be crammed onto a lake (rather than a small sea) so all players have no choice but to fight in PvP battles. If players had the will they could self-limit their use to a portion of the open world and congregate in active areas to increase their chances for PvP. Players can create PvP. But it seems that a very small group of players would like to force everyone into a narrow area so that PvP in unavoidable within a few minutes of logging into the game. NA Legends will provide that experience, so please don’t ruin the openness of the open world while we are waiting for Legends. I hope that while Legends is being developed we do not water down Naval Action so much that the long sails and low population areas of the open world are removed. Sailing is the appeal of the game. The feeling of travel at sea is appealing. If we remove the long sails completely we will end up with two versions of Legends. Personally I don’t find the game a grind. But I’m not in a rush. I’m not in a huge hurry to obtain hundreds of millions in gold and fleets of first rate vessels. Perhaps the grind comes from player’s goals and their expectation of how quickly they should be able to reach them. I stay in a localized area and find lots of content to amuse myself. The sails are usually about 9 – 20 minutes long. Occasionally I will make a longer journey that takes 1.5 hours. Those longer trips give the game it’s atmosphere of size. It is having the option to make a longer journey that makes the game fun and interesting. Heck the size of the current world is really not that large. Imagine setting out across the whole Atlantic. Now that might be a grind. Please don’t take away the option for longer journeys.

To KnightRider, In response to your question: I’ve often felt that I should be safe near in the home waters. Having foreign ships and pirates swarming around the huge fleets of British warships within sight of the capital port for my nation seemed very gamey. So your post resonated. But .... I paused to consider that Naval Action is not a sailing simulator. I wish it was but it is first and foremost it is an MMO with the main focus on combat. And on the PvP servers the mechanics are designed to channel players into fighting each other, even at the expense of what would be feasible or believable in reality. The idea of having a safe area is appealing to me but I appreciated the comments because they made me think that expecting the seas close to a friendly capital to be free combat areas may be grossly unrealistic. It makes sense that in the age of sail with the lack of communication and the short sight distances it would be incredibly difficult to ensure the safety of any ships that were sailing without a close escort. The game is seems unrealistic just from the sheer volume of NPCs (especially large ship fleets) that are whizzing around everywhere. And considering that it is an MMO the content is what the players create. You can be safe if you can find players to sail as your escort.

Good thread. Informative. I always wondered about the suggestion that the OP posted. The responses make sense. Thanks for starting this and many thanks for the replies.

I'm not sure if you fully realize the significance of cheating at monopoly and how it impacts the enjoyment. Players may not loan money to other players. Only the Bank can loan money, and then only by mortgaging properties. Players do not collect anything (no prize, money, etc) for landing on Free Parking. Is is simply a resting place. I played the game for years using this cheats (or these variations of the official rules). When I finally played by the official rules Monopoly became a very different but much improved game. Before you think "That's wrong. Those rule variants (1. and 2. above) are great." try playing the game with the official rules. It is a fantastic game when played properly.

Storms and rocky shores (with damage) would be a huge improvement to the game. I'd venture to guess that though out history there were many more ships lost to the elements than were sunk by cannon balls. We have proposed lots of ideas. Storms that pull you into an instance. Designating storm areas on the map that could be avoided by storm haters. But alas I think the devs have decided that they are not able to implement storms.

I totally missed your point and purpose then.

No where. That's why I asked. It's relevant.

Perhaps some players have excessive expectations. What kind of ship and how much wealth should a player be able to gain .... and how quickly? Perhaps it might be reasonable to acquire a dozen large ships (Pavels, Vics, and Santis) plus a dozen other ships with hundreds of millions in gold and possess a half a dozen ports over a few thousand hours ? But it may be unrealistic for a player to be able to own several 3rd rates in a couple hundred hrs? If you are expecting to progress quickly you may value a game that would be far to easy for many others.

Does anyone know the answer to the question above?

So is a Lynx still faster than most ships in close reach or can many of the other ships be tweaked to beat her?

I missed something here. I can sail at 21 knots.in OW. Or at least I think I can. That's what the magic speedometer says in game. But in a battle instance I am limited to 13.5kn. I checked the patch notes and there is no mention of the 15 knot cap. Can someone post a link for the Devs that explains this feature.

Great idea.

We have some very good tools that will enable you to easily determine how long a journey will take in real time. http://burningsail.com/ The burning sail map is one of the simplest

You have a point Kaaru, during speedboat mode the view from the deck is irritating. But during speedboat mode there is really no immersion or realism. I like to sail at Battle speed (or sometimes Slow, or even Dead Slow). This makes the view from the deck fascinating and immersive. I know that this type of gaming is not for everyone . But it makes sailing much more interesting. It is an entertaining way to make a 20 min trade journey. During the voyage I stay busy watching for enemy. Sometime I have to go speedboat mode to escape combat, but most often I am able to complete the whole journey uninterrupted. What would be more helpful is to be able to control the ship's movement after pressing the Home key.

Have you tried the home key? And Z,X,

I like sailing. I hope the devs never remove OW sailing from the game.

Sir Texas Sir, You communicate well. I enjoy reading your posts ... most of the time. Keep posting.

I think you misunderstood my question. First: I like to sail a Cutter or a Lynx and trade or fish. But I enjoy the the PvP servers. The risk or danger from potential attack is an important part of the appeal of the game. If the possibility of PvP is removed when using the Cutter the gameplay would less exciting. I might as well just play on the PvE server always. The PvP servers would become big PvE servers. Question: Is it the just the free Cutter that poses an issue? Or are crafted Cutters a problem also? Likewise is the Lynx a PvP problem?

Wow. No cutter. Would a lynx be okay? What about a crafted cutter? I like the cutter and the lynx. I enjoy sailing them. I also like the PvP servers. What you describe is a game where I would never be at risk of attack and would never have the option to attack anyone, unless I avoided the cutter. I would have no opportunity for combat with any other player. Sort of pointless for me to play PvP.

So I'm not sure what is happening with wrecks. Is the idea that if you do not have room for all all of the stuff on the wreck you can not take any of it?

Awesome map

It would be great to have map tools in game. Really great. I would like it. Although all of this available outside of the game. The ability of obtain a bearing without pointing the bow of the ship is the only measurement that can not be made outside of the game. Rather than having a magic spyglass that provides an azimuth (or bearing) to the sighted object, I would much prefer a compass that can be sighted to obtain a direction.