Jump to content
Game-Labs Forum

Dharus

Ensign
  • Posts

    241
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Dharus

  1. I'm glad that NA is finally being officially released. In a lot of ways the population has suffered a bit of EA fatigue which is why threads like this have posts all over the map. That's expected. I will probably be trying it out after release for a little bit as I am a fan of the type of warfare that NA has and its by far the best Age of Sail wargame out there. However, I've got a bit of a tempered expectation and I'm not expecting to get wrapped back into it for longer than a month or two. The reasons is that after 3+yrs not much has really changed and some of that stems from a bit of a chaotic path in EA. Yes, ship stats, some econ stuff, new ship models, and the tutorial is all fine and good, however, why I stopped playing was problems a little bit deeper and ongoing over that 3yr+ timeframe. RvR: Lets face it, its still PotBS and it really limits new players, player styles, and ship diversity just as it did in PotBS. I messed around with Elite Dangerous and its faction vs faction play and thought "wow, this would have been awesome for Naval Action and really not that hard to implement". Each location is flipped by setting up in three periods with each period being a week of preparation, conflict, and control. Its not a 2 hr slot, winner take all battle but a longer struggle allowing for multiple playstyles to get involved. Dynamic open Sea engagements, smuggling/econ warfare, mission running and even keeping port battles could all be taken into consideration. This is the core issue with NA. It lacks tiered gameplay experiences. Don't take this as a complete fail of a game and I still stand by my old favorable review of the game. The combat is great, the addition of forts was great, and there has been meaningful changes for good. However, reason it struggles is that it fails to engage multiple types of gamers into the "something greater" aspect of the open sea. A newbie in a pickle has no measurable use in world much less in RvR. A casual player with a job, wife, kids can't always spend hours at a time doing a port battle. The need to grind away at earning money to achieve the material means to reach a meta ship, skill book, fighting style and find a large enough group to achieve meaningful change is a pretty narrow gameplay experience to have (and its a bit boring) and it doesn't include actual captain skill which is a huge component to the game. Endgame is full fleets of X meta ship in port battles and that in of itself favors the higher population faction and/or most dedicated group of ~24 and leaves out everyone else. Are there exceptions to this experience? Sure, but its not enough to keep people of different playstyles engaged for long. So, I expect that after a little bit of time after release I'll get bored as I've already done the ~24 people dot flip and found it got stale after a while and then find there really isn't a lot else to do. Still, I'm happy to say that I've gotten my money's worth and that I've had some very good experiences. I'm happy to try again.
  2. What if smugglers could actually put buy orders in enemy ports again? With the changes to clan ownership and taxes this might add an additional economic level of play. Right now, it's alts which is dumb. It's also dumb to have specialty items locked by safe zones. I think strategic resources is a good idea and it probably should be more than just copper. However, there needs to be a backdoor mechanic to allow low tier nations a opportunity. There should be better balance with mods first though otherwise ports, like mods, will be flavor of the month.
  3. I don't understand why they just didn't make the flag system the raid system. No change in port ownership but just straight up battle rewards plus. An event zone battle might be a content between RvR clans in the nation with whichever clan scored the most points gets ownership. That might cause strife though which can be good or bad.
  4. The difference is that maintenance of port based on clans might prevent "zerging". In most games higher population wins so in this system a counter to a zerg would be a better skilled players fighting against the zerg thus scoring more points and other nations. Example: if Russians have an event vs Sweden for X port other nations could swarm into the zone against them while they are trying to score points. Thus you've created a passive hot zone on the map and diplomatic opportunities.
  5. A map wipe wouldn't solve the problem. A change to the RvR system would. Something like dropping port battles in favor of a 3 day event style hotzone for control over the sea. A lot of people are dancing around the problems with threads about the symptoms of a flawed RvR system. As players, we need to suggest a better system. Folks we're still using PotBS RvR mechanics for the most part. The game needs this change... badly. My old suggestion:
  6. I'll be honest here while I like the idea of unique flags, nations, ect I do no think it works for RvR gameplay for this size of a game. Most RvR games go with a holy trinity of 3 nations and I think that's for a reason creating more dynamic RvR warfare. Yes, I know there were many different nations in the Caribbean during the rough timeframe but for more decent RvR (which seems to be pretty elusive) we might need to think about taking down some of these nations and changing pirates to be similar to the new nations (aka start with no ports, no safe ports). Having these nations is great for more PvP options but for general RvR I think it dilutes the player pool. Perhaps going back to a GB, FR, and ESP with pirates and US starting like the invasion nations would be more dynamic? Note: There are other things that could help RvR as well. This is just one suggestion for piecing together a better RvR.
  7. Hey Bart, Teutonic was referring to PURGE. Right now most of PURGE are pvping in another game. Myself and maybe one or two others are part time playing. We'll likely be solo privateers while we monitor the game. Feel free to message me (same name) in game.
  8. When you sail from point A toward B, you never go in a straight line to B. The wind pushes you downwind so to sail to be B you need to point further upwind. This effect can cause you to get pushed into unfavorable positions such as a shoreline...
  9. Leeway... what no age of sail game has done before. I can't wait.
  10. It's kind of hard not too... you guys post way more crap in every thread. It was a counter suggestion for the OP. I know you guys do not kill each other "all the time" because of combatnews. Anyways, as FR, I've killed plenty of pirates including Black ones. I don't mind being outnumbered 2v1. Just ask the OP. He just got my third ship I've lost since wipe. So this get "batter" stuff doesn't apply. You guys just make it logistically harder by running to corners of the map.
  11. The curious thing about the pirates... you can fight each other too. You guys are running together with Black to beat on the US. Here is an idea. Fight each other!
  12. It was just a suggestion. Freeports offer new players many flexible options. Just no missions which honestly it's a problem.
  13. Having witnessed the situation first hand on the East coast, it is painfully clear the pirates are pretty much seal clubbing right outside Charleston on a nightly basis with 2 to 1 odds if not more. I mean i understand why. France is living in freeport so camping FR is pointless. Britain isn't as juicy as most of them aren't at the capital so hunting through the mosquito coast requires work. Danes are friends. Dutch, swedes, Spain are super low pop. That means Charleston is the only place for low hanging fruit that's low risk. My suggestion to US clans and players is move into the Gulf or Freeports or both. Otherwise organize a defensive fleet. The pirates plan has been very simple. Cap a region near capital, camp it. Pirates got mad when France retaliated by doing the same thing. They didn't fight back but instead ran off, blamed France, and still talk that we're the seal clubbers... As for the OP... You'll never be free if you allow pirates to freely sink outside your capital without retaliation. The US needs fighters not grandiose forum posts.
  14. If you were preaching to a unified PB group with 25 players on all the time who have no life... sure. But I'm not getting up at 2am EST or 5am EST for those two in France. PBs can be fun sure but for RvR there are too many fundamental problems to base the map on them. I suggested making raids like port battles (maybe with flags) and reward those fights. Then make RvR some 3 day process of fighting on the open water. This dock hump, off hour flip, screening either griefing or legit, alt use, hide in battle invis warp driving, etc business is just painful stupid. There is no reason to play the RvR game. We flip ports to produce OW pvp. We did it with Brits just like we did with pirates.
  15. Clan stuff is decent. We needed some more tools there. Name change for servers again isn't a problem. New player experience. The capital area protection systems with NPC help, larger radius of protection probably would help. I'd add perhaps creating "basic" cannons for 6lb and 9lb guns costing 0 with obviously significantly lower dps. Keep Freetowns. They serve more than just newbie hunter ports. If you look at global, you'll notice pirates have taken regions next to capitals. This allows them easy access to attack newer players who don't realize the risks. And please retool the invisible and speed boosting after battles. They'll help stop newb traps. Personally i think revenge ganks wasn't worth the headache that this mechanic created.
  16. RvR on the OW works if the PvP is stretched over days by the game mechanics. Then you travel a few hrs, then you know for the next 3 days the area should be hot. I think you've not read my suggestion on page 34. Basically, instead of a PB which can be done fairly quickly, the regions are flipped through being on the OW within a region. So, if you sailed 3 hrs on the OW with a button pressed that added contention/points to that region. It also, through the map, notifies people you are in that area because of the contention build. Naturally people will be attracted to that location (kindof like shipwrecks) with the intended purpose of RvR and PvP. People will patrol that area or PvP to flip the dots. The rewards are PvP or if they don't show up, the ports themselves. Then that allows a flag system coupled to the old PB system to allow raiding which could reward people differently. To have PvP you need drivers that push people onto the OW. PBs don't really do it. I think 1 out of 10 PBs might be a real PvP fight. The rest are no shows or slaughters which are basically ganks within an arena. Right now, the only way to get the pirates on global (who are winning) out to fight is by grinding up and attending a PB which they'll have maxed out ships. That's hours of PvE gameplay for a coin flip fight. Otherwise, they stay off the water.
  17. Well, this is a player and a game problem. The pirates are basically playing firemen PvP. They've got teleports to various parts of the map and when someone does something they teleport to respond. After its over they head back to port and wait for the next bell to go off. Since they have the lead, the outposts, and the ships stationed at those docks, they can just sit back and play another game (or forum whore ). There is no reason to be on the OW. Heck, they could just wait it out till the PB to show up. This is why RvR needs to focus on being on the OW.
  18. Several problems can be solved by limiting the long time things to easier tasks. For example, grinding a port can take a long time but if you create a passive button to add contention in some manner, which then updates the map, which then tells people there are people in that region, then you've 1) eliminated npc grinding for contention 2) easier notification to others of potential pvp 3) players are on OW and not in some invis battle for an hour. PBs are the mainstay of RvR. They take significant time, resources to do properly so could be considered not casual. Remove PBs as RvR drivers and make that "raiding". RvR can then be done per region by 3 day event style point system of pvp and passive patroling. Even a casual can enter a zone, patrol for 30 mins, score a few points, leave and they've contributed to RvR. (My suggestion is on page 34)
  19. Successful RvR requires 25 organized people for consistent competitive PBs. You'll probably need another 10 as alternates for times when players dont show. Unless you dual box or cross team using of alts, you'll need 30 to 35 dedicated players for all time zones to show up at a specific time. That doesn't work for people with jobs, school, families because it's not flexible. It leans to feelings of..."meh, why bother. It's too much work." That's why i say ditch PBs for RvR. Make it based on 3 day OW pvp and make PBs raids and reward those (page 34 post). I get it that some think PBs are the "elite" experience however it's inflexible design puts off players especially when things like grinding pve for hours, npc counter grinding, pulling fleets off the OW, etc happen. This isn't PvP... its working around mechanics to create advantage which is very common in games.
  20. Because there really is no reason to fight PBs. You can get 95%+ of resources from home region. If you have off hour flipping (which on global the pirates last two were 5am EST and 2am EST) and underpopped nations, why bother. PBs being the core mechanic to RvR should change. Its been a failed concept since PotBS. War companies dont solve it. I posted my suggestion on page 34 but in short make OW pvp 3 day events for region flipping and PBs for "raids" rewarding them with something.
  21. After thinking on this for the better part of the week. I think it isn't a good direction in general. It still doesn't solve several issues in my opinion. If the OW is to be the focus of the game while leaving Legends to the more arena style, then we should really move away from PBs as the main driver. Don't get me wrong, they aren't bad but they are sort of silly to think about. Ships that sailed around rarely were built tweaked for PB conditions ei wood types, mods (except a Bomb brig of course) and really it was the landing of troops or taking of forts that determined the "ownership" of the ports. A nation in this game could rule the OW fights most of the day but because a team off hour flip with enough players means they probably lose ownership. Having sea control in areas really doesn't mean much. Additionally, the whole "tactics" to get into a port battle instance has cause lots of problems. How about not making things more chaotic but simplified? How about dropping PBs all together for port ownership. Then establish a system where a player(s) have a "patrol" button with some sort of dock timer that when pressed add points (contention) to the region (or if call backs to the server sucks then drops some item in inventory like fish do and can be turned into port for that said contention like war supplies). Contention done through passive means should be capped at some sort of rate so that super larger nations cannot overwhelm smaller ones to skip PvP (or if you used an item, only so many can be turned in per hour). Then when a port is "flipped" a three day event takes place where players can "patrol" said region for points, PvP for the most points, and at the end the most point winner flips the port. Passive points should be much lower than actual PvP. Sort of 1 point per 15 minutes vs 100 BR ship sunk = 100 points. Then you can make "Raids" like the old PB system perhaps with the flag mechanic. Raids create a PB in 24hrs or whenever. Ownership doesn't change from a "raid" but some type of reward is. This could be a % tax of crafted goods or similar. To me this is much simpler answer and creates a player focused RvR mechanic. No PvE grind for RvR, no off hour ownership flips, and still retain PBs but in a less RvR but possibly a more rewarding way.
  22. We've been in quite a few fights with BLACK and BLOOD. We know you're preferences and some player tendencies. You can certainly switch into "pvp mode" to hunt us down. We'll be your white whale i guess. It is interesting that you didn't one port US nor Brits but for some reason you felt like we should be. Probably from the ships you're losing I'd guess or we that didnt tow the line and appear to be arrogant. Of course it's not because we like OW PvP (/s). Whatever it is we sort of knew early that we weren't going to challenge RvR heavy weights. We are certainty not assimilating into who ever is winning like so many do. Purge at least wants to be spoilers. Spoilers to mega factions, alliances, and metagamers. So, i look forward to "pvp mode" however long that lasts. I suspect another crisis will happen after you've "won" in single regioning France and you've bored yourself in realization that it'll be work to find us. After all, the other pirates are second rate and we can't have the Brits, US, or now Danes being top dog. France though will always be hunting... "for the good of the server".
  23. Hypocrisy for giving out a warning to my own team? Well... then its hypocritical to say déjà vu from a non french, sir!
  24. Bah, you guys... CCCP said they are the main force in France so it must be true! /s. Less than 10 posts before <insert name here> throws the "lose all your ports" "insult".
  25. Tenet was complaining about it on global. I know Purge doesn't set battles to ambush with super speed and invis using alts. Just wanted that out that cheese is cheese no matter how you cut it. Smart though on Black's part, propaganda for the metagaming win. It's not gonna change you guys losing ships though once you guys are done PvCircles.
×
×
  • Create New...