Captiva

I've posted before about the need for the hiring of Pirates as Privateers. Your suggestions could probably be implemented with whatever adjustments the developers deem necessary. If my opinion counts as a vote, I vote YES!

After having read differing views on how crafting recipe's are obtained, I wanted to propose an idea that is a little different. I don't know about the feasibility of this for the developers, but here is my idea. Specific "class rated" trader ships that carry ship recipe's for correlating classes of ships. Example #1. You hail a ship and it responds with "5th Rate Trader Ship" then you know there is a recipe for one of the 5th rate in-game ships aboard the vessel. This trader ship will be a 5th rate ship matching the rating of the recipe it carries. The ship will be armed and will be accompanied by one small escort ship (say, no larger than a Cutter). Example #2. You hail a ship and it responds with "3rd Rate Trade Ship", it will be a armed 3rd rate ship carrying an undisclosed 3rd rate crafting recipe. It too, will be accompanied by one small escort ship, and on and on for all other classes of ships. The player would have to capture the trader ship to obtain the recipe. You won't know the type of ship recipe until you have made the capture, but you will know the class rating because of the class of Trader ship you attacked. Further more, there would be no group battles allowed against these types of Trader ships. All battles against these ships would be single player against the npc's, making the obtainment of the recipe more challenging. And to make it even more of a challenge in obtaining the larger recipe's (from 3rd rate to 1st rate), maybe have the escort ship be something on the order of a Snow.

Thank you! Your example is perfect! Shows the port town, the harbor, the ship, and....people!!

Seems like a great idea for Trafalgar. I really appreciate the time you must have put into this presentation. Just to give you an added pat on the back, what I really like and what the game sorely needs are background screens - be it for Trafalgar, the Start screen, but especially when in port (something similar to your last example when in port).

I would like to see the inclusion of some sign of life when in port and when at sea in Open World. There are excellent sound effects when in Battle mode i.e. cannon firing, crew sounds, bosun's whistle. The game comes to life in a beautiful way when in this mode.The complete opposite happens when in port or at sea in Open World. They are as solitary and sterile as could possibly be when compared to Battle mode. I'd like to see the devs insert some evidence of sign of life when in these two environments. I'm not suggesting the sound of a marching band in a parade when in port, or the sounds of an all-you-can-drink rum party when at sea, but something very subtle being heard in the background. When in port maybe the sound of small waves breaking along the shore. A random seagull here and there. The sound of a ships bell now and then. While sailing in Open World, why not have the same sounds of the crew milling about on deck that we have when in battle? I'd like to hear the bosun's whistle once and awhile, the ringing at 4 bells, 8 bells etc. synchronized to the compressed time when at sea. Just something to bring these two environments up to par with the environment that we experience when in battle.

I like your idea, DeRuyter.

I like the admin's first suggestion. They would like it "to be short"...it uses the word "sank" instead of "kills"...and it is crystal clear that the player sank "enemies" while aboard his chosen ship.

To the developers. I originally posted this idea on a Open World thread regarding Port Battles and wanted to run it by all of you for your opinion. There seemed to be a few members who were against the idea of Pirates being eligible for Port Battles for the reason that they are not considered a Nation within the game. How about haviang the ability for any Nation to hire Pirates as Privateers in Port Battles? Any Nation could hire them for the defense of or the attacking of, a Port. The Pirate then becomes (just for the Port Battle instance) a Privateer for the Nation who hires him. The Privateer is compensated with either Gold or a high quality Crafted ship from this Nation. It would also help in utilizing the availability of a larger pool of players who are online, who could then be enlisted for the formation of a Port Battle instance.

I agree with M. Cmdt. ObiQuiet that having too many voices yapping about would be repetitious and annoying - as in "sails ho" every time a ship appears on your screen. I do, however, understand the interest for the use of "land ho" while in open world i.e. you've set your course for a long journey, you get a little eye fatigue while waiting, get distracted and inadvertently miss a land mass to your left or right that could possibly be of some interest to you for exploration. Not absolutely necessary for sure, but I can at least see some benefit to the suggestion.

Thanks for the suggestions, they are very helpful! I was thinking more of having a dedicated training ground, within the game, that the player would be directed to from the game manual. From within the manual would be written instructions and graphical illustrations on how to best aim and fire cannon and how to use manual sails. While your suggestions are a solution, the new player would have to figure this out on his own or learn it from existing players. In real life you wouldn't send a ships captain out to sea to learn how to sail and battle by trial and error, so this might add a little realism to the learning process. I just thought it would be nice for the new player to have a dedicated area within the game to be "shown the ropes". Thanks!

Apologies if this suggestion has already been submitted. I would like to suggest to the developers that a sea trials like arena called something in the order of, "Naval Training Academy", be made available for new players to the game. This would be an arena where the player could learn to gauge distance and accuracy by the firing of cannon, and to learn how to sail using manual sails. I learned how to sail using manual sails from watching YouTube video's. I could only practice by first sinking the bot or player, and then had to remain in that battle environment to practice using manual sails. The problem at this point was that my sails were in some form of tatters from the battle, and I also received hull, rudder damage to the degree that it affected the normal sailing dynamic of the ship. If the new player was given the opportunity to practice the sailing of a two masted ship so that they could first learn how to 1). Aim and fire cannon with some degree of accuracy using all of the available loads, and 2). Be able to practice sailing using manual sails, then I believe the experience for the beginning player would be more rewarding once they started the game as a pledged member of the nation (or no nation) of their choice.

I agree with Mouse of War that it is nice to be able to communicate with a passing vessel in this, sometimes, vast and solitary ocean environment. So I would not like to see that aspect of this game go away,. At the same time I also agree with the Administrators strict attempt to curtail the recent in-game rants that the Admin posted (as an example of what will get you banned) on this forum a few days ago which included racial slurs and very vulgar imagery language. If word got out that this game tolerated, and was a haven for, the above example of in-game chat then this game could risk the chance of never getting out of the gate at the level the Devs are hoping. We have to remember that once the game is open to the public there will be many young and impressionable players online who do not need to witness such small minded talk. I'm a firm believer in giving everyyone a second chance.. But a permanent chat ban after a second simlar offense as described in the example above, might be better for the game and for the future of it's gaming community. Big props to the Admin for staying on top of this issue. Better to punish the offender than punish the community at large for the beligerants behavior.

Congratulations, Helene de Montfort! You've been very helpful to me from the beginning. Always patient and always kind. Thank you!

Here is a suggestion to the developers that I'd like to propose. 1. All purchased mods are limited to ship upgrades such as: extra planking, copper plating, speed trim etc. plus Marines and extra hammocks. 2. All mods that pertain to crew duties such as: faster reload time, faster raising & lowering of sails etc. are no longer purchased mods, but are included by default with every ship. The option to issue orders for any of these commands is up the player's/captains' discretion, but comes at a price, i.e after two commands for fast reload of cannon, you suffer a cool down period before that command can be issued again due to crew fatigue. Thanks

I agree with Wind. I was a victim of it myself as a new player. To me it's no different then the prompt that tells you that you don't have enough gold when trying to purchase a particular ship.

Ok, then if I understand your opposition, why should the player have any lives at all beyond "1"? Why not have to start at Lynx level everytime you lose your ship? The ship lives are an arbitrary number and I believe that number should be added to. I can't argue with your point on the economy. I'm just thniking in regards to game enjoyment, there should be a faster path to earning gold so that the player can upgrade to larger ships more quickly. Especially if you're only getting 5 ship lives per ship before haviing to start.....all.....over.....agian.

Hi. I have been playing Naval Action for a couple of months now and I see a possible consumer problem. When I first started playing the game It took me around a month to earn enough gold to purchase a Yacht. It took me less than 5 days to be sunk 5 times and lose the Yacht and start all over from square one in a Lynx. I played another five weeks and earned enough to purchase a Navy Brig. I was sunk two times in the first day, and once again two days later. I've played enough to know not to go up against ships larger than you if it can be helped. But, it can't always be helped. I was sunk once in the Yacht and once in the Navy Brig by catching fire and sinking from the explosion. Both happened in a very short time. I had little to no damage when I caught fire. This never happened in the Lynx so I was caught unawares of the possibility of it even happening. Another sinking in the Navy Brig happened when I taking on a Cutter one-on-one until a larger ship than mine entered the fight against me, and I was outnumbered. I wasn't losing these ships out of poor game play. The point and suggestion I am making is that, I believe the penalty for sinking so few times and losing your ship for good is excessive when compared to the extreme amount of time it takes to earn enough gold to purchase the ship in the first place. As patiant as I am, I am getting to the point of frustration to where I am losing interest in the game. If I or anyone new to the game is going to spend weeks on end earning enough to be able upgrade ships, only to potentially get knocked down to Lynx status in a very short time window, then I fear the player will become bored and frustrated to the point of leaving the game for good. I would suggest this; instead of losing your ship after x amount of sinkings and starting over at Lynx status, that the player being lowered down to the next lowest ship class from the one the player was currently qualified in. The player then starts play from that level to earn enough gold to upgrade to larger ships. I also suggest adding more ship "lives" (at least double the current amount) before losing any purchased ship for good. I hope this helps the developers in making this a more enjoyable game./lyndrm