'Sharpe

Faction based is a good idea.

Minor thing, but Lord-Protector feels like something pulled out of Skyrim or another fantasy world. Governor is historically relevent, and confers a nice sense of responsibility and civic duty that can later be expanded upon once port improvements are introduced.

Well done!

+1 to akpyrates idea. It would be cool if topography were added as you explore new territory. However having topography on the map would really call out some of the inconsistencies in this game versus real life topography. Key West is not located atop a huge mountain, etc.

There are plenty of Pirates but they are mostly playing 18th Century Empire Landgrab because the devs haven't figured out how to implement the pirate faction so that is has the impetus to raid trade routes and pillage coasts.

Keep it going Gaspar, I don't mind any Pirate actually playing like a Pirate. I do think the chest thumping is a little silly if it's not meant in roleplay; after all I'm not sure if anyone playing longer than a few days is still in the area you are patrolling, but then again you're a new player as well so it evens out. Anyway kudos.

It's a well thought out idea. I like separate colors for missions. But I actually kind of like the "fog of war" element we have currently when it comes to PvP battles. Finding the right battle requires solid pathfinding and communication. Ships of the time could communicate instantaneously only with what was within the horizon - anything further and the rendezvous would need to be made by following the sound of the cannons, or meeting at a set date and time, all of which can and did lead to missed connections and serendipitous (or unfortunate) chance encounters with the enemy. I worry that a color coded system would lose this element of imprecision, and make battles too calculated. Still, a logical idea though, just not sure it fits the period, in my estimation.

1- If Pirates were always going to be a regular nation with a black flag, there probably should have been no hints given early on in development about Pirates being "hard mode" and unique in some way. They should not be listed in the nation selection screen as "Very Hard". This expectation creates a lot of the dissonance we are seeing now. 2- If what makes Pirates "hard" is that they cannot form any alliances, then an alliance system should have already been introduced to the game. At the moment there is no diplomacy mechanic that actually makes Pirates unique in any way. Even if alliances are eventually introduced, the inability for Pirates to form them does not represent a significant enough differentiator to justify that alone being the sole source of their faction's "hard" difficulty. 3- The fact that Pirates work together should not come as a surprise to anyone who has understanding of human behavior, especially in games/competitions. If you put people together with a common goal and common enemies, of course they are going to work together. It is a massive fallacy to point towards Pirates working together as some sort of unique and Special choice, when all game mechanics have ensured that nothing else was ever going to happen. 4- The answers about plans for Pirates by devs have been quite honestly a little condescending. Maybe it's a translation thing and maybe I am interpreting it wrongly, but to be completely honest I feel condescended towards. All we have been told, in maybe 4 posts by admin despite hundreds if not thousands of player posts on the topic, is something like "nations have all the tools to stop piracy, if you can't do it then it's your fault." Many of us are trying to have discussions about how unique Pirate attributes can actually create a fun new dimension for gameplay. We are not whining about Pirate "domination", just as non-Brits don't whine about British domination. Many Pirate players themselves support unique attributes for Pirates that make them distinct from nations. So that they can actually feel like Pirates. THAT is what the discussion is about - not simply punishing Pirate players or making it needlessly difficult. To be treated by the devs like we are insolent whiners on an issue we are actually contributing much thought and effort to attempting to better the gameplay experience for everyone is extremely off-putting. Henry Darby locking every thread about piracy within minutes of it opening makes the whole issue feel like a police state. Many longtime testers are trying to give feedback to better the game, and the results of this poll shows where the majority stance resides. The fact that new topics keep being created by different players, Pirates and non Pirates, shows this is still an issue. The developers have listened to majority opinion previously and at least tested modifications to the game based on that majority opinion. I'm not sure what is different now. ***Edit - I don't mean for this post to come across as anti dev, as I think 95% of the time they have done a great job of listening to the community and designing a fantastic game. It's just this one issue where their behavior is so radically different, both in terms of not considering majority opinion and not engaging in conversations on the topic other than to respond briefly and in a way that (I interpret) condescends to testers that are simply trying to help the game be the best that it can be.

Yes absolutely something is needed like this. This is a big and complex game. It's not fair to expect someone to choose a nation once before they even enter the world and never be able to change that selection. They may not like the player culture, hours, starting location, etc. Another factor might be population: people choose the Brits or Pirates because of movies they've seen, but then they realize they don't like playing as the most populated faction and would instead prefer an underdog role. Some of these things (like player culture or population) won't be immediately evident, and it's not fair to expect everyone unsatisfied to re-roll after weeks spent playing.

Caribbean fauna would feel remarkably out of place in the foggy North Atlantic we sail in. Let's beg the devs to fix the flora, weather patterns, and environs before adding any marine life.

You have to consider that "turning a profit on the high seas" may be your idea of a successful player, but it is not everyone's. I do not play this game to trade or become an economic mogul or explore the high seas, I play it to fight in my country's Navy as an officer. If we had a class system I would surely choose "officer" class, rather than Trader or Explorer or Pirate class. As such, XP generated from combat seems to fit this for me and others like me. If there were other "classes" it would certainly be interesting to entertain XP gained by other means, and you put forward a good idea - but until the game makes the leap towards classes (developers have sadly shown no inclination in doing so), the current XP system actually is a perfect fit for many players. Also keep in mind: rank restricts you in nothing other than amount of crew. You can sail any ship in the game on your first day playing. And if you think about it, XP from damage makes sense in this regard. If more XP means more crew, would it be logical that XP should be accrued in any way other than combat? In the 18th/19th century, if you're a skilled trader, will that cause more men to want to serve under your command in battle? Unlikely. But if you've proven yourself in combat (aka, XP gained through combat exactly as we have now) acquiring more crew as a result makes more logical sense.

Either that or port timers have us at an impasse. Either/or.

I love when new players who know nothing of the history of why certain game functions were adapted (port timers), or the history of the servers, presume to tell longtime players how to play.

That the Brits have convinced the Spanish to declare war on the U.S., against their own best interests, can be interpreted as either a warlike provocation or masterful manipulation. Perhaps both. The U.S. would have welcomed the Spanish as allies, but it appears the Spanish have chosen poorly, opting instead for an ally who does not share their New World geography, and who will be quick to abandon them as soon as political expediency necessitates. As for myself I harbor no undue bellicosity towards the British; if they wish to stay removed from the Americas and American interests, I would have no problem calling the relationship whatever it needs to be called. But because of the lack of ingame enforced diplomacy there will always be aggression by both sides against players, when paths do meet, so I think "hostile" is apt.

Very nice Prater. Great read.

The pace is quite beautiful and I've never felt a lack of things to do during battle, which is a nice accomplishment of this game. One thing that I would like to see is more sinking routines. A ship holed entirely on the port side should list and sink to port; currently every ship settles into the water straight downwards. Shooting the transom off and holing the stern should cause the ship to eventually bob straight up in the air and sink vertically. There quite a few ways a ship can sink, I'd like to see more than just straight down bathtub-settling style.

Diplomacy is badly needed. But please no limiting to 2 allies per nation. We never have to worry about a "peace between all nations", there is enough animosity already built in that this won't happen, and wars will also be created by players to keep them occupied if there is ever too much peace.

+1 great idea.

Agree that a new player tutorial is needed. More so, there should be missions within this tutorial that ask you to haul goods from your capital to a nearby port where they are "needed". There should be missions that ask you to craft something basic. There should be missions that require you specifically to board, or demast rather than simply sink. The idea is that you introduce concepts of the game by having players do them.

Good point Deepgift. Maybe AFK in port should have a 30 min timer. AFK on the open seas, no timer. The only exception would be within your capital's protection zone - would need a timer for that since otherwise people would sit there for extended AFK.

Nice post, hit on all the right things.

Thank you for coming through on what so many of us have dreamed. Now let's continue to shape the gameplay to ensure that people who may be unfamiliar with the age of sail, but curious enough to give the game a shot, become absolutely hooked.

Pirates should be able to sail anything through capture. The issue being polled here is production. But if they are not "satisfied" with this? Then they are not being forced to play Pirate. There are SEVEN other factions with National game mechanics. We don't need to make the 8th faction completely identical. I played Potbs Closed Beta, back when Pirates were treated the same as any other nation. There is a reason that game made the change that it did. It was better for gameplay.

I think it is clear that the community prefers raiding only, by 2 to 1 odds. And also excluding 1st and 2nd rate ship production. Of course there would also be advantages to other parts of Pirate gameplay to counterbalance this.

+1 to the question about what time on the 19th it will open.