Captain Underpants

Goodness gracious me! The OP has stated that Naval Action is doomed to fail! How about we do our job as testers to provide constructive feedback and actually wait for the game to come out of... ALPHA(!!!) before we claim that the end of the world is nigh?! More seriously though, if we do our jobs and the devs continue their hard work I see no reason why this exceptional game can't have a good, successful future in it's own right (ie not trying to compare it to other, very different games).

Thank you to the OP for posting this much-needed thread. We are all human beings playing what should be a fun game with each other. We all need our in-game enemies/rivals to play against. Without each other there would be no game so let us be grateful for the other factions. I would like to see topics being moderated more proactively and shut sooner when they begin to cross the line. But the OP is right. The ultimate power tests with us, the players. Clans wield a huge influence in this game and I urge all clan leaders to work together in ensuring that this game becomes a friendly place again; both in game and on the forums. If this does not take place, I truly fear for the future and survival of this wonderful game.

You are making the same mistake that many other posters do on these forums; equating the actions of an individual or group of individuals with that of a whole nation. For example you say that the 'British post a 'GG' topic thinking the war was over', whereas the truth is that I posted a GG topic (with encouragement from a small number of others) - not the entire British faction. You seem to be implying (perhaps I am interpreting this incorrectly) that the thread was set up as some kind of tactical move, diplomatic or otherwise. I can fully assure you that the original post was sincere and heartfelt. I am most disappointed that the good sportsmanship and friendliness exhibited by both sides online during the Panama campaign has not translated to the forums, whereas the vitriol and negativity expressed by certain players of every side here seems to be infecting the game itself now.

I started a suggestions thread for Diplomacy, PB and Pirate mechanics: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12650-diplomacy-and-port-battles-a-new-vision/

Lol - grats mate!

He's a good egg this one (Sju) but the internet and these forums are clearly no place for decent, reasonable people (or so my clan keep telling me!)...

Lol! No problem Sju. Very impressed by your calmness and politeness in the face of such hostility - a rare commodity!

Sorry Sju, you misunderstand me. I was trying to point out that whilst you were being accused of all kind of horrible things, you were being perfectly polite whilst your accusers were doing the very same that you and your clan are accused of. I was actually trying to pay you a compliment!

I think that's a great idea. Perhaps all factions can try this and see who is quickest?!

Does that mean that the Pirates should also raise the Danish flag or vice-versa?!

Sju, you and your clan are accused of so much anti-social and horrible behaviour in game and on the forums. So the least you can do is play ball and stop being so darn polite, calm and bloody reasonable in your posts...

Yet you started this thread as a Tribunal post against RNoN to have them punished or forcibly moved to the Pirates by the Devs?

Ok, enough is enough. As the P.O. I say DEVS/MODS - PLEASE CLOSE THIS THREAD!!!

I understand that this could be time-consuming for the devs, however, the community have voted new diplomacy and port battle mechanics a priority so devs will be spending time on this anyway. As I said, I was initially in favour of player-driven diplomacy until I stopped and considered some of the drawbacks of this and benefits of it being Dev-driven; and this caused me to rethink entirely.

Lets move on from insulting each other and instead work on some ideas for how Diplomace mechanics etc could be improved. To that end I have posted a new thread with some ideas on it. Please do take a look and give some (polite!) feedback. http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12650-diplomacy-and-port-battles-a-new-vision/

Lets move on from insulting each other and instead work on some ideas for how Diplomace mechanics etc could be improved. To that end I have posted a new thread with some ideas on it. Please do take a look and give some (polite!) feedback. http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12650-diplomacy-and-port-battles-a-new-vision/

Lets move on from insulting each other and instead work on some ideas for how Diplomace mechanics etc could be improved. To that end I have posted a new thread with some ideas on it. Please do take a look and give some (polite!) feedback. http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12650-diplomacy-and-port-battles-a-new-vision/

Lets move on from insulting each other and instead work on some ideas for how Diplomace mechanics etc could be improved. To that end I have posted a new thread with some ideas on it. Please do take a look and give some (polite!) feedback. http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12650-diplomacy-and-port-battles-a-new-vision/

I thought I would do a separate post on ideas for the Pirate Faction. In my view, playing as a pirate should be a completely different experience. Being a Pirate should have unique appeal to players due to specific advantages and disadvantages. Here are some ideas: A) Pirates have a certain number of scattered ports/hideouts that are not marked on other faction's maps. These are unconquerable. B ) Pirates cannot capture other faction's ports. C) Pirates can raid other ports - if successful this brings significant reward to the Pirates and economic/morale penalties to the opposing nation. This makes it essential that nations defend their ports against Pirate raids. D) Pirates cannot build ships any bigger than than 5th rate. E) Pirates can capture any level ship. F) Pirates have a boost to boarding skills including being able to board at greater speed and at greater distance. G) Pirates can build ships unique to their faction that are particularly good for boarding. This might be very fast ships with very few cannons but packed full of crew (which is historically how they tended to fight). H) Pirates have no alliances and can attack anyone at any time including each other. I) Pirates have the ability to customise their own flags - something which might only be purchaseable by other nations. As a British player currently, this is not a personal agenda against the Pirates or an attempt to nullify a threat to us. I simply think the Pirates would be a much more proposition to play as (for me certainly) if they provided a completely different type of gaming experience.

It has been suggested in my clan that I post some ideas for possible future changes. Some of these ideas are mine, some are already in the forums and some come from other members of my clan (BWITC). Make Diplomacy Developer controlled: At first I wanted a player-led system but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that a Dev-led system has many benefits and opportunities for cool stuff. I realise that this may divide opinion but bear me out on this. Here are some benefits of this approach: A) More Historically Accurate - We, as Captains would never have been controlling national diplomacy. Captains received their orders from the Admiralty who, in turn, responded to policy from the national government. In this scenario we can imagine the Devs as our faction's governments. Better Game Balance - By pitting lower population nations against each other, or allying them against more populated ones we see much fairer fights across the map and avoid larger nations bullying smaller ones or multiple nations ganging up on lone ones. Ultimately we avoid nations being decimated/reduced to one port as we have seen before and give every one a chance to flourish. C) Less hostility/negativity on forums/in game - As there would be no more misunderstandings, accusations of backstabbing or underhand play or ability to act outside of a player's nation's orders (which is causing such problems at the moment), the game should become a much nicer, more fun and honourable place to play in. D) Opportunity for Devs to create narrative/story-telling - Players already producing newspapers in forums giving their faction's perspective and stories. The Devs could do similar and tease/hint at future events, announce wars/alliances etc and some reasons why these have occured. -eg The Dev-run newspaper announces that the US ambassador has insulted the British monarch raising tensions between the two factions. A couple of days later it is revealed that the British have demanded an apology on threat of war. Later on, we learn that the Americans have refused to apologise and war is declared. E) We prevent the kind of issues that have pretty much destroyed other similar RvR games such as PotBS So how might this approach look in action? A) All nations have a small number of unconquerable ports and a safe 'starter area' for newer player to learn the ropes without being ganked etc - These ports would contain all the necessary resources to support a faction meaning it would always be possible to enjoy the game as a player of any nation. - All midshipman and ensign missions would take place in this starter area as well as there being the presence of smaller ai ships. All higher level missions and large ai fleets would occur outside of this zone. Devs could set specific goals for each nation in a conflict - Rather than all ports being up for grabs in a war, the Devs could give each nation a task to perform. For example the Devs could decide that the French and Dutch will be fighting over a particular area in Panama. In this scenario, whilst only a certain number of ports are open for attack, warfare can be unrestricted between protagonist nations in the OW. i) This allows the Devs to further ensure that the game map remains reasonably balanced. ii) This allows nations to focus their forces on a more localised area leading to more allies, more enemies, more big fleets and more epic battles. iii) Players could be encouraged to PvP more by receiving rewards based on their level of participation in, and their nation's success in any given campaign. These rewards could be in the form of special titles, medals or even premium currency that unlocks cosmetic and account perks. C) Ports have a 'Morale' value that can change - A nation's ports could rebel and become neutral or even join an opposing faction depending upon the port's morale. Morale can depend upon: i) The amount of resources (Trader ships) docking at that port. This allows an enemy to blockade a port and essentially starve a population, or a defending nation to escort their ships into the port giving plenty more opportunity for conflict between ships of all sizes. Escorting/attacking Trader ships could even be incorporated into an expanded Admiralty Mission system. ii) The presence of enemy/allied ships in local waters. iii) The ownership of surrounding ports (if a port is isolated and surrounded by enemy ports morale would be much lower). D) Newer PB mechanics - On top of the proposed Morale system for ports which effectively is a new form of Port Battle we could also enact the following change in PBs: Once land is introduced into battles it could be necessary for attackers in PBs to land a certain amount of Marines ashore in order to take a port. Certain ships might have that responsibility/be carrying specific invasion forces and, therefore, need escorting by attackers or sinking by the defenders. E) All faction players bound by the nation's alliances etc - So if two nations are at peace it would be physically impossible to attack each other's ships without turning Pirate. This would lessen some of the arguments we are seeing about 'rogue clans' on the forums right now. I have probably missed some ideas so shall edit if I think of them!

Ok - this isn't what I intended this thread to be when I started it. So is it possible for a mod/admin to lock it now?

I really do not like the presumption that larger clans and groups should be able to force/bully everyone in their own nation to play a particular way. Yes, monarchs/parliaments would decide who a nation was at peace/war with and expect their captains/admirals to follow. But you are equating large clans etc with these monarchs/parliaments rather than with the captains/admirals which would be more accurate. This is part of the reason why I have recently come to the conclusion that when a diplomacy system is introduced (and this is urgently needed), alliances/wars should be dictated by the devs rather than the players. As, at first glance, this may not seem an appealing idea to many, I do plan to explain my thoughts in more detail in the suggestion forum when I have the time. Finally - to seem this tribunal-worthy and ask for players to be punished seems incredibly petty to me.

You're right that we didn't defend at some points and also right that this was because we were fighting on so many fronts and had to concentrate our forces. Unfortunately that did mean we could not give you guys the attention you deserved! I think you are also probably right about the port-timers and I expect the British leaders felt that they had no other option. To be fair, all nations do this when pushed - it's certainly not exclusive to any faction. Generally I think it makes better sense tactically to set timers staggered during peak time as the defending nation should then always have 25 ships available to defend against 25 attackers whereas numbers cannot be guaranteed at night either way and it only takes a few extra attackers staying up to attack successfully. Please keep this thread friendly guys and free of saltiness and arguments etc - that iwas not the purpose of my post.

I was thinking much the same! I do hope the thread is not hijacked and turned into another flame war. To be honest - if it does I will just ask for it to be locked.

Well the British/French war in Panama seems to be coming to a speedy conclusion now. It has been strongly suggested amongst British clans that a topic such as this be posted to thank the French for giving us such a fun couple of weeks in-game. From a British perspective I can honestly say we have never fought such friendly, respectful and honourable opponents as the French have been. Both factions have behaved courteously and enabled enjoyment for all involved whether in victory or defeat. Both the British and French players deserve great credit and have demonstrated the spirit in which this game can and should be played. I must emphasise that this is not just my own opinion but has been unanimous amongst all the very many (and often senior) British players I have spoken to. At the start of the conflict, we British expected a quick and easy victory over the French - we were proven to be far too overconfident! The French have been courageous, resourceful and above all skillful opponents and gave us quite a shock! We shall certainly not underestimate them again but look forward to renewing our rivalry... Thank you to France - we tip our hats to you!