Francis Tabernac

Alright, all of this silly RP business aside, here's the deal. This entire thread has been wildly entertaining, and I thank everyone for participating. Salut! At the end of the day, however, some people are incapable of taking all of this in the proper light. Feelings seem to get hurt, people take things very personally, and folks forget that it's a game even while yelling "it's a game!!!1". There are several points that need to be remembered. 1) We're here to test a system. If the ability for one nation to steamroll another, or two to steamroll two, or 8 to steamroll 53, is a problem, then it needs to be demonstrated as a problem. It needs to be continually shown to be a problem, so that there's enough evidence in the form of palpable data for the developers to look at it, see it, and address it. I'm quite sure they're in the process of doing this now. "Don't cry about timers!" or "Don't wipe us out!" etc are anathema to this program, as these problems need to be displayed. We're not here to win or lose. 2) As early access testers, our primary concern is to find and display problems, not to necessarily "have fun" in the conventional sense. Ideally, of course, we'd do both at once. But refusing to allow problems to become problems simply because we don't want to have to face them isn't helping this game in the long run. Sweden being so quickly reduced to a single port raises issues like: Are port battles too easy? Do they occur too quickly? How can, or should, the devs address the natural imbalance of a less-populated nation sitting beside a more-populated nation? This is why we're here. These problems cannot be addressed if they're not allowed to run their course and prove to be a problem in the first place. 3) Many, many people that join games in early access should not be doing so. Many people join these games because they think it gives them an edge at launch, through experience or getting to keep items earned early, etc. This is NOT the purpose of early access testing. If you expect to keep all of your shiny pretend things and you're afraid to lose them, then you're here for the wrong reason and you're not really helping. Frankly this applies to players, too. This game is still in early testing phases; it is not a launched title. If you are the type of player to up and quit because you lost your ports in a game about pretend internet boats then you'd have left anyway and clearly weren't here for the right reason; you joined this game too early. You're quite clearly not meant to be in a game during its testing period, and that's fine. Not everybody has the patience for that, and there's nothing wrong with that. Hopefully they'll come back and enjoy the game once it's polished and complete. 4) This applies to the game as a whole, but particularly during testing: You are not tied to your nation. If France falls you don't lose and cry and quit. You reroll under a different nation or go pirate or whatever and continue to play and test the mechanics. If you're so tied up with your possessions that you cannot bear to see them lost in this game then, once again, you are not meant to be testing. The game in its current state allows you to reroll while maintaining your current character XP, which means if you change to another country you just need to go capture a couple of little traders in your free cutter and you're back in business. Problem solved. In fact by having this happen you're also testing the ability for a player to recover from great loss and what resources they have available to bounce back. This is a test title, not a launch title. Your world will not end just because your flag changed. 5) Because we're testing and not meant to be simply playing, we have this forum. This forum is meant to allow, and seems to at least implicitly encourage, RP. As I mentioned above, you must bear this in mind while discussing things here. This particular forum is here to discuss the national goings-on in an RP environment; there are other forums for proper discussion of game mechanics, as the moderators have repeated ad nauseum. I discussed this some time ago in another thread with a few of the US players (InfiniteAmount in particular) and as I said then, there's a clear problem with people being able to distinguish between RP and straight discussion. Certain people here clearly confuse the two and take things very personally. If you take this personally then I suggest you refrain from RP. Not everyone is good at it, and that's fine. Nobody is here to judge. But, to give a clear, personal example, when you take my decision to play the rabble-rouser and agitator and insist on turning to personal insults, you need to grow up or leave. If your enjoyment rests on other people agreeing and doing what you want, you need to grow up or leave. If you're unable to distinguish between disagreement with an idea and a personal attack, well, you have much larger problems and I wish you all the best of luck. I'm not pointing fingers and I'm not calling anybody out by name, as that's not my purpose here. This is an RP forum, people. If we all agreed about everything then it would be very, very boring. At the end of the day, we're here to enjoy ourselves while we help the developers in testing their ideas and, in the end, hopefully we'll have had some part in helping make this game great. On the day it launches we'll no longer be testers, and will instead be purely players. Until then however, do not lose focus on why we're here. Problems must be allowed to appear and develop in order to properly demonstrate the extent of the issue and to give better input on how it should and can be addressed. Your gameplay is not ruined by having a faction flattened and rerolling elsewhere for the time being. The fact that it can so quickly happen is us doing our job as testers. With all of this said, as much as I've enjoyed this thread and the wild banter, I'm stepping back because people are just taking the whole thing far too seriously and personally, which is sucking the fun out of it. I'll see you folks on the open seas; bonne chance.

Yes, the Tricolour is still in good hands, mes amis, so long as her Capitaines are willing to do what must be done to see it survive.. except fight for it. Vive la Capituler! Vive la Collaborer! Wait, that's not how it goes, hmmm. Maybe it's something in the translation...

As much as I enjoy the rabble-rousing (and will continue to enjoy it), that was a good read, Herminator, well said.

Please, I never accused all French captains of being spineless. I lamented the fact that so many were so quick to bend the knee. It's getting difficult to see you from behind that proud army of strawmen you've erected between us. I suppose there are any number of quotes available about close friends making the worst enemies. Indeed.

Yes, it's been made clear that this is the prevailing attitude. How sad. I did no such thing, and had indeed kept restraint in my initial responses. Indeed my true feelings were kept to conversation between us behind closed doors. I attacked no man personally and instead attacked an ideal I disagreed with, though sadly we did not all show such restraint. Instead my calls against an idea were met with questions of my intelligence and manhood, much to my disappointment. To that all I can say is some men are more suited to merely talking the talk. Good day, monsieur.

A corpse is no less honourable for being a corpse, and can even in death still serve a purpose. Are we truly better served with our path laid out before us by others? Indeed by men who appear only too-eager to question our word and our honour? Is our nation meant to achieve its place in history by serving at the whim of another? "Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown." - Charles de Gaulle I look forward to that day, sir. Salut!

Hethwill, my friend, you are truly a man of the people And in truth, those are wise words. Who would want for an ally a man too quick to bend the knee?

Ah, from one agitator to another I thought you'd at least have a chuckle, mon ami. Nay, I have accepted no such pay from the English, and expect none as they left us high and dry despite protestations to the contrary; why should one count on them now? Indeed, perhaps I clamour now as a "doth protest too much" distraction, keeping our new overlords ruefully shaking their heads and sighing "oh, those silly French" and ignoring the build up beneath them. Or perhaps I'm merely one of a few whose voices aren't quieted by the prospect of a difficult path. Only time will tell, I suppose.

Ah, be careful where you voice such feelings, Monsieur, lest you be accused of drunken, foolish belligerence in the face of enlightened kowtowing peace

Yes, you've made it quite clear you're disappointed with my refusal to quietly bend the knee. Cry and lament in public? I would see you stand up for yourself instead. See us broken and beaten? We are now! Yes, I call these returned ports "scraps given over" because they were handed to us, not taken. Disgraceful. You continually mistake a will to fight for drunken, foolish belligerence. "Wave [my spine] around at everyone, punching whoever" may sound like an enlightened statement to you and your strawmen, but I fear these words are well off the mark, my friend. "I know when to cry, when to laugh, when to accuse and when to befriend" Oh yes, you've been quite vocal in defending this decision and your new friends. Enjoy them, as they continue to look down at you. Keep talking about fighting while you clamour for peace to protect our poor, precious ports. How very sad.

What you fail to realise is that these are not directed at a nation as a whole. A small force knowing how and when to engage the enemy settles #1. Having the tactical know-how to approach both larger and smaller forces settles #2. The will of the army is the will of the men fighting, and so #3 has not been violated either. #4 ties directly into #1. #5 is the shining example of exactly what they're after. Turns out they haven't violated these 5 points at all. This is what happens when lay-people read about war and the conduct there-of and think they understand it. Context is a very important thing, my friend. Before you begin quoting von Clausewitz next perhaps you should re-read Sun Tzu and apply some perspective.

Here are your new friends. This is what you signed up for. Congratulations; I wish you all the best in keeping this mutt close, as I'm sure he's far cuddlier than his mouth suggests. The British are playing the smart game, and condemning them for being more savvy than your own factions instead of trying to smarten up as well is quite telling. As it is, right now every nation may as well take a dig at the French and see what they can get out of us, since we've proven it takes only 2 days to make us throw aside our spines so as to better present ourselves to the aggressors. I wish I could say "do not mistake the lack of fighting resolve of French leaders as representative of her Capitaines" but sadly I fear that may just be the case. The saddest part of all of this is that the Swedish could have gotten a better deal had they made a separate deal but instead stood by their French allies, who then quite eagerly capitulated in order to fill their plates with what scraps their new taskmasters felt they deserved. We let them down, despite the example shown us by the French on PvP2. Why not call us lapdogs at this point? Just look to Jameson BH, who clearly proves that a dog is happy with his master so long as he's patted on the head from time to time and told he's a good boy.

Attacking green-on-green won't make you go pirate, it'll only result in lost XP and cash. You have to launch the attack so that you and your previously-friendly target are on opposite sides, at which point you've already gone pirate just by initiating the attack.

I've enjoyed my own personal discussions with the Dutch. I won't elaborate beyond that. As for Piet Jameson Heijn BH, clearly he's just toeing the line of his new chosen friends-of-the-day. As a now-US player, he must of course lash out at their betters, as he did while playing for the Dutch (though in that case he needed look no farther than his own faction, as it turned out.)

I liken it to World of Tanks, where both sides begin the match saying "oh gee thanks Matchmaker lololol" just to have their excuses in place early in case they lose.

Questioning our intent and our word already, and already readying accusations. This is the good will under which we signed peace? What a joke. If it fails to last it'll be because of this sort of snide, over-bearing behaviour.

Well, agree to disagree, mon amis. Not of all us are pleased with the decisions of our leaders, though for the sake of unity I'll say no more.

I'm glad to see someone's still willing to put up a fight.

I have to say though, for a pirate that gentleman's quite well-kempt. Clothes in good repair, beard trimmed and not allowed to become unsightly. All in all a model for others to follow... the hanging notwithstanding.

There was, and I hear it was positively delightful. A solid all-around morale booster. From the PvP1 French I salute you gentlemen and your continued resistance, and have been pointing to you as our inspiration as we begin to find ourselves in similar waters. Never stop fighting! Vive la France!

I think if this sort of ability were to be added (towing your own trader ships, so to speak) then any additional ships should appear in-battle and sit there so that the enemy can attack and sink/board it, since if it's being towed then it isn't crewed to allow it to operate independently. Pay for the convenience with some additional risk.

Fantastic, well-played.

As official unofficial self-appointed Pirate-to-English translator, I'll see what I can do: "Arrr, you wanted to keep us down. Suck it" I may be paraphrasing somewhat

Quite right; I couldn't agree more. My only regret in all of this is that we weren't able to organise more aid for our Swedish allies, beyond encouragement here. This is something I and many others hope to rectify. In that spirit I look forward to continuing to fight the good fight, regardless of how many ports we're left with.

My money's on the latter.