Tenet

The Pot is calling the Kettle black. Literally Circles, Points and Timers are also present in OW PvP, particularly the AI-Fleet abuse, yet because you benefit, you pretend that's not the case. The circles on the PB map do produce points - forcing the ships to stay in limited areas and fight. You can turn a losing PB around by sinking enemy ships which also provides points and counters what they accumulated by capturing a circle. There are problems with both OW PvP and PB PvP that need improvement, but insulting players that prefer one or the other or both is the wrong way to go about improving the game.

Disagree with removing Tax option from Capitals. Capitals and Free Towns are where the major profits and trade exist in the game. Taxation discourages alts and promotes defending economic activity. You can adjust the system but you can't divorce it from affecting these ports.

This is probably the most impactful change on the list. Highly approve! Can't wait to attack some Free Towns.

You may be right, but it does not make it PvE, and your specific claim has several objections: OW Hostility grinding when enemy does not show up to resist is now by rules of the game dependent on unreliable AI-Fleets, so some ports can be reliably set while others can take way more hours than planned. I don't know past history, but most recently the only really bad times were scheduled either by accident (not realizing the server-reset time limit was removed and accidentally flipping for 1am Eastern) or by people who play from a different time zone. South East Asian players will schedule the time when they can show up. North American players will try to do the same, and the majority of recent PB were scheduled for decent times (with noted accidents due to changed mechanics as exception). I think the real culprit is the low durability and relatively High cost of making 4th rates and above relative to the average player's income. Perhaps if ships weren't so difficult to replace compared to the time window of PB flips, or if the PB timing was less frequent, Nations would be more willing to fight with their ships. Perhaps not - there's a great human factor. In World of Tanks once the rookie clan I joined climbed (by losing battle after battle for weeks and months to superior clans and gaining battle experience) to the #2 rank on the NA server, some clans chose to give us fights, while others declined and showed up in Tier 1 tanks to troll because game rules didn't incentivize fighting a losing battle.

You are right, I don't want to further derail this thread. I saw no apology and will consider whether this is worth a Tribunal.

This is not about Neutrality. The Red Duke can take any side he likes and support it, but he should not be able to intentionally troll by lying. Claiming that "PB is PvE" is a blatant lie designed to insult and troll RvR players. If one side decides to not join a PvP match and lose a port, that does not make the format PvE. Just like running from an OW PvP fight by jumping into an AI-Fleet defensive tag does not make OW engagements PvE. OW fights among players are PvP, even if one side chooses to run. RvR Port Battle fights are also PvP, even if one side chooses not to show up. On a PvP server, claiming that either is PvE is a grave insult and a troll bait. P.S. I have great respect for un-paid volunteers becoming Forum Moderators, and would want nothing else for a healthy forum community. However, Moderators should abide by the forum rules and volunteering doesn't excuse abusive behavior.

FTFY. Don't try to dodge the issue, you claimed that Port Battles are PvE, insulting every player on the server that likes 25v25 port battles, and thereby trolling this discussion. That is against the actual forum rules. Take your words back and apologize or resign.

I see the light: When people want to fight 25v25 in an even battle that is "Player vs. Environment" and not actual PvP. When your posse of gankers go after loners in slower ships and stern camp, or gank 3v1, it's "PvP at its Apex". Dodging fights by having friends conveniently "pull" you into AI-fleets to escape an unfavorable OW tag is also "PvP". /s You need to either stop trolling the forum or give up those Moderator tags, hypocrite.

Not enough. I had a situation today: Read a guys movement perfectly (actually used a ruse to make him turn where I wanted), and had a friend pincer him to land from the other direction. About 15 seconds before our own tag starts, he passes by an AI-fleet and throws a defensive tag, resulting in horrible join circles for our chase. We didn't do anything wrong in chasing, he was fair game, and we had to let him go because between the super-speed and thes AI-fleet defensive tags we have to align too many conditions to catch. I not only have to perfectly predict where he goes (which I've done before) but also pray that I can launch my perfect close-position tag before he uses another AI to escape.

1. Several witnesses in my clan confirm what I watched with my own eyes - we get the Speed Boost out of NPC battles. 2. Very likely there may remain an Exploit where if we chase into the NPC battle, it becomes a PvP battle with a really bad tag and they get Speed Buff + Invisibility on exit. That's the main problem here - they should not be using NPC battles defensively. It completely kills ability to corner people that messed up. It's already hard with super-speed. Edit: @admin Just tested it repeatedly - every Open-World Fleet we engaged while gaining hostility gave everyone Super-Speed + Invisibility. This is clearly broken. The NPC tag circle should also be like "Green on Green" as Koltes says - people should be unable to use AI-fleets as an escape mechanism where someone is right behind/beside about to execute their own perfect tag.

Please do not derail the thread. We're talking about someone being chased - and right before the enemies can favorably tag, people jump into a PvE/NPC battle at max range, resulting in complete immunity to escape inside the battle, AND freaking super-speed outside. Capturing a moderately fast ship around NPC/PvE fleets is near impossible right now, excluding user-error. NPC fleets should not provide super-speed / invisibility when you come out, and NPC fleets join circles should behave differently from PvP ones - if you escape into an NPC fleet, the chasers should spawn on where the runner first entered, not on the far away NPC spawn.

Tag it, sure, and have all the chasers spawn right on top of you when they join. The idea of an NPC fleet being used to escape PvP must be ended. The only defensive tagging should be against another Player ship.

I apologize for an honest mistake!

You mean to tell me that when you get cornered on all sides you won't jump into an NPC battle to save your main ship? You never used this exploit yourself? Excellent. You are currently defending everyone that does and actively try to help them continue. Cheers! P.S. I will -definitely- use it every time I can until it's fixed. No high horse here. Super-speed already made running easy, this exploit makes it stupid.

Of Course the #1 abuser of this exploit is going to jump into the thread and browbeat with his mod powers. Like clockwork. You should not be throwing defensive tags on NPC fleets and getting favorable spawns.

Super-Speed is supposed to be against escaping from a PvP battle and getting a chance against revenge fleets. It should not be a sure-fire way to get a defensive tag off NPC ships which is how it is used right now. NPC battles should also be joinable positionally - to avoid Defensive tags on NPC's altogether. * Edit: *This means that if you tag an NPC fleet from max range to prevent me from catching you, I should be able to spawn within shooting distance anyway. This jumping from one NPC fleet to another to escape is an exploit.

There are two main player types that keep the server alive: 1. PvPers that fight in OW, Gank, Screen, Guard and RvR, the latter being the most resource intense. 2. Crafters and Traders that directly supply their Clans with Line Ships / PvP ships on a steady basis Very often in bigger clans 1 and 2 are the same people doing both roles, but sometimes you see someone who just trades and gives buys ships for others. There is also another player type: 3. The Leecher - this player claims to be a PvPer, or claims to be a Crafter/Trader, but actually is neither. These players take resources, money, ships, and hoard them inside ports. They weaken whichever nation they are part of because they don't show up to fight. The Leechers might as well be playing a PvE game. Their line ships stay in ports. They are afraid of sinking. They tend to talk a lot in Global but never show up in PvP screenshots, not even as the ones sunk. The demand increase due to leechers is not justified by their contribution to the Server. They never contribute to PvP by hiring guards from the PvPers. They would rather take a 30% loss on income than spend 30% of profits on rewarding defenders. Leechers are the dead flesh of the server, weighing it down while providing minimal content - they can occasionally be caught in their trade ships but their response is to either eat the losses or switch hours or use alts to spot for themselves. If you analyze the server from this perspective, you will find out that the actual LIVE factions on the server are doing just fine: The French are having PvP and have a growing community of clans, despite the earlier civil war. The Danes are having an influx of ex-GB players that might build it up. The Dutch seem more active in PvP in the past week, with French bringing it to their doorstep. The actual PvP players in US faction, particularly the new PARF clan, seem to be having a blast even when facing the strongest opponents. Some people show up and have fun and get sunk and learn and improve. Even if it takes dozens of sinkings, they have a chance to eventually grow. The people who give up and lose hope become Leechers and are no longer part of the life on the server anyway - they are the only ones who get threatened by RvR doomsday scenarios. The leecher will find a hundred excuses to not show up to a port battle, to waste resources building ships that never help their faction. The server is threatened by Leechers, not by people that show up to RvR. A fighter will always adapt and find his way to PvP and growth.

The hardcore, and unfortunately to some extent @admin himself, dismiss many such reviews as some bad clan or mean players, or as weak people leaving. Here is my personal view: If I was not working from home/freelancing right now, if I was in a management position or working on a bigger project, I would not have time for this game. I would not be able to waste time on these long sails between far away ports to find someone to PvP, to gank or RvR. Unfortunately, I would probably be forced to Naval Legends or some other fast match game like Heroes of the Storm or Player Unknown's Battlegrounds.

Exactly. Most people who think the game is too much like a job have already left, some leaving a bad Steam review as result. The ones remaining and posting on this forum are mostly hardcore games that don't understand those that left. They will use the "Don't make this into CoD" strawman argument to shut down any constructive discussion on speeding up the action in the game, or worse, tell you to "go play Naval Legends" as if there is no middle ground.

Right now hostility can be raised to 100% in about two hours depending on the fleet spawns, using the all too known Fleet-Refill method. This means that in some ports low on fleets hostility is a huge challenge requiring 4-6 hours of grinding. In other ports it's a 1-2 hour rapid offense with most nations unable to respond in time. I cannot support your potentially good idea while Hostility raising is PvE and Luck based.

My responses in purple: Great Britain had a over month to build up, with a capital that spawns trade resources that can be bought on contract(a huge money maker, and advantage Mortimer lacks), ( blockaded by pirates ) - Dutch made it in just fine, with enough efficiency to account for the occasional losses. You had a home port to fight from to defend trade, and it only needs to be done in immediate vicinity. None of your main trade goods had a buy contract in the first month of play, you left your trade undefended both in shop and in the OW. I know because I sailed in and bought it several times, with the biggest threat being your own uneducated rookies tagging in basics and brigs. CKA were a positive exception. with easy ability to teleport.(removed from the game 1 week now) - Tow-to-Port can be easily used to enter Willemstad or KPR from 60-120 k away using "closest deep water port" and trade tool distance indicator. It was "fixed" in 10.4, only recently, and can still be used to dodge freeport hunt areas once or twice per day. I can't respond to the rest, because it simply proves my point - resources tied up with inactive players means you didn't share your wealth, exactly what I claimed.

This is the biggest lie in this entire chain of events. Every ex-GB player that switched Dutch or France reported the same thing - brutal exploitation and suppression of rookies. Total lack of support, wild prices, no culture of fair direct supply. You had all that human capital and you wasted it, not even realizing it's worth. Talk to some recruiters among these nations, see how much value they place on just one more person to train up. I clearly remember the mocking of open recruiting methods - "oh you take just anyone" not realizing it was a bleeding wound. Then there is training - it's easy to criticize your own people for not using manual sails. How many organized trainings did GB hold, on voice chat explaining to rookies how to sail in line, how to tack? No time to do so since the wipe, really? Who lacked the leadership and charisma to organize a national campaign of armament and practice?

Great Britain had a over month to build up, with a capital that spawns trade resources that can be bought on contract (a huge money maker, and advantage Mortimer lacks), and trade ships running into Willemstad 24/7 with cover from the Dutch, with easy ability to teleport. Where are those dozens of millions of trade profits? Where were the PvP guards to ensure the ships don't get intercepted? Grinding missions was the #2 most profitable activity on the server - where is all that PvE money? Where are all the 1st and 4th rates? Not only that, but you had VCO and TF join the nation - growing even bigger. Where is that great leadership, inspiring people to show up and fight? Where are the people that bullied the Dutch out of Cartagena, threatening to crush them at a hint of offense? Why have I spent the last month before joining the Pirates recruiting rookies out of GB and US that said they could never receive support and were exploited by their clans? Where are the people from GB clans that mocked everyone recruiting from help or global? Why do the 75+ GB players seem to have less influence and ships in PB than the 20+ Dutch they bullied? Where are all the people that sent threats against France, claiming they will be "next"? If Admin ever releases the data on the richest individuals on the server, on who has what ship at port, the GB rookies that get exploited will have a rude awakening of why their nation actually can't fight. That fast and massive of a collapse is not accidental - it's a symptom of internal rotting, a weak monopolized economy that did not support it's own community of players. The people in charge of this fiasco needs to leave before the wound has a chance at healing.

Concise analysis of contemporary port battle meta: