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Tyrant

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Posts posted by Tyrant

  1. I think past level 10, we should start gaining the ability to use/hire/modify fleets again.

     

    http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/14225-ranking-up-past-level-10/#entry262248

     

    Basically, with every additional rank past 10, I will get a small bit of extra crew, and unlock another fleet slot.  I can place ANY ship I want into my fleet and outfit that ship how I see fit.  However, I must SHARE my total crew between my ship and my fleet ships.  The link is a topic I've made on the subject.

  2. European Traders deliver as much as any number of players can buy. Production buildings produce as much as any numbers of players want.

    There is never a real shortage of anything nor need to establish trade links between different towns or factions.

    Increasing the number contracts would only mean we can increase the influx of good from a infinite pool meaning more products on the market, raw or transformed into materials/built-in ships, without any real demand being fed by infinite offer.

    On top of that none of the Town demands is ever fulfilled. An empty and meaningful mechanic so far.

    I definitely agree with you sentiments as far as scarcity goes. That is another issue that I've felt needs to be addressed. I remember when we had iron shortages and players were sailing to far away ports in search of a supply to bring back for profit. I miss that feeling. I miss the scarcity and I think it needs to be brought back. I think the shift towards a player market, adjustment to port productions, and adjustment to the resource buildings will accomplish that goal. People complained about shortages but I quite enjoyed it. Strife and want are what create the illusion of fulfillment once a goal is accomplished.

    However, I also feel that allowing more contracts will help when the scarcity is returned. It seems like a silly artificial cap.

    My logic being: if you go to your local convenience store, they aren't limited to selling only five items at a time while other, in demand, stocks are sitting in the back unavailable to anyone.

    • Like 2
  3. To make boarding even more OP?

    No...

    To provide more diverse items. The more options players have to diversify their builds the better, in my opinion.

    If boarding mechanics are over powered, you should discuss it in the combat mechanics forum here: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/forum/33-combat-mechanics-discussions/

    I love to see the creative combinations people can come up with in their builds and I enjoy the RPG elements that they offer. This is the suggestion forum and I am suggesting that it would be a welcomed addition to the game. I think it would be a very interesting to see. Balancing and tweaking will always be an issue and should not prevent the development of new and exciting features/items/ships. If we waited for perfect balance before adding anything new, they would've never made it out of sea trials.

  4. Very simple suggestion:

    I think we should be allowed more contracts above the current limit of 5. I think the player economy would be more vibrant if we don't stifle the commerce between players by having a cap on trading contracts.

    I also think the game needs more gold sinks so...

    I think each contract should have a progressively higher "contract fee". Players can have lots of contracts but, eventually, they will become too expensive to maintain as the cost for contracts goes up.

    Inflation is very important to address. I know this game is alpha but this is the best time to handle economic changes and get inflation under control. Inflation is a major factor in new player retention.

  5. I would like to see this added, the ability to "rent" dock space.

    The larger the ship, the more it costs. An initial fee with storage fees over time. This game needs more gold sinks.

    What would REALLY be cool is if the clan of the lord protector of the port was collecting the tax from those storage fees and contract fees and having it deposited into their clan warehouse.

    • Like 2
  6. I would like to see an upgrade that allows you to engage ships at a longer range and a slightly higher speed.

    Like master craft grapples and hooks. Possibly giving you 8% more grappling range and +.8 knots boarding speed. With exceptional giving 10% more grappling range and +1.0 knots boarding speed.

  7. TL;DR: Make Port Battles last for 24 hours.  Get rid of port timers.  This way people can PVP whenever they want, and all time zones get a fair shot.  All players will be able to participate.  Port battles become a truly national endeavor which require the time, effort, and resources of all its players!

     

     

    -Make the ports vulnerable to attack any time of the day.  No more port timers.

     

    -Once a port siege is declared, the battle room opens and remains open for 24 hours.  Possibly make the announcement when flag is purchased, and then open the battle when servers are up from maintenance.  The battle could last until the servers go down, at which time the developers can check the score and set the new ownership.  Not quite 24 hours, but whatever works best for the development team.

     

    -Allow defenders to use crafting hours and resources to repair the forts.  Forts now occupy objective zones, if the attackers successfully destroy the towers and occupy the objective zone, they will produce victory points overtime until they are contested once again.  Once an objective area is being contested, or a fort is repaired, the attackers no longer gain points in the objective area.  Defenders will not gain points over the objective area while attackers are present.

     

    -Grant no access to the port under contest.  Neither the defenders nor the attackers may enter.  Participants must sail from the nearest friendly or free port.  Blockading/scouting is highly encouraged, perhaps somehow rewarded.

     

    -Players can enter the battle room as often as they want to.  Each time they die, they may sail back to the port to enter again if they wish.

     

    -Players gain their loot, exp, and gold for each successful participation within the port battle.  The more victory points they earn within the span of that life, the more lucrative their rewards will be.  Surviving the battle and gaining more points is encouraged over zerging by offering higher quality loot items.  

    *A player that gains 1000 points in one life could receive and exceptional upgrade.

    *A player that gains 100 points over the course of 10 lives, could receive 10 basic upgrades.

     

    -Make the flag prices based on the type of port (if a regional capital, deep, or shallow) and multiplied by the number of ports that nation owns.  Nations with few ports will have cheaper flags.  Nations with lots of ports will have more expensive flags.

     

    -Have some sort of tournament point system which award players for doing things in the port battle such as...

    *Sinking ships

    *Holding objective areas

    *Destroying towers

    *Repairing towers

     

    -The player who purchases the flag will automatically receive a certain number of victory points for financing the operation.  However; the highest performing player on the team (the MVP) will be granted lord protector status.  You may buy the flag and have the advantage so long as you participate and do well in your own battle.  But if another player is more dedicated than you to that port, they will usurp you and be the lord protector of that port.  This will grant them the voting rights and land ownership status along with whatever other privileges the administrators develop.  This also stops players from simply paying for the flags and then letting their nation do all the work.  If you want to be a lord, you must play!

     

    -Defenders win by default, the towers holding the objective area will automatically win any port that isn't contested by the attackers.  They do so by generating points over time while "holding the objective uncontested".  Attackers must show up and establish dominance of the objective area and accrue points to beat what the towers have established in order to qualify the port as a win for the offensive side.  This prevents a nation from declaring 100 ports under attack and making the defenders have to respond to each one.  The defenders will only have to respond to the ports that are actually under attack and they will win all the others by default unless the attackers respond.  The current scores of each battle should be displayed so players may check and see where they are needed most.

     

    -After the 24 hours (or upon server maintenance), the nation with the most points overall will win control of the port.  The 24 hour time limit gives each time zone a fair shot at participating.

     

    -The battle can be persistent in nature, or it can be split up into several battle instances with each one counting as a round towards the total fight.  I would, personally, prefer the "persistent" battle model.

     

    -Nations may have multiple battles at the same time.  The more battles they have, the more thinly their forces will be displaced.  The more territory they take, the more exposed and vulnerable their territory will become.  The port battle system will, intrinsically, establish an ebb and flow of control based on the population and participation of each nation.  It will not be practical or economical for one nation to dominate all others.  They will have too many open fronts, too many open battles, and too many defensive operations to possibly continue their press into enemy territory.  Alliances will become crucial.  

     

    -Place a cool down period on each port, after the victor is decided, before it may be placed under siege again.  Admin suggested 7 days or longer.  I agree with that time suggestion.

     

     

     

    -This accomplishes several of the Administrator's objectives for port battles

    *Port conquest will be slowed down.

    *7 day cool down for port captures.

    *Losing or capturing a port should be a national effort.

    *Losing or capturing a port should be a big event.

     

     

    This will, of course, be a MASSIVE fundamental change to the way territory is fought over and how the game is played.  It has many pitfalls and balancing issues, I cannot possibly think of them all.  I would like to discuss the ones you discover at length!  

     

    I ask that you keep an open mind and provide constructive feedback with an objective eye towards making it fair for everyone.  

     

    After reading this post, please vote how you feel.  Also comment below for any changes you wish to discuss.

    • Like 2
  8. Tyrant, I like your suggestion to have port battle period last for 24 hours, instead of this being decided in 1 battle. I think that still there should be a single large battle at the end - if not deciding, then at least giving eg. 30% of final points (or less if BR difference at the end is smaller). The advantage of this is that it would be worth to fight to the end.

     

    Some remarks:

    - if port battle is open for 24 hours, there will be times where eg. on some hours 2 or 3 players would be fighting. This shouldn't affect points as much as battles of 25 players. Those players should be still able to influene the score, even by resupplying the port, or by fighting PvE if no enemy is available

    - economy wouldn't survive eg. 5 battles of only first rates. This should be limited. It should be probably an epic event only once per port battle

    - port battles shouldn't be affected by participation so much, as smaller nations, or nations eg. without American players, would suffer. Everyone should be able to contribute, however levels of contribution should be limited by type of encounter. Eg. one type of mission could improve score points only by X%

    - it would be good to leave players some freedom. Missions would be probably very interesting, however it would be also good to have events that give incentives for encounters, but don't dictate them (eg. resupplying of ports is one example)

    - it would be good for everyone who contributed to be rewarded at the end, instead of rewarding just players that took part in the last PB

    I am totally open to suggestions and improvements.  I know the little details will need to get worked out.  I just think the 24 hour battle is the best way to go forward with port battles.  It will maximize fun and mitigate some other issues like steamrolling nations, and inability for some to participate.

  9. In regard to port timers,

     

    I believe we should make each port battle event into a structured PVP tournament.  Ports can be attacked at anytime, there would be no port timers.

     

    When a port is attacked, it would remain in a contested state for 24 hours, allowing equal opportunity for players all across the world to have a participating say in the outcome.  The port battles would essentially turn into a series of fights being conducted throughout the day.  As the nations participate and do well in the battles, they earn "points" towards the capture of that port.  Completing objectives, destroying towers, holding a key area, and sinking ships could all be mechanics that award "points".  When the timer is complete, the nation with the most points would win that port and have it turned over to them during daily maintenance.

     

    During the port battles, neither side could access the port that is under attack.

     

    Players could continue to battle at that port many times over the course of the day, the more dedicated your side is to winning and the more participation you have, the more your points will go up.

     

    Players defending territory could use crafting hours to repair the forts throughout the day and bring crafting into the port battles.

     

    this would be a massive change and require lots of tweaking; however, I think a 24 vulnerability period will accomplish a few objectives that the community and developers are after:

     

     

    1) all time zones would be fair play, no port timers required, only the overall participation of your nation would hinder/help you.

     

    2) Port conquest will be slowed down. nations would only be able to concentrate their efforts in so many places in the course of a day being careful not to spread themselves too thin... the larger a nation becomes, the more likely they will be attacked on multiple fronts by multiple nations and have their numbers split into multiple battles.  This naturally mitigates a nations power instead of doing it artificially by offering flag cool downs and such.  IMHO, I think nations should be allowed to buy as many flags as they want, whenever they want... they just need to get more expensive as you acquire more ports.  (ie. Sweden has no ports, can buy a flag for 10K.  Britain has 50 ports, can buy a flag for 500K.)

    • 3) Losing or capturing a port should be a national effort.  No better way to make it a national effort than to allow EVERYONE in the nation to participate if they want to instead of limiting it to 25 and an unlucky few assigned to "blockading"
    •  
    • 4) Losing or capturing a port should be a big event.  Multiple huge battles being conducted over and over again for as long as you care to participate? basically unlimited access to on demand PVP without question of where to go for a fight?  I don't know how it could be any bigger of an event than what I've described in my suggestion.  This really pits an entire nation against another nation instead of a small select few.  This makes it into an absolute war, a slug fest where TONS of ships and resources are being lost to the cause.

     

    • Like 2
  10. "Captains. For game to work properly, please update the client version.  The client version should be 29383."

     

    I have revision: 29205.CleanOWProd.x64

     

    Steam is not triggering the update, a restart didn't trigger it either.  It thinks the client is up to date, when the servers are refreshed it says N/A for the status.

    • Like 1
  11. I think the AI for fleeting would certainly need some tuning; however, if you were against the fleets you could simply not utilize them.

     

    The fleets need more commands to issue such as setting a distance for engagement (long, medium, short)  So if you're running long cannons, you can put your fleet on short range engagements and they will be out of your way.  Also, I do not think a fleet should ever keep players out of PVP either.  Players should always consume any fleet slots to get into fights.  Their collision avoidance needs to be adjusted to keep them from being a nuisance.

     

    I think fleets would be well use as defense only during PVP, so

     

    if you were attacked, your fleet would be with you,

     

    but if you were the one who attack, the fleet would not appear in battle.

  12. I've always enjoyed the MMORPGs that had a pet class (necromancer- Diablo II, Beastlord - EQ, and so on).  When i started this game and discovered the AI fleets, I realized I had discovered little pets... I was elated beyond measure!

     

    Then I got too high in the ranks and the fleets were no longer able to be purchased.  I get that they were essentially "training wheels" for the noobs; however, I think they have a place in this game going forward.

     

    After rank 10, I think a very large amount of exp should be required to continue to acquire the next rank.  You would be rewarded with about 100 extra crew, and unlocking the fleet again starting at 1 fleet member.

     

    Every rank after that will require even more exp but give more crew and unlock another fleet slot, all the way up to the five that are in game.

     

    Players would then be able to use their old ships and place them into their fleet.  A player would have to share their total crew pool with their fleet.  So rank 10 allows 1100 sailors under your command.  Rank 11 would allow 1200 sailors under your command and one fleet slot.

     

    A player could continue to sail in their santisma which consumes 1050 sailors, and then would have 150 sailors left to sail in a smaller vessel of their choosing, perhaps a navy brig to escort you.

     

    or a player could decide to sail in a constitution, and have a fleet constitution as an escort, splitting their crew evenly among the two ships.

     

    As you rank up, you earn more fleet slots but only 100 more crew.  You could command up to 1600 sailors in 5 different ships but must choose how to disperse them.  A small amount of large ships, or a large amount of small ships?

     

    Crew wages should be brought in to help sink gold from the game and make the fleeting costly.  

     

    Fleet slots should always be overridden by player characters.  If a player with a fleet of two ships is in a full PB and a real player attempts to join, they should take the fleet slot.  Or perhaps, do not let the fleets participate in offensive port battles.

     

    I think you should have full control of your fleet ships, from upgrades to hold areas... if a player wants to do a trade run, they could utilize the holding areas of their AI fleets and make them carry the goods while the player does the fun part of escorting.

     

    • Like 2
  13. microsoft flight simulator does this.  Weather data is a public server and is highly standardized in a METAR format which is easy for computers to read.  MSFSX imports the data every (ten?) seconds and then puts it into the game.  If it starts raining, game turns on rain.  If fog rolls in, the game turns up fog.  It's a really cool system and a great tool for realism.

     

    However, like some have already pointed out... the time compression in this game poses challenges.  Like if a hurricane was coming up the coast, you would have it on top of you for months of in game time.

     

    Doesn't mean it can't be done, but it would need some refining, I think.

  14. With the new diplomacy patch and the addition of lords and landowners, this suggestion would be prohibitively excluding of new players.  It also lends itself to abuse and the formation of "good 'ol boys" clubs.  

     

    As far as I know, peace will become a national decision voted on by land owners.  If the peace is broken, then I assume some sort of repercussion will be associated with the offender.

     

    I wouldn't want to see the purchase of flags be made exclusive.

  15. You can already ship cargo via AI.  Get a freetown outpost near your captiol, then when you cap your traders and bring it to your remote freeport... go to deliveries (just above the warehouse) and select your freetown that is near your capitol and load up the ship... it takes time depending on the distance.  Once the goods arrive, you can easily pick them up and hop them over to your capitol with a short sail.

  16. Unfortunately, OW teleport to capital has exactly the opposite effect:

     

    Player traders load up their cargo vessel at their production outpost, then use the Teleport to Capital function to move their laden vessel directly to the capital without ever going through OW. The result is that their ship and cargo are never at any risk to trader-hunters whatsoever, because they never transit through the open world.

    THANK YOU!

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