Latron

The game can be a grind, like many games are. That's the nature of MMOs. I don't think having players pay real money to skip all of that is fair for anyone.

p2w isn't limited to content that is exclusively obtained by purchasing it. It's p2w when you use real money to give yourself an advantage over others.

If you don't like killing AI, then go find some PvP. It rewards you with more xp and it's not as hard to find as some might tell you. Plus you could also try using some smaller ships. The smaller the ship is, the easier it is to unlock knowledge slots. I once unlocked 3 slots in a single PvP battle for the lynx, and all I did was shoot at the sails of a single enemy. Spending more money to give yourself xp is P2W. It would give players an edge over all others who are actually working to earn those knowledge slots. There's really no argument against that because that's simply what P2W is.

This is exactly what P2W is.

No, I don't believe alts are healthy for the game. Some would say that they can't play without them and that the game heavily encourages it, but I've put thousands of hours into the game with only one account, and I get along just fine.

Most of the nations have a sizable US playerbase. There are a lot more options out there and which one suits you really depends on what you're looking for specifically. Each nation has their strengths and weaknesses. However, I wouldn't recommend the US. I don't want to be that guy who says that they suck. I actually feel pretty bad for those guys, but it's currently in a state where many of the players are going to have a bad time at some point. It's just far too mismanaged.

Having this done in NA is annoying, to be sure, and it is somewhat unfair, but you'd be wrong if you think this is only a problem in NA. In some games having multiple accounts is practically a requirement to accomplish anything. I wish things could be different for NA, but there's not much us or the devs could do about it, so if you want it fixed, perhaps you could be the one to be productive and actually make some suggestions about how to tackle this issue. If you do manage to come up with an actual good idea, then I'm sure game designers all over would be pleased because alts have been a problem for years.

I agree with all of these ideas. NA has come a long way, but it needs a lot more polish. I think the skybox especially needs an upgrade. Unmoving clouds with surprise hurricanes that appear despite sailing in clear skies only moments earlier breaks the immersion. There are plenty of other kinks to work out like ship balance and how adding fees to teleports is a bad idea, but a few cosmetic changes can also go a long way to making the game feel fresh for those of us that have played for thousands of hours.

I understand how being kept out of voice comms can make you feel like an outsider, but clans using those comms have things to be concerned about. They can't allow just any random player to join for fear of them being an alt meant to spy on that nation, and sometimes there are entire clans who are untrustworthy to them.

With many other games with voice chat, people use teamspeak or discord regardless because of how it can be organized for large groups. If voice chat is added I don't think it would be used most of the time.

I think the Swedes could use a bit more variety than what was shown. There is this flag here that was used by the navy in the 1600s, but there aren't many pictures of it, and the ones I have seen have varying numbers of stripes. So that might require more looking into. Also can we include flags with their coat of arms such as the three crowns?

Roseau Port Battle:

I see someone already beat me to the Shrek joke. 😕 But with so much hostility being thrown at the Swedes lately, it feels like we're under siege, and Davos is coming to save us with his onions. It's just like the real Davos Seaworth, but with a midwestern accent.

There are plenty of annoying things with the AI but I'm referring specifically to two things; where they sail in the open world and them shooting at the forts. They used to sail only along the coast, and then it was changed so more would sail into the ocean to get to far off ports, but a new bug was created after that. Now they frequently sail into the land to get to their destination. I don't imagine fixing this would be too difficult since they avoided land once before. With the old AI I can think of only one place where their pathfinding led them through land, but one or two bad spots is better than all over the place. When it comes to the forts, the AI don't seem to go out of their way to go after them, but when they are close enough they will fire away. This isn't a huge issue, but besides looking strange, since the forts don't shoot back, it occasionally leads to AI keeping near the coast, which potentially means the player getting themselves beached. It's a minor detail but the game needs a lot more polish before release.

I have always felt a bit sorry for the US. They've had it rough for a long time now, which is why I don't hunt along the US coast anymore. It was always filled with inexperienced players who are afraid to take risks because they're too used to getting pounded by everyone else. I don't really keep up with them nowadays but I think their capital needs some breathing room if players are still hunting around there. So for those who have a lot of experience and often sail around Charleston looking for easy prey, just take a hike. If you want to fight then stop sealclubbing and go fight someone your own size.

I can imagine some will try using alts to complete the PvP hunts.

I would agree that pirates need a change, but no bonuses to things like speed or boarding, that would just be unfair, and no outlaw battles. It was added and removed several times for the exact same reason. Unless it is somehow activated through very specific means that won't allow it to be abused, then that's a no from me.

I also got an lgv refit recently and I like it a lot. I likely won't be able to use it much in pvp even though I'd like to try it. I can't get pvp marks very easily. If it cost combat marks then that would be way better.

Nice job with the math, but it should be enough. Since the players are the ones testing the game, it's up to us to determine what works and what doesn't. If some won't bother to get on the forums to make their opinions known, then that's on them for not participating.

Storms wouldn't be the same without some bigger waves. Is there truly no alternative? I would even settle for specific areas on the map where every battle started in the area is in rough waves with those areas never changing and the rest of the map always being normal. Anything to break up the nearly perfect weather in battle would feel refreshing.