CatSwift

happy for the pve-ers who want their own server, sad because I was actually looking forward to this merger.

When I first started and for several months after I really enjoyed NA. I managed to find another former PotBS player and we did a lot of duo hunting (open sea hunting being my favorite part of PotBS & NA). Everything directly related to ships is better in NA. Just about everything else was better in PotBS. But NA is still in early access, and the dev's are doing the right thing by trying a bunch of different ways to play the game. I would recommend joining to a PotBS veteran who has strong patience. There is a big patch coming in three weeks which will introduce some sweeping changes (including a full ship + asset wipe); I would recommend waiting until then to join. Especially as a new player, the open sea used to have a lot more NPCs on it for fun / leveling, but recent changes they decreased them significantly to the point you don't see enough sails any more. I believe one of the upcoming changes in the patch will address this. Also a lot of people are taking a break until the patch comes out, so the servers are less populated.

(See all of my paintings on Instagram) as you can imagine, I've gravitated towards naval paintings! i thought some here might like to see them, a meager distraction while waiting for the patch.

I remember you, we were in Nine Winds together for a while. Are you playing Naval Action now? Its not PotBS, but it has its moments.

fantastic decision. April is going to be an exciting month!

i'm excited to try out these changes just as the dev's have spec'd them out. the time and effort required to hunt down ships on the OW (especially now that missions will be gone) to find the right ship with the right trim is definitely deterrent enough for me that it won't replace crafted ships. However, on the off chance I hit the lottery and capture a ship I like, it makes it useful instead of worthless like they are now.

Since they're planning to wipe assets for the first official release (which makes absolute sense given everything), then it simply make good sense they should wipe assets at least once during testing in order to see exactly what happens (don't want to be doing that for the first time on release!) Doing at the same time they must wipe all ships just makes good sense as well, get it all done in one fell swoop.

Do a full asset wipe (leave XP the same) and merge the pvp servers at the same time. I'm willing to bet quite a few folks would take the opportunity to switch nations, maybe really shake some things up.

three cheers!

I approve. Reminds me of all of the fun I had in games like Master of Orion 2, where I'd spend hours trying to create just the right ship design for just the right task. Can't wait to be able experience that level of design stratagem and thrill in Naval Action.

Team from KIN signing up: Pied Piper, Jack Ketch, Critique

If I was forced to play in the nation I chose when I first joined Naval Action, then I would no longer be playing NA. I've only switched nations once, but that one swap has made all the difference. And, no, I did not swap nations because my first nation was "losing" in RvR; RvR means very little to me.

All those fish I could be catching right now :-/

Love seeing it run in the Unity editor; I'd love to get my hands dirty with this game.

I don't see much wrong with the feature as stated in the OP; but I don't see much benefit either. Granted I'm a PvPer first and a crafter second; I currently have no problem keeping myself afloat by building my own ships, and if they become some percentage more expensive (either in labour hours or economic cost) I still don't see that affecting my gameplay.

1. Do you consider frigate battles fun (compared to older versions)? Mixed feelings. Prior to all these penetration changes I routinely would try and 1v1 connies in my frigate, relying on superior sailing and carronades to try and win. With the new penetration changes, anything shots not square on just bounce off, so trying to S-fight a bigger ship just leads to frustration. So now I no longer try and fight the ship class just above me, which I find sad. 3. Should marines be tweaked? I feel that, in general, all of the boarding upgrades are too powerful. For example, someone with all boarding mods will absolutely crash someone with all sailing/fighting mods, usually in less than a couple rounds once boarding commences. However, the ship with the sailing/fighting mods does not insta-win in under 2 minutes the person without sailing/fighting mods. Hence, I think all of the boarding mods need reduced.