Yar Matey

I just joined pvp1 Sweden =( I still have lots of assets on PvP2, lots of first and second rates, but as America. The alliance between Britain and USA against the pirates caused my clan to fall into disarray as most of our good players left and went Pirate.

I guarantee that server pop has fallen because of this. I remember people in Nation chat asking for help and when we all get out there, the battle is closed, and within sight of a friendly port with lots of players docked up. Then after ganking the player, they just sit in battle screen until we get bored and sail away. Some have waited as long as 45 minutes to get the gankers just waiting in battle screen. I remember people specifically saying "what? thats so stupid" many of them quit because of it. The majority of people who bought this game, bought it with the idea that there would be big naval engagements. The 2 minute timers take that way. Now you can give all the BS talk about time compression and how in RL nobody would know you were getting ganked out at sea, well your RL simulator game is slowly dieing as the pop dwindles more and more every week.

No, I want to raise it to 3 min not 5 min. Some may want it back to 5; I liked the game better with 5 min no doubt, but I think 3 min is a good compromise.

I have been personally ganked due to both situations more than once. Probably at least 5 or 6 times when we had 5 min timers and probably more than 5 or 6 times since the 2 min timers were introduced. Actual scenarios that happened to me: 5 AUS guys pop out of freetown Tumbato as I am sailing into port, 2 Santi's 2 connies, and a 3rd rate vs my bellona, 1 of my buddies hops out of port and joins the battle in a basic constitution and I almost managed to escape because he used his ship to tbone 1 of them. I was 2 seconds from escaping. The second one, I am sailing on my 3rd rate, outside of port Sunbury, 5 ships jump me, my 2 buddies leave port and the swords are right there in front of them, but cannot join to help because of 2 min no join and 2 min battle timers. I am easily defeated as they board and take my ship. Take a wild guess as to which one I preferred more? In every gank situation I have ever been in, I almost always prefer the 5 min timer, because at least in that situation, if my friends can get there in time, I have at least a small chance of surviving the gank. I have never once complained about losing my ship to a gank when 5 min timers were a thing. 2 min battle timers suck when you are getting ganked and there is no hope for you when you are stuck in a battle like that. The frustration that OP is feeling because of the 2 min battle timer, is the feeling everyone gets when they get ganked and none of their friends can help them. I dont know anyone personally who thinks the 2 min battle timer was a good idea and I have talked to a lot of people who play this game about it.

What the hell are you talking about? We are talking about game mechanics that are bad for the game. Not social justice. And to the only time I ever saw 1v10 or more is when you had a lone sailor sailing in enemy waters near a nation capital. Don't give me this BS about how 5 min timers are bad because 1v10. You ended up in a 1v10 because you decided to take a stroll in your pirate ship just outside of Charleston. All I know is that when we had 5 min timers, we had 3x or more server population than we do now, so obviously people liked it that way. Not saying 5 min is the best choice for battle timers, but I know that 2 min is just as absurd as 30 min. I would like to see 3 min battle timers with 2 min no attack when you leave port and 4 min no attack when you leave battle screen.

Funny, the people in this forum thread getting vitriolic are also people who play pirate and like the current gank mechanics as they are. It was an analogy, yes its a video game, but you are still blaming the guy who lost his ship because he decided to sail it. That is textbook victim blaming. It may be a hobby, but it is a hobby I enjoy, and others log on to play and enjoy. The ganking in the game right now favors the gankers way too much and is toxic towards new players, and people just get frustrated and leave the game because of it. Look at the player pop, it continues to dwindle and will keep dwindling until there is no one left to play with anymore. Your BS love afair with 2 minute battle timers is not healthy for the game. It is not good for pvp, it is not good to players who do not want to be ganked, thus they stay near capitals, and it is not good for new players who are still learning the game mechanics. When 5 minute battle timers were around, battles were everywhere and filled with many captains PvPing. Now, pvp consists of 1v5 in open world. I am sorry, but you should not be allowed to gank with impunity outside of a nation's capital. I think this forum thread should be locked, as it seems that people here are starting to get hostile.

Doesn't change the fact that its victim blaming. You think 100 years ago, if a bunch of pirates jumped a ship and stole it with its goods, and the captain strolled into port in his row boat, the people in port would be like "OOPS! Shouldn't have strolled out in that ship, its your fault!" Hell no! They would be mad that a bunch of pirates just took the ship with the cargo. This attitude of "its your fault" is toxic to the game, and I really wish the elitist mentality would stop. When gank squads take ships that are irreplaceable from new players who cant craft those ships, most players just quit playing the game. Also, some people just like to do things solo, I like to do things solo sometimes. Also, I just started out on PvP1, so I have no group to roll with yet. So stop blaming people for getting ganked Cool story, unfortunately with the game in its current state, the games PvP advantages lean way too far in favor of gank fleets. Since there are 2 minute battle timers and 2 minute timers blocking you from entering battle, gank squads can gank players with near impunity. There needs to be some risk associated with ganking. That is why battle timers should be 3 minutes. This gives players in dock 1 minute to get out and get to the battle area to join. Its a nice compromise. It took me less than 2 weeks to get high enough level to pilot a 3rd rate, but my crafting level was no where near high enough to replace a ship lost of this rate. This is why I did not want to PvP with it. At the time, I PvP'ed with my shallow water ships because I could replace those. So, yes I was new to the game, compared to these gankers who have logged somewhere between 800-2000 hours and could afford to replace lost ships easily. Now I am max rank and max crafting level, so losing a 3rd rate or bellona to a gank squad is not a big deal. I can replace the ship easily. Its not so easy for new players.

OK, people here claiming its his fault for bringing out a big ship in friendly waters. Firstly, he was in friendly waters near his region capital. People expect a certain level of safety being in friendly waters. I know that this is a PvP game, but you keep forgetting that newer players hang out near the capital to do missions and fish or trade, expect to be able to do it safely. I remember being in friendly waters with my 3rd rate because I could not afford to lose the ship but needed it to grind missions for money so I could buy resources to get my crafting level up. The ship had 2 durability as it was lost once in a port battle. Low and behold a gank fleet outside a port where many of my friends were docked up pulled me into combat and took my ship. The only reason why I could not get into port before they pulled me in was because I had to wiggle my ship back and forth to get the damn option to join port to show up. It was incredibly disheartening to hear my friends could not join the battle because they missed the timer by 1 or 2 seconds because you cannot join battles for 2 minutes after undocking. It took me weeks to recover from that because I lost my source of income from grinding missions and I was not high enough crafting level yet to learn the blueprint for the 3rd rate. I was not about to take my 1 dur 3rd rate out and lose all my upgrades that are irreplaceable because the developers seem to think that having uncraftable upgrades making us rely on RNG to get them is a good thing. The battle timer at 2 minutes is absurdly low and is very unfriendly to noobs. People who just want to farm missions and level do not want to be under threat of gank squads especially if they are doing it near the capital. I would be ok with 2 minute timers far away from friendly waters, but the closer you are to friendly water, the longer the battle timer should last. Near a capital (within 2 port distance) the battle timer should be 5 minutes, farther out from the capital, the battle timer should be 3 minutes. I think 3 minutes is a good compromise, allowing docked players 1 minute to undock and get to the battle is fair. People dont realize that the pendulum has swung way too far in favor of the gankers. There is almost no risk to running in a small 3-5 man group and ganking the solo guy out and about in his ship. The 2 minute battle timer allows gankers to do this with impunity in any waters. Also, the farther you venture from your nations capital, the more rewarding it should be with everything from fishing, to better prices for materials to encourage travel outside of the "safe" zone.

Your real gripe is not with the players, but with the mechanics of the game. Currently, if your ship has not taken any damage within 2 minutes, you can escape. I remember on a few occasions where we needed to make a tactical retreat when our army of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and a few 4th rates were up against the might of your fully 1st rate crewed armada. We would intentionally bait your force with 2-3 ships while we allow the rest of the fleet escape. We know when we are outgunned and will not hesitate to flee if we need to and that is not a cowardly tactic; this is smart and strategic. A simple solution is to keep as many of us tagged in combat as possible by shooting our sails so we cant flee. If you feel that the current game mechanics allow players to escape too easily, voice your concern in the suggestions section of the forums. I do agree that 2 minutes is not enough time, it should be 4 minutes and a minimum distance from nearest enemy of 2000 meters. Edit: I also want to say that the coward perk does not help this situation any either, and I personally think it should be removed from the game or cost most of your officer points to have to the point where your not effective in combat with this perk.

Who cares!? Just play on whatever server you want to play on. I fail to understand why this keeps coming up. People who either switched to PvP1 or put the game down for another game on the claim they are waiting for a merger were people who wanted to switch or put the game down anyway and were just looking for an excuse to do so. PvP2 has a small but loyal following, and as the developers continue to add more features and more things to do in this game event-wise and PvP-wise, both servers are likely to grow from here. I know there is a lot of drama on PvP2 right now, but this drama is part of politics and leads to in-game rivalries, which leads to fun battles in the game. Just let PvP2 be as is.

what are you talking about? Everyone in WATCH except 2 active players, Zim and myself (Yar Matey), left and went pirate. You just making stuff up? Seems like you just made this up to me. I never talk to anyone really that's not in USA and I am 100% sure Zim didn't either. The guy is always super polite and courteous. Except for clan chat and rarely in TS, he never talks to anyone.

I have been seriously thinking about switching to PvP1 since the only people I have to work with in USA are NPG and FEAR. Since FEAR is helping the British and my assets are not in a position to help on the British front, I have been trying to work with NPG since my guild WATCH fell apart, but Koiz keeps kicking me from NPG teamspeak and removing my permissions, so working with NPG has been difficult. Sgt. Barnes, I may join you over there as a Swede. I would really like to go Spanish, but theirs not enough people to keep it afloat from constant USA attacks. Sorry Pirates, but I really want to be apart of a nation with politics, its nothing personal about you guys and that's why I never switched to Pirate. Since all the good players in my guild went pirate, I have received much hostility from some USA players who for some reason think I am a spy. This is even after feeding information about pirate locations to USA players in NPG AND fighting pirates over the last 2 weeks since my clan dissolved. I even managed to capture a pirate Bucentaure in my constitution in a really bloody fight outside Tumbato and I also capped Squedage in an engagement before his ship blew up. Yar

He Loco, its called asymmetric warfare. Yeah, we cant beat you in 1v1 first rate vs first rate battles, so we move to different methods to win. Also, you already wiped out all the first rates US players have and it takes at least a week to replenish most of the lost ships. Sink all of our first rates, then complain we don't take you head on. Here is a thought you may have not considered. WE DON'T HAVE ANY FIRST RATES LEFT TO ENGAGE YOU WITH!

I disagree, not only should first rates be way more expensive material wise, they should also be very expensive to crew and to repair if damaged. 3rd rates should be significantly cheaper to build, crew, and repair. 1st rates should cost more to repair and re-stock with crew than you will ever receive in a battle, 2nd rates should barley break even, and 3rd rates should be much cheaper to crew and repair such that you will almost gain money by sailing 3rd rates. I also think that first rates should have a admiral slot for an officer that gives buffs to nearby ships that are not first rates, and 2nd rates get 1/2 the buff that a 3rd rate would get. This way we see more battles with 1 or 2 first rates and lots of 3rd rates.

How about defender perk? Cant board someone because of a magical blockade? What, does a force-field automatically appear when you have the defender perk that makes my crews rope and hooks just bounce off? Why not just give defenders being boarded a 50% morale boost? Upgrades like grog and rum rations should have to be refillable. You make the module and is good for 3-4 battles then needs to be refilled with... you know... RUM and Grog! Carpenter Teams, Powder Monkeys, Marines, Boarding parties are part of the crew, so why do they not need to be replaced after combat? Crew losses are crew losses and they should be need to be replaced by hireing new crew . The module should just give you the option to higher them for the ship just like crew.

I guess it just shows you the quality of the people, I am still in USA. But, everyone wants to be a winner and going Pirate was easy, so when they were winning, everyone jumped ship because it was 1 click away with no repercussions. I am glad that they made it so you need to delete your account to go pirate, but we are still hemorrhaging even after the change. Also, Pirates should not be a nation, and they should be wiped down to 1 port. Being a Pirate should be about raiding and stealing/looting, not about building an empire with ports. PVP1 has the right idea of wiping them down to just their home port. Join a nation if you want to help build an empire.

You two just refuse to put yourself in another persons shoes and walk around for a bit. Let me put things into perspective for you so you can actually understand it better from mine. I joined the USA 6-7 months ago when I first started playing this game because I knew some people there and they had quite a nice strong guild. We did well for a few weeks, then the guild fell apart, some went pirate, some went to other guilds, and some created their own guild. So I join a new guild, and I watch as other very strong guilds with good members fall apart as more players decide to go pirate. And now, my guild has been hollowed out only leaving the hollow shell that once remained as my previous guild members push me to go pirate. I am currently the most experienced and the only level 50 crafter left in that guild. All of THEE most experienced and longest playing members deleting their accounts and re-creating those accounts as pirates. These players are the most experienced and battle hardened our guild had to offer. This hollowing out of USA clans has been going on for MONTHS! I cant speak for Britain, but from the limited talk I have had with them, it seems to be the same thing. His exact words were "The pirates are ruthless and relentless, and many of our players have gone pirate." This is why the pirates always win, because you have all of the best players from the United States and Britain, and that's a fact. So when I see posts such as Loco's here, it just shows a seal clubbing fest. Yes, there are a few people in there that have been playing the game a long time and have a lot of experience on the USA side, but the majority? No. The result is a very powerful pirate nation with the ability to conquer the whole map if the really really wanted to. The game balance is so lopsided and the more this happens, the more I am starting to want a server merger to end this nonsense.

Oh, come on, its so painfully obvious that the balance is out of whack, the pirates did not lose a single ship! Not a single one! and your telling me that the balance is not out of whack? Also, ports don't matter and never have since the introduction of smuggler mode. The pirates could easily take every port from the United States if they wanted to, but they simply don't care about ports like the United States players do. You and Loco getting your rocks off bashing seals. I have seen numerous guilds on the USA side get gutted because all the high level crafters and battled hardened experience players get fed up on the USA side. The pirates are stacked with big ships. I guarantee after this battle, very few USA players have a spare first rate sitting around to come out and defend ports. Keep up the good work and there wont be anyone left to fight but yourselves.

This is what happens when all the best/experienced players go Pirate. And the ranks of the pirate nation swell with even more experienced and battle hardened players who should not really have gone pirate. Most USA players are new players with little battle experience. I tried to convince my guildies to go Spanish to help balance the game out, but they all decided to go easy mode (Pirate). It would be nice if some of the player base in USA and some of those who have gone Pirate would go Spain, or another faction that needs the players to support the game and give us a healthy balance. This looks like seal clubbing to me.

I get the impression that the developers of this game are trying to generate more PvP, and I have a few ideas that I think many players can get behind. Here are 3 event ideas I think could be lots of fun: 1) Fleet escort events: The basic idea is that players sail to wherever the escort event is and the players get instanced. There will be an attacking team and a defending team. Lets assume that the trade ships are British, then a British convoy of trade ships needs to be escorted to a certain destination. A minimum of 15 ships need to join on the British side including only British players and nations that are Allies to British players. Any players in a nation that is not allied with the randomly chosen faction (in this case the British) of the trade ships, or if you are part of the pirate nation, join the attacking side of the instance. There needs to be a minimum of 15 players on the attacking side before the instance battle will start. The attacking players try to cap the NPC trade ships, each successfully capped trade ship increased the chances of getting a rare blueprint or exceptional upgrade, the more trade ships that are sunk or captured reduces the chance of the defending nation of getting rare blueprints or exceptional upgrades. If 50 people show up on each side, then two instances will generate and create two 25 vs 25 instances. 1) Blockade Events: Same idea as above, except players on the attacking side are trying to destroy trade ships trying to get into port, and defending players are trying to destroy the ships attacking the trade ships. This will generate heavy pvp in the area of events both outside and inside the events. These can be all day events at locations on the map. Just show up, and wait for your instanced event to start. 3) Port Capture Events: If your nation is enemy based on the new voting system, then once a week, 5 ports will be randomly selected that are owned by that nation. If you participate and successfully attack or defend one of those ports in a port battle, then you get a chance to win rare blueprint or exceptional module loot. Thoughts?

REWARD: 500k Your IGN: Yar_Matey Bounty's Nation: United States Bounty's Clantag IGN: [MTC] ColdCanuk Last Known Ports: Calcasieu and Tumbato Reason: Hogged all the loot out at the event on August 20th and got the l'ocean blueprint. It is rumored that he uses several accounts and did so in this particular instance which allowed him to get all the good loot. Any Additional Info: You must sink or capture him in a first rate and screenshot it for proof.

There is nothing hardcore about it. Historically fleets were made up of 3rd rates with usually only 1 first and a hand full of second rates. 3rd rates made up the bulk of naval battles during this era. A 3rd rate is more than capable of holding its own against a 1st rate, and I would like to see more 3rd rates and less first and second rates in naval engagements. 3rd rates will be for normal and casual players, and 1st rates will be for the hardcore players. If changes are implemented correctly, than it could work and be fun for all players. That is why I recommended moral boost for smaller ships when in the presents of a first rate in battle giving them faster reload, and rigging speed.

I think crew cost was a step in the right direction to solving the first rate spam. However, in order to really fix the issue of everyone sailing around in 1st rates, it needs to be more costly to the players in gold/money to sail and use in battle than you will receive in rewards. If your victory, Santismia, or l'ocean receives battle damage, it should cost a staggering amount to repair. Make it it cost hundreds of thousands of gold to repair. Make 1 repair kit for a first rate cost 300k gold or more. If your first rate ship is badly damaged to the point of nearly sinking, make it cost 1.5 million gold to repair along with needing to use live oak planks and other crafted materials to re-construct the ships. Also, having a first rate in your group could add a morale bonus to all 2nd and 3rd rate ships unless its captured or sunk, but the moral bonus only applies to other 2nd and 3rd rate ships, having the largest effect on 3rd rates and lower. This way battles become a brawl of 3rd rates and 2nd rates with 1 or 2 first rate ships in port battles. Having a flagship first rate could give a bonuses to cannon load time, and sailing as well as a boost to boarding morale. Have first rate ships provide a 10% bonus to reload and sailing to 3rd rate ships and a 5% bonus to 2nd rate ships. You could even include a rear admiral officer that gets special perks to boost nearby ships. Rear Admiral Officer Perks (only works if piloting a first rate ship of the line): 10% faster reload for all 3rd rate ships, 5% faster reload for all 2nd rate ships in a 1000 meter radius, and 12% to all 4th rate and lower ships. 10% boost to morale when boarding or being boarded (only effects 3rd rates and lower) 50% increase in influence range for nearby ships (3rd rates and lower) 10% boost to repairs to 3rd rate ships and 5% for 2nd rate ships when nearby friendly ships use a repair kit 10% speed bonus to all nearby friendly ships 10% faster pumping speed when friendly ships are taking on water You could even add penalty perks to nearby enemy ships for Rear Admiral Officer: second rate ships and lower in nearby vicinity (500 meters) suffer a 10% penalty to reload speed The possibilities here are endless. It will also make battles way more strategic in that, everyone will try and protect their first rate because losing it, will almost certainly spell doom for your team.

What happens if you run both extra staysails and extra studding sails on your ship?

oh come on, half of these are filled with new players. The first one, you cant really tell what ship they are in, but looking at the ranks, it looks like it is filled with new players on USA side. Also, you were in enemy territory at that time and posing a serious threat to the coast. Of course the US is going to engage. The second one is more telling. I count 13 1st rates to our 3 maybe? Again, looks like lots of new players on USA side. But another thing, look at how devastating our losses have been. We cant fight back if we do not have ships to fight back with. You wonder why we are always rolling store bought ships. Its because its all we have. You wonder why we sometimes do not manage to get to port battles and fight, accusing us of being care-barres. Ridiculous! We always come out to fight when we can. I don't know about other players, but the losses in ships have been so devastating, sometimes I don't have the gold to even buy a basic ship from a port to come fight. Doesn't help when my exceptional ships I build are getting sunk in 1 broadside with full health either, which is why I started my post in combat mechanics about the ridiculousness of such crap game mechanics.