[POTBS]

I've been mostly telling my society members that the initial NA will be a bit like World of Tanks (a title most gamers at least know of) :  A game focused on fights and engagements, without an open world. I tell them that it will be more realistic in its combat system, it's detail, and its sailing mechanics. 

 

Like I said, PotBS has a special place in my heart, but it has been neglected and is being run aground. But I love realism and the challenge it brings with it; If PotBS wasn't dying, I would probably still be coming here (though maybe with a bit less zeal)

 

But now, NA offers a sanctuary for the Captains of PotBS that (in one case) are literally drooling over this game.

[Little things you'd like to see]

I would like to see some sort of tribute to the great classical musicians of this time period. Be it their music being played in some parts of town, or even just a poster advertising live concerts.

 

Considering a variation of the Jolly Roger is being shown ('Calico' Jack Rackham's Jolly Roger is usually the contemporary flag used, and is arguably the one most people attribute to pirates), it is well documented that pirate crews (as well as naval ships) had bands to play on them, but it is also documented that some Pirate captains had their bands play during the battle and in boarding combat to inspire the crew and scare the enemy ("these buggers are playing music when they should be fighting for their lives, they must surely be all mad!")

 

Now the question is this: Which musicians are you speaking of? Because while Beethoven and Bach (and etc.) where indeed alive during the NA span of time, it all depends on where you where if you were going to hear them, it was very unlikely to come across a tavern in Charleston playing Mozart, but the revers would be true in Europe (depending on your setting)

 

With some refinement, this idea gets my vote.

[In our sights.]

hmmm... cannon spread, I thought it was accuracy... no? the closer it is together the more accurate u shoot? the more it is spread the less accuracy and shots you get on the target... so you can not spread fire, you can only make more shots miss the target.. am I correct?

 

The cannons spread would be the area in which you would wish your cannons to fire and your cannon balls to land. The accuracy of your guns would be the ability for the shot to stay true to its trajectory, other than going outside the determined spread or too high or too low.

 

For example, I aim for the middle of a ship, with a tight spread. My spread ensures that I do not hit the rest of the ship (Say if I was focusing on the ships's magazine, hoping for a crippling shot) and all my cannons are focused on a smaller point. The accuracy ensures that the shot does not go too high, flying into the rigging, or too low, into the water, as well as any other deviations from the determined trajectory. In revers, a wide spread would allow me to deal general damage (perhaps If i did not know of any weak points to focus on) that will also have the affects of accuracy that the tight spread would have.

 

This is what EIC showed and seems to add a bit more diversity to how you play, giving you more options on how to attack an enemy. I am not sure if this is/will be true for NA, but I hope it is.

[In our sights.]

Along with more possible 1st person vantage points, I was thinking of one in particular that may come in handy in the midst of battle, as well as some other cannon abilities that would diversify the battle experience:

 

Cannon View:

Take the view of one of the ships gunners and aim down the sights of one of your cannons. this will allow the player to get a better picture of where his guns are aimed. This view would also give the player a more detailed aiming reticle/HUD. 

 

The camera would take the view of the middle-most cannon on the ship. So on a ship with 3 gun-decks it would be on in the middle of the second deck. Smaller ships with just 2 (top-deck and gun deck) would be seen from the lower deck, below decks.

 

Perhaps further down the development road, this view will allow you to see the crews below decks working the cannons while reloading. Watching the cannons being rolled out and the gun ports opening and closing.

 

 

Toggle Fire-at-Will:

From what I have read, I am still not sure if each individual cannon will be on its own reload timer or if it will be collective. If it is in fact on an individual basis, this toggle would have every individual cannon fire as soon as it is reloaded on the the mark where the redicle is placed. This will allow for slight ammunition conservation as well as a small accuracy boost to the cannon's fire.

 

Cannon Spread:

We should have the ability to decide how spread out our cannons are aimed. From wide to attack multiple ships in a line or a crowded group, or to focus fire in on a very close area. Also derived from EIC, to start their would be three options: Wide ,moderate, and tight.

[1st Person Camera]

I am very curious if any of you here on the forums have ever played East India Company. 

 

Personally, I thought that the naval combat engine was a bit sub-par. However, coming from PotBS, I did like  few aspects of the direct ship control.

Most notably, the ability to change your perspective in the 1st person view from the view of the helmsman/Captain to facing either port or starboard side, or facing off the bow or stern. In PotBS, you can zoom in close enough to get a sort of 1st person view, but you are stuck in that one spot, the camera will only ever rotate and zoom around that one central node (the player's avatar on the ship),

 

However, in EIC there is little camera freedom when in the direct control mode. You are not allowed to rotate or zoom with the camera, something I consider a drawback. While on one of the broadsides, one should at least be able to rotate a 180 from bow to stern for that side.

 

I would very much like to see the ability to have different 1st person vantage points from the ship while in combat. Perhaps even amongst the rigging.

[POTBS]

Ahoy everyone! 

 

This game has me very exited. It has so much potential considering the staggering detail going into it. PotBs has always had a place in my heart: my first MMO I really got addicted to, but with the recent drop in population and the apparent absence of the Developers, I must say that it will take little encouragement to have me jump ship to this Game.

 

Considering that the PotBS community doesn't even have a forum to communicate with at the moment, I can say that I have been and will continue to promote this game to my society members; The collective leadership of my society is eager to move as much of our members here upon the game's launch. 

 

I hope to spend more time in the forum reading what updates there are and throwing out my suggestions when I see the need to do so.

 

Fair seas and swift winds to you all!