Franz Stigler

And what will happen after launch? Except for PvE-Players, who really can decide what they want to sail cause it doesn't matter to them, we'll get to the same point again. Any 5th rate is pointless. You grind through and that's it.

Well, what I and most others understand: 1st rates are killing frigates, no one cares for them and they are no use in late game. That's not new at all. Even considering to freeze some ships for a certain amount of time shows that something is not going the way it should.

Actually that's exactly what i am talking about ^^

No one will stop you from doing so You get what you proof to deserve. That's how it worked in reality and that's how it should work ingame

Didn't your mom teach you to be polite?

Sorry, wasn't finished. Now you can get the point i guess.

So after the Devs revealed they're thinking about taking 1st rates out of the game for some time, me and some others put a lot of thoughts into the whys and hows. I'm aware that most players love their hard achieved 1st rates and that some are very concerned about seeing them taken from them. The following is a suggestion how to make a change without killing half the playerbase. Problem with 1st rates is, that they are easy to achieve once you get your hands on them. Within a couple of days your friends get them, because you help them cap or just craft. Within a couple of some more days your whole clan get them and finally everyone gets a 1st rate. I don't think flooding 1st rates all over the world is how it should be. 1st rates should set the point after a long and hard career. They are the price for spending lots of time ingame. 1st rates need to be rare and harder to achieve. That's how it works: 1. 1st rates are no longer craftable (done) 2. 1st rates are no longer sold in shops, neither by NPC nor Players 3. 1st rates can not be capped. That's the basics. So now, how to achieve one? Every player gets a special dock slot. It's the only one they can put a 1st rate in. This slot is bought with the shortly announced admiralty points, by special admiralty missions or is just a rng drop by admiralty. Once you have the slot, you can achieve BPs for 1st rates the same way you achieved the slot. Now that you have a BP you can craft your 1st rate. If you don't like that one you can achieve more BPs till you find your favorite and break the old one up. You can't sell it or give it to anyone, it's yours and bound to your account. The only way to get 'rid' of it ist to either break it up or sink it in battle. That's where the critic part sits. You're 1st rate can't be captured, but lost in a boarding fight anyway or just sink in battle. Well, no problem just craft a new one? Nope. Someone sunk your 1st rate! You can't just 'craft a new one'! It's for the best Navy Men only. You are not, otherwise it would be still afloat. No one sane would presume you anymore to sail a 1st rate. That means: you loose your slot, your BPs and your honor. Start from the beginning. Achieve the slot, the BPs and after that you craft a new one. Now, 1st rates are rare. Just the way they should be. It's a honor to be allowed to sale them, and it's a shame to loose them.