Njord

Or keep them as another option and call them "Pirates of the Caribbean", which would be a bit more accurate name for what the current pirates are...

If only the average player had the balls courage and incentive to do so... I mean when it comes to OW PvP, I completely agree, this is a nice challenge for real PvP players so they get more targets ( sort of like when the real prussia was born after the purge of the carebears ) but I don't see anyone with half a brain throwing their small resistance of a couple of ships into the jaws of a RvR zerg, only to entertain them, when there is no reward for fighting as underdog ( this happened at least once with swedes before when they went full organised zerg and tryhard in RvR to the point where barely any other nation bothered anymore and the swedes moaned about empty PBs in the end ). I wouldn't even mind this, if it was a real sandbox and you could actually remove any nation from the map ( like prussia, russia and poland ) but having the uncapturable ports and safe zones on one side and no balancing mechanics for nation population, like incentives to join underdog nations, on the other is simply rubbish in my opinion.

Any chance this could be copied for Naval Action? All nations in Naval Action have the same english voice acting, would be massively more immersive duing battle if the voices were nation specific. And while you do the voices for UA:AoS you could do it for NA too? All those could simply be copied 1:1 with minimal effort. @admin sorry for off-topic

Yeah, maybe so but only shallow RvR and only very few AI trims are actually good and useful enough for RvR. The high tier crafting trims are better than the vast majority of AI trims. And even if you find something like T/WO/Cartagena refit ( only +3% armor thickness over T/WO/VerySturdy ), which would be about as lucky as crafting a gold ship, this would be the absolute exception and you won't be able to make a fleet of those ( more likely to build a gold ship fleet that would easily outperform the AI ships too ). Also OW AI are the most accessible of all ships, no need for DLC or having reals for resources - anyone can simply sail out and capture it. So I am not seeing much of a balance issue.

As I mentioned crafting is much more efficient and easy and arguably has the better trims available ( except for very few ) and you can not capture 1-3 rates ( or 1-4 ? ) leaving you with little gain for RvR. Imagine you want a T/WO Endymion. Craft a few and you might very well end up with a Very Fast, Very Sturdy or Heavy rig. Now imagine you want to capture something similar from AI ( can't even get the same since crafting has its own trims ) with every combination like Live oak/fir possible... how long would it take? I don't see a problem with crafting, since capturing enough NPCs to get a decent one is more effort than crafting or redeeming one for free.

Can we get rid of the standard crew space trim on OW AI? What's the purpose of it anyways? Do we really need this restriction when it is so easy to build ships by the dozen each day with exactly the woods you desire? I would actually really like how the special trims are exclusive to AI ships to make capturing and using AI a bit more interesting but the standard crew space is somewhat off-putting. Can we have all wood combinations possible for OW AI ships? This would increase OW content a bit, since you could then find truly unique and rare ships. Hunting AI with the goal to find those ships seems like very easily implemented PvE OW content. Maybe some AI refits could use a very minor buff aswell, so they're equal to the crafting trims but more unique and specific. The complete randomness of frame/planking/trim would balance the trims enough through scarcity / rarity alone. First you have to find a proper combination of woods, then a good trim with it and ideally additional slots. @admin

I think this is very important.

@admin This is probably the best solution / suggestion, that I have read so far. Might even take it one step further and make it so with option B you give up any fleet ships aswell. Also option B should never be available in enemy waters ( reinforcement zone ). This not only needs to happen for the sake of fair and enjoyable gameplay but also to make NA more playable for people with limited time. Getting tagged 5 times in a row is BS and nothing but griefing in my opinion, since you don't even gain distance sailed in battle for the OW, which makes no sense at all. It only ever happened to me a couple of times but those few times had me seriously question my further interest in the game more than anything else I have ever experienced in NA.

Yeah, it is way too accurate.

Why? What's the point? I am not evaluating your opinion, just being curious. It can't even be a roleplay thing or about exploration, since NA is not settled during the 15th century or about Christopher Columbus sailing across the atlantic. The map is already completely discovered. What's the catch for you? During the timeframe of NA only a complete and utter retard, who shouldn't have been in command of a proper ship in the first place, would have been lost sailing through the caribbean, except for maybe getting into a heavy storm. So it's not very realistic or historically accurate. Now in terms of gameplay, the only way you can really get lost is if you go afk or don't pay attention to where you are going at all. Sextant perk is more a convenient QoL feature than worth a perk slot in my opinion. The thing is I want to be able to know at least my rough location without having to look for landmarks like some native american in a hello kittying canoe, as it would be historically accurate but I don't see why I should give up a perk slot for it ( every proper ship had a sextant and other navigation tools, aswell as several celestial bodies to guide them ). That being said, it would be a cool additional feature that you can not use all this, if you get into a storm. Maybe this would be a good compromise? More frequent storms that cause players to get lost, maybe push them off course too? Avoiding storms could be a thing too and make it even more realistic. That could be interesting. Maybe they should really just make it standard BUT give everyone the option to disable it, so they can go full reverse C. Columbus and discover Europe by accident.

It kind of saddens me to read how some players find navigating in NA interesting or even describe it as content. Currently it is trader tool and gps cords ( perk not even needed, only QoL ) and after they remove it, basically it will come down to protractor tool and guessing or simply staying in sight of the coast. It is not like we have an accurate star map that we could read to navigate or other navigation tools that would actually make it interesting and skill demanding. I'll just leave this here. I for one find it rather dull to imagine sailing the most advanced, cutting-edge technology vessels of the 18th century, while navigating like a peasant on a raft in the bronze age probably would have. In my opinion navigation should either be more skill based, in-depth and especially sophisticated or simply sextant perk made standard. With coords and trader tool removed, navigation will be annoying at worst and boring at best ( without sextant perk ). Also people will most likely still find ways to get the coords with a workaround.

I don't see the point of having this QoL feature as part of the perk selection to be honest. I am fairly certain no ship was sent to sea without navigation tools at the time the game is supposed to take place. We also have other workarounds to tell us our location and thus the perk is only QoL and even if trader tool, coords and everything else will be removed eventually, almost everyone will run Sextant perk anyways, so what's the point? I'd much rather have the sextant perk as default but maybe not as accurate as it is now, it should give a more general location instead of pinpoint accurate GPS.

I think it would be great if the devs linked new player guides like this on the steam page at least. Most players that need it might not even use the forum at all. Good job, jodgi!

What about simply giving the battle initiator control over the battle, as long as it is PvE? If someone wants to join a PvE battle, the initiator has to accept a request or something, displaying the player name. Obviously this would only be for allied players wanting to join, not enemies. @admin

Or maybe you just have your own reality? You should really stop bullshitting, mate. Because that's all that it is, really. Where exactly is your "rational / logical evaluation of relevant facts"? Is is somewhere in between this "Hurr Durr RNG is stupid, remove please!" nonsense with your only suggestion being to replace it with resource cost increase? I'll tell you again, since you seem to be trying so hard to understand. There is an limited amount of the best crafting woods ( mainly teak and white oak ) available. Fact. There is an unlimited amount of basic resources, doubloons and labour hours available. There is no limit to them, you just have to keep playing and have more accounts to get more. Fact. Now a hardcore player has this finite amount of crafting wood and this infinite amount of everything else. With RNG he will never get 100% high quality ships from this limited wood amount, because he "wastes" most of it for standard ships that he will most likely throw cheap on the market or give away to poor players. With your system he gets 100% high quality ships from this wood, since he has theoretically unlimited supply of the other items ( doubloons, LH, basic resources ). He also has no "dud" standard ships to sell cheap or give away. Everyone who has the rare woods will go for maximum quality, no matter the system. People always seek the advantage over others, it is human nature. Thus with your system there are a lot more high quality ships and a lot less standard "throwaway" ships available. How can you not understand that? What is so complicated? As I already explained, it does not matter how much the increased cost will be, since there won't be anything to lose if you commit. Pay maximum price for maximum quality. Currently the RNG crafting is high risk versus high reward. You can put as many resources in as you want, you are not guaranteed a high quality gold ship in return. RNG is the very reason why the system works, sadly. Also about your "facts/truths/realities of economics" talk... you do understand, that this is a video game, yeah? You have to balance the players who have very limited time to put into they game versus those who play multiple hours every day somehow. Why do you think they went with the RNG system in the first place? They could simply have made gold ships cost 100.000 doubloons and 50.000 LH for example. So why do you think they didn't? You don't have to explain to any player why you dislike RNG, everyone does and that is the whole point of it. People not being able to get anything they want on demand is a really triggering experience for many in this modern society. You trying to prove a system based entirely on maths being "stupid" via your lovely facts/truths/realities fetish, is somewhat amusing still. Don't blame me, please. Wait, are you referring to my comment here or yours? It doesn't seem to extend to applicability for MMO game design... Every opinion that is not yours is "empty", isn't it? Also if you see a "childish ad hominem attack" in me stating how I prefer another posters idea over yours, then you probably have some serious inferiority complex going on and you might want to talk to someone about that. Anyways, the only thing we can agree on is that there could be a better system than RNG for crafting and only the future will tell what the devs have in mind, if anything at all. As far as I am concerned I wasted enough time on this topic, when the current RNG system might be final and not even up for debate with the release coming up. Thanks for the chat and good luck with your suggestion.

Your preference for your suggestion is an empty opinion just as much as my dislike of it. So according to you, it does not qualify. Here, have a good read. Having quality of ships depend on flat resource input instead of RNG is not more rational, it is merely your wish. You being unable to grasp my explanation is, like I already mentioned, not my problem. Maybe it is you, who is lacking reading and thinking skills after all? Like this one? Sounds very rational indeed and it is all that your "reasoning" amounts to, sadly... The further I read your post, the more I think you actually faced a mirror while writing it. You are right, they are not. But even tho he only dropped 3 lines, it is more elaborate and better for the average player than yours.

I would love a system like this where the fewer ships you specialize in the higher your chance for high quality will be. There would have to be some cooldown or cost or reset involved so you can not change that all the time obviously. Ideally you would specialize in 1-3 ships to get the highest chance for high quality ships. Sounds excellent.

I think I explained myself sufficiently. You being unable to understand or accept that is not really my problem. There is nothing rational about your dislike of RNG, it is an opinion and nothing more, nothing less. You explained the system you would suggest, and I explained why I prefer the current one, despite my dislike for RNG. Look at @AeRoTR 's suggestion. This is more the direction crafting should be heading.

So it doesn't decrease offensive power after all?

Fair enough, thank you. I thought the "Redoubtable Refit" would be more interesting...

What do the stats "Barricade Melee" and "Barricade Firepower" mean exactly? I feel like someone should make a very detailed and in-depth guide on boarding that is up to date and also kept updated, with all boarding mods listed.

I don't think 3rd rate needs much of a buff, to be honest. It's basically a cheaper Bellona. They could give it a single mortar for some utility tho, not sure how balanced that would be.

I always wondered, whether Santisima actually looked like that brick shape or it just being a very poor replica...

Real profit. Capturing a loaded whaler back then was like robbing a cash transporter. Also unlike afk fishing there could be zones for it, creating hotspots and competition, similar to patrol zone but larger. You know how bottles and some fish drop more or only in certain zones? Could be easy to add marked zones on the map for whaling.

Maybe you didn't understand. I share your dislike of RNG but still prefer the current crafting with RNG over your idea. Your suggestion would result in more high quality ships, not less. I want less total high quality ships, if it means less people actually sail them because of rarity and value. In my opinion they should either remove 3/5 ships and make 4/5 and 5/5 ships the standard or keep them very limited and rare through the RNG. As I already said, theoretically labour hours, doubloons, resources and even player accounts are unlimited and thus it doesn't matter how much time, labour hours, resources doubloons or shipyard space it will take to build a perfect high quality ship - everyone who is willing to make the investment will do it. Captain Reverse would only sail gold ships and many of the players he would meet, who aren't as invested in the game as he is, would probably sail 3/5 pleb boats and he wouldn't risk anything either when meeting another veteran in gold ship, because he already has the next ready on one of his alt accounts. With the RNG the gold ships are so rare and valuable that it creates perfect risk vs reward. You can get that perfect ship with excellent performance but when you finally lose it, it really hurts and you lose a lot of value. Tell me how to get that without RNG and I am all ears. Even if I hate RNG, at least any new player has the chance to get a gold ship on his first try with a lot of luck. Also a very beneficial byproduct of the RNG combined with limited dock space, is that people build a lot of ships to get higher chances for higher quality ones and once they run out of dock space they have to get rid of the "duds" which are still very competitive and good ships that some poor noobs can buy or get for free.