Aldeveron

For me, Patch 27 killed the fun we (me and everyone in my clan) used to have from trading, shipbuilding and ship trading. It also made SOL's prohibitively expensive, so even more fun was thus destroyed. Patch 30, however was the real 'nail in the coffin', for us. We don't like the whole Combat Medal thing at all. We want to have freedom to play the game as we wish - not to be under pressure to attack other players all the time. I also don't like the new scarcity of essential upgrade-crafting resources (copper, greenheart logs, cartagena tar, etc). I also don't like the 20-minute window that enemy players now have, to muscle in on private battles with NPC ships. I also got really tired of the multi-day rainstorms, complete with inappropriate 'raindrops on glass' gimmick, and the ubiquitous dark seas that make the environment feel more like the ominous North than the sun-drenched Caribbean. Apart from the above, this game could have been FANTASTIC, in my opinion. I still hope that the recent fun-killing changes will be reverted or suitably modified, before the game is finally released.

Why? Why not make the game more attractive instead of less attractive, by giving us more freedom (not less) to choose how we wish to play the game? Many of us find the game hardly worth playing now, due to the increased risk and grind - in particular due to: 1) the massively increased difficulty in replacing ships - largely due to the new scarcity of rare woods, and the new requirement to buy ship notes with Combat Medals, 2) the unpredictability of OW battles (e.g. picking fight with a lone NPC, only to find we are up against additional enemy ships, without warning), 3) the ability of enemy players to muscle in on our battle for up to 20 minutes after it has started, 4) the scarcity of materials needed to craft important upgrades (Cartagena tar, copper ingots, greenheart logs, etc). Since Patch 30, I've seen the player count drop, and Steam rating is now down to "Mostly Negative"... I am not surprised.

I have had a tremendous immersion from this game, on both servers, in the past. However, some of the recent changes, I flatly dislike. Below are the things I like, and the things I dislike, since Patch 30 - along with some other suggestions. My comments pertain mainly to the PVP server game. Forgive me if one or two comments don't pertain to Patch 30, exclusively. PROS 1) The delivery missions are a welcome addition. 2) The addition of Mission Chests and Silver Chests is good. 3) Getting the Fleet-1 perk by default is ok. 4) The addition of more NPCs sailing near our ports is very welcome, but I think even more would be better for some ports. CONS 1) I'm not sure if it was part of patch 30 but I don't like how enemy players now have 20 minutes to muscle in on fights we pick with NPCs. 2) I dislike the way other ships are drawn into a battle automatically, when they happen to be nearby, when the battle is started. 3) I very much dislike how it is now so hard to obtain rare woods, for all but the lucky few. Likewise, Cartagena, Copper Ingots Greenheart Logs, etc. 4) I greatly preferred it when I could buy PVP rewards and ship notes with Doubloons. Many of us don't want to be pressured to attack other players in order to acquire the new Combat Medals. I don't mind fighting off enemy players occasionally when necessary. But I don't want to have to constantly attack other players so that I can acquire ship notes and essential upgrades. 5) I really didn't like the idea of renaming the Connie the 'United States'; the new name sounds far too nation-specific to me, and will induce much confusion within chat and other comms. There were other Connie-class ships that it could have been named after, if a name-change was really necessary. 6) I don't understand why the NA Connie was upgraded to 3rd rate. (4th rate seemed right to me.) 7) I don't know why it was necessary to nerf the cutter. I suggest that there are other shortcomings to the game that need sorting out, which should take priority over tweaking stuff that already worked quite well. For example: 1) Fix the chat facility so that semicolons and apostrophe keys don't sometimes behave like the 'enter' key. And stop the mail icon from blinking after we relog-in, if there is no new mail to read. Enable blinking of the private-message tab (as per the other chat channels) when the recipient replies. 2) Give the whole Caribbean a climate that is like the Caribbean and less remeniscient of the Far North. In other words, give it much shorter rainstorms, lighter, bluer seas, more blue skies and pretty sunsets and sunrises. Lightening flashes, during occasional thunderstorms would be a great addition too. 3) Fix the issue where the first attempt to switch to bow chasers with the right mouse key, doesn't work, and swings the view-direction wildly, one way or another. 4) Fix the NPC ships sailing through land issue. 5) Make it easy to determine which gunnery upgrades work with carronades and which ones don't (maybe by renaming them). 6) Keep the Wiki page up to date - especially regarding ships and their specifications - or create your own official page that has up-to-date ship list and ship specs. 7) Repaint the Santisima's garish vermillion stripes and masts with something more convincing, and paint her stern, with gold detail and suchlike. And paint the Victory's and L'Ocean's sterns likewise. 8] Scrap the annoying and inappropriate 'raindrops on glass' effect. 9) There could be more generosity with the frequency of sealed bottles and other surprise finds. 10) Stop selling the Requin DLC, and perhaps replace it with a western-style ship that doesn't have such an unfair and excessive advantage against other smaller ships. I don't object to DLC ships, if they have a slight tactical advantage over similar ships - but I do object to ones that have an overwhelming advantage (like Le Requin). OTHER COMMENTS I still enjoy the game, but nowhere near as much as before the recent changes. I'm wondering if the devs are basing their tinkerings mainly on the wishes of a few seasoned players with their own set of opinions, when they should be thinking more about the interests of casual players, newcomers and lower-rankers. I know they wish to make the game ever more realistic, but sometimes making it more realistic makes it more disheartening, more arduous, more brutal, and less fun. We need to remember that this is a game at the end of the day, and if it ceases to be fun, it is doomed. The increased proportion of negative feedbacks on Steam (now 'mostly negative', as I type this) should be heeded. I don't envisage this situation improving unless the devs modify their approach to the game's development. In particular, be more generous, don't force us to do attack players, and make rare woods and upgrade-crafting materials more easily available. Provide some better protection against ganking (by scrapping the Requin, ideally.)

Thanks.. but clicking 'f' is the same as clicking the Anchor icon. The effect is no different. My fleet ship is not shown - only my main ship is shown. Ah - I have just figured it out... I needed to expand the fleet window in order to see my fleet ship in addition to my main ship. This really wasn't obvious. IMO, it would be much better if the fleet window was maximized by default..

There are issues with the chat feature (the one that is available while in port or open world) that need the attention of the devs: 1) One of the topmost four buttons on the chat facility, is the 'mail' button. It flashes to indicate that there is unread mail. The problem is, that after you have read all unread mail, it starts flashing again, if you log out and then back in, even though there is no new unread mail to read. 2) If one sends a private chat message, a new tab/button appears at the top of the chat window, bearing the pm recipient's name. The problem is, that unlike the other chat channels (nation/global/clan), it doesn't flash when the private message recipient has replied. 3) There is an intermittent bug that people are experiencing while typing chat messages: the keyboard semicolon and apostrope keys sometimes behave identically to the keyboard 'enter' key, sending the message prematurely.

When I have a fleet ship with me (usually a trader brig), and pick a battle with an enemy ship, after I sink and loot the enemy ship and then leave the battle, my trader fleet ship should be available to me when I click the 'anchor' icon (bottom ctr). However, for the past week or so, my fleet ship is not available. Only my main ship is shown. However, my fleet ship arrives with me, when I return to a port. (Therefore, it wasn't sunk during the battle.) I have had to destroy lots of loot over the past few days, because I was unable to transfer it to my fleet ship's hold after leaving the battle. Is this a bug, or am I missing something?

I welcome the addition of the delivery quests, and I welcom the slight increase in NPC ships to attack, near out home ports. However, for PVP, some of the other changes seem to make the game even less fun than it had already become. In my opinion, it was already too hard to acquire bigger ships, built of decent woods, and open up their skill slots. And ships were already too easily lost to enemy players, especially after the introduction of the dreaded 20 minute window, allowing them to join the battle when you have picked a fight with a ship of a lesser BR. Now, the whole bad situation is aggravated by the extra difficulty imposed on us regarding the purchase of ship notes (now requiring Combat Medals).

There are issues with the chat feature (the one that is available while in port or open world) that need the attention of the devs: 1) One of the topmost four buttons on the chat facility, is the 'mail' button. It flashes (or blinks) to indicate that there is unread mail. The problem is, that after you have read all unread mail, it starts blinking again, if you log out and then back in, even though there is no new unread mail to read. 2) If one sends a private chat message, a new tab/button appears at the top of the chat window, bearing the pm recipient's name. The problem is, that unlike the other chat channels (nation/global/clan), it doesn't flash/blink when the private message recipient has replied. 3) There is an intermittent bug that people are experiencing while typing chat messages: the keyboard semicolon and apostrope keys sometimes behave identically to the keyboard 'enter' key, sending the message prematurely.

Why does it have to be such a slow grind to open up new skill slots - especially on bigger ships?

To Ink: Yes; I executed your ClearNavalActionReg.reg file, but it didn't cure the problem. Yesterday, I was chatting to another player, in-game, and it looked like he was having the the same issue.

This problem comes and goes.. While typing into the NA chat window, my apostrophe key sometimes acts the same as the 'enter' key. So if I type the word "don't", for example, the message gets sent as soon as I type the apostrophe. I have only experienced this problem within NA chat - not in any other software. I tried changing my keyboard. I tried reinstalling the keyboard driver. My game files verify as OK on Steam... but the problem continues. I'm using bog-standard keyboards and (Windows 7). Anyone else had this problem? Can anyone help?

I absolutely agree. renaming the Connie to "United States" is a recipe for endless confusion and misunderstandings. (e.g. "Was that guy referring to the ship or the nation??"... And/or: "When I clicked on that ship in the OW, it shows a US ship flying a British flag. How come??"...) I know there was a Constitution-class ship called United States, in the real world, but there were others too. Also, it's really hard to think of a shorthand nickname for a ship called United States. To differentiate between the old NA 'Constitution' and the NA 'Constitution Classic', they could perhaps have been renamed them 'Constitution I' and 'Constitution II', for example. Then we could conversationally refer to them as 'Connie1' and 'Connie2'. Or just have one Constitution-class ship in the game, and call it Constitution, as it was, before.

I very much agree, regarding OW flags. I meant to include 'open world flags' in my own list. To me, the game feels disappointingly lifeless, when one's ship has no flag, and nobody at the helm, in the OW. Surely, it wouldn't be a prohibitive drain on server resources to have OW flags, and someone at the helm, considering all the other moving stuff going on, would it?

I agree absolutely. "Retreat" should mean: "Keep as much distance as possible from the closest enemy ship". This really needs attention, devs.

For a few weeks now, whenever I sink an AI ship, and press 'X', to look at its hold, there is a long wait (around ten seconds) before the contents of the hold appears. Is this intentionally programmed into the game now, or is it due to a slow server connection? Or is it a bug? TIA