Mouth of Sauron

I would have probably put this suggestion in the patch notes thread...but that has devolved into yet another Nation vs Nation Drama. Overall I feel like the recent change was a good one, perhaps a little heads up would have been in order...but what's done is done. I'm not necessarily sure all the recent port battles will or intend to be filled, but this definitely has rekindled the good ole land grab mentallity we see after every wipe. RVR does seem to finally be going in a better direction that what was given to us at release. I would however pefer a more restricted and planed approach consumate to what I would call a front lines system. So I'm suggesting a couple of changes. - No more capital pulls from freetowns - Pirates can pull any of the closest 3 ports (no restrictions) - Nation must own 2 ports in that region before being able to pull the capital. - Must own Capital port before pulling missions for other regions. To elaborate on this, we were able to pull and flip Santa Cruz from Cayman Brac last night. While great for us, it's a little cheezy in my opinion. - Ports show on the tool tip on the map what ports can be pulled (for that nation) - Smaller port timers need to change to reflect BR of the port. The above would allow nations to save on capital timers, while still being required to put timers on the smaller ports. Attacking nations would also have to work their way into a region rather than randomly just pull ports. You would also need to conquer that region before moving on to the next making this a true front lines approach. Anyway, just some thoughts.

lol yep.

A screen of all green fireships.

It's been capital pulls from freetowns for 5 months. what are you talking about.

Dynamic gameplay guys

Only capital pulls outside freetowns. Pirates can pull anything.

Capitals only from freetowns would be nice honestly.

The key is keeping those 900 players in the game interested for more than a month or 2. Historically NA has not.

The fact of the matter is fully crewed fireships, in this case 1st and 2nd rates, simply did not exist. Fireships were used as a tactic against ships at USUALLY anchor or in port. Why? Because a fireship isn't steered. Crew kinda want to live. You lash the wheel and point and prey. Their current role in the game is ENTIRELY unrealistic. The damage radius is also absurd. What ships were used as fireships? Typically older and outdated ones they could sacrifice in a pinch. The tactic was SOMETIMES successful. If you could direct me into the annals of history where a 1st rate was sailed into battle with a full crew and used intentionally as a suicide bomb....one instance of it.......and I'll purchase your leopard DLC. I mean a fireship with 1000 crew going full speed turning and catching up to a moving line is nuts. Should ships explode under heavy fire. yes. It happened. Should ships catch on fire and become partially disabled until the fire is out. yes. Should they be used as fully crewed 1st rate nukes in every battle. no @Anolytic, @North and even @rediii all seem to be in agreement here. Getting all those guys to to be on the same side of ANYTHING should indicate to you that the mechanics are indeed broken and need to be fixed. UN explosion radius tools are not creating a good gameplay environment here. It's time to listen to the community and dial them back to what they were prior to these recent changes.....which frankly seemed to be fine. Make a minor change that ships on fire become somewhat disabled or have their fighting ability significantly hampered and we're good.

Basically the game is currently unplayable in large form battles. Opposing side just has to use some captured 1st rates to neutralize a fleet with little to no risk. Attacking side assumes all of the risk with PB quality ships.

technically you're not forced to PVE. You're just forced to buy the DLCs 🙂

Agreed. With the new aggressive AI the need for a smuggler flag and false identify is really there. Missing an opportunity I think.

In shallows small ships cannot tank fort damage. As seen in the recent Morgan’s Bluff battle. The fix is simple. Increase the range and keep the current rate of fire. Defenders must leave the safety of their forts to protect their forts. If you allow a MB to sit 20 mins and lob shots, you deserve to lose the fort. Defenders should have the BR advantage to skirmish and sink a MB and then fall back and use fort cover. Wind permitting of course. MB shots should also knock out cannons on the fort to weaken them. I would increase the cool down between port flips to allow defenders to rebuild also.

Time to make mortar brigs great again. MMBGA

Does this include pirates? A way around this situation would be to make all hostile AI pirates.