StaleMemes

English speaking I assume, FR0GS is the only english speaking French clan I know of but I'm sure there are others.

First I was accused of being a Russian alt after having played France with the same character since 2016, now this lmfao. France be wilding.

So I was at orientation for two days, if I understand correctly DLC ships now have random port bonuses? Why would they go for the almost universally denounced 'fix' instead of just letting players redeem permits and craft with bonuses like normal ships?!!? Everyone liked that idea didn't they? Who wants RNG port bonuses? Its like lets take two hated parts of NA and merge them. RNG crafting and OP DLC redeemables. Now we have RNG OP redeemables. hello kittying hell.

Game labs have lots of experience with detailed morale models from other games, so they could improve the existing one a lot if it will have a greater importance in battle. Damage taken, rate of damage taken, friendly ships vicinity, rate and crew difference of ships nearby, % of friendly fleet lost, % of enemy fleet destroyed, etc could all be factors.

I agree and I've thought about it a lot, for me the problem is that there is no currently way to simulate a captain's fear of death or compassion for his crew ingame, so players will keep fighting in absurd situations and it will just be annoying. I think amping up the crew and cannon damage on crippled ships would help, by making it easier to finish them off completely. I would also like to see a morale surrender mechanic, obviously would have to be careful not to make it cheesable. For instance, if a ship has taken extreme damage to its hull (equivalent to what would currently sink a ship) and takes 10x as much damage as it deals over a 2 minute period, the ship crew surrender. Just an example.

Yep. Every time I think of a cool idea for a feature or mechanic I have to shelve it before even making a post because its not alt proof. Sucks.

I'm pretty sure that moving the connie to 3rd rate was just a stealth nerf on her upgrades and books lol

L M A O https://imgur.com/a/WuCrNKu

I'm just happy to see Old Ironsides kicking ass.

Oh the joys of insane speed mods, fir fir ships, and pirate/Spanish rig refits. I miss ships having sailing profiles

Bruh I was the only one dead when I left, how did that many lineships manage to die killing 3 frigates?

DLC ships are still way more useful and versatile than crafted ships because you can get one for free every 24 hours in any port you want in any woods you want. Thats mindbogglingly powerful. And you want them to be just as good as the crafted ships that players have to grind for hours and hours to get? To build the resource buildings, set up the shipyard, upgrade the shipyard, collect and transport the mats, and wait for more labor hours? That would be hilariously unfair and pay to win.

People will hunt traders, DLC or no. Avoiding them is pretty easy if you are willing to accept a reduction in productivity. I have yet to be sunk in one of my merchants despite sailing everywhere along the Antilles from la mona to tortuga many, many times. The only DLC ship I can see as being *slightly* OP for merchant hunting is the Herc because it has 4 chasers and is fast, something you can't really get from cheap crafted ships. The Hermione is slow for a hunter, the Requin is easy to escape downwind in even a slow merchant, the rattvisan, while having lots of chasers, is also a pretty slow lineship. If you are trading in friendly waters, just use a frigate as your main ship and fleet up your merchant ships. If you are trading in hostile waters, can you really complain about getting sunk? Worst case scenario you have to lose the throw-away frigate to allow your traders to escape. Best case scenario, they can't even attack you because you are completely immune to attacks from requins and hercs. So I definitely disagree with the OP's suggestion.

So tl;dr stupid games were played and stupid prizes were won?

If there is a naval action 2 it should be a single player game. Game labs seems much more comfortable with single player games and all of naval action's problems have hinged around multiplayer balance. The excellent sailing and combat model in a single player game that doesn't have to worry about server loads or multiplayer balance could be incredible. Single player could incorporate so many interesting mechanics like realistic messages and communication networks, harder navigation, more detailed crew management, ship provisioning, ship customization, player progression through Admiralties, trading companies, piracy rings, letters of marque, etc etc. Imagine if game labs could have used all the time they spent trying to balance pvp, rvr, pve, port customization, mods, etc on features mentioned above. Imagine if they had spent all the time they were bogged down reinforcement zones and seal clubbing instead on improving the AI. With only one player, the OW/instance system wouldn't be necessary as ships not visible to the player could be handled on a 2D board that simulates their movement and battles while the player always stays in the "combat instance" with the excellent detail and sailing control. This could also model the communication and flow of information. Time acceleration could mitigate the size of the map from the battle instance perspective. There is no reason to believe a multiplayer "naval action 2" wouldn't have the exact same problems that the first one has, but we have every reason to believe a single player naval action could have none of those problems.