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surfimp

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Everything posted by surfimp

  1. It's easier to afford a 4th rate than it is to level up your captain to be able to fully crew a 4th rate. It took 10,000 XP to get from 250 to 350 crew, and (as I've recently learned) it's going to take me 20,000 XP to get up to the next crew tier. That... is going to take a long time at my current rate of XP gain.
  2. Wait, what? Are we talking about PVP or PVE? I believe there's a difference. On PVP servers: As patch 10.0, you cannot capture any AI ships, be they warships or traders. You can capture player ships, and you can add them to your fleet if (and only if) you have one of the fleet perks enabled AND you have sufficient space in your fleet to add a captured ship.
  3. I am fine with 1 durability ships, too, and my "clan" is only 1 player: me I have been experimenting with a variety of mechanics around trading, PVE grinding, trader hunting and a little tiny bit of PVP, just to bring myself up to speed with the current patch milieu. At first I felt it was really hard to earn money, then I did a couple things: capped a player trader Brig who happened to have a Sealed Bottle (jackpot!) and also, thanks to @admin focused on capping AI LGVs. Originally I did it for the contest, then I realized that if you use a Basic Cutter the payout is very good (17k / ~75XP / 3 PVE marks) for 20-25min of effort. And no repair costs to the Basic Cutter, and there are LGVs everywhere, so... yeah, I don't need much money, and the money I need isn't hard to come by. Now I am finally taking advantage of my relative financial freedom to explore parts of the map I've never been to before and explore new opportunities for plunder and profit. I am crafting hull repairs and rig repairs and positioning them in places where I think they may be useful to RVR players... and then use the data on whether they sell or not to get a better idea of "where the action is." Anyways, not particularly scientific but I am having a fun time and seeing new and interesting places on the map. I am not finding the grind nor the single ship durabilities to be a hold-back, as there are relatively simple solutions to each: sail cheap ships, cap big traders, make enough money to fund my itinerant lifestyle of adventure on the high seas. Works for me!
  4. The Duel Room was so much fun!! You could enter it from any port screen, and you could duel anyone else who chose to show up. There was no risk of ship loss, and no reward of XP or gold, just the sheer pleasure of matching skills and wits. I had some great duels with The Red Duke that I fondly remember as so of my most enjoyable moments in Naval Action.
  5. You read it too quickly (and it hasn't been edited since then, so nothing has changed as far as the terms). You have until next Monday the 19th to post a video, and the top 3 entries will be ranked by how quickly they can sink/capture the LGV. It has nothing to do with how quickly you post the video. I used Nvidia Shadowplay to capture the video, then Lightworks (free software) to lightly edit and compress to H.264 format for upload to Youtube. It was all very easy to do.
  6. Sir, I have heard your cry for help and I want to come to your aid. Please PM me your favorite trade routes, and I'll make sure to give you something to look for! In seriousness, though, I guess this is a case where we just enjoy different things about the game. Unlike Elite or EVE or other space games, the Caribbean sort of is what it is. I think the realization of it in Naval Action is incredibly beautiful, and I don't get tired of looking at it, but to each their own. And maybe it's just my over-active imagination causing me to think there are threats all over the place when really there aren't - but then again, I think of all the interceptors and gank squads who haven't been able to get the drop on me, and I remain unconvinced. I think the OW is as boring as you convince yourself it to be. Maybe if it's not getting your blood pumping, you're too far away from the action? In the years I've had the game, I've played for a variety of factions, and I find I'm happiest when I right up in the guts of what's going on, rather than some safe far-flung area. With that said, I'm glad the more quiet areas exist for players who want a more chill experience... but then, if you want a calm experience, please don't whine about being bored, it's what you asked for.
  7. As a pirate and dedicated player trader hunter, I like the idea of allowing people to pay me off not to cap their ship. I have zero faith that a trader would actually sail to a free port and pay a ransom there - once he's out of the battle instance, all bets are off, and hence he/she must be capped if my hard work and significant risk in solo hunting are to be profitable. This solution alleviates that, and lets the pirate / privateer profit from his/her efforts while not completely destroying the livelihood of the trader who has been intercepted. In addition, this feature could make trading a lot more interesting for players, as they'd be able to link up with others in their clan/nation to turn long-distance routes into relays. I do think there could be shenanigans / exploits arising from this in the battle instance - i.e. coming alongside your compatriot and throwing him hull, sail and rum repairs, for example - so maybe that's something to consider. Also, there should probably be a requirement that this option only pops up under similar conditions to boarding - i.e. the ships are at a close distance, the speed is below X knots, perhaps the sails are down, etc. Otherwise it could result in some very gamey exchanges from hundreds of meters away. Overall, I like the idea with the provisos above.
  8. Sailing the open world, especially when you have valuable cargo aboard a trade vessel (or you've just capped a player trader and are trying to avoid a revenge gank) is one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking parts of the game. The fact that so many player traders go AFK while sailing just blows my mind... but I am happy to alleviate them of their burden. For my part, I'm spinning 360s all the time, always on the lookout for bad guys and always having an escape route in mind. It's one of the best things about OW sailing on the PVP servers and a core gameplay experience. Because NPC ships don't attack player ships on PVE, I can't imagine why this proposed feature would be needed on those servers. If you are hunting NPCs, you should be looking for them... if you are a trader, there is no risk because it's the PVE server. Does not compute.
  9. The sell price goes to 1 when the NPC shop has more inventory of the good in question than it needs. The sell price will go above 1 once the inventory of the good has been drawn down sufficiently to "create demand" on the part of the NPC shop again. TLDR too many people have sold too many of the item in question to the NPC shop you're at. You need to find somewhere else to sell it.
  10. Can't you guys watch Netflix on your own time? We're trying to play a game here.
  11. I'd like to also confirm what I suspect is one of Admin's unstated motives in posting this challenge: to show that an AI LGV can be a very lucrative source of revenue for a low level captain. It takes hardly any more effort or time to cap one than to grind a Cutter in a Mission, but the payoff is much better - especially the loot! I started today with very little in the bank and after a few tries (trying to get the best time I could), I'm now $150k richer. If a mediocre captain like I can do it, anyone can
  12. OK, I tried a few times and this was my best effort, about 25min with base 4lb cannons. I got 73 kills with one of the grapes, that's my best I can remember ever getting with the Basic Cutter. I made a hash of the boarding, so have a laugh at my expense
  13. LOL I went through a whole litany of chaining, demasting, graping and boarding, my video is like 62min... back to the drawing board haha.
  14. Where "fast" is a relative term, right? Hahah! LGV hunting is good fun, I'll give this a go.
  15. As a dedicated hunter of player traders, this is a subject very close to my heart.

    Teleports have been a subject of discussion for as long as there's been an open world. To talk about them effectively, we need to establish a few basic definitions so everyone is on the same page.

    First, we have to identify that we're talking about two different things when we talk about "teleports":

    1. Teleports of Ships - happens in the open world (OW). The current "Tow to Port" mechanic is the most recent incarnation, but there have been many over the years, including "Teleport to Capital", and "send to outpost" (in the post-battle screen) to send a captured ship to one of your outposts. With the current "Tow to Port" mechanic, the ship and its cargo are teleported to the nearest deep water port (regardless of friendly, hostile or free).

    2. Teleports of Captains - happens inside the Port screen (where you see your ships, inventory, etc.) Allows the player to be instantly transported between his/her outposts, or freeports, or others (has varied among different patches over time). Does not move ships or inventory, just allows players to "jump" between their outposts.

    Teleports of Ships (type 1) were, as mentioned above, originally created to help players who ran aground in the OW, which was apparently a significant enough problem to gameplay (and presumably, contacts to support) that the devs implemented the type #1 teleport mechanic - to "free"  your ship without requiring developer intervention. This also (in theory) allowed new players a way to get back to a known location in the event they got lost in the open world. Only the devs can say how much of an issue this was - but the fact they implemented the teleport mechanic as a convenience must mean they felt it was significant enough to warrant the time spent developing it.

    Teleports of Captains (type 2) were implemented to allow players to save time sailing through the open world to visit their potentially far-flung outposts. The captain would still have to sail there to setup the outpost and leave ships there for later use, but once that was done, it was easy enough to "jump around" the map, saving players the time of sailing through the open world to visit their different outposts.

    Critically, we must understand that teleports of either type do not exist in a vacuum. They exist and exert a tremendously strong influence on every other aspect of Naval Action gameplay. Over the past couple years, the ability to teleport has been shown to have some extremely negative influences on gameplay. Here are some of the worst:

    1. The availability of open world PVP: if you can teleport your ship from one place to another, you don't have to sail through the open world, meaning your chance of encountering another player and engaging in PVP - and potentially losing your ship - becomes zero. "Empty seas" are the result - outside of capitols, you'll only see NPCs because almost everyone else is teleporting to save time and risk.

    2. The flow of trade goods: being able to teleport means you can strategically pre-position trade ships in producing ports, then instantly teleport them back to your capital or outpost, creating huge flows of gold with zero risk. Sail the empty trade ship to the producing port (or, if you're wealthy enough, simply craft it there), teleport risk-free home. Profit. The entire privateer / pirate gameplay mode of hunting laden traders in the OW becomes nearly impossible and offers terrible ROI for time spent, despite the fact that in real life this was a mainstay activity for naval fleets of all nations. The ability to move so much wealth so quickly, with no risk, leads to rampant inflation - "the rich get richer" and many smaller clans / nations simply cannot compete.

    3. The ability to create "flash fleets": clans or nations coordinate attack, defense and ganks via chat / out-of-game comms and are able, using teleports, to quickly amass a significant weight of captains and ships at almost any point on the map in almost no time at all. The larger and better coordinated the clan / nation, the more powerful this "instant steamroller" becomes. The ships could also, depending on how teleport was working at the time, be instantly sent home risk-free to prevent reprisals.

    As I've spent more and more time in Naval Action, it's become clear to me that the only true solution to the above - if the promise of true PVP, realistic trading, RVR and the rest which makes the Naval Action dream so compelling - is to completely get rid of both kinds of teleports. If all player-owned ships must transit through the open world at all times, then we have maximum opportunity for player interaction at all levels.

    The player-driven economy suffers from lack of gold sinks, so extreme measures have been implemented currently, but if teleports were removed, and PVP of all varieties allowed to truly flourish, then we would create a natural gold and resource sink while encouraging extremely fun and interactive gameplay.  Captains would be encouraged to coordinate for mutual support of their traders - because there would be no risk free option. Sailing through the open world wouldn't be boring at all if you were constantly on the lookout for attackers and there was a real possibility of risk. Captains would consent and adapt to this because the demands of the economy and RVR would require it. A whole new playstyle of privateering / actual piracy would flourish, providing newbie captains with the opportunity to get out and explore the OW in search of traders to plunder and fortunes to be made. This experience would naturally lead them to coordination for both attack and defense, and from there, to engagement with RVR in support of same.

    The economies of all nations would have real costs included in them, and real risk. There would be more opportunities for more players to profitably engage in trade because trade would not be a risk-free proposition, and hence more players would need to be involved in it - as traders, escorts, privateers, pirates - in order for it to flow.

    In summary, teleports represent one of the last major barriers holding Naval Action back from realizing its full potential. Removing teleports gets "everyone in the pool" in a way that they never have been in the past, and will offer the way forward that is needed for this game to realize its promise.

  16. TLDR too much PVP on the PVP server. There's always the PVE server... no pesky pirates there. On the plus side, this thread gives me hope the changes to teleporting are having an impact. As a solo Pirate, it also gives me an idea of a happy hunting ground to explore.
  17. In theory, the rich trader (rich from other sources independent of the cannons in question) could continue to buy up Jodgi's cheap cannons and later rely on this stock to potentially sell them back below Jodgi's cannon crafting click price. If said rich trader had a deep enough stock of cannons, Jodgi might run out of money to buy mats and not want or be able to continue. Or he might start buying the rich trader's cannons instead of building his own. I mean, in theory. I have read of similar tactics employed by players of this game, so it's not beyond the pale to consider it. You're absolutely right, it does give some idea of real world economics.
  18. In before one of the rich traders uses his capital to buy all your stock of cheap cannons only to relist them at a higher price.
  19. I mean, in theory it would help locate things like shipwrecks and whatnot, but in practice, with the way the terrain gets rendered at distance, you probably wouldn't be able to see sufficient detail to really do proper bearings (and I don't think our map has sufficient topo accuracy anyways). So, no, but... it would be cool! More useful would of course be the lat/lon coordinates, but others have already pointed out the problems inherent in that (precision guided gank squads).
  20. Run the blockade like a real man captain from these times. Sail a ship that outperforms your pursuers (i.e. one that can actually sail upwind), wait for a favorable wind direction, mock your would-be pursuers in the battle instance chat as you sail away from them and they are trapped against a lee shore. Profit! I was based out of one of the freeports deep in US territory and did this all the time, it was magnificent. Requires an appropriate fore-and-aft rigged ship, but if you're trader raiding you probably have one of those already. Teleports must go. All of them. THEY are the thing that makes trading a high reward / zero risk endeavor, because they make it impossible for me and others to hunt them. I have many, many hours invested in learning how to hunt, solo, deep in enemy territory with my 7th rate. I fear nothing, but as long as teleports exist, it's impossible to hunt traders, and therefore traders have no fear. Teleports are the problem.
  21. Edited to add: You use the hand bearing compass to take bearings from a number of distant landmarks, then compare against your chart to triangulate your position. It would work great for the NA interpretation of the Caribbean.
  22. How about a hand bearing compass we can use from the deck of our ship? And a sextant? That would be much cooler than anything on the map screen.
  23. When you say "OW hunting" do you mean PVP capping player traders, or PVE? I play in US time zones so I am lucky to have even 300 people on the server during prime time. So my player hunting is far less profitable. PVE grinding, if I really focus on it, nets maybe 20-30k/hr if I just do low level missions in the Basic Cutter. Either way, grats to you because a consistent 75k/hr is something I have never seen in this game outside of compass wood, etc back in the day. Also, getting a Shipyard & Workshop setup so you can craft your own is now tremendously expensive... from memory it's 100,000 gold for the Shipyard, plus 1000 Oak wood, and something like 150,000 gold for the Workshop plus 1000 Oak wood and a few other resources. Just the 250,000 gold will take me 28 PVE missions at 9k/each, and almost 10hrs of play time. I'd guess the materials requirements will take a similar amount of time, if we include what's needed for both the production buildings and the ship/cannons. So we're now talking roughly 20 hours of PVE grinding to get to the position where I can "easily" replace something like a Privateer. "Easily" meaning only 2-3hrs grinding to replace. That's a whole lot of PVE in a game that's got a sandbox-style open world and supposedly encourages PVP. To be clear, I am experienced operating with groups online, I have flown flight sims quite a bit with squads where we organize missions together, chat on TS, etc. That's not what I'm looking for in Naval Action, however, I prefer the solitude of the solo experience. However the devs' clear signal is that this game is now setup so that such solo play is strongly discouraged, and the removal of Basic Cutter's ability to engage offensively in PVP is simply another echo of that. It's not wrong for them to do with their game what they want, but it's clear that it's no longer a game that's "for me."
  24. I am a solo PVPer who prefers 7th & 6th rate ships and hunting player traders. In the past I was able to establish my own production buildings, outposts, etc and crafted my own ships. Post 10.1, I can still do this, but recent patch changes mean it takes far, far longer due to exorbitant costs, etc. This new proposal mandates a PVP focused player is now instead going to be forced to do PVE grinding for many hours before I will even be allowed the privilege of engaging in PVP. I have over 400 hours in game since Sea Trials, so am a "casual" by NA's definition. This is still many multiples more hours than I have in any other game in my Steam library. What I am reading here is that I should just uninstall NA again and wait for NA Legends to come out. It's too bad, because solo PVP hunting in the OW is great fun. Apparently that very realistic and entirely historic play style is not appreciated or encouraged in this game. Fair enoug, RVR doesn't interest me and PB the least of all. I can see my interests and this game's direction have diverged, so be it.
  25. So, new players and those who lose their ships are consigned to a mandatory grind of at least ten low level PVE missions. That's based on my impression of current shop prices for 7th rates and the cannons needed to equip them. At roughly 30 minutes and $9k/mission, that's around 5 hours of play time. Which has to be repeated whenever your "PVP approved" 7th rate gets sunk. How are new players ever going to get PVP experience with such punishment?
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