Jack Feathersword

Crew, Progression and AI Fleets. With all the AI fleet topics around I am not sure where to put this; so here goes. I think the Current issues with AI fleets, can be linked back to rewards, XP and progression. The system is really geared towards getting as much XP as possible. This combined to the fact that the bigger ships only sail in large groups, means that to have any success as a captain you need to do as much damage to the biggest fleets as you can without sinking. Thus player fleets and or groups of players with their own fleets. The current progression of XP based ranks within a given navy has the only purpose of providing you with set number of crew. This crew is only used for sailing your personal ship. Additional crew that are not used and serve zero purpose. Modules (hammocks) can increase the crew number past what your rank provides. The current system allows players of a certain rank to hire additional ships with crew and guns provisioned up to a certain size and number. This system is very unrestricted and currently as no downside. Combining these elements together makes for a game of grinding the largest fleets you can to get the most XP you can relegating PVP, "fair" fights and fun to a distant second. Is there a better way to make progression and AI more diverse and more fun? I think there is and this is how: Crew should be the most valuable commodity in the game, this should be the one deciding factor of what can be done and how much it should cost. If the crew was a commodity it could be bought, sold or given as a reward. This crew would then be used to crew your own ship, AI ships in a fleet and when crafting is implemented it can be labour for that too. How this crew is used should be up to the captain and the costs involved could change based on the tasks and rewards. Naval progression could still provide a certain number of crew up front, this would however be balanced against the requirement for handing over a set % of the loot to the Naval command. This means while offering less potential rewards it allows a steady income and without the higher costs of having to pay for the whole crew yourself. Naval command would require certain mission/assignments to be completed to maintain or provide the crew and or a upkeep allowance to the captain. Merchants would be able to use their crew for a fleet of trade ships or as AI escorts if they wanted, they would be required to fund the ships and the crew themselves. This would allow for merchants and traders to become quite wealthy but at a much higher risk and cost. Privateers would also be able to fund their own crews and ships to plunder rival shipping. This would provide higher rewards than working directly for the naval command as anything captured or looted would their own minus a fee for the letter marque. I feel these changes enable more play styles and gameplay rather than restrict it. It offers a mechanism to balance out the game without hard rules sets or artificial systems. It would allow a progression system that caters for both hard-core gamers and casuals as progression is not restricted to just one system. It allows for risk vs reward game modes with the PVE and PVP elements to encourage game play. Whether the crew are pay once, PAYG (pay as you go and only paid upfront when taken out to sea), leased or take a % of loot/rewards is a different question and maybe all options could be on the table to allow for some flexibility. As example if each crew member was to cost 1000 gold each upfront; this would mean to have an AI cutter would be 40,000 gold for the crew plus another 2000-3000 gold for the ship. A Bellona would be 650,000 gold and another 300,000 gold for the ship. The ships would have durability and could be configurable. Another possible element would be to make the crew perishable. Losses would need to be re-hired (costs would need to be balanced). All ships would use a common crew pool, this means that someone can use their 1000 crew for an AI Victory but it would leave very little crew for themselves, it would also be very expensive. Naval crew allocations would either provide additional crew or could provide wages for a certain number of crew. Let me know you thoughts. Jack Feathersword.

EDTI: 2x post

Personall i spend too much time zoomed in of the OW i get sea sick. no thanks. Top of the mast would be great.

Does the planking # change the physics at all? I have noticed that with a bellona it is much harder now to get through the first 15%-20% of a 1st rate damage. If increasing the # also changes the Penetration than i'd so leave it.

I have asked for the same things. +1

Um.. nothing...what happens in Haiti stays in Haiti...?

I think that the modules should be re-worked when player created ships arrive. Right now, modules are immortal and that will not generate demand for player crafted items. When Player created ships arrive i would like to see the upgrades be qualities of the ship build and materials. things like the rigging, sails, planking, mast and structure should determine the ship qualities, not magic immortal items that magic 15% reload bonuses at all times.

This... so much squinting and sail moving could be saved.

I get the bug when leaving port or battles. I have been sailing the same ship around without change the guns or installed modules for a week or so. I also get the delay then the ship appearing.

I get this too. I get the ship sounds but no ship and the teleport doesnt fix it.

I personally think that aside from navies, gold should be the key deciding factor that guides actions. Want more crew? pay for them, want to get someone to move your stuff for you? pay for it, want a different ship? build it or pay for it. I hate fake systems that try to control what players can and cant do.

As a Danish player, i go either west towards Hati or north west towards San Juan.

I love that ship I am pretty keen on seeing Packet ships and maybe even early clippers?

San Juan Spain 18.450 66.044 Frederiksted 17.715 64.875 Is Danish not Neutral Coral Bay 18.3480091, -64.713192 Danish Amileborg (sp?) 18.3412769, -64.9304266 Danish Christiansted 17.7440364, -64.7062205 Danish

I am getting a user/pass prompt. Can we see the app? Id settle for a map like the one "WIND" posted above with a 360o compass over way or route plotter Thanks

I know the "trader" snow and brig exist. Is there any other ships in the OW?

Any update on this for the ships/variations added in the OW?

Forum PVP was the best pvp in POTBS.

One other thing i love about Gw2 is the ability to break down goods and loot that i don't want to sell or use myself. This is something that really gets to me in Elder scrolls online. Something like being able to breakdown loot into planking, sail part etc might be a good system.

Guild wars 2 I have played a lot of GW2 and i have traded the whole time. Some of the things i like about it. 1) casual players can use it without too much drama or stress from anywhere to sell the proceeds and loot quickly. 2) It is quite big allowing for people to set up shop and play/corner small parts of the market. 3) It has a good mix of consumables and gear to make sure that items keep rolling over. 4) The stats and qualities are easy to find and understand. 5) The API means that although the stats within the game are lacking anyone who wants to can access the raw data to make their own tools. Things that it lacks. 1) charts of the recent prices for buy/sell orders 2) a good way to track your income/current money/future money. 3) a way to save favorite searches and items. 4) contracts or recurring buy orders.

Eve - The stats and scope of the market. Guild wars 2 -Ease of access and simple to understand system. Star wars galaxies for the crafting and player driven eco.

I work about 500m down from the one in Australia. Ill try to get pictures of it.

Seriously i love it. Drag and drop UI is the business. Also tabs on the chat is good too.

Any idea what you would do with the damage indicator? It seems like the hardest part to make useful/small/pretty.

I really like the effort and work you put in to these. I would think it might fit the feel better if the UI was condensed into some just like what you have in the bottom left. Maybe if it was more hidden with expanding menus / context menus it would work better. The other thing that is missing is the sail details.