Koltes

"the pirates couldn't hold those ports in the long run anyway so them giving up anything was just a gesture" You are delusional as always. You are talking about time when GB and Pirates were allied and Pirates fought US only. This time we are fighting 2 biggest nations and last time I checked the statistics we hold 78 ports and Brits are down to 48. http://vps9712.ervers.com/map/pvp2/+ those that will be checked after downtime that have been taken today. Not only we dont have Brits covering for us, but we also now fighting two fronts. How does it comply with your view that it was just a "gesture" because we couldn't hold them. Phhh... full of crap just like the rest of your post. We had numerous reports from different sources that you had a double deal going. I remember you being on our TS talking about Bahamas just little over a week ago trying to recover from all those port loses. What did you propose? US take north of Bahamas and wont go below Little Isaac Rocks? So we draw a line and be at peace. But hey we already know that keeping your word isn't your strong side. You said that there is one rogue clan in US that do their own thing. We just need to take their ports back. You are good story teller lad. Two days ago you yourself pull flag on Saint Nicholas and I tagged you. Hold on, gimme a sec, I'll just write this down... ... "koiz - is US bullshitter and lier. DO NOT TRUST." Done. Move on

^ Dont forget this is MMO style game, so people relationships > pixels

Hahaha He is a turtle and he knows how to hiiiide Can you believe this been going on 2 weeks now and he hasn't stepped in once lol. Pathetic I think many of those that follow him are now doing so because they dont want to admit loosing their face or plain stubbornness.

"So congrats, you helped 5 newbies and that is appreciated, but you are one Pirate out of many and there are lots (in every Nation pop) who are jackwagons. The issue with a capital port blockade is that the jackwagons can now have access to the newbies and not be as forgiving as you." Lets see, when I'm playing (straight after downtime due to being in Aussie/NZ timezone) there are about 50-60 players online on the whole server. Even if there are 3rd of those players are Brits that is leaving us with 20 Brit players being online. Half of them are somewhat established traders/crafters/fighters etc. This leaves us with about 10 other players that are newbs or fairly new to the game who is hanging around KPR. If I helped half of them thats half newbs helped by a single person. Surely they get smashed by others, but I personally covered their loses 20 times already and ahead. If they are quitting after that then pvp server is not for them. But as far as I know Brits nation chat began to speak highly of pirates and mostly thats is new players that cutting off the veterans saying you guys don't know what you talking about. Here I was sent this last night by one of the new brit players that I helped last week. A screen of brits nation chat. Can you see anyone being upset there? So if you are trying to put all the drama that pirates causing players to quit this is ultimate made up BS mate. No one is quitting because pirates blockade KPR. They are quitting because your leadership can't manage to lead the nation. Here is another screen sent to me how player leaving due to inside drama and attitude. I remember how about 2 weeks ago Copley went off in global at some Brit player. He was first to start talking openly that it was CKA who back-stabbed, not pirates. I remember how we laughed on TS about this arguments among brits in global. He was immediately framed as a spy in global and everyone warned about him. He was speaking of truth what he believed in. Instead of talking this through and explain none of the CKA leaders came out. No explanation was offered. No good leader would avoid responsibly to act on behalf of the people that entrusted him to lead them. Instead they just hide and pretend not to be online. You just lost another player who was a trader, but who helped quite a few newbs. This was sent to me by another new GB player who I helped. He said this Copley guy helped him last week, just gave him ships and money and told him how to make money, where to go etc. And now he left the game because of all the name calling, accusations etc. This kind of bullshit happens all the time in your nation chat. This is why Vulna was named a spy and this is why he goes off his nuts atm. I say good on him to stand up to clear his name. THIS IS why player leaving the server. Not due to pixel blockade, but real people relationships. "The difference is that there aren't other Nations "blockading" each others ports and preying on each other's newbies. Because honourable or not if you get sunk outside a home port - and there are a half dozen 5th rate and higher ships lingering outside the harbour mouth are you going to go want to go back out again in your brig and get whipped again or will you just log off?" I dont know where you've been the last 6 months, but you sure either lacking information or memory mate. What about US driving Pirates to one port few months ago and locking them in their capital. I certainly never heard them letting pirate newbs go, let alone helping them. They were happy to seal club everything that moves and breaths. No pirates complained. Some switched to other nations, but those who stayed become stronger and kicked ass later. No one was talking about how bullying small group of pirates was affecting the server. No one cared. GB havent even lost that many ports they still have over 50 left, but god save my ears from all this whining and whinging. How about US wiping small nations like Spain to one port just before pirate war on US started? Have you heard them complaining? Pull your socks up, make your leadership to comeout and get it sorted. Blockade will remain as stated numerous times. Whinging wont help. Cowardness wont help. Hiding wont help. Honorable actions will. In my humble opinion GB nation needs a good strong leader who knows how and when to fight, who will always and I repeat ALWAYS step up and deal with a matter no matter of his personal feelings, who will represent all of the player types like traders, merchants and fighters. Until you get someone to step up and take responsibility you're doomed to be led into a whirlpool. [bLACK] Koltes

This person has been reported numerous times for his unacceptable behavior when he was playing as Sir Buck. Now he re-rolled as Hooper. I believe he has been previously banned and he has not got any lessons from that. As per screen attached. He has issues and is disgrace for the server. I suggest perma kick.

Lol Blkmgc this is pretty funny. Apparently you are one of us LMAO Can we cancel all the smack talk last week between you and me then? hahaha By the way I felt pretty bad after that. Hope you accept the apology [bLACK] Koltes

Bjerg, get this straight already - the blockade is targeted at the bigger boys to come out from their closet and sort the matter like a men by having a discussion or a fight (prefer the later, but talks works too). We blame Cordova for what he has done no more no less. Blockade is there to hit were it hurts and its working as we have interrupted their supply lines and they now are running thin, so their precious 1st rates become even more precious. Yes we blockade even the little guy, however, while not allowing the little guy to trade and craft, we still help them out on the background. Last week I have personally sunk over 20 ships around KPR and only 5 were complete newbs and I have personally covered all of their loses. Some I even let go if they showed good sportsmanship and took it the right way (no smack talking etc). They got help and information how to do things right and progress etc etc. Why do we do this? Because we are not there to hurt the little guy, the new comers or the server population. We pirates help them more during the blockade than their own leaders. We help them to stay, understand the situation, explain that they are not the target, they get financial help and tips etc. I personally dueled 3 GB newbs to show 1 on 1 how to manual sail, tack, heel, break etc etc. All of them said - hell we got more help from the BLACK clan and the guy who sunk us than from the GB nation as a whole. In your limited knowledge that only lies on a surface of the actual facts your conclusions are doomed to be false. It seems that in your perception its enough to call a person a moron only if he sails under the black flag. In your view that explains everything, but in reality the black flag unites us into a brotherhood of a bunch of very decent individuals who would rather get sunk over and over than break their word. At the end of the day the most valuable thing man can have is his word. We win with dignity and lose with honor. Yes we are PVP hungry and always will be. But it does not mean we don't like to do it with style and generosity because if the person gave us good pvp fight it worth tons more than any pixel wealth. Unless you have some solid proves its not a fact, but a product of your swallowed paranoid brain. We on the other hand showed enough screenshots to back up everything we stated. I have fought you in my alt Wade Sparkey when I tagged you carrying a flag for St Nicholas. You must remember all the whinging and poison you have put on the battle chat right? You were full of crap in the battle and you are full of crap on the forum. Let me spell it out for you so there is no more assumption. HERE: Hence why your own nation players are concern if the deal with US is working. 2 weeks ago when GB had been in the alliance with Pirates, US was beaten down by BLACK to about 50 ports and lost 90% of Florida. The ports we were taking were going to GB to hold and use for their supply lines, but also to screen our backs. GB had over 80 ports. If in your appreciation of the current situation you don't count in the players that simply enjoy the trading side of gameplay and all your concerns are around fighting clans, then you are being selfish individual and are not worthy to speak on behalf of the whole nation. [bLACK] Koltes

Yeah, not doing this again until they confirm that its fixed. Not getting up 3am to do this for bunch of crappy paints. Waste of time

How did you do that? This looks so much better good work!

IMHO, current economy at its current state is very dull and has little future. Economy mechanics should boost the gameplay, not slowing it down. For your consideration as follows. 1. Crafting 1.1 Needs professions. No person could ever build a ship ground up all by himself. You must work with the other specialists to craft a complete ship. The professions would give you ability to specialize in specific areas. Carpenters, cannon manufacturers, sail manufacturers etc etc. Each have their own tricks and qualities. Any one person can only pick up 2 professions. One primary and one secondary. Primary profession is the specialized one, which means crafter can MAKE his own BPs. Anyone using his BPs will have this crafter's name on the end product. This boosts player interaction, communication and economy. There should be a profession like ship decorator that specializes in ship customization. 1.2 Labor hours. Crafter hires full time workers. They are paid everyday so it is ongoing cost to keep them. Larger shipyard, factory etc allows to hire more workers. Each worker gives 8 hours per real day. To increase labor hours need to upgrade factory and hire more workers which also will increase ongoing salary. Each crafting item, material, ship whatever have two options to use hired worker or hire contractors. Hiring contractors cost no labor hours but cost 10 times more gold. 1.3 Ships have no extra "lives". This will stop players getting into 1st rates after 2 weeks of playing. This is ridicules. Players will sail only what they can afford. Then you can remove the ability to sail 3rd, 2nd and 1st rates from pirates. Ships of 5th, 4th rate will become more valuable. Right now its like they don't exsist. Soon as you got your first 500k you skip 5th rate so fast it like it never existed. 2. Trading 2.1 There needs to be professions dedicated to trading. We need a profession that allows to trade distantly like Pigeon Post that allows trader to see market prices and stock availability at distant ports and higher the skill the larger the area it covers. Then secondary profession "Trading Connections" allows to make deals remotely. 2.2 Anyone needs to be able to see his assets in his warehouse in other ports without leaving leaving his current port. 2.3 The Shipping profession gives ability to create remote delivery contracts to deliver player goods from port A to port B. Works like this: John wants to move 10k Iron Ore from Port Antonio to Port Tumbado. He creates delivery contract and sets payout fee on successful delivery. The system automatically sets security bond based on contained goods average market value price. His Iron Ore is packed into container and ready for delivery. Peter reads delivery jobs and decided to pick it up and deliver it to Tumbado. He pays the security bond (that is lost if the ship is sunk and container is lost). On the way to Tumbado Peter got attacked by the pirate who capped his ship and got his goods. On Peter's ship pirate finds contract documents that have delivery information such as destination port and contract number. Pirate decided to deliver the goods himself which he does. John gets his delivery in Tumbado. The pirate gets paid for delivering the container. Peter has lost his ship, but got his security bond back because container has been delivered. Feel free to evaluate and comment

I support the idea of 1 dura. Just like in Eve Online if you lost your ship its gone. Bye. It has been taken from you, that your very own ship. Player will become more mindful and will not sail what they cant afford. Having your character cloned is bad enough, but 5 clones of one ship is ridicules. Ship should be one fixed asses. If its gone its gone. Upgrades on the other hands should be hmm "insured". If you paid insurance you wont lose them. This would fix lots of pirate mechanics issues too. You want pirates not be able to craft or sail 1st rates? Make all ships 1 dura so if they capped then there is no clone Everyone is happy

Good work lads!

Hello captains, During the battle while macromanaging I have run into a small yet important UI problem. Current Rudder and Sail due to slow motion are hard to see. Especially during the battle when you can't afford spending too much time to stare at the rudder. Also often its hard to actually find where the rudder is because the indicator is not that bright. Here are few very simple and easy to implement suggestions that would make life of a manual sailor so much easier 1. 2. 3. 4. Express your opinion and suggestions aye! Koltes

You run second account of Steam on another computer or two instances of Steam on the same computer. Buy two game accounts. Voila Dude lol...you run second accounts to make more game money

You be surprised how many people actually running alts already... Pretty much everyone I know. And FYI more than one Example: There is about 200 US player on pvp2 server. 10% voted to have war with France, 20% with Pirates, 30% Spain and 40% with Brits. That's 80 players (40% of 200). You can take my word for it if I say Brits will easily pull 30 alts in US any day right now. All of them vote to have a war with Spain. All of a sudden you have 90 votes to go Spain vs 80 to go Brits. Voila, US is having a war with Spain and not with Brits. There you have it.

Example: US is voting to get in Alliance with Dutch and at war with Brits. All brits alts log in to US side and mess up their weekly vote in their favor. At the end US does not declare war on Brits and dont get alliance with Dutch... Jobs done

NATION INFLUENCE MECHANICS Balancing the Conquest I have started a new topic last night in Suggestions section with more details where I cover new mechanics proposal based on Nation Influence Area, but its really a reply to this OP. ------------------ Quote Voting: Forcing people to do something (like voting) is generally a bad idea and sooner or later you will walk away from this model. When you announced the voting system we have already start working on how to exploit this to our advantage. Democracy or voting will not work on public level. Nation’s clans will start working together and forming alliances behind the vote system. Clan leadership will decide who they are going to be allied with and tell their players to give their votes where its needed. This is what going to happen and if some players will disagree they will be kicked from the clan. Why not give the tools to clan leadership anyway? My proposal is (if you going to keep this system) if player is in the clan, then he has no vote - clan leader decides on their behalf, if player is without the clan then he votes personally. If clan leader is being a douchebag, set vote against the will of the majority and players of the clan disapprove they will leave the clan and form new one. It will sort itself out. However I’m all against this system and here is why... Food for thought on current politics system: IMO, you are working on politics way too early. We need more reasons what to fight for. There is really only one reason so far - the territory, but it's flawed because of its simplicity and lack of tools. There is no other reason really to control territory other than to annoy your enemy. Also The Caribbean is a very small territory. With current game mechanics its easily covered by 150 people that are online and its already feels tight. What is it going to be like when you have 5k people population on the server? Free Ports will be camped and become bottlenecks of the game life. Also the War on Nation level should last for months not days. The alternative: What about Nation influenced territory and Clan controlled ports that are driven by clan’s actions and Nation influence. Clans can only control ports that have enough of their nation’s influence. The Influence: All clans contribute to their Nation’s influence through their gameplay (wealth, production, conquered territory, but also by reducing your enemy influence in the area will increase your nation's influence in the area). Each Nation have capital and 2 other key ports (3 in total) with Influence level 5 (max), which means it can’t be caped. Those ports have everything they need to survive, craft and produce, but in limited numbers as its overpopulated.. The further away the territory from the capital the less influence point it has of that nation and harder to control, but the richer the resources and faster production and other boogie woogie bonuses you might think of. The lowest is 0 influence. No ports can be set there by the nation if it has 0 influence there and all ports will be lost if influence drops to 0. The higher the influence of the nation the higher NPC defence. Distant territories require lots of work to increase influence to setup let alone hold territory. NPC defence tools: Higher influence allows to build higher level port strength, have more powerful cannons, have larger amount and ship size of NPC ships that patrol the area. The further away from the capital the harder it is to keep the influencer level, which means less defence tools available. Those ports will mainly be protected by the players themselves. Best resources and production bonuses should be in those distant territories. If you are an enemy NPC port patrol will try to chase you and sink when seeing you on the horizon. Nation and Clan politics: On Developer level (Game Master - GM) you need to be able to influence politics to be able to keep balance in the game. The nation's relationship needs to be controlled by GM. The Governors of the New World of the Caribbean's did not decide whether they are at war or in alliance with other nations. They were simply told by the rulers in Europe. Situation in Europe decided for them. GMs needs to be those “rulers in Europe”. So, GM must be in control of the politics on the nation level. This also give you the ability to bring deeper storyline to the gameplay through monthly or quarterly patches that brings news story, new nation relationships etc. Nation standings (set by GM through the storyline and 3-4 month updates): 1. Alliance (nation) - as per above your post, can enter ports , attacking give gruesome consequences, can assist in battles as long as the enemy is not an ally or at peace. Attacking an ally will flag you as crim for 24 hours and give some crim points. Sinking, caping, stealing cargo will increase those crim points. Ports that have high enough influence of your nation will have NPC patrol of your own nation chasing you while you are marked as a crim for 24 hours or when you get enough crim points and become a proper crim. Must pay fine or NPC patrols will keep sinking you until you lose equivalent in ship costs etc. Being a crim makes you a fair target to anyone. 2. Peace (nation) - can enter ports, can’t attack, can’t assist. Attacking another player that is in peace with your nation will also mark as a crim for 3 hours and give crim points, but not as much as when attacking an ally. Free-trade rules applied in relationship of trading. 3. Neutral (nation) - to enter ports must buy trade licence for each specific port to enter (expires weekly). Can’t assist. Attacking neutral player will not mark as crim, but give same amount of crim points as attacking player at peace. Accumulating enough crim points will flag as a crim permanently until fines are paid or you’ve been sunk enough. 4. Free Trade (nation) - same as Neutral, but no trade licence is needed and no ports fees paid. 5. De Facto or Pre-War (nation) - state that reflects relationship between the two states in practice, but not necessarily ordained by law. Can attack, Can’t assist. Can’t enter ports - has trade embargo on trade goods delivered from ports of Nation in Pre-war state unless flagged as contraband. Attacking will not flag as crim or give crim points. Taking cargo from Pre-War nation doesn’t flag it as stolen and can be traded without discounts to NPC. 6. War (nation) - can’t enter, can’t assist. Attacking and sinking gives glory points to player, reduce influence points of the enemy and gives influence points to your own state. Caped cargo traded normally as Pre-War. This system, controlled by GM will control player behavior in general and naturally influence gameplay balance where its needed through continues game progression and further relationships built or destroyed. Clan politics: Players must be in control of their clan diplomacy against other clans (not nations). Clan standings against each other are also driven by Nation’s Diplomatic standings, but in some cases can be overruled by clan’s standings. For example the fight between two clans from different allied nations over a territory is still possible if clans declare war. Declaring war is like buying a flag and lasts for 7 days making clans at war a fair target to each other. Example: France and England are allies, but French clan A declares war on English clan B and despite that two nations are allies in general these two clans can freely attack each other for 7 days and are treated as if they would have been at war on nation level. Clan standings are set by clan’s diplomats and used as a diplomacy tool only, while Nation standing still apply. Example: France and Holland are at war, however diplomats from French clan A and Dutch clan C decided not to attack each other despite that their nations are currently at war. They both have set their standings against each other’s clan as a Peace. This makes their clan members to see Peace flag on their ships when they meet out in sea. Attacking them will have normal consequences designed by politics mechanics and current political state between France and Holland (War), however this might bring a tension between the two clans or maybe even punishment from your own clan for attacking an ally. Quote This system has multiple flows, which can easily be flowed by having enough alts in the opposite faction allowing significant influence on voting in favor of one faction and on GM level you can’t even control this. Pirates Because pirates are not a nation, a pirate character (born or made through gameplay) should have nationality. Pirates is a faction that has various pirate professions or types of activity. Profession is picked at any free port much like current smuggler tag and gives specific to this profession bonuses and has 24 hour cooldown before another profession can be picked. Filibusters - in service of no one they free roaming the sea. True to their name they hunt lone traders, trade caravans and even military fleets. You can become a pirate or born a pirate (same as now). Picking up this profession flags you as fair target to everyone. Filibuster gets bonuses in exploration, ship speed and maneuverability in the open and in battle. Corsair or privateer - in the service of a specific nation. Letter of Marque gives them license to kill a particular enemy nation. His black flag will be accompanied with the flag of nation he serves. For each player ship sunk corsair receives payment from the crown. Corsairs can also be hired by player clans to help them fight other clan. Corsair is treated as a member of the nation where he received the Letter of Marque until it’s expired. Note: This profession can also be picked by a member of any nation without becoming an actual pirate. Head hunter - if there is a bounty on someone’s head Headhunter can take the job and claim the prize. This does not apply when the prize is for another pirate’s head. Headhunter is able to track his target down, pinpointing his location on the map Raider - a pirate who is set to attack and plunder settlements. Receives extra rewards in successful capture. The are no Neutral ports. There are only Free Settlements that claimed freedom from the crown and answer to no other nation. Because of that they are a welcome refuge for any pirate. Because Pirates are not a nation, but a faction they cannot claim any ports. Instead they have access to any free port that cannot be captured. Pirates make leaving through combat in the open sea, capturing traders and raiding ports for plunder. They also have easier access to rare “treasures” such as Pearls, lost Crowns etc. All that allows them to buy necessary resources to cover their ship expenses. Using a network of smugglers they are able to secretly trade with all nations. Pirate faction also has their own influence just like the other nations. Higher level of influence allow them to enter more Free Settlements and have there better prices. The Map Right now travel is done in two phases. Long and annoying sail to a destination, then a “save” of location through creation of outpost and fast travel. Sooner or later we have a nation or a faction that covers the entire map and can zip around real fast. Massive sea space becomes very little as life is now based around those Free Ports. Access is everything. It determines the value of the ports. Those ports that are closest to the free ports are valued more than the others. With the proposed Influence System there will be a zones that are harder to conquer, but have better resources and productions. This will make larger points of interest that attracts players so you don’t have to roam around for hours to find targets or any other p2p activities. ---------------- Other little things that would make this game a real pearl. 1. F2P will always attract more player base, but we do understand that you need to make revenue. Game could sell things that don’t have impact on the combat efficiency, so players with real money will be in advantage. Instead Naval Action Store (NAS) could sell customization items for the ship and your character. Needless to say that all customization needs to be within the spirit of time. You can sell for real money even ship customization slots for each ship. For example one slot can allow you to customize sails, another name of the ship. All customization is bound to a specific ship and gets destroyed when the ship losses last dura. 2. Identification in the open sea. Simply clicking on the target is easy… too easy. Would be nice to have a spyglass that gives you the information of the ship you are looking at. The information received and the maximum distance is determined by the quality of the spyglass. Besides you could sell in the NAS componentry for decent spyglass. Among the current information we get from selecting the target the good spyglass should tell the speed of the ship and the quality. While looking at the ship through spyglass the assessment bar is filling in. It could take some time for the bar to fill in completely and to “assess” the ship. Once done you should be able to see more details such as how many dura left, upgrades installed etc. At the end of the day those things would have been visible in RL. Maybe even create Assessment Perk that will allow you to assess ships faster. Lots of cool food for thought 3. NPC trade caravans as mission for Pirates. Takes cooperation and lots of pirates to take on fully protected caravan, but rewards are also great. 4. Port battles done vs actual forts on land 5. One of a must have customization is a ship name and various designs of the carving that can be applied to display given name 6. Nation flag on the ship in the open sea. It is much better to look through spyglass and try to recognise the flag of the ship that is chasing you instead of simply clicking on the ship and get the lazy info. 7. Trader’s Network (TN) aka auction house. If you really want to drive player economy this is a must have. Make it more interesting. In order to get the info player needs to buy and maintain pigeon post. TN does allow you to buy remotely and place delivery contract so other players can pick it up and deliver anywhere you required. This promotes player trading, smuggling, and of course piracy. I can probably think of another 2-3 dozen of things but you get my drift. ------------------ More than happy to discuss in private all of the above if you decide you want to use any of these ideas. Im off to hunt me some traders. Yarrr! [bLACK] Koltes

NATION INFLUENCE MECHANICS Balancing the Conquest Hi Devs, First of all I would like to congratulate you on the astonishing achievement you have done so far! We have dreamed of this game, open world, naval battles and the era… Thank you! Your game is truly amazing! Please forgive me for the comments below as I’m not telling you how to make your game. But we are your players. We are here, playing and testing the unfinished game because we care. We want to help you to shape it in the perfect game blockbuster on par with those titles out there that have millions of player base. Speaking from MMO experience Alliance-War is too linear for player driven politics. You also have nations that right now mean very little, and you have player clans that mean even less. Voting: Forcing people to do something (like voting) is generally a bad idea and sooner or later you will walk away from this model. When you announced the voting system we have already start working on how to exploit this to our advantage. Democracy or voting will not work on public level. Nation’s clans will start working together and forming alliances behind the vote system. Clan leadership will decide who they are going to be allied with and tell their players to give their votes where its needed. This is what going to happen and if some players will disagree they will be kicked from the clan. Why not give the tools to clan leadership anyway? My proposal is (if you going to keep this system) if player is in the clan, then he has no vote - clan leader decides on their behalf, if player is without the clan then he votes personally. If clan leader is being a douchebag, set vote against the will of the majority and players of the clan disapprove they will leave the clan and form new one. It will sort itself out. However I’m all against this system and here is why... Food for thought on current politics system: IMO, you are working on politics way too early. We need more reasons what to fight for. There is really only one reason so far - the territory, but it's flawed because of its simplicity and lack of tools. There is no other reason really to control territory other than to annoy your enemy. Also The Caribbean is a very small territory. With current game mechanics its easily covered by 150 people that are online and its already feels tight. What is it going to be like when you have 5k people population on the server? Free Ports will be camped and become bottlenecks of the game life. Also the War on Nation level should last for months not days. The alternative: What about Nation influenced territory and Clan controlled ports that are driven by clan’s actions and Nation influence. Clans can only control ports that have enough of their nation’s influence. The Influence: All clans contribute to their Nation’s influence through their gameplay (wealth, production, conquered territory, but also by reducing your enemy influence in the area will increase your nation's influence in the area). Each Nation have capital and 2 other key ports (3 in total) with Influence level 5 (max), which means it can’t be caped. Those ports have everything they need to survive, craft and produce, but in limited numbers as its overpopulated.. The further away the territory from the capital the less influence point it has of that nation and harder to control, but the richer the resources and faster production and other boogie woogie bonuses you might think of. The lowest is 0 influence. No ports can be set there by the nation if it has 0 influence there and all ports will be lost if influence drops to 0. The higher the influence of the nation the higher NPC defence. Distant territories require lots of work to increase influence to setup let alone hold territory. NPC defence tools: Higher influence allows to build higher level port strength, have more powerful cannons, have larger amount and ship size of NPC ships that patrol the area. The further away from the capital the harder it is to keep the influencer level, which means less defence tools available. Those ports will mainly be protected by the players themselves. Best resources and production bonuses should be in those distant territories. If you are an enemy NPC port patrol will try to chase you and sink when seeing you on the horizon. Nation and Clan politics: On Developer level (Game Master - GM) you need to be able to influence politics to be able to keep balance in the game. The nation's relationship needs to be controlled by GM. The Governors of the New World of the Caribbean's did not decide whether they are at war or in alliance with other nations. They were simply told by the rulers in Europe. Situation in Europe decided for them. GMs needs to be those “rulers in Europe”. So, GM must be in control of the politics on the nation level. This also give you the ability to bring deeper storyline to the gameplay through monthly or quarterly patches that brings news story, new nation relationships etc. Nation standings (set by GM through the storyline and 3-4 month updates): 1. Alliance (nation) - as per above your post, can enter ports , attacking give gruesome consequences, can assist in battles as long as the enemy is not an ally or at peace. Attacking an ally will flag you as crim for 24 hours and give some crim points. Sinking, caping, stealing cargo will increase those crim points. Ports that have high enough influence of your nation will have NPC patrol of your own nation chasing you while you are marked as a crim for 24 hours or when you get enough crim points and become a proper crim. Must pay fine or NPC patrols will keep sinking you until you lose equivalent in ship costs etc. Being a crim makes you a fair target to anyone. 2. Peace (nation) - can enter ports, can’t attack, can’t assist. Attacking another player that is in peace with your nation will also mark as a crim for 3 hours and give crim points, but not as much as when attacking an ally. Free-trade rules applied in relationship of trading. 3. Neutral (nation) - to enter ports must buy trade licence for each specific port to enter (expires weekly). Can’t assist. Attacking neutral player will not mark as crim, but give same amount of crim points as attacking player at peace. Accumulating enough crim points will flag as a crim permanently until fines are paid or you’ve been sunk enough. 4. Free Trade (nation) - same as Neutral, but no trade licence is needed and no ports fees paid. 5. De Facto or Pre-War (nation) - state that reflects relationship between the two states in practice, but not necessarily ordained by law. Can attack, Can’t assist. Can’t enter ports - has trade embargo on trade goods delivered from ports of Nation in Pre-war state unless flagged as contraband. Attacking will not flag as crim or give crim points. Taking cargo from Pre-War nation doesn’t flag it as stolen and can be traded without discounts to NPC. 6. War (nation) - can’t enter, can’t assist. Attacking and sinking gives glory points to player, reduce influence points of the enemy and gives influence points to your own state. Caped cargo traded normally as Pre-War. This system, controlled by GM will control player behavior in general and naturally influence gameplay balance where its needed through continues game progression and further relationships built or destroyed. Clan politics: Players must be in control of their clan diplomacy against other clans (not nations). Clan standings against each other are also driven by Nation’s Diplomatic standings, but in some cases can be overruled by clan’s standings. For example the fight between two clans from different allied nations over a territory is still possible if clans declare war. Declaring war is like buying a flag and lasts for 7 days making clans at war a fair target to each other. Example: France and England are allies, but French clan A declares war on English clan B and despite that two nations are allies in general these two clans can freely attack each other for 7 days and are treated as if they would have been at war on nation level. Clan standings are set by clan’s diplomats and used as a diplomacy tool only, while Nation standing still apply. Example: France and Holland are at war, however diplomats from French clan A and Dutch clan C decided not to attack each other despite that their nations are currently at war. They both have set their standings against each other’s clan as a Peace. This makes their clan members to see Peace flag on their ships when they meet out in sea. Attacking them will have normal consequences designed by politics mechanics and current political state between France and Holland (War), however this might bring a tension between the two clans or maybe even punishment from your own clan for attacking an ally. This system has multiple flows, which can easily be flowed by having enough alts in the opposite faction allowing significant influence on voting in favor of one faction and on GM level you can’t even control this. Pirates Because pirates are not a nation, a pirate character (born or made through gameplay) should have nationality. Pirates is a faction that has various pirate professions or types of activity. Profession is picked at any free port much like current smuggler tag and gives specific to this profession bonuses and has 24 hour cooldown before another profession can be picked. Filibusters - in service of no one they free roaming the sea. True to their name they hunt lone traders, trade caravans and even military fleets. You can become a pirate or born a pirate (same as now). Picking up this profession flags you as fair target to everyone. Filibuster gets bonuses in exploration, ship speed and maneuverability in the open and in battle. Corsair or privateer - in the service of a specific nation. Letter of Marque gives them license to kill a particular enemy nation. His black flag will be accompanied with the flag of nation he serves. For each player ship sunk corsair receives payment from the crown. Corsairs can also be hired by player clans to help them fight other clan. Corsair is treated as a member of the nation where he received the Letter of Marque until it’s expired. Note: This profession can also be picked by a member of any nation without becoming an actual pirate. Head hunter - if there is a bounty on someone’s head Headhunter can take the job and claim the prize. This does not apply when the prize is for another pirate’s head. Headhunter is able to track his target down, pinpointing his location on the map Raider - a pirate who is set to attack and plunder settlements. Receives extra rewards in successful capture. The are no Neutral ports. There are only Free Settlements that claimed freedom from the crown and answer to no other nation. Because of that they are a welcome refuge for any pirate. Because Pirates are not a nation, but a faction they cannot claim any ports. Instead they have access to any free port that cannot be captured. Pirates make leaving through combat in the open sea, capturing traders and raiding ports for plunder. They also have easier access to rare “treasures” such as Pearls, lost Crowns etc. All that allows them to buy necessary resources to cover their ship expenses. Using a network of smugglers they are able to secretly trade with all nations. Pirate faction also has their own influence just like the other nations. Higher level of influence allow them to enter more Free Settlements and have there better prices. The Map Right now travel is done in two phases. Long and annoying sail to a destination, then a “save” of location through creation of outpost and fast travel. Sooner or later we have a nation or a faction that covers the entire map and can zip around real fast. Massive sea space becomes very little as life is now based around those Free Ports. Access is everything. It determines the value of the ports. Those ports that are closest to the free ports are valued more than the others. With the proposed Influence System there will be a zones that are harder to conquer, but have better resources and productions. This will make larger points of interest that attracts players so you don’t have to roam around for hours to find targets or any other p2p activities. ---------------- Other little things that would make this game a real pearl. 1. F2P will always attract more player base, but we do understand that you need to make revenue. Game could sell things that don’t have impact on the combat efficiency, so players who spends lots real money won't be in advantage. Instead Naval Action Store (NAS) could sell customization items for the ship and your character. Needless to say that all customization needs to be within the spirit of time. You can sell for real money even ship customization slots for each ship. For example one slot can allow you to customize sails, another name of the ship. All customization is bound to a specific ship and gets destroyed when the ship losses last dura. 2. Identification in the open sea. Simply clicking on the target is easy… too easy. Would be nice to have a spyglass that gives you the information of the ship you are looking at. The information received and the maximum distance is determined by the quality of the spyglass. Besides you could sell in the NAS componentry for decent spyglass. Among the current information we get from selecting the target the good spyglass should tell the speed of the ship and the quality. While looking at the ship through spyglass the assessment bar is filling in. It could take some time for the bar to fill in completely and to “assess” the ship. Once done you should be able to see more details such as how many dura left, upgrades installed etc. At the end of the day those things would have been visible in RL. Maybe even create Assessment Perk that will allow you to assess ships faster. Lots of cool food for thought 3. NPC trade caravans as mission for Pirates. Takes cooperation and lots of pirates to take on fully protected caravan, but rewards are also great. 4. Port battles done vs actual forts on land 5. One of a must have customization is a ship name and various designs of the carving that can be applied to display given name 6. Nation flag on the ship in the open sea. It is much better to look through spyglass and try to recognise the flag of the ship that is chasing you instead of simply clicking on the ship and get the lazy info. 7. Trader’s Network (TN) aka auction house. If you really want to drive player economy this is a must have. Make it more interesting. In order to get the info player needs to buy and maintain pigeon post. TN does allow you to buy remotely and place delivery contract so other players can pick it up and deliver anywhere you required. This promotes player trading, smuggling, and of course piracy. I can probably think of another 2-3 dozen of things but you get my drift. ------------------ More than happy to discuss in private all of the above if you decide you want to use any of these ideas. Im off to hunt me some traders. Yarrr! [bLACK] Koltes