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Book: Log of the Centurion by Leo Heaps (Circa 1973) https://www.amazon.com/Log-Centurion-original-Saumarez-circumnavigation/dp/024610581X Last week I turned the half century, and I was in a very grumpy mood. Even more so than the Old Salty Pirate with that Southern drawl we all love. My spirits were lifted from a package arriving from the Mother in-law of all people. The Outlaws had kindly bought/stole for me a first edition of the book above. Based on the original papers of Capt. Philip Saumarez on-board HMS Centurion, Lord Anson’s flagship during his circumnavigation 1740-44. Brief Outline From 1740-1744 Admiral Anson (1697-1762) commanded the naval Squadron attacking the Spanish Colonies and shipping in South America. On completion of his duties he returned home in HMS Centurion by circumnavigating the world with over £500,000 of Spanish Treasure on board his ship (the equivalent of over 50 Million pounds at today's rates). That journey was one of the great voyages of discovery and exploration of its age and was fully sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth I as formal naval expedition. All the Ship's officers involved were assured of success with four going on to achieve Flag rank (i.e. promotion to Admiral) and further glory. The one exception, however, was Captain Philip Saumarez who was killed by a stray cannon ball in 1747. Nevertheless, his four books which detailed the voyage of the Centurion (though long thought to be lost) were discovered in the early 1970's in his family home in the Channel Islands. This book is an account of the journey of the Centurion and is taken from those original papers. The Book I found it a fascinating and enjoyable read. Its packed full of pictures, maps, illustrations, letters and drawings from the day. However, I doubt it’s for everybody’s tastes as it does go into some extreme details. The hardship the men suffered was extraordinary, and haven’t read this type of detail in either fact or fictional accounts elsewhere. One detail regarding the loss of life was very old and unhealthy sailors on the ships to start with. The circumnavigation around the globe to survive and with the gold was remarkable. The Navigation I truly found fascinating how these men did it, page by page. To Close I would recommend this book, but its not a fast read. It does cover ALL aspects of Naval Action from fighting to management of the crew though the journey with no guarantee of survival. Seeing his own written words was just fascinating, they come alive off the page. Not sure, but Google Books might give a free copy. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think, Norfolk nChance [ELITE] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Centurion_(1732)

I DEMAND to be able to turn survival on and mostly off when being boarded PLEASE, it automatically turns on and has done since a certain patch early in the year. It is displeasing having my fireship ready to board and blow, then boom survival turns on, I mean on, not off, on.. furthermore and under more consideration in conclusion GIB ME THE ABILITY TO TURN OFF (please). McBaity

@admin I suggest bringing Ship durabilities back, but somewhat modified. Since there are 3 types of Port Battles i suggest the following: Unranked, 7th and 6th rate ships: 3 Ship Durability 5th and 4th rate ships. 2 Ship Durability 2nd and 1st rate ships: 1 Ship Durability That way, on lower levels, the loss of a ship is not quite as harsh and unforgiving. It would be more forgiving to new players, and keep them in the game longer. Also, i might suggest the loss of a percentage of the cannons, disabled during battle, say 25-30% of the cannons (barrels get damaged, carriages get shot to splinters).

I would like to suggest a feature called critical damage or a revamp to the current damage system. Similar to how a rudder, or pump would go out, or a permanent leak from losing the bow armor occurs, I would like to see permanent leaks caused by critical damage sustained by multiple hits in the same area of the hull. Another option perhaps is to condense these features into a single classification known as critical damage, a standalone threshold similar to hull armor now, but only repairable by moving crew to survival mode. Realistically speaking, if balls were to hit the same area of a ship repeatedly, the integrity of the hull in that particular area would become weaker and weaker compared to other portions of the hull. It would also require captains to focus their fire, and wait for opportune moments to fire more often than they do now. As it stands, firing an entire broadside when the opportunity arises is always preferable than firing single shots, which in my opinion is not exactly a skill based mechanic other than aim as low as possible, whenever possible, for maximum effect. Various things would be factored in to make this a reality, which are already in place, such as weight of the ball that impacts the hull which causes trauma to it (even bounces), as well as the range, and penetrating force. Leaks are a form of critical damage but the time it takes to repair leaks, rarely impacts overall outcome of a battle, same with fires, or module damage, and they really do not compound with each other because they simply never happen at the same time, and if they do, a simple emergency repair fixes most of these critical damage systems in place now, except fires and leaks. These forms of damage need more importance, and ships should take awhile longer than they do now to repair those types of things, along with more of a bonus for impacting the same portion of hull over and over again, would go along way in utilizing hull strength and armor bonuses, as well as make some of the larger ships, more vunerable to their currently obsolete counterparts (namely, Connie v Aggie). Happy Holidays!

This is a suggestion from the perspective of a completely new player. Keep that in mind please. If you have been hanging around the faction or help chat any, you may see this post "CRAP...I have a leak and repair isn't fixing it." or may be "%#$@ $%#$@%^ #$@% I just sank to a leak I could not fix $@#!$##!!" Why, why is this so prevalent in new players? Simply put when your new in the game and you get a leak you think "repair". You have a leak, you want to repair it. The term "survival" means something different in many minds, it means to stay alive and is not directly related to repair. Sure repairing something could mean your surviving...but that is not the first thought that enters into the mind. I mean, when you replace a tire on your car do you think "I am going to survival my car!!" No...probably not. So to combat this ambiguity, I suggest a simple change to the wording of button eight. From Survival to Damage Control. Fire, leaks, and what may come all fall under the umbrella of Damage Control. And while Survival does work and may work in the context of the time period. This is a game and new players should understand that if you press eight, bad things will be fixed. Remember a new players first impressions will, for now, be made in combat. To feel helpless and to sink causing anger and frustration in your first fight because you do not know what button to press because it is not obvious leaves a bad impression. It is part of learning, but that curve can be lessened by a degree with just a small text change.