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Almost daily we have on global chat someone asking about a wipe coming up, the fear is great. Most people there agree they don't want to see their belongings, warehouse content, ships, upgrades, books, money, doubloons etc etc getting lost at that dreadful day known as "the wipe" coming up. What are the imaginable pros and cons of a wipe from view of a developer? I'll try to sum up: Pro - server reset, cleaned database, less storage on server (cost reduction?) - people have equalized chances when everyone has to start over again, together with new players, at zero (*) - no advantage by veteran players in perfected ships which frustrate beginners (**) - you can create new statistical material with wipe, as a starting point of a new era, about player behavior and progression, investigate for future improvements - renewed incentives for RvR, conquest, getting stuff from ports (***) Con - players are driven away from game as they don't want to do all their previous efforts again, feels like hamster wheel - players get angry because you take their beloved golden or purple class ships with rare upgrades from them (maybe upgrades which are in some specific pairing no longer possible) - motivation is sinking as players think, with having paid full price like for finished game, they have a right to keep what they have achieved in the pre-wipe period - time before a wipe is dampening activities as players anticipate wipe and calculate it's useless to play on, as the results are going to be annihilated anyway **** Some of those arguments do not apply for PvE peace server, or at a very reduced rate. I will elaborate: (*) The competition on PvE PS is not the same as on PvP War Server. We don't fight each other, the focus is on cooperation. Thus no well equipped player is enjoying an advantage over a badly equipped player, and this controversial relationship does not need to be reset by a wipe (with both of them being 'badly equipped for a while) for some fake 'equality'. I have to remind that admin himself said that two weeks after a wipe, all equality will be gone anyway. Thus the differences in equipment and related fighting value see only a short interruption by any wipe. We do trade material, upgrades, books as well on PvE PS, but still you often find people who are willing to give away stuff to beginners for free. How they can help and give away if their possessions are annihilated by wipe? They will see to their own, first. This is counterproductive for the cooperative spirit on PvE PS. (**) Lacking direct confrontation with other players in battle, people on PvE PS experience no disadvantage opposite veteran players using well-equipped golden and purple class ships. Unless the better equipment becomes a factor in competitions like the weekly events. But skill is the much stronger factor here. (***) No RvR and no conquest by port battles on PvE PS mean there does not need to be a renewal of incentives for such things. The map borders concerning national possessions stay always the same, at least at the present state of game. *** I see however all con-arguments valid also for PvE PS. Players took a long time to collect rare materials and books, not to speak of a golden class ship they have waited a year for. The impact of a wipe in terms of anger and frustration, when all will be gone and you look into an empty warehouse and dockyard, seems unmeasurable to me. We noticed a huge player base increase starting with the major patch last autumn and some precious words of devs showing appreciation of the PvE community. I don't want to see that progress destroyed again, by a wipe. What I do understand and support, though, is a wipe of old accounts which have not been used for a year or longer. If that dead load is a burden for servers, their setting back to zero is understandable. But you just don't cut living flesh with your knife. If the wipe is still impossible to impede, let's think of a way to make it easier and more exceptable for veteran players. Like cutting their belongings in two halves and let them keep one half. And by giving them the choice of 5 ships out of 30 with DLC admiralty connection, and 3 ships out of 20 without that DLC, which they handpick and will be allowed to be taken over into the after-wipe period. *** Please, folks, as I can foretell PvP WS players will comment here and shift the discussion over to their interests on War Server, let's keep this topic strictly PvE PS orientated and not get watered by your motives and arguments of purely PvP character. Consider opening your own thread for that. Thank you.

Alright, as I moved over to PvP server and made my insights for a week or two, I got the following ideas. Part One: Make death a more severe event (almost like in real life ) for giving people a reason to spare their character its death. Now it is only an economic disadvantage when you get sunk and killed, you lose a ship and its cargo. We should shift the focus to the personal side and give a reason to avoid getting killed, for sake of becoming more realistic in that matter. IRL you do everything for not dying, right? So let it happen in the game, too. I am not proposing a punishment for dying. This could just get used as an argument for this game being too hardcore and scaring off new players. I am proposing advantages for staying alive. -- The game would measure how long someone has not died recently. The longer he can stay alive, the more he would receive in bonus. This is the motive for people to take their mortality in game more serious. If the long-time unavoidable happens and you get sunk another time and die, the counter would get resetted and you would have to wait accordingly for receiving a new 'survival bonus'. -- Now, what could that bonus be? Maybe percentages of a victory point. Or percentages of an admirality note, or a rare permit, or a rare book, which will be given to you once the 100% is achieved. Then the next one... randomly, of course, so it does not become predictable. I am against giving money or battle points this way. We would count the time being logged into the server, not real time outside. The effect of this proposed game feature would be, people would be more careful about losing their lives. Your success in staying afloat gains a new value. -- Part Two of this suggestion: Not every defeat in battle should mean your death. Your opponent could chose to spare your life and take you as prisoner. Then he will ask a ransom from your nation for your release. Or simply let you go at the next port, out of courtesy. The ransom could be negotiable between the winner and the clan of the prisoner, or get determined by your rank and (sic!) your accumulated surviving time. Did you manage to stay alive for a long time in Naval Action? Prepare to pay a high price for staying this way! - Now what if nobody or yourself pay the ransom? Sorry, I think that would mean your death and you find yourself "fresh" at the home port, but with wiped survival counter.