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I've suggested this several times in other threads before, but it was recently suggested to me to make a topic for it. Wall of text incoming. If you're intent on skipping it, skip to the bold part for the mechanics suggestion. I personally liked our old system of craftable upgrades better. You know the one, the old grey/green/blue/purple/gold system where you could craft most modules and upgrades using mid grade notes and some materials. But there were some very powerful, very rare modules (gold marines, carpenters, light carriages, etc.) that made that system no good. I understand the devs have worked hard on our current skillbook and permanent module system, and introduced new modules (however much I disagree with the need for them) so we probably won't return to that old system...so I'll propose a compromise in this topic. Now after the big wipe, I was under the impression that we were trying to move away from a mod-dependent system. Instead modules and books are now more valuable and more important than ever. And the worst part is, the common ones are mostly garbage! Nobody who is competitive uses Gazelle for +1% speed, when Bovenwinds, Navy Hull (granted that ones not super difficult to get) and Copper Plating all offer significantly better performance. And why use Optimized Ballast when there is Art of Shiphandling? The list of crap mod vs good mod goes on. Players who have played long enough, or are active enough, or are "good" enough will likely have access to these super rare modules. Heck I've got a full set on my main and almost a full set on one alt, and I'm well on my way to a decent set on a 3rd alt. But the casuals can't easily get them. This further widens the gap between 2000+ hours "I am pro--I sink players [noobs] 5 vs 1" and Mr. Casual over there who is playing an hour or two a week. I'm 100% for high quality rewards for players who are active, skilled, and get out there and get the kills, but those same rewards should also be available (at a very high cost, and via RNG) to those who maybe aren't so skilled. But when the ship you are sailing costs less than 1Mil to make and the modules you need on it to make it relevant in PvP cost over 2Mil, something is wrong. Here is a quote from this post by admin regarding future goals in NA http://forum.game-labs.net/topic/19703-forthcoming-changes-in-the-next-testbed-patch/ I took the liberty of emphasizing the important part. Granted that post is old, but I don't think the goal has changed? It shouldn't have changed. We should always strive to put people into the OW where they can willingly PvP without fear of losing a super-expensive ship. It has gotten to the point in the game now, that you pretty much need those good modules and books to be relevant in PvP. (I know someone is going to come along and say "I've gotten X amount of kills with a storebought ship and medium cannons. Hurr durr your point is irrelevant the system is fine!" blah blah blah.) Sure, you can get by without them, but you'll sink a lot, and most players get discouraged when their best 5th rate gets run down and wrecked by a 4th or 3rd rate because that big ship was running mods and books that they'll (seemingly) never have access to. Important note: I am NOT against speed-fitted 4th and 3rd rates. They are lovely ships and can easily find a balance in NA. Read on to see how. So here's the suggestion: (credit where credit is due, I'm sure I'm the first to suggest this stuff) Remove the useless speed cap. It breaks more things than it helps. Nerf Pirate Rig and Spanish Rig some (don't ruin the mods, just nerf them bit by bit till we find a balance). Nerf speed bonuses/negatives provided by wood types: the difference in speed between fir/fir and LO/WO should be less than it is now. Make all modules available in 4 ways: RNG loot, Crafting with resources and books, PvP marks, or Combat Marks (enormous amounts of combat marks, obviously). Introduce diminishing returns for stacking all modules and books of the same category (reload, speed, turn, hp) (stacking 2 speed mods @ 2% speed each does not equal +4% speed, instead more like +3.2%, stacking another 2% mod will yield a net bonus of something like 4.5%, etc.). The more you stack, the less you benefit. Negatives still stack normally, obviously. If you have mods that give different amounts, the highest amount will apply first, then the stacked values will diminish in order of greatest to least. This will once again provide room for "average" 5th rates and 4th rates to spread their sails on OW. They'll still get run down by speed-fit Bellonas, Ingermanlands, Endymions, Wapens, etc. (as they should), but the difference in speed between a failfit speedboat and a teak/wo "jack of all trades build" with one or two speed upgrades will be much less than it is now. Furthermore, the increased availability of books and modules means that everyone can be on a more-or-less equal playing field. There won't be room for people to say "I don't wanna go out and PvP because I don't have the right mods and I'll just get sunk," or "You only beat me because you have elite mods that I don't have." There will still be plenty more to balance regarding the bonuses we can choose for our ships (looking at you, useless wood types and pointless modules that nobody uses). But I think that if the broken DLC boats have taught us anything, its that high availability and low operating cost does increase PvP. I see some people going out to hunt and forming up in the coastguards who before wouldn't willingly PvP. But now that they have a ship that can be replaced easily and doesn't *require* expensive modules to function (pirate rig refit is cheap enough), they go out and fight. Thats good. Those ships still need balancing though, but thats well covered in other threads. TL/DR: Good mods are more valuable than standard 3/5 ships and that discourages casuals from PvP. Make the good modules and books more available and maybe we'll start seeing people leave port and sail out of the safezones. Introduce diminishing returns to discourage stacking that leads to outrageous bonuses. Thoughts? Is it a good idea, or crazy?