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Greetings All! (Feel free to skip text wall to Tl;Dr at bottom) Long time lurker, I have been playing since the game dropped...wow almost a year or more ago? It's been a long time. Mostly, my concerns are voiced by others and so I usually don't have much otherwise to say, but I had some thoughts and suggestions. The major one on my mind for this post is focused on the ship builder and its' implementation in the upcoming campaign. I do understand that a rework of the builder is (is?) in the works for the future, these are things to just perhaps bear in mind: How does the game team intend to allow for potential major rebuilds or refits in the designer? I'm talking full on Conte Di Cavour style facelifts that can completely change the performance, armament, and appearance on what is otherwise an older hull. This is very important because historically EVERY navy of this time period did major refits and rebuilds, to some extent, on their more expensive investments. This saved cost obviously on building a new hull, and it also extended the lifespan of older designs in a period of technological explosion. However, we should also be able to conduct smaller refits and refinements as well. Things like new more efficient boilers of the same type, or more accurate turrets of a similar design to those equipped. Potentially shipping this game without some sort of answer for this, I think, misses a very BIG element of naval management. As it exists, the current shipbuilder is very limiting in this aspect. For example, I can't potentially refit a ship with a straight stem to a clipper bow. Big "L". You can't custom build superstructures or redesign machinery spaces, other than choosing the next big number or the better pre-designed set (which might not even fit) so ships will be arbitrarily made impossible to refit or rebuild. What about adding torpedo bulges to an older ship with a somewhat obsolete torpedo defense system, an old battlecruiser for example? Sure it may already be a secondary or reserve capital ship already, but it is still worth a lot of money. Cheaper to add those bulges than to build a new battlecruiser for the same role, right? Maybe you have a huge number of aging destroyers. Do you sell them for a severely depreciated scrap value, or perhaps refit them to be coastal patrol craft or dedicated escort ships? Armament even too! Your ship just need to replace old barrels? Can do, maybe a few months moored at home station and done. No need to redesign or build an entirely new hull. Or, want to rearm it with your shiny new 15 inchers from the old 12 inchers? That’s cool, you’ll have to deal with a reduction in barrels for sure, and less ammo. But now you got bigger guns on an older hull without coughing up the dough for an entirely new design and study board. Tl;Dr: I think a much more custom ship designer (similar to the features 1MajorKoenig has on his list of suggestions) would make this sort of feature a trifle to implement. Other games have it as well and present simple cost and benefit. It adds depth. Do you spend significant money to refit an older battleship, or spend more money and time building a new one? Strategy right there, and real decisions real naval boards would have to digest. It also allows the smaller, more monetarily disadvantaged navies to make the most of their existing fleet. As an Italian main in a certain other game of this flavor, I certainly rely heavily on my rebuilds to keep my battleship numbers up since I cannot always afford to build new ones constantly. Please let me know all your thoughts on this!

@admin and players, I wish that you can only make refits in yards. This would improve the economic cycle. A refit is made as a ship. But there is a "special" recipe for it. The materials are written down and will not change later when unpacking in the port. There is a fixed final price for this ship. This final price should be equal to the "minimum price" for raw materials and working hours, ie the actual value of production. Then you sell the refit in a "free port" and receive an additional 1 PvP mark. So a shipbuilder can develop PvP brands without fighting. You can sell unlimited refits to the business. However, a maximum final amount should be set, e.g. 30 pieces. Players can then buy refit for several PvP brands in the store. You can have unlimited refits - the space is unlimited. You can "unpack" the refit in each port. Ultimately, this will remove PvP brands from the game. Maybe the prices for server admins should be adjusted regularly. This is the only way to prevent a PvP brand flood in the long term. Refits should always be a little bit worse than ships in normal sales. This could be regulated with the slots as well as with the wood. Refits represent ships that were built for a need "fast". addendum: Maybe it makes sense to introduce a limit for personal ownership of refits. Actually, 3-5 would be enough for each player I think. What do you all mean? (German texts are always translated with the help of Google.) @admin und Spieler, ich wünsche mir, daß man Refits nur in Werften herstellen kann. Dieses würde den Wirtschaftskreislauf verbessern. Ein Refit wird so hergestellt wie ein Schiff. Es gibt aber ein "besonderes" Rezept dafür. Die Materialien sind festgeschrieben und ändern sich auch später beim Auspacken im Hafen nicht. Es gibt einen festen Endpreis für dieses Schiff. Dieser Endpreis sollte dem "Mindestpreis" für die Rohstoffe und den Arbeitsstunden entsprechen, also dem tatsächlichem Herstellungswert. Anschließend verkauft man das Refit in einem "freien Hafen" und erhält dafür zusätzlich 1 PvP-Marke. So kann sich ein Schiffsbauer ohne Kampf PvP-Marken erarbeiten. Man kann unbegrenzt viele Refits ans Geschäft verkaufen. Es sollte aber eine maximale Endmenge festgelegt werden, z.B. 30 Stück. Spieler können dann in dem Geschäft das Refit für mehrere PvP-Marken kaufen. Man kann unbegrenzt viele Refits besitzen - der Platz dafür ist unbegrenzt. Man kann in jedem Hafen das Refit "entpacken". Letztendlich werden dadurch PvP-Marken dem Spiel entnommen. Vielleicht sollten die Preise für Refits von Server-Admins regelmäßig angepasst werden. Nur so läßt sich auf Dauer eine PvP-Marken-Schwemme verhindern. Refits sollten immer ein kleines bißchen schlechter sein als Schiffe im normalem Verkauf. Dieses könnte man mit den Slots als auch mit dem Holz regulieren. Refits stellen Schiffe dar, die für eine Notwendigkeit "schnell" gebaut wurden. Nachtrag: Vielleicht ist es doch sinnvoll eine Begrenzung für den persönlichen Besitz an Refits einzuführen. Eigentlich würden 3-5 pro Spieler ausreichen denke ich. Was meint Ihr?

As other nations have refits i think it would be fair to give all nations a refit bonus, but as i am Dutch, I will be making a suggestion for the Dutch refit bonus. As we all know the Dutch were a trading nation primarily, and as such I think it would make sense that the Dutch Refit have these bonuses... -Increase hull capacity by 15% -Increase sail and mast Health by 5% The sail and mast health is for stronger, more durable masts and sails that could sustain the extra weight without losing speed. This would be a great perk for trader ships and would not imbalance pvp.