News from the south

[Brogsitter]

A little change of capitol (if that is the object from this thread) is not a great change. This is a early access and we need find the correct set of positions in the map.

 

I even don't know why I am expend so many time disscusing this. I am in this game only for the battles with ships and the ship models

 

But if the game works for all players in all timezones in the same server... it will be a great game right?

 

Please Justme refrain to speak that about spain faction, if spain is in other side they can play too. Maybe in a year spain can be a great faction without troubles.

 

Sorry Siegfried, but a cannot agree with this in any way.

 

I stated it earlier: The problem the spanish nation is facing atm will not be solved by changing the capitol. Changing the captitol will just delay the result of the nation being crushed down to one port. Thats will be the result for every nation who is refusing to communicate with other nations. To get it straight: This issue is a social one and cannot be solved by the devs.

[maturin]

The social Darwinism in the forums is amusing.

 

So we have a low-population nation with indefensible geography and no timezone diversity in the player-base, situated so that every other faction in the game can take their territory without serious opposition, with the capital sandwiched between the three largest factions...

 

...but they have only themselves to blame for their misfortune, because one clan made a bad negotiation decision. What were the Spanish supposed to do? Ally with the French AND the US AND the British AND the Dutch AND the pirates so they can fight the Danes, who probably still outnumber them and can lock out their conquests with PB timers when the Spanish can't?

[Siegfried]

The reason for relocate the capitol is not for Spain win the map.

 

Is delaying our bitter and unavoidable end but having fun in the process. We can be a bug smashed on the floor, but with a great smile in our face. lol

 

Yesterday a port battle in the Gulf was fought and spain was defeated, but spanish people could attack and be defeated having fun in the process and their enemy too. Spanish captains in that battle learned something new and maybe the next time a more fun battle for both sides.

 

BTW, The capitol in the gulf is not solution, it would be as we playing in other server or in a isolated guetto. Then, spain would be the puppet of the faction who controls the access of the gulf.

[Tac]

I think it would be a bad idea to move the Spanish capital nearer to the the Dutch,I'm afraid at this time during the war with the French we just cannot accommodate any more prisoners or captured seamen.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Tac

[Brogsitter]

The social Darwinism in the forums is amusing.

 

So we have a low-population nation with indefensible geography and no timezone diversity in the player-base, situated so that every other faction in the game can take their territory without serious opposition, with the capital sandwiched between the three largest factions...

 

...but they have only themselves to blame for their misfortune, because one clan made a bad negotiation decision. What were the Spanish supposed to do? Ally with the French AND the US AND the British AND the Dutch AND the pirates so they can fight the Danes, who probably still outnumber them and can lock out their conquests with PB timers when the Spanish can't?

 

I am not blaming anyone, I am just telling you the US are inviting the SPANISH to discuss this issue an to find a solution for about a week now. Either the spanish population is not getting the point or they are too cocky to do so. But it is so much easier to run to MOM and DAD and ask for a solution.....

 

Honestly, just get over your massive ego and have a talk about this.

 

And do me a favor and stop using PB timers, low playerbase and the rest as an excuse for the situation. It still does not explain, why the spanish nation is not up to solve the problem together with the other nation(s) by themselfes. Specially the problem with the PB timers should be discussed seperatly.

[Quarios]

I actually think the spains have a pretty good starting position, they just wasted it. Imagine the US starting in Havanna and Spain in Charlestown, I'd bet you the map wouldnt look much different.

If you want to talk about bad start positions you should talk to the swedes, danes and french.

 

The real problem here is not the location of the capital, but the unevenness off the playerbase of each nation. There needs to be an incentive for players to join underpopulated nations.

 

P.S. Admin would it be possible to show the actual playernumbers for all the nations?

Edited February 17, 2016 by Quarios

[maturin]

 

 

 I am just telling you the US are inviting the SPANISH to discuss this issue an to find a solution for about a week now.

Discussions to find a solution to the issue while taking 15 ports a day?

 

And you accuse the *Spanish* of being bad at diplomacy?

 

I'm a solo player at the moment. Like the majority of players, I have no role to play in laughable negotiations that have zero reliability anyhow. The supposedly allied Brits have taken more ports than the pirates. There are different clans with different policies, there are language barriers, and most people aren't on the forums. Diplomacy is a joke. 

 

The solution is in game mechanics for slower conquest that doesn't stack the deck in favor of the populated nations that have the right timezone distribution and consolidated frontlines. But we're off-topic again.

 

 

 

And do me a favor and stop using PB timers, low playerbase and the rest as an excuse for the situation. It still does not explain, why the spanish nation is not up to solve the problem together with the other nation(s) by themselfes.

I'll bite. What could the Spanish possibly do to get hundreds of British and US and Dutch and Danish players to pass up free ports and give back most of Cuba and Mexico? Free blowjobs?

[spchancey]

Okay ....... Dont be bringing the Danes in on this...... its not liek their capital is close enough for them to even challenge the subject........... the danes get 2 choices..... got to war with the south or move west..... we dont get 3 directions to choose from

[Vernon Merrill]

This is why Faction-Wide diplomacy voting needs to be introduced....and soon.   For every Lobogris playing Don Quixote, I'm sure there are plenty of logical Spanish players that would love to make peace while they can an learn the game/trade/make friends/join or organize clans that actually represent them...

 

I ALSO understand that the Devs can only work on certain things at one time with the staff they currently have.  I suppose we all need to realize that we are trying to play a game with only half of the rules provided and do what we are actually here for: TESTING.

[Francis Tabernac]

 

I'll bite. What could the Spanish possibly do to get hundreds of British and US and Dutch and Danish players to pass up free ports and give back most of Cuba and Mexico? Free blowjobs?

 

Finally, a diplomatic plan I can get behind.

 

The Spanish situation is pretty dire and at this point the faction on PvP1 is pretty well done as an effective RvR entity. Again, as the game is currently in testing and our entire purpose for being here is to test the game out, bring on the dev intervention. Let's see what they do, work around that, report back on how it all worked.

 

The constant calls to "stop complaining" about port-timers, port battle mechanics, etc are utterly ridiculous because that's precisely why we're here. This game is in its testing phase. It's not a launched title. We're here to test, which means when something is happening that is affecting the gameplay potential for a lot of players it needs to be noted and addressed. This is exactly the right time to be experimenting with systems that may rebalance faction populations such as longer PB windows and higher cost with distance from capital city; progression bonuses for under-populated countries; etc.

 

Folks, if you think your primary purpose here is to get a head-start on the game before it's launched, then you need to stop playing early-access betas. Go play something else for a while, because you're not helping.

[maturin]

 

 

The Spanish situation is pretty dire and at this point the faction on PvP1 is pretty well done as an effective RvR entity.

Which is isn't a huge tragedy. Nations can and should have rise and fall, where they are occasionally too weak to be a player in global RvR. See stagnant Sweden, for instance.

 

What's not OK is nations getting rolled so badly that solo play, crafting and stable PvP opportunities dry up. Most Spanish players might as well fuck off to the PvE server at this point.

 

 

 

 

Okay ....... Dont be bringing the Danes in on this...... its not liek their capital is close enough for them to even challenge the subject........... the danes get 2 choices..... got to war with the south or move west..... we dont get 3 directions to choose from

No one blames the Danes for anything. The point is, even if the US wasn't taking dozens of Spanish ports, the Danes, Dutch or Brits would be doing it instead. Spain automatically loses Puerto Rico, Maracaibo and Hispaniola in literally any RvR scenario you can envision, even with higher population numbers. The starting positions provide a demoralizing shit sandwich that only one nation has to deal with. (France and the Dutch are also doomed to lose important ports, but they get excellent expansion opportunities in their consolidated position.)

[lobogris]

Its easy we are not going to surrender you can speak with Wolf and "La federación de Comercio" but they are only four or five clans they not represent the spanish faction and they dont speak for all spanish players, let the fight continue and have fun.

[Vllad]

Maturin,

 

Their are some things you can do. You can have your leadership PM myself or Slamz. We have experience at hanging on being French and all.

[LeBoiteux]

Rumors surfaced that Spanish armies that were busy with the rebellion in the Lower Andes are moving in from the south with the support of the natives and Portuguese colonial forces. 

Partisan movement have started on several formerly Spanish areas. Several undermanned garrisons were slaughtered by the rebels that escaped into the mountains after american support came in. 

 

May be a solution (in terms of gameplay) would be to divide the Spanish territory into a couple of additional unhistorical factions (Portuguese...) to make these smaller territories more easily defensible ?

[Francis Tabernac]

 

What's not OK is nations getting rolled so badly that solo play, crafting and stable PvP opportunities dry up. Most Spanish players might as well fuck off to the PvE server at this point.

 

Agreed.

 

Personally, I think anything that happens to push people out of the game, at this point in time, is bad for the game as a whole. After launch, well, you pay your money and you take your chances.

[Prater]

Vllad, Maturin is a solo player.

May be a solution (in terms of gameplay) would be to divide the Spanish territory into a couple of additional unhistorical factions (Portuguese...) to make these smaller territories more easily defensible ?

I don't know that another faction should be added. Spain needs all the strength it can get and that might turn possible recruits to another possibly weak nation.

[Powderhorn]

Which is isn't a huge tragedy. Nations can and should have rise and fall, where they are occasionally too weak to be a player in global RvR. See stagnant Sweden, for instance.

 

What's not OK is nations getting rolled so badly that solo play, crafting and stable PvP opportunities dry up. Most Spanish players might as well fuck off to the PvE server at this point.

 

Just as a point - this is exactly what has been suggested by the development team for nations to handle pirates.

[Mighty Bouff]

For me the pirates shouldn't be able to take ports, only raid them. Ie they win the port battle, get resources (x4 gold rather than current x2 and more resources). The port then turns pirate for 48 hours before reverting to either neutral or whomever had it before. To facilitate this pirate ports cannot be captured by nations at all. They would lose half of the ports in the bahamas, but gain a couple of others spread across the map to act as hubs.

[LeBoiteux]

Spain needs all the strength it can get and that might turn possible recruits to another possibly weak nation.

Then there are ways to increase the playerbase of a given faction, such as :

• Hard limits on the number of players in nation (a-la other mmo games). 
• Underpopulated nation bonuses. 

[marchese]

delaying a port battle to be ready for it. Large territory is hard to defend. With some delay from announcement to battle start (i.e .3 hours!?) every faction can organize the countermeasures and all allied ship could reach the port in time (realtime map crossing is about 3.45 h). This may help small and under populated nations and could quiet players. Or devs could reintroduce NPC who gank enemies after war declaration (like reinforce fleet)

 

Using a new capital, trying to divide map in zones, force  US players to change server and helping Spain will not resolve the port battle mechanic.

[Prater]

How will hard limits work?  Say all US players on PVP1 join PVP3 and make Brit alts and never play again, locking out many people from playing the nation they want to play as?  Or say someone buys the game, starts a character once, and never plays again?

[maturin]

 

delaying a port battle to be ready for it. Large territory is hard to defend. With some delay from announcement to battle start (i.e .3 hours!?) every faction can organize the countermeasures and all allied ship could reach the port in time (realtime map crossing is about 3.45 h). 

Using a new capital, trying to divide map in zones, force  US players to change server and helping Spain will not resolve the port battle mechanic.

 

 

Exactly. I'm pretty sure that Spanish players would much rather see changes that allow them to attend port battles and counterattack, rather than any sort of favoritism. 

 

Nation locks will make no one happy, while simply locking the Brits and pirates at already-hegemonic levels.

 

And the most historical measures (fortifications, multi-step conquest to overcome land armies) don't favor low-population factions; high-population faction get them too but can merely ignore them since Jamaica is secure anyway.

[LeBoiteux]

How will hard limits work?  Say all US players on PVP1 join PVP3 and make Brit alts and never play again, locking out many people from playing the nation they want to play as?  Or say someone buys the game, starts a character once, and never plays again?

Have you ever played a US guy in any video game you played ? 

Never played with the Italian Mario Bros when you were a kid ? Come on, confess 

[Chijohnaok]

While on the subject of port resets, and while we have admin's attention on this thread:

I strongly strongly recommend that eventually some form of "winning the map" is possible, with subsequent reset. It should be difficult and take months but needs to eventually be possible. I glad to hear admin say that we don't know what final conquest will look like - hopefully it will look like something more significant than just counting the ports owned by each nation. Players need a goal to work towards, and an endgame without a way to "win" will cause many players to lose interest very fast.

A side benefit of "winning the map" being possible is that this player resistance you see now to port changes won't exist. Changes to balance can be easily implemented during a reset without causing an uproar each time. People will accept the map as fluid, making it far easier to make changes/tweaks leading up to full launch, and even after launch (during map resets).

My bold emphasis above.

 

I think that you idea has some merit.

 

I previously used to play a free online game called "Airline Empires"

It's an airline simulation game.

The aspect of that game relevant to your suggestion is this:

In Airline Empires, the developers set up "World Resets" which generally last for a simulated 30 year period.  

In each 30 year period you start out your airline with one leased plane, one ariline base/airport and some seed money.  You can then build up your airline to add more planes, fly to more destinations, increase your passenger volume, and build up your profits.  In Airline Empires a simulated month lasts for 8 real time hours; a simulated year lasts 4 real time days, and the 30 year "world" will run for roughly 4 real time months.  At the end of the 4 months (simulated 30 year period) the world resets and you can start all over again. 

Each "World" may have slightly different parameters to it (ownership of planes only vs leasing, national restrictions as to airline expansion, etc).

 

Now I am not saying that Naval Action must be set up exactly the same way.

For Naval Action you could adjust the speed of "simulated time" to something else more appropriate.  

But, perhaps sort of in line with what Sharp suggested, they could set up different worlds, with a prior specficied time duration, and at the end of that time period, the nation that conquered the most ports "wins the map".

 

Now I understand that some (or many) NA players may not be in favor of an idea such as this.  So my suggestion for that would be to set up this concept, on a test basis, on one server only (and a new server at that for those that do not wish their current "world" to be turned upside down).  Run such a world on a test basis.  See if it works.  If people like it, then you can set up more "worlds", some of which may run concurrently and may overlap each other.  If only some players like this idea, then let the "World Reset" concept run on the one server only.  

[Chijohnaok]

Make sure the trip is in Augest, not sure how you could make the tempature realistic in game tho.

 

In August?  Do you want to kill the poor man from Ukraine?  ;-)

[i have lived in Tampa for 15 years now, originally having moved here from Chicago.  I have yet to fully adjust to the unbearably humid summer months).

 

Tampa does celebrate its own "Pirate festival every year.  It's called the Gasparilla Pirate Festival and it runs at the end of January/beginning of February every year.

 

There is even a Gasparilla Pirate Ship that is part of the festivities.

(It's actually more of a barge made up to look like a pirate ship).