Ideas for Pirate mechanics

[eriks]

How can we make piracy different from just another nation with a black flag?

 

Add:

 

The ability to sail under a false flag and otherwise obfuscate their identity (Looks like a trader snow, whoops it's a pirate).

 

The ability to convert captured traders into warships (as most pirate vessels historically were).

 

The ability to up-gun ships. If nations can put 12 pounders on pirates can use 18s.

 

Pirate bases are invisible to the map.

 

Pirate bases periodically change locations.

 

Port raids.

 

 

Remove:

 

Pirate crafting.

 

Port conquest.

 

[William the Drake]

The ability to sail under a false flag and otherwise obfuscate their identity (Looks like a trader snow, whoops it's a pirate).

 

This has long been a heated discussion here. While it would be interesting, limiting it to only pirates isn't 100% fair or accurate. Perhaps for pirates and privateers (thus meaning a privateer mechanic is needed and thus a diplomacy mechanic for when privateers can operate)

• Letters of Marque
• Notoriety, Infamy, Bounties, and "Heat"

 

The ability to convert captured traders into warships (as most pirate vessels historically were).

The ability to up-gun ships. If nations can put 12 pounders on pirates can use 18s.

 

I'm going to save you from flack as many will jump at the term "warship". Historically speaking, yes pirates added mire guns to their vessels, however they would usually replace heavy guns with lighter ones. Meaning that even though the Queen Anne's Revenge was technically a 5th-rate Ship-of-the-Line warship (having >32 guns) under Britain's rating system at the time, she would have stood little chance against a comparable naval vessel that was custom built as a heavy warship. The addition of heavier guns would mean having less guns in the process and from a pirate standpoint, not something they would have done. 

 

• The Pirate Ship: Hot Rods of the Age-of-Sail

However the modifying and refitting of ships is a good option

• Variants and the Modular Ship

 

Pirate bases are invisible to the map.

 

Pirate bases periodically change locations.

 

• Pirate Havens, Port Security, and Trade Regulations

 

Port raids.

 

• Port Raid: The Pirate End-Game

[GrapeShot]

I've suggested having 3 states a player could be in: respectable citizen, scofflaw and pirate. A player's behavior would adjust his reputation and it could slide up and down based on their actions.

I think that would reflect the fact that piracy was an occupation, not political in nature. The current situation if treating pirates as a nation is a huge problem IMHO.

To get my tiered approach to work, along with a more robust trade and resource production model, access to ports needs to be reconsidered.

Meta diplomacy between nations, rather than the clan based mess we currently have, would allow that.

Ships should be able to freely enter any national and allied port. Further, scofflaws (ie smugglers) should be able to enter undeveloped -- that is ports without econ buildings -- ports to trade with the enemy on the sly.

Meanwhile, pirates would operate from even more remote and/or hidden bases.

Make pirates what they were -- economically rather than diplomatically oriented.

Edited March 1, 2016 by GrapeShot

[KrakkenSmacken]

Some of my input.

 

If you take away crafting, you need to replace it, so change it to repair and refitting.

 

With the same type of BP requirement in parallel to crafting, the ability to replace lost Dura for 2/5 of the ships basic cost (2X what it originally cost) with a cap of 3 Dura so you have to do this more often.

 

Risk when doing so of degrading the quality of the ship in line with the level of the repair level of the person preforming the repair/re-fit. Craft notes can be used to prevent degradation.

 

Craft your own repair kits for cheaper.

 

Raid flags captured from enemies with a short life time (1 hour). Run up captured false flag and ship to dock at port.  Load up goods from the dock and haul away. If identified it's a chase/escape battle. 

 

Bonus XP for dealing LESS damage in a capture or goods stolen. 

 

"Dock" at any shallows or set cove areas for repair/ bury chest(warehouse). Very limited size (one row) per cove/area.

 

Teleport with ship and no cargo to any cove with your booty stored on a lower cool down timer (1 - 2 Hr).

 

That's enough for this round.

Edited March 1, 2016 by KrakkenSmacken

[Aydz]

truth be told on mechanics, you cant ask the community.

 

Most people are biased, and considering how many people "hate" current pirate mechanics, they offer nothing but biased nonsense that only helps themselves fight pirates.

 

Using historical facts to support game mechanics is not only a terrible idea on the foundation that "true to fact" mechanics mean someone is going to be the loser and if you use mechanics that support the loser losing, nobody would play it.

 

Secondly, if you took people in this day and age, and transported them magically back into the age of sail where they could be pirates ARGH.... they wouldnt pirate in any manner that existing pirates were and did.  Why?  Because people wouldn't... why would they repeat history?  So many of these haters that say "PIRATES DIDNT DO THAT *snivvle snivvle" might be right for the pirate of their age, they would in fact be wrong when similar circumstances were applied to modern people.  Example - Pirates didnt have deep boat crafting.  Same circumstance with... lets say... me.... pirates would... because i would enslave the crew of my victims, find the crafters... and make them craft me boats.  I would do things very differently.  See what im getting at?  you want us to play like pirates... why?  cause thats what YOU want.  

 

While i am all in favor of changing mechanics of pirates... this would inevitably lead to QQ threads and "pirate mechanics are BS"  or "this wasn't EXACTLY how it was in history.... because one time in 1704 a merchant vessel named ... blah blah blah"

 

What i do support is this.

 

Boat crafting can be changed, but saying pirates cant have certain ships because they didnt at that time...is a null agrument, im not a pirate in the 1700's dont pigeon hole me.

 

Should pirates have fundamentally different, or altered, boats?  Yes if the pirate mechanics change... but a resounding NO if they dont.  Why...?  Because i wont tailor MY game to BRITISH players who dont like how pirates play the game.  Thats pretty damn selfish of players who dont play pirates to demand we play to your standards.

 

Should pirate boat acquisition be different?  Sure... as long as you give us the mechanics to allow us to do so.

 

Should pirates be able to fight british ship of the line boats in a 1 v 1?  Thats a big HELL YA.  Why?  Just because YOU want an advantage... doesnt mean i want you to have an advantage.  Historical "Facts" are relative... end of story.  And if this game demands that I have to FIGHT brits in 2nd rates, because i dont have an alternative... then dont demand that i have to fight a losing battle.

[Wilson09]

After having read so many posts, I come to the conclusion:

 

Replace the "nations" and name them green faction, black faction, red faction and so on....apart from the housing (coastline),

there is nothing special about any, so called "nation".

 

It is simply a fantasy game, let them colour their ships, give the clans a housing and branding/naming system and flags.

 

Bring in the Ingermanland/Russian 3rd rate and mix time periods and vessals from different nations altogether.

 

This game is so far from being called "historical naval war action" that any kind of discussion is obsolet.

 

People want lighthouses, stars and whaling and as long as it "rocks" the cannon fires awesomly, 90% of the player I talked to give a damn about

history and dont have a clue about what the pirate life was.....

 

Well, I guess the nations are there for marketing reasons.

Somehow, players have some sort of reason to fight for their ports.

 

That the Santissima can be craftet by everyone, do I need to say anymore?

 

This game has the potential to be a cash machine, because only of the battle mechanics.

 

And the DEVS would be will advised to keep it the way it is, penetrate the market, please Americans and Russian players,

bring in the US Const. and Ingermanland and skip the Danish ships (that must have been there in the region....).

 

As it is so far away from the real world, why should I put energy into suggestions for playing Pirates ?

 

In a massive m. online game, there can be NO historical-warfaring (a sceptical conclusion).

Sad, but might be true....

[Sea Nettle]

No. OP gimmicks. As if removing crafting and conquest is a big loss for such wonderful options to make oneself an overpowered super predator on the open sea.

[Captain Red]

Hm but none is born as a pirate, one must become one. Why not make everyone start in a nation and make pirates a pool people can join using the current system (to pillage and plunder to their heart's content) and then obtain an amnesty in two ways, either:

- pick a new faction by purchasing a very expensive letter of pardon from, let's say, a corrupt governor/official (to be paid in money and experience, for no national navy would accept a former pirate as admiral, so maybe not above captain rank)

- obtain a royal/national pardon from a faction that lacks players, which would be like becoming some kind of privateer, in this case the pardon is free and you keep your current rank.

 

This of course once pirates no longer function like a nation. Now I'm not sure there should be incentives to become a pirate, especially with the new pvp rewards. What do people want? Cash, experience, gifts/stuff/ego boosts okay that could be improved.

 

And this could be a good opportunity to try something else, and also to switch nations without having to lose all the stuff & cash. Hunting pirates was very time consuming and expensive in resources, so offering some kind of amnesty was still the easiest way to eradicate piracy.