Development priorities 2

[LeBoiteux]

What happened to exploration

It is strange indeed that Exploration, a feature that came in third in the previous Dev priorities poll (voted on by 17% of the voters while the winning feature got no more than 22%) hasn't been seen as a priority and is now buried beneath features that have little chances to be chosen by players atm (Resource distribution and crafting), being in addition separated from Delivery missions and PvE features.

But war and peace mechanisms seem to be the priority for the moment...

Too bad.

[Anne Wildcat]

Although arranged pvp would be cool, I voted for what IMO is needed most, open pve. Adding epic battles, larger trade ships, more missions (including hopefully exploration missions) would maybe keep more of the player base since there seems to be a lot of complaints about grinding & lack of different things to do.

I think adding war & peace mechanics and national alliances is going to get more people dissatisfied with their nation and end up turning pirate.

[TDS Rus]

Find a topic where you can cry about Pirates  

Edited March 25, 2016 by TDS Rus

[Sorvesteon]

I would really like the devs to work on the "new player experience" ASAP, like:

- protection of newbies from ganking in OW and in missions

- in-game mechanic, UI and combat tutorials to help get newbies started and acquainted with at least the basics of the game

- more tool tips and feedback messages for UI elements and mechanics that don't have them already to give newbies more feedback on actions they try to take in the game, specifically saying WHY they can't do some action or what they are missing 

 

Also, please add:

- a story line mission series for each nation (except pirates)  

Edited March 25, 2016 by Sorvesteon

[TDS Rus]

Time you whine about Pirates. Enter then was as actually. On the pirate ship may lie flags of all Nations and clicking on the character shows that he's a pirate. And let's say currently sailing under British flag. During the attack the character is hanging the pirate flag. It was in history. If you introduce such mechanics of the game for the pirates, again whining will be)) is robbed, flooded... or maybe all at once to introduce a button "kill all Nations "?

Edited March 25, 2016 by TDS Rus

[Lord Roberts]

I WANT THEM ALL  

[Aposky]

 

Definitely these 2

 

-Overhaul of War & Peace mechanics and national relations, pirate role and national alliances

 

-Open world PVE: epic events, more variety of fleets, more missions (incl delivery missions) 

 

Here is why:

 

Open World PVE - Over time game becomes extremely boring for PVE people. Constant fleet grinding and lack of variety and fun. Because of this, Players leave or take break until more content will be available. This in my opinion must be N1 priority. Otherwise player numbers will be decreasing with every day if there is nothing to do.

 

-Add more content, missions, treasure hunts, epic missions and loot and you should be good in that field for quite a bit. 

 

Overhaul of War & Peace - This would be my second important choice that needs fixing. Creating clear and fun conquest system will introduce more players to fighting and defending ports. In general it will result in better cooperation and pvp. Don't forget about reward system. Make sure players get something in the end.

 

-Add War Map with contention zones. Show players where is the action. Introduce points system with rewards and monthly leader boards with stats. Just by adding these simple tools you will boost player base and hours spent in game. 

 

Good luck.

 

 

Fully agree on that. Most of friends of mine stopped playing due lack of content and uncertain future of content development for Naval Action. I'm glad that I made to high enough level to join Port Battles and PvP, but people who are still stuck in brigs easily get bored and leave the game to play something else. On average after 20 hours of gameplay player don't find anything new to do except mission grind.

 

For PvE update I'd like to see:

- scalable group missions, the more friends you bring the more enemies there will be and higher reward all the contestents get

- other missions and go to 'A' and sink enemies

 

edit:

To support my posts about players dropping numbers, here are some graphs:

https://steamdb.info/app/311310/graphs/

 

It went from 5.2k to 2.6k and it's going down. 

 

There is also other issue with availability of NA game in other places than Steam. I'm certain that NA would find more customers if game would be available at more markets, in more regions at fair price. That's something that publisher should look at.

Edited March 25, 2016 by Aposky

[CptEdwardKenway]

Overhaul of War & Peace mechanics and national relations, pirate role and national alliances should be the next.

 

At the moment you can't even do normal missions and it's just exhausting and stressful at the moment. Many people have the same view. I would like to see the main issue fixed before we can talk about PvE events, crafting, crew hire etc.

[CptEdwardKenway]

 

Definitely these 2

 

-Overhaul of War & Peace mechanics and national relations, pirate role and national alliances

 

-Open world PVE: epic events, more variety of fleets, more missions (incl delivery missions) 

 

Here is why:

 

Open World PVE - Over time game becomes extremely boring for PVE people. Constant fleet grinding and lack of variety and fun. Because of this, Players leave or take break until more content will be available. This in my opinion must be N1 priority. Otherwise player numbers will be decreasing with every day if there is nothing to do.

 

-Add more content, missions, treasure hunts, epic missions and loot and you should be good in that field for quite a bit. 

 

Overhaul of War & Peace - This would be my second important choice that needs fixing. Creating clear and fun conquest system will introduce more players to fighting and defending ports. In general it will result in better cooperation and pvp. Don't forget about reward system. Make sure players get something in the end.

 

-Add War Map with contention zones. Show players where is the action. Introduce points system with rewards and monthly leader boards with stats. Just by adding these simple tools you will boost player base and hours spent in game. 

 

Good luck.

 

I would agree with the most. But to be honest I think if we put stats and leaderboards into this game would affect many negative aspects. You will start to rate players/nations by their stats. This would end like in many other games where players are making fun of others and start to troll. This would cause many reports and many personal wars and insults. I would like to have this game without any stats and leaderboards.

Edited March 25, 2016 by CptEdwardKenway

[Cpt Farragut]

I'd like to see the pirate role changed, and I play pirate. I wouldn't mind being restricted to free towns, and have to eek out a living but have the freedom to be anywhere. Pirate outposts could be less expensive to counteract the lack of ports and pirate raids could take the place of capturing ports.

You will alienate a large playerbase without the ability/need to use end game SOLs.  Especially if the only reason they can't is because they can't afford them.

[Pontolemaeus]

too hard to choose just one.... 

 

But, really are we needing a ladder board ?? I don't think !!! Adding some duel option and/or friendly battle ok, but a ladder board for roxors no thank's we need more cohésion and coopérative play no stupid compétition between same nation captains.

 

 

I couldnt agree more with this sentiment. The factions need to be brought together not paced against each other.

 

 Though maybe a Pirate bounty system to work in. Could be done with the Diplomacy and Pirate rework. As a pirate or (Privateer) you have a Notoriety rating based on what you do as a pirate. Taking ships, Sinking ships. harassing ports as you do things in game players and factions you attack will place bounties on you. (Factions could do it at a set rate that is small so it wont change much unless you really harass a nation) If you harass a clan every day they can decide to bounty you. Someone kills you they get the bounty. I think it would be rather realistic and provide a nice independent "ranking" system for pirates. How good of a Pirate are you? well how high can you get your bounty without getting attacked? Do you decide to fleet up with other Pirates? or do you have a large bounty from Great Britain so you need to fleet up with the French to stay alive? This would work with the Diplomacy changes. Pirates should be a Neutral/Mercenary faction IMO. They should be flexible but I find it hard to think that they should work like just another Faction. 

[Pontolemaeus]

"Overhaul of War & Peace mechanics and national relations, pirate role and national alliances"   +1

 

It's odd to me.  I found this on Steam the day of EA release.  Everything I read about it stated it was a PvP game.  I jumped right in.

 

I don't mind having NPC ships out there in the OW unless we suddenly have 1000s of other players actually populating the seas.  I don't really mind the missions although I haven't done one in quite some time myself but I certainly used them to get the hang of things early on.  I don't think the AI fleet cutter/lynx for the first little bit is that bad of a thing - if nothing else it teaches you how to maneuver in battle with other friendly ships.

 

It is odd to me to see so many PvE only folks in this game.  It's a PvP/RvR game.  That's what it was advertised as.  That's what it is at heart.  There's an oh so true old saying that starts, "A fool and his money..."  If you spent money on a PvP game that was clearly advertised as such and expected PvE then that's your own fault.  Reality bites?  

 

I'm gonna get ranted at over this but whatever.  Add more PvE content to the OW and guess what you'll get?  More people crying about getting PvP'd while they were trying to PvE.

 

Speaking of rants...   /rant

 

 

 

Have to agree with this, This game is a PVP based game. I am here to fight other players not large AI fleets. If they continue to focus on the Care Bear side of the game I am going to be vrey upset

[Slamz]

You do realize that the "map painting", as you call it, is all about gaining the resources you talk about...  right?   You can economically strangle a nation by taking away their ports, especially ones with critical resources like hemp and coal.  That being said, I think that port conquering should be much, much harder.  Hopefully the introduction of various forts and national improvements will solve that.

 

I wish that was true, but it's really not unless you're talking about something like Dane vs Swede -- two teams with < 8 ports each. In that case, one team taking a hemp port might be important to them and harmful to their enemy.

 

But typical U.S. vs Britain, where each team owns over 90 ports, the "map painting" is mostly just worthless. Neither team needs those ports. Nobody goes there. They are useless except perhaps as future flag-grab locations (for obtaining even more useless ports).

 

 

Not real sure how to fix that but right now there's little reason to care about any ports beyond the first dozen or so, and this will become more true as NPC resource production gets replaced by player resource production.

[DragonfireActual]

"Overhaul of War & Peace mechanics and national relations, pirate role and national alliances".

 

I'm seeing a boat load of red flags here. It reeks of EVE like a hooker reeks of cheap perfume and truck stop rest room odor.Tell me the idea of the peace/war mechanic  isn't an EVE style war declaration system. Please tell me you guys aren't thinking anything similar to the restrictive and cumbersome system EVE has. If you want to give a bunch of narcissists an ego stroke by all means give them their leader boards and turf wars but if you want this game to succeed please don't follow EVE down the road of good intentions because you won't like the gates it leads to.

You will get no shortage of alliance leader types urging you to do this. Sure staged warfare is ideal for them but what of the legit solo guy? Will I and those like me be Forced to go alliance to stay legit or go pirate if it even remains viable? Yes yes letters of marque. I can agree with the use of them from a historical standpoint,it separates legit prize takers from pirates. Will the targets have advance warning though? If being fair is the plan then the plan leads to known failure as it failed in EVE,an almost unused mechanic and when used largely bypassed by the targets with alternate characters/accounts. In EVE the only players who do any real fighting are attacking or defending turf. Piracy/Privateering in EVE has devolved into ganking freighters driven about by largely incompetent players who had they taken just one extra simple step wouldn't have fallen victim in the first place and the gankers usually get little other than New Caldari street cred # thuglyfe fo eva.

 

The Devs need to strive to preserve at all costs the solo/squadron level player base,when the narcissists have risen to and fallen from glory,when the economists have drawn the lines and the map has become stable(even if short term) as it did in EVE,people will seek out ways to entertain themselves in ways other than AI targets.If you ruin or trash solo/squadron level PvP the alliances and the game will hemorrhage players.

 

Yes I'm worried about the vague words used by the Devs,maybe I've jumped off the deep end but I know a few other former EVE players who're calling this game out as the next EVE copycat already in the fast lane to doom. I'm hoping their predictions are not just way off but absolutely wrong. 

[Bart Smith]

Voted for number two. Simple because this need be done first - pirates role (nerf as a nation) and a clear alliance system.

[gyps]

Voted PVE option

we could learn a lot from the old sid Meyers pirates, they had some nice ideas in that - which if updated and taken forwards would make the game so much better

 

[Wilson09]

Honestly, I did play Sid Meyer´s Pirates in another window whilst sailing from A to B to place orders

and pick up goods. It is fun...

[James Shaw]

You will alienate a large playerbase without the ability/need to use end game SOLs.  Especially if the only reason they can't is because they can't afford them.

 

From what I understand, many people enjoy playing as pirates, so many in fact that it is becoming unbalanced. It is hard for me to imagine a player base who wants to play in SOLs being alienated when there are so many other nations to choose from. I am not against pirates in SOLs. I don't think it would be too difficult for pirates to obtain SOLs. I just don't think it should be practical, except in the case of raiding. Also the more ports a nation has the better the booty, to discourage picking on small nations.

 

Voted for number two. Simple because this need be done first - pirates role (nerf as a nation) and a clear alliance system.

 

I agree with this mostly, but saying "nerf" just has a bad ring to it. No matter what course the Devs take, I hope pirates evolve into more of a high risk, high reward system that can keep larger nations looking over their shoulders, and smaller nations have room to grow instead of just disappearing from the map.

[Justme]

Honestly, I did play Sid Meyer´s Pirates in another window whilst sailing from A to B to place orders

and pick up goods. It is fun...

Sid Meier's is a true classic of the genre, been playing it for over 20 years.

[Sorvesteon]

"Overhaul of War & Peace mechanics and national relations, pirate role and national alliances".

 

I'm seeing a boat load of red flags here. It reeks of EVE like a hooker reeks of cheap perfume and truck stop rest room odor.Tell me the idea of the peace/war mechanic  isn't an EVE style war declaration system. Please tell me you guys aren't thinking anything similar to the restrictive and cumbersome system EVE has. If you want to give a bunch of narcissists an ego stroke by all means give them their leader boards and turf wars but if you want this game to succeed please don't follow EVE down the road of good intentions because you won't like the gates it leads to.

You will get no shortage of alliance leader types urging you to do this. Sure staged warfare is ideal for them but what of the legit solo guy? Will I and those like me be Forced to go alliance to stay legit or go pirate if it even remains viable? Yes yes letters of marque. I can agree with the use of them from a historical standpoint,it separates legit prize takers from pirates. Will the targets have advance warning though? If being fair is the plan then the plan leads to known failure as it failed in EVE,an almost unused mechanic and when used largely bypassed by the targets with alternate characters/accounts. In EVE the only players who do any real fighting are attacking or defending turf. Piracy/Privateering in EVE has devolved into ganking freighters driven about by largely incompetent players who had they taken just one extra simple step wouldn't have fallen victim in the first place and the gankers usually get little other than New Caldari street cred # thuglyfe fo eva.

 

The Devs need to strive to preserve at all costs the solo/squadron level player base,when the narcissists have risen to and fallen from glory,when the economists have drawn the lines and the map has become stable(even if short term) as it did in EVE,people will seek out ways to entertain themselves in ways other than AI targets.If you ruin or trash solo/squadron level PvP the alliances and the game will hemorrhage players.

 

Yes I'm worried about the vague words used by the Devs,maybe I've jumped off the deep end but I know a few other former EVE players who're calling this game out as the next EVE copycat already in the fast lane to doom. I'm hoping their predictions are not just way off but absolutely wrong. 

I'm actually worried about this becoming EVE Online with sailing ships. I really like this game, but if it follows EVE I think I'll just move on to another game, because EVE has serious problems and because of that serious problems attracting new players.

[SirYogos]

Voted for PVE, because currently this is most time in game you spend. Events in Open Map, driven by  PVE  will be also PVP triger. 

[sacapus]

Hard to vote on only one...

 

I'l vote for extended content on OW to fill these long, long, long travel times.

Unfortunately, No mention of Exploration, Unique Modules Find, Bounty, Sea Life, Storm Mechanics, Wind Mechanics & Treasure Hunt in the voting category.

 

I do understand that priority is on PvP since it's the core of the game but please, don't forget your PvE players. Politics and Pirate mechanics would do nothing for them.

 

The last update was for both, PvP (Crew Management) and PvE (Buildings).

 

What's your expected ETA for the battle map ?  Looking forward for this !

[Justme]

Happy to see the leaderboards crap is not doing well.

[jodgi]

Happy to see the leaderboards crap is not doing well.

Lol, we didn't vote for leaderboards. PVP, man... PVP.

We'll just have to wait for "winning the war", PVE and "more content" zombies to get more shinies to get bored from before it's our turn.

In the meantime y'all can sit there and wonder why so many players go rat.

[LeBoiteux]

Lol, we didn't vote for leaderboards. PVP, man... PVP.

We'll just have to wait for "winning the war", PVE and "more content" zombies to get more shinies to get bored from before it's our turn.

In the meantime y'all can sit there and wonder why so many players go rat.

 

Tbh, war and peace mechanics is a PvP feature, maybe not the kind of fair PvP you like (1v1...), jodgi, but PvP anyway.

RvR mechanics (option 2 of this poll) and Arranged PvP (option 4) are simply the two main (and only ?) ways to organize PvP fights.