State of the game 250 online at 10pm cst

[Sire Trinkof]

A euphemism for the amount of XP required to level up between ranks. I know it has been adjusted various times and my characterization as a "grind wall" is not meant as a criticism. I understand that relative to other MMOs, NA's progression is not necessarily excessively hard. On the flipside, many people want to get to the "cool" (i.e. bigger) ships sooner, and when they realize that it will take a lot of real world time and effort, they just give up.

I belive the new small ship rattlesnake is quite a good choice, because you can fully crew rather soon during the leveling, and actually look like a "cool" small frigate, very useful in PVP for chasing. I think people want to play frigates the sooner possible, because those ships are very polyvalents, able to sink anything below them and run from anything bigger.

The rattlesnake is I MO a very nice step toward frigates, and can give the feeling of it, much sooner in game.

[Lord Vicious]

All i know is all good players i lost in 3 months, never returned, if they where active (and 3 months is nothing for an mmo ) Sorry was able to field 75 ppl as average, considering 2 months ago with 55 ppl in clan i got 25-35 online and now for do the same (slightly more) i need 130+  

 

 

I not enjoy the new system, is stupid, tacticless,  i not care if is realistic,      all you can do is brawl,  the core of my clan not enjoy it, we are playng other games, and log less and less , while before we where all entusiast.

 

Nobody asked for change the gameplay to what is now, pvp was fine 2 patch ago.

 

 

 

All i now is us time now there is less then 250 ppl,and is not enought.    Balance means methodology,  you just go from 0 to 100 over and over and over, and only reverse when community rage.    And every time you do a thing like this we lose parts of the community,  like the ramming/leaks patch.

 

And yet you claim it was tested etc, TESTED BY WHO? i want the names becouse they must be really bad players for not understand how the leak patch was broken, how the ramming patch was broken, how the armor patch is broken, how the impossible demast is broken.

 

I develop games, and i never seen such level of slapdash attitude 

[Avid Indoorsman]

politics alliances and pirates will be addressed and they will improve conquest

but it will still be somewhat meaningless - unless gear treadmills are added to the game - for example you cannot sail victory until you get reputation level which you get if you capture 10 ports etc.. 

or you nation cannot own victories unless you own 20 ports.. 

But current design - you can sail anything without any limitations if you have money - contradicts with gear treadmills. 

 

Port battles port battles port battles. *sigh* 

[Benass]

When the game launched it was in much better shape.

 

Now it's pointless.

[Lytse Pier]

politics alliances and pirates will be addressed and they will improve conquest

but it will still be somewhat meaningless - unless gear treadmills are added to the game - for example you cannot sail victory until you get reputation level which you get if you capture 10 ports etc.. 

or you nation cannot own victories unless you own 20 ports.. 

But current design - you can sail anything without any limitations if you have money - contradicts with gear treadmills. 

 

Gear treadmills are great for people that need numbers to tell them they are progressing. This is rather opposite to the idea of building a sandbox where the players themselves will set their own goals. I think there are a lot of players that enjoy a Diablo II-esque  lootgrind to make themselves feel superior and can have a boasting spree on the internet they got the most awesome loot, but your statement does have me worried a bit towards the direction the game will be developed.

 

Sandbox, sanbox, sandbox! This should be the first and only mantra of the day for all your developers.

Edited May 28, 2016 by Lytse Pier

[Almirante Jimi]

We want motor boats for aprils fools

[buttski]

somehow it seems that muricans still haven't understood that there are timezones...

Edited May 28, 2016 by buttski

[Kronans]

All i know is all good players i lost in 3 months, never returned, if they where active (and 3 months is nothing for an mmo ) Sorry was able to field 75 ppl as average, considering 2 months ago with 55 ppl in clan i got 25-35 online and now for do the same (slightly more) i need 130+  

 

 

I not enjoy the new system, is stupid, tacticless,  i not care if is realistic,      all you can do is brawl,  the core of my clan not enjoy it, we are playng other games, and log less and less , while before we where all entusiast.

 

Nobody asked for change the gameplay to what is now, pvp was fine 2 patch ago.

 

 

 

All i now is us time now there is less then 250 ppl,and is not enought.    Balance means methodology,  you just go from 0 to 100 over and over and over, and only reverse when community rage.    And every time you do a thing like this we lose parts of the community,  like the ramming/leaks patch.

 

And yet you claim it was tested etc, TESTED BY WHO? i want the names becouse they must be really bad players for not understand how the leak patch was broken, how the ramming patch was broken, how the armor patch is broken, how the impossible demast is broken.

 

I develop games, and i never seen such level of slapdash attitude 

I was believe when thay say tested it is tested by the testers in the game like you are or it says under you name. damn

[Paint]

All i know is all good players i lost in 3 months, never returned, if they where active (and 3 months is nothing for an mmo ) Sorry was able to field 75 ppl as average, considering 2 months ago with 55 ppl in clan i got 25-35 online and now for do the same (slightly more) i need 130+  

 

Well, People lose interested in something when its no challenge anymore.. *Cough* American Ports *Cough*.

 

 

the core of my clan not enjoy it, we are playng other games, and log less and less , 

 

Please Admins, Dont change anything. Then my dream will come true.

[Ted Nougat]

It's a holiday weekend in the US. The traditional "start of summer". Lots of people are outside doing things.

[Hethwill]

It's a holiday weekend in the US. The traditional "start of summer". Lots of people are outside doing things.

 

Not only on the US, kind of. Was a silly long winter.

[Jean Ribault]

I think this game has a future.  It's a nice break from the real world, and a way to experience a little of the past world.

 

I have 3 kids.  If I compare NA to having kids, then this game is awesome....

 

- I can't beat on my kids when they're bad, but in NA I can pound a warship, kill the crew, then sink the ship.

- If I give my crew extra grog rations in NA I can take over a ship better.  If I give my kids extra ice cream they just throw up on the carpet.

- If I sail my LGV full of compass wood in NA to a consuming port I can receive 2.8 millions.  If I drop my vanload of kids off at school, it just makes me late for work.

- If I earn enough XP in NA I am rewarded with the next level of leadership.  Stay up late with the sick kids for 3 days and where's the thanks?

- Money or coin that I earn in NA I can hoard, spend, or invest in my clan.  Money earned outside of NA goes pretty much to the kids.

 

So, basically, I play NA for the children.

[Captain]

Maybe after 1 more patch they will increase the gun penetration and we will be back to where we were 3 weeks ago, when they had the combat really good and polished.

 

Why a three-week vacation from the combat being fun was necessary is a mystery. "Change for the sake of change?" who knows.

 

A hazard of the 'early access' thing is that confidence in the developers really matters a lot, and just fixing bad decisions isn't always enough, if implementing it in the first place was enough to make people lose confidence. "If they thought this was a good idea, if they tested this and liked it, or if they just lied about testing it, I don't trust them anymore." Is a real danger.

 

Early access is about selling you the promise that they will make a game worth your money in the future. With so many terrible early access failures littering the landscape of the market, its hard to forget that early access also means "we've already got your money." It's why confidence and trust matter so much. 

 

I hope they do comprehensively fix the mistakes from '9.8' and that people are willing to give the game another chance. 

[Jean Ribault]

https://gyazo.com/2052be48250668a2d9a7b87aad5565cb

 

look at that ther you have players / day in a diagram 3 months back to today.

 

 

What's your source?

 

What is the Y-axis?  ---> Average players per day?  Peak players per day?  Snapshot at particular time?  What is the timezone of the plot or data if this is a snapshot, that's important?

 

I would've thought the dips in players online would occur during the weekends.  But those are the spikes, and the regular dips are midweek.  The takeaway for me is that people are pulled from the game during the week work, and they are choosing to play during the weekends when most people could choose to do something else.  Your takeaway, based on the text of your post, is obviously the declining trendline.  Both deductions have merit.  But it is a disturbing trendline.

 

I still think the game is very enoyable, playable, marketable.  Work in progress too.

[Hyperion74]

I play PvE so low pop is the norm. I don't know if the present low pop on PvP is the death knell for this game or not. I hope that it is not. In my own experience, I have not been sailing as much as usual. I have not felt like it. Simple as that. I sailed for several hours yesterday and had fun. Probably sail today too. The main changes I like in 9.8 is the no cool down teleport. I can see what is going on in my other outposts of see what ships are on the market. Makes things easier. Eases the boredom. If I get sick of capping traders, I can go somewhere to fight war ships. I don't see this as a problem. I missed something about motor boats.Perhaps I read wrong but I do not like this talk. I can play AC3 for motor boat sailing. If it happens here I will be pissed. I play this game for the ships and AOS fights are slow. That's the way it needs to stay. When RvR gets better, and I'm sure it will, I will play on a PvP server. POTBS was fun in that aspect. Perhaps that should be a focus for the devs. Those of us who love sails need to stick it out. Apologies for not offering any wisdom or good suggestions.

I love this game and ain't gonna give up on it, unless they get motor boats. I always try to put something funny in a post but I am not feeling it today. For those of you on the PvP side, the player base is a big reason for people staying of leaving. I read the forums a lot and the receint stupidness posts about destroying the U.S. council are dis-heartening. If that is how PvP is then is it any surprise that people are not sailing in droves. I know that I don't want that sort of bull shit. I live in cattle country. The smell of bovine plop can be pleasant until  the pile gets too big and it starts to rot. The only way not retch is to go elsewhere or muck it up and take it away.  

[Hethwill]

9.8 and follow ups are good for the game and sense of scale of naval combat in the 18th century. Keep on track devs.

[Lord Vicious]

I was believe when thay say tested it is tested by the testers in the game like you are or it says under you name. damn

No no it was claim, it was tested internally, probably by mods? before release it in the main test server..

[DazednConfused]

Yeah testers got access to OW when it first came out before everybody else but for the most part were a closed forum group for when Admin needs feedback without RVR drama. Its usually mods who test things  - go to mod list for their numbers

[Captain]

Yeah testers got access to OW when it first came out before everybody else but for the most part were a closed forum group for when Admin needs feedback without RVR drama. Its usually mods who test things  - go to mod list for their numbers

 

I think the point is, if someone tested the 9.8 invul ships invul masts no grape thing and thought "this is great!" they need to find new testers. 

 

There might be a few people who like battles that never end, or only end in boarding, but that's a minority and the rest don't like it. 

[Fastidius]

we thought we fixed it

i actually think you broke it...

 

you added crew mechanics which allowed undercrewing to be alot easier,  you added fleet missions making xp far easier to get not to mention the gold and you changed PBs to 4ths meaning that the grind to be majorly involved in port battles was significantly shortened.    You also shortend the XP required which made the game too short.  Ee had a guy go from noob to RA inside a month.

 

the reality is you have 1 carrot ...the xp grind...thats sorta fun.  once your RA you sorta have to chase port battles which are mostly undefended so basically people just go, screw it ill play something else.

 

adding explorer, crafting that isnt RNG based & trading etc might add more carrots as well as adding some form of fame system but I fear that alot of the "keen" players might not come back until release.

[vonKollenberg]

5 of my friends outright dropped the game when AI ship capping went away.

This game isn't serious business and one of the fun points of it (for them) was just removed without a second look - so they won't give NA a second look.

 

 

[Balsafer]

5 of my friends outright dropped the game when AI ship capping went away.

This game isn't serious business and one of the fun points of it (for them) was just removed without a second look - so they won't give NA a second look.

 

It was removed for good reason, there was no point to craft when you and a few friends in frigates can chain board a 3rd or bellona, then do the same for a 1st rate.

[vonKollenberg]

It was removed for good reason, there was no point to craft when you and a few friends in frigates can chain board a 3rd or bellona, then do the same for a 1st rate.

A good reason for you maybe but not for me and not for the people who I played with.

And we didn't even want it to be as it was: easy. 

We wanted(hoped for) devs to improve AI, improve risk/reward. Not remove playability.

 

enjoy your box.

[LeBoiteux]

5 of my friends outright dropped the game when AI ship capping went away.

This game isn't serious business and one of the fun points of it (for them) was just removed without a second look - so they won't give NA a second look.

 

Tell them being unable to capture a bot might not be definitive :

4. NPC ship capture. 

ship capture we are not sure, but we know that many crafters are happy now, despite the fact that all ships up to constitution are now available in NPC stores.

 

 

Leaving the game because one single (secondary) feature isn't available ? Really ?

Currently, the threat of quitting NA if devs don't do what a poster wants or explaining what they call low pop on servers because of one's centers of interest have become a norm in each post. Not very constructive.

 

Current built of NA (including DM 5, no cooldown TP...) is great, even if I'd like to have bot capture someday

(at least a few periodically available for capture not to bother crafters).

[Paint]

I think the point is, if someone tested the 9.8 invul ships invul masts no grape thing and thought "this is great!" they need to find new testers. 

 

There might be a few people who like battles that never end, or only end in boarding, but that's a minority and the rest don't like it. 

Man you really need to start using your brain. Cause from what i read from you you only complain, I highlighted the part that is implemented in every second post from you. and that is just Bullshit. You can easily kill masts and ships, yesterday in port battle we had no problem killing every enemy ship but 6 or so who escaped, in the space of 30 minutes. And just because your 10 kilometer demast tactics doesnt work anymore doesnt mean they are invulnerable.