Crew management update - discussion

[ulysse77]

I like the change.. But i think it would need to be tie to a proper surrender mechsnic, escpecially for AI... Will be a big time drain... 30 min per fight, and another 10 min to sail to port... If AI surrender more quickly instead of fight to death, it will be more bearable...

In pvp i think it's great addtition, add another strategic layer...

[Diodo]

Will it be possible to treat marines with the same mechanics? Being them even more expensive than standard sailors, and perhaps a rarer resource available only in regional capitals.

[Ned Loe]

I like PVP but am a noob. I'd rather try in a store bought junky surprise than a yacht. Because there are so many better players out there, as they have more time and experience with PVP, this suggestion seems like I will be back to my yacht whereas right now I'm starting to get used to bigger ships. As a noob, I feel this will deter players like me who are trying to learn.

Never be afraid to learn and expand. 

[William Livingston Alden]

puh, another idea not thought to the end. that makes the game more and more unplayable.

realy, why don't you fix all the open Problems first and not bring in always another enhancement to the game with more Problems that needs then to be fixed on a Trial and error way.

Edited June 2, 2016 by William Livingston Alden

[Ned Loe]

puh, another idea not thought to the end. that makes the game more and more unplayable.

realy, why don't you fix all the open Problems first and not bring in always another enhancement to the game with more Problems that needs then to be fixed on a Trial and error way.

This is new future content that will be tested thoroughly. List of Fixes is on another page Sir. 

[HarryButpain]

This is new future content that will be tested thoroughly. List of Fixes is on another page Sir. 

 

See?!!! Now you release too much new content and DO NOT test what we alrdy got implemented !!!!!!

 

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! xD

Edited June 2, 2016 by BACk ALLEY ShENANiGANS

[Ned Loe]

See?!!! Now you release too much new content and DO NOT test what we alrdy got implemented !!!!!!

Are servers down? Mine screen shows over 800 testers online. Please stay on topic.

[Bach]

I'm all for testing this new crew idea. It will be very hardcore. Which is not necessarily a bad thing as it will or should create battle front and theaters over random pvp.

That said, here are a few things I would suggest right off.

No ship teleports should increase ship building and Econ. Why? Players will need to pre stage specific ship designs at their out posts. Players can still teleport. It's just the ships that don't. Outpost coordination will become more important to battle fronts. Might need to consider making outposts cheaper to acquire and easier to pop up and break down. The game battle fronts will become more dependent on players having outposts on the battle fronts. This is a good thing. But if players have x3 outposts producing Econ and one at the capital. Then the remaining ones needed for RvR/PVP are very expensive to newer players.

Sequential ship losses will become more devastating with the requirements of near full crew replacements. This will promote players to avoid taking risks. That is bad for pvp. Further, a nation getting pushed down to one or two ports would have even less insentive to defend ports in what would likely be losing battles. I would recommend that crew lost during port battle defenses be replaced by the admiralty at no cost. This would promote defensive play to challenge an attacker even if the risk of loss was high.

Crew costs per sailor should be weighted by the total number of ports a nation owns. Making it more expensive to Zerg and cheaper for a victim nation to fight back.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Bach

[Kaos]

In that case i think Morale needs to play a bigger role in Boarding. 

 

Usually most crew is dead before morale is down to 0% ^^ 

• Increased morale loss when your crew dies during ship combat
• Increased morale loss after mast falls
• Add some epic officer that lowers enemy morale in boarding when he swings his sword  (someone can now go and add it to officer proposal topic!)

[Paint]

Maybe a bit hardcore cause refilling crew will need money (so more grinding and time) and not being able to send the captured ships to outposts will decrease pvp in the long term.

 

Maybe a good way to decrease the negative effects after a battle is having between the officers a doctor so you can recover some of the crew lost.

We definitely need more money sinks.

And there are already plans for such a doctor, as a officer will iirc refill crew in battle (x per minute).

Edited June 2, 2016 by Paint

[Anolytic]

I see several potential pitfalls, but I am excited to test this system in game.

[William the Drake]

Perhaps pirates should have the option to recruit a portion of crew from captured vessels (mirroring how pirates were able recruit and/or force sailors on to their crews), with the trade off being that pirates have a harder time recruiting in ports: wasn't exactly possible for pirates to be open about them being pirates in most free towns, especially while recruiting.

[Jack Frost]

It might not be realistic but I do really like being able to teleport my ships, as it is now.

Because of this there is ALLOT less downtime for me, more time to PVP.

 

For me PVP is the best part about this game, introducing mechanics like these could possibly make the game more tedious, increase downtime and be therefore (for me) less fun.

 

Then again, i'm willing to give it a try and see how it works out

[ulysse77]

I will like the option to send the capture ship to a port, without me sailing it, with a prize crew. Once you get back to port, you would recuperate your crew.

[Stilgar]

Sounds good. A couple of questions though:

(1) How the crew-related bonuses will work? Crew space will give the space for more crew to hire, I suppose, but would extra hammocks provide with additional free crew?

(2) Will the in-battle losses translate in 1 to 1 losses. I mean lost in battle could mean killed or injured.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Stilgar

[admin]

Sounds good. A couple of questions though:

(1) How the crew-related bonuses will work? Crew space will give the space for more crew to hire, I suppose, but would extra hammocks provide with additional free crew?

(2) Will the in-battle losses translate in 1 to 1 losses. I mean lost in battle could mean killed or injured.

 

 

some will be abandoned some will be reworked

battle losses should result in kills/casualties. casualties could recover after battle automatically

 

[LeBoiteux]

In general, players' ships automatically sailed by AI in OW from capture location to outpost or from one outpost to another could be interesting.

It could great meaningful PvE and free up time for PvPers.

[admin]

Will it be possible to treat marines with the same mechanics? Being them even more expensive than standard sailors, and perhaps a rarer resource available only in regional capitals.

 

 

as we said before current marines implementation is temporary

if this proposed crew implementation passes with the users marines will be additional crew for hire which WILL be more expensive.

[admin]

In general, players' ships automatically sailed by AI in OW from capture location to outpost or from one outpost to another could be interesting.

It could great meaningful PvE and free up time for PvPers.

 

It's impossible due to the number of players - because they will never arrive then.

Bots sail slower, under crewed bots will be easy targets. No point to even do this because it will be a fake feature. 

We believe that captured ships should be brought back to port by the player. Even Sid Meier's Pirates had this. 

 

 

Regarding less PvP comments:

if done right we believe that there will be more PvP because of increased traffic bringing valuable ships back home. 

[Pada]

I can live without ship teleport, but don't let us sail back to port after every single battle, this will eat up so much time which results in less PvP = less fun.

And please no fleets, i do not want any AI in a PVP battle.

[OTMatt]

Could you allow transfer of crew between ships at sea? Then maybe traders like LGV and Indiaman can be used to provide extra crew and provisions.

[LeBoiteux]

We believe that captured ships should be brought back to port by the player. Even Sid Meier's Pirates had this. 

 

if done right we believe that there will be more PvP because of increased traffic bringing valuable ships back home. 

 

+1.

[Jomppeli]

Sounds very good, can't wait to test it! Do you have any estimated time when this happens?

Edited June 2, 2016 by Jomppeli

[admin]

Could you allow transfer of crew between ships at sea? Then maybe traders like LGV and Indiaman can be used to provide extra crew and provisions.

 

 

provisions should be added to crafting 

the reasoning is simple - ships were well supplied for 4-6 months of travel. In game time it means that you most likely have lost your ship by then. 

[mirror452]

Will crew cost be just paid once when hiring them, or do you plan to have an upkeep cost? In my opinion the "pay once"-option makes more sense gameplay-wise, but I could definitely imagine having to pay some sort of upkeep on Marines (but this upkeep would have to be tied to the online activity).