Time to Combat - Blockading Spawns

[angriff]

The time to combat in this game can be atrocious.   I know, you say move closer but even if you do move closer using freeports you don't actually allow for true naval tactics.   You hear about something you spawn and run to the area sometimes catching traffic moving an sometimes not.   The time spent is extremely boring and has little tactical effect on the gameplay of a nation.  Naval fleets very often moved from anchorage to anchorage in order be in a position to oppose an enemy fleets.  The current mechanics allow players to "hide" in their friendly port and do the wack-a-mole trick to see if it is clear.  

 

Just yesterday the British on PVP-2 managed to corner the combined Danish fleet in Higuey.  This feet alone was monumental as it allowed a combined British, Dutch, French and Swedish fleet to move to oppose the Danish that suddenly felt the need to do this wack-a-mole trick hiding in the port.  Going out and tagging one player and hoping the entire fleet would jump in and the rest of the Danes could enter if there were not many in the fight or race away to escape the blockade.  The gameplay is a sharp indicator of how the game would be with coalition fleets.  

 

This action is very much like happened in real.  However, there is one really fundamental issue.  The Danes could pop in and out and if they wanted to log off and wait for the actual players to become bored with a slow unforgiving timewise game then leave free of harassment.  This should not be the case with so much effort put together by such players.  As in real the blockading fleet should be allowed to stay and the entire Danish fleet should have been made to fight itself out or have a relieving force fight through the blockade.

 

So as in many games there needs to be forward spawning mechanism.  This allows players to set a spawn point for their fleet that is not at the Free Port or Friendly Port but right at the location in ocean.  The player can leave his ship there, log off then return just like any current leave game routine but with a big twist.  This is a forward spawn which is meant/set to be blockading a port.  The ships left there become semi-permanently there.  That is you can respawn at that location as if your logged off.  The difference is your ship is left in a AI blockading fleet

 

The blockading spawn and it’s associated blockading fleet is made up of NPC ships of a similar type as those left by players.  The blockaded player fleet now has to move through a zone of control for the blockading fleet and fight NPC ships to leave.  If the players spawn in during this attempt they can spawn into the fleet battle if it is active.  They cannot spawn outside of the battle causing a stacking of attack, so it should not be allowed.

 

If you pull your ship back or sail it out from the blockade then the NPC level is reduced.  Enemy ships must fight into or out of a port to move.

 

fleet blockading

 

 

 

[Hethwill]

It is a game yes, but...

 

Now imagine the hell it was for the French fleet, privateers, traders and other vessels  at L'Orient and Brest being blockaded all the time by the RN...

[angriff]

It is a game yes, but...

 

Now imagine the hell it was for the French fleet, privateers, traders and other vessels  at L'Orient and Brest being blockaded all the time by the RN...

It would be realistic for warships and this does not stop you using your capital that is protected.   The forward spawn can be used for any port whether players are in the port or not.  If you want to free the port you field a fleet that attacks the blockade and relieves the port.  This is not something that you might not want 10000000 blockading fleets..  But the ability to spawn close to a fighting area offers great advantages to players. 

Edited August 14, 2016 by angriff

[Hethwill]

If I get your idea right,  more AI to replace players when they are not around ( using personal fleets ) ?...

 

I may be misunderstanding it.

[angriff]

It is a way to not have to travel 4 hours each time and letting the blockaded port go free.  There are two concepts to build upon.  Leaving your AI fleet is a variation.

 

The first idea was to allow an AI fleets comparable to the despawned fleet.   Yet you cannot just go spawn another ship and do something else.  But you could go do some maintenance on your ports or craft.  If you push Sail you move back to the forward spawn point at the port and spawn.

 

Players who fight through the AI Blockade and "Run the Blockade" can exit the battle outside the port and continue on their way.  That is they move out of the port and are automatically pulled into the fleet battle.  Only ships that were left blockading are there.   They can sink them all and the player leaving the ship could lose a durability.   But if they manage to enter the fight and then skip away and exit the fight they spawn outside in the open world.   

[Skully]

So you leave your ship stationary in the hands of an AI captain, which auto-tags enemy ships sailing past... who thinks this is a bad idea?

[Skully]

On blockading itself, it is the most utterly boring duty you can have. So don't do it.

Players can relatively easily bring out assets at other locations, so it only serves as a local sea control. You yourself are fully committed to the blockade, therefore initiative lies with the enemy. So once you are done executing moves which you did not want interrupted, you should rather switch to stand-off (if you are long distance). Make the enemy commit forces to you, then take initiative and decide on an engagement.

[Hethwill]

It is the fine line where you don't want to be the Naval Captain anymore but you simply want to be the Naval Board.

 

Nah, don't see it through. Get your act together. Enough player managed fleets as it is.

[angriff]

Basically it is an open world tactical feature that mimics real naval conflict.  The player who has to leave gets some satisfaction that his efforts for hours are not in vain and the blockaded   The players that tactically lost the fight and ran into the port for safe haven now have a mission to break out of the blockade or relieve it.   The number of blockades is limited maybe to just one.

 

Nobody says you have to lose a dura for your ship but it certainly is not off the table.  Of course those fleets that find they are bottled up with a fleet set as defense against their ports would complain but one implemented it would be an open world tactical feature.  This game has no real tactical or strategic features in the overall game open world

Edited August 17, 2016 by angriff

[Skully]

This game has no real tactical or strategic features in the overall game open world

That's funny as I just explained that strategically it is a bad tactic to use blockade. It only serves to temporarily ensure the enemy can not sail. Beyond that you have committed your assets in a fixed position.

Basically you are proposing to be the victim of "fleet in being".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_in_being