Drop-in Matches

[Powderhorn]

I hate AI. Loathe fighting AI. Hate fleets. I freely admit these things. I know others don't want to spend hours looking for a fight.

What if players were able to "drop in" to a match from port by taking over an AI vessel? Seems it'd be win-win for all.

(I still want fleets tied to perk points, though )

[OlavDeng2]

I think this is an interesting idea, would also appeal to some of the casual players who dont want to spend a lot of time in OW to find a fight! this has my support!

[ulysse77]

hmmm i recall something in this nature propose long ago, when trader would hire escort from player... you would sail with an AI fleet but if there was a battle a player would appear instead of the AI, taking control of the AI ship in the fleetI.

 

Issue were:

-what would happen to the player who magically "teleport" accross the map.

-Attacker complaining that they would'nt know who they were attacking a NPC or a player.

-Probably more i can recall it,s over a year and a half ago

[z4ys]

That would make fleets a must have. Even yet fleets destroy a lot of fights that could be good ones. So I am against it. Furthermore I am against everything that takes away the purpose of OW and supports lazy players.

Go out find yourself a fight that's my motto.

[Hethwill]

While the appeal of the idea seems nice

 

...the OW would soon become a wasteland.

 

Think about it.

[ulysse77]

and we already have arena battle for those who want quick action (i have no clue if it`s use at all)

[jodgi]

I hate AI. Loathe fighting AI. Hate fleets.

Bless you!

What if players were able to "drop in" to a match from port by taking over an AI vessel? Seems it'd be win-win for all.

I instinctively support this. Both because of instant PVP and the possibility to "grief" bot grinders.

But there lies the rub...

You might say the idea is too good!

I fear it would cause unbearable pain for the PVE lovers, they would feel forced into the light. I also feel a tiny bit for those grinding rank; We just brainlessly clicked at bots while they would be forced into hard and drawn out PVP encounters that aren't XP/time efficient at all.

I would love it though!

Imagine just being able to sit in queue for a bit and then be dropped into a cage with a real person. Or go out in a fully pimped ship, tag a bot and hope a player drops into that empty shell. That would make sure the OW sailors dictate the fighting terms.

For me the pros outweigh the cons.

[Powderhorn]

I think by making fleets cost perk points, many would not sail with fleets at all. (Rapid thought between classes)

[Yar Matey]

The perk cost of a fleet would have to be very steep, and I would only allow it for traders.  6 points to have 1 escort ship and you must be using either a trader vessel or the fleet ship must be a trader vessel.  This would give people just looking to do trade runs a small chance of getting away and defending their cargo without hurting the balance of the game much. 

 

The 6 point cost would limit you to either a fast trader with the light ship master perk, or a slower trader with a warship to help protect you.

[Eishen]

I think it would work best if only mission/full IA fleet ship could be substituted... otherwise player fleets would be overpowered ( and I AM a heavy defender of fleets use).

 

To avoid "harrasing PvE lovers" they should be able to "switch off" this posibility. For the record,  some  "total war" games allowed this , but to my knowledge was not  a very used feature.

[ulysse77]

I think by making fleets cost perk points, many would not sail with fleets at all. (Rapid thought between classes)

Well i would make it that you would have to use one of your officer to each ship in your fleet. (basically same thing)

 

We will get more officer slots eventually.

[Mrdoomed]

Ive been waiting for port huggers to suggest this for 10 months.

For to many reasons I say no no no no.

If you want to see people in the open world then change things like missions (being done) take away instant teleports (causes people to just pop from port to port to see whats outside then leaving ) so players would once again be in the ow moving around.

Have rewards for sinking or beating xx amount of enemies etc.

Encourage open world combat and travel and exploration. I can think of dozens of things that could be added .

[Powderhorn]

Many people have commented on how they do not have time for sailing for hours, and want a quick fight. I could be mistaken, but I feel you have been chief among those voices.

As someone dropping into a fight, you wouldn't get to design your own vessel, you wouldn't be able to transport cargo, and maybe you would only get rewarded as if you were the officer (half XP reward). Indeed, you could even have it so that players that do not want someone from their nation taking over one of their AI ships could check a box to disallow it. PvE content, such as missions, need not be touched - as in, a player might not have to be allowed to fight against you in your own mission.

I'm not sure what the "port huggers" phrase you're using has to do with anything. I think this is simply a useful idea to have AI fleets players carry around with them become player-controlled fleets, giving access to fast fights for players short on time, and human support for those in a fight.

[Mrdoomed]

Many people have commented on how they do not have time for sailing for hours, and want a quick fight. I could be mistaken, but I feel you have been chief among those voices.

As someone dropping into a fight, you wouldn't get to design your own vessel, you wouldn't be able to transport cargo, and maybe you would only get rewarded as if you were the officer (half XP reward). Indeed, you could even have it so that players that do not want someone from their nation taking over one of their AI ships could check a box to disallow it. PvE content, such as missions, need not be touched - as in, a player might not have to be allowed to fight against you in your own mission.

I'm not sure what the "port huggers" phrase you're using has to do with anything. I think this is simply a useful idea to have AI fleets players carry around with them become player-controlled fleets, giving access to fast fights for players short on time, and human support for those in a fight.

Or you could simply escort that transport ship and protect him. You could use the global and national chat and see where action is happening or where guys are being chased then go and help them.

No idea what server on but im guessing its the server of Gods choice pvp1 that is full of people. You should not have to wait more than a few minites to find action.

Im on the server of horror and doom and i can find a fight with 100 or less people on in usually 5 minutes or less. Rare days it does take 15 minutes.

Your suggestion will simply cause even more people to just sit in port waiting for a battle they want to join and soon nobody will be in OW because they will all be in port waiting for a battle.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Mrdoomed

[z4ys]

Many people have commented on how they do not have time for sailing for hours, and want a quick fight. I could be mistaken, but I feel you have been chief among those voices.

As someone dropping into a fight, you wouldn't get to design your own vessel, you wouldn't be able to transport cargo, and maybe you would only get rewarded as if you were the officer (half XP reward). Indeed, you could even have it so that players that do not want someone from their nation taking over one of their AI ships could check a box to disallow it. PvE content, such as missions, need not be touched - as in, a player might not have to be allowed to fight against you in your own mission.

I'm not sure what the "port huggers" phrase you're using has to do with anything. I think this is simply a useful idea to have AI fleets players carry around with them become player-controlled fleets, giving access to fast fights for players short on time, and human support for those in a fight.

People tend to do the easiest way. With that suggesten we can dump the hole OW idea because everyone would want to join through drop in matches. You should suggest something that force people to sail in OW. An OW full of players mean less time to find a fight too. Edited October 17, 2016 by z4ys

[Powderhorn]

Maybe some would not sail the OW.  Of course, many would take that as an opportunity to sail their trader vessels around, drawing people to the OW to chase them down...

 

I think the ones sitting around in port not playing are already not playing.  Having them play for an hour by dropping into a co-op type fight (taking over someone's vessel in his own faction), well, I truly do not see the harm in it.  I suspect many people simply are used to fighting AI when they tag someone with a fleet, and don't want to have to fight more than one player.

[z4ys]

It's just a social perk without sailing to the battle. And social perk got removed. What you see is what you should fight.

A trader can sail around with his 2 AI ships. That AI offers some sort of protection. He gets attacked and all of a sudden to players hope in for them. A player is better as AI in most cases and now some sort of protection turns into full protection.

In my opinion it's a carebear feature.

Making fleets a must have.

Taking away the sense of OW.

Making people even more lazy.

[Powderhorn]

That's a false equivalence.  With the social perk, new vessels could come in all the time.  With this, the vessels are the same, there just may or may not be Captains behind them.  I think with having fleets cost actual perk points, people would be reluctant to use them, but I think those who do could also benefit those with short amounts of time to play.

 

I understand people aren't a big fan of fleets - I'm not either.  I don't like them.  But they're not going anywhere, either.  Why not try to figure out how we can make fleets do good for us instead of just acting like pouty teens?

[Bach]

Sounds good but what if the guy playing the NPC just runs away?

Every NPC fight is about to be all about gaining hostility. What if a nation, instead of risking their own ships, just jumps into all the NPCs and sails away to exit denying you the hostility gains?

[Mrdoomed]

Maybe some would not sail the OW. Of course, many would take that as an opportunity to sail their trader vessels around, drawing people to the OW to chase them down...

I think the ones sitting around in port not playing are already not playing. Having them play for an hour by dropping into a co-op type fight (taking over someone's vessel in his own faction), well, I truly do not see the harm in it. I suspect many people simply are used to fighting AI when they tag someone with a fleet, and don't want to have to fight more than one player.

You are obviously very new to mmo games.

[Jacob Elston]

Many people have commented on how they do not have time for sailing for hours, and want a quick fight. I could be mistaken, but I feel you have been chief among those voices.

As someone dropping into a fight, you wouldn't get to design your own vessel, you wouldn't be able to transport cargo, and maybe you would only get rewarded as if you were the officer (half XP reward). Indeed, you could even have it so that players that do not want someone from their nation taking over one of their AI ships could check a box to disallow it. PvE content, such as missions, need not be touched - as in, a player might not have to be allowed to fight against you in your own mission.

I'm not sure what the "port huggers" phrase you're using has to do with anything. I think this is simply a useful idea to have AI fleets players carry around with them become player-controlled fleets, giving access to fast fights for players short on time, and human support for those in a fight.

 

The term "port huggers" is used to describe those people who hardly use the OW unless they have to move a ship/cargo. Otherwise they always teleport from one port to another.

 

We need to encourage more use of the OW map and get people away from sitting around ports.

 

We need to encourage exploration too, at the moment there seems little point in me going anywhere on the map except a select few ports and my capital.