Instead of Fine woods, I suggest maintenance costs.

[Rebel Witch]

From what i have observed so far, this latest patch where fine woods are needed to build high quality ships has frustrated crafters and players. Not just because it takes longer and is more expensive to get these materials, frustration because it just seems like a redundant attempt to fix a nagging issue. 

 

the issue is the Dev's want to find ways to limit players sailing the highest quality ships.

 

Their solution is to make the cost of building said ships more expensive and time consuming. With fine woods. I dont believe this will work long term and it just frustrates players and is not very realistic. 

 

 

Here is my suggestion for a solution.

 

First: rollback the fine woods requirement, just get rid of that.

 

Second: allow crafters to build high quality ships as they did before this latest patch. 

 

Third: Give each player a section in their dockyard or ship inventory an area called "In Ordinary" Each player would have a slot for a 1st rate, 2nd rate, 3rd rate, and 4th rate in their In Ordinary.

 

Fourth: Place a maintenance cost on higher quality ships as well as larger ships. For example...MX= Maintenance

 

Gold 1st Rate MX cost = 1mil gold per month if its in active ship dock. This cost is waved if the ship is in ordinary.

Gold 2nd Rate MX cost= 750k gold per month in active ship dock. No cost in Ordinary

Gold 3rd rate MX cost= 500k gold per month

Gold 4th rate MX cost = 250k gold per month

 

5th rates and below have no maintenance costs because they are just easier to maintain right? which may mean more players sail them too.

 

What would this do?

 

It would mean you have to either be filthy rich to maintain a large fleet of active line ships, or perhaps your clan has to fund the costs.

 

or ideally you can maintain a few line ships while you can have a few in reserve In ordinary. 

 

Lets say you lose your active line ship. you simply take your line ship that is in ordinary and make it active but then it starts costing maintenance fee.

 

By limiting your reserve slots it limits players from having tons of line ships.

 

this would also limit players from having massive fleets of gold line ships active around their ports.

 

you could have reduced MX costs to mastercraft and fine line ships as well. 

 

common and basic line ships would not have maintenance costs or perhaps they are very reduced.

 

So there is my idea. What do you think?

 

 

[Vaan De Vries]

gold means nothin in this game and can be easily generated particulary with current faulty trading system (a LOT of people claim to be able to make 1+ mil of revenue by one trading trip).

 

Capture even an AI trader lynx will asily net you 100k+ gold.

 

While fine woods are really limited and rare. I know a LOT of people (including me) who love the new system. It clearly achieves it's purposes. If implemented together with a wipe it will really make Carribean more interesting and fine place to sail in. Now almost everybody is sailing gold ships built before. 

 

But for example from lone wolf perspective now even for established lone player like me (4-5 various gold ships, couple mil gold in reserve, extended oupost network) I need about a week to produce gold Essex for example (will need 95 fine mahogany + 95 fine oak for that) and that is OK. Cause before patch there was no problem making 1 gold 4th rate per day.

 

The single fact that a lot of carebears are frustrated by this change is a sign that it was a right change. Yes, casuals are unhappy. But casuals will be always unhappy without "I Win" button. Like they were unhappy when AI SOLs became uncapturable (also a great change).

 

All I want now is a wipe, so I can really enjoy the Carribean without herds of gold 1st and 2nd rates making hostility missions and not care about whether they will lose their 1st rates. Why care, if everyone has spare one in reserve. The Frigate PVP outside daily small battle events is dead currently (not taking into account gankers on surprises/renommees - they rarely pick equal battle). All these changes are slowly bringing it back. 

 

Just see this about why gold is nothing in this game:

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/17190-new-rescources/

Edited October 31, 2016 by Vaan De Vries

[jodgi]

Running expenses while afk just won't do, at all. Make it running cost while using the ships, then I won't flat out reject this.

[Sven Silberbart]

jodgi is right

[Sea Archer]

I don't like maintenance costs, what shall happen when you run out of gold?

In every game like this there are always people who spend the whole day playing and have all big assets available. No matter the cost.

I do not care about those, I play my frigate game, and simply enjoy it. The ones, who like to play their SoL game, shall enjoy theirs.

[Thonys]

i guess...

 

solving the problem with the grind of getting more specialized ships or ( bp [exeptional bp grind needs fine stuf] )

has if you ask me nothing to do with money

 

still, we have the issue with the fine stuff

that is not working well and needs rebalance or another solution for building ships

 

after the new update, I did not even made one ship  ....!!! 

 

for crafting :

the game is coming to a HOLD (at this moment)    I do not feel to go on sailing anymore just looking at the docks looking to the harbor and think..... what to do..... what to do , where to go

 

if this situation is going on for the coming weeks

 

more people abandon the game (decisiveness) until the next update(i see it already ,I feel it already )

 

so a quick update fix is needed...i think.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Thonys

[Yar Matey]

Maintenance cost should require labor hours and resources not gold.  If you have a live oak build strength SOL with copper plating, then it should require X amount of labor hours, plus live oak frame parts, copper ingots, and planks. 

 

Also, I like the new fine wood requirement because now people are forced to trade for fine wood types they want.  If I produce fine mahogany, and you produce fine Bermuda cedar, and I want Bermuda cedar to make a fast trading ship, and you want my mahogany to produce a line ship, we trade.  The fine wood output from wood production just needs to be increased slightly and the RNG removed so compass wood is not dropped in place of fine woods and it will be fine.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Ultravis