Port battle Ideas

[DesertRat]

Proposal for possible changes to port battles, and screening.

1-      Starting hostility for ports could works as it currently does.

2-      The nation that controls the port sets the possible attack window, maybe a 2 hour window of a 24hr day.  This leave the owner of the port best able to defend and make the attackers pick and choose if they wish to attach at that time or not.

edit: 2- the attack window could be for all national ports and could would be set by a national vote similar to the way alliances work, they could also have a duration of several hours. 

3-      Once a port battle is opened it is auto set to begin 48 hrs + the time needed to land within the window allowed above.

4-      During these 48 hours is when “screening” takes place.  Each side works on destroy player ships worth 2xBR and AI ships worth 1xBR in an attempt to do more damage than the enemy.  

5-      The defenders always are allowed to have a full fleet in the battle, but they must be in that port to enter the loading screen.

6-      The Attackers will have 25, minus one ship spot for every 10,000 BR (#4from above) that they are below the damage of the defenders (numbers are just ideas).

Edit: sense the screening damage can be done to AI as well as in PVP (PVP is worth more).  The attackers would have to show up in force or the defenders would just reduce the number of ships that the attackers could have in the port battle.

7-      The port battles would start with the defenders in a load screen from the defending port and the attackers from the nearest Designated Freeport.

8-      To help add more fun for more players as the server grows to larger numbers, they could make is so that if both sides have screening BR damage above say 50,000, then a second port in the county opens for battle, at the same time as the main port.  This battle would be one rank lower, so if the main battle was 1^st rate then the second would be 2^nd rate..  If there was 100,000 BR destroyed then maybe two ports etc.  For a winning country would have to win the majority of these battles to gain control of the county.  Tie would go to the defenders.  The reason I would have it so that both country have to have high damage is so that a small country that could not support two or more battles at once, would not have too, they just would not screen and only defend the port at assault time.

9-      Also It would be cool to make port battles so that a first rate port battles would have,  a max of 30% 1^st rates, 30% 2^nd rates, and 40% 3^rd rates.     The extra port battles would be a step down with 2nds, 3rds and 4ths etc.   This would make more of the ships useful in the conquest part of the game.

These are just a few thoughts,  some of these ideas I know  have already have been talked about, such as the defenders set times.

Edited February 10, 2017 by DesertRat

[RaimundoJoe]

Fantastic ideea, i belive it is well worth a testing run.

[Johny Reb]

I don't have the time atm to go into detail so I will just offer a critique or two and you can choose to adjust your plan or not.

1. The two hour window has been used before and it came up wanting. It needs to be a wider window. With all the complaints about night flips, some of those nations complaining chose to set timers for the worst possible time for their enemies even though the time they set was horrible for them as well. They didn't set timers in their prime time or even close.

2. I think you need to rethink your screening idea. With your idea, there is absolutely no incentive for the attacker to sail in that area during the time leading up to the PB. Only the defender has an advantage in screening. The attacker will just avoid that area altogether. So, as proposed, that mechanic would be a dead mechanic on role out, I'm afraid. No attackers sailing there = no way for the defenders to get10000 points. No action would be bad for the game and bring new complaints.

[DesertRat]

1- Jonny Reb,  I agree that the timers have many if not more issues,  Maybe the times should last for several hours and that time is set by a nation vote for all there ports, that lasts for at time similar to the way alliances work.

b-  Maybe I didn't express it right, but the way I was thinking is that the attackers would have to be present and have a show of force or the defenders would just cause more damage then the attackers, this would make is so that the attackers would then loose spots in there port fleet.  The damage could be caused to AI or PVP.  it would just be that PVP would have twice the value.

Edited February 10, 2017 by DesertRat

[Johny Reb]

1- I'm actually a fan of the timers. I've come to understand that there is no perfect fix that satisfies all groups. The timers work well for those that are on strike and actually hurts the North Americans and Aussie time zones the most.

2 - I don't see much gain for the attackers. The defenders get to take ships from the attacking fleet without any repercussions if they loose the screening battles. The mechanic would funnel in attacking ships and double up on the defenders ability to reduce the attacking force. The attackers need something to get out of the mechanic as well.

            I think we could work with the devs idea about Victory Points or whatever they called them. The screening pvp zone would be created that generates Victory Points during wins. These points can be spent on various things concerning the PB. In the defenders case they could be used to reduce the attackers force as you suggest or to counter the attackers decisions. There could be optional tower placements or simply used as operational cost of the existing towers. The defenders could spend it on reducing the number of forts or effecting the wind for the attack. I'm not pushing for any of these possibilities, just arguing for some advantage to both groups for participating.

[DesertRat]

1- I know that the timers affect us in the USA and Aussie's the most.  I rarely am able to be on during PB's even our own.

2- I can see that not giving the attackers something out of the win more than a full fleet in the port battle, does seem a little lacking.  and would need some rethinking.  It is just that in the current screening, it is mostly about the attackers getting in as well.  The defenders are able to just jump in without a problem.

3-  The Victory Points Do sound interesting.   This could lead to some really cool mechanics.

4- in my original post one other thing would really like to see is a change to only a couple ships having PB value,  I would really like to see almost all classes of ships have a place in the conquest system at one level or another.  the way it currently works it is mostly just L'oceans and Aggies that are wanted.  An game posts last night had the idea of more rings farther apart to make 5th rates valuable in these battles.  this might work as well.  the game has so many cool ships it is sad to see it boil down to a couple viable ships.

 

[Yar Matey]

1)  Hostility cannot stay working the way it currently does, no one wants to PvE to get PvP.  This hostility system needs a large rework or to be removed from the game. 

2)  Bad idea because the nation being attack would be inclined to chose the worst possible time for the enemy nation to attack rather than the best time for them to defend, which would discourage PvP.  They would be inclined to choose 5 AM in the morning on a Work day to make it so as little of that nations players are on as possible. 

4, 5, and 6)  What if no players show up to the screening event?  If I was an attacker, why would I sail my ship into the screening event and risk losing my ship to remove ship slots for when the port battle takes place?  If I was an attacking nation, if we lost a port battle slot, then the port battle would never happen.  We would just raise hostility again until we could guarantee a full 25 man slot.  This proposal also makes defending a port way too easy, because AI ships are easy to sink.  Defenders could just go there and sink lots of AI ships and make it so the enemy cannot get any ships into the port battle.

9)  Giving different rated ships roles to play in port battles is a better solution than hard limits on x amount of ships of each rate.  Also, if I was a casual player sailing up to the port battle in my 3rd rate, and the 3rd rate slots were already full, then I would be a bummed casual. 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Yar Matey