Testbed: Content patch - 9.98 deployed

[Cecil Selous]

The Essex in the dismasting challenge seems to be out of fir. The AI Belle Poule rips right through you with a few broadsides. And the structure bar is still somehow artificial. After you lost your hull hp every random shot to this side will decrease it very fast and then you sink like a stone in a minute. I still would like structure be hitbox based on very vital structural ship parts which you actually have to hit (so it will become kinda random cause you can't effectively aim for them but larger broadsides of bigger ships and guns will have an extremely increased chance to do massive structure damage to smaller ships. E.g. a SoL against a frigate).

[maturin]

Not sure I see the point of the structure. Why can't we just have super-easy Reload Shock when taking fire through a destroyed broadside?

[z4ys]

I noticed something odd. When I hit the mast through sails with my 4pd longs i did around 1,5 dmg as pen shot. But when i hit he mast without shooting through sails i did 35 dmg as not pen shot.

It was me (snake) vs Ai (lgv).

Report: NAB-59931

Edited February 26, 2017 by z4ys

[Alex Connor]

Structure is a good way shift the focus from sinking ships via external hull damage to sinking ships by internal damage (knocking out crew, pumps etc that would otherwise be able to keep even a badly damaged hull afloat).

Arguably crew loss and module damage could be tuned to produce the same result, but this works well enough and improves on the current meta where the only really important factor in sinking a ship is reducing the hp of one side of planking to 0.

[JeanJacques de Montpellier]

26 minutes ago, Alex Connor said:

Structure is a good way shift the focus from sinking ships via external hull damage to sinking ships by internal damage (knocking out crew, pumps etc that would otherwise be able to keep even a badly damaged hull afloat).

Arguably crew loss and module damage could be tuned to produce the same result, but this works well enough and improves on the current meta where the only really important factor in sinking a ship is reducing the hp of one side of planking to 0.

Ok, but what is that "structure"?

 

[Alex Connor]

22 minutes ago, JeanJacques de Montpellier said:

Ok, but what is that "structure"?

 

The name "structure" is not important, could be called "health" or "flotation". Really it's just a way to link internal damage (crew/modules etc) to the ship sinking, which is more realistic than current system of destroying left or right broadside to sink the ship.

[JazAero]

I'm confused, it seems Most if not all of the patches and testbeds and comments are about PVP play, And how it is affected, but that's not why you're losing players, And the changes you make In an attempt to retain players Are pointless,, I don't think you see the big picture here. To put it simply you're losing players because  once you reach the rank of Rear Adm. there's nothing left to do in the game.

Three of my family members and I Stopped playing for that reason and I know of at least a dozen other players  have stopped playing the game .. Not because the game isn't realistic or involved it Is simply because there is no avenue of advancement beyond rear Adm. How much gold can you collect? Between my two siblings and I we currently have 1.5 billion in assets, All of the resources and materials we will ever need to build anything we ever need to build, and we are all maxed level crafters and rear admirals. so now what? Where do you go from there? That's the real problem with this game. that Is what needs to be addressed if you want to retain your players. Not how much damage Do cannonballs do to the sails, or how many lives first rates have, or how fast you can be Sunk some By port Fortresses. None of that matters if there's no reason to play the game in the first place.

I have over 3600 hours playing this game, my brother the same, and my sister almost 1000 and I know many players who have just as much time Playing if not more and all say the same thing, "there's just nothing Left to do" . PVP is not the answer . I've never taken part in a port battle I have no reason to.  We have sunk every ship in the game that you can sink played All the challenges, even got on the leaderboard A couple Of times, I have run trade routes and visited every single port, so I reiterate what is left to do? Where Does the advancement go from here,? How can you retain your players when they can so quickly achieve max status and then lose interest.? Yes we can do silly things like taking on a Second rate in a gunboat just for amusement or taking on a fleet  with the mortar brig as I have done, and actually sink some ships ! But then what?

At the risk of being repetitive these are the things that need to be addressed, not the minutia of the mechanics of the game but the overall goal of playing.

 

Edited February 27, 2017 by JazAero

[Sir Texas Sir]

Did something happen on test as all my ships and ports are now gone other than the one ship I left in redeemable.

 

[Jesters-Ink]

Regarding the "fleet ships can now take cargo", add a distribution button like the assign crew one, so we can manage loot after a battle please.

Ships are made of paper on test server, way too weak compared to the current live server.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Jesters-Ink

[Jesters-Ink]

5 hours ago, JazAero said:

I have over 3600 hours playing this game, my brother the same, and my sister almost 1000 and I know many players who have just as much time Playing if not more and all say the same thing, "there's just nothing Left to do" . PVP is not the answer . I've never taken part in a port battle I have no reason to.  We have sunk every ship in the game that you can sink played All the challenges, even got on the leaderboard A couple Of times, I have run trade routes and visited every single port, so I reiterate what is left to do? Where Does the advancement go from here,? How can you retain your players when they can so quickly achieve max status and then lose interest.? Yes we can do silly things like taking on a Second rate in a gunboat just for amusement or taking on a fleet  with the mortar brig as I have done, and actually sink some ships ! But then what?

At the risk of being repetitive these are the things that need to be addressed, not the minutia of the mechanics of the game but the overall goal of playing.

 

This is a PvE dilemma, which has been made clear is not a priority development for Naval Action.

Naval Action favours PvP, its what the Devs want you to be doing and I have to say, you are exactly right about PvE, there is no danger. Everything is easy enough to get without fear of being attacked, let alone sunk. Ships can be crafted quickly and the mats are very easy to come by. 

PvP is a different story.

Ships take far longer to gather mats for and even buying ships from stock is bad enough.
The established players buy ships from the npc's stocks then place them back on the market at upwards of twice the price.
The same can be said for basic materials. I've sailed into ports only to find even the most basic commodity on sale at least twice the going rate. This is fine for established players, but new players will be set back a lot from this sort of behaviour.

You can't blame players for doing this, its a clever way of making a few extra gold, but it is a procedure that is hurting new players. With these actions, one is forced to join an established clan to even have a hope of acquiring those larger ships.
The speed of progress is reduce otherwise beyond most people tolerances.

How to fix this?

Give those who enjoy PvE something to do, hunt treasure fleets, invest in real-estate, empire building, I dunno, give um something. Let um cap any size ship, lets face it, they can't hurt anyone in them. For PvP, all that is left is conquest. Most clan who have been around for any amount of time have more than enough of everything except Compass Wood. The have line ships stacked up ready to give out, if needed, which is why they are crying out for 1 dura. Then it becomes a war of attrition.

We are seeing players flip flop from PvP to PvE and the other way around, both types of players are getting bored with what they are doing and swapping server looking for something new.

The combat side of the game at the moment is spot on (I'm not talking about the test server, cuz that sux ass), but whats left after you gain all of you desires? This game has so much potential, but if not realised, will fall well short if not handled right.

One dura??? thats a clan thing, there is no catering for the solo (cept for those who have been playing a long time).

[AlteSocken]

On 18.2.2017 at 0:44 AM, Yar Matey said:

Regional bonuses are the number 1 problem today hurting the casual player, and its even hurting some of your more hardcore players as well. 

I'm one of those casual players, and I really have no issue with this. I'm just 2nd Lt. and never crafted any ship. Any ship I own was captured or just bought in one of my outposts. And up until now I dont see how it has any worth to me, to craft a ship, since it is somewhat tricky to get alle the material I would need for that (because I have to do a lot of ow sailing - the few time I have for playing this game ist better invested in fighting) and I could only build some basic ships-types. In the shop or ow i can find much better ships then i could build. Maybe a few thousend hours of playing later this may change.

So I think you refer to a luxury-problem of hardcore players who could easily invest the time neccessary to get the desired bonus, if they realy want it.

[balticsailor]

2 hours ago, Sir Texas Sir said:

Did something happen on test as all my ships and ports are now gone other than the one ship I left in redeemable.

The same has happend to me, i remember it happend last time the tesbed was up as well shortly(a few days) be for it was shootdown for some bigger updates there.

[SneakyTurtle]

I was going to craft a ship when I logged in, oh well, a testbed is a testbed with resets.  But I got lucky...I didn't redeem my St Pav. or Vic.  I still have my rank (Crafting and fighting) and Gold...rebuilding my ports, resources and ships.

 

[SneakyTurtle]

Testbed is Broken.   I capped a trade ship and placed it in my Fleet at end of battle screen.  Closed end of battle by going to close friendly port.  When I got to the port I could not repair or move the fleet ship to my outpost.  It said the ships location was another port.... I left my outpost and returned to the capitol...still the same with the Fleet ship.

[JeanJacques de Montpellier]

11 hours ago, Alex Connor said:

The name "structure" is not important, could be called "health" or "flotation". Really it's just a way to link internal damage (crew/modules etc) to the ship sinking, which is more realistic than current system of destroying left or right broadside to sink the ship.

Sorry I do not agree.
We already have something to do with the killing of the crew and cannon.
This structure is a bar; a bar that has not figured out what it refers to.
This bar you can destroy shooting especially from the stern and / or sides (if the armor is gone).
So what is it?

Realistic? It does not seem right.
The current system damage is not entirely realistic, but it is logical. The structure bar is not neither.
Wanting to talk about realism, it would be enough to have two bars on each side:
-above the waterline; destruction of guns and killing the crew
-under water line; leaks and if the bar is all gone, sinking.

Ships sinking rarely; rightly it was quite difficult to shoot below the water line. In addition, they were without of vital organs inside (engine rooms, control room, etc.) and then shoting inside the hull you killed mainly men and did unusable some cannons. After several dead and wounded damage (beyond the fact that the ship could also be dismasted) the ship surrendered.

[fox2run]

To sum it up:

We need some pvp-based missions in OW?

Escort a treasure fleet through Port Morant? (Go to lobby click on the rate of ship needed). 

The pirates can then do the same...

Fleet battles, spy missions, whatever can be arranged like this.

Ideas?

Edited February 27, 2017 by fox2run

[Hethwill]

It is good idea. Having a "Tavern" at each port with missions to be taken, bounties to hunt, etc.

[fox2run]

My dear Sir. In civilized nations these things are to be found in the admiralty. Taverns.... My God!

[elite92]

1 hour ago, JeanJacques de Montpellier said:

Sorry I do not agree.
We already have something to do with the killing of the crew and cannon.
This structure is a bar; a bar that has not figured out what it refers to.
This bar you can destroy shooting especially from the stern and / or sides (if the armor is gone).
So what is it?

Realistic? It does not seem right.
The current system damage is not entirely realistic, but it is logical. The structure bar is not neither.
Wanting to talk about realism, it would be enough to have two bars on each side:
-above the waterline; destruction of guns and killing the crew
-under water line; leaks and if the bar is all gone, sinking.

Ships sinking rarely; rightly it was quite difficult to shoot below the water line. In addition, they were without of vital organs inside (engine rooms, control room, etc.) and then shoting inside the hull you killed mainly men and did unusable some cannons. After several dead and wounded damage (beyond the fact that the ship could also be dismasted) the ship surrendered.

this! we need a MORALE bar for battle not another unrealistic HP bar... obviusly with many leaks in a perfect broadside under the water line the ship will sink but in the majority of fights this should end in a surrender of the left crew after high losses.

edit: would be also very cool to see magazine explosion with a lucky critical shot maybe after a perfect rake like 1/100 or something with low chance

Edited February 27, 2017 by elite92

[fox2run]

Nah... Any big battle saw an exploding ship or two... It should be common.

Edited February 27, 2017 by fox2run

[elite92]

Just now, fox2run said:

Nah... Any big battle saw an exploding ship or two... It shoul be common.

yes, better then

i dont like to see huge and expensive ship of the line that voluntary dont extinguish the fire on the deck and go in fire shock, way too unrealistic. ships could explode but not because the captain want too suicide. maybe we can remove the possibility to suicide and introduce a random magazine explosion that will lead to a fire shock, (not necessary a death but for sure a critical damage to crew , cannons and masts). my2c

[fox2run]

Several small explosions before the big blowup. Extra pumps and the fire extinguisher perk make the ship less likely to go up in flames

[Jean Ribault]

19 minutes ago, elite92 said:

yes, better then

i dont like to see huge and expensive ship of the line that voluntary dont extinguish the fire on the deck and go in fire shock, way too unrealistic. ships could explode but not because the captain want too suicide. maybe we can remove the possibility to suicide and introduce a random magazine explosion that will lead to a fire shock, (not necessary a death but for sure a critical damage to crew , cannons and masts). my2c

 

I suggested something just like that months ago, and was all but keelhauled to death.

[fox2run]

Just now, Jean Ribault said:

 

I suggested something just like that months ago, and was all but keelhauled to death.

I can think of the first many battles with exploding ships even before consulting with sources:

Battle of the Nile, Battle of Copenhagen, Battle of Køge Bugt, Battle of Øland, Battle of Lyngør and the last fight of the lineship Prinds Christian Frederik (include this brute in the game, please). Many more from other nations also had this destiny. Explosions where COMMON!

[Angus McGregor]

1 minute ago, Jean Ribault said:

I suggested something just like that months ago, and was all but keelhauled to death.

LoL

I've seen a few of my suggestions (laughed at) from the past resurrected by others later to remarks of "what a good idea!" 

Yep - I've commented in the past that it's wrong that there's no 'crew morale' bar. It's crazy that we can order our crews to commit suicide. The ultimate in arcade gaming.