My terrible experience as a newb

[Jean Ribault]

19 hours ago, Barbancourt (rownd) said:

Sandy, unfortunately you have joined us at a difficult time for a new player.  France always had the safest home waters since the Wipe, until the last few days.  A month or two ago you would have had space to get up to speed at your preferred pace.  Right now there are few new players, which will doubtless leave you feeling alone (particularly in non-peak hours), and most of the experienced players are concentrated on a major offensive to bring PvP back to the "PvP Server".  This leaves you kind of being the odd man out at Fort Royal, and having to ask for and wait for others to escort you to do basic things in the middle of a war zone is certainly not a very efficient way to spend your game time. 

Keep in mind that nation chat always includes enemy alts and agents.  When I checked into the game this morning before work it was enemy alts and agents that I saw encouraging you to leave France.  That is a major part of their war strategy - to make players leave France until Fort Royal is deserted. 

Whether you can find space to play your game in the current situation, I can't predict.  I have not figured out exactly how I'm going to proceed myself, since I rarely play during peak hours.  We are trying something new to fix the lack of PvP game on the server and give the nation a purpose other than hauling coffee and furniture, and it will be an adventure one way or another.

It is good that you took the initiative to start this conversation.  I'm sure many others have been in the same situation in other nations. 

 

 

Yesterday one of France's less-tenured members (I won't say newb because I'm not sure how many hours he has, but let's say lower rank) lost a bunch of assets as a result of the invisibility and uber speed of pirates playing the hide in battle instance game in French waters.  (yes, cowards)  He was justifiably raging at his asset loss since he had no idea this could happen when he thought he was being smart and safe, and it was most of his stuff.  But as I watched nation chat, what I personally found unfortunate here is not necessarily that this newer player took a big loss, it was the attitude of some of the other players in nation chat.  This player even showed marked surprise that he was being blamed for his loss.  While some vets were genuinely compassionate and offered advice, at one point a comment was made that maybe this game wasn't for him.  Really?  That comment right there, is a big problem with the attitude of some players in this game.  And is the reason either a newb area or newb protection really must be implemented.

 

EDIT: I hope that kind of comment came only from an enemy alt meta-gaming, if not it doesn't give me much hope for the longevity of this game.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Jean Ribault

[Barbancourt]

1 hour ago, raudy5 said:

Thank you for being so helpdul and constructive, i appreciate it. For now I am grinding marks and xp and sneaking a highly risky, very close trade route from time to time, but now FR is so overrun we are down to single digit home ports near port royal, so crafting is completely stalled because of the lack of availibility to produce resources. I'd hike and go get them, but that's as risky as a trade route of any substance, and that has cost me dozens of traders brigs. 

The enemy uses numerous spy alt accounts inside nation to spot and report you in our waters.  Ironically, the guns of our own forts protect the spies, because game iz dumb. 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Jean Ribault said:

 

Yesterday one of France's less-tenured members (I won't say newb because I'm not sure how many hours he has, but let's say lower rank) lost a bunch of assets as a result of the invisibility and uber speed of pirates playing the hide in battle instance game in French waters.  (yes, cowards)  He was justifiably raging at his asset loss since he had no idea this could happen when he thought he was being smart and safe, and it was most of his stuff.  But as I watched nation chat, what I personally found unfortunate here is not necessarily that this newer player took a big loss, it was the attitude of some of the other players in nation chat.  This player even showed marked surprise that he was being blamed for his loss.  While some vets were genuinely compassionate and offered advice, at one point a comment was made that maybe this game wasn't for him.  Really?  That comment right there, is a big problem with the attitude of some players in this game.  And is the reason either a newb area or newb protection really must be implemented.

 

EDIT: I hope that kind of comment came only from an enemy alt meta-gaming, if not it doesn't give me much hope for the longevity of this game.

After invisability wears off you cant attack for over a minute. This story is suspect. 

[Barbancourt]

4 minutes ago, Flinch said:

After invisability wears off you cant attack for over a minute. This story is suspect. 

By then you've used the stealth and speed boost to position yourself advantageously to set up an attack.  These aren't race cars that zoom away when a threat appears...except right after you exit battle. 

 

[Hodo]

2 hours ago, Jean Ribault said:

 

Yesterday one of France's less-tenured members (I won't say newb because I'm not sure how many hours he has, but let's say lower rank) lost a bunch of assets as a result of the invisibility and uber speed of pirates playing the hide in battle instance game in French waters.  (yes, cowards)  He was justifiably raging at his asset loss since he had no idea this could happen when he thought he was being smart and safe, and it was most of his stuff.  But as I watched nation chat, what I personally found unfortunate here is not necessarily that this newer player took a big loss, it was the attitude of some of the other players in nation chat.  This player even showed marked surprise that he was being blamed for his loss.  While some vets were genuinely compassionate and offered advice, at one point a comment was made that maybe this game wasn't for him.  Really?  That comment right there, is a big problem with the attitude of some players in this game.  And is the reason either a newb area or newb protection really must be implemented.

 

EDIT: I hope that kind of comment came only from an enemy alt meta-gaming, if not it doesn't give me much hope for the longevity of this game.

I think I saw this poor souls rant in global.  I know I have become quite jaded to these fits of rage by people.  I am often the first person to say, "dont sail what you cant afford to lose".   Often times I am yelled at by the individual.  But I know they dont fully understand the statement.  

But I am not like many other people on this server, I have been playing full loot MMORPG PVP games for the past 10 years, and I am VERY VERY jaded after all these years.  

[Jean Ribault]

Text of this was in nation chat.  May have said something in global chat, but I didn't see it during that time.

Flinch, there is no justification for any of it.  And it's not a fantasy story either, every one participating in the conversation acknowledged it was happening.  Not my intent to shame anyone here, I didn't mention any names even though I saw them, but this whole thread is a highlight to the problems new captains are facing, and it is disheartening for a game that I truly enjoy most of the time.

[Hodo]

1 minute ago, Jean Ribault said:

Text of this was in nation chat.  May have said something in global chat, but I didn't see it during that time.

Flinch, there is no justification for any of it.  And it's not a fantasy story either, every one participating in the conversation acknowledged it was happening.  Not my intent to shame anyone here, I didn't mention any names even though I saw them, but this whole thread is a highlight to the problems new captains are facing, and it is disheartening for a game that I truly enjoy most of the time.

Oh it is a kick in the testies when this happens.  But I hate to say this.  It is a way to filter the chaff from the wheat.   

You want to play a PVP game then dont want to be hit by PVP.  Sometimes you dont have a choice.  

 

[Jean Ribault]

I partially agree with you there.  If you want it to be a genuinely hard-core only proposition in this game though, and there is no form of concession for newer players, then be prepared for your clan to be sailing mostly alone.  People want to know that even though they have an uphill battle in a pvp game, they at least have a shot at it and are rewarded for their play.  Also, to be honest, the developers are trying to gear this game to retain those kinds of players so why should we not work them instead of just saying hey it's pvp.  Just my take on it, because I want the player base to rise and this game to be successful.  I almost feel like I have to apologize in this community for having that view.

[Capitalism Kills]

4 hours ago, Flinch said:

After invisability wears off you cant attack for over a minute. This story is suspect. 

Thanks for defending me, I'm sorry to the extent to which I was being a whiny brat, i was super duper pissed at the time. But it is very cool of you to say this. I appreciate it.

[Capitalism Kills]

4 hours ago, Hodo said:

I think I saw this poor souls rant in global.  I know I have become quite jaded to these fits of rage by people.  I am often the first person to say, "dont sail what you cant afford to lose".   Often times I am yelled at by the individual.  But I know they dont fully understand the statement.  

But I am not like many other people on this server, I have been playing full loot MMORPG PVP games for the past 10 years, and I am VERY VERY jaded after all these years.  

This is Sandy Bill, to be fair, i was quite whiny, but it was my 1st time being exposed to the invis speed mechanic. I typically whine once and only once when i am killed in an exploit that I didn't know existed, but after that, I'm a big boy....mostly.

 

[Capitalism Kills]

On 8/3/2017 at 2:37 PM, Slamz said:

OP needs to branch out and learn PvP. I am not being condescending, just stating the direction his gameplay needs to take if he wants to enjoy this game. He chose to play on a PvP server and amassed a lot of money but did not seem to take up an interest in the actual focus of the server: PvP.

1) Acquire a fir/fir Surprise*. This is not the best ship but it's a great place to start. Wood types can be argued about, some will argue over the ship selection but you can't go too wrong as a new PvP captain by selecting a fir frame, fir plank Surprise.

* - if you can't crew or build a Surprise, do all of this with a Snow instead.

2) Put the +speed figurehead from the Admiralty store on it. If you have a second speed permanent (copper plating, bovenwinds, etc) then put that on there too but if not it should be fine.

3) Put long cannons all around. Lots of arguments here again but "can't go too wrong" with longs for introduction to PvP.

4) Bring about 50 hull repairs, 50 rig repairs and 100 rum. (About half this for a Snow should be fine.)

5) Go hunting.

Look for enemies to tag. Learn the tagging rules. If enemy gank squads come for you, learn how to "give them a bad tag" and escape in combat. Learn about "points of sail" and how a slower ship can sometimes outrun a faster ship by choosing the correct wind angle. Be amazed at how good the Surprise is at killing the sails of pursuing ships by firing chain shot from the 4 rear guns.

If you can find another person or two to group with, so much the better. Solo PvP is the hard road but plenty of people do it. Just means there's nobody to help you shake a tail.

This should open a whole new facet of the game to you and you'll realize you don't need to spend a ton of time and money to have fun. This is the "PvP" server so hopefully this is something you can enjoy, and you just need the right way to start.

Remember there's no shame in running from a bad fight. But give things a shot.

When a fight looks bad and a straight run isn't working, try the old Boom & Zoom:

1) Charge the enemy.
2) Chainshot his sails with a broadside as you pass him. Ideally, pass him nose to nose in a good direction for you to run in.
3) Repair your sails (if damaged) as you do the "boom".
4) Rather than turn and keep fighting, just keep running. By the time he turns around, you have a lead on him.

This works quite a lot of the time, even on veterans. The heavier their ship, the more likely this is to work. Extra true when you're in a surprise with the 4 butt guns firing laser accurate chain shot.

WOW, this is GREAT stuff...Thanks man, I am already mostly in the suprise for some of the reasons mentioned. Still gotta fighure out tagging tho, but thanks for taking the time!