Why did players leave?

[Rebrall]

7 hours ago, staun said:

So you dont think they gave a wrong picture about how the RvR competition worked, when every player above flag in a nation got a vm. Ore maybe what ppl have to do to gather the ressources to craft. Ore maybe how ppl get rare items/ressources from a port held by another nation. I would have thought so, But I just take your word for it.

No not really the the rvr is what it is and in some cases people needed alts to compete effectively but now that has changed with the mechanics, as for the vm was not that important last time I played 

No one had to at all, but they did, but you could do it also but id guess chose not to. would also like to point out chose an mmo that people don’t have multiple accounts or multiple characters in ? So the alt issue is a load of bs sorry 

[staun]

I just seen to many times where alts have been used to change what happens on the game.

An example:

Ppl changing to an alt so they could be get to a pb, where they couldn’t teleport on there main. (More pb in a short Windows) But may well not be a problem after release, when there hopefully is more ppl

Ports with rare items loosing the strategic importance, because every one stil can get  it on there alt. 

But as I said. Take you word for it.

[Cmdr RideZ]

Patches were making things worse not better.  Here is some to start from...

1. They should think casuals but they dont.  Without casuals there will never be high numbers.
2. Thousands want something like Sid Meyers Pirate.  Devs said many times that this wont happen.
3. People were happy capturing ships and understood there will be an adventure here.  They introduced crafting and capturing ships was not cool.  For many crafting was not something they wanted.
4. There was huge crew casualties at some point, plus huge crew costs.  I know as I have been told first hand that this killed the game for many.  I asked fix for this ASAP, but a real fix arrived finally after the last wipe.  This was the moment when people had to experience the same as new players and started to cry like new players.  Short sighted, zero reactions.
5. Stern rake damage was mad at some point.  I know people laughing in TS because it was so insane.  It took really long to get some fixes.
6. Flag system was changed to clearly inferior hostility system.  HS could be ok, but it was just that kind of crap that people simply left immediately.  Zero reactions here.  I remember guy saying, "I thought the game was almost ready, wtf is this s*hit?"
7. No end game carrot.  Capturing a port had no meaning for clan that captured it.  It gets boring to capture ports for no "real" purpose.
8. No care for small clans.  Many want to sail in their own small group of IRL friends.
10. No PvE content, with PvP gank content.
11. When players started to leave, there was no game for actives.
12. PvE crafters/traders wanted something that only they can own with their HC PvE grind.  Devs took it.
13. PvE oriented grind in a PvP game.  The same issue is in many games.  Never learn.
14. Economy does not work.  It was meant to be player driven but never succeeded to achieve that.  Economy has been going backwards.
15. OW ganking is not really that interesting for many, including me.  Devs uninterested to even try to fix, for example "Signaling perk for all" kind of feature.  Instead saying, "NAL is for balanced battles, NA is for ganking".  I hope they are right but that wont make NA more popular, just moving people from NA to NAL.
16. S loads of time spent to different kind of timesinks.
17. Combat is better today but it was pretty bad for long time.
18. Multiple repair kits per battle.  This simply sucks.
19. Ship knowledge slot grind is heavy and probably not even needed.  Decreasing your options and fun.  Sorry Devs, it just does not work so that 3 slots is a standard.  There will be one more wipe, not many wants to grind slots and books twice.  Not sure how many wants to grind those slots in the first place.
20. When people leave, it is very hard to get them back.  So many radical changes dropping players all the time, "never" coming back.
21. Radical changes will make some people to leave and others like the game.  Going back and forth and every possible direction, doing the same mistakes twice.  Hard to let people to know that the reason why they quit has been fixed now, sorry they broke it again, oh they actually fixed it again, Welcome back?
22. Announce this is a HC PvP game.  Not saying it contains HC zero content PvE grind to have PvP.

[Eldberg]

I've been around since Sea Trials, with almost 3,000 hours in the game. The below is simply a summary that scratches the surface of the problems faced by Naval Action. I absolutely loved the game, and met some incredible people that I will continue to be friends with, and thank the development team for providing a platform to allow that.

1. The game focuses on community created content (wars, skirmishes, grudges etc), which is not entirely bad (see next point)... However after a while, with the limited community, the fights more often than not become stagnant and toxic. The content becomes a chore, which is too close a parallel to reality for most... After all, games are a temporary escape from the harshness of reality.

2. There is a lack of "PVE" missions / side missions. Additional missions need creating, and I'm not talking about the simple "go to X, kill stuff" or "go to X and get Y, deliver to Z". They need to be more complex, dynamic, with a (limited) story line that can progress. While this will not occupy all the vacant content space, it will contribute to giving casual players, which would seriously bulk the player population, a viable game to play not entirely focused on grinding and port battles.

3. Economy is for the most part player driven, however is not a true global market. Trade is restricted to ports, personal messages, or the forums. Link the port markets, essentially a port wide auction house, implement trade agreements for cross faction (country) trading, and add delivery times for cargo (possible players can pay more for quicker delivery, cargo split between several faster ships etc).

4. Game UI, which we have been told in the past is the last thing on the list of "things to do" is incredibly basic. It is the first thing a player sees when they start the game, and for many it is a big turn off. A dock view with your selected ship bobbing up and down, perhaps cranes loading goods / cannons etc would be simple to implement and great for visuals. Reorganise the UI and improve its aesthetic qualities, it doesn't have to be the iteration of the UI, but the visuals drastically need to be improved to encourage new players to continue playing.

5. The big sweeping back and forth changes to find the "goldielocks" balance is an atrocious development method and logically does not make sense, especially with such an asymmetric quality. With every broad sweep of the scales, players left, many never to return. In the past we have seen changes going from A, to Z, to B, to Y, to C, to X and so on... While I am somewhat out the loop I've been informed this is still the same as it ever was. It is an excruciatingly slow way to determine balance, even the triple taping method games of old used to use to establish a happy medium would be a better alternative.

6. This unfortunately moves me on to the last point, the public face of the development team. All too frequently players have been insulted and even punished for criticising the development team and its decisions, leaving a sour taste in many mouths. The exchanges can somewhat by understood, a small team of passionate devs have worked on this game for a long time and it is part of their lives, it is their child. The knee jerk reactions and harsh words defending the development team are akin to vehemently defend your child if it were under attack (but not necessarily justified).

With that said, I think that perhaps it is not fully recognised that the decisions, methods, and communication between the development team and the players IS part of the game. I personally have watched at least a dozen of players, who have been members of the community from the beginning, walk away from the game purely down to the relationship between the players and the development team. Regrettably, this does not appear to be isolated, and is far too evident in a sizeable quantity of the steam reviews; which in summary commend the game for its potential, however criticise the relationship between the development team and the players.

Overall:
A wonderful game with great potential once you get past the antique UI and purely player driven content. However, as time grows so does the commitment, what was once fun becomes a chore and the attachment to the game becomes all to similar to reality.

Edited December 31, 2017 by Eldberg

[NavalActionPlayer]

3 hours ago, Eldberg said:

I've been around since Sea Trials, with almost 3,000 hours in the game. The below is simply a summary that scratches the surface of the problems faced by Naval Action. I absolutely loved the game, and met some incredible people that I will continue to be friends with, and thank the development team for providing a platform to allow that.

1. The game focuses on community created content (wars, skirmishes, grudges etc), which is not entirely bad (see next point)... However after a while, with the limited community, the fights more often than not become stagnant and toxic. The content becomes a chore, which is too close a parallel to reality for most... After all, games are a temporary escape from the harshness of reality.

2. There is a lack of "PVE" missions / side missions. Additional missions need creating, and I'm not talking about the simple "go to X, kill stuff" or "go to X and get Y, deliver to Z". They need to be more complex, dynamic, with a (limited) story line that can progress. While this will not occupy all the vacant content space, it will contribute to giving casual players, which would seriously bulk the player population, a viable game to play not entirely focused on grinding and port battles.

3. Economy is for the most part player driven, however is not a true global market. Trade is restricted to ports, personal messages, or the forums. Link the port markets, essentially a port wide auction house, implement trade agreements for cross faction (country) trading, and add delivery times for cargo (possible players can pay more for quicker delivery, cargo split between several faster ships etc).

4. Game UI, which we have been told in the past is the last thing on the list of "things to do" is incredibly basic. It is the first thing a player sees when they start the game, and for many it is a big turn off. A dock view with your selected ship bobbing up and down, perhaps cranes loading goods / cannons etc would be simple to implement and great for visuals. Reorganise the UI and improve its aesthetic qualities, it doesn't have to be the iteration of the UI, but the visuals drastically need to be improved to encourage new players to continue playing.

5. The big sweeping back and forth changes to find the "goldielocks" balance is an atrocious development method and logically does not make sense, especially with such an asymmetric quality. With every broad sweep of the scales, players left, many never to return. In the past we have seen changes going from A, to Z, to B, to Y, to C, to X and so on... While I am somewhat out the loop I've been informed this is still the same as it ever was. It is an excruciatingly slow way to determine balance, even the triple taping method games of old used to use to establish a happy medium would be a better alternative.

6. This unfortunately moves me on to the last point, the public face of the development team. All too frequently players have been insulted and even punished for criticising the development team and its decisions, leaving a sour taste in many mouths. The exchanges can somewhat by understood, a small team of passionate devs have worked on this game for a long time and it is part of their lives, it is their child. The knee jerk reactions and harsh words defending the development team are akin to vehemently defend your child if it were under attack (but not necessarily justified).

With that said, I think that perhaps it is not fully recognised that the decisions, methods, and communication between the development team and the players IS part of the game. I personally have watched at least a dozen of players, who have been members of the community from the beginning, walk away from the game purely down to the relationship between the players and the development team. Regrettably, this does not appear to be isolated, and is far too evident in a sizeable quantity of the steam reviews; which in summary commend the game for its potential, however criticise the relationship between the development team and the players.

Overall:
A wonderful game with great potential once you get past the antique UI and purely player driven content. However, as time grows so does the commitment, what was once fun becomes a chore and the attachment to the game becomes all to similar to reality.

Like you, I have been around since Sea Trials and have a similar number of hours.....isn't it a shame that players who have provided such long term commitment and support to the game's development have been made to feel excluded from the game they helped (albeit on a small scale) create?

@admin and the rest of the devs....although you want, rightly, to make the game that you want to play.....don't forget you are not the only players. This is not a complaint about the sailing model (I'm up for the new model) or whether the mark system makes sense or not (I don't think it does)..... it is a plea for more content (adding new ships is not the content I mean), for more players, to allow more playing styles. You lose so much by not encouraging the solo player and by forcing everyone into a single style of play (be in a clan and make sure that all you do is aimed at PBs or don't bother playing the game).

Isn't it a shame that players, who have given years to the game, are considered unworthy of consideration by the devs? Isn't it a shame that feedback and advice is ignored (at best) or rejected out of hand? Isn't it a shame that loyal customers are treated as nuisances rather than partners? Isn't it a shame that a great game has failed to be delivered despite the ten's of thousands of man hours of development and testing by the devs and the players?

Look in the mirror devs and think hard about what you are doing to (y)our game.....are you totally innocent in all this? Are you? Really?

[jodgi]

11 hours ago, Eldberg said:

and even punished for criticising the development team and its decisions,

This has never happened.

[Marques]

On 31/8/2017 at 5:29 PM, admin said:

With all that said. I'm curious to know specific reasons why people in global quit. I know that a lot don't log in to the game but still check the forums.

So, why did players stop playing?

Why ???  it´s a joke ??....We have two years waiting for real changes.  We are a patient comunity, and we expected Devs could do a good work. However looks like the game is allways the same boring to play.  Thanks to DEVS anyway.  I hope some others games company could buy your company and the game improve, or reborn, with more ideas and modifications.

And please put a moon on the sky !! These is my answer...players stop playing because the game is lack of thousand details, and this make the game boring and plus boring everyday.  So please put the moon and thousand more of things people are asking and demanding to you during last 2 years. And crew on board as well !!

Edited January 1, 2018 by Marques

[Klava Pupkina]

12 minutes ago, Marques said:

У нас есть годы, ожидающие реальных изменений. Мы - терпеливое сообщество, и ожидаем, что Devs добьются хорошей работы. Однако похоже, что игра всегда такая же скучная, чтобы играть. Спасибо, в любом случае. Я надеюсь, что некоторые игры компании купит вашу компанию, и игра улучшится, или возродится, с большим количеством идей и модификаций.

И, пожалуйста, положите луну на небо! Это мой ответ ... игроки перестают играть, потому что в игре нет тысячи подробностей, и это делает игру скучной и скучной каждый день. Поэтому, пожалуйста, поставьте луну и тысячи вещей, которые люди просят и требуют от вас в течение последних двух лет.

Lol!

[Corona Lisa]

Put a moon in the game and players will come back xd

[jodgi]

1 hour ago, Jon Snow lets go said:

Put a moon in the game and players will come back xd

You know nothing, Jon Snow, that and a thousand other equally important things!

[Hethwill]

2 hours ago, Jon Snow lets go said:

Put a moon in the game and players will come back xd

Moon rules the tides... oh yes... please.

[Eyesore]

Tides come in and go out in 10 minutes time in battle-instance ... :-p

[Marques]

6 hours ago, Jon Snow lets go said:

Put a moon in the game and players will come back xd

EXactly....I see you know how to read and repeat my post. You are a perfect parrot. Parrot  please read the complete sentence """ put the moon and thousand more of things people are asking and demanding to you during last 2 years.""""

 

[jodgi]

@Marques, you have to expect some resistance when you literally ask for the moon. Lighten up and lay off the aggression.

[Landsman]

8 hours ago, Hethwill said:

Moon rules the tides... oh yes... please.

 

4 hours ago, Marques said:

put the moon

 

3 hours ago, jodgi said:

moon

Is there a reason they didn't put a moon into the game? That would make for some gorgeous sceneries at night...

[Marques]

The moon ... and tides, crews, lighthouses, whales, boats, fishing boats, cranes, shipyards, smoke, factories, piragüas, sharks, uniforms of time, galleys, Portuguese, women, bars, treasures, shipwrecks, convoys, maps lost, haciendas, livestock transportation, hurricanes, shipwrecks, armies on board, ships in port, flags, penols, bells, fog, music, voices, fire, catapults, wineries, beacons, boats, horses and other animals, barges, loads in port, merchandise, armies on land, volcanoes of the Caribbean, big and visible fish, dolphins jumping and sailing next to boats, fire in the open world, bombing of cities, walls, true caribbean forts that fire, tribes of Indians, blacks, slave ships, and everything working in good shape.

[jodgi]

Just know that they have the keenest focus on the ships and ship fighting. They never intended to do it all.

[Aquillas]

I left the game because playing it was boring me.

My two last actions were to carry my mine production from outposts to Fort-Royal, using an Hermione and two Indianmen. On my return way, I was ganked (again) by players who told me that they are searching balanced fights. Balanced fight means 3 Wasa shits plus a Connie to attack an Hermione and two traders (LOL). And the come back of PvP marks convinced me that these “balanced” fight will be the only remaining one. I did not fight this last battle (why giving fun to gankers?). I saved one of the Indians, the other one being captured, then I surrendered the Hermione. As a consequence, the saved Indian came back in the fight. I was so bored that I just left the game without trying to save her again…

The day after, I tried to participate to another PB (one empty more, Americans did not come). During the pseudo fight, the clan war again restarted between players and I rage quit the game. I never came back in.

So the reasons that pushed me out are:

• RvR (too much of that, ad nauseam)
• PvP (gank only)
• Wasa
•  PvP marks (encouragement to gank) and Victory Marks (even worst, giving disadvantages to weak nations...)
• Clans.

Edited January 9, 2018 by Eleazar de Damas

[Jean Ribault]

56 minutes ago, Eleazar de Damas said:

...ganked (again) by players who told me that they are searching balanced fights...

 

Sad, but unfortunately you will never see those lia....s, uh, I mean: players admit it.  Sorry to see you go.  Are people really still arguing to eliminate reinforcement zones?  Wow.

[maturin]

2 hours ago, Eleazar de Damas said:

I left the game because playing it was boring me.

My two last actions were to carry my mine production from outposts to Fort-Royal, using an Hermione and two Indianmen. On my return way, I was ganked (again) by players who told me that they are searching balanced fights. Balanced fight means 3 Wasa shits plus a Connie to attack an Hermione and two traders (LOL). And the come back of PvP marks convinced me that these “balanced” fight will be the only remaining one. I did not fight this last battle (why giving fun to gankers?). I saved one of the Indians, the other one being captured, then I surrendered the Hermione. As a consequence, the saved Indian came back in the fight. I was so bored that I just left the game without trying to save her again…

The day after, I tried to participate to another PB (one empty more, Americans did not come). During the pseudo fight, the clan war again restarted between players and I rage quit the game. I never came back in.

So the reasons that pushed me out are:

• RvR (too much of that, ad nauseam)
• PvP (gank only)
• Wasa
•  PvP marks (encouragement to gank) and Victory Marks (even worst, giving disadvantages to weak nations...)
• Clans.

Seriously?

You don't sail with two indiamen in tow and expect a fair fight. A prize like that is worth sallying half a battlefleet. And saving either of the transports was a victory in itself.

[IndianaGeoff]

5 hours ago, Eleazar de Damas said:

I left the game because playing it was boring me.

 

Same with me.  Haven't really been having fun for a while.  But I continued on under the assumption I was building for release some day in the future and it would be fun.  But I no longer consider that investment to be worth it.
I'll check in every now and then to blow up some AI ships or talk to the buds.  I check the forums in case there are new developments.   But I don't consider any time investment to be worth it.  If it goes to real beta or release, I might jump back in if populations go up dramatically.  If the rules improve I might play a bit more.  But I am considering the time I have spent vs the dollars spent to be worth it... but not going forward.

Starting up in a new, active reasonably well developed MMORPG just highlighted how sad the game is now.  I'm having fun in that game without the feeling I am just there to be a target or being forced to play one way or be irrelevant.

As I said before, I doubt Naval Action will go to release.  Legends will probably move forward, but I am not interested in it.  If Legends goes forward I might play some, but the grind and lack of solid team play turns that game off for me.  If I want that type of play, there is World or Warships.

[Tindahbawx]

I left about a year and a half ago (July 2016) because I simply didn't have the time to play it, then when I did log in the clan was requesting that everyone turned up to port battles, etc, then you'd spend 40 minutes getting to where you were needed only to not be able to get into the PB (either it was full or it had already begun, or whatever reason). So you'd sit about and screen for them, usually against a larger force.

I just burnt out on that so quickly, stopped playing.

I'm back now, but theres no way I'm getting involved in a clan that tries to micromanage its members again, nor do I think I'll bother with much of that port battle lark, its just too downright time consuming for the fun you get out of it. The benefits of being in a larger clan in terms of access to ship builders and all were great, sure, but I'm not convinced that it was for me.

Anyway, I'm pirate and I've a whole load of redeemables sitting on my account, so I reckon I'll just re-learn the game first, then just focus on OW PvP, see how I get on. Pirates sure dont seem to be doing as well on the OW map these days, that's for sure. Theres a whole bunch of new mechanics I'm trying to get my head around.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Tindahbawx

[OneEyedSnake]

On 12/31/2017 at 9:33 PM, jodgi said:

This has never happened.

Several other people swear in their posts, even the admin has. When I do it against one of their decisions. Off to gulag with me. I was given a warning and told the consequences if I do it again. Because this is a “respectful mature community.” Is that not the biggest joke you have heard? Anyway. It’s the small things mate. Just because you are pocket buddies with the devs and don’t see over those britches, doesn’t mean the rest of us are in the same spot as you. I know several people that have quit because of the admin or the moderator team especially, on this forum berating them, threatening them hypocritically, as s/he did to me. I have thick skin and don’t care so much, but it is a massive problem when you have a small playerbase. So don’t deny it’s existence because you personally haven’t seen it. I think several Jews denied the Nazis were genociding them when the Holocaust first started. Sure didn’t make it any less real did it?

[jodgi]

Swear. Swear at someone. Swear at something. Saying something is stupid. Saying someone is stupid. You get the point...

Know the difference, avoid unwanted attention.

[H2O]

52 minutes ago, jodgi said:

Swear. Swear at someone. Swear at something. Saying something is stupid. Saying someone is stupid. You get the point...

Know the difference, avoid unwanted attention.

Too late for that, maybe in next life. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by H2O