Another Great New Player Game Review.

[George Washington]

I really like this one because it shows us in what deep mess we are right now. This is negative review. Please take a look and thanks to this player for all the details. I will underline some important parts.

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If you like playing Elite Dangerous only to do the Hutton run back and forth for days then you'll love this game.

You get a basic ship for free and after some trail and error I was able to find some basic combat missions to get started. I followed the instructions and spent about 2 days chasing NPC ships, all of which completely overpowered me, trying to sink them because this is what I had been told to do.
What you're actully supposed to do is sail to the area and then click on the double sword icon that appears above the ocean and you'll be taken to a battle.
Alright fine, my bad,

The combat is mercilessly tedius. Very well done in the terms of what naval combat of this age should be like but did you know there is a button on your keyboard that completly stops your ship and gives no indication it's been pressed or activated. I didn't. 
My ship slammed to a hault and the other player just swam round me. I thought this was a bug and judging by the reviews of this game many other people thught the same.
Well I found that key. It's 'T' btw incase you ever find yourself in that situation.
Turns out thats not the only thing which cases your ship to stop suddenly and refuse to sail. Turning into the wind too slow, hitting the shallows or even getting your crew "shocked" by too much cannon fire will all cause your ship to flounder around like it was that one kid eating glue in the sand pit.
I wouldn't mind since these are actual situations a good captian should be aware of and would have to deal with, my problem is there is NO WAY OUT of these situations. Hit one and that's it, game over, you just sit back and watch the other guy park behind you and sink your ship only ti will take him about 10 minutes so you have time to re-evaluate your life priorities.

So what about boarding actions you ask? The most exciting part of any 18th century Naval battle. You'd expect, like other games that have done this kind of thing before, games to Devs talk about this game being the spiritual successor to, that it would change to a fps style, sword and pistol action and you run around the deck of your ship furiously fighting off enemy boarders?
No
Boarding action turns everything into a Top Trumps style card game. Literally.
I wish I was making that up. 

So after about a day of this, slogging through what is supposed to be a fun experience, I finally have enough money to buy a new ship. Finally out of the noob ship and into something good. And after a day of watching my♥♥♥♥♥get handed to me by ♥♥♥♥♥♥ little trader ships I'm looking forward to finally bringing the pain.
I buy a good 6th rate ship, an all rounder, good at combat and useful for doing trade runs, fine.

Click to sail and it turns out I cannot leave port with cannons, fine, I buy 24 of the basic cannons. Can't attach these to the ship.
Right, ok what am I doing wrong?
I notice a number next to my ships gun port, it says 9. Ok I guess I can only mount class 9 cannons there. I buy one, won't fit.
After a lot of trail and error I find out that you can't just fit one cannon onto your ship, if your ship says it needs 24 cannons you need to buy EXACTLY 24 cannons and put them in that slot, otherwise it'll derp.
Ok lesson learned.
Still can't leave port.
ok what now, now I need a crew. I have 40 crew, turns out I need 60.
I hire an extra 20, the game puts all my crew back on the dock, I transfer them to my ship, it only puts 50 on the ship. Still can't leave port.
Turns out becuase I spent so much money ♥♥♥♥ing about with cannons I can't hire those last extra 10 crew members my ship needs.
I can't take a loan from a bank or anything, I can't sail without them and I have nothing to sell.
Ok guess I'll go back to the basic ship and do another mission then right?
No, first I have to sell this ship I've spent all my money on and taken so long to equip.
At least I can get back some of the money I've spent right?
Wrong.
I sell back each 4,000 coin cannon for 1 coin each and my 46k ship will only sell for 14k, plus I now have to pay tax on that.
So going back to my basic ship will put me right back to square one, where I started, a day ago.
All becuase I could afford 505 gold for 10 extra crew members.

This may sound nit picky but this scenario that I faced is basically this game in a nutshell. It's frustratingly complicated in area's that it shouldn't be complicated in, user unfreindly and the community, when they can be convinced to stop discussing World War Two, range from incredibly helpful to smug "work it out yourself!" elitists. 

I've wanted a game like this for a long time and I'm not going to give up on it. But I have to admit I am not having fun. This game is not fun, it's frustrating and if you're prone to rage quitting you may want to buy a cheap replacement keyboard before sitting down with Naval Action.
I can't honestly recommend this game to anyone unless you have a serious boner for 18th century naval warfare.

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Funny thing is , Developers introducing new mechanics, talking about new damage system, but completely ignore foundation. This guy is 100% right, this game is unplayable for new guys. Sorry. but it's true. Even section with selling , buying guns is so confusing that I don't think any tutorial will be able to explain that. (Bad design). In the end, this project seems to be a failure and I don't think there is time left to fix it. Next year will have so many new games that everyone will forget about NA. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[Liq]

We've all been noobs when we started, yet we still kept playing because the overall experience after you get the hang of it is great. Tutorial and UI should help this issue (player retention)

Btw. Joining a clan to get to know the game first is always recommended. After some time you'll figure out the base mechanics and will also see whether or not you prefer playing solo

[George Washington]

13 minutes ago, Liq said:

We've all been noobs when we started, yet we still kept playing because the overall experience after you get the hang of it is great. Tutorial and UI should help this issue (player retention)

Btw. Joining a clan to get to know the game first is always recommended. After some time you'll figure out the base mechanics and will also see whether or not you prefer playing solo

I don't think your point of view will change anything here the guy quit and NA has +1 bad review. Naval Action can't keep new players in the game because of bad game design. I think Developers decided to build this project from the wrong starting point. 

You remind me of one guy from potbs, he always said the same thing and when devs did some bad changes and game died he was still talking about the same thing, but he could not find any more fights and pvp he just sat there outside ports all day doing nothing and talking about same thing over and over again. 

Honestly I was expecting at least 500 players in Legends and we ended up with under 100 and when I play 40. I don;t think there is anything left to defend here, let's face the truth. NA US server is dead as well with total numbers from 3 servers reaching 670 players. 

Really sad. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[George Washington]

1 minute ago, jonnysweden said:

Someone switches off the engine, by pressing something;  cannot move; files the complaint to Toyota that it was not clearly explained.
Someone then moves into the wall (wind); cannot move; files the complaint to Toyota again that wall was not clearly explained.
 

Then your driver instructor who game you licence is a complete idiot. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[jodgi]

6 minutes ago, George Washington said:

but completely ignore foundation.

They are almost done with tutorial and they've mentioned that they're working on it many times. Your post would've been funny or edgy if they didn't work or planned for a tutorial.

10 minutes ago, George Washington said:

This guy is 100% right

Besides my love for "100%", you are actually 100% right about him being 100% right about who this game is for:

12 minutes ago, George Washington said:

I can't honestly recommend this game to anyone unless you have a serious boner for 18th century naval warfare.

I remember the first interviews of Game-Labs where they said "you'll get lost and the game won't hold your hand in any aspect" (paraphrased).

If you want to do satire you can steal this point^

8 minutes ago, George Washington said:

I was expecting at least 500 players in Legends and we ended up with under 100 and when I play 40.

We haven't ended up with anything yet. The game isn't out. It isn't free to play yet as you have to buy NA OW to play Legends.

There are enough things right here and now to get our panties in a bunch over.

"I'm super mad because in 17 months when I finish university there is a possibility that an oil crisis will strike that could cause cool-down in investing which might lead to very few job offers... SUPER MAD!"

[George Washington]

6 minutes ago, jodgi said:

They are almost done with tutorial and they've mentioned that they're working on it many times. Your post would've been funny or edgy if they didn't work or planned for a tutorial.

Besides my love for "100%", you are actually 100% right about him being 100% right about who this game is for:

I remember the first interviews of Game-Labs where they said "you'll get lost and the game won't hold your hand in any aspect" (paraphrased).

If you want to do satire you can steal this point^

We haven't ended up with anything yet. The game isn't out. It isn't free to play yet as you have to buy NA OW to play Legends.

There are enough things right here and now to get our panties in a bunch over.

"I'm super mad because in 17 months when I finish university there is a possibility that an oil crisis will strike that could cause cool-down in investing which might lead to very few job offers... SUPER MAD!"

I understand your feelings here, we all do. Nothing you are saying here will change or fix the reality. Guy took his time and wrote a nice review, you on the opposite hand start to shi* all over him because we show the truth. Veterans defended these forums since I remember, but it didn't help population grow. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[jodgi]

Just now, George Washington said:

Guy took his time and wrote a nice review, you on the opposite hand start to shi* all over him because we show the truth.

Umm. The review was entertaining and explains that NA is a hard game. I have no beef with him. I wasn't being ironic.

Maybe I took a little dump on you because I was not amused with you hijacking the whole thing to do a balls-to-the-wall crisis maxing. You know the meme: "We must overreact, NOW!"

[George Washington]

2 minutes ago, jodgi said:

Umm. The review was entertaining and explains that NA is a hard game. I have no beef with him. I wasn't being ironic.

Maybe I took a little dump on you because I was not amused with you hijacking the whole thing to do a balls-to-the-wall crisis maxing. You know the meme: "We must overreact, NOW!"

Overreacting? I honestly trying to help Developers realize the problems. If you think it's hijacking you need to hop out of your tight world and explore a little. 

From this post you can pull so much information and plug all those holes that are still causing massive played loss and maybe then focus on advanced sailing, wind, sinking and damage models. Just my opinion. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[z4ys]

1 minute ago, George Washington said:

Overreacting? I honestly trying to help Developers realize the problems. If you think it's hijacking you need to hop out of your tight world and explore a little. 

they are working on UI and tutorial i am certain they are aware.

[George Washington]

4 minutes ago, z4ys said:

they are working on UI and tutorial i am certain they are aware.

Devs always ask for player reviews, here is one that contains 99% of new player problems that hasn't been fixed. I hope it helps. I will personally compare this with IU tutorial patch and see if any of these holes were sealed. Then I can clearly tell where this project will end up. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[jodgi]

1 minute ago, George Washington said:

I honestly trying to help Developers realize the problems.

Oh, ok.

The devs don't read the tavern for serious-face game stuff.

6 minutes ago, George Washington said:

Then I can clearly tell where this project will end up. 

Oh, my! Try to keep your toes on the ground at least, will ya?

[George Washington]

5 minutes ago, jodgi said:

Oh, ok.

The devs don't read the tavern for serious-face game stuff.

Oh, my! Try to keep your toes on the ground at least, will ya?

See you on the empty oceans. Oh I forgot you play Legends and kill noobs. 

[jodgi]

pls... no bulli, george

[George Washington]

Years of Wars have their scars.  You guys need to grow up, complete ganking here. 2 vs 1. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[Corona Lisa]

Hi

 

[George Washington]

18 minutes ago, Jon Snow lets go said:

Hi

 

And? What other games you play... let me check that steam. 3 vs1 because I started talking about new player review. Show this forum your true face, continue. Trolling me won't help new guys. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[TheHaney]

1 hour ago, George Washington said:

If you like playing Elite Dangerous only to do the Hutton run back and forth for days then you'll love this game.

This spoke to me because I literally just started playing E:D again last night and I spent an hour doing exactly that before closing it back down and drinking whiskey.

[George Washington]

9 minutes ago, Peter Goldman said:

Rust, Conan, Hurtworld are games that have seal clubbing, ganking, crafting, trading, etc. and somehow thousands of players love these games. OW sandbox games are not designed for fair player-player encounters and interaction.

I am not sure how EVE works, but I heard ganking and seal clubbing is a thing there too.

They all have content and can't be compared to NA.

P.S. EvE is free to play after December 5 patch, come try it out. Almost everything is unlocked for free accounts. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[TheHaney]

50 minutes ago, Peter Goldman said:

Graphics are not my cup of tea (EVE).

The nice thing about EVE, though, is that you spend most of your time with the screen taken up by drab, data-rich spreadsheets and UI boxes, so it's surprisingly comfortable coming from Naval Action to that.

[Sir Texas Sir]

1 hour ago, George Washington said:

They all have content and can't be compared to NA.

P.S. EvE is free to play after December 5 patch, come try it out. Almost everything is unlocked for free accounts. 

I been wanting to ask this for a very long time...>>WHO ARE YOU ON GLOBAL<<   Cause there is no player I have ever fought named George Washington so that means your not using your in game name, but you seem to talk a lot and play a lot on there.  I mean I get if you don't want to tell folks, but hay man I have 4 pirates and I only let folks know my main two.  Some guy actually said I wasn't in a port battle that I called.  Yep Texas and Dead wasn't in there, but that didn't mean my other two Pirates wasn't in there.  One is still leveling up so I took him to the shallow water port battle (bought him over the summer when the game was on sale).  I just wondering who you might be with all this salty you been having lately.  Do like I have, go take a break. I been playing other games for the most part and only pop into NA to take care of clan things (since I'm one of the Clan Diplomats).   I'll be honest I'm burned out in the game and with them removing pirate content and not adding things other than some great ship changes that was needed I would prefer to take a month or so off and not be so salty.

[Tac]

2 hours ago, TheHaney said:

This spoke to me because I literally just started playing E:D again last night and I spent an hour doing exactly that before closing it back down and drinking whiskey.

Trust me when i tell you your doing it wrong,drink first and login second.

[George Washington]

32 minutes ago, Sir Texas Sir said:

I been wanting to ask this for a very long time...>>WHO ARE YOU ON GLOBAL<<   Cause there is no player I have ever fought named George Washington so that means your not using your in game name, but you seem to talk a lot and play a lot on there.  I mean I get if you don't want to tell folks, but hay man I have 4 pirates and I only let folks know my main two.  Some guy actually said I wasn't in a port battle that I called.  Yep Texas and Dead wasn't in there, but that didn't mean my other two Pirates wasn't in there.  One is still leveling up so I took him to the shallow water port battle (bought him over the summer when the game was on sale).  I just wondering who you might be with all this salty you been having lately.  Do like I have, go take a break. I been playing other games for the most part and only pop into NA to take care of clan things (since I'm one of the Clan Diplomats).   I'll be honest I'm burned out in the game and with them removing pirate content and not adding things other than some great ship changes that was needed I would prefer to take a month or so off and not be so salty.

I am the shadow who is standing outside your window at night when you are deeply asleep. 

P.S. Salt has nothing to do with fishing. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by George Washington

[Landsman]

Edited December 1, 2017 by Landsman

[Aster]

I hope the tutorial is decent. Also perhaps set a small area of the world as a new player zone. Like the old rookie zone maybe south of panama in the pacific. Put a few starting towns down there, close if off so they can sail around and do some missions unmolested while the learn the basics. 

[Jarlath Morrow]

George Washington is right that we need a tutorial. But we all knew that already. I'm not sure what use it is harassing other players on the forum, but that seems to be his specialty.

As I recall he didn't know you could craft the Pirate Frigate, so I'm not sure he has closely tracked the state of the game over the last year. Perhaps a grain of salt is appropriate here.

Tutorial can't come soon enough. Right now giving advice is a little a la carte. It will be good to say "Try this tutorial again if you are getting stuck in the wind" or "Try that tutorial if you need help with gunnery."

15 minutes ago, Aster said:

I hope the tutorial is decent. Also perhaps set a small area of the world as a new player zone. Like the old rookie zone maybe south of panama in the pacific. Put a few starting towns down there, close if off so they can sail around and do some missions unmolested while the learn the basics. 

I like this idea, newbie zone where they can congregate.