Patch 23: Updated Tutorial, Special ship and new UI teaser.

[asuspiciousbear]

15 minutes ago, Wyy said:

from wiki - Frigates are often the vessel of choice in historical naval novels due to their relative freedom compared to ships of the line (kept for fleet actions

naturally the books would write about the more interesting life of a frigate, thats not to say they were perfered. However, massive first rates were slowly replaced by heavier frigates later in the time period.

[z4ys]

For everyone who has problems with the Final Exam. A little inspiration...

[Sir Texas Sir]

8 hours ago, admin said:

Lets repeat this again: upgrades are not cheats

you can install marines
you can install boarding mods or reload mods
you can install arc mods 
you can hit targets from afar (if you are skilled and use accuracy mods.
number of upgrades depends on rank of the bot (not the ship)

If you call upgrades cheats why no-one is reporting you to tribunal for using allowed upgrades?
Also do me a favor go do a 40 man heroic raid in WOW and report back please - i just need your opinion if blizzard is doing fine by buffing NPCs based on rank 

 

Acutally no we can't install Marines, we can't install boading mods or reload mods, we can' install arc mods....IN YOU MISSIONS.  Let us bring in our own cerberus set up how we want it to the final exam and than we will stop bitching.  Let us use our skils/Perks and it will be fair.  I have no problem living through an epic event but I feel this final exam is even harder than those and they are meant for top teir players while this mission is meant for new players leveling up.

Again those 40 man raids can gear up what they want, just like when we do Epic events we gear up how we want.  Make it so the final exam you can bring your own ship and gear up how you want.

[Sir Texas Sir]

1 hour ago, z4ys said:

For everyone who has problems with the Final Exam. A little inspiration...

Thanks cause I don't know why I'm having so much trouble with them.  The other one I only had to try a few times and I had them down easy, but these I'm haveing hell of a time beating.  I'll try this in the morning when I get home from work.  Just frustrating when you work on somethign over and over and it's suppose to be for mid level folks and your not mid level and it's kicking your butt....lol

[Hethwill]

From our small group everyone passed the Final Exam in different ways. No one did the same. So there's room for a lot of outcomes. As Pada said - "It just shows how dynamic and complex the combat in NA is."

Luck plays a part, as it usually does in warfare, but definitely positioning and aggressiveness was important.

My luck was when I did the second crew shock on the 1st Cerb he tacked so my boarding position was on the far side. The other Cerb couldn't hit me during the boarding.

Second Cerb was tricky at a point. Decided to extend to repair but he kept doing damage, so I decided it was better to stay on the wake while repairing so he couldn't bring the broadside into play. Eventually was just a matter of keeping above 100m and controling wind. A couple crew shocks and board.

It is not different from facing OW AI. Only difference is that we cannot run away in the Exam.

[Belamy]

Well, unbelievable, the tutorial and exams are not there to help new players, how in the hell is a average player let alone a new player to get through the Endurance exam, you finally sink the ship and another one magically appears on your port side firing at you. You haven't got a hope in hell of defeating him unless you are an experienced PVP'er so you are back to square one. Well the exams will only deter new players and average players who will get completely fed up with this bullshit Tutorial exams that they will leave the game. You are not helping them, they would get better information from watching U-Tube videos than to attempt this crap. Well done Devs you have done it again, one step forward three steps back.

[adriancairns]

Again the devs have tried to improve the game, but as usual have failed . this would be too hard for new players and only deter them from the game . if I had bought this game and had to do this tutorial and exam, would have asked steam for a refund ????  .... and the game is only getting slower to play , when I started 2 yrs ago the game was fast moving . a lot of players don't have hrs to sail or spend 10 mins to a mission . and remember this game is probably made up of 70% traders who like port battles and a bit of PVP the rest is PVP and there alts. you seem to listen to the vocal minority and there alts . not the silent majority, this is my first post ,

[ObiQuiet]

I expect Admin can analyse game hours vs. exam pass %.   That would be useful measure of difficulty, instead of our sniping about our personal situations and ancedotes.

For the qualitative side, I thought the tutorials were nicely done on the whole!   

Edit: Admin does look at the results (from the Tutorial 2 Feedback thread):

Quote

Data shows that majority of experienced players finish the final exam on the first try.

 

Edited April 20, 2018 by ObiQuiet

[Palatinose]

2 hours ago, Belamy said:

Well, unbelievable, the tutorial and exams are not there to help new players, how in the hell is a average player let alone a new player to get through the Endurance exam, you finally sink the ship and another one magically appears on your port side firing at you. You haven't got a hope in hell of defeating him unless you are an experienced PVP'er so you are back to square one. Well the exams will only deter new players and average players who will get completely fed up with this bullshit Tutorial exams that they will leave the game. You are not helping them, they would get better information from watching U-Tube videos than to attempt this crap. Well done Devs you have done it again, one step forward three steps back.

On the contrary. I find it very pleasing that the newborns will now somehow straight away be challenged. Very challenged actually. Why do you wish to complete the tut in one or two attempts? Get creative and try again and again. If you still don't pass you can still start playing the game. Or not. But finally a step against new ones becoming rear admiral without facing any challenge in PvE. Single shot is a thing people do not use a lot in PvE until now. Perhaps they will consider it an option now. And imo it still doesn't have to do something with being a pvp'er as you stated. I struggled a lot because I just don't fight AI usually. 

[RaimundoJoe]

I agree that the tutorial its challenging and that its a good thing. Given the nature of the game. I allso belive that we need a rank wipe. This way, with one strike, the rated ships will no longer be for everyone. Only those who complete the tutorial will have this ability.

Maybe this is the right way!

[Tomasso il Fortunato]

I'm agreed with global-wipe.

[Hullabaloo]

 

2 minutes ago, rediii said:

A wipe doesnt fix anything as long as the eco is flawed.

And a xp wipe is solving even less. XP is only a missiongrind anyway.

Exactly, its pointless and I heard they are not allowed anyway, it is against steam rules somehow.

[admin]

26 minutes ago, Hullabaloo said:

 

Exactly, its pointless and I heard they are not allowed anyway, it is against steam rules somehow.

Not true. Majority of MMOs wipe everything during testing and even during early access. Steam does not care - we care and save xp for players.

[admin]

3 hours ago, adriancairns said:

, when I started 2 yrs ago the game was fast moving . a lot of players don't have hrs to sail or spend 10 mins to a mission . 

This is nostalgia that clouds your memories (and 2500 players online). 
open world speed was 50% slower then. Teleports were on 8 hour cool down. And high level missions were much further. 
Ensign missions are still 3-5 min away from your port

[Tomasso il Fortunato]

We should return at 50% slower speed in OW . It will increase the game realism .

[RaimundoJoe]

The way i understand one can no longer be "rear admiral" unleas u complete the tutorial!

If that is the case xp wipe is a must!

[Edmund Blackadder]

2 hours ago, Palatinose said:

On the contrary. I find it very pleasing that the newborns will now somehow straight away be challenged. Very challenged actually. Why do you wish to complete the tut in one or two attempts? Get creative and try again and again. If you still don't pass you can still start playing the game. Or not. But finally a step against new ones becoming rear admiral without facing any challenge in PvE. Single shot is a thing people do not use a lot in PvE until now. Perhaps they will consider it an option now. And imo it still doesn't have to do something with being a pvp'er as you stated. I struggled a lot because I just don't fight AI usually. 

Well, quite frankly: If I buy a game and can’t even finish the Tutorial (meant for explaining the game, not challangeing) then I wouldn’t even bother to play the rest because I would assume it only gets harder afterwards.

It‘s nice to be a bit challengeing and not that easy but a tutorial just isn’t meant to accomplish that. And it‘d not like the Tutorial is THE absolute experience either compared to other games.

Don’t  get me wrong, I really enjoy the game, I just don’t think the Challenge (for my understanding a Tutorial would be make this and that and you accomplish this and not some „Exams“ I don’t even know what’s coming without any background) is the right motivator for newbies and casual players.

[admin]

46 minutes ago, Wraith said:

IMO we should increase OW speed by a further 50% in order to increase rates of all player interactions, and make the game more fun. An empty OW is fun and pretty for the first 10 hours, then you realize there's less and less to do other than stare at cookie cutter coastlines and ports, or open ocean for the next thousand hours.

You should try to see 2 moves ahead with this proposal. 

Increasing speed by 50% more WILL NOT increase player interactions. It will actually reduce it. 
Here is how
Point A is safe
Point B is safe
Time from point A to point B is risky

If you reduce time from point A to point B the number of interactions will decrease.
People prefer to fight on their terms and will try to minimize time when they are at risk. Increasing speed was probably one of the reasons why it was more fun in the start. You had more targets on the way from Point A to Point B because they were at sea longer.

You can get to ANY point on the map now in just 15 mins (because of Teleports). Increasing speed will make some areas on the map completely safe. (For example virgin islands area or antilles)

 

What probably needs to be done is this
Cut max speed, But reduce wind penalties on the travel map = increase the min speed.

[Nemockalb]

8 minutes ago, admin said:

Point A is safe
Point B is safe
Time from point A to point B is risky

OW is not riky at all.
1. Nobody camp routes because very low traffic.
2. Very few players trade as it very long. Most traders sail afk.
 

more speed == more interest to trade == more traffic
some ports are camped already now, will be camped stronger because of traffic
more traffic == more pvp
imho

[huliotkd]

can't say if it's a bug or not:

yesterday in 2 of my 6 battle i was tagged and managed to put out of circle my attaker...timer ended also, but enemy reduced distance from me (after cirlce disappeared and timer ended) and battle starded anyway.

enemy stayed out of my circle for about 10 seconds so can't say was lag, never had problem with lag.

 

anyway, remove chains 😀...or go back to previous damages cause in my 6 battle i lost 4 ships killing only 3 cause is impossible to escape.

 

battle starts, chain once, enemy rep, chain again, enemy stopped...start balls, win. impossible to escape even with an fast endy, no tactic no gameplay only rinse and repeat for each battle.

4 battle ended with me killed cause battle started 1 VS 1 then a second one joined and no way for my sails and reps

[Chug]

51 minutes ago, admin said:

You can get to ANY point on the map now in just 15 mins (because of Teleports).

 This is not a "realistic" statement. It's like saying "world peace is possible if everyone just agreed" In theory yes it works but in reality, it's not going to happen.

How do you get to setup an outpost on one side of the map when you start on the other? you sail for 2 hours, most of it afk.

Even when/if you wanted to setup your 8 outposts in such a way to cover most of the map the ship you sail will have a huge effect on your travel times.

Anyone who's played NA will tell you that getting from point A to point B is almost never a 15 min trip to get anywhere you need to be.

1 hour ago, admin said:

Increasing speed was probably one of the reasons why it was more fun in the start. You had more targets on the way from Point A to Point B because they were at sea longer.

Think it would be more accurate to say "you had more targets on the way from Point A to Point B because there were more players playing the game in the start." Had nothing to do with travel time.

 

Dont get me wrong Admin, sometimes your spot on in what you saying but other times... not so much  (as can we all)

 

Also please take a look at mission cancellations. Possibly separate hostility missions to have their own 3 "drop" limit from the combat/fleet 3 "drop" limit. Or allow us to be able take 3 combat/fleet and 2-3 hostility at same time. Being unable to take hostility missions, if you've dropped 3 combat/fleet missions already without having to sail out to these missions and then fail/complete it to be able to pick a hostility is not good.

[Thonys]

@admin feedback :

in the lesson demasting 

removed to feedback2

 

Edited April 20, 2018 by Thonys

[Lovec1990]

we are getting a update asgain?

[Captain Noodles]

15 hours ago, Archaos said:

The problem with the tutorial final exam is that it contradicts what was said regarding the tutorial. We were told that new players would easily be able to get into the action once they complete the tutorial as they would be M&C and have a frigate. But the problem is that even experienced players are struggling to complete the final exam. You may have had people who have never played before beating it after a few tries (I am sure you gave them some advice and hints and tricks on how to do it), but many will struggle and if this is the first thing they encounter many will give up.

Imagine a new player who has just bought the game, knows nothing about NA and knows no one in game. They start up do the tutorial and then hit the final exam, they have no one to ask advice, they try it a few times and get wrecked each time, they are still within the Steam refund period, what do you think they will do? and theres no point advising people to check out videos on youtube on how to fight as most people do not do that when they first start a game, they do that when they want to improve their gameplay.

This final exam would be better suited for advanced play rather than at the end of a beginners tutorial, that way you could introduce the players to some advanced tactics and give hints on how to deal with situations where they are outgunned and outnumbered.

Totally agree with Archaos here. Afterall ask yourself what is suppose to be the point of a 'Tutorial'. If you want to give the playerbase a hard challenge with a niche reward, than do so. But not in a tutorial thats suppose to be a introduction to new players, instead it's a scarecrow.

[Archaos]

5 hours ago, Palatinose said:

On the contrary. I find it very pleasing that the newborns will now somehow straight away be challenged. Very challenged actually. Why do you wish to complete the tut in one or two attempts? Get creative and try again and again. If you still don't pass you can still start playing the game. Or not. But finally a step against new ones becoming rear admiral without facing any challenge in PvE. Single shot is a thing people do not use a lot in PvE until now. Perhaps they will consider it an option now. And imo it still doesn't have to do something with being a pvp'er as you stated. I struggled a lot because I just don't fight AI usually. 

Its not so much that it is a challenge, its the fact that most new players will not even get close to defeating the final exam without taking advice on the tactics to use. It is okay saying use what you have learnt in the tutorials but the tutorials do not teach you the tricks than need to be used to pass the exam. For example if you decide to board the tutorial teaches you to take the side armor down to 30% then switch to grape and reduce the crew before boarding. If you tried this in the final exam you would be sunk before you got his armor down to 30%. The trick with boarding is to just go in straight away while you still have even crew numbers, instantly hit attack and then switch to deck guns at the last second into his defend and repeat this every time deck guns are available. This sort of tactic is not taught in the boarding tutorial, if you followed what they say in the tutorial by using deck guns, then musket then attack without using the last second switch tactic you will lose the boarding as the AI will have the perfect counter each time and with his mods will win easily.

There is a point where new players will just give up especially as they can still get a refund on the game by the time they hit the tutorial final exam. The final exam challenge should not be at the end of the tutorial it should be for more advanced players who have had time to learn some of the tips and tricks. There is no indication to new players that they can skip the final exam and just go out and play the game, most will think they have to complete the tutorial especially as when you start the "sail" button is replaced by "tutorial", this confused some regular players after the patch as they thought they had to do the tutorial before they could resume playing.