Practice Rooms

[Capn Rocko]

One of the biggest features missing in this game (IMO) is a duel room/practice room. We had duel rooms, tournament, and fleet practice in the past and they have all have been taken out of the game with no announcement of return. I am proposing that a more streamlined version should be implemented before the game is released.

I envision a  "Practice" button in the port UI that takes you to a practice arena. The arena could work in a lobby system where one player sets up a practice room and invites other players (same nation or enemy) to join. If the player only wants to practice against AI, there should be an option to select which AI ships to practice against and set their difficulty. These rooms should not have size restrictions like in the past; I think that 1v1 up to 25v25 should be available. With this being a practice room, there would be ZERO rewards and ships would not be destroyed. 

Why do this?

• Great tool for new players (aiming practice, practicing manual sailing, experimenting with new strategies) 
• Instant access to test new ship builds before setting sail in OW
• Provides a safe place to train clan mates and practice with friends (currently you have to perform green vs. green to do this) 
• Port battle/fleet practice. Spawn 15 difficult first rates and practice with your clan
• Sometimes you just want to log on for 5 minutes and shoot something

Cons?

• Takes players off the OW - this is very true and I suspect this is why something like this hasn't been fully implemented in the past. But I think this would make the game appeal to a wider audience (causal players). It would keep more players interested in the game longer and (most importantly) it would allow players to "git gud" easier and faster. Since I am proposing that there be no rewards, this would still require players to sail in OW to progress through the game, afford new ships, and participate in RvR. 

Many PvP-only games (such as Dota 2) have practice rooms and I don't think Naval Action should be an exception. The game has a lot of depth and the learning curve is very high. Yes, there is a tutorial but it is not enough. Players learn best from other players and there should be an option to easily practice with each other without being forced to fight green vs. green. 

Cheers o7

[Feinics]

I second this idea I remember something similar in Pirates of the Burning Sea which I personally found very useful and gave players the confidence to go out and try pvping in the open world.

[Miaowi]

Awesome suggestion. It would really assist with theory crafting

If I may add:

Training room to have the ability to configure the following for both your ship and the enemy vessel:

• Wood types, trim and planking
• Cannon loadout  (npc loadouts for given hulls to be made available as default selections)
• Skill books
• Upgrades
• Perks
• Leadership level
• Ability to exclude or set number of repair/hull and rum reps
• initial wind direction
• Spawn location

 

[Capn Rocko]

2 minutes ago, rediii said:

practicefight only possible inside your nations safezone. Close instantly.

What about Prussia/Russia/Poland? They don't get a chance to fight each other? 

Its a good suggestion @rediii it is one that I have suggested in the past. I cannot understand why the developers will not let us practice with our clanmates/friends (without exploiting green v green)

[The Spud]

I agree on all of this, but I if I'm not mistaken, then they said that they removed it cause it drew away PvP from the OW (people would organise big battles in there, was good fun tho).
They created the concept of NA Legends for the people who wanted arcade style arena fights that were balanced. 

I hope they add a practice room, but I have little hope for it. 
 

[Capn Rocko]

6 minutes ago, rediii said:

impossible nations, adds to difficulty  

Making it available outside of safezones leads to using it to hide from enemys etc 

I bet someone would find a way to exploit this inside the safe zone. And preventing the smaller nations from practicing and training with each other is BS. This should be a feature that every player in the game can use.

This is why I am suggesting a practice room that is separate from OW and exploit free. 

Edited November 20, 2018 by Capn Rocko

[jodgi]

Well, I would use the practise room most of the time and in favour of OW. I want it and I'm aware I'm shooting myself in the foot.

[Capn Rocko]

2 minutes ago, jodgi said:

Well, I would use the practise room most of the time and in favour of OW. I want it and I'm aware I'm shooting myself in the foot.

Fine with me. Many more players would play the game more with this feature and eventually venture into OW with more confidence in their skills. 

[Slim McSauce]

Should only be possible within your nation, as to not replace OW combat.

[Macjimm]

I don't understand why we should be afraid of losing players from OW, to a separate practice room.

If players prefer practice rooms to an OW, then let them practice.

I think NAL was discontinued because; GL was not willing to dedicate resources to it's development, and there was low player participation.

Separate practice rooms are a great idea, even though I have no interest using them.

Edit: Losing players to separate rooms or OW rooms, is still losing players from OW PvP. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Macjimm

[Slim McSauce]

11 minutes ago, Coraline Vodka said:

I've said this since steam release.

 

No should be fun ways to scrimmage with any group of players in our tiny world without risking ships mods etc. The tournament was a good example

I don't think warring nations set up scrimmaged back then.

[Capn Rocko]

57 minutes ago, Slim McSauce said:

I don't think warring nations set up scrimmaged back then.

Because everything you suggest is historically correct... 😝

[Slim McSauce]

44 minutes ago, Capn Rocko said:

Because everything you suggest is historically correct... 😝

for the most part.. why would you friendly duel the enemy when you can just...ya know... fight them?

Edited November 20, 2018 by Slim McSauce

[Silfarion]

59 minutes ago, Slim McSauce said:

for the most part.. why would you friendly duel the enemy when you can just...ya know... fight them?

Because part of what Rocko was saying is that this kind of a room would be useful for teaching newer players how to properly fight. That being said, the skilled players are not equally distributed across all nations, and the ones willing to take the time to teach a new player are even more rare. So, if it was restricted to same nation only, it would be much less effective of a teaching tool. 

[Slim McSauce]

3 hours ago, Silfarion said:

Because part of what Rocko was saying is that this kind of a room would be useful for teaching newer players how to properly fight. That being said, the skilled players are not equally distributed across all nations, and the ones willing to take the time to teach a new player are even more rare. So, if it was restricted to same nation only, it would be much less effective of a teaching tool. 

duel room was already tried across nations and it didn't work. New players dont need to train with the enemy, they need to train with other people in their nation so they can improve together.

your suggestion would just act as a replacement for ow pvp.

the only con you list is fixed by locking it to nations.

Edited November 20, 2018 by Slim McSauce

[Capn Rocko]

4 hours ago, Slim McSauce said:

for the most part.. why would you friendly duel the enemy when you can just...ya know... fight them?

Because I have friends in almost every nation in the game. Just because someone is a different nation, it doesn't make them my enemy 😉

Surely I am not the only one in this situation

[Capn Rocko]

46 minutes ago, Slim McSauce said:

the only con you list is fixed by locking it to nations.

It's really only a con if you are considering the current population numbers. If the game is to be what the developers are aiming for (thousands of active players) then what does it matter if a percentage is in a practice room trying to get better at the game? 

49 minutes ago, Slim McSauce said:

duel room was already tried across nations and it didn't work.

From what I remember, duel room was removed specifically because NA Legends was being released. 

52 minutes ago, Slim McSauce said:

your suggestion would just act as a replacement for ow pvp.

People do OW PvP for rewards and to sink other players' ships. Both of which are not possible in my practice room suggestion. To progress in the game and earn money/loot/rewards you would still need to sail in OW and risk losing your ship.

[jodgi]

57 minutes ago, Slim McSauce said:

duel room was already tried across nations and it didn't work.

Dude, you may be right, but Rakers frikkin' existed in duel rooms only towards the end. Doran's last moments in NA was in duel room. 

[William Death]

+1 to a tournament/practice/duel room.

 

Duels were one of the best parts of NA, I think. Even when we had those rooms, all the duelists I know of also sailed in OW to hunt and RvR so I don't think you'll "lose" players to duel rooms.

Rather, I think new/less experienced players might stick around longer and progress through the game if other players have a way to show them what to do and not to do in combat, rather than just tell them. I can tell a noob to angle his ship and hold his broadside till he gets a good shot....or I can just show him in duel room, explaining what I'm doing and not doing. I learned demasting tactics from duelists in the duel room. I showed some how to properly stern rake in the duel room. Taught another how to aim for leaks. Its a valuable tool, in addition to being a fun test of skill without worry of losing anything good.

 

Also, if all us salty veteran players hole up in the duel rooms in our 5/5 ships most of the time...that means we're not out in OW "clubbing seals"...soooooo....isn't that a *good* thing? Let the less experienced players go farm PvP for a bit? 

[Slim McSauce]

2 hours ago, jodgi said:

Dude, you may be right, but Rakers frikkin' existed in duel rooms only towards the end. Doran's last moments in NA was in duel room. 

I think this is exactly what the developers are afraid of.

[Slim McSauce]

I actually wouldn't mind a duel room of any size, OW pvp has gotten really stale US prime with less than 20 battles going on. Probably something to due with PvP being at such an abysmal state with ganking, repairs and grape, and extremely simplified boarding?

[Thonys]

well in other games we sometimes have the  "practice " option to test a tank, ship or plane. in a battle condition 

so it can be an option in the game.no rewards no skill point just practice on combat and usability

just a default ship and same AI opponent.

 

also, a great feature to test the DLC ships out first in a practice run.

Edited November 21, 2018 by Thonys

[jodgi]

4 hours ago, Slim McSauce said:

I think this is exactly what the developers are afraid of.

Not entirely sure they're "afraid" of what duel room did or could do. When we had duels I still had to sit on global and beg for duels when my friends weren't on. I know the general push is to make people go out into OW, maybe duel rooms were pulled as "collateral damage" and not because it actually mattered.

I'm a bit afraid of them being afraid  of what fun anti-gank patrol zones could lead to. I know I'm being paranoid.

[Capn Rocko]

Sometimes it seems as if they devs want players to #staybad instead of #gitgud 

 

[Slim McSauce]

9 hours ago, jodgi said:

Not entirely sure they're "afraid" of what duel room did or could do. When we had duels I still had to sit on global and beg for duels when my friends weren't on. I know the general push is to make people go out into OW, maybe duel rooms were pulled as "collateral damage" and not because it actually mattered.

I'm a bit afraid of them being afraid  of what fun anti-gank patrol zones could lead to. I know I'm being paranoid.

The whole goal of the devs have been to promote OW sailing, don't think they'll throw it away for duel rooms (or hey maybe they will)