So is this game DOA or is there any hope left?

[Callaghan]

So much time wasted in Alpha on millions of adjustments to balance, rebalance, re-rebalance etc. Instead of working on a solid core and adjusting later. I come back once a year, every year, for god knows how long, and nothing changes. At least there's a UI now I guess. What are the plans to resuscitate this game? Population is everything in a game like this, and given that even the core fans are mostly bored of propping these devs up (apart from a few who are well into the gambler's paradox state of over-investment of time), a massive influx of new players would be needed to make it a viable multiplayer game. What will be done to market the game and bring these players in? Or is the plan now simply to let it die and monetise it as a free-to-play, pay-to-win asset flip that no one asked for?

[Cabral]

 The game is like Alfred The Great, sick and dying for months but will fight until the end.

[staun]

Yeah there is issues. Ppl react to them. Thats fine, lets see if there not will be some adjustment to fine tune the game.

They have found the direction they want to steer the game towards. It will take some time for ppl to adjust. Now they just have to keep the heading and not doubt because of low pop. Yes some will not like it other will.

But the players are out there and lets see if they don’t come back. 

[Powderhorn]

People kept asking for UI, language localization, PvE content, and a focused direction from the developers.  All these things are happening.  UI is mostly done, language localization is mostly done, PvE content has been, and continues to be added, and the developers have a path they're focused on.  The belief is that once the final wipe happens and release is launched, more players will come in.  As for advertising, that much I can't speak to.

[Slim McSauce]

You only get 1 release, the game will either impress or it wont. There's only 1 Action age of sail MMO on the market, I'd be surprised if the devs managed to go bust on a genre they have a monopoly on.

[Slim McSauce]

Just now, Powderhorn said:

People kept asking for UI, language localization, PvE content, and a focused direction from the developers.  All these things are happening.  UI is mostly done, language localization is mostly done, PvE content has been, and continues to be added, and the developers have a path they're focused on.  The belief is that once the final wipe happens and release is launched, more players will come in.  As for advertising, that much I can't speak to.

you need to touch on pvp and RvR before release too. RvR needs a facelift more than anything, it's nothing more than a limited OW battle and hasn't fundamentally improved for years.

If you can make the majority of people happy then the game will advertise itself. Doesn't have to be crazy, just make it better. You know what that means, how long did it take for 4m draft ships to come to shallows? Now that was a solid idea that probably no one will ever mention, at release, but I think every single person on the forums and in game agree was a good thing to do. If they don't than what can they say against it? Realism that improves gameplay defends itself.

Also don't ignore the little things, crew on ships, flags on OW, lights on/off, these things matter!

Edited December 23, 2018 by Slim McSauce

[Powderhorn]

I recall reading that there are PvP missions coming down the pipe, and Battle UI will be updated as well.  As for the structure of port battles, that I can't speak to.

[Slim McSauce]

Just now, Powderhorn said:

I recall reading that there are PvP missions coming down the pipe, and Battle UI will be updated as well.  As for the structure of port battles, that I can't speak to.

Nice, well we can really only go from there. I've been waiting for serious PvP missions since patrols were added (a cute little bathtub party but not in the spirit of what I consider makes NA great)

[Vernon Merrill]

42 minutes ago, Callaghan said:

So much time wasted in Alpha on millions of adjustments to balance, rebalance, re-rebalance etc. Instead of working on a solid core and adjusting later. I come back once a year, every year, for god knows how long, and nothing changes. At least there's a UI now I guess. What are the plans to resuscitate this game? Population is everything in a game like this, and given that even the core fans are mostly bored of propping these devs up (apart from a few who are well into the gambler's paradox state of over-investment of time), a massive influx of new players would be needed to make it a viable multiplayer game. What will be done to market the game and bring these players in? Or is the plan now simply to let it die and monetise it as a free-to-play, pay-to-win asset flip that no one asked for?

Nah man. It’s dead.  Please uninstall.  And remove ur forum account.  

[Powderhorn]

11 minutes ago, Vernon Merrill said:

Nah man. It’s dead.  Please uninstall.  And remove ur forum account.  

So sassy today.

[kitsunelegend]

Problem is, all these people saying "oh well the devs are doing better now, I'm sure we'll get lots new people on release!" dont realize that a LOT of people have already been burned, and have been permanently turned away from this game, never to touch it. 

 

Essentially, the grave has already been dug.

 

The devs messed up big time. They lacked a sense of direction for a very long time, they tried making a whole new game while this one was floundering, then they canceled that new game which made it a massive waste of time and resources, and then decided to try and sell bloody DLC pay to win ships, in an early access game that has major player number issues.

 

If you ask me, the devs messed up big time, and sadly, there is no recovering from that. Word of mouth can be a very powerful thing, people talk to their friends, they say things, they tell people things... So really, the damage has been done.

[Slim McSauce]

12 minutes ago, kitsunelegend said:

If you ask me, the devs messed up big time, and sadly, there is no recovering from that. Word of mouth can be a very powerful thing, people talk to their friends, they say things, they tell people things... So really, the damage has been done.

I don't know. DayZ seems to be doing pretty well and has taken way worse flack than NA.

Most gamers arent mischievous or resenting. Everybody wants a good game to succeed, and I doubt there's many people who wouldn't give NA another go if they saw it under new releases.

 probably a smart idea to pull NA:L anyway, it would've competed too much with regular NA. There's plenty room on OW for more mission types.

Edited December 23, 2018 by Slim McSauce

[Guest]

Death on arrival.

The game needs to rebalance mods, remove the printing of money ability, make small ships cheap and large ships more expensive, introduce maintenance fees for SoLs, create more diverse content for PvE, trading, crafting and PvP. Basically the game had a good run when it was a PvP game but still lacked a lot in terms of content for non-PvP players.. Then it wasn't even a PvP game anymore..

 

EDIT: And remove magical zones of protection. The Carribean already has more towers and forts than the entire european continent had at the time. Make PvE fleets engage interlopers instead and make more diversified PvE fleets - i.e. patrolfleets (warships), traders (singleships) and convoys (warships and traders). Make AI traders affect economy so you can starve/destroy a nations econ by killing the traders.

 

I could go on.. but for a game that has spent as long as this in development, there's a shitlong way to go yet.

Edited December 23, 2018 by Guest

[Vernon Merrill]

43 minutes ago, Powderhorn said:

So sassy today.

yeah.  I agree.   Gotta realize that some people are just miserable.  Cant sink down,

Apologies, mate.

 

[van der Clam]

1 hour ago, Callaghan said:

re-re

lul you said re-re

[traitorous mctraitoro]

It's early access, chill. Let it figure out what it is first, before deciding it's dead or whatever.

[Powderhorn]

With some of you, it would be easy to mistake your plaintive cries as actual desire for the game to fail, just to prove yourselves right to yourselves.  Others are so convinced of your own righteousness that you're certain your vision is the only salvation.  You and every other player, it would seem.  I would encourage those types to go forth, make good games, and let us enjoy them, as I'm positive we would.

The question was asked what is being done going forward.  That was answered.  If you insist on being miserable, that's your own prerogative - but kindly do it elsewhere.

[Bragan Benigaris]

Mmmh, DOA (2006)

... NA is similar: Wet, pretty and kicking... 😋

[AeRoTR]

Main problem is, it took too long. I agree that most of the time, balancing, rebalancing, even introducing new ships, they did not need to before UI patch, PVE and PVP Missions (not the stupid ones we have now) patch, RVR patch.

So we have the great battle instance, we need the spine, the core structure, established RVR (end game which people wanna do, not like a job, profits, rewards), PVE missions which is not mindless, small stories inside, introducing fun coop pve sessions (hey boss battles !), PVE missions evolving into PVP sometimes, PVP missions, operations etc., it must be fun, rewarding.

So the players who will keep this game alive for years need to have fun, fun sessions in PVE, when time comes they may pvp (does not always need to be fun, cruel). Now imagine lots of casuals guys enjoyed attacking stupid NPC fleets around capitols, doing same combat missions, and fleet missions. SO THIS IS THE POTENTIAL, with some mindful effort, some great PVE content can be introduced, so these type of players have great fun.

The key was combat missions and fleet missions and even closer NPCs around capitols, they were accesible with minimum effort. So it should be easy to access, this is what I saw as a main point.

So developers spent lots of lots of time on unnecessary stuff, causing decline on the  population. This is the reason for current low player population.

But they started to really work sometime ago, so I think they will deliver a good game assuming they understand correctly establishing the core content. I remember recently admin mentioning "he cares more about the guys who play 2 hours a day", which was great to hear.

This game has everything to be make it one of the best of Age of Sail games ever, standing next to the epic "Sid Meir's Pirates".

(I would definitly hire more programmers, who could just script some pve and coop pve missions, some guys to polish the game world like more sea life, a better night, more sailors on deck, even my captain on deck with an in game avatar, nice soundtrack, shanties etc.)

[AeRoTR]

3 minutes ago, Bragan Benigaris said:

Mmmh, DOA (2006)

I would prefer them to make love instead of war. But yeah, pvp in NA is great  

[Pada]

After release you need to give big Youtubers some press acc or whatever they are called so they have all the shit from start. The casual player doesn't want to see someone fight in a Cutter or a Pickle. They want to see 1st rates who 1shot everything.

[Marquês do Bonfim]

You guys are forgetting one single important aspect of it, this is a freaking game dude, it needs to be improved and it will be improved, people come and go as they like, but noneless, they come and then go! This is one of a kind game and you won't find another one better or similar to it, not in the same setting or with the same idea. I know this game has a lot of bad rep but still got a lot of good players and a community that actually freaking cares about it, the devs NEED to open their eyes and start listening to the community so the game can be improved as the community and them see fit! That's how Naval Action will survive, us the community, gotta stop critizing every single move that the devs go towards to and start freaking giving constructive feedback, offer help and try to pursue them as much as we can so they don't mess up a game that we all enjoy playing!

 

I know, people have done it already, gave so many ideas and so many feedbacks and the devs didn't care, but we don't go unheard, if the whole freaking community gets together to start solving the problems that WE face playing, I'm pretty sure the devs WILL listen. 

Is there a problem? Make a pole, give suggestions and options on what can be changed and improved upon and the whole community will vote on what's best for it. THIS GAME HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Powderhorn said:

With some of you, it would be easy to mistake your plaintive cries as actual desire for the game to fail, just to prove yourselves right to yourselves.  Others are so convinced of your own righteousness that you're certain your vision is the only salvation.  You and every other player, it would seem.  I would encourage those types to go forth, make good games, and let us enjoy them, as I'm positive we would.

The question was asked what is being done going forward.  That was answered.  If you insist on being miserable, that's your own prerogative - but kindly do it elsewhere.

I want the game to succeed, otherwise I wouldn't have spent the hours in game or the time on the forums. But - and this is important. Can you state that the total playercount is larger than when we had too servers? Or that the playercount is larger than before the reinforcementzones? If you read my post I point to stuff that needs to be implemented, and true it's just my opinion, but the current numbers tell their own tale. I want more ppl to love the age of sails. I'm a historian and the lack of historical understanding of empirebuilding, organisational building and statecraft in todays students is something that every day makes me a bit sad. The world would be a better place if everyone understood better how we got to this point. Games like this is the best way to make young ppl interested in history - but it requires the game to be engaging, fun and the serverpop is the clearest indication of that. Am I wrong?

 

3 hours ago, Lars Kjaer said:

Death on arrival.

The game needs to rebalance mods, remove the printing of money ability, make small ships cheap and large ships more expensive, introduce maintenance fees for SoLs, create more diverse content for PvE, trading, crafting and PvP. Basically the game had a good run when it was a PvP game but still lacked a lot in terms of content for non-PvP players.. Then it wasn't even a PvP game anymore..

 

EDIT: And remove magical zones of protection. The Carribean already has more towers and forts than the entire european continent had at the time. Make PvE fleets engage interlopers instead and make more diversified PvE fleets - i.e. patrolfleets (warships), traders (singleships) and convoys (warships and traders). Make AI traders affect economy so you can starve/destroy a nations econ by killing the traders.

 

I could go on.. but for a game that has spent as long as this in development, there's a shitlong way to go yet.

 

[AeRoTR]

One idea to boost the game, I would say a free addition or starter addition.

A free addition with one or few outpost, limited dockspace, can sail 7th and 6th rates.

Starter addition few outpost, limited dock space, can sail up to including 5th rates. May be only light frigates.

So upgradable to standart edition. This may boost thousands into the game, just needs some very good videos and brief explanation of the game.

[Dibbler (Retired)]

 

 NA has good combat mechanics, but even when there were 500 players online i kinda started to question how long i looked for an enemy player compared to the amount of "action".

This would be ok i guess if there was more depth to the sandbox,  like RvR really what is the point?  Yes clans can capture a port that will cost them daily to keep with no benefits for many of the ports.  Ability to perhaps build defences, trade opportunities, etc by owners could perhaps help for payment making a developed port more likely to be defended.... risk vs reward rather than risk vs costs. Damn even when sailing if sometimes you had dolphins swimming by your ship, an albatross land in rigging, fog banks.... etc etc it would reduce the feeling of Zzzzz when sailing around. Perhaps stuff that spawn in ow as events such as longboat with crew of a lost ship that would need to be taken to a port for reward... etc basically anything to break up sailing and keep players attention when they sail as opposed to watching youtube vids or whatever or playing something else while you do it.

 Updates of course should be expected in development but seems like core game systems seem sketchy/undecided by devs (who i know are restricted by number of people on team). By this i mean that many updates are not "tweaks"  but  huge swings from one extreme to another,  also balance seems to be an issue all the time with extremely overpowered mods/skillbooks/ ships/changes to combat mechanics again with huge swings in what is done.  From a player point of view it feels almost like  there is no overall direction  and has become just trying stuff based on suggestions. Suggestions can be useful IF they fit in with an overall strategy/plan rather than taking them and creating a plan around the suggestion. Perhaps is in fact an overall plan but again from players viewpoint is difficult to see one.

 

 I really do think game has so much going for it but to quote a description of Elite Dangerous  " This game is millions of light years wide, but only 4 feet deep"  springs to mind.

 

 Playing other games at moment but i'll try Na again some point next year. I can't complain though as have played Na many many hours and more than had my play time out of it,  and truthfully hope that when i do step back that things are better.

 

 Thanks to devs for the work they have put in, although i am burned out on NA for moment I do think game can be great.

 

 

 

PS: To answer the thread title and quoting the scriptures of Monty Python  "It's not dead, it's just sleeping"

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2018 by Dibbler