Pay NPC to escort your Trader.

[Audacious]

Is it possible to add a feature where you would hire extra NPC frigates to join your battle in case your Trader gets hit? I see more and more people are crying about their Traders lost to gankers. @admin

ADD NPC ESCORT - PAY 5.000 per ship (up to 2 Frigates), there is still a risk that enemy will kill all NPCs and you, but this gives traders a chance, without it you just abandon and quit. 

Some say you already have a perk or two, wrong. At low rank you can't afford enough crew to commandeer 2 extra frigates. 

 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Audacious

[van der Clam]

28 minutes ago, Audacious said:

Is it possible to add a feature where you would hire extra NPC frigates to join your battle in case your Trader gets hit? I see more and more people are crying about their Traders lost to gankers. @admin

ADD NPC ESCORT - PAY 5.000 per ship (up to 2 Frigates)

We had this feature once before, and I liked it somewhat. However, the NPC was invisible in OW and would just be auto-delivered after a few hours. I, and many others, proposed that these hired NPC would appear in OW and would be very attractive to those wanting things delivered and trade hunters. This would make for awesome econ gameplay! Especially now that we are sort of in control of port creation. I further proposed that our owned ports would require daily or weekly goods delivered to grow in size (econ size of production) and population (resulting in more crew to be hired) or else they would revolt back to neutral ports. Thus requiring us to maintain these captured ports rather than just sitting there flying our flag for no reason.

[Lannes]

56 minutes ago, Audacious said:

Is it possible to add a feature where you would hire extra NPC frigates to join your battle in case your Trader gets hit? I see more and more people are crying about their Traders lost to gankers. @admin

ADD NPC ESCORT - PAY 5.000 per ship (up to 2 Frigates)

I' d love that. I've just lost my LGV with a full cargo from a wreck to four Swedes. I was cautious but was caught just a couple of ship lengths from a friendly port.

It makes the game too hard a grind for a loner like me. To build up then to lose it all.

[Audacious]

45 minutes ago, Wraith said:

You do know you can already add NPC ships to fleet right? One you get for free (right click it in your docks, add to fleet) and you can add others using Fleet perks.

You have to use crew and stuff. Early ranks need this the most as they can not afford enough crew for 2 extra frigates, you should know this. This feature would take care of everything, you just pay. You talk from a high rank perspective, you have 0 idea what is happening with low ranks atm. They are being farmed and farmed and farmed. 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Audacious

[OjK]

That would be really, really good option.

[Slim McSauce]

2 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Beyond that, this is a multiplayer game. If you are really in dire need of an escort pay someone else to escort you instead of relying on NPCs to do it.  In this instance, the developers have given you the tools to solve your problem, it's not their fault if you refuse to use them.

Come on dude. Think with your head on this one, Naval Action is a sandbox-style MMOrpg. Put yourself in the shoes of the captain. The NPC ships are not mere mobs to be farmed, they're your allies and are there to fill in the world. Even if there was only a 1 and 10 chance a NPC captain would accept money to escort you, why wouldn't you have that be possible?

 

 

[Vizzini]

be asking for auto pilot next to avoid any enemies

 

but sarcasm aside, ask a clan mate to ship goods for you

[Slim McSauce]

33 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Why not give your fellow players a chance to work with you on this and instead give the job to an NPC?  Our jobs are already being taken over by AI in the real world, why not in the game as well?  

Sarcasm aside, the mechanic he's proposing EXISTS almost exactly as he described it, he just doesn't want to grind for the opportunity to use it.  It honestly is just pure laziness on his part.

It really doesn't matter what you consider it to be because in the context of the world paying someone is all that's required to get an escort, player captain or NPC.

Make an escort service if you want the interaction so bad. Otherwise hiring NPC is more efficient for the trader which is exactly what he pays for. 

 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Slim McSauce

[Audacious]

5 hours ago, Wraith said:

Come on man.. don't patronize me, there aren't many people on the forum that speak up for the little guy more than I do.  My point is that if you pass the endurance exam you have plenty of crew to have a trader brig with a navy brig in fleet, and if you pass the final exam then you can even do two.  If you have enough money to sink into hiring escorts then you should have enough money to cap a couple of escorts (or buy them from admiralty) and crew them with cannons.

Beyond that, this is a multiplayer game. If you are really in dire need of an escort pay someone else to escort you instead of relying on NPCs to do it.  In this instance, the developers have given you the tools to solve your problem, it's not their fault if you refuse to use them.

you know Npcs fleet is dumb and it won't save you. In Hercules you sink 3 or more with no problem. 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Audacious

[Audacious]

5 hours ago, Vizzini said:

be asking for auto pilot next to avoid any enemies

 

but sarcasm aside, ask a clan mate to ship goods for you

brother, it would create more challenge for a ganker... everyone wins. Right now I jump a trader, he leaves I take his goods. No fight. What is the point then? @admin  you all want easy mode to stay? (kill traders without a fight). Give them a chance to survive... He can run while I can kill 2 npcs and earn a coin + XP, I will take that. 

In general, by killing traders you are hurting econ, econ slows down ship production and you get less real pvp on OS, more pricey boats, rage quits and less people can afford it.... so think about it...

Edited July 11, 2019 by Audacious

[Sir Texas Sir]

6 hours ago, Vizzini said:

but sarcasm aside, ask a clan mate to ship goods for you

It's not like every one doing these runs....LOL my alt in a trader brig with one in fleet got tagged the other day.  I have since done my runs with the level up main that does it with two combat Indy's with a few slots open and the alt just stays with him now.....This could be easily done with clan mates. I think we once had 20 players moving 2-3 trade ships all at once to move a bunch of war supplies (so something like 40-60 trade ships).  It's a mulit player game just ask folks to make the runs with you.

[Slim McSauce]

9 hours ago, Wraith said:

 If you have enough money to sink into hiring escorts then you should have enough money to cap a couple of escorts (or buy them from admiralty) and crew them with cannons. Beyond that, this is a multiplayer game.

 

2 hours ago, Sir Texas Sir said:

I have since done my runs with the level up main that does it with two combat Indy's with a few slots open and the alt just stays with him now.....This could be easily done with clan mates. It's a mulit player game just ask folks to make the runs with you.

The hypocrisy in this thread is astonishing.
"If you have enough money to sink into hiring escort-" oh but no you can't pay that captain, no.
"I use alts as escort, but you can just ask your cl-" yes I totally understand the plight.

Neither of you understand the issue at hand. Just spouting the same nonsense without thinking about the context.
I ask again if you want the interaction so bad, then why aren't you offering escort service to people?
If you aren't doing this then why should others seek you out for escort?

 

9 hours ago, Wraith said:

the mechanic he's proposing EXISTS almost exactly as he described it, he just doesn't want to grind for the opportunity to use it.  It honestly is just pure laziness on his part.

No it doesn't. See, you really don't know what he's asking for. You're just the common decenter who often shuts down suggestions for no good reason.
If it did exist in such a way, it would make no difference to you. You pay money for escort, period. You draw arbitrary lines. OP has the right idea.

[Slim McSauce]

6 minutes ago, Wraith said:

What he's proposing doesn't make sense, and so yes, I'm extrapolating to something that does within the confines of the mechanics that are logical... and lo and behold... it already exists.  I know you're not stupid so don't pretend to be.

So there's a Player captain and and NPC captain on the OW (or in port). You can pay the player, or the NPC alike. They both then follow you. That doesn't make sense?

6 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Paying for an escort that magically appears in battle if your trader gets jumped is exactly what happens if you buy a ship from admiralty, stick it in fleet with some cannons and crew and sail to your destination. Once you're there, if you don't need the escort any longer you sell the ship and its cannons back to admiralty and you're on your merry way. 

For one it isn't magic. The ship is following you as physically as it can on the OW. Owning a ship and then selling it is not the same as renting a ship and letting it go after the service is done.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Slim McSauce

[James Thomson]

Pay the NPC to sail your ship to a port. And the actual ship would sail the sea. Thats what i want.

[Guest]

Please. No.

[Sir Texas Sir]

7 hours ago, Slim McSauce said:

So there's a Player captain and and NPC captain on the OW (or in port). You can pay the player, or the NPC alike. They both then follow you. That doesn't make sense?

For one it isn't magic. The ship is following you as physically as it can on the OW. Owning a ship and then selling it is not the same as renting a ship and letting it go after the service is done.

I know your mostly a solo player, but the point is if you don't have enough crew or don't have enough ship slots then you should just level up until you have the crew and slots to fill your fleet with escorts.   It seems OP wants to do this at lower level or more than likely he wants 4 trade ships and than buy more escorts.  Now he has a fleet of 7 ships (say you can buy 2-3 escorts) and that is a big fleet for some one to fight and he can just do that all the time.  Instead you have in game mechanics to limit that and it's perks and crew count.  He can bring one Indman or two and than two Escort ships if he has enough crew, if not than well don't bring all the extra ships or just as we have said ask if any one else is making the run.   We done it all the time in US and other nation so don't give me that crap....this is no a solo game so there shouldn't special rules to make a solo players life more easy. 

 

You want an escort you pay by perks/crew or you pay other players to escort you.  Both features very much in the game at this moment.   

[Slim McSauce]

Let me break it down.

22 minutes ago, Sir Texas Sir said:

I know your mostly a solo player, but the point is if you don't have enough crew or don't have enough ship slots then you should just level up until you have the crew and slots to fill your fleet with escorts.

A trader's level up is getting more trading ships for his fleet. Assuming he's mid-rank that's 3 tbrigs or maybe 2 LVG's. Max rank is much higher but few people are max ranks or will ever be because that takes loads of grinding especially if you're a new player, you don't get much XP for trading so it will take a long time.

22 minutes ago, Sir Texas Sir said:

 It seems OP wants to do this at lower level or more than likely he wants 4 trade ships and than buy more escorts.  Now he has a fleet of 7 ships (say you can buy 2-3 escorts) and that is a big fleet for some one to fight and he can just do that all the time.

For a solo player, perhaps. A small group can easily take out one of these mostly AI fleets, the extra traders just means more take away from the battle. If the price is right then sure let the man hire escort, from port or OW. base price should be 100k going up and down depending size and strength.

22 minutes ago, Sir Texas Sir said:

 Instead you have in game mechanics to limit that and it's perks and crew count.  He can bring one Indman or two and than two Escort ships if he has enough crew, if not than well don't bring all the extra ships or just as we have said ask if any one else is making the run.

Why not 4 Indiaman and 3 AI escort frigates for 150k? That seems fair. Like you said this isn't a solo-game so if you want to take out one of these mini-treasure fleets you can assemble some friends and go after them. You have the benefit of being made for combat while traders are really only safe in numbers.

I don't see any detriment here if it's only for traders. More content, better battles. A win-win for both sides.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Slim McSauce

[tomsk]

He wants that you should be able to hire NPC for one way to protect you, he doesn't want to buy fleet, he wants only lend.

Edited July 11, 2019 by tomsk

[Slim McSauce]

1 minute ago, tomsk said:

Wtf? You ALREADY can set your own fleet with NPC ships which will protect you

That's only really possible at max rank. Also there's downsides to using your personal fleet space to fit combat ships while trading.
If you have the money you should be able to just pay for escort, whether from player or NPC but most players aren't offering their service to escort.
NPC on the other hand are always available, top tier escort could cost upwards to the millions. That's if trade goods ever make a return.

[Farrago]

Hire players to escort.

Get friends to do it for free.

Have the rank and slots to keep your own AI escort fleet. Get rich slower until you can do this  

The OPs suggestion is a solution without a problem.

[Slim McSauce]

1 hour ago, Farrago said:

The OPs suggestion is a solution without a problem.

No you're right, it's just a feature. It's like asking for raids or clan docks. Yes we already have docks but not clan docks. Yes we have PB's but not raids. Yes we can pay another person to follow us around but not NPC ships to. We want more content not less pretty much. Maybe what you really want is a job board so people can hire escort, but then in the case no one uses it because escorting is a waste of time, then we need AI escort. Same way we have captured ships and redeemables take most of the weight because the ship builders hardly put anything up on market and something like 89% of the ship auctions are 100% empty of anything player involved for whatever reason.

Edited July 12, 2019 by Slim McSauce

[CrustyJohnson]

Honestly this thread is nearly pointless. You can have an NPC escort FOR FREE if you just find an NPC fleet sailing the direction you want to go and tag along with it. If someone tags you, those NPCs get pulled in and will fight for you.

[CrustyJohnson]

I do find it odd that people here generally are against extra content. A player escort would be better but why force people to wait around and reach out to random players? Many of which are probably alts scouting for an easy kill. "Oh yes second lieutenant sealcub, come! I'll escort you! Right into this nifty little 15 pirate gankfest"

[CrustyJohnson]

But here's the thing....if you are willing to pay NPCs to protect you while moving goods...why not just put buy orders up for those same damn goods in the port you want them at? If trading is too harrowing an experience for you, then pay someone else to do it.