Diplomatic Immunity

[Guest]

 

Let’s be honest with each other, the first few days of playing this game aren't exactly easy for a first time player. The two factions new players are more likely to want to play as are British and Pirates, both these nations starting locations, Kingston Port Royal and Shroud Cray, are among the busiest locations for “Seal Clubbing” the act of farming new players for Combat Marks.
While this is all good and well for players who need them it does mean a lot of new players experience of this game is to be ganked by higher level, more skilled players that they have no chance of defending themselves against. The natural act of progression that players typically fall into in games like this (do missions, fight npcs, level up, explore crafting, get bigger ship) are interrupted by ganking before a player can make that initial investment into the game and are more likely to end up closing the game, never to play it again as they have nothing to lose by doing so.

This may go as far as to explain why our active user-base, even during peak time, is 16 times less than Football Manager 2017, that is a huge loss of potential income for dev team both in terms of word of mouth purchases and DLC’s.

So what is to be done?
There has been the idea of the “Mediterranean” a sealed off map rather like a kindergarten where only lower tiers of ships can go and PvP is far more restricted.
While I like this idea it does mean building a whole new map, allocating server space for it etc etc.
There is a cheaper Alternative thus Gentlemen I present Diplomatic Immunity. In attention grabbing bold.

DI is a trait that would be given to all new players upon first joining the game, this trait would prevent other players from being able to attack them, or enter open world battles started by them, allowing new players the freedom to explore and experience the game without being ganked the second they leave port.

There are some limitations to this of course, while under Diplomatic Immunity a player cannot enter a port battle or a another open world battle, they also cannot pick up a Dead Man's Chest.
That immunity will also be removed if they
-Attack another player
-Enter an enemy port
-Leave port with 150-BR or above
-Are promoted to the rank of Master & Commander (or national equivalent) 
-Finish the Final Exam
-Two weeks pass

With big warnings displayed to the player they will lose immunity if they attempt to do any of the above.

 

 

 

FAQ:
Q: But ‘cries the nobel gamer, cheeto dust flying from their finger tips, energy drink in hand’ No-one attacks a basic cutter!
A: yes they do

Q: We shouldn’t protect noobs from PvP, it only gives them a false idea of what the game is like
A: Sure, this wouldn’t be a problem if this was an occasional thing, but you don’t understand just how frequently this happens. A new gank fleet rolls into KPR every half hour some nights, sometimes with ships specifically designed to have low BR counts so they can jump into noob battles. Sure if it happens once the typical player may ragequit, but will probably come back, but if it happens again and again and again, each time wiping out all progress that player has made or generally preventing them from progressing, they are going to quit.

Q: What if we just made the cutter immune to being attacked like in the old days?
A: There is no guide on how a noob should progress, thus the typical noob follows the idea of natural progression for games like this and would look to get out of the starting basic ship as fast as possible, they are given no indication that this would be a bad idea.

Q: If we make people immune they will all use day 1 alts to scout!
A: They do that anyway

Q: There is no problem with the way things are!!!!

A:  https://gyazo.com/5ddb77eee50ffc45d652d51ddd8bfebc [/img]

https://gyazo.com/5e2bc4f7bbab9ea48693a198e1e483da[/img]

 

[DFIL3]

 Nice idea, I would also suggest that this DI be  possible for  young captains who can't  allow yet a 5th rate  min ( i.e. the rank of Master and Commander). But I

think it should be an default option which can be removed for 200 doubloons paid for perk resetting, just as it is the case for the sextant perk.

If  novice captains know that they are save from ganking while they are  only learning- gaining XP- making money, the game would be a little friendlier,  a little more humane

und it would attract  far more players then now and would thus raise the sales, which is  also beneficial for the developers.

 

 

 

[Cetric de Cornusiac]

11 hours ago, Winterthrust said:

This may go as far as to explain why our active user-base, even during peak time, is 16 times less than Football Manager 2017, that is a huge loss of potential income for dev team both in terms of word of mouth purchases and DLC’s.

You can't seriously compare a niche game like NA to a mainstream product profiting from the most popular real life sports in most countries of the Earth.

--

Diplomatic Immunity for beginners is fine, but why not grant it also to veterans from time to time, when they either have only limited time for a game session or don't feel like fighting? For a cost in doubloons, alright, and like a redeemable could be claimed only once every 24 hours or something. Other conditions may apply as to avoid exploits (like a radius around them being enemy-free before they can claim DI).

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, Cetric de Cornusiac said:

You can't seriously compare a niche game like NA to a mainstream product profiting from the most popular real life sports in most countries of the Earth.

--

Diplomatic Immunity for beginners is fine, but why not grant it also to veterans from time to time, when they either have only limited time for a game session or don't feel like fighting? For a cost in doubloons, alright, and like a redeemable could be claimed only once every 24 hours or something. Other conditions may apply as to avoid exploits (like a radius around them being enemy-free before they can claim DI).

I can compare them, because Football Manager 2017 is two years out of date and the people who play it tend to buy the latest game without thought nor question, later I also compare it to DayZ standalone, a game considered an absolute failure and who's low server populations are among its heaviest criticisms. It also features a vast open world pvp map and a ruthless toxic playerbase, much like we do, it's peak time playerbase last night was at 10,000 where as ours was just under 600 people.

-

DI as a purchasable temporary perk for older players was something I did consider, but it seems to easily abusable, like Oh I'm going to run my trader brig full of sugar to my clan port today because we need rum, let me DI up to avoid all the gankers. 

 

[Angus MacDuff]

1 hour ago, Winterthrust said:

DI as a purchasable temporary perk for older players was something I did consider, but it seems to easily abusable, like Oh I'm going to run my trader brig full of sugar to my clan port today because we need rum, let me DI up to avoid all the gankers. 

Its a decent idea, but the abuse problem is obvious.  Alts would remain low ranked IOT carry out risk free trading.  You would have to remove the ability to carry out trade missions and other trade activities to the point that perhaps those with DI cannot use trading vessels or accept those missions.

[Papillon]

Alts again.  Go figure.

(BTW, I like your idea, I think it's very original, and would be beneficial to the population to some degree, regardless of the usual cheating alts problem.)

Edited October 3, 2019 by Papillon

[John Page]

15 hours ago, Angus MacDuff said:

Its a decent idea, but the abuse problem is obvious.  Alts would remain low ranked IOT carry out risk free trading.  You would have to remove the ability to carry out trade missions and other trade activities to the point that perhaps those with DI cannot use trading vessels or accept those missions.

He did mention a timer for this effect: "two weeks pass." So alts would need to be recreated every two weeks.

[Guest]

On 10/3/2019 at 11:48 AM, Lars Kjær said:

Pirates start at Mortimer Town.

I last ran as a Pirate over 2 years ago, I didn't know it had been moved.

[Macjimm]

Does the Peace Server not provide an entire map with DI?  Great place for Noobies to learn.

I think that alot of your concern  would be solved if a new player receive a large bold text message to avoid the capital.

Brit Example:. "KPR is an extremely dangerous area, with a high population of skilled enemy.  For your safety, and enjoyment, you are encouraged to avoid sailing within 50km of this port, until you become proficient at PvP"

[Guest]

49 minutes ago, Macjimm said:

Does the Peace Server not provide an entire map with DI?  Great place for Noobies to learn.

I think that alot of your concern  would be solved if a new player receive a large bold text message to avoid the capital.

Brit Example:. "KPR is an extremely dangerous area, with a high population of skilled enemy.  For your safety, and enjoyment, you are encouraged to avoid sailing within 50km of this port, until you become proficient at PvP"

1) If a player plays until they are a pro at the game then they switch over to the pvp server, they lose all progress and leave behind any friends they made along the way, very few people have the patience for that and it's not a very practical solution. The idea here is people want to play on the pvp server and experience it but are unable to.

2) If the devs admit the Capital area is a problematic area for new players then why bother to put them there in the first place, broadcasting a message to players in KPR suggesting they head somewhere else basically translates to "Hey, welcome to the game, now due to a broken mechanic please sail for 45 minutes to a different port. Hope you brought a video to watch to keep you entertained during the first few hours of playing this "game".

Somehow I don't see that working.