Boarding - Feels clunky - Isn't really fun

[Captain2Strong]

it's indeed a very bad thing when you are put at this 2 second disadvantage for no good reason, so it shouldn't even be like this and should be changed so there's no disadvantage for no good reason, but on the other hand it's quite possible not to rely on those last moment reactions and do well

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Captain2Strong

[Obi-Heed Kenobi]

On 1/12/2020 at 1:37 AM, Captain2Strong said:

I attacked a skulled AI lately and boarded it with double the amount of crew and it killed more people than me(about 4 times as much) when I used attack against fire grenades

Hehe, I learned that, and then got Loki'd while in the midst of boarding the elite ship. I won, but was down to something like 50 crew. With a USS against a belle poule or something.

Never again!

 

[Mad Dog Morgan]

7 hours ago, Captain2Strong said:

it's indeed a very bad thing when you are put at this 2 second disadvantage for no good reason, so it shouldn't even be like this and should be changed so there's no disadvantage for no good reason, but on the other hand it's quite possible not to rely on those last moment reactions and do well

 

Of course it's quite possible not to rely on those last moment reactions and do well, how else do I win boarding and most often with less crew. But with a high ping that last moment reaction option if needed isn't there. That's my original point.

[Celtic]

Ping or no Ping - the Boarding game has never been either clear, or particularly fun.  Which is actually rather unfortunate.

While we can understand the limitations of what we can have limitations for what Boarding can be, it can certainly be better than what we have currently. 

[Kubrat]

On 1/13/2020 at 7:07 PM, The Geth said:

128 constant, boi.

And when my ping spikes (which it does quite often), I have issues alright, but it's in sailing and gunnery, not with boarding.

Again, if you're relying on the last-second switch, newsflash: you're doing it wrong, son.

Its pretty much the meta though isn't it. Choose attack and your melee numbers go up, other guy sees that and goes defence, knowing you are probably going to switch to guns at last second, so rock-paper-scissors. You see his melee numbers go up, so you know he is in Def, but does he switch to brace and you double fake him, or does he stay in def cause he knows you know. It's like the Poisoning scene from the Princes Bride.

What are you saying we should be doing that is different to that?

 

 

 

[Kubrat]

On 1/17/2020 at 12:29 PM, Celtic said:

Ping or no Ping - the Boarding game has never been either clear, or particularly fun.  Which is actually rather unfortunate.

While we can understand the limitations of what we can have limitations for what Boarding can be, it can certainly be better than what we have currently. 

I think the boarding game is very clear, you just have to watch the numbers, their prep levels, and the way the prep levels move.

The bit you cannot know is the battle of wits part. With AI it is easy, with other players you have to assess them for how deep they can take the double-fake. Get it wrong once and you might lose. Best approach is not to board, or allow boarding, unless you have significant numerical advantage (when against other players).

If you cannot deny boarding and you have significantly lower numbers you are already screwed, unless you get real lucky (all else being equal,mods etc).

If you can position your ship so you can use your guns and his are ineffective, that also helps. Perhaps that is what The Geth was referring to, ship positioning and mods.

Like a lot of things in NA, you win the battle back at the dock.

[The Geth]

7 hours ago, Kubrat said:

Its pretty much the meta though isn't it. Choose attack and your melee numbers go up, other guy sees that and goes defence, knowing you are probably going to switch to guns at last second, so rock-paper-scissors. You see his melee numbers go up, so you know he is in Def, but does he switch to brace and you double fake him, or does he stay in def cause he knows you know. It's like the Poisoning scene from the Princes Bride.

What are you saying we should be doing that is different to that?

 

 

 

Yep, that's really not how you should play it. You can only do that effectively if the other player is at a much lower prep than you anyway; the time they're given to change their mind becomes basically nonexistent as their prep lowers, but that's also true for you as the attacker. That last-second fake-out meta is borne of people who want a quick victory to shorten the combat and reduce their losses.

The real challenge is to make your opponent waste their prep, while simultaneously causing more casualties than you take. That's not nearly as easy as it sounds, and it's certainly not as simple as 'change your selection at the last moment,' which will win you only one or two rounds at most before putting you at a significant prep disadvantage.

It's as much a psychological game as one of numbers. Be as unpredictable in your boarding actions as you are in your sailing. Pick ranged options early with the intention of following through, rather than changing your selection in the final second of the round.

If he decides to counterattack your deck guns at the last second, who cares? Laugh as his prep dives into the gutter and you both go into crew shock, while yours climbs even higher. Next round you can just straight-up attack him, and he won't be able to wait until the last second, which gives you a comfortable margin to work with should he choose to defend. Either way, you'll decimate him while taking practically no casualties in the round.

Have a prep and crew advantage. Have marines 15. You won't succeed otherwise.

[Kubrat]

Thanks, I'll try your approach

[GrubbyZebra]

I always enjoyed the sword fighting in Sid Meier's Pirates!, but without a significant change in the boarding mini-game which would make it far more involved and complex (and likely take away from the overall game as a whole), it will always end up being some version of a dice-rolling turn-based game, in which case the current mechanic works, even if it's not visually stimulating.

[Earl of Grey]

On 1/13/2020 at 5:32 AM, Mad Dog Morgan said:

Problem with Boarding is that currently it's a key part of the game which is Ping dependent. Unless you have a good advantage going into the boarding, if all other factors are roughly equal including captains relative skill level,  with a high ping you are at a significant disadvantage vs someone with a sub 100 ping since they have time to respond to any final second change made,  you don't have that advantage with a high ping as you have to commit to the turn about 2 or more seconds before the clock runs out.

 

I normally have a ping sub 50 but changing boarding action in last second often dont work. i often think i changed in time but see then in the result of the Last round that my change only applied to next round ...

Sry for Bad english. What i want to say: i have a low ping, but boarding feels like i have a ping of 350 ...

[erelkivtuadrater]

think a cool idea would be to have it as Battlegrounds in Hearthstone of Teamfight Tactics in League of Legends or Artifact card game from DOTA.

These are setup so you have a pool of stuff to choose from you have x sec to place your card until you fight your opponent for 15 seconds, so placement becomes a thing combines with items used and skill of the cards etc. This is something i could totally se tweaked towards naval action.

By also doing this you could open up possibilities to 2v1 people in boarding, where you as the defender has to fend of boarding from 2 sides

Edited January 21, 2020 by erelkivtuadrater