Independent Players?

[Magnum]

Is this game only going to be "survivable" by either joining a guild/clan or by paying "protection" to a guild/clan?

 

While I can understand the immersion effect of being in the Royal Navy or the U.S. Navy, In reality I am a US Citizen and free to do as I like with my time.

 

I may not really want to play Admiral or be bossed around by someone wanting to play Admiral - do I have a choice in this game?

 

----

 

I guess what I am asking is have the guilds/clans ALREADY taken over the game being as most of them are run by Moderators?

 

I really wanted to just play a fun "age of sail" game and then go to dinner/live my life - do I really have to join a guild/clan just to play?

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

I'd like to say that I tend to be an independent player as I have a goodly sized family to keep operating, a very busy work and social life, and I use games such as this to depressurize for an hour or two here and there - my days of spending 40 (or more) hours a week gaming are well in my past.  I usually don't join player guilds simply because I can't put in the time they usually would like to see to be proficient and to "do my part" for the guild's goals.  I would seriously hope that being able to play a merchant for the United States in the game, or even a Privateer where you could cruise for prizes on your own, or a Captain in the Navy are viable methods of play for the unaffiliated player.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Henry d'Esterre Darby
Removed references to a part of the OP that is no longer there.

[Magnum]

I didn't actually say "all" of them - I said "most" ---- I meant it as hyperbole, and it's used for effect.

 

But actually 4 out of 5 of the top dogs in The Decatur Armada and at least the main top dog in SLVF are moderators. Those are sure two of the biggest influences in the Goonswarm er, guild/clan movement are they not.

 

Since I am no longer a part of The Decatur Armada I am curious if I and other independent players can expect fair treatment on the pixel seas or are we just gankbait?

[Elysion]

Well id certainly hope that the main faction you are a member of is the nation you join. Thats your protection. Id like to see guilds/clans as organizations within that nation with smaller importance but the ability to coordinate and focus their efforts, such as capturing and holding a port.

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

I'll see if I can redirect this from the canard of accusations about Moderators, because I think the true thrust of your post doesn't really have anything to do with Moderators or current Guild Leadership.

 

 

Can I do well in this game without sailing around in the company of a dozen friends?  Is a ship sailing by itself going to be too weak to defend against roaming squads of coordinated players?

 

Is that effectively your question?

[Balsafer]

I'm pretty sure you will be able to join the royal navy and the like without being in a guild or society.

[Brigand]

I don't see why you would need to join a guild. Many if not most players are at this point in time not related to any society, clan or guild.

 

If you do want to be part of a guild but don't like the established ones, you could always start your own guild. Other than that, I think Nations will be the highest denominator. As far as is known, nations are controlled by NPCs.

 

~Brigand

[Magnum]

Well id certainly hope that the main faction you are a member of is the nation you join. Thats your protection. Id like to see guilds/clans as organizations within that nation with smaller importance but the ability to coordinate and focus their efforts, such as capturing and holding a port.

 

The problem with this is that IRL ports (at least in the US, England and France) were owned or at least "managed" by the Government -- Not -- by a clan/guild/goonswarm.

 

So if your guild/swarm/clan tries to "capture" a port you will be practicing piracy - no?

[Magnum]

I'll see if I can redirect this from the canard of accusations about Moderators, because I think the true thrust of your post doesn't really have anything to do with Moderators or current Guild Leadership.

 

 

Is that effectively your question?

 

 

No "accusations" were made about Mods - just facts were stated. The guilds/fleets/clans are a part of NA (like it or not) - will they be in charge or are the dev's retaining the role of Sheriff is one of my questions?

 

I want to know if I should move on - as I am bored with the testing of the battle scenarios - I did my share I think, making it to #12 on the leader board until my burn out.

[Oliver H. Perry]

That all depends on how ports are implemented?  If a port is created by a player, it might be led by a Governor (perhaps the player founding the port is the Governor), even if it is still affiliated with a particular Nation.  During hte era, the local Governor had a lot of independent power due to slowness of communications, etc.  If that port is a member of a nation which is at war with your own, capturing and holding that port - installing a new Governor that is a member of your own nation, that is what war is all about yes?  Taking the enemy's land, denying it to him, and using it for your own ends?

Edited March 17, 2015 by Thomas Hardy

[Elysion]

The problem with this is that IRL ports (at least in the US, England and France) were owned or at least "managed" by the Government -- Not -- by a clan/guild/goonswarm.

 

So if your guild/swarm/clan tries to "capture" a port you will be practicing piracy - no?

No because you are capturing it for your nation, taking it from another one, and then holding it. By holding it for your nation you get the right to collect some tax or some other benifit to your clan by holding it or something, that can all be worked out.

 

Just imagine all the more martial clans belonging to a nation are either smaller organized factions within that nations navy, or a group of privateers or something.

 

Its my understanding that the devs have said almost everything will be neutral when the game starts, so the boundaries of what a nations territory is will need to be defined by efforts of players taking all those neutral areas and bringing them under their nations control.

 

It can be player organizations which manage the actual ports.

 

In the same way that in an rvr game like daoc it was individual guilds which 'owned' castles, but of course they were the factions castle, the guild in question, being part of that faction, was simply the more immediate owner who both was the primary party responsible for defending it, as well as the people who were able to benefit from it beyond simply having that territory be safe and useable for other members of that faction.

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

No "accusations" were made about Mods - just facts were stated. The guilds/fleets/clans are a part of NA (like it or not) - will they be in charge or are the dev's retaining the role of Sheriff is one of my questions?

 

I want to know if I should move on - as I am bored with the testing of the battle scenarios - I did my share I think, making it to #12 on the leader board until my burn out.

 

I see you've edited the original post, thank you.  I think your question and the point you make is a good one, but dragging in Moderators isn't going to allow people to see the question itself.  

 

I haven't seen any post from Admin about just how the major nations will be run.  I'm hopeful for more of an Eve-Online approach, but I may be thinking thoughts that are far too large for the starting scale for this game, due to the admittedly smaller resources that Naval Action can bring to bear on the problem.  At some point in the near future, I hope that Admin will enlighten us on their current thinking along those lines.

[AmericanSailor98]

Well I am pretty sure in the open world in the game, the ships belonging to the same nation will be friendly, like protect each other and fight the nation's enemies together or at least that is how I would like to imagine it and I think this is how it was irl. 

[Grim DeGrim]

I think the lone wolf will have a place. It always has in prior games. Pack of these wolves often group up on occasion for common, short term, reasons. Matthews Town was this way in Potbs.

But over all, national players will fly a common flag and share in comradery. It is to our mutual benefit that we succeed.

Auld Alliance fights for France. We're a small group. Check us out in a month or two after you've had some time from burn out. We can use more good players.

[Mirones]

the Royal Navy will be the british fraktion for the Naval Officer Career not run by players but the game.

the clan/guilds will simply be small squadrons sharing the same intresst: protection from pirates/privateers or any other hostile vessel that could ruin your free time.

 

joining them is optional and nobody forces you to do it but dont complain when you get over run when you cross the path of an enemy fleet.

and i am sure you will ahve some friend that you play NA with so no you wont be an lone independent player there will allways be someon near you(if you want to)

[Johny Reb]

Amp... Don't worry man. There will be a place for you as an independent or an affiliated member of a group yet still a solo player.

 

Some time ago the admins put out an advertisement for moderators. Many of the Moderators you see jumped on that opportunity. Considering TDAs internal communication strengths, its not surprising that a few of them are Moderators. I had considered it at one point myself but I didn't at the time want a job on these forums. I wanted my freedom. Now I think I wouldn't mind it.

 

To answer your question directly, Yes, I believe so.

I don't think you have to give up affiliation though. I believe having an affiliation helps build relationships and gives you a group to run with that are people you trust. Guilds will bring advantages that the solo player will be unable to mimic without many accounts.

 

I can only speak for Tattered Flags when I say this. We will not treat you any different as a solo player and we will not ignore you when you need help. We care about those with the will to fight no matter who they are affiliated with or if they aren't affiliated with anyone. We admire action, willingness, and competence in any person or group we work alongside. The success of the Nation is the goal not internal competitiveness between clans. We are pvp oriented but that doesn't mean group pvp. It means any pvp. So if you choose to stay unaffiliated but want to run with some friends feel free to find us.

 

Im not trying to make this into a recruiting poster for TF. I'm just saying, as a clan leader,  you won't be looked down on by us for that reason.

[Grim DeGrim]

I believe it is important to note that the organized Clans / Fleets / Societies will rule the seas and RVR. The role of an individual will be just that... Individual.

Organized Clans / Fleets / Societies will hold sway in most areas of gameplay.

But you knoOooOOoow all this already... Do you see the response you were looking for in the thread? Concerns alleviated?

[Prater]

I don't speak for all of TDA and I have not been authorized to comment, first I'm sorry to see Amp leave.
 
2nd, there isn't any ordering or bossing around going on.  Just yesterday in the forums a newer member asked if the leadership will give out assignments and orders.  This was my response:

 

I doubt anyone will be "assigned" to patrol an area (it is a game afterall), but I am sure we will have patrols. I for one look forward to "roaming"/"patrolling"/"hunting" on the Open world in different sectors. It will probably be more like someone trying to organize a patrol and people "volunteering" for it rather than be "ordered" to do it.

However, I could see the Admiralty giving me (as a Squadron Commander) orders or assigning a region to me to patrol and I would ask for volunteers to come along. But I won't be issuing "patrol this region" orders, unless someone asks for one (volunteers).

 

Can we please leave TDA, SLVF, their leadership, inner workings and the moderators out of this discussion?  That part of this discussion is overflow from a point of conflict from the "Poster Wars" between TDA, SLVF and Auld Alliance and we shouldn't discuss it here.

 

 

However, it is a valid concern that the guilds/societies become really powerful, but I don't see it being any different than Eve.  I was not part of the Corp conflicts in Eve but that isn't the reason why I quit Eve even though I was on the outside.  That part of the game seemed most intriguing, I just didn't get involved in it before I quit (it became work instead of a game).

 

When people work together, of course they will be vastly stronger than an individual, and that is how it should be.  I by myself am very weak.  But when I join together with other people and work as a team we can become very powerful and a force to be reckoned with.

 

edit:  I am trying to be conciliatory here and hope my comments are seen that way, can we just drop certain aspects of this discussion and discuss the true matter of the topic?

Edited March 17, 2015 by Prater

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

Let's keep this on the actual topic of the role of the independent player as compared to players affiliated with larger groups - I believe we burned through the noise to the core question in about the fourth post and don't need to elaborate further on Moderation and Guild Membership.  Thanks.

[Elysion]

Well the entire nation should be working together towards mutual benefit. Clans should only be an organized force within that.

 

For example, i fully expect to be sailing around somewhere, and whether i dont belong to anything, belong to a small group, or am in one of the largest clans in the game, if i come upon some sort of thing another group within my nation is trying to do for the sake of bettering it such as expanding its territory or fighting off some kind of incursion, i expect to be able to just pull up and start helping, and in fact expect to be expected to do that if im in a ship thats capable of it, because overall your nation should be your primary faction, and what concerns it has should be the concern of all.

 

Same with any allied nations. I do hope that each nation is not just perpetually and statically at war with each other. Im not sure how these sorts of things will be decided. Maybe in a style some games have adopted where the most influential members of each nation are able to take up a sort of leadship position and have the ability to make war/peace/treaties with others for a set period of time.

[Magnum]

Let's keep this on the actual topic of the role of the independent player as compared to players affiliated with larger groups - I believe we burned through the noise to the core question in about the fourth post and don't need to elaborate further on Moderation and Guild Membership.  Thanks.

 

Excellent moderation Sir, I applaud you.

[Magnum]

I really am most concerned about people joining groups out of a "concern" that they won't be able to survive and thrive in the game unless they are part of a strong group.

 

Since this is a GAME and not real life, I think the social pressures we feel every day IRL to be "affiliated" with family, friends, groups should not influence game choices unduly.

[Grim DeGrim]

I really am most concerned about people joining groups out of a "concern" that they won't be able to survive and thrive in the game unless they are part of a strong group.

Since this is a GAME and not real life, I think the social pressures we feel every day IRL to be "affiliated" with family, friends, groups should not influence game choices unduly.

I had a group called Jacobite Uprisings in Potbs. In that game, you could have 5 characters per account on a single nation. My society had...5 people. Well, characters. I suppose there is a distinction

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

I really am most concerned about people joining groups out of a "concern" that they won't be able to survive and thrive in the game unless they are part of a strong group.

 

Since this is a GAME and not real life, I think the social pressures we feel every day IRL to be "affiliated" with family, friends, groups should not influence game choices unduly.

 

And that's all dependent on the particular group you're joining.  I've been in a number that were extremely casual, yet still well organized to where you could easily get help when you were online if you needed it.  Some need you to be online constantly, others just want you to say hi once in a while.  It's still early, I'm sure we'll see all kinds of groups forming, but I still, as I stated before, think it's important to have good individual gameplay as well.

[Guest raat]

I really am most concerned about people joining groups out of a "concern" that they won't be able to survive and thrive in the game unless they are part of a strong group.

 

Since this is a GAME and not real life, I think the social pressures we feel every day IRL to be "affiliated" with family, friends, groups should not influence game choices unduly.

 

I understand your paternalistic concern for new players, but I fail to see why this is something we need to worry about.

 

This is a game built on warfare, based on an age of relative lawlessness (at sea at least), driven by free market capitalism and colonization, and rooted in the principals of survival of the fittest.  It may be a game, but it's meant to reflect the historical attitudes of the era.

 

So....why should we care if a lone ship captain who decides that he/she doesn't ever want to interact with other players in an Open World environment gets overwhelmed by stronger, larger navies?

 

Isn't that the definition of survival of the fittest?

 

There'll be a place for anyone to play the game anyway they want.  No one should ever be told they have to do this or that concerning a game (including joining a clan or not joining a clan).  However, I would also say we don't need to babysit new players and make sure everyone can "win".  Going it alone should be difficult as it would've been in the era. 

 

If people do want to go it alone, then I would say to them, don't have too high of expectations because, just like IRL, a game is more difficult without any help.