Crew, Progression and AI Fleets.

[Jack Feathersword]

Crew, Progression and AI Fleets.

With all the AI fleet topics around I am not sure where to put this; so here goes.

 

I think the Current issues with AI fleets, can be linked back to rewards, XP and progression. The system is really geared towards getting as much XP as possible. This combined to the fact that the bigger ships only sail in large groups, means that to have any success as a captain you need to do as much damage to the biggest fleets as you can without sinking.  Thus player fleets and or groups of players with their own fleets.

 

The current progression of XP based ranks within a given navy has the only purpose of providing you with set number of crew. This crew is only used for sailing your personal ship. Additional  crew that are not used and serve zero purpose. Modules (hammocks) can increase the crew number past what your rank provides. The current system allows players of a certain rank to hire additional ships with crew and guns provisioned up to a certain size and number. This system is very unrestricted and currently as no downside.

 

Combining these elements together makes for a game of grinding the largest fleets you can to get the most XP you can relegating  PVP, "fair" fights and fun to a distant second.

 

Is there a better way to make progression and AI more diverse and more fun? I think there is and this is how:

Crew should be the most valuable commodity in the game, this should be the one deciding factor of what can be done and how much it should cost. If the crew was a commodity it could be bought, sold or given as a reward.   This crew would then be used to crew your own ship, AI ships in a fleet and when crafting is implemented it can be labour for that too.  How this crew is used should be up to the captain and the costs involved could change based on the tasks and rewards.

 

Naval progression could still provide a certain number of crew up front, this would however be balanced against the requirement for handing over a set % of the loot to the Naval command.  This means while offering less potential rewards it allows a steady income and without the higher costs of having to pay for the whole crew yourself.  Naval command would require certain mission/assignments to be completed to maintain or provide the crew and or a upkeep allowance to the captain.

 

Merchants would be able to use their crew for a fleet of trade ships or as AI escorts if they wanted, they would be required to fund the ships and the crew themselves. This would allow for merchants and traders to become quite wealthy but at a much higher risk and cost.

 

Privateers would also be able to fund their own crews and ships to plunder rival shipping. This would provide higher rewards than working directly for the naval command as anything captured or looted would their own minus a fee for the letter marque. 

 

I feel these changes enable more play styles and gameplay rather than restrict it. It offers a mechanism to balance out the game without hard rules sets or artificial systems. It would allow a progression system that caters for both hard-core gamers and casuals as progression is not restricted to just one system. It allows for risk vs reward game modes with the PVE and PVP elements to encourage game play.

 

Whether the crew are pay once, PAYG (pay as you go and only paid upfront when taken out to sea), leased or take a % of loot/rewards is a different question and maybe all options could be on the table to allow  for some flexibility.

 

As example if each crew member was to cost 1000 gold each upfront; this would mean to have an AI cutter would be 40,000 gold for the crew plus another 2000-3000 gold for the ship.  A Bellona would be 650,000 gold and another 300,000 gold for the ship.  The ships would have durability and could be configurable. Another possible element would be to make the crew perishable. Losses would need to be re-hired (costs would need to be balanced).

 

All ships would use a common crew pool, this means that someone can use their 1000 crew for an AI Victory but it would leave very little crew for themselves, it would also be very expensive.  Naval crew allocations would either provide additional crew or could provide wages for a certain number of crew.

 

Let me know you thoughts.

 

Jack Feathersword.  

Edited June 29, 2015 by Jack Feathersword

[SeamanStaines]

Jack, I think you have made some good points.

[Rafael]

Having and managing crew plus the upkeep would help with balance of the bigger ships