Nathaniel

Thanks for all the feedback. It's more or less what I have expected, grind seems to have gotten worse but I also expected even worse. PvE and crafting aspects are absolutely secondary, thanks for the concerns, that hasn't changed since 2016 and I had over 1k hours back then. Can anyone add a bit more info about the current RvR situation? As said, I'm really a 100% PvP player, a prefer my small skirmish possibilities, but I defenitely am also a clan player who expects to contribute to the PB war effort despite my now more limited game time. So which nations really pose a challenge for the Russian Empire at the moment?

I didn't play Naval Action since 2016, and after having some fun time in SoT recently (and looking at how NA still stays at comparatively very healthy player numbers) I really feel the urge to return to something more challenging... though not too challenging, I grew older, and that's the main reason for my questions. 1. How much worse is the grind? I quit mostly just because I sank incredible amounts of time into NA, but not least because while I had a lot of fun in PBs, it became harder and harder to get some chilly fun solo (or small group) PvP with not enough people ready to risk their mods (devs were experimenting with crafting costs enormously at the time, though). I got the impression that the grind for competitive mods has gotten worse. Is that so? How real is it with a good clan and by participating in crafting chains (but without making tons of alt accounts) to spend the lesser part of your time on grinding and the major part of your time on pvp? 2. Since there was a wipe with release, what would be a rough estimate of time needed to grind to admiral ranks now? 3. Is there any nation that does seriously pose a challenge (even as an underdog) to Russia? I had a great time with GB in its heyday (and yea, it was close to a dominant faction in 2016 but, I think, nowhere close to the position Russia has now). I got the impression that GB either can't or doesn't want to put up a challenge to Russia's advance. Is there a nation that takes the role of a smaller, better organized underdog more seriously? Is Sweden trying to seriously challenge Russia? Thanks! I'm seriously considering to return to NA, but I'm really on the verge here, since while I am still ready to engage with the game's complex and excellent mechanics, I seem to become more casual with the years, while the game seems to become more hardcore.

Congratulations! Very good fight and well deserved for all the determination. Hope you put the casino hours on the same timer, otherwise there are so many lures out there...

Like the Bahamas port of St. Nicks? But you are correct in so far as the danish proved a bigger obstacle at that point for us getting east. There were fun but costly bloodbaths for both sides at Bani and El Soco.

Eh, and there i was thinking all this were plans of Bubbles himself, preparing some devious mischief.

Well, we might just stop referencing Trafalgar and start referencing actual big fleet engagements in the Caribbean with the actual aim at island conquest. Like or the Battle of the Saintes (1782) or the Battle of Martinique two years before - but i just have to point out as an aside (and i know the TS didn't reference this explicitely) that it won't help the "less SoLs in port battles" advocates. It still were all what we would consider 25vs25 3rd rates+ battles.

Why should there be a Russian server? This game operates on "as few servers as needed" basis. Even if the Russians would have a separate server, who would stop them to play on pvp1 like the Americans do? While there may be arguments that some gameplay mechanics could change, i also think that not all sandboxy solutions have been tried up yet. Basically (and here i speak in a wholly personal capacity) Sweden has three choices: 1. Wait for France and GB to recapture it's ports (which, as Fredrikstedt today has shown to us, might be a long process), 2. succumb to the enemy and basically become a peacefull danish protectorate or 3. ask one of your more populated allies for 4-5 ports in a safe location on the other end of the map to rebuild your strengh.

Gerade der RUS clan von Varaborn und Babay hatte anders als Klavas andere Russen eine ganz andere Grindpolitik. Sie ignorierten mehr oder weniger den Großteils des PvP Contents und saßen die ganze Zeit am Grinden um nur vor kurzem rauszukommen.

All hail Babay the great! The lord of the grind, master of Klava, thunder of the seas!

Well, it's a game, we have a new fictional nation and have to live with it. And a very coordinated one at that. Not that different from "historic" Crusader Kings 2 or Empire: Total War. I congratulate our enemies with their victory and promise a mighty comeback in due course.

As far as i understand (and that's only my understanding) it's really not a matter to whom the accounts belong but only a matter of the acts commited. It is not allowed to damage farm over and over without any risk of sinking, but it is allowed to donate your labour hours to another crafter.

PvP 1

I'm not convinced a nation should be able to win at all. Having ever more port should be possible, but request a hard strain, thus maybe allowing a faction to dominate for months, but ultimately leading to the other nations gankng up on it with another pretender to emerge. Works well for EVE's alliances, should work with only minor tweaks here too.

Yes, agree. I also don't quite get the argument a dev made recently that EVE-style warheouse thefts should not be possible. But why shouldn't they? Guilds already utilise spies and diversion and keeping your warehouse safe should be a big part of your clan security politics, as it is in EVE.

And look at how ports again change hands absolutely undefended twice a day? No, thanks.