Archaos

This sounds at first as though it solves the problem, but it creates another with people joining to fill up your BR so your friends cannot join on your side. In the example you give if you are GB and a US player joins on your side to fight a Spanish player then they might even up the BR and close the battle leaving you at a disadvantage if both go for you. I can imagine the complaints raised about this, there are already enough about alts doing this to block BR.

As an introduction to the game it is probably a good intro, but for someone starting who does not even know how to aim and fire their guns it can be quite frustrating, Someone raised a topic a while back about being unable to fire their guns and I think this was the issue, they did not know that they needed to be locked in on the broadside they wanted to fire before firing. The sailing they probably get away with as most games use the WASD keys, but the firing is different. Maybe some sort of intro about firing would be worth adding to the first mission.

and easier for spies to report.

I voted yes to all three, Global chat because it is where a lot of toxicity goes on although it is easy to avoid by not monitoring that channel. Battle chat because it is where I have experienced the most abuse especially when solo raiding and catching a juicy unarmed trader, there was no way to switch this off. Help chat because if that was still available then it would just become the new Global chat. Maybe Help chat could be individual for each nation.

At the end of the day is this exploit really any different than people having a complete alt clan in another nation and doing the HDF's themselves for the same outcomes? I hear more and more stories of people acting in two nations with clans of alts. But I agree with the suggestion that the flag should be locked to the nation that is attacking the HDF's before it is picked up.

No they cannot send insults in battle, he is complaining about receiving insults in PM because they cannot do it in battle. I dont think the whole removing of battle chat and global chat is going to make any difference to the number of complaints.

and why would a loot thief agree to a duel?

So what you are saying is that it is okay that you have the skill to do it but not when everyone else can do it with less skill. For the person getting demasted the feeling will always be the same. People have complained about the demasting for a long time but people like you who had the skill to do it have always defended mast sniping, but now it does not take any skill to demast someone you do not like it. I am not saying you are wrong, just pointing out the irony in what you are saying.

Can you tell me which ports GB can defend then? The answer is basically none. If GB could actually field a good PB team then the coast from Tumbado down to Great Corn that they once held with crafting ports in Belize and Trux was one of the most defensible areas on the map next to what the Russians have in the Gulf of Mexico. Without the buffer of the Russians SDC and PaP would not remain in GB's hands for long. Personally I dont think there should of been a ceasefire and GB should lose all the ports it cannot defend even if that means being reduced down to uncapturable ports in Jamaica at least then they would probably have to wake up and get serious about creating a fighting force. I do agree that there are too many people who presume to speak for the nation and make decisions without a mandate, but this is not just clans in the far away ports but all clans in GB. GB gave away one of the most defensible ports on the map prior to the start of the first Swedish war and that was up in the Bahamas. That single action totally destroyed GB's presence in the main shallow water area on the map. Get rid of all agreements regarding other nations blocking access to ports and defending GB and see how many ports GB are left with at the end of a month, doesn't matter whether they are near of far away ports they will still fall.

The problem is that for proper moderation you need moderators who are always going to be online and for an unpaid job that is not very likely. We have had moderators before and what has happened to them? Some no longer play, some have probably given up moderating due to abuse they have received or accusations of being biased, there has even been tribunals raised regarding the mods. For proper moderation you would need permanent monitoring of the channel by people who are not actually playing the game.

I guess if they remove global chat then they have to remove the help chat too as if not everyone would use help chat as global.

Well you can trade them for Labor Contracts at 25 for 1, but thats about it.

So what do we do with our Victory marks now?

The problem is that it is so open to abuse and not just by alts. All people would need to do is load up their trader and sail to be attacked by their friend from another nation, surrender instantly and then their friend can teleport the ship and cargo all the way across the map to their outpost with no risk. It had been suggested that maybe to combat this that the captured ship could be set to sail to its destination under the control of AI so it appeared in OW and could be attacked by other players, but I think they said this was not possible due to load on the server or something like that. The surrender issue is also difficult especially where PVP is concerned, because some players would rather sink than let their enemies have their cargo and also some people rig their traders to be able to board as a trap for raiders. For PvE I guess they could do something like this for AI traders but it takes away some of the effort. You also have to remember that many warships also surrendered after receiving a broadside against a heavier opponent, so it that was in the game then people would be upset when their ship suddenly surrendered while they were still in a position to fight. I do like the idea of reducing crew as they are sent off on prizes and maybe a way to counter abuse is allow the captured ship to be teleported back to port but it goes to the admiralty and you get the purchase value of the goods that were onboard and the insurance value of the ship. At least that way the system could not be abused to teleport ships and goods across the map for huge profit.

From the looks of it if what I suggested was the problem then they really need to put the basic controls tutorial before this mission as the controls are not intuitive.