Blackjack McGee

In response to the request for strategy and lessons learned. Before I get started, kudos to all the US Captains who showed up. We would have been able to field a full 25 1st rate fleet had that been the battle strategy. I believe this is the first time in a while the US could say that. Tiphat to all! I was the battle commander for the US side and although not my first time, it was my first time in a long, long time. Bottom line is I did not do a very good job. As is obvious now, we took three mortar brigs into the fight. The decision had been discussed during the day and the thought was the mortars could help stall the initial surge and damage enough ships in transit to the center circle to give us better odds. The mortar Captains did a great job, but I am not sure that tactic works. I probably counted on the mortars to do more damage than they are capable of. My main strategy for the fight was to take the battle into the middle circle. The Pirates did not have a mortar brig and I hoped that between the Forts and the mortars we could tip the odds into our favor. I sent three ships to take circle B and eventually two of the Victories from B to C. My goal was to keep two circles and sink enough ships to win the fight. Strategy was sound but execution did not go as planned especially as the wind turned in the wrong direction for the Victories to make it to C quickly as I had hoped. As the Pirates approached the center circle our mortars engaged them. I kept our ships on a heading that would take us across the Pirate fleet believing I could maneuver the Pirates between us and the Coast. For the most part that plan worked, however, several Pirates turned and sailed parallel to our fleet and rather than turning when I initially planned to I had the fleet continue sailing in order to fire on the Pirates sailing parallel to us. This decision actually hurt us as we ended up sailing further from the center circle than I would have preferred which was a major negative later in the fight. We lost a ship really early in the fight for some reason. I am not sure what happened but once we executed the turn we did have the Pirates between us and the coastline as I had hoped. By this time the mortars were retreating into a safer location. It was around this time that things began to unravel in my battle commander role. I found my self stalled behind a roadblock of ships in front of me and scratching paint with several Pirate ships. Unfortunately, trying to unravel that knot cost me precious time and situational awareness of the overall fight. My intention was to stay in the fight but not be overwhelmed by the combat which I failed to accomplish. It was around this time that I made probably my worse decision of the fight and lost control over Battle communications. One of the Victory Captains offered to provide targeting instructions to the ships since he was not engaged (trying to cap C) and could focus on the battle map. Knowing I was unable to save my ship and watch the map at the same time I decided to let him do so. He did a great job calling the targets but unfortunately I was lacking In giving battle directions. Ultimately I realized the errors of my way but honestly by that time it was too late. We had already lost four to five ships and were widely spread out. After trying to get a few ships back into the center circle, my final hope was to get our ships between circle A and B (which we held for most of the fight). Still catching up on my situational awareness I was late in making this call which left our ships way to close to the coastline to make a good turn. However, the move would have put the Pirates in range of the Mortars. From there, with their support if we could hold two (or even three) of the circles with the mortars demisting the Pirate ships we might still win the fight. However, the points were against us by this time as we were down seven or eight ships. I called the retreat but folks decided to fight on and we lost a few more 1st rates after that including mine. Lessons learned: Mortars may have a role in 1st rate PB but not sure. US had 25 ships. A great first start but now we need to learn to fight. We need to learn to sink enemy ships and not just hurt them. Throughout the fight there were numerous Pirate ships right on the edge of sinking but we did not get the Kill Shot. Sailing straight is better than turning. We ended up doing a lot of turning while the Pirates for the most part were able to sail generally in a straight line. It made a huge difference as they were able to stay together much better than we did. Too many stragglers. I am not sure what happened but every time I checked the Map I found someone sailing all alone and outside the fight. I understand the need for repairs but several times this was not the case. We even had one Captain end up in the middle of the Pirate fleet only to be rapidly Captured as the rest of the US fleet was sailing in the opposite direction. DONT GIVE UP BATTLE COMMS! You can not lead if you are not in charge. Group up closer in the beginning of the battle. I felt comfortable with being spread out early, but hindsight being 20/20 it would have been better had I moved everyone to the middle of the circle and closer together. I had our ships too far to the edge of the circle which made it harder to get back into it once we needed to. If you are going to be the Battle Commander you need to fight but your first job is managing the battle. I let myself get distracted too many times by being engaged by multiple Pirates at once. Situational awareness is critical and you can't maintain it when you are worried about being boarded. Summary: Great fight Pirates. Great fight US. We showed up which is a critical first step in our evolution as a fighting force. The Pirates are good but we are getting better (albeit slowly). We will get there eventually.

At this point, I have decided to no longer respond to comments on this forum or in global / pm chat. There is too much in the way of personal attacks going on and I personally do not feel it to be warranted. I understand some folks may disagree with the direction that MARS and the other US Clans have gone but what has happened has happened and can't be taken back. To say I have learned from this is an understatement. My trying to explain the reasoning and our thoughts has only made things worse. Hence, it is clearly time for me to listen to a wise old man and "shut up, bob" To Sir Texas, my word means a lot to me as well and something that I work very, very hard at keeping. I don't think I would characterize our conversations exactly the same way you did in your posting but I do understand where the miscommunication on my part may have come from. I still believe the Bahamas would be a great area for PVP and various PBs where the nations/clans can fight without the specter of total war on the horizon. I apologize for any confusion that I may have caused. Sincerely, Blackjack

Not to beat a dead horse and what is done is done but I feel obligated to respond to some of the criticism above with regards to the actions the US took against the Spanish last night. First of all, this is not the same Spanish nation as pre-patch. We estimate they have at least 20 active players and are growing daily. Many of their players have recently joined Spain from the Pirates. They are also very well organized. To put this into perspective, I believe I have read in the forums, that Black had about 25 active players when they were able to capture Savannah and prevent us from retaking it. We lived for months with Pirates raiding our ports with little ability to recapture Savannah. We know what it is like to be beaten down. The Spanish were engaging us in PVP activity along the southern Florida coast which is fine and actually made the game fun. This included the time they had a PVP hunting group of seven ships attacking our First rates sailing south to conduct operations. For what it is worth our First rates escaped. However, after the First rate engagement, one of the MARS officers did communicate with the Spanish to discuss some general rules of engagement. For whatever reason, the communication was not effective. No blame being placed just stating that we did reach out to them. Somehow the wires got crossed. After the communication, the Spanish continued to harass our efforts. At one point they jumped into a Hostility mission we were grinding against Guacata. Interesting enough I was told by a British clan leader yesterday this action is considered an act of war. We did not take it as an act of war but did find it disturbing. Additionally, the Spanish engaged our ships in the Manacata / Guacata area while we were engaging the British in our skirmish there. I don't know if this is a coincidence or coordination but the British yesterday planned to and did screen for the Spanish at Key West. Maybe we were at war with the Spanish and just did not know it. These activities are what lead us, multiple US clans not only MARS, to decide to capture Key West. We did not take this action to be bullies but simply to defend our national waters. You may think otherwise but my guess is every nation and clan would have done the same. Finally, let's realize we took one port. We did not take a major production port or anything like that and I believe they still have 10-11 ports. We have no plans to further engage the Spanish other than routine PVP which is welcome and enjoyed. If based on our activities against the Spanish yesterday the rest of the server feels we did something wrong and wants to make us pay for it...well, there is nothing we can do about that. We will defend ourselves to the best of our ability and the let the cards fall where they may.

A couple of quick points: The US has gone at it with CKA a couple of times over the past few days so there is no surprise that they have decided to declare war on us. We consider Florida to be a part of the US and they took Guacata which led to the conflicts. We also engaged VCO at Las Tortugas tonight (before the PB) at which time they declared War. Their declaration of war has nothing to do with us attacking Key West and in fact, they were there to screen for the Spanish which in of itself was a declaration of war. With regards to the Spanish, there was much debate over taking Key West, but when they were able to put together hunting fleets of seven ships raiding as far north as Jobe, jumping into Hostility grinding missions, and interfering with our activities at Manataca/Guacata it became obvious that we could not leave them in the Keys. We have no further intentions of going after the Spanish other than taking back the Keys from them. Bottom line. A lot of people had a lot of fun today. More action like this will make the game more enjoyable for everyone. Let's have more days like today. Please let's all remember. It is only a game and games are supposed to be fun.

Suggestion for Port Battles. A year or so ago, before the county changes and major PB system changes, we had flags which although exploited were a fun system that provided a lot of pvp and screening opportunities making the battle enjoyable for many. The abuses of the system were numerous and well documented driving the changes. As we enter this new system I propose a combination of flags and conquest. Here goes; Use the current conquest system to grind contention to 100%. At that point, in 22 hours (as it is today) for a window of two hours a flag can be pulled from any national port of the attacker. However, unlike the previous version, the flag can ONLY be pulled by someone in the top 10 in contention points. Meaning that the individual pulling the flag had to participate, and not in some minor fashion, in the contention grinding. The individual who pulls the flag is then designated as the Fleet Commander for the PB and that individual designates (after the flag has been planted) which Captains can enter the Port Battle beyond those with the minimum amount of Contention points (ie, those who would have to wait the two minutes). This identification system achieves the goal of rewarding those who grind contention but also eliminates ALTS from attending the PB unless they are "invited" to attend by the Fleet Commander. Just a barebones concept but enough to get feedback and thoughts.

I commend the Devs for their thinking outside the box when it comes to this latest suggestion. As with most things the devil will be in the details upon rollout. A couple of comments: 1) I do not think this solution addresses the new player experience. I don't see how it solves the initial grind and initial easy prey for PVP. 2) I do not think this solution addresses the ALT situation. It may change the way alts are used but ways to exploit ALTs will be found. People may now try and use ALTs within nation in different war clans etc. 3) Minimizing the "national identity" is risky business. Not sure how it will pan out as many people tend to identify with their nation and are not all that interested in joining clans. Small clans may become a thing of the past and this may drive people to leave if they don't want to be a part of a large clan. Remember, there is normally a lot of bickering going on in large clans and for many that alone can drive them away from the game. 4) Realism. One advantage of the new system is it moves away from the "realism" factor that has driven much of the previous development. I believe, that now, more "game friendly" aspects can be added, for example, higher OW speeds, teleporting (I know many do not like this), etc. 5) I know it has been mentioned but please allow people to be in the "home clan" and join a war clan at the same time. I think the two should be different groups. It may be good, it may be bad, but it definitely will be interesting.

First PVP marks created a system af haves and haves not. Second, Conquest marks created a system of haves and haves nots. Now, Victory marks does the same thing. Understand the goal but how many times do we have to do this. Shipbuilding should not be limited to some artificial game, nation based, mechanic. Let all players have access to all the ships. Tie the marks to upgrades but please make ships available to everyone.

My suggestions: Eliminate Conquest Marks. Smaller nations will get steamrolled under current system. Building should provide mats much cheaper than shop. You can find most mats cheaper than making them and can use labor for other things. Return flags. The Flag system promoted screening and PVP. probably not possible but allow Port Battles at city level not County. Port battles are fun and should be increased.

The new Conquest Mark system will destroy the game. Without the Marks there is no way to compete against a nation with Marks. Connies against lineships will not cut it.

Remember, PVP still allows you to capture enemy ships which is a huge bonus. That alone is a good reason for PVP especially as people start sailing bigger ships.

An idea. Rather than raising the prices of store ships lower the quality. Raising the price creates an artificial price ceiling limiting the shipbuilders sale price. Lowering quality creates a demand for the better ships allowing economic factors to drive player built ship prices. Also, merge PVP and PVE marks. Despite desires, this game will never be a pure PVP game so long as it includes Econ etc.. Don't punish your players for not being PVP purists.

Dear Devs, i am not sure who you are listening to but please broaden your input on issues within the game. I play a LOT and never heard one complaint about ship prices. I have heard a lot of issues with Port Batlles not giving rewards and the impossibility of getting into larger ships due to the cost of PVP marks when there is no PVP to be found, i.e. the Global Server. There are a lot of things that needs fixing and the balance is totally out of sync. A new player will never see a Constitution and if they spend six months getting into one forget the idea of PVPn in in. if we have one duration ships they should be easier to get not harder.

The six month roadmap is very discouraging in several ways to include the potential for play-to-win and the developers becoming frustrated over the feedback from testers. I remember many times in reading the forums how we are ONLY testers and the game is still in beta. For the developers to walk away from our feedback at this point in time is dangerous to say the least. I am also deeply concerned over the lack on new content in the game and the appearance that the game is no closer to going "live" than it was months ago. Specific comments on features: 1.Admiralty - looks like another rework of the Port Battle system. Is this the proverbial third strike? Certainly the current system has pretty much reduced port battles to a rarity and any improvement in both quality and quantity would be greatly appreciated. Personally, I recall the summer port battles as both engaging and fun with lots of fighting and screening. I would not mind getting back to that period even if it includes some sort of flag mechanic. Screening for port battles nowadays is pretty much a waste of time. 2. Missions- really? better before missions? Not sure where you are getting your feedback but try again. You have a function that works in the game but you are going to delete it because you don't like it. Sure missions are boring and it is a grind to level but without missions how are you going to level? Dailies could be fun with the right incentive but I doubt they will be anything more than fancy missions. If it ain't broken don't fix it. Please expand on why you think missions are bad? 3. Raids - okay this could be fun and perhaps new content but without more information hard to tell. 4. Pirates - do they still exist? Only kidding. Something needs to be done. Personally make a decision pirates are either a nation or independent scallywags and go with it. Right or wrong you will have a position in place and people can decide what to do from there. Remember, you can't please everyone. 5. Officers - why change things? Again, what is broken with officers? The mechanics work and they do add variety to the game. 6. NPC changes - I hope this includes the return of traders. NPCs are more of a graphics enhancement (nice to see other ships sailing) than anything else. The elimination, almost, of solo traders really hurts those who just want to capture a trader for a few minutes of fun and to get their cargo. 7. Kickstarter - bad idea. If we are talking about only the "skins" fine but if you are talking about paying for better quality ships this would be a huge mistake. Many people are already frustrated by the fact that Heavy Rattlers, Aggies, and Ocean Blueprints are not readily available. Personally, I think that all blueprints should at least be available, perhaps not easily obtained, but not by some random luck in an event. 8. The other items are pretty much self explanatory and do not warrant feedback. Bottom line, no new content and breaking things that are not broken simply for the sake of making changes (my two cents since no explanation of why missions and officers are broken). This game had so much potential but I fear it may have peaked this past summer. Also, for those out there who are bemoaning PVE, please realize for this game to work it will take many types of players including PVPers, PVErs, Crafters, big guild types, solo players, hardcore players and casual players. Yes, PVP is fun but if you want a PVP sandbox this game has developed (hopefully) beyond that. There is room for everyone if we think big.

Personally I enjoyed the fine wood concept and am sad to see it eliminated. I think the issue with fine wood could have been resolved by increasing the drop rate and lowering the drop rate of Compass wood but that is neither here nor there. However, I would like to say that the idea that the implementation of fine woods killed PVP is no where near the entire story. The changes in the game over the past couple of months have caused numerous people to leave the game hence pretty much eliminating PVP. I think a bigger impact on PVP than fine woods was the new Port Battle system. Nowadays having a port battle almost seems like a rarity and, at least along the US coastline, screening is a thing of the past. Also, stern camping and crew losses probably hurt PVP as much as anything else out there. Nowadays, PVP is limited to small fast ships which is a shame. I continue to play the game but looking back I hope the summer did not mark the high water mark of this game. Right now, without PVP and Port Battles this game is getting pretty boring. We need something to raise the population and more end game content. There are plenty of content changes being proposed by players and hopefully the Devs are listening.

I realize there are no Islands in the Gulf. It would not be realistic. Oh well. Pirates camping the area is the idea. Get everyone in one place to PVP. Better than sailing for two hours and not running into a single player. No face palm there.