Porpoise

This is exactly what I am proposing. Make DLC ships craftable and add a small economic bonus for sailing them. Something like +50% credit and XP income.

I am sure everyone is excited about being tagged by these 12 ships AI fleets when sailing in the OW from A to B.

5 fully PVP equiped Bellonas against 1 SOL and 6 trash ships... I am still thinking why they did not engage you.

I have an idea how this could work Owner of a DLC can redeem 1 permit or 1 note for Herc/Req per day. If the player decides to craft a DLC ship using materials and labour then these ships should be allowed to participate in PBs. If you decide to redeem one (for free) using note then they should be banned from these events. It is simple. 1/2 of the RVR is supplies and gathering them costs time (capturing ships, building ships, etc.). Redeeming a ship costs you nothing. Imagine what would happen if there is a 2nd rate DLC for example ...

Tell me more... I am being picked every day in my home waters.

Agreed. The population is the problem. Capital zones are populated, so the hunters go there for kills. Without 800-1000 players on the server it is not going to be any better.

Well some of the perks should not be perks at all or should have been granted for everyone. IMO 90% of players use same setup, so there is really no option, especially if you are involved in PVP. All of players I know use FC1, doubleshot, charge, expert carpenter and prepared. Never seen anybody using any of the economy perks unless it is an alt. The only option is to have or not to have determined defender, which is considered great by some players. IMO FC1 and prepared should be granted for free. It usually took hours for ships to get into firing possition, so I see no reason why you should start battle without guns loaded.

What about navigation minigame

Well I am not against trading, but even 1 trade run means I have no time to do anything else on that day. And I cannot afford losing a trader full of goods, because I am broke

How do you get money after patch 2.7 exactly? I know my knowledge is limited, resources scarce and I am playing solo and for limited time except on weekends. And the most important - I don´t want to do trading runs. My usual session is 1-2 hours so I am able to find and kill 3-4 5th rates which gives me +- 10k reals and some dobloons if I am lucky. I feel I am limited to my Hercules, because I cannot simply recover from any loss. A crafted 5th rate goes arround 30k + 5-10k for guns. That means I can cover my loss in 4 days. Are there any secrets how to generate reals? Everybody is telling me that money is not a problem in this game, but for me they are. My biggest source of income is crafting cannons which is not time consuming, but it is still 10-15k profit per day.

IMO all exams are OK. You can find them challenging as a new player and that is good. I have completed every task on 1st try except the final exam which took me 2 tries (I am mediocre player at best with some NA experience). The rewards are great for a newbie and the instant promotion to MC is great too. If you can pass the exams then you are competent to sail a frigate. Good idea, I like it a lot. I also think that new players should not skip the 6th rates completely. They are great source of fun and fast action with minimal risk. Losing your Herc right after completing the tutorial could be painful.

True. If you want to do some AI raiding in the remote areas then you have to spend enormous portion of time hauling reps there. I suggest all neutral ports should drop reasonable amount of reps every day (even for higher prices), so the raiders could use them and it will increase their time spent in OW dramaticaly. And there should be at least 30% chance to find some reps in the loot.

Do you think 2 missions every 24hours is enough for new players to level up?

IMO all DLC ships should not come in notes, but in permits, so people have to craft them and spend materials. I would also suggest a longer delay between redeems. Lets say 3x a week for Herc and 1x for Christian. Le Requin should be banned because it is ugly and stupid.

Removing US insignia and making the "2nd connie" look more neutral could be nice. There is really no need for 2 identical ships. Acheron is fine. Acheron in MC movie is actually a Constitution, but the filmakers did not want to place the movie in war of 1812. So they came with background story that Acharon was made in US for the French.