Charles Edward Stuart

For those of you who are just arriving to this thread, I shall make bold in summarizing. People are currently dismayed by this for the following reason: People would obviously like to have their XP reimbursed in the way that Banished Privateer suggested in the first few pages of this thread, or would at least like SUBSTANTIVE compensation because they (self included) feel lied to by the way the word "guaranteed" is currently being stretched into "possibly".

Please lend some thought to Banished Privateer's suggested of delayed XP compensation. It's a working solution to all concerns.

This would work. +1

Rank was easy to get with the old missions system. Now we have to chase things down. Player, NPC, does not matter. Too much time spent chasing things for those with jobs or in school.

Think about all the new players who are already unable to get into the game because gaining XP is too difficult. We all leveled up using instant-action missions, they have to chase down traders snows to sink.

Players will quit if all their progress is ripped from under them like a table cloth is ripped out under plates.

I ask humbly that you do not wipe our XP if it can be avoided. And if it cannot be avoided, and the XP must be wiped, I ask that people be given partial redeemable XP so that they don't fall completely out of the community. There are those among us who have played since January of 2016 without losing all their XP and would be greatly upset to lose it all, especially after several comments in the past which were, perhaps erroneously, interpreted as assurance that we'd not lose our rank progress. I cannot truthfully say that I'd return to the game were I to lose all my levels, at which point the "seagoing assets" become unuseable without an extreme grind. The grind was far more forgiving when we had the ability to use instant-action missions to bring the PVE XP on a friendly schedule. Today, chasing players and bots around the extremely large open world would be nearly insurmountable for those who are employed or in education. This whole thing goes without mentioning the struggle of new players who acquire the game, as I'm sure the issue is quite familiar to them.

The custom flags in-game have been largely made by myself, or people following my guide. They are not official assets, and they can only be seen on the client-side of yourself, or anyone who uses the same modified files as you.

That's what she said, too.

I still have that file. I should remake it with a deeper texture so the white doesn't shine like a neon light. 🤔

There were previously more servers for different regions; but these were all merged into the current "Caribbean PVP" shard, likely due to player population.

A finished product being marketed on Steam.

I take credit for this.

It is, in my opinion, rare to find a post that I can disagree with on nearly every single point made. Even to the end that we would begin to remove the experience of some players just to "pander" to another group. The OP in this thread is disgruntled because he does not have the same success as players who choose to work together. I found myself mostly unwilling to grudge a response on the post until I got to the OP proposing we return to anarchy simply because he refuses to work with a team. To speak quite plainly; a player who is not part of a clan or group is less viable than a player who is part of one. There were times when all players regardless of clan affinity could partake in a port battle, simply by waiting until the flag was planted and all those in the area jumping in. The result of this was utterly abused. By restricting port battles to the clans that organized it, regardless of if they are filled, we avoid this. Any suggestion of return to the dark age preceding that mechanic can simply be thrown right out. If a player wants to participate in a port battle of any kind, whatsoever, they must be ready to contribute to it at all steps of the way. Join the clan, raise the hostility, attend the battle, capture the port. If you want to be part of national events, you must learn to play as part of the nation. You alone are responsible for feeling excluded. I personally am familiar with many players who have greatly improved at the game, widened their horizons, and refreshed their experiences through joining clans. I would go so far as to say new players are the most likely to join a clan, as they provide them with assets, ships, activities, and opportunities to improve. I am not familiar with one single player who has gone "I'm not part of a clan, therefore this game is unplayable."

It sounds like we could use something along the lines of the Total War unit moving mechanics. Left Click our AI ship on the map and Right Click where we need it to go.