Henry d'Esterre Darby

I see you've edited the original post, thank you. I think your question and the point you make is a good one, but dragging in Moderators isn't going to allow people to see the question itself. I haven't seen any post from Admin about just how the major nations will be run. I'm hopeful for more of an Eve-Online approach, but I may be thinking thoughts that are far too large for the starting scale for this game, due to the admittedly smaller resources that Naval Action can bring to bear on the problem. At some point in the near future, I hope that Admin will enlighten us on their current thinking along those lines.

I'll see if I can redirect this from the canard of accusations about Moderators, because I think the true thrust of your post doesn't really have anything to do with Moderators or current Guild Leadership. Is that effectively your question?

I would like to see it start with one as well. I think that will help prevent one-off Pirates, cross nation teaming, etc.

Those are definitely great improvements and suggestions - I noticed the ship naming thing as well. I write web applications for a living, I may see if Admin would like some help on that front. The coordination alone, though, may detract too much from the Development effort. So, please don't think I'm trying to shut your thread down. I'm hopeful that folks will use this thread to point out issues with the current site and provide a good starting list for the Devs to use when they come back up for air.

I'd like to say that I tend to be an independent player as I have a goodly sized family to keep operating, a very busy work and social life, and I use games such as this to depressurize for an hour or two here and there - my days of spending 40 (or more) hours a week gaming are well in my past. I usually don't join player guilds simply because I can't put in the time they usually would like to see to be proficient and to "do my part" for the guild's goals. I would seriously hope that being able to play a merchant for the United States in the game, or even a Privateer where you could cruise for prizes on your own, or a Captain in the Navy are viable methods of play for the unaffiliated player.

I'm not sure my name would fit across the back of a ship....

A little of both I expect. While there are a few "Societies" running around here, it's hard to get everyone into the same battle on the same side. On top of that, PotBS had a very simplistic combat model - you zoomed out, got the enemy into your arc, and mashed the fire button. In Naval Action, you're trimming your sails manually for turns, aiming the guns manually from a "first person" view, and then on top of that, trying to maneuver and hold station with one or more friendlies. It makes for a very busy situation, and means you're having to divide your attention far more than PotBS, which in itself likely accounts for the far more "ragged" formations. I expect once the game is farther along, and more folks are forming "Societies" (quotes only because who knows what form that will take in NA) and sailing together, you'll see an evolution of tactics and formations that will reflect those groups that are training together and trying their tactical acumen in the crucible of combat.

Thanks Mr. Smith. I try to make an arrow in the direction I'm turning, while ensuring the yard I'm handling manually is parallel with the wind direction (providing the least surface area possible) as I turn. Once I come up into the wind, I reverse the arrow to tack. Not sure if that's entirely correct, but it seems to work well.

I understand fully sir, and appreciate your attempts to help your fellows out!

In this case, I'm going to agree with you. In the future, please message the moderator that locked it as, to prevent flame wars, we'd prefer moderation not be discussed in the public forum. I do, however, agree that some threads, mainly in Support, are getting locked a little too fast. I'll raise the issue with the Mods and see if we can standardize that a little. Thanks Prater, I've unlocked that thread and would appreciate you providing a more full answer to the OP.

Not a bad idea sir. The Development staff are currently fully committed to Open World Development, and I don't think they want to waste even a single moment on anything that is not getting that product ready for wider player testing. I know web site improvements are on the list, and I'm sure as soon as those changes reach the top, they'll get done. Thanks for posting!

O'Brian spoke often of gun ports that were stove in, where a couple of ports were merged into a single port due to damage, was this just fictional fluff? I'm asking seriously, because I know the Developers have access to a lot of great historical material that I haven't seen.

That's dependent on your "profession". We're not Devs, just player volunteers, but effectively, if you're a Naval Officer, your "reputation" will likely determine what ship(s) may be assigned to you. As a Privateer or Merchant, we'd have to assume the size of your wallet would control what you could purchase to use in your travels. Admin has stated that there may be "investors" or others willing to lend you a ship or funds to proceed as well.

Please click the little gear next to the search box at the top of the page. Once that form loads, put "Instance" into the Find Words field, and "Admin" into the Author field. Click each result and you'll get a good picture of what the Devs have planned for instances.

The current advancement system is unique to Sea Trials. We're not entirely sure just yet how advancement will work in the Open World. For now, as you've noticed, capturing a ship in Sea Trials does not grant you access to it - you need to play through the ships so that the developers can continue to collect the requisite data to fine tune ship to ship combat.

The Developers currently have enough testers, please watch the forums for additional information.

This is a "normal" cycle. There isn't a ton of content, and the content currently available is for data gathering as Admin has mentioned, it's not supposed to survive on its own as a standalone game. Don't be too concerned with the numbers, the next time there's a serious content release, a new ship, Open World, etc. you'll see a huge resurgence in players. Right now, we're testing, not playing.

Great ideas Mr. Khan. I definitely agree that individual stats should be something that a player can choose to either keep private or reveal to one or more parties, or everyone.

Funky. Ok, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But unless your video card drivers are extremely out of date, you don't have a Video Card that supports Direct X 11. In order to play, you'll need to upgrade to a newer card.

Unfortunately, I can't view the image (oddly enough, I don't have permission). Could you host it somewhere else, such as Imgur or PhotoBucket and repost it?

Insults and disrespect in the game should be screen shotted (F12) and reported via Tribunal. We do not tolerate disrespect towards other Captains here, with the exception of the Shakespearean insult generator. That you have been the victim of bad apples is bad enough, that you think that it's acceptable and you just have to put up with it is worse. Past that, most of us are pretty nice, and we're not screaming at you silently. Please don't paint the larger portion of the community with the actions of a few loudmouths (who need a gag). This is a pretty early Alpha. Many of the "rules" are nothing more than player preference, and are not rules at all. Above, I mentioned that I personally thought that fleeing when a win was hopeless and you were outnumbered is boorish. I still believe it is, however, the post I quoted from Admin proves that the rules are whatever you can get away with (with the exception of farming damage - that is to have a large ship choose to fail to defend itself and allow enemy ships to farm damage off of it) are enforced by game mechanics - the circle prevents the griefers that liked to simply point their ship in a direction, set full sails, and then go out for a pint with their mates. If you're running away but staying inside that circle, well, you're in the clear as far as admin is currently concerned. Many folks like to watch the end of the match and then spend a few minutes in general chat congratulating friends and foes on well executed maneuvers, or shots, generally doing a post mortem. Those players can get frustrated when, in a system where the only thing you really need to advance is damage, with wins and losses not having any meaning, someone decides to drag a match out simply to avoid "dying". It's a little like when a player is losing a soccer match, and he takes every opportunity to kick the ball as far as possible out of bounds to force the other team to go get it. He's not doing his team any good by doing so, and he's certainly not making the match more fun for the participants. I'm in no way saying that running around inside the circle to avoid dying isn't allowed, or that I think people that do that are bad or evil, it just disappoints me on a personal level - but it's not your job to prevent my disappointment. The testing is designed to gather large amounts of data that can then be crunched statistically to adjust gameplay. I'll give you an hypothetical example. Matches are supposed to last no more than one hour. Preferably, the "normal" match should conclude some time before that, to allow for matches that are particularly competitive not to run into the end of the timer. When you have a number of people that have no chance running around making life difficult for the other team, you artificially extend the amount of time the match took to complete. This can cause the data to skew, leading the developers to make bad decisions about how much damage ships put out, how fast they should go, and how maneuverable they are, so that they can meet their match time goal. When there is no negative to losing your ship, some folks have a difficult time understanding why they need to chase you down for half an hour when the rest of your team is dead. That said, see my comments in the previous paragraph about game mechanics. I'm not sure what you're referencing here. Your post is constructive and respectful, and pretty much on topic. I don't see why you would be concerned about being accused of instigating. I would hope you wouldn't think I'd give you a stern retort. I'm rather direct in my language at times, but I usually save my ire for folks that are causing trouble (or who have camped athwart my hawse). I welcome newer players posting in General Discussion about aspects of gameplay which are confusing them or giving them trouble. The Developers need to know how newer players are doing so that they can adjust the UI and gameplay to be less confusing where possible. PLEASE post your questions and allow great players like Captain Doran, Dr. Maturin, Prater, etc. to help you out. We want you to succeed! Here's a little elaboration on what I meant. If you spent the entire match without firing more than a broadside or two, avoiding trouble and staying out of range, I'd personally like to see you a little more aggressive. I've posted before - if you're in a smaller ship than the norm, stay out from between the bigger ships and their enemies, and in fact stay near the bigger ship, on the far side from the enemy, just a bit behind them (watch out for them turning). Be patient, and soon enough you'll close to where you can hold that position and add your damage to theirs, and since they're occupying that bigger ship with their threat, you can remain relatively undamaged. Get in and fight your ship! Don't do so by yourself where the enemy can swat you like a fly, but watch for that opportunity to engage a ship that is occupied with a larger friendly and you'll be amazed at how helpful you can be. You'll do yourself a HUGE disservice if you don't PvP now, while the stakes are nonexistent. Right now, you can sail in, make a mistake, get absolutely murdered, and say to yourself "well Henry, that was bloody stupid of you, next time, zig instead of zag", exit the match, pick the same ship you were just in, and go again. No repair costs, no loss of ship, no having to find/build a new one, you're good to go. The bots act nothing like players, and if you're not ready to run into the likes of Prater or Mr. Doran when you hit the Open World, you're going to find yourself in a rowboat quite often. Get into PvP, fight your ship, ignore the jerks, listen to the folks that are genuinely trying to help, and learn! I guarantee if you report offensive behavior (with that F12 screen shot), and listen to the guys that are good at this stuff (and I'm NOT one of them, I get eaten for lunch regularly), you're going to be way ahead of the newer folks that are just joining. If you confine yourself to PvE, you'll be disappointed when Open World really gets going. PLEASE - feel free to PM me with any questions or concerns you have. I'll help you in any way possible because I want you to have fun and succeed.

Mr. Davies, you have my deepest respect sir. Stringing out one's opponents while still fighting them is a good tactic, and one I've used myself. I believe the issue we run into in this thread is that it is a very situational tactic, that can be the perfect response in one circumstance, and griefing in another (understand I'm not saying you're a griefer sir!). I believe one's motives are the primary factor in whether or not it is acceptable to "run", and I know you do so only out of the best intentions. No worries, I actually appreciate your making this topic, it has generated a lot of very spirited and lively debate!

My understanding at this time is that rig damage due to heavy weather is not part of 4.0 (or if it is, it hasn't been announced as such). Damage Model 4.0 is far more about individual hit boxes for the various components of a ship instead of flat percentage based module damage (e.g. your pump having a 4% - for example, I'm not sure of the real number - chance of being hit by a cannon ball, regardless of where the ball hits).

How about we take Admin's response in context instead. Here is the original post that Admin's post that I quoted regarding a "free for all" was responding to: PvP is a free for all was in response to this Captain's question as to whether or not it is ok for a small ship to be in the full PvP room. Admin then went on to indicate that if they do not want something to happen, they will use game mechanics to restrict it, he then referenced the other post I quoted where they added a circle to PvP to prevent people from running away down wind the entire fight and forcing all of the ships to spend a long time chasing them down. Open World escape tactics are for Open World, Sea Trials is to test sailing characteristics and combat mechanics. Now that we have a circle, as I indicated above, running away while within the circle and staying out of range is within the rules. The rules being, sail outside of the circle and you get sunk after a certain time period. At the moment, anything inside of that circle is fair game. Now, with regards to your assertion that people are being totalitarian, wasn't it you who just yesterday argued that there should be no limits on behavior other than what the community as a whole will tolerate, with the community shunning and providing negatives for that behavior if they found it objectionable? How can you then argue that people are wrong to tell others they disagree with their playstyle and encourage them to approach the game differently? The OP specifically asked the community's opinion about their actions, the community has responded, there's nothing wrong with that. As to testing, this is an early Alpha Test. Alpha testing is marked with particular objectives and instructions for data gathering and play-test information. We already know that you can drag a fight out for an extremely long time by refusing to engage and running as hard as you can in the other direction. Trust me, it works, it doesn't need to be done by players match after match. The following are my personal opinion only - not an official stance of Game Labs: 1. If the player isn't using the insult generator, not ok. Treat each other with respect, use the insult generator if you must directly address someone in a negative manner, and have fun shooting at each other. 2. Situational. In my opinion, if the enemy is strung out, and you have a legitimate chance of killing them one at a time, great! Do so. I've personally done this in a Surprise solo against a Snow and two Cutters. The Cutters left the Snow alone by tacking early, so I ran the Snow downwind alone and killed him. I then let the Cutters approach, but they were working together very well and causing me quite a bit of damage, so I maneuvered them onto opposite tacks and then ran one of them downwind while his mate tried to catch up. After I killed him, I turned and killed the final ship (and they had done a lot of damage to me in the mean time - it was close). Using distance to even the odds, if you're actively fighting is good gameplay. On the other hand, if you're a Surprise and the enemy has a Bellona, Constitution, and a couple of Trincomalees left, and you're just running full tilt away with no efforts to engage them to draw the match out, this is pretty mean-spirited - again, in my opinion only. 3. Running away and flat out not fighting - why are you in a PvP match at all? This is letting down your fellow teammates, and adding frustration to folks that are looking for a great, fun match. Go play PvE and sail away to your heart's content. The bots won't mind. Now, let's please bring this thread back onto the OP's original topic and away from community management and behavior. Thank you.

You're in luck, Admin is also seeing the problem. Hopefully we'll have a fix soon!