Make Crew Size Grow with XP

[quarter]

Recommend rather than having crew size increase step-wise at each new rank, allow incremental increases in crew size as the player gains experience while progressing within a rank, maybe at a linear rate between each rank that increases as XP increases.  This would benefit in a number of ways: 

 

First, it would allow players to effectively sail ships like Mercury, which is either undermanned at level 3 or overmanned at level 4 (Constitution is another example).  A level 3 captain could start with a brig at 120, then grow into the Mercury @135 midway thru their progression to 150 level 4. 

 

Second, it would add staffing flexibility when adding new ships to the game, since they would be less pressure to staff ships in clusters around the current staffing thresholds. 

 

Third, this would provide a proxy for the player to see improvement in ship performance as they gain XP, ex. reload times, etc. will decrease due to the incremental addition of crew.   

 

Fourth, a player could elect to build or purchase a larger ship that his staffing level currently does not support, knowing that he could use it sooner, rather than have it docked for long periods of time due to having to wait to achieve the next staffing level.  For instance, a new level 7 @350 finds the perfect Constitution for sale, but elects not to buy it since he cannot sail it effectively until level 8. 

[Ahab]

Seems like a pretty good idea.  It would add a lot more viability to those middle ships.  They could even keep the same XP targets they got now for the level.

 

Especially with the way the XP gain is, I am going to be Captain for a really long time.  So that is a long time to be in a Trincomolee, and then once I level I can crew a 3rd and there is no need for the Constitution.  I really only see Constitutions being undercrewed for the tanking and BR at a Port Battle.

[Thymoral]

This is a fantastic idea!

 

In the current system there are a few ships that are kind of left out to dry because of their odd number of crew.  I think it would let players try a more diverse amount of ships.

[StandingCow]

Love the idea! 

[Francis Tabernac]

Makes sense to me. Perhaps have your max crew step up at regular intervals, so that every 20% of the xp accumulated towards the next rank results in an increase of max crew of 20% of the difference, so when going from rank 5 to 6 you'd get another 20 crew for every 2000xp earned, etc. rather than every point of xp resulting in a fractional increase. Gives us mini-goals to reach.

[maturin]

Neat idea.

 

I can't stand the though of being locked out of Surprise and Renommee for want of only 40 men.

[Excelsior718]

Great idea.  

 

Provides more variety and fun, but doesn't upset game balance.  

[Francis Tabernac]

Neat idea.

 

I can't stand the though of being locked out of Surprise and Renommee for want of only 40 men.

 

Exactly, and the same goes for hitting the next rank: great, now I can sail my Renommee at maximum efficiency, but I need 20k xp for 40 more men for the small jump to a Frigate. Curses!

I like the idea of it giving more reason to sail "intermediate step" ships like the Constitution as well, because it would also leave room for adding more of them in the future. I'm all for increasing the variety and viability of new classes.

[MaliceA4Thought]

totally agree

 

M

[Samuel van Heerden]

yes this is a good I idea. The Constitution for example will be totally missed by some players as they will go from 350 crew to 650 in one rank, so you can jump from the Trinco to the 3rd rate's. Unless the Crew - rank has changed since I last looked of course.

[Snoopy]

I was thinking the same thing today. Hardly any drawbacks and you get to use a large potential lineup of 4th and 3rd rates.

[SKurj.]

i had this thought once upon a time as well...

[Dalriaden]

Annoys the hell out of me that you go from 350 - 650 crew and pretty much completely bypass the connie.

[Azzak]

Yes please !! Great idea !

 

Reaching a rank will just give you a "show rank", like a title, but won't impact your XP as such.  The important thing is your XP.

[Aloeus]

Yes, had this idea as well. It completely solves any issues with crew numbers on ships go. It also makes it feel like you're getting somewhere as a player rather than just grinding away.