Less population does not necessarily mean less fun

[surfimp]

I logged on last night thinking to play a couple hours before bed. I live on the West Coast of the US so normally the server populations are quite low, last night it was below 400 which was a bit depressing.

I figured I'd sail my Exceptional Lynx - which I've been unable to sell for weeks now, even at bargain basement prices - from La Habana over to La Tortue and maybe setup a new outpost to seek PVP in that target rich environment. I didn't really care what happened to the Lynx but figured I probably wouldn't see many people anyways, given how quiet the server was.

And then suddenly, just before I reached Matanzas, Spanish national chat lit up with reports of yanqui (USA) raiders in Frigates harassing shipping along the coast between Baja and La Habana.

Figuring there wasn't much I was going to be able to do with my Lynx, but figuring I had to at least try to help, I wore ship and sailed back.

Thus ensued about two hours of some of the most fun I've had in recent memory in Naval Action. I spotted one of the Frigates off Mariel just as it jumped one of our player's Le Gros Ventres, and I jumped in to the instance to try to help. It took quite a while to chase them down (they were sailing on a broad reach) but eventually the LGV turned back towards me and I was able to catch up. A fierce battle ensued, with my compatriot's LGV taking heavy damage. However, I was able to dart in with my Lynx and begin stern raking the Frigate, eventually knocking his crew down to 150 and allowing the LGV to escape. I then set off close hauled and sailed away upwind. As soon as we dropped out of the battle instance, I was pleased to see many Spanish warships coming to help, and was able to tag the Frigate and pull him into another battle that saw him get absolutely wrecked in short order. So much fun!

Anyways, I know this all smacks of "cool story bro" but I want to reiterate that there is still quite a lot of fun to be had in Naval Action, even with the lower server population, and even in the "deadzone" time frames.

Saludos to all my Spanish compañeros... plus ultra!

Sanson Carrasco

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

Ah the sloop out of hell  Glad to read you got into harm's way with great fun. I am sure you compañero won't forget that battle for sure.

[surfimp]

Ah the sloop out of hell  Glad to read you got into harm's way with great fun. I am sure you compañero won't forget that battle for sure.

And I won't soon forget our magnificent duels the other night, either, Hethwill! I really appreciated getting to sail with someone so skilled as yourself. Another peak moment in my recent Naval Action experience.

Quality > quantity any day of the week!

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

win some lose some.

 

yesterday was one awful day myself.

 

most loss in a day in memory and all because of  yolo moves

 

love this game

[TheDukeOfDeath]

say that when your server PVP3 population never goes above 100 on a daily bases

[Pugwis]

Too many server eventually.

But yet, there are a LOT of players in this game, and i never figured that this number was low before i read this post, it's like in potbs when peoples say for the last 5 years "the game is dying"...

In fact the only thing that kill a game are peoples rumoring that the said game is dying, that's boring to play with peoples that repeat this every time.

[Jean LaPointe]

Great story above with the lynx! It does show you can enjoy this game in any sized ship, not just a SOL.

On another note; how many still play everyday? I would bet most of us here on the forum do. Has the amount of time you have been play changed? Mine has; I would spend hour after hour learning the mechanics and trying to understand how the game works. Spend more and more hours trying to gain some XP and gold for a "better" ship. Now that I have reached a certain level and have a frigate I enjoy sailing around the Caribbean, I tend not to be on as often or as long as I had 5 months ago. I can go a day or two without having to "be online". I plan where I want to be and estimate how long it may take to get there. Where I want a new warehouse, what product I want to farm/mine and what ship I want to build and to what level of mastery I want to build in. When I feel up for a contest of wills, then I look for a battle among the human element. The point is this, as time passes the frequecy in which an indvidual participates in the game will change and as such the number of consecutive logons will be smaller than normally experienced. It does not mean they left the game, it only means it doesn't drive their life to the extent it does when you first start playing.

To sum up and to support that less poplutation does not mean less fun. There is a wide variety of aspects that can be applied for the enjoyment of the time spent online.

[HardyKnox]

Never underestimate the power of a well handled sloop in a battle of capital SHips.

[surfimp]

So, night before last I logged on and focused on getting some resources over to La Habana so I could craft my first Snow, with hopes of obtaining a Mercury BP.

 

Shortly after I logged on last night, somebody posted that they'd just come over from PVP2 and were getting started with Spain and asked if anyone had a spare Snow or whatever they could lend.

 

Thinking back to the warm reception I received from Spanish players on PVP1 a while back (they really are the best IMHO), i decided I'd hook this guy up. I remembered his username from PVP2 and that he was an OK guy, so I contacted him via national chat and took his Snow order: Exceptional, teak, planking rig.

 

This was the first Snow I ever crafted and, through what seems like karmic good luck, I got the Mercury BP to drop. BOOM HEADSHOT!

 

The guy was stoked and he and his buddy set off to start grinding up some cash. I mentioned the ports where they could find compass wood, if they wanted to do that whole thing, and they seemed really jazzed.

 

Right after that, a server message pops up stating that the British had purchased a flag for Cochinos. I hadn't used my teleport yet, so I hopped over to the south side of Cuba and set sail in a Basic Cutter (the best ship I had available) to join the defense.

 

I am not a clan member currently but I am familiar with the Spanish clans and we had representatives from some of the better-known ones. I jumped on Teamspeak with them and took up position just outside Cochinos. Just a few minutes before the assault flag timed out, about half a dozen British Mercuries showed up and a number of pitched battles ensued. Ultimately the flag carrier was repulsed, at least one Brit Mercury was sunk, and the port was safe for the time being. And best of all, "good fight" regards were exchanged via global chat afterwards. A good time for all.

 

I then sailed back to my outpost, switched to a Traders Lynx filled with the produce of my production buildings and headed back to La Habana, making a couple stops and a few hundred thousand gold on the way.

 

All in all, a great night!! I think that, on balance, I'm having more fun now than I was in the past, even though I'm pretty much sailing the same 6th & 7th rate ships that I always have. I'm glad that being a solo player forced me into the crafting and trading parts of the game, because it's added a lot of additional depth and interest. Being able to literally give away Exceptional ships to new members of my nation feels awesome, after having been a broke-ass privateer for so long, barely able to rub two coins together in my pocket.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Sansón Carrasco

[surfimp]

So yesterday I decided to spend the evening harassing British trade near Jamaica, an area a friend referred to as "the Compass Wood Road" and I call "the Happy Hunting Ground" as it is so completely full of player trade ships laden with valuable cargoes of compass wood and silver. And irregularly defended by British warships, despite the route's obvious importance to their war effort. As a noble privateer with letter of marque from the Spanish crown, this is veritable music to my ears

I was once again aboard my humble little Lynx, which I have named ¡Qué Susto! after the common Spanish expression meaning "what a fright," usually said when something has startled you unexpectedly or when describing something scary. A nice double entendre for a Lynx, if you ask me

On my way I encountered a number of British players in Basic Cutters and similar, but all declined my polite offers (sent via PM and via sailing maneuvers I can only describe as provocative) of a 1v1 duel. Apparently the sight of a solo Lynx was not worth their while... little did they know that their complacency was damning their fellow countrymen in trade ships to an ignoble doom.

I caught up to my first target west of Carlisle, a Traders Cutter. Just as I was coming alongside to board and enjoy some intimate time with its crew, a St. Pavel rudely interrupted the proceedings and spoiled the mood.

Despite firing three full broadsides at ¡Qué Susto!, there was minimal damage, so I quickly patched up and went back on the prowl.

Soon after I captured a Traders Cutter and its cargo of 300 silver ore destined for Mid Grade Note production fueling the British war machine's colonialist ambitions. Not any more! Now it will be put to far nobler use in the Spanish Reconquista of Cuba.

My raiding was beginning to draw the attention of British defenders. First a Renommee started hunting me, and he was soon after joined by a Frigate and a few other larger hunting ships.

For me, this is the great joy of the privateering gameplay mode: you hunt traders, and their warships hunt you. You can measure your success not only in the ships you capture - which, of course, you then have to sail back to a safe port while evading being captured yourself - but also in the number and quality of ships devoted to your pursuit and capture. It's sort of like getting "Wanted" stars in the Grand Theft Auto series. And tremendously good fun.

Some people don't quite get it, though. As I rounded the tip of one of the islands, I spotted a British player in a Navy Brig headed towards me on a beam reach. With the island at my port beam I had little sea room and a number of other British warships looking for me astern, so I headed up to closehauled and sailed directly past the Navy Brig. He tried to attack me but I was able to exploit the Lynx's far superior upwind performance and easily dance out of the circle before the timer expired. This easy escape seemed to frustrate the Navy Brig player, as I shortly began receiving a number of salty PMs from him, decrying my choice to "gank" player traders... with my Lynx.

After taking the opportunity to recite the classic Inigo Montoya line from the Princess Bride ("You keep using this word... ganking... I don't think it means what you think it means."), I reminded him of the historical facts that the vast majority of ship actions during the Age of Sail were in fact, privateers and warships hunting down trade ships to stymie their enemy's war efforts. It doesn't get more "Age of Sail" than this, in other words. I encouraged him to give it a try sometime, because it's nowhere near as easy as he seemed to think it is. We certainly have seen plenty of USA and British players raiding our own traders near La Habana, I'm simply returning the favor...

Oh, and perhaps coincidentally, during the same time I was hunting and drawing the attention of numerous British warships who appeared to be actively searching for me, my Spanish comrades were able to liberate yet another Cuban port from British colonial oppression. I can only hope that my efforts in distracting and annoying my sworn enemy, the British, were in some small way of aid to my brothers in arms fighting to throw off the yoke of British tyranny in Cuba.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Sansón Carrasco