Is PvE part of this game worth it?

[AngryPanCake]

I've been following this game off/on on Steam and see it is still in early access and WIP.
I have been trying to find out about the PvP and PvE modes as well. I understand this game is supposed to be an MMO with possibly a player vs AI mode.
I've played some MMO's such as WoT, WT and AW. I liked all three games, but found myself not liking the "MMO" part of the MMO game!
So being an age of sail enthusiast (finished the Hornblower series, now going through the Aubrey-Maturin series), I was very excited to find this game. I was even more excited to learn there was a PvE mode.
However, before I spend the asking price (which is way more than I usually spend on PC games since I always get them on sale from Steam), I wanted to get some feedback from players who have been playing PvE.
1- Is the game worth the money if one does not play it MMO style, ie PvP?
2- Are the other aspects of it (other than battles) worth getting it? I mean, can you trade, build a trade empire and defend it with warships you build/buy and crew? Do these aspects of the game keep you interested in continuing to play or are they more of an afterthought to an age of sail combat simulation?
3- I had read somewhere that other players may intrude on your PvE world and disrupt your trade or take your prizes (or potential prizes), is it true?
4- In addition to the price one pays for the game, do you also have to spend extra for perks, premium stuff (pay to win system like other MMO's even though they all deny that is the way it is)?

The other thing that worries me about MMO is that it appears the pool of players is quite low at any given time, as opposed to other MMO's (I was online last night playing WT, there were 27K players online!), wait times less than 1-2 minutes to get into battle).

Thank you for your input,

APC.

[Nelson Hornblower]

8 hours ago, AngryPanCake said:

1- Is the game worth the money if one does not play it MMO style, ie PvP?
2- Are the other aspects of it (other than battles) worth getting it? I mean, can you trade, build a trade empire and defend it with warships you build/buy and crew? Do these aspects of the game keep you interested in continuing to play or are they more of an afterthought to an age of sail combat simulation?
3- I had read somewhere that other players may intrude on your PvE world and disrupt your trade or take your prizes (or potential prizes), is it true?
4- In addition to the price one pays for the game, do you also have to spend extra for perks, premium stuff (pay to win system like other MMO's even though they all deny that is the way it is)?

 

1. I mainly play as a PvE in the PvP world and it's not difficult to avoid the PvP aspect. But if you want to go looking for a fight, you can find one, which is always fun. There are missions, bots and AI trader ships, all yours for the taking. 

2. You can level up your shipbuilding and build your own ships. It's a great feeling when you can build your first Constitution or Surprise without the help of someone else. You just need to go looking for the resources. 

3. I have yet to experience this, if anything players are very helpful in the game. Just the other day, me and another guy ran down an Indianan, I was in a Rattler and he was in a 2nd rate. After the Indianman gave up, he split the prize with me (this was also a PvP encounter).

4. As of now, the devs have said this won't be a pay to win game. Some premium stuff may come later, but it won't effect how you play the game. 

[Jeb Fuller]

I play on the PVE server so I can't speak to the PVP server, but there's a lot of fun to be had playing PVE. I've racked up a couple hundred hours and had a lot of fun with it and was hoping for more PVE content. You may want to look at the excerpts from this thread though before making a final decision, but you never know they may decide to eventually add more content as the game is still in Alpha. Either way the graphics are awesome, it runs great on my PC, and there's a very kind and helpful community on the PVE server. Its definitely worth the price.

On 2/9/2017 at 4:15 AM, Ink said:

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Do you plan to Kickstart PvE content? let's say for example 'Junk Loot', 'Treasure Chests' and 'Maps'?

We never focused efforts on PvE.

 

On 2/9/2017 at 4:15 AM, Ink said:

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What should PvE crowd expect this year? and how are you going to keep them playing and asking for more?

PVE server was opened based on the request of several veteran players/supporters during testing. They asked us to give them some place where they can just peacefully sink bots without attack of other players. But before that we were never PVE focused and always said that real captains in the age of sail fought other people (our webpage in 2013). What we can assure you our PVE is better than in Rust or DayZ. Raids will be somewhat PVE (with a chance of player invasio

 

[The Spud]

The price is on the high side for an early acces game, but if you are realy into the age of sail and like realy good battle mechanics with great looking ships, this game will for sure be worth the money. Allot of the players have more then 1000 hours in this game including myself. If you are looking for a fast paced loby game, this is going to be a different experience. The game is not fast pased, but when you're in a good battle what feels like 10 minutes will actualy be 1.5 hours. Its great fun.

As far as PvE goes, like mentioned by Nelson Hornblower, you can do PvE on the PvP server. If you pick out a quiet area of the map to put up an outpost you might be allright and only rarely bothered by a real player who attacks you or joins one of your missions. The map is realy big (would estimate about 2-3 real life hours maybe to sail from one end to the other).

If you want to avoid any PvP I would recommend you start out on the PvE server, where players can't attack or bother eachother. You can sail around with friends or other players, and do missions together against AI ships. You can choose the difficulty of a mission, and you have an option to fight a fleet of enemies accompanied by a fleet of friendly AI ships to help you. This can go from a 2vs2 to maybe even a 12vs12 battle when doing one solo. You can also attack AI fleets sailing around in the OW, they are of different sizes, there are also some other special events you can join. Missions and fleets work the same on both the PvE and the PvP servers. You can buy resources or put up production buildings in ports to create goods you can sell or use to craft your own ships. You can buy cheap NPC crafted ships, or buy player crafted (better quality) ships.

The good thing about the three servers (PvP1 EU, PvP2 US, and the PvE server) is that you can have a character on each one of them and they share your XP & Rank (No assets like ships, gold, upgrades, etc...). So you can play the PvE server where you rank up easily, and then switch to the PvP server occasionaly if you want to try some PvP with the same rank you have on the PvE server. The RvR aspect on the PvP server, is allot of fun, it comes with the regular doses of salt and boasting, but thats how you know people take this game seriously.

Port Battles are the end game gameplay you want to end up in, its a massive 25vs25 battle. Its an effort that involves nearly all able captains of both alliances in an attempt to steal/defend a region from the enemy. I'm prety sure you won't regret buying this.

[AngryPanCake]

Thank you guys for your responses. This sounds very encouraging...especially what you guys said about playing PvE within the PvP server without others bothering/hindering your game play.

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You can buy cheap NPC crafted ships, or buy player crafted (better quality) ships.

Wow, that is actually an amazing feature to be able to buy other people's ships!

I will continue learning about the game in this forum and hopefully save enough to purchase it.

[maturin]

The devs just realized a deficiency in the AI enemies, so PvE is about to get a lot better.

[Macjimm]

18 hours ago, AngryPanCake said:

1- Is the game worth the money if one does not play it MMO style, ie PvP?
2- Are the other aspects of it (other than battles) worth getting it? I mean, can you trade, build a trade empire and defend it with warships you build/buy and crew? Do these aspects of the game keep you interested in continuing to play or are they more of an afterthought to an age of sail combat simulation?

Mr APC,

There are interesting aspects to the game (other than battles) that make the game worth getting.  If you like sailing and navigation the pretty graphics and audio in the open world can be entertaining.  The trading and crafting is dynamic and provides a little purpose for your voyages throughout the virtual world.  The trading and crafting is enhanced by player involvement.  Players can buy, sell or gift to each other.   This opens up detailed possibilities with the virtual world that have nothing to do with fighting.

You can use a server that is exclusively PvE where other players can not attack you so you are free from disruptions (from human opponents).  But if you embrace the risk and use the PvP servers you may find that the potential danger from other players adds richness and increases your appreciation for the help you will surely also receive from other players.  That same potential for loss provides more depth to the game.  I use a small quick little trade ship.  The profits are limited but if I stay alert I can usually outrun players who would capture or destroy me.   It involves watching carefully while sailing and sometimes using the vessel like a little speedboat (for a short time) when fleeing in open world.  If a crafted or purchased ship is destroyed it will be magically respawn several times,  so there is very little risk.  It is possible to lose cargo to other players but never money, rank or your experience points.

NA does not have extra content that can be bought, so it is not pay to win.  

The highest numbers are currently on the PvP1 server with populations varying from 100 to 500 players.  But I have enjoyed PvP2 with only 50-100 players.  The trick is to determine where the players are located and seek out those areas if you prefer interaction.  Although it is also nice to avoid the higher density spots if you wish to avoid being attacked.  It's very feasible to establish a relatively peaceful trade route that is fairly safe.  It,s really great that NA allows for this diversity.  The lowest numbers are on the PvE server.

NA has been created with a very heavy focus of fighting.  It appears that most of the development has been directed toward fighting.   For some players the fighting is the whole purpose of the game and they would prefer that we are all involved with battles and channeled toward competitive PvP.   But it still very possible and worthwhile to play the game without fighting. 

[Ruthless4u]

Keep in mind OP, that if you looking for a PVE only server, there may not be one

 

http://steamcommunity.com/app/311310/discussions/1/135508662494018010/

 

Ink stated it may not survive( 6th question/answer)

[Minutemen_Chaplain]

What do you mean with may not survive ? Do you mean once it goes out of Early Access it all happens only in one server ?

And hello community. Spent a few hours just reading through the forums and there's a lot going on, so i am still kind of lost in the excess information.

One thing I still don't understand fully is how the nations war with each other. I understand the white/red but the attacks on enemy cities. Is it possible for PvE actions to influence it somehow ?

Loving the game so far. Have a lot to research about the different parts of the game. Seems huge for a new player with a lot of different options and things to do.

[Guest]

no

[Captain Alexander]

Don't play Naval Action only for PvE... It doesn't have much to offer..

[LeBoiteux]

Too bad PvE isn't a dev priority, by far, because simply adding AI aggressiveness (bots being able to attack players) and an extra pinch of Exploration Gameplay would be sufficient to make PvE great.

[Seaside]

4 hours ago, LeBoiteux said:

Too bad PvE isn't a dev priority, by far, because simply adding AI aggressiveness (bots being able to attack players) and an extra pinch of Exploration Gameplay would be sufficient to make PvE great.

Would get me playing again.

 

[Serk]

nvm, you guys are talking about PVE server. I'm allright with that, but aggressive bots on PVP server is the last thing I want to see in this game. 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Serk

[The Spud]

10 minutes ago, Serk said:

nvm, you guys are talking about PVE server. I'm allright with that, but aggressive bots on PVP server is the last thing I want to see in this game. 

Well, we used to have these in the early OW days. But I think they only tagged +- equal BR.

[LeBoiteux]

3 hours ago, Serk said:

nvm, you guys are talking about PVE server. I'm allright with that, but aggressive bots on PVP server is the last thing I want to see in this game. 

AI aggressiveness + a perk allowing or disabling AI aggressiveness would satisfy anybody on PvP servers (PvE-ers, PvP-ers and PvP/E-ers).

Remember that the PvE server is meant to be shut down in the long run.

Btw the "PvP" servers are in fact PvP/E servers...

Edited March 6, 2017 by LeBoiteux

[Serk]

Perks are too important in PVP to be wasted on this.

I propose you take a perk if you want the AI fleet to attack you

Edited March 6, 2017 by Serk

[AngryPanCake]

On 3/1/2017 at 8:09 PM, Ruthless4u said:

Keep in mind OP, that if you looking for a PVE only server, there may not be one

 

http://steamcommunity.com/app/311310/discussions/1/135508662494018010/

 

Ink stated it may not survive( 6th question/answer)

Actually, I just saw your post Ruthless. You posted it on March 1st! I had posted my original post on Feb 15 and purchased the game on the 19th..."I took the plunge" post!

I think if I had seen this Steam post, I'd have thought twice before buying it...but, I'm here now and I'll probably do my best to adapt. This game is too amazing to pass on, nothing like it out there, well, except PoBS everybody keeps mentioning.