Can we just get rid of mods and make it so ships have to be built with them.

[Odol]

I feel most of the problems in game are due to mods unbalancing the ships natural balance. 

You want a fast chase ship, well naturally the Renomee, Rattlesnake, and Trinco would be the ships of choice for that task... but seeing as I can build a 4th rate *ahem Wasa* to go just as fast as the above ships, with more firepower, turning that can match, and is tougher, just through mods alone.  Why would I bother with a paper thin Rattlesnake, a leaking Trinco, or a matchstick mast Renomee.

So I am suggesting that if you want a ship that is fast, with calking and french masts, well it would have to be BUILT that way.   The only options as a captain you should have is your gun load, crew, and ballast options.  The current "knowledge books" simulate those options well.   But all other permanent options should have to be built into the ship from the dockyard.   Everything should have a pro and a con.  

You want less leaks from damage, well your ship is packed full of tar which is flammable, so you are a floating oil lamp.   You want tougher masts, well they are slower to respond with yard turns.   You want copper plating, well repairs will be MORE expensive. 

 

Everything will have a place and a use, no matter how obscure, it will have a use, unlike now.

 

[jodgi]

I'd love something exactly, or like, this.

[Chustler]

Ya I have always wished that each ship could be built in different ways within a realistic range, and then rigging and cannon setups could be adjusted to suit your needs.  All of these options would be available to everyone equally, and no crazy, unbalanced mods.

[Jean Ribault]

4 hours ago, Odol said:

I feel most of the problems in game are due to mods unbalancing the ships natural balance. 

You want a fast chase ship, well naturally the Renomee, Rattlesnake, and Trinco would be the ships of choice for that task... but seeing as I can build a 4th rate *ahem Wasa* to go just as fast as the above ships, with more firepower, turning that can match, and is tougher, just through mods alone.  Why would I bother with a paper thin Rattlesnake, a leaking Trinco, or a matchstick mast Renomee.

So I am suggesting that if you want a ship that is fast, with calking and french masts, well it would have to be BUILT that way.   The only options as a captain you should have is your gun load, crew, and ballast options.  The current "knowledge books" simulate those options well.   But all other permanent options should have to be built into the ship from the dockyard.   Everything should have a pro and a con.  

You want less leaks from damage, well your ship is packed full of tar which is flammable, so you are a floating oil lamp.   You want tougher masts, well they are slower to respond with yard turns.   You want copper plating, well repairs will be MORE expensive. 

 

Everything will have a place and a use, no matter how obscure, it will have a use, unlike now.

 

 

This would be a welcome change.  I would love to see ships built to order, and with prethought.  Shipcrafters made integrally relevant, and none of the crazy futuristic mods either.  We would need an additional interface between the crafter and shipbuyer IMO, that factilitates negotiations of prices and build, and where shipbuyers can request certain builds from crafters via some sort of message board.  We can do that now in trade tab, but that would be clumsy and insufficient.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Jean Ribault

[Vernon Merrill]

Its kinda funny.  They nerfed a good amount of the mods down to acceptable levels, and included more significant maluses...   But in the same patch they included the "Admiralty PvP"super-mods that only the better players will acquire...  which completely destroyed the benefit of the nerfing.  Ugh.

I understand the want/need of some players to "find" loot, but it seems there can be different "loot" that can be worth "stuff" and not influence battle outcomes...

(Hint:  Its cosmetic and "trinkets"...  )

[TommyShelby]

Permanent modules simulate this just fine in my opinion. 

Whether you put the permanent module on before clicking "craft ship" or after is not the issue. 
The issue is two-fold; (I think that is the right word?) 
1. The way you acquire "permanent modules" and "knowledge books" etc. 
2. The bonus/malus they give. 

My suggestion on how to solve it; 
1. All "Modules" and "Knowledge books" should be sold by the "Admiralty". 
- Why? Because RNG sucks when it comes to these kind of things. 

2. All modules/knowledge books should provide only small bonus. (And a small malus as well ofcourse.) 
- Why? Because we can stack it all. (I dont think hard caps/soft caps is a good idea. If the bonus' are balanced properly then stacking isn't an issue.).

Edit; It seems i had written "on after clicking craft ship or after". Obviously i meant before/after.  
 

Edited January 22, 2018 by TommyShelby

[Stilgar]

yes, we can! f*** mods. skill + woods! just balance woods better, so each wood has an unique advantage/bonus.

 

Edit: main problem with mods was and remain that it breaks the consistency of the ship stats and the rate system.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Stilgar

[Blackjack Morgan]

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the belief that Naval Action can be great again.

I have a dream that one day Naval Action will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “This is a PvP focused game with a biased toward realism when it does not compromise fun factor.”

I have a dream that one day on the port of Mortimer Town the former slaves to the lord of GRIND and RNG LOOT will be able to sit down at the table of common sense and realize this system is terrible.

I have a dream that one day even a new player, those suffering in the sweltering heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be able to play NA and have access to pvp without the soul crushing demands of grinding NPC's for months.

I have a dream that my four friends will one day return to Naval Action where they will not be doomed to failure because they do not have the right gear but rather measured by the content of their skill.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, over in Ukraine, with its vicious carebear love of grinding, with its lead developer having his lips dripping with the words of RNG loot and absurdity; one day right there in Game-Labs studios, little pirate boys and pirate girls will be able to join hands with little brit boys and brit girls and have pvp determined by skill rather than gear checks.

I hate virtually everything post 10.0 patch where it became some warped disfigured game weighed down by the albatross of gear, grind, and multiple repairs.....someday soon I pray we are free of this and we can return to a better place....and on that day we will join arm in arm in every port across the ocean and cry out " Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!"

* Inspired by MLK and the oppression of racism....which to me is pretty much what we have here in NA except its a war against those who do not like boring mind numbing soul crushing gameplay.  

[jodgi]

Amen!

[IndianaGeoff]

This game would play just fine without a single mod. Skill would still win out. But as said above, skillful players have measurably superior ships on top of it and after a while, enough of them to be willing to risk them at will. Win more is the result.

[Blackjack Morgan]

[Vintorius]

I think it should be a combination of some sorts. But I'd like to see a trend in that direction. It is a little crappy on some level when a Wasa is in a whole other league than the other 4th rates. The de-masting capabilities alone make it very hard for a Connie to complete head to hear. And I'm a Wasa fan.  But whats the since of having ship classes if some of the ships can just be in a league of their own...

[Trino]

I like mods and every other possibility to customize your ship. It's important that you don't know eveything about a ship when you see it in OW, there should be some surprise like: "wtf, how fast/hard/maneuverable ist this ship" ... I wished there would be even more mods etc. because it is fun to think about best combinations and try to get the "best ship for my playstyle" ... 

 

Edited January 22, 2018 by Trino

[Blackjack Morgan]

On 1/21/2018 at 1:24 AM, Trino said:

I like mods and every other possibility to customize your ship. It's important that you don't know eveything about a ship when you see it in OW, there should be some surprise like: "wtf, how fast/hard/maneuverable ist this ship" ... I wished there would be even more mods etc. because it is fun to think about best combinations and try to get the "best ship for my playstyle" ... 

 

Having the ability to customize a ship is fine, I don't think there are too many who argue against it. There could be different opinions on exactly how that is achieved and the access to said customization. The real problem is that the abundance of mods are creating ships that are way outside of anything resembling there historical performance. It promotes a system of gameplay where gear or gear combos is more important than skill....or where you must have certain gear to be competitive. There should be limits to how many speed mods, or armor thickness, or penetration etc. you can stack....or at least a system with diminishing returns. I do like the ability to customize our ships but these should be more like tweaks to the ships performance not major changes. 

[GrubbyZebra]

 

[Ahoy H.R. Matey]

I disagree with this, and quite strongly. The wipe brought on a lot of changes that I don't necessarily like, but the "tweakability" of ships via skills and mods is not one of them. If anything, I'd support the ability to remove some of the permanent mods like figureheads without destroying them.

Unlike, say, EvE where "ships are ammo" and are easily replaceable, in NA "a ship is not just for Christmas, a ship is forever"... or until it gets sunk anyway... and then you have to slog your way back to rebuilding it. Which is a pain in the ole arse even on PvE, especially if you lose a hard-to-get mod along with it, like the Cart Tar or an Elite refit. Tweaking an existing ship makes things that much more bearable. Plus this is an MMO and meta changes. I'd rather tweak my existing ships than scrap the whole works and rebuild it.

[Ahoy H.R. Matey]

1 hour ago, Wraith said:

The problem that I think you're running into here is that PvE and PvP are almost completely two different games with the current ship meta. With current RvR (see Cartagena yesterday) it's not out of the question for 30-40 ships of the line to be lost in a single 25v25 battle.  Ships are not forever in other words.   And what we're facing now is the basic fact that crafting is just an afterthought in the PvP world... It's all about the mods (which you don't need to craft for the most part) and the skill books. 

While I like the "tweakability" of the ships, I'd like to see that baked in via crafter's choices and skills, and in addition do away with the RNG- and PvP/Victory marks-based nature of the current module, book, and ship permit system relying instead on skill trees.

Heh, maybe that's why I don't play on PvP.

Maybe, mods should be craftable then, and require crafting skill to boot? But make crafting of them viable, so we don't have to rely on the mercy of RNGesus to get components?