Success as a solo player

[The Ghost of Sir Edward]

44 minutes ago, Ove Gjedde said:

It is, in my opinion, rare to find a post that I can disagree with on nearly every single point made. Even to the end that we would begin to remove the experience of some players just to "pander" to another group. The OP in this thread is disgruntled because he does not have the same success as players who choose to work together. I found myself mostly unwilling to grudge a response on the post until I got to the OP proposing we return to anarchy simply because he refuses to work with a team.

To speak quite plainly; a player who is not part of a clan or group is less viable than a player who is part of one. There were times when all players regardless of clan affinity could partake in a port battle, simply by waiting until the flag was planted and all those in the area jumping in. The result of this was utterly abused. By restricting port battles to the clans that organized it, regardless of if they are filled, we avoid this. Any suggestion of return to the dark age preceding that mechanic can simply be thrown right out. If a player wants to participate in a port battle of any kind, whatsoever, they must be ready to contribute to it at all steps of the way. Join the clan, raise the hostility, attend the battle, capture the port.

If you want to be part of national events, you must learn to play as part of the nation. You alone are responsible for feeling excluded.
I personally am familiar with many players who have greatly improved at the game, widened their horizons, and refreshed their experiences through joining clans. I would go so far as to say new players are the most likely to join a clan, as they provide them with assets, ships, activities, and opportunities to improve. I am not familiar with one single player who has gone "I'm not part of a clan, therefore this game is unplayable."

I do not understand why in the Naval Action community the opinion of one type of player is more important than the opinion of another or how one type of game focus is more critical than another. I am not aware of any player that trades alone or hunts alone ever asking for special mods or books that will help them escape when cornered yet the PvP player cult is constantly demanding and getting concessions to make their task easier and make avoiding PvP harder. 

As to my mood I am more perplexed than I am disgruntled, and as far as success, I am not interested in discussing the size of my gold mines I will only say that I use four Indiaman regularly. 

As far as playing as part of a nation, I joined Spain and do my best to defend her interests. Show me the Spanish clan that places Spanish interests above their own, one clan that represents the nation  and I will join. only one example would be required. 

[Jean Ribault]

16 minutes ago, The Ghost of Sir Edward said:

...As far as playing as part of a nation, I joined Spain and do my best to defend her interests. Show me the Spanish clan that places Spanish interests above their own, one clan that represents the nation  and I will join. only one example would be required. 

 

Well, you'd have to be invited to be part of the clan.  And you won't be, because of your style of play, or because of the things you are saying here, a lot of which I agree with.  Unfortunately, and as you can see from some of the responses you got here, there is a serious problem in this game with elitist attitudes of many pvp players.  They want your style of play eradicated because in their minds you don't have a right to play your way.  Besides, the devs have no interest in creating a solo-player game, they've made that clear.  The negative Steam reviews will continue of course due to toxicity of that kind.

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

I see no one acting elitist or even wanting to eradicated the solo player.

What I read is other players indicating that playing Solo is nowadays a much more challenging choice and with no access to port battles, given the Clan based Conquest system.

The discussion being somewhat healthy and well conducted and several venues of approach to the "new solo play" being presented.

Game has indeed changed a lot in many regards. Solo does not have a say in Conquest. That is a given and is not going to change. Make a clan just for 1 player, then have the clan in the other clans friends list is the solution.

[Kifli]

agree solo players just doesn't have a place in these game. I am going that far that saying it one of reasons of low population. In any mmo the majority of players are solo. Being literally unable to play because of getting destroyed buy clan gangs looking for easy prey. Before open world this game had huge (in comparation) player base and it is only because solo casual player witch makes the most of players. 

[Old Crusty]

What makes a SOLO player a SOLO player? Is it that you don’t play nice with others? Do you not like people? I do understand that the politics of the game can be a turn off but as a clan member you do not have to be involved in any of the politics. 

As a member of a clan you can still play SOLO. It might take joining and leaving Clans a few times to find the right one that doesn’t get in the way of their members playing their own game. Once you find the right clan it will most likely have people in it that are very similar to you (hence the right clan). When you find people in game that think the way you do, you may find yourself hunting for PvP with one or two other people. You may find yourself invited to port battles.

I think that if you put some effort into finding the right clan, you could get everything out of the game that you want.

[John Jacob Astor]

4 hours ago, Hethwill the Harmless said:

What I read is other players indicating that playing Solo is nowadays a much more challenging choice and with no access to port battles, given the Clan based Conquest system.

The discussion being somewhat healthy and well conducted and several venues of approach to the "new solo play" being presented.

Game has indeed changed a lot in many regards. Solo does not have a say in Conquest. That is a given and is not going to change. Make a clan just for 1 player, then have the clan in the other clans friends list is the solution.

Solo is not my first choice.  It's something I've had to adapt to.  But as it happens port battles are really a non-issue for me.  There really isn't time to do that and work the player economy (such as it is).

The first two clans were debacles (for different reasons).  In my contact with additional clans what I'm finding is that the some of the more visible US ones really have no apparent need for merchant-focused players.  They are looking for combat buddies to chatter at on TS.  Or they have alts to do all of their econ and generate their port revenues.

I've actually been toying with the idea of a 2-3 person clan.  We would operate out of ports controlled by allied combat clans.  But I probably won't actually do that until after the September patches and I see what the economy looks like.  Or if the new UI includes some sort of clan directory with some way to contact an officer.

Edited August 28, 2018 by John Jacob Astor

[Old Crusty]

I am an Officer in a U S Clan. I will list you the things that we require from our members and officers.

From Members: 

1. If you can donate donate materials for ship building to the clan warehouse please do so.

2. There is no 2. 

From Officers.

1. Help out Clan members however you are able. Make them ships and guns. Give them gold to expand their docks, etc.....

2. Ports are expensive. We like Officers to donate 10% of profits to the Clan. Officers that are mostly traders end up donating less of a percent but in most cases more gold. Officers, like me, that get their gold solely from unboxing ships against AI donate more of a percentage because I don’t have much use for gold.

That is all. As long as you are giving a bit to the Clan you can do whatever you want. We do get together to do hostility missions. We do go train together. We do go PVP together, but none of that is required. 

If you don’t like the politics then simply stay out of them.

[Galt]

2 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Exactly. This is why it cannot work, and why if players want an open port battle they should band together and flip a port. Randoms in port battles is cancer.

But only if you're in a clan, that's my point. If they were to do it on their own, they don't really stand a chance of winning. The people this would mostly benefit is the solo casual just looking to get involved in big battles that actually matter for the game. Yes it would hurt clans but it would also give them incentive to 1) be on time and 2) be more conscious to how they use their BR. I just think that if you can't fill the BR, or are not on time (for what ever reason) then why should people who want to get involved still not be allowed to help?

Half the join time is perfectly fair for both clans and solo players when it comes to  PBs. 

[Galt]

24 minutes ago, Wraith said:

But again, why would the solo casual not get in contact with the clan organizing the battle and ask if they need help?  They can get a temporary invite to the clan or be added to the friends list. This works perfectly at the moment and I still haven't seen evidence to support changing it.

If the clan organizing can't fill the pb then we would typically ask for support and fill it with randoms via the mechanic I outline above.

Ideally, that's what should happen. But clans are often very hesitant to bring on randoms to pbs because of alt paranoia or they don't think they can perform as well. As a clan member it's almost better to have everyone on the same page and on the same ts so you can coordinate. Randoms are just going to feed the enemy points when they inevitably get sunk. They often don't listen to commands and they don't stick with the plan. They are solo players that want to be solo players in the middle of a big brawl, I get that. But it's also not fair to them for clans to tell them no because they can. It takes away authority of clans in their own operations, why would any clan centered member want that? (obviously they wouldn't) But it's at the casual player's expense and it's just not fair to them. 

I agree that new players should focus on joining a clan and getting into the team. But, for example, when I was very active in Britain. My clan didn't want to bring on new players because we didn't want to just throw away resources, we didn't want to deal with alts and spies in the clan, wee didn't want the liability of experienced players in our operations, etc. But how is that fair to new players? It's incredible rare for a large group of new players to band together, let alone success on the RvR level. Not that I don't want to see them success, but the mechanics are sorta stacked against them. 

Edited August 28, 2018 by Galt

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Old Crusty said:

What makes a SOLO player a SOLO player? Is it that you don’t play nice with others? Do you not like people? I do understand that the politics of the game can be a turn off but as a clan member you do not have to be involved in any of the politics

Few are victims of clans or scorned but many can be independent, mavericks, autonomous, even obstinate but most just gets a buzz from succeeding their own challenge.

Sorry Sir but none are antisocial as you are suggesting, sniping.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Guest

[Barbancourt]

6 hours ago, Old Crusty said:

What makes a SOLO player a SOLO player? Is it that you don’t play nice with others? Do you not like people? I do understand that the politics of the game can be a turn off but as a clan member you do not have to be involved in any of the politics.

A lot of people just aren't going to spend enough hours in game to get connected.  Someone who's only in the game 1-2 hours a couple times a week, and not every week, and doesn't hang out on the forum is probably not going to get a good idea of who the clans are or what they do (and will probably be turned off by them entirely if they're bickering in nation chat). 

 

[The Ghost of Sir Edward]

4 hours ago, Wraith said:

But again, why would the solo casual not get in contact with the clan organizing the battle and ask if they need help?  They can get a temporary invite to the clan or be added to the friends list. This works perfectly at the moment and I still haven't seen evidence to support changing it.

If the clan organizing can't fill the pb then we would typically ask for support and fill it with randoms via the mechanic I outline above.

Most of the time its difficult to know who to contact in order to reach out to the clan. I have tried several times on nation chat to get into contact with a clan for a port battle, either to join in the battle itself or screen, no response. Perhaps they assumed I was an alt. I know of many port battles with too few Spanish ships to fight it. 

My original suggestion was never to open the battle automatically, but allow the clan to open up the battle if they saw the need.

[The Ghost of Sir Edward]

Thanks for all the comments gents, it's been a great game, but when I originally purchased NA it was to play a historically accurate simulation (as far as possible) of 17th-18th century naval warfare. I gave it another try over the last few weeks, but the game has moved on so it's time for me to move on too. Best of luck to you all and many years of good hunting.

Edited August 29, 2018 by The Ghost of Sir Edward

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

The combat simulation still great.

The life in the west indies during the grand age of sail might be lacking.

Ghost, there's enough "leeway" liberty to keep each on of us entertained, and it is come down to the player to "imagine" his/her own naval career to make up for the lack of a "career" system - which never was, so we have no comparison.

Sail safe, come check now and then or at least have a look now and then to the streamers.

[Lovec1990]

As Solo player with no alts i can say couple things:

-Ability to get elite books: i was able too get Book of Five rings in 3-4 days after i made decision to go for it it cost me 30 mil but i got the book. Trick is not clan here its about how good you are at making Gold.

-Hunting solo yes you have no support but its also more exciting too hunt alone yet i fail in 90% attempts.

well Clan only is useful if you like to be in PB you can screen as Solo. Clan is like small team yes they can collect money for you and assist you in hunts

[The Ghost of Sir Edward]

6 hours ago, Hethwill the Harmless said:

The combat simulation still great.

Unfortunately, at least for me, that is no longer true. Last night I fought a herc in a new bellona. After a long battle, the herc was able to stay on my stern and bring my crew down to 190. He then hugged my side took down my armor and started on my hull. Unable to bring my guns to bear, or pull away, my only alternative was to board. So I prepped my crew to near 100, slowed to 3.2 knots and clicked G....... determined defender. I didn't mind losing to the herc, I gave him a gg at the end, but this battle broke the spell NA has had on me. I went into the open world, risked and lost probably 2700 or so labor hours, maybe 450k in materials for the hull and guns and 150k in repairs. What did he risk in his dlc herc and what were his rewards for sinking me? No, after almost 2800 hours of playing, the first 1500 of which were great, I'm happy to leave now. And because by nature I am far to competitive, my character is gone and the game itself is now gone, so it's all yours guys, enjoy it. o7.

Edited August 29, 2018 by The Ghost of Sir Edward

[Werewolf]

On 8/27/2018 at 4:57 PM, Old Crusty said:

You are not barred from content in the game. It is specifically your choice to not be part of an organization.

This mentality is supremely stupid. I bet if solo players had an edge over clan players, you whined, and we're told well, it's your choice to be part of an organization, you wouldn't like that now would you?

[Jean Ribault]

1 hour ago, The Ghost of Sir Edward said:

Unfortunately, at least for me, that is no longer true. Last night I fought a herc in a new bellona. After a long battle, the herc was able to stay on my stern and bring my crew down to 190. He then hugged my side took down my armor and started on my hull. Unable to bring my guns to bear, or pull away, my only alternative was to board. So I prepped my crew to near 100, slowed to 3.2 knots and clicked G....... determined defender. I didn't mind losing to the herc, I gave him a gg at the end, but this battle broke the spell NA has had on me. I went into the open world, risked and lost probably 2700 or so labor hours, maybe 450k in materials for the hull and guns and 150k in repairs. What did he risk in his dlc herc and what were his rewards for sinking me? No, after almost 2800 hours of playing, the first 1500 of which were great, I'm happy to leave now. And because by nature I am far to competitive, my character is gone and the game itself is now gone, so it's all yours guys, enjoy it. o7.

 

Sorry to see you go.  Good summary though of the issue.  I am not dazzled by the spell anymore either, and your summary is a good example why.

[Old Crusty]

1 hour ago, Werewolf said:

This mentality is supremely stupid. I bet if solo players had an edge over clan players, you whined, and we're told well, it's your choice to be part of an organization, you wouldn't like that now would you?

Ok, dipstick, let me explain this in small words so you can understand it. Is understand to big a word? 

Every single one of us is a SOLO player. I am the only one at my computer controlling my game. There is game content that I want to participate in and that content is a lot easier to participate in if I join a clan. After I join a clan I am still the only person at my computer controlling my game. I am still a SOLO player that made the decision to join a clan so I can participate in all the content. 

The only monumentally stupid person is the one that doesn’t understand this.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Old Crusty

[Dibbler (Retired)]

30 minutes ago, Old Crusty said:

Ok, dipstick, let me explain this in small words so you can understand it. Is understand to big a word? 

Every single one of us is a SOLO player. I am the only one at my computer controlling my game. There is game content that I want to participate in and that content is a lot easier to participate in if I join a clan. After I join a clan I am still the only person at my computer controlling my game. I am still a SOLO player that made the decision to join a clan so I can participate in all the content. 

The only monumentally stupid person is the one that doesn’t understand stand this.

 

This is us when we finally sank a Req.

Chinese farming warehouse 321 - Naval action.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Dibbler

[The Ghost of Sir Edward]

 

4 hours ago, Wraith said:

But the question you have to ask is, "Did you learn anything?"  You certainly could have learned that letting the herc sit on your butt or sit on your upwind side is a bad idea, and that if you angled your way into being able to demast him he likely would never have stood a chance. If he was geared up for PvP he was likely speed built and paper thing, and a single broadside would have caused him to limp/run away at the very least. Determined defender is almost a given in anyone that's solo hunting, and you should be running it too. This is the nature of PvP. It's all just pixels anyway, and everything is going to be wiped at some point so why get attached? You could earn the ship back in a couple hours of grinding AI, tops, so I guess I'm not all that sympathetic to the ship loss whinge.  

The fact of the matter is that you made a mistake and we all learn from our mistakes. And if you're as competitive as you say you are you should let that drive you to get better, not take your ball and go home.

Wraith it's cool I'm not gripping I'm only explaining some game issues I thought were problematic, why I was thinking of leaving and why I ultimately left. In my view determined defender and so many other NA game mechanics are absurdities. But this is only because I think the game is better when it anchors more in reality and not in fantasy. I know you and many others like the game the way it is and that's fine, but if you log in one day and there are only a few dozen players maybe this might help you realize why. Hopefully though there will be thousands of players and my views will end up being an outlier.

Take my ball and go home? Jesus man I put two years and almost 2800 hours into NA. I think me and my ball are entitled to go home now

[Norfolk nChance]

@Wraith

You got bans? Wouldn't have thought that, but you always voice criticism from a balanced view in my opinion. You are fanboy don’t deny it.

 

 

@The Ghost of Sir Edward

 

 

There is success as a solo player, your 2,700 hours in game just proves this point. The game is an MMO and should primary drive towards players coming together. Whether a massive clan or just a simple small ten-man cult or a single player its how you write your story in Naval Action...

Not matter the game if its fine woods or a mammoth tech tree to open the Constitution, we enjoyed playing together in open world. Spinning off an ALT clan, with solo tasks. Its what you make of your world.

Whether you think you can or think you can’t your probably right...

 

 

Norfolk nChance [ELITE]

 

 

Constitution in the old days when @admin was hardcore 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Constitution | UpgradeModulesCount 5

 

 

Slot 1: None & XP: ?

Slot 2: None & XP: ?

Slot 3: Needs  Endymion (Slot 4)

|-------->Endymion (Slot: 3): Needs Trincomalee (Slot 4)

|--|------------>Trincomalee (Slot: 3): Needs Surprise (Slot 4)

|--|--|------------------>Surprise (Slot: 3): Needs Renommee (Slot 4)

|--|--|--|------------------------>Renommee (Slot: 3): Needs Mercury (Slot 4)

|--|--|--|--|------------------------------>Mercury (Slot: 3): Needs Privateer (Slot 3)

|--|--|--|--|--|------------------------------------>Privateer (Slot: 3): Needs Basic Cutter (Slot 3)

|--|------------>Trincomalee (Slot: 4): Needs Renommee (Slot 5)

|--|--|------------------>Renommee (Slot: 3): Needs Mercury (Slot 4)

|--|--|--|------------------------>Mercury (Slot: 3): Needs Privateer (Slot 3)

|--|--|--|--|------------------------------>Privateer (Slot: 3): Needs Basic Cutter (Slot 3)

|-------->Endymion (Slot: 4): Needs Surprise (Slot 5)

|--|------------>Surprise (Slot: 3): Needs Renommee (Slot 4)

|--|--|------------------>Renommee (Slot: 3): Needs Mercury (Slot 4)

|--|--|--|------------------------>Mercury (Slot: 3): Needs Privateer (Slot 3)

|--|--|--|--|------------------------------>Privateer (Slot: 3): Needs Basic Cutter (Slot 3)

Slot 4: Needs  Trincomalee (Slot 5)

|-------->Trincomalee (Slot: 3): Needs Surprise (Slot 4)

|--|------------>Surprise (Slot: 3): Needs Renommee (Slot 4)

|--|--|------------------>Renommee (Slot: 3): Needs Mercury (Slot 4)

|--|--|--|------------------------>Mercury (Slot: 3): Needs Privateer (Slot 3)

|--|--|--|--|------------------------------>Privateer (Slot: 3): Needs Basic Cutter (Slot 3)

|-------->Trincomalee (Slot: 4): Needs Renommee (Slot 5)

|--|------------>Renommee (Slot: 3): Needs Mercury (Slot 4)

|--|--|------------------>Mercury (Slot: 3): Needs Privateer (Slot 3)

|--|--|--|------------------------>Privateer (Slot: 3): Needs Basic Cutter (Slot 3)

Slot 5: None & XP: ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2018 by Norfolk nChance

[The Ghost of Sir Edward]

 

12 hours ago, Wraith said:

Believe me, my multiple bannings are for reasons not related to my unwavering love of the game.  I'm not a fanboy, and level copious criticism where it's due.. but your gripes have little to do with "fantasy" over reality and smack of sour grapes because your idea of "big ship always wins" was run over by someone with some PvP skill.  The fact that you have so much time in the game and only a bit over a hundred posts means that you haven't actually provided the kind of constructive criticism that an Early Access game should have received over that two year period.

So... again, color me unsympathetic, but never question my willingness to level criticism (and take it) when it's warranted.  As a decidedly average PvP'er I can only speak from my experiences, and those tell me that if you're losing in a Bellona to a herc.. mistakes were made and it's not the game that's to blame.

Your not listening, again. It's not about the loss, it's about the mechanics and how the game has evolved. I'm fine if a better captain in a smaller ship beats me, I was not a great pvp player. But in that battle, because of a dlc ship and determined defender, I bore risks he didn't and not because of his personal skill (he was good though) but because he possessed a fantasy skill that enabled him to play his style of game while preventing me from playing mine and not because he was better, but because the devs who play NA don't like being boarded. He hugged my side for a long time and I could have pointed up and tried to board sooner, but I was worried he'd have DD and didn't  want to get in irons(too bad the Ganj-i-Sawai didn't have determined defender when Every tried to board her). But DD alone really isn't the issue, it's those hundred other little BS mods, skills and ROEs that have piled up in NA that I'm just tired of pretending are somehow legitimate. And again, you shrug them off like they're no big deal, but if the devs said tomorrow they were being pulled out of the game you'd scream murder.

With regards to the dlc ships. I'm not sure they are OP, they don't seem to be, but the fact is if you see a lone ship now it's always one of them and let's not pretend we don't know why (free). IDK if they'll break the game, but they have definitely limited it.

Yes Wraith, you critiscize the game and the developers, but only to make it more of what it is now. Your probably a fanboy, but that's fine too, maybe even great, unless that attitude ends up burying a game you want to see go on. As for my posts, I chimed in when the game started to change, but I learned quickly that the devs are not interested in hearing the views of a player like me and you know that too.

As for Norfolk up there. Don't take offense, but please don't piss on me and tell me it's raining. Yes I played two years, and yes I had many many millions in gold, full warehouses, lvl 3 shipyard, etc. But this isn't the same game it was when I started in August 2016. Most things have changed dramatically. What worked back then doesn't work now. Most of the things you can do now are because of the low server population and you, as well as everyone else, knows that. 

Anyway, this is my last response and my last post, Im signing off now, you guys take care.

[Norfolk nChance]

1 hour ago, The Ghost of Sir Edward said:

As for Norfolk up there. Don't take offense, but please don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.

I like the quote well done.

 

Again, reading to the end of your post...many millions, full warehouse lvl3 shipyard and that’s a success. I started in the March just before you. The games changed but not that dramatically. You can read any one of my [ELITE] Guides all the strategies still work. Its just the mechanics have changed.

Why do you think I POST’d the two Constitution skill threads? You must remember the roll out and how long did that hardcore from hell last?

How long do you think the Herc and LeReq current mechanic will last? In the same area I agree on the stacking mods issue which I also think will change soon.

http://forum.game-labs.net/topic/25015-a-different-look-at-upgrading-and-stacking-ones-ship/

 

So, is DLC ships your issue? Well if you’d bought the other DLC packages they work together like a Solo ALT. The cost is about the same. Yes, trading for solo is harder but now you can compete with [EDARK] and other clan ALTS rather than sidelined as before.

Low chance of solo hunting, well it might have changed in the last few months but when @koltes went Seal Clubbing I chased @Koltes. Either go club a baby seal or @Banished Privateer as he’s in the act... K/PR clue...

I think clans should be a focus, but my little cult hasn’t suffered at the hands of the big boys. Toxic community I don’t see. Yeah, I’m a dick and a big one. It’s nothing like EvE Online which is toxic, but if you’ve suffered then I feel sorry and totally support you.

 

I’m a fanboy hands up, oh and how many other games have you played 2,700 hours on? Not many I bet fanboy. There are major faults and real issues with the game. I also point them out...

http://forum.game-labs.net/topic/26478-idea-norfolk-wants-jeheil-youtube-back-using-again-in-na/

 

finally, you say “It’s about the mechanics and not the loss...” The mechanics are always going to be changing from Fine Woods, to some SORRY bunch who I caught copying Gold Marines mod to the indestructible L’Ocean in a Port Battle...

I still enjoy the game. Suggest fatigue more than anything is to blame. It caught me out and I needed to walk away for a while...  

 

Norfolk,

[Koltes]

16 hours ago, Norfolk nChance said:

 

So, is DLC ships your issue? Well if you’d bought the other DLC packages they work together like a Solo ALT. The cost is about the same. Yes, trading for solo is harder but now you can compete with [EDARK] and other clan ALTS rather than sidelined as before.

 

lol Since you mentioned me, what the fk is DLC ship? haha   
Hi by the way