Open Letter to the Devs

[JDAM]

I want to start this post out by thanking Game Labs and @admin for building a game that brought us all together as a global community, our own national communities and finally our individual clan communities (navies) to enjoy something we all love together -- the age of sail.  You have without a doubt created the most beautiful age of sail game, bar none it has been a lot of fun, the experiences gained here I will carry with me for a long time to come and still will looking into the future.  

The latest update brought us some truly wonderful changes, the potential the game has right now is absolutely staggering, it truly could and still is one of the best games I've ever played (2200 hours and counting!).  The UI, the crafting, materials, and even doubloons are cool features.  I like overall most of what was done in the lastest Patch 27.

However there are a few things we must talk about and what in my opinion as a clan leader, daily player, and from the boots on the ground.  These things are hurting our server populations greatly affecting the enjoyment for all.  MOST of the changes are GOOD, but some have not been good at all.  It's very important that we take a look and get to grips with what will improve the game in its current state and get some players back in.  Game Labs you will have to wear steel toed shoes for this...

1).  Doubloon crafting requirements have hurt crafting of ships, increased fear of risk and reduced population numbers severely as the novelty of grinding doubloons has worn off.  RNG is far too low, doubloons should be raining from the skies (within reason) to help drive RVR.  The original RNG was good, I think combined with the current PVP RNG this would alleviate a lot of pressure.  In addition either removal of doubloons (some have spoken of this) or tremendous reduction of the numbers.  My personal opinion as a player (again your best source of feedback) is that it should be at least reduced by 50% to make it more palatable.  You will see more action in Naval if you did this.  So Ocean would be ~6500 doubloons, ~2000 for a Bellona.  This seems more reasonable to me.

2). RVR is hurt because of #1.  We need to get RVR going again.  It is END GAME content that drives the entire economy, crafting, and even normal PVP.   It's the lubrication that makes the game feel full and options limitless.  The biggest theme of Patch 27 is removal of options.  Less radical and more conservative would make all the Patch 27 ideas soar like an eagle.  We cannot listen to clans and players who want to demand others spend their time and ships in the way they see fit, yet do not actually invest in building large fleets themselves.  They sail around Niagras and light ships and tell much much larger clans with higher costs and ship requirements to just "sack up."  Some these sailors could not lead the fleets they think they know best about, they can't even build a big ship for themselves, they have no room to talk.  (WE ALL KNOW WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT!)

3) Quality of life changes.  There are too many of them.   Don't do things like remove the trader tool or make the game ridiculously hard in areas it doesn't need to be.  These items just make players feel frustrated and takes away from all the other good in your patches.  For example the last trading update thread, everything in that proposed update sounds amazing except for one thing... you propose removing the trader tool.  Why even do that to players?  This makes players angry, makes them want to quit and frustrates them.  You want love from your players, then you have to show us some love.  Give us this hardcore game we all crave, but don't make it so frustrating that we can't enjoy it.  Life is about balance, too much of anything is a bad thing.  Doubloons, RVR, and QOL all tie into this factor and it has reduced server populations.

These 3 things in my opinion are what has hurt the game the most.  You have many many many positive changes, I am impressed overall, but if you can fix the doubloons RNG (previous trader RNG with the new PVP RNG), cut the crafting requirement in half, restore RVR to its rightful place as end game content, the issues we are seeing with this patch will literally vanish overnight and  you will see restored population levels so that we can all enjoy this game, whether you think you're a privateer and ROVING the seas or a full naval fleet commander and one of the admirals of your nation.  Trust me on this, I am seeing this feed back internally, in the discords both nationally and global.  Make the game enjoyable for all and we can love the game as it should be. 

With respect and great thanks for building the game we know and love,

Hemp Amore

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

Loot the enemies. And I don't mean loot them after they sink. I really mean, hunt them down and catch them high seas full of stuff you need to craft your ships including dubloons.

Their loot, their dubloons is only theirs IF they reach port safe. You should know that. You're a pirate.

[JDAM]

Just now, rediii said:

1) is just wrong. There ARE enough dubloons. At a serverwipe you would actually complain about victorymarks I guess.

2) Is just wrong again. We have several 10k stacks of dubs laying around and I have like 5-6 1st rates in my docks, same as other HAVOC members.

 

The problem of RvR is:

- the high wall you have to climb to get a portbattle going (needed hostility, grind of AI)

- Low Playernumbers in general

- No/small reward for many ports. (Not talking about the awesome ports of Nassau, Santo Domingo etc.)

All theories are wrong even @admin  all are resulting is less players in the server.  If the ideas were correct it would increase play not reduce it.  Until we see increasing player numbers we cannot say these theories are sound.  That's like a business saying, they're going to increase sales at the same price point with less customers.  It wont work.

I have several stacks of 10,000 but I am not going to waste it, its going to be good RVR, when I need ships, and want to spend it.  Its too much work to replace them, so they wont get used unless I want to use them.  Nobody is going to hurt my ego into using them in a way I don't see fit.  You're talking weeks and weeks to get to 50,000 even at 2,000 per day from PVP zone.  50,000 is solvency imho with currently doubloon requirments... cut to 50% 25,000 would be solvency and again allieviate the pressure.

There is no high wall to hostility.  6th rate port requires a fleet of 6-10 1st rate and 2-3 missions of hostility... 4th rate port will take 4-6 missions with 6-10 1st rates, and a 1st rate port will take 10-12 missions which is exactly how it should be.  If you can't raise 6 1st rates in your clan you have 0 business doing RVR.

The reward for ports is high now in reals... most of the ports people turn their nose up to are LOADED with goods... especially ones that don't get grinded for doubloons/PVE, they are stuffed... AI has been making deliveries unmolested for over a month since patch... some of these ports have billions worth of goods... you do need to explore more

[JDAM]

2 minutes ago, Hethwill the Red Duke said:

Loot the enemies. And I don't mean loot them after they sink. I really mean, hunt them down and catch them high seas full of stuff you need to craft your ships including dubloons.

Their loot, their dubloons is only theirs IF they reach port safe. You should know that. You're a pirate.

There aren't many enemies to loot because of the changes, server pop was 115 last night at 9 PM CENTRAL PRIMETIME US!  I can't hunt anything down if there are no targets!  We need to get to a minimum of 300 at night which is what it was just in APRIL WHEN I STARTED!  It's November and we are 100 at night.. NOT GOOD!

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

Okay. Start gifting copies to your buddies then. Start bringing them back. Whatever. You know, exposing with enthusiasm what you love about the game. Not "meh...meh...meh". That drives away everyone. Understand that not everyone lives in the same timezone.

Snappy salute.

[Aster]

In my opinion doubloons are not that big of an issue for RVR you can easily make 2-4k a day of the patrol. Then hitting traders it really just depends on time/luck. Anyway a player should be able to get enough doubloons to build at least 1 first rate a week with minimal effort. The low amount of port battles is simply a factor of 1.)Low pop, the pop is just to low for the game to function which causes people to not be interested in putting in the effort to play. 2.) Little reason to take ports. Most ports have little value to fight over, further dissuading people from making the effort.

Personally I think adding region bonuses for controlling whole regions would help giving all ports in a region some level of meaning. Also adding raiding in as a smaller barrier of entry way to do RVR. Currently it takes a sizable effort to assemble a fleet and go do pve somewhere for hours just to start a MAYBE battle. But mainly its population.

[jodgi]

Just so you don't waste a bunch of energy, @Hemp Amore, but the number of players up until last wipe/release isn't weighted much. Trends following changes will be followed more closely after release.

Your OP is well thought out, just know that panic about player numbers isn't the best way to suggest "what's good for the game" in the stage we're in.

Do continue with suggestions, especially in the format you picked. I wish more people put stuff forward the way you do, so much easier on the eyes. Some days I get tired of the alarm and outrage, thanks for the respite!

[JDAM]

9 minutes ago, jodgi said:

Just so you don't waste a bunch of energy, @Hemp Amore, but the number of players up until last wipe/release isn't weighted much. Trends following changes will be followed more closely after release.

Your OP is well thought out, just know that panic about player numbers isn't the best way to suggest "what's good for the game" in the stage we're in.

Do continue with suggestions, especially in the format you picked. I wish more people put stuff forward the way you do, so much easier on the eyes. Some days I get tired of the alarm and outrage, thanks for the respite!

The truth is I almost quit the game when I first started because the hill was too steep even then.. Now I'm over it obviously and that hill is well behind me, but if I had not been picked up by a clan in the beginning this game would of been shelved and I'd of never played it again.  If this is how it is on release, new players will not last more than 1-2 weeks before either getting bored, frustrated or both.  The devs absolutely should be watching player numbers now as it is very representative of the population on release, the current players are the targeted demographic/market and should be heavily considered.

 

13 minutes ago, Aster said:

In my opinion doubloons are not that big of an issue for RVR you can easily make 2-4k a day of the patrol. Then hitting traders it really just depends on time/luck. Anyway a player should be able to get enough doubloons to build at least 1 first rate a week with minimal effort. The low amount of port battles is simply a factor of 1.)Low pop, the pop is just to low for the game to function which causes people to not be interested in putting in the effort to play. 2.) Little reason to take ports. Most ports have little value to fight over, further dissuading people from making the effort.

Personally I think adding region bonuses for controlling whole regions would help giving all ports in a region some level of meaning. Also adding raiding in as a smaller barrier of entry way to do RVR. Currently it takes a sizable effort to assemble a fleet and go do pve somewhere for hours just to start a MAYBE battle. But mainly its population.

Actually disagree.. your calculations require consistent performance (meaning you cannot skip a day, you cannot miss the target point levels) perfect gameplay, unrealstic ect.  That requires daily patrol zone no matter where it is, you must always be successful on every patrol, and does not factor time for sailing, ect.  Patrol zone is minimum 1.5 hours, but 2-4 hours realistically with sail times, ect.  I also should not have to have every freeport as an outpost to take advantage of the daily patrol. 

So ideally you can possibly gain 12,000-15,000 doubloons every week *if* you execute patrols flawlessly, but you're still looking at 15-20 hours a week just to get that 12k-15k.  Where do I get time to sail elsewhere or hunt other things than patrol zone AI?  Maybe do you get the point now?  15-20 hours is too much grind.

[JDAM]

Edit to add:
 

@Aster there is motivation to take ports... the trading.  I'll give you a good example, our clan took Arhur's Town, it is LOADED with trade goods because the AI doesn't get farmed there.  You need to capture low usage ports and you can make a killing on trade and fund all your RVR/PVP operations on the real side.  So combined with doubloons you can have great wealth in game.   Plus your clan already owns valuable ports, that make money, but others who have not captured ports should go for the less used ones, they're loaded with goods and then they can trade them to extract reals which is half the war chest... 

[Vernon Merrill]

Pro tip:  You dont HAVE to take a super-ultra-mega tricked out 1st rate to a deep PB....  Try a 3rd rate or even heavy frigate instead.  If RvR is so dead, you won't have any problems since apparently the other team won't risk THEIR precious ships.  Stop being so meta all the time.  Geesh.

Hint: Maybe that what the devs are trying to achieve.  

Sack Up.

*kisses*

Edited December 4, 2018 by Vernon Merrill

[Anolytic]

7 minutes ago, rediii said:

1) is just wrong. There ARE enough dubloons. At a serverwipe you would actually complain about victorymarks I guess.

2) Is just wrong again. We have several 10k stacks of dubs laying around and I have like 5-6 1st rates in my docks, same as other HAVOC members.

I'm not going to argue with that there are enough doubloons. Some of us are swimming in them, and i think I'm closing in on 100k. 

However, I still think doubloons are a significant part of the problems since the patch. Of those 1st-rates how many did you craft since patch 27? 

Doubloons are a chore, a grind. Those of us who can endure it, those who find the patrol zone with its RoE fun, and those who just have too much time on their hand and nothing else to do, are now swimming in doubloons. Other players, with less game-time, who don't enjoy the patrol zone, who find it too grindy and repetitive there, or those who even just play at times where the patrol zone is less active and less fun, they struggle. You have a few hours game time every evening, and you have to spend 5 evenings in the patrol zone to afford a 1st rate that you now don't even have any use for because there are no big lineship battles or port battles, and you can't afford to try it out alone because you wouldn't want to loose it and have to endure the grind all over again.

Some players left because they don't want to spend their time grinding for doubloons. Even if something is easy it can still be boring. And others left because there are not enough players left in the group to go out in a big group and do stuff together.

I'm not opposed to the concept of doubloons. I just think the ways to get them lack variety and are too much like a chore.

I also think the doubloon prices still need balancing.

Not least, I think that only 1st and 2nd rates should require doubloons for crafting, or at least that the price should be reduced to negligible for 4th and 3rd rates. If the reason for making lineships rare is historical accuracy as some keep arguing, it doesn't sit well with that I keep reading that 74s were among the most prevalent ships in the age of sail.

30 minutes ago, Hethwill the Red Duke said:

Okay. Start gifting copies to your buddies then.

Tbh, this becomes kind of silly. Are we supposed to bring players into the game by buying it for them and just crossing our fingers that they try it out and stick around?

32 minutes ago, Hethwill the Red Duke said:

You know, exposing with enthusiasm what you love about the game. Not "meh...meh...meh". That drives away everyone. Understand that not everyone lives in the same timezone.

As we keep being reminded, this is a development forum. Are we supposed to hold back feedback and criticism because it might drive some players away. Not addressing issues that everybody notices also drives players away.

This OP is quite respectful in his criticisms, even though I don't agree with all of them. He even ends on a positive note:

1 hour ago, Hemp Amore said:

With respect and great thanks for building the game we know and love,

Hemp Amore

 

36 minutes ago, Hethwill the Red Duke said:

Snappy salute.

We can argue about content and mechanics and weighing interests and benefits against each other, but you can't just counter every post that has a particular idea about the game, or criticise a specific aspect or mechanic by dismissing the ideas and saying to be positive instead. 

You used to argue there were too many lineships in the game. Why did you not just keep it to yourself and pretend "enthusiasm" about it?

I used to argue for (some) limits on lineships as well, but then we got that with the conquest marks patch and it crippled RvR and too many of my friends left the game because of it, so I changed my view and now it is this:

On 8/15/2017 at 11:29 AM, admin said:

On 8/15/2017 at 11:24 AM, Anolytic said:

 

Players should be able to build whatever ship they want if they can gather the resources and gold. Clans that cooperate well should be able to easily and quickly replace their lost ships from their reserves.

 

amen

 

 

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

3 minutes ago, Anolytic said:

Tbh, this becomes kind of silly. Are we supposed to bring players into the game by buying it for them and just crossing our fingers that they try it out and stick around?

I know right !?...

I login, set sail and go hunt. I find a couple prey, capture them and have to sail back with the ships i captured with the loot i got.

Session done.

I have Ping, Number of Players, and FPS turned off [ Escape - Options - Social - turn off ]

I have no clue how many players are on when I login.

Was just sharing being silly.

[JDAM]

6 minutes ago, Vernon Merrill said:

Pro tip:  You dont HAVE to take a super-ultra-mega tricked out 1st rate to a deep PB....

Hint: Maybe that what the devs are trying to achieve.  

Sack Up.

*kisses*

Pro-tip and I know you don't know this because you don't RVR, but no battle is completely stocked with 1st rates -- ever.  They are staffed according to battle rating and player availibility.  4th rate battles are usually filled with Bucs, Aga, Bellonas, 1st rate battles are usually filled with 1st rates as they should be because well -- they're 1st rate battles (10,000 BR).  Shallows are the correct ship types: Heavy Rat and Niag (THANK GOD REQ IS NOT ALLOWED ANYMORE).  So again your points fall short of the mark.

[JDAM]

5 minutes ago, Hethwill the Red Duke said:

I know right !?...

I login, set sail and go hunt. I find a couple prey, capture them and have to sail back with the ships i captured with the loot i got.

Session done.

I have Ping, Number of Players, and FPS turned off [ Escape - Options - Social - turn off ]

I have no clue how many players are on when I login.

Was just sharing being silly.

You play during EU primetime so obviously you're getting the 300-600 players that we aren't getting in the US.  I don't see you online at 01:00 server time.  There are only 100 people online then, your hunts would not be very successful if you were sailing at 01:00 I promise you that.

[Vernon Merrill]

Just now, Hemp Amore said:

Pro-tip and I know you don't know this because you don't RVR, but no battle is completely stocked with 1st rates -- ever.  They are staffed according to battle rating and player availibility.  4th rate battles are usually filled with Bucs, Aga, Bellonas, 1st rate battles are usually filled with 1st rates as they should be because well -- they're 1st rate battles (10,000 BR).  Shallows are the correct ship types: Heavy Rat and Niag (THANK GOD REQ IS NOT ALLOWED ANYMORE).  So again your points fall short of the mark.

Another pro tip:  I bet i've been in more PB's since patch 27 than you have...  

We've had a blast with a mish-mosh of random builds (some crafted/some captured) going against the SALTP guys....

It was fun and it certainly wasn't the ships that prevented us from winning at least one of them.

The fun is SUPPOSED to be in the game-play, NOT a pre-determined outcome.

Listen, I get it.  I tend to use sarcasm to make my points.  And I realize it's not always the most friendly/effective means.  But trust me when I say that understand that some people prefer to play the game differently than myself. I really do.

All I'm really trying to point out when I respond is that I wish EVERY player would get over their fear of loss.  

You may not believe this, but I used to play ALOT of RvR and stress about every aspect of the game.  Then I took a short break, realized that the devs had changed the game slightly and that I  better learn to get over my fear of loss and use my equipment accordingly.  Otherwise, I would just continue to get more and more frustrated.

I've said this to many people before, but I'll say it again.  Once you learn to get over that fear, this game becomes a MILLION times more enjoyable.

Just my opinion, of course.  But I figured I would clear the air a bit.

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

01:00 server time i'm online plenty of times. Sometimes i think I play more with the eastern coast guys than with the euros. I can't hope to even login for "rvr timezone" in CET timezone which is, de facto, the prime EU time - that's right at the office hours and especially the afternoon meetings which sometimes take longer than expected. But enough of my time.

You make a good proposition, but correlation between achievements and expectations is very loose.

Time zone has nothing to do with having fun in a game.

 

[Anolytic]

1 hour ago, Aster said:

Anyway a player should be able to get enough doubloons to build at least 1 first rate a week with minimal effort.

Meaning they can do maybe 1-2 PBs a week if they are contested and against a skilled opponent. And provided enough friends are still playing that you can fill a PB. When i got hooked on this game we had flags and there were PBs every evening, even several PBs in a night. Of course we also had tons of fake flags - not everything was better before. But when you've completed the XP grind, sailed all the ships, have max crafting level and what you remain for is the end-game - then 5 days grinding for hopefully getting one good battle is just too much. And you could still be screened out of that battle and ganked, meaning you have to start over with 5 days grinding before you can try again. I get why people area averse to that.

It excludes all but the most dedicated RvR-players, and those cannot do it alone without the slightly more casual players filling in the numbers. I'm still playing, but RvR is not a solo activity. Even with alts I can't do a port battle by myself.

20 minutes ago, Vernon Merrill said:

Pro tip:  You dont HAVE to take a super-ultra-mega tricked out 1st rate to a deep PB....

Hint: Maybe that what the devs are trying to achieve.  

You don't play RvR, we get it. I see nobody telling you how you should play, maybe keep it to yourself how you think others should play. We play this game for different reasons.

The RvR end-game is about big battles in big groups with big ships - and with small ships in the shallows. And it's about winning. Or trying to win. Against enemies that may have beaten you before and are at least equally skilled to you. To have a chance, you usually need at least equally good gear to them. And you need training, testing of setups, and to try - again and again. RvR end-game is about loosing a lot of ships, but every now and again you have a great victory, achieve a big goal, beat an old foe. 

[Vernon Merrill]

10 minutes ago, Anolytic said:

You don't play RvR, we get it. I see nobody telling you how you should play, maybe keep it to yourself how you think others should play. We play this game for different reasons.

The RvR end-game is about big battles in big groups with big ships - and with small ships in the shallows. And it's about winning. Or trying to win. Against enemies that may have beaten you before and are at least equally skilled to you. To have a chance, you usually need at least equally good gear to them. And you need training, testing of setups, and to try - again and again. RvR end-game is about loosing a lot of ships, but every now and again you have a great victory, achieve a big goal, beat an old foe. 

Well then continue to wallow in your sorrow and keep your precious pixels in port, champ.

See ya out on the water....  Oh, nevermind.  I won't

Who would have thought the all-powerful Anolytic and his resurrection would be so.....  Fragile.

 

[JDAM]

1 minute ago, Vernon Merrill said:

Well then continue to wallow in your sorrow and keep your precious pixels in port, champ.

See ya out on the water....  Oh, nevermind.  I won't

Who would have thought the all-powerful Anolytic and his resurrection would be so.....  Fragile.

 

You speak very boldly for someone who always runs when it isn't a trading ship he faces 

Nobody has ever sunk you because you always run   Vernon the pro escaper and trader slayer.  Here, here!

[Vernon Merrill]

3 minutes ago, Hemp Amore said:

You speak very boldly for someone who always runs when it isn't a trading ship he faces 

Nobody has ever sunk you because you always run   Vernon the pro escaper and trader slayer.  Here, here!

I've sunk MANY MANY times....   the difference is I don't go on the forums and whine about and think that the game is broken because of it.

Again, whats the point of playing the game if you're afraid to lose?

Serious question, actually.

 

(And it's "Hear, Hear!!", if you want to be correct.....  As in "the shorter version of the old "Hear Him, Hear Him!!!")

Edited December 4, 2018 by Vernon Merrill

[JDAM]

Just now, Vernon Merrill said:

Again, whats the point of playing the game if you're afraid to lose?

When you write that you make many assumptions.  Our ships don't sit in port and we are not afraid to lose whatsoever.  But there is a difference between foolhearty eagerness to fight and calculated eagerness to fight.  No I don't want to avoid risk, but unnecessary risk, making poor decisions which result in unnecessary losses.  Every decision needs to be thought out before acting.  You want people to mindlessly risk things and that's not ever a good thing.  For to fail to plan is to plan to fail.  

[Vernon Merrill]

1 minute ago, Hemp Amore said:

When you write that you make many assumptions.  Our ships don't sit in port and we are not afraid to lose whatsoever.  But there is a difference between foolhearty eagerness to fight and calculated eagerness to fight.  No I don't want to avoid risk, but unnecessary risk, making poor decisions which result in unnecessary losses.  Every decision needs to be thought out before acting.  You want people to mindlessly risk things and that's not ever a good thing.  For to fail to plan is to plan to fail.  

Actually, I'll discuss my thought with you...  because this may actually turn into a good conversation.

Honestly, what do you think would happen if you all brought tank-built Connies to a big PB right now?...  You know, still costs some $$$, but not gonna break the clan bank.

Most likely you'd win, right?  Because the other team most likely wouldnt even show up?  Or if they did you could try and sink one of their big-$$$$ SOL.

My THEORY, and I wish a bigger clan would test it, is that RvR is more about an industrial/resource war now.  Maybe, just maybe, the devs have come up with this new, what some call "hardcore" system so that RvR is no longer merely about taking dots on a map, but also about inflicting economic warfare upon their enemies.

In my mind, the first clan that is in any way bold will have a field day on the map.

But who knows, I just sail trash ships and run away from everyone....

[Anolytic]

2 minutes ago, Vernon Merrill said:

Well then continue to wallow in your sorrow and keep your precious pixels in port, champ.

See ya out on the water....  Oh, nevermind.  I won't

Who would have thought the all-powerful Anolytic and his resurrection would be so.....  Fragile.

 

Lol. Thanks. I guess size of the vessel = size of the mind.

For your information, if you don't see me on the water, it's you who are in port. I see plenty of ocean every day, thank you.

I make the arguments I make because I actually care about other players and their enjoyment of the game. I listen to the concerns and complaints I hear from others even when I don't share them myself (I remember arguing to test limits on lineships only because I heard you rover-guys constantly complaining about there being too many players only in big ships on the sea). And in my clan and nation I help new players get into PvP rather than always instantly telling them to go to the PvE-server. Jeez, we're constantly hearing that we shouldn't be so negative in the forums or we'll loose potential buyers, but wonder how many players we could have kept if the first thing new players hear when they voice their troubles with the game in the forum or in global chat wasn't "go play on the PvE-server" or "can I haz your stuff".

I can still play and enjoy this game solo or in small groups, but I admit that I enjoy it more when I'm with 49 friends going at each other trafalgar style.

You talk about "fear of loss", I'd argue that it's more "fear of grind". 

You say that after a break you learnt not to fear loss, but what I really hear you saying is you stopped sailing big/expensive ships, so isn't what you actually got rid of risk? You can't loose if you don't risk.

I don't like to loose what I spent time getting. But it's part of the game and I don't fear it. I still sail fully decked out 1st rates. I sail my Christian VIIs. Everything can be replaced and I play enough and with enough alts that I can afford to do so. It's a chore, yeah, but without risk there's no fun and no point.

You can dream of convincing everybody to stop their "fear of loss", but I live in the real world where some players will always fear loss. It's a multiplayer game and it has to be accommodating even to more than just one individual player. Or there will eventually be a population of one. 

 

[Vernon Merrill]

The funny part of this whole thing is that you all think we actually have some effect on what the devs do as far as game development.  

The reality is we merely adapted OUR playstyle so that we could enjoy the game as made. 

Again, I could easily argue that the “Clan-focused RvR” that VCO begged for is the actual reason numbers are down.  Maybe you all made it so “elite” and off-limits to people who couldn’t be arsed to have the gold/Cartagena L’ocean that they said “screw you” and left...  

Just as likely in my mind.  

[Anolytic]

2 minutes ago, Vernon Merrill said:

Just as likely in my mind.  

A lot of people tell me when - and why - they leave, and no, that's never been it. Lineships being too restricted however is a frequently mentioned reason.

5 minutes ago, Vernon Merrill said:

The reality is we merely adapted OUR playstyle so that we could enjoy the game as made. 

First: Shouldn't the game be made for the players, rather than the players for the game? By that logic, some players adapt by playing other games.

Also, I clearly remember some players asking for the referenced playstyle before it was implemented. So your claim rings a little false.