Rate limits in battle in the future

[BungeeLemming]

SoLs numbers will come down once we have a proper economy model.

All you see atm is placeholder mechanics regarding our income and the costs of ships.

The goal of this testing is pvp, rules of engagements and the additions we get like trading.

 

We dont sail in a fully developed game yet.

And in the future, when players have to craft the good ships we will see lesser numbers for sure. Until that point we will have massive SoL fleets. Which I personally dont hate. Its not too unrealistic. Its not logical either

Only issue is the number of 1st rates but hey.. I still prefer the 3rds

[maturin]

To further that also 4th rates were considered the real workhorses iirc. The problem is that with any game you will have power creep towards the top. You have to think of the longevity of the game and putting in systems to deal with issues that will arise over time. In PotBS SOL's were supposed to be a national effort and they were when first implemented. Over time you will accumulate a force of top tier ships. It is inevitable. What I propose is a logical way to mitigate the inevitable.

Making it costly kinda works. Generally if you had sketchy leadership people would not bring out their big expensive ships. They only tended to do that when they thought there was a good chance of winning. That is more a leadershiup issue than one of facing smaller armed forces.

Workhorses for what?

 

On the contrary, they were a sort of awkward middle child that became obsolete. Too slow for frigate duties and too weak for the line of battle. Even when fourth rates were still being built, the Third Rate 74 was already the standard SoL, making up vast majority of any battlefleet.

[Hugh Latham]

Implementing maintenance costs relative to the ship class would limit 1st and 2nd rates, too. 

[ID I]

Yeah I wasn't sure about the 4ths must of been thinking too much potbs lore./grin

I am not talking about now I am talking about the future. I know everyone hates restrictions but making things harder only delays the inevitable. It also addresses different play style in a larger battle arena. Not everyone likes sailing bricks.

I also wouldn't want this to apply to every port battle or large skirmish. I think having it only apply to shallow water ports would be sufficient. A small percentage of the large scale battles limited to the 7-5 or even 7-6 ships would be a nice compliment to the full on SOL battles that are to come.

[maturin]

Yeah I wasn't sure about the 4ths must of been thinking too much potbs lore./grin

To be fair, back in 1720 the frigate hadn't really been invented yet, nor had the 74. So a two-decker with 40-60 guns was the standard warship.

I also wouldn't want this to apply to every port battle or large skirmish. I think having it only apply to shallow water ports would be sufficient. A small percentage of the large scale battles limited to the 7-5 or even 7-6 ships would be a nice compliment to the full on SOL battles that are to come.

If this doesn't happen, I will be floored.

[Booyaah]

@admin,

 

You know how we have shallows?  Maybe extend some straights and coves that only small ships can get into.  I believe the only place we have something like that is around the Bahamas.  Maybe we need it around a few other parts like somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico where only small ships can access.  Maybe some small areas up around Philipsburg/Gustavia (obviously large ships need to get in/out of Gustavia tho) and Port-au-Prince

 

In addition to just 'generic' shallows that are either flat out impassible or only accessible to small ships, have you considered 'medium shallows' that would only allow frigates to pass?  I have heard some ppl mention a desire for more 5th rate exclusive battles.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2015 by Booyaah