Game is not user/noob friendly

[Blood Eagle]

26hours of game time is what it has taken  me to level up and hit level 3 and get a decent ship. I made the mistake of buying a privateer and a trader lynx which made me short on money when it came time to buy the snow, yet I just purchased one, gunned it, and I'm not out of money.

 

The game really needs a tutorial. Even now, having played 26 hours over 5 days I still don't really know how to make money other then missions.

 

Since I had to play 40k for the snow and 7-10k to gun it I'm scared to death to even use it for a mission. There has to be a better way to make money other then missions.

 

Any suggestions would be nice, now that I have a snow should I focus on taking down trader ships? What should I be doing for money because judging by what you get out of missions, it would seem I would be better off getting back into the cutter and grinding small battles/missions for money.

 

[GrapeShot]

Hook up with other players from your nation. Fleeting is a good way to level up and learn the game faster.

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

Hook up with other players from your nation. Fleeting is a good way to level up and learn the game faster.

 

Totally this. Sums up Naval Action as a multiplayer game.

 

Regarding what is the course of action to take it all comes up to you diggler, or any other player. For me it is the small flotilla interdictions. Hit trade hard and fast. Capture ships and get their goods. Primarily traders of course but also valuable ships.

Our best militar vessel prize so far was a frigate capture with a snow, a navy brig and a niagara. Good fun and everyone kept at their best performance. Trader Snows even with escort are pretty much our everyday catch.

We having fun and learning together.

[admin]

26hours of game time is what it has taken  me to level up and hit level 3 and get a decent ship. I made the mistake of buying a privateer and a trader lynx which made me short on money when it came time to buy the snow, yet I just purchased one, gunned it, and I'm not out of money.

 

The game really needs a tutorial. Even now, having played 26 hours over 5 days I still don't really know how to make money other then missions.

 

Since I had to play 40k for the snow and 7-10k to gun it I'm scared to death to even use it for a mission. There has to be a better way to make money other then missions.

 

Any suggestions would be nice, now that I have a snow should I focus on taking down trader ships? What should I be doing for money because judging by what you get out of missions, it would seem I would be better off getting back into the cutter and grinding small battles/missions for money.

 

Well. ... 

I will reply tomorrow Captain. in detail. We will help you mate

Its actually easy but it is not obvious from the beginning.

[Grim DeGrim]

I've 200 hours in pre-alpha. I've 20+ post release. I'm only level 3.

Do not fear. There is no race. I too look forward to admin's post.

However a prior person did have it correct. The game's beauty shines when participating in a fleet. Your experience will be enriched.

[Ruthless4u]

Unfortunately clans/groups are not always an option for everyone.

[Reki]

since you got snow, just do missions up to level 5 at least. Try to take 3-4 rank missions - up to 3000 k gold reward. If you got two enemies, sink one with destroing only one side and stern if possible. Its fastest way. Don't wait untill he sunk - switch to other one. Use carronades and reload shock. Damage=money and expirience.

[Slamz]

Step 1)

Capture NPC trader ships on the open sea by defeating them in boarding combat (Trader Lynx are pretty easy). Sell their cargo for mad cash. Sometimes the traders are carrying junk but it's not unusual to get $20,000+ from a single capture. Usually traders have more cargo than your combat ship can carry so just take command of the trader and sail it home with the cargo and send your combat ship back to port.

 

Step 2)

Use this money to buy ships you intend to lose in PvP. 1 hour of farming traders could potentially buy you 5+ hours or more of PvP in something like a Snow.

 

Step 3)

Fight in "Small Battles" on the mission screen.

Yes you will lose durability.

Yes you will lose money.

But you'll make decent enough XP and have fun doing it. When you run out of durability, just go capture a couple more NPC traders and continue!

If you feel experienced enough, try the same thing on the open sea, fighting players. Yes you will probably lose a lot solo but as long as you do good damage you'll get some XP out of it and the ratio of "farming money" to "fighting in PvP" will still be pretty high in favor of PvP.

 

This is the New Recipe For Fun and I think everyone should start doing it immediately.

 

I don't know why the hell we're killing ourselves trying to powerlevel when we could be having fun right now.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Slamz

[Kurshuk]

Yeah, echoing the comments. I was super pissed to be stuck in the starter ship so long, new user experience is pretty terrible. No real help/guides/tutorials except the forums. If I hadn't come here to complain about the user experience I wouldn't have any idea that there are

 

A. Guides in the forums

B. Rules in the forums that pertain to the game

C. Game mechanics (Capping Ships, how durability works, how to cap contraband traders, how to do most of what the game is other than battles and missions.)

 

However, and this is something I've seen echoed by friends for not only this game but many games. The way I do multiplayer is that I just won't until I have an understanding of how to play so I'm not wrecking someone elses game time with my newbness. I get that this isn't LOL, DOTA, MWO, or any of a plethora of more toxic and vocal players, but it's rough starting out when you're being counted on as part of a team that has the potential to lose things.

 

Really I'd make 1 really big change and put an offline/target practice mode so that players could practice ranging, leading, turning, etc in all the ships in the game. My main complaint was that if I buy a ship, I'm learning a whole new ship from scratch. And my experience with the Brig is that it is not a cutter. And my first battle in the brig I almost lost the ship by trapping myself between the wind and a snow pumping cannon into my ship.

 

Had no idea the characteristics would be so different and without some way to experience it beforehand the risk is really high to new players. If you've played before you know how the ships handle and which ones that you prefer, but as a new person I can tell you the grind to get the level for a ship, then the cash outlay with the possibility of losing the vessel almost pushed me away for good.

 

I was actually really disappointed that I purchased the game until I got a little further into the economy that I was able to get enough for fleet ships and a brig. But even now I'm hesitant to play the ships I want to play because I'm still pretty early in the economy. One thing I will say is that I do feel like the majority of the game is grind. I define grind as gametime spent not playing the way you want to play (eg, running mission after mission to get to a ship you actually want to play). I'm interested in midsize ships and with the amount of grind that it looks like as a new player is really daunting and overwhelming. I paralleled it to buying a game that has a F2P grind where you lose your stuff and have to regrind to get it back. Maybe a little harsh, but so far I've not seen anything to the contrary, grind, buy, lose, repeat. Capping ships gives you the ship, but with a single durability you're out anything you put on it if you slip up.

 

The other thing I'd recommend is fleet. 2 fleet cutters give you an extra 12 cannon for 50k. Not really any other option that gives that much firepower, in a separate ship or ships that tanks damage and can be ordered to hold fire when you're ready to board and cap. DO NOT TRUST THE AI TO STEER AROUND YOU.

 

Crunching ramming sound from the starboard... Enemy ship? Nah, one of my cutters doing its thing.

[Tief N Tote]

yup a tutorial is needed

[BramtheDutch]

There are a few solutions,

A, Team up with your buddies.

B, Go and do some trading runs.

C, Crafting stuff and selling it to players.

D, Capturing and selling ships and their goodies.

I do not agree on your point that the game is to hard for noobs, you shouldn't be able to buy every ship you want.

The Game economy is the same as a real economy, if you want something you have to work hard for it.

Edited February 3, 2016 by bramluijken

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

Unfortunately clans/groups are not always an option for everyone.

 

A flotilla of 3 -4 ships is more than enough. A couple buddies playing together, that is all.

[Bach]

26hours of game time is what it has taken me to level up and hit level 3 and get a decent ship. I made the mistake of buying a privateer and a trader lynx which made me short on money when it came time to buy the snow, yet I just purchased one, gunned it, and I'm not out of money.

The game really needs a tutorial. Even now, having played 26 hours over 5 days I still don't really know how to make money other then missions.

Since I had to play 40k for the snow and 7-10k to gun it I'm scared to death to even use it for a mission. There has to be a better way to make money other then missions.

Any suggestions would be nice, now that I have a snow should I focus on taking down trader ships? What should I be doing for money because judging by what you get out of missions, it would seem I would be better off getting back into the cutter and grinding small battles/missions for money.

y

Go to your home port. Looking at the prices you can sell materials for. Note the three highest priced to sell. Now step out onto the open sea. When you visit a port for the first time you get access to the list of what it produces and consumes. Pres "M" for map and mouse over the nearby towns and find the ones that produce the high priced materials. Go hunt the traders off of those ports, cap the ships and take the cargo. Then go sell it at any port or for best pricing sell to one that consumes it.

Have fun and remember it's pirates and privateers. The best way to make lots of gold is to capture it! Yarrr

Edited February 3, 2016 by Bach

[Archer11]

If I sound rude or like a little bit cheeky, please forgive me, I do not intend to do so. I'm still a rookie, having only 24h in my books, ranked 2nd Lieutenant, sailing with my fleet of cutters in PvE and will change to PvP soon.

There are a lot of tutorial videos on youtube, about UI in OW and in battle, about trading, crafting and so on. I don't know, how good they are or how reliable because I for my part had not the time to view much of them. Too busy with real life these days.

I love games, which do not take me by the hand but let me explore things in my own speed.

And when I can find the time to play, I play. Trying to improve my sailing and gunnery in missions, enjoying navigating and the scenery. Sure, I won't make progress as fast as others, but I for my part really have a lot of fun.

What many people seem to forget: this is still an early-access-game (shows how good it is, when so many forget about that   )

As Grim DeGrim wrote. there's no race.

So there's plenty of time to work out how stuff should or could be done. One step after the other...
And if there are questions, well, there are so many really helpful communtiy-members who will never fail to help one out.

So, now my dogs bark to quarters. Have to go. Good night!

[Slamz]

yup a tutorial is needed

 

Incidentally, while I agree this game needs better help, I say "ugh" to tutorials.

 

Just seeing that word makes me go "oh, gods, not another tutorial". I think it may be my least favorite part of gaming because even when they are quick and well done they often end up delivering reams of things I already figured out (or think are common sense) just for one new interesting tidbit.

 

I think perhaps a sensible system of context-driven popups and better mouse-over tooltips could do the job and be less annoying for people who just want to jump in.

 

 

Like maybe the middle-top of the screen is an optional area for contextual tool-tips that will pop up and can be dismissed via some hotkey.

 

The first time you press "1" to change ammo, a pop-up box might say:

"Use grape shot to attack enemy crew, especially once the armor is gone or if you can shoot down onto their deck.

Use chain shot to fire at the enemy sails.

Use ball shot to hit enemy armor and internals."

 

And the first time your crew (or your target's crew?) is under 90% maybe there's a context-driven popup about crew effects.

 

 

Anyway, I agree the game needs lots better help/intros but I frown at the thought of actual tutorials, which I find universally aggravating.

[Kurshuk]

Anyway, I agree the game needs lots better help/intros but I frown at the thought of actual tutorials, which I find universally aggravating.

Yeah, tutorials can be a pain. But even something like an in game help menu that has what gets posted over and over.

 

Getting Started

     How to leave port in OW

     Missions

     Trade

     Combat including Boarding

     Crafting

     Rules

     How the economy works including a piece about ship durability

     Levels and how they affect the amount of crew

 

None of this was explained. I almost bought a brig before I could crew it with no idea that I would have issues.

 

Tutorials may suck, but this is a deep game and the lack of documentation is simply unacceptable to me as a consumer.

[NiMiTz]

I think learning the game is actually pretty easy. 

 

I do have a question for the admin, when are we getting the new UI? 

 

The current one is supposed to be a placeholder right? Cause if we didnt that would be pretty crap. 

 

Also crafting is just broken (in case admin reads this). 

[Robert Sterling]

i completely agree with the op.  I have spent 70 hours in game and am only now starting to sort it out.  Given that I have a job/wife/life I have spent too much time sailing around blind when a few words jotted down in a get start guide would have gone a long way.  The lack of a written how-to is poor form for something I spent 40 plus dollars on.  I'm still confused about the economy but given that a couple players seem to have used the "contract" system to completely monopolize a few of the resources (fir, coal etc) the influx of new people, like myself, who actually enjoy a robust economic side of the game are shut out even being able to learn it, never mind enjoy it.

 

A PDF would be marvelous.

[Absintheminded]

The simplest is just to have an easy, dismissable tutorial at the beginning of the game. A start game w./without tutorial option.

 

I was hopelessly lost too at the start; some pointers (do missions, team up) would have been infinetly useful.

[FlyingRoss]

Yeah, tutorials can be a pain. But even something like an in game help menu that has what gets posted over and over.

 

Getting Started

     How to leave port in OW

     Missions

     Trade

     Combat including Boarding

     Crafting

     Rules

     How the economy works including a piece about ship durability

     Levels and how they affect the amount of crew

 

None of this was explained. I almost bought a brig before I could crew it with no idea that I would have issues.

 

Tutorials may suck, but this is a deep game and the lack of documentation is simply unacceptable to me as a consumer.

Not to self promote too much, but I cover some of these basic ideas on my YouTube channel. 

 

And those are some good examples things new people need to know, and thus I will create more content on those exact things!

[Mrdoomed]

I logged on and was playing fine in minutes. Everything is pretty self explanatory and i PRAY if they put a stupid tutorial in it that its only a option not mandatory like most games are now since everyone needs thier hands held.

The only thing this game lacks is a real website with real up to date info about thingd in the game.

I logged on and was playing fine in minutes. Everything is pretty self explanatory and i PRAY if they put a stupid tutorial in it that its only a option not mandatory like most games are now since everyone needs thier hands held.

The only thing this game lacks is a real website with real up to date info about thingd in the game.

[Sylven1]

I kind of expected there not to be many ingame tutorials when I payed and installed this game considering they told me on the Steam page this game was in early access and to not expect an finished product.

I'm sure there will be some sort of tutorial someday, but I expect there are much more important and bigger fish to fry first.

[maturin]

I kind of expected there not to be many ingame tutorials when I payed and installed this game considering they told me on the Steam page this game was in early access and to not expect an finished product.

I'm sure there will be some sort of tutorial someday, but I expect there are much more important and bigger fish to fry first.

An informed consumer lives!

 

I've been waiting weeks for someone to post that.

[Robert Sterling]

This isn't the first alpha I have played, and won't be the last.  That being said, there was some documentation to explain how things are suppose to work.  Having to rely on guile to understand the economy isn't something that is particularly good if you want the game to have mass appeal (sales).  I'm a smart guy, sooner or later I will figure things out.  But spending time sorting through everything rather then "playing the game" is something I don't want to do.

That's called work.

I have a job.

 

This is suppose to be fun.  At any rate, I have high hopes my and other newbie comments will get you guys to start posting solid info regarding your game.  I like it a lot and just want to understand how to play a bit more beyond the old trial and error format you currently have.

[Ruthless4u]

I kind of expected there not to be many ingame tutorials when I payed and installed this game considering they told me on the Steam page this game was in early access and to not expect an finished product.

I'm sure there will be some sort of tutorial someday, but I expect there are much more important and bigger fish to fry first.

Good to know there are still some people who read what they are getting into before they buy.