Better rank progression

[Lord Vicious]

Only thing game need imho is MORE RANKS for  improve the meaning of rank up  so ppl can jump more frequently into better ships so have overall a better progression

 

right now there is 2 annoyng gap

 

1) between 60 (privateer) and snow/brig   we need a middle rank between that with a ship maybe a corvettE?

2) huge gap between frigs 350 crew and 650 crew, that leave the meaning to use a constitution since ppl jump from a frigate to a 3rd rate ignoring totally constitution/future 4th rate ingermanland.

 

I also reduced slightly the lower ranks

 

 

40

60 500xp

90 1000xp (a rank in the middle with 90 crew where ppl can use a corvette ship like? should be useful )

120 2000xp

150 3500xp

200 6000xp

250 9000xp

300 15000xp (a rank between with 300 should be useful for frigate users)

350 25000xp  

500 40000xp   (ABSOLUTE NEED OF A 450/500 CREW rank, since now you jump from frigate to bellona istantly leaving no meaning to use a constitution and future 4th rate ingermanland.)

650 50000xp

850 75000xp

1000 100000xp

 

 

add more ranks means even more exp needed for reach high levels but it give a better distribution of the xp/rank allowing ppl to get into newer ships more frequently instead grind 50k xp and still stuck in a  frigate with 300 crew for then jump into a 3rd rate suddently

 

 

An even better thing would be link overall xp for next level to % of crew in the sense  that if i am 80% to next level  i can afford 80% of crew of my next lev

 

example if i am at 200 crew rank, but 50% exp to my next rank (250), i can muster 225 crew  my current rank +50% of next allowing a much better progression 

Edited February 3, 2016 by Lord Vicious

[BramtheDutch]

You have a very good point with this.

[WilsonMG]

I agree with the need to fill those gaps, certainly.  One can only hope with the success of the game since they put it up on Steam EA that more funds will be put towards adding more ships at all levels.

 

There's still some oddities with your revision.  I would propose something similar to the following to even out the progression even further (including your new proposed ranks):

 

40 ---- 0XP

60 ---- 500XP

90 ---- 1000XP

120 --- 2000XP

150 --- 4000XP

200 --- 7500XP

250 --- 10000XP

300 --- 15000XP

350 --- 20000XP

500 --- 30000XP

650 --- 50000XP

850 --- 75000XP

1000 - 100000XP

 

I prefer when the XP follows a steady pattern as I've laid out, not by 6000, 10000, 15000, then back to 10000, up to 25000, etc.  Otherwise, I agree with your ideas.

[Van Valkenburg]

That's a good point on the XP breakdown and crew allocation. Your suggestion to allow your current maximum plus what you've earned towards the next is interesting. Boardings would be easier when approaching the next level due to a surplus of crew.

 

The only thing I'll throw into this mix, which is not as related or even important, is blanketing XP level ranges under a rank title. This could better address the differences between nations in ranks (the most obvious being the lack of Admirals in the US Navy until the 1860s). A British player could make Post-Captain, then a few XP levels later he makes "three years seniority." It might seem odd for some to see an American commodore in command of what would be given to a British Vice-Admiral, but the XP breakdown within each faction needs to be aligned with ship and crew sizes, not personnel hierarchy.

[Lord Vicious]

obviously you cant go over your maximum crew in the sense that if am 50% to 650crew rank

 

i cant have 600crew on a constitution.. 

[Ronald Speirs]

I like this this proposal, quite like that you could have more % crew if were that % of the next rank, great idea, plus with the hammocks being such a small % now it would make them more useful then they are now, i was actually thinking of making a topic saying that the connie might get skipped that they increased flag captain max crew but you beat me to it

[Aetrion]

 

40

60 500xp

90 1000xp (a rank in the middle with 90 crew where ppl can use a corvette ship like? should be useful )

120 2000xp

 

 

With that progression it takes almost twice as much experience to be able to get a Snow than it does now, which doesn't seem like a good thing to me. The game having a painfully slow start before you can get a worthwhile ship that isn't just a variation on the capabilities of a basic cutter is already a problem as it is.

[Tremor]

more ranks : ok

but the existing ranks should stay with the existing xp cost.

[Lord Vicious]

whatever as long rank progression is more linear

[JTW]

Came on today to make a thread about the same thing actually, so i couldn't agree more!

The number 1 thing i hear people complain about in the ingame chat, is that it takes too long to progress, the grind is too tough, and after having reached the rank of Master and Commander(Kaptajn, since im danish) i can sorta understand what they're saying. For me, i currently have the option to fully crew either the Renomee or the Suprise, with the Frigate and Belle Poule being just out of reach. When i rank up, i'll have the option of crewing the Trincomalee, meaning that i'll allways have a better option than the Frigate or Belle Poule. At the same time, needing 20k XP to rank up is somewhat overwhelming, and i don't even dare think about when i finally succeed, and i'll then need 50k... It'll be too much. But let's say i don't get bored and i manage to rank up again, then there's the next issue of why i should even consider the Constitution when i can use a 3rd Rate?

I'm a bit torn about this, since i don't wanna make the game easier, or make it possible to reach the massive 1st Rates too quickly. But at the same time, i do feel that 20-50-75-100 is quite simply too much. If there were twice that amount of ranks, the numbers wouldn't be as bad, it wouldn't feel like it would take ages to progress and it would also mean that the ships i've mentioned suddenly had a real draw. But the current situation where once you get to the higher ranks, it'll take weeks if not months to progress seems overwhelming, and considering the amount of ships not fitting into the crew numbers for the current ranks, it becomes just silly in my opinion.

So yeah, this is definitely my biggest wish for the game. Please add more ranks. 

[Aetrion]

Putting the really huge ships far off for people really doesn't have to mean that getting out of the basic cutter has to take several days of just grinding away.

 

Also let's face it, the reason why the game feels like a race to 1st rates is because the progression is purely framed as acquiring more crew. It would be so much better if there was a real skill tree where you can build up your captain with various abilities and perks that form the basis of some kind of play style, rather than having all the progression in the game revolve purely around getting bigger ships.

 

Ultimately there will never be a game where only the people who earned it have top end stuff and stick out from unwashed masses, because people simply leave once they realize they personally don't care enough to get to the top in a grindy game. A game will always be filled with majority top end players for that reason, so the only way to keep the number of first rates down in the long run is to not make them the only thing you can actually achieve with deep progression.

 

Unless there is some way to leverage a high rank on a small ship the game will always have a progression that leads to 1st rates, so that's where everyone is going to go. Breaking that up by making the really huge ships sub-optimal without including a different levelup system at that point also becomes stupid, because then you don't actually need to level to the top to be competitive in smaller vessels, so it's a huge burden piled on people who like big ships while giving people who like small ships a free ride. 

 

The XP system needs to do more than expand crew.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Aetrion

[MightyMidget]

I Agree on this one!