Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- 6.2K All Categories
- 3.1K Everything Achaea
- 1.5K North of Thera
- 26 Archives of the Terraformer
- 257 The Matsuhama Arena
- 885 The Golden Dais of Creation
- 299 The Scarlattan Theatre
- 149 The Blank Canvas
- 2K Getting Help
- 412 General Questions
- 258 Quick Class Questions
- 1.3K Tech Support
- 313 Client Help
- 486 Curing Systems and Scripts
- 841 Off-Topic
- 255 The Wander Inn
- 586 The Universal Membrane
- 298 Class Discussions
- 298 Individual Class Sections
- 20 Alchemist
- 9 Apostate
- 30 Blademaster
- 9 Depthswalker
- 14 Druid
- 4 Infernal
- 20 Jester
- 19 Magi
- 34 Monk
- 11 Occultist
- 8 Paladin
- 7 Priest
- 29 Runewarden
- 18 Sentinel
- 26 Serpent
- 20 Shaman
- 9 Sylvan
Comments
Yes the pirates dominate the seas. They roam unchecked. The only person that ever fights back is Artanis and it should be pointed out that because of that he gets the respect of the PoM. He's been let off the hook a bunch of times because it's better for everyone that he can keep fighting. He's an odd duck but everyone in the PoM loves to see him around because he doesn't just bitch and moan.
If you can't be bothered to learn the basics and equip yourselves properly. If wavecall was the only ability you knew how to use, that is not something you can lay at the feet of the PoM. That is a choice you've made as a player. If you're in an organization opposed to the PoM or too proud to pay for safe passage that is not something you can lay at the feet of the PoM. It's a choice your character has made.
Ship combat is as simple as it gets. You've got four "afflictions" and five or six "defences" and assorted abilities with damage being the only way to "kill". Forceboard is overpowered in some respects but if you sail alone that's also a choice you've made, not the PoM's fault.
If you're not going to bother to learn the mechanics, if you're not going to do the GROUP activity as part of a GROUP and if you've made zero attempts in game towards any of the possible solutions or alternatives you don't have the right to demand changes to a system you've failed to properly engage with.
@Kinilan a reminder that the point of this thread was what changes to seafaring would people want to see so they would get more involved in it. You saying that they have no right to suggest things because they haven't invested the time/energy/credits into it is inconsistent with that.
You want to talk about forceboarding is overpowered and shifts the engagement into a far more complex and usually one-sided matter, or that spidershot heavily punishes people that sail alone and that some people would seem to rather this over seafaring being a group activity are things within the scope of the thread.
Complaining about a player created state of affairs where one side persues their roles and another does not and then demands things be changed in their favour with no effort ever being made in game to change that state is not.
Artemis says, "You are so high maintenance, Tharvis, gosh."
Tecton says, "It's still your fault, Tharvis."
The fact of the matter is, with the PoM's current attitude (pay up or get sunk), there's really not a lot to be done unless there are multiple people willing to fight back and -put in time, effort, and likely money and credits- to fight back. You can't complain when that just isn't everyone's cup of tea. And the people who might like to enjoy it either don't find it rewarding enough because of how the system is now, or is/eventually becomes on the side of pirates because much like the problem with Ashtan, the problem with the PoM being in power right now is that it attracts those who might have the interest (or just don't want to be sunk). You blame people for "taking up an in-character position", but frankly you make it seem more like a fault than something to be proud of.
The fact of the matter is, very few are interested in engaging with the pirates right now. Other than Taraus, whom I've mostly roleplayed with in other circumstances, I don't ever really get roleplayed with for instance. It's either Hirst chasing me down and trying to board to kill me and sink the ship, or you and you're usually silent and maybe occasionally will yell a slur or two. That's it. I don't doubt that you -do- roleplay, I just begin to wonder who with and if you're actually giving people a chance to really roleplay in return. I love a good enemy (see: Flair), but when I can't actively engage in turn and the experience is only frustrating (re: not fun) for me, why should I go out of my way to throw myself into the situation?
That's what this thread is for. To address problems like these, and general issues like "holy crap the seafaring system is like half done guys, lets add on some new things and refine others!" You rabidly defend your way of life, but you have to understand there's a reason for the disparity right now. If you're not willing to acknowledge the fact that 80%+ of the playerbase doesn't enjoy this aspect of the game right now (thus being inherently flawed), then I don't know what to tell you.
Another note, I think things have been made worse because Neraeos has left us. He helped keep so much alive and brimming on the sea, and if people got out of hand or did things they didn't do, boom, citadels on your ass, plus roleplay and engaging conflict. Since his departure, the seas just feel empty (exempting pirates which is mostly a negative experience right now) to me.
That love soon might end You are unbreaking
And be known in its aching Though quaking
Shown in this shaking Though crazy
Lately of my wasteland, baby That's just wasteland, baby
Artemis says, "You are so high maintenance, Tharvis, gosh."
Tecton says, "It's still your fault, Tharvis."
Arty is like... the only guy crazy enough to do anything. I am sailing with him whenever I can, but I start school very soon now. He's also managed to get a few regular crew members, so he can have some chance of actually getting the job done.
Also, we do have a fair few people in Mariner's who have a clue. I think fewer people are actually sailing *completely* alone, but most are still probably still undermanning their ships by a lot, and to be fair, it can be *really* hard to find crew... even crew less competent than me (and I'll be honest, I kind of suck), because everyone wants to sail their own ship. I'd mentioned before that I've gone so far as to completely rearrange my SPPs in a way that means I can barely move a ship on my own, partly because I was interested in trying the other SPPs, but also because I know almost everyone is 4 or 5 in Command and Watch (and never anything else).
So yes, there are a fair few people in Mariner's who are probably very much capable of starting to crew together with a more offensive mindset, but there just doesn't seem to be a strong desire to try to group up and start learning how to hit back. There's an official initiative in the works, and that's great, but I see that as something that would complement people's efforts to self-organize, rather than being a driving force. My hope is that a few of the people who have a clue will realize how much fun they could be having together, and start sailing together and trying things out - which would almost certainly attract more interest.
I know in the past the idea of Naval siege has been rejected because "Hashan and Eleusis are landlocked", and uh... does that matter? I mean Switzerland never said 'plees don't build navies becos ve aren't able to eizer. So much effort vent into ze Sviss Army knife and ve don't have ze resources for a Sviss Navy Knife okay?'
I'm sorry my joke dragged on but the point is that sometimes having a perfectly fair and balanced world is a buzzkill. Just means that Hashan needs a better army and an alliance with a coastal city-state in order to aid naval raids. They may have the advantage of being unbombardable.
Idea #2
Achaea wants more siege.
Might use long-range ship ammo that functions in a way that star tarots used to, area-wide. Low-accuracy so you can't focus a person or room, just general harass. Probably sentry towers/lighthouses coming into play defensively.
Sorry if it's been debunked already but I think it has potential, aside from being downright logical, since that's what navies have always been used for, that and landing parties.
Artemis says, "You are so high maintenance, Tharvis, gosh."
Tecton says, "It's still your fault, Tharvis."
I think the biggest turnoff to seafaring and ships is the price. It's just incredibly expensive as people have said and not great for drawing in new players. They hear you can sail ships and even be a pirate and think "cool" until they hear they need to trans seafaring, gather up 2.5mil in gold and calculate the price of it all. Then they just log right the hell out and go buy a pirate game for $50 which ends up being cheaper.
The second issue is pirates. I know some people like it, but it's just one of those things. It's a pain and rather one-sided. Perhaps if there were "safe routes" for travelers and fishers to take that are patrolled by NPC ships. The npc ships should be able to be engaged and taken down of course, but reset after a while. This would help alleviate some of the paranoia that the Pirates are going to jump out going "Surprise mother fucker!" the moment you leave harbor.
You might even be able to create a fun system out of this by adding in an opposing faction to the Pirates and giving each influence over an NPC navy. This way they can fight over areas and routes, the winner getting their faction's right to that area until it's taken back and gaining profit for the organization by salvaging/looting the opponents ships. I think that kind of stuff would be more fun than how it currently is. Obviously it would be a disaster to let them command npc ships to do their bidding, but just having them patrol the areas and routes currently occupied by the faction to do their thing.
and look, a bonus.. now we have a legit use for posters! Hanging them up in harbors warning which routes/area's are occupied by pirates.
From page 1 of this thread:
Haven't seen anything more specific, so I assume that (and surrounding discussion) is what @Kaie was referring to.
Seriously, I would like to see a system where those who want to have ship battles have them and those who don't can sail in peace. Weren't most pirates about stealing cargo? City ships can battle city ships. Pirates can steal cargo from larger trade ships, maybe you have to have a special flag while trading. Those seem like legitimate roleplay reasons for ship combat but just attacking every ship you run across is plain annoying and does nothing to encourage using the ship system.
The complexity of Achaea and the creativity of its players has always amazed me but it just seems like all the things I like about this game are being slowly taken away.
Then anyone who is just learning about seafaring or simply isn't interested in combat can stay out of those areas. Maybe as they get more comfortable sailing they'll venture into those areas in search of higher rewards.
Those who are interested in combat have a smaller area to patrol and would have a much easier time finding action.
I wouldn't even be totally against ship trades working the same way, except I do think trade routes were always supposed to be interwoven with ship combat (in that they are the carrot there) but letting people fish to their heart's content seems legit. As it is so few ship trades are worth doing (which is hopefully changed at least a bit) and pirates wouldn't be pirates if they weren't trying to get booty. I would also be uber pissed if half the game was sailing with absolutely no fear and buying out all of the goddamned rum and custard - but, frankly, I would like to see an almost unlimited supply of those things anyway.
Seriously though, if this is not a feature of a ship, then are we getting the graced area effect removed from ferries too because I am fricking tired of chasing certain little asshats to ferry points where they hop aboard and sail off to graceland to avoid combat. Just saying. I paid 2.5 million gold to be able to sit my ass on my ship when I want to. People not abusing them as PK hidey holes shouldn't be punished for other people's shittiness.
[Edited for typos]
Album of Bluef during her time in Achaea