Storms at sea

Greys

Right now, the sailing routes are fairly static usually an optimization of wind direction, distance, and taking advantage of the diagonals. What may make this interesting is some storms at sea which give areas that its very rough and you take damage. This could be offset by a general reduction in roughness of the waters outside the storms. Just a thought and not sure how difficult it would be to implement. 

Discuss please.

Asmodron

Should make Davy Jones appear from time to time and send a Kraken at you. Only way to fight back at him is finding his heart buried somewhere on an outer island.

Ahmet

Asmodron said:

Should make Davy Jones appear from time to time and send a Kraken at you. Only way to fight back at him is finding his heart buried somewhere on an outer island.

Okay mr Depp.

Shimi

Greys said:

Right now, the sailing routes are fairly static usually an optimization of wind direction, distance, and taking advantage of the diagonals. What may make this interesting is some storms at sea which give areas that its very rough and you take damage. This could be offset by a general reduction in roughness of the waters outside the storms. Just a thought and not sure how difficult it would be to implement. 

Discuss please.

I actually really love this idea, I hope it's something the Admin could implement but I imagine it would be quite a lot of work. I think it would make the seas a lot more dynamic in the way the advent of the seamonsters did. Especially if the storms were not static and quite unpredictable. I'd love if they could build or dissipate with a few minutes. In clarification I mean something like a 10 minute build up where the winds are ideal to chase you through the area, a 30 minutes storm where the winds are at peak and swells rage around you, and a 10 minute dissipation where the winds are less dangerous, but with no way to predict where the storm would be at when you enter the storm.

Asmodron

It would also give a bit more function for city navies with call outs of storms in certain areas

Anaria

We already have storms at sea which deteriorate the hull faster than normal sailing. I understand that you are talking about something rather different, and while I think it looks good on paper, it would end up being a really annoying addition to seafaring. We need more reasons to sail, and I feel like this would be a deterrent in the long run.

Shimi

Anaria said:

We already have storms at sea which deteriorate the hull faster than normal sailing. I understand that you are talking about something rather different, and while I think it looks good on paper, it would end up being a really annoying addition to seafaring. We need more reasons to sail, and I feel like this would be a deterrent in the long run.

Are you referring to the sailable chops? I wouldn't say those are storms. They're fixed points where the wind is notoriously rough as is the seas. I would say that's more akin to sailing over a reef barrier where there's always strong wind, not a storm.
That said, yes I can see how some people might not like having storms implimented. We've had a lot of people debate back and forth about the efficacy and the flavor of every major sailing change they put in. It is pretty guaranteed some people would hate it. But I personally think it would be dynamic and fun. And as Greys said in his original post they could even be something that helped you out. Hit a storm and get strong winds to shoot you farther and faster. Sort of the opposite of when we get glassy seas and no wind.

Aerek

No, she's referring to sea weather that already exists, the I-IX levels that determine rowing speed, sailing speed, hull/sail damage, and hull/sail repair rates. VII seas are "stormy", and make doing anything other than simple sailing pretty irritating. Often times I'd get the inkling to go monster hunting, only to gather my crew, make the trip, and find the seas at VI-VIII, which makes monster hunting highly impractical.

I also have to say that I don't know what "storms" as described would really add to sailing. No one would willingly fight in one, it's not going to matter much if you're just doing a trade or sailing to an island, and if you wanted to go monster hunting and a storm was present, you'd just have to go home. Personally, I've asked to lower the chances for those "stormy" seas we already have; they're pretty common and prevent me from doing the bit of Seafaring I enjoy most. Would like to see less of that, not more.

Shimi

Really? I rather enjoy it more when the wind is maxed out and the seas are "rough" currently. But then I suppose I must just be odd.

Greys

The idea would be localized storms. Right now, an entire wind current is stormy. It would be something that shows up on the wilderness. Again, a matter of what would be feasible for them to implement. I think it would add some flavor to sailing and if we make the seas generally less rough, its a zero sum (maybe favoring smarter captains).

Aerek

Shimi said:

Really? I rather enjoy it more when the wind is maxed out and the seas are "rough" currently. But then I suppose I must just be odd.

I assume you just mean sailing around, thus enjoying the higher wind? Sure, that's fine. But you can't hunt monsters in that weather, VII seas reduce rowing speed and ship repair down to near-zero, so even easy monsters can quickly overwhelm you with damage, and if you get stopped with entangled/ruined sails, you're literally immobile. Ship v ship is more viable since that affects both ships equally, but ship v ship combat happens so rarely that I've never personally had the opportunity to participate in it despite my interest.

Greys said:

The idea would be localized storms. Right now, an entire wind current is stormy. It would be something that shows up on the wilderness. Again, a matter of what would be feasible for them to implement. I think it would add some flavor to sailing and if we make the seas generally less rough, its a zero sum (maybe favoring smarter captains).

I'd be good with anything that lessened the odds of VII-VIII level seas in general, (not remove them, but make it more rare that the seas get to that point) but I'd still say localized storms as described would be a major code re-write with very minor effects on gameplay. If you're just sailing a trade or such, then sailing through a storm probably isn't going to matter to you at all. If you're looking to hunt or fight, that would be foolish in a storm, so you'd just actively avoid them.

Greys

@Aerek well that is why I figured it was worth discussing. Feasibility doesn't matter if you guys would collectively hate it. But yeah, it would perhaps confine the super choppy water to a more local region. It also would make it a bit more logical as its funny you can go north 1 metron and go from complete calm waters to the ocean actively trying to flip you. 

Shimi

Generally yes when I am out at sea it's sailing from point a to b or doing a trade @Aerek but I also go out sea monster hunting on occasion as well. I can't say I have tried hunting in current version storms. As for ship combat, I sail a cutter so I don't go out looking for it, I have however been caught by pirates on more than a few occasions at this point. I would rather a massive storm with high winds at that point then glassy seas. Without the ability to effectively fight back on a cutter you have to tuck tail and run, thus high winds are in my favor.