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Latest batch of seafaring changes!

MelodieMelodie Port Saint Lucie, Florida
edited June 2016 in North of Thera
For those who can't access the news easily, our latest two announces:

ANNOUNCE NEWS #4567                                     (06/08/2016 at 00:34)  
From   : Nicola
To     : Everyone
Subject: Auras, Seaspells, and Plundering!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As we promised yesterday, the final round of big changes to Seafaring is now live! These focus on making Seafaring more accessible to everyone, offering bonuses to specialisations (instead of making them necessities), and further separating ship combat from PK.

The biggest change you will notice is that all the necessary abilities for sailing have moved over into Seafaring proper. Specialisations now contain some special abilities, and an aura to apply to a ship that increases in effect with rank. See ShipAuras below.

Alterations. (These are abilities you'll recognise by name.)
- Grapple:
   No longer is grapple a trigger war, instead grappling has taken some cues from old forceboarding. Those wishing to initiate a grapple can fire a hookshot from an Arcanian arm at a target ship. The hookshot has a range, and both ships can be moving. Once a hookshot has landed, the ships are considered 'tethered', if the ships are moving the two will slowly be drawn together until the tether breaks, or until both are adjacent and unmoving.
   When tethered or grappled you cannot change direction or alter rowing/sails.
   Should you grapple a fast moving ship, or if there is a discrepency in size between the ships, tethers can break.
   Multiple tethers can be fired, 2 can land on a windcutter, 3 on a seastrider, and 4 on a wargalley.
   Tethers can be removed via CHOP TETHER. This is faster if you have a shipaxe.
- Seaspells (various):
   Removed from the Specialisations, seaspells are now tied to a ship's figurehead.
   A figurehead can be set with up to four seaspells.
   These are set/changed by the captain when in harbour via SEASPELLS.
   The Hull and Sailsgird spells have been removed. (Damages from seamonsters and ships will be watched to adjust for this.)
   Barrier
   Rainstorm*
   Shield*
   Shipcloak*
   Wavecall*
   Wavescythe
   Whirlpool
   Windboost
   * There are two pairs of incompatible seaspells, meaning you cannot set both of either pairing on a figurehead. Shipcloak is incompatible with Wavecall, Rainstorm is incompatible with Shipshield.
- Shipscan now starts at the max range that rank V Watch would previously have given.
- Shipstate contains the Emergencies and Steadygoing manoeuvres.
- Avoidance manoeuvres contains the Evasives and Jink manoeuvres.
 
New Additions!
- Hookshot:
   The ammunition used when grappling.
   These can be purchased from Maelstrom in crates of 50,
   These will be stored in the ammo hold.
   These will be fired from the thrower (Arcanian Arm) at other ships.
- Plundering:
   Once you are bound to a ship via grapple and their hull health is lower than 50% you can order your swashbucklers aboard to PLUNDER for booty!
   Swashbucklers gain experience from plundering and defending the ship from plundering attempts.
   Swashbucklers no longer wander.
   Success of plunder is dependant on the level of your swashbucklers compared to the swashbucklers on the ship you are trying to plunder from!
   Loot from plundering can be taken from the strongbox, from the cargo hold, from the ammo stores, and from any seamonster trophies left on the deck:
   A ship can be plundered no more than 3 times total in a 12 hour period.
- Smart Orders:
   Earned at rank III in the Helm specialisation, Smart Orders increases your turning speed for a duration of 2 minutes. This can be activated once every 10 minutes.
- Ship Auras:
   Each Specialisation offers an aura that (when activated) applies a passive buff to the ship.
   Auras scale in effectiveness with your rank in the specialisation, often offering an extra buff at rank 5.
   You can only activate one aura at a time, same auras do not stack.
   You must remain on the ship for an aura to remain active.
   Windcutters can have 3 auras active.
   Seastriders can have 4 auras active.
   Wargalleys can have 5 auras active.
   Use SHIP AURA to activate, deactivate, or change the aura you are currently applying. (You will need to be at the ship's bow to do this.)
- Shipwho <ship>:
   Earned at rank IV in Watch, you can see a list of who is on the deck of a different ship (provided it is within viewing range.)
   Must have a spyglass in your possession for this to work.

The Removals.
- As noted in Seaspells above, Hull and Sailsgird have been removed.
- Forceboarding has been removed, and is replaced with plundering.
- Chopped decks are no longer needed and have been removed.

As always, if you encounter any bugs, please let us know by filing a BUG report.

Penned by My hand on the 9th of Sarapin, in the year 715 AF.


ANNOUNCE NEWS #4568                                     (06/08/2016 at 00:46)  
From   : Nicola
To     : Everyone
Subject: Seafaring Specialisations In Detail!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the changes live and the SPPs all reset, here's the rundown of the Specialisations!

WATCH
RANK         ABILITY
I       Balance cost reduction on climbing mast/swinging up (scaling shipwide aura)
II      Spyglass
III     Anticipate
IV      Shipwho lists all appropriate people visible on a nearby ship, requires possession of a spyglass
V       Aura max level + reduced chop movement penalty (climb mast balanceless here)

WEAPONS
RANK         ABILITY
I       Aiming increase in effect (Scaling shipwide aura)
II      Ammo enhance
III     Weapon maintenance (at the cost of comms players can increase the months_till_decay on a weapon.)
IV      Grappling
V       Aura max level + leaking on attacked ships starts at a more serious pace.

COMMAND
RANK         ABILITY
I       Cost reduction for seaspells (Scaling shipwide aura)
II      Fleetsense
III     Keelhaul
IV      Commscreen
V       Aura max level (when melded) + ability to cast seaspells when unmelded/not at figurehead at 1.5x their original, unaltered cost

HELM
RANK         ABILITY
I       Crew gain bonus morale and XP from ship stuff (Scaling shipwide aura)
II      Shipstate (emergencies, steadygoing)
III     Smart Orders new skill For the next X minutes the ship turns faster
IV      Avoidance maneuvers (evasives, jink)
V       Aura max level + better speed from rowing

DECKHAND
RANK         ABILITY
I       Small chance of an increased repair amount on a repair tick (Scaling shipwide aura)
II      Salvageops (no longer requires stationhold, just over wreck and anchored)
III     Can cook for good stores
IV      Plundering
V       Aura max level + chance of a fire being put out by crew.

Penned by My hand on the 9th of Sarapin, in the year 715 AF.




Okay with that posted, I have some questions, @Nicola and crew:

With swashbucklers now gaining experience and levels (where they didn't before), does this follow the usual ship/crewmate experience levels, or are we talking like, mining legion levels?

I've noticed a lot of the remaining abilities in the specialisations have been moved up and down a bit from where they previously were. Was this done intentionally or sort of just kind of cramming them in and seeing how it goes? For instance, cooking (albeit a different version than the original, but you get the idea) is at rank three in deckhand now instead of one, whereas ammo enhance is at rank two instead of rank four in weapons. A more basic version of my question is: Are where abilities now still somewhat fluid at the moment, or are they more or less where you want them to be?

I know you mentioned plundering will often depend on the level of the attacking swashies vs. the defending swashies, but can we get any idea on the actual percentages we might be looking at? What sort of minimum/maximum might we see, and how much are swashie levels going to effect this?

Towards the beginning of a lot of the seafaring changes, windcutters lost most of what made them stand apart from seastriders (other than the price). Considering this is the last batch of present changes and that nothing really has changed as far as the vessels go, are there any plans to make windcutters at all more attractive options again? As it stands, there's almost no reason to buy a windcutter now - you're better off to just save for a strider for all intents and purposes, whether you're a trader or a fighter. That's very disappointing for me (as the only ship I own is a windcutter), but I'm hoping maybe there will be some sort of addressing this before I start considering exchanges to get a seastrider/possibly sell my windcutter.

Any chance on moving the deckhand guy from up north to somewhere slightly less insane?

Thanks for all the work that went into this, I am genuinely excited about what these new changes will bring the seafaring world at large!

Edit: Sorry @Ahmet, was already working on this for a bit!
And I love too                                                                          Be still, my indelible friend
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
«134567…15

Comments

  • NicolaNicola
    @Melodie

    With swashbucklers now gaining experience and levels (where they didn't before), does this follow the usual ship/crewmate experience levels, or are we talking like, mining legion levels?
    Ship/crewmate experience levels!

    I've noticed a lot of the remaining abilities in the specialisations have been moved up and down a bit from where they previously were. Was this done intentionally or sort of just kind of cramming them in and seeing how it goes? For instance, cooking (albeit a different version than the original, but you get the idea) is at rank three in deckhand now instead of one, whereas ammo enhance is at rank two instead of rank four in weapons. A ore basic version of my question is: Are where abilities now still somewhat fluid at the moment, or are they more or less where you want them to be?
    We're happy with where they fall considering our aims for the overhaul. I don't see them changing.

    I know you mentioned plundering will often depend on the level of the attacking swashies vs. the defending swashies, but can we get any idea on the actual percentages we might be looking at? What sort of minimum/maximum might we see, and how much are swashie levels going to effect this?
    You'll have to get out there and test!

    Towards the beginning of a lot of the seafaring changes, windcutters lost most of what made them stand apart from seastriders (other than the price). Considering this is the last batch of present changes and that nothing really has changed as far as the vessels go, are there any plans to make windcutters at all more attractive options again? As it stands, there's almost no reason to buy a windcutter now - you're better off to just save for a strider for all intents and purposes, whether you're a trader or a fighter. That's very disappointing for me (as the only ship I own is a windcutter), but I'm hoping maybe there will be some sort of addressing this before I start considering exchanges to get a seastrider/possibly sell my windcutter.
    Windcutters are the day sailors/dabblers of the ship fleet, they're designed to be able to do a little bit of most things, while the bigger ships offer a greater opportunity for getting your feet wet (or not as the case would be.)

    Any chance on moving the deckhand guy from up north to somewhere slightly less insane?
    Not at the moment!
  • AhmetAhmet Wherever I wanna be
    Nicola said:
    Any chance on moving the deckhand guy from up north to somewhere slightly less insane?
    Not at the moment!
    Could we get a temporary portal up north (like we did to Meropis for that one thing) in light of the new spps?
    Huh. Neat.
  • KietKiet
    RIP forceboarding :(
  • KresslackKresslack Florida, United States
    This update makes me happy in pants.


  • SkyeSkye The Duchess Bellatere

                                       


  • SaevaSaeva
    I don't really see a lot that stands out spectacularly as a major shift, but I'm interested in the auras and seeing how they work!


  • KresslackKresslack Florida, United States
    edited June 2016
    I think the removal of Forceboarding alone is huge. It prevents one person from boarding a ship and effectively rendering it useless by taking out the player crew. Plus, once boarded, it transitions into the realm of PK. This stops that by making it more ship vs ship combat and more strategical focused than manpower focused.

    I also think the tethering mechanic is brilliant, and makes a lot of sense. A windcutter trying to hook and tether a strider that's moving at 12+ knots, likely going to have that tether broken. Much better than the old (and frankly frustrating) grappling system.

    There's a lot to figure out, since it's likely that a strider can effectively bring to heel a windcutter if it's not moving too quickly and if the strider utilises the potential for two hookshots, which give it two tethers.

    Overall, this seems to more clearly define the roles and advantages between ship types, and highlights those strengths and weaknesses pretty well.


  • KietKiet
    I don't really see the problem with forceboarding but then again I like pking so biased.

    The biggest change here is definitely that people can actually sail their own ships if they're specialized to help out in big navy operations, too, which means no more sacrificing to help your team, basically.
  • KietKiet
    Yeah fleetsense pretty much required for city navies
  • TahquilTahquil
    Refunds for Captain's trunks now since swashbuckler's no longer wander?
  • ValkynValkyn
    Or make them actually able to hold items to make ships tidier, pretty please?

  • TarausTaraus The Gypsy Wind
    Does the shipwho thing under Watch respect gems/veils on other ships?

    Did spyglass as a skill retain the same functionality of checking harbour info before docking?

  • CaliraCalira
    Taraus said:
    Does the shipwho thing under Watch respect gems/veils on other ships?

    Did spyglass as a skill retain the same functionality of checking harbour info before docking?
    That's under HARBOURINFO in the general Seafaring skills, now. Still needs a spyglass.
  • SaevaSaeva
    So since SSP already restrained what skills you had/could utilize in specs.. what's the point of the auras? It means having rank 5 in this or that is pretty great but with those piddly left over points... why would you ever really set your aura to something you have one or two ranks in that's not gonna be super effective? I'm just finding this all to negate the entire SSP system and it's kind of all bland looking from what I've fiddled with yet. I am very  possibly missing something though?


  • KinilanKinilan
    Saeva said:
    So since SSP already restrained what skills you had/could utilize in specs.. what's the point of the auras? It means having rank 5 in this or that is pretty great but with those piddly left over points... why would you ever really set your aura to something you have one or two ranks in that's not gonna be super effective? I'm just finding this all to negate the entire SSP system and it's kind of all bland looking from what I've fiddled with yet. I am very  possibly missing something though?
      The aura's scale with your rank, you get them at rank I and they scale with higher ranks in a spec. At the max they get a bonus and the rank V bonuses are pretty sweet. A single person can only maintain 1 Aura. Some people will choose one rank V and spread the rest around, others might like to swap but their real strength is in numbers. if you have 3 people on a cutter they can all maintain 1  aura each, 4 on a strider, 5 on a Galley. They are why you sail with a crew now. Instead of throwing a mob of people (or, you know just @Dunn ) at a ship with a deck and slaughtering everyone.
  • KinilanKinilan
    Taraus said:
    Does the shipwho thing under Watch respect gems/veils on other ships?

    Did spyglass as a skill retain the same functionality of checking harbour info before docking?
    Should cut through Gems and Veils... unless Someone didn't do their job!
  • AerekAerek East Tennessee, USA
    I'd say that some bonus is better than no bonus, if you're in a situation where your rank V auras don't matter. Key abilities are still available with low-point investments, like Spyglass and Fleetsense, and auras are hard to judge before testing is done to see how good each aura is and how well it scales. You might spec Command and Helm to V, but if the Deckhand repair aura is good, then Deck II or III is still better than Deck 0, if you need repairs more than cheap seaspells at that given moment.

    Of course, it's naturally part of the design to push you to spec to 5, so different people spec for different things and can contribute differently. I think the issue that the new system is trying to address is that in the old design, a ship without a crewman spec'ed to certain specs was crippled, and couldn't really sail/fight/monster effectively at all. There were times I wanted to go out monster hunting, but didn't have someone with Command for Hullgird, so I just flat couldn't go. With the new system, I can get out and play no matter who's around, but I still want people with different specs to make it easier/more fun.

    I do empathize with disappointment with the shift from everyone having unique abilities and advantages they brought to the Seafaring table, to a system where a lot of your Spec is set-and-forget auras. I can agree that's more "bland" than having your specialties that make you feel like a hero, and relying on fellow crewmates to be heroes with the skills you don't have. But I do think this makes it easier to actually get out there and have fun sailing without needing wait for the planets to align so you can find certain people, with certain specs, who want to go out and sail at that moment, and who have the time to do it.
    -- Grounded in but one perspective, what we perceive is an exaggeration of the truth.
  • DunnDunn
    Kinilan said:
    Saeva said:
    So since SSP already restrained what skills you had/could utilize in specs.. what's the point of the auras? It means having rank 5 in this or that is pretty great but with those piddly left over points... why would you ever really set your aura to something you have one or two ranks in that's not gonna be super effective? I'm just finding this all to negate the entire SSP system and it's kind of all bland looking from what I've fiddled with yet. I am very  possibly missing something though?
      The aura's scale with your rank, you get them at rank I and they scale with higher ranks in a spec. At the max they get a bonus and the rank V bonuses are pretty sweet. A single person can only maintain 1 Aura. Some people will choose one rank V and spread the rest around, others might like to swap but their real strength is in numbers. if you have 3 people on a cutter they can all maintain 1  aura each, 4 on a strider, 5 on a Galley. They are why you sail with a crew now. Instead of throwing a mob of people (or, you know just @Dunn ) at a ship with a deck and slaughtering everyone.
    Gonna miss that :( 

    I was never super super into the sailing part, but the arena-like aspect of PVPing on a ship was always thrilling. 


  • KinilanKinilan
    Dunn said:
    Kinilan said:
    Saeva said:
    So since SSP already restrained what skills you had/could utilize in specs.. what's the point of the auras? It means having rank 5 in this or that is pretty great but with those piddly left over points... why would you ever really set your aura to something you have one or two ranks in that's not gonna be super effective? I'm just finding this all to negate the entire SSP system and it's kind of all bland looking from what I've fiddled with yet. I am very  possibly missing something though?
      The aura's scale with your rank, you get them at rank I and they scale with higher ranks in a spec. At the max they get a bonus and the rank V bonuses are pretty sweet. A single person can only maintain 1 Aura. Some people will choose one rank V and spread the rest around, others might like to swap but their real strength is in numbers. if you have 3 people on a cutter they can all maintain 1  aura each, 4 on a strider, 5 on a Galley. They are why you sail with a crew now. Instead of throwing a mob of people (or, you know just @Dunn ) at a ship with a deck and slaughtering everyone.
    Gonna miss that :( 

    I was never super super into the sailing part, but the arena-like aspect of PVPing on a ship was always thrilling. 
    PVPing on a ship while getting webbed and DFAed and generally fucked up the ass by hostile swashies!
  • DunnDunn
    Yeah that was the challenging part. Me vs 3 dudes and 15 swashbucklers and somehow managing to kill/run off the dudes. Silly sailors. 

    Or Pit them. RIP old pit


  • MelodieMelodie Port Saint Lucie, Florida
    Man, getting pitted on a ship the one time it happened made me so angry.
    And I love too                                                                          Be still, my indelible friend
    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
  • KinilanKinilan
    Old pit and ship to ship Thurisaz FTW.
  • SkyeSkye The Duchess Bellatere
    It looks like tethering is majorly broken:

    shipmate209724      a shipmate
    shipmate279168      a shipmate
    shipmate283081      a shipmate
    shipmate309813      a shipmate
    bell320897          a diving bell
    shipmate327741      a shipmate
    shipmate330317      a shipmate
    shipmate335448      a shipmate
    shipmate358009      a shipmate
    shipmate374238      a shipmate
    shipmate380731      a shipmate
    flag149058          a large white flag
    shipmate480047      a shipmate
    shipmate480061      a shipmate
    shipmate480070      a shipmate
    shipmate480083      a shipmate
    shipmate480084      a shipmate
    swashbuckler68767   a swarthy swashbuckler
    swashbuckler85502   a swarthy swashbuckler
    hook448105          a tethered hookshot
    hook212680          a tethered hookshot

    (ex) {7898hp|7130mp|36004e|30984wp}{cdbk|} |43304 ()| 87.2%XP (22:36:27.724) no line outchop hook448105
    Best to find something worth chopping before you hurt yourself.

    (ex) {8140hp|7130mp|36030e|30988wp}{cdbk|} |43304 ()| 87.2%XP (22:36:32.060) no line outchop tether
    There are no tethered grappling hooks on this section of the deck to chop at.

    ??????






  • SkyeSkye The Duchess Bellatere
    Also, after salvage:

    Grappled:      by Black Flame.
    Tethers:       3


    ??? Still tethered. wat



  • BorranBorran
    Kinilan said:
    Old pit and ship to ship Thurisaz FTW.
    This never did make sense to me.  I summon Earth magics, channeled through... these dead wooden planks and millions of gallons of water... to summon fiery pillars of dhume.

  • NicolaNicola
    Chopping hooks and associated tether clearing have been fixed up as of a few hours ago. Captain's trunks are on the table to be considered for a repurpose or removal. (Innuendo entirely intentional.)
  • NicolaNicola
    As to queries about the point of SPPs, Kinilan and Aerek are right on the money. SPPs and specifically specialised crew members shouldn't be required to sail, while we loved the idea of the old system, it was never panning out in a reasonable way for the general playerbase. This shift allows regular folks to get out on ships and be able to do what they want, while also giving more organised Navies, Pirates, and crews some useful bonuses.
  • BorranBorran
    I love these updates. I will be looking to get involved in seafaring again.  I'm currently saving for a ship, but I'll be looking for v some seafaring experience. Any Eleusian that do Seamonster Hunting during weekends that need another crew member? USA late afternoons/evenings timeframe?

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