Haron wrote:I'll reiterate my objections to "auto-skirmishes", for three reasons:
1) Any kind of auto-attack seems wrong. Attacks should be active actions. Forts should be defensive only.
2) Although you may not see it, auto-skirmish IS a blockade. No-one can trade with such a port, because they would always lose more than they gain.
3) The idea of blocking someone solely because of their hostility rating, is likely to ruin the game. It will, as you say, "keep people more secluded and more willing to be at peace". A recipe for making everyone traders, becoming bored, and finding another game. I think it should be only possible to blockade players of A WARRING NATION - not any single player (unless he is a pirate, and even then, only after a national vote).
I like the thought of forts, and I can see them playing a role in blockades, and you have some nice ideas about building and maintaining. However, as long as they include any kind of auto-attack, or will affect people solely based on their hostility to the host nation, I would much prefer to do without them.
So a player who has 100s of hostility points towards a nation should just continue to stroll into a nation port untouched, buying and selling, unless the nation votes to put an official blockade in place that costs gc and resources to maintain. Why should a nation spend millions in gc and resources to build forts, thousands of gc for upkeep, thousands of gc and resources for repair, their only interaction in the game is during war and blockades, and doesn't do anything to potentially return any part of the investment put into them. Do you really expect nations to be at war all the time? Come on.
1) It is a defensive action, as the player is hostile to the nation. I guess I should be able to shoot at you then later in the day come over to your house for a drink without consequence.
2) As bmw suggested, it should be configurable and have threshold limits. This prevents all players with hostility from being hit. I will re-update the limits and how they are set, to include a vote. Therefore the nation ,through a vote, is saying, "attack" any players with hostility above X. Auto-skirmishes wont' take place until a hostility point limit is set by vote. And now it is an approved, by the nation (players), action.
3) Not all cargo is lost (if any). I guess I will need to elaborate on this.
