The game is suffering

[Xepshunall]

I, for one, have been guilty of succumbing to the temptations of unearned power. I am sure that the rest of the players would not support the solution that I propose. I have had enough of the senseless friction that could not have gotten so out of hand if voodoo wasn't so easy to buy. I have gained and lost a real friend over this and I am about finished with this game because of it. All that is left for me to do is destroy the cause of the problem and abandon gameplay. Witch Hut should be abolished or at the least be much less worth using. It is also unfair to players who do not have a way to pay for credits. Every player should have a daily allowance of credits or be able to earn them in-game or both.

I am more open to discussion on this now than I was when I posted it, thanks to a conversation I had with Black Sparrow, so I have edited out my harsh words.

[John rackham]

I would certainly support removing those voodoo cards that directly affect combat results or damage/destroy ships. I'm not all that happy with the anonymous Booty Master though the impact on the victim is limited I suppose. I think these may be behind the recent flare-up, it is easy at the moment to fight highly destructive campaigns against other players solely from the voodoo pack and without moving a single ship. Therefore tempting to buy large stacks of cards if only as a potential counter-threat: unearned power, as you rightly put it. The existence of purely destructive cards is bound to antagonise other players, create paranoia and mistrust and generally lead to bad feeling.

As long as voodoo cards allow players to progress their strategies (more possibilities for which are being built into the game) without actually being game-breakers I'm all in favour of them, and certainly willing to invest modest amounts of RL$. There is a delicate balance between designing cards that are valuable to players without being necessary to survival, and giving the game over to the Wallet Warriors.

[Xepshunall]

....I'm not all that happy with the anonymous Booty Master though the impact on the victim is limited I suppose. I think these may be behind the recent flare-up, it is easy at the moment to fight highly destructive campaigns against other players solely from the voodoo pack and without moving a single ship. Therefore tempting to buy large stacks of cards if only as a potential counter-threat: unearned power, as you rightly put it. The existence of purely destructive cards are bound to antagonise other players, create paranoia and mistrust and generally lead to bad feeling.

As long as voodoo cards allow players to progress their strategies (more possibilities for which are being built into the game) without actually being game-breakers I'm all in favor of them, and certainly willing to invest modest amounts of RL$. There is a delicate balance between designing cards that are valuable to players without being necessary to survival, and giving the game over to the Wallet Warriors.

First, let me address the Booty Master cards. I absolutely agree that it should not have been hidden. I used Booty master, on the players that could have been hidden while using it. It was my way, and the only logical one, to find out who had used it on me. It is irresponsible to create a situation where innocent players have to be hurt to find out who committed a crime.

Furthermore, when Pouch of Gold was limited to 1,000,000 the Booty Master should have been limited to 7,000,000 to make it fair. Vindictive and irresponsible gods should be held as accountable for their unfairness as the creatures that walk their worlds.
....

It is not so much the existence of the cards mentioned in John Rackam's statement that is the problem. It is the inclusion of these cards in the card packs that can be bought with credits that can be bought with cash.
....

Now, since nobody else cares to make it clear here, The last few days' events were triggered by two separate occurrences (or more depending on your viewpoint) and were the result of the actions of a total of 8 players, one of which was myself (or, again, more depending on your viewpoint).

The first one worth mentioning is the one that made the effect of the second easier to occur and more effective. It was related to the boasting and bragging that has been happening in the forums. To some, this is seen as gloating. I think that "some" have a point. Leave the loser of a battle with some dignity. If he did not cheat by taking advantage of a glitch in the code then he did not cheat at all and deserves not to be cast as a villain. Not every bully is a villain. Some are acting out because they are tempted by wealth and power, which is what this game is all about. Others have been pushed around and see it as their turn to do the pushing. Life has bullies. Simulation games have bullies. Without them the game is boring.

The second was a misunderstanding between teacher and pupil in which the teacher attacked the pupil during a training session and the pupil took it as a sneak attack (not hard to see how that could happen due to the circumstances that led up to the need for a training session). Then the teacher told the pupil to attack back, which the pupil took as a dare (Not hard to see since, in the pupils opinion, he had just been sneak attacked). In this situation, I believe that the proper course of action would have been to leave the instruction to a player whose primary language is the same as that of the pupil and whose teaching methods are a little more conventional, or to explain, before the attack that an attack is coming and that the pupil would have a free retaliation shot with no consequences. This would have benefited the pupil and, in the long run, would have benefited the teacher. Now two players are far reduced in fame (or more depending on how you see it) than they should be at this point and four (or fewer depending on how you see it) are more famous than the should (or maybe just would) be.

[John rackham]

It is not so much the existence of the cards mentioned in John Rackam's statement that is the problem

[CTC] got dragged into the fringes of the furball, and I have to say I did find the existence of Call Leviathan especially a problem. I don't want to log in and find that my or a guild member's fleets have been trashed by the Witch Doctor without a shot being fired and with no possibility of defense.

it was the potential threat of this, rather than any tactical consideration, that drove policy, and I can't say I enjoyed it much. Without that threat I and the guild would probably have joined in the fighting to the entertainment of all concerned.

[Xepshunall]

[CTC] got dragged into the fringes of the furball, and I have to say I did find the existence of Call Leviathan especially a problem. I don't want to log in and find that my or a guild member's fleets have been trashed by the Witch Doctor without a shot being fired and with no possibility of defense.

it was the potential threat of this, rather than any tactical consideration, that drove policy, and I can't say I enjoyed it much. Without that threat I and the guild would probably have joined in the fighting to the entertainment of all concerned.

OK, I have used some cards that I wish never existed. But the fact is that they do and yes, they have the effect that you describe. Booty Master, Call Leviathan and Time Spiral are three cards that have far more power than they should. Pouch of Gold was limited because it was deemed to be too powerful. Ive addressed Booty Master. Call Leviathan should be a double edged sword with a difference in percentages of chance whose ship the creature will attack. Who is to say which ship the monster will find more appealing? Would you agree to 80/20? Time spiral should have a stack limit. The strip of basic progress info that reminds me who I am and who my loyalties belong to along with some meaningless info about fame and gold and such IS NOT LIVE up-to-date info so how am I to know that I am under attack until all of my turns are gone and I have no defense. If I am a player with no means to buy credits, then I cannot cash them in for turns. All that I have will soon belong to the guy who has the credits. That is by far the dirtiest tactic and I was appalled when I had no choice but to suggest that for one of my friends so that he could survive the day from an aggressor.

To the developers and moderators:

Please don't edit this out since I put it her to make a point that I brought up. the following is from my voodoo inventory:

Time Spiral 793

I have been buying them up at the card market to ensure that they don't fall into the hands of someone with so little respect for fair play as to totally eliminate a player's turns before attacking.

[Swj]

Jim here.

I'm out of the game in here I would assume.

Now X (if I can call you that, I don't even know your real name), you have been pushing your weight around here and in the game. Please separate the two.

You obviously have spent a lot of real money to have as much resources as I know you have.

These game developers deserve to be rewarded with real funds for what they are doing. The only way they earn money here is through the purchase of credits, much like an arcade.

I'm sorry if some folks may be financially challenged but it is easy to spend a lot if you have an addictive personality. I have set a limit of $50 for a year and then I will stop. And I only did that because I think what these guys are doing is a good thing and need some support. I'm sure they have not done as well on financial donations!

I don't think the game is suffering but what do I know. I had a good time playing real people. If I hurt anyone while playing the game I'm sorry. However I was willing to lose it all, would have been upset for a short while but accepted it and moved on.

You have a great day because I certainly will.

[Xepshunall]

Hi, Jim,

Russell here. Now do you understand why I use my game name? Just kidding. I use it so people will understand why I say what I say.

If you had tried to understand what you read in my post you would know that, with some coaxing from Black Sparrow who also posts his game name here because he, like me, doesn't fear retaliation for what he says here because, like you said, "I'm out of the game in here I would assume."

Yes, Jim. You are out of the game and nobody should hold anything against you for what you say here or the fact that you spent a particular amount of money or any money at all. Not that there aren't players who will so try to be respectful if it is in you.

I just state facts (unless I get emotional). Certain cards should be omitted from those that a player can get form a card pack at the Witch Hut. That is a fact because they have the power, as John Rackham has said, to effectively win a war without a single ship attack from a single ship.

It is also a fact that if a player has no credits, that player can easily be beat by a player who spends, let's say $50 a year because the player who has no credits will always gain only 144 turns in a day while let's say you can gain 288. The other part of that is that the free-player will only ever have as much as 200 turns while...let's use you for example again...you can not only get up to 400 cards on standby but can have 200 in reserve at the onset of a battle and another 200 twelve hours after. A fighting chance for the little guy might be nice even if you, Jim, don't decree that it shall be law.

[Swj]

I understand where you are coming from. You've been around for a while and more invested than most, it shows.

The activity in game was quite busy. I have struggled to comply with the various rules, made some mistakes, took advantage of situations, helped others, been insulted, insulted back, tried to figure out this voodoo, used every tool at my disposal to keep an upper hand, etc.

As my in-game name implies there was quite a feeding frenzy and I was caught up in the moments. I certainly was not the only one feeding as the results, new guilds and other major changes show today.

Maybe the cards are to much, maybe they are equalizers but they are part of the game at the moment.

Seeing folks take this so serious is hard and the question is should or could this be avoided in any game.

I've played sports at a fairly high level and still do. The disappointment is hard at time and the taste of victory is very sweet and addictive. I just hope we can all just enjoy ourselves.

Let's keep all this in perspective. There are no age restrictions that I noticed upon joining so I can only assume there is a younger crowd here and that to is OK. The more mature folks are responsible to understand the demographics and behave appropriately.

[Xepshunall]

Golly!

Compromise can be so humbling.

Sorry for the rudeness before, JIm, and thank you for seeing my point even if you don't agree with it.

[Horatio Nelson]

As long as voodoo cards allow players to progress their strategies (more possibilities for which are being built into the game) without actually being game-breakers I'm all in favour of them, and certainly willing to invest modest amounts of RL$. There is a delicate balance between designing cards that are valuable to players without being necessary to survival, and giving the game over to the Wallet Warriors.

Bingo! Very well articulated. How long does it take for the King's engineers, ship-builders etc to construct a magnificent vessel and at what cost? For instance a Level 10 Ship of the Line fleet may take about 4 - 6 months and millions of gold for a new cadet officer who starts with nothing. I probably suspect it takes longer especially to raise the levels. And in one fowl swoop a number of these cursed voodoo cards can undo that work in the space of minutes/hours. So what is the incentive for most people to develop a decent fleet? Very little I suggest.

And that ladies and gentlemen is just playing absurd for isn't this world about broadsides! Where is the skill of possessing a deck of powerful Voodoo Cards? If I elect to play cards I will do it playing poker with real cards not trying to rule the high seas.The Powers To Be of this world should be selling minor improvements such as increased ship levels which still provide an advantage to the investor but does not severely tilt the game for the rest. If this is going to be a world for the investors then I would suggest that this New World will fall out of favor with the general populace.