There has been talk about adding national diplomacy. Also, in another post, I suggested a "Nation barrier change" (see separate topic). One of the reasons for such a "barrier" was that I expected wars to be part of Avonmora in the future. Here is my suggestion to what wars should be - at least for a start:
DECLARATION OF WAR:
A nation can declare war on another nation only after a vote. If the vote passes, a war is declared. A single pirate can at any time declare a "private war" on any nation, making him/her an "enemy of the state". A nation can declare any pirate (pirates ONLY, not members of another nation) an enemy of the state only after a vote.
ENDING WARS:
A nation may sue for peace with another nation only after a vote. If the vote passes, a peace offer is sent. The receiving nation then votes if they will accept the peace offer or not. If they vote to accept, peace is resored, and the war is ended. This can be implemented in various ways: The "simple" way is to just offer peace, and handle any other demands separately. The more elegant way is to include offers with peace offers, like transfer of money between treasuries or perhaps even have a percentage of the nation players influence in a particular port transfered to the players of the other nations, in order to yield port control. Likewise, an enemy of the state may at any time beg for a "Royal pardon". The receiving nation then votes if they will accept or not. A nation can also offer a royal pardon to an enemy of the state after a vote.
WHAT DOES WAR MEAN?
As of now, I suggest that wars only affect blockades and attack on ports. Which leads me to what a blockade is:
BLOCKADE TYPES:
There are two types of blockades: Defensive blockades and offensive blockades. Only players of a nation at war with the nation controlling a port, or enemies of state, may establish an offensive blockade. Defensive blockades may be established only by the nation controlling a port, or by pirates who are NOT enemies of the state.
ENTERING BLOCKADES:
In order for a fleet to enter a blockade, it must be at the port in question and have 2 or less danger. The owning player then spends 1 gem, and the fleet enters the blockade. The fleet then immideately gets 3 danges. A fleet can be removed from the blockade by the owning player at any time. It is then returned to port (takes 1 hour)
DANGER FOR BLOCKADE FLEET:
Danger works different for blockade fleets than for other fleets. Rather than LOSE one danger each hour, such fleets GAIN one danger each hour. When attacked they only lose 18 danger if they LOSE; otherwise, they lose no danger at all. The maximum danger for a blockade fleet is 180. If a blockade fleet ever reaches a danger of 2 or less, it is considered temporarily defeated, and is removed from the blockade and sent to port (takes 1 hour). Blockade fleets are immune to danger manipulation voodoo.
ATTACKING BLOCKADES:
Only nations at war with the defending nation, or enemies of the state, may ever attack a defensive blockade. Anyone except members of the "attacking" nation may attack an offensive blockade.
THE PURPOSE OF BLOCKADES:
The purpose of an offensive blockade is to prevent anyone from entering the blocked port. For as long as any fleet exist in an offensive blockade, NO FLEET may enter that port (like the "Terrorize" voodoo card cast on all players for that port). A defensive blockade has two purposes: First, it prevents enemies of the state and members of nations at war with the defending nation from entering the port (like the "Terrorize" voodoo card cast on all such players for that port). Secondly, they protect the ports from attacks. No port may me attacked as long as a defensive blockade exists for that port. Which leads me to attacks on ports.
ATTACKS ON PORTS:
A port with no defensive blockade may be attacked by enemies of the state or members of a nation at war with the defending nation. A port functions like a fleet with five forts when attacked, except that it does not lose "fort levels", and they are immune to voodoo. A fort has a strength about similar to a flag galleon. If a fleet attacks a port and loses, it works like an ordinary loss, with the gold lost transferred to the defending nations treasury. If the fleet attacking a port wins, three things happen: 1) Some of the population in the port is lost (maybe about 0.1%), 2) All members of the defending nation lose influence IN THAT PORT (maybe about 1%), 3) Some gold is lost from the defending nations treasury to the winning fleet (maybe about 0.01-0.05%)
PORT CONTROL CHANGE:
If the control of the port ever changes from one nation to another, all fleets in both the offensive and defensive blockade are returned to port.
Sorry for making this post so long, but there were lots of things to consider. I'm sure there will be many comments, and hopefully a few suggested improvements too. But the most important question is: Is something along these lines desireable? I think there are two requirements for this. 1) A nation changing barrier including a time limit must be in place (see separate post). 2) The advantages of owning a port must increase, since these suggestions will make it harder to hold a port. There was once suggested companies with stocks that pays dividends; if that's included, then the port nations could tax these dividends. Another way is to increase NPC citizen taxes. Maybe trade in the port can be taxed. Or new features could make port ownership more valuable.