[Implemented] Patrol in PvP

[Sir Henry Morgan]

This is excellent! This puts the pirate back into Pirate's Glory. Along with the escort plan, this will move things into a more "realistic" and challenging form. The sooner, the better!

[Hawk]

Could we raise the maximum fleet listing for the current patrol feature? Xeph is flooding the port with his traders in torguta and tzogos and I spent 30 turns just to find out that the max is 40.

Maybe it would even be better to have an option to remove all the ship of a certain player from the plunder screen so you can actually see something..

[Xepshunall]

My traders have always traded in Tortuga and Tzogos and I refuse to stop now because SGT Blue decided to voodoo the heck out of me.

[Captain Jack]

Maybe it would even be better to have an option to remove all the ship of a certain player from the plunder screen so you can actually see something..

Agreed. We will make it so you can exclude up to 3 players (+3 with credits: a one time fee). A total of 6 players should be enough, right?
They will be slots in fact, you will be able to change the players in the slots anytime.

[Xepshunall]

An excellent Idea. We should be able to have all friends and guild mates excluded.

[Black sparrow]

An excellent Idea. We should be able to have all friends and guild mates excluded.

Guildmates are already excluded I think.

[Sir Henry Morgan]

Regarding timing, it definitely has to come after Escort&Guard feature: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=91

I'd like to explore this a moment - without an escort function, I believe this will still be viable.

Right now, trading is simple - build a trade fleet, find a great trade route, hire just enough crew to keep travel time just above an hour and repeat. With voodoo attacks as the only means to expose the fleets, one simply sits back and watches your trading empire grow.

If Captain Jack's version is put into play prior to the Escort and Guard feature, the shift in the playing field is shifted, making pirating a viable means to pursue play. Traders will now need to reconfigure fleets, perhaps cheaper ships, longer routes, battle vessels in place, etc., i.e., there will be a change. I am not saying the escort and guard feature should not be added - I am simply stating that the PvP Patrol feature could be put into play before.

There are already limitations on what the Pirate can do. First of all, there is a limit on how many attacks a day a pirate can make, and only a pirate can make. They also gather DR points as the ply their trade, thus they will be exposed for attack themselves, even if there is no name, simply a flag and fleet number. Traders will re-configure their trading strategies to reduce losses, as now pirate attacks will need to be figured into the profit and loss of trading.

Pirating may be the means of which a new player can more quickly build a trading fleet, instead of the current very slow, tedious path that currently exists.

Balance can be adjusted in several ways - adjusting the number of attacks per 24 hour period; adjusting the number of times a trade fleet can be hit, reducing/raising the maximum bounty won by a pirate, or any of the other pirate class limitations mentioned. There will be those who become pirate hunters, and it will make make pirates have to create a plan to prevent losing their gains for the day.

The bottom line is this feature will aid in creating balance by putting the pirate back into Pirate's Glory, even before the nations feature will do so, with the escort and guard feature an add-on for a later time.

[Captain Jack]

Just for future reference, not sure at this point if it worths it but it should be recorded publicly. It can extend the current design or differentiate some elements. I am putting this intact for now:

We all know Port Gossip page.

We could add next to each fleet that arrives or departs from a port a "Trace" link.
This trace link will be available based on some requirements. For example, only some ship types will be able to do this (to combo this with ship abilities perhaps).

Then, if the trace is successful, you will be able to attempt to assault this fleet (it will add +3 danger on it for example).
If the trace is not successful, it will perhaps add some danger to the fleet attempting to do this.
Trace will cost some turns.

[Mohammed]

We all know Port Gossip page.

We could add next to each fleet that arrives or departs from a port a "Trace" link.
This trace link will be available based on some requirements. For example, only some ship types will be able to do this (to combo this with ship abilities perhaps).

Then, if the trace is successful, you will be able to attempt to assault this fleet (it will add +3 danger on it for example).
If the trace is not successful, it will perhaps add some danger to the fleet attempting to do this.
Trace will cost some turns.

i like this idea it would be a very good for pirates

[Sir Henry Morgan]

The idea of a trace is a good one - I think it will help add to balance the game a bit more.

At the moment, I feel as if Pirates Glory is still favoring success and play to the trader. It will be quite difficult if not impossible for a pirate to dominate Avonmora. His resources are limited to turns and how much gold he or she can bury before total retaliation takes place. A trader is limited only by how many trade fleets he can manage, and right now, there is no "natural predator" to keep them from becoming "overpopulated." Every trade route is profitable - some more than others, but it's a no fail deal if you can keep your ships out of sight of the pirate and privateer.

Sure, an all out war will destroy a trader with a big help from voodoo, either by one or many players - but the same holds true for the pirate player.

What if - for the sake of discussion, the trace is put in place without the need for a "special ship ability." Keep the concept simple. One checks the Port Gossip to see ships in and out of the port. A trace is made with a percentage of success dependent on the speed of the tracer vs. the speed of the tracee. If the trace is successful, the tracer can make his attack say within 5 minutes, spending normal turns. This will give the attacker 5 minutes to evaluate the target, get an attack force in place and make his play. As a pirate, the trace is "free." For nations, it costs say 2 turns. Afterall, a trader will need to be discrete even if he or she is tracing a pirate in retaliation.

If successful, the attacker receives 1/2 more DR points (9 pts for an attack), standard ransoms paid, double fame and double or triple the hostility rating of the attacker. The loser has standard losses as the current system. If the attacker loses, the standard ransoms are paid, and normal fame is lost, yet, a hostility rating against the pirate goes up. Governors will definitely be looking to create incentives to stop pirates, and more points for those seeking titles will definitely be one way to do so.

Once the hideout becomes available, DR points can be raised for attackers, and say, a fleet cannot enter the hideout with 18 or more DR points - or any DR points. (just an idea - haven't really thought it out.)

As trading is simple, pirating and privateering should be so as well. I don't have the answers, but I believe that Captain Jack's idea of a trace system is sound. This post is simply some ideas to hash about to find a simple solution that can be put into play easily, and bring some leverage to pirates and privateers as soon as possible. Do feel free to change numbers, methods, etc. But for the sake of the game, we do need to find an answer for this situation.