[Deprecated] Another big feature: Ship abilities

[Captain dungeness]

I posted some suggestions in 2013 but I realize the active players have changed significantly since then. Here are my updated suggestions made as concise as possible.

Ship abilities should be unique to the specific ship type: if all ships have the same options then we will find no one will ever sail ships like the Merchantman because it is not superior to other ships in any situation.
Ship abilities should be situationally advantageous, not stronger at everything: depending on your specific plunder target or your specific trade route there should be a ship type or two that are better at that specific thing than the others but against a different target or a different trade route there should be a different ship type that is best.
I'm hoping for more of a "rock-paper-scissors" type decision when choosing your plundering fleet based on the target fleet. Right now there only a few ship types that get used in every single plunder.

Here's my brainstorming list: I'm assuming each ship will have a maximum of 10 Ability Points that can be applied to either of the 2 abilities. ("Ability Points" are separate from "Attribute Points" which should be renamed to "Upgrade Points"). 2 Ability Points are given for each ship's level with a maximum of 10 Ability Points (at ship level 5 all ability points are available). You can add points to either ability as much as you want: eg. Ability#1=6 and Ability#2=4. Ability Points can be reset by the Remodel voodoo card.

Possible Ship ability choices:
Howker
.....1) 1% chance per Ability Point for this fleet to not gain danger when reaching a port
.....2) +2 maximum cargo capacity per Ability Point
Fluyt
.....1) When fishing, this ship gains food +3% faster per Ability Point
.....2) 1% chance per Ability Point for this fleet to not gain danger when reaching a port
Galleon
.....1) Buys gold bars from ports at -5 gold coins for each Ability Point
.....2) Sells gold bars to ports at +5 gold coins for each Ability Point
Large Fluyt
.....1) Buys Wood, Iron, Tools and Cotton at -1 gold coin (requires all ships in this fleet to have this ability at 10 points)
.....2) +2% travel speed per Ability Point BUT also reduces cargo capacity by 2 per Ability Point
Merchantman
.....1) +1% travel speed per Ability Point (like another cotton sails)
.....2) Buys Tobacco, Rum and Food at -1 gold coin (requires all ships in this fleet to have this ability at 10 points)
Trade Galleon
.....1) +1 maximum cargo capacity per Ability Point BUT also reduces cannons by 1 for each Ability Point
.....2) +2 cannons per Ability Point BUT also -5 maximum cargo capacity for each Ability Point
Large Merchantman
.....1) +1 cannon per Ability Point BUT also -2 maximum cargo capacity for each Ability Point
.....2) Buys Tobacco, Rum and Food at -1 gold coin (requires all ships in this fleet to have this ability at 10 points)
Dogger
.....1) When fishing, this ship gains food +5% faster per Ability Point
.....2) +1 maximum cargo capacity per Ability Point BUT also reduces cannons by 1 for each Ability Point

Cutter
.....1) -2 danger instead of -1 danger per hour! (requires all ships in this fleet to have this ability at 10 points)
.....2) Only +4 danger when plundering players instead of +6 danger (all ships in fleet must have this ability at 10 points)
Sloop
.....1) +2 damage (per cannon volley) per Ability Point while fighting NPC fleets (patrolling or nation missions)
.....2) Chance for this fleet to escape a skirmish is +2% per Ability Point
Sloop of War
.....1) +2 damage (per cannon volley) per Ability Point while fighting a fleet with a slow or very slow ship
.....2) Chance for this fleet to escape a skirmish is +2% per Ability Point
Brigantine
.....1) +5 damage (per cannon volley) per Ability Point while fighting NPC fleets (patrolling or nation missions)
.....2) +1 cannon per Ability Point BUT also reduces cargo capacity by 2 each Ability Point
Brig
.....1) +1% Automatic free repair for this fleet each hour per Ability Point
.....2) -2 danger instead of -1 danger per hour! (requires all ships in this fleet to have this ability at 10 points)
Brig of War
.....1) Increases Ransom paid when plundering by 0.5% gold per Ability Point (replaces Advanced Piracy card)
.....2) +5% chance to hit while fighting a fleet with a slow or very slow ship
War Galleon
.....1) Reduces your Ransom paid for this fleet when plundered by 0.5% gold per Ability Point
.....2) +2 maximum cargo capacity per Ability Point
Frigate
.....1) +3 damage (per cannon volley) per level while fighting a fleet with a slow or very slow ship
.....2) Increases Ransom paid when plundering by 0.5% gold per Ability Point (replaces Advanced Piracy card)
Flag Galleon
.....1) +3 damage (per cannon volley) per Ability Point while fighting a fleet with a fast or very fast ship
.....2) 5% chance per Ability Point to resist Leviathan attacks
Large Frigate
.....1) +1 Ship Upgrade (attribute point) per Ability Point (similar to 10 Master Craftsmanship cards)
.....2) 5% chance per Ability Point to resist Leviathan attacks
Ship of the Line
.....1) +1% additional Hit Points per Ability Point
.....2) 5% chance per Ability Point to resist Leviathan attacks
Man of War
.....1) +3 maximum cargo capacity per Ability Point
.....2) 5% chance per Ability Point to resist Leviathan attacks

These ship abilities give them advantages in certain situations while (hopefully) not making them great at everything. These ship abilities for the howker, sloop and cutter make them better suited for new players to specialize at what they want to do.

Let me know what you think.

-Captain Dungeness

[Stan Rogers]

I like your suggestions CD. It makes for more diverse battles and semi-customization of fleets.
I would like to add that having the ability to sail preset patterns for attack and defense maneuvers.

For instance, "The Quartermaster reports there is a STRONG wind blowing from the north-east.
The quarry is at bearing 037 deg.
How would you like to attack ? "

Where upon you would click from a choice of things to do such as
1. Do not attack
2. Fire 1 volley and disengage south-west
3. Sink his fleet

The above choices may not be the best but you get the idea.
There also could be a defensive choice if you were attacked along the same lines but more defensive related like tack upwind and escape if possible ...again food for thought and more diverse sea battles and perhaps in the future, port battles.

Types of ships could weigh heavily in battle situations like this. For instance a Sloop can tack into the wind and a big warship cannot get near the speed sailing against a headwind so the Sloop would have a much greater chance of escape.

[Shadowood]

I think CD's suggestions should be seriously considered. I would love to hear feedback from ADMIN on this and if this is the direction they want to go with this update.

I would only disagree with the Levi protection on the Flag and LF. I think it should only be on the SoLT and MoW.

[Vane]

I think CD's suggestions should be seriously considered. I would love to hear feedback from ADMIN on this and if this is the direction they want to go with this update.

Agreed!

[Valar Morghulis]

There may be a need for discussing draught.

Normally a vessel carries a certain draught loaded
or in ballast. Ship's behaviour is greatly affected pending
on load.

There may be a need for the end of the bottomless
Avonmora seas. A shallow draught ship may run into
shallow waters to avoid danger since the heavier
attacker may run aground.

[Captain dungeness]

A shallow draught ship may run into
shallow waters to avoid danger since the heavier
attacker may run aground.

Good point Valar. I'm not sure how it would be implemented though.

The simplest implementation I can think of is this:

Assault Immediately is the current system
Hit and Hide means each ship in your fleet fires only once against the opponent for -1 turn compared to normal assaults. If the opponent's ship is faster then they fire before you do. If your ship is faster then only your ship fires. The battle ends after each ship in your fleet has taken its shot. Fame is unchanged.
Attack from Upwind favors ships who are faster going with the wind rather than against it (square rigged ships). Takes +2 turns, chance to hit is increased.
Attack from Downwind favors ships who are faster headed into the wind (bermuda rigged ships). Takes +2 turns, chance to hit is increased.

This would require each ship having two new stats: Speed with the wind and Speed against the wind.

The defender should NOT pick a defense tactic because it's needlessly complicated to set a defense tactic for each fleet and then a pirate needs to guess your tactic for each fleet they attack. A pirate should be able to see the target fleet, stalk it in the best way possible and outsmart the target captains defensive moves. Drums and Bless cards provide enough of a surprise, I would hate for pirates to find that defending fleets are so hard to predict that the normal assault is always best. The defender's ship choices, cannon choices and voodoo should be enough defense. Not to mention retaliation attacks etc.

-Captain D

[Stan Rogers]

Analysis of a complicated battle and readjusting parameters would be a large part of the game for me if available. Time spent reading a real detailed battle report and devising new tactics along with a few more wild cards thrown in such as wind strength and direction would really put the interest back in battles for me.

When I didn't know how specific ships would react, things were much more interesting in the battle dept.

Not so much now.
That's one reason why the old firebrands have give up the jolly roger for trading.. no longer interesting so might as well make gc the boring way as battle is now as boring and not as profitable

[Vane]

bump..

[Shadowood]

Additional ideas:

General Scheme:
-Every ship type will get a set of possible abilities. Players will choose which ones to upgrade.
-Every ability will be upgradable with attribute points. The more attribute points you put on it, the better this ship abilities will perform. Initial max will be 10.

New ability idea:
-Protection against Call Leviathan. Each level adds 5% protection.

Even CJ suggested Call Levi protection... This should make the cut, but only for SOLT and MoW!

[Haron]

I really hope you're wrong, Shadowood. Levi protection is a very bad idea, in my opinion. As discussed earlier.