by Haron » Tue May 02, 2017 9:19 am
I am not fond of making a set of important special rules for those flying the black flag. To me, this is a way to put labels on various play styles, and worse, to "force" people who wants plunder to be an important part of their game, into a specific play style. With important advantages for plunder given to those flying the Black Flag, it will become hard or impossible to live off plundering while using a nations flag. Also, with the restrictions suggested for the Black Flag, it simultaneously forces those flying the Black Flag into a very specific way of playing the game. To me, this would be the game saying "If you want to do a lot of plunder, you have to play exactly like this: ...". I dislike that.
Also, I disagree with the strong separation of pirates and others. I think it should be perfectly possible, as it is today, to both do a lot of plunder, and at the same time take part in the political aspect of the game. The diversity and the ability to define one's own path and play style, is very important to me. This suggestion would become a huge step towards a clear division between pirates and merchants, with a rather well defined way of playing for both sides.
I see the Black Flag as an option simply for those who, for some reason, do not wish to belong to a nation. I see traders using the Black Flag too, possibly to get the no tax and half upkeep. It is said that "nationals get so many benefits". Hardly true. First, almost all of those benefits are depending on that nation controlling a port. For symmetry, advantages to pirates should then require pirates to hold a port as well (yes, I realize that there are several problems with this). Also, most of the advantages are very minor. The Duke bonus is a big thing for gold traders, but because of the party cards, it is not much of a benefit for "ordinary" traders. Nations also have no benefits at all regarding plunder. Nations controlling ports, however, get NPC tax. That CAN be a big deal, but one also has to bear in mind the costs connected with holding a port and maintaining the influence. And so, I see no reason to give extra perks to the Black Flag. It only reduces the options on how to play. Pirates may need to be strengthened, but that should go for ALL "pirates", no matter what flag they fly.
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