Ship Traits Version 0.1

[Captain Jack]

I see the days of MoW stealing coming "close" to an end. I mind not however...

I want to discuss this further as I think that there are some elements that we need to have clear in on the table. If not, our expectations will not be realistic.

I know these seem off topic but they really are not.

Right now, there are 249 MoWs.
Out of the 249 MoWs, 5 are sailing. 1 of them belongs to me and 4 of them to a single player.

Before this single player took these out, there was 1 MoW sailing: Mine.

So, there is NO MoW stealing taking place right now. It's already obsolete.
Unless you catch a newbie off guard but yet again, such instances are getting less as their guildmates tend to now inform them before hand. Even if you do catch someone off guard, this is hardly rewarding enough or even justifying the current functionality. It is a failed part of the game as it stands.

SoLs are a better case with around 1600 existing. Around 1100 are sailing and these are sailed by 128 different players. Some sail more, some less. Still, around 1/3 of SoLs are in Marinas/market.

Now, if we analyze the current technique itself, we end up that the most crucial factor in taking a ship with voodoo is timing. If the target especially is online and the aggressor is fast, then it can take the ship. Aggressor speed is important as well timed generosities can save the ship till ambushes (limited) are depleted.

Keeping the game as much as possible sleep-dependent is one of our primary missions in game design. This is something that must be maintained. Winning someone while he sleeps has pros and cons. Let's see a list of them.


Pros
-----
More chances to succeed -> More happiness for attackers
Higher profitability -> Again more happiness as an attacker
Hit at the dark -> Higher Morale for attackers
More frequent checkups -> Higher Activity for all
Battle post effect -> Memorable moments at key events for attacker

Cons
------
More chances to defeat -> Less happiness for defenders
No way/Hard to defend feeling -> Demoralize effect for defenders
More frequent checkups -> Rise of anxiety, gets old as time passes for all
Battle post effect -> Hard Feelings due to inability to defend for defender

The last con is the key con as it can lead proud and skilled players to retirement. No one can guard forever and skilled players will prefer to either remove their valuable ships or retire all together. Both are scenarios that already happen.


So, let's see pros and cons for Live Wins, something that is very hard to happen right now and something that WILL change (in the VERY near future).

Pros
-----
Live batte -> High pulse excitement
Fair battle -> Huge excitement
Battle post effect -> Memorable moments at most events

Cons
------
Low chances of success -> demoralization for attacker
Low profitability due to excess costs -> demoralization for attacker

Feel free to input you extra pros and cons.

So, all we need to do, is to reduce cons up to a threshold where defenders will be comfortable with; a fair threshold.

The way I see it, live battles is something we must strive to achieve. It is pointed out by current strategies. We have some ideas to make them happen and you will see them soon. During them, plundering ships will be possible and chances of this happening, may be lower than current ones but will in reality be more, as players will actually run MoWs for example, while now they do not.

[Most Lee Harmless]

I'm usually loathe to disclose my tactical thinking : no point making life any easier for my foes : but I will point out that the 'unsinkable' tail is not totaly invulnerable : it can still be sunk from lvl1 under the existing sink chance mechanic : though I agree thst the old levi/ambush/steal will require some extra thought and planning/use of other voodoo. Then the issue will tend to be paucity of turns to accomplish the heist : co-operation may be the key as it already is for defence via gennies and guild aid.
Maybe we will see a return to the old ways of using Taxation/BM's to burn purses prior to the full assault : after all using the high purse defence leaves one open to BM's as does a high fleet count leave one open to Taxation and increased sink chances.

[Kangaroo]

All my 60pt SOTL and MOW are in the marina, and will stay there until there is a reasonable chance for a relatively serious player such as myself to protect them. There is no place in the game for a ship of that value to be sunk purely by voodoo, there must be risk for the attacker.

[Admiral Nelson]

All my 60pt SOTL and MOW are in the marina, and will stay there until there is a reasonable chance for a relatively serious player such as myself to protect them. There is no place in the game for a ship of that value to be sunk purely by voodoo, there must be risk for the attacker.

There is always risk for the attacker good sir, always something for him to lose.

Can a player be marked serious, if he does not really cast any voodoo when someone sinks a 60 that belonged to him?

[Captain Jack]

I believe the solution itself lies in the Danger system. We can expand it to get to the point we want. There are many steps before we get there but I will try to give you a rough idea.

Danger System Expansion
-------------------------------
For example, we can add new rule types relevant to the already stacked danger. Above 100 Danger, every defend could always equal a level loss. Above 500 Danger, every loss would equal a ship plunder loss.

We can also change on how danger is accumulated/lost based on strategic options with give or takes for each option. This could expand the proposed Admiral orders. Each fleet can have more than one order of course.

New Captain/Admiral Orders
-----------------------------------
-No mercy
This order will ignore defender's surrender, if set. In this case however, your crew gets a morale penalty during fight. An extra danger of +1 per attack.

-Attempt to board
With this order, the attacking fleet (this means it will only be triggered for the attacker) crew members will attempt to board the last defending ship. If successful, the enemy ship (the tail ship) will be plundered. It will come with success rate that will depend on set factors and luck and will also come with penalties to crew morale, crew health and attack power. It could also come with +3 extra danger per attack.

-Abandon Ship
This will be available only to defenders and it will allow the ship owner to protect his specialized crew on board. It will be a captain order. This can be one of the factors for Attempt to board order. When the defender has the Abandon Ship order, the Attempt to Board will have increased chances. Fleets with at least one ship with this order, will lose 1 danger less per defend (ie 17 instead of 18).

New attack type
----------------------------
Additionally, we can have a new type of attack. We currently have Plunder and Skirmish. The new type would be named as Longboat assault. This attack could unlock for fleets that have more than 300 danger. Some extra requirement that will be relative with attacker-defender relationship should also be required in order to unlock it in order to prevent free-leechers.

Longboat assault would be determined by crew numbers and experience and the result could plunder the enemy ship.


Specialized Attacks
--------------------------------

1)Imprisonment
We can also have extra attack types specialized to the ships a player is using. For example, MoWs should unlock the Imprison attack. As long as you have a MoW in your fleet then you will be able to select this type.

Imprison should be an attempt to imprison the enemy player. This can act as a tool for those capable to run MoW ships to expand their rule over those who are overrun during a battle. The exact details will have to be proposed and decided and it will take a discussion on its own.

2)Silent Boarding
Likewise, Pirates (only those flying the black) could get an extra attack named Silent Boarding. This would allow them to plunder/destroy/sink (we will see) a specific ship in a fleet. Attributes that could play a role here could be danger, ship types involved, flagship(s), prior actions (ie Imprisoment actions as such will be logged to the ship journal),etc.


Turns Cost
------------------------

Aside from danger-manipulated actions, we could have turn-based actions as well. Specific orders during a fight, could require more turns per attack but they would grant a specific benefit. Such orders could be utilized by both attackers and defenders.


As you see, we do not lack creativity here. It is just a quest of how and when to implement them in the game. So, bear with us and why not, help us out here. We will go step by step but feedback can speed development here.

Dependable Danger loss
-----------------------------------

Right now, danger loss per battle is not dependable on battle outcome. This could change. For example, losing a ship could result in greater danger loss than 18.

[Shadowood]

Above 500 Danger, every loss would equal a ship plunder loss. - I can see pros and cons for this. But the first thing I thought of was a blood thristy pirate, running danger up on a Sloop of War. Gets in 150 attacks and doesn't care one bit if that ships gets taken in 1 hit.



2)Silent Boarding
Likewise, Pirates (only those flying the black) could get an extra attack named Silent Boarding. This would allow them to plunder/destroy/sink (we will see) a specific ship in a fleet. Attributes that could play a role here could be danger, ship types involved, flagship(s), prior actions (ie Imprisoment actions as such will be logged to the ship journal),etc. - THIS! THIS IS WHAT WE NEED!

[Captain Jack]

Ship page has been facelifted.

You can now view there the traits your ships have.
You can also view your ship traits at:
-The Ship List
-At the Manage Fleet page
-The Private Marina

You cannot view traits at the Ships Market. For now, this is how we will treat the market. If one seller wants to reveal the traits of a ship, he will be able to do so with a Tavern post. Later on, an in-game thread, dedicated to trading will be created. There sellers will be able to list the traits.

Still, seller trust can be an issue as someone might promise you traits that are inexistent. It will be up to the players.

This will create a more realistic market experience.


As for traits themselves, all initial 9 traits are currently DE-ACTIVATED. You can start restructing your fleets, knowing that in a few days most,if not all, will be activated. You will be notified in-game through changelog updates for the progress.

[Sebena]

Sine 99% of us will rearrange fleets I think that we could use some sort of filter for example I wanna see ships with reinforced hull only I click icon on the ship page and it shows only those traits. It's hard to surf trough 100s of ships searching desired traits.

[William one eye]

Sine 99% of us will rearrange fleets I think that we could use some sort of filter for example I wanna see ships with reinforced hull only I click icon on the ship page and it shows only those traits. It's hard to surf trough 100s of ships searching desired traits.

While I am currently running a small setup. I would still find it useful
When I had 2,000 ships, this would been very useful.

+1

[PFH]

I was looking through and i have a ship with two traits but only the first trait shows when looking at ships with no fleet. Dunno if this is intended or not but just was bringing that onto the table