Flagships : Baseline (Large)

[Most Lee Harmless]

I was asked to give this its own thread : I have tidied up the original post and added some commentary to give my thinking on the points raised.

Begin :

In more desperation than hope : are we just plain over-complicating the issue?

Proposal :

1) Each player may nominate a flag-ship : it may be any ship in their fleet at sea. It may not be docked in Marina or it will lose its flag status permanently.

Dev Team Revision/Elaboration:
- SOTLs and MoW can be selected as a flagship in the baseline but will likely be restricted from certain future flagship development to prevent "super ships"


2) Flag status will be free in the first instance : subsequent nominations or replacements will cost 50 credits per instance. Each action will be recorded in the nominated Ships Journal.

Dev Team Revision/Elaboration:
- Must include an initial cost. (25 credits suggested. Value is debatable)
- With the potential bonuses and perks that can come in future add-ons, this should not be a free to obtain feature.


3) Flag status will be lost upon plundering or sale to shipwright or market and the ship will revert to standard condition.

Dev Team Revision/Elaboration:
- This applies only to Bonus and Perks. Extra Trait would remain on the ship.
- Only disabled/stolen Flagships can be sold on the Ships Market

4) Upon being captured an achievement will be generated and announced in World Events.

5) Upon being nominated the owner may freely choose ONE additional trait to be bestowed upon the flag. This may not duplicate any current trait held by the vessel.

6) In addition : Those flying the Black Flag of Piracy will gain a further special Trait : 'Elite Rummager'

To 'rummage' is to search a ship for treasure or contraband. Thus such a trait enables the Pirate to locate hidden wealth and valuables with the effect of doubling the plunder taken from the targets purse. This will apply to PVP and skirmish only seperate to any bonuses applied for techs or scrap for lost levels.

I think thats simple enough yet gives all flag owners a handy bonus : gives pirates a boost : recognises the value of a flagship taken in battle : doesnt produce an Over-powered super-ship : creates a credit-sinker : doesnt create a pool of ex-flags with superior abilities.

Dev Team Revision/Elaboration:

7) Stats Tracking
- With the expectations of Experience Leveling and additional bonuses, the tracking of stats (Win/Loss, Battle Type, vs Other Flagship) should be captured from the start, to allow retro-active leveling when implemented.


*ducks and covers

: Ends.

Comments:

1) If you want a flag-ship you can have one : if you dont then dont. If you want to secure it your Marina then do so. If you want to use it again you must nominate it once again and pay the fee. Flag status only applies if the ship is at sea.

2) Simple enough : if you want to change your flagship : perhaps a new build appeals or a capture is superior then its going to cost you each time.

3) Once the ship is no longer yours it carries no flag thus is just a standard ship with such traits and attributes it had before Flag status was given to it. As its likely any ship chosen will in itself be desirable and have value then the new owner still has gained value and deprived the old owner of added value.

4) The shame and ignomy of loss will be announced to the World. As will the glory and kudos gained by its capture and all further recorded and immortalised in an Achievement gained.

5) So whats all the fuss about? You get to choose ONE shiny new trait to add to your chosen Champion. Choose well.. changing your mind later will cost that damned fee again.

6) Whats in it for Pirates then? A special trait only given to ships flying both the Black Flag and the Flag-ship... um...flag. This gives a welcome 100% plunder bonus. Nice. But.. use it too often and DP accrues and risk of counter-fire, even total loss, multiplies.. so.. this could be a poisoned chalice to the unwary or careless.

So.. thats my idea and thinking behind it.

[Vane]

Again i say we archive and revisit the flagship idea in the future. Work on something else worth the time and addition to the game.

-1 for all the reasons i stated in other flagship proposals.

[Hawk]

I think discussing topics do not take a fair enough amount of time to prevent others.

Based solely off the merits of this proposal it is a +1 for me. Mainly due to simplicity, and well-roundedness. There is not much room for arguments as to how this would be detrimental, and it would fill the most basic functions for flagships.

[Sir Henry Morgan]

+1

This is basic and simple, and an excellent starting point for building upon the abilities of the flagship feature as other features come online.

Like all features of Pirates Glory, they change and evolve from a starting point, and I see this concept as a very good starting point.

To attempt to to design a complete feature from beginning to it's final end is almost impossible, and usually leaves it little used (a little like buried treasure).

There are many ideas in the pipeline that are going to affect naval battles - traits are one, and the idea of launching voodoo from ships another. To develop the flagship feature too deeply before the rest of these features are explored and possibly launched may take the flagship the same direction that buried treasure took when banks came into being.

[Most Lee Harmless]

Again i say we archive and revisit the flagship idea in the future. Work on something else worth the time and addition to the game.

-1 for all the reasons i stated in other flagship proposals.

I took a look at your own flagship proposal from a few years back : with a few exceptions you could create one by choice of 'donor' vessel and traits plus your chosen trait : the difference between our two proposals is pretty much that traits didnt exist back then and they are the tool I have used to make a flagship different. In a way each flagship behaves in PVP will be pretty much unique depending on how the owner prioritises attribute stacking, trait use and fleet composition.

So..how would you adapt your own initial suggestion in the light of traits and other developments since you made it : or is it left to us to guess and when it dont match your expectations archive it as a waste of time?

Give us clue : is the proposed Pirate-only trait a useful point or not? Should it be more directed at PVP ( like your idea of improved combat dice rolls) or boost plunder? Could we have more than one Pirate trait to give a choice? Say.. a plunder boost.. or a combat boost... or danger reduction.. or what?

Is it that others can gain a trait too? Even though pirates get that PLUS their own special trait? Is there nothing of any value in this proposal? In which case.. what proposal does have value to you?

[Sebena]

I like this one it is great starting point for the flagship. Maybe just add option that flagship can stack more att poinrs. Max allocated points stay the same 60 but for example I don't want 10 at round shot I instead want 5 and 15 at bronze canon. That way we give more customization options and more uniqe to flagship

[Most Lee Harmless]

I do like the idea of bonus att points : but I also think they should be flag-dependent so if the flag is lost or removed.. so are they. 50 credits to swap a flag should not mean its a cheap way to gain a version of MC's on a string of vessels.
In truth I would prefer to see any additional bonuses grow out of future development : specialised crew/officers for example : blockade bonuses could require a flag-ship as blockade leader which gets a boost for that.. and so on.
My main focus for this proposal was 'Keep It Simple, Stupid!'... let further developments grow from it and onto it.
CJ has already spoken of an idea to increase attribute levels overall : perhaps that is another area in which flagships could gain an extra lift too.

[Vane]

Again i say we archive and revisit the flagship idea in the future. Work on something else worth the time and addition to the game.

-1 for all the reasons i stated in other flagship proposals.

I took a look at your own flagship proposal from a few years back : with a few exceptions you could create one by choice of 'donor' vessel and traits plus your chosen trait : the difference between our two proposals is pretty much that traits didnt exist back then and they are the tool I have used to make a flagship different. In a way each flagship behaves in PVP will be pretty much unique depending on how the owner prioritises attribute stacking, trait use and fleet composition.

So..how would you adapt your own initial suggestion in the light of traits and other developments since you made it : or is it left to us to guess and when it dont match your expectations archive it as a waste of time?

Give us clue : is the proposed Pirate-only trait a useful point or not? Should it be more directed at PVP ( like your idea of improved combat dice rolls) or boost plunder? Could we have more than one Pirate trait to give a choice? Say.. a plunder boost.. or a combat boost... or danger reduction.. or what?

Is it that others can gain a trait too? Even though pirates get that PLUS their own special trait? Is there nothing of any value in this proposal? In which case.. what proposal does have value to you?

No issue with others having a ship. I went over much of that with the devs in their channel on slack.

JessyA came up with a much better proposal than my initial one so now to see it reduced is absolutely discouraging after a long wait. Most of my points are definitely things i would like to see in such a ship. Most other proposals are watered down and make it pointless to build.

As i said, im personally done with the idea. You all tirn it into what you like.

[Grimrock Litless]

How dare you steal my 50 credits to make a flagship cost idea?!

[Most Lee Harmless]

How dare you steal my 50 credits to make a flagship cost?!

No more tears : it's such a waste of good suffering!