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Mardoqueo

Killing Small Companies.

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  What is up with the devs pushing small companies out of the game? My wife and I just came back after a long hiatus. We’ve been in Megas, we’ve been in medium size companies. This time around we just wanted to chill. I do like the option of PvP, so we went back to PvP and decided to live the lawless life. I am aware of the consent sinking of ships, we had a plan to get around this. We don’t hoard, which THANKS TO Farmhouses that was easy. Ships, well, just basic common ships. We use them during the day they get sunk at night. It wasn’t that big deal, 45 min I can get a brig reset. Now, we do have def lots of puckles in the base and a harbor wall, with cannons. Keeps the other Bobs away, but not the big bullies. We have been playing this way for 3 weeks or so, and it was fun.

  Now they, the Devs are taxing players with “gold sinks” for needed items to play the game. As a small company WE don’t keep huge amounts of gold at the ready, and having to pay to replace a ship every day… that’s stupid.  Patch notes are indicating we have to have trade routes to actually make gold?

  It’s not the PvP side that bugs me. Before this update, I had no problem losing my ship and rebuilding, again part of the game, Paying for crew part of the game. In my opinion, charging gold for you to build a ship in your own ship yard goes against the spirit of the game.

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What disturbs me is the amount of resources it going to take rebuilding and maintaining these sea forts, and at this point there is no point in doing so. Therefore all the companies that have many islands will also control these, making it even less desirable for small companies.

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Well, if it works as intended/understood,

the Forts will not have peace timers, so to hold it you need 24/7 active players and you likely cannot be everywhere at once.
So the small guy can just sail up to a Fort kill the npc defense and claim it for how long it takes the old owner to get it back, while getting gold in the meantime.

And if Monkguru is right that players will not build rebuild the defenses, it will be like claiming abandoned ships now - just plop a flag and move on, maybe you get it, but your investment is zero anyway.

Also as there is a bank on it, just not claim it, but just take the gold out of it, yarr!!!
For big companies to hold onto many Forts will be like herding cats... Can you keep ships close to every Fort so no one just jumps on and loots the bank from you?
And we are talking like Submarine sneaking up or sloop out of defense range, jumps out, grab the gold, move on... sounds perfect for solos/small that run under the Radar.
It will be like getting wreckage but easier. If you find a wreckage and there is other ships nearby, would you stop and take a long dive? - no... With Forts there is no diving, searching, slowly getting back to the ship...

Obviously if they allow beds on the Forts could be way more difficult to claim them...
But if you encounter resistance, move on, why waste time... And likely the smash and grab on the bank would be to fast for the owner to spawn in time...

The only problem with all this would be if...:
- no one actually uses the shipping routes to move stuff, thereby generating gold in the Forts...
- game has deadly low player numbers that even if everyone uses trades there is no much gold made in total. Then there will not be not enough gold to go around for building ships and maintaining crews/islands, therefore game dies faster.

Currently you can basically play alone on officials and enjoy most content of the game... if gold becomes as important as the say, and has to be farmed by trade routes as they say, people leave the game because the amount of gold available is too low to play the full content... they game then not dies when the last player leaves, but more likely when player count drops below say ~500... we are below that already...

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On 10/28/2020 at 5:03 AM, Sheepshooter said:

Currently you can basically play alone on officials and enjoy most content of the game... if gold becomes as important as the say, and has to be farmed by trade routes as they say, people leave the game because the amount of gold available is too low to play the full content... they game then not dies when the last player leaves, but more likely when player count drops below say ~500... we are below that already...

Newsflash, for those of you who don't get it yet. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE PLAYER COUNT IN EA

If you are a player, and you currently care about player count and keeping your progress and the "death" of this game....lol.... check yourself. Nothing can die without being born. Playing with a fetus, is not the same as playing with a real baby. 

Not once have the devs ever even mentioned player count. In fact, their actions show us they don't care. Why should they? Not one of us paid full price for a full game. Hell, if your cheating they will not hesitate to ban your company for harboring cheaters (lookin at you BH).

So lets try and stop with the strawman complaint of player count. I certainly don't even feel like there are less players. I have contention on my lawless island daily. I can hardly log in and NOT see my base being savaged by people.

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There are thousands of other games I could go play that are single player, but you know what, I like a good multiplayer pvp survival pirate game. Without pop its only some of those things. What kind of low quality meat says that no one cares. Anyway. Many games have died an early death. This is where everyone chimes in that Atlas is dead. Ark should have died, and everyone said the same thing then. Ark turned out alright not just because it had a loyal playerbase, but because they actually had something. Ofcourse the boarded the steaming pile of shit train with all the lasers and space garbage. But thats another topic. Anywho, I feel the devs continue to ride the Hype train trying to emulate the exact success in the exact way. Only the remaining players are swimming around the drain hoping someone plugs the holes before the great big middle finger comes out from the loyal fan the devs never knew they had. Peace.

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18 hours ago, Chucksteak said:

Newsflash, for those of you who don't get it yet. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE PLAYER COUNT IN EA.

Love you George, but you missed the point here...
It is not about EA player count we are talking here...

It is about access to content of the game (if it would go gold in this possible state), when trade routes are main source of gold...:
Not enough players -> not enough player generated trade routes -> not enough gold to go around to buy ships (which will cost more and more gold in the future) for individual player -> limited access to content like ships and stuff which need ships -> people stop playing when they hit this hard gold limit, which is self-reinforcing -> rinse repeat...

And yeah, they don't care right now for players... barrels are not even talked about, much less fixed...
It's a big club, and you ain't in it...😉

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3 hours ago, Sheepshooter said:

Love you George, but you missed the point here...
It is not about EA player count we are talking here...

It is about access to content of the game (if it would go gold in this possible state), when trade routes are main source of gold...:
Not enough players -> not enough player generated trade routes -> not enough gold to go around to buy ships (which will cost more and more gold in the future) for individual player -> limited access to content like ships and stuff which need ships -> people stop playing when they hit this hard gold limit, which is self-reinforcing -> rinse repeat...

And yeah, they don't care right now for players... barrels are not even talked about, much less fixed...
It's a big club, and you ain't in it...😉

They never said anything about taking away treasure maps. Or whales. Or shipwrecks. 

Just the BS income from fishing and digging random holes. Hell I didnt even know those were ways to earn money.

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21 hours ago, Chucksteak said:

Newsflash, for those of you who don't get it yet. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE PLAYER COUNT IN EA

Do you play this game? You live on lawless?

Quote

If you are a player, and you currently care about player count and keeping your progress and the "death" of this game....lol.... check yourself. Nothing can die without being born. Playing with a fetus, is not the same as playing with a real baby. 

Wow, take a deep breath, and I hope you aren't playing with a real baby.

Quote

Not once have the devs ever even mentioned player count. In fact, their actions show us they don't care.

Ok......

Quote

Why should they? Not one of us paid full price for a full game.

And yet, we funded the game?

Quote

Hell, if your cheating they will not hesitate to ban your company for harboring cheaters (lookin at you BH).

Yeah ok, wtf do you know about BH...... dont u play PVE??

Quote

So lets try and stop with the strawman complaint of player count. I certainly don't even feel like there are less players. I have contention on my lawless island daily.

 

Haha

Quote

I can hardly log in and NOT see my base being savaged by people.

ROFL.

PVE? You don't know digging random holes for gold is a way to earn money? Really? Kinda not surprising.

Edited by eeeceee

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Pretty sure both digging holes and fishing for gold are exploitable due to macros, so they probably had to get rid of them to get more accurate feedback.

 

Reagarding playercount there is a threshold somewhere, after all one of the primary drivers of any MMO is player interaction. Obviously the need is higher on PvP.

I'm actually surprised in retrospect that they didn't do 2 PvE servers and a single PvP server. I kind of get it on PvE because gererally people find a spot, go on a building/ breeding spree then coast along, occasionally playing or checking out updates..  so alot of bandwith gets stuck in idle...

In PvP however, if ya wanna see "hardcore" and total Darwinism then let everyone fight it out on a single server 🤣 lol.  Shit would get hardcore quick.. Server processing would need to be drastically improved, BUT, for good PvP TESTING and balancing then, well, stuff ALL the BIG DAWGS IN AN OCTAGON AND LETTEM RUMBLE.. You could have every loophole and exploit nailed in like 2 weeks 😂

Just my usual ramblings, not specifically advocating this immediately. Just offering observations based on the current game model which many peeps know I'm NOT a fan of...

Flame away

Have a good day all

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9 minutes ago, Ranger1k said:

Server processing would need to be drastically improved, BUT, for good PvP TESTING and balancing then, well, stuff ALL the BIG DAWGS IN AN OCTAGON AND LETTEM RUMBLE.. You could have every loophole and exploit nailed in ...

Hah, or not?

P.S. Flame yourself 🙂

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2 hours ago, eeeceee said:

Do you play this game? You live on lawless?

Wow, take a deep breath, and I hope you aren't playing with a real baby.

Ok......

And yet, we funded the game?

Yeah ok, wtf do you know about BH...... dont u play PVE??

Haha

ROFL.

PVE? You don't know digging random holes for gold is a way to earn money? Really? Kinda not surprising.

Wow, do I play this game? Is that a serious question?

I play PvP only. I'm a pretty big critic of people playing PvE as a pirate who cant pirate anything. 

I am solo, every now and then my friend might loggin so I'm a duo, but hes like a platypus, they dont do much.

I live on lawless for the last 2 seasons. My only real complaint isnt even barrels, its having to build a ship anytime I want to leave. That part just gets old fast.

I do maps and shipwrecks for gold. Honestly never thought about a digging macro, and fishing is lame in RL and lamer in a game when I can jump in the water with a harpoon gun.

We didnt fund the game, Ark is more likely to have funded this. We simply bought the EA at a cheap price to give them a bump in cash. 

 

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EA means you funded the game, IDC what you say.

yes its a serious question. Probably because your biggest complaint is having to build a ship everyday.... :/

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Dude seriously, @eeeceee

To OPs original point i prefer PvP as a lone wolf OR a tightly knit Spec Ops style (I'm a vet remember?). It's just barely feasable in the current game model. Didn't start barreling ships RPK style so maybe its more feasible now, dunno tho..

Smashing the PvP community into a smaller sandbox will result into the following cycle:

Megas will eat all the sheep. Then they'll begin eating eachother.. At which point they'll be forced into choices..

1.Cater to the sheep to gain an advantage

2.Let the server go dark from boredom proving flawed modeling

3. Hold hands and have pre agreed staged battles, which will result in winners and losers. Animosity possibly ensues and choices 1 & 2 are on the table again along w some high stakes intrigue.

 

Dunno just pokin around for fun but i found minimal enjoyment playing PvP this season. I don't mind living on a Megas island and paying some taxes as long as they're clear I'm not their bitch. 

Point is have some drama in a PvP MMO, or don't, ...just knock it off with this middle of the road shit

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@Chucksteak

     Thought about the lawless style, was in a co and we got wiped from a regular island. So we tried it biefly, scrambled there and immediately came under fire from a group of LvL 120 megas roaming the shores. The fighting was kinda fun but building in that location seemed futile.

     Proceeded to go back to solo, found a gracious island owner, set up shop and went back to whaling/ diving. If i would've had the passion to build a proper puckle spammed, cannon riddled, walled off monstrosity probably would've been ok. As i said before, it just suddenly felt like chores tho.

     Between feeding the tames, feeding the farmhouses, emptyin the warehouse, repairing and restocking my ships, food prep i just didnt have anything left after that.. Dunno how you do it. Let me know if raiding trade routes is any fun... If its on your radar that is.. Loot etc

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13 hours ago, Chucksteak said:

They never said anything about taking away treasure maps. Or whales. Or shipwrecks. 

Just the BS income from fishing and digging random holes. Hell I didnt even know those were ways to earn money.

In the patch review dated October 23 under the misc section is says

“Removed Gold drops from Kraken, Squids, Army of the Damned Soldiers, fishing, and digging. The trade system will become the way to earn gold”

if that’s the case as I see it, the only way to earn gold is trading routes. 

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@gumbyc

Yea that sentence stating "it will be the way to earn gold" had me scratching my head also..

On the 8/25 Q & A it was stated that in addition whaling, other jobs such as shrimping and lobstering were being looked at as part of the strategy moving forward..

     If you, or others, could comment on exactly what still provides revenue as this unfolds i would be appreciative. My favorite activity was whaling and diving. Since i am on hiatus the info would be nice.

      Also details regarding trade..

Like is there a trade ship i can physically go after?

Do i have to haul/ send resources to a captured control point for the defences to respawn?

PvP/ PvE nuances?

Etc

 

Thanks, have fun

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23 hours ago, Ranger1k said:

Dude seriously, @eeeceee

To OPs original point i prefer PvP as a lone wolf OR a tightly knit Spec Ops style (I'm a vet remember?). It's just barely feasable in the current game model. Didn't start barreling ships RPK style so maybe its more feasible now, dunno tho..

Smashing the PvP community into a smaller sandbox ...just knock it off with this middle of the road shit

Feasible indeed. Smash the pvp community yeh man!! Middle of the road shit is so lame and fleastables

edit: shrimping and lobstering LOL that is the strategy to move forward for sure

Edited by eeeceee

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On 10/30/2020 at 9:24 PM, gumbyc said:

In the patch review dated October 23 under the misc section is says

“Removed Gold drops from Kraken, Squids, Army of the Damned Soldiers, fishing, and digging. The trade system will become the way to earn gold”

if that’s the case as I see it, the only way to earn gold is trading routes. 

So it explicitly did not say, "remove gold from whales" or "remove gold from treasure chest" or "remove gold from shipwrecks". 

These things primarily drop gold. I dont see them removing these facets of the game.

 

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9 hours ago, Chucksteak said:

So it explicitly did not say, "remove gold from whales" or "remove gold from treasure chest" or "remove gold from shipwrecks". 

These things primarily drop gold. I dont see them removing these facets of the game.

 

I would argue that you get treasure chests from "digging" and in a broader sense you fish for whales. I'm not sure about the fishing example, that may be a stretch. Will have to wait and see. The big picture is the devs want the trade system to be you primary source of gold. If you go way back in their discussions, they wanted players to spend more time at sea. With the introduction of farms, warehouses and trade routes, it's one of the few things they have kept their word on.

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On 11/1/2020 at 6:54 AM, gumbyc said:

I would argue that you get treasure chests from "digging" and in a broader sense you fish for whales. I'm not sure about the fishing example, that may be a stretch. Will have to wait and see. The big picture is the devs want the trade system to be you primary source of gold. If you go way back in their discussions, they wanted players to spend more time at sea. With the introduction of farms, warehouses and trade routes, it's one of the few things they have kept their word on.

Doing treasure maps, forces you to sail. Also, its called treasure hunting.....you know, cuase pirates bury treasures of gold on islands.

Also, whaling, by default is done on a boat.

Shipwrecks, also by default on a boat. 

Trading will hopefully be the primary gold generation, be it via trading, taxing or pirating, but not the only one. If we are honest, it likely wont even be the most profitable knowing how talented these dev are (speaking about implementation, not ideas, they have great ideas).

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