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Captain's Log 19: The Golden Age of Piracy

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Good anouncment. Just as a tip: do not stick too much with mega-companies and do not favour a renter system. The life as a renter company will not attrack many new players.

And as someone said before: you better be quick with changes, when we roam over our island, there is already a big number of finished demolishing timers ...

Edited by Ban Tier

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So after this change, Lawless is technically safer than claimed. 4 vs 3 days. Are there any consideration to this? Like extending the 3 day timer? In ARK you could get up to 16 days, here you are now down to between 3 or 4 days while you mention improvements for solo/small companies they actually get the opposite. A solo player even on PvE wont have a base if they are off for a week.

Edited by Shintai
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Decent log, but if I may offer feedback, @Jatheish, on the balance of stone vs. wood and defense vs. offense.

Currently, the balance is heavily skewed towards offense. It is, by any account, extremely easy to break into bases, not to mention sink ships. Explosives are very strong and cheap to make in large quantities. Cannonball from any regular ship cannon can penetrate the strongest walls in less than a minute or so.

Making wood stronger, comparatively, isn't a bad idea, but it shouldn't have been to the detriment of stone. You should have made wood stronger - certainly - but also done the same with stone and it'd have been a good idea to think about the introduction of a next-tier material, something like "Reinforced Stone", with a lot more HP and durability but higher cost to craft. Likewise, tougher planks wouldn't be a bad idea.

As far as ships go, boosting the resistance of planks on higher-tier vessels wouldn't hurt. Combat, right now, is very fast. A few cannon hits and planks go flying. If you want smaller crews to keep "livin' the pirate life", give them a better chance to keep their vessels alive by shoring up both ship and static defenses.

Lastly, adding more stuff on the seas should be a priority: merchant ships (carrying rare goods) we can attack, reducing the weight of gold coins, etc., etc.

Edited by Meloar
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we are still having issues with "Demolish Allowed" from kicking someone out that was causing problems. We can not build or anything. Are you planning on looking into this anytime soon? @Jatheish

Edited by Grizz87
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@Jatheishif you plan on makeing those cosmitics under company ranks only available to company's with globe rank 5 or gold wahtever your calling it please reconsider making them behind a company level up machinic (like clan level in destiny.) where as your company fights outhers and makes trades and such you lavel up this is also a way to introduce a seasons event with disturbing gameplay. You can have it so all company's can reach the level and get that seasons cosmetics.  You can also in this system have a play rank system where every on can reach a new level and unlock a personal cosmitic for that season

Edited by RNG Anarchist
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Jat as a long time hater and fan of your team and their works i wanted to say this is an amazing patch note.. I would like to think this should address all or most of the complaints i have seen running rampant and even complained about a time or two myself.. lol But seriously this is awesome.. Thank you guys for thinking of us little guys! 😄

Also side note.. Not sure if you guys are aware but there seems to be a bug with cloth armor pieces turning into bps while you wear them???  Though not a deal breaker it is odd and can sometimes be annoying as i have to die to get the bp unequiped and then remake the cloth piece that turned into a bp.. Also not sure if this applies to any other armor sets but cloths hats and pants for sure.. Hope this helps you guys out! And thanks again fellas keep up the great work on this amazing game! 🙂

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As a PvE player these daily miasions and new quest are extremely exciting. More MMO focused content is what these game is crying out for and these mission will keep giving me incentive to log in every day. Shame me entry didnt make it into the showcase but there are some awesome entries so its understandable. Keep up the hard work, this game has so much potential!

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6 hours ago, RogueLdr said:

Glad to see you're still working on the ship sinking griefing. However, anything you can stay about raft spamming? The protections help us keep our ships but it also protects raft spammers and rafts in prime spots that have been abandoned for weeks.

We're going to be introducing a natural decay on PvE servers for abandoned boats, as well as on Golden Age Ruin Servers on PvP Realms. If these boats haven't had activity after a certain amount of time (probably a couple weeks) they'll be destroyed. We don't expect it'll be needed as much on Golden Age Ruin servers on PvP, however, we know there's an abundance of Ramshackle Sloops and possibly rafts which players wouldn't want to use materials to sink so we expect it to make a difference :).

6 hours ago, Zadira said:

@Jatheish As a PVE player, it is very difficult to have any fun in the game when wild snakes can move right through stone walls. We do have collision removed on our server. Would that cause that to happen?  In Ark  the animals are not able to move through walls if we have collision removed.  Is there any way this can be fixed?  

Definitely not something that's intended, we'll investigate.

5 hours ago, Winter Thorne said:

I"m hoping this will be restated.  It's not clear at all.

We’ll also be fixing a bug which allowed sleeping characters to contest claims, even if the claim has been inactive, so going forward only logged in characters will be able to contest claims.

If I have a claim, what specifically do I have to do to keep it?  

Claims should only be unclaimable when a player hasn't been active in that claimed area for 3 days, if you've been actively playing in the zone then you'll be safe from having it unclaimed. Only once the 'inactive' timer has gone over 72 days, will a claim on a PvE server be unclaimable by another group. Previously, even if this were the case, sleeping bodies were having an impact on it and that isn't by design.

2 hours ago, Grizz87 said:

we are still having issues with "Demolish Allowed" from kicking someone out that was causing problems. We can not build or anything. Are you planning on looking into this anytime soon? @Jatheish

Could you elaborate? 🙂

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EA Ark In one month started at 80k and held it for 3 months.

EA Atlas In one month started at 50k and DROPPED to 25K.

You better get over this resistance to admitting when you are wrong and messed up and start 'walking things back'. Your pirate game is sinking and going the way of DnL. Start listening WC erm GS or this will be your biggest failure yet.

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So if i go on vacation for let's say 8 days, and i come back can people claim my flag and home i created/sleep in or just flags i don't sleep in?

And is there any documentation about the rules of flags how long before someone can claim a flag you sleep on, Or not can claim it?

If there is no documentation about that get it up in the WIKI asap please, there is to much confusion about flag timers 

And why not just  limted the number of flags 1 person can have would solve alot of stuff and people can still have control over there land/home when going away for awhile but not claim an entire island/grid at the same time!

Talking about PVE btw PVP different story probly.

 

Thanks!

 

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@Jatheish can you please give more detail on this:

3 hours ago, Jatheish said:

Some of our design changes will revolve around:

  • Making sure that solo players and smaller groups feel safer when logging off, or that after they’ve taken a break they can come back and know that it won’t be such a difficult feat to get out on the seas again.

 

Edited by Redrick

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It is harder to play with a smaller crew; and you give large crews these special rankings?

Land claimed doesn't mean they're a better crew; this is just really dumb, and not well thought out.

Lastly, i hope this means you're going to be removing the age mechanic, when you mention making the game more aimed at a casual audience. That is the mechanic that hits jobbies the hardest. Not only that, the majority don't like it... So, there is that too.

Edited by Tina Toothpick
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Agreed on scrapping age.. They need to stop trying to fix the unfixable, with something as unnecessary as an age mechanic.. Look at how many players they lost trying to crowbar the FOY in. .. 

The issue isn't the FOY, it is the stakes you put people under when pursuing it that is the real problem. Don't hold our characters hostage, and force to pursue something we might not want to do.. It works fine with the vitamin system working like that, since it is only a small task to undertake.. Having to sail the ocean for hours for the POTENTIAL of removing the debuff is ridiculous. 

And there are all walks of people who dislike the age mechanic for different reasons; it impacts cosmetics, stats, time spent, all these people are just going to be furious at the game for what is essentially no reason.. Because you want a bump map and a debuff on a timer. Just drop it and save your game.

Edited by Adfax

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Currently have the biomes with the easiest climates also the most resources. I think that biomes with bad climates or many aggresive animals should have at least as many resources as the easier biomes.

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19 hours ago, Jatheish said:

This means we’re going to be changing core systems to ensure that those who do not have as much time to invest or play in small groups or as solo players are still able to experience the highs seas of ATLAS.

Hope you guys, will think of some changes on the fountain of youth in that case. Maybe adding a Fountain that doesn't give you buffs but is easier to reach? I know a lot of solo or small groups that just gave up on reaching the fountain. Don't know if all islands are difficult like O7 but, people with less time can't always wait for the fountain to be on an other island.

i hope you're going to balance some things for solo player or small groups, so they really can enjoy the high seas, as you said.

 

Will you guys do something about people that just stay in lawless regions? I don't think you guys wanted most of playerbase to stay in these regions. You could just limit the structures a tribe can build in lawless areas, or adding dmg over time on structres in lawless areas or smth like that xD

 

Atlas is a real fun and good game, if you adress some minor bugs and do things like you mentioned, it will become a real great game.

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Will you guys do something about people that just stay in lawless regions? I don't think you guys wanted most of playerbase to stay in these regions. You could just limit the structures a tribe can build in lawless areas, or adding dmg over time on structres in lawless areas or smth like that xD 

We are living in lawless and it is by far not that easy. It is impossible to secure all the land, so an oppenent can easily build a base to start his attacks. In claimable land, you just put flags everywhere and a attacker has hardly a chance to build up a base to start his attacks. And please do not tell me, foundation spamming is securing land. You can remove a foundation easily. So we have to defend "our" land a lot more actively, than the land-owners with one sleeper in a bunker.

Lawless mechanics are fine, at least for us.

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8 hours ago, Jatheish said:

We're going to be introducing a natural decay on PvE servers for abandoned boats, as well as on Golden Age Ruin Servers on PvP Realms. If these boats haven't had activity after a certain amount of time (probably a couple weeks) they'll be destroyed. We don't expect it'll be needed as much on Golden Age Ruin servers on PvP, however, we know there's an abundance of Ramshackle Sloops and possibly rafts which players wouldn't want to use materials to sink so we expect it to make a difference :).

Definitely not something that's intended, we'll investigate.

Claims should only be unclaimable when a player hasn't been active in that claimed area for 3 days, if you've been actively playing in the zone then you'll be safe from having it unclaimed. Only once the 'inactive' timer has gone over 72 days, will a claim on a PvE server be unclaimable by another group. Previously, even if this were the case, sleeping bodies were having an impact on it and that isn't by design.

Could you elaborate? 🙂

I think Jat needs some sleep.  :classic_laugh:

Here's what I think he's saying -

If a player hasn't been active in his claim for 3 days, that land becomes claimable by someone else.  Once the inactive timer goes over 72 HOURS,   (3 days =72 hours) someone else can contest the claim.  Sleeping bodies don't count toward the 3 day timer; you have to actually log in.

If that's the case...wow....please rethink quickly.  3 days is not nearly enough time -  vacations, illness...so many things can legitimately keep an active player away for more than 3 days.

If it's 3 days, you'll never see all the beautiful builds and landscapes we'd like to see in the game.  It'll be shanty town coast to coast, with people constantly on the move.

Hoping I'm wrong....

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9 hours ago, Jatheish said:

Claims should only be unclaimable when a player hasn't been active in that claimed area for 3 days, if you've been actively playing in the zone then you'll be safe from having it unclaimed. Only once the 'inactive' timer has gone over 72 days, will a claim on a PvE server be unclaimable by another group. Previously, even if this were the case, sleeping bodies were having an impact on it and that isn't by design.

I am assuming that 72 days should read 72 hours. If I get this right, a solo PVE player cannot go on vacation or a business trip because after 3 days his/her stuff is claimable.  This is not a buff to solo or very small company  players. That is the very opposite of buff.

The changes to inactive player characters and their assets are very welcome but this is just punishing a section of your active playerbase. You might as well put a disclaimer on the Steam page - Solo players not welcome

Hopefully I misunderstood your intention. Could you kindly clarify the direction you are taking in this matter.

 

Edit: I just noticed Jatiesh posted somewhere else upping the timer to 2 weeks maximum. Number of flags will diminish that timer to a minimum of 3 days. Better, albeit I would have gone with a 3 week timer as a 2 week vacation is the norm, at least in most of Europe.

Edited by Fefu
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Yeah that’s not going to work, seriously 3 days of not being active on a claim it will be able to be stolen from you. No, if that’s going to be the case I’ll uninstall now and save myself the aggravation of losing everything I have because I went on vacation. You are catering to companies who have multiple players, so there is always going to be someone online to defend claims. If this is truly how you plan to treat solo players or husband and wife companies then your going to lose so many people.  No one will begin to build or strive to have anything because they can’t take a vacation for a couple weeks. I’m calling bull. 

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33 minutes ago, Winter Thorne said:

I think Jat needs some sleep.  :classic_laugh:

Here's what I think he's saying -

If a player hasn't been active in his claim for 3 days, that land becomes claimable by someone else.  Once the inactive timer goes over 72 HOURS,   (3 days =72 hours) someone else can contest the claim.  Sleeping bodies don't count toward the 3 day timer; you have to actually log in.

If that's the case...wow....please rethink quickly.  3 days is not nearly enough time -  vacations, illness...so many things can legitimately keep an active player away for more than 3 days.

If it's 3 days, you'll never see all the beautiful builds and landscapes we'd like to see in the game.  It'll be shanty town coast to coast, with people constantly on the move.

Hoping I'm wrong....

Just make it so you can extend a flag timer by adding gold to its inventory. In other words if you know you are going to be gone for a week then you need to extend the timer for 4 days. Lets say its 200 gold per 24 hours per flag. That means your flag needs 800 gold in its inventory to stay claimed. 

 

However I firmly believe that smaller companies should be working in alliances which are larger and not worrying about land claims. Land should really be controlled by the large companies as this is realistic. If you are a small company (i.e. 1 or 2 people) then controlling land SHOULD be difficult, this forces smaller groups to play together and at least create alliances. The problem is that the game offers so much freedom that ATLAS has some many markets to cater to; solo, small groups etc etc. If they make land easier to hold for smaller companies then it has a knock on effect on the large companies that land is too easy to hold and they take up all the space. Balance is the difficult thing and I feel 3 days is fair.

Edited by Captain 420

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37 minutes ago, Captain 420 said:

Just make it so you can extend a flag timer by adding gold to its inventory. In other words if you know you are going to be gone for a week then you need to extend the timer for 4 days. Lets say its 200 gold per 24 hours per flag. That means your flag needs 800 gold in its inventory to stay claimed. 

 

However I firmly believe that smaller companies should be working in alliances which are larger and not worrying about land claims. Land should really be controlled by the large companies as this is realistic. If you are a small company (i.e. 1 or 2 people) then controlling land SHOULD be difficult, this forces smaller groups to play together and at least create alliances. The problem is that the game offers so much freedom that ATLAS has some many markets to cater to; solo, small groups etc etc. If they make land easier to hold for smaller companies then it has a knock on effect on the large companies that land is too easy to hold and they take up all the space. Balance is the difficult thing and I feel 3 days is fair.

I'm not sure if you're talking about pvp or pve, but I think claims have a different purpose depending on the server type.  On pve, the only reason to free up someone's claim is because they've left the game, because there's no fighting over claims there.   Putting a gold cost on a claim doesn't have anything to do with whether a player is active.  Usually something like that is added because you need a gold sink, not to influence claim time.

I completely disagree that land should all be controlled by large companies on pve.  (Not sure how or why you feel this is "realistic")  Your idea that smaller companies should form alliances to become bigger and control land isn't bad necessarily, but there's no mechanics behind alliances that allow an alliance to share a claim, as far as I can tell.    There's no way to do that.  I think alliances are a much better way to manage land than making everyone belong to huge companies, though.  The devs have said they'd like to have towns and cities in the game.  I think it would be better to put some mechanics behind those and let companies ally with others to create them, rather than doing everything through alliances.  That would take care of group land management.  But it still leaves the question of claim time.

Since the game is new, people who are playing it and liking it tend to log in every day and spend a lot of time in it.    After the rush of a new game wears off, the players who are sticking around will not play so intensely.  They'll take vacations, get sent on business trips, study for finals, etc.  Hell, where I live we typically lose power for 3 or 4 days every winter.  3 days is not enough time to declare someone's left the game, and since that's the entire purpose of dormant claims on pve, I'm glad they changed it.

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Captain 420, you are also saying that because a company has enough player base that someone can always be active in game they should be allowed to place as many land claims as they can so they can say they control so much of atlas, whether they ever do anything with the land or not it belongs to them and they can decide whether or not to allow someone to build on it. Well again your wrong, small companies or solo players make up the majority of the Atlas world, if you look at the top companies in Atlas and see the land they are controlling you will also notice it’s very small compared to the rest of what’s out there. For so many people to complain about not being able to find land, it’s not due to large companies controlling it, it’s due to small companies or solo players. I’d like to see the statistics of solo vs small 3 person or less , 20 or less or 50 or less. If having bragging rights or being part of a large company means something to you then you should be in a PVP server which you may very well be, I myself however am not, nor will I ever be but I would like to enjoy the game and build my legacy in it without the fear of losing everything because I take a family vacation with my wife and kids, who could very well be playing the game as they grow older. I understand the need to address the issue of inactive players but 3 days is not a solution it’s going to be a problem that causes a lot of pve players to move away from the game. You could always have a timer of inactivity of said property owner stating that the land will become claimable in so many hours and days, 14 days of someone not playing is fair, give them 14 days of not logging in and running across their land to keep the flags active or it becomes available to other players, or better yet, start a subscription service, as long as your a paying subscriber on a monthly basis then your lands are yours for however long you decide to keep your subscription active. ESO had a similar setup, the game was BTP but with a subscription you got tokens each cycle of the billing period which allowed you to buy eye candy from the crown store, it was in no way shape or form a PTW game.

   There are better solutions then causing people to lose everything if they decide to take a family vacation for a couple weeks 

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1 hour ago, Captain 420 said:

Just make it so you can extend a flag timer by adding gold to its inventory. In other words if you know you are going to be gone for a week then you need to extend the timer for 4 days. Lets say its 200 gold per 24 hours per flag. That means your flag needs 800 gold in its inventory to stay claimed. 

 

However I firmly believe that smaller companies should be working in alliances which are larger and not worrying about land claims. Land should really be controlled by the large companies as this is realistic. If you are a small company (i.e. 1 or 2 people) then controlling land SHOULD be difficult, this forces smaller groups to play together and at least create alliances. The problem is that the game offers so much freedom that ATLAS has some many markets to cater to; solo, small groups etc etc. If they make land easier to hold for smaller companies then it has a knock on effect on the large companies that land is too easy to hold and they take up all the space. Balance is the difficult thing and I feel 3 days is fair.

Adding to what Winter Thorne and Daemon have already written.

While I might not agree with it, I can see an argument to make holding land difficult but I see no valid gameplay reason to raise the difficulty using real life. Ultimately it will all boil down to their business plan - scaring solo and small players away will always affect negatively their bottom line. Catering for as many demographics as possible has always been the best business plan for MMOs.

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are you aware of the bug with the map in unnoficial servers that don't allow you to spawn bacuse you can't see the textures of the map in game?

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Catering to as many demographic areas as they can may still be one of the best business plans because it pulls in more players but catering to large companies will ultimately lead to the downfall of the game, even if your company has 500 members in it, that doesn’t add up to the amount of small companies and solo players. What hinders the small groups is large groups claiming land that will never be used, it’s just bragging rights” I have more then you do” once a company has completely taken all they can take what is left for them in PVE, they’ve not only pushed solo players out of the game but now there is nothing left for them to take so they will stop playing as well, moving on to the next big conquering game they can find to boost their ego and feel like someone special, while they’ve managed to just push dedicated players away.

  Just some food for thought but look at all your top mmos out there and look at the top guilds that used to hold ranks, their members have left and moved on to the next challenge but the “ solo small group of friends “ still keep it going

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