rowdy

It's not so obvious, but plate armor has a hidden speed reduction, but that is only when worn. You get skills in armor skill tree, that reduced the speed penalty by wearing plate armor. You could still carry many sets for armor, which seems kind of stupid. that would render plate armor useless on the water.

There is definitely a good amount of options for mechanics, but I think it's gonna be a bit annoying to have to deal with any mechanic, as long as it remains that easy to apply the burn effect. Having to remember to keep wetness up, by either taking a dip or shower yourself, because you expect people to bring flame arrows is just dumb if you ask me. A solution should either be a relatively simple reactionary defense mechanic and not preemptively, or a more complicated offensive mechanic based on high risk, high reward.. Flame arrows should never be a better option than sabres and guns. It should be an option because you don't have anything better to fight with.

That would certainly be a welcomed change, but I think you need a bit more than that, as there are some quite big islands with no access to water. But I like the tactical aspect of staying near water for protection. In my eyes I think flame arrows should be more of a early game siege option before explosives, which is better than a hatchet/pickaxe, but I don't mind the burning effect, as long a you hit the target directly. But you should hit at least 3-4 arrows. However, It would be awesome if you could hit players with oil jars, so they get a wet effect status, just instead of water, it should be oil of course, and if you hit an oil soaked enemy with fire, he would only require one arrow. Right now, flame arrows are better than sabres in melee, as they deal more damage, are easier to land (in melee'ish range) and they do not sort of stun you after your attack. You don't even have to land the arrow, as long as you land your shot next to them or in front.

I kind of agree, but I also disagree. I agree that gunfights can be quite boring during reload time, but it only makes the reload skill better and a good return of investment. I also don't think pvp should be a gunfight only, as melee was a huge part of the combat back then. Your problem is really not playing the fight as they are designed, as you are effectively only fighting with gun(s), thus neglecting melee weapons, grenades, throwing knives and other alternatives/secondary weaponry. Shooting your guns and then go melee was the way they fought. Often they had 4-6 loaded guns as they had no time to reload in a fight. If you can't finish off an opponent with 4-6 shots available including a carbine shot, fault is on you really. By lowering the reload time of guns, you indirectly nerf melee, as it will no longer be remotely useful as the window of opportunity is so small (reduced enemy movement speed and threat of a loaded gun) that it's gonna be even harder to fight ranged as melee. What do needs rebalance however, is flame arrows. Naked lowcost bow with a few flame arrows as the META is just absurd. You could easily stock up on hundreds of bows and flame ammo and keep fighting. You don't even have to care about armor, as you just need to hit with 1-2 flame arrows on a fully geared enemy. Try getting pushed by 2-3 naked flame arrow guys, then you will hate reloading even more.

Thanks though, a bit hard to dock a ship, when all islands are claimed. Wish they would make it so it wouldn't detoriate so fast or if you are near the boat sleeping or something like that. It's hard to be a drifter. Okay, I haven't figured out to anker yet. For some reason it never worked for me. Even in shallow water.

Can somebody clarify how the offline damage works? I have a sloop parked at an island, but giga crocs killed me and the bad, so I couldn't spawn there anymore. I decided to just build a new sloop and I parked it on the high sea for 10 hours. When I logged back in the boat was sunk, but I could see the remains of the boat underneath me, and the lockboxes etc. looked intact. I'm not sure if this is because of attrition or other players destroying it? I haven't seen my boat take damage from the sea, but some people said they have experienced the same. Do boats take damage by sailing the sea for a period of time, and if yes, is it possible to park it somewhere so it will not get destroyed (or raided)?