krazmuze

Pretty sure they intend that for live - it is their solution to the bottleneck of freeports and the disaster of expanding spawns to lawless. Why do you think they show the atlas - it is so you can see who goes where soon as they claim. suicide teleportation everywhere.

I did not say adding new islands I said add new biomes. Without expanding the server network and increasing their daily costs when the population may not merit it - it means redesigning the existing map on the existing server network. So unless it needs a wipe for other reasons or the population increases - I doubt new biomes will be high on their list. Eastern tundra was not a priority until they needed to wipe anyways.

misnamed flora has always been a problem. It is because the design used the same art for the naming variations but the person doing the naming did not check to see if the art they are using matches the name they are giving. I know I saw the coconut/cactus and daisy/parsley thing before. Another one is sugar canes are also bamboo thatch.

OK so lets go with that - where is the 5th and 6th network to support it? Do you think they just tried to save a week of server costs by not bringing them up as PTR?

Instead of PVP & PVE they now have Colonies PVP , Empires PVP and Colonies PVE to support. If they had planned on them each supporting NA/EU then that would require six server networks instead of the four server networks. If they indeed had planned on that then there was no reason to wipe the existing PVE to bring up the PTR - as they would have had two extra networks ready to go for the PTR. That leaves three server networks so what are they going to use the fourth network for? They already said that - smaller PTR for future release tests and the ISO map in the works. It was obvious this was the plan when they had to announce the PVE wipe for PTR - instead of buying two more networks. Anyways the release notes already clarify that Empires is the old flagging system with some tweaks (claim timers and no sea claims) - so no need to rumour that is a modified colonies. Dolly should install Grammarly if she lacks skills to write what she means.

The new map made by modders was never part of the new map - that is instead something that is a standalone map itself with similar concepts to ark maps that have everything in one place - great for smaller servers. They have not said anything further about release plans for unofficial or official networks that will use that new smaller map - but they are also not the devs of the map they are just promoting a modders work. They stated clearly in the twitch stream that the 1-2 more islands per grid was not new, that was copy paste of existing islands to make more room for the new island flagging system (each grid has a range of sizes on it now) The idea that it was hundreds of new islands was always fantasy - they never said those islands themselves was new. The only new thing is new eastern tundra islands is replacing the use of western tundra in the east tundra region. Those are new islands but done in the same way as eastern vs. western tropical/temperate. The same shapes modified with add on sublevels to make them look significantly different with different flora/fauna to have regional distinctions. This was badly needed as tundra was the most severe copypaste since it lacked the east/west variations that other biomes had simply because they released too early. There are also the new trenches next to the powerstone islands for the new second endgame, they are essentially underwater islands. New biomes is in their long term plan but that was never part of 1.5. The question is how would they add them without doing another map redesign wipe?

You are confusing PVE players with PvPvE players. They are not the same player base. Basically punishing PVE players with less skills and less mats because they do not want to engage (in)directly with any PVP is not a good PVE game design. It is a very good PvPvE design and why a number of unofficials have adopted this model. But those proposing it for officials need to recognize you just told PVE players to take a hike as they do not want to play in that structure. PvPvE is different from PvE is different from PvP. As far as NA/EU combined server there are already unofficials that do this, it is technically possible todo. The only issue is the ping to the redis database but the servers themselves could be regional mix.

Make sure your island editor has everything locked (L) in each grid before you add anything. Only issue with additions is do they physically fit and match biomes, but it is very important to not disturb anything else. I suspect they will just be islands with a negative sea level set by the devkit. They are intended to go in powerstone grids since that is what they are for. I suspect you would need to put them into a similar sea floor slope as I would imagine they are near the bottom. Since islands do not have Z adjustment in the editor, you would not be able to make them accessible in shallows. The biggest issue is how long it will take them to release the editor that contains them in the library.

Single player mode is running your own server and being the only one on it. If you do not have room on your PC or another PC then many server providers exist that will rent you a 1x1, which would be great for the upcoming ISO Blackwood map. You can do this with even the 15x15 map, just leave a few servers open to sail. This program will automate the open/close of the servers. https://discordapp.com/channels/532730727570210826/532731162250969118 The worst part to getting it to work is dealing with ISP and router ports needed to run the servers.

Bad vote there needs to be a third option called fixed the old systems issues (limits, overlaps) with claim flags, which still requires a wipe. There is no need to wipe for the map. The extra copypaste islands are solely to support island claiming, extra islands can be added without wiping. The eastern tundra are solely because they released too early - it is a visual upgrade that requires a map wipe yes - but it is a case of you would never know what was cut for time and never miss it.

Agreed with freeports could be instanced and not change the game at all (NPC shops could be replicated), but in the open world that is not a solution because this is by design an open world game. It works in FO76 because that was not intended to be an massive persistent world , if someone attacks my base I can just logoff and move to another server instance. Claim flags solve the problems of others building on your spot. On PVE just like ARK did you should have claim blocks so that rare nodes, treasures and freeports are not being blocked off. But that is also why you want more claims than one, so that people can put no build claims over resource spots they use and share, as well as being able to adapt to unusual topography that cannot be covered with one small claim. Those voting for only one claim are presuming it will cover all their resources and their base and their shipyards and their ships, that is very likely not the case. Live on a shallow water peninsula sandbar you would need more claims (and sacrifice ability for remote bases) to get the same access that somone on a deepwater beach backed by a forest and mine has.

Yeah lets not talk about hex grid because that is a solution that every wargame ever has used and we certainly would not want to talk about a solution that would absolutely solve overlap problems for claiming land.

Given how awful search is not going to try to find it but there have been a couple and indeed those who wanted flag limits overwhelmed those who wanted lawless or landlords. Polling is how the devs (the polls was unofficials forum threads) should be doing things rather than listening to the loudest voice in discord and twitter. If you go by forum posters you would think it would evenly split, but those in the vocal minority had the clear opportunity to vote against flag limits same as those who voted for it. Do not try to base on seas - you can no longer have your farm on ship and tames on ships have a habit of drowning or flying or vanishing.

Your fantasy game of pirates and landlords cannot exist on PVE, you should go play PVP as there have been few complaints about the proposed system there. Pirates need to fight and steal - they cannot do that on PVE. Tenants need to revolt against their landlord, they need to coup their governer - they cannot do that on PVE. There is no excuse for saying too many voices, the forums have been very clear in posts and confirmed in polls that easily 80% of PVE would be happy with the no build flag protections if it came with limits. How many times does an MMO population ever ask for limits to be imposed? That happens so rarely that this is absolutely feedback that must be listened to. Anyone that knows these devs knows the one things they do respond to is server population. So if you want them to listen about having flags with limits, the solution is simple. Do not start a new PVE char on the new official PVE server. Landlord wannabees will realize that it takes two to play out their fantasy of being governor.

When my damned opponent has to respect your rules of sail (they are motorboats) with your broadside cannons (they have cannons on top deck with fore/aft angle coverage) - then you can consider limiting my design freedom. Until then.....nope.

Option 3 do what every wargame has done for decades and use a hex grid that has no overlaps and easily follows natural features.

This premise is entirely flawed. It presumes that the only reason pillars/foundation spam exists is to deprive others of resources? How about all the other griefing uses for such spam? Blocking someones build, blocking their harbor, blocking treasure maps,etc etc etc..... So you still have to suffer all that and on top of that you have to sail to another island to get thatch? Oh wait you cannot because someone walled in your harbor....

The entire point of them wiping the server for a new system is because people stopped playing. The new system should not be judge based on those who remained playing. The entire point for Grapeshot is to get a system in place with tens of thousand people playing on the map.

This is exactly why it WILL work, if a company cannot sustain their population then they deserve to lose their flags and free it up for other players. IRL this is called downsizing. If you lose your big paycheck you move into a smaller apartment. The system is not a failure because a shell corporation loses their holdings! That is the entire point of having limits. We already tried the shell corporation with their empty castles and empty islands preventing others from getting land, that is the very thing that got us into this mess.

New Tundra? That should be easy just mix and match western and eastern tundra if you did not reserve blanks or have expansion grids available for it. I highly doubt island swapping would work without wiping bases. New Trenches? That should hopefully fit alongside powerstone islands as a small underwater island feature. Maybe alongside the grid where you have no islands, or maybe dual purpose central maw and put them there. Biggest complaint is server is too small to have done the first end boss so why does it have to be 2nd end game? ISO Blackwood? Great they are restarting the ark style single server map modder program. If you run all the various ark servers you will certainly want to run this. Revamp of PVP/PVE with island claiming? Our unofficial a few is a crew and few largest companies have a roster of a handful, with many people solo or couples. The islands are too big for these crews - even if they have settings to lower the owner ship limits. In general due to server limitations people have to share islands, and this has worked well with admins that enforce flag limits so that islands are shared. But with the new patch they stated the old claim flags will be removed and you have to eventually replace them with island flags. So I await the disaster where everyone starts complaining their base is decaying. So what are people going to do - adopt island claiming? Go lawless with 24d decay to match flag and keep admins busy with misbuilding behaviors from those that do not read the rules? Hope they keep old flag and add flag limits for admins to set?

Open up the official map that comes with the editor and copypaste how it was done in polar (mean whales) or tundra (gentle whales).

Sloops make great bases for personal exploration, no doubt about that. With a medium speed sail and the wheel behind it they are easy to solo without crew. In PVE only need to be faster than damned because they lack useful cannon space, which they are as long as you have wind and a light load. The fore/aft shotgun sloop can be disregarded as the new damned fleet makes that design obsolete, and PVP should be using the same fleet tactics against it. But I disagree that smaller means faster. That is not true for sailboats, the longer it is the faster it goes, and the more speed sails you can have the faster it goes. smaller meaning faster is only true for cars, where more horsepower can make less weight go faster. But sails do not run on horsepower. However I do agree it is the starter ship. The raft was made useless with the 30% min speed and no rudder means it is just wasted as it will run aground. The dinghy is useless as it has high stamina drain, you would never use it for sea travel it is only good for marine beaching. A dinghy with a sail and some storage space would make a much better starter ship than a raft, and should replace the ramshackle sloop and raft. The only purpose for starter ship should be GTFO to lawless, where you built a sloop as a mobile exploration base.

Duplication is 8x freeports, 4x in tundra, and usually 2-3x of most islands with some uniques. The average is about 3x duplication. I know this because I created our unofficial with the intent of no duplicates - and we ended up with a 5x8 which is 1/6th the grids at doubled density and has 1/3rd the islands. Much bigger than expected and the owner had to get more server to make it work. Outside of freeports it is rare that the same island is used within the same grid, there might be a copy within the same region, and there might be another copy in the other hemisphere. But what purpose does unique freeports have when the entire point of them is GTFO? They would better off be instanced to handle the traffic. Tundra is scheduled to be fixed with the removal of west tundra used in the east tundra, using the similar variations that make east/west tropical/temperate look asian vs. western. Just because the shoreline view of the map is the same does not mean it is a duplicate. There are only 40 shoreline shapes in the game, but there is mostly certainly not 20x duplication causing you to get lost in copypaste. The game adds sublevels to the islands that makes them look and play very different. Equatorial have tiny swamp islands surrounding them with no mountains, tropical has sandy beaches with inner mountains, temperate has tiny rocky beaches and bigger mountains. Deserts have windswept rocks. Tundra has pine trees and snow. Many of them have variations with buildings and statues. All of them have different flora and fauna, and climate along with the topographical variation in rocks and beaches. They will be increasing from 2-3 island per isle to 3-4 islands per isle. They are on record as saying this will be done with duplication and not new islands. They are doing it for gameplay reasons (island owners) and not because there was a backlog of unfinished island art. I would expect the average duplication to remain at 3x as that will be offset with the new Eastern Tundra (not really new it was clear that just missed the rushed Dec release since the sublevels for Tundra was already called Western)

use smaller grids with one island per square.

The game requires getting different variants of resources from different islands. Resource islands do not fit the game mechanics. Claims worked at protecting resources because they could be put over the resource and marked as no build, without blocking the resource from spawning. It is why people want claims back, they are the best solution if only the bad implementation was fixed (overlaps, claim stealing, unlimited, etc.)