RyuujinZERO

We have the same problem. The Chinese players on our island (NA PvE) have a lighthouse but we can't exactly ask them politely to take it down as they don't seem to speak any English.

From what we've been told it's purely aesthetic. There are meant to be fountains of youth you can find that reset the age value, similarly to how you can use scissors to trim your hair and beard. Still seems like needless busywork though, why can't we just make our characters look how we want them to look?

We managed to secure a very secluded cove and our fleet survived the damned-storm of the last few days, so I set out this morning to see if they really had fixed it; I saw *7* of the things before I even reached the zone border; I turned that ship around and went straight back to port. Screw that noise, the sea is still off-limits. ATLAS: It's a sailing game where you can't sail!

It'd seem a Chinese mega-guild claimed the entire neighbouring island and booted off the original residents on NA PvE this morning (Then fillled zone chat with 'fuck you' when people objected), something is DEFINITELY broken with the claim system right now in a very bad way.

I have bad news, it was probably the Freeport that killed you. Freeports have rapid hull degredation, even when anchored, to discourage people clogging them up as a safe haven overnight. You can chill there for hours, but an overnight stay, especially if your ship was already beaten up and hadn't been repaired fully would likely be fatal

In addition to the number, handling sails allow the ship to be closer hauled to the wind than speed sails before you begin losing power. (Sailors out there would immediatly recognize the implication of square Vs triangular sail designs) I don't know about weight sails, havn't experimented with or even seen what sail configuration those use.

Nowhere right now. The Damned; those angry bone ships, were meant to be present since Day 1; but they weren't spawning, then when they 'fixed' it, they started grossly over-spawning and murdering EVERYTHING. The next update will change it so the Damned won't attack anchored ships at random, or spawn so close to land. But until then, no ship is safe from getting randomly wiped out while you're AFK.

It doesn't feel like ghost ships should be able to run down sloops; sloops should be fast, given they are basically unarmed and extremely small and light. Fast transport/scouts. But no, the Damned apparently run on hate and gasoline and can chase down anything, sans wind.

The desert (We're in I10 I think?) has sugar cane which provides sugar, which counts as a sap, in quite prodigious amounts too.

So, like most people we logged in today to the horror of the ghost armada annihilating our neighbour's dockyard/base/fleet and our immediat kneejerk reaction 'OMGWTFBBQ this is the worst thing evah!'. Having had time to think on it, this is actually an interesting meta development. The problem is less that ships can attack ports, it's more that the counter-play to it is presently broken, combined with the fact the change came out the blue and blindsided us all, thus inflicting massive damage. So, quick breakdown of play and counter-play and what this means and what the devs should change (IMHO) and what we the players, need to change about how we approach the game. Safe Harbour The first big thing is that the Damned wreck ships and even bases while we're offline. Easy kneejerk response is to shout 'Damned shouldn't even come near land!'. But, we actually already have counter-play to this behavior, it's just none of us, especially on the PvE servers were likely utilizing it: Cannons, shore fortifications and NPCs/large companies These together, combined with suitably defensible coves and harbours should actually be enough to keep our boats safe while offline; and they already exist. The problem, and why none of us were using them, is because such defences need absurd amounts of gold and metal to build and maintain. THE FIX: Devs added treasure, so the gold problem has probably fixed itself this update. Metal however still remains a huge problem, there isn't nearly enough metal in the map right now to allow people to arm their ships and shore forts, or often even themselves!. It's rather difficult to operate an armed fleet or defensible shore fort without metal to build cannons and ammo. The Curse of Ghost Pirate LeChuck The next big problem is the hyper-aggressive ships of the damned themselves, which are so numerous and so hyper-aggressive that nobody is willing to set to sea, and for damn good reason. They're fast, they're deadly, they're aggressive. Again, if we had cannons and ammo; which needs metal, we might have a fighting chance; but we don't. There really isn't a counterplay to these guys right now and THAT is a problem. THE FIX: Ships of the damned cannot be detected in advance of them seeing you, nor escaped once aggroed. These guys need to move slower and more deliberately, and you need to be able to spot them, before they spot you. I would suggest making it so that the spyglass can see their green shimmer on the horizon, long before you see them yourself and can plot a course around them; similar to how Golden Age temples emit a shimmer visible to the spyglass, but not to the naked eye. Secondly, they should still be slow enough so that small, fast, barely armed ships like schooners and sloops can escape them if they are running with the wind. They need to provide a serious hazard, not a full-stop to your adventure. Cooperation Most of us have been approaching this like ARK (Especially on the PvP servers I imagine), but the game is designed around the concept of land barons and taxed residents. People who own land should be less hostile to the idea of having people build within their land, and providing taxes, while those who don't, should approach the larger companies about the idea of finding space to moor your ship and store stuff. By consolidating ports and resources, it is possible to provide the materials and manpower needed to maintain significant permanent shore fortifications and keep your fleets safe from overnight raids by the damned. This part is on us, the devs designed the game that way, but we're all still trying to play manifest destiny, and claim land for ourselves, everyone else be damned, when there are now threats too big for any lone player to deal with alone. THE FIX: Stop thinking selfishly and think about the bigger defensive picture, work with your neighbors, and if you are a loner, consider working with a company to obtain safe harbour in exchange for your services! Build Order For those who do own land, we all probably built our ships and docks with no regard to defensibly, ESPECIALLY on PvE servers. We wanted to get out on the high seas and adventure. Docks and docked ships are vulnerable now. We need to go back and retool our bases and planning to account for this; crafting and storage needs to be sited inland away from potential shore bombardment. The shore need fortifications with cannons etc. This is the new meta now and, honestly I'm rather excited for it. But we do need to remember now: An undefended harbour isn't a harbour. Get those defences up early! /end thoughts