Adfax

God no.. That would be missing what I regard as the most important part of the game. I might as well be playing Minecraft, or lego if I went on a PVE server.. Where is the fun?

This game has a lot of problems, but one that might go overlooked is how the claim system impacts player mentality. You see, although a claim is just a spherical zone in which you can build, people get the impression that they now "own" the islands they have claims on. You do not own anything, even in real life.. Not really; it is all just an idea in your head. An idea that is encouraged by the claim mechanic to make people absolutely cancerous to anyone going near their land. Always with max tax rate, always having the cannon towers open fire if you go near. When I can't get near an island without being fired upon because of delusional cretins, we have a problem. Especially for smaller companies who have significant amounts of work they could lose from the process, and the pop-in range being too close. I mean, it would be fine if it were SOME islands that did that, and SOME that did not. But when the default is just to openfire on anyone approaching, then you're not exactly encouraging adventure. Some people say "announce yourselves", but to do so is to put yourself in significant danger. If I say, "here I am guys, just here to get some treasure", they now know I have a treasure map for their island; all they need do is kill me and then the gold is theirs. It is a system that just puts the adventurer on the backfoot, but that the cretins feel justified in enforcing. How the system should actually work? If you attack someone, then you attack back. Going near an island that someone HAS to go near to get whatever thing they came for, is not, in my opinion, fair for opening fire on them; and it isn't smart either. If you think it is? You're going to make a lot of enemies very fast. Now lets take a lawless zone for example.. People don't own entire islands, but they may put cannons around their base, or stuff they want to protect. This is a more reasonable approach. Not hogging an entire island that people may NEED to go to for whatever reason. Imagine if someone accidently kicked a ball into my front garden, and they just hopped in to quickly grab it, and I just shot them out of nowhere. Seems like a very logical approach... What if it is just the mailman?.. What if they're just approaching to ring the doorbell? Is it okay to kill them if they put a single step on my property? Yes, let me take your life, and all your possessions because you came near our building.... Get a grip people. This is an idiotic approach. Anyone I see doing this, i'm going to actively make an effort to break into their base. And I suggest anyone else do the same. This type of play can't be encouraged for the good of this game. Even the devs are planning on making changes to make people more neutral regarding their claims. They're going to have their work seriously cut out for them. There isn't enough space on the game to hog entire islands; if you want to kill your game, go ahead and be greedy. It just shows a serious lack of foresight on your part. If someone attacks you, it is an act of war, even if it is an automated cannon.

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.

That seems like an accurate estimation. It is crowbarred in to make the game appear more innovative. In actuality, it is just a bump map and a debuff on a timer. You don't just put something in the game because it seems cool, you put it in if it works with everything else. The age mechanic takes away from the game far more than it puts in. What the devs should practice isn't innovation, but exnovation. Ark's formula proved successful as a base to build from; it should've been set as the standard. The age mechanic messes with this formula, making it worse overall.

I'm failing to see why it is a cool concept. Infact, no one has explained why it is a good idea... I can't see any implementation of it where it will make the game a better experience.

We're at a point now where the devs are clinging onto a mechanic that much disdain has been expressed toward. They are seemingly determined to twist and malform their game to fit this needless mechanic in the game. It is the reason FOY is seen as such a problem. It is the reason there has been such an uproar over the debuff. It takes away cosmetic options in the game by making your character look either too young, or too old relative to what you might ideally want. AND it might take away your character, forcing you to replace them over and over. All these different groups of people are annoyed by this mechanic. Would the FOY be such an issue if people did not feel their character was being held hostage? The frustration from the FOY really comes from the stakes; the reason people pursue the fountain in the first place.. It might actually be an enjoyable challenge if it felt more optional. All issues people have with the age mechanic come to a head when participating in the FOY quest. -People afraid of losing their characters -People wanting to be free of the debuff -People pursuing cosmetics -People who have lives outside of the game All of these people just get annoyed by this ridiculous quest, which on the surface seems like it is the problem. In reality? It is the reason you have to pursue this quest that is the real issue. The age mechanic only takes away; it doesn't put in... In the end, it is just a bump map that progresses over a short period of time, with a debuff on the final 10 years. We don't need it, we don't want it; please stop ruining your game by trying to crowbar it in whichever way you can.

God no. People don't want age mechanics in the pirate games. We don't want them for our characters, and we don't want them for our buildings.

People who use the forums are in the minority. The player numbers are a much more accurate indicator; especially given the timing. There are instances I've seen on forums where the general people posting are misaligned with the general majority who play the game. Not for this game as of yet, but I've seen it in other games. It is pretty rare, but it happens. But of course.. All avenues should be utilized for a more accurate estimation on what the correct course of action is.

So what you're saying is : "STOP THIS MADNESS IN THE NAME OF YOUR KING!"

There is no way of knowing the premise is true unless we ask every person who left the game, and they told us the truth. In this particular case, the devs have to make decisions; they don't have the luxury of determining if something is certainly true or not. In which case, all they have to go on are liklihoods. It would be foolish of them to ignore this one given the amount of indicators.

The reasoning is sound. The only time it wouldn't be sound is if it were said with 100% certainty. Lets be honest here, what the evidence suggests is pretty much certain. People have been complaining about these issues on reddit/steam/official; if it were not one of the main contributing factors to why the game is declining in population, i'd eat my hat.

Ah, now I could say you're making a strawman by assuming the OPs intentions, like you attempted to do to me when I assumed yours. Read the last sentence again and you'll see that the OP said nothing certain. They said "I think I know". Did they say "this is killing the game"? No. They're letting the evidence speak for itself. And it speaks volumes. No one said correlation is a CERTAINTY. It is just highly unlikely that high correlation doesn't indicate the true cause. If the op came out and said "this is definitive proof that this is killing the game", then yes. In that instance, that would be false.

But it isn't, correlation is an excellent indicator. It just doesn't prove certainly; but what does? It is one of the few things the devs have to go on. .If they can't trust that, they'd have to take random stabs in the dark, and where would that get us?

Right, but WHY did you post it. That is what we're talking about here.

Are you denying that your motives were to attempt to discredit the OPs evidence? That you were just making a neutral statement, that "correlation is not always causation"?

I'm stating the assumed motives behind the statement you made. If you were trying to help OPs case, you'd have never said what you did.

How is it a strawman? Are you not attempting to discredit the evidence by bringing to everyone's attention that correlation isn't always causation? Saying that doesn't help the OPs observations, so either you're putting forth a neutral statement, or you're skeptical of the evidence.

You could walk in a room after hearing a scream, see someone covered in blood holding a bloody kitchen knife, and a dead body with a fresh stab wound. You couldn't say for sure that person killed the victim, but the circumstances that would have to unfold for them not to be would be highly unlikely. And lastly, you'll have to provide a counter theory to the loss of all those players.. What reason do you have that such a significant amount of players left around that specific time?

Correlation doesn't ALWAYS prove causation; however it is enhances the likelihood that the cause is true. It is almost like you're attempting to discount this evidence entirely. That would be foolish.

I find myself asking... "Is it worth killing your game for an age mechanic?"

Or... Just have them disappear after a certain amount of time? Why ruin the game with this stupid mechanic, if that is all they wanted to do?

They should just remove age, the game really doesn't need it. It adds literally nothing.

All it equates to is a bumpmap that progresses over a period of time, that eventually builds to a debuff that forces you to do something you don't want to have to do. Something difficult and annoying; at the threat of losing your character (in the future) and a debuff (currently).

Or just turn it off entirely.. Try to think about what an age mechanic brings to the game.. Just try. It adds nothing to the core of the game, only ruins the look of people's characters, by either having them older or younger than they want them; and forcing us to commit to this annoyance just so we don't have to endlessly reroll over and over. 1. People hate losing their characters they've grown to love 2.People don't like being given a character to customize, only to have elements of that customization to be ripped away by a mechanic that adds nothing to the game. 3.People don't like being forced to do stuff they don't want to do, to maintain something that they've always had.. As someone described.. The age mechanic is just the vitamin mechanic but 100x worse.

I'd rather they just took age out. I've yet to see anyone tell me what it brings to the game. It has no place in the game, and they've forcibly crowbarred it as some means of innovation signalling. They need to understand you should not innovate for innovations sake, they're losing sight of what their game should be about. Age should be turned into a character creator slider, and fountain of youth should just be scrapped; or changed into the fountain of knowledge or something, and give people a buff if they optionally want to pursue this absolute trash. Don't hold our characters hostage, and force us through the the shittest game development I've ever seen.