Leapdave

Shorter combat phase, that's how you balance this. Big companies *can be* online during combat phase. Small companies *can be* online during combat phase... balanced Longer combat phase: big companies *can* be online during whole combat phase, smaller companies *can NOT* be online for the whole combat phase... there is the exact imbalance

We should not be trying to prevent ways of playing, just incentivizing. The only way to stop huge companies is to lower the limit on company size The point isn't that they wouldn't be able to afford it but they would be *less* likely to expand more than they need to if costs keep rising. 10k gold per day would be annoying as hell for any size company There is no way a solo player can expect to own an island in a game this size on the official servers unless they pick a very unfavorable one and work hard at it. Small groups however can own islands and incentives on big companies can help keep it that way

There doesn't seem to be any way to make this a good idea. Enemies could amass ships on the island in peace time, anchored, invincible... just licking their chops for the second that combat phase starts. This would be far too dangerous for the settlement owners You need to find a different island that won't treat you poorly, or join another group. You need to come up with something different (and specific) for a way to make that work

I'm sorry to be that guy but there is no way with something like 150 squares with settlement islands multiplied by 5 islands per square (750 islands) that you can expect to have your own island on the official servers You are spot on that it's too easy for big companies to have more islands but bigger islands should cost more One good solutions could be an increase in upkeep cost for how many island points a company is using (you have 2 islands, the upkeep cost is +50% on both, 3 islands is double cost for all 3) This would not be too overbearing for any company but would incentivize companies not to overreach just because they can

This is the most ridiculous counter argument I have actually encountered so far. The civil war did not have people that didn't know they are being attacked because they were in another reality at their job. If you don't have a day job more power to you but there are plenty of people *online* if your are itching for a fight Islands are still very difficult to take (which is good), the only surprise attack you are defending is sinking anchored ships while people are offline You are helping to make the game worse and you will never see it. You should evaluate your life and just fight players... you know... the ones that are online

Atlas is much better with ships fighting other ships at sea etc. than blowing a plank or 2 off of an anchored ship whose owner is offline Let them damage whatever they want if a ship is unprotected, but for the sake of fun it should not sink if anchored It's not the most realistic solution but a 15ft tall ship anchored in 3 feet of water sinking isn't very realistic either

Animals are the best at moving quickly, fighting on land, carrying, tanking, *and* harvesting (by far) There are 17ish skill categories, you should not make any of them required in order to be successful I could travel the world collecting materials and mythos and super rare blueprints, then finally make legendary or mythic tools... then completely waste time by using those tools to harvest instead of animals Once you acquire an animal they take almost nothing to care for (which may be fine if there are other ways to be successful) Animals already carry so much more than people that the trade off would be fine if they don't harvest so quickly

AI crew and anchored ships are not pvp... again. Most islands do not have any possible way to stop your ships from being destroyed if you are offline. Be as creative as you want, but you're not stopping 100 cannon balls from destroying 1 plank and sinking your boat Or it can take 1 to 3 if their players are not online. It sounds like you are supporting me now. 7 hour combat phase. Offline raiding is not healthy for the game to be profitable nor long lasting

Do you have any reason or points behind this? Currently it appears that you enjoy fighting npc crew and anchored ships... probably because you're so skilled that players aren't a challenge for you

I highly doubt more people are on at 1:30am on a wednesdave than early afternoon That's not a great option either. People from Europe 8:00pm (or anyone) would have around 3 hours to completely cripple your ability to fight, then you log on with your island surrounded, left with no defense... holding your jimmy in your hand Then they have 6 hours to bombard your island. Especially if it's a small island. Just pray you have allies that didn't get their ships destroyed as well... great way to make a game

Combat phase is too long. It should be 6 or 7 hours. There is value in making a game playable for people who do other things too A very average person with a job can not be available for 9 hours straight. A company all based in the same country (obviously USA) should not be expected to be online for that long. This is assuming the point of peace phase is to prevent offline raiding. A company should also not be required to recruit people from multiple companies in order to cover the combat time slot Obviously my island was raided last night for a couple of hours after we went to bed (because we are productive members of society) and all of our ships were destroyed. The alternative of combat phase starting 3 hours before we would be home in the afternoon is not really any better Sure, it's pvp mode but fighting npc crew and anchored ships is not pvp. There is no npc setup that can stop just a few players from destroying *at least* all of your ships even for a couple of hours