Naval Action coming to Steam EA on the 21st......

[Nefaro]

So dumb question...can someone explain the player vs environment option?  Heard that might be useful for people want single player like game, even though not fully.  Do you fight ai controlled ships?  Besides not competing with other human players, are there any other limitations?

I read some dev responses on stuff like this yesterday.

PvE server prevents other players from attacking you on the Open Sea.  There was some mention of being able to queue for somewhat equalized PvP skirmishes on the PvE server, though, as in many MMOs. 

The PvP server is as you would expect.  You can be attacked on the open sea.  If someone attacks another ship from the same nation, they turn Pirate so you probably won't see that much early on as the ones who wanted to go Piratin' probably started off that way.  There is also currently no navigational aids for the open sea, so it's completely dead reckoning when beyond sight of land.  That will probably discourage beginners from attempting long distance travel to enemy ports for PvP purposes.  For awhile, at least.

Character XP is shared between the PvP and PvE servers.  But your ships, goods, etc are not. 

The size of ship you can sail is limited by how much crew your rank allows you to command.  Start off small and it goes up over time.  This will transfer between all the servers.  But you will still need to work up the money & such if you switch servers with the same character.  While you may be able to command a Frigate, when you first switch you will have just the basic starter ship & money, and will have to earn ships & items again.

[Asid]

You guys always hype the shit out of these new games, and I buy them, and then a month from now you've all moved on.  Is this going to have staying power, or am I going to buy this and then a month from now I'm playing with myself?

Yeah, I know what I said.   :P

I buy what I play and play what I buy

:)

[JasonPratt]

I shall also be a poncy Brit.  With a lace collar....and a wig...and a beauty spot....and a swooning fan...and a fancy walking stick....and buckled shoes.  How ribald!

So many quotes from Zorro the Gay Blade are coming to mind...

[Grim.Reaper]

So dumb question...can someone explain the player vs environment option?  Heard that might be useful for people want single player like game, even though not fully.  Do you fight ai controlled ships?  Besides not competing with other human players, are there any other limitations?

I read some dev responses on stuff like this yesterday.

PvE server prevents other players from attacking you on the Open Sea.  There was some mention of being able to queue for somewhat equalized PvP skirmishes on the PvE server, though, as in many MMOs. 

The PvP server is as you would expect.  You can be attacked on the open sea.  If someone attacks another ship from the same nation, they turn Pirate so you probably won't see that much early on as the ones who wanted to go Piratin' probably started off that way.  There is also currently no navigational aids for the open sea, so it's completely dead reckoning when beyond sight of land.  That will probably discourage beginners from attempting long distance travel to enemy ports for PvP purposes.  For awhile, at least.

Character XP is shared between the PvP and PvE servers.  But your ships, goods, etc are not. 

The size of ship you can sail is limited by how much crew your rank allows you to command.  Start off small and it goes up over time.  This will transfer between all the servers.  But you will still need to work up the money & such if you switch servers with the same character.  While you may be able to command a Frigate, when you first switch you will have just the basic starter ship & money, and will have to earn ships & items again.

Thanks...torn as to whether to buy yet....if was complete single player, would have been a no brainer....still might jump in.

[SirAndrewD]

Well, I had my first one on one with a human player. 

A solid fight that I didn't get the better of sadly.  Equal ships, both cutters.

I tried to play strategic and use single ranging shots to get the distance before I gave him a volley.  He apparently had the better plan and just preserved his shots for point blank.  The one or two careful hits I put on him were more than overcome by his point blank broadsides when we got closer. 

I went with the go for the rigging with chain and slow him down tactic.  He went with the brute, shoot ball at the hull tactic.  His was better. 

I had my moment though, as we closed and his sails were below 50% I did a quick tack to port after cutting my speed and raaked his aft with my starbord guns loaded with round shot.  It was devastating, but it was the only real damage I did to his hull.   Even going to round shot with my undamaged starboard didn't close the gap fast enough. 

I guess in the future I'll stick to ball and not try to get fancy.  I do hope that I made him pucker a bit when I raked him from the aft (stop with your jokes) but who knows.

[MengJiao]

Hey Nef

I wanted to go Neutral but it is not there so....It's a pirates life for me....

Check your pm i have sent you something Nef

Regards

 

Heh!  Thanks Asid.

Some day we'll meet up in a digital war again.   On the same side, of course.. I can't shoot the big guns as well as you.   :)

  I'm going to be Spanish.  So many nice Ports!  On USA/NA Reserve PvPTWO -- as MengAreciebo or something.  Maybe MengIago?  Or Iago y Meng?  MengDiego!

Well, I'm Meng Ariceibo y Matteo.  My Spanish is not so good, but I've seen a lot on my 11 engagements so far: ships on fire, Lynxes sinking me fast, distant boardings,  the deadliness of my medium guns at medium range.  Medium 6 pounders that is.

[Nefaro]

I played Spain in PotBS.  Lotsa action.  :)

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I somehow ended up with a Pickle after my last combat.  I never boarded it so I'm not sure how I ended up with it.  I think I might have killed all the crew.  Anyway, fear me for I now command a basic cutter and an undermanned pickle!

[Grim.Reaper]

I am not listening:). This does sound interesting...maybe I forgo my multiplayer embargo for it:)

[MengJiao]

Well, I had my first one on one with a human player. 

A solid fight that I didn't get the better of sadly.  Equal ships, both cutters.

I tried to play strategic and use single ranging shots to get the distance before I gave him a volley.  He apparently had the better plan and just preserved his shots for point blank.  The one or two careful hits I put on him were more than overcome by his point blank broadsides when we got closer. 

I went with the go for the rigging with chain and slow him down tactic.  He went with the brute, shoot ball at the hull tactic.  His was better. 

I had my moment though, as we closed and his sails were below 50% I did a quick tack to port after cutting my speed and raaked his aft with my starbord guns loaded with round shot.  It was devastating, but it was the only real damage I did to his hull.   Even going to round shot with my undamaged starboard didn't close the gap fast enough. 

I guess in the future I'll stick to ball and not try to get fancy.  I do hope that I made him pucker a bit when I raked him from the aft (stop with your jokes) but who knows.

I'm no expert.  So far I've only fought AI (1 Lynx, 1 Snow, lotsa "pirates" (in cutters? I guess)).  I wonder if your opponent was using 12 pounder carronades.  At close range, he would have had double your weight of shot (or tripple if you had 4 pounders).

[SirAndrewD]

Well, I had my first one on one with a human player. 

A solid fight that I didn't get the better of sadly.  Equal ships, both cutters.

I tried to play strategic and use single ranging shots to get the distance before I gave him a volley.  He apparently had the better plan and just preserved his shots for point blank.  The one or two careful hits I put on him were more than overcome by his point blank broadsides when we got closer. 

I went with the go for the rigging with chain and slow him down tactic.  He went with the brute, shoot ball at the hull tactic.  His was better. 

I had my moment though, as we closed and his sails were below 50% I did a quick tack to port after cutting my speed and raaked his aft with my starbord guns loaded with round shot.  It was devastating, but it was the only real damage I did to his hull.   Even going to round shot with my undamaged starboard didn't close the gap fast enough. 

I guess in the future I'll stick to ball and not try to get fancy.  I do hope that I made him pucker a bit when I raked him from the aft (stop with your jokes) but who knows.

I'm no expert.  So far I've only fought AI (1 Lynx, 1 Snow, lotsa "pirates" (in cutters? I guess)).  I wonder if your opponent was using 12 pounder carronades.  At close range, he would have had double your weight of shot (or tripple if you had 4 pounders).

He might have had carronades or better weapons, indeed. 

However, I think I was a bit incorrect with going for the sails as my primary tactic, at least in the smaller ship.  I just didn't do enough damage to slow him down and get a measurable advantage in maneuver. 

I had HOPED to slow him, put him in a bad position, cut his armor down on aft or port and then use grape until I was in a good position to board.  Oh well. 

We'll see if I have Nelson's luck next time.

[DennisS]

Well. I have always been a HUGE fan of anything to do with naval combat, particularly in the Age of Sail.

I picked this up last night, created a toon, and ran my first mission. It was a blast, exactly as advertised.

I have already researched the build requirements for a Lynx Trader, and will be steadily accumulating the necessary mats for this. In this game, it is my intention of becoming the pre-eminent ship builder/trader on the server. Trading sims, builders in general are also a very strong passion for me!

If you see me online, invite me into your group! I am currently rolling with the Basic Cutter, with the quite proper American name of Edward Simmons.  :)

[Grim.Reaper]

Going to purchase myself today, sailing ship just too good to pass up, even if MP....but before I do, just a couple of quick questions.

1)  Once your lose your ship, do you basically then just create a new character and start over?  What if when they make premium ships available for purchase, you lose them in the game too?  When you start over, do you get those back?

2)  Do you only control one ship or are you able to control multiple sheets like in a fleet?  If multiple, how difficult is it to fight with them all at once?

3)  I have seen posts at Steam that indicate they only have one server (I think) capable of hosting up to 2000 players.....are you able to get one when you want or long wait times?

4)  When your looking to build/craft something, does the game clearly tell you what the materials are needed or do you have to figure it out on your own?

[AchillesLastStand]

Well if there is one thing this game needs that I'm sure everyone agrees on is a Manual. Most of the stuff you have to learn on the fly or ask someone in chat.

[Nefaro]

Going to purchase myself today, sailing ship just too good to pass up, even if MP....but before I do, just a couple of quick questions.

1)  Once your lose your ship, do you basically then just create a new character and start over?  What if when they make premium ships available for purchase, you lose them in the game too?  When you start over, do you get those back?

You don't lose your captain.  You lose one "durability" off your ship.  Premium (crafted) ships start with 5 durability so they can be sunk 5 times before you need to buy a new one.  Ships captured in boarding combat have 1 durability.  When you lose your last such life of your ship, your captain respawns in your home port.

You can always get the basic Cutter for free so you will never run out of something to sail.

They pretty much copied this concept straight over from the old PotBS.

2)  Do you only control one ship or are you able to control multiple sheets like in a fleet?  If multiple, how difficult is it to fight with them all at once?

One ship.  You can switch while in a (home?) port. I think there are up to two AI ships available for hire that can be used for PvE encounters but I don't know the details and probably not something I'd want to rely on anyway.

3)  I have seen posts at Steam that indicate they only have one server (I think) capable of hosting up to 2000 players.....are you able to get one when you want or long wait times?

Should be able to log right in.. unless some preset login cap is hit.  Dunno the details.

4)  When your looking to build/craft something, does the game clearly tell you what the materials are needed or do you have to figure it out on your own?

I think it indicates exactly what you need.  I've not looked into the crafting yet.  The developers have stated that the crafting isn't in a finalized state so some things may change, but I'm pretty sure it's not a guessing game when making stuff, if you have unlocked the 'recipe' in question.