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

[RedArgo]

There is plenty of combat if you're okay fighting the AI, you can pick missions, sail for 5 minutes, and then fight or find random AI just sailing around.  If you're interested in PVP in the open world, it takes longer to find a battle and then finding a relatively even battle can be tough too.  There is a section for non-open world battles where it balanaces the sides, but I don't know how many people use it, my guess is not many, considering the population of the whole game is pretty low right now.  There are more europeans, but in the evenings US time, there are frequently less than 250 people in the whole world.

So, I guess if you're looking for a World of Tanks type jump in and fight a balanced fight, this probably isn't for you, right now anyway.  It's still a ways from release, so that may change.  Plus, before release there will be a complete wipe of everything except experience, so if that would bother you, I'd also wait.

All that said, I really like the game, but I also like the crafting and trading part, in addition to the fighting, so that may not appeal to you.  And, I'm okay with the changes and wipes, some people don't seem to realize the game is still in development, so they complain a lot whenever anything changes.

[mikeck]

I wonder if you guys can summarize your feelings on this game right now.

The reviews are all mixed up due to the recent patch.

I'm not looking for a crafting game.  I just want to fight.  I'm not sure if this is the game for me.

You have to be really cautious believing the forum "reviews". Many don't understand that the game is in Alpha, and although very good as is, has things changed here and there. People lost their minds because they readjusted ship quality. Others went nuts because crafting exceptional ships got a lot harder. Apparently back in 1790, every ship captain could whip together - not a good...not a fine...not a Mastercraft...but an EXCEPTIONAL line ship.

Anyway, you don't have to craft and you don't have to trade. If you want to just fight, you can do that. In PvE, you can attack enemy NPC ships in the open world OR you can request "missions" from a friendly port. These may be search and destroy where you fight 1 or 2 ships or it could be a "fleet" mission where you and 4-6 NPC allies fight 6-8 enemy ships (or more). As you advance in experience and gold, you can buy bigger and better ships from your country's main port. So you DONT have to craft ships.

In fact, I only craft upgrades for my ships. I just buy my actual ships. I have:

1. exceptional Constitution made of live oak with Build strength and speed upgrades
2. Exceptional Essex (my favorite) live oak with build strength and speed
3. Exceptional Renommee made of Mahagony with speed upgrade

So I've done pretty well and I don't craft much or trade much.

I also privateer...I attack enemy trade ships, take the cargo, send the ship back as a prize and sell the cargo.
So there is PLENTY of combat if that's what you want. Exclusively if you want.

The combat is very detailed and graphically awesome. Individual cannon balls are modeled for penetration and what they do once they penetrate (did they bounce around inside, penetrate the other side, etc). Each also creates splinters which are modeled. This means that taking a ship REALLY HAS the effect it had in real life. Each ball is damage modeled as it flies down the length of the ship taking out guns, crew or whatever. So it's NOT a hitpoint system

If you want to fight ships of sail, then definitely get this. If your looking for a trade game like Elite:dangerous on the high-seas then it's not there yet.

Edit: I would add that I think the game is as easy or hard as your level. On PvE  you don't have to worry about anyone attacking you the only flights are if you decide to attack an NPC.  You decide which ships to attack and you decide the level of your missions. So if you are in your beginning cutter then you might only attack trader brigs and snows and as you level up you can start attacking bigger ships.

[Nefaro]

I'm not looking for a crafting game.  I just want to fight.  I'm not sure if this is the game for me.

It used to have a battle matchmaker, kinda like WoT/WoWS, where you could queue up and get straight into team PvP matches.

Not sure if they still have that option.  It was long ago, before they added the open world stuff.

[mikeck]

I'm not looking for a crafting game.  I just want to fight.  I'm not sure if this is the game for me.

It used to have a battle matchmaker, kinda like WoT/WoWS, where you could queue up and get straight into team PvP matches.

Not sure if they still have that option.  It was long ago, before they added the open world stuff.

They do. On both PvE and PvP servers.

[Philippe]

What are the current thoughts about this game? 

It's part of the Steam Halloween sale, but I'm detecting an odd under-current.

I really miss what POtBS could have been, and have fond memories from the few times I played it and it (mostly) did what it was supposed to (apart from the ahistorical claptrap).

I understand that Naval Action's latest in-game event includes an English, Prussian, and Russian fleet invading the Caribbean.  That sounds a tad immersion-killing, because I can't imagine something like that being possible (especially as I wasn't aware that Prussia had much of a navy), and makes me more than a tad reluctant to pull the trigger.

[MengJiao]

What are the current thoughts about this game? 

It's part of the Steam Halloween sale, but I'm detecting an odd under-current.

I really miss what POtBS could have been, and have fond memories from the few times I played it and it (mostly) did what it was supposed to (apart from the ahistorical claptrap).

I understand that Naval Action's latest in-game event includes an English, Prussian, and Russian fleet invading the Caribbean.  That sounds a tad immersion-killing, because I can't imagine something like that being possible (especially as I wasn't aware that Prussia had much of a navy), and makes me more than a tad reluctant to pull the trigger.

It's quite lovely and the ship-to-ship fights are very good.  Other than that it seems to have become more-or-less a huge waste of time.  I play it for a couple of hours a month.

[mikeck]

I play it whenever I feel like enjoying some beautiful age of sail
Combat. But that's it. I load it up, find a few missions, go out and fight and move on. I don't trade or anything like that. I think the Devs have really lost their way. They can't decide what they want the game robe.

[SirAndrewD]

Been months since I've tried this one out.  Impression I was getting from the most recent info was that the game had pretty much lost its way. 

Still an amazing game visually, and the sail combat is just second to none.   I've just seen very little evidence that it's ever going to progress beyond that thin veneer. 

[Yskonyn]

They can't decide what they want the game robe.

A game robe, eh? Does that mean you game Commando style?

[Destraex]

What are the current thoughts about this game? 

It's part of the Steam Halloween sale, but I'm detecting an odd under-current.

I really miss what POtBS could have been, and have fond memories from the few times I played it and it (mostly) did what it was supposed to (apart from the ahistorical claptrap).

I understand that Naval Action's latest in-game event includes an English, Prussian, and Russian fleet invading the Caribbean.  That sounds a tad immersion-killing, because I can't imagine something like that being possible (especially as I wasn't aware that Prussia had much of a navy), and makes me more than a tad reluctant to pull the trigger.

Prussia? Really. Source.

[mikeck]

What are the current thoughts about this game? 

It's part of the Steam Halloween sale, but I'm detecting an odd under-current.

I really miss what POtBS could have been, and have fond memories from the few times I played it and it (mostly) did what it was supposed to (apart from the ahistorical claptrap).

I understand that Naval Action's latest in-game event includes an English, Prussian, and Russian fleet invading the Caribbean.  That sounds a tad immersion-killing, because I can't imagine something like that being possible (especially as I wasn't aware that Prussia had much of a navy), and makes me more than a tad reluctant to pull the trigger.

Prussia? Really. Source.

Could not find the actual patch notes for the introduction of Prussia but found this from one of the hot fixes recently  so yeah prussia is in there

"Fixed mistakes in ranks for Prussia"

http://steamcommunity.com/app/311310/discussions/15/1484358860952920058/

[Philippe]

The source for the Prussian navy reference:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/311310/discussions/15/1484358860952920058/

My heart sank when I read this.

[mikeck]

The source for the Prussian navy reference:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/311310/discussions/15/1484358860952920058/

My heart sank when I read this.

There was some guy on the steam forums I had assumed to be a troll....he was advocating for a Prussian Navy. We were making fun of him since Prussia had nothing but a coastal force. Certainly NO presence in the Caribbean. Now whose laughing right?

[RedArgo]

Not sure why they needed to dilute the already sparse player base with more nations.  I'd think contraction would be in order.

[mikeck]

Or how about limit it to actual reality. Must have missed all those pivotal 18th century naval battles while the Prussians attempted to secure their foothold in the Caribbean