Why do you play a Freetrader?

[waterhouse]

I keep wondering why is it that people keep playing Freetraders when it seems they don't like just about all the things are are supposed to define the class.

I've read comments from Freetraders not using the haulers because they are too slow and they don't need all the cargo space. The advanced recipes and structures are apparently not much of a benefit over the regular ones. The Freetrader buffs are not that great and the cost of using the repair skills and the career skills outweighs the benefits from them. Not to mention that every one else's repair skill doesn't cost anything. The one skill that does define the class can be gotten from a level 7 alt.

I think that sums up all the gripes with the FT, did I miss anything?

So why do you still play a Freetrader? Why not just play a privateer and do the same things you did with the Freetrader except have an easier time leveling and probably more fun?

I was invited into Closed Beta around the third week of March of 2007. My first character was a Freetrader and I've played a Freetrader main every since. Back then the only thing that trade connections did was give you access to the trade channel. You couldn't see more than 1 auction house. There was no easy way to increase your reputation with the factions (not that they mattered much). Freetraders did not have a repair skill and the design philosophy at the time was that they didn't need one. Ammo and outfitting was much much heavier and all the warships had comparable cargo holds to the haulers. So everyone, including Freetraders used warships to move things around. There were also no local trader missions and no career missions, Freetraders only had the same option everyone else had.

Even knowing all of that, my first character was still a Freetrader. I had dreams of sailing around in a San Mateo Trader's Galleon with a hold full of Oak Logs. I still do, except now it's more Hulls than logs :).

I like playing my Freetrader as it currently stands. I love the cargo haulers and the hybrids (Indiamen); and the recent changes have only made it better in my eyes. I do wish they would take a another pass at the Provision Allies line as I don't really like how the cool down on the buffs works. I don't think the logistic lines should be put in the Career quests because I'd rather use all of the Experts skills and I don't use all of the Logistics line (maybe 4 out of the 5, depending on what I'm producing).

I'm not saying that what everyone is complaining about is right or wrong. What I have stated here is my personal opinion and taste. I simply would like to understand your reasoning behind why you still play a Freetrader.

What can I say, I like to understand people :).

[Envoy]

I was wondering where you was.

I play my FT to haul and produce a bit faster. I play him to make all the stuff I need to raise money and provide for the society. I play him to engage in economic warfare, well, when I can haul and view the AHs. I also play him to take full advantage of the silly pirates who try to take full advantage of my FT. I play him to get back into the beautiful Couronne Galleon. I play him because I think everyone else is wrong.

[Centurion]

My story is very similar to yours, waterhouse. When I first played the closed beta, there were no Freetraders and the player-run economy wasn't actually in yet. But apart from that, all my main characters so far have been Freetraders. I play him because when the player-run economy and how it would be tied into RvR was first announced, I decided that I would one day dump a huge galleon full of unrest supplies in an enemy port. I play him because not having access to the big hauling ships seems silly to me when trading is what I enjoy most in the game.

Not that I don't like combat. Far from it. At the moment, I am actually also playing my Freetrader to find out if the class is even a little bit viable in PvP. Frankly, so far I don't believe that Freetraders are so very horrible in combat.

I play him as a matter of principle.

[Trikxs]

why I play the Freetrader?

Good question, basicaly becouse I like economy and i found that I dont suck at PvP neither.
The Greoup-buffs are not very good but the self onlies are fine. I have alot of punch and I can reload incredibyl fast.. I have speed buffs... so what the problem.

Btw my Atlas is to smal, need more cargospace please

[Ruse]

I guess the short answer is, I'm hard headed. I want them to be something they aren't... While I don't think a good player playing a FT should be able to sink any other career 100% of the time, I do think we should be competitive. I should be able to beat bad players, beat average players if I don't make a dumb move, and have a decent chance against a good player.

Against NPCs, I don't expect to be a powerhouse, or kill as fast as anyone else. But, I also don't want my victories to be determined by how many consumables I can afford, or how long I'm willing to hit and run and repair and repeat.

I don't want an edge in production. I don't want more lots than everyone else. I don't want to be an alt career.

I do want to sail large ships, even if they don't have 104 cannons. I want to be an asset to a group and my nation by providing support. Buffing my group, soaking up damage, and dishing a little back out. I want to be a pillar of support.

As to why I keep playing? I like being able to see all the AHs, and being able to sail into an enemy port to buy something for a mate. I like the buffs, defense, and speed. I like Florentine (I know I could respec another career, but it seems natural). I like the quests; they make me think a little, and not zoom through the text. I like the clothes. :) I look some kind of hot in my Fine Buisnessman Coat and moneybag sash.

[Tdog14]

I play a freetrader because it was the class that fits my playstyle.
As a Freetrader, I love being a target for enemy's, I use it alot to my advange.
Also i like the Economy side of games, I tend to become a crafter in most MMOs but in PoTBS I love the crafting system.

I guess I play a freetrader because as a freetrader you can play alot of different roles, you can just be a trader, or just a hauler, or just work on your own production lines. It gives you the ability to change your role though out the day and not allow you to get board.

The Freetrader class also allows me to be a difference maker in combat, with our repair skills when can be the tank, which is normally my combat role in MMOs.

People think for some reason that Freetraders are weak in combat but honestly it all comes down to player skill and the ability to adapt with the flow of battle, which is fun.

[ummax]

I play because I like the economy side of the game and the name fits. Its not a perfect class and over time it will get tweeked for other things, but I didnt come to this game to PvP in the water so playing a naval officer especially was a no go and playing a privateer who's job is to sink enemy pirates etc is a no go. It says its the merchant class and that is what I enjoy so I play it as a merchant class warts and all. :D

[ummax]

.

People think for some reason that Freetraders are weak in combat but honestly it all comes down to player skill and the ability to adapt with the flow of battle, which is fun.

They are weaker in combat many argue they are not and player skill okay that works at the beginning. I'm decimating a market right now due to lack of player skill on the parts of others and spain is shooting itself in the foot right now due to lack of player skill but that changes over time and people learn and skills develop then your left with character build. I see peopel adding up numbers of special shots, but due to passive boost to damage cannon ball for cannon ball freetraders do in fact hit and make the least damage if we are trading regular shots, but people like to hype it as some kind of pure combat class and its not. Those that take the class now and in the past in my case take it because it says "merchant" not because it says you will own the seas and win port battles that is the job of other classes. The lack of combat skills fit the class, The lack of appropriate levelling ability doesn't and that is the problem. There are many that come to this game now and i watch it every day and not with any surprise really that see merchant. They want a low combat class they dont worry about combat skills because that is their least favourite things to do in any game. So when they have to get out and level using combat of course they are going to suck at it because they dont really want to be there and in many cases its not part of the personal strenght (the strengths and interests and abilities of the actual player behind the computer). They will never be good at it because that is now what they enjoy so to make a merchant level via combat for most of the game its going to generate some sort of discussion. It doesnt' mean they hate the game I know many who love the era and that is why they are here not for the actual pvp or ship combat and would just like to be a merchant and sail the seas and make their money. That is why the bulk of freetrader that actualy remain freetraders are freetraders. So fighting is fun for those who like tofight in the water but I guarantee you that there are many that dont want to fight and will never ever put up a fight who as still enthusiasts of this era and that is why they are here. So when people talk of skill in ship combat in the merchant class its downright illogical to most and I can see why.

[UpstateBuccaneer]

I'm a trader at heart...I fell in love with the idea of trading, wheeling, dealing, and making money back when I used to play "Pirates!" on my C-64....the trend continued as I got older and always enjoyed playing traders in various games. In PotBS, I look forward to being able to haul cargo from port to port, working to increase my fortunes with a little intrigue thrown in. And toss in port contention and the ability to affect unrest, and I'm thrilled. Oddly, though I enjoy crafting, I enjoy carrying cargo from place to place just as much.

The occasional combat isn't too bad, either, but I play it smart. If I'm carrying cargo and am attacked by a NPC pirate, I tend to turn and run. It feels more realistic to me this way. Protecting the goods is what it should be about.

[andy52584]

Why did I choose FT to begin with? One phrase: Glass Beads for Gold. My first (and only really) love affair with an age of sail game was New Horizions for the SNES. And the thing that I loved most in that game was picking up goods in Europe, sailing to exotic and distant ports, selling for profit and doing the same on the return trip. I love hauling large amounts of stuff around. I'm not sure why, but it's just... fun. I also enjoyed having freight empires in Ralroad Tycoon 2 and 3, so its not just ship games. :)

I suppose I'm not one of the people the OP was directing his comments at, since I have yet to actually complain about an aspect of the FT class, but I thought I'd share why I like them anyway.
*Big ships for carying lots of stuff
*Can run away from many battles if need be
*Able to play the world's market from almost anywhere, anytime
*Can directly effect port conquest with enough determination without having to PvP

[GreatYonkou]

I play a Freetrader to help manipulate the economy to my advantage. Since FT is my alt and NO is my main I dont have any problems especially with ammo and outfitting...

[Serj]

I personally think the FT should have even more economic advantages over other players, like cheaper production costs, or better access to recipes..idk, something more..

[UpstateBuccaneer]

Why did I choose FT to begin with? One phrase: Glass Beads for Gold. My first (and only really) love affair with an age of sail game was New Horizions for the SNES. And the thing that I loved most in that game was picking up goods in Europe, sailing to exotic and distant ports, selling for profit and doing the same on the return trip. I love hauling large amounts of stuff around. I'm not sure why, but it's just... fun. I also enjoyed having freight empires in Ralroad Tycoon 2 and 3, so its not just ship games. :)

I suppose I'm not one of the people the OP was directing his comments at, since I have yet to actually complain about an aspect of the FT class, but I thought I'd share why I like them anyway.
*Big ships for carying lots of stuff
*Can run away from many battles if need be
*Able to play the world's market from almost anywhere, anytime
*Can directly effect port conquest with enough determination without having to PvP


Ahhh...a like-minded soul. And a fellow freight-head, I see. :D Of course, I'm so freight-happy that I actually have a job where I write about material handling, warehouse design, logistics, and all every day. :D

I know that sadly, the servers shall be rife with Freetraders once the game goes live, and that some people are not the purist that I am and they're only creating trader alts, but that's fine...let them have their fun, and I shall have mine. I'm perfectly happy with the freetrader as they are now. Yes, there could be improvements, but show me one game where that's not the case?

I'm definitely glad I bought this. Even though now, I have an overwhelming urge to go play Railroad Tycoon in one of its incarnations.... ;)

[AuntyJack]

I personally think the FT should have even more economic advantages over other players, like cheaper production costs, or better access to recipes..idk, something more..

no because they will further put into the must have alt like they are now.

FT isn't an ALT they are a main.

Some of my society members went down this road and they are playing their FT Alt more than their so called Main character.

there will be a time when they start getting into it and prehaps doing some of the quests and enjoying it and their NO main will become the ALT.

Why do i play a FT,

well it was the first one i chose during the STII and i began to like it. During OB i started getting into the quests/rewards that they have and loved the expert consumables they get. and also the use of advanced structures.(although i haven't used 1 yet)

the ability to see all the AH's is minor and in the last two weeks of OB removed that ability as it wasn't needed.

I like the fact that in combat people think your an easy kill and expect you to run/surrender but when you sink them you can smile as you know you beat them in a ship that doesn't have all the fancy buffs they have.

and as others have mentioned the ability to load up a metric Fruckload of goods from one place and put them elsewhere for fun and profit.

[GundamX]

I played FT in beta, enjoyed the endgame of it at 50 on a Couronne galleon. Did manufacturing and hauled goods for resale using global AH view..

Now i've realized that these things are meaningless as an FT main. Global AH? get a L7 alt. Wanna move goods? Grab a stripped warship with huge cargo space and haul. Any class can do these things..

What FT get left with that's unique is advanced structures and advanced recipes on some items which allows them to produce faster. So you can earn some extra dbs compared to the next guy.. but then factor in the expenses of Rum rations just to be competitive, and repair consumables (not secured cargo too).. then the lame career skills (everyone can use experts, its also on a 30m SHARED cooldown) compared to other classes.

What little extra dbs you make compared to other classes is drained by these consumables you need to be competitive (still falling short though). When a privateer doesn't need any db expenditure for buffs/repairs, they still earn 20% extra dbs from npcs.. not really fair imo.

That's my gripes with it. Now im playing NO and Priv on different servers, and each have their lots up and running manufacturing things just as well. I still have my FT which i stopped leveling as an alt to scan AH for me. :)

Perhaps in the future when more endgame content gives FT a unique role.. but currently they are a pointless class.

[denmj]

Well to be 100% honest. I didn't figure I would touch the FT class as a main but just play it as an alt. Matter of fact I signed up for the beta for my friend who was very into this when it was first announced. I didn't even follow it for a long while.

But during beta I played each class. I checked what each can do and what it can't do.

The ship combat in the game is good. But I have had just as good of ship combat for the last 5-7 years playing Woodenships and Ironmen. I have played the board game version longer but the computer version has been out for a long while and I keep an old machine setup just for that one game. In some aspects it is a better ship combat system in others not as good.

So the ship combat I knew from the get go was not my draw to this and yet it took me about 1-2 months of beta to figure out that what kept me logging in day in and day out and playing for long hours was the economy. I just couldn't get enough of it.

So the FT is my choice for the AH view so I can speculate in the market. For the OS speed skills to move goods quickly between one port or another. For the large cargo holds to move more goods from A to B. For the in combat speed buffs to run away with my valuable cargo.

The one thing that really kills me is that I have to hunt to make my XP. I would really like the option to never have to fire my guns except in defense and still level as well as the combat classes. Not that a FT is not a combat class it just is not the focus of the FT class.

But I guess if we all were to be 100% honest we are all just greedy people. Come on the first one to say the money is not a big draw is lying to us all and themselves. :)

[andy52584]

But I guess if we all were to be 100% honest we are all just greedy people. Come on the first one to say the money is not a big draw is lying to us all and themselves. :)


Money is not a big dra.... I just can't say it. :) I love the cargo hauling and AH scanning and all that, but whats it all for if not to see how much money I can make through the economic system?

[popsicledeath]

I came for my own glorified hopes of a true merchant class, stayed because I liked the idea of being the underdog, and now have cancelled my pre-order because reality set in with regards to the glorified hopes, and bitterness started forming over being an underdog.

I still like the idea of the class though, and will be following the game to see what becomes of it and probably try it again at some point.

I guess this kinda turned into a why I don't play a free trader (anymore), but I think a lot of us share similar hopes for what the class could be. I personally haven't had my hopes or expectations met, and especially in light of the amazing economy they constructed, think free traders really haven't gotten the attention needed.

[popsicledeath]

Money is not a big dra.... I just can't say it. :) I love the cargo hauling and AH scanning and all that, but whats it all for if not to see how much money I can make through the economic system?

I personally have found the purchasing ability of the free trader far more compelling than the money making ability (especially since it isn't much more than other classes). I guess that's why I was always somewhat broke on my FT, because I'd constantly be buying, hauling and "investing" in various ventures (I say "investing" because really the fun part was finding deals and snatching them up).

I think they should give exp for how far below AH averages you're able to buy things.

[avidday]

I really like the production and economic side of the game, building ships, and being part of a large production chain to outfit an entire navy. I am never really able to make any money for some reason, but it's still really fun.

That being said, even though FT's are supposed to be better at the economy, they really don't get any economic boosts (advanced structures are a joke given the taxes and mediocre benefits). You want some economic boosts, try giving the FT's some or all of these:

1. FT's (of a certain level, 40+?) can build advanced structures anywhere, not just ports with rivers that might have high taxes that are scattered to the four winds.

2. Remove Dockyard Contract (5th ship slot, useless) and add in Logistics Mastermind, giving a boost (10-20%) to produced amount or a 10-20% reduction in recipe cost, or heck, both.

3. Resource Scavenger Skill: FT's can find resources in ports where they aren't listed. (% chance, small, 24 hour cool-down)

4. Port trading missions that are either repeatable or have random locations/rewards with rewards depending on distance and cargo.

Of course, I've said all this since closed beta and nothing has changed. I don't suspect it will, so this time my FT is more or less an alt and my NO will become my main. No economic benifit to the economic class = Alt only status.

[Nafren]

Because I don’t want the label pirate, but don’t want to tie my self to closely to any in game faction

[Cabezas]

I don't see this mentioned much but FT's get a lot of recipes that can only otherwise be learned from books that are sometimes hard to find or expensive. For example, a Privateer has to read Interpres Phraseologiae Metallurgicae to be able to Smelt Brass but a FT can learn Advanced Brass Smelting from Book: Freetrader Manufacture.

[kiwiitis]

Why do I play an FT.Suits my playstyle.

And I always enjoy the economy side.Took me a while to get used to the PotBS style though as I was a madman for harvesting.I would still be playing vanguard if harvesting had it's own sphere.Having said that I did not enjoy mining in Eve but lapped up the trading/courier/hauling.

I have 2ac's 1Brit FT,3 French FT's all mains.No Pirate Priv or NO alts.

When I say all mains I never let 1 get more than 2 lvl's ahead.