For the love of god...

[Arturos]

Change the way people load into instances. Please.

Allow me to give you a scenario.

4 Pirates are outside Jenny Bay (Brit starting town). One is flagged, 3 are not and sitting 30 miles away. It's clear that the flagged guy is baiting, he's in a fast ship, fast enough so that if he gets engaged by overwhelming numbers he can sail away.

We get 4 people together and decide to take them on. We engage their baiter (all at the same time), then his fellows join the battle. Fair enough we think, a 4v4 fight. We've got 2 posts, they've got 2 posts. We've got 2 hermes sleeks, they've got 2 hermes sleeks. A fair fight one might think.

Until you take into account the random spawning mechanics on OS battles.

The 4 pirates spawn in a battle line, 50 yards apart from each other, and able to organise tactics from there.

1 Brit spawns 3000yards away, behind an island.
2 Brits spawn 900 yards away, together, in a line.
1 Brit spawns... wait for it... Inside the pirate lines.

The fight is lost, there's no question of how this is going to go. One Brit is automatically out the fight, as he takes 4 broadsides from the pirates line that he inexplicable sailed into, unbeknownst to it's actual captain. Another is out of the fight, it seems as if his navigator got confused and mistook a bloody great island for the enemy lines.

And thus, pirates (who can replace ships in 20 minutes) recieve another boon to their growing ship collection, due to yet another completely inexplicable spawning mechanic.

My suggestion would be:

Put in a limitation on how close and how far anyone can spawn in comparison to both their enemies and their friends. This will eliminate the murphy spawn problem, and allow battles to be somewhat more manageable, not to mention less frustrating.

[Susua]

I would have to agree with you.. and being completely fair to Pirates and the other factions... same could go for them.

I think something more consistent should be implemented for "groups"... however, NPC "flare fights" should have the random effect in place.

Good valid complaint.

[bpdlr]

This sounds like another of those SOL spawns. And I don't mean Ships of the Line. Happens to both sides, agree it needs fixing, but there are more important things tbh.

Did you all join together? If so, you should have been all grouped in the encounter. It sounds like that's exactly what the other pirates did. If your last man jumped in just after the group of 3 pirates, he would spawn in the middle of them - I know this because that's exactly what happened to me recently. Never join a battle after a large group of enemy has just joined.

[FryaDuck]

The term for this is "Murphy Spawn".

The best way to avoid it is to group up tightly on the OS before engaging, closer than 10 miles apart. If you all join together your position will be exactly as you were on the OS. If you enter the instance together don't do anything (at all, no keyboard strokes) until the last player joins, this will give them a better spawn. If someone on your side takes an action guaranteed the players who enter afterwards will get the "Murphy Spawn".

[Arturos]

The term for this is "Murphy Spawn".

The best way to avoid it is to group up tightly on the OS before engaging, closer than 10 miles apart. If you all join together your position will be exactly as you were on the OS. If you enter the instance together don't do anything (at all, no keyboard strokes) until the last player joins, this will give them a better spawn. If someone on your side takes an action guaranteed the players who enter afterwards will get the "Murphy Spawn".

That's exactly what we did. We were all automatically engaged when the first pirate was attacked. It's not the first time this has happened either, and I'm positive it won't be the last.

At the moment, it's another factor that is making the risk of OS PvP seriously outweigh the reward.

[bpdlr]

If someone on your side takes an action guaranteed the players who enter afterwards will get the "Murphy Spawn".

That's new to me. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Sykomyke421]

This sounds like another of those SOL spawns. And I don't mean Ships of the Line. Happens to both sides, agree it needs fixing, but there are more important things tbh.

Did you all join together? If so, you should have been all grouped in the encounter. It sounds like that's exactly what the other pirates did. If your last man jumped in just after the group of 3 pirates, he would spawn in the middle of them - I know this because that's exactly what happened to me recently. Never join a battle after a large group of enemy has just joined.

"**** Outta Luck" is that what you are referring to? :p I do have to say that if you join after the initial engagement be prepared to get murphy spawned. Not saying it's right, not saying it's fair, and I agree it needs to be fixed...but for now, Be prepared for the worst. That being said, back on last days of beta I got murphy spawned BETWEEN 2 First Rates. And still made it out. (Hooray for horrible turn rates!)

[frosthesnowman]

It was six of you versus four of us. If you want a rematch meet us outside Mathew Town at 1 AM Eastern Time Zone.

[Arturos]

I'm not sure you're thinking of the same fight - I have no info as to what server or even side you're on...

There was 4 of us though..

[frosthesnowman]

Ah. Prob different battle then. Blackbeard, Jenny's Bay, But Why is the Rum Gone. Thought I recognized your name is all. If you're on blackbeard the offer still stands though :P

[Taelorn]

The system already changed. You'll see different mechanics in the first content update.

[Caldes]

Ooohh...the anticipation is killing me.

That and other players. >_>

[Alexande]

The term for this is "Murphy Spawn".

The best way to avoid it is to group up tightly on the OS before engaging, closer than 10 miles apart. If you all join together your position will be exactly as you were on the OS. If you enter the instance together don't do anything (at all, no keyboard strokes) until the last player joins, this will give them a better spawn. If someone on your side takes an action guaranteed the players who enter afterwards will get the "Murphy Spawn".

Fryaduck is EXACTLY right. I take back everything I said about him. wonder what the change is going to be.

[Gaunthor]

The system already changed. You'll see different mechanics in the first content update.

Is there anywhere we can see the changes so we can comment on them so you might have a chance to make minor modification? Say for instance if someone brings up something really smart that you guys didn't think about.

In my honnest opinion it would be simply logic to have only those that where sucked into battle spawn accordingly to where they where in OS and the rest that reinforce the battle spawn at the edge of the map. They were far away... make them spawn far away. Now if that lure can get away, good for him. But it's a risky business to be a bait. Most of the time I used a bait, the big fish swallowed it.

[Trobon]

Is there anywhere we can see the changes so we can comment on them so you might have a chance to make minor modification? Say for instance if someone brings up something really smart that you guys didn't think about.

In my honnest opinion it would be simply logic to have only those that where sucked into battle spawn accordingly to where they where in OS and the rest that reinforce the battle spawn at the edge of the map. They were far away... make them spawn far away. Now if that lure can get away, good for him. But it's a risky business to be a bait. Most of the time I used a bait, the big fish swallowed it.

I'm sure they will put it up on the test server before it's released. But then again I don't know anything about the test server so I don't know.

[Arturos]

Thank you Mr Dev Man/Mrs Dev Lady!

[BlarghAld]

You need to a) learn, b) beat into everyone else, that sailing around at random will get you into bad positions more often than not.

Learn grouping
Learn fleet formations
Learn not to engage until the fleet/group is formed
Learn not to group with people who wont learn the list above

And, most importantly, learn not to expect to win every time. Win some, lose some.

[RamonSterns]

You need to a) learn, b) beat into everyone else, that sailing around at random will get you into bad positions more often than not.

Learn grouping
Learn fleet formations
Learn not to engage until the fleet/group is formed
Learn not to group with people who wont learn the list above

And, most importantly, learn not to expect to win every time. Win some, lose some.

I ordered my 5 other pals to park themselves right on top of me in OS and when a French group attacked we were all spread out. Learningtosh does not support Chance98.

[Daikon]

The system already changed. You'll see different mechanics in the first content update.


Thank you - this is much needed/appreciated!

[Sabrel]

The system already changed. You'll see different mechanics in the first content update.

Err... Not to look a gift dev post in the mouth, but could we get a definition of "first /content/ update"? Is that the patch right after release, or are we waiting for the equivalent of "Issue 1" (for those familiar with City of Heroes)?

[Nolitsius]

You need to a) learn, b) beat into everyone else, that sailing around at random will get you into bad positions more often than not.

Learn grouping
Learn fleet formations
Learn not to engage until the fleet/group is formed
Learn not to group with people who wont learn the list above

And, most importantly, learn not to expect to win every time. Win some, lose some.

Pretty much sums it up to me. Skill is not only choosing right ammo in combat but also how to sail the open seas.

[Wilfan]

Err... Not to look a gift dev post in the mouth, but could we get a definition of "first /content/ update"?He's talking about patch 1.1, which will be released "shortly after going live". My bet is on a week after live if going live won't bring its own problems.