I’m asking the community to answer this the best they can.

Im still in line with making defined game paths, similar to this below.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4932&hilit=Game+path&start=0#p85235


What makes the game unique and attractive?

What isn’t attractive?

What is broken? What needs addressed?

What are some ironies within the game that need addressed?

Here is what i believe.

There are many paths, but there is no benefit to running them as anyone can do everythingg all at once. A goldsmith can run a bank, 21 plantations, run a nation, pillage ships, throw curses, fish, trade with 100 trade fleets, and they call themself a hybrid. Thats what i call squishy.

Where is the uniqueness when everyone can be anything? Nothing unique about free reign. Its chaos actually.

How can a king plunder and pillage like a privateer and yet that king has 8 ports to worry about?

How can a major bank owner, also run 21 plantations, and run massive fleets?

How can bank owners plunder the seas and curse others?

How can a privateer run a major bank corporation and have over 100 accounts to organize?

Why cant a bank owner pull from his own building when he is a pirate, yet can own a bank account with other banks AS A PIRATE?

I just talked to a few people and asked a few questions that pertain to our game. They have no knowledge of the game or my work.

I asked 5 different people that i know. As i write this post, i am interviewing them 1 at a time. This will be editted over time.

The first interviewee is named Colton.

Me: so answer me a few questions if you could for me.

Colton: shoot

Me: what do you expect of a king of a nation to have as his responsibilities?

Colton: like a king of medieval times?

Me: no, around like when pirates or merchants were a thing.

Colton: well id expect a king to take care of his people and to maintain his land.

Me: would you expect a king to own an armada of thousands of ships and plunder like a privateer does?

Colton: hell no. A king has more responsibilities to deal with. Why waste time attacking ships when you have millions to feed and watch over? That makes zero sense.

Me: alright. What do you expect a banker to do or to be responsible about?

Colton: isnt that obvious?

Me: i know, just answer haha.

Colton: well a banker needs to manage money and bank accounts. Thats his job.

Me: should a banker run a nation?

Colton: thats sounds impossible with how complex the money business man. No

Me: last question for now. Lets have a scenario. A banker now becomes a pirate. Should a banker be able to access his assets through his closed bank?

Colton: yes. Its his bank so let the pirate get his own gold.

Me: should a pirate be able to make a bank account?

Colton: hell naw. Unless the banker wants to risk the bank being robbed, nope.

Me: thank you.

Colton: no problem bud.

My next interview is with someone named Hunter.

Me: what do you expect of a king?

Hunter: well he is in charge of his nation, so he should be in charge like a monarchy. He should put his people first. Kings are supposed to be the rulers. If you dont put people first you will get overthrown. They should be in control of military, everything. Military advisors maybe should be to accompany so.

Me: do you believe a king should have the power to have a massive armada of ships and plunder like a privateer.

hunter: hell no. Being a king is tough man. They have people to worry about. You cant be a king if you dont put your people first. Its tough being a king man. Id imagine.

Me: do you believe a king should be able to run a bank alone and watch over a nation?

Hunter: no. It sounds impossible. I mean, look at trump. He is the president and he owns oil things. Yeah he owns the businesses, but he doesnt run them, he has managers who do it for him. You cant do all of that by yourself.

Me: lets make a scenario. The owner of chase bank in the 1600’s in the time of pirates, now becomes a pirate. Should he be able to retrieve his money out of his own bank?

Hunter: yes

Me: should the same pirate be able to make a bank account at other banks?

Hunter: no. Pirates make money from stealing and pillaging only.

Me: what would you expect of a banker and his responsibilities?

Hunter: to manage his bank and to make sure no employees are stealing and making sure money is running smoothly.

Me: would you expect a banker to run ships and to plunder ships like a pirate or privateer?

Hunter: no. He has more things to worry about than what his next loot will be.

Me: do you believe a game should have specific roles or free reign?

Hunter: well for what you are talking about, specific roles. You cant do everything at the same time. You can have free reign to change your role but to be able to do everything at the same time is just stupid.

To use your own example of Trump and his oil fields. I would say your right he doesn't go out digging the oil but ultimately sits top of the chain.
Is that not what we do with ships?
We have captains manning the ships, admirals manning the fleets and traders making us the gold we just say go fetch. If we decide to say go attack that other fleet then... must have bee an misunderstanding guv'nor.

A banker doesn't balance the books and baby sit the accounts, they have people below them to do that, they just sit at the top have the gold and make the gold.

It would seem based on reading your post, you are implying or leading, that this 1 entity is physically doing these tasks when it's not. It's 1 entity directing others to do the work for them.

I can't imagine it's to difficult to ask your trade masters to report and pay up, or the task masters running the plantations.

Ultimately weren't monarchs responsible for running armies, trade, military campaigns and entire kingdoms? Using advisers, as we currently do?

Shaydo wrote:To use your own example of Trump and his oil fields. I would say your right he doesn't go out digging the oil but ultimately sits top of the chain.
Is that not what we do with ships?
We have captains manning the ships, admirals manning the fleets and traders making us the gold we just say go fetch. If we decide to say go attack that other fleet then... must have bee an misunderstanding guv'nor.

A banker doesn't balance the books and baby sit the accounts, they have people below them to do that, they just sit at the top have the gold and make the gold.

It would seem based on reading your post, you are implying or leading, that this 1 entity is physically doing these tasks when it's not. It's 1 entity directing others to do the work for them.

I can't imagine it's to difficult to ask your trade masters to report and pay up, or the task masters running the plantations.

Ultimately weren't monarchs responsible for running armies, trade, military campaigns and entire kingdoms? Using advisers, as we currently do?

+1

Shaydo wrote:It would seem based on reading your post, you are implying or leading, that this 1 entity is physically doing these tasks when it's not. It's 1 entity directing others to do the work for them.

Emphasis added.

+1

I totally agree with Clockwork, in this game we are like gods watching the map from high and we have everything under control, from productions (plantations) to ships to management of a kingdom, of ports, ... everything in our hands.

When i started the game i thought i would have been a sailor first, then a medium boss on the ship, then a captain and than more ...

But here i can be everything ! and i think it is a problem when veterans are impossible to beat or to reach, because they have billions. And without the competition, nobody else will ever join the game.

I think that a realisable limit could be that we all start as citizens. We are first plantations owners and we produce. Then one can become a bank owner but his plantations will be "frozen" (like they become NPCs, and they directly sell goods to the market and the money is sent to the player) or even that the plantation owner needs to sell all his plantations to become a banker.
If he wants to be a privateer he needs to sell his belongings to buy a ship and becoming a privateer, then evolving becoming a privateer of a small fleet than privateer of an always bigger fleet (but a military one, so he will need to plunder and he can't have banks nor plantations, ...)
If one wants to be a merchant he will only have access to merchants ships. And will make money out of trade, but won't be able to have plantations, nor a political role, ...
You want to be a politician ? you manage your port or your kingdom, but you can't manage a fleet nor a plantation. You make money out of taxes or controlling ports and taxing everything.

I am a newcomer, and the first thing i saw here is that every kind of path i could follow was already "taken". I have been plundered by Edward Teach who is unbeatable in my case on the fleet/military side. But i'm sure he also is unbeatable on the plantation side (in my case), he holds an higher rank than me in the political field (and maybe i won't be able to take his role because he is much for famous than me), and he has a more influent and more powerful bank, for sure he also beats my little merchant fleet ... so in every field this Edward Teach, or Capitain da vinci or whoever you want ... is more powerful than a newcomer ! it's why newcomer leave ! They don't even have the chance to win, so they leave.

If now you say that if one wants to be a king, he has to leave the fleet side, someone will be able to become the terror of the sea. At the same time we will have the most powerful players in the political field, others in the bank system, some in the plantation system, some in the trade system.
So everyone will have to choose in which field playing

Whitcomb joshua wrote:
But here i can be everything ! and i think it is a problem when veterans are impossible to beat or to reach, because they have billions. And without the competition, nobody else will ever join the game.

No one is untouchable or impossible to beat. <--- What makes PG Unique.

Having Billions can help you develop, but it doesn't make you untouchable. Billions of gold coin can be eaten very quickly.

my point of view is different. You can maybe defeat someone with billions, but i can't. And it is what newcomers see, a game where every field belongs to some veterans who are "untouchable".
If you divides the game in fields, in every field you will have some big players, and there will be the fun ! in having guilds specialized in a field or two, and nations which decide to focus in every field or in some field. So you could have a nation more on economic side but with a weak military side which will get allied with a very powerful military nation with no plantations nor merchants. It will be funnier than having some monsters with billions of fame, billions of gold, thousands of ships and all fleets with level 10 or 11 ships of the life ... for a newcomer is really complicate to think that he can make something in a game like that.

Newer players can touch veterans. Gold Coin is not king in this game.

Come on, i think you should be more objective
Right now i could plunder a canadian guy in Aiora, but i won't because my danger will be +6 and there is a fleet of Edward Teach with 5 ships of the line lvl 10. i have no chance to win.
So why should a newborn touch a veteran ? no sense ! it's why i think the game should change mechanics like Clockwork said

Or newcomers will always more demanded to play alone with NPC (boring) or to hope that veterans will give them infinite funds to have unbeatable fleets from the beginning.

Do you really want a game like that ?