Not having had any official responses to my thread about how there aren't any level 50 pirate origin or bison origin ships available at level 50, I came up with a new idea that involves nautical leveling.

In past posts, I have read posts that brought up nautical leveling, and how it is actually pretty darn annoying to have to stop what you are doing with your pirate quests and level your nautical skill on the side.

Well, instead of simply gaining nautical levels, why don't we gain ship levels? 1-50, each level slightly increasing the ship's parameters. That way, once you have your favorite ship, a pirate origin galleon in my case, you can actually take that ship out and grind nautical levels for it. Nautical levels that actually make your ship stronger in ALL aspects.

That way, by the time you hit level 50, you'd have your very favorite ship (even your raft if you wanted to) with pretty much maximum stats. All respective ship parts belonging to specific origins can stay the same, and all the ship parts granted through packs and bundles can actually be applied to your favorite vessel, etc etc.

This is an idea I just thought of about 5 minutes ago, and got pretty excited about it. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Kind of a neat idea. Ive often wondered why my nautical leveling doesnt improve my combat stats. Theoretically, I AM becoming a better sailor right (as I level)?

I like it. I agree that it is annoying to have to leave your favorite ship behind because it is obsolete. Nauticle levels really should do more than just grant better equipment too. Nice idea. What would happen though if you decided to buy a new ship? Would it start at your nauticle level?

ladyFelix on Jan 25, 2013 wrote:

At first I would try and level my ships from broadside combat but unfortunately

IT TAKES A BLIMEY LONG TIME!

it took me to level 43 to learn that....
Don't really focus on my ships :P

My best advice for everyone is fight on deck :P

I know it's a drag but it goes by a bit faster then broadside plus you get more objects and ship equipment

Fearless Fallon Fairlead (level 45 musky)
and my pets
Prince mocha (level 45 white-tailed jackelope pet)
Big Ned (Level 45 Vermillion dragon pet)
Fang (Level 45 tropical sky snake pet)
Old Tiger (Level 45 blue-ringed octopus pet)

I have to disagree with this completely. The amount of time it takes to fight on deck compared to killing ships is night and day. I can kill a handful of ships and possibly be a couple thousand gold richer than you in the same amount of time. Broadside combat is extremely boring which is an issue the developers need to figure out. Hitting two buttons and waiting twenty seconds on cooldowns isn't exciting. The way things work with upgrades around every four levels via gold put a big hamper on most players due to the equally horrific companion system and the costs associated with it. Accuracy is the biggest stat you need besides health (misses add 20s or more to your time to kill).

What KI needs to do is make ship combat more meaningful possibly more exciting and give it a bigger play in this game. One of the advertised features in commercials and videos are flying ships in the sky fighting each other. Unfortunately when people actually play the game the realization that the ship portion of the game is extremely lacking comes to light and does little. Pirates of the burning sea was interesting for a time (could upload your own flags and craft ships etc.). Ship choices and options will hopefully expand in the future.

Baconnaise on Jan 25, 2013 wrote:

I have to disagree with this completely. The amount of time it takes to fight on deck compared to killing ships is night and day. I can kill a handful of ships and possibly be a couple thousand gold richer than you in the same amount of time. Broadside combat is extremely boring which is an issue the developers need to figure out. Hitting two buttons and waiting twenty seconds on cooldowns isn't exciting. The way things work with upgrades around every four levels via gold put a big hamper on most players due to the equally horrific companion system and the costs associated with it. Accuracy is the biggest stat you need besides health (misses add 20s or more to your time to kill).

What KI needs to do is make ship combat more meaningful possibly more exciting and give it a bigger play in this game. One of the advertised features in commercials and videos are flying ships in the sky fighting each other. Unfortunately when people actually play the game the realization that the ship portion of the game is extremely lacking comes to light and does little. Pirates of the burning sea was interesting for a time (could upload your own flags and craft ships etc.). Ship choices and options will hopefully expand in the future.

okay

I was saying that I find it easier to battle on deck

plus in game it tells you specifically that you are more likely to raid a ship in deck combat

just saying

Boarding ships is a better chance of getting your drop only under one condition.. You compare them 1 to 1.

The unfortunate truth is KI's statement misleads people, because you can sink 5-10 ships in the time it takes to board and defeat 1. ALL my friends "flee" if we get boarded now, we dont have the time for these battles.

It has been my experience that although there does not seem to be a visual change in a players ship stats, that the players nautical level DEFINATELY plays a role in thier battle success.

Using same ship equipment for various battles, and comparing to ship nautical I am attacking I can tell my nautical plays a role. The higher my nautical is, and the higher above my targets nautical I am, the easier the ship is to sink. The closer it is to my nautical (or above my nautical), and it is HARDER to sink.

Just because your not seeing ship stats change, doesnt mean things are changing. Your nautical is part of the equation.

As for wanting a specific ship at a specific level, I still hope to see ship stitching which was definately brought up in conversation during beta testing, and not by the testers!!! By the developers!

I don't see why they couldn't just offer each faction type per area instead of having the ship level with you. It also seems shortsighted to not have pros and cons besides health and accuracy on say a skiff and a heavy galleon. They just didn't put that much effort into the way this portion of the game works. If only they put the detail and care into it like they did the pop culture references I'd have much less to complain about.

Dr Zeppers on Jan 28, 2013 wrote:

Boarding ships is a better chance of getting your drop only under one condition.. You compare them 1 to 1.

The unfortunate truth is KI's statement misleads people, because you can sink 5-10 ships in the time it takes to board and defeat 1. ALL my friends "flee" if we get boarded now, we dont have the time for these battles.

It has been my experience that although there does not seem to be a visual change in a players ship stats, that the players nautical level DEFINATELY plays a role in thier battle success.

Using same ship equipment for various battles, and comparing to ship nautical I am attacking I can tell my nautical plays a role. The higher my nautical is, and the higher above my targets nautical I am, the easier the ship is to sink. The closer it is to my nautical (or above my nautical), and it is HARDER to sink.

Just because your not seeing ship stats change, doesnt mean things are changing. Your nautical is part of the equation.

As for wanting a specific ship at a specific level, I still hope to see ship stitching which was definately brought up in conversation during beta testing, and not by the testers!!! By the developers!

This is quite true as well. I've had my daughters character over nautical level 40 for awhile now since she was level 20 and it makes a huge difference. She can equip gear that isn't ship specific (cannons/anchors/horns) from mooshu or the 40+ crown shop. She's actually useful in her now heavy bison galleon still killing jade fleet ships. It really didn't take that long either since jade fleet or amber horde ships were routinely giving her 285 xp or so a pop. She leveled up quite a big chunk by acquiring a new ship and having me help her farm parts for it (not to mention all the kills quests). She outleveled those ship areas fairly quickly and I began to take her with me when I had to farm ships as I leveled as well. It does pay to keep your nautical above or at least equal to what your level is because of how good the money is. If you aren't farming jade fleet for cash and are leveling up in the game spending the time fighting ships even lower level ones taht you can kill fast (group is best if you can find one) helps pay your way to 50.

Dr Zeppers on Jan 30, 2013 wrote:

I think that what many people are not attuned to is that KI games are supposed to be casual/easy.

They are supposed to be fun for the entire family, and not require a lot of complicated statistical circumstances or situations that make the game unfun for those that are quite a bit more into casual game play. There are many choices for gamers looking for more complicated, more comprehensive/advanced MMO play. I hope they dont change KI games to suit those looking for this, as it will ruin the game for many of us. There are not as many choices for casual MMO players.

The game was written for entertainment, which is why those "references" are key, and make the game a lot of fun.

All MMO's or games are entertainment. Those pop culture references usually fly over a tween or teens head (I have five kids that play off and on). I have to disagree that it's casual play due to level grind that's fairly common in games like this. The lack of options in just about everything plus arbitrary mechanics make them lose interest. The chat system and filters which are nice for smaller children usually hinder the older children from socializing with their friends. Battles in the current incarnation aren't for the young (or old) that are usually more impatient. Treating children like simpletons that require hand holding in everything is a big mistake. When I say older children keep in mind I mean ten to eighteen.

I do agree certain things should remain simple/random/lack of choice. There are some such as the companion system which shouldn't be the way they are. Ship wise I think the lack of choice is a problem (people like different looks it's subjective). The ship battle system leaves a lot to be desired which is why all of mine avoid it at all cost (most apparently do looking at the forums and seeing people in game). The animations on the spells and visuals are there but it could use a little more interaction to keep focused and interested.

I too would like to be able to improve on some of my ships, simply because I like the look of them and would like to see the dock at Subata Temple filled with ships from all over the Spiral and all ready to sail. My suggestion would be to add a shipwright - type of vendor near the ship parts and fuel vendors. Basically he'd be like the companion tome vendor. You pay this vendor to rebuild/improve on your ship and it goes up a level with corresponding base stat improvements.

You should be able to improve your ships in this fashion to a maximum of your nautical level.

I'd pay to have all my ships at level 50.

Canny Matthew Tolliver, level 50
The Wandering Vagabond: Pirate Raft, level 4, pilot: Old Scratch
The Careless Voyager: Pirate Skiff, level 7, pilot: Ratbeard
Nimble Vixen: Royal Navy Skiff, level 26, pilot: Bonnie Anne
Shining Wisdom: Samoorai Skiff, level 32, pilot: Wing Chun
The Lucky Venture: Pirate Frigate, level 50, pilot: Grim Bruce McFin