Conference of Monarchs:Hypnos' Hunter notes (October 2006)

Game Design

• ocean specific doubloons or some way to limit it when an ocean is starting up, like a cap. feeling that people moving over fortunes and empires ruins a clean start for new doubloon oceans
• there are no red routes near colonization
• ships spawn strangely on Hunter; they seem to be all imperials?
• there should be some forewarning about the forums or way to tell new players about it and the important part it plays in the large political type game
• merchant missions
• make a mandatory tutorial instead of tips about the etiquette and social norms of Y!PP like trading and challenging
• online test for people wanting to become captains and monarchs
• make blackspots SO and above, not officer
• a way to customize crew permissions when creating a crew, such as only SOs can invite people in
• pirates in a crew can see the officer board, where cabin persons and jobbing crew cannot. not sure why that is.
• player created chat channels
• there are no benefits to going to war, blockade fleets are not affected
• flag should have to do something about a pending war declaration, or there could be some benefit to a pending war dec, like taking a larger percent in PvP, risks a large % from the attacking flag too, can't shop at the stalls of the folks you're declaring war on
• the above suggestion is unfortunately prone to cheating by alt flags
• remove island transfers
• fame is broken; encourages green farming rather than a skillful flag
• give a bonus for good puzzling verses average
• give more fame for powerful puzzlers, rather than numbers
• specific job types or offers put on noticeboard, such as looking for Respected and above in carpentry, Renowned and above in bilge. encourage specialization
• more missions/tutorials dealing with socialization and etiquette, and make an intro to pillages and teaming
• old social system does not work as well any more as there are too many new players vs. experienced players

Game Balance

• disgree on the ship doubloon cost issue brought up by Sage
• event blockades may make smaller flags more willing to participate in blockades
• what is affecting brigand king spawn? people sail around with ships full of fruit but only seem to be able to get them by sniping larger ship spawns of brigand kings
• lack of 4-5 league routes for a good medium length pillage
• islands on Hunter are opening slowly, could we have more mediums? 2-3 mediums at once on a new ocean opening would be good to encourage competition without narrowing it so that only one flag gets all of the benefits from first colony
• planting of Ringer shops - please do it in the beginning or not at all
• auction off the Ringer-controlled shipyards

Support Issues

• feeling that OM intervention should only be necessary when there's flagrant personal attacks or "giv po"
• higher end game has too much OM interference and holds on behaviour- people are following a pre-established norm, and it feels like it's been suddenly taken away. the TOS are too vague, and the interference takes out the war and politics
• generally happy with the support system(!)

Miscellaneous

• the startup population of Hunter was very experienced, which made the ratings skew a bit off the other oceans' standard