deathbymonty
Posts: 4
2/8/2015
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Hi devs, really enjoying the game...up to a point. I'm really upset about a few things, though.
1. Engines effect on speed regardless of weight: so I was saving up after some serious grinding to increase engine speed to 1500, AND I have Maybe's Daughter so that's 1600 total...and the ship is really not that much faster. So then I decided I wanted to go really fast and risk it all, and downgraded to the Stymphalos, thinking that since it weighs half as much I'll be able to travel twice as a fast or at least have a huge increase in fuel efficiency. Neither of those things happened, and frankly, I think that is incredibly stupid and frustrating.
2. Only one equip slot goes into Auxiliary: really? Torpedo nets, that's it? Suggestion: change the Secure Compartment and Smuggling Compartment to Auxiliary. FFS, apparently you can't smuggle unless you're in a cargo ship or larger, which is completely counterintuitive.
3. Cannot capture other ships: enough said. Give us a weapon (maybe one we could put on AUXILIARY), like a machine gun, that targets crew. Right now it's impossible to do. Also allow us to strip the enemy ship of some weapons/engines/etc., FTL-style.
4. Allow player to buy slots to store extra ships: It's nuts that I can buy a mansion but be unable to hold onto a ship. There should be a trade-in option and a buy-and-hold option. That way I can switch ships based on the particular mission.
5. Allow us to store items in a warehouse in London: warehouse could cost 3000 or, better yet, charge you a 10% commission on anything you store in it. This would allow a players to store up certain items, say, cheap fuel or extra provisions.
6. Make certain enemies faster: right now, it's pretty simple to sail around and have no one catch you. I think that the further out you go, the more dangerous enemies should get: and that means they should be able to catch you unless you are running incredibly fast based on the #1 change (which should also mean you are incredibly flimsy).
7. Increase profitability of trade: right now, trade is ALMOST pointless. It is a huge grind and I honestly feel like I am playing a Free-to-play because the grind is so bad. There needs to be an increase in the volatility of prices: make Fuel worth 4-12 in the Iron Republic and Mt. Palmerston, and 9-18 in London, 18-30 in Gaider's Mourn, etc. That way there is some fluctuation but GENERALLY SPEAKING there will more profit to be made than just 1-3 Echoes per item.
This could be a really cool game, but right now it is very grindy, very unbalanced, and not very dangerous. I can't tell you how disappointing it is for a new player to save up for HOURS in order to upgrade to a cutter, only to find out that it's NOT faster, NOT more fuel efficient, and will NOT help me make money any faster or any better.
Right now I am telling people not to buy the game; it's not worth $18. If many of these changes are made the game would become way, way more fun.
Thanks for your time!
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babelfishwars
Administrator
Posts: 1152
2/8/2015
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Hello folks - I'm appearing to note that tones appear 'warm'. Please try to ensure they progress no further - I'd hate to see 'heated', as I might actually have to do some work.
:-)
--
Mars, God of Fish; Leaning Tower of Fish
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FogChicken1
Posts: 29
2/8/2015
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deathbymonty wrote:
Perfect example: bring scientist to Empire of Hands -- thought that was going to net me a big one...and I got TWO HUNDRED ECHOES. AKA, I LOST money on the trip. That pissed me off so bad...
I think I'm beginning to see your problem. You should be covering your costs from port reports, trade opportunities that you can efficiently incorporate into your route, port stories you find along the way, and rewards from the occasional encounter with ships or monsters. If you are doing all of that then your 200 echo reward should be pure profit. (Unless you are arguing that the adventuress should have paid you enough to cover the full cost of the trip herself since she hired you, in which case you might have a point - but even if she did, you should still be doing all those other things to increase your margins).
On the trade question, if the best you've been able to find is 1-3 echoes margin per unit then you need to explore a bit more. 10-20 echoes per unit is quite possible for longer routes, and some specialized items like sphinxstone and clay men. Playing as a smuggler is possible but requires quite a bit of game knowledge, as you need high-margin, cargo-efficient items to make it work. They are out there, but they take a bit of finding. I would suggest prioritizing exploration and knowledge gathering for your first few games - as you go on, possibilities for other play styles will become more obvious.
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Fretling
Posts: 529
2/9/2015
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I guess that's where we differ. For me, new storylines *are* the reward.
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Impish Axile
Posts: 50
2/9/2015
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How steam engines actually work is irrelevant to what the game's tooltips tell us; it's completely reasonable to think that speed is a linear function of engine power, or maybe (engine power)/(ship weight) - since that's NOT the case, Failbetter really should include something (preferably ingame help/manual/tooltips) giving a more realistic picture of how engine power and ship weight (and other factors?) affect acceleration, top speed, and fuel consumption (and other factors? ). Not the explicit formula, sure, but it should be much clearer than it currently is, which is basically pure guesswork.
If i switch from 1000 to 2000 engine power, what will the actual difference in speed/acceleration/fuel consumption be? As is i have NO IDEA other than the (wrong) guess that all would double. Similar for going from a 3000-weight ship to a 5000-weight ship, aside from assuming i'd go/accelerate much slower. Unless I've missed something ingame that sheds a LOT more light on this, that is on Failbetter. Money is much too tight for us to just experiment with those sorts of upgrades.
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Rocket Heeled Jack
Posts: 311
2/8/2015
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Afternoon Monty, strong first post and while I agree with some of your sentiments, the way in which you’ve delivered them is perhaps not the way to get people on board with your ideas.
In Order
1: Engines do make a difference, not much of one, but if you want to see it in action, try fitting a bigger engine to a smaller ship and watch what happens. If you’re running the same engine on a ship, doesn’t matter what size that ship is, the engine will only take it to a certain speed. Basic laws of motion, if an engine can travel to 100mph, then that’s what it’ll travel to, it’ll take longer to get there hauling two tons and less time hauling half a ton, but it’ll only ever go 100mph…
2: It’s possible to smuggle on smaller ships, but to fit a specialised compartment to hide goods requires enough space on that ship that the compartment doesn’t stick out like a luminous sign indicating “CONTRABAND HERE”
3: The taking of prizes has been well noted, so agreed, but stripping of gear off a ship would require specialised gear and an engineer up to the job, as well as storing it and then refitting it when you got back to port (rather than right there right now), so an option for later, but not the basic game.
4: Agreed and already well noted
5: Agreed and already well noted
6: Faster enemies would make lots more dead things, presently the only chance you’ve got with a lot of the bigger things is that you can outrun them or outfox them, something that could (with deference to Star Trek 2) outrun you and outgun you will only ever lose if it chooses to let you go, and that’s never satisfying.
7: Against luxury items, which are the mainstay of most trade that doesn’t involve hundred thousand ton tankers (such as food and fuel), there are places where reasonable trade can be done, and I’m sure this will be implemented as more people go the trade route, but then a trade ship out on the northern edge encountering one of your faster meaner creatures will be dead in no time and then more complaint ensue.
I have to say that the comments made here seem to indicate that you’re not getting all the goodies immediately, and are annoyed as a result, which is understandable, but as your name suggests, this isn’t a monty haul game, it’s exploration and investigation, with the intention to play it close to the line, not give beginning captains unlimited fuel and easy runs to the far side of the world.
The games gone through a lot of development (I’ve been there for all of it), and it started off as dangerous as you want it to be…
Everyone Died…
No fun, so they changed that, and then found that you could easily get all the money, which had everyone running around in Dreadnoughts…
Everyone got bored at potshotting Lorn Flukes and Mount Nomad…
No fun, so they changed it and made things harder to get all the funds you wanted, little more work required, but it made you work for the things you got, rather than granting easy wins…
If you don’t like working for it, you’ll hate this, sorry…
Your thoughts?
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Rocket~Heeled~Jack
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