Brethren of the Brick Seas (BoBS) Intro Thread, Era II

[LM71Blackbird]

9 hours ago, Bregir said:

We are holding back a bit as we are aiming at releasing raiding before the next mrca.

There are a few outstanding points, mainly related to troops, but I think you will soon hear more.

Oh, cool! Looking forward to seeing how that mechanic plays out... 

[Darnok]

Around my place we suffer from an unusually long and dry heat wave for weeks already, which had quite some impact on my overall activity. Building time has gone down significantly. So I for one am quite happy that things go a bit slower at the moment.

 

11 hours ago, Bregir said:

We are holding back a bit as we are aiming at releasing raiding before the next mrca.

There are a few outstanding points, mainly related to troops, but I think you will soon hear more.

I prefer things to be done right, rather than rushed, so I appreciate you guys taking your time with this. It is also holiday season, so I doubt every bit of communication goes as fast as usual. So no worries, it is done when it is done.

[LM71Blackbird]

10 minutes ago, Drunknok said:

It is also holiday season, so I doubt every bit of communication goes as fast as usual.

When you say holiday you mean summer vacations right? My American brain has another definition for the words holiday season so just checking... :)  

Edited July 30, 2018 by LM71Blackbird

[Darnok]

5 minutes ago, LM71Blackbird said:

When you say holiday you mean summer vacations right? My American brain has another definition for the words holiday season so just checking... :)  

Aye, summer vacation.

[Bart]

question on the posted raiding rules @Capt Wolf Does this have any influence on black flag statuses? 

[Capt Wolf]

8 minutes ago, Bart said:

question on the posted raiding rules @Capt Wolf Does this have any influence on black flag statuses? 

Good question. I would think that an attack on a port when the parties are not at war would be considered an act of piracy, and as such would result in the attacking ships being designated as black flag ships. But we did not specifically discuss this, so I'll bring it up and confirm whether my interpretation is correct.

[Bart]

That sounds good yes. 
But as it was not listed in the other thread, and we just had the whole discussion about it regarding the Prio conflict, I thought I'd better ask in advance :D.

*fun that you can now go to the uninhabitated islands, nice hide out for raiders. very nice rich city's close to those :D

[Capt Wolf]

6 minutes ago, Bart said:

That sounds good yes. 
But as it was not listed in the other thread, and we just had the whole discussion about it regarding the Prio conflict, I thought I'd better ask in advance :D.

Yes, and I'm glad you did!

6 minutes ago, Bart said:

fun that you can now go to the uninhabited islands, nice hide out for raiders. very nice rich cities close to those :D

I'm curious to see if those islands get used at all, and if so, how. That's certainly one possible use!

[Bregir]

55 minutes ago, Bart said:

Does this have any influence on black flag statuses?

If you make an attack on a settlement while flying the Sea Rat/OL/COR/ESL flag, how can that be considered anything but an act of war? The whole idea is that you can raise the black flag for your actions not to reflect on the nation you are from. ;)

So if you want to attack a settlement without risking repercussions on your faction, you should probably raise the black flag before doing anything... ;) That further makes it fair, as anti piracy patrols have a chance to catch you first.

[Darnok]

How is this handled in relation to NPC factions?

[Captain Genaro]

10 minutes ago, Drunknok said:

How is this handled in relation to NPC factions?

The same as player factions.

[Roadmonkeytj]

2 hours ago, Bregir said:

If you make an attack on a settlement while flying the Sea Rat/OL/COR/ESL flag, how can that be considered anything but an act of war? The whole idea is that you can raise the black flag for your actions not to reflect on the nation you are from. ;)

So if you want to attack a settlement without risking repercussions on your faction, you should probably raise the black flag before doing anything... ;) That further makes it fair, as anti piracy patrols have a chance to catch you first.

But that wouldnt be right ... If you look at famous pirates it was common to fly another flag then raise the black during an action then put it away to sail as a normal ship ... Anti piracy patrols would have to board the ship and find a flag .... 

[Capt Wolf]

The idea behind the black flag rule is to have a way to identify known pirates. As such, I personally have no problem with a pirate not raising the black flag for its initial piracy attempt. In fact, if the attack leaves no witnesses, the black flag really shouldn't be triggered. Of course, this situation only happens if all ships that were attacked are sunk, which isn't a very successful piracy run.

[Bregir]

The idea behind the black flag is also to avoid piracy reflecting on non pirate sea Rats. If sea rat ships attack other factions, other factions should be expected to respond.

Our game mechanics do not really support using a ruse du guerre of changing flags amidst a mission.

5 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

But that wouldnt be right ... If you look at famous pirates it was common to fly another flag then raise the black during an action then put it away to sail as a normal ship ... Anti piracy patrols would have to board the ship and find a flag .... 

Would it be right to allow anyone to attack someone else without giving them a chance of retribution? This was the very reason we made the black flag. Without that, Corrington would probably have been at war with the sea Rats today, as we could not accept sea rat ships attacking us. Without the black flag, the only way to counter the pirates were to target all sea Rats. Obviously, the non-pirates did not much care for that.

I think the current rules have struck a good balance allowing everyone to play the game as they want, pirate or not.

But if you have suggestions on how it can work better, we are always willing to listen.

We just need to remember that the rules have to be as simple as possible and balanced for all. :)

[Bart]

simplest thing: Raiding = blackflag action. 

if not then it's an act of war. (maybe curtsy to ask the faction if it was a bureaucratic mistake or a war action before you retaliate) 

[Bregir]

19 minutes ago, Bart said:

simplest thing: Raiding = blackflag action. 

if not then it's an act of war. (maybe curtsy to ask the faction if it was a bureaucratic mistake or a war action before you retaliate) 

Agreed - and I believe actions, if not words, have already set the courtesy action as precedence. At least, there are no wars... yet! (Although Prio was close... )

[Roadmonkeytj]

On 7/31/2018 at 12:25 AM, Bregir said:

The idea behind the black flag is also to avoid piracy reflecting on non pirate sea Rats. If sea rat ships attack other factions, other factions should be expected to respond.

Our game mechanics do not really support using a ruse du guerre of changing flags amidst a mission.

Would it be right to allow anyone to attack someone else without giving them a chance of retribution? This was the very reason we made the black flag. 

I think the current rules have struck a good balance allowing everyone to play the game as they want, pirate or not.

But if you have suggestions on how it can work better, we are always willing to listen.

We just need to remember that the rules have to be as simple as possible and balanced for all. :)

Now that there is a better understanding of the mechanics I think they work for now ? Simple answer yes. 

Can they be improved upon? Also yes. 

Do I have the answers currently? No

I've actually thought of this... Im unsure how to properly tie it into the current mechanics.  Off the top of my head I would think to have a option pop up on the black flag form.  Allowing you to sail under "other" colors.  Perhaps a monitary subtraction on top of upkeep? Obviously during any action you would have to be black.  But while in route you could "sail past" a patrol but afterward until you a) left the zone or b) arrived at a haven port you would be black.

Im not saying to simply allow attacks more so make it "harder" to patrol for "pirates"  Im not sure if a dice roll could be used for identification of a known pirate sailing under other colors when passing a patrol.  Perhaps even number failure to identify odd they identify? I'm not sure a 50/50 is the right odds for that.  

Piracy and sinking was the two main issues back then ... I would hate to see us engineer it out of the game.

Im not sure how to work it but these were just raw thoughts.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Roadmonkeytj

[Darnok]

Two short questions here: are militia accounted for with the new raid rules? And if so: how?

[Captain Genaro]

26 minutes ago, Drunknok said:

Two short questions here: are militia accounted for with the new raid rules? And if so: how?

Yes, the militia is included and they are added to the defender's force as additional crew. 

[Fraunces]

Alright all I stumbled to this awesome website www.brickseas.com but it is not updated to era2.. anyone had any info on this site? 

[LM71Blackbird]

Quinnsville has some troops and per the rule update I would like to follow the instructions and keep the books updated.

14 hours ago, Capt Wolf said:

All existing troops will be grandfathered in without impacting current raising limits, but players still need to fill out the new form so that we know where the location of all existing troops.

So, I have a few questions regarding the new troop form... I'll just put my questions under the question titles.

Player Name

The troops in question are stationed in Quinnsville, so would that be the player name? Similar to settlements licensing property?

What are you doing

which option would be best for this?

How many troops. Do not use commas

 

There are 30 troops in question

 

Location

 

Quinnsville

 

If the ownership is being transferred, please list the new owner. Otherwise leave this blank.

 

Not being transferred

 

Destination (only use this if you are transporting troops. Otherwise leave it blank)

 

Not moving them anywhere

 

If troops are being transported, please list the vessels used.

 

Not transporting them anywhere.

 

------------------

Thank you in advance!

[Capt Wolf]

2 minutes ago, LM71Blackbird said:

So, I have a few questions regarding the new troop form... I'll just put my questions under the question titles.

Cool. I'll also call @Captain Genaro's attention to this, as he has had the most to do with developing the form.

2 minutes ago, LM71Blackbird said:

Player Name

The troops in question are stationed in Quinnsville, so would that be the player name? Similar to settlements licensing property?

Player name here means owner name. If the settlement is the entity paying for the troops (like settlements licensing property), then yes, put the name of the settlement here.

---

FYI, the form is a work in progress. It should also have a place for the link to the MOC of the troops if new troops are being recruited.

[LM71Blackbird]

10 minutes ago, Capt Wolf said:

Cool. I'll also call @Captain Genaro's attention to this, as he has had the most to do with developing the form.

Player name here means owner name. If the settlement is the entity paying for the troops (like settlements licensing property), then yes, put the name of the settlement here.

---

FYI, the form is a work in progress. It should also have a place for the link to the MOC of the troops if new troops are being recruited.

Much appreciated! I'll wait for a little bit then before moving forward on this. Thanks again!

[Captain Genaro]

7 hours ago, LM71Blackbird said:

Player Name

The troops in question are stationed in Quinnsville, so would that be the player name? Similar to settlements licensing property?

Who owns the troops. 

7 hours ago, LM71Blackbird said:

What are you doing 

which option would be best for this?

Raise new troops. 

 

[LM71Blackbird]

2 hours ago, Captain Genaro said:

Who owns the troops. 

Raise new troops. 

 

I believe that the settlement of Quinnsville owns the troops. At least that is where they are in the accounts spreadsheet.