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Stratics: Tell us about the Dutch, what type of players are Dutch ports intended to attract? Will the Dutch favor certain nations who trade frequently with them?

Daynes: The Dutch are the neutral side, and they welcome traders and visitors from all nations, from Pirates to the French Navy. The Dutch ports cannot be conquered, so they are safe and reliable ports for everyone.

Stratics: When a port is first captured, and then put under heavy pressure immediately afterward by the losing nation, how much real time do you expect will pass before it once again falls into a contended state or PvP zone(subject to balancing of course)?

Daynes: Once a port is captured, it has a 24-hour grace-period where we don’t track unrest. After that period expires, the port begins tracking unrest normally. So an aggressive navy can push the port back into contention very quickly, but they have to wait at least a day before their efforts have any impact.

Stratics: Besides increasing trade, are there practical defensive strategies for a port that sees its unrest levels rising because of the actions of another nation?

Daynes: We plan on having many different kinds of missions and events that players can participate in that will help push a port’s unrest in their direction.

Stratics: The dev team has been quoted; “Eventually, you'll want to defend 'your' port because you've built a plantation and estate on that island, and own property in town that you don't want the filthy English looting.” So tell us, will plantation ownership be similar to typical MMO home ownership?

Daynes: First off, this is a feature we’ll be exploring after release – it’s not in the game at launch.

We expect that if you’ve built a plantation on an island then you have a significant economic investment there. They will be fairly expensive to build and operate, but they also have the potential to provide you with tremendous profits – particularly if your enterprise is well managed.

If an unfriendly nation takes control of your port, you won’t be able to operate nearly as efficiently, which can cut deeply into your revenue. Because of this economic impact, plantations and other producing structures will be even more meaningful in the strategic sense than a typical MMO home, which in turn makes it vital for all players to protect their ports, not just the navy.

Stratics: How soon after the initial release will player controlled ports and Captain’s quarters float to the top of your priority list? Can you share some of the ideas that you all are kicking around?

Daynes: Captain’s quarters and player-controlled ports are similar to player housing and player-run cities in other games. Giving players access to their “Captain’s Quarters” is a feature we feel is fairly standalone, and is likely to be quicker and easier to implement.

I can’t wait for player-run ports, but they go hand in hand with a more complex economic model, which is a much larger task. And of course, these have to be balanced against other eagerly anticipated features, like swashbuckling combat and shorebound adventures!

So the answer is that although these features are very important to us, we aren’t doing any detailed planning that far ahead. We’re going to learn a tremendous amount once we hit beta and release, and we’re making sure we remain adaptable.

Stratics: It is a challenge to integrate the economic and combat mechanics and keep it fun. It sounds as though you have taken this problem head on and you know better than to bite off more than you can chew at the start.

Daynes: We try! One of the greatest lessons we’ve learned from other MMPs is to keep your own expectations realistic, and aim for what you can actually hit. This is a challenge for any team and we’ve reached too high more than once, so we’ve learned from experience as well as example. We’ll get the economy integrated, but it will only be once it’s ready.

November 2005
Robert ‘Robc’ Charney