Improvements and bug fixes on the way in PotBS Patch 1.1
Over at the official Pirates of the Burning Sea website there are a couple of Developer Logs posted that outline some of the changes that are on the way as part of the first post-launch patch, Version 1.1. Some of the highlights include:
Mismatched NPCs in Ad Hocs
This bug gets reported a lot. You attack an NPC in the Open Sea and when the battle starts, you're facing a different ship than the one you attacked.
Once we realized this wasn't just a rare case here or there, we tracked down the code bug and fixed. In v1.1 you should reliably find the same ships in and out of the ad hoc battle.
This is going to be awesome and sad. Awesome because finding Van Hoorns and Agamemnons will be much easier, and sad because this will make the captured deeds worth less on the Auction House.
Ad-Hoc Invisibility
Due to a code bug, this invisibility worked both ways: enemies couldn't see you, but you couldn't see them, either. That meant that once the effect ended, you would suddenly see enemy ships pop in. This wasn't intended. In v1.1, you can see enemies but they can't see you. This gives you time to get away before your invisibility wears off.
This will help with the large amounts of lag that having 100+ ships load generates. Showing up on a battle group's screen and not being able to move is annoying. It was also slowing down my XP/Hour since I had to wait out the full timer to find my next suitable target.
Open Sea Logout
It may have happened to you: you lose connection or just quit the game while your ship is in the Open Sea, not realizing that your ship would stay in the world for a little while after you left. That means an enemy ship could attack you and even sink you while you were offline.
In v1.1, we've revamped the logout system to make this all work a lot more clearly.
If you disconnect suddenly-due to a crash, a loss of power, your dog unplugging the cable modem, or whatever-your ship immediately drops sails and stops moving. Sudden disconnects leave your ship in the world for two minutes. If you log back in within two minutes, you rejoin your ship where it was, sitting stopped in the water.
This is a welcome change. It would have saved a Level 44 Frenchie from losing his Gallant Naval Frigate to me last night. He disconnected and his ship continued sailing merrily along, straight into a PvP zone. He reconnected just in time to get hit with Run Them Down, and hey, I got the keys to a Naval Officer-only Refit Frigate.
Outfitting Fixes
Some outfitting that improved your guns' max range was overpowered. For example, you could set up a Lancer Cutter to have a max range of 850y, which is just crazy.
Yes, it was crazy. Crazy fun! The best I personally have gotten my range to was 725y on my current ship a Defiant Frigate. Back to the shipyard to see how else I can combine mods to find the game mechanics loophole.
You can read the full Developer Logs by clicking here and here. Oh, and for all the Freetraders whining about the "stealth nerf" to Marks of Victory for supply missions, get over it. They are Marks of Victory, not Marks of Moving Inventory. Last I checked, big cargo ships had guns. Use them.