Announcement: First monthly Edgemenace glitch-free SvS tournament

[Molly Hookhazzard]

I plan to attend,but it depends on some RL issues. It sounds like alot of fun and I hope I can make it!!

[Samule Sworddogger]

I will try to attend if RL will let me. thanx for the invite and all the work you put into this Edward, it really sound like a fun time. sea ya there i hope

[Sven Osymthe]

I may be able to make this thanks to the new times. See ya then Edward and everyone else showing up.....this should be interesting.

[Molly Bluesilver]

I should be able to be there. Thanks Edward

[monkeefriend]

Ahoy Ed!...since ye changed the times for eastcoasters i am really hoping to be able to meet up with all ye mates tonight, one of me squidds (Squiddkiddy, orSquidmonkee) will try Thanks

plunder on, Grace Squidkidd

[Edward Edgemenace]

Apparently my contingency plans were lacking. I've run into trouble getting my cable modem reactivated; in the event I miss the event, please take copious screen shots to claim the (delayed) prizes. Wish me luck dealing with the ISP...

All's well now. The event will start in about three hours from now! (Whew!) (Note the POF clock seems to be off by a half hour.)

[Achilles]

Well done Edgrrr Edmanace,
your event seems to be going well.
I personally hate cable, scurvy thing it is.
back on my Ship, the USS Neverdock we used cable, it always irratated me to no end. .... BLAH.
Never happens on me dock, on me Island,... and It is my Island Mate. !

[Edward Edgemenace]

Lower turnout than expected...starting late on Battira, at shipwright on Ile d'Etable de Porc.

<hr>

Synopsis of first half: Griefers (me,) griefers (me,) griefers. The initial 8 people that were on time to the event had a comfortable start, but when reinforcements arrived to double the attendance, the feces hit the fan, as it were. SHRAPNEL effects cause not simple wounds to people, but stunned all crew aboard most ships.

Yet another SvS glitch.

Shrapnel, from the description in the skills panel, is not supposed to stun people, nor is it supposed to prevent people from switching cannons. But alas, it does, both.

After bitter accusations of cheating on both sides, all participants empties their stores of grape shot to prevent further accusations. It actually is taking a while to do and is still in progress now...

[Edward Edgemenace]

Event over, first and last sets were by far the most enjoyable. Screen shots to follow...

Unfortunately, the crowd dispersed too quickly for my main announcement. Because of the massive amount of foul calls, everyone that participated (all 16 people) are hereby awarded the 10,000 gold doubloon prize. So far, only three have collected. (Yes, you can name another pirate you'd like to receive the gold, instead.)

Much to my dismay, the game POTCO simply can't do ship vs. ship. Each ship had approximately half the allowed crew, yet "blinking/jumping" was pervasive (despite all the participants, especially the drivers, being absolutely trustworth and very much interested in a glitch-free event.) Round shot turned out to be massively more harmful than I ever imagined. Not only did shrapnel (incorrectly) stun, it also (incorrectly) glitched people off cannons, preventing crucial cannon switching and it also (incorrectly) locked up ships, making them completely immobile. The server we were on was very quiet. 1 or 2 ships per side. Ships would also lock up whenever firebrand was in the air. Maxed broadsides seem to be guilty of the one-hit-wonder phenomenon, even without open fire.

So, no ammo AT ALL can be used in SvS, to achieve a glitch-free battle.

Its a sad day for me. I know now that SvS will never amount to a fair, playable game. This is the end of the first and last glitch-free event for me, since such a thing is fiction. Even round shot only would still have all the shrapnel problems, making it eternally unplayable. And even I can't picture a "chain shot only" event.

Thank you very much, all of BBK and PIC for the last-minute support.

[combatlizzy]

After all the initial problems, the svs turned out to be quite informative. As Edward said schrapnel causes alot of problems that can be blamed on other things. I would like to thank all BBK and PIC members who showed up and those other pirates who I am not sure of their guilds. And thanks to Edward for holding the event and being a good sport in admitting he was incorrect. And a special thanks to Ed for awarding shiney to all who participated that wanted the shiney. Now me second pirate has enuff to but a war ship. hmmm..all she needs is sum skill..lol

[Edward Edgemenace]

Originally Posted by combatlizzy

...And thanks to Edward for holding the event and being a good sport in admitting he was incorrect...

It's funny - I was WAY off. This answers my nagging question about the official privateering contest though. I knew back then, that I didn't get points for grape shot - so for the entire privateering contest I used only round shot when on cannon. In hindsight, it is obvious why that was so successful, but it sure wasn't obvious back then. In all this time, I never realized that my round shot stuns enemies more effectively than grape shot. (It is more effective, really, because it doesn't tell them they are stunned, it just stuns them.) I didn't know it locks up enemy boats, either.

Thanks again to all the participants. Please reply here or PM me, if you didn't get your gold yet.

[Maximvs]

Congrats on a sucessful event Edward I unfortunately being an hour behind everyone else even on the East Coast still had to many RL issues to deal with to make it...

Bravo

[Edward Edgemenace]

I'm not sure what you mean by "successful event" - perhaps that people had some fun? That some people won some of my gold at the poker tables? (Thank you all, BTW!)

I'm not convinced it is even possible to have a glitch-free SvS match. The server-side lag is beyond abominable. Even with allowing firebrand in this past event, I never once saw client-side lag. What I did see, was that whenever two people with shrapnel hit an enemy boat, that boat locks up, 100% immobile. (That, apparently, was what was causing the violations of rule #12 above.)

If I try this again (unlikely, considering how poorly this worked,) then it will be for something like LEVEL 10 PIRATES AND BELOW ONLY. But given what happened when everyone was using only round shot, I doubt even that would make for a glitch-free SvS match...probably see other strange server-side lockups as soon as there were 4 or more people.

The event was successful, in that it showed that glitch-free SvS, is an oxymoron. I can still dream, though.

[Maximvs]

Originally Posted by Edward

I'm not sure what you mean by "successful event"

I find that if you look at a project as a whole and tackle it that way - you find hardship because the goals are too large...

Success can be measured in smaller chunks - the event took place (success), there was new discovery (success), and even with issues players got to have some fun and entertain themselves for a while (success)... true - not everything worked out as planned - but in any large undertaking... it never does

[Rackat]

Originally Posted by Maximvs

I find that if you look at a project as a whole and tackle it that way - you find hardship because the goals are too large...

Success can be measured in smaller chunks - the event took place (success), there was new discovery (success), and even with issues players got to have some fun and entertain themselves for a while (success)... true - not everything worked out as planned - but in any large undertaking... it never does

Excellent points. I agree with you.