[2023] Naval update rework ideas (just had to get it out)

This is not a hostile post but after reading both the critics and praisers of the new update here is a rework I came up with that tries to make both sides happy. I am not a professional game developer.

Ok I just want to go through both sides a little first.

The people who hate the update seem to hate it for a few reasons.

1. It feels too complex - A lot of the criticism I have seen is centered around the complexity, these people want mindless fun. They don't mind having extra things in the game but prefer the game to be more basic. Basically these are people who would prefer pre 1.9 minecraft. They like the basic water combat. Three ship levels fight know what to expect no dancing around with ships that counter eachother (and are asthetically out of place).
2. pacing - the game is now slower because the increased cost of lumber and the required tier three techs making economy slower and more complicated. I think people who dislike this element would prefer a resource meter or something so they can increase/decrease resource levels which effectivley solves this issue for slow vs fast pace.

ok onto the other side

1. The meta was stale - The meta was boring because economy, and naval combat were streamlined to the max to the point where the game is just adventure capitalist or something clicking stuff to build more stuff to click more stuff.
2. battleships are the only important thing in the game - Battleship spam is everything and nothing else matters just spam and surround continents, sure people could play drylands but players deserve good naval combat not just avoid it.

Ok now assuming we reverse everything in the update for a moment and consider what elements we could fix without upsetting either side, lets try to develop some changes here I go again not a professional just some thoughts

heads up I have no input on lumber huts and roads I am talking about ocean changes and that is all but yes if the change is final then tribes MUST be compensated say Yadakk and Vengir

1. Battleships are OP. Yes they are but that doesn't mean we should replace them. Instead lets make them less powerful against land targets. This could be accomplished in a variety of ways. Maybe lower their stats while cost remains the same so their power doesn't transfer over to the land. (You would have to make sure they are still good enough against ships to be worth it so maybe bonus vs water units or extra defense against ships. OK but we're keeping them. And lets prevent you from upgrading them outside your city border because that way battleship fleets become less expendanble. More care to keep them alive makes them still less effective at long distance assault against continents. Possibly also making their vision that of a ship and giving ships (possibly renaming to scout ships) have extra vision so you are encouraged to take a couple with you reducing your fleets power. The goal is to keep ship to ship combat more familar for those players while reducing the importance of battleships over all land combat.
2. Now listen to this, what if we added more environmental factors to the ocean, so instead of changing the ships we can alter the environment. Lets add a wave mechanic that is turn based. turn one waves spawn on a water tile moving in a direction they do no damage if spawned on unit. turn two they move one over and deal two damage and become bigger. level three they do say five damage. This creates a dynamic environment where ships have to be moved out of optimal position to dodge oncoming waves adding a new problem to think about while keeping the ships basically the same. It's simple because it's ultimatley still mindless. You see wave, you move. It doesn't require complex thought necessarily but it requires MORE thought and is therefore more entertaining. These Environmental mechanics can extend to other things as well say whirlpools which suck adjacent ships in after three turns and deal damage before spitting them back out. You could also add rouge ships that are unallied to all players like ruin pirates but against you. What about ocean tiles which are impassable for some reason or block vision like giant rocks. The point is and I think most peoples issues with the update are because they don't like the ships. People love the battleship it's iconic. I am not aware of the game engine or how it functions but ideally you can customize the level of waves, or other environmental factors in your game. Honestly Customization fixes a ton of problems.
3. Why not whales and starfish? Both give half or both spawn 50% less? Just sayin whales are iconic as well.

ok let me sum up

- Keep boats ships and battleships but decrease ship power against land targets

- upgrade only in territory or maybe for greater cost outside to encourage caution, planning,

- build a dynamic ocean environment that gives a feeling of fear and of needing to protect
the quote on quote "Fleet" yknow?

One thing I notice about polytopia players is they love their stuff. They love that their land is pretty and enemies land is dull. They love their allies are "faithful" and enemies "foolish" They love the my tribe against the world stuff in the right amounts so give them that feeling of their ships. I think just spamming different kinds of ships instead of the old doesn't help I think the dynamic environment whilst keeping the old ships adds a level of caution and fear the ocean should have. AND CAN I JUST SAY THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ME THE OCEAN CANNOT FEEL LIKE A DIFFERENT COLORED LAND TILE IT MUST FEEL LIKE THE OCEAN AND LETS BE SERIOUS OCEANS ARE BIG VAST AND KINDA SCARY WHERE LAND FEELS SECURE AND SAFE. Polytopia players like feeling "safe" behind their borders. Let's make them feel less safe outside them, anyway your thoughts again just suggestions had to get it out not being a snob or anything.

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