Aweful lot of pirate attacks lately

[The Industriallist]

There's no need to introduce something as complicated and destabilizing as gunpowder just to give you ship-ship and coast-ship weapons. Ballistas would work fine, even if the already-existant archery isn't good enough for you (it could be made to shoot at ships...just as well as anything else could [I think]).

Cannons need Iron & Gunpowder (1000g Iron?)
GunPowder (required to make cannons) needs Saltpeter (From bog or swamp area's such as Reniov Swamp), Sulphur (Mountains) and Charcoal... Fire up those kilns!

Actually, you con't get saltpeter from swamps to my knowledge. The preferred source is decayed animal waste, as found in the ground under an old stables. Run the right solution through it and the saltpeter runs right out.

Or for really rich deposits, BIRD DROPPINGS
Seriously...that's the strategic significance of Chile around the turn of the century.

Also...for a decent cannon you need...probably more iron (the things are massive!) and a pile of wood to make the carriage, which is very important.

[ephiroll]

Institute an undocking project needed to get your boat back in the water or allow guards to shoot the pirates with arrows. You follow a thief down a path an hour after he leaves and deal with him, you can even drive a car to the next town and wait for him... but that selfdefense does not exist when it comes to a pirate.

The thing is undocking shouldn't take any amount of time, if undocking is made into a project then getting on a bike, getting a car going, and a host of other things should be made into projects. The whole complainant about boats undocking so quickly isn't the real problem (all but the largest ships can and do undock quickly depending on the whim of the sailor), the real problem is that there is no way to give chase and catch someone on a boat, which if boats were made to dock with any slower boats then the problem would be solved. Being able to use ranged weapons as they should be (i.e, as <i>ranged</i> weapons) would go further to correct the imbalance.

Any "artificial" solution such as a "hitback" or making undocking a project would in the end cause many more problems then what there is right now and wouldn't really solve anything. "Hitback" and project docking aren't real solutions, they're just quick fixes.

[TheTheorist]

Also...for a decent cannon you need...probably more iron (the things are massive!) and a pile of wood to make the carriage, which is very important.

*salutes the Industrialist*

I get too excited when I'm writing my posts my mind runs wild thinking about it, I don't always do my research! It would be a good idea but as you said, it is sort of moving Cantr on an age...

[Cheshierekat]

I like the thought of being able to use a catapult or other weapons like that in order to hunt the pirates. But....It's a vehicle. It should be treated like bikes. You can't hit a bike after it's on the road unless you head out onto the road after it. I think that in order to hit the pirates on the water, you should get your butt onto a boat and go after them. It's only fair. Maybe if you get close enough, there would be the option to hit them. I am still completely against the auto-hit back. Even if there is a dis-engage button it will just cause more problems then it will solve.

I should add that there is nothing really fair about pirate attacks. But it's not their fault the good towns people don't utilize their buildings and just stand there waiting for the next attack. You would think that after this happens 3 or 4 times with the same pirate attacking, (everyday I might add) that they would head into a locked building. Of course, I might just be thinking a little too much outside the box.

[Stan]

I was part of the big pirate happenings as of late. I was one of the landlubbers. I don't see anything unfair about the current system. I was one guy and could have easily killed the pirates if there were more than 1 person awake at a time.

It just takes a few tactics and an actual strategy. In a few days I'd love to talk about what occured on the land side of things and why so many people died. It could have been avoided.

Although, I do think being able to actually shoot an arrow over distances would be a good thing. This could provide a weakness for the crossbow which isn't as powerful over long distances as say a longbow.

I think if it becomes possible to dock to a moving boat we'll hear alot more about pirates....aaargh!

[swymir]

I thought that it was possible to dock to a moving boat, but I may be wrong. If you can't then I say that need by the only thing that should change. And maybe make it somewhat fast. Then all you would need is a few well-armed people and a boat and the battle can take place out in sea.

I think that the people who feel that pirates have no advantage over the people of the town seem to think that crowbars are as common as a hammer (speaking of which should also be able to take off locks). A crowbar requires steel which requires Iron which now is extremly hard to make. It would take nearly 3 years of work just to make a crowbar now-a-days and there are far more improtant things to spend 260g of steel on. Either change how crowbars are made or maybe use hammers to break locks but let them succeed less often.

However I would be perfectly happy is a boat was able to dock onto another boat in say 1 or 2 hours weather is was moving or not. This would balance the matter perfectly in my opinion.