Ships I Own and Enjoy
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:11 am
Every Thursday at 12:30 KT (Kitely Time), there are ship battles at Tessin. Sometimes I sail a ship, sometimes I act as a gunner, sometimes I just go along for the ride. The people are all friendly. Sailing a ship is tricky, but they have online tutorial videos so is fun. The battles are always good-natured, with Captains mock-cursing other ships for putting holes in their sails, and bemoaning their fate when their ship catches afire and sinks.
An interesting ship is the Smuggler. I like its style and size. I'm not singling it out above other ships on Kitely... just choosing it as one to review since its one I personally own. Good products deserve the occasional review.
The things I like: It has cannons all around. I dislike having competition at my back and no aft defenses. But no matter which side you're on with this ship there are cannons aplenty. Some Captains are good enough to sail and man guns at the same time, but since (as of this writing) I can barely get my ship to move (yes, I'm gonna practice more this week, curse THE IRONS)... I like to take a gunner along with me. This is possible because as with ships of this type it includes a gunner HUD that can be given to a shipmate, and them keep an eye out for a viable target.
I like the rustic looks and sleek lines of this ship, and the fact that the sail doesn't get in the way of the Captain's view. There is one improvement I'd like to see made on all SPD ships: I'd love to see the floating text stats moved from the ship to the HUD (where it would be constantly visible). This would allow zooming back on the camera so one can see more of the ship while still showing ship stats on the HUD.
Ship builders are currently discussing universal ship physical layout (the invisible "collision" box surrounding the ship) to unify ship "size" and aiming (regardless of what the ship looks like). Cannonball impact is already consistent. Such improvements are under discussion between the friendly Tessin ship builders, as they're always open to suggestions and tips to make the ships and battles more fun. Updates take time to implement, as such improvements are subject to group and scripter approval. The fact that more than one ship builder is involved and that they cooperate in creating a universal experience is commendable. (Over time Captains will have an increasing-number of ships they can choose from. You get to be a "Captain" by owning your own ship-- an easy promotion!)
I personally own the Smuggler, as well as the Little Duyfken, which is a ship specifically built for Wee avatars (Wellspring world) yet still competes quite fairly in full-on events (we tested it... and it gave and took shots equally.)
The Little Dyufken for Wees is about half the size of a full ship, yet is designed to compete fairly in ship games.
The mock-battles work well (emphasis on the mocking as Captains find themselves dodging cannonballs) and are lots of fun, usually with a bit of humor involved. Everyone checks egos and competitive nature at the door. From the sessions I've attended everyone congratulates whomever manages to "win" that week (winning means managing to be the last one stay afloat-- by skill or miracle). I enjoyed a session where the experienced Captains unanimously "took it a bit easy" on the brand new Captains so the new ones could get used to the controls... even though it cost the experienced Captains dearly in the overall game (and not a one complained!). That's the nature of the Tessin people and I found it admirable. I hope to some day be able myself to command a ship well enough to cut some slack to a new Captain while they adjust to the game.
The only downside is they don't hand out cookies and rums to contestants. What are they thinkings?
You can see more about the games here: https://tessinkitely.wordpress.com/what ... right-now/
.
An interesting ship is the Smuggler. I like its style and size. I'm not singling it out above other ships on Kitely... just choosing it as one to review since its one I personally own. Good products deserve the occasional review.
The things I like: It has cannons all around. I dislike having competition at my back and no aft defenses. But no matter which side you're on with this ship there are cannons aplenty. Some Captains are good enough to sail and man guns at the same time, but since (as of this writing) I can barely get my ship to move (yes, I'm gonna practice more this week, curse THE IRONS)... I like to take a gunner along with me. This is possible because as with ships of this type it includes a gunner HUD that can be given to a shipmate, and them keep an eye out for a viable target.
I like the rustic looks and sleek lines of this ship, and the fact that the sail doesn't get in the way of the Captain's view. There is one improvement I'd like to see made on all SPD ships: I'd love to see the floating text stats moved from the ship to the HUD (where it would be constantly visible). This would allow zooming back on the camera so one can see more of the ship while still showing ship stats on the HUD.
Ship builders are currently discussing universal ship physical layout (the invisible "collision" box surrounding the ship) to unify ship "size" and aiming (regardless of what the ship looks like). Cannonball impact is already consistent. Such improvements are under discussion between the friendly Tessin ship builders, as they're always open to suggestions and tips to make the ships and battles more fun. Updates take time to implement, as such improvements are subject to group and scripter approval. The fact that more than one ship builder is involved and that they cooperate in creating a universal experience is commendable. (Over time Captains will have an increasing-number of ships they can choose from. You get to be a "Captain" by owning your own ship-- an easy promotion!)
I personally own the Smuggler, as well as the Little Duyfken, which is a ship specifically built for Wee avatars (Wellspring world) yet still competes quite fairly in full-on events (we tested it... and it gave and took shots equally.)
The Little Dyufken for Wees is about half the size of a full ship, yet is designed to compete fairly in ship games.
The mock-battles work well (emphasis on the mocking as Captains find themselves dodging cannonballs) and are lots of fun, usually with a bit of humor involved. Everyone checks egos and competitive nature at the door. From the sessions I've attended everyone congratulates whomever manages to "win" that week (winning means managing to be the last one stay afloat-- by skill or miracle). I enjoyed a session where the experienced Captains unanimously "took it a bit easy" on the brand new Captains so the new ones could get used to the controls... even though it cost the experienced Captains dearly in the overall game (and not a one complained!). That's the nature of the Tessin people and I found it admirable. I hope to some day be able myself to command a ship well enough to cut some slack to a new Captain while they adjust to the game.
The only downside is they don't hand out cookies and rums to contestants. What are they thinkings?
You can see more about the games here: https://tessinkitely.wordpress.com/what ... right-now/
.