Hm. At some point, I found it a little flat when I constantly hear from pirates:
"Greetings, honorable commander! We are a humble League merchant trading fleet headed for resupply. We would be honored to assist you in any way."
Especially after I've annihilated 80% of their fleet, and this is my second time fighting the same "fleet" again. This might come up as sadistic, but I expect the pirate that's currently in command to be a quivering mess that either just wants to get away from me:
"N-n... No! STAY AWAY FROM US! PLEASE!" + various other tidbits commonly associated with pleading to not die.
Surrender their ships in exchange for their lives, or an offer to join my fleet.
"Alright, you win, take our ships, let us live." or on the extreme case, a suicide of the commanding officer of that pirate fleet which causes the fleet to become yours.
Mount desperate last stand (or a "they're obviously taunting us, let's attack this time and get them off our backs"):
"Screw you! We'll fight to the last crewman! You'll never have us!" + various threats.
When I visualize it, it's the constant "visiting" of my fleet onto a ruined pirate fleet without going into combat, that slowly puts psychological stress on the surviving crew; the constant, possible threat of death looming behind that grows stronger with each "visit". For other factions, the breaking down of an officer's professional aura into an individual that just wants to live to see another day. This is the sort of immersion that can make a fleet + portrait feel a bit more "alive" through text.
Which leads to another idea that I've been holding, various levels of "hate" with factions that coincide with how many fleets you've annihilated completely:
Neutral - Hate - Enemy - Nemesis - Feared
- Neutral - Base state, nothing much
- Hate - Possible chance of getting attacked
- Enemy - Attack on sight
- Nemesis - Actively hunting for your fleet
- Feared - Actively avoiding your fleet
It takes a lot of enemy fleet destruction for you to reach the "feared" stage. As an added bonus, once you've hit nemesis, you're awarded a randomly generated nickname they call you i.e. Red Baron, Vald the Impaler, and various other real world historical nicknames. Once you hit the "feared" stage", you become something of a living legend among members of that faction. This should probably happen the other way around as well. What do you guys think?
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Topic: Communications Gameplay Element - Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick (Read 2541 times)