Feature Request Add Gameplay Value to the "Double Rum Rations" Feature

[Pieter Boelen]

Copied from WIP - Pirates and Privateers | PiratesAhoy!:

I'd want the "double rum rations" option to become something that people might actually use too.
Cool features are so much cooler when they have enough purpose that players actually starting making use of them!

Double rum rations would be a celebration, so what are you likely to do to merit such a celebration? It's basically another way of rewarding the crew for a particular job that they've done well. Winning a battle would qualify. Possibly completing a routine quest (cargo, fetch, treasure - not necessarily side quest). Give them double rum at the right time and morale should increase sharply, possibly add a point or two to your "Leadership" as well. Do it at the wrong time and you increase the risk of drunken disorder. Maybe also allow the option for grog, which is watered down rum, to give a lesser morale boost and reduced risk of drunkenness.

I mentioned that because it is a feature that is already there. When you enable it, morale goes up, but occasionally will plummet again as well due to a drunken brawl.
As far as I'm aware, absolutely nobody ever uses it. Which seems rather a shame for a feature that is actually in the game.

My thinking was to require the player to deal with the aftermath of such a drunken brawl by talking to the boatswain to prevent morale from deteriorating further.
But that doesn't actually give players an incentive to use that feature.

As for double rum rations, I knew it already existed and was trying to come up with ways to do exactly what you want, which is make it more interesting and useful so people may actually do it. At the moment there are two ways to raise morale in an emergency - give the crew extra money or give them double rum. Only one of these carries the risk of drunken disorder, so that's probably not the one anyone will use unless they have much rum and not much money. So, as I say, the proper time to issue double rum is as a reward for success, therefore raise crew morale sharply and give the player a few points of Leadership for doing that. But keep the crew on double rum for too long, or give them double rum because morale is slipping and you want to raise it, and that's when the drunken brawls will start...

Most relevant parts above marked in bold.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

One thing that occurred to me: Using double rum rations should be a LOT CHEAPER to increase morale than handing money directly to your crew.
If that is not currently the case, at the very least that could do with some rebalancing!

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I would rather give them a cash bonus. It keeps them happy and sober at sea and less rum = more room for cargo = more money.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I would rather give them a cash bonus. It keeps them happy and sober at sea and less rum = more room for cargo = more money.

That sounds pretty close to @Grey Roger's description above as well.

Now I'd be curious: What would be needed for you to consider using this feature?
It seems rather a shame to me to have features in the game which are almost pointless, so I'd welcome some brainstorming here.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

The only time I think about crew morale is right after capturing a ship to prevent a mutiny, which happens very rarely.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Do you have any idea why you don't worry about morale? Is it generally always so high that you don't need to worry about it?
Or does it not seem to make much of a difference if it is high or not? Or can't you keep it at certain levels anyway because it always keeps dropping down?

The whole "Morale" functionality is a large part in many spots in the game code so if that basically serves no purpose, we may need to do a bit of thinking on that one.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I only board a ship after I have pounded the crew into an awful or treasonous state. Otherwise they are too strong and I lose too many officers and men. Otherwise I don't think about morale at all.

 

[Grey Roger]

After I've boarded a ship, even if I won, morale on my ship often drops sharply. The newly captured ship is also likely to have low morale, especially if I've given it a few broadsides of grapeshot to make the boarding easier. The morale on my ship needs to be raised immediately so I can proceed to the next target in the enemy fleet, and then it needs to be raised again before I go to the third target, etc. Once the battle is over, I've probably got three prize ships with "Treacherous" morale which needs to be dealt with at once otherwise they're liable to mutiny during the next day update. I don't think double rum acts quickly enough to do this, and it certainly can't be used to raise my ship's morale several times in the same battle.

Paying to raise morale will probably remain the only way to keep my ship's morale at a decent level during the battle. Once the battle is over, perhaps issuing double rum in time for the next day update could be sufficient to raise all ships' morale to at least average, and any ship whose morale is already average could go straight up several notches. But the day after that, unless you've done something else to celebrate, the morale boost from double rum should not be as great and that's also when the risk of drunken brawls should set in.
Another possibility might be to encourage drunken brawling just before a battle. Get the crew good and aggressive, then give them someone to fight.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

After I've boarded a ship, even if I won, morale on my ship often drops sharply. The newly captured ship is also likely to have low morale, especially if I've given it a few broadsides of grapeshot to make the boarding easier. The morale on my ship needs to be raised immediately so I can proceed to the next target in the enemy fleet, and then it needs to be raised again before I go to the third target, etc. Once the battle is over, I've probably got three prize ships with "Treacherous" morale which needs to be dealt with at once otherwise they're liable to mutiny during the next day update. I don't think double rum acts quickly enough to do this, and it certainly can't be used to raise my ship's morale several times in the same battle.

True, that; double rum rations only take effect at midnight.

During battles, I think there should be some morale scaled based on player losses vs. enemy losses.
If you did well and didn't have many deaths on your side, morale should go UP.
I have got no clue if it actually works out like that though.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Methinks it does work like that in that morale goes up and down based on your losses. When one of my ships gets hammered but my ship suffers little loss in a battle my crew morale goes up while the other crew morale goes down.

 

[Levis]

looking at this again @Pieter Boelen what would you say if the double rum rations influences the (fight)Level of your Boarding Crew?
I could give them a Little Penalty for being drunk when Boarding.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

It should affect Morale. And Morale should have a large enough effect to make this potentially worthwhile.
So the basic version of this feature request should be simple game balancing.

Second step would be a bonus to leadership if you handle it properly.

Making the crew drunk while boarding would be one more reason to NOT use this.
But people already don't use it, so we don't need more reasons to discourage them.