Would you consider this

[rupertlittlebear]

<!--QuoteBegin-"dshirk"+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("dshirk")</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->This is what I got from Dan, the producer...

<i>Ships always have however many cannons they have, and you can't add to their cannon number anymore. However, all ship classes don't necessarily spawn with the same number of cannons. So even though your beginner sloop is an 8 gun sloop, you may run into a 20 gun sloop on the high seas. And that's kind of a decision you need to make -- do I keep the 8 gun ship that has all the upgrades I've put into it, or capture this ship with more guns but without all my upgrades, and put the money into upgrading the new ship.</i>

This added an extra dimension to the gameplay, and always leaves the option open to finding a better ship of the same class.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
On the Xbox version of Pirates you can never add cannons to your vessel.
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/modding.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="modding.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdown.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":2dn" border="0" alt="thumbsdown.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/slap.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":slap" border="0" alt="slap.gif" />
This was a management decision!!

You can only capture a vessel with cannons and must move to that vessel if you wish to have that vessel's cannons.

<b><span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>"Game Killing Feature"</span></span></b>

Looks like I will never be getting the Xbox version. Maybe I will save my money for a better computer and write off Firaxis entirely.

 

[Wolfwood]

At HoP, where dshirk posted the above-quoted message, I noted that this will be a killer bug _if_ it also means that you can never get the cannons back that you lose in a battle.

Imagine capturing a SOTL in a long battle where both ships lose a lot of their cannons only to find out that you can never get replacements for those cannons.

IF (big IF) you can get the cannons back, for example when fixing the ship at the shipwright, it will merely be a feature, allowing us to have more variation between the ships of a same class than we currently have. i.e. 8-gun sloops, 10-gun sloops etc.

 

[rupertlittlebear]

This game killing bug necessitates another game killing bug.

You only have 3 choices from here.

1) You can reduce your opponent's cannons by bombardment with round shot.

2) You cannot reduce your opponent's cannons by bombardment with round shot.

3) You can reduce your opponent's cannons by bombardment with round shot, but all cannon damage is magically repaired after battle.


Item 1 means you will always get a reduced prize because you have permanently reduced that ship's desirability as a flagship.

Item 2 means there is no purpose to an artillery duel except to maybe reduce the crew or sink the ship.

Item 3 means you don't care what you do to the enemy.

 

[gonzo914]

I really don't think this is a game killer -- you just play differently. In fact, I never even noticed it until (a) rupert brought it up, and (b) I played the PC version (and I use the term "played" very loosely here, because between the crashes and the video issues, I've done very little actual playing on the PC).

If you want to keep the cannons on a ship you're planning to capture, either take down it's sails with chain or board it before you shoot its cannons all to hell. Note: It you do take down it's sails, it will be slow going heading into port, because it appears your fleet speed is limited by the speed of the slowest ship in it.

As a side note, I've noticed that when you have a carpenter specialist, cannons on your flagship get restored at sea. I haven't payed attention closely enough to tell whether its all of them or just some, but cannons definitely got fixed before I hit port.