Realm Vs Realm
PotBS is classified as an RvR MMORPG. In order to win the map members of a nation work together to achieve victory points. Points are acquired by controlling ports and by capturing ports.. The 4 Realms are called Nations and are:
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Great Britain
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France
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Spain
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Pirates
These nations fight each other for control of the Caribbean. This happens mostly by trying to conquer each other's ports to gain enough Victory Points to win the map. Setting up and winning Port Battles requires efforts in PvP, PvE and the Economy. This means that players of all preferences are able to contribute to their nations vie for control.
Contention Points
When an NPC or player is defeated within 100 nautical miles of a conquerable port of its nation a number of points is added to the Unrest pointtotal. This number can be viewed by opening your mini map and changing the tab to show PvP areas. The number of points can vary depending on a) the number of players in the group and b) the level of the NPC(s) or player(s). Players who take part in building Unrest points against a port gain Personal Contention Points.
Pirate PvP
Once the Unrest Points (Contention)reach 3,000, a red circle appears on the map, with the contested port in the center, Pirate PvP signifies an area wherein Pirates, and Privateers with the skill Sanctioned Piracy, may initiate combat against other players.
Full PvP
Once the number of Unrest points reaches 6,000 points the Pirate PvP area is given a wider radius and what was the Pirate PvP area becomes a Full PvP zone. The Pirate PvP area is the same as described above, but inside of the Full PvP zone any player of any nation can attack any player of another nation.
Flipping a Port
When the Unrest point total has reached 10,000 points, a port battle is scheduled for 46 hours later at the contested port and the Attackers and Defenders start building Conquest points. The PvP zones will remain until the port battle has been resolved. Players who have Personal Contention Points are entered into a lottery for invites to participate. The higher the number of Personal Contention Points you have, the greater your chances to participate are. Players may still gain Personal Contention Points once a port has flipped.
Conquest points gained after the port has been flipped can allow for strategic advantages for the port battle such as modified wind directions and alternate starting spawn points.
Quote, originally posted by Taelorn:
You earn unrest points to put a port into contention. Once the port goes into contention at 10,000, you earn contention points via the same activities. Those contention points are added up for the entire nation. There are numerous advantages that are given to the nation based on those points. The bonuses are different for attackers and defenders. You'll be able to see what bonuses you've earned through NPCs in the ready room ...
Port Battle Scheduling
A port battle will start no earlier than 46 hours after it has been put into contention. Port battles always start on a full hour so the time is rounded up if necessary. If a port is put into contention on the 11th of a given month at 17:30 the battle is scheduled on the 13th of that month at 16:00.
Multiple port battles cannot start at the same time. If this were to happen each subsequent port battle is scheduled one, two, three etc hours later. For example if on the 11th between 17:01 and 18:00 four Spanish ports are put into contention. The port battles will be scheduled on the 13th at 16:00, 17:00, 18:00 and 19:00 respectively.
Later addition: Port battles do not start before or after the server's announced daily window of port battle timeslots. If this were to happen the port battle is scheduled on the first free port battle timeslot of the next day.
Leading Up to the Port Battle
30 minutes before a scheduled port battle a warning is broadcast to all players stating that invites will be sent out in 17 minutes. Players should have their port battle ship selected, outfitted, and armed at this point. It does not matter where you are in order to take your invite (in a different port, on the open sea, etc), just as long as you have the right ship you should be good to go. Once the 2 minute window of opportunity has passed, players who took their invites will find themselves in a ready room to discuss strategy and form groups. The timer will go down and players will be asked to zone into the map, or be kicked from the ready room.
Resolving the Port Battle
The attacker wins by defeating all defenders. The defender has the same victory condition. If the attacker is unable to locate or defeat all of the defenders, the attacker may instead destroy the Town Defense Gun on the map which starts a 30 minute timer. When the timer reaches 0, the attacker and defender may leave their ships to enter the Town. The attacker is also granted an alternate victory condition to defeat the 4 lieutenants and then the Garrison Commander inside.
As the attacker, destroying the Fort Defense Gun enables them to land within the Fort (please note this is not the same as the Town). The Fort has no bearing whatsoever on the victory conditions for either side, but it will shoot the attacker as long as the lieutenant inside is alive. The defender may enter the Fort from a side entrance at any time.
When a player is sunk in their ship, they lose 1 point of durability on it. If a player is defeated in avatar combat within the Fort or Town, no durability is lost.
The battle has a timer for two hours. If this timer runs out, the defenders win.
After the Battle
At the end of it all someone will win.
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If the defender wins the port stays in their hands and the PvP zone disappears.
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If the attacker wins they gain control of the port and other nations including the defender must pay extra taxes when manufacturing goods there and individual players of other nations might be banned from the local Auction House depending on their Reputation.
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If the attacker wins and the attacker or the defender was the Pirate nation the port will be returned to the defenders control after 96 hours and a small Pirate PvP zone will remain until the port reverts back to the control of the defender. In all other cases the PvP zone will disappear at once.
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After the port battle is decided, Martial Law or Raided state (if Pirates attack and win, or Pirates defend and lose) will be placed on the port and no Unrest or Personal Contention Points can be gained on the port for the time shown.
Personal Contention Points are akin to lottery tickets for invitations to a port battle. Just because you have the most personal points, doesn't mean you will get into the fight. Conversely, just because you only have 1 point, doesn't mean you will be overlooked. However, the more points you have, the more chances you have to take part in the port battle.
Personal contention points on foreign ports are earned by creating unrest there through sinking ships of the nation owning the port or by blockading it. Points are earned on friendly ports by removing unrest caused by foreign nations, which can be done by sinking the ships of the nation holding unrest on the port or by patrolling the port.
Points can also be earned by providing unrest supplies to the Garrison Commander (on friendly ports) or the Rebel Agent (on foreign ports).
Unused personal contention points can be turned into General Contention Points for future use at other port battles.




Port Battle Maps
Attacking advantages
Points earned Bonus conferred
1000 Unlocks the West Spawn door in Attacker Ready Room (Starting location number 1)
2000 Unlocks the East Spawn door in Attacker Ready Room (Starting location number 3)
3000 -5% damage debuff on the Fort Commander
4000 -5% damage debuff on the Gun Emplacements A and B
4500 Spawns a group of NPC Attackers that follow the first person to talk to them (AvCom)
- if nobody talks to them, they'll just stand around until they're attacked!
5000 -5% damage debuff on the Town Boss
6000 -7.5% damage debuff on Fort Commander
6500 Spawns a group of NPC Attackers that follow the first person to talk to them (AvCom)
- if nobody talks to them, they'll just stand around until they're attacked!
7500 -7.5% damage debuff on Town Boss
8000 +.25% initiative regen, placed on all Attacker players
8500 +10 max morale, placed on all Attacker players
9000 Switches the wind direction to attack wind
9500 +.50% initiative regen, placed on all Attacker players
10000 +20 max morale, placed on all Attacker players
Defending advantages
Points earned Bonus conferred
1000 Unlocks the two remaining doors in Defender Ready Room.
1500 +2% damage on Fort attacks
2500 +5% damage on Fort attacks
3000 +5% HP on the Fort Commander
3500 Turns on one of the extra gun emplacements
4000 +10% structure on Gun Emplacement A and Gun Emplacement B
4500 Adds Lieutenants by Fort Boss
5000 +5% HP on the Town Boss
6000 +10% HP on the Fort Boss
6500 Adds Lieutenant by Town Boss
7500 +10% HP on Town Boss
8000 +.25% initiative regen, placed on all Defender players
8500 +10 max morale, placed on all Defender players
9000 Activate the other 2 optional gun emplacements
9500 +.50% initiative regen, placed on all Defender players
10000 +20 max morale, placed on all Defender players