Why isn't there a Navy??!!

[EMPstrike]

For open water battlfields it would seem plausible in a place like indonesia or hawaii but to me it would seem the issue would be what the value of holding open water would be. I know its more story, game world stuff than it is mechanic wise but i could see (if a open water terrain were used) Something like floating barricades and big anti-ship mines being used to make the terrain interesting.

But more realistically i think an amphibious vehicles would be the best bet in maps with water.

[Einharjar]

Well the said "plot" being added with the naval content could be:::

"After the first year of war (assuming the first expac could be within a year), the Order of Nations is seeking all manner of options to thwart their rebellions. Both the Liberation Front and the Shadow Revolution, despite their differences, have still made hard blows to the heart of the Order's military power. In the beginning of the second year, the Order announces full exploitation of their latest back up plan: restarting, Atlantis.
Through their swift, secretive organizations, the Order has long been reinvigorating the search for the lost City of Atlantis. To their surprise, Atlantis has turned out to be an entire continent of a once above sea ancient world. Now lost under the waves, the Order has sent it's greatest navies to control Atlantis and reboot the ancient technology that was lost there.
Meanwhile, the SR and LB now have new competition. As they attempt to sack any cargo of the ancient Atlantian technology the Order holds while at sea, they begin to reverse engineer and use the said devices to assist in their own means. Willing to fight fire with fire and gain an edge over each other in their own private conflicts; each has solidified their own Navies and added new land weapons to their arsenal to take the next fight to the Order. This time, over the deep blue."

Basically whole new world land masses could appear in the Atlantic, and "Sea Stations" could also be invented. Think, giant Oil Rigs only there purpose is similar to space stations.
Thus, you'd have new place for land battles, new things to add to your armies for land battles, and what would've been open sea maps? Could be filled with destroyed or derelict Order of Nations Sea Stations for use as the many control points.

[hahahaweee]

what about area specific naval battles? I can see many technical and balance issues with adding a navy to normal maps but that doesn't mean they can't have a part. The very fact that this is a global game means one would need supply lines and such and ships rock at that... and to have them secure you need a navy right? Perhaps you win a key battle close to a coast and then during that land battle the faction that won gets naval strikes or some sort of reinforcement (moving along the idea that capturing areas gives certain persistent bonuses).

[EMPstrike]

interesting prospect E

[Einharjar]

what about area specific naval battles? I can see many technical and balance issues with adding a navy to normal maps but that doesn't mean they can't have a part. The very fact that this is a global game means one would need supply lines and such and ships rock at that... and to have them secure you need a navy right? Perhaps you win a key battle close to a coast and then during that land battle the faction that won gets naval strikes or some sort of reinforcement (moving along the idea that capturing areas gives certain persistent bonuses).

Well there could be a game mode that is entirely dependent on coastal territories. Lets call it "Beach Head". In this case, fleets are the main base, and send "amphibious assaults by your army design to establish a Beach Head.
This could be doable in terms of Balance because EoN lets your swap builds for next re-spawn. So, lets describe how this would work with the said mode:

Game Mode - Beach Head
Coastal territories can be the next staging ground when invading continental bodies. After you've gained access to the coast, a land battle ensues for the coastal water front, in order to gain access further inland or simply secure the coast to prevent any flanking on a territorial matter.
You're starting locations are your fleets. From them, you spawned your land army builds. With use of amphibious and air units, you attempt to establish a beach head for a forward base by capturing all points along the Beach Head and hold them for a desired amount of time.
In turn, your ships will provide fire support from a distance, and the enemy will have fire support from inland via NPC assisted "bases" to give them a sense of occupation as well as some balance.

The balances of this would have to be pretty carefully tuned. Since unit caps seem pretty small on this game, amphibious carriers and transports will take up space that would've otherwise been filled with dedicated fire power.
Also, I wouldn't think your fleet would be able to fire to far inland. They would be meant to balance your lack of numbers due to transports taking up slots, but nothing more; while the enemy's entrenchments via far off artillery and whatever else is meant for putting on the pressure as soon as you start gaining momentum on the Beach Head itself.

Now I'm only offering a "game mode" here because the development team hasn't given us a lot of info of what happens when you capture territories. Most maps seemed very mirrored in design so... I don't know what their agenda is.
For instance it'd be totally baller to have the ability to donate cash to build actually "pre-made" defenses on that Territory. Or to build "Air Fields" or "Silos" on others. Thus adjacent battles get new "call downs" and have a map already partially defended by allied NPCs. But this really starts messing with balance issues here and have a faction controlled by thousands of players trying to make a decision uniformly would be hell. Some one would have to be elected king or something, you know what I mean?

[hahahaweee]

Well there could be a game mode that is entirely dependent on coastal territories. Lets call it "Beach Head". In this case, fleets are the main base, and send "amphibious assaults by your army design to establish a Beach Head.
This could be doable in terms of Balance because EoN lets your swap builds for next re-spawn. So, lets describe how this would work with the said mode:

Game Mode - Beach Head
Coastal territories can be the next staging ground when invading continental bodies. After you've gained access to the coast, a land battle ensues for the coastal water front, in order to gain access further inland or simply secure the coast to prevent any flanking on a territorial matter.
You're starting locations are your fleets. From them, you spawned your land army builds. With use of amphibious and air units, you attempt to establish a beach head for a forward base by capturing all points along the Beach Head and hold them for a desired amount of time.
In turn, your ships will provide fire support from a distance, and the enemy will have fire support from inland via NPC assisted "bases" to give them a sense of occupation as well as some balance.

The balances of this would have to be pretty carefully tuned. Since unit caps seem pretty small on this game, amphibious carriers and transports will take up space that would've otherwise been filled with dedicated fire power.
Also, I wouldn't think your fleet would be able to fire to far inland. They would be meant to balance your lack of numbers due to transports taking up slots, but nothing more; while the enemy's entrenchments via far off artillery and whatever else is meant for putting on the pressure as soon as you start gaining momentum on the Beach Head itself.

Now I'm only offering a "game mode" here because the development team hasn't given us a lot of info of what happens when you capture territories. Most maps seemed very mirrored in design so... I don't know what their agenda is.
For instance it'd be totally baller to have the ability to donate cash to build actually "pre-made" defenses on that Territory. Or to build "Air Fields" or "Silos" on others. Thus adjacent battles get new "call downs" and have a map already partially defended by allied NPCs. But this really starts messing with balance issues here and have a faction controlled by thousands of players trying to make a decision uniformly would be hell. Some one would have to be elected king or something, you know what I mean?

I could get behind that... Especially because it makes the logistic feel a lot more real. Keep the good ideas comin people!

[Rythe]

Well, the biggest problem is that adding a naval warfare aspect to the land/air combat divides the players up by limiting their ability to deploy to certain regions. It's like the air vs land dynamic only game-breaking because land and navy are suddenly at a much bigger disadvantage in terms of basic mobility. In combined water/land maps, amphibious and air units become all too obvious kings beyond a few niche roles.

Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander 1 did navy right, generally, and got away with it because you controlled them plus everything else. In End of Nations, players don't have that luxury or flexibility.

Plus, adding navy would be a ton of work as previously mentioned, and the reward to actual player experience is dubious and delicate at best.

It's a neat dream at least.

[Myll Erik]

Nothing wrong with dreaming.

[Einharjar]

Well, the biggest problem is that adding a naval warfare aspect to the land/air combat divides the players up by limiting their ability to deploy to certain regions. It's like the air vs land dynamic only game-breaking because land and navy are suddenly at a much bigger disadvantage in terms of basic mobility. In combined water/land maps, amphibious and air units become all too obvious kings beyond a few niche roles.

Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander 1 did navy right, generally, and got away with it because you controlled them plus everything else. In End of Nations, players don't have that luxury or flexibility.

Plus, adding navy would be a ton of work as previously mentioned, and the reward to actual player experience is dubious and delicate at best.

It's a neat dream at least.

You're right. It's definitely a huge stretch.
But, games offer many flexabilities over time. MMOs are usually meant to be a gamers "online home" where there is such thing as "sure why not add this" or "yup! you can do that!"
WoW is adding a pet battle system for example. A whole new system needing a whole new set of rules, balanced variables of depth of play. Why?
Cause they can. And SOME one, SOME ONE playing, will like it. In the end? That's all the developers are looking for. Some one, some where, will enjoy it.

[Worolith]

I personally think a navy would be a great addition to the game. We already had land and air units but it would mean players would have to be more aware of the map and their units capabilities. Adding a navy would allow for an almost separate battle too take place. it would be like adding another lane on League of Legends: it would require more player skill, awareness and it would be mostly separate but you could go over too that lane. The navy's could fight on the water, whichever navy wins would have an advantage, they could fire a load of shells too then help the land effort. even a tiny bit of water on each map would be fine and the navy's could participate in long range battles and is far as i know with the global campaign, you would be able too add more sections:the sea.

The global campaign could be greatly enhanced with an added navy, more sections, more spoils. Co-op would be greatly increased also. Once person could focus on naval warfare, another on land/air. This would also increase the need for communication e.g. "i could do with some artillery over here". The air units would also work even more well if a navy was introduced. Air would be the only unit that can go between land and water to do close up damage so you could have a third player controlling the skies and helping out wherever he/she is needed.

Going back to the global campaign, If you added sea sections, it's not going too be just navy, air units would be plausible.You could also have an aircraft carrier that can have 5 aircraft stored on it and released at the click of a button. This would possibly mean that you could sneak an aircraft carrier round behind an enemy, release the air force and force the enemy too fight on 2 fronts, maximizing your chance of winning.

Overall, i think a navy would be a great addition too the End of Nations Arsenal.

Worolith