Privateering! Add Optional "Factions" Joinable on a Session-By-Session Basis

While i like all three themes for the factions you described, all of them are naval factions and i think a 3 faction system with piracy, naval defense, and merchanting interacting as factions that can be associated with in a session/season based way would be better (and maybe in the case of biweekly or monthly or w/e seasons rare could allow 3 characters per gamertag, so that you could have characters for each) and they could still let players choose not to associate with one at all, to avoid the benefits and the repercussions.

The pirate faction would give bonuses for stolen loot, but still give a penalty for sinking merchant faction ships, rather than just looting them, but have no penalty for killing them, They can sink naval ships without penalty, and can sink other pirates without penalty. Alliances can be made among pirats if they choose.

The naval faction is tasked with defending merchant faction vessels and cargo, and is penalized for sinking and killing merchant players. They are given alerts when merchant ships are being attacked, and if they sink the attacking ship and defend the ship they are paid, and if they retrieve stolen loot and turn it in the merchants whos it was get a cut, but it must have been in the hands of pirates last (which provides the opportunity for rogue navy ships to make shady alliances with pirates, but would most often not be abused, as the loot still has to be acquired in the first place and their is no increase in earnings for doing this, its just the faction system in play protecting the merchants from total loss)

The merchant faction is penalized for attacking anyone before taking fire themselves, and is given the benefit of calling for aid from the naval faction, and are given non combat related ship upgrades related to merchanting to increase profits and so that merchant ships always have loot on them, things like the merchant crates should be collected as raw materials and then crated up on the ship, the item dependant on the ship upgrade, providing a real player economy with people creating items of their choice that can possibly have further use other than sale, rather than digging up random chests. Being able to create powder kegs and other sandbox items would be great.

A lot of vague ideas but this is just my take on a faction idea, in general i agree with the idea completely, some sort of actual faction system in this game, tied into a “real” economy ripe for piracy, would be amazing.

@cpt-brumbl3z said in Privateering! Add Optional "Factions" Joinable on a Session-By-Session Basis:

@a-cranky-eskimo The idea behind three like factions is to ensure that players don't feel compelled to go for the "easy" one or the one that gives them "better" perks. They are entirely, gameplay wise, symmetrical; the only difference is cosmetic and thematic. Players would be free to consistently work for only one faction if they want and would never be penalized for it or feel like they're missing out on gameplay since they'd only be missing out on cosmetics (which they may only want from one faction, anyway). Expanding the existing loot hand-in NPCs, as it sounds like you're offering, and making sort of MMO style bounty/mercenary and loot crafting systems I had already dismissed as going outside of the game's intended gameplay and core systems when I was coming up with the idea initially. Restricting player activities based on faction is not a good idea because the faction gameplay needs to be an extension of existing gameplay without restricting choice.

We're all pirates here. The factions hire us as privateers. That fits the game theme and makes it very easy to integrate into core gameplay as it's not adding brand new features but merely expanding on what already exists. Specific-function factions such that I really can only trade run or can only anti-PK or so on is getting way too RPG and brings with it the problem of restricting player freedom and choice for no apparent benefit. This is meant to be a sandbox survival adventure game with notably more interesting interactions and rewards than traditional DayZ style. I don't mean to powder keg all over your ideas, but I just don't see them working in SoT, though I am glad to hear I am not the only one who would like something like this.

Frankly i dont see any point in adding any more factions just for cosmetic and alliances sake, alliances are already underdesigned and kinda ruin piracy.

I think you are misinterpreting what i suggest. The system i suggest for an economy is no different in a literal sense than collecting voyage items now, except players get to make the decision rather than constantly be told the next island on a piece of paper, though players could also just use the voyage system to direct them and then opportunistically harvest and craft these consumables and commodities. This type of gameplay is literally necessary for satisfying piracy rather than deathmatch esque gameplay.

I also said that players would not be forced into these roles they could just play as normal, however if they were a player who never fires unless fired upon, they would benefit from playing for the merchants, or if they like pvp but dont like attacking random people who may not deserve it, they can play navy, and people who enjoy attacking people no matter what will now get a bonus for it, and also a punishment for losing.

Im also not saying make these punishments restrict freedom, if you can play as a navy ship and successfully sink other naval ships or merchants, without sinking or being killed, you wont have to pay for a new ship or have a long respawn, or whatever balanced penalties rare would decide that i never described in my earlier post.

No worries i prefer honest discussion and i think the disconnect in my idea is the labels you put on it. Sandbox and rpg mean almost nothing when it comes to this game and its content, i could call the voyages and items they reward “rpg elements”.

Im not saying go full minecraft here, just simple things like allowing a 2-3 step process to create crates of tea and bone dust, or to create powder kegs and future items in a balanced way.

If they had multiple systems like this we could get commendations for gp keg kills without rare forcing like 5 to spawn every wave at forts, we could get things like the old banana crate achievement realisitically through island knowledge and intelligent gameplay, etc etc.

What i suggest opens up more sandbox possibility, it dosnt force linear or “rpg” gameplay. If anything i would say the suggestion that new voyages be associated with the factions is restrictive and not sandbox material.

Ahoy there matey this idea be a variation on player Factions which was a topic that was discussed a bit. I like to see it brought up agian. May i add your post to the Community Ideas Master List

@cpt-brumbl3z thats all just semantics when the game is severely lacking content, halo combat evolved has more ai diversity than this game.

Cursed cannonballs have already ruined any real strategy and skill ceiling this game had, you can toss around things like “this isnt an mmo or rpg” but i make the suggestion with a pretty good understanding of most if not all the core ideals of the vision for this game. It is a sandbox with emphasis on player interaction and creating our own stories set in a fantastical pirate world.

I dont see how adding in faction that have voyages restricted to them or that dont serve an actual purpose would provide anything new to the sandbox, what i suggest actually allows people to make their own decisions and still be profitable, rather than be forced along linear voyages to earn anything except the odd random loot, or in random appearing shipwrecks when player ships and skeleton ships dont even turn into them when sunk.

There are a lot of holes in this game and pretending like depth of merchanting and piracy shouldnt be added because of some labels like rpg or swag, when its clear the game just needs more systems at play to make it more exciting, dosnt make sense. Another wave of cosmetic only factions wouldnt help this very much, the gameplay/sandbox itself should be improved and the voyages expanded through the existing trading companies.

By definition factions are supposed to have different ideals, and as i said before, you could still play as a merchant just to use the visual cue of the flag, to trick people, you just would have longer load times and accrue a debt when/if you are sunk.

Imo my idea simply is a taller order but would be much more satisfying than 3 new factions just to add voyage types.

Edit: im completely on board for the faction ships sailing around and the island capture and defense, and control of outposts etc, but again i think these things being fought over by a naval and a pirate faction with a merchant faction that allowed players to create their own trade routes and collect process and and imrpove their own goods, with the risk of being pirated in the background of this territories battle, would be better than just having multiple randomly themed faction.

Tbh i dont care about the labels they give the factions its more about this being a pirate game and having players find everything rather than being able to choose a specific good to gather or craft, takes away the fun of pretending to be a merchant player.

Not having factions and a basic economy and tying that into the literal theme of the entire game, piracy, would be a huge missed opportunity and beyond that a huge design oversight imo.

@cpt-brumbl3z said in Privateering! Add Optional "Factions" Joinable on a Session-By-Session Basis:

@enf0rcer Go for it!

Your post has been added i thankyou for your contribution.

@cpt-brumbl3z said in Privateering! Add Optional "Factions" Joinable on a Session-By-Session Basis:

@a-cranky-eskimo

It sounds like one key point you're looking at is introducing a major expansion of trade goods style loot and making mercantilism a major focus via a faction. I have a problem with that primarily because we would need an equitable expansion to bounties and treasure hunts, but also because I think that risks adding layers of complexity this game is not built for. These are big reasons I am iffy about your particular idea and why I argue it would restrict player choice. If being part of that faction means I get more money or reliable access to the best rewards for merchant voyage-style gameplay, that absolutely would give players less freedom because they'll be compelled to do that and only that. Treasure hunting and bounties would necessitate equitable expansions and, therefor, their own associated factions, which creates the same problem: the player's options are reduced. While I'm all for expanding on existing trading companies--gatherable and craftable trade goods is certainly a possible avenue for the Merchant Alliance--there's no inherent benefit to restricting such things to a faction, especially if in practice the Navy and Pirate factions cannot reliably earn comparable rewards. There would be a huge risk of stagnation as people swap or choose one faction en masse and that would not be good, especially if acting in a way that goes against the faction's gameplay loop can punish me (i.e. merchant sinking and stealing treasure). I also see another risk as the Navy is inherently intended to protect the Merchants and it becomes a 2v1 situation against the Pirates and that's a bad dynamic. Three equally balanced factions plus the unaffiliated pirates as a wild card is simple, easy to understand, and no one needs to be punished for playing their faction "wrong".

The suggestion I have would effectively still earn you the precise kind of gameplay you are after. This would easily achieve your Pirate-Merchant-Navy dynamic. You help and protect those in your faction against its enemies, you pillage and plunder what belongs to your enemies, and you ensure safe trading routes for maximum profit. This way, players can freely switch on a whim from being a pirate, being the navy, or being a merchant in the same faction. Additionally, this would be able to generate a greater sense of community as players may choose a faction and never leave it, or choose never to join a faction long term and remain an unaffiliated pirate rather than become a career privateer. The dynamics this could generate between players would surely improve everything about the game without any foreseeable negatives; we just get more Sea of Thieves and can now attach a lot more meaning to our encounters and seafaring adventures.

If you really want to put your idea out there, though, certainly regarding expanding trade goods, go for it. It deserves its own thread. Might just sit down and try my hand at it myself if you don't.

I hear a lot of what ifs and i still think you are thinking of my take on factions as some wildy different idea from your own, which it really isnt.

You say “Three equally balanced factions plus the unaffiliated pirates as a wild card is simple, easy to understand, and no one needs to be punished for playing their faction "wrong". as if thats not exactly what i described just with more meaning and purpose to the 3 factions, rather than different naval themes. This game isnt missing more themes or cosmetics, (well it is, but they are near last on the list of things the game needs) its missing the meaning and purpose of player choice behind the theme it has, piracy. And there can be repercussions that vary while still preserving balance.

It isnt about players doing things “wrong” anymore than it already is for being sunk etc, this just adds much needed variables and decision making.

The idea is more about rewarding playstyles like passive merchants or righteous yet deadly navy ships who dont attack the weak, as well as ruthless pirates. They design the pirate faction correctly and only very few will want to risk playing as the others and still pirating.

To the what ifs.

Saying “what if one way to play is the best and makes having multiple rulesets unfair/imbalanced” is the gist of what you said correct?

This can easily be avoided by how they implement these new activites and voyages. Yeah maybe overall grinding as a merchant is the most consistently profitable, yet also the most risky, which makes sense. But maybe one day you sail around and cant find anything to harvest that has high value to npc that day, or maybe one day you play as a pirate and sink someone about to turn in 4 hours worth of loot. Excuse the what ifs but the point is to have everything be based on random encounters, be that with harvestables on an island or what have you. All players would still have access to the main voyages, and i assume forts will still be the most profitable. Which as an example of what ypu described already exists as the thing people rinse and repeat. Adding more options can only lessen this, not increase it as you describe.

Basically im saying take both our ideas and assume they did balance them, which one adds more tangible mechanics, and sandbox potential, a faction system with a real economy and a real decision to join based on gameplay, or a faction system that is tacked onto the game we have that is only about aligning yourself with a style of cosmetic. The faction system i describe plays into itself and creates new scenarios, the faction system you describe just be a voyage update with some cosmetics to the existing companies. Without rulesets or specific reasons to join factions, there is no reason to even call them factions, unless the new voyages are all pvp oriented.

They would obviously have to balance things like crafting of powder kegs and everything, and if theres any reason i can see my idea not fitting into the game its because rare cant even price cosmetics properly so why would they be able to do this, but conceptually idk how anyone could oppose actual piracy being introduced, if they could actually balance the rulesets and item economy properly.

Id rather hear you think they cant do it, as sad and somewhat pathetic as that is given their marketing since day one, than hear a bunch of what ifs, no offense lol.

There are solutions to your balance issues, pirate faction would give bonuses for theft without sinking, etc, bringing new reasons to actually do more than just sink and repeat.

Encouraging certain gameplay under certain factions and discouraging other actions would make this game less predictable, more fun and repercussions would make successes more meaningful.

The 2v1 thing is how its always been for the real pirates anyways, and you arent taking into account time to travel. Pirates would either see the escort or have a window of opportunity before being attacked themselves.

Im sorry i really dont see how you can be all for factions and think that 3 new cosmetic based factions will do what you described for people. I know literally everyone ive ever played with would be dissapointed with some pointless new factions for voyage types and cosmetics.

The people i talk to and myself all agree that this game needs a lot more than cosmetics and more fetch quests. I know this isnt what you intend, but Its a slap in the face to us, as i have been pushing this item economy idea tying into factions tying into the pirate theme since the first alpha group, and they add things like 3 animals with trash ai for a 3rd fetch quest in the name of merchanting, and again im not sure if its just sad pathetic or both.

All i want is this game to be what it should be, an amazing implementation of an amazing concept, which is why im so opinionated, so dont take it personally please lol.

Also one last point, we wouldnt need an equal amount of bounty or treasure fetch quests added, because the merchanting i describe would provide gameplay to all 3 factions through the merchanting addition anyways, pirates would have more target ships, the navy ships would have a purpose other than to be themed the same and ally with others for no apparent reason, except to take advantage of the already broken alliance system.

This game is called “Sea of Thieves” correct? Not sea of hold hands and sing kumbaya? Lol the alliance system is so broken already we dont need the game to further encourage this gameplay, if people want help then by all means ally, but the extra security should be the bonus not duplicated gold that dosnt even require both crews at the outpost for turn in...

These rulesets and repercussions would remind these players that they are playing an open world pvp pirate game, and if they are upset with losing for making mistakes and playing “wrong” then dont join a faction or go back to playing minecraft lol...
I want this game to be inbetween casual and hardcore, im not saying go full elite dangerous, and even with my minecraft joke earlier not even that level of crafting, item economy, but i feel like this “make the game overly simple to cater to casuals” requirement that all the content this game has seen clearly follows, is ruining what this game could be.

@cpt-brumbl3z said in Privateering! Add Optional "Factions" Joinable on a Session-By-Session Basis:

@a-cranky-eskimo

You need to better flesh out your proposal then. Your suggestions made it sound as if playing merchant means you're not allowed to attack others, navy makes it sound like you can only protect others, and pirate can only attack others. Sure, you can still do whatever, but you're punished somehow in some manner of balancing. This is what I mean by restricting player choice and freedom.

I dont need to better flesh it out, you need to grasp it better lol, and rare needs to flesh either idea out to make them worth being in the game. Im not debating the fact that these are both unfinished ideas. Im assuming that a balance between rewards and punishments for factions can be found, just like how people could “foresee” balance issues with new ships and rare worked that out just fine. As i said, if players were so concerned with their absolute freedom of choice they could elect not to play for a faction that day, from what i have seen a lot of people pigeonhole themselves with their chosen gaming moral compass anyways, this just gives players rewards for doing so, with the repercussions being a necesary evil, to prevent the situation you describe next.

“There would be a significant risk to this game losing sight of its core gameplay if they introduce factions that way because the game was clearly not designed with that kind of feature set in mind. “

And it wasnt designed with ai ships in mind, this blanket statement isnt anything more than opinion, and isnt a static fact of this game. If the game wasnt designed with a good foundation that isnt my fault for wanting factions.

“It also risks breaking another core tenant of this game's design: Symmetrical balance. You are only as good as you are as a player, not based off of faction, stats, gear, etc.. This would create an asymmetry in the game, if it plays out the way you seem to be proposing. I also foresee players choosing the "easiest" faction, effectively making them pointless if the majority stay on only one, making for stale gameplay. “

As opposed to the riveting and content filled game we have now lol? Yeah surely adding factions based on rewarding morals that people adhere to anyways, with the added benefit of real merchanting which enables real
Piracy, will make things more stalelol.. I never suggested anything that would give players imbalanced power over others, and made sure i mentioned that i understand the vision for the game, ive been here since day one of tester involvement. You are truly grasping and forseeing hypothetical straws at this point.

I really cant see how you can say that people would play as the easiest one like there also arent people who would want to play as pirate or navy, and a surplus of easy merchant ahips would change that quickly if that were to happen anyways, and all this as opposed to your literally pointless faction themes ? Cmoon. Even if they dont do what i say for rulesets the factions should not be 3 navy ones, they should atleast reflect the gameplay style they wish to represent. Easiest way to do that is pirate/navy/merchant.

“Either no one joins (because not worth the risks/punishments) or everyone joins only one, if there are real differences between their strength, rewards, consistency of reward, etc.. “

They could all have the possibility for high reward, when used properly and intelligently to aid your gameplay, merchanting would be the most consistent, with pirate and navy being more opportunistic. You act like having slightly more merchant players, who always have loot, in a pirate game, is a bad thing...

“I don't think they ever will introduce something more "worth while" than cosmetics, only expand on the existing symmetrical systems. New weapons? New ships? Sure, great ideas. However, if we want factions, they need to follow the game's clear design choices. No one has to feel compelled to join one or the other faction or not join a faction for some kind of game advantage, and those kinds of proposals are exactly what should be avoided.”

Why?? They already added cursed cannoballs. Nobody has to feel compelled to play as one or the other in either case, repurpose what you said and apply it to your own factions based on people being forced to choose only one cosmetic, see how stupid that is? And they are both moot points because we both suggest session based factions, that have balance. Your reasoning amounts to “well if they added your idea and it didnt work, then it wouldnt work” lol.. we are assuming they can make the genereal idea work. There isnt any point in adding new ships and new weapons if the same basic loop gets boring. We need more depth to the pve side of the game, and making factions with depth and reason behind deciding to join one would add a lot of unique and meaningful encounters between players, assuming that it was balanced. No
Amount of random fear based what ifs will change my opinion of that.

We're not looking to make Planetside: Pirates or something here.

Yes and i acknowledged that at face value the idea sounds like a lot more than it is. I agree, just make Sea of Thieves have worthwhile piracy instead of deathmatch for fetch loot on the seas with mermaid teleporters.

If the primary driver behind your idea is for an economy, I think it's pretty clear this game isn't doing that. This game doesn't have one and shouldn't. If you really want an economy and have naval combat, you can go get your wallet milked by Trino on ArcheAge. It sounds like you basically want the Pirates of the Caribbean MMO, but more hardcore and less Disney. I'm sure another sea faring game is out there that better caters to your apparent desires, or there eventually will be, but this one just isn't built around the idea of what you seem to be proposing. People are already well aware they are playing a PvP open world game, we don't need asymmetric systems to remind them of that. It's as hard core as it needs to be. Enhance and add on to existing systems and you'll only make an even better game. The new factions as I propose them would only serve to enhance existing PvE, PvP, and ways to earn loot.

They need to add more systems.... the fetch quests and ai could all be expanded or redone though i agree.

If you want a good example of that kind of design philosophy, check out how much Path of Exile keeps improving with every league and major patch. Everything they add just gives new ways to engage in the same gameplay loop: Explore, kill monsters, gain levels, earn loot. The factions as I propose I strongly believe would add much variety to SoT's gameplay loops: Explore, find loot, sell for gold; and Explore, steal loot, sell for gold. The way you propose your idea you're basically strongly suggesting players can only engage in one of those two loops, and then adds a third of Explore, Craft Loot, Sell for Gold, and strongly recommends only that one, as well. So, yes, unless I'm seriously not understanding your idea, you're absolutely making things more predictable and taking away player choice.

Yes i think i agree, you dont understand my idea lol...

Adding to the existing voyages system with merchant craftables (and then, of course, equivalents for bounties and treasure hunts) is a perfectly fine idea on its own. I'd love to see that kind of thing introduced. But, it doesn't need to be as part of a faction feature.

Id rather them stop making things for this game like we are all 5 years old. We dont need equal amounts of added fetch or other poorly designed quests for the 3 trading companies. We need a real pirate sandbox to play in. The best way to do that is to provide a light player economy revolving around the early stages of item production and sale, for this game based on piracy, and to encourage different playstyles to embrace their roles in that setting. It dosnt force specific actions or make already super repetitive gameplay any more stale, it enhances the sandbox and adds the possibility for a lot more emergence.

If rare cant or didnt plan on this game being this grand in scope, then they shouldnt have had such a misleading and deceptive marketing campaign... almost everybody expected a lot more content and activity in the world, and they werent wrong to do so, now a year later they are at a point where the game atleast has enough to keep more people playing, they should take this opportunity to think bigger instead of tacking on more that is overly simple and dosnt satisfy players desires, like how we all felt about the merchant alliance being added, or the bodyless kraken, or the empty world devoud of ai or npc diversity and purpose, like the lack of variance in ship damage, like the lack of thought put into pricing cosmetics, or the attitude of political correctness that made them price things all the same so people wouldnt cry about wanting a more expensive one, or go against their own rules on politics and religion to add a rainbow flag instead of just keeping their noses down and designing stuff for the freakin game.

My bad for the negativity lol its just a difference in opinions partially, and can see why you fear some of the outcomes you suggest my idea would create, but i think the idea would be more appreciated by more players than more content on the same level of simplicity we have seen. The system i propose sets them up for a longer run of added content in the style of PoE you described. Imo this game desperately needs a couple more systems at play for them to add new resources, items, locations and be able to outfit the locations with new gameplay assets and flora and fauna, rather than adding a word to reskinned skeletons or chests. Adding in semi “realistic” merchanting and factions with meaning gives them a lot more to work with.

Also every post from me on this forum is from my phone, i try to check grammar and spelling..

@cpt-brumbl3z your right, i guess since it isnt my job to design this game i forget that rare cant get the gist of the ideas people put forth and work out the problems themselves, we have to really spell it out for them or we get fetch quests and broken alliance systems, treasure chests we can never open, mermaid teleporters, little to no reason to progress in the game, and no punishments for overly aggressive play/handicaps for peaceful play to offset the natural imbalance that piracy by definition includes.

All salt aside, my bad for turning your post into this, rather than just discussion of your own idea, but i still think you are really reaching to discredit parts of my idea that if you saw fully implemented you would appreciate.

Things that i could easily think of to fix the problems you have, like the freedom aspect, all these rules pertain to are ship combat, and the items that have been successfully brought onto the ship, and who had them last would only matter if it was stolen from their ship. All island combat or fort loot would only be “owned” by players who retrieve it and bring it to their ship. On islands merchants could spot a navy crew and steal loot from them from their voyage, and even kill them, and its up to the players how to “punish” this action. Maybe later that merchant ship needs help and the navy guys say no way remember earlier? More chance for emergence and different encounters because of a new wider range of expectations and personal goals/desires based on the factions, which 3 navy factions wouldnt do.

Also, rarely if ever do people trade goods with the merchant setup we have now, i wish that was a thing.

About how you affiliate with them, they could offer contracts with a minimum of 3 or even 5-6 hours that if cancelled removes all the gold you earned while playing as that faction, or atleast from selling goods and recieving bonuses from that faction, so that players couldnt abuse the bonuses, but could still change faction at will to play with their friends or even because of ingame chat and a new alliance. Pirates could induct failing merchants into their crew, or vice versa, etc.

@cpt-brumbl3z i dont want an mmo, i want more than bare minimum simplicity for the sandbox adventure game we have, i wouldnt call it survival but i dont think labels help any discussion anyways, better to just call each thing out for its specifics.

You definetly mentioned something about “players continuing to trade fight and loot, the same way they do now” and i didnt mean the term “trade goods” i mean literally the act of trading goods. It rarely if ever happens and we need the loot pool and quests to be designed better to incentivize it.

I think i want to use factions as a means to accomplish more satisfying core loop of piracy, and you want to use them to give players a choice that dosnt change anything drastically about the core loop, while adding to the emergence.

And again as much negative stuff as ive said about your idea, and you about mine, its both of us focusing on the negatives of the ideas, and im sure either one would add to the game on some level, whether or not it needed a fix after. If i had a computer to type it up on i probably would give my idea a few more proof reads and think deeper about the game, but my point in the start of my previous post is that everything rare has added so far for the vast majority of the game is overly simple, things like cosmetic prices being the same rather than some having value associated with their price being higher, to outpost having copy and pasted turn ins and no variance. Like how cool would simple things like outposts changing their trading company affiliation based on the ingame calendar, or certain npc purchasing certain goods for more based on rarity in the area.

Its like they make things and then just stop before the idea is finished themselves, hence my salt about me having to fully think up the ideas and work out all the conceptual problems that it is partially their job to figure out.

The only thing im getting paid with here is the game, and ive put my time in here on the forum and in game, im happy for and respectful of rares effort so far, and i think things like the arena are smart, and that the game is in a far better place than it was at launch.

There are still a large amount of glaring flaws with the core loop, and i think adding in a merchant chain to provide true sandbox gameplay, rather than sandbox pvp emergence with linear fetch quests driving the collection of loot and therefore opportunity for piracy, would improve the game drastically, you would have merchants producing low value goods at higher rates, making them the “easiest” and most consistent gold earn, as long as you arent attacked, but being a pirate and making a theft like this would be the quickest loot earning, which would offset this merchanting being the “easiest” and people would play both, and the navy would be there as more of a pirate legend activity to help merchant ships and have a cool role to play that allows pvp without undeserving victims.

I would still enjoy the territories style gameplay your idea provides, i just think that the addition of factions should be used to improve what i feel is a lacking core game loop, while i like all the additions of emergence and gameplay of your idea, you seem to think that improving the core loop as i suggest is “mmoifying” the game, i disagree.

I just dont see the point in adding factions just to pretend that we are associated with something. To add that sense of comeraderie they should support in game pirate clans, or let the community vote 3 of the forum creates “factions” in for your idea.

Though i still think a merchant pirate navy trifecta if added well would improve the entire game rather than be an addition to it, and i dont mean to suggest it in such a way that people think the game will be like an mmo just without players. Just more freedom to be a merchant rather than all loot being earned from fetch quests. Opportunistic harvest, crafting and creation of commodities ripe for pirating and sale and consumable use.