(Warning, whiny rant)
Now I understand two thing:
- Not everyone who plays this game does so for the same reasons I do
- I take this game too seriously sometimes.
But I still feel like Captaincy went about things the wrong way. As someone who plays as a Completionist most of my 1 600 hours have been grinding for commendations or achievements only to have all my hard work basically mean nothing with the captaincy update, because everything on the ship and my pirate has been reset.
All the fish I've caught, all the Shrines I've raided and all the Fort of the Damned that I, despite all odds, have completed suddenly doesn't count anymore, at least not for my ship's cosmetics.
And I really struggle to understand why the bar has to be so high for certain things? Yes, miles and selling treasure chests can be high because that's what the goal of the game is, that's something that happens every session.
But I struggle to remember the last time I saw anyone on my crew fishing for a specific kind of fish. Not to mention that you have to catch 250 of them now to get somewhere, which is 40 (!!!) more than what the commendations demand! I pride myself on the work I've done for the Hunter's Call and now it's rendered moot and void because if I want to showcase nice stuffed fish on my ship, I have to start over with my grind. Not to mention, doing it on someone's Galleon is no longer an option, I can't join a fishing Galleon if I want to level up my ship in The Hunter, because it needs to happen on my sloop, where we only have room for two people. Less effective, but still requires the same amount of fish despite the difference in manpower.
(Aslo, those stoves that are on seaforts, super useful for cooking a lot of fish and meat? Now useless, if you want to level your Hunter levels)
And some of these are just silly, 60 minutes of sitting, sleeping and playing music on the ship. This is just asking for people to AFK on the boat or to have crew-mates that not help angling sails, keeping lookout and whatnot. Why are these a thing, other than put some kind of importance on mechanics that, no one except the screenshot community, asked for. I really don't like it.
I've worked hard to feel some sense of satisfaction over my accomplishments in the game, it's gotten me through some real rough sessions where all seem lost.
But this just makes it feel like the devs are telling to "get lost and your grind don't matter".
I mean for the love of, There is no such demands on selling specific chests, or skulls or anything for the trading companies. But for the Hunter, apparently, every different fish counts. I would feel way more ok with this if any fish caught could contribute towards Levels in Hunter, that way I could at least catch a few splashtails as my crew mans the ship. It just doesn't feel fair at all. There isnt even an importance placed on selling the fish, so you can't just find them in shipwrecks and such, you have to catch them, on your ship. (Does that mean you can't stand on the beach either?) And Hunter's Call isn't even an option for the Gold Seeker Levels. Why are they getting such a rough cut, if you make the grind so hard?
And I am genuinely surprised that there is no levels for PvP stuff, but maybe they don't want to encourage sinking other ships more than it is appealing already?
Also, Skeleton Lords is a category but not Ashen lords? Are they the same or do they not count? But no, every fish need it's own category of course. Also why are sea forts not on the list?
And why is there different options for different company options for Gold Seeker? If you're a captain, why would you ever sell to someone who wasn't the sovereigns? Doesn't that defeat the entire point? Why should I walk all the way to the Gold Hoarders on dagger outpost or into the Tavern to sell my Athena when I can just, use the Sovereins? What is the idea?
I am not saying I might never set my foot on a non-captain ship ever again but, why would I?
The list feels inconsistent and asking too much on certain things, while other things seems to get a free pass.
TLD: I've finished my Hunter's Call grind one year ago and am upset that I have to start over if I want to decorate my ship with fish, and I hate the sitting mechanic.
I don't expect a lot of people to agree with me, this is very much a 'me issue' here.
I just feel unheard and like my grind doesn't matter.