Merchant Alliance : How to make the experience more interesting

  • Grievous32
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    Hello there !

    After my thread about Skeleton Forts, I wanted to share another point of view.

    A lot of people, and I agree with them at some points, don't feel really interested by the Merchant Alliance's quests.

    We all know that's not really fun to find the animals, catch them and bring back them to the outpost. BUT, there's something more in these quests we can't find in the Order of Souls and Goldhoarders' quests : the timed missions.

    Actually, some quest found in a bottle gives you just 2 days before the contract expires. I had a really really fun experience when I constantly pay attention to my watch, to be sure we will have time to reach the outpost before the end of the contract.

    So this is the point : We have WAY TOO MUCH time to do these type of quests. When you launch a quest from the Merchant Alliance, you should have to deliver all the stuff between 20 - 30 hours. I think a maximum of 30 minutes is clearly enough and this stressful experience of Time Trial should finally make sense, also making the watch way more useful !

    Tell me what you think about it ! I strongly think after doing a quest with @kermar-tutu that less time to do these quests would clearly motivate the players just because the mission would really be a challenge this time !

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  • UrihamRayne
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    I disagree on this one.

    You see the inherent problem with the Merchant quests it is that it is a fetch quest. They are very tedious but the thing is that variety is what breaks the monotony, not pressure, because otherwise having players stress out on a mission they find unapealing would be more frustrating and would lead players to shun the voyage company even further.

    However I wanted to give you some of my personal insight:

    • Merchant voyages should be separated into 3 different types, purchased at the vendor, a mission description would indicate wether that mission is: Deliver Supplies, Deliver Animals or General Delivery.
    • Deliver Supplies would have the player go on a mission to fill a crate of supplies (wood, banana, cannonball or even rare materials that could be added in the future) and deliver to X outpost
    • Deliver Animals would have the player go on a mission to deliver only animals to X outpost.
    • General Delivery would have the player receive a contract with a mix of everything, animals supply crates, barrels of gunpowder and deliver the items to X outpost.

    With future content I expect to see more variety of items to mix up the voyages, like different animals and different barrels. I personally want a Grog Barrel that like the Gunpowder Barrel, it explodes dealing no damage to either ship or crew, but everyone caught in the blast would get drunk.

  • TheShaman73
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    And... Wheres the rum runner missions?

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @urihamrayne You have some great ideas listed here.

    What about a little twist as to which island they need to deliver to? Why always an outpost?

    There could be native NPCs waiting at the island for supplies to be delivered.
    Upon delivery the natives could pay you then (sometimes) ask you to deliver something else, that they have, to another island as a paid quest.

    Example: Outpost sends you to fill a crate of planks and deliver to a specified island by a specified date and time. Upon delivery the native pays you for that delivery (gold & rep increase) then asks you to deliver two chickens and a pig to his friend on another island.
    Make it an option just like the regular merchants, only free.
    If you accept the quest the native hands you the crates. Now these crates could be random not only in crate type or amount of crates but also with the possibility of being already filled or empty.
    The second delivery may or may not include another quest such as deliver gun powder and / or cannon balls elsewhere. It could take you to an outpost or to another island with a native waiting on the delivery.

  • UrihamRayne
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    @admiral-rrrsole

    cool idea, maybe it would be weird to not deliver something in an outpost, instead deliver it in an island, but maybe as an npc quest for variety.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @urihamrayne Thanks.

    I was just thinking about transporting NPCs too.
    You only get paid on their safe arrival of the quested location.
    Kind of like an uber sloop taking a drunk home from the tavern. lol
    It could be a couple or even a small family.

    If under attack they could help man the cannons or patch holes.

  • Grievous32
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    @UrihamRayne Launch a voyage and begin it 24 hours before it ends. Then come back, I'm pretty sure you'll have a soooo much better experience with this Time Trial quest. Everything is done to do it, but we have way too much time.

    I experienced this and I really can tell you I'm sure 100% that with less time, it would not be more frustrating but more fun because of the stress. Also you have to notice the voyage doesn't expire instantly in my idea.

    But I also would really love to have maybe 20 crates to transport from an outpost to another for a voyage which could pay me 2000 Gold for example. The faster you are, the most Gold you gain.

    @Admiral-RRRSole this would be cool to have NPCs on island who need the supplies we have to deliver but it would be strange that the Merchant Alliance ask to us to deliver something to a guy somewhere on a random island. But I think it could be a cool idea.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @grievous32 said

    @Admiral-RRRSole this would be cool to have NPCs on island who need the supplies we have to deliver but it would be strange that the Merchant Alliance ask to us to deliver something to a guy somewhere on a random island. But I think it could be a cool idea.

    Thank you.
    I don't see it as being strange. What seems strange is being sent from one outpost to another for clients of the merchants. Why would any client want something delivered to the outpost, how do they get it? Why not home delivery? :o)

    Do we ask one supermarket to deliver specified items (under contract mind you) to another supermarket?

    An outpost to outpost trade should list everything the destination outpost needs for that day. Not the piddly little needs of each individual client.

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