How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed)

@inkar-agobi said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Ok, so we need to exploit the quest system to get more cages than we are supposed to have.

I'm offering up an alternative way to doing it. It does cost you some gold and you are at risk losing it all for nothing if you end up sinking your ship or other players steal them when your not on your ship.

And again this isn't the way RARE intended you to do them. If you think the way they intended is too long that's on you. Do other Trading Companies or don't play the game if you don't enjoy it.

@inkar-agobi said

Then, we use a cheat sheet of locations to find the animals (because it is a pain and takes way to long to do the missions without it).

Nobody said you NEED to use a cheat sheet.

It's only possibly locations anyways and i put it there for those who haven't seen it and might want to use it. It's meant as a tool to help. There's plenty of games that have tools to help you out with them. Every heard of Talent Calculators for MMO's? You don't need them but it makes sharing optimal builds for classes that much easier. This is the same thing.

OP conclusion: Nothing is broken or needs to be fixed.

Seriously?

Yeah seriously... it's not broken at all. It might not be ideal or for everybody but personally I don't wanna do combat focused The Order of Souls and I'm sure many players out there don't wanna do Gold Hoarder riddles because they're already sick of them and they can get monotonous too. I think they are particularly dull and too easy to the point in the betas i would let my crew or teammate go out and find them while i stayed on ship because they seemed to have a challenge by them more than I ever would.

To begin with, we need the quest to tell us a few locations (2 or 3 islands) where we can find what we are looking for (so we don't need to google it every time or print the list and have it next to the keyboard). After that, I think the designers need to decide what to do with the cages. I can think of 2 options right now:

Now that is a great suggestion!

I would be happy to see them add suggested islands on the sheet of paper. Or maybe make them offer you one for sale for a few extra gold.

That being said though the narrative around these quests is they are the purveyors and they are contracting the various pirates crews of the region to go and find them and make the deliveries on time. So if they already knew where they're at it kinda defeats that purpose.

Allow us get as many cages as we want, but maybe lower the reward for delivering animals as now we can take as many as we want in a single trip.
Keep higher rewards, but then they can't allow us to keep the extra cages.

I think maybe delivering in rapid succession at a Outpost they could start to impose a penalty on the gold rewards. I don't think you get progression at all for the extra animals and that should stay like that. Since they're not asking for them why reward you with anything with them...

@ironuzuka said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

I mean I did try this in the same order on Sunday morning before the beta closed.
It wouldn't allow me to propose another voyage from the merchant alliance after canceling one. Could vote on gold hoarders and all, cancelled a few and it would still not let me.
I did sail to different outpost to see if my reputation had reached their ears ... Yup still couldn't get them cages ....

Can't say it wasn't fixed later on in the beta already ? I am merely observing my experience compared to the obvious result some others have gained. Just wondering if I did it wrong ... Or if this has already been fixed ...

Sounds like a glitch.

I never had that issue.

I think it would make more sense if selling at the destination was a "big gold/reputation bonus", instead of an actual requirement of the voyage.

I also second the idea that it would be better if these voyages were passive quests (like the MIABs), instead of voted on and taking up an active voyage. These scavenger hunts would be less cumbersome if they could be filled BETWEEN other voyages, instead of requiring this tedious animal-hoarding tactic :)

Also, just a bone to pick, but I would have thought the merchant alliance would be something to the effect of "take this box of supplies from Outpost A to Outpost B", an actual MERCHANT delivery. This is more like the "Scavenger Hunter Alliance", if you ask me. Nothing wrong with the idea, of course, but it is a bit bizarre to attach the word "merchant" to something that is clearly not mercantile in nature. Obviously I realize its the merchants that are selling the chickens, and you're just the chicken scavenger, like our favorite Valkyre from Thor:Ragnarok :)

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Game designers etc said themselves this was broken on the 08/03 Youtube video....but are working hard to fix it.
Love some of those extras you posted though, thanks!

This video? Cuz I went and watched it and they didn't even mention the Merchant Alliance except for this part and not once did they say it was broken or that they were trying to fix it. What part or maybe i got the wrong video were you talking about?

I can't imagine the crate mechanic is going to stay the way it was in the final beta. This exploit of repeatedly canceling voyages to stockpile 50 crates is so blatantly not how we're intended to play it. If they want to allow stockpiling crates, they'll make them a purchasable item whether you have the voyage active or not. If not, they'll make the crates disappear when you cancel the voyage. There's no way this stays the way it is for long.

@mike-da-knife said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

I think it would make more sense if selling at the destination was a "big gold/reputation bonus", instead of an actual requirement of the voyage.

Now that is an idea, especially when considering how to manage the extras you have.

Selling them at the specific location, and only the ones requested, should give you that gold/reputation bonus. Selling anything else above that there or selling them at another Outpost would still give gold but not the same amount. A lesser amount. I agree that would be a good balance and ideal way to do it.

I also second the idea that it would be better if these voyages were passive quests (like the MIABs), instead of voted on and taking up an active voyage.

I still disagree with making them side things. Pirates attacking Merchant ships is basically why people do it. What being a Pirate was about. Without Merchants we don't have Pirates.

I think they should stay as a major faction/trading company.

These scavenger hunts would be less cumbersome if they could be filled BETWEEN other voyages, instead of requiring this tedious animal-hoarding tactic :)

Being able to buy the cages and coops without having a voyage active would be okay so like you said you could kinda carry them on ship and passively fill them while out doing other voyages in between finding the chests or going to kill a skeleton.

I think that's what RARE was attempting with being able to find the coops on islands but you didn't ever see them or at least I only found one in my two days of play in the Final Beta.

I think that would be a good way to slowly build up a small stock of supplies without focusing on it as your active voyage. Once you have a few animals or few filled crates built up you can then choose to start and do a Merchant Alliance voyage when you're ready.

I can agree that would be a natural way of doing it.

So yeah I guess let us buy the cages from them NPC's even if we don't have one of their quests active. You simply don't find enough randomly in the world otherwise I would say that's what RARE was trying to do with them being placed randomly on islands. They could also just increase the amount they have out there and even throw a bunch at Outposts that you can pick up for free that respawn every so often so if another player takes them they come back.

Also, just a bone to pick, but I would have thought the merchant alliance would be something to the effect of "take this box of supplies from Outpost A to Outpost B", an actual MERCHANT delivery. This is more like the "Scavenger Hunter Alliance", if you ask me. Nothing wrong with the idea, of course, but it is a bit bizarre to attach the word "merchant" to something that is clearly not mercantile in nature. Obviously I realize its the merchants that are selling the chickens, and you're just the chicken scavenger, like our favorite Valkyre from Thor:Ragnarok :)

Well said.

I think like @lizardheart said and I agreed with having two forms of quests for this Trading Company would be ideal way of improving them.

Just like they have two forms of quests for the Gold Hoarders.

Adding in a delivery type of quest to the Merchant Alliance where you take these goods and cargo supplies given to you from the NPC at the Outpost A to a specific Outpost B. A delivery more than a scavenger hunt for wild animals.

That being the case, they should change the negative parts of the current quests. These scavenger hunt ones. The negatives being you have to take them to a specific location rather than turn them into any Merchant Alliance member at any Outpost. They should change it so you can turn those type of quests into any Outpost bringing them the specific color/breed of animal they're requesting. And even could include your first point of a gold/reputation bonus for bringing them back to the Outpost you got the quest from or some specific one that really needs them. But if you don't want to you can still turn them in to a Alliance member and they'll get them there (by giving the quest to another pirate to make the delivery of course... which only gives them an excuse as far as narrative goes to add the other quest type. It's perfect!)

That to me would make the Merchant Alliance feel closer to what I expected them to be, like you said "i would've thought they were something to that effect" in the first place. I agree.

Someone else suggested earlier that there be a on-ship place where you receive the cages/sloops/items you need for the Merchant Alliance voyages.

I just wanted to repost this because @ogone-r0gueo had a very cool idea for how to fix one of the more negative features of the Merchant Alliance voyages. In his forum thread Restocking supplies and pile of cages he said,

1. Having a pile of cages on the boat that one can get chicken coop and pig pens from. Can only use it when a merchant alliance voyage is active and it gives you the exact amount of pens for the required mission.

I think that would be a perfect solution to fixing some of the issues players are having with this Trading Company. Also it would fix the exploit I've pointed out in this guide.

As @deadmijy said in reply already

Having to go back to the MA rep for cages after starting the voyage on your ship is clunky and weird.

It does seem clunky or weird, I like my exploit but I agree it could be better designed and many players simply will never think to do it the exploit way so they should make it more streamlined.

@deadmijy also brought up another reason for @ogone-r0gueo's first suggestion,

If my crew is out on the seas and has just completed a Gold Hoarders voyage and wants to do another voyage before returning to an outpost to sell, I can't put down an MA voyage. There's no point, as we'd first have to go to an outpost to get cages.

---

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@ogone-r0gueo also suggested this,

2. Restocking supplies from the shipwright. Pay X amount of gold and the shipwright will restock the bananas, cannoballs and planks to a specific value. This would alleviate the need to scavenge for supplies which can be pretty annoying after a while. Big difference is that scavenging is free and this way you would end losing some of the gold obtained on the voyage. This would also give her another use instead of just cosmetic stuff.

I think that would be a good addition as long as the gold amount scaled with you so at high levels it didn't become a meaningless drop in the bucket to you. I also think this is where they could sell you extra crates/coops. Instead of exploiting the vote/cancel voyage as this guide points out. I would hate to see the Merchant Alliance voyages turn into only being able to carry as much cages as the voyage requests animals. Then the only way of getting extra ones would be finding the one or two on an island randomly.

@zypii said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

My suggestion would be .. make the cages work like extra maps. If u start a MA voyage u get a paper with instructions AND the cages u need for the animals added to ur map inventory. When u use ur cage it disappers from the map inventory, becomes a actual ingame item and disappers for every crew member.

If u find extra cages on an island it be like finding a message in a bottle.. u can get any animal u want an bring it in .. like a random chest that lies around ..

And for the MA voyages u get from MIAB u go 2 the next MA trader an get the cages u need added 2 ur map inventory .. and just as with other trade companies .. when u cancel ur voyage .. u lose ur maps/bounty hunts/cages ..

Well explained like that it sounds good. I didn't think of it like that and yes they could easily do it like this.

Now we're compiling a nice list of ideas and possible fixes.

@cipher-8 I like your guide, and this is how i did merchant voyages.

HOWEVER: this is gaming the system. You are stocking up on supplies that you arent really supposed to be getting since you can only get them for a specific voyage and you are only accepting the voyage to get the supplies before quitting it. It's almost an exploit...almost.

This is totally weird, a much better system would be for them to allow us to just buy cages and coops, as many as we want, without having to do the voyage trick.

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Game designers etc said themselves this was broken on the 08/03 Youtube video....but are working hard to fix it.
Love some of those extras you posted though, thanks!

This video? Cuz I went and watched it and they didn't even mention the Merchant Alliance except for this part and not once did they say it was broken or that they were trying to fix it. What part or maybe i got the wrong video were you talking about?

So the part where they are sitting in front of a screen surprised by the interview talking about broken merchant alliance.... and trying to fix it.

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Game designers etc said themselves this was broken on the 08/03 Youtube video....but are working hard to fix it.
Love some of those extras you posted though, thanks!

This video? Cuz I went and watched it and they didn't even mention the Merchant Alliance except for this part and not once did they say it was broken or that they were trying to fix it. What part or maybe i got the wrong video were you talking about?

From 19:23 onwards when talking to Andrew Preston.
Doing a merchant and talking about broken things.

@aenima123 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8
Ok so let me recap :

Merchant Alliance Voyages are not broken and don't need to be fixed but :

1. You're admitting right away that "The Merchant Alliance voyages are a bit tedious and aggravating"

2. You're making a foot long thread that is essentialy just a workaround

Nothing should be tedious and aggravating, not one bit. If it is, that's because it is poorly designed.

What's aggravating to some is not to others... like "foot long" threads for example :P

I personally never felt aggravated by the system of having to go from merchant rep to boat and back and forth.

I just conceded that yes some people might have felt that. People who like their hands held in video games mostly.

Tedious is not a negative in any way. Intricate and tedious is a good thing if you ask me. If something is too straightforward boring then the games just holding your hand.

So really, it should be, not fixed, but at the minimum, improved, and yes, for the time being, there is a workaround to make it a bit less tedious and aggravating.

I will be looking forward to seeing any updates to the Merchant Alliance voyage system and adapting my strategies likewise...

@moe-furbino said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Exploiting isn't cheating so I'm ok with that!

Exactly. When a game is developed, its designers come up with the core gameplay mechanics. As players play these games, however, they come up with new strategies and ideas resulting from what works best. Exploits/a work around such as canceling voyages are not cheating. Not like hacking or otherwise doing something that isn't meant to be in the game. Your just metagaming and benefiting from the mechanics in place. Put simply, to metagame is to question how everyone else is playing or how the game is designed to be played and using this info to develop your own playstyle to take advantage of the weakpoints for your benefit. There's nothing wrong with being max efficient or effective so long as your not cheating. If they don't intend for you to be able to do it, it's on the developers to patch/update the game in a way so that you can't.

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Game designers etc said themselves this was broken on the 08/03 Youtube video....but are working hard to fix it.
Love some of those extras you posted though, thanks!

This video? Cuz I went and watched it and they didn't even mention the Merchant Alliance except for this part and not once did they say it was broken or that they were trying to fix it. What part or maybe i got the wrong video were you talking about?

From 19:23 onwards when talking to Andrew Preston.
Doing a merchant and talking about broken things.

Broken things he mentioned were things turning up in messages in a bottle that weren't suppose to. He didn't talk about Merchant Alliance. His wife only mentioned she was working on the merchant alliance voyages but never said they were broken or needed fixed. More or less what she was working on at that moment/that week.

That's the part i linked in my original post. This part

Possible confirmation that Merchant Alliance voyages will include collecting "Rare Tea" from around the world in addition to animals, crates of other resource items, and gunpowder barrels.

I remember seeing a tweet awhile back with the 1of3 Sea of Thieves Xbox One consoles on display in a glass case and sitting on it there was a special box of tea. Looks like they added it to the game.

Only makes sense with the Tea and Spice trading going on during those days and East India Trading Co.

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Game designers etc said themselves this was broken on the 08/03 Youtube video....but are working hard to fix it.
Love some of those extras you posted though, thanks!

This video? Cuz I went and watched it and they didn't even mention the Merchant Alliance except for this part and not once did they say it was broken or that they were trying to fix it. What part or maybe i got the wrong video were you talking about?

From 19:23 onwards when talking to Andrew Preston.
Doing a merchant and talking about broken things.

Broken things he mentioned were things turning up in messages in a bottle that weren't suppose to. He didn't talk about Merchant Alliance. His wife only mentioned she was working on the merchant alliance voyages but never said they were broken or needed fixed. More or less what she was working on at that moment/that week.

That's the part i linked in my original post. This part

Did you see their faces/reactions?? Don't get me wrong, I can't wait.
'...feverishly checking bugs in the latest build...'

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Game designers etc said themselves this was broken on the 08/03 Youtube video....but are working hard to fix it.
Love some of those extras you posted though, thanks!

This video? Cuz I went and watched it and they didn't even mention the Merchant Alliance except for this part and not once did they say it was broken or that they were trying to fix it. What part or maybe i got the wrong video were you talking about?

From 19:23 onwards when talking to Andrew Preston.
Doing a merchant and talking about broken things.

Broken things he mentioned were things turning up in messages in a bottle that weren't suppose to. He didn't talk about Merchant Alliance. His wife only mentioned she was working on the merchant alliance voyages but never said they were broken or needed fixed. More or less what she was working on at that moment/that week.

That's the part i linked in my original post. This part

Did you see their faces/reactions?? That's definite panic
He didn't want to be interviewed 'right now'.

lol dude they were testing out a glitch with The Messages in a Bottle system he clearly stated that. I don't believe he was in a panic maybe surprised he was being recorded live caught off guard because it wasn't planned just stopped in. That video was recorded live before the Final Beta was launched if anything they were getting that in order... I think your reading into it too much if you think they think the Merchant Alliance trading company was broken they never would've chose them to give us a sneak peak during the Final Beta because they beforehand had said maybe it was going to be The Order of Souls that they added alongside the Gold Hoarders for a potential Open Beta. I'm sure they've changed the Merchant Alliance since the Final Beta and tweaked some other things in the game for the final build and will continue to look at improving the game post launch with updates but I don't think anybody should expect drastic changes to the way the Merchant Alliance voyages work. At least not now, right at launch. We'll see if our little exploit/work around still works though.

@racmop said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

I'm almost sure the Noah's Ark exploit will be fixed soon after lunch it'll probably work when you cancel the voyage the cages disappear

I can see them thinking it's a negative impact on the game and it's their game ultimately but I think they should strongly consider letting players have more cages than just what the voyage is requesting. I think they should consider something that's maybe more balanced as in drawbacks for doing it but still allows us who want to do the voyages like that with extra cages (and no not the 1 or 2 you might find on an island) to do so. I would buy the cages with gold and rather spend a little money to be able to make more money with the risk of spending the gold upfront and possibility of losing the cages to ship sinking/pirate theft before I can turn them in.

@racmop said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 we did exactly the same thing in the beta I honestly feel that the voyage need to run two at a time so you can do a merchant voyage and a gold hoarder voyage we did have the virtual Noah's Ark

Someone posted suggestions on this in here but there's two ways they could deter but still allow for it.

1. Diminishing returns. If you sell a bunch back to back at one Outpost each time the lessen in the amount of gold they give you. So not every golden chicken is 1000+gp. Also unless they are requested by a active voyage they should not count upon turn in towards Merchant Alliance progression at all.

2. Bonuses. Alternatively you could have those requested be sold for larger bonuses of gold more so than the normal amount of selling a golden chicken without an active voyage asking for one. I think this would be a good idea to do for the Outposts. Like let you sell them at any Outpost but get a big bonus for actually taking the time to deliver them to the specific Outpost. Taking a cut if your too lazy to make the trip and just wanna offload your livestock at the nearest Outpost.

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@d0mino28 said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

Game designers etc said themselves this was broken on the 08/03 Youtube video....but are working hard to fix it.
Love some of those extras you posted though, thanks!

This video? Cuz I went and watched it and they didn't even mention the Merchant Alliance except for this part and not once did they say it was broken or that they were trying to fix it. What part or maybe i got the wrong video were you talking about?

From 19:23 onwards when talking to Andrew Preston.
Doing a merchant and talking about broken things.

Broken things he mentioned were things turning up in messages in a bottle that weren't suppose to. He didn't talk about Merchant Alliance. His wife only mentioned she was working on the merchant alliance voyages but never said they were broken or needed fixed. More or less what she was working on at that moment/that week.

That's the part i linked in my original post. This part

Did you see their faces/reactions?? That's definite panic
He didn't want to be interviewed 'right now'.

lol dude they were testing out a glitch with The Messages in a Bottle system he clearly stated that. I don't believe he was in a panic maybe surprised he was being recorded live caught off guard because it wasn't planned just stopped in. That video was recorded live before the Final Beta was launched if anything they were getting that in order... I think your reading into it too much if you think they think the Merchant Alliance trading company was broken they never would've chose them to give us a sneak peak during the Final Beta because they beforehand had said maybe it was going to be The Order of Souls that they added alongside the Gold Hoarders for a potential Open Beta. I'm sure they've changed the Merchant Alliance since the Final Beta and tweaked some other things in the game for the final build and will continue to look at improving the game post launch with updates but I don't think anybody should expect drastic changes to the way the Merchant Alliance voyages work. At least not now, right at launch. We'll see if our little exploit/work around still works though.

Possibly, can't wait for the game though!!
Merchant alliance was breaking for me so I presumed so.

Yeah... that's taking it to the extreme!

@baldmunkee said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

The problem isn't being able to hold too many cages.

Well said.

Like everything else in this game, the physical presence of the cages makes for better emergent situations. You should be able to buy whatever cages you want at the vendor. Then make animals sold that were not requested worth like 10% gold and rep, making it an inefficient use of trading time, but still a fun target for piracy.

So the problem then is having to do the exploit of voting to cancel and starting another voyage just to get the cages? Because it's an annoying hindrance and kinda clunky design? I know they don't wanna encourage you to have all the extra cages though so I don't really see them letting you buy them outright UNLESS like you said they give you a heavy penalty on selling those animals not requested by an active voyage. The fact that they sell for full price is the broken part then.

I can tell you right now though how I still would just vote to cancel a voyage and propose to start another one over and over again until I got one requesting the colored animals I had on board already so I could get full value for them.

Yes, at the cost of spending a little gold it would still probably turn a profit and give me full progress for the Merchant Alliance leveling. I honestly don't see why this is a negative it has it's downsides already of spending your gold ahead of time and risking losing all you put in towards it.

Also, doing that would make taking three trading voyages at a time effective and fun.

Yeah and that's important. As you should want to take 3 and be able to do all three while your out and about just like people do with Gold Hoarder treasure hunting, completing them all and then turning them in. Problem is by design that's not how Merchant Alliance was built. Since your timed and tasked with going to a specific Outpost by a date and time you're only suppose to do one voyage at a time. Not go collect all the animals for 3 voyages then turn them in one after another.

That's why I strongly think having the 2 different quest types (1.Animal Scavenger Hunt 2. Delivery from Point A to B) makes the best sense. The voyages as now we're tasked with going on a scavenger hunt, finding the cargo, and bringing it to a specific Outpost. They should remove the last part and make it return to any Merchant at an Outpost and just make it a seek out these sought after animals or supplies for us and we'll reward you when you return. This gives you incentive to buy more cages, coops, and crates and collect as much as you can while out there trying to fill the request order specific amount.

Then the other quest type they could add is a pure delivery type. This is the one they should tell you go to a specific Outpost by this date and time. They could give you the cargo and have you simply deliver it in time -- safely -- OR they could have you stop at Point A location (a named island/Outpost) and pick up the cargo and then deliver to to Point B Outpost on time.

@racmop said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

@cipher-8 we did exactly the same thing in the beta I honestly feel that the voyage need to run two at a time so you can do a merchant voyage and a gold hoarder voyage we did have the virtual Noah's Ark

@racmop said in How To: Guide on the Merchant Alliance Voyages (It's not broken/doesn't need fixed):

The problems that we found with the Noah's Ark was destination versus time but I remind you this was a beta 48-hour trial we were hauling 6 of everything but you pick your voyages at an outpost and to complete the voyage you need to return it to a different Outpost so we turn in our treasure and have to go to another Outpost to return the pigs and stuff the versus time thing just didn't pan out well for us

So I'm assuming you mean in comparison to the returns of the other Trading Company voyages. It's not worth the time, even when Noah Arking? I felt I was getting good return on my time. I would have like you said a couple of every color and then I would finish and complete a voyage to an Outpost then propose and vote for new voyages canceling them if I didn't have the requested animal(s) until I found one I had the livestock for already and simply go deliver it to that Outpost doing this over and over again. Basically you're sailing from Outpost to Outpost until you need to get more cages (also gotten at an Outpost while you're there) or go to an island and get more animals to sell. I would stop at larger islands when sailing between Outposts if they were on my way and just quickly grab a couple animals.

@Cipher-8 Fantastic post! Suuuuper helpful - will definitely be using this strategy come launch! Thanks! :)