I'd like to see Quest Board activities become contested things more directly. I would see this as multiple Crews can get their hands on these Maps and items clear off as any Crew finds the Loot (and it clears from the Quest Board when all the Loot is found or a Server Shutdown as now). I don't think the Maps should give any indicator that another Crew has the Maps, outside of noticing X Marks disappearing on them or the Map itself clearing out of the Radial once completed. This would make an even greater distinction in how these function compared to Voyages. I'd also like to see more Voyage Types in the mix here, and there is a Red Sea Mechanic Change post where I mentioned how we might start to accomplish this too. Also, center the gimmick around the Bilge Rats and drop the Gold Hoarder iconography on the Boards.
I've posted before about a Boarding Axe and some related systems that could compliment it (like Shipwright Repairs) well and keep it as a unique niche of a Weapon selection in other threads, and I see someone here brought up the general idea again, so for now I'll just say I'm for it with the right spice added to the mix. Would be cool to see a new Weapon come to the game.
I'm also in favor of removing Hit Markers from the game. As it stands, years have been invested in Hit Registration, and I'm not saying that more work shouldn't be done on it (maybe even leave them in Insiders so that more testing can be done to help keep improving this), but as it stands those things just provide highly inaccurate information to the player and as a result increase frustrations in PvP. I'd rather just not have the data and go that route in retail at this point until such time as we have accurate data coming through.
I'd like to see Ship Variants added for the 3 Classes that we have right now. You could have a Cutter (Sloop), Schooner (Brigantine), and Frigate (Galleon) as options when selecting your Ship. One major difference if doing Flat Decks for Ships that currently do Raised Decks for the Helm area (and adding appropriate Captain's Quarters to ones that are getting the raised variant). They could also have slightly different layouts of where things are located on the Ship for a little extra variety. Generally though, they would balance as the Class of Ship they are (same Canon and Mast count, same Interaction speeds, same Manuvering and Wind Strengths, things an equivocal Traversal distance to Interaction points). This would be a nice variety addition to the game.
I'd like to see the Core Factions evened out in regards to their Voyage Types, and would like to see a full assortment of each type at an Outpost for better Voyage planning control. So for the setup: Gold Hoarder have X Mark Maps, Riddles, and Vaults; Order of Souls have Skeleton Bounty, Ghost Ships, and would need a third; Merchants have Animal Acquisition, Cargo Runs, and Lost Shipments. Each of the Faction Representatives would offer 3 of each type (with higher grade ones being Reputation Locked to provide a greater sense of Progression to Ranking up the Core Factions). I'd also like to see the Gold Hoarders and the Order of Souls get something equivalent to the Commodities system that the Merchants have, but themed around their Factions. I personally believe the Core Factions should maintain some sense of mechanical parity among them with the difference being the focus theme.
I think the Hunters Call should see an increase in value on handing in Megalodon and Kraken Meat to encourage players to go out and actually hunt these beasts for the Faction. I don't think they need a Voyage System like others have suggested, as that is part of what makes them unique by being a background task Faction. I could see them getting an Emissary system though to get a multiplier on doing the hunting/fishing they should be doing. Killing/Catching and Cooking all Meats should provide some progression in this system with the Monsters providing the best bumps. They could also then see a Reputation increase to keep them on par with the other main Adventure Factions.
I wouldn't mind seeing Arena come back (and this is coming from someone who was against Arena originally), but it needs stronger ties to Adventure to encourage people to engage in a round or two of Arena in the midst of their sessions without having to do a bounce back to the main menu and reloading everything again. Rather, now that we have Portals, make a Voting Table on the Sea Dog Tavern to take your crew into the Arena (and one inside the Sea Dog Tavern to vote your way back into Adventure). You can still maintain the option at the main menu to start off in either Mode, but a swapping feature right in the game might actually encourage more engagement. We could even eventually add other asked for Modes like TDM or Capture the Fort (Flag) by having a couple of these Voting Tables for each type of Match and some kind of indicator of what the current wait time is for that Match type.
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