New Faction - The Alchemists

  • Had a great idea for a new faction centered around a group of alchemist scientists that use plants to create medicines and potions. The voyages for this faction could be centered around two main activities, growing and scavenging.

    Scavenging would be more or less similar to voyages from other companies: receive a major island where a mysterious plant has been rumored to grow. After using audio and visual cues to locate and acquire three mysterious plants (minor loot) on the island, a boss will appear. Something like a giant flaming venus fly trap or a giant poisonous jungle night flower. The battle here would give the primary quest loot and a special seed that can be used in the secondary set of activities in this faction.

    At the faction headquarters at any Outpost, one can sell alchemist loot, purchase minor potions health regen, ammo regen?, skeleton repellent, mermaid repellent, etc) and hire a botanist. (One or two per crew)

    Once your crew hires a botanist, you can bring him or her to any major island and along with a seed from one of the major voyages your crew can set up a small parcel that passively grows loot to be sold back to the alchemists, but also generate a small amount of major potions that could add elemental damage to weapons for a duration, stealth, double jump, etc.

    Crews would have to be careful though, as soon as your botany farm is active a rumor will be accessible from reapers hideout that will lead them on an opposing quest to learn the location of your lucrative farm from an informant, and to acquire an item to destroy and convert the energy of that farm into unique reaper loot. So they can either set up the drop on you coming and going in hopes you are carrying other loot, they can steal the loot that’s already been generated, or they could destroy that base with the item acquired from their earlier quest phase.

    Anyway, just a thought. Love the new Hunters Call stuff and can’t wait to see you expand on the gameplay loops there!

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  • Really don't think the games needs gathering and potion crafting.

    Doubly so when the potions affect PvP by adding stealth, elemental attacks, double jumps, etc.
    That would start a meta with the potions & all sorts of balance headaches.

    Plus, how would a botany farm work on server merges?
    What happens if someone else has a farm where your farm is when the servers merge?
    What happens when you log out?

    As for Reapers:
    Again; What happens if servers merge? Does the plot they are attacking disappear?
    What happens if the new server has a Reaper attacking someone else's plot in the same area?
    What if the owner logs out while the Reaper is sailing to it? People would spite-DC to deny the Reaper any rewards.

    Too much headache for something that does not really fit SoT as it is.

  • @guildar9194

    I mean server merges must remember some things, do they not? I used to bury my Athena crates on Thieves Haven back in the day and I swear they followed me through merges.

    As there are only six ships per server, one per crew I highly doubt there would be much doubling as they should be small, not much bigger than burying a chest as you can already do that.

    It’s okay you don’t think it fits sea of thieves which I do disagree with but the stuff you say is a headache is pretty much all in the game already as a mostly unused gameplay mechanic. 🤷‍♂️

  • I really enjoy this idea, imagine the different types of plants/medicine we could grow harvest and sell. It would give you a reason to hangout at an island for a prolonged period of time while you wait to harvest. (maybe like a 3-day in game period)

    You could potentially have us growing things like:

    • Tea
    • Tobacco
    • Aloe
    • Berries
    • Fruit
    • Vegetables

    Water plants w/ bucket, harvest them into lil loot crates like the merchant stuff. Bam, now you got a pricey investment aboard your ship & you can set sail. You could even make it into a choice, like once the plants are ready you could Pick a singular piece off, Pluck the plant, Harvest, Harvest into crate.

    Each voyage could be a stranded Pirate in need of help and you take him supplies & meds & food like a first responder. This way Pirates will feel the need to defend their crops & harvest before others arrive, defending the island from passerby’s, choosing a secretive location to plant.

    These supplies make for a fun little adventure and leans into crafting a bit. The harvested goods should be able to be used regularly though. Like if I need a mango I should be able to grab one out of the crate like a storage crate & the price goes down.

    Eager for new things so long as our performance improves!

  • Outpost, one can sell alchemist loot, purchase minor potions health regen, ammo regen?, skeleton repellent, mermaid repellent, etc) and hire a botanist. (One or two per crew)

    Good lord...think of the exploits.

  • @burnbacon

    How is that different than any other faction?

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @burnbacon

    How is that different than any other faction?

    None of them offer buffs to players like you are suggesting, which go against the idea that all pirates are equal in terms of game abilities.

  • @gh0stnthmchn

    GH: What do they offer that benefits you against players?
    OoS: What do they grant to you that would give you a boost/buff?
    MA: Tell me something they do that gives you power over players?
    Athena: Do they grant you something that you can take to the seas?
    Reaper: "You can see other emissary" but not all ships.

  • Saw this somewhere before, but I think the ones we have now are just fine.

  • SOT is a sandbox pirate adventure not a survival game. All the elements you mentioned can be used in ARK or Rust but would be out of place in SOT.

  • @Gh0stnthMchn Sounds more like some sort of open world rpg game features, growing stuff, taking npcs places, potions that give abilities etc.

    Not suited for this game in my opinion.

  • I feel like the first part of this would be an interesting expansion to the OoS rather than it's whole own idea. I agree with the sentiment that the style/theming is not quite suited for SoT. I do also like the idea of doing some kind of potion system, although I don't trust Rare to do a good job with balancing that.

  • @burnbacon

    Can you buy cannonballs, throwables, over health food, bait? You can!

    Literally no different than what I suggested except an ammo regen, something like 5 bullets over 60 seconds or something.

  • @dlchief58

    You can buy throwables and overhealth food from any outpost so it’s no different

  • @metal-ravage

    Nothing described was survival but okay! Just a new loot generating loop that already uses and mixes mechanics already in game.

  • @fysics3037

    Potions would be great if they mostly followed the cursed cannonballs rate of spawn. The rare powerful ones are generated by questing and very rare, the minor ones can be bought or found like throwables. Hold 2 max in inventory

  • @captdirtyoar

    I’m not trying to imagine survival things into SoT, the idea is a unique loop addition where its primary function is like everything else in this game is to generate loot. Potions and things would be in my mind closer to cursed cannonballs for hand to hand combat than survival

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @dlchief58

    You can buy throwables and overhealth food from any outpost so it’s no different

    Yeah, it kinda is different. Nothing you listed here as available for purchase is compatible to the buffs you listed as potions.

  • @dlchief58

    Filling your health regen bar? That’s already purchasable at an outpost through meat, ambient skelly repellent doesn’t really have anything to do with PvP. I assume you mean the ammo regen, which I admit is pretty out of the ordinary, but I’m not talking about something crazy, like up to 5 bullets over 60 seconds or even less. Max inventory stack of 2 or something. Ever since firebombs the devs have been more than willing to change around the meta and there’s more than twice the weapons there used to be. I can absolutely see potions being a cursed cannonball style upgrade to the PvP meta. Basic things are uncommon but not out of the ordinary, the crazier stuff is very rare and only obtainable from the environment.

  • If I'm attacking a crew doing a FoF, I don't need to worry about skeletons attacking me, I have a health regen, ammo regen, stealth, and the ability to double-jump? Yeah I'm pretty sure cheat developers won't get their hands on that section of the code and do anything with it right? Also, trolls won't misuse these at all, I'm pretty sure.

    I'm just curious as to why you think these buffs need to be in a game like this?

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @dlchief58

    ambient skelly repellent doesn’t really have anything to do with PvP.

    Bonecallers say Hi! Not to mention you are disregarding any land based combat which may have skeletons involved as well as PvP versus another crew, such as contested forts or skeleton bounties. Same goes for ship based combat where a skeleton ship is involved, using that repellent to shield yourself from them so they can focus on your player opponent.

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @metal-ravage

    Nothing described was survival but okay! Just a new loot generating loop that already uses and mixes mechanics already in game.

    If they're already in the game, it kinda makes this whole thing pointless then, no?

  • @dlchief58

    Bonecallers and quest triggered skellies are not ambient skellies, nor is anyone going to waste frames to use an ambient skelly repellent during a fight.

  • @europa4033
    As I said it takes a mostly unused mechanic, (burying chests) and turns it into a full trading company loop and a corresponding Reaper activity.

    I’m not saying it’s perfect the way I’ve said it, someone commented it isn’t SoT to bring a follower along with you which I kind of agree with but the point wasn’t the follower, it could even be a box of enchanted soil you can bury and then bury the seed in that.

    Sea of Thieves is an open shared world where players manipulate the environment to generate, swipe, and sell loot. I just like brainstorming new ideas with that core loop in mind.

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @dlchief58

    Bonecallers and quest triggered skellies are not ambient skellies, nor is anyone going to waste frames to use an ambient skelly repellent during a fight.

    The original post said NOTHING about "ambient" skeletons....simply "skeleton repellent" thus my objection stands. Don't go moving the goalposts on us when flaws are pointed out in your idea.

    From my point of view, none of this suggestion has any place in Sea of Thieves as it doesn't fit the game as designed. This is not a MMO RPG after all.

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @europa4033
    As I said it takes a mostly unused mechanic, (burying chests) and turns it into a full trading company loop and a corresponding Reaper activity.

    I’m not saying it’s perfect the way I’ve said it, someone commented it isn’t SoT to bring a follower along with you which I kind of agree with but the point wasn’t the follower, it could even be a box of enchanted soil you can bury and then bury the seed in that.

    Sea of Thieves is an open shared world where players manipulate the environment to generate, swipe, and sell loot. I just like brainstorming new ideas with that core loop in mind.

    Except players don't manipulate the environment. I can dig up/bury things, or cause skeletons to appear both at FotD or with bone-callers. That's it.
    Another issue with your idea: If I do whatever is required to acquire said buff that only lasts for 2min (60 seconds according to one of your replies), it's worthless and pointless to me as the buff will be long gone by the time I get to that ship doing a FoF, meaning the fish/meat are still best in terms of a health bonus. Same with the "ammo regen" or "stealth", or "double jump" or "skeleton repellant." If the buff is too short, it's pointless to have. If the buffs only apply in combat, you're talking about a serious imbalance here, one that I don't see the developers willing to make.

    The way to find curseballs, meat, merfruit, bonecallers, etc. is by going out and exploring, looting barrels on islands, etc. It's as if the developers are encouraging you to go out, explore, and see what you can find.

  • @dlchief58

    Yeah the original post didn’t, but I literally clarified in my next reply to you what I meant and you still said BONECALLERS!!!!

    Last I checked this was just a forum to bounce around ideas for people that love the game, and it’s cool you don’t like my idea and wanted to change something about it [mod edit]

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @dlchief58

    Yeah the original post didn’t, but I literally clarified in my next reply to you what I meant and you still said BONECALLERS!!!!

    Last I checked this was just a forum to bounce around ideas for people that love the game, and it’s cool you don’t like my idea and wanted to change something about it [mod edit]

    Which you just threw out there, never once specifying nor implying that was the limit of the "potion". Sounded more like a backhanded attempt at dismissal of dissenting ideas and not considering all the options, not a clarification as you say. My objection stands.

    Disagreeing and pointing out flaws is not being a "jerk". It is a public forum (as you say) where people can ALSO criticize and scrutinize ideas presented. It is not meant to be a blind echo chamber.

  • @europa4033

    That not true at all. Everything you do in Sea of Theives is manipulation of the environment. You start a voyage and the environment changes. You manipulate the world and the loot pops out. That goes for PvE AND PvP. That what makes this game so unique and why there are a million ideas you could have to expand the game.

    As for buffs, I don’t see what the problem is. Sure you can argue about how much ammo over how much time or what stealth means or double jump. But like seriously dude the game had four weapons in it at launch. Now there’s people flying around with harpoon guns throwing firebomb, picking up magic mermaid wands that you can run with and shooting one hit kill harpoons out of cannons.

    Yeah some should be more powerful than others that you get from the world, but it’s not like there no precedent for purchasing a small buff at an outpost now.

  • @gh0stnthmchn

    Just because the developers are introducing more weapons and playstyles to shake up the meta a bit, doesn't mean we should now get purchaseable potions to double-jump (making some parkour areas pointless, become difficult to pvp against as well), stealth (cheaters did this a while ago), have a skeleten repellant (players trying to use bonecallers on me, or those I'm killing at a FoF/FotD would love me using that), or an ammo-regen ("He's only got one bullet left....oh wait..."). Again, this would create a serious imbalance to the game, and your reasoning is because we only had 4 weapons when the game first started?

    I'm on a duo-sloop, attacking a galleon. Suddenly my crewmate and I are dead, anchored. We come back and throw bonecallers down since we can't see anyone on our ship but the bonecallers stand around doing nothing. I keep getting shot at, and finally a player suddenly appears in front of me, they keep shooting without reloading. I keep shooting him, but he's able to double-jump up and away, and when I'm finally able to hit, he's impossible to kill. Meanwhile, we're getting pummeled by this galleon. And you don't see what the problem is?

  • @europa4033

    I never said you should be able to buy a double jump potion, I explicitly said that was something you should be only able to obtain through the main voyage path for my idea for a new faction, same as or maybe even a little more rare than the keg cursed balls from the phantom ships. Definitely something that a crew would have to voyage for awhile to obtain or steal from another crew.

    I guess I have to clarify for as well as another guy my original post when I said skelly repellent I kind of envisioned it a PvE item for ambient skellies when people were out digging up chests, I didn’t mean to include Bonecallers or quest triggers.

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @europa4033

    I never said you should be able to buy a double jump potion, I explicitly said that was something you should be only able to obtain through the main voyage path for my idea for a new faction, same as or maybe even a little more rare than the keg cursed balls from the phantom ships. Definitely something that a crew would have to voyage for awhile to obtain or steal from another crew.

    I guess I have to clarify for as well as another guy my original post when I said skelly repellent I kind of envisioned it a PvE item for ambient skellies when people were out digging up chests, I didn’t mean to include Bonecallers or quest triggers.

    In my opinion, what you called @dlCHIEF58 wasn't called for. They never name-called you, stuck to the topic, and gave their opinion on the matter, just like I've done.

    To get back to your original point, if some of those buffs only last 60 seconds because of the voyage (i.e. double jump), then what's the point?

  • @europa4033

    He said I was moving goalpost because my idea sucked or whatever [mod edit].

    Either of you are replying in good faith or adding anything of value to this discussion and arguing about how the whole thing sucks because of little details that I’ve already tried to have general discussion about. You guys can just move on if you don’t like the idea.

  • @dlchief58
    You are being ridiculous. I understood your point because I never meant to include anything other than ambient world skellies for crews digging up chests at islands and you still are going off about it even after I addressed it in a reply

  • @gh0stnthmchn said in New Faction - The Alchemists:

    @dlchief58
    You are being ridiculous. I understood your point because I never meant to include anything other than ambient world skellies for crews digging up chests at islands and you still are going off about it even after I addressed it in a reply

    No, you are just blindly defending your idea because it is yours and do not like criticism. You NEVER made your point clear (as none of that clarification came out until this post), we are not mind readers here. As I said your initial response sounded like a backhanded attempt at dismissal of criticism with a strawman argument of nobody's "going to waste frames" on an ambient skeleton as a means to dismiss how skeletons can be used in a PVP situation - ambient or otherwise. True you said something, also true the meaning was unclear, thus open to interpretation (such as you failed to consider everything in your suggestion).

    Now that you have (moved the goalposts), you've reduced that suggestion to a useless item within the game. Ambient/emergent skeletons are hardly a nuisance anymore. Not worth the time of development.

    Anyway I've said my piece on this idea so am out. No desire to enter into a worthless argument on this failed suggestion.

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