I know random events and world events have been talked about many times here in the past, but I wanted to share some of my ideas that could be added to the sandbox.
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The Flying Dutchman - The ship will surface behind and chase you. You can continue to run or stay and fight. If you defeat the Flying Dutchman by doing enough damage or beat enough of the crew, it will submerge and leave behind a specialty loot item and some other random chests. This specialty loot can be turned in anywhere for a possible barnacle curse or various new cosmetics.
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Ben Gunn - Whilst exploring various islands, you can come across a marooned sailor who asks for safe passage to any outpost. If you accept, he will follow you around like pets do until you return to an outpost. (So, if you are doing something like a voyage at an island, you can complete it before leaving.) Then when you safely return the disheveled sailor to the safety of an outpost, he will reveal a large treasure stash on a nearby island. This could amount to loot comparable to a Sea Fort.
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Random NPC sloops - Seeing only Skeleton ships out on the seas can make the world seem not very lively. How about adding random NPC sloops around the seas that are either just fishing or delivering a storage crate with good supplies in them. We can already find storage crates on random islands, but it would also be awesome to chase down NPC sloops and either sink them or simply steal their storage crate before doing something else. If they are fishing, you can still sink them, but if you talk to them nicely, there could be a chance that they hand you a few noteworthy fish that you can bring to the Hunter's Call.
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The Sovereign Fleet - Much like a Fort of Fortune, a loud horn or any noise can signal the start of a Sovereign Fleet beginning their journey from one outpost to another. This fleet would be marked on the map and would consist of a treasure ship in the middle and four galleons escorting it. You have to sink all four galleons to have access to the treasure brigantine. The treasure brig can either be sunk or commandeered and brought to the specific outpost, which will be marked on the manifest nailed to the mast. If you sink the treasure ship you can get roughly 100-200k worth of loot if G5 emissary, or you can return the ship in one piece with all the treasure for a guaranteed 250k gold and 200 Doubloons. This should be a high-risk, high reward event that doesn't happen as often as the others but will ensure most people on the server go for it. Doing this with an alliance should grant 150k gold for each player in the alliance. WE need a few events that allow players to work together and possibly incentivize alliances again so people can meet more people if they choose.
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Stormy Shadow/Shade Ship - Storms are more of an annoyance for many, but what if a random dark Ship of Shades crewed by non-combatant shades (like the current shadows, but instead of green, they could appear blue or grey and be unkillable) could manifest amidst the middle of a storm system. You can decide to leave the safety of your ship to try and board the Shadow ship (Galleon) and search for the key hiding in the ship which would unlock a chest in the captain's quarters that has a simple coin. If you turn this coin in at the Order of Souls tent, you unlock the Shades Necklace that is firstly a single locket, but can be upgraded to level 5, with each level adding another piece/gem/whatever onto the necklace. We have plenty of rings coming into the game, so why not make a cool necklace added in?
I have plenty more ideas for Random/ World Events, but these are my top five. Hopefully Rare will consider at least a few of these ideas, because I feel like we desperately need more of this type of content to spice up this beautiful game.
