Opening Chests

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    Hello! I've been playing Sea of Thieves for a while and really love the core experience! However, there is a small change that could really elevate the game in my opinion!

    A line through a section indicates something that has been removed while italics indicate something that has been added by suggestion so you can see where the idea started and how it has evolved!

    OPENING CHESTS

    As of right now digging up chests is less than an exciting experience, which is a lost opportunity when it comes to player experience. My first instinct when digging up a chest is to open it, but the game asks me to fight that urge and turn it in for a predetermined payout. This disrupts the experience as they should encourage these piratey desires!

    But how do we fix this disconnect? By letting us open the chests of course!

    The idea is that the chests will be modified to act like a loot crate. Inside there could be nothing, there could be gold, or there could be items (maybe some that can't be bought!).

    On top of this, new chests could be added that can only be opened. These would be found through exploration and would contain the rarest and coolest items in the game, ones that can't merely be bought! They would be an excellent reward for players with a keen eye and a sense of adventure. This adds an implicit drive to try and find chests out in the world and rewards those who look for hidden caves and check every nook and cranny.

    Chests that are found through loot hoarder quests cannot be opened. This would keep the original design of the Gold Hoarders intact, they know the treasure is there and they just want you to fetch the gold.

    That about sums up the idea! I’ll leave off with some potential ideas for “open only” chests and what could be contained!

    Chests

    • Grass Chest: A green vine covered chest that hides in bushes half buried
    • Idol Chest: A stone chest with foreboding carvings and paintings on it
    • Cavern Chest: A moss and fungus covered chest hiding deep in caves
    • Shore Chest: A seaweed covered chest near the very edge of the shore
    • Cursed Chest: A chest with a higher risk factor but with greater rewards

    Rewards

    • Special hats, such as ones with merchant logos on them or ones not belonging to any set
    • Weapons of legendary pirates with interesting visuals
    • Small accessories such as pendants or badges that cannot be bought in stores
    • Chalices and other trinkets that can be turned in for gold
    • Crates of sugar or other valuable items

    Risks

    • An explosive barrel trap
    • A cursed pendant of gold that causes holes to appear in your ship until you can sell it
    • A powerful skeletal boss

    Gags

    • A group of bananas
    • Pork Loins
    • Two skulls looking at playing cards
    • A confetti cannon Blunderbuss

    Best of all, this works with the in-place system. If the player opens a quest chest, it is simply removed from the quest list and they can complete it as normal. Chests that are found through exploration or through non-quest missions like messages in bottles require no changes at all!
    Alternatively, you could add another merchant group where you pay a large amount of gold for maps that give you “open only” chests. The trick is that there is no guarantees that the treasure is there, so buying the mission is a gamble.
    This new faction would grant EXP for reaching and digging at the site of the treasure. The previous in game chests will remain unopenable in this scenario.
    The caveat is that if the chest is opened, it cannot be turned in for Loot Hoarder reputation. This makes each chest an interesting decision, as you could end up with more than what the chest was worth closed.

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  • rockinpodunk
    Captain
    Insider

    Great ideas. The only downside, is that if you are trying to sink a ship that you know is carrying loot, that crew could just quickly open all their chests and leave you with nothing for your trouble

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @rockinpodunk Very true. Perhaps they could add a key smith that would open your chests at shore? When my friend and I thought of it we considered it more as an open on the spot sort of thing, where if you got gold or something sell-able then you have to bring it back! Less of a thing to steal and more of a reward for being observant, besides if I found a dope hat on shore I know the first thing I would do is throw it on!

  • mgbeares
    Marauder
    Insider

    @rockinpodunk they can make you able to open them, but not cash them till giving to merchant

  • SirSn34kyFox

    @shamfurdispray

    I think a bank system on outposts with your idea would be effective. Then if they could implement a system to where you could barty, bountys, and a gambling/duels could come out of said bank. I would barty gold so my solo could be less full of havok.

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @sirsn34kyfox Interesting idea. For the most part though this system would reward players with things that you can't really stockpile such as cosmetics. Once we get the legendary pirate cave however decorative items and stockpile items from these chests could be a real show stopper!

  • GreenTiger538
    Marauder

    @shamfurdispray I think a keysmith is a great addition to the problem. Chest can't be opened on the spot. But, if brought to an outpost you have the hoarder you can sell it to for a price or pay a smaller price to the keysmith and each crew member gets one od whatever was in the chest. The gamble comes in what is the value of inside the chest and is it worth that gamble or short sell it for cash tot he hoarder.

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @greentiger538 Yeah, exactly like that! The chests in game right now would operate in that fashion, but I think the other chests that are harder to find should still be on the spot openers. Maybe they can only contain cosmetics or items that you need to sell such as chalices. This way if you get a good item to sell it's still risky business to bring it back, and at the same time you leave in the satisfaction of opening a chest you had to be keen to discover.

  • Sir Rhavi
    Master

    @shamfurdispray said in Opening Chests:

    @rockinpodunk Very true. Perhaps they could add a key smith that would open your chests at shore? When my friend and I thought of it we considered it more as an open on the spot sort of thing, where if you got gold or something sell-able then you have to bring it back! Less of a thing to steal and more of a reward for being observant, besides if I found a dope hat on shore I know the first thing I would do is throw it on!

    Yeah, great idea! Let's have an NPC that has a bunch of keys for the chests you dig up, and you can take the chests to him and he'll open them for you... ofcourse he takes a cut, but you get gold! But Keysmith doesn't sound very piratey... how about... GOLD HOARDERS?...

    /sarcasm

    I don't fault you for not reading the lore we have for SoT, it isn't much, but it is there. Did you think the gold hoarders bought the chests from you? Its in the lore, they have keys and maps, and want us to dig it up so they can open it...

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @sir-rhavi Yes, the Loot Hoarders do open chests with the keys, but the idea presented asks why don't we get to see them opening? Or for that matter why WE don't get to open them?

    More or less the idea is about making found chests more exciting in order to give players a reason to stop at an island outside of their quest line. Right now there is not much motivation to set sail for large islands because even if you find chests hidden in the caves, it would have been more lucrative to take a mission. The openable chests would stand as a great reason to just drop your sails and have an adventure without the constraints of a quest!

  • Greaseman85

    @rockinpodunk said in Opening Chests:

    Great ideas. The only downside, is that if you are trying to sink a ship that you know is carrying loot, that crew could just quickly open all their chests and leave you with nothing for your trouble

    And what's wrong with that? This actually makes the idea of opening chests even more interesting.

  • rockinpodunk
    Captain
    Insider

    @greaseman85 said in Opening Chests:

    @rockinpodunk said in Opening Chests:

    Great ideas. The only downside, is that if you are trying to sink a ship that you know is carrying loot, that crew could just quickly open all their chests and leave you with nothing for your trouble

    And what's wrong with that? This actually makes the idea of opening chests even more interesting.

    I think then the only players that will bother with pvp are those that just want to kill for killing's sake. There would be even less incentive to engage in actual piracy than there already is

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @rockinpodunk said in Opening Chests:

    @greaseman85 said in Opening Chests:

    @rockinpodunk said in Opening Chests:

    Great ideas. The only downside, is that if you are trying to sink a ship that you know is carrying loot, that crew could just quickly open all their chests and leave you with nothing for your trouble

    And what's wrong with that? This actually makes the idea of opening chests even more interesting.

    I think then the only players that will bother with pvp are those that just want to kill for killing's sake. There would be even less incentive to engage in actual piracy than there already is

    Equally fair points! What if things like gold and golden items would still have to be turned in for profit, and Loot Hoarder chests would remain mechanically the same with them being unopenable.
    If you find a chest and open it to find a cosmetic item your crew just picks it up and keeps it! If you find a nice stack of gold it's still risky to bring it back. Maybe the addition of being able to pocket gold (Like fixing the ship, you keep grabbing a small amount of gold on a timer until the gold is out) Would be a nice middle ground. You can still save some gold if you're under attack but you'll never scoop all of it up in time.

  • XxHypnoToadx
    Master
    Insider

    I apologize for not reading all replies and if this has already been said but finding SOME chests that aren't locked could give us the best of both worlds. Unlocked chests can either be opened on the island... however if there is multiple items those would have to be brought back to the ship individually OR the chest could be brought back and opened on the ship... maybe even left empty on the ship as a decoy. These unlocked chests could have the rarity of a grog chest or something and could add the potential rng excitement of digging up those cursed chests.

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @hailhypnotoad1 Yep! That seems to be the direction we're heading in! Some chests are unlocked and have RNG rewards that span from gold earners to cosmetic items. I'll eventually reword the original post to include these changes.

    Cursed chests beyond what we have now would be interesting as well! Maybe they have a higher risk factor but provide more lucrative items?

  • XxHypnoToadx
    Master
    Insider

    @shamfurdispray All sounds good and i imagine they will of course add more cursed chests. As i was typing i was just thinking about the amount of fun i would have opening a chest with my crew and seeing a bright green glow from a chest full of villanous skulls or even a chest with something silly like a dead pig some bananas and a crate of sugar....they can't all be winners :p

  • HeyRon88
    Marauder
    Founder

    I think this is a great idea!!!

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @hailhypnotoad1 Yeah! Instead of a chest without loot holding nothing it could have a gag or some kind of joke in it so that even if you lose you still kinda win!

  • DefunctWhale
    Ship Mate

    Personally I'd only want to be able to open castaway chests as the 70 G isn't worth the trouble of bringing to an outpost

  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @defunctwhale Yeah! That would have been the original idea, like taking a roll on a low level chest because the gold level is so low. However I think the direction the forum is going with chests that are open only is a better system as it doesn't interfere with the Loot Hoarders.

  • DefunctWhale
    Ship Mate

    @shamfurdispray Yeah I think that's a great idea, it'd definitely add content and a reward for exploration, which I normally do anyways haha

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @shamfurdispray I like this idea very much.

    As your op states that these chests will be extra inclusions to the game and the current chests will still perform in the regular (locked) manner.

    What if the new chests were able to be unlocked by a single shot or by a hit with your cutlass?
    Once opened they cannot be locked again or picked up, only their contents can. Unopened they can be carried like regular chests.

    So you can choose to ...
    a). carry it onto your ship (like a regular chest) then open it but run the risk of it being cursed or b***y trapped.
    b). open it on the island and possibly need to make multiple trips carrying small, loose items to your ship.
    c). sell it unopened to a gold hoarder and just hope to get a decent pay-out.
    I'd actually like to haggle a price with everything in the game but that is another topic.

    Curses could include: (most will remain while the chest is on board)

    • A magnetic field that skews any compass in the immediate area (galleon size field).
    • Blurred vision, making the map table read false island names. (mirrored and wavy text)
    • Drunk effect like the chest of a thousand grogs which effects the whole crew (minus vomit).
    • b***y trapped, similar to gun powder kegs putting 4 holes in your hull when opened on board. A one-of event.
      The blurred vision and drunk effect could only effect those exposed to the chest or its loot within a certain area and may not take effect for a given time so you don't see the effects on your crew mate immediately and you may have inhaled the curse too.

    Items could include: (some already mentioned)

    • instant gold increase (coins).
    • various trinkets
    • skulls
    • maps leading to more rewarding treasures (similar to message in a bottle)
    • gags such as a confetti explosion when opened.
    • full or partially filled banana, planks or cannon ball crate.
    • rare upgrade items otherwise not for sale. This could also be something like a 4 item limit but crew members can only pick one item each or an equal share of the loot if duo (2 items each) or solo (all 4 items).
  • ShamfurDispray
    Marauder
    Insider

    @admiral-rrrsole Cool ideas! I especially like the curse ideas! Making the map difficult to read is interesting, maybe like a fog of war where in a circle players can see island names but outside of that it is blurry and names don't appear.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @shamfurdispray That'll work.
    I was thinking perhaps more like the blurry wavy writing that appears on the riddle quests. Even have the letters of island names jumbled or mirrored. lol

    Gag chests could have some upside down hand held (inventory) maps. :o)

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @shamfurdispray said in Opening Chests:

    @admiral-rrrsole Cool ideas! I especially like the curse ideas! Making the map difficult to read is interesting, maybe like a fog of war where in a circle players can see island names but outside of that it is blurry and names don't appear.

    Dang. I just realized that this won't work for solo players.

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