Many players have complained about the extremely low appearance rate of the Shrouded Ghost (SG) ever since it was released. However, the idea behind such a low spawn rate is really cool: it is such a rare sight that it becomes a fabled creature that one only dreams of ever laying eyes on. I think this is an absolutely brilliant element of storytelling and lore/community build-up.
HOWEVER, the fact that there is a Grade I to V commendation for defeating it (5 times in total) may not be as good an idea. My reasons for that:
- As soon as a mythical encounter is turned into a grind (and by that I simply mean something you look to do repeatedly through a number of times), a big part of the magic is lost, which in some sense defeats the very purpose of the low spawn rate.
- If you actually go for the commendation (and that should certainly be a legitimate goal within the game, because otherwise the commendation itself makes no sense from a playability perspective), then you are left to pray to rng, as there is nothing you can do to improve your chances. If anything, this commendation would deter you from actually doing anything else other than just sailing around to maximise the time you spend meeting the conditions for the spawn. In other words: looking to defeat the SG 5 times is in direct conflict with playing the game in its current form.
- Even if you have found a SG at some point, and given the current spawn rate, one can figure out how many EONS it can take to find 5. Some players have completed all commendations in the game except those Shrouded Ghost-related. I myself am relatively close to reaching that state without having seen it once. So two issues arise from this. First, is it fair to ask for so much in-game time as to find 5 SG's? And second, is it consistent to introduce a commendation that will show 0 progress in the same amount of time that players have taken to complete all other commendations?
The solution I propose to these issues is simple: eliminate 5-Grade commendations for the Shrouded Ghost. Make it a one-time thing for the Legendary Hunter of the Shrouded Ghost commendation, just like the one in the Bilge Rats Shrouded Spoils. It is still true that some players may complete almost all of the other commendations in the game before ever seeing it once, and it is also true that the encounter still depends on chance, but at least the expected duration of the commendation becomes something realistic, whilst keeping the aura of mystery and fable around the event. And it brings the expected duration of that commendation closer to that of the rest.