Another thread asked for "Medium Seas" (MS) as something between Safer Seas (SS) and High Seas (HS). That ask seems to have been a request for a PVE server in disguise. However, before it had become clear that's what was being asked for, and instead we were just left with a lack of details on "medium seas", I took a crack at what a "Medium Seas" MIGHT look like. I wanted to share this write up for discussion purposes. (I'm also aware of the amount of coding effort that would be needed to implement this.)
In general, If we went down this route, MS would be part of the extended tutorial pipeline. I would Cap SS at level 20, and expect people to move into MS from there. The goal is to introduce PVP through Emissaries, but leave PVP exclusive to emissaries. This would let players dip their toes into the PVEVP environment and world events, but still provide that safety net for some play. There's still a hefty amount of restrictions, and the goal would be to have everyone graduate into HS.
FINALLY:
Note: This is NOT an endorsement of the idea, just brainstorming. What would a middle ground between Safer Seas and High Seas actually look like?
- You sail with other pirates on the ocean.
- The SS nerf on loot value remains.
- The level cap is limited to 40, but can only be raised above 30 via the emissary system.
- No alliances
- Commendations restrictions from SS carry over, even with the return of the emissaries.
- PVP under most circumstances is unless running as an Emissary (See below)
-- No player may interact with loot that has been touched by another crew.
-- No player may interact with another crews ship (this includes via harpoon)
-- Items like firebombs, blunder bombs, ashen skulls, etc. do not impact other players ships
-- Weapons do not affect other players
-- Ramming/impacts do not damage other ship. (They may, at best, cause a ship to change course)
-- Kegs may be found, and shot/detonated, but may not be picked up or interacted with by pirates. Kegs will not damage ships. (this means keg skeletons are still a thing, but the kegs are no longer a PVP weapon.
-- Finally, the intent here is to STOP PVP, and reduce the chance of griefing. If I have missed something, it is an oversight and not intentional. Please do not bring up 100 other "But you forgot about X" here. Assume that if it's a problem that is easily disallowed, then it is disallowed.
Emissaries:
Emissaries serve as the PVP opt-in for MS. Only those players who have raised an emissary flag may engage in PVP. (Note. Any emissary can attack any emissary, it's not limited to reapers). Guild Emissaries are still not allowed. When selling loot as an emissary you may raise you level up to 40.
World events:
World events drop unique world event treasures. There are 3 types, a GH, OOS, and Merchant variant. The amount that drops varies by world event, and have a set value (the total value will be lower than that of a high seas world event).
Only emissaries may compete for world events. Non Emissaries are not able to interact with world event treasures in any way.
Sunk emissaries must re-raise the flag before trying to get loot back.