Changes to Merchant Alliance

@aerobicnut2691 Merchant Alliance is already the most diverse factions as it is with cargo, animals, lost shipment, and commodities. What would be the functional difference between different types of bottles? Animals already have variations in them, chickens are basic, snakes bite you, and pigs starve

@aerobicnut2691
I agree the merchants could use some work. They were my favorite faction, but with the loot and voyage system changes the merchants have become my least favorite faction.

My biggest issue with animal voyages is the lack of animals on the voyages. Searching for 2 or 4 animals before having to deliver them is not worth the time. Mostly because the animals are rarely gold. If you're lucky enough to get one gold animal, the other(s) will likely be low level cheap animals. We used to have voyages that wanted 8 animals. If the number of animals required for these voyages is reduced to half of that or less, at least give us a higher chance at needing golden animals. Especially if we are high level in merchant.

Cargo was something I never really liked. Having to protect and maintain the treasure or it loses its value makes it too much work. I hate that a storm can ruin your cloth, lack of water can ruin your plants, and any form of damage can destroy your bottles. The fact that no other treasure needs this attention makes all other treasure more appealing than any cargo ever will be.
They also reduced the amount of cargo for each voyage creating the same issue I have with animals, where one voyage just doesn't have enough treasure to be worth my time.
They also have made cargo voyages the emissary voyage since forever and it is just terrible. The simple fact that the emissary voyage requires you to pick up the cargo from two different locations has kept me from ever wanting to even start it.

Commodities are too boring, repetitive, and unrewarding. There are 7 commodities. Every single one of those 7 has a single outpost that wants it, and a single outpost that doesn't. You will always buy 6 of the 7 types of commodities from an outpost, and one of those 6 types will have a surplus of 10 pieces.
This means each individual commodity is not special in any way compared to the others, they all are avaliable across the sea in the same amount, and they all have a specific outpost that is most lucrative to sell them to.
Nothing about this trade route is interesting. Every commodity comes in the same quantity across the see and every commodity is sought after equally across the different outposts.

My suggestions for commodities is to first increase their value. I think the reward is too low to even bother with them.
Second I would change the trade routes to be more diverse and unpredictable. Instead of having each commodity in surplus at one outpost and in demand also at one outpost, have each outpost individually decide which commodity is in surplus and in demand. If multiple outposts could have the same commodity in surplus or in demand, it could change up the best way to run commodities week to week. Suddenly one week you could have gemstones in surplus at two or three different outposts creating a huge amount of gemstones being shipped around the map. Perhaps only one outpost has gemstones in demand and many pirates are collecting and delivering repeatedly to this one outpost creating a lucrative trade route for the week, and an easy and predictable ambush spot for other pirates.

Shipwreck voyages are easily my favorite but they are extremely buggy. They have also been nerfed compared to the value they used to have. If I'm going to do a merchant voyage, it will definitely be this one but the entire time I'll be thinking in the back of my head "These used to be so much better."

Being a merchant, trader, cargo runner, whatever you want to call it, they all give thoughts of a ship filled with valuables. 2 animals is not that. 4 cargo is not that. Buying, loading, and unloading 15 commodities for 3 or 4k is way more effort than it's worth. Nothing about these voyages give the feeling of being a big trade runner loaded with goods. We used to have 30/50 or even more animals on our ship before we started to sell them. I remember being the designated pig feeder making sure we didn't lose a single one. We have even loaded up with cargo in the DR until our frame rate was hurting before we started to deliver.

Merchants feel empty to me right now and I hope something changes. New types of bottles won't change anything. We need a change to the mechanics behind it all.