The GMU - How it could work.

  • The Grand Maritime Union is slowly making its way into the Sea of Thieves. Here's my idea of how it could work. I can already tell you won't read all this.

    GENERAL IDEA
    My idea is that we have a Lords of the Sea - style world event, where the GMU have taken over a group of islands, calling it "The Isles of Trade" or something. It's up to the players to destroy the stone buildings and fight the GMU representatives as mini - bosses. There will be a final boss, then a bunch of treasure. The islands return to normal after 30 - 45 minutes.

    PHASE ONE
    Players go to a blue ship - cloud in the sky to start the event. Also, there will be a blue circle around the "Isles of Trade" area on the map. It can be in seven locations:
    1 - Smuggler's Bay, Sailor's Bounty, Keel Haul Fort, Salty Sands and Boulder Cay.
    2 - Old Faithful Isle, Marauder's Arch, Shark Fin Camp, Black Sand Atoll and Scurvy Isley.
    3 - Thieves Haven, Devil's Ridge, Mutineer Rock, The Crow's Nest Fortress and Cutlass Cay.
    4 - Shark Bait Cove, Discovery Ridge, Old Salts Atoll, Lost Gold Fort and Lookout Point.
    5 - Mermaid's Hideaway, Wanderer's Refuge, Sea Dog's Rest, Lagoon of Whispers and Sailor's Knot Stronghold.
    6 - Kraken's Fall, The Sunken Grove, Shark Tooth Key, Skull Keep and Shiver Retreat.
    7 - Flintlock Peninsula, Ruby's Fall, Cursewater Shores, Scorched Pass and Molten Sands Fortress. More on this later.

    Each area has a primary island, where most the action is. Smuggler's bay, Old faithful, Thieves haven, Shark bait cove, Mermaid's hideaway, Kraken's fall and Molten Sands, to their respective areas. All the large islands have full Tortuga - style towns (10, or 25 for a primary island) built on them, and the small islands have only one building on them. Forts have three, except for Molten Sands, which has 25 like all the other main islands.

    The islands have force fields around them. Can't go in, can't shoot them. There are many GMU galleons circling them, but to progress further, it is required to sink 3 GMU Man 'o' Wars, acting as a nerfed Flying Dutchman without the anchor attack. All ships can be boarded or rammed, and there are supplies, ammo and enemies (act like skellies) that attack you. Each Man 'o' War drops one stronghold chest, three villainous bounty skulls and two crates of precious gemstones. The forcefield disappears once the ships are sunk.

    PHASE TWO
    The islands can now be attacked! The forcefield disappears all islands other than the primary one. The goal is to cannon over and fight a GMU general guarding each building. They work like a skeleton captain, but they can also bring forth more GMU representatives (the same ones that were on the ships). Each general drops a gold hoarder trinket. After a general is defeated, the building opens and a lever can be pulled to send it into a "Vulnerable" state. Two cannonballs will destroy the building, and once all buildings on an island have been destroyed, a storage crate spawns. Destroying everything on all islands will initiate the final phase.

    PHASE THREE
    The forcefield dissipates around the primary island! Every three buildings is guarded by a general, acting the same as before. The 21 ordinary buildings all have levers in them, too. Here's the difference - there is a dock building on the primary island that must be destroyed before any of the generals spawn. It is guarded by a "Placeholder name, I can't think of one", which has the health of just under a skeleton lord. It is bound to a cannon rowie, which fires cursed cannonballs. It uses an eye of reach (50 damage) and a pistol (20 damage). Once it dies, the generals spawn. Once all the levers have been pulled, two more buildings become accessible, each guarded by - take a guess - more generals. Both drop an item which is required to open the final room. The final room has a Grand Maritime Union Commander, with the health of an ashen lord. It has a cutlass (15 damage, 50 for a lunge), blunderbuss (skele lord strength) and pistol (40 damage). It can also summon GMU representatives, and a general too. Finally, it can activate swinging log, fire and spike traps. Once it is defeated, a lever spawns. Once it's pulled, it blows up every single building on the island, and the event ends. A vault also opens beneath the main room.

    LOOT
    If the area was in the Devil's Roar, all loot becomes ashen, if it can. This is the loot gained:

    • 2 Athena chests
    • 6 stronghold chests
    • 5 stronghold skulls
    • 4 crates of ancient bone dust
    • 8 ruby mermaid gems
    • 8 villainous bounty skulls
    • 8 captain's chests
    • 4 crates of exquisite spices
    • 10 gold hoarder trinkets
    • 6 chests of the damned
    • 6 skulls of the damned
    • 4 ashes of the damned
    • 4 stronghold kegs
    • 2 Athena kegs
    • 2 ashen winds skulls
    • 1 cursed chest

    WHY IT WON'T WORK
    Servers. It's obvious.

    CONCLUSION
    Well, I'm off. See ya.

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  • Seems like a LOT of work for a relatively small amount of loot. This wont work because, as you said, servers, but there are some other flaws.

    1. TOO MANY ISLANDS TAKEN OVER. 5 entire islands is a bit much for people trying to do quests or even just sail around.

    2. Rare has said they don't want human NPC enemies.

    3. Very, very complicated. I can't imagine a newer or average player being able to figure out such a complicated and time-intensive event.

    I do like the idea of the GMU making an appearance (technically the Merchant Alliance is a branch of the GMU) but this is not the way to go.

  • why not just have a mission where the pirate lord tells you that the GMU tried to break through the shroud, so he sends you off on a mission to stop it? could start with some island hopping (allowing the players to stock up on supplies) as you find the journals of a GMU crewman chronicling the voyage, before the final confrontation. which is with a galleon crewed by Ghosts and skeletons, because their method of passing through the shroud failed.

  • @solobeard7821 said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    Seems like a LOT of work for a relatively small amount of loot. This wont work because, as you said, servers, but there are some other flaws.

    1. TOO MANY ISLANDS TAKEN OVER. 5 entire islands is a bit much for people trying to do quests or even just sail around.

    2. Rare has said they don't want human NPC enemies.

    3. Very, very complicated. I can't imagine a newer or average player being able to figure out such a complicated and time-intensive event.

    I do like the idea of the GMU making an appearance (technically the Merchant Alliance is a branch of the GMU) but this is not the way to go.

    1. Why doesn't Rare want human NPC enemies? I must have missed a dev update or something.
    2. The Merchant Alliance is suspicious of the Sovereigns, which work for the GMU. They're not any closer to the Grand Maritime Union than any other trading company. Technically, the Pirate Emporium and Sovereigns are related to the GMU.
  • @chromeguardsman said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    why not just have a mission where the pirate lord tells you that the GMU tried to break through the shroud, so he sends you off on a mission to stop it? could start with some island hopping (allowing the players to stock up on supplies) as you find the journals of a GMU crewman chronicling the voyage, before the final confrontation. which is with a galleon crewed by Ghosts and skeletons, because their method of passing through the shroud failed.

    I like it. Would be very POTC - like. I'd want a Man 'o' War, or at least make the galleon mega - buffed.

  • @animeowl0807
    Rare doesn't want human enemies because they raise the age rating.

  • @animeowl0807 Killing human NPCs automatically raises the age rating, which is why we have phantoms and skeletons.

  • @scheneighnay said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    @animeowl0807
    Rare doesn't want human enemies because they raise the age rating.

    Oh. Right. Thanks for sharing.

  • @solobeard7821 said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    @animeowl0807 Killing human NPCs automatically raises the age rating, which is why we have phantoms and skeletons.

    Huh, apparently it does.
    Never knew that, thanks.

  • @animeowl0807 honestly buffs would be easier than a new ship type. i suggested a galleon because you can basically use the NPC coding from the skeleton galleons as a base, and give it a model modified from a player ship galleon. so you could add buffs pretty easily. adjust how much damage it requires to sink it based on group size for example. skeleton galleons already can use some specialty cannonballs, so you could expand on that for a GMU skellie ship.. perhaps let it fire chainshots, Blunderbombs, or firebombs sometimes instead of the magic cannonballs. would at least make it a more unique experience. (though you'd need to downgrade their accuracy obviously, to make it survivable)

    mostly i just figure the best approach is the one that requires the least new programming assets. because every new mechanic, NPC, and model means more chances for bugs and other problems. and the game has enough of those already i think. besides, less fully new material means it can be done faster.

  • @chromeguardsman said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    @animeowl0807 honestly buffs would be easier than a new ship type. i suggested a galleon because you can basically use the NPC coding from the skeleton galleons as a base, and give it a model modified from a player ship galleon. so you could add buffs pretty easily. adjust how much damage it requires to sink it based on group size for example. skeleton galleons already can use some specialty cannonballs, so you could expand on that for a GMU skellie ship.. perhaps let it fire chainshots, Blunderbombs, or firebombs sometimes instead of the magic cannonballs. would at least make it a more unique experience. (though you'd need to downgrade their accuracy obviously, to make it survivable)

    mostly i just figure the best approach is the one that requires the least new programming assets. because every new mechanic, NPC, and model means more chances for bugs and other problems. and the game has enough of those already i think. besides, less fully new material means it can be done faster.

    Maybe make it that the AI can bucket on occasion. If it was a man 'o' war, it'd work almost exactly like the Flying Dutchman.

  • I feel like the loot for this should be insane, and maybe lower the amount of islands to 1 main and 2 regular. And the human enemies cannon withstand such injuries, soI feel like if it were phantoms, and the number of generals was lower, it would be nice. F for the creativity tho

  • @guyrza said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    I feel like the loot for this should be insane, and maybe lower the amount of islands to 1 main and 2 regular.

    I didn't want it to be too OP. Lower the islands, yes. One primary, a fort and a small island.

    And the human enemies cannon withstand such injuries, soI feel like if it were phantoms, and the number of generals was lower, it would be nice.

    I mentioned previously that human enemies would be inappropriate for the game's age rating. Phantoms it is...

    F for the creativity tho

    ?
    Isn't an F a fail? Or an F in chat? Wdym

  • @animeowl0807 you know there's this "press F to pay respects" meme? So if u give someone an F for smth, it means respect for smth. At least thats what i meant in my message. I truly like how you came up with something unique, and not jus some another fort variation

  • @themadlad94 said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    @animeowl0807 said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    The Grand Maritime Union is slowly making its way into the Sea of Thieves. Here's my idea of how it could work. I can already tell you won't read all this.

    GENERAL IDEA
    My idea is that we have a Lords of the Sea - style world event, where the GMU have taken over a group of islands, calling it "The Isles of Trade" or something. It's up to the players to destroy the stone buildings and fight the GMU representatives as mini - bosses. There will be a final boss, then a bunch of treasure. The islands return to normal after 30 - 45 minutes.

    PHASE ONE
    Players go to a blue ship - cloud in the sky to start the event. Also, there will be a blue circle around the "Isles of Trade" area on the map. It can be in seven locations:
    1 - Smuggler's Bay, Sailor's Bounty, Keel Haul Fort, Salty Sands and Boulder Cay.
    2 - Old Faithful Isle, Marauder's Arch, Shark Fin Camp, Black Sand Atoll and Scurvy Isley.
    3 - Thieves Haven, Devil's Ridge, Mutineer Rock, The Crow's Nest Fortress and Cutlass Cay.
    4 - Shark Bait Cove, Discovery Ridge, Old Salts Atoll, Lost Gold Fort and Lookout Point.
    5 - Mermaid's Hideaway, Wanderer's Refuge, Sea Dog's Rest, Lagoon of Whispers and Sailor's Knot Stronghold.
    6 - Kraken's Fall, The Sunken Grove, Shark Tooth Key, Skull Keep and Shiver Retreat.
    7 - Flintlock Peninsula, Ruby's Fall, Cursewater Shores, Scorched Pass and Molten Sands Fortress. More on this later.

    Each area has a primary island, where most the action is. Smuggler's bay, Old faithful, Thieves haven, Shark bait cove, Mermaid's hideaway, Kraken's fall and Molten Sands, to their respective areas. All the large islands have full Tortuga - style towns (10, or 25 for a primary island) built on them, and the small islands have only one building on them. Forts have three, except for Molten Sands, which has 25 like all the other main islands.

    The islands have force fields around them. Can't go in, can't shoot them. There are many GMU galleons circling them, but to progress further, it is required to sink 3 GMU Man 'o' Wars, acting as a nerfed Flying Dutchman without the anchor attack. All ships can be boarded or rammed, and there are supplies, ammo and enemies (act like skellies) that attack you. Each Man 'o' War drops one stronghold chest, three villainous bounty skulls and two crates of precious gemstones. The forcefield disappears once the ships are sunk.

    PHASE TWO
    The islands can now be attacked! The forcefield disappears all islands other than the primary one. The goal is to cannon over and fight a GMU general guarding each building. They work like a skeleton captain, but they can also bring forth more GMU representatives (the same ones that were on the ships). Each general drops a gold hoarder trinket. After a general is defeated, the building opens and a lever can be pulled to send it into a "Vulnerable" state. Two cannonballs will destroy the building, and once all buildings on an island have been destroyed, a storage crate spawns. Destroying everything on all islands will initiate the final phase.

    PHASE THREE
    The forcefield dissipates around the primary island! Every three buildings is guarded by a general, acting the same as before. The 21 ordinary buildings all have levers in them, too. Here's the difference - there is a dock building on the primary island that must be destroyed before any of the generals spawn. It is guarded by a "Placeholder name, I can't think of one", which has the health of just under a skeleton lord. It is bound to a cannon rowie, which fires cursed cannonballs. It uses an eye of reach (50 damage) and a pistol (20 damage). Once it dies, the generals spawn. Once all the levers have been pulled, two more buildings become accessible, each guarded by - take a guess - more generals. Both drop an item which is required to open the final room. The final room has a Grand Maritime Union Commander, with the health of an ashen lord. It has a cutlass (15 damage, 50 for a lunge), blunderbuss (skele lord strength) and pistol (40 damage). It can also summon GMU representatives, and a general too. Finally, it can activate swinging log, fire and spike traps. Once it is defeated, a lever spawns. Once it's pulled, it blows up every single building on the island, and the event ends. A vault also opens beneath the main room.

    It’s a very well thought out idea, but there are some problems with it.

    1. As you stated, server stability
    2. As others have stated, human NPCs raise the age rating
    3. From a lore perspective, how are there force fields? I don’t believe the GMU has much of a foothold in the realm of mystical powers. Only evidence we have is that they are hoarding ancient coins, which have the power to break the shroud in large enough quantities.
    4. I think there would need to be a lot more loot for this to be a worthwhile venture.

    What I would rather see is a GMU fleet that would have a Man o’ War boss at the end. Perhaps skeletons or phantoms got to the original crews first while they were crossing the shroud and then decided to keep the vessels for funsies. The Man o’ War would have almost all of the loot and would be in the center of the armada. You would have to pick off the other ships before being able to go head to head with the vessel. All of the loot would be locked in the hold of the Man o’ War, so that it couldn’t be cheesed by just taking the loot and not fighting it.

    Maybe make it that ancient coins have that power. Also, I'd make it much easier.

  • @guyrza said in The GMU - How it could work.:

    @animeowl0807 you know there's this "press F to pay respects" meme? So if u give someone an F for smth, it means respect for smth. At least thats what i meant in my message. I truly like how you came up with something unique, and not jus some another fort variation

    Thanks! I appreciate it!

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