I've started an interesting conversation within the general discussion about how the game is not all about factions, that the world can be freely explored and players are able to create their own adventures. when doing this, finding loot not tied to a voyages bought from a faction feels more engaging and special. from what i've read in the comments, players were telling stories of what they found by simply exploring, and each one was unique and fun to read.
however, the problem with this playstyle is that they are not as rewarding as faction-based voyages in both reputation and gold. As a downside to playing faction-based voyages, they are repetitive and mostly just fetch quests. though it is ok that they are, faction based voyages give players a sense of direction if they need it, and the only reason why it is a fetch quest is because you eventually need to go back to an outpost to turn in your items.
even if it is entirely possible to go explore on your own, i feel as if the game places too much focus on it's factions. i feel as if more of its focus should be directed toward voyages, or more specifically, voyages that the player can find on their own.
this mainly points toward message bottles, which is the only way to find voyages outside of Factions. these items are exactly what i am talking about. they feel more special than faction-based voyages.
what makes message bottles more special is that they are found, for one thing. finding something like message bottles feels like fate is whispering to you. also, your not starting from an outpost. this isn't the beginning of some factions adventure, nothing that is bought. this is YOUR adventure.
HERE ARE MY SUGGESTIONS:
place voyages everywhere for players to find and pick up
behind rocks, within reefs, deep within jungles, randomly dropped by enemies, within shipwrecks, within fort vaults, given by friendly NPCs, etc.
(optional) make voyages physical objects (controversial)
like skulls, antiques, and chests, these items can be placed and picked up. placing them on the captains table and accepting by unanimous vote will begin the voyage normally; everyone will have a copy of the map(s) and everything.
however, if the voyage is taken from the captain's table someone else can make an exact copy of the map on their table. the same as your crew's.
this purposefully creates another method of obtaining voyages; other players. which also creates an interesting conflict between two players searching for the same treasure.
the object will disappear once the voyage is complete.
yes, you may sell them back to factions.
(optional) add a new voyage type "Fateful voyages."
fateful voyages are basically voyages that you find within the world and cannot be bought (refer to the first concept). the value of each chest or skull type is multiplied, re-naming a Captains chest into a "Fateful" Captains Chest like it would for shipwrecked items. this purposefully makes exploring more rewarding than doing fetch quests with factions.
for example,
Faction voyages: easily bought. repetitive. less rewarding
Fateful voyages: randomly found. not repetitive. more rewarding.
please post your thoughts. i'm enjoying an exploration play-style rather than a fetch-quest play-style. im enjoying the game a lot more in general because of this too (visit the general discussion for more info). but again, the rewards are still random in both item value and actually finding the items.
