@thewolfman321 said in [Mega Thread] Balancing Exploration and Player Combat - Part 3:
Firstly, you guys need to add some incentive to explore: Hunting(requires way more animals, some will be exclusive to certain islands, others to other islands which requires us to seek out different islands), Fishing(as before), Secret Locations(like your underwater caves on the unmarked islands), NPCs hiding on islands (you have all these cool caves and camps but nobody in them... seems a bit wasteful), Proper lore(there might be but I haven't found anything. You need like old diaries and papers that you can then store on your ship to read through whenever), location specific cosmetics[so hunting animals for their pelts to craft specific items, a secret vendor (like Xur in destiny 2) that moves around islands so you have to search for him each week or something for expensive exotic items]
All of these are great ideas. Your idea about the explorer ship was terrible, I do not support that at all. However let’s get back to discussing your excellent ideas and how they could make the pve and combat balance much better.
If Rare add loads of fun and rewarding things to do in the world, then people will play the game the way they want to play, perhaps fishing and selling fish for gold. The combat crazed people may even take a break from pillaging to explore other ways of making money and having fun.
At the moment the only fun thing to do in this game is get into mad battles, I am a combat crazed player. I also know that I would much rather invest my gold into ten barrels of cargo, then sail it to another outpost to make a profit. With the risk of losing my investment I would not be combat crazed. A nice working economy in game would be a fun distraction from combat.
I also know I would love it if I could buy a fishing rod and fish to make money. Perhaps bait attracts sharks which grab the end of my line and threaten to break my rod? I then have to fight sharks until I can carry on fishing and make my fortune. Fishing rod durability and bait costs would add to the risk/ reward system and the working economy.
If players could trade gold then the combat crazed players would get employed as protection for cargo haulers( I know I would enjoy making money this way, far more than just bashing other ships to death because it’s the only fun thing to do at the moment). This would require a “fleet” mechanic whereby the crew bond and lack of friendly fire extends between ships.
These are just some ideas, I am sure there are many more things that other people have come up with that are amazing. As long as people’s ideas keep the combat balanced and don’t involve xp or weapon stats, then I support their ideas. People should be able to do as many fun and profitable things as you can cram into this game, so they can really live in the world the way they want to.
At the minute cosmetics are the only thing you can buy, this is cool but ultimately it gets boring. What if players could form pirate gangs and all work towards buying a pirate hideout? Somewhere in game that has a secret entrance and is instanced from other crews( or not but I really don’t know how that would work). These places could be a safe place to hide treasure until other roving pirates leave the nearby outpost.
In summary, the game needs more things to spend gold on, this will give gold far more value. Ultimately the game needs way more things to do, this way people will get distracted and not be as combat crazed, effectively solving the problem of too much pvp.