Hello there,
I would like to present an idea that I had some time ago and that has been received very positively by everyone I have told so far.
But first to the problem that brought me to this idea: Repetative gameplay at the beginning of every session.
Whenever you jump into the world of Sea of Thieves, you have to perform the same steps over and over again... Collect cannon balls, bananas, planks etc.
At the beginning of the game's life cycle this was a good way to keep players busy, but now it starts to annoy many pirates. In my opinion this is because it is not a challenge at all. It is not difficult to go to all barrels on the island one after another and carry the items to the ship. Additionally this is not fun at all. It is a boring repetetive process you have to overcome at the beginning of each session before you can finally start playing the game you wanted to play in the fisrt place. Resources coming in the Mega Update will amplify this problem.
My solution to this problem is a chest system which allows you to keep some of your items for your next session:
Hidden Treasures
At some point in the game you gain the ability to buy special chests from the gold hoarders, empty maps from the merchant alliance and lock spells from the order of souls. Each of those items is for one time use only (with one exception). The price has to be figured out - this is a question of balancing it.
Chest of Hidden Treasures
Each chest offers space for a certain number of items. You can put a number of cannon balls, planks, food and even other small items like mermaid gems into it. When you buy the chest, it is unlocked and can be opened and closed by any player. This means that even enemies can put items into it and take out any item the chest contains - or even steal the chest. Additionally these chests can be buried. So just place it on a soft surface and use its second interaction to bury it right at this spot.
Spell of Hidden Treasures
At any point you can use one of these spells to lock the chest you just filled up. This means from now on the chest cannot be opened without this spell. It will be useless without it but can still be stolen of course.
You can use the same spell to open the chest again. But it will be affected by this single spell only. Unfortunately the cover of the chest will brake in this process and cannot closed again. Additionally the spell will loose its force and just dissapear. This means you have to think carefully about when you want to lock and unlock the chest.
Map of Hidden Treasures
You can use this map to find your chest in the future. If you own an empty Map of hidden Treaures at the moment you bury a chest, the exact position will be marked on it by an X. The map will be destroyed when you dig the chest out again.
What happens if you bury a Chest of Hidden Treasures when you have no empty Map of Hidden Treasures
The chest will be buried but you will not get a map to find it later. So make sure to remember the spot.
What happens if you die?
If you own a written Map of Hidden Treasures or a Spell of Hidden Treasures that has been used to lock a chest, it is a good idea to stay alive, because you will drop them if you die. This offers the possibility to kill other pirates and steal their maps and spells. Unwritten Maps of Hidden Treasures and unused Spells of Hidden Treasures will never be dropped.
What happens if you pick up a Map or Spell of Hidden Treasures dropped by another player?
The maps and spells are encrypted in a way that ensures only the owner can use them. But there is a way to unlock them: Take the written Map of Hidden Treasures to the merchant alliance and the used Spell of Hidden Treasures to the Order of Souls to have them unlocked. But this has to be done by the exact same person they have been purchased from. The names are written at the end of the page. This service will not be free of course. So prepare to spend some gold.
What happens if you leave the game
Unlocked Chests of Hidden Treasures behave like any other chest. They stay in the world and can be picked up and used by other players.
Locked (but not buried) Chests of Hidden Treasures will magically disappear when you leave the game but reappear in the same spot if you log in within a given time span (e.g. 5 min.) to make sure you can't lose them because of a crash or disconnect. This applies only to the player owning the spell.
Buried Chests of Hidden Treasures will stay burried and can be digged out by any player who owns the correct map or finds them by chance (unlocked chests without maps only). If a chest has been buried without creating a map or locking it before, it will disappear after a given time (e.g. 1 week real time). Only locked chests with an associated map will stay in the world forever.
The Maps and Spells of Hidden Treasures will remain in your inventory. You can use them to find and unlock your Hidden Treasures in another play session.
How many Chests of Hidden Treasures can I bury at the same time?
You can bury as many chests as you want, but keep in mind that chests without corresponding maps and unlocked chests will disappear after a certain time. So be sure to lock your chest and create a map when you bury it.
How many Maps and Spells of Hidden Treasure can I keep at the same time?
The number of maps and spells you can cary is limited. You can only have a certain number of these maps and spells at the same time (e.g. eight of each = 1 wheel menu each).
Why should I lock my Chests of Hidden Treasures?
Unlocked chests can be opened and used by any player and will not respawn after a disconnect or game crash. They can even be digged out by chance. Additionally they will disappear after a certain time.
Why should I create Maps of Hidden Treasures?
First of all you won't have to remember where you buried the chests. They can even be digged out by chance. Additionally chests without corresponding maps will disappear after a certain time.
What happens if one of my chest is found and digged out by another player?
All buried chests that are unlocked or have been buried without creating a map can be found by any player on any server. Well, that's bad luck for you.
How can I find Chests of Hidden Treasures buried by other players?
You will not find chests that have been locked and then buried creating a map. These are protected by a magic curtain. They can only be found using the corresponding Map of Hidden Treasures.
If you own a Map of Hidden Treasures created by another player, you can just dig out the chest. Lets hope it is not locked by a Spell of Hidden Treasures - or did you steal this too?
