Pocket Watch

For the Pocket Watch, I've made a suggestion in the past regarding GOLD RUSH that would make it far more useful than it is today. That idea could be expanded to other time-limited events as well. Basically...make the pocket watch change colors or have indicators for events that are live.

For the Tankard, I think it would be neat if drinking grog provided temporary (or permanent) enhancements to things as a trade-off to the drunk-effects. For example, you're immune to shark bites, or immune to fall damage, or you get +10 overheal (I like that one the most). IDK...something to make it a functional risk/reward system.

@zig-zag-ltu remember that even though the items themselves may not all have valuable uses, their pirate chat options when holding them are a goldmine for communication.

Holding the Pocket Watch brings up “Time to go!”, valuable for pirates in a rush if a ship is coming for example. The Tankard has “Here’s to the crew!” Or “yer me best mates!”, both great phrases to tell your crew you enjoyed your time with them.

So it’s not just about practical use as the equipment itself but also communicative.

@tastystuffing said in Pocket Watch:

( ... ) The pocket watch would be more relevant if the merchant’s delivery missions had stricter time limits like they used to have.

The random ones you find in barrels and so on can be on a more tightly scedule than the ones you buy from a represantative of the MA.

@zig-zag-ltu

Perhaps they could be used in the riddles.

On the west of the island is a skull covered in grime
Go up to him and show him the time

In a cage a man now dead was punished for a crime
Take out your watch and give him some more time

On the campfire on the south, there is a pork roast
Before you enjoy your diner, grab your tankerd and raise it in a toast

GlitterBeard.

It has one of the best reasons to have a pocket watch. And Event that happens at a certain time, (between certain days would be nice bonus.)

@tastystuffing said in Pocket Watch:

@lem0n-curry

Yep I’ve experienced this myself.

My thoughts…

The issue is failing a mission because you ran out of time is not fun game design.

So rather than fail a mission why not pay more for a rapid delivery without any damage to the cargo compared to a slow delivery?

So on the paper have a reasonably challenging future date and time listed where you earn double the normal value if you manage to deliver the cargo before the target time.

The mission never fails but after the target time you can only earn the base value of the cargo for delivery.

You don't fail the mission if the time passes, you complete it - which was quite handy if somehow you lost your cages during an original Athena voyage.

@tastystuffing said in Pocket Watch:

@lem0n-curry

If I don’t deliver a wood crate in time, I get credit for completing it?

That’s never happened to me.

How does that work?

You don't get credit in achievements for crates turned in on time obviously; but in earlier days when you had to deliver animals during an Athena, the voyages counted as completed when the time ran out, so you didn't waste the athena voyage and got the 2nd stage of the voyage.

It may count for completed MA voyages milestones though

@zig-zag-ltu

The pocket watch could maybe be used for certain quests revolving around buried treasure? There could be something supernatural about this particular chest that only permits you to dig it out of the ground on a certain day at a certain time.

For the Tankard, I would suggest something similar to a Riddle map. However, you would need your tankard to spill grog over the piece of parchment in order to reveal a clue or something like that. (I'm thinking of something like the Declaration of Independence with the lemon juice scene from National Treasure. For those who don't know, Ben Gates and his friends have to use lemon juice on the back of the Declaration of Independence in order to reveal a clue to a cipher)

Maybe have a mode with timed HG battles where you can only tell how much time is left by checking you watch.
-Have a button on it to stop time for a second or two when fighting ghosts, basically freezing them briefly.

@zig-zag-ltu

Captaincy fixed the tankard issue.

Pocketwatches are still useful to see if grabbing that merchant pickup is worth the time.

I'd love a little mini-game on large islands where you can pull out a pocket watch at a phantom mist, a beam will shine at a destination, your watch will start counting down and you have to speedrun over there to get some phantom loot.

@burnbacon said in Pocket Watch:

GlitterBeard.

It has one of the best reasons to have a pocket watch. And Event that happens at a certain time, (between certain days would be nice bonus.)

Limit when you can start Glitterbeard even more ? That would be very bad for people who've found enough people to do it organically. It's already annoying if you get there just a few minutes too late as you'll be waiting another 20 minutes before it can be started again.

Or are you talking about another event that should have time / day limit ?
Remember the first week(s?) of Cursed Sails ? Where every region had its own week to spawn the fleet ?

I have to admit that the watch is not the most used piece of equipment, however I peek at it quite regularly when I go on my chill solo sessions to grind commendations.

I focus on a particular achievement (now I’m grinding breaths of the sea) and I basically start sailing around island and floating barrels collecting resources while searching for messages in bottles.

It often happens to find merchant quests for the delivery of crates which I try to do for completion sake. I use the watch to understand if I can do other stuff first or if I have to rush the consignment :)

A lot of good ideas on how to improve some tools in the game.

To other people, this is not a topic asking to remove them and apologies if calling them useless touches you personally, I am just trying to provoke a discussion on how to add extra use for them and improve the game at the same time.

I personally really liked the suggestions to add them to riddle maps, I noticed there are already new riddle locations on some maps, so having some extra riddle mechanics would be always welcome.

Perhaps some tall tale like riddle voyage utilizing large islands like Thieves Haven and Old Faithful could be used to implement those new mechanics for some exciting new valuable treasure to be discovered.