Free port companies and expeditionary gear

[MagpieOAO 18]

See Buried Booty and Free Ports for more info on treasure and ports, some will be referred to here.

Free port Orgs:

See the previous post for the bare-bones functions of Tortuga, Singapore and Port Royal. 

As many players may not want to join with other orgs, but do want a means to progress without getting absolutely crushed or would like a much more loose form of organization they can hop on and play without any massive need for coordination and organization with the clan, I suggest that these Capital city/port towns have NPC Orgs that players can join. 

The orgs of Tortuga, Singapore and Port Royal are at war with one another, but not inherently hostile towards any player org. Anyone can dock in any port and use their services so long as they do not break their laws. Each player has their own standing with a free port org, and their standing will affect the standing of any org they join to a degree. So if you have  someone who constantly harasses a port, they aren't going to put your entire org into enemy territory for doing so.

You can raise your standing/reputation with a port by trading with them, completing quests for them or destroying their enemies. Raising standing with one port will lower it for others. But you will not become hostile with the other ports unless you attack them, only going as low as "unfriendly". 

Expeditionary gear:

Aka, what do I use my good standing for? Recipes, gear, materials, the higher your standing with a free port the higher grades of these materials you can trade with/for in the port. They're always willing to buy but not necessarily to sell high grade stuff unless they trust you. Likewise certain services become unlocked or discounted with higher standing. There may be some recipes which are unique to each port (Tortuga, Singapore, Port Royal) as well to encourage working with a port over time. 

You can also spend your standing as a currency to purchase gear like Grog (high nutritional values) water barrels, Tack, Ammunition and some gear to get yourself quickly equipped for an expedition. They should also offer quests (Treasure maps at their simplest, boss fight summons at most complex) based on your level which may open up more advanced gear. 

This provides an alternate means of advancing in the game that is persistent in a way. Even if you die, you still have your standing with a port through which you could obtain the means to get back on your feet.

It's worth pointing out though that seizing Freeport trade ships and raiding the ports is also a viable method of advancement for the more daring. 

[MagpieOAO 18]

Elsewhere someone made a great point that Atlas doesn't explain much and provides even less to new players or even Ark Vets who don't know the new mechanics. 

After leaving your first Island, your next major quest should be leading you to one of the major port cities and gathering supplies along the way as needed to make the journey. At the ports, you can receive a number of jobs (quests) and manuscripts that further explain the game and it's features. 

Not sure what form they could take with the ingame engine, but I doubt it would be a typical fetch-quest MMO type mission. 

[Adristor 3]

I really love the idea of being part of an NPC company who "hires" you to claim land and treasures for them (that happened IRL...payed expeditions and trade routes "for the king/queen" or the paying company) but as an independent captain.

[MagpieOAO 18]

1 hour ago, Adristor said:

I really love the idea of being part of an NPC company who "hires" you to claim land and treasures for them (that happened IRL...payed expeditions and trade routes "for the king/queen" or the paying company) but as an independent captain.

Would be a great way to just hop on and play at your own pace, without a massive org but with some of the benefits of an org. All players that are part of that port city should be (nominally) friendly to boot. But it does give you reason enough to attack players of enemy city-orgs on sight too!

[MagpieOAO 18]

Thanks to @REAPO For another idea of Warehouses and to expand on the idea a bit, crafting stations and all other facilities in the towns. 

In town, one can expect to find all facilities you can construct in the game, but available for gold and at a tax for their continued usage. Merchants offer a quick route of obtaining equipment and means while craftsman will allow you to utilize their tools at a modest cost. From warehouses to (relatively safely) store your goods to drydocks in which to conduct your ship repairs. 

It's worth noting that in the idea, nowhere is truly 100% safe from pillaging or pilfering. But anyone who attempts will have to deal with the defenses of the city who are always present. 

Edited December 26, 2018 by MagpieOAO

[reapo 46]

Hello, I'm reapo. My OP on my thread was about balancing the raiding scene and generally the cancer that is offline raiding which lead into the idea of NPC port cities for mid to late game players. The biggest resource a player has in this game are the boats. So anyway to exterminate a possibility of it being offline raided the better and I think the best way that balances it from a game perspective are the NPC port cities for mid to late game. Being able to store a boat at the NPC port for gold and having a warehouse to store goods, could be huge for the longevity of this game.

 

I played 7 hours of Atlas last night building a schooner to have it raided while I was offline. I don't want to build a new ship every single day. So I'm sure something like this is in the minds of the devs already, its just getting the game to a point where its stable and working so they can start balancing and introducing new way of playing the game.