Exploration/Spying supporting Conquest

[LeBoiteux]

Exploration/Spying supporting Conquest

 

As Admin stated :

Exploration has to tie naturally into main game mechanics

 

So here is the idea :

 

Explorers will have to look for "enemy strategic plans" hidden in enemy territory.

If they succeed in bringing them back home, this will reduce hostility in that port.

Thus Explorers protect national ports.

 

Here are the mechanics :

(locating hidden things in known territories to support conquest)

 

1) Icons (representing strategic information or a spy) are randomly generated in OW on island shores. These icons are not visible on maps. Only enemies can see them. Owners of a given island can't.

Example : an icon is generated on the east shore of French Island of Martinique. Say Great Britain is the enemy. Only an English exploring the coast can see the icon.

 

2) The English Explorer will have to come at close range to fetch the information in the icon/the spy.

As for wrecks, it will then take a few seconds to transfer the information/the spy on board.

 

3) As soon as the English Explorer get the information onboard, his location and identification as an Explorer having a strategic information on board appears on the map of every players of the shard, making player enemies want to intercept him and allies try to help him (escort).

 

4) The explorer has to sail back safe to the English port where he wants Hostility to decrease.

If he succeeds, he uses ( RMB) the "strategic plan" (ou "the spy or whatever you call it) and make hostility decreases for x %.

Longer voyages could give better reward (bigger %).

 

RP justification :

As the English Explorer knows strategic information about his enemy (about troop movements, strategy...) and was able to bring it back home, French effectiveness (ie. Hostility) decreases.

 

Interests :

- It might make the duration of Hostility last longer.

- It creates interaction between OW and PB, between non-combat gameplay and pvp.

- It could generate more OW PvP between those who want to stop the Explorer and those who want to protect him.

- It creates a new "career" in OW (Explorer) and an exciting activity : searching in hostile enemy territories, being blind ; an activity that could be coupled with scouting, PvE, trading...

- It ties Exploration and combat.

 

PS : instead of calling that "Exploration", you could also call that "Spying". However it takes searching enemies shores.

 

Comment.

[Sea Archer]

Good idea. I would limit it to one event (spy) for every region per 24h.

[LeBoiteux]

Good idea. I would limit it to one event (spy) for every region per 24h.

Why limiting fun (it's like Easter Eggs) and pvp opportunity ?

It's just a matter of tuning.

Right now :

Total points required to generate hostility were kept the same - 10000

Each information brought back home could decrease hostility by 1, 10, 100... Whatever.

 

I think you can easily hide 30+ icons in the OW that could be respawn somewhere else as soon as they're used to decrease hostility.

[Sea Archer]

Of course it's a matter of tuning, but I dislike the idea of creating the required hostility by spies only.

 

Though there should be a maximum of one spy per county available at one time and that one must be found by exploration and shall never be shown on the map. It shall be rare and not easy to find to keep it special.

[LeBoiteux]

"By spies only" ? Why ? no. Their influence has not to be major.

 

You can't ask 10-200 explorers to cross the Caribbean for a long time just to search one and only spy per nation. See what happened with wreck events (especially if spies are to be invisible on the in-game map as it should be). Exploration must be a rewarding activity. It is when one finds sth.