Explorer Experience!

[Scarabrae]

Sailing around the Caribbean should be an experience in itself, discovering new ports should reward exploration xp. as should travel, think Fallout!

Edited January 25, 2016 by Scarabrae

[mirror452]

Reward comes through exploration and seeing these places itself... In my humble opinion an artificial xp reward is not really needed.
It is already a very rewarding feeling when you actually reach the place where you wanted to go without getting lost somewhere

[Ned Loe]

Agree, got same request from my clan members. No one wants to sail and explore if there is no reward. 

[mirror452]

Well, there is some kind of reward in terms of knowledge over port productions... Not sure if a simple xp reward is an optimal solution, since this would then just end up in "afk sailing aka xp farming".

But I don't really have a better idea. There was once some talk about discovering species and such on land (http://www.navalaction.com/blog/2014/9/14/exploration-gameplay), but I am not sure if this is actually still part of the development plans. Didn't hear anything about it for a very long time.

[Reonhato]

You are not really discovering ports though are you, they are already on the map.

[Petrov]

I love exploring, but I'm not going to get anywhere because no XP is gained. 

 

Make exploring a type of mission.

[Elbows]

I fully support exploration XP.  A lot of folks believe it or not are playing the game not for constant combat, but for the fun of sailing around.  However, it means that you're unlikely to ever level up...heck at this point you simply won't.  Without going to PVP and fighting you'll take 20+ engagements to slowly crawl up a single level.

 

A small XP for exploring a port would not hurt anything.  Keep it to 3-5 XP per port and you'll be fine.  No one is suggesting 50 XP per port.  At this point in time, if you don't dedicate yourself to constant combat you go nowhere.  You can make plenty of money without issue, but you won't level up...and will be unable to man/effectively use larger trade ships, etc.

 

A quality game would allow both kinds of play.  For those days when you don't feel like getting into a 20 minute chase...and just feel like sailing around, exploring, gathering port import/export lists etc.  Another issue is that the "reward for locating ports that require goods..." is that you'll narrow down enough within a short sailing to negate the need to go further.  (This is ideally where additional missions come in - delivering X goods to Y port for Z XP/gold).  Right now there is absolutely zero point for a French ship from Fort Royal to ever end up on the Mexican coast or sail up the East Coast of the United States.

 

Zero, zilch, none.  And since all of the ports/land masses look similar and use the same sprites/graphics you won't even benefit from "oh look, Charleston looks neat!".  I do think the game is drastically in need of additional components beyond combat.

[Petrov]

spot on Elbows. 

[Forvet]

I'd love this. I'm not really good at combat, and I'm terrible at being a Merchantman. However, I absolutely LOVE exploring! In less than an hour of being in the game, without any kills under my belt, I decided to make the sail for Bermuda from Swannsborough (2 hour trip IRL).  I'm an explorer at heart and I'd love to take the challenge of sneaking behind enemy lines to find the neutral ports down in the Caribbean!

[TheSlickOne]

I fully support the general idea of this proposal. There is so much potential for this game to be deep in content. Very deep! And - as it is already evident form this thread - would be able to cater to many different approaches to game play. I'm pretty excited about the possibilities and the future of this game and want to see it succeed by being much richer and diverse than it is now. I think it is coming slowly but it's early times. Lots of good ideas from the community already!

[Scarabrae]

I fully support exploration XP.  A lot of folks believe it or not are playing the game not for constant combat, but for the fun of sailing around.  However, it means that you're unlikely to ever level up...heck at this point you simply won't.  Without going to PVP and fighting you'll take 20+ engagements to slowly crawl up a single level.

 

A small XP for exploring a port would not hurt anything.  Keep it to 3-5 XP per port and you'll be fine.  No one is suggesting 50 XP per port.  At this point in time, if you don't dedicate yourself to constant combat you go nowhere.  You can make plenty of money without issue, but you won't level up...and will be unable to man/effectively use larger trade ships, etc.

 

A quality game would allow both kinds of play.  For those days when you don't feel like getting into a 20 minute chase...and just feel like sailing around, exploring, gathering port import/export lists etc.  Another issue is that the "reward for locating ports that require goods..." is that you'll narrow down enough within a short sailing to negate the need to go further.  (This is ideally where additional missions come in - delivering X goods to Y port for Z XP/gold).  Right now there is absolutely zero point for a French ship from Fort Royal to ever end up on the Mexican coast or sail up the East Coast of the United States.

 

Zero, zilch, none.  And since all of the ports/land masses look similar and use the same sprites/graphics you won't even benefit from "oh look, Charleston looks neat!".  I do think the game is drastically in need of additional components beyond combat.

 

This is exactly what i had in mind, thank you for expanding it for me Elbows. Travelling across the map and exploring should give XP, the art of sailing is an "experience!" I have sailed many times in my life including circumnavigating the UK coastline in a schooner Believe me it was an experience! 

Edited January 25, 2016 by Scarabrae

[Lord Vicious]

even if is 50-100xp is worth imho since going to port to port even most near take 5-10 mins

 

+1

[Forvet]

even if is 50-100xp is worth imho since going to port to port even most near take 5-10 mins

 

+1

I was just about to say; Even if it's only 50exp, the Exp from a single Cutter being sunk, it's a one-time thing. That's 20 Ports to go from Midshipman to 2ndLt (1,000exp), You won't make rank solely by exploring, but it's a good reward and incentive!

[Forvet]

would be exploited..

Sad pathetic mental midgets with no honour would sail around to the edges of the map and go afk while earning XP for sailing..

 

Then let's give XP for visiting PORTS, not just for sailing. That atleast takes some skill. You really think someone could go AFK while trying to hit the... "Neutral Port Beside the Pirate Capital"? (I don't know if that even exists, but it's more of a blanket statement.)

[Scarabrae]

would be exploited..

Sad pathetic mental midgets with no honour would sail around to the edges of the map and go afk while earning XP for sailing..

 

Not if there was only a single XP hit once discovered! You could also add 1 or 2 XP for every few hundred nautical miles sailed as well, yes that could be exploited with bots but that's not our job to police!

[mirror452]

yes that could be exploited with bots but that's not our job to police!

 

It's our job to bring possible exploits to the attention of the devs. We are still testers, after all.

[Arnaud Arpes]

There should be no exploration experience.

If it were to be implemented, it should be menial. 5-10 XP per port.

The real reason for exploring, is for gaining knowledge of the Production and Consumption of ports. Which then allows you to find the best prices for buying and selling goods, which makes you more money.

 

[Elbows]

And...as we've discussed numerous times: money means nothing if you can't actually manage/crew the fancy ship you'd like to buy.  What's amusing here is the ardent hatred against those unwilling to grind-battle their way into XP.  If someone wants to sail around and slowly gather XP from visiting ports - is this somehow offensive to you?  Does this diminish your game?  Is there some negative effect you'll encounter for players you'll never meet/see?  If you enter a PVP engagement against an opponent, what difference does it make if he's leveled up by exploring/visiting ports or by constant battle?

 

Arguments against this stuff is a bit confusing.  We're not asking for things to be removed - we're asking for additional options to appeal to a wider audience.  Why such a narrow focus? Can you explain why you're so dead set against someone gaining experience in another fashion?

[AKPyrate]

Though I'd be more in the mood for combat xp myself, I don't see why this can't be added as well.  Additionally, if a new port is captured by your nation, there's an incentive to actually visit that port.  Something nominal, such as 10-50 xp per port visited (one time only) would be fine with me, as I'll be honest that usually I've been finding a good hunting ground and staying put for sometimes weeks at a time instead of exploring more of the map.  I've never hit the mainland except briefly due to logging out in OW recently and logging back on I happened to be outside Charleston as a Brit (until that glitch is fixed...don't log off in OW!...luckily I was able to teleport back to my capitol without being attacked).  When the map started listing goods produced/consumed and I got curious.  However, that curiosity only lasted so long as to find some local ports that produced what I needed to dabble a bit in crafting.  It was stated a while back that the game would encourage exploration as well, and I could see this as a great way to do it.  I do think that xp/distance sailed would be easily exploited and should not be implemented.

 

Another option is to make 'exploration xp' a separate entity to leveling xp.  Instead of rank, you can earn titles and awards for exploring.  Possibly some leveling xp/gold/ship blueprints/other rewards could be earned by achieving these titles?  Not enough to make post captain, but enough to create a bit more incentive.  Possibly earn (in the random order I think them up) a knighthood, title of 'cartographer', a coat of arms (such as Cook's posthumous one granted to his widow and decedents by George III), title of 'explorer', or maybe something like the 'James Cook Award'.  There are lots of possibilities that could maybe unlock trivial things, such as certain flags that fly from your rigging.  Just something to brag about and get some personal satisfaction (and proof to others that you did it).  And some of these honors could be achieved simply by fulfilling missions, such as visiting any port on the mainland, visiting all the free ports in game, visiting Bermuda, visiting a port on each of the main islands, etc.

 

Sorry for the bit of rambling, but even though it's probably not for me, I like the idea and think it would add depth and additional goals to the game.  It could also make different styles of ships more desirable (speed over firepower, for example) and increase the diversity of ships we see in game.

[Scarabrae]

There should be no exploration experience.

If it were to be implemented, it should be menial. 5-10 XP per port.

The real reason for exploring, is for gaining knowledge of the Production and Consumption of ports. Which then allows you to find the best prices for buying and selling goods, which makes you more money.

 

 

It's a lot more "realistic" to reward experience for exploration than it is for combat. Gaining knowledge is experience!

[braginator]

There was once some talk about discovering species and such on land (http://www.navalaction.com/blog/2014/9/14/exploration-gameplay), but I am not sure if this is actually still part of the development plans.

I desperately hope they'll take a look at this again at some point! Looked so promising...

 

Another option is to make 'exploration xp' a separate entity to leveling xp.  Instead of rank, you can earn titles and awards for exploring.  Possibly some leveling xp/gold/ship blueprints/other rewards could be earned by achieving these titles?  Not enough to make post captain, but enough to create a bit more incentive.  Possibly earn (in the random order I think them up) a knighthood, title of 'cartographer', a coat of arms (such as Cook's posthumous one granted to his widow and decedents by George III), title of 'explorer', or maybe something like the 'James Cook Award'.  

This is just a fantastic idea. +1

[Sir Texas Sir]

It's a lot more "realistic" to reward experience for exploration than it is for combat. Gaining knowledge is experience!

Many ship Captains of this age never even saw combat.  Well for the traders that is.  I would not want to do just a exploring bonus.   I like the per port thing.  Or make it a mission that tally's up as you hit ports.  It only pays out when you do say every 20 new ports you have visited.  You can kinda think of it as trade contracts/contacts of a merchant or even Naval Captain making as he sails around the ocean.  They tend to make new contacts in ports they haven't been in before so they can more easily resupply next time they come to that port.  Remember if your not allowed to enter some ports cause of your on going war with other nations you may never gain the points for that nation.  So they can't exactly exploit this and hit every port to level up.   Well maybe they could on the PvE server.  I do like the fact that you can't see what the resources of that port is until you have visited it.

 

This is just a fantastic idea. +1

I like this too. 

[braginator]

Or even simplier - add missions which reward exactly that - visiting ports and areas to drop a passenger, get Information of any sort, get a certain Special trade good/artifact, submit a letter of compliments from govn. Aubrey to govn. Zaphod, investigate that hidden ruin/shipwreck/village/hideout, do a "situation check" how a certain port or whatev. is doing business....

infinite possibilities, many of them mentioned already above.

 

This is good stuff

[Elbows]

You could include spy missions as well.  When your nation is at war, gain XP by going and investigating enemy ports (a dangerous thing obviously) by getting within docking range, etc.  A mission to spy on a specific enemy port, or three British ports, etc.

 

I think the port-visit experience would be a good idea, but even then it's not some rocket-ship way to advance your career.  Keep in mind you can't visit ports which you're enemies with, so say at 10 XP per port, you'd have to visit 100 ports to even go from level 1 to level 2.  I think people believe this would be abused.  100 port visits would likely take far longer than the 20+ combat engagements you'd need to level as well.  It would not be a simple/easy route.  If they could generate randomized courier/diplomatic/trade missions I think that'd be excellent.

 

Who wouldn't be tempted by 500 XP for taking goods almost all the way across the map?  Particularly if through hostile waters...(or you could limit trade missions to neutral/free towns simply for ease of use).  Some of the cross-map missions could take 3-4 hours, maybe more if you have to locate certain goods first.  And if a certain missions requires X number of a certain resource this would necessitate a larger ship, etc.  All of this would push the point-of-the-game.  Give a point to exploring the map further, getting larger trade ships etc.

 

It'd be fun to see random distressed ships as well.  On the Open World an icon could randomly generate for a limited amount of time.  If you get there, there could be a slowly sinking ship --- if you get alongside and hit a simple "rescue" button and you take the crew on (maybe takes up hold space?) you gain XP when you deliver them to a port etc. This begins to go a bit out of the scope of the game, but stuff like that alongside whaling etc. would really broaden the appeal.

[Santhonax]

I support the notion. I wouldn't even mind if the xp gain were as high as 50, though 5-10 sounds more correct. As to the notion of "mindless xp farmers", who cares? I absolutely love combat, and your skill in combat in this game is only really enhanced by partaking in combat. If someone is afk farming explorer xp, they're just going to be giving up their newfound ship to the first combat-heavy player they come across once they finally turn to combat. The fact that you're only getting this xp bonus once also kind of negates the "farming" notion to be honest, and we aren't talking about making Admiral off visiting ports. 

 

This could even coincide with the implementation of some sort of "trading" xp that's been debated. 10xp awarded for finding a new port, an additional 20xp awarded for selling that silver you're carrying to a new port that consumes it. Something like that.