The Trouble with Missions!

[_Masterviolin]

So, I have been enjoying the present mission system, as its rewards significantly boost my XP and gold greatly. Within only 3-4 hours of running about taking missions, I got 1000 Xp! That's very convenient, as I'm totally dying to craft to use a snow.

 

However, this may be too exploitative. Missions and their main issue with me is that they directly outline where your targets are, and basically double your rewards. As a result, components of hunting down your prey are pretty much nill. Your targets are close, convenient and marked out for you.

 

Yet at the same time, as the game already is fairly "grind" heavy, I don't want to make getting these mission reward bonuses perhaps difficult to obtain, or rare- especially when we have lots of new players who we want to get hooked into the progression of the game.

 

So,  let's debate how we could make the system better? Here's my ideas thus far.

 

1: Missions not based on a single ship, whose location is already marked.

We could perhaps establish missions to be targets, per say in which you are tasked to sink x1 lynx and x1 cutter of France as a Brit. You go out, hunt down these ships and collect the reward afterwards. Perhaps some missions could ask players clomping around PR to go and sink some Spanish ships, in which they travel a distance farther than the immediate vicinity of Port Royal. Some, with higher rewards could be styled as "blockade" missions, in which your targets are trade ships. As finding the ships would be a bit more difficult, we could slightly increase rewards.

 

2: Mission accept timer!

Instead of getting a new mission the second you finish the other, we could perhaps add a 1h or so timer between taking new missions. Pretty simple.

Edited January 30, 2016 by _Masterviolin

[Red Jack Walker]

Missions are made the way they are to allow people who can spend not much time playing this game to learn the ropes, improve their abilities, find suitable targets. In 1 hour/1 hour and a half, you can complete a couple of missions (it depends on wind, spawning points...) and that's fair enough to me. Missions regarding specific type of targets to destroy (1 lynx, 1 cutter...) are too time consuming in my opinion, considering how is currently difficult to find single targets in OW (lot of fleets out there like "Constitution, fleet Snow, Cutter" and so on) .

I agree with you that missions are a little bit "repetitive", so it could be cool to add more "variations", for example adding "escorting missions" (you have to escort a Npc trader from point A to point B ). Or maybe "hunting missions" where you have to search for a specific target (a Pirate ship for instance), knowing just its approximate location ("south coast of Cuba") and without having it revealed on map. However I think the default type of missions should stay, to keep fulfilling its original purpose.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Red Jack Walker

[Captain Longbeard]

I think the missions as they are at the moment are fine. Adding more missions such as "sinking 1x lynx and 1x cutter of France and Brit" should be implemented but with greater experience and gold at the end, since they are harder to finish. 

 

But I have to agree with the fact that the missions as they are right now, are still a bit boring and easy to finish. 

[Valetudin Arian]

I think missions need more information, in an age where spotting a sail on the horizon was a cause for much activity until you could discern friend or foe there seems to be no way to tell until you are about to swap broadsides whether or not it is something you want to spend time swapping broadsides with.

[mouse of war]

Yep they are really boring but I'm forced to do them or lag behind my clan mates in xp