In my opinion the ball was really dropped on the implimentation of the content of this expansion. The ships are great. They give people a good way to take to the seas, they did a great job with the designs, and with the implimentation. That said...
The TWO quests which are the incentive to use the great new boats are weak. Not only are they very plain, they are also not rewarding, or very engaging.
What I would have done:
First of all, we have a new pvm system that was recently introduced that I think is a pretty good one, that being the loyalty system.
So I would have taken that system, and make it a intergal part of the High Seas booster.
The "Order of the Dragonfish" the faction we have met in this expansion is clearly a good target for one side vieing for your loyalty, with agents at the floating market, and at all the civilized sea ports. Good start.
From there establish an opposing faction, easy, Pirates. Have a league of pirates, have them based in Buc's den (the place already set up for pirates) and have covert agents in place throughout the kingdom (small new docks on small unused islands).
Now then, take the two quests we have and add in a few new ones.
First: Add in a third Order of the Dragonfish quest, which is a simple shipping quest. You go to a port, they give you a crate of goods (Could be labled like "Fruit", "Mongbat Pellets" etc...), and a destination (like the fishing quest, but with no item fetching needed, just deliver the package) once you reach the destination, you unload the cargo, then they give you more, and a new destination. (Ideally I would include a bonus for speed of delivery, but that would take much more work I imagine.)
Why: Along with this fishing quest this would help establish trade routes on the sea, routes pirates could map out and stalk! As well as giving non fishers a non combat "merchant" type quest to run.
Second: Add in a bad guy quest which is similar to pirate hunting but with merchant ships rather than pirates. The pirate guy will give you the rumor of a ship, and what its running, and in what area The merchant ships will have goods in the hold (like the "goods" from the other new quest) which you haul back to bucs den and turn in to a black-marketeer.
Improving loyalty:
For the good guys (Order of the Dragonfish) you earn points by hunting down pirates, fishing, and goods running. For the bad guys you get points for looting merchant ships and turning the goods into the fences, and as well as for independat acts of piracy (bonus points for scuttling real player ships).
Results for improved loyalty:
As loyalty improves, so do the difficulties of the quests you can get (but still gives old ones too), and with that bump, so goes a bump in the rewards. The more fish requested, the higher chances at scrolls, higer chances at new rewards. The more ports in a good shipping route the more gold, the higher the chance at new rewards. The stronger the pirates/merchants toppled... and so on.
Once a player reaches the max loyalties, they can make a good living off of running goods, and hunting pirates/merchants. Not millions of course, but just enough to give you something else to do rather than camp a dungeon. 20-30k for high end quest/pirate/merchant would be fair since it would probably take at least an hour, and that with the chance of nice deco or new items would be pretty comparable to other means of hunting.
Ideas for rewards:
Speical colored sea shells that produce sea sounds
Decrative Nets
Small fish you cant currently obtain
Magical fishing poles with properties, maybe a colored glow.
Rare boat dyes
Unique pirate duds
More books (but with special colors to make they distingushable)!
New aquarium fish
SoTs/Alacs
New arties
Lots of stuff you could add in.
Finally: Add more sea life. More sea monsters. Make it dangerous out there in the open waters from time to time. Make um simple rename/rehues if you have to.
I think it would be good because it would take time to build up to the good rewards and would give you a sense of acomplishment when you got there, and not only that but it could be a new (and different) thing for you to do for an in-game living.
The TWO quests which are the incentive to use the great new boats are weak. Not only are they very plain, they are also not rewarding, or very engaging.
What I would have done:
First of all, we have a new pvm system that was recently introduced that I think is a pretty good one, that being the loyalty system.
So I would have taken that system, and make it a intergal part of the High Seas booster.
The "Order of the Dragonfish" the faction we have met in this expansion is clearly a good target for one side vieing for your loyalty, with agents at the floating market, and at all the civilized sea ports. Good start.
From there establish an opposing faction, easy, Pirates. Have a league of pirates, have them based in Buc's den (the place already set up for pirates) and have covert agents in place throughout the kingdom (small new docks on small unused islands).
Now then, take the two quests we have and add in a few new ones.
First: Add in a third Order of the Dragonfish quest, which is a simple shipping quest. You go to a port, they give you a crate of goods (Could be labled like "Fruit", "Mongbat Pellets" etc...), and a destination (like the fishing quest, but with no item fetching needed, just deliver the package) once you reach the destination, you unload the cargo, then they give you more, and a new destination. (Ideally I would include a bonus for speed of delivery, but that would take much more work I imagine.)
Why: Along with this fishing quest this would help establish trade routes on the sea, routes pirates could map out and stalk! As well as giving non fishers a non combat "merchant" type quest to run.
Second: Add in a bad guy quest which is similar to pirate hunting but with merchant ships rather than pirates. The pirate guy will give you the rumor of a ship, and what its running, and in what area The merchant ships will have goods in the hold (like the "goods" from the other new quest) which you haul back to bucs den and turn in to a black-marketeer.
Improving loyalty:
For the good guys (Order of the Dragonfish) you earn points by hunting down pirates, fishing, and goods running. For the bad guys you get points for looting merchant ships and turning the goods into the fences, and as well as for independat acts of piracy (bonus points for scuttling real player ships).
Results for improved loyalty:
As loyalty improves, so do the difficulties of the quests you can get (but still gives old ones too), and with that bump, so goes a bump in the rewards. The more fish requested, the higher chances at scrolls, higer chances at new rewards. The more ports in a good shipping route the more gold, the higher the chance at new rewards. The stronger the pirates/merchants toppled... and so on.
Once a player reaches the max loyalties, they can make a good living off of running goods, and hunting pirates/merchants. Not millions of course, but just enough to give you something else to do rather than camp a dungeon. 20-30k for high end quest/pirate/merchant would be fair since it would probably take at least an hour, and that with the chance of nice deco or new items would be pretty comparable to other means of hunting.
Ideas for rewards:
Speical colored sea shells that produce sea sounds
Decrative Nets
Small fish you cant currently obtain
Magical fishing poles with properties, maybe a colored glow.
Rare boat dyes
Unique pirate duds
More books (but with special colors to make they distingushable)!
New aquarium fish
SoTs/Alacs
New arties
Lots of stuff you could add in.
Finally: Add more sea life. More sea monsters. Make it dangerous out there in the open waters from time to time. Make um simple rename/rehues if you have to.
I think it would be good because it would take time to build up to the good rewards and would give you a sense of acomplishment when you got there, and not only that but it could be a new (and different) thing for you to do for an in-game living.