Exploration - SEAFARING

Exploration - Seafaring

Seafaring is possibly the most exciting, game changing feature of the Exploration skill.  Sailing through the seas of Gielinor has fascinated the community for years, and the functionality of it has always been perplexing. Proposed here is a means of introducing sailing in a meaningful way, along with propositions on how the mechanics of Sailing could work and affect gameplay.

How it works - 

When the player receives a Seafaring contract, they will be required to visit any port and travel to the Player Owned Ship port.  Upon boarding their ship, the player model is depicted in their ship at the wheel. There is a UI containing commands that direct the player's crew.  As the player's Exploration level advances, there are several tiers of ship that the player can own, which can all be upgraded, similarly to upgrading the player's armor.  As the player explores the Seas, there will be encounters that occur, either on the Seas themselves, or on Islands that the player will come across.  At any given time, the player can choose to anchor the ship, either to make repairs, or to make landfall. 

(The player sailing between islands)

Upgrades - 

Player can purchase upgrades for their ships and crew from Explorer NPCs located at the Player Owned Ship Ports. Some upgrades are tradable between players, and some are untradable. Ship upgrades can enhance the ship's speed, durability, mobility, and damage output.  Crew Upgrades and enhance command response time, damage output, resource recovery, ship repair time, and hand-to-hand combat encounters.

Ship Tiers - 

When the player reaches level 10 Exploration, the player can purchase better ships in exchange for Reward Points. As the player progresses Exploration levels, the player can continue to purchase better ships.

• Level 1 - Rowboat: Cannot be upgraded
• Level 10 - Longboat: Can upgrade speed and durability
• Level 20 - Cog: Can upgrade previous upgrades, Cannons, and one crew member.
• Level 30 - Sloop: Can upgrade previous upgrades, mobility, and one crew member.
• Level 40 - Clipper: Can upgrade all ship upgrades, and two crew members.
• Level 50 - Schooner: Can upgrade all ship upgrades, and four crew members.
• Level 60 - Corvette: Can upgrade all ship upgrades, and six crew members.
• Level 70 - Frigate: Can upgrade all ship upgrades, and ten crew members.

When the player reaches Level 20 Exploration, the player can purchase Crew Member Contracts. Purchasable crew members are always base level NPCs, with no upgrades.  As the player undertakes Seafaring encounters, the Player can receive Crew Member Contracts as "Loot" from the Exploration Contract.  Looted Crew Member contracts will vary in drop rate, and the more challenging the encounter, the higher chance of a high tier Crew Member Contract.

Encounters - 

While on the Seas, the player can experience several types of encounters that would fulfill an exploration Contract.  

• Islands dispersed throughout the seas that bear resources, monsters, and treasure.
• Pirate encounters
• Diving locations
• Rescue missions
• Sea Monster Battles
• Storms
• PVP ship battles

At Any point on the Seas, the player can choose to leave the wheel.  This would let the player walk around the deck of the ship, but would leave the the ship vulnerable, because the crew would not be able to receive commands, and the ship can not steer.

(The Player engaging in a Pirate battle encounter)

During Rescue Missions and Pirate Encounters there is an option in the UI to board the other ship. During Rescue missions, the player can rescue NPCs, or gather loot from the rescued ship, which will translate to more loot and upgrades for the player.

During Pirate battles, the board option will initiate a deck-to-deck battle, in which the player's crew grapples the opposing ship, and can engage in hand-to-hand combat.  When the player kills the pirate captain, the ship can be looted by the player and crew.

The North Sea, North of the Wilderness, contains dark, tainted waters.  Inside these waters, Players can engage in PVP Ship battles.  When the players initiate the board option, the players can engage in PVP as normal, a losing player dies, the ship is stripped of upgrades, and is returned to the losing player's port.  All the upgrades are given to the winning player as loot. 

How it fits - 

Seafaring is a mechanic that the community has been hoping would be added to the game for a considerable amount of time.  That being said, there has not been an effective way of adding it to the game.  With Exploration, however, there is both a meaningful way for it to be used, and it opens a gateway for new content to be added that previously wasn't available.  For example, if the Team at Jagex wanted to introduce a new continent, Seafaring would be a great way to add it to the game.  The player would simply sail to the new continent to "discover" it, and then the new content could be added as the player explores the continent.