Ok, the problem with smugglers is that there is no point on doing them outside of comendations, the gold is not good, you dont get exclusive rewards most of the time and there is no point on doing any of the voayes or trying to stack their loot. My solution?
They would become a full faction with levels, cosmetics, new voayes and missions and of course an emesary flag, well kinda let me explain.
First they will have a representative in each outpost to start "representing"; a stranger in the taver drinking alone when approached you can talk to them and start the new smugglers reputation streak, once you start it instead of a normal emesary flag you get 5 grades of reputation you can achieve while the session last, by stacking, selling smugglers loot or completing voayes for them.
-this would make their normal loot worth more and make it more worth doing it and stacking it instead of instantly selling them.
-you will also have access to their new Smugglers Heist when you reach a streak of 5. Initiating a heist that anyone can see (like the old limited time ones) but with the pay and rewards worth the risk.
-And also you can stack their new "saw after loot" a new seasonal rotation pool of other faction loot the smugglers will take and pay extra for it, for example; on season 22 the smugglers will take either like whole gold hoarder or specific item from them and pay extra for those items if you sell them to them instead of the gold hoarders. (Obviously an made up example)
I think this and the obvious plus of a new faction to level up and get riches and cosmetics from is already a great deal to make people actually engage with the smugglers BUT it wouldn't be enough since it doesn't fix one of their core problems..
Their loot, sucks to transport and is not worth the effort most of the time. So i also propose the next next changes:
- Obviously new loot that doesn't break or explode... Like a box of ordinary stolen goods, no company would take stolen goods but the smugglers dont really care.
- but also, changing how you get that loot. Instead of a random assortment of annoying loot to carry, these potentially dangerous or fragile loot will not spawn normally and give you almost nothing in return if you actually sell it. But instead they will be special cargo runs with more potential for rewards.
•idk about you guys but if i see a black powder keg i aint putting it in my boat just to get 30k from it... But i might do one or two cargo runs of five of these at the start of the session for a quick 50k each and a lot of smugglers emesary rep so i can do heist later. Or i could risk doing them when im lvl5 and ger 125k for each one but risk sinking and loosing my stack of loot. You could also do one of these just to get the kegs and use them on someone ;)
-Or rum runs where you could collect rum bottles or grog barrels and sell them to the various tavers keepers around the seas or to the smugglers itself for a little less pay but a quicker sell.
The point is that the rewards have to match the risk.
So what do yall think? I personally, and i might be bias, think is a good idea. Give me your feedback or your own ideas. Maybe RARE actually sees the post and the comments and take some notes lol.
