Dynamic, Player driven content in towns

[Joseph Fletcher]

I know we've talked about ways to spruce up the towns before. A lot of the improvements made since release have been static, hard coded changes.

I'd like to see some dynamic, player driven content in towns. The town would actually be effected by the game around it.

Some ideas:

NPC presence based on unrest level.
As the town went into Pirate then Full PVP and finally conquest several things would change in town. Merchant ships would be anchored like they already are in some towns (Afraid to leave because of the pirates). NPC soldiers drilling in the square. Sailors loading ammo and other stores onto longboats in harbour. Worried civilians gossiping in the tavern.

Town ambiance.
As above but based on other factors. Ports with busy AH's should have lots of goods on the docks waiting to be loaded to ships. Have ships anchor based on the number of captains in port (just an abstract number so you get an idea how busy the port it)
Recently changed ports should have people commenting on the new government, happy and grumbling.

More AH views.
List the last 20 items sold and the price as well as the last 20 items listed. Allow traders to build up a picture of the supply and demand in a port.

More missions based on unrest.
Create a pool of missions around the theme of causing / reducing unrest. Every time a port goes into Pirate, Full PVP or conquest have NPC's offer a sample of these missions (by only offering some of a larger pool the missions should seem less repetitive)

Town crier
Already suggested elsewhere, make the town crier useful. Have him tell us the last 5 ships sunk near the port. List the top sinkers so we know who's dangerous and who we need to take revenge on.

Town notice board
Stick this on the side of the magistrates or outside the tavern. Allow players to leave messages for a fee. This would need some anti spam measures and so might be tricky to do.