I sent this as a support question a while ago and was told it had been forwarded to the right department but have yet to hear back any further. I post it here for general comment and suggestions.
Hi there,
This is a suggestion, or maybe plea, that you rethink the frequency at which Island of the Pirates appears as a guild quest requirement. The mid-level players (who one could suppose are the majority of people in the game, not just a majority in my guild..) who receive this quest are finding it increasingly hard to a) have enthusiasm for and b) complete in the numbers needed to round off a complete (all members participating) Guild Quest.
Main issues;
This appears for my guild (SYS- Schoolyard Settlers) currently about twice a week. It is in several 'quests' eg. Today it is part of 'Shooting down the moon' chain, but I know it is in others too. We have tried to complete it over 3-4 days before cancelling due to not having the last 3 people moving on with it. And I know from my guild leader that friends of his leading other guilds sometimes have to wait 5-7 days to accomplish the full quest.
This could be resolved by changing the requirements for one or two quests so that it appears less frequently; however I think there is a better solution.
Since these are Guild quests - I think that it would be beneficial for all adventure requirements to be two-player or more. This game is actually quite segregated although it is an MMO, joint quests are really the only way to interact with other players apart from chat and trade. We as a guild do much better when our core medium level players have for instance, Dark Priests as a requirement for Guild Quest because we can share it with a teammate. I would like to recommend (perhaps with the new update? pretty please ) that all adventures required for guild quests be duo-able - to help build gamesmanship, build good team/guild friendships and dynamics; and create a workable guild quests system that doesn't leave us backing up for days.
Some other thoughts;
The frequency of the quest across the board, means it is hard to come by in trade and the price is inflated. I don't think guild quests were designed to or should affect the economy in such a way.
We are no longer enjoying the adventure as it has this weight burdened on it that we 'have' to complete it, every few days. Then, if we end up not being able to fully complete; 20+ guild members have done the quest, possibly having bought it at an inflated price in trade, and do not get the reward they were working for because it is practically impossible. It's not good for morale! I like to enjoy an adventure with a bit of variety and it's a good map but I have stopped playing it for fun; I hold onto them now for guild quests and that is paranoia and hoarding.
Thankyou for reading,
[Since I sent this, Guild leader can no longer cancel the quest if we don't complete. It is now requiring people who have not had luck with explorers to spend 400-500GC + for the adventure every 3 or so days, or else pay gems to complete. I can only imagine the price will keep rising as there are not enough adventures to go around. Obviously Easter had an effect on this with less explorers adventure-hunting as they were all on treasure hunts instead. I hope stock rises and price falls soon but I don't see much hope. If someone hasn't the gold or the adventure and we get this quest twice a week, the gems one gets for a weekly bonus are not enough to cover paying for it.
I think this is one of the best short adventures in the game but there is NO space to enjoy it when it is not a guild quest, or indeed to enjoy any adventures apart from those required for guild quests without keeping a good stock of Retired Bandits in one's star menu. Please Please take this into serious consideration.]