I really enjoyed this style of quest and have some ideas for similar ones in the future! Marking spots that have already been checked would definitely make the quest easier. That paired with a smaller zone would be perfect for an "event" style quest because many players together could do the job within a few hours.
Just in case...
- This quest been designed to be replayable/repeatable - if not periodic. As such, 99% of thing abstract of location. The only thing that really hardwired to particular place is "cut scene" with pirates arrival. Ships would simply look odd if it happens on other maps. That needed very particular placement to look good. So for now it bound to more or less these beaches in terms of location.
- Thanks for suggestions about spells and so on. Something to think on in my book. Catch is: it can reduce timeline of quest being active vs what planned. This quest run been meant to last "few days" and this part actually worked. Some players admitted they were afraid they missed it and it would be digged out already without them having chance to join.
- I left plenty controls on quest tuning "on the fly" without server restarts. I can change, on the fly (no server restarts): main reward item, total amount of "collateral" quest willing to give, map, and area of treasure (and obviously area size, maps would automatically pick up area change), difficulty of phase 1 and phase 2, etc.
So my idea is: we can indeed play this thing again. Maybe 1-2 weeks later, on weekend, with way smaller area to explore - but also ofc more shy reward/collateral - and maybe even reduced mobs strength - to explore whether >1 digger can be viable option - I'm curious if >1 diggers with adequate team can "compete" for finding right spot without making area too crowded in process.