Whenever you have a song or story being played in the background while you are on the longboat, it gets interrupted insatiably by the proximity of many raid zones. This, in turn, pauses the narration completely. I, personally, find this feature very annoying. It kills the immersion. The stories themselves are quite interesting, and I can't help but want to listen to the end BUT the constant raid zones popping up keeps interrupting the flow of the stories and songs portrayed. More often than not, the stories are not told entirely and it bugs me because, once again, they are quite interesting, and you get to learn more about your crew. The raid proximity not only pauses the narration but it also makes it, mostly the stories, unable to continue afterwards. Then the game gives us another story before the last one was even completed... 

What I'm trying to propose is that the raid proximity shouldn't kill or pause the story or song unless you commit to the raid. Then I can understand the necessity for the story or song to pause. Most times, I enjoy listening to the shanties and stories while on the boat, it's a way more pleasant experience than constant fast travelling... It allows you to take in the environment while enjoying tales and songs portrayed by the crew. It builds a sort of connection with them in a passive and fun way.

I hope at least someone from the Game team reads this. Even if this doesn't get directly fixed in-game, I hope that it at least gets a setting that doesn't allow for interruptions while on longboat travels. This is not a means to criticize the game. As a long time fan, I want it to be more enjoyable for myself and others who think this should be an issue that needs a fix or rework. Because those stories are unique and amazing and I want them to be shown without a game mechanic hindering or blocking them. Thank you to whoever has read this.

@alphonse929

i am sorry but, you dont need to raid the places even if the opportunity shows itself.
Thats whats called freedom of choice.

By all means you can sail the rivers until you have heard each story 10 times, there is no reason to stop.

Also when you have progressed further you might actually start wishing for more raid places

Instead of pressing Z and follow rivir to destination by pressing E you can also navigate the rivers yourself and steer further away from those raid places.

@asgardian02 I think you misunderstood what the OP was saying. The proximity of a raid zone already interrupts the storytelling. Because there are many raid zones along the rivers and coast, it frequently happens that a story gets interrupted several times before it's finished. Every time this happens, the storyteller will repeat the last line, sometimes the same line over and over again. I fully agree with the OP that this is annoying and unnecessary, especially for places that you have already raided before.

@hroozenbeek

ah yes, but apart from that i also said that if you manually steer your boat its easier to stay clear of the raid opportunities, at least that should help, where as waiting for ubisoft to fix these thing, it most likely wont happen.

Another problem i run in all the time when pressing Z and then E to sail to marker, was that the boat running into sandbanks or rocks halting all together, supper annoying.
Where as when you just press and keep steering manually the ride would be a lot smoother.

@asgardian02 I was lucky enough that the autonavigation feature only crashed my longboat into the river bank once... It's not perfect, but traveling with the autonavigation is a great and relaxing way to enjoy the scenery (and the storytelling, if not interrupted...). I prefer it when using my longboat to travel from A to B; I almost never use it on horseback.

@hroozenbeek

agree with you on that, and its a good way to discover areas and discover fast travel port as well.

@Alphonse929
Very annoying indeed. I use my ship very frequently instead of the fast travel option just to relax and listen the stories and songs but currently it's rather annoying than relaxing. Yesterday I sailed to Jorvik from Ravensthorpe and can't finish listening a single song because it was always interrupted.

The option to turn off these interruptions while sailing near raid opportunities would be a nice quality of life improvement.

@asgardian02
Ik that you can choose not to raid but the proximity of such zones make listening to the stories and songs, not smooth at all. Rivers are quite narrow and traversing them manually with the purpose of enjoying the stories and songs is contrived and unnecessary. "By all means you can sail the rivers until you have heard each story 10 times, there is no reason to stop." Continuing to sail, even though you've most likely reached your destination is quite a waste of time and once again unnecessary. The songs and stories are a way to make the longboat journeys fresh and entertaining while going to the next area but the constant raid zones impede such a dynamic flow. Raiding is indeed fun but they shouldn't sacrifice the flow of tales and songs portrayed on longboat sailing.

@alphonse929

alright dude.

personally i didnt care much for the stories and songs, after a while you have heard them anyway especially if you sail along the shores instead of river.
I still like to take the boat from time to time just cos u can press z and e and chill, where as with the horse you still have stay active.

@alphonse929 Yeah, the raid notifications are kind of useless.
Especially when you just have DONE the raid, climb your boat and someone yells like
"Hey Eivor, looks like a place to raid!" and me
"Yeah. We have just been there. Remember?"

But the stories should resume after the interruption? Same as with the "take the mast down" when you reach a bridge,