Shops in hamlets.

[normalforce]

I'm not sure I see the difference. I wasn't meaning to imply an occupation of the hamlets by a GC, merely showing up to reward their people for doing a good job before heading back to their respective cities. I suppose this could be done for all three GC's per defense, but then going in you know you'll get your XP and some seals to boot. If only the highest-performing GC gets the bonus seals, then there's motive for doing your very best during the defense as well as bringing fellow GC members, yet not so much that you'd be disappointed if another GC got the bonus seals. All I'm suggesting is some additional harmless competition with minor rewards, not anything on the scale of PvP.

It might make more sense for that region's GC to be the only presence there. However, there's nothing to stop the GC NPC representative from saying something along the lines of, "Thank you for your help. Unfortunately, I am not authorized to issue you Serpent seals, but rest assured your service has not gone unnoticed, nor will it go unrewarded. Talk to X in the Adder's Nest to receive your compensation."

Or something like that. You still get rewarded, it's just not immediate. It's not like you can use your seals anywhere but your GC headquarters anyway.