Pirates of the Burning Sea- OPEN BETA!

[HaemishM]

That emoticon is pure win.

[DarkSign]

I'm 99.99% sure that the NDA is down so I'll make this comment. The game is great, but needs polish. No, not the language. I mean it needs a bit of procedural cleaning up.

My main problem after playing for over a month is that finding the appropriate battles for your level is not easy for a newcomer. Even after hanging out in the NDA-vetted IRC channel and schmoozing vets.

The graphics are beautiful on the water and in battles. The character and building graphics are good enough, but take style cues from WoW (read: simplistic). That being said, the character creation is fun as all get out.

The types of quests dont break any molds, but the difference is that they have a good influence on your role between the factions, which this game does better than most of the MMOs Ive ever played.

That's all for now. Dont want too go too far ;)

[taolurker]

Nope still under NDA.

[Nebu]

The last email I got from them (a few days ago) stated that the NDA was still in place.  I'm going to remain 

[WayAbvPar]

Yep, NDA still up. Darksign's post isn't too terribly specific though, so I will let it stand.

[DarkSign]

Sorry, bout that. 

[stu]

Your earlier post led me to take a real look at PotBS for the first time. This game actually looks pretty cool.

[Nija]

Pirates of the Burning STD.

[taolurker]

Hurry and you might still get to try it out over this Stress test weekend.. Fileplanet Link

[stu]

I just picked up The Orange Box two days ago, so that's taking up all of my gaming time. PotBS is now bright on my radar though. Definitely higher than Conan, which doesn't seem to be turning into what I expected it to be.

[Yegolev]

I figure that my hypothetical bias against PotBS is due to the fact that I like EVE enough to play it.  I realized this morning that this game would probably be great for people who liked the ideas behind EVE but not the hardcore execution.  In theory.

[Venkman]

I figure that my hypothetical bias against PotBS is due to the fact that I like EVE enough to play it.  I realized this morning that this game would probably be great for people who liked the ideas behind EVE but not the hardcore execution.  In theory.

I've been thinking along the same lines. Even the FLS guys have said their inspiration was the time they put into Eve, yet scaled to be more approachable by people who have less time.

[Trouble]

As someone who appreciates the depth of Eve I'll just say that I wasn't really impressed with PotBS.

[Modern Angel]

I haven't done much in the test and  but I'll say only that I like it. Correction: I like 3/4 of it.

I can see the EVE comparisons but for me, as much as I liked the general structure of EVE, it required too much "stuff" at the high levels for me to stick with it: too much time, too much lag, too much guild stuff. PotBS may, MAY, be a good thing for me.

[taolurker]

Well, something that just appeared on the main page of PotBS was that any Stress testers who made it past level 5 with their characters would get into the beta.

[Modern Angel]

Time to level! 

[Xanthippe]

I fail to see how keeping the NDA at this late date is helping sales.  I'd love to preorder, if it seems like something I'll enjoy for a couple of months, but no way without knowing more about what's wrong with it, what sort of problems it has, and so on.  Some problems I'll tolerate, some I won't.

[HaemishM]

I forgot to do the stress test. I agree about the NDA. Keeping it up this late is making me seriously care less and less about the game, because I'm not in beta (so can't see if the game is any good) and I can't hear anything positive about the game out of people who have played it.

[Yegolev]

You know, I actually think the best determinant is if you tried EVE and why you left.  If it was lack of avatars, too much complexity or lack of cartoony graphics, I figure you're fine with PotBS.  If you didn't like the core ideas behind EVE, stay away.

[Rasix]

You know, I actually think the best determinant is if you tried EVE and why you left.  If it was lack of avatars, too much complexity or lack of cartoony graphics, I figure you're fine with PotBS.  If you didn't like the core ideas behind EVE, stay away.

I liked everything about EVE except for one small thing: it wasn't fun to play.  The politics, the economy, being part of a good (subject to interpretation) corp, territorial warfare, etc were all fantastic, except that every system that enabled them was dreadfully snooze worthy.  EVE,  more than any MMO before it, required that you have something else to do while you play.  I read multiple thousand page books and went through the entire run of Farscape playing it. 

I suppose "is this game actually intrinsically fun" might be under the umbrella of the NDA.

[bhodi]

Why I didn't continue playing Eve. Remember this is pre-revelations or whatever where they fixed the warp to 0 and autopilot stuff along with a revamped char creation issue.

Shitty UI
   no hotkeys to cycle through targets or lock on, makes me feel like I'm playing the game with mittens when only a one second delay means death
   no point-to-point autopilot
   have never hated right click menus more in my life

Grueling combat system
   up to 2 minutes between updates in large fleet battles
   never get to see your pretty ship since you're always zoomed out
   'stuff while reading a book' mentality for sieges, traveling, combat -- I want to PLAY the game, not watch it play itself.
   looting an absolute chore -- takes 30 seconds per wreck
   very slow combat pace

Steep learning curve
   terrible character creation system and 'quest' system
   pre-entrenched economic powers makes it hard to break into anything, someone's always been there
   required cash-making mini-game of virtual spreadsheets in space, if you don't like dealing with economics it's hard/impossible to get above 'middle-class'

I pretty much liked everything else, especially the immersion and ship construction powergaming minigames.

Is this POTBS a game for me?

[HaemishM]

You know, I actually think the best determinant is if you tried EVE and why you left.  If it was lack of avatars, too much complexity or lack of cartoony graphics, I figure you're fine with PotBS.  If you didn't like the core ideas behind EVE, stay away.

I liked everything about EVE except for one small thing: it wasn't fun to play. 

What he said. Everything about Eve was SPLENDA in concept, but I fell asleep playing it.

[Yegolev]

Is this POTBS a game for me?

You should probably give it a trial.  PotBS moves faster than EVE, for one thing (but not in towns since you have to run everywhere instead of access a handy menu).  Or so I hear from other people.  Besides, playing a fruity Frenchman has to make it more fun... er, well, you can play a fruity Space Frenchman in EVE, so nevermind that.

[Tige]

Is this POTBS a game for me?

If you like combat that goes around and around and around you'll be a happy camper.

[Nevermore]

So apparently they just went ahead and let all this round of stress testers in as beta testers.  You didn't even have to get to level 5.

[WayAbvPar]

Anyone in the beta now who wants to hang on the Spanish side PM me. I want to try some NPC group hunting. Have only grouped briefly for some PvP; am curious how big a fish we can take down as relative n00bs.

[Nija]

So apparently they just went ahead and let all this round of stress testers in as beta testers.  You didn't even have to get to level 5.

That's how hard up they are for people actually playing their game.

If you can't win over people for free, good luck getting money from them.

[UnSub]

I've always been curious about how popular pirate / sailing MMOs would be with the MMO player. It's not like there's a huge stack of pirate games or large numbers of pirate simulations that exist. It's always seemed to me to be a very, very niche genre, especially compared to the genres of fantasy, sci-fi and modern.

... unless someone based expected player demand for pirate games by googling "pirate +game" and just looking at the number of listings that were available.

[DarkSign]

I've always been curious about how popular pirate / sailing MMOs would be with the MMO player. It's not like there's a huge stack of pirate games or large numbers of pirate simulations that exist. It's always seemed to me to be a very, very niche genre, especially compared to the genres of fantasy, sci-fi and modern.

... unless someone based expected player demand for pirate games by googling "pirate +game" and just looking at the number of listings that were available.

Actually if you look around...there are more and more everyday. And Im not just talking about the new russian pirate sim that came out. There's like 3 asian f2p pirate mmos. It's really weird.

[DrewC]

That's how hard up they are for people actually playing their game.

Or it might just be that we ran the stress test and the servers held up great so we're bringing in more people.  One of the two.

Regarding the NDA: believe me I want it dropped as much or more than any of you do.  Like or hate our game I want to hear people's opinions unfiltered by the fact that it's a private beta forum. 

[Venkman]

Actually if you look around...there are more and more everyday. And Im not just talking about the new russian pirate sim that came out. There's like 3 asian f2p pirate mmos. It's really weird.

I think that's less due to a demand for Pirates themes and more to do with a demand for no more Fantasy titles at a time when Western sci-fi doesn't seem to have as much demand. Basically, the industry is trying to popularize another theme because the one that works is way beyond saturation point.

[Yegolev]

Or we can blame Johnny Depp.

As for joining the Spaniards, sorry, Serge DeBuffoon does not swing that way.  Hypothetically.

[DarkSign]

I disagree with the idea that EVE and PotBS are too close and if you dont like EVE you wont like the pirates.

You have a lot deeper control over the battles in Privateer! oops Pirates of the Burning Sea. You dont watch the computer play itself, you actively have to fire cannons and change tack over the water.

As Ive said before...and perhaps someone can correct me...but my problem was finding the right level of PvE fight for my level once I got to level 8 or 9. Even if you sail around to different parts, you're searching for battles and find 32's and 44's with multiple ships in each group.

But the game is well crafted, with as few bugs as Ive ever seen in my 10+ years of MMOs. Well managed and well coded it seems.

[Slayerik]

I've always been curious about how popular pirate / sailing MMOs would be with the MMO player. It's not like there's a huge stack of pirate games or large numbers of pirate simulations that exist. It's always seemed to me to be a very, very niche genre, especially compared to the genres of fantasy, sci-fi and modern.

... unless someone based expected player demand for pirate games by googling "pirate +game" and just looking at the number of listings that were available.

Im thinking people didn't bother making new Pirates! games as Sid did it best. I can still fire up the original pirates and go kick ass on the spanish main.

I'm doubting it is niche because, anyone that had a PC back then played Pirates. I could be way off here though.

[Modern Angel]

So apparently they just went ahead and let all this round of stress testers in as beta testers.  You didn't even have to get to level 5.

That's how hard up they are for people actually playing their game.

If you can't win over people for free, good luck getting money from them.

I will skirt but not break the NDA by saying lack of people does not seem to be an issue.