PotBS - Question.

[Der Helm]

I am trying to cancel my pre-order (strictly financial reasons, I like the game), but there is no option for that on my station account.

I am No. 1 in queue for chat-support, wish me luck :D

[KyanMehwulfe]

Come back in a year unless you want to join the monthly rinse/repeat cycle of port capturing

That sort of reset is what turned me off the most. It gives a sort of instance feel of lacking persistence except that it just sort of happens to last longer. Akin to level cap increases and a gear soft reset in that way; same thing can hurt any style of progression, whether some sort of faction war or, say, gear progression in WoW. That can kill the sense of puprose. Perhaps there's more long-term gain that I've missed?

It always poses a challenge to developers, but the 'rich need to get richer' to make getting 'rich' purposeful in the first place. These sort of temporary soft port battles just didn't seem to carry much weight for the realm or guild war interest that attracts me to such games. I need more impact. Otherwise I'll just play a FPS or RTS if I just want raw gameplay; entire reason I play MMOs is for that impact.

I'm somewhat tempted to check it out yet but everytime I've got close, I just decided I'd likely end up wasting my time for a 'pirate war' I'd get quickly bored with and I'd be better of resubbing to EVE.

[Drogo]

So how did launch day go? Any major problems, or is it running smoothly? I am also curious how many servers they are running.

[atricks]

So how did launch day go? Any major problems, or is it running smoothly? I am also curious how many servers they are running.

  Lots of problems with billing and initial account setup on SOEs end as far as I can tell.  The game itself was fairly stable from accounts of others.  I had ordered it from the sony online store, and everything was good until sometime in the afternoon yesterday I got a call from my credit card company saying SOE was charging multiple $1 amounts (like on the order of 20 times) so they locked the entire CC account.   So there was a pretty ugly hiccup there, I tried to fix it later by entering my cc information later, but that too was having issues and not working.   

    Spent too much time trying to clear up the credit card lockdown (I just got the message, as I was at work when it happened)   After that I pretty much gave up and think I won't bother with the game.   I've had so much bad luck with billing and SOE in the past, I was skeptical going in, and they were true to form again.    Looking at the forums on the burningsea website I wasn't the only one.   Some people actually did get charged, but still couldn't log in, and there is no pre-order/retail crossover grace period.  (note: That is a horrible horrible Idea if you are going to do preorders)

   So in Short, game itself launched fine, SOE screws up billing and leaves a lot without access to the game that did pay (or try to pay) for it.

[Modern Angel]

Absolutely no issues here and I had a blast. We hit New Orleans hard to flip it from French to Spanish and the points added up remarkably quickly; maybe ten people there, 4k by the time I went to sleep. Which made me realize that you can contribute to pvp by pveing and leveling; I got a level out there just doing my hour or so before bed.

I'm an unabashed fanboy for this game.

[SnakeCharmer]

So in Short, game itself launched fine, SOE screws up billing and leaves a lot without access to the game that did pay (or try to pay) for it.[/quote]

There's been rumor that SOEs accounting system was hacked, and any credit card would get denied.  I tried to buy the game a couple days or week or so ago, and no credit card would go through.  So I freak out, call my credit card companies which confirmed the problem was on SOE's end, but wouldn't/couldn't tell me what.

[WayAbvPar]

I have said it several times, but here it goes again- SOE is costing FLS subscribers. Trying to do it all themselves was probably out of reach given their budget and time constraints, but I can't imagine picking a partner with a worse reputation (which is largely deserved, as they are proving once again).

[Ingmar]

Capital One's computers were down for a while last night, so anyone using them was in trouble anyway.

As for the travel issue, when you're playing a game where the central premise is piracy, fast travel would break the game. If you don't want to have to actually sail your load of rum to the port you're going to sell it in, then this is not the game for you.

[Sjofn]

Once I got past SoE's crappy-assed crap, the game ran about the same as it did during the pre-board, even though Rackham definitely had more people than it had before. So that was nice.

I'm sure it will eventually fade as WoW's quests did for me, but I really enjoy reading the quests. I also like that the map resets after a "win," but then, in DAoC I played the pooped-upon realm, and I still remember how bad that sucked, so that is probably coloring my view.

[SnakeCharmer]

I have said it several times, but here it goes again- SOE is costing FLS subscribers. Trying to do it all themselves was probably out of reach given their budget and time constraints, but I can't imagine picking a partner with a worse reputation (which is largely deserved, as they are proving once again).

Believe it or not, that was the first time I'd ever had issue with SOE's billing system, in about 6 years.  Other than when they would revamp it and layout would change (I'm a habitual canceller/re-upper), I've not had much issue with them.  However, at this point in the game there should be NO problem taking peoples money.  If there was an issue, some sort of notice should have been posted by SOE advising of problems with their billing servers.

[Hellinar]

 I pre-ordered from SOE, and was surprised to find no record of it when the game launched. About an hour later, I got an email from SOE saying there was "a problem with my credit card". I reordered, and got into the game fairly straightforwardly. I hope I haven't been double billed.

No problems with the FLS end of the launch though.

[WayAbvPar]

If there was an issue, some sort of notice should have been posted by SOE advising of problems with their billing servers.

Any company that gave even the tiniest shit about its customers would have done so. Not a fucking peep from SOE. FLS has been covering their own forums night and day trying to keep the masses  placated.

[bhodikhan]

I don't know what the hell SOE is doing but EVERY credit card I've tried has been refused and placed on hold by my CC company until I call the CC company to get the 'hold' off them.

SOE is doing something strange that's causing me a lot of trouble with any credit card.

[Ratman_tf]

Well, Sly is playing this, so I had him pick me up a copy. Something about the allure of being on the ground floor of a PvP game, instead of being a noob bitchslapped by elder game players.

First impressions: (And note that I had a BAD FEVER friday night, and played through that. My patence factor was at about 0%.)

Boring.

Played the tutorial missions up to the "Man of wealth and taste" naval combat, won it, and then fucked up the mission complete somehow, and now I have to do the quest from the beginning again.

I quit out instead. It wasn't very fun the first time, and I didn't want to repeat it.

The PvP might be fun (I think PvP can slavage a lot of shitty boring game design, becaue you get to gank other people, yaknow) but it looks like the barrier to entry might be too high for me.

Maybe I'll slog through it again later. A new game shouldn't be feeling like a chore though. That's just plain a bad sign .

[Slyfeind]

That's not your flu talking, that's pretty much the game. The missions are almost always hard, and the UI has too many moving parts from the start.

I can understand devs sticking to a vision, making games hard for a hardcore niche audience. But...ugh. I'd like someone to think of "fun" before "hard" for a change. I'm bored with WoW and am ready for something new.

[Ratman_tf]

Attempt #2. Finished the quest thing. Correctly this time.

All the while, I"m thinking "When do I get to play the game?"

Tutorial missions suck.

[taolurker]

The missions are not what I like about this game... Missions are not where you will have fun or where you'll do anything but figure out how to play, to earn money and experience. Most of the missions will be boring, or repetitive, and probably the best one in the starter town "Man of Wealth and Taste" (part of the RP storyline) is one way too many new players do way too soon (making it tougher and also not as fun). Freetraders have insanely hard starting missions, and the worst starting ship, and I'd wager most low level suffering is because of that.

I like going out in groups on the Open Sea, PvP, Port Battles, and also earning or crafting new things. I barely do missions except when I want to make some cash for something, as well as to either get the class rewards or advance the RP story line.

Missions will not be what you enjoy about this game, and if you enjoy questing, or are specifically looking for that, I'd say this game won't provide it.

[Modern Angel]

The missions are not what I like about this game... Missions are not where you will have fun or where you'll do anything but figure out how to play, to earn money and experience. Most of the missions will be boring, or repetitive, and probably the best one in the starter town "Man of Wealth and Taste" (part of the RP storyline) is one way too many new players do way too soon (making it tougher and also not as fun). Freetraders have insanely hard starting missions, and the worst starting ship, and I'd wager most low level suffering is because of that.

I like going out in groups on the Open Sea, PvP, Port Battles, and also earning or crafting new things. I barely do missions except when I want to make some cash for something, as well as to either get the class rewards or advance the RP story line.

Missions will not be what you enjoy about this game, and if you enjoy questing, or are specifically looking for that, I'd say this game won't provide it.

Dead on. Fuck the quests. They're reasonably well written but almost all of them are poorly tuned being either insanely easy or way, way, WAY too hard.

You get a group and go get some contention points, contributing to both your xp/cash gain AND the big picture pvp of flipping a port. Do it when it's full on pvp and the pirates start praying on stragglers. Then get in on the 25 man v 25 man port battles once it flips. It's an absolute blast.

[Slyfeind]

I certainly don't feel the need to do each and every mission, which I think is cool. In WoW, I feel like if I don't do all the quests, I'm doing it wrong. In PoBS, if I don't do all the missions, it's because there's other things to do.

[Modern Angel]

Hell I don't feel like playing it a zillion hours a day like I do with a more traditional diku. Which seems weird because I love it so much but there's something about the game where I can play for three hours or so, have an absolute blast and then say, "Okay, done for the night." Style of game or something, I guess. It doesn't seem to be a life eater.

[Ratman_tf]

Yeah. I got out of Vera Cruz, did some random NPC ratting with Slyfeind, and generally dinked around. Much more fun than doing some scripted crap quests. I'm sure I'll do more of the tutorial stuff to get knowed up on how to gather resources and shit, but I'm more interested in getting up to speed for PvP at this point.

So, hey! WTF happens when another player sinks your ship? Is it Eve style loss? WoW's timeout or something in-between?

[Modern Angel]

Something in between. Each ship has Durability points, usually five or so. When you sink, you lose your cargo and a Durability point. Lost all of them, your ship is dead. You can refill Durability but it requires another deed to do so; that's going to be mighty painful for the SoL types but makes a smooth curve while leveling.

Captured ships only ever have one point of Durability. This is why it's so satisfying sinking them. 

[d4rkj3di]

Captured ships only ever have one point of Durability. This is why it's so satisfying sinking them. 

Captured deeds can be used to recharge Durability, but there is no reason to ever do so. If you're sunk, you lose all modifications to the ship anyway. The only deeds I have now that are higher than 1 charge are the Pirate Refit ships, because they come with 2.

[Draegan]

I'm giving this game a shot tonight, can anyone give me a low down on servers?

[taolurker]

The majority of the cool F13 people are over on Rackham, being Spaniards.. This also seems to be one of the more balanced servers population wise.

During the past few days at primetime, and the past weekend, Rackham nation populations were Moderate, where some others have Very Heavy for the English and Pirates. Blackbeard is currently the most over-crowded, and has been having severe issues because of this (ie AVOID LIKE PLAGUE).

[Draegan]

Ok I picked Privateer, sounds cool, have no idea what the difference is, and I happened to pick Rackham and spanish randomly, looks like I picked right.

Did some of the tuitorial missions and stuff.  Now what do I do?  Some open sea pirate ships kicked my ass.

[Draegan]

Soooo...  I'm like level 6 or something, and all I'm doing is killing pirates outside the port I started at. 

What else should I be doing?  And what's the difference between a Privateer and a Navel Officer?

[taolurker]

If you post your character name, into the sticky thread at the top of this forum, and look for my character (Laozi Mi'Karma) or WAP's character (Guido Cordoba), one of us will add you to the society, maybe showing you the ropes or giving you free stuff.

[Draegan]

I've got one more question.

I'm looking for some info on the game to study up on it.  Guides etc.  Found a wiki and the main site.  Anything else available?

Also I know what freetrader's are.  I know what NO's are.  But I'm not sure what privateers are as a job in the game.  Quick debuffing/boarding ship guys?  The rogues/thieves of this MMO?  Not sure where they come into play later on in the game.


Edit:
Do you have to be a certain level to do something with derelict ships after you board them?

[cevik]

Edit:
Do you have to be a certain level to do something with derelict ships after you board them?

At level 5 you get a skill (pres the Y button in game to see your skills) that lets you grab a pennant from the derelict ship that you can turn in for various things in San Juan (you need at least 10 for the turn in).  If you are a privateer you can get a skill (maybe the other classes can too, I'm unsure) via the privateer trainer called "Grease the Wheels" that lets you get a commendation instead of a pennant, which can turn in at 5 instead of 10 and gets pretty much the same stuff.

Privateers, at least from my understanding, are basically the national equivalent of pirates.  They get faster/more agile ships and debuffs, so I think rogues are the best way to explain them.

[WayAbvPar]

There are some really informative threads on the official forums. To get started-

Newb Economy Guide

Ship Stats and Outfitting

Sailing 101

Port Battle Guide

Newb Questions Forum

Avatar Combat 101

More AvCom- I just read this the other day for the first time; went home and respecced my NO to take advantage of some of the advice. AvCom is a lot more complex than I originally thought.

I would suggest running through the mission in Vera Cruz and Barilla. When you get to level 8, make taolurker build a Bermuda Sloop for you =). Missions are good for XP and great for generating doubloons (Open Sea farming money got severely nerfed toward the end of beta, so it isn't as profitable). When you get bored of missions, find a lower level XP group in the society (if you join The Browncoat Alliance, these are pretty regular), and go create/lower unrest by bashing NPCs en masse.

Feel free to send me a tell in game if you have any questions- Guido Cordoba or Iago Cordoba (probably be on Iago tonight unless I am needed elsewhere).

[Draegan]

Nice post.

Thanks.

[Ingmar]

You mean Spaniards took my iron mine town.  I guess that point in Tax Evasion wasn't wasted after all.

[WayAbvPar]

New Orleans?

I am pretty amazed they managed to grab it. Sounds like it was quite a battle.

[gimpyone]

I'm patiently waiting to find you Wayabv.