Gaming Pirates of the Burning Sea

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2008/01/30/pirates_of_the_burning_sea/

All new MMOs have a tough task ahead of themselves; trying to find a niche somewhere in the market and eek out a meager existence underneath WoW. Can Pirates of the Burning Sea find that niche, or will it flounder and drown in the fiery ocean?

 

Brilliant choice of name.

 

Only had time to read the conclusion as I'm currently playing the game, but I completely agree. It's rough around the edges, like all MMOs the quests do get a bit repetitive, but I think PotBS is a lot better than WoW in that respect.

I'm loving it so far though and very glad SoE are only dealing with distribution and can't screw around with the game like they do with so many others.

I also like how you can be effective in PvP at almost every level, once you hit around level 15 or so (which doesn't take very long at all) you can captain the good small ships which can still be very good against big ships if you use them properly. During the pre-boarding party (15 days of playing before release with a level cap of 21 for people who pre-ordered) we had a group of sloops and cutters that slaughtered an equally sized group of frigates in PvP.

EDIT: Out of interest Joe, will you be reviewing Sins of a Solar Empire?

 

Yarrr matey!

 

Avast ye scurvey dog!

 

I've never even heard of it, tbh.

 

Okay, apart from being MMO, how is this different to Sid Meier's Pirates? I love SMP, and may be tempted by this when I've built my new rig.

Andy

 

Very, very similar.

 

grats to the dev's that had the guts to make a mmorpg thats something else than yet another middleage fantasy theme thing.

will i play it? nah... changing to another mmorpg is a bad thing, sucks to give up everything you've done in another one without knowing if the other will be good enough to keep you addicted for years.

 

You call yourself a games journalist

It's a space RTS on a massive scale and plays similarly to a TBS on the large scale, think supreme commander in space but you can zoom out really, really far. It's not like the total war series where the pseudoTBS and RTS segments are distinctly separate, it apparently flows together really well.

Coming out next monday, made by Ironclad and published by Stardock, same guys behind GalCiv II.

 

Is it £25 a lo Guild Wars or £25 plus £x/mo a la WoW and others?

I loved the original Pirates by Sid Meier (C64), but not been too fond of any subsequent versions I've tried. But a Pirates MMO, might be right up my street.

 

£25 will give you the game plus 30 days free, thereafter it's something like £9/mth, £26/3mth.

 

Nevermind... I never pay twice for a game.

 

hmmm.....Pirates of the burning seas or Age of Conan........decisions, decisions.

 

hmmm i doubt this will get a break through like WoW did.. i dont play WoW tho.. i prefer the "free" counterpart Guild Wars
don't see the point in paying for a "subscription" every month and exactly that is the reason i believe that PotB will somehow "Stall".

sure there are probably TONS of peeps out there waiting for JUST this kind of game (If yer into Pirates and stuff that is)..
Nice idea too.. not always these Elves n Dwarfs that bash Fairys n Trolls

but isn't the market like over-saturated with (please do excuse me) crappy games coming out of every dark hole? not saying PotB is,..

How long will the Servers be up and running? I mean.. ya pay the game... ya play a little... then ya end up with like 90+ Quid a year to continue playing? no offense.. NO GAME is that Good.. and simply ... not everybody can actually afford it...

so.. to those that can and will play 'n pay.. i wish ya all fun and good games etc.

im def. not one of em

PS: will see if there is some trial thingy tho / Ya can't judge what ya haven't tested yerself....

 

We've covered this debate before, and it ended up being MMOs are actually very good value for money.

Also, it's not trying to be as big as WoW, WoW is massive, it still has a very healthy user base even though it's only been released a week or so.

 

Well I picked this one up.. never played an MMO before other than trying EVE and getting thoroughly confused and giving up due to the worst intro tutorial ever, and am not that into the Pirates concept really. The game however is very good. Easy to get into for a beginner, and the quests are easily accessible (unlike Eve). As a 'noob' at MMO stuff I really wanted something easy to get into, but had complex enough depth to keep my interest. This one has ticked the boxes. Especially the economy / crafting side of the game. Very accessible.

Plus its not WOW! Which is a bonus in its own right. I always though that admitting you play WOW to the general public left them feeling sorry for you in some way - like they though you were an addicted teenager stuck in fantasy land. No such feeling admitting you playing Pirates of the burning sea. (Ive seen peoples reactions when my mates tell them they are WOW players)

Interestingly enough.. many WOW players in my friends guild have already switched to Pirates.. Looks like its popular, as they have been evaluating others like Tabula Rasa and rejected those.

 

The learning curve is actually quite difficult for this game, not quite as bad as EVE though. But then again, it's not that bad, only takes about a week to really learn it, whereas WoW is quite simplistic really.

 

I don't know, maybe it's the differences in pronunciation but "Gai" doesn't sound like "Guy" here.


What about: Guy Brushthreep Wood or Mahnkoam Zeapgood?


Then again I have an MMO character called "Owkud Iceink [Solo]" (Solo is the guild name)

 

What a crock!

I dunno who you have had this debate with but they must have been crackers. MMOs are not good value for money, you buy the game and then you rent the game. Fools and their money are soon parted.

The only case for a monthly charge is for the upkeep of servers - but there is no way it costs £9/mo per person. At £1/mo the companies would be making a tidy profit; at this price, they are making a killing.

CoD4 = £25 + £1/mo per slot on a privately rented server = £37 for 1st year
MMOs = £25 = £9/mo = £133 for 1st year

Cracking value, wouldn't you agree?