PotBS mid-term review

Well I’ve finally reached level 30 and as promised, here is my review of Pirates of the Burning Sea. Since I have not yet reached the level cap and thoroughly experienced every single aspect of the game, this review does not constitute an in-depth appraisal but rather an informed take on this title. So here we go!

 

The Good:

Originality : Yes PotBS is an MMO and as such, it does follow many familiar MMO standards and clichés, but overall I find that this game still does feel quite different than other titles. Some of this is explained by the pirate / early 18th century setting, which is quite a departure from Fantasy / Sci-Fi or even Superheroes. I think that the other main factor behind this is of course the ship combat, where at least half of the time you are fighting your battles not as your avatar but as a vessel at sea, which is a refreshing change from most other titles ( although for auto-assault and EVE players this is nothing new ). I definitely give this game the thumbs up for it’s freshness and distinctiveness.

Ship Combat : As a long-time player of the Starfleet Command series of titles ( I actually recall seeing the two titles compared in the the official forums ), I was already pre-programmed to like this part of the PotBS experience, and the game did not disappoint in this respect. The tactical ship to ship combat is a high point of the game and is well implemented, with a relatively easy learning curve, which was for me mostly centered on figuring out how to cope with wind direction during battle. Rotating broadsides and gun batterie reloads as well as armor depletion, basically learning how to maintain optimum facing in a fight, came naturally to a SFC vet like me and really brought back some fond memories. Thumbs up for this part of the game too.

The So-so :

Travel time : I’m on the fence on this one. On one hand, the slow and majestic pace of open sea travel does give this game a certain atmosphere, contributing to the title’s disticntiveness. But on the other hand, it can also be a pain, sometimes needlessy prolonging a journey, especially if you are sailing against the wind. There is some limited port to port insta-travel and you can also experience shortened travel times if you manage to take advantage of some currents, but this is not always possible. Not a major issue as far as I’m concerned but I think that it could be for some players.

Economy : I would lean towards liking this part of the game, having been able to set up my factories and  successfully sell some goods on the open market. I noticed that it does help to coordinate production with your fellow society mates to maximize earning potential, the economy in PotBS being very much team-oriented. The reason I place it in the So-So category is that, as a rule, I am usually not very much into the crafting / selling aspect of MMOs, which limits for me the appeal of this part of the game regardless of how good it actually is.

The Bad :

Avatar missions : In PotBS, you spend about half your time fighting sea battles on your ship, the other half on land as your avatar. These avatar missions for me are the weak point of the game, being rather repetitive and quite frankly boring, the swashbuckling combat system being especially irritating. I read that this part of the game was tacked on late to PotBS and was not really part of the original concept, so to a certain extent I understand why it is so uninspired. Let’s just say that people coming from other MMOs will likely feel let-down by this aspect of the game. Thankfully, the ship missions more than make up for this.

So these are the sum of my main impressions of PotBS. Some may have noticed that I have not reviewed PvP. This is because I have yet to actively partake in port battles and group skirmishes, and so will hold off commenting on this till I am more informed on the subject.

Dawn of War, Soulstorm

Well, my time in PotBS just went from great to bad in about two days. With the server merges the society I was in decided to transfer a month before the agreed upon date without telling me, which I think is kinda rude but whatever, and I just lost my hard earned ship to a level 50 who ganked me while I was in transit to another port. I know being randomly killed in PvP is no big deal, get over it, hell I’ve jumped noobs in Lotro Monsterplay for the easy infamy plenty of times, so I can’t really claim innocent victim status. But in Lotro, when you get killed, you lose a bit of rating and get ported to the rez circle, that’s basically it. In PotBS you lose your ship and all the hard earned loot you were carrying, which really pissed me off.

So I decided to take a break and play some single player Dawn of War Soulstorm, the last in the series before Dawn of War 2 comes out. What I love about this game is the voice-acting, which is absolutely first rate and very atmospheric, not to say quite hilarious at times! My favorite is the chaos marine range of voice-emotes, which features gems such as  ”Do you hear the voices too?”.

I guess I’m just a bit burned out on MMOs and need to take a step back. An RTS like Dawn of War provides just the gaming diversion I need and I would recommend it to anyone remotely into this genre.

For the Emperor!

PotBS and dying

I said I’d write a personal review of PotBS when I reached level 30 but I’m going to jump the gun and give a “status update” type post right now.

So far I’ve hit level 18 and joined a Society ( that’s PotBS lingo for a guild ) and have taken my baby steps into the economy part of the game ( PotBS lingo for crafting / gathering ). I have yet to PvP though.

One thing that has really caught my attention so far in PotBS is that learning to size up your opponent is a skill that is well worth developing because the death penalty in this game can be quite harsh. If you engage in a battle with a stronger opponent and fail to escape, you get sunk and lose your ship, permanently if you did not invest in durability upgrades. You don’t lose XP, you don’t get a temporary debuff or have to do a corpse run, you just lose your precious boat that you worked so hard to upgrade as well as most of the loot it was carrying. Ouch!

So carelessly rushing into fights hoping that you didn’t start something you can’t finish in this game is not a very good way to go about things, contrary to many other MMOs where I feel the death penalty is much softer. Being stubborn by nature, it took me dying 3 plus times per session before getting this concept but now I am enlightened, and no longer chronically broke! It got so bad that for a time I didn’t bother naming my ship since I expected to lose it within an hour of leaving port ( just like some ancient cultures held off naming a child until it had passed some critical age mark where it’s eventual survival became more likely ).

This harsh death penalty also has an effect on powerleveling, which can be a risky proposition since you may lose everything you gained if things go wrong. I learned this two nights ago while doing level 26 missions with members of my society : after making good gains for most of the evening I got careless and cocky and wound up being blown out of the water, thereby pretty much cancelling all the gains I had made ( and yes I did fail to store my won loot at a port warehouse at regular intervals, so I deserved everything I got ! ).

After initially being a bit irritated by this, I now enjoy the added tension that comes with ship battles and the importance of gaging your chances of success. This makes fights a bit more meaningful and gives PotBS a certain flavor that other games lack.

So there maties!

Under Jolly Roger !

My last post was about my options regarding my next MMO of choice and if some of you are familiar with the German Beer Metal band Running Wild, you will already have guessed which one I selected: it’s Pirates of the Burning Sea!!

After much deliberation I decided to go with something completely different and try this rather unorthodox title, and up till now I’m glad I did. It is a refreshing change from the standard Sci-fi / Fantasy fare, especially with the ship-combat aspect. I really like the 18th Century setting, especially since I’m a medieval historian by training, it’s high time I get away for a bit from the whole pseudo Middle-Ages / Renaissance Fantasy setting and enjoy some of the later historical eras.

As of now I am only level 10 and still getting to grips with the game and it’s various aspects but when I hit level 30 or so I will write my own personal review.

Till then if any of you come across pirate captain Ned Botwood on the Kidd Server RUN AWAY ! Or roll over laughing at the tiny, undergunned Jamaica sloop I’m driving : )

Decisions decisions!

My DDO sub has run out and I have 6 days left on my Lotro sub. My elf chamion in Lotro is about to hit the level cap and I am tired of grinding grey mob traits and deeds ( this in an attempt to slow down my leveling ).

I’m also a bit jaded from the whole fantasy genre and am looking for a refreshing change of scenery. Could Pirates of the Burning Sea or Tabula Rasa be the answer? Hmmm…