A well thought out review.

[bkdude]

*Edit
I played on the Antigua server.

Hello everyone. You all probobly don't know me, but I played this game for two days, and quit yesterday. If the makers of this game care about this game's future, (along with all their hard work) I would consider reading the rest of this. Whether you guys decide to do this or not is all up to you.

Well, I begin playing the game, and its pretty fun for the most part! Ship combat is great, with no major flaws. (I do not like how damage is calculated before the cannonballs hit the enemy ship though...) Avatar combat isn't as horrible as people say it is, and since I'm a privateer, I can use my pistol, which is a ton of fun. (seriously)

People:
I continue playing, but when I begin making long trips around the carribean, I think, "Where is everyone?". In the 15-or-so hours total I spent playing this, I probobly saw (at land and in ports) around 30-40 actual humans as opposed to the hundreds of NPCs lurking around. When I play an MMO, I expect to see 10+ HUMAN PLAYERS straight away. (unless i'm playing a tutorial, but even in tutorials, its nice to see a few fellow newbies lurking around) In the major ports, I see at max, three people nearby on the island, with about half of them being AFK. This is very disappointing to new players, who, for the most part, expect to see many people running around, engaging themselves with the game. You can see this in most P2P/F2P games, like Puzzle Pirates, Runescape, Guild Wars, ect. This game basically feels like a singleplayer game, with a few multiplayer elements. The people who currently play are very kind, respectable people. When I started playing, I asked inside an auction house with two people in it if there were any societies I could join, and twenty minutes later, I was welcomed by a very kind individual who gave me some good advice. Sure, when I play games that cost less/have more people, the players probobly won't be as welcoming, but there are always people willing to help out. I would rather find one kind person in a mob of a hundred, than one in a room of two. The lack of players is probobly the most handicaping aspect of this game, but can be solved by many means, including but not limited to:

-Advertisement

-Lowering the monthly/quarterly/annually costs (consider making the annual cost very low in comparison with the other costs)

-Making the game less confusing to new players. When I have to sit and wait for 7 gigs of downloads, it incredibly decreases my incentive to play the game. No matter what excuses you guys throw at this, there is always a way to fix this problem. Also allowing players to buy a game code off this site immediately would dramatically help players in getting into the game. When I was researching this game, I was very reluctant to buy a retail box, (which I eventually got off of ebay) just so I could begin playing. A game is nothing without its players, and no matter WHAT updates you throw at it, it isn't going to revive a dead fanbase.

Game Economy:
When I started learning about the game's economy, I figured players would have control of many aspects of the game. Well, I was wrong. I found it very displeasing when hovering over various nations' ports, and seeing that the tax rate was the same for most of them. In a fully player-run economy, players control ALL aspects of the economy. Lets say I'm the governor of Orangjestad. (the magistrate NPCs are worthless, and display themselves as pointless, boring NPCs that hand out quests) I decide what I charge each nation in terms of taxes, in all aspects. Lets say I was recently attacked by the French, and I decide that I want to weaken the French economy. I could raise taxes charged to them by a dramatic (yet controlled) rate. On the other hand, lets say myself, and my fellow teammates/citizens are afraid of the French, and want to please them. I could charge little or no taxes for them to use my port, to save my (and my people's) hides, at the expense of others. Also, not allowing pirates to take over or lose ports greatly effects the game's economy. I can understand that converting a pirate port would be rather difficult in the reality of the past, but it should be possible for very determined people to do so. Not allowing pirates themselves to convert a port is also rather silly, yet there are many variables that can contribute to these pros and cons. Fixed ports should also be eliminated, but making these specific ports exceedingly difficult to overtake would make more sense. Basically, getting the players themselves more involved in the economy rather than having it all fixed would greatly improve economic gameplay.


In the end, I quit this game because I was alone. I looked to my left and right, and all I saw were bots performing looped actions, NPC cargo vessels full of gold sailing next to NPC pirates for hours, never attacking each other. I noticed the occasional human player, preoccupied in their own affairs, sailing away. The only truely exciting moment I had playing this, was when I tried sailing into Orangjestad, when two human pirates, far above my level, began chasing me. I outsailed them and made it to the port, but it was fun actually interacting with others.

If I could get a gang of ten of my friends to play this alongside me, I would play this game full force, teaming up on others, pillaging, and having a jolly old time, but sadly, thats why I play online games, because I don't have too many friends out in the real world. People don't leave their lonely real lives to play, in essence, a lonely pirate game. Immediately after i stopped playing this, I played a few rounds of one of my favorite FPSs with about fifty complete strangers, and I felt so happy to be around others as opposed to mindless robots.

If this party starts bouncing again, I'll be sure to come back, but in the meantime, I'll be kicking it with my other buddies elsewhere. Don't expect people to search for your party. Bring the party to them.

[Roger Fate]

"Hello everyone. You all probobly don't know me, but I played this game for two days, and quit yesterday."

"Immediately after i stopped playing this, I played a few rounds of one of my favorite FPSs with about fifty complete strangers, and I felt so happy to be around others as opposed to mindless robots."



These two quotes tell me everything I need to know about the review and the reviewer.

[Freeballer]

massive wall of text. won't even bother......lemme guess, some mindless halfwit didn't like the game after 2 days because it isn't wow?

[Jason Dreadbones]

Originally Posted by Freeballer

massive wall of text. won't even bother......lemme guess, some mindless halfwit didn't like the game after 2 days because it isn't wow?

nope. he didn't like it because PotBS is a single player game....(at least until you are level 40 and can stand a chance in PvP).

[Loktofeit]

Originally Posted by Roger Fate

"Hello everyone. You all probobly don't know me, but I played this game for two days, and quit yesterday."

"Immediately after i stopped playing this, I played a few rounds of one of my favorite FPSs with about fifty complete strangers, and I felt so happy to be around others as opposed to mindless robots."



These two quotes tell me everything I need to know about the review and the reviewer.

Was thinking the same thing myself.

[bkdude]

Well, now that the players of this game showed me their true colors by refusing to read my detailed review, slandering me as a dumb FPS fanboy, I don't think i'll ever come back. Personally, I don't play first person shooters very much, and basing your opinions on the fact that i'm a casual gamer displays your true intelligence.

Hopefully a FLS staff member will read this, and actually take in consideration the suggestions I made. Thank you Jason for summarizing a part of what I feel about this game. I think when you enter a game, you should be immersed with others similar to yourself, and not be stuck with tons of NPCs.

It dosen't matter though, as this game will be history in a few months/years, as users like myself play, get insulted, and leave. Have fun on your sinking ship, as the amusement won't last very long.

[kungtotte]

You raise some valid points, some that are quite dependant on which server you are on and some things you are just impatient about.

But the fact that you only stuck it out for three days and have a stated preference for FPS-type games mean that you are probably not qualified to title this review as well thought out.

[Craig Hustler]

First off I love POTBS and play it all the time. I also love FPS. Does that make me a brainless moron? What's with the game elitism? Is it odd that I enjoy Civilization and I like GTA4? Not everyone who likes action games is brainless and not everyone who plays POTBS is particularly bright. Don't rip the guy apart because he played and enjoyed a FPS. that's like listening to classical music and spouing off about how rock has no redeeming value. it's just ignorant.

The guy raises some valid points, especially when it come to server populations.

My 2 cents

[kungtotte]

It doesn't make you a brainless moron. I enjoy lots of different types of games too. But writing a "well thought out review" that starts off admitting you never gave it a chance, and ends with "I'm going back to my FPS now" is a bad way to bring a point across. Particularly when some of those points are important.

To use your music analogy, it would be like me opening a review of the new AC/DC album with "I only listened to the first three tracks" and ending it with "After listening to this, I popped Vivaldi's Le quattro stagioni into the CD-player, and it felt so good to listen to music that wasn't played with electrical instruments".

[Kashka_Coolwater]

i think more at issue is..
1. connecting with other players and how that impacts your experience.
2. the steep learning curve that exists in PotBS. (Being that it is much more complex of a game in a variety of areas than most other game formats)
3. the pace of the game is different from most other mmo and fps