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Community Spotlight: JW Santhem
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| This month's Spotlight Recipient: JW Santhem |
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This month's Spotlight Recipient is a regular on the forums, in-game, and in the our chat channel. He is also involved in numerous official groups, including the Live Events Group, the Boarding Party, and the Encyclopædia Piratica.
This Spotlight Recipient has spent his time in the community improving and adding to it. Because of these accomplishments, we would like to recognize JW Santhem. Santhem agreed to an interview. Below, read his answers about Live Events, getting involved in the community, and free-to-play.
What drew you to Pirates of the Burning Sea originally?
Well, I had noticed some artwork and other news about the game before launch, but I never got around to playing. Shortly after launch however, I read about the first server merger. The article had a gorgeous screenshot attached that instantly made me forget about the writing and order the game.
See, I like fancy things. So yes, the fancy is what drew me here.
What is your favorite aspect of Pirates of the Burning Sea now?
Right now, it is most certainly the Player versus Player combat—it is awesome. I especially enjoy solo fighting because it makes you responsible for only yourself. You see, I just love trying out weird ships, unknown outfitting, and combining them. I also enjoy respec'ing my Skill set to match the new build.
Experimenting with the ship combat system is 100% my thing. There are so many ways to beat an enemy, and so many styles.
What is your favorite Nation & Career combination?
I have just one character, a Spanish Freetrader. It is very all-around and even while having some economic Skills, and it still does very well in combat. I am still grateful that the devs added 5% armor bonus and tax evasion. I use it all the time!
You're a member of the Live Events Group. What does it take to plan and carry out a live event?
To make an event successful, it has to be fun and easy, but still challenging. And you always have to keep pushing the limits.
When I was designing the Factory event, I had the same formula in mind. The point was to haul as many engine parts from Port A to Port B as possible while Port B was in a red zone. So the fun would come from the chase and the fighting. There were various options to obtain engine parts, plundering, hauling, or trading.
It's pretty straightforward—everybody is familiar with hauling. But when there is a limited amount of goods and everybody wants to win, hauling suddenly becomes a lot more challenging.
After every event, we learned a whole lot about how players will react—what we need to make clear and what we don't. Personally, I enjoy reading feedback on events in which I participated, because I know it will make the next event even better, so keep the feedback coming!
Running Live Events has been a great experience for me, and I'm pretty sure the entire Live Events team will agree with me.
You're also an active member of several other official groups. Any advice for new players looking to get more involved?
Think about where you want to get more involved, if you're an experienced player, why don't you write a guide for the encyclopedia. Even if you don't want to join the team, a Piratica team member might be willing to put your guide up on the Encyclopædia Piratica if you ask.
The point is, often you don't need an official group to do what you do best. If you want to be involved, try looking for what you can share with the community, and share it. Eventually you can always join an official group if that would help you be more effective. Being an awesome individual is something that everybody can do individually.
How do you think free-to-play is going so far?
The population is great, the new players are nice, but I do notice the lack of loyalty to the game that always made this community so great. I guess that it is the duty of the veterans to train the new guys well, make them understand the game, and play by the rules.
I myself have stopped playing for quite a few times, always after being Boarded one time too many, but there was always something to get me back in the game. Whether it was the beginning of a new map, the members of my Society, Caballeros de Atlantis, or looking at the awesome game-art for inspiration, there was always something.
However, I do fear that for the new F2P crowd things might be a little different. When trying to really understand the game, I hope that they will look at more than the monkeys-with-funny-hats, and look at crucial things like combat mechanics and RvR.
RvR Especially is a system that binds players to the game. From experience, I can say that nothing binds players more than fighting side-by-side in an epic Port Battle. And with the new type of players that F2P has attracted, we need to bind those players to the game.
Anything else that you'd like to say to the community?
Think before you act, then think again.
Preparing and reviewing of your actions is vital if you want to succeed at anything.
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