321

Ok, finally downloaded it (only took 9 hours, plus about an hour of updates) created my account and… then my wife took over!

Disaster.

I’d better go and find out if I can use more than one sub with the same downloaded copy of the game (ie. same activation code, different subs).

322

I’m going to guess no. Otherwise, somebody could just post one activation code here and we could all use it for our own accounts.

323

Get another account straight off SOE, then just copy the download to the other machine. It’ll save you time at least. (It’s still full price though.)

324

The ship combat sounds really interesting, and I like the idea of the various factions fighting for control of ports. How is the non-combat portion of the game? What are the quests like? Are they interesting or are they standard MMO quests – Fedex, gather X number, etc.?

325

Missions can be split into 4 categories:

  1. Avatar combat

These missions are like playing a rudimentary version of WoW but there’s enough depth to the skill system that it can be interesting. Feels very “gamey” though. Not the highlight of the game.

  1. Instanced ship missions

These can vary from taking out ports to boarding certain ships to running blockades to wiping out fleets to taking part in large battles. Lots of variety.

  1. Open Sea battles

Generally simple quests to kill X of Y.

  1. Transport quests / talk to X

Travel quests, basically.

326

The Avatar quests (Swashbuckling) can be fun, it very much depends on the skills you have and the mission, but I agree, ship combat is the highlight of the game (along with their nation vs. nation aspect and the deep crafting game.)

There is a pretty good variety of both types (ship and avatar) and they inject a bit of story and humor, similar to WoW questing. It’s done port by port (progressing in difficulty) but some quests will take you to multiple ports before completion, and some will also mix ship combat with avatar combat.

They are quite well done. Besides that you can also make experience on the open sea from killing and looting, as well as from PvP for the same.

Also, ports have their own look and feel, even if only slightly different than the others. You’ll get common NPC types in each port, along with quest NPC’s as well (think WoW towns.) Each persons avatar is highly detailed and ends up being quite unique though certain items tend to get seen a lot (parrots, eyepatch, etc.) The ships too are very detailed and can be zoomed in on enough that you can even see a mini version of you and your crew when you are out at sea. Ships can be customized in their loadout (Eve-like) and there are a lot of ships in game. You can also customize your ships colors, sail colors, as well as flag and sail designs. Each nations ports, avatars, and sometimes ships can look pretty distinct from the other nations giving the game some pretty good visuals.

327

I think (completely unscientifically of course) that this MMO will have the highest number of guys playing female characters ever. The lasses of POTBS look a lot better than the WoW female undead, I can promise you :).

There are some concerns regarding the economy. Essentially, societies (guilds) are setting up closed economies by having enough members to produce everything the society needs without having to deal with the AH. These same societies are motivated to engage in lots of RvR PvP, since they can afford to lose ships. The economy is supposed to be driven by the need to replace ships, but if there are a lot of closed society economies, then people who are not in those types of societies will have a hard time selling stuff, as there will be no demand. Right now, there is no demand anyway because not that many ships have been lost. Also, everyone can produce lots of everything, so I don’t know how this will pan out. But I’m sure FLS will wait before making substantial changes.

There are also some concerns about RvR PvP, but those don’t seem to be as clear. I think everyone is still getting a handle on how port contention is supposed to work and how it can be played effectively.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the whole thing develops. My main concern is that FLS’s only other computer games product was Rails Across America, a niche railroad title, and I’m wondering if they have the experience and knowledge to pull this off. But I certainly hope so and have had a good time so far.

328

I think it’s really too soon for anyone to know how the economy is shaping up or how RvR will work out. Most major ships are so complex I can’t imagine any but the very biggest and most organized Societies will be able to produce everything in-house.

I suspect we’ll see a mix of in-house production, off-AH “contracting” and some AH action too when people are dumping surplus or trying to fill a gap in the markets somewhere (for newbies, independants and smaller Societies).

Our Society is actually run by a female gamer and her husband/boyfriend(?) acts as a comptroller, managing building projects.

This game attracts alot of the types of players who got into crafting and character customization that were in SWG - but with a more comprehensible game attached. I’d say about 1/3 of our society are female gamers from what I can tell playing either female or male avatars.

This game may have Eve Online’s brains but it’s got personality too that appeals to roleplayers, and many female gamers fall in here as well.

It’s a unique game alright. One thing that I’ve noticed is most players seem better spoken and more mature than I’ve run across elsewhere. Only LoTRO compares favorably. Of course that could just be our server but the forums as a whole aren’t a stinking pile yet.

329

Just wait. Heh. Speaking of stinking piles, here’s my latest version of my custom flag. I was happy enough with it to submit it.

[URL=“http://www.burningsea.com/pages/page.php?pageKey=uc/viewItem&item_id=21572”]

This is the latest version of my flag. Click and vote whether you like it or not.

Rucker, do you have a link for your flag? I didn’t realize there was a voting process. I liked yours, so it deserves a positive vote from me at least. :)

Thanks for the feedback. I ended up keeping the same basic design, but decided to spend more time with the pen tool to change it into a cutlass and make my own rose. I burned in a quick skull sketch to add something to fill in the empty center portion (which I think is what you were reacting to too).

Looking at it now the fabric texture is a bit much, I should have resized it. I may resubmit the flag with a more subdued texture, but this version works pretty well.

330

That’s a really nice flag! I like the “clothified” texture the way it is, exaggerated enough that you might actually notice it in game.

How long did it take you to finish it?

331

Ok, so I’ve been playing a bit, and I have a few questions:

First of all, what is “ship durability”? Is that how many times it can sink before it’s gone for good?

I’m level 5, and have about 2300 gold. Should I buy the $2250 civilian ship from the ship vendor? Or should I stick with my initial ship? Should I be buying upgrades for my initial ship from the auction house? Once I apply these, are they stuck to that ship or can I take them off and put them on another?

How do I use my pistol? Do I have to take that “off the hip shot” skill from the swashbuckler trainer? Or is there another way?

It really sucks that there is no manual, pdf or otherwise, for the downloadable version

332

Pretty sure someone linked a downloadable manual on this thread.

Anyway, here goes:

  1. Correct about Durability. You’ll still lose the items you’ve attached for good to the ship, but you’ll be back at the nearest port with all your ammo etc.

  2. Civilian ships are mostly a waste of time. If you’re one of our (arrr) pirates then don’t bother buying ships, you’ll be getting skills to steal them instead.

“General” upgrades - the 3 slots below your ship - can be removed and used elsewhere unless otherwise noted. The upgrades for sails, hull, guns cannot be removed.

Pistol: Need skills, yes.

333

Ok thanks.

I’m on Bonny, and my name is Flynn Jaye… if you guys can invite me to the guild.

Thanks

334

Done! Although you’re rather quiet ;)

335

Had some more PVP tonight that made me rethink the tactics we’re using for group PVP.

On my first night of PVP we were generally picking off stragglers and having to chase ships, which suited my skillset and my ship. However tonight we got into a few scraps with ships that either had heavy defences or simply overwhelming firepower.

Irish Point was the scene as the Pirate nation attempted to put it into contention. A few of us from Stand and Deliver went to help the cause. We managed to get the contention points to 5000 in order to get it into a Pirate PVP zone, and then I dragged us into combat with the first Frenchman I saw.

Zoning in, it turned out that the 3 of us were up against 3 vessels - a well balanced fight. We stuck to the original target but it was a night battle and our ranged shots weren’t really doing a great deal of damage. My setup - designed for chasing down runners and boarding weaker ships - was simply failing to make a dent on ships that didn’t really care about being slowed. They had an excellent mixture of abilities that enabled them to repair quickly and added extra defensive abilities to their allies. Repeated attempts to cripple a ship simply failed, and we were starting to take some damage we couldn’t shrug off.

Splitting up, we managed to get their main damage dealer seperated slightly and the 3 of them were strung out. We focused on the closest ship, moving around so that we could fire from several angles. Realising his teammate was in trouble, the middle ship (the weakest of the three, I think) raced forward to support - only to see all 3 of us suddenly surge forward and trap him on all sides with nowhere to go. 3 volleys of close-range / anti-crew ammo later, I board and he’s despatched after a fairly protracted boarding battle (he was sneaky!).

Sadly the rest of them got away, simply because my Corsair can’t sail downwind very well and so I couldn’t get into range to use my Cut Shroud.

So, in a 3v3 we ended up with a kill and no losses. Not a bad start…

Later one, we replaced one of our guys with a pubbie and got dragged into another combat - this time with 3 30+ frigates. I spawned right next to one and didn’t realise, eating a broadside that took out my entire bow armour. Again, I was undergunned for the fight and unable to really make much difference - Der Dutchman (the other S&D guy) was our only heavy gunboat and he swiftly got pounded by a seriously impressive bit of focus fire. The pubbie tried to escape but was clearly getting his sails tagged - I aborted my plan of running for the exit and came back, asking him all the time in group chat which ship was the biggest threat to him and which one he wanted crippled. I got no replies and tried to take one ship out of the fight, speed-wise, but he took just too much sail damage to get out of their claws and ended up being boarded and destroyed.

I sailed off, and noticed Nation chat had the guy complaining that we’d run away from a fair fight (hmm…). Scrolling up, he’d been answering my questions… in Nation chat. Which is a completely different tab in chat. WTF.

Anyway, the whole thing reminded me that catching people was only half my job - I’m a boarder and that’s what I should be doing. If I’d spotted that ship next to me right from the start, I could’ve smashed him with anti-crew ammo and boarded him asap. At the very least it takes a lot of firepower out of the fight and evens up the odds for the rest of the team. With the ships we tend to take with us, I suspect it might be a good idea to have multiple ships simply racing towards the best target and boarding it as soon as the crew is low enough.

Now to put it into practice…

336

Looks good to me, mate. Make sure you screeny us a shot once it gets in-game!

337

According to the strategy guide:

“Pirates can captain a ship they capture, which is good, but there is a penalty. If a Pirate takes another nation’s warship and uses that as his primary ship, the entire fleet of that nation will be out hunting you within the hour. So now you have Pirate hunters coming for you, as well as the nation’s naval ships.”

Since your friend stole and then captained a French ship, it sounds like that tagged him for PvP against the French nation. Were any of the three French player-controlled ships captained by a Naval Officer or Privateer?

338

It sucks no more!

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showpost.php?p=1226972&postcount=256

339

Arr? Perhaps I’m a more sophisticated pirate than you, for I say, ‘Yarr!’ ;-)

340

Nah, you can take another nation’s ship with no penalty and there are no “National” flagged ships yet, as far as I can tell.

The pirate PvP ship flag comes up when you take a ship that’s exclusive to another class. That sounds like he took a Freetrader exclusive snow.

Anyhow, last night after midnight (EST) the British (after waiting for hours after they’d actually gotten within 50 points of the target) triggered contention again for Port of Spain.

Pretty cheesy tactic for people who are in the forums speculating that the Spanish will be too cowardly to show up. Yeah, great, lose your first battle to half as many ships so make sure to trigger a contention battle so late that most folks won’t be able to either make it or stay through the whole thing.

We’ll see how it goes I guess but that’s well past the bedtime of most of my Society and there was considerable grumbling.