21

The avatar combat was retarded but I think the water looked fine, and the ship combat had real potential.

If they ditched the avatar combat completely or made it unnecessary then I would play maybe.

Well I guess the interface, especially the auction house interface, had a long way to go too. And running around looking for quests sucked. Just tear out everything with the avatars and the running around in towns. Also levelling sucks even though its at least moderately quick.

22

Ugh. I’m gearing up to release a $19.99 budget powerboat racing game with water that looks 100x better than that.

I’m hoping those are early PoC screenshots or something, cuz… blech.

And yeah… arrrrrr…

23

IGN screenshots (Pages 4, 6, 9 and 10 for water)

Water and other criticisms raised in this thread aside, I think I am comparatively less trigger happy with new MMO’s in general now, two weeks before Pirates’ release, than I was with LOTRO and MMO’s which predated it. I am actually not sure I want to get it, which is a big first in my MMO junkie history (always buy, rarely stick with it for long). I think the limitations that bother me the most in this type of game have remained more or less consistent for years and I’m finally aware of that unsated feeling at the critical moments before making the actual purchase decision.

24

I’m sorry Tom, I had to take “Chick Let” myself for this uber character concept I’m roleplaying. Let me tell you all about it…

Or not.

Well, my early impressions are pretty positive. I get hung up as much as the next guy about how pretty the water looks in any game. Not just sailing games. If there’s a puddle, I want those reflections to look good damn it. I didn’t spend a year’s salary on a gaming machine for nothing.

My takeaway is that this is a (somewhat) simplified Eve Online with personality and the added bonus of avatar/crew based combat.

Yes, avatar combat is messy and confusing at lower levels but I like the basic concept a great deal. This ain’t WoW. You have 100 hitpoints from level 1-50 (maybe a little more with certain special skills). The goal here is to “unbalance” your enemy in order to get past his automatic defenses and to build up your own “initiative” so that you can get off special attacks while keeping your own balance up. The feel, as far as this non-fencer can tell, is a great deal more like a real swordfight than any other MMO I’ve been near.

There are several complicating factors like dealing with multiple opponents, ranged attacks and managing NPC crew with other special abilities and, basic, tactical commands.

At the lowest levels this tends to be a very simple affair and against NPCs in most circumstances it’s not too hard. However, as levels go up in your opposition and they start manifesting their own specials or you tangle in PvP things aren’t quite as straightforward.

However, there seems to be a concensus in the forums that things do need tweaking but there are plenty of folks who are good with it including me. Then again, I’m still a newbie.

I’m really loving the naval combat (which is actually closer to somewhat realistic than I’d been given to think at first - if hyper accellerated to keep the low attentionspan crowd engaged), the character customizations, the storyline missions as well as many of the optional side missions, and the players. This is mostly an older bunch so far and many of them are former Eve Online players, pirate fanatics and so forth.

But, caveat, I’m new. Other seasoned folks here have probably been in beta all along and I’m still green and flush with the potential of a game that’s at least trying to do a great many of the things I’ve wanted to see in an MMO for a while.

Besides, it’s fun to talk like a pirate.

25

Damn it, Brian, you just raised my enthusiasm level a notch. Also I recalled after my last post, while bicycling home, that I’ve been unwittingly priming myself for The Age of Conan via the recentish Conan of Cimmeria books.

My main concern is the degree of treadmilling that is required to advance and experience new content and new types of content.

26

I might try it out soon.

27

I was in the beta for a short period of time and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

For me, the single biggest shortcoming is something that any MMO that wants my money is going to have to overcome: either give me a way to move my character around between servers, or provide me solid server metrics so i can decide where to start playing.

Apart from that, and some items already noted(like melee combat in particular), i think they should have followed Sid’s game a little closer. In that game, I liked how I had to make crew decisions, I liked how I had to make loot decisions, I liked how i had to make ship decisions. Solid decision-making is at the heart of any good game and PotBS curtails those decisions where another model would have embraced them.

Ha, for some reason now I just thought of Seven Cities of Gold, man i’m getting old…

28

That shirtless man is wearing someone else’s skinned face as a hood. That makes him a pretty scary pirate, actually.

29

I’m patching it up now to give it a shot. Pirate faction on Bonny server, eh? I’ll let you know when I come up with my pirate’s name…

Edit: Okay, I’m “Mudbeard Cross”

Oddly enough, when I tried to add “Chick Lass” to my friends list, it said it wasn’t found. Do you need to actually be online at the time?

30

This is actually true. You should see what it looks like from behind!

31

Yeah, I tried to /addfriend Chick Lass and was told the same thing. That could be a problem!

I’m Mandrake Grim. Usually on after 8:30 PM EST or so until I gets sleepy or remember the Daily Show is on. If I’m having a good time, I usually forget.

Custom Flag - Pending

32

Since I’m a retard, my character’s name is actually “Lass Chick”.

-Tom Lass

33

I’m in. Character’s name is Manny Greenjack (found in Manila, always sports a green jacket).

34

Moar pix!

35

Is this a demo, or do some sort of preorder early opening? I.E. do I have to fork over cash to try it out?

36

Preorder. They call it “Preboarding.”

37

I rarely say no to an MMORPG and I’m THIS close to ordering this from the station store, but $50 seems steep when it will likely be half that in a month at a retail place.

Besides, pirates? How trite, the key to success is playing the French, so that I can re-introduce my French privateer, Guy Le Phart.

38

I wants me a pirate outfit. I can’t afford two MMOs. NOOOO!

39

I strongly suggest playing the game before you buy it. Strongly!

40

YAAAR I be lookin for boo-tay