Jasper, I am not sure when the Brats bribed the Pirates but at that time I don’t think Spain even HAD ships of the line.
The population was so bad that when our only port and main economic hub, Havana was attacked on a Sunday afternoon, the only people defending were me, a husband and wife couple, and one or two others. This went on for hours and hours, and maybe around 5 PM the population picked up so there were more than 6 people out there. I was pvp’ing for like 7 hours. Seriously, after that weekend I was done. I felt I had to be there at every battle, every engagement, every port contention because there was nobody else. Ridiculous.
There was also a ridiculous design where the winner was encouraged NOT to win (map design) but rather keep their economic advantage by reaming the losers over and over and over through weeks.
We also had a port battle leader who was particularly inept. After he didn’t show up one battle, we started winning battles (and not losing as badly.)
After the server merge there was ridiculous drama. One bunch of college kids (a powerful guild) threw a fit because they wanted to use vent over teamspeak. During the port battle itself the guys were bitching. Geez.
I think the huge difference was other servers were mission farming for cash (Woes, etc) long ago. When we merged the other factions had 1st rates, 2nd, 3rd. We were barely on our way to making a 4th rate…
But the British had all the money and resources to make those extra ships of the line. I think we, at the time I left, could count all the SoLs we had on one hand and almost nobody wanted to risk them in our doomed port battles. The Brits could afford to take 'em out for patrols (not particularly effective or wise but certainly fun for them) and give 'em away as swag to pirates. Which goes back to the point…we were borked.
Ignore the strategic game? And do what? Smuggle goods? I’d gotten to the point, and the war had so atrophied our position, that all the quests I still needed to do were in waters constantly under siege. Sure, a Bermuda Trader’s Sloop could just sneak in and slip through but it wasn’t going to do any open sea NPC hunting or port based questing. Meanwhile I feel obligated to help because there’s so much pressure on Spain, and on our guild, to cooperate. Fight the good fight. If I don’t I feel like I’m not even playing the same game as my friends. It’s not like we were unaware of this. Our guild leader constantly agonized over players who were burning out. She’d insist we take time to RP or do PvE stuff. But the war was still there and we all felt obligated to do what we could.
It was a damn small town, Spain on Bonny, and everyone knew everyone else. We had to cooperate. Pirates don’t. Pirates can run about and do as they please. They can’t lose ports. Ship losses barely matter as they can steal new ones. Nobody actually expects pirates to organize, they’re designed mainly for solo play anyhow, so when they do it’s an added bonus for them. Nations on the other hand have to work together. Big nations can afford more slackers or independant operators - Britain had a population of four or five times Spain’s and the Pirates had twice as many. France was also tiny but they lucked into some experienced PvP outfits from the start so they put up a really good fight - but eventually they too suffered burnout and heavy attrition.
That’s my take on it at least. YMMV.
Necro’ing this thread as it’s what I remember most of Brian on QT3: his awesome stories about PotBS.
— Alan
I’m glad you did, as I’d otherwise have missed the sad news. :-(
Yeah… I was like woo! Someone resurrected the POTBS thread! And then it was for the worst possible news. Poor Brian, he seemed like such a decent guy. It is simply not fair.
Did something happen to him…?
EDIT: Damn. I just saw the thread in the sub-forum I never frequent. :-(
Fozzle
847
Apologies for the mini necro, but after playing AC 3 the part I enjoyed the most was the open seas portions, and now I’m in the mood for some pirates. Is anyone still playing this? Worth downloading? Anyone have a better idea? I can always dance a little ballroom with Sid Meier, but I liked the on boat details and what not. Any good ship to ship combat sim would do me…
I played for a little bit a year or so ago (having gone back occasionally since beta). It’s still economically EVE-lite with a very, very good combat system (lots of RPG-style ‘next volley does +x% damage’ skills, but maneuvering and understanding of Age of Sail concepts are ultimately just as important). I enjoyed it, but didn’t have the time to dedicate to it. Some days it took me a long time to find fights, particularly when I was sailing alone.
Yeah you won’t be disappointed with the ship-to-ship, it’s ace. The avatar combat feels a bit un-solid to play though, kind of flakey. They’ve always had trouble with the avatar combat, I think it’s been revised a few times, with one major overhaul that completely changed it.
The build system is a lot of fun, and the crafting/economy is extensive and complex.
A shout out has to go to the music in this game too, it’s especially nice, varied and fitting to the theme.
It’s one of those MMOs you can pick up and enjoy the hell out of for a month or so, then get suddenly bored with for no apparent reason (unless you get into the high level PvP, I guess).
rei
851
Are they still doing work on this game or is it purely maintenance mode?
I jump back in every year or so and play like mad for a month or two. Still quite enjoyable, though I haven’t played in the last 6 or 8 months.
