About the availability of ships.

A_N_T_I

Am I the only one a little disapointed about the fact that everyone has a ship of their own. I mean, yes, materialistic-wise, it cool and all, but then, this game was named *Pirates* Of the Burning Sea. Not ships.

This game seem more like EVE online with pirate ships, and a avatar mode added - not because the devs wanted it and had a plan for it, but because of popular demands. Why did this name bear the name of  "pirate" if you didnt control one in the first place. So well, yes, now there's pirate avatars, but I still believe the focus is in the wrong place.

You see, I had hoped for game that was oriented around the pirate his jurney in the caribean. This fails me, however, at once you have a ship as an avatar. And *everyone* has on at that.

Anyway, I think it would be cooler as a pirate game, if you controlled your pirate-avatar at all times; also when on a ship, and that owning a ship is a "guild-thing", and not something that everyone has. This is a MMO after all, and being a part of a greater thing is important, and guilds is a central concept.

Thus you sail with your buddies in a much more genuine way; some have to navigate, some have to stand in the observation deck, some has to man the cannons, and so an so forth. You discuss what you want to do - trading, pillaging or rading? Where will you buy replacements for your cannons? You work together to upgrade your ship/fleet.  *You* act as a pirate that is a part of a *crew*, not everyone are captains with their own ships.

You spend your shipless days on shore, exploring the different islands, killing of Davy Jonesesses and fending of ghost-pirates; bargaining for a transportation fee with ship-crews to go to new islands to explore. Hanging out in taverns seeking a guild so you can be  part of a ship - promising them you have fine swashbuckling skills - which will be handy in case they are boarded.

This way, you act out your online career as a pirate the way I believe is the best to get just that feeling, that you are pirate of the burning sea.

So, waht are you guys thoughts on this very subject?

 

RickSaada

Well it would be a very different game than the one we made, that's for sure.  But the truth it that it would only really make sense for pirates, not for the Navy or Merchants, or Privateers.  None of whom spent much time on shore.  That and the fact that it would be excrutiatingly dull to be a passenger on someone else's ship (other than for social reasons).   Wating around for someone else to steer the ship so you could fire a cannon, or just spending your time looking at the scenery wouldn't make for much of a game.  Better to make a fleet with your friends and sail that way.  Maybe some of you as merchants and some as Navy ships guarding the convoy.

aceizhere

everyone is captain your ship has its own crew : )

A_N_T_I

Originally posted by RickSaada


Well it would be a very different game than the one we made, that's for sure.  But the truth it that it would only really make sense for pirates, not for the Navy or Merchants, or Privateers.  None of whom spent much time on shore.  That and the fact that it would be excrutiatingly dull to be a passenger on someone else's ship (other than for social reasons).   Wating around for someone else to steer the ship so you could fire a cannon, or just spending your time looking at the scenery wouldn't make for much of a game.  Better to make a fleet with your friends and sail that way.  Maybe some of you as merchants and some as Navy ships guarding the convoy.

Well yeah, I understood those arguments from the get go, and I can see how it would not fit in with the current design. I wasnt crying out for a change or something like that, it was just me having this idea of how it could be done otherwise, and that I maybe was slightly dissapointed with the fact that it didnt meet up with my ideas when I didnt read up on the game. I guess the name was a little misleading to me.

I think they'll do a good job with the game. I understand the design choice, and its strengths; it's just that I think general design-philosofy for my own sake was a little of, as I've seen this current "recipe" before, with two different avatars (one "viechle" and one person avatar"), and was hungry for a little difference in the way the game played. How this could work, avoiding just those pitfalls, would be discussion for another thread, of course.

(Maybe I should have brought up this topic in the dev part of the forum, but still, I felt the topic was relevant enough for the frequenters of this forum. )

neolucent

Originally posted by A_N_T_I


Am I the only one a little disapointed about the fact that everyone has a ship of their own. I mean, yes, materialistic-wise, it cool and all, but then, this game was named *Pirates* Of the Burning Sea. Not ships.
This game seem more like EVE online with pirate ships, and a avatar mode added - not because the devs wanted it and had a plan for it, but because of popular demands. Why did this name bear the name of  "pirate" if you didnt control one in the first place. So well, yes, now there's pirate avatars, but I still believe the focus is in the wrong place.
You see, I had hoped for game that was oriented around the pirate his jurney in the caribean. This fails me, however, at once you have a ship as an avatar. And *everyone* has on at that.

Anyway, I think it would be cooler as a pirate game, if you controlled your pirate-avatar at all times; also when on a ship, and that owning a ship is a "guild-thing", and not something that everyone has. This is a MMO after all, and being a part of a greater thing is important, and guilds is a central concept.
Thus you sail with your buddies in a much more genuine way; some have to navigate, some have to stand in the observation deck, some has to man the cannons, and so an so forth. You discuss what you want to do - trading, pillaging or rading? Where will you buy replacements for your cannons? You work together to upgrade your ship/fleet.  *You* act as a pirate that is a part of a *crew*, not everyone are captains with their own ships.
You spend your shipless days on shore, exploring the different islands, killing of Davy Jonesesses and fending of ghost-pirates; bargaining for a transportation fee with ship-crews to go to new islands to explore. Hanging out in taverns seeking a guild so you can be  part of a ship - promising them you have fine swashbuckling skills - which will be handy in case they are boarded.
This way, you act out your online career as a pirate the way I believe is the best to get just that feeling, that you are pirate of the burning sea.
So, waht are you guys thoughts on this very subject?
 

i would have to disagree with you because the game would be mind numbingly boring. I was in the stress test and going to be in beta (thx devs) and the devs did a great job with the game, the ship to ship combat is great and overall it’s a marvelous game.

 

A_N_T_I

Originally posted by neolucent
i would have to disagree with you because the game would be mind numbingly boring. I was in the stress test and going to be in beta (thx devs) and the devs did a great job with the game, the ship to ship combat is great and overall it’s a marvelous game.
 

Hey I never said the game would be boring or anything - I haven't laid my paws on the game yet (but of course I intend to hehe ), so I dont doubt your experience in the beta was a good one. Nor did I say that my... conception if you will, of the game was just like it except the detail that not everyone shoud be able to own a ship. I imagined it would be designed around the not-everyone-has-a-ship idea of course.

Again, I was mis-lead perhaps a little by the title - I imagined the game would have strong focus on the person avatar; exploring caves and islands and their respective arpichelagos (thats the word for a group of islands right? (english is not my mother tongue :P))  - seeking adventures there is easy enough to do by solo play; getting a row boat or a small sailing dingy to traverse the arpichelago could be easy enough by yourself. Getting a ship with - say - five others shouldnt be that bad then, to travel the open sea. And yes, there couldnt have been as much focus on sea travel, but more on the islands themselfes, and thats a trade-off, I agree. So yeah, I understand why the game is designed the way it is, and agree, by all means; sea travel is cool, its just that after things like EVE and Voyage Century, I'd like to see something a little more personal of sorts.

0over0

Definitely the wrong forum. Your thoughts don't have so much to do with PotBS, but instead use PotBS as an example of what you'd like to avoid--fair enough, but better in the Dev forum or something.

What'd you'd really like is a game in which the focus is not on ships. I'm picturing a pre-cu SWG in the Age of Sail, with ships being the multiplayer ships from the Lightspeed expansion. It could be fun, but I'm going to bet that no one will make that game anymore. The days of such open gaming are gone and these days, it's all instances, linear quests, and narrow focus.

Would other people want to play that game? I would--so would a few others. But the vast majority of people (which seem more and more necessary to support bloated development costs) don't seem to want that game. They want something easier and more linear--at least for now. It's too early to tell whether or not mmo development will go in cycles from linear to sandbox and back.