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To anyone on the fence about this game...
StealthBomb
Member Posts: 31
All I can tell you is, don't wait until it's released. Instead, try it now while you still have a chance to cancel your preorder. I'm glad I did.
Where to begin?
If you have a lot of experience with online gaming your first response will be something along the lines of, "They've been working on it since 2002 and this is all they have?" Truly, it is that bad.
The gameplay is extremely repetitive and dull. To be fair, at first it does seem interesting. You do have to use about 1% of your brain to think about the wind. That wears off very quickly though. The truth is once you figure out how it works, you would have to be asleep at the keyboard to lose a PVE engagement. This is an accurate description of a typical fight with my level 21: full speed, ram target, fire canister shot with crew-reducing skill, press 'board' button, mash '2' key until you win the battle. Really, that's it. It takes longer to sail up to the enemy than it does to beat him. The novelty wears off very quickly and unfortunately there's nothing left to look forward to. It's all the same, all the time, from beginning to end.
PVP works exactly the same way. The first couple of engagements I was in seemed exciting enough but after that it was just as dull and routine as PVE. For the most part, a PVP engagement consists of seeing which of you was smart enough to spec towards rapid firing/reload skills. Unless you're outclassed or you make a mistake, whoever can mash the spacebar faster wins. Anyone who thinks it's more complex than that probably loses a lot.
They couldn't even get a basic, common function like an auction house right. Let me put it this way: the buyer is not allowed to see the actual price of items for sale. You have to guess, and the only thing you have to go on is the guesses other people made. As a seller, you are not guaranteed a sale even if you're selling what the buyer wants and even if he guessed your price. The system sort of lumps them all together and *it* determines who buys what from who; not the buyer, not the seller.
For the record, obfuscating simple things like an auction house does not make them "deep". It's amazing how easily some people are fooled into thinking there's some sort of 'complex' economy at work here. There's nothing complicated about the crafting game at all. In fact, it's dirt simple. All the items are completely generic. Your ships are the same as mine. Your buff items are the same as mine. I can't be a better crafter than you; there's nothing to support it. Crafting consists of clicking a couple of buttons and then hoping the auction house picks you when the buyer guesses your price.
I touched on this while describing ship combat but it cannot be understated: swashbuckling combat consists of mashing the attack button until you win. Maybe, if you're taking on a higher level foe, you might have to run in circles while your AI crew mashes its own buttons for a while. That's the extent of the challenge there. Again, if you lose, you were asleep.
There's no challenge. There is absolutely no feel that you're striving towards anything. The game goes nowhere but your attention certainly will.
This could have -- and should have -- been the best MMO to come along in years. Instead, it's little more than a terrible disappointment on every single level of the game.
Bottom line, if you're curious about the game now is the time. Do the digital preorder (the sword you get with the retail order is a novelty and is quickly replaced by better items and the parrot is useless) and try it out now so you can realize how bad and how empty it is and cancel in time to save yourself the wasted cash.
Comments
actually....i would disagree with alot of this post except if i were a total solo player. As a group player, society of good friends, we are actually having a blast, group missions are alot of fun and extremely exciting, and how can you say the game is not challenging when you can only get to lvl 21.....in wow how challenging is the game halfway to 70 ? how much of a challenge is TR, LOTRO, etc halfway through.....and you havent even tried pvp, port battles, or battles for resources yet...since it isnt opened yet.
There is no way you survive hitting the 2 button consistently, i use about 4 and am only lvl 8, along with the space bar to fire and 1 more key for each of the patches.
The pvp part is only half true.....you have yet to experience port battles and the large scale armadas. Auction house is an ebay/bid system....not a guess what price system. You see what was sold for what during what time frame, and you can actually buy under what people previously bought...i know i saved almost 20db per heavy shot by starting low.
Have you tried crafting, resources, farming, livestock, wine making etc? If you havent then of course the economy seems simplified.
And after trying this , i jumped the fence and preordered, prior to this i wasnt even thinking about it.
So mileage of this game for many users will vary
The AH is designed like that on purpose. We had big discussions with the devs on this topic in beta and they explained their reasons quite clearly. Its basically a blind auction system like final fantasy online designed to help prevent constant price undercutting.
Honestly StealthBomb, unless you have done one or more port battles, which is the ENTIRE point of this game, you havent seen what this game has to offer. Your opinion of PvP also seems to indicate that you havent done any group pvp. There is no such thing as a boring 6 on 6 fight.
Basically your review of the game is like someone playing WoW, doing a human alliance player, seeing how Elywn forest looks, and writing this: endless uninspired quests, no dragons, no dungeons, just trees and rabbits and stuff. Boring!
Going by some of what you just said, I wonder if you even really play the game.
and you havent even tried pvp since it isnt opened yet.
This is a lie. PVP is most certainly enabled. I have most certainly been involved in many fights. The 'contention' system is not yet live but this in no way prevents open PVP on the high seas. You should play a game before commenting on it, especially when your words will catch you in a lie.
and how can you say the game is not challenging when you can only get to lvl 21
Because there's no possibility at all that I played prior to prelaunch, right? Especially during that open beta when anyone could just download the thing.
Auction house is an ebay/bid system.
Another lie. There is nothing ebay-like about the system AT ALL. You do not place bids. All transactions are INSTANT. You punch in a guess for the price; if you guess right you get the item and the transaction ends right there. If you guess wrong you don't get the item and the transaction ends right there. There are NO bids or buy orders. Again, you would know this if you had played the game.
Have you tried crafting, resources, farming, livestock, wine making etc? If you havent then of course the economy seems simplified
Yes I have, and it seems simplified because it is. It is awfully, terribly, inarguably DIRT SIMPLE. In a nutshell, the crafting game sucks. All crafters are the same. Like I already said, there's no opportunity for me to make a thing any better or worse than you can. There are no quality levels, no variance in stats. All items are 100% generic; you click a couple of buttons and your stuff is 100% identical to everyone else's. Again, you would know that if you actually played the game.
creating a badly formulated auction house because a bunch of beta players said so=BAD GAME DESIGN.
period.
Your comment is about as informed as me saying its your fault for calling FLS and demanding this system. Really, get a freaking clue. The devs designed this system all by themselves, and many of us fought it as we preferred the WoW style auction house, but after we read the many pages of detailed economy explanations of why the system is like it is, it became clear why FLS uses this system.
You cannot call it an "auction" system when no one actually bids. There is no bidding. All guesses and their results are instantaneous. You do not compete with other buyers. That is not an auction; not at all.
It's nothing more than a minigame. Guess the price, get the item. And here's the kicker: if you guess too high you can still 'win', but you overpaid because the system has hidden the actual price from you. I've seen people pay me 300 for something I was selling for 70. Oh yes, that's a great system.
In fact, the whole bit about preventing undercutting is a complete smokescreen. The BEST way to get something sold is to chop your price, so when someone guesses over your price you stand a good chance of being the one to make the sale.
Seriously, play with the system for a while. You'll find it works exactly as I just described.
Here, read and learn:
http://haven.thratchen.com/?p=24
Detailed explanation by an FLS dev why the games AH works the way it works.
People pay what they are willing to pay. If youre listing for 70 and they pay 300, they were willing to pay that. What is the problem? The game then lists the last paid price as 300 instead of 70. So the next person who goes to sell that item, instead of selling it at 69 to undercut you, sees what the market is willing to pay, 300, and sells accordingly. Now if the market changes and the product doesnt sell at 300, then that person can resell it at a lower price.
The system works just fine and we have tested it extensively for many months.
I have a better idea: you go play and learn. Just because you're a fanboy doesn't change the fact that what I posted was 100% accurate.
Instead of ignoring what I said, I DARE you to challenge it. Go on, challenge what I said about how there are no auctions. Challenge what I said about tweaking the price DOWN to trigger more overpaid guess sales.
I have challenged it. http://haven.thratchen.com/?p=24
Read and comprehend.
Try and make up your mind. See, when you post this:Your comment is about as informed as me saying its your fault for calling FLS and demanding this system. Really, get a freaking clue. The devs designed this system all by themselves, and many of us fought it as we preferred the WoW style auction house, but after we read the many pages of detailed economy explanations of why the system is like it is, it became clear why FLS uses this system.
"
The AH is designed like that on purpose. We had big discussions with the devs on this topic in beta and they explained their reasons quite clearly"
It's intentionally posted to lead people to believe there was all this communication in the process.
you don't then get to turn around and say what you've said now.
pick one.
Ignoring what I wrote won't make it go away.
FACT: There are no auctions. No one actually bids. Guesses lead to instantaeous sales or instantaneous fails. That does not constitute an auction.
FACT: Crafted items are completely generic. There is no variance in stats. There is no way to be a better or worse crafter than anyone else.
-DraGa, AKA: Victor Delgado, Former POTBS member, Former Boarding Party Member (not pre-boarding party....but BPM or someone with direct contact to the devs).
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
You couldnt have possibly read that article in a matter of a minute. Really, before you keep blabbering on about how bad PotBS's AH is, READ THE DEVS EXPLANATION.
The 2nd one is an actual Fact. The first one is a malformed opinion.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
I dont need to pick anything. Everything I said is correct. We discussed everything in beta ad nauseum. That was our purpose as beta testers, to test and discuss. We did not design this game. FLS did. We gave our feedback, good and bad. The AH system was designed by FLS and we discussed it. Besides improving its interface, nothing we said changed anything about how the AH functions.
Sorry pal. Posting your link over and over again doesn't make the simple facts go away.
Try responding to what was actually written. Go ahead, give it a shot. Tell me I'm wrong and there actually is a way to bid against other players. Tell me I'm wrong and there actually is a way to make a ship with better stats than someone else's. Go on, I'll wait.
I agree with the most of the original poster's comments, and I see it got the attention of all the fanbois. Sorry man, for all the time we waited for this game and all the hopes we had for it, it's just not fun.
Repetitive boring quests, everything is instanced, limited PVP, lag, CTD's, goofy avatar combat.
The game is just a disapointment. It does have involved DEV's going for it but you wonder, after all these years, is this the best you could come up with? Maybe they will move the game in the right direction but they will need to do that quickly to keep many people playing the game.
Please refer to my response that is being overlooked above. NOTHING you said was fact (except for maybe 1 minor thing I noted at the bottom. You really need to stop running you mouth when you don't know a darn thing to what you speak of.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
Sorry pal, but ignoring facts posted BY THE DEVS and sticking to your most uninformed opinion makes you look like a total troll.
Actually I don't mind the Attack of the Fanbois. Every time one of them opens its mouth to spew venom at me for daring to find faults in this game, it bumps the thread to the top. That's one more chance that someone will come along and get the story from someone other than a fanboi.
So you're asserting that there is way to make persistent, competitive bids against other players? You're suggesting that there is a way to craft items with better stats than someone else?
Because those would be lies. Have you even played this game? These things are not subject to opinion. They are simply true.
Why are you arguing against that which is true?
-Everything is instanced: Well, when you do as much as they want to in future patches this is the only route technology wise for now.
-Limited Pvp: Untrue, this will evolve and become massive later in a server's lifespan. In closed beta it took little over 3weeks to get some MAJOR action going. Partly due to low populations.
-Lag: What mmo did NOT have lag or graphics lag at launch? They are still a couple days off from official launch and have not even done their first Retail patch yet.
-CTD's: Once again refer to "Lag" response right above ^.
-Goofy Avatar Combat: Avatar combat was added at a later date (early 07) because they wanted to get sea combat and all it's little intricate numbers working right before they went ahead with this. Once again, might I refer you to how much of a Crapshoot Eq2 and WoW's combat system was on day 1 of launch (even months down the line).
Nothing either you nor the OP has said are valid arguements to put down POTBs. Granted, I'm not a fanboi and I'm going defending the game because neither of you are presenting complete arguements without opinionated and falsified responses. I will agree the game needs a lot of work. Then again, what mmo's released in the past 2years don't STILL? The game is indeed boring once you hit 40. If your becoming bored early on your doing everything wrong.
Suggestions:
-Get into large hunting partys for the HIGH end encounter ships. Get a full party going and raid a Treasure Galleon Convoy (8 ships lvl 45+). You can do this starting at 20-50, it's actually pretty fun leading a wolf pack against large, slow going, heavily gunned, heavily manned, ships
.
-Stop soloing a LOT. Granted it's fun sometimes to do it at your own pace. However, you will get bored pretty quickly.
-Try to develope strategies to make boarding combat quicker (ie: easier to take the ship in boarding combat before you get blown to smitherines by outside friendlys of his).
-Stop demanding how the game "should be" and take it for how it is. You will appeciate it a lot more. People who have problems with instancing are generally the people who like to gank single targets by enormous amounts of friendlys so it then becomes ez-mode and defend it by saying "well if he wasn't wanting to die he shouldn't have come near our pvp area".
-Being angry at a game is silly.
-DraGa
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
Spreading lies and false opinions only make you look less intelligent.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
The 2nd one is an actual Fact. The first one is a malformed opinion.
You know, your habit of editing other people's post is pretty reprehensible. You want to have a different opinion from someone else, fine... But the fact in your arrogance you think you are entitled to edit and strikethrough another persons posts complete robs you of credibility. And as for "malformed opinion", why don't you tell us where the stricken through section is incorrect. I beta'd the game for 3 months, so be careful how you answer. Let me clarify my question for you: How are bids on specific items not instant win or lose versus a gradual increase in prices as various individuals attempt to outbid one another on the same item? There are no bidding wars in PoTBS. Fact, go ahead and strikethrough it. Doesn't change the reality.
So you're asserting that there is way to make persistent, competitive bids against other players? You're suggesting that there is a way to craft items with better stats than someone else?
Because those would be lies. Have you even played this game? These things are not subject to opinion. They are simply true.
Why are you arguing against that which is false?
Yes actually you can, I already explained why you don't know how the auction system works. Apparently you don't like to read.Ps: fixed that last part for you
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.