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This is a good game, no matter how you slice it.
Saftwear
Member Posts: 124
Just to clear up some issues that this board seems to have.
How many years now has the MMO community been stuck with 2 different MMO systems?
How many countless threads have there been about EQ clones, Wow Clones, and can't we go back to the UO days?
Well this game has finally done a few things that may move the market.
1. Character Custimization does not include grinding loot so you can look like everyone else. Actually quite the opposite. Clothes and other items are up for sale from real players which leads to.
2. A player run economy, everything is craftable and is meant to be made by the players. (havn't we all wanted this from the start?)
3. Risk with reward, you know how many times you can die in those other MMO's. Who cares, you lose a little xp or maybe one random item, but nothing is ever too severely out of reach. You can lose a ship pretty easily in this game and be a out a lot of work. Eve is decent, and I know insurance barely covers the ship cost, but thats why I loved Eve anyway.
4. PVP - yep it's in here, there is even huge areas that you don't even need to turn a flag on in to get some PVP action.
5. Ship based combat - Absolutely the most realistic ship to ship based combat I've seen, everything from keeping in range to staying on the other side of two ships so you can only take direct fire from one. Fast ships racing in to chain shot your sales in hopes to slow you down for an easier kill.
6. Hand to hand combat. Its there too, granted it's not completely fleshed out to the extent of other games, but the ability to pick from real world fighting styles and to get skill combinations that don't involve AOE, DOT, Tank, Kite, is just a breath of fresh air.
7. Group based ship and hand to hand combat, I know it should go without saying, but the group based combat even allows you to control NPC's actions is a really neat feature that hasn't been implemented in many games.
8. Crafting, everything is made by players, the system is deeper than first glance reveals, it's very rewarding and time based, so players don't have to be playing nonstop grinding material to make a axe of deathshock +400 (chance on crit) lob head off.
9. Fast, but not sandwich making travel time. Every you travel, you need to be on the lookout. And yet you still have to plot the best course due to wind constraints and other factors (red areas)
10. Community community community - With the exception of Hero's Journey, I have never seen this kind of player and dev interaction. Most games get too big for their own good and stop listening to players and start revamping just because they can. also societies bring co-operation to the forefront and will play a huge roll in your success or failure.
11. Looting system is extremely nice, You can not stop till you blast a ship to pieces, or you can settle for half of whats in a hold and let them off the hook. Havn't many been asking for a better looting system for years?
To be honest, this game may not have the depth of say UO, but UO didn't have the depth it has now at release either.
This game is definitely not as bad as most people make it sound here.
Give it shot
Comments
I agree with you. It's a pretty kick ass game in my opinion.
I play and enjoy PotBS, but I think you make a few statements here that aren't supportable.
You can't purchase clothing and visible options from other players. Even if you could, players can't manufacture these goods so it would just be a matter of selling loot.
I don't think pets (quasi-controllable NPCs) are anything new, nor is the level of control offered to you in PotBS something that I would consider groundbreaking.
Yes, you can accept surrenders from PCs, but can neither offer nor accept surrenders from/to the AI. Also, the reality is that surrender is generally never accepted as most PvPers are far more interested in hurting you than in augmenting their cargo.
Its like eve on water - if you like economy/crafting mmos you will love Potbs
if you think fun gameplay features should become before the economy you will get quickly bored.
a quick question for you guys.
I like the player driven economy and i would probably try this game just to build a profitable business. Im not very interested in killing stuff and questing but my husband is. Is it possible to travel on his ship with him or do i need a ship myself for traveling?
Thanks!
Interesting line to close out your "the game is good no matter what" post.
Just about everything you list can be found in a number of other games.
I'm not sure it will move the market forward and personally I hope it doesn't because the game doesn't really deliver much and what it does is very repetitive. There are some nice aspects though.
Your ship is effectively your character. It's what the game is about. You do need one.
I suppose, technically, the starter ship could be used forever. There are ships more appropriate for business. There are even ships with giant cargo holds that can't fight at all - they can be attacked, of course, but have no guns to shoot back.
One account gives you access to all the servers and you can have up to 6 characters per server... so you could just use a spare character slot on any server to have your own Free Trader Character.
As a Free Trader you could run a sucessful business without leveling up at all (depending on what you want to build / make / craft)
You don't even really need to travel if you just want to buy items you need at one port and sell items you craft / grow at the same port - although careful selection of the port to base yourself at initailly would be VERY important.
You can also warp between ports where you have ships "drydocked" - and once set up you need not ever travel again!
The main advantage to leveling up as a Free trader as I see it is access to bigger ships with bigger cargo capacity - that is important if cargo transport is your thing. You can make money in PotBS just by doing that.
But, there are other more lateral approaches too.
Why do you want to do this? Just for personal satisfaction?
If so, have you considered not having your own character? That is, just manage your husband's Avatar's business affairs?
This would mean you cannot play online at the same time of course - and when he is questing you would have no access to the markets... but because of the way the economy actually works in PotBS that may not be a real handicap?
Okay, the disadvantage is that your work makes HIM rich - but maybe you don't care and are not after personal glory - in which case - this may work for you?
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Well said Saftwear...........this game is most certainly a change of pace. One I welcome and currently enjoy playing.
http://www.straightdope.com/
Believe it or not, most people don't like being set back a lot of work in a game. I can't log enough hours to enjoy a game with a large death penalty.
Believe it or not, most people don't like being set back a lot of work in a game. I can't log enough hours to enjoy a game with a large death penalty.
There is no big deathpenalty more than maybe losing your ship and cargo.
And SOE is NOT making this game... they just got to publish it... there is a MILE long article regarding this on the official homepage. Flying Labs Studio is the ones in control of the game... believe it or not but SOE got ZERO control of this game. its not like SWG, EQ2 or Vanguard.
MO-Radio.com
One account gives you access to all the servers and you can have up to 6 characters per server... so you could just use a spare character slot on any server to have your own Free Trader Character.
As a Free Trader you could run a sucessful business without leveling up at all (depending on what you want to build / make / craft)
You don't even really need to travel if you just want to buy items you need at one port and sell items you craft / grow at the same port - although careful selection of the port to base yourself at initailly would be VERY important.
You can also warp between ports where you have ships "drydocked" - and once set up you need not ever travel again!
The main advantage to leveling up as a Free trader as I see it is access to bigger ships with bigger cargo capacity - that is important if cargo transport is your thing. You can make money in PotBS just by doing that.
But, there are other more lateral approaches too.
Why do you want to do this? Just for personal satisfaction?
If so, have you considered not having your own character? That is, just manage your husband's Avatar's business affairs?
This would mean you cannot play online at the same time of course - and when he is questing you would have no access to the markets... but because of the way the economy actually works in PotBS that may not be a real handicap?
Okay, the disadvantage is that your work makes HIM rich - but maybe you don't care and are not after personal glory - in which case - this may work for you?
So, i can run a business and let my husband handle the shipping and the fighting? Also, can we team up together and quest in group if, someday, i wanna try to level up my character for a bigger ship?
We enjoy playing online game together (right now we're on Eve Online). Oh and I definitely not gonna make HIM rich LOL if he want some money, he gonna have to earn it
thanks for the replies
In that case: NO.
My suggestion was that if you like the economy - and he likes the sailing and fighting - you 'share a character'.
You clearly don't want to do that - so NO.
In that case you will need two completely seperate accounts.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Great post OP and as soon as I can get my computer situation straightened (all the gaming boxes are currently dead) I think I'm going to give this game a trial. (Especially if AOC announces any sort of delay)
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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