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So what's the low down on this game? Can I just be a merchant/trader?
Justjack
Member Posts: 13
I don't like PVP
I don't really like endless questing
I don't like grinding.
I DO like crafting and playing the economy. My two favorite MMO's were the original SWG and Earth & Beyond just because I could play the whole game--and be powerful in it in my own right--without fighting a single mob (relatively speaking). I could spend my time exploring about finding resources, crafting items, setting up a shop, running a trade route etc.
Does this game let me do that? Or is it yet another fightfest?
Do I gain levels/skills based on crafting/exploring/trading? Or do I have to battle for them?
Comments
yes you can just do crafting, but its a production based crafting rather than actual crafting. You set up factories and plantations and such to gather resources rather than manually doing it
Is there a limit to how much I can set up?
Like in SWG, for example, there was a limit on how many harvesters I could set down, so I ended up "leasing" the harvester deeds from about 20 other people to kick my production values into an obscene level. I had resource fields as far as they game could see :P. Will I have to do something similar with this game, or is it just a question of building up as much as I can?
Whereas in E&B, I was limited only by my ship's carrying capacity
Build a warehouse, pay attention to whats available at the port, and manufacture away, only real limit i see is cash, and available workhours. otherwise, dive in, own the world
P.S. everything is run through the warehouse, that is what limits you.
Well.. yes and no.
If you don't like PvP this is definitely not the right game for you. PotBS is very much focused on PvP and there is really no way to avoid it completely. Even if you intend a peaceful merchant's life far away from strife, bothering no one, the war can find you and put your ports into contention (which creates a forced PvP zone around the ports) which will force you to run the gauntlet of gankers.
And before the fanbois have a brain hemorage, yes, you can sail around free from PvP normally. just don't flag yourself as open to PvP and don't sail the class specific ships which automaticaly flag you for PvP. Somewhat limiting in where you can go and what you can sail.. but not incredibly so I'll admit.
As for peacful merchanting and being a meaningful part of the economy...? Well you can make enough initially to start participating, but really to build anything significant in any reasonable time frame you're going to need more cash and doing missions/fighting or joining a society (guild, clan, whatever) is really the only way to do that. You could stay PvE for the most part and hope that war effort and dowtown gankerville doesn't find you... But it will always be a risk.
And in other news, the AI is really quite awful.. so for me personally PvE'ing quickly became stale and since, like you, I'm not a big PvP nut I decided to move on to other gaming opportunities. Despite what it sounds like in this post I'm really not trying to sour you on the game. Just sharing my own experiences so you can go into it with a better idea of what to expect.
its true, the AI woefully could be better. and it is a PVP game, taht being said its econonmy is as open as EVE, but so is the pvp...hope that helps a little
Appreciate the replies.
Guess this isn't the game for me
. I really miss the original SWG--set up huge harvesting fields, go back to a city and hang around the hospital healing people for a while, go out and clear the harvesters, build masses of stuff, throw it in a shop, watch the cash roll in. Wash, rinse, repeat. I wouldn't even kill things when going out to the harvesters--I'd hire people to escort me out there if I found a particularly rich field a long ways out.
Doesn't seem like any developers want to cater to people like me, anymore. Well, except KOEI, but they'll probably never put Uncharted Waters Online in the US. EVE took a pretty good stab at it, but all the good harvesting zones were out in Gankville and since it was open PvP, killed it for me.
Yep, honestly a good part of the reason I checked this game out in beta was because I've been looking for a pre-CU SWG crafting type deal. This definitely isn't it. I don't know that it's particularly a slam on POTBS, but it's certainly not what SWG offered...it's just different.
I wouldnt be so hasty to accept other peoples judgements on what you will like or dislike.
I to liked SWG crafting.
I also am not into PVP or even PVE really. Im a dedicated crafter.
But instead of hating POTBS crafting system i love it MORE then SWG's. And for precisely the reasons the above posters suggested someone like me would hate it.
1) Crafting is more meaningful. Im not just making things to satisfy some players personal need, want, or desire. What i make has consequence in the larger realm vs realm war.
economics is the foundation of any good war machine.
2) The Constant PVP isnt free for all, its centered in areas, and if i want to avoid it i need to be strategic....
Or i can be a pro-active merchant, take a fast cheap sloop to run the blockade and gain the financial advantage of the cheap products from the port in question.
Its your life, others cant say for certain what you will like or dislike, your milage may vary.
Mine did.
Since i get experience just for making a ship, i will eventually get to lvl 50 even if i never do another mission. But i do do some missions, im enjoying the storyline in this game - the freetrader class quest line is decent in my opinion.
Havent tried the other classes. Havent tried group combat or PVP beyond getting caught trying to run a blockade once.
...let me know how that works out for you.
Freetraders in PoTBS are different than SWG crafters in that they require a certain amount of steel and daring. In SWG, a crafter could lay around in their massive house wearing dressrobes and bathing in credits. In PoTBS, a freetrader can certainly be exorbitantly rich and influential, but he's going to have to have some maneuvers up his sleeve or some guns on his deck to either out-run attackers or sink them himself.
You mentioned you hired escorts in SWG. With classes designed for battles like Naval Officers and such I'm sure you could find escorts to your more lucrative trade scenes.
I recommend just trying the game and checking out freetrading. It's really hard to explain the feel they have outside of the game.
Not 100% sure, but I think it's more like a strategy game. With your money you can buy for example a factory that makes bullets and armor. You are the boss and not the guy making the bullets.
But you can change the world with the factory. No bullets for your soldiers, no victory for your faction.
It's all up to players. We have the power of close to everything in this game. Players can even build ships etc.
Not so far away from SWG. Might even be better.
Just whanted to add a little bit more about the escort part. Nothing to do with crafting system.
Anyway, having the biggest ship in the game don't make you the best. They are slow and a group of small ships can be deadly. So you might need some bodygards even if you have the biggest ship. Isn't that cool! I think it sound great.
You can be, but later on you'll be hampered by the limited cargo capacity of the starter ships..
Theoretically you dont need to haul anything yourself though, you can strike deals with others to supply you with the raw materials you need.
Some shipwrights especially never move from one port
Difficile est satiram non scribere