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Uncharted waters quick review
cagan
Member UncommonPosts: 445
Download and installation : It was easy quick download and setup, no problems there
Character creation: Very limited and all character models are almost the same, what was unique was you can pick a fat guy/girl model which is fun.
Tutorial/Beginner zone: Most ppl complain about this part but in order to understand all the concepts of the game you have to go through the horibly long and boring tutorial. Of course you can play withou the tutorial school quests but it gives you lots of gold and items to start the game.
The game itself: It is a very deep and great game, if you were a fan of the old pirates games this game is a must. The ship animations and sea combat is good. (cannot say the same about land combat)
there are three main professions (fighter, adventurer, trader). If you want to do anything in the gae you have to do trading. I destroyed 5 enemy fleets in 30 minutes and made like 30k gold. Then i traded around some ports for 15 minutes and made 200k. They must add some features like capturing the enemy ship or all of its cargo etc. Fighter (maritime) looks so weak compared to other professions.
Overall the game is fun if u like slow paced games rather than kill kill kill all the time. Going back and forth between the same ports gets boring after a while and doing pvp and destroying other ships have no good rewards. They have to balance the classes, but other than that i think it is a decent and fun free game.
Comments
Hey, nice to see your review here, I'm also a huge fan of this game. I would like to point out however, that there are wayyyy more than 3 professions. The 3 classes if you will, are merely schools with each consisting of dozens of professions. (yarn trader, shipbuilder, chef, ect.) Maritime is a good match with building ships, and something most players change after they've made some money. Additionally, players who haven't experienced the game but are mmorpg players could be mislead when you speak of this, and of class balance. Class balance in this game is irrelevant. It's not that type of mmorpg. This game is more sandbox, and even with the multitudes of professions, you can pick and choose any skills you wish. (but your skills slots are limited and go up as you level) There is a lot of strategy to this, and i'ts definitely not a "pirate" game. Also, no one who has played the game for a bit simply goes forth from the same ports. They usually obtain port permits which open more areas, and get involved into deeper strategies/elements of the game. The game actually resembles real life globe and is unbelievably huge in scale. I've been to over 100 ports and not sure if that is even half of what is available. (more experienced players will have better knowledge of this)
You mention trade being the only viable option for beginning players. Trade is the quickest and surest way to make money in this game. However, you can trade while being any profession you choose. Your review did not mention this, and it's an important element to this game. When you specialize into a job/profession, you merely get quicker leveling and bonus for your "Favored" skills in that profession. So there are strategies here involving how you specialize. You can do anything you want in this game.
Lastly, in PVP capturing and looting is far more profitable but comes with a price . . . you become a wanted pirate and after so much notoriety receive bounties from different countries. The PVP is a form of full loot, and even when you are defeated by NPC pirates and privateers in safe waters, you lose a lot of money, your sailors die, and they steal valuable cargo. Players who go maritime (battle) are often hired by types of traders and adventurers to work as escorts. This give a huge social incentive as well.
Cool to see some discussion on this game. I wasted a lot of money looking for some hobbies, and wish I heard more of this before. It's nice to see it getting success here in the U.S.
im not much on downloading games with plugins and addons . so i opted to do manual install , patched , and went in to check it out . i enjoyed the hour or so i spent in game doing tutorials . looks and feels like a mellow game for the most part , graphics were not to bad and game play was easy enough to pick up . im pretty bored of every mmo thats out there at this point other then EvE . it seems none of them have any originality anymore . this one sorta has a unique old school feel to it .
o/
tried this out since the options to do whatever you want were plentiful. i deleted it after i tried to get two quests at once and was denied. figured since i was going back to lisbon i would get several quests that involved that port. guy in maritime guild told me i had to many requests at the moment. whether you get the ability to take more quests on at a later level or there is an item you can purchase that allows such a thing i do not know and did not bother to find out. was easier to delete the game.
You can have only one quest at a time. If you did some research you'd find this is not a themepark game. Those games are fun in their own right, but this is different. It's a bit more cerebral. One quest is all you can ever have, with emphasis being on the immerssive, not task oriented grind. That's fine you deleted the game, capt. howdy. But who cares? These are the uncharted waters online threads.
[quote] [i]Originally posted by GrayGreene[/i] [b]You can have only one quest at a time. If you did some research you'd find this is not a themepark game. Those games are fun in their own right, but this is different. It's a bit more cerebral. One quest is all you can ever have, with emphasis being on the immerssive, not task oriented grind. That's fine you deleted the game, capt. howdy. But who cares? These are the uncharted waters online threads. [/b] [/quote]
cerebral?? having multiple quests where you need to talk to some people in a city isnt that difficult, i think we can handle the multitasking. i lose no immersion by having 2-3 quests. instead it is very unrealisitic to have to go to lisbon run around talking to people and go wherever they send me then finally back to the questgiver to complete. then after that i can get another quest. oh you want me to visit the port of lisbon and talk to someone, well damn i was just there i could have done it then. this was a review thread so i gave my review of a game mechanic thats flawed in my opinion.
the reason why you can only take one quest at a time is because finishing a quest will unlock a higher level one like a progression system it wont be so ideal to take 2 because most of the quests require time limits except for the adventurer quests. But the adventurer quests make use of the progression system so its more ideal to take them one at a time then to finish them all then be bored later
had 5 available quests from the maritime guild in lisbon. did 3 that werent difficult. 2 talking to people and one fighting. came back and the guy only had two available. so no progression there. went to intermediate school city and decided to check out what quests were available. dude had two go to lisbon quests and talk to people. no reason not to be able to do those at same time. if doing multiple quests at the same time leads to boredom later on then the game hasnt got much under the hood to begin with. if it's a sandbox like everyone suggests then whats the problem in knocking out a few quests in a single trip?
I agree, should be able to take more than 1 quest. But the quest rewards are usually very low and xp sucks. It is usually way better to trade or kill pirates on your own. Quests in this game look more like an afterthought.
I played some more in the last few days, another weak point I found is that if the player you are trying to PvP uses "escape" skill there is almost no way to catch him. I didnt see any advanced skills to hook/stop other ships either, so running away always works, which is kinda bad.
This game isn't about acquiring quests. There are many other things players do involving strategy, teamwork, and world immersion. The so called "weak" points Capt. Howdy and some other dude were talking about are actually strengths to players who are looking for this kind of experience. One thing i've noticed on a lot of these forums are the young people who are used to shooting things and questing in Wow which is fine and all, i rememeber enjoying those things when i was a kid as well. But don't come to a thread concerning a game you obviously are not suited for, and insult the experience so many of us are thankful for. You don't like the game? Fine. Go post in the Pub about what game you do like. Go there and talk about your hobbies, and what you're looking for in a game. Don't come looking for arguments, especially when it's obvious you never even played this game. And I seriously doubt you played PVP because it takes a long time to get to that level, to unlock port permits in hostile waters, and especially since the way you earn experience is not simply through questing. I'm relatively new to these forums, and types of posts. So far, my exeperiences have been positive. Unfortunately, I'm realizing not everyone is mature, nor capable of being relevant.
*And by the way, to Cagan, PVP or battle in general does not work that way. There is strategy in the type of ship you're using, and in which type of canons you are using. You would need more than one type of canon as well, and some do sail damage, rudder damage, ect. This game requires a little more depth and thinking.
no one is looking for an argument except you dude. this was a review thread and i stated why i did not like the game. you seem the one to have issues with it. if this game is a sandbox as so many claim then let me play it the way i enjoy it and that is by being able to take more than one quest at once. if i had a grocery list i would not go to the store multiple times to do the job, i would get everything i could while i was there the first time. this mechanic of 1 quest at a time is unrealistic. and please stop bringing age into the matter(checked your profile and im older than you). i enjoy a good slow game as i have many turn based games on my computer at the moment and they require much more thought than this mmo will ever require. i enjoyed eve as well and that is akin to watching paint dry if you travel a lot. so please dont equate this game to some uber brain game that only a thinking man can enjoy or appreciate.
I just had a wonderful idea for a new mmorpg concerning grocery shopping.
(and by the way, to give a review you need to read the whole book, not one page.)
I agree with the OP. Tried the game and liked it. Very in depth game. You can do pretty much what you want in the game too.
im sure there is an app for that on the ipod! grocery frenzy-shop til you drop!
That's funny. I can see that working.
well it actully is simple, I already unlocked most trading ports , did some pvp in black sea and in indian ocean. If I see a lvl 50+ player chasing me with their huge ship I just outrun them with my fast xebec. (I dont even use my escape skill) If they are using a smaller ship with oars, then they have a chance of catching up to me, but it is very easy to get to the border of the battlefield and just retreat, I do it few times till I safely get into a port. So if somebody is determined to escape there is no way of catching them(if they have a fast ship and all traders do), maybe a lucky crit to the sails will cripple me but it only happened once in the 30+ pvp battles i had. Even if they catch me they will get the 200-300k i am carrying. I make that money in a few trade trips, so as i said this is mainly a trade game. The escape skill is killng the pvp aspect, it is just too easy to escape.
The other part the prove this is a trade game is capturing neutral or enemy towns. You think you fight for them? The faction that gives the most gold to bribe the official wins the town, no fighting, no strategy, just bring in a few rich traders into the town and the town is yours. It was very disappointing to see that, i was really expecting some form of land battle or smthg.
The game has bad points but overall it is still a decent game, thats why i am still playing, and maybe there is some advancved skill that I didnt discover yet, or maybe I am expecting this game to be an EVE, it is not as good or deep as EVE but it certainly is not as shallow as WOW
Maybe since I enjoy the trade aspect I am a bit biased. I'm sure there could be some more improvement in that area, (especially combat) but for a free game I'm not complaining. I do know there is the S. American expansion, and like 4-6 others already successful in Japan being translated to the West. So content is already done and proven. Also, i have negelcted speed for the benefits of more cargo with my ships so there seems to be an equillibrium at play here. As far as escape skill goes, I was killed and looted rather quickly my first time in hostile waters and with only two canon shots. (my sail was damaged and i was unable to control the steering as well.) So escape did not help me at all. And it only took once to lose my loot and all my sailors. My point of view is primarily from the transition of Wow, Everquest 2, ect. to this type of game. I believe in the evolution of a genre as opposed to stagnation. So this game is simply a step in my personal gaming evolution. I'm sure there are more advanced/better games out there. Maybe I will give Eve a try, or Perpetuum., or something new in 2011.
(I'm pretty sure though that the last post was not entirely truthful. It takes a lot of time earning levels and fame to equip a superior ship. And opening ports takes some time and work as well.)
I actually like the only one mission at once thing. I played too many games, where you go to a quest hub, take all the quests you can get and work them off, then to the next hub and so on. Not saying it is a bad thing, I am just sick of it.
The good thing about the class system is you can pull any skills from any of the classes. You just get double exp on skills that are being used for the class you are in. Battle class is the hardest to raise out of them all though. Such a pain.
Pillaging for battle nets you a TON of gold and good items once you get it higher level.
To make money pretty quickly as a non-trader you just pick up one of the skills, I took food trading, and you buy at one port and sell to the next you stop at. Accounting is a must to have so you can tell how good of prices you are getting on items.
I can usually pull 150-200k on a trip from London to Naples with alcohol or different types of food.
Salvaging, an adventure skill, also can make you a ton ton ton ton of money. It also costs a lot to get into though. I am r5 salvaging and usually need 15 map pieces or so at 200k a pop. Most shipwrecks net me a few mil though.
Well, glad to see someone else writing a review on this game (there are only a small handful of us on here writing one it seems).
The review was lacking a bit though and didn't seem all that complete. For one, you can "Plunder" enemy ships with the right skill and loot them, which it looked like you were complaining you couldn't do.
As others pointed out, the "classes" in this game don't exist. They are simply concentrations that focus on different skills anyone who desired can learn. You're not pigeonholed into a specific class, but you can't learn every skill in creation either. Which means every character really will be a different character.
The 1 quest at a time system... what? This game is pretty damn harsh when it comes to reality. Your ship can catch fire, your crew can die form plague and other players can loot you in hostile waters. Along this comes the quest system.
Each quest pays and that pay, if you haven't noticed, is influenced heavily by travel time. A short trip next door pays $5,000 while a trip across the continent pays $20,000 and then you need to return (round-trip). This is how the quests are rated and how they pay out. If you sat there and lumped several quests together since they are all "on the way", you undermine or even negate the reward system for them.
This is reality - cold, hard reality from the employer's standpoint. If I hire you to do a job for 2 weeks, I expect you to be working for me and me alone, for 2 weeks. This is how the quest system works - the quest is the employer and you are the employee for the duration, there's no moonlighting on the side.
If you want the other system then you have to immerse yourself in the player base and be a part of the society. You can be a guard for a trade route to multiple locations, you can load up on resources in your hold and make several stops to cities to sell the goods along the way, or you can travel around and sell your skills as a crafter, etc. etc. etc.
You don’t get the luxury of starting off as a superhero like 99% of other MMO/games allow. You're simply fodder. You make a wrong turn out of port and get lost at sea until you die or get blow to hell by pirates. There's no illusion about your place in the world.
The quests are no different; for them you’re a peon. Until you learn your trade and advance your skills so you become marketable to other players, you're the low man on the totem pole at the mercy of your employer. Once you have a skill people need or goods they want to buy, then you can call the shots and make your rounds.
This game is a sandbox and it's what you make of it. If you want the pre-defined limitations of WoW and it's clones, then make yourself at home there, I hear Rift is supposed to be good. If you want a user-defined experience, then play this game.
Unnecessarily harsh. This game isn't for everyone, and if it isn't, that has nothing to do with WoW or startinf off a heroes. I enjoy the game a lot, but you can tell it's age and there are areas it could improve for those who do like it. The one quest thing was found in the original Nintendo games too, and it's not too bad, keeps things moving. I can see why some people might not like it whether or not I take issue with it.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Actually, from an immersive point of view it would make sense to take more then 1 quest. Especially if the quests are about moving cargo or just talking to people. If someone moves cargo, he will always make sure that his freighter is full both on the way and back if thats possible. So that can means you carry items for two or more contractors. This is how you make your trade more efficient.
The 1 quest system is for that reason unrealistic. Travelling in those times came with high risk and traders did everything to prevent they had to travel long distances more often then was necessary.
So while the quest limit is maybe no big deal for some players, others find it unnecessarily restrictive. And its easy to come up with arguments to support both opinions. But to call the restriction realistic, doesnt make sense lol.
Sorry to be harsh,
but if you complain about the 1 quest system, it just mean you have barely scratch the content of UWO.
After more than a month of play, everytime i set sail, i got about 20 "quests" to resolve :
- 1 shipwreck to locate and explore
- 1 event quest or royal mission
- 1 guild quest
- 15 - 20 archive maps to solve
- Specific trade goods to buy in specific ports
- Crafting goods to collect in specific wild landpoints
Etc..
I *** Really *** wish they don't add up a wow-type mutiple guild quest journal above all that.
There's already so much stuff to do i sometimes have to write down a maritime itinery to complete all these tasks in a smart order.
This incredibly deep mmorpg has it all right imo
Cheers
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Playing : Uncharted Waters Online
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Well back in the old days, MMOs really didn't depend on a quest system for leveling. Quests were stories and activities you kind of discovered as you explored your surroundings. They weren't really even the main thing you spent your time on.
One of my issues with most modern MMOs, is how they encourage you to race around and swoop up a basket full of quests, run out and collect "EXP POINTS" as fast and as efficiently as possible, then race back to turn them all in and DING up. Usually without reading any of actual dialogue, other than the barest amount you needed to actually do the quest (and usually with arrows and sparkles to get you there as fast as possible). Quests are the rails that modern MMOs roll on.
I don't really see this game about levelling at all, and I think if they were to "modernize" by letting you run around scooping up as many "EXP" quests as you could grab, all for the same place so that you could level as fast as possible, it would destroy what for ME is one of the greatest charms of the game.
I do understand how the system might be frustrating for those who really do like the way modern MMOs meld quests and character development, so please don;'t think I am arguing your way is wrong -- I am just saying that type of system really isn't for me and so I am glad it is not here, personally. To me, the current system is a Good Thing.
(Actually I think if I would change anything about the game, it would be to remove entirely XP & levels for Adventurer/Trade/Maritime, and instead of levels in those three schools to have only ranks of skills, for all the various 100 or so skills in the game. I think once people get off the levelling treadmill they'll start to realize how much it was chaining them and taking control of the game from them, instead of allowing them to just enjoy it.) While I am not wild about the way EvE handles character progression either, I do like the way you can actually buy as big of a ship as you want, you simply cannot navigate it compentently if you haven't yet developed the skills to do so... so a low level player buying a ship "above their abilities" might for instance be more likely to wreck, or encounter disasters, or not be able to manage the full ship capabilities.
Anyway, I personally am glad this game does not focus so much on rapid quest completions for character advancement.
http://brashendeavors.net/
I also like to add, how brilliantly they have managed to "weave" the storyline into the game. The storyline quests happen spontaneously and when the chapter is over, they let you behind your computer to think "I want to know what happens next!".
So PvP is pointless?
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