Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Lightflame
or their pirate game.
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Pirates of the Burning Sea.
SoE has good games, definitely. Just hope you don't need customer service, because it sucks.
I consider myself an amateur critic, so here is my review for POTBS. You said you wanted something along the lines of Pirates Online, right? :P
My review has commenced.
Yes, it is now F2P and the F2P accounts are lacking very little compared to Basic Access here. Need an extra economy slot? Buy it separately and pay no subscriptions. Handy, yes. It is also a strategist's dream. The nautical combat is VEEERRRYY realistic and tactical. It is fun to get together your nation to raid an enemy port, or to seize fat merchant convoys led by other players and share the loot amongst all the fellow pirates who helped, or to hunt down Pirate players for their loot and for the good of your Nation. Also, ships can be customized, both internally (guns, rigging/sails, hull) and externally (hull color, sail pattern, sail color, flag pattern). Hunting for treasure on isolated islands via treasure maps are extremely fun... and worthwhile! ($$$!) The Treasure Aisle (real money store) is ingenious. You can buy all of the exclusive items, pets, clothes, account upgrades, and quests in-game for a reasonable price and no flat fee.
Those are the pros, the cons:
HUGE download time. It took me literally all day, on a fast computer with a fast connection, to download. Then I had to download the updates (2 more hours). A VERY steep learning curve. New players aren't told much and are generally looked down upon because you don't have much. However, this drives many players (like me) to level up ASAP so you can be the Level 50 hero of your Nation. The economy takes a lot of training and can be frustrating, IE: building a structure only to have the port captured by the dastardly French... And some immature players and PVPers who are level 50, but only attack low levels. And the Swashbuckling (land combat) is terrible compared to POTCO. Coding exists for Muskets and Sword&Gun (akimbo style) attacks, but only NPCs can use them. Subscription services are overpriced for what you get. I can buy all the account upgrades without having to pay a flat fee, and the 10% off Treasure Aisle bonus isn't all that great. Also, sea combat may be good, but the quests seem repetitive. Not on POTCO's level, but the script is usually (around level 20) like this:
Talk to friendly ship
Sink enemy ships (0/5)
Enemy fleet arrival (5m 00sec)
Destroy enemy fleet (0/5)
Return to escape point
The only reason this is so bad is that the quests have so much potential. It's really not acceptable.
The Pros outweigh the cons in many ways, but POTCO has a bigger sense of adventure. POTBS has a lot, but you will find yourself being an entrepreneur, or a cold-blooded killer. Adventuring is few and far between, perhaps buying or finding a treasure map once every few months.
I give it a 8.75/10 overall, but I rarely give out 8's, so that's something.
My review is over.