[Kat Sheffield]

Just wanted to give a quick update here. I'm a little over a week into the game and all I can say is that I absolutely love the game. I love everything about it. Yes, I'm sure that I'm a little starstruck, the way that I was when I first started playing POTCO and everything was new and shiny and exciting. But then realistically, this is a game that continues to expand the further that I get into it. It isn't about leveling to open up new weapons skills or get gold simply to purchase a better ship, it's about so much more than that. The idea of claiming ports for your nation, and battling to keep what belongs to you as yours is mind blowing. Socities (guilds) in Burning Sea actually serve a purpose here, and they work together within their own nations as there are true alliances that are formed as societies work together for towards common goals.

The game itself it truly huge. For example, from my starter port to sailing to Port Royal took around 15 minutes alone, and that was with a good wind. lol. There's so much to see and do. Countless quests, interesting battles, fantastic loot that actually means something. Imagine collecting treasure that has an actual purpose? Woah! I've said it before and I will say it again, Burning Sea is everything that POTCO should be...unfortunately, it's just not there yet. And yes, I know that Pirates is a relatively new game, but then again, so is Burning Sea.

But in deciding which game to play really comes down to what sort of game you're looking for and what sort of player you are. If you're looking for a simple game that isn't overly challenging and yet still fun, Pirates is great, and I'm not knocking that - everyone knows that I was obsessed with it when I started playing. However, if you're looking for something more out of your gaming experience, and you like the time frame but simply want more of a challenge from a game geared towards adults then Burning Sea might be what you're looking for. Yes, it's difficult, and it takes plotting and planning and strategy, but in the end you actually feel rewarded for having accomplished something.

Just this weekend was a huge turning point in the game where control of the Caribbean was up for contention. In the end it was the British versus the Pirates, Spanish and French. Pirates won out, but this battle will happen again soon. And things are certainly going to start getting crazy again. And I love the madness. I love being able to play and not having to worry about rep stealers or little kids, I love not having to censor myself, and I love that the game isn't dumbed down.

I'm not knocking POTCO and this isn't propaganda for Burning Sea. Just my own opinions on the game so far. Hope this helps some of you who are considering making the move. A large core of my guild has jumped ship to Burning Sea and we all love it. However, as you can see by my trolling the boards here, I do miss Pirates, it was truly an excellent place to play my first MMO. To all of you who are still playing and enjoying it, I wish you all the best with the game and the new content to come, I really hope that the Summer Update breathes some new life into what I consider to be a floundering game. Privateer PVP simply isn't enough to keep Pirates afloat as a contender in the market.