I read about this game a few months ago and I’m trying to decide whether or not I am going to buy it when I get home. I’m already planning on Sins of a Solar Empire and Assassin’s Creed.
So is this one a buy or pass?
I have been playing it since open beta and really like it. It is more of a niche game as it involves more group play and economy then something like WOW. The graphics are good the game is fun and has afairly easy larning curve. There is a really fast progression from lvl 1 to about lvl 20 (of 50) to get you into a position to PvP sooner. Most of the people I play with like it because we played the Sid Meiers Priates games and it is very similar to what those would be like as a MMORPG.
If you want more specifics about the game let me know.
I have thought about it but am currently maxed out on games vs my actual time I can play. FWIW, here is a review of it on GameSpy. It got a 4 out of 5 star review (pretty good for them) and they seemed to like it a lot. It got similar reviews on IGN and a couple of other places I’ve seen.
The down side seems to be that the game is VERY complex and has a high learning curve. However, I’m surprised there isn’t a huge 'Doper following of this thing considering just those aspects. 
-XT
When I read about it a while back I thought it sounded a little bit like EVE Online, albeit at sea instead of in space. Is there any truth in that or was I just woefully misinformed?
I do plan on playing it but, like xtisme, I don’t really have enough time for yet another game. Especially a MMOG.
Just your own personal opinion, which class do you enjoy the most? Would it be more fun as a Navy Captain or a Merchant? Are all the classes even, or is it pretty much one class that’s going to be at a huge advantage over everyone else?
I’m asking because I’m not really into economics in video games, so I’d probably mostly spend my time in ship battles.
I thought it looked interesting, but I’d like to try it before buying it or anything. Anyone have a guest pass?
A friend of mine was playing in the beta for the game. He isn’t going to be able to play any time soon, but his advice is to join a guild with people who know the ins and outs of the game ASAP. He claims the game is non-intuitive and that you need someone who knows the ropes to show you what is what.
If anyone does decide to play I suggest starting a SDMB guild and maybe using the board to discuss the game and perhaps post your thoughts and what is important for new players to know about it.
Someone up thread asked if it’s like Eve Online…according to my friend the two games are similar in some ways but very different in others. I never played Eve Online (or this game either) so the various distinctions he was talking about are lost on me.
-XT
Same here. I am only in 3 1/2 other MMOs right now, I am open to trying another one. 
If I can get a trial of some kind anyway.
Anyone in Australia can download the game for free and get an 8-day trial: http://www.gamearena.com.au/pirates/
I played it in open beta. I enjoyed the heck out of it, though the sword fighting was a little weak. If I was not currently still involved in another game, I would be playing it. I have the feeling that as the economy develops, it could well be a contender against EVE, it’s very deep there.
Oh, and the sailing is fantastic.
I’m playing it and thoroughly enjoying it - although not giving it the time it deserves.
It does have a very high learning curve and you will need advice/help early on. Not because its difficult, but simply because a lot of the mechanics are barely touched on in the manual or tutorials.
Get past that, though, and its great - as Death of Rats says, its pretty much what Sid Meier’s Pirates would be like if it was a MMORG. I’ve found it pretty friendly towards casual-gaming so far as well (i simply don’t have the time or inclination to focus totally on only one game - that was why i gave up on Warcraft).
There are still a fair few game bugs/exploits out there causing some problems, but the developers seem to be pretty on the ball and active in fixing them and tweaking gameplay where necessary, which is nice, and the 1.2 patch looks like its going to deal with a fuckload of people’s current complaints.
Server-wise i’m currently playing as Edward Garius, a lvl 26 British Navy Officer on Bonny (which i chose because many people had designated it as the “unofficial” role play server after beta - so its less “kid-heavy” which i like). Happy to befriend/help anyone if i can, although probably won’t be on until the weekend at the earliest as i’ve just moved house and am still waiting for the broadband to be activated.
I bought the game and the controls seem pretty straight forward. I’m just having a hard time starting out. I’m a lvl 6 naval captain and like, what do I do? Do I just run around completing mission until I gain more ex?
pretty much - i’d concentrate on leveling until about level 12, then its actually worth starting to think about what ship you want, tailoring it to your needs, grouping etc. And maybe starting some basic economy stuff (less critical for us Navy types, but useful for ammo creation and ship creation).
That’s what i found anyway. Doing that stuff earlier was just a waste of gold.
The Gamespy review just made this the first MMORPG I actually feel like playing.
If you are not interested in being heavily invovled in the econ side, go with pirate. The pirates get a little hosed on the map conquest side of the game in that they cannot hold an enemy port for more than 72 hours, while nations hold captured ports permanently. On the plus side we only lose our ports for 72 hours.
The other major advantage that the pirates have is that we can capture ships to use for our own. Nationals take ships and recive some sort of reward that can be traded in for bonus ships. This allows pirates to get by with alot less money. The downside is that we have access to fewer ships through the economy and have to depend on PvP to gain access to the highter end ships. On the otherhand there is nothing more fun than capping a 70,000+ dubloon fourth-rate Ship-of-the-line from a careless national and using it against them.
If yo play as a National you will be havily invovled in the econ somehow as you need to buy or manufacture ships as you advance. Since you don’t want to do alot of econ avoid the freetrader. The best bet is the Privateer as they gain the most money from ship captures and have expanded PvP options like a Pirate. The Navel Officer is a good choice for ship battles as they have a lot of skills for buffing themselves and the rest of thier group. they also have access to the best ships in the game, however the expenses require more involvement in the econ to support them.
I like the game in theory, in practice it’s a bit of a toss-up for me.
Australia only has one server. You can’t play different factions on the same server, which means that I’m stuck with being a British national (because hubby started playing British).
Graphical glitches are a constant in the version that we’re allowed to download through bigpond. Even after patching up, there’s a 50% chance you’ll load into an area to find NPCs missing parts of their body, flickering landscapes or your avatar completely lacking textures.
Lag is horrendous. It’s bad enough when there’s only one of us online, when both of us want to play at the same time it can become an exercise in futility. By the time your “boarding meter” goes green on your screen, the optimal time for boarding has passed and more often than not you miss the grapple. NPCs jerk around the map and when a PC is running, you end up doing that thing where you run and reset your position about five times before getting anywhere. It’s easily got the worst lag-related performance issues of any MMORPG I’ve played, and I had some shocking latency issues with WoW from time to time.
I really want to keep playing it because it’s a great game. But with the issues I’m having, I can’t justify paying the monthly subscription fee unless there’s some way that it can be fixed. If we can get onto the American servers, and the graphical/lag issues don’t return on those servers then I’ll be happy to keep playing.
what OS you using sierra?
must admit, i generally play on the yank servers (despite being a brit) for most MMs because it means i get a lag free experience most of the time.
I’m using Vista, but hubby’s had the same problems on XP and there’s a games review program on TV over here that also noted the graphical glitches when they reviewed it.
I want to like it, I really do. It’s so great to have something different from the usual fantasy MMOs. It’s just the performance that really stops me.
i had lag problems (beyond the normal “busy server” stuff you get on MMOs at peak times) until i did this:
http://www.burningsea.com/page/news/article&article_id=10651
which sorted a lot of them out.
had graphics bugs as well at first - the joys of laptop video cards - but most have disappeared now.
Must admit though, the hoops i needed to jump through to set stuff up sometimes reminded me precisely why i’m more of a console gamer than a pc gamer these days.
Thanks for the link garius, but I’ve given up and so has hubby.
The lag coupled with the dodgy quest rating system (red quests I can solo and own, green quests that we double up on and both still get raped) and the graphical issues and the 1 server for Australia (which, like WoW, is actually located in the US so what’s the point?). Blah. Too much work.
And it’s a pity, because the concept is good and I like it. Just sick of getting the short end of the stick here down under when it comes to games.