Progressive Ideas and Content: The developers at Flying Lab Software have implemented some very unique ideas into their creation. A lot of game development companies should take a page out of their book. Pirates of the Burning Sea breaks away from your typical “hack and slash grinding” MMORPG. This is something much deeper, much more involved, and far more unique. Flying Lab Software has shown us time and time again that they think outside of the box, by showing us implemented content such as swashbuckling boarding, a realistic theme in their title, a completely player-driven economy, and many other features, both big and small.
Naval Battles and Swashbuckling: There are two ways to fight in Pirates of the Burning Sea; on the sea in your ship, or on land with your sword. You can build your own ship with the various resources at your disposal, and sail it on the high seas. You can sail your own ship into a contested area, and exchange cannon fire with an enemy from an opposing nation. If you wish to take over an enemy port, then you can wreak havoc around the area, creating a player versus player zone. If you are one of the more destructive people in the area, you will engage in a final battle. The two nations will have 25 representatives sent in to skirmish for the ownership of the port. These battles are large in scale, and require you to use your best naval tactics to win. To do this, you can take advantage of over 50 different ships within the game, and Flying Lab Software developers and the community work to produce new ships for you to use. There are many different pieces of outfitting you can add to your ship to enhance its performance; new rudders, new sails, more powerful cannons, different hull designs, and much more.
If you want a break from the naval battles, you can dock your ship and explore various jungles and islands to meet your fill of blade clashing. You can choose from three different sword styles; fencing, two weapon fighting, and dirty fighting. Each combat school has its own strengths and weakness, no one of them being better than the other. On top of this, you can take advantage of different skills; depending on your character profession and your combat school, you will have access to 45 different skills.
Entirely Player-Controlled Economy: In Pirates of the Burning Sea, there are no shops you can go to if you wish to purchase a new ship, or more goods. You have to either manufacture your own equipment, or buy it from another player. You are given ten plots of land, and you can use these plots to do a variety of things; manufacture goods into ships, chop wood, mine iron, turn wood and iron into nails and timber, and a variety of other things. You are not required to do anything to gain these materials, all you have to do is leave them alone, and they will create goods over a period of time. After three days, your business will have a full supply of goods, and you will have to take these out and store them if you want it to create more goods. There are various vertical and horizontal chains you can take advantage of to turn a profit.
On top of all this, you can do various things on the high seas to make some extra dubloons. You can use a large merchant ship to transport goods and sell them at a marked up price. Depending on the tax and demand on certain goods in a port, you may be making quite a profit. If mercantilism isn’t your thing, you can always resort to piracy. You can launch grappling lines at a nearby ship, and board it. You will then be pitted in a battle; you and your crew, versus the enemy captain and his crew. If you can defeat him and his crew, you will take the ship. If you are a pirate, you will be able to keep the ship. If you are any other class, you will just receive money for taking over the ship. If you lose, there is nothing to worry about, you will still have your ship, you will just lose one of your many durability points. However, if you are caught with only one durability point, you will lose your ship forever. Thus, resulting in you having to turn to the economy to get a new one.
Welcoming and Passionate Community: You won’t find a community like the Pirates of the Burning Sea community anywhere else. The forums are welcoming to one and all, regardless of who you are, as long as you are civil and polite. The community is constantly encouraging and helping the developers with the direction of the game, and the developers are very responsive to the help by providing feedback and news on the game development process. There are plenty of updates and “developer logs” posted, which vary from the state of the game publishing contract, to in-game features that are being developed, to the events occurring within the community.
Gameplay For Any Gaming Style: Pirates of the Burning Sea provides many different forms of entertainment and content within the game, that appeals to all gamers, casual and hardcore alike. There are plenty of role-playing outlets, such as bars, shops, islands, and missions. If you’re more of a PVP player, there are many player versus player zones to enjoy out at sea, where you can blow up ships to your heart’s content. For those of you casual players that are sick and tired of dying to the people who spend their lives playing games, worry no more. Pirates of the Burning Sea’s game mechanics make it so your ability to kill is based solely on your ability to play, not who has more levels and equipment. If you know how to play well, then you will be able to complete with people that are five, ten, or even twenty levels higher than you.
Over 1,000 Missions: The developers at Flying Lab Software have developed over 1,000 missions for all four nations, totaling over 4,000 total missions to immerse yourself in. The missions vary in style, ranging from; rescue missions, recovering stolen treasure, hijacking a ship, escorting a merchant to a port, defeating a group of ships, hunting down people on an island, and many other goals and objectives. Each mission has a reward, which can be money, new clothing for your avatar, or many other things. Every mission has its own storyline, adding spice and plot to every task you take on.
Millions of Possible Outfits: Since equipment isn’t a huge factor in Pirates of the Burning Sea, your outfit is determined by your own personal taste. There are fourteen different categories you can change on your character, and a large variety of colors and color trims you can choose for your outfit. If you feel that you can’t choose one outfit out of all the different combinations, there is randomizer you can use to pick an outfit for you. There is such a variety, that it is highly unlikely you’ll find a character that looks like you.
Published: Jul 2, 2007 04:49 am