New MMORPG looks promising

To be honest i love MMORPGS. The only problem is that the MMORPG formula has not changed at all, i mean just look at this list of MMORPG that have been released in the last few years:

Asherons Calling
Everquest
Linage
World of Warcraft
Lord of the Rings
City of Hero's
Planetside
Star War

I think you see the problem already don't you? A huge percentage of these games are based on a fantasy setting the barely vary. Planetside and Star Wars both took setting in space which is good, but pretty soon that setting is going to get old as well within a matter of years. In fact the only true original MMORPG on that list is COH. It had a great concept, but the game itself lacked depth and that was its downfall.

I see hope for the industry though. A new original MMORPG in coming soon, one which i think has the potential so be great, even great enough to compete with World of Warcraft.

It's called Pirates of the Burning Seas.

In Pirates of the Burning Sea, you are the captain of your own ship with your own crew. There are three fraction you can chose from : The English, French, and Spanish. Although you don't have to belong to a fraction, you can be a pirate if you wish and attack the merchant ships working for the European Empires. When one becomes a Captain in this game they can choose from four different careers. This careers are:

• Naval Officer - Focus on defense, escorting duties, and direct, face-to-face combat. Navy Officers gain access to the extremely powerful ships of the line.
• Privateer - Focus on utilizing small advantages for big gain, outmaneuvering and outwitting opponents. Privateers have an edge in boarding combat and can learn a skill that enables them to use Pirate PvP zones.
• Freetrader - Focus on trading, production and economics. They will have abilities to effectively evade opponents in combat. Freetraders may learn skills that increase their ability to gather resources and produce goods.
• Pirate - All-round capability including the special ability to take command of defeated opponent ships. These ships will only have one durability point. If a Pirate takes command of a Ship of the Line he will automatically be flagged for PvP.

My biggest concern for the game was the ship combat, i was worried that it would be mediocre, but after seeing this video I can't wait to get a ship and fight other pirates/ merchants.



Something else you can do in the is take over ports and cities. This is concept of "World Raiding" is something I feel that a lot of MMORPGS are missing and that Pirates does a great job implementing. In the game, after Pirates and Merchants conquer towns. Then the towns export goods which gives the player money and at the same time crafts goods that the player can use.

Obviously you're not going to be always just fighting with ships only. When you rush in to attack a town or if your ship gets boarded your pirate is going to be forced to fight. In the game there are three different types of fighting:

• Dirty fighting - Fight with a cutlass. Excels in disrupting the balance of the opponent and has many 'special' attacks.
• Fencing - The art of fighting with a rapier. Excellent at dealing high amounts of damage.
• Florentine - Dagger and sword fighting. Has the greatest defensive capabilities.

The fighting looks great in the game, and don't just take my word for it just look at this video.

Customization in game is great for both the in game characters and the ships. There are 54 different types of ships, with more planing to be implemented. There are however, there are five basic ship designs:

• Stripped – A merchant variant. A low-level requirement version of a large trade ship although not equipped with guns.

• Courier – An easy-access variant. Courier ships are slightly faster and easier to handle, but they have less firepower and armor.

• Heavy – An upgrade variant. Heavy ships have significantly more armor and structure, and often have other combat benefits.

• Sleek – An upgrade variant. Sleek ships are faster and handle better. They might also have slightly better armor.

• Mastercraft – The premier ship variant. Mastercraft ships are expensive custom made ships that have been restructured to have room for more (and potentially heavier) guns and stronger hulls.

Player Customization looks promising as well, the creators are looking to add as much customization options as COH.



Pirates also has "societies"(aka guilds). Societies can have custom banners and work together to defeat other societies.

Overall the game looks promising, it is definitely a new type of MMORPG, one that will hopefully be able to compete with the MMORPG monster known as World of Warcraft.