Reading about this makes me think back to when I played EVE Online where combat also depended on range and relative speed although not so much on direction. There was an element of waiting for guns and of course, piracy was a legitimate profession  If this game is anything like EVE then it's got to be good, even better if you can leave your ship and drink rum on a desert island!

When is it out and is there going to be an open beta?

The official release is the first of june this year.

The game is in beta atm.  You can fill out a beta application, just go to the official page for the game and follow the links. 

I'm not sure if the game will have an open beta, someone else will need to answer that query.

Page 3 in this topic and not a single negative comment ye?? Must be some kind of an MMORPG record.

Looks nice and look forward to reading what happens at launch.  Definetly one to look out for.

Oh, absolutely.  I discovered the game a couple weeks ago, and have dived into their forums.  It's amazing - the Devs all post "Developer Logs" describing aspects of the game itself, or of the design process, they are very active in the forums answering questions and generally contributing to discussions. 

The game itself, though, has me incredibly excited.  A skill-based combat system, absolutely NO grinding at all... NONE!  There's no farming, no repetitively running boring raid instances to get epic items.  Hell, no epic items.   The whole idea of a truely skill based combat system is marvelous... Low level players are not only ok in major PvP battles but actually desireable. 

Best of all, the game is designed to allow every player - regardless of play style - to contribute towards the overall "goal" of the game, to take over the caribbean. 

Casual player?  Not interested in solo play, but just want to quest, maybe be a merchant?  No problem, the questing you do directly affects port stability and control; the trading you do stimulates the economy and can also affect port stability.

Hardcore PVP'er?  It's all good.  It's currently estimated that an average of 30% of the map will be PvP enabled at any given time - thanks to the activities of both PvP'ers and non-pvp'ers.  This gives you a wide area to PvP in, but also a given area that will draw others who are looking to either make a good profit (Generally, ports in PvP zones are where you'll make the most money trading) or just for PvP.

Even the more casual PvP'er, though, is set.  You don't grind for epic items, so playing less often doesn't mean you'll be less powerful or less able to compete.  Overall, skill is the deciding factor, so even the most casual player can participate on even footing.

Graphics are really nice, too, particularly if you like the high seas/pirate imagery. 

In my opinion, looking to be the best MMO ever.