I was very excited about this game and could not wait to get into beta I have not played a lot yet and did not experience all the aspects of the game but here is what i think about the game so far and the stuff that I feel is missing.

Too much instancing; with every quest being instanced the game looses an important aspect every MMO should have - the MASSIVE in MMO. So far this game felt like a "single player game with chat function".

This brings me to my second point; no exploration. The fact that you can't leave the towns (or did i just miss the exit?)  was a big bummer to me. I was looing forward to  explore island, fight native etc etc - more like in the movies.

Next thing is that the sword fights are too easy; I have not died yet once and actually never came close to it.  Especially in boarding actions. You just run to the captain (which w/o collising detection is way too easy), kill him and it's over. Boarding IMO should be much more challenging, again more like in movies, where they swing from ship to ship, shoot, melee and everything.

Then there is the thing about jumping and swimming. I agree that jumping especially in combat should not be implemented as it is in other games (e.g. WoW). But there would be possibilities to allow jumping (which IMO adds mcuh to a MMO). In combat they could put a blaance cost to jumping, to avoid bunny hopping. I also can't understand why they did not implement swimming, after all it is a pirate game.

Ship combat so far has been interesting and at times even challenging. Except for the boarding.

Now after all the critics I have to add also that overall my impression has been good of this game so far. I will definetly give this game more time, in order to see the other stuff there is. I really hope that PvP will be more challenging and catching than the PvE has been so far!!

This game is good at the moment, but it could be great, there is a tremendous potential, but I feel that many (small but important) details are missing. I hope they can sort some out before they go live.

If I missed something or if things change radically with higher levels please let me know ;)

What all this comes down to is that Avatars were added at the last minute because there was a huge outcry for them.  Maybe in time they will get it up to speed. 

I actually feel totally different about things then you do.  I don't want to spend any more time off ship then I have to.  I don't want to have to spend time exploring with my army and I don't want to have to spend hours running around a town to buy and sell stuff but it looks like I am going to be stuck doing that.  I don't want to spend hours running my little band around outside of town to quest, so I actually hope they don't implement that but if they do, I can always skip the quests.

I also don't like the instancing, but only because I hate the loading.  Otherwise, I don't see how they could have done it any other way and kept the game playable.  The world is too small to have combat in it and not have everyone jump into it and if you made the world huge, you'd spend all your time sailing and not doing anything and what fun would that be?

What I really love, is that people cried there was no out of ship experience, so they add it and then people cry because its not good enough.  They've shown they listen, so I'm guessing they will keep improving it.  You will just have to give them time.

These are good points about the game, Detals.  I agree with you on some of them, however, I've been reading what the devs are saying and playing the beta, and I am starting to agree with their way of thinking as far as the instancing, avatars, etc.

I played DDO and had a good time, but I missed the "massive' in that mmo.  Then I went to the opposite extreme and played Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, but it was so massive that I rarely was able to find other characters!  Flying Lab didn't want this to happen, and they didn't want their open world, or sea, I should say, to become a barren playable area, so shorting travel time with unrealistic speeds, making instances for missions, etc. was the reasonable answer.  You can still travel the open sea, so the opportunity to play in a "massive" area is there.  I just don't know how many other players will be around . . .  I do wish I could explore overland areas, though.  This is something I will really miss in PotBS.

Avatar combat does feel incomplete. It is overly easy and very unpolished right now, but I think it'll change for the better soon.  I am glad it was added.  The swimming being left out I can understand.  People just didn't swim all that much back then.  What purpose?  Well, my answer is that it would still be nice to be able to swim, but to make it necessary to complete missions and so on would be contradictory to the time period, or so I've read.  I'm glad there's no jumping.  I've had enough of that crap already.

My main complaint is the lack of detail in the open sea and the lack of weather systems and variable seas.  I mean really, this is a game that focuses on the ocean of the Caribbean, I really wish that the ocean would look and feel more alive in the game.

I agree with you, Tymora.  With the open sea, you can see all the other players out there, so it's not like it's totally Guild Wars in its feel, where you only saw people when in towns. You can see people while you're travelling and even interact with them.

As far as the open sea goes, I truly wish it was more dynamic. Right now, they artificially control how far away you can see other ships. Some ships have a higher visibility than others, and some classes (pirates and privateers) actually have skills that make them harder to detect on the open sea. I would love to see storms added, that one could use to hide yourself or even as a method of deterrent, by keeping it between you and a threat. It would be great to conduct battles in them, trying to keep your boat from being swamped while trying to close with another ship and fight a battle. Going for the sails would have the impact of the ship foundering in the swells, rather than just being slowed down.

They have said they will add elements that will make the Open Sea more vibrant, such as instances you can come across while you're sailing and such. I also agree it would be cool to have exploration with avatars, such as coming across a treasure trove of a Aztec temple and having to fight through hordes of Aztecs to claim it. Getting groups together to explore through the wilderness. That would be immensely cool.

I think its bullshit that the Open Sea is like an arcane 1998 looking thing... if they just made it like PVP was , this game would be very nice and also walk on your own ship in third person and look threw a telescope to see enemy ships what so ever.. i mean its about the sea and ships and i think they should have done more things to do on your ship and make it look nice. The camera is nice in PVP , u can see ure crew and its very close but in the Open Sea u are 100miles away of your ship and it looks shit.

1) Ship combat is repetitive. I know there will be an outcry about this statement but quit kidding yourself, it's slow, non-responsive, and very repetitive.

2) Sword combat is stiff and uninspired. People knock CoX and WoW but at least in those games you feel like combat is an extension of your physical self. There are quick decisions to be made and tactics to devise. In this game you stand and whack, maybe working up to a finishing move if you're trying real hard to enjoy yourself.

3) UI feels almost like an afterthought and is very ugly.

4) How many Jack Sparrow look alikes will paying customers have to stomach?

5) If you do decide to travel, all the towns are pretty much the same and traveling between them is really exciting if you enjoy watching paint dry.

Too bad I was looking forward to a change of game before the new year.