Recently, News Editor Garrett Fuller had a chance to sit down with Flying Lab Software Designer, David 'Taelorn' Hunt, to talk about the ship combat in their upcoming sea-based MMORPG, Pirates of the Burning Sea.

MMORPG.com:

PoTBS has some very unique features. Can you tell us about the types of ships a player can purchase in the game?

David 'Taelorn' Hunt:

corvettes, and brigs to ships of the line. Thanks to the diligence of our User Content community, we have nearly 50 ship models in the game already and we expect to have more by the time we launch. They are divided between merchant ships, fast attack ships and heavy warships.

Ships are the cornerstone of our economy. Right now, players can make every ship that can be sailed, although there are other ways of obtaining ships.

Read the whole interview here.

The pace I'm sure will be too slow for many players, but I for one am glad to see a more involved, tactical style rather than the console- button-monkey style.

It's really looking like a mature player's game--I hope that's true and that it continues in that vein.

Originally posted by 0over0

The pace I'm sure will be too slow for many players, but I for one am glad to see a more involved, tactical style rather than the console- button-monkey style.

It's really looking like a mature player's game--I hope that's true and that it continues in that vein.

I am totally drooling right now!  This will definitely be a game I try.

Let us hope the quality matches the hype. 

Koolaider is correct. THe Dev's rock. I was able to meet several of them at GenCon and they were very cool.  Plus the interaction they give on there forums is amazing. You can tell they care about this game and the community.

Originally posted by Koolaider
PotBS has the best gaming community I have ever seen. I'm very serious about that too, the Dev interaction is amazing.

Originally posted by Rattrap
Amazing

Finally a game that will blend tactics,fun, and dynamic combat
And notice how they say " Players level has apsolutely no influence in PVP combat"


I cannot wait!

Had to log in to say that I also agree about the community and devs...oh and the interview was apetising too.

Gotta respect dev's that will take the unpopular stance of delaying release till this June so that they can add features they feel are important (e.g. avatar to avatar combat) and to finish 'polishing' what they already had implemented.  In the current MMO industry it is nice to see that the devs are not forced by necessity to release early by their accountants and investors.  Moreover, it would seem they also value a 'finished' product over releasing early and asking people to pay for something they are not entirely happy with.  Kudos to the devs for their passion for the game.

Can't wait till the release and so long as the dev's maintain their creative, open and transparent interaction with the community then I can't see this game going wrong or not being worthy of a cut from my wallet.  If only I could say that about the majority of MMO's.

It's been a long wait, but then again, good things are always worth waiting for.

Originally posted by Rattrap
Amazing

Finally a game that will blend tactics,fun, and dynamic combat
And notice how they say " Players level has apsolutely no influence in PVP combat"


I cannot wait!

i have a question for anybody that knows how this game runs.

i noticed that when asked about looting the answer was that the ship wasnt lost on the first lost battle (dont know how they explain that a sunk ship isnt lost, but anyway...) he avoided to asnwer anything about looting. so, my question is, is there looting on pvp?

Originally posted by Antipathy
I'm already dreaming up tactics :-)

One idea I had was for two players to act as a pair. Both in similar sized ships, one a warship, the other a merchant ship. It should look like a merchant carrying valuable cargo with an escort, so any ship bigger than the escort will consider attacking.

But the merchant is bait. The escort is packed with ammo to destroy enemy sails, and when the enemies maneuverability is crippled, the merchant reveals she is full of marines, not cargo, and the attacker finds himself the prey. All going well, you could end up capturing a larger ship almost intact.

Would this work?

Oh, I can't wait!

I just wish I could actually get into the beta that I 'won' a 'chance' to 'get into' earlier here.

So very very sad ... :(

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.