While attending Gen Con in indianapolis, we had the opportunity to talk to Russel Williams, CEO of Flying Lab Software about recent and upcoming updates for Pirates of the Burning Sea, player governed ports, alternative advancement paths, and the revamping of avatar combat.

Interview with Russell Williams

While attending Gen Con in Indianapolis, we had the opportunity to talk to Russel Williams, CEO of Flying Lab Software about recent and upcoming updates for Pirates of the Burning Sea, player governed ports, alternative advancement paths, and the revamping of avatar combat.

wow. That MMO is still alive? Im impressed.

I have to say tho, PotBS had to have been of the single most worse MMOs I have ever played; it had a great concept but the actual workings of the game just fell to pieces. Sorry....I needed to get that off of my chest. Nice interview tho. I feel almost sorry for the poor guy :(

I played many far worse mmos, and i quite enjoy playing potbs, it need work, as most of titles but its only unique title on market atm

I really had a hard time with PoTBS.  I know that they are continuing to work out issues with the game and the server mergers have helped some.  Part of my problem with the game is that I took an "Eve" mindset into my playing experience.  Sadly this game can't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Eve. 

I'm very happy for those who have stuck with the game and are still enjoying it but I just don't see the game ever reaching deep into the MMO market.  The one kudo I will give them is it seemed to me during my time playing that the developers were responsive to the community and actually listened to what folks wanted.  That goes a long way with me. 

The game's design is all wrong, in my opinion. 

To succeed, you would need an open world.  You add in the element of exploration with the islands, and have the transition from boat to landing being seemless.  The islands would be open to explore, no pathing.  Throw in a fun combat avatar system, maybe have factions with the islands natives.  Exploration might yield, badges, titles, and perhaps the occasional treasure map that might start you off on a chain quest that ultimately leads you to a treasure chest or some reward.

Ship combat would have to be noninstanced with a mix of open pvp and consentual to keep the biggest group of people happy.  Groups battling for regions of the map could flag those areas as pvp, adding to the idea of blockades, etc.

Auction house should be standard fair.  Done fix what isn't broken.  Death penalty should be casual friendly to keep the biggest group of people happy.  Maybe if your boat gets sunk, there is a graphic having it hauled up and sent to a dock to be repaired.

if only the game was a big seamless world eather then a big instance.hardly even a mmo.More like guild wars.I wanna explore the seas and islands and stuff and fight in open water not instances.its a shame cause the game is fun otherwise.If only it was seamless..... 

Originally posted by pfloydguy84

if only the game was a big seamless world eather then a big instance.hardly even a mmo.More like guild wars.I wanna explore the seas and islands and stuff and fight in open water not instances.its a shame cause the game is fun otherwise.If only it was seamless..... 

You'd spend half your life going from one port to another. It's just not practical in a game world of that scale.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by pfloydguy84

if only the game was a big seamless world eather then a big instance.hardly even a mmo.More like guild wars.I wanna explore the seas and islands and stuff and fight in open water not instances.its a shame cause the game is fun otherwise.If only it was seamless..... 

 

You'd spend half your life going from one port to another. It's just not practical in a game world of that scale.

Im sorry but you do not have to spend your whole life getting there either, they can make it realistic and fun at the same time. In Oblivion they let you fast travel but you know what i did? Made a Mod so I could not fast travel. Take it from me if there is a faster way to do something you do it, its human instinct, the only way to stop it is to turn it off.

Originally posted by Roosevelt

 

Im sorry but you do not have to spend your whole life getting there either, they can make it realistic and fun at the same time. In Oblivion they let you fast travel but you know what i did? Made a Mod so I could not fast travel. Take it from me if there is a faster way to do something you do it, its human instinct, the only way to stop it is to turn it off.

 

 

So you would choose to spend three days in real time going from port to port rather than do it in thirty minutes? I don't believe you have a concept of how slow, and boring, sea travel was in the age of sail.  

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by pfloydguy84

if only the game was a big seamless world eather then a big instance.hardly even a mmo.More like guild wars.I wanna explore the seas and islands and stuff and fight in open water not instances.its a shame cause the game is fun otherwise.If only it was seamless..... 

 

You'd spend half your life going from one port to another. It's just not practical in a game world of that scale.

I have to disagree. There is a way to make it seamless without haing to sail your ships weeks on end.

I felt like sailing in a little pond, and the avcom was just silly

Nice concept, but just a horrible implementation.

What put me off the first time was the horrible graphics. I can't think of anything worse than objects lacking shade in a 21century game. The gameplay is _maybe_ not so bad, but considering this was the main reason for emptying the servers... maybe it's too bad after all

I watched the interview and the whole time I was asking "Dude, why didn't you that before release? If the new features are so great why weren't they implemented at launch?"

I wish more and more companies would consider delay instead of releasing an early beta game.

Having said that, I am afraid to think about what will I get in a few days, when WAR delivers.

Originally posted by paperjack

Having said that, I am afraid to think about what will I get in a few days, when WAR delivers.

Just 5 more days to open beta