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PotBS 1.4 patch survey results and what players can expect in 1.5
Flying Lab Software makers of Pirates of the Burning Sea listen to their players, the developers really do! A player survey went live shortly after the1.4 patch, and after a few weeks of data-mining the feedback FLS is responding in a big way. In this latest dev-log by Joe Ludwig, Producer for PotBS, 55% polled in the survey said they prefer to focus their playing time on PvP, 58% from that group said that most of that time is spent on missions or economic activities. Developer logs show that players are repeating high level missions to afford ships and outfitting for PvP gameplay. To address this "time-sink" an insurance system will be added in the 1.5 patch. This means players will receive 90% of the minimum production cost and permanent outfitting when losing their ship. The other deterrent to keep players from PvP is the itemization gap. Starting in 1.5 all permanent outfitting is player-craftable, including green items and will also undergo balance changes. With these two barriers alleviated PvP will become more accessible to a broader audience.
Renewed marketing, free trials to come following PotBS build 1.5
Flying Lab Software is hoping to breathe new life into Pirates of the Burning Sea with the upcoming Build 1.5. We've already seen that many towns will be getting a face-lift, but now CEO Russell Williams has outlined some of the strategies which he hopes will have new ships sailing into their waters. A couple of the next initiatives for PotBS from FLS will be to start up a fresh marketing campaign, and to begin offering 14-day free trials.Williams mentions that the marketing around the game's launch was good, but short-lived, and that the new campaign will be aiming for longevity. The ads will talk about specific features of the game, mentioning the free trials that will be on offer. We are told that special care has been taken to stop trial accounts from being used as mules or tools for spamming, and that newbies can choose to convert to a paid subscription and continue to play their characters at the end of the 14 days. The trials should kick in around mid to late July, and the marketing will presumably follow.
PotBS to have semi-weekly service downtimes
The Pirates of the Burning Sea official site has announced that, to help with some ongoing issues, all servers will be subject to a regularly scheduled service downtime. This downtime will occur twice a week, and should only be a server restart, meaning you can log back on and resume looting and plundering within about 20 minutes if all goes well.So far, we know that the downtimes will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays at 8:30AM GMT for North American and European servers -- times for the Australian server will be listed shortly. It has been said that the restarts can be moved around a bit to accommodate Port Battles, which is a very nice touch and shows quite a level of involvement from Flying Lab Software on a server-specific basis. They hope that the regular restart situation will be temporary, but it's good to see that they will try to soften the blow in the meantime.
Revised PotBS Prima eGuide comes with reptilian pal
Flying Lab Software and Prima Guides have put the word out that a revised version of the Prima Pirates of the Burning Sea eGuide is now available. The guide was updated to fit with changes that were made to the game in Build 1.4, and contains handy information like the stats of all ships, strategies and tips, career guides, and a look at the new Buccaneer class.But things like "information" and "strategies" aren't all that you will get with your purchase -- we know that you expect more, and so does Prima. President of Prima Games, Debra Kempker, said, "Continuing in a new tradition of in-game items, we were able to once again offer exclusive content -- something we hope to keep doing in the future." The in-game item you will receive with the PotBS eGuide is the shoulder-lizard you see at the top of this post, a very stylish accessory for any Caribbean adventurer. The eGuide (and shoulder-lizard) will be available from the Prima Games website for $19.99 and is only available in digital format.
PotBS towns to receive attractive makeovers
The folks in the Environment team at Flying Lab Software have decided that some of the towns in Pirates of the Burning Sea look a little bit sad and outdated, and so they will be giving them graphical overhauls in an upcoming patch. The team has been kind enough to provide us with an early look at how these towns will be brought back to life in some before-and-after shots, and we have put these pictures in a gallery for you to check out.According to the patch notes for the Testbed server, many towns have already received their updates and will probably move over to the live servers shortly. We are promised that the magic wand will be pointed at other towns in the Caribbean soon, making your on-land shenanigans a lot prettier to look at.%Gallery-25334%
PotBS ship outfitting balances coming in 1.5
The next major content patch for Pirates of the Burning Sea, build 1.5, is currently being prepared for release to the live servers, and in the meantime we get to find out about some of the features of this update. One of 1.5's main focuses will be a revision of the ship outfitting items in the game, in an attempt to balance things out a bit.At the moment, there are a number of particular outfitting pieces which are just plain better than others, and it is almost essential to own them to succeed in PvP. This takes away from the grand design of the outfitting system, which was supposed to offer players a chance to individualize their setup and to have unique and interesting strategies -- it simply doesn't happen if there are too many of these so-called "must-have" pieces out there, so this is going to be addressed. The other major change will be the scaling back some of outfitting pieces that are too good for their level, outperforming equipment that is much higher. These updates to ship outfitting will be found in Build 1.5 for PotBS, and you can expect some changes to player outfitting later on in 1.6.
PotBS patch 1.4 available on test server
Those keen to sink their teeth into patch 1.4 for Pirates of the Burning Sea can do so ahead of its release on the live servers, by logging on to the Testbed server. Flying Lab Software is keen to get players to try out some of the new features that this patch brings (like the upcoming class changes) and have set up feedback pages for specific aspects of the game.If you want to leave feedback about career skills in 1.4, you can visit this page, and feedback on the early game missions can be left here, with different forum posts for each nation. Additionally, there is a page for general 1.4 feedback that doesn't fit in these two categories. Don't be scared if you've never been on Testbed before -- there is a handy forum post that will answer all your questions, and you'll be helping test new content in no time.
World designer gives historical background on PotBS
Although we tend to have a habit of lumping them all together at times, MMOs are as organic and unique in their creation as any other software you can imagine. In a recent interview, Pirates of the Burning Sea World Designer Cory J. Herndon discusses the true origins of the PotBS project, and how it originally blossomed from a period strategic ship combat game to a full-blown MMO.He also talks at some length about some of the fictional and historic sources from which the Flying Lab team design team has drawn in trying to recreate a living, breathing massive swashbuckling adventure. There are spots, Herndon says, where they've actually had to retcon history. Captain William Kidd, or "Lord William" as he's known as the leader of the Pirate faction in the game, actually met his end before the period in which the game takes place. They just fudged the details a little bit, and had Kidd escape to the Caribbean. It's an interesting interview.
