Via MMO crunch, Pirates of the Burning Sea is gearing up to go FtP. A bit of research reveals that PotBS is not nearly as mainstream in it's design as other recent sub-based games to make the switch, less so than even DDO. In fact, according to reviews, it plays a lot like a EVE Online with a pirate theme. Not a game I'd be willing to try if the purchase of a client was involved, but for free? Yeah sure. Why not? It will be really interesting to see how they decide to monetize the game. PoTBS is also targeted at a somewhat niche audience (the Pirate Sim crowd?), which could work for or against it competing against LoTRO and EQ2X.
I personally hope that it does well because I have the attention span of a humming bird (at least by MMO gaming standards). The more full featured MMOs I can mess around with that don't require an entry fee, the better from where I stand. Regardless, it looks to be a really unique entry into the FtP MMO market.
Edit: Ethic over at KTR, My moment of zen, and Jaydub over at Dub's Diatribe all also have posts up. It also occurs to be that PoTBS is a SOE game. Does this mean that EQ2X is doing well?
I think EQ2E is doing well. I don't know if it has the raw numbers of players but its cash shop is more in your face, stuff is generally higher in price and you can't earn store points in game.
ReplyDeleteThis means that if it has a high population it will be doing very well as the spend per player is higher.
Obviously as a player I'd rather it had the Lotro model though :-)
I think this is awesome! I have really wanted to get back into PotBS for a long while, I just didn't see that I would be getting my fifteen dollars worth because of all the other games I play.
ReplyDeleteA better comparison would be PotBS is a pirate version of Star Trek Online. They are very similar to one another.
I suspect you're right, Yeebo. Shall we start a poll on when they announce the Vanguard F2P?
ReplyDeleteIf Vanguard went FtP, I'd satisfy the curiosity that I had when it was first announced.
ReplyDeleteA Pirate Genre is intriguing. Let us know what you find out if you pursue it.
I'm just not sure about this PotBS acronym... makes me think of someone stoned talking trash.
@Stabs: at this point if they would just let me buy more character slots I'd be happy. Kfsone also had some great ideas about how they could update the broker system, and likely make even more money off of it in the end than they are making off of tokens:
ReplyDeletehttp://kfsone.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/eq2x-broker-system/
@Jaydub: your PotBS = STO description has my interest even further piqued.
@Anjin: at this point I'd be surprised if they don't. What would be next, SWG? A resurrected FtP MXO?
@Jomar: I'd be right there with you. Long been curious about Vanguard.
And I never though of the abbreviation that way, heh. I can't take credit for it, that's been pretty much the standard lazy blogger abbreviation for it for a while now :-)
Yeebo,
ReplyDeleteEQ2X is doing just fine. Look around when you log in and see the number of (a) players and (b) paid classes.
I'd like to see average players online for Freeport vs other servers - I suspect Antonia Bayle > Freeport > rest put together
@Ian: were I to hazard I guess, it would be that you are correct in that server ranking, at the very least in terms of income being generated.
ReplyDeletePotBS - STO comparison is closer to the mark than PotBS - EVE comparison, although many PotBS players have also played EVE.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I will say though is the PvP combat engine in PotBS is a hundred times better than the STO one. If you enjoy tactical combat where player skill counts then give it a try.
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ReplyDeleteIt's free to play now and I've played a few hours today in my new free account. The game has nice graphics and the missions are not very hard to complete. I'm still a newbie so I can't describe much of the game right now.
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