I learned that Pirates of the Burning Sea has gone to a freemium business model, so I decided to give it a try. I’ve been playing Pirates of the Caribbean On-line ever since the Mac version came out. I had to use my Bootcamp partition to play PotBS, there is no Mac version and the support forums make it pretty clear that there won’t be one anytime soon.
Pirates of the Caribbean On-line is a fun pirate MMO with an easy to learn interface. There isn’t an in game economy and the only crafting one can do is making potions for your own use. It runs on both Mac and PC and Disney just added content to the game from the new PotC movie. You wander about islands doing quests and set sail in a ship that can be crewed by other players to engage in high seas hijinx.
Pirates of the Burning Seas is a bit hard to get a handle on. It’s game mechanics are more complicated, but it’s dazzling graphically. PotBS is also more true to life in sailing. You have to consider your ship type and the direction of the wind while on the water. You sail alone in your own ship but can join groups. There’s a whole PvP and faction on faction system I haven’t explored yet (I’m only level 7.) The crafting and economy section of the game is complex but looks like it will be a lot of fun once I figure it out. PotBS feels a lot closer to other pirate games (Sid Meier’s and the board game Merchants and Marauders)
I’m definately going to keep working on my French Naval officer and see what more the game has in store.
