Downloaded it tonight (right at 2 hrs with cable modem, not having a SOE Station account, having to delete files to make it fit on my partitioned drive, so probably an hour or so for someone more prepared). Played the tutorial. Ship combat is fun, if slow. I can see a bunch of Eve Online players immediately vaulting to the top of the PvP ranks in this game, there's marked similarities, at first glance: very tactical and set-up intensive. Plus, ships fall to pieces in combat, which is fun and satisfying to see.

Haven't done much on land, just some "go see this guy" stuff from the n00b tutorial, and already hit a bug -- I'm supposed to go talk to the bartender in the tavern, but the tavern isn't clickable for me, though I see other players appearing and disappearing in front of the door I'm clicking on.

What appeals to me is the player-driven economy, and the opportunity to get in on the ground floor, so to speak. All the reviews I've read since the NDA dropped say it's more like Eve than like WoW, so that sounds right up my alley.

Anyone? Bueller?

I played some Puzzle Pirates a while back. Yeah, that's got nothing to do with anything.

I might try it. Of course I just bought WoW. I wanted a break from LotRO and some friends from my LotRO kinship were playing WoW again so I thought it was a good time to try it.

I am in the process of a computer upgrade so after the New Year I'll probably be playing the shooters and such that were a bit much for my current system so I doubt I want to try yet another MMO right now but I'll give the site a look anyway.

Hey BOP, I just got in too, was lurking around their forums for a long time. I've played for a couple days now, sorta at the same point as you it sounds like. Finished the tutorials and am on the first few real quests. I have a deed for a real ship now, but apparently need to level up to 4 to use it.

I played in the beta a month or so ago. It's a charming idea and who doesn't like pirates these days, but there was so much about it that just clunked along. Again, we have a MMO set on a planet with gravity so strong that jumping is out of the question. I kid, but as with Guild Wars, is it really so much more of an effort to add the animation to get a little air?

What I did enjoy about the beta experience was the sheer honesty of the patch notes. In particular, I remember something about the combat system, an admittance that (at the time) sword-fighting was no fun, they knew it and they were working on it. Refreshing.

The ship to ship combat is interesting, reminiscent of Microprose's Pirates series. I liked the way it took wind and so on into account.

But after seeing how a world can be presented in a mostly free-range explorative fashion, as in WOW or early stage Star Wars: Galaxies, going with a model based out of ports-of-call (where you pick up new quests, turn in old quests, but can never go overland to another part of the world) seems like a regression.

So ... it is a good idea, ought to do well as a niche product, but I won't likely be playing it anytime soon.

Yeah, it's pretty much all instanced. Disappointing -- I wanna roam the high seas.

What server are you on, poppo? I'm Jacques Aubrey, a French (heresy!) freetrader on Rackham, but I'm gonna try a pirate and a British naval officer too (an affront to my Irish heritage, but no worse than naming a Frenchman Aubrey).

Nope. But I do have a jaunty hat and a taste for rum.

I'm Horus Scrum, Spanish freetrader, but so far I've only played on Blackbeard...maybe I'll try to catch up to you this weekend