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Preview: Pirates of the Burning Sea

"Support Piracy" isn't the first sentiment that you'd associate with a software developer, but it's flying like a flag over the Flying Lab Software booth at the New York ComicCon. Flying Lab is in New York to show off Pirates of the Burning Sea, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that celebrates the age of sail. After playing the game and spending some time with the staff, it's safe to say that Pirates is poised to do for swashbuckling what City of Heroes did for superheroes.

Set in 1720, Pirates lets players take on the roles of British, French, Spanish, or Pirate adventurers. The game promises a rich, story-driven experience, a wholly player-run economy, and PvP (and Ship v. Ship) that dynamically changes the game world.

After playing through the tutorial and beyond at NYCC, chatting with the Flying Lab staff in general, and Content Director Jess Lebow in particular, it's tough not to be excited for Burning Sea's June release. After five years in development, the game in its most recent beta build exhibits as much (or more) polish than many finished MMOs that have made their way to the marketplace. With a character creator that approaches City of Heroes or Matrix Online depth, fluid combat and an attractive interface, the finished product just might be a breath of fresh air for the weary MMO masses. And of course, the nautical combat system, which is part twitch, part tactical, and carries an authentic feel in the measured pace of the ships. Plus, you can be a pirate.

So, how does one prepare to make a game about swashbuckling seafarers? Watch a lot of pirate movies, for one. "All I have to say is ‘Errol Flynn'," Lebow jokes when I ask him whether The Sea Hawk or Douglas Fairbanks's The Black Swan is the better film. As many voices in Pirates of the Burning Sea's active fan community attest, though, it's a game with pirates, not a game about them. Players will have a degree of freedom over their personal approach to the game, be it high-seas adventure, menacing the high seas, or serving as a naval officer right out of a Patrick O'Brien novel.
"If you want the Hornblower style adventure, it's there for you. If you'd prefer to venture into the dark night, looking for things only found in nightmares, you may find those too."

Of course, who needs ghost pirates or cursed maps when the Caribbean portrayed in the game is already full of mutiny, murder, and whole cities mysteriously sinking into the ocean? "The history of that time period hardly needs any fictionalizing. So many amazing things happened. We start with what really happened, take out the scurvy, the doldrums, and those things that just don't translate into fun in a videogame, and we move forward from there."

Lebow promises that, no matter what career path a character might embark on, there will be plenty to do, and more importantly, that the story will be worthwhile. In addition to game developer, Lebow also lists ‘novelist' on his resume, so the plot and characters in the game are of paramount importance to him. "The world is very rich in story," he boasts. "No matter where you go, you'll be able to find a new conflict to poke your nose into. Our role-playing story arc is where players get to make choices that actually change the events that unfold."

Which is a bold claim. Bolder still, though, is the choice to use an entirely player-built economy in Pirates. "There are no shops or NPC vendors," Flying Lab's Theresa Pudenz told me when we met in New York. "Everything is made by the players." It's a proposition that can succeed wonderfully or fail horribly, depending on the playerbase on a given server. The notion that everything - even ships - can be handmade, though, is a powerful enticement, and the degree of freedom is well worth the risk, especially for players who want to eke out a humble living as a merchant.

Even though the retail release is still 3 months away, Flying Lab is already plotting out future content for the game. Some new material will be delivered via free patches, but being an MMO, expansion packs should also be expected. "Think of the content updates as additional chapters of the first story. The expansion will be more like the next book in the trilogy." Already on the table are new classes (grenadier is one), a system that allows players to recruit NPC officers to improve their ships' crews, and something Lebow calls ‘Adventure Sites', "huge explorable regions of the world that are entirely persistent. You'll find a lot of events here, along with upwards of 200 other players checking out the same space."

Pirates of the Burning Sea is still on track for its Summer 2007 release, with the game currently in beta testing. Would-be beta testers can apply at www.burningsea.com, and give the staff, as Jess Lebow puts it, "some more targets to shoot at."

Mar 7, 2007 - 2:07 pm | 0 comments
Jeff Stolarcyk