Pirates of the Burning Sea is converting to Free to Play

[Ace Rimsey]

As the last division captain for the TOG Pirates of the Burning Sea division, I list below the interesting announcement by the game developers of their plan to move from a subscription model to a Free to play model with micro transactions funding the game.

So if you ever played PotBS in the past, then you won't be limited to the max of 2 char slots and structure slot limit of free players. You will retain access to all your characters, dockyards and structures.

I will post here when this change begins and maybe we can resurrect this division back to an active TOG division.

Pirates of the Burning Sea What does Free to Play mean?
What does Free to Play mean?

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Posted by Mr. Nutty | 09/16/2010 | Devlog | Discuss

Last night we announced that Pirates of the Burning Sea is going to be Free to Play. Changing the business of a live game is a big deal and it’s naturally going to raise a lot of questions. Allow me to address some of the primary questions from a design perspective and clarify how we expect things to work.
What does Free to Play mean for the game?

Pirates of the Burning Sea will no longer have a required membership and we will offer the complete PotBS experience to everyone. We want to remove the monetary barrier to the game and instead offer ways to enhance your experience through micro-transactions. Micro-transaction items will be available at an in-game store. You’ll be able to purchase these items using Burning Sea Points that you can either acquire from other players or buy for real-world money.
We are very interested in offering ways to help players make the parts of the game they like better and cut down on any time spent in between. Since we don’t want micro-transactions to be a barrier for gameplay, many items for sale will be aids for reaching maximum level and tools for starting out a PvP career.
We won’t ever sell an item that lets you dominate the PvP game. We want to give all players access to the end game experience of PotBS and get them interested in the existing game systems so that the game can grow as a whole. That means that we will not be selling any outfittings, ships, etc that are clearly better than ones you can obtain through normal gameplay.
What does Free to Play mean for me?

Let’s assume you have not purchased PotBS before and are considering giving our game a shot when it becomes free-to-play. The new free accounts will be able to level to 50 and the accounts will have no end date. Free accounts will only have 2 character slots per nation, but if you like to play more classes or just like to play different characters, you can upgrade the number of characters slots on your account. The same thing goes for structure slots and dockyard slots, where again you’ll have two as standard. Our goal is to give anyone who creates an account a taste of everything in the game and let you choose how you want to expand on your experience.
You will also have the option of joining the Captain’s Club. That’s our new name for subscriptions, and membership will grant you certain benefits, such as a bonus to all experience, loot chance, faction gained for kills, and a substantial discount for all items purchased with Burning Sea Points while you are a member.
Captain’s Club members and anyone who has ever subscribed to PotBS will automatically have access to every account upgrade that free accounts do not have (i.e. character slots, structure slots, dockyard slots); we don’t want to take anything away from the players who have supported PotBS since we launched.
The bottom line is that we want to offer the game to everyone for free while still making sure that our current and former subscribers are recognized for their support.
What do I have to look forward to?

What I discussed above is what it means for PotBS to switch from a subscription-only to a free-to-play model, but I haven’t yet touched on why you should be looking forward to micro-transactions. Our in-game store is called Treasure Aisle and the main thing it will offer is availability.
No matter what port you are in, you now have goods available to you ranging from consumables and xp/loot/faction buffs to shoulder pets and clothing. We are even adding a number of new and unique items including follow pets and NPC allies for PvE content. We’ll be releasing more devlogs talking about some of these items in depth in the near future.
We really think you guys are going to like the items we will be offering and we hope you tell your friends to try out Pirates of the Burning Sea for free.


I’m sure you will still have a lot of questions, and we will try our best to answer them. We are still working some things out (i.e. how much real money Burning Sea Points will actually cost), so we might not have all of the answers right away.


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Pirates of the Burning Sea Q&A with Design Lead :: ZAM


Pirates of the Burning Sea Q&A with Design Lead Sep 17th, 2010 at 11:30 AM by Togikagi

Flying Lab announced this week that Pirates of the Burning Sea will be going free-to-play, so we sat down with Design Department Lead Declan O'Connell to talk about the change and the new expansion.


The first major expansion for Pirates of the Burning Sea, Power & Prestige, just launched two days ago, but it turns out the team at Flying Lab Software had another major announcement hidden up its collective sleeves. That same night, the team revealed that the pirate-themed MMO will be going free-to-play this fall!
We decided to go straight to the developers to find out exactly what this change means for both current and new players. Design Department Lead Declan O'Connell was kind enough to give us some more details on why Flying Lab is going the free-to-play route, and he explains how the release of Power & Prestige coupled with the F2P tag can be considered a relaunch of the game.
Keep reading after the jump for the full interview! Yarr!
ZAM: Flying Lab just made the huge announcement that Pirates of the Burning Sea will go free-to-play with the next major update. Why the change?
Declan: A subscription-only model is limiting in two ways:
First, it's a huge barrier to trying the game. When a potential new player is looking to pick up a game, they're thinking "This looks like fun, maybe I’ll give it a try." When you tell them subscriptions are required, it frames the question in terms of commitment: "Do I want to pay for this game long term?" Players are looking for fun, not commitment, and free-to-play gives them what they want.
Second, it limits the player's choice of how much they invest in the experience. With a flat subscription rate, a player who likes to jump in and play a few hours every few days has to pay the same as someone who logs on 40 hours a week. With free-to-play, players get to make that choice of how little or how much they want to pay based on how much fun they’re having. And because Pirates is such a fun game, we think that'll go pretty well for us!
So, why are we making the game free? We're making the game free for the players who love the game but aren't sure if they can justify paying for the subscription this month. We're making it free for the players who would love our game but haven't tried it out because they don't like the idea of subscriptions. We're making it free because we want to give everyone the chance to be a captain of their own ship and wage war against their enemies.
ZAM: How long has the plan to make the game free-to-play been in the works?
Declan: We made the decision over a year ago, and as we've worked through the technical and business issues, we've been planning what we would change, what we would offer in the shop, what our philosophy was with regard to free players vs. paying players, and so on. We knew that we were announcing free-to-play the day P&P went live, so we've been working towards that schedule.

ZAM: How much of the current version of the game will be available to players once the game goes free-to-play? Will there be any restrictions in place for players who choose not to purchase any extra content?
Declan: For current subscribers, nothing will be removed. They will have full access to all of the features available to them before the switch. Free players will have access to two character slots per nation, two active ships per character, and two economy structures per account. They will be able to purchase upgrades to all of these features, or may subscribe to gain them all at once.
Free and subscription players alike will have access to over a thousand missions, PVP, port governance (a new feature in Power and Prestige), and the aggressive international warfare that our current players know and love.
Moreover, players will have the opportunity to purchase Burning Sea Points (the RMT currency) from other players for doubloons (the in-game currency), so even free players can experience the full range of possibilities the game has to offer.
ZAM: Can you go into a little more detail about the premium content that will be available for purchase, especially the missions? Will it all be optional, or will some players have an edge if they purchase content and items?
Declan: This is, I think, the most important issue to tackle when considering the shift to free-to-play. We want players to be able to use real money to level new characters quickly or get back in the fight quickly, but we do not want people paying to win. That cheapens the experience for everyone.
We're offering items that increase your XP gain, loot gain, faction gain, consumable items comparable to those craftable by players, clothing options, some long-awaited pet options, summonable allies that will help you in PVE (but NOT PVP), and more. There's too much to list here.
As for missions, we are adding treasure hunt missions for sale that let people turn their Burning Sea Points into doubloons with a little time and effort. The only existing missions we have put behind a purchase for free players are the Besieged Tortuga epic missions. They represent a kind of encapsulated experience that we will be building more of in the future.

ZAM: What kind of content will be found in the Captain's Club subscription plan? Any idea on the price yet?
Declan: Players with a Captain's Club membership will get the maximum number of character slots, active ship slots, economic structure slots, ship storage, ship insurance, access to all Epic Mission content (current and new), a discount in the RMT store (AKA Treasure Aisle), and a bonus to XP, loot and faction gain. As for price, we’ll be announcing that soon.
ZAM: The announcement says the game will become free-to-play in fall 2010. Do you have a tentative target date set?
Declan: When it's ready. I'd like to be more specific, but you'll have to be content with "soon."

ZAM: This announcement comes right after the launch of Power & Prestige, which has been in the works for quite a while. Do you view the expansion and free-to-play conversion as somewhat of a relaunch of the game?
Declan: We very much do. For the past two and a half years, we've been hard at work making the best game possible for lovers of the pirate and nautical genres. Players who were with us at our original launch will hardly recognize the game. The ship combat they've always loved remains, but we have made improvements to nearly every major system in the game, added dozens of new features and crafted hundreds of new missions. With the game being free, everyone is invited to buckle their swashes and unfurl their sails!
ZAM: What do you want new players who might try out the game once it becomes free-to-play to know about the expansion?
Declan: The biggest thing the expansion has to offer is the Port Governance system, which encourages societies (guilds) to take new players under their wings as part of collecting influence in the Caribbean. The societies that shepherd the most active new characters will be the ones with the clout to govern multiple ports and carve out the biggest name for themselves. If you're a new player, find yourself an enthusiastic society and start conquering the seas!
ZAM: The new Port Governance system is an incredibly intriguing idea. How has the system fared with players in the beta test and the initial launch? What types of actions have you seen governors perform?
Declan: The beta testers have really gone to town on it. Some turn their port into a tax-haven for foreign trade, while others fortify their port against any foreign activity, military or economic. Some ports change hands as often as the cooldowns allow, while others have entrenched incumbents with the backing of several powerful societies.
As for the live game, (at the time of writing this) it's only been out there for a few hours, so I don't have any wacky stories yet. With 80 ports up for grabs, it's only a matter of time before some players' antics become legendary.
ZAM: Looking ahead, what else can players expect to see in the next major update aside from the free-to-play change?
Declan: Aside from the new missions, pets, clothes, dozens of commissioned allies, and all the advancement accelerants and items-of-convenience we are making available through the store? That's not enough for you? Well, in the short term, we're adding new animations for many of the emotes players can perform and making some balance tweaks to some existing epic missions. Long term, we'll be adding more missions, society tools, avatar customization options, and some other big changes I cannot currently talk about.
ZAM: So be honest, did you plan the release of Power & Prestige and the free-to-play announcement around Talk Like A Pirate Day?
Declan: Fate works in mysterious ways!
ZAM: Fair enough. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us about these huge changes to Pirates of the Burning Sea!

Darryl Gangloff, Editor-in-Chief

[Bayland]

I can help with division resurrection. It's my specialty. It's a matter of population and interest. I just need one interested person who's willing to scout out the terrain...err sea.

- Bay

[Ace Rimsey]

Originally Posted by Bayland

I can help with division resurrection. It's my specialty. It's a matter of population and interest. I just need one interested person who's willing to scout out the terrain...err sea.

- Bay

Sure as the last Division captain for when TOG played Pirates of the Burning Sea , I am happy to be the point man on this task.

Will post back when the change comes through.

Most of the old TOG PotBS players started as French, so I expect that when we restart PotBS that we will be a French Nation society.

[Bayland]

What a guy!

[Atrayo]

Hi There,

Originally Posted by Ace Rimsey

Most of the old TOG PotBS players started as French, so I expect that when we restart PotBS that we will be a French Nation society.

*Cough, Cough*

That was the Oz / Kiwi contingent of the old TOG PotBS that went Frenchie. The NA / Euro crowd of TOG went Pirates as a faction. PotBS was the only MMO i've ever reached top level with an avatar. (IE lvl 50)

This has got me curious, I'll be more than likely keep an eye on PotBS as it gets closer to going F2P. Although it doesn't seem that the game dev's will be using SOE's game currency of "Station Cash".

[Ace Rimsey]

Originally Posted by Atrayo

Hi There,

*Cough, Cough*

That was the Oz / Kiwi contingent of the old TOG PotBS that went Frenchie. The NA / Euro crowd of TOG went Pirates as a faction. PotBS was the only MMO i've ever reached top level with an avatar. (IE lvl 50)

I have two maxed at 50 a Naval Officer (for Ship of the Line Port battles) and a Free trader (For ship building). Currently have a level 18 Privateer which I was working on until I cancelled my subscription.

So I am committed to going French national whether the TOG PotBS division resurrects or not.

I would like to be the focal point for all those players who paid Telstra to play only to see them get abandoned when the agreement with Flying labs was terminated.

You paid your money, there should be no reason not to continue on and take advantage of the fact you spent your money.

With 2 years of development since then, there are plenty of quests and things to do and learn if it is free to play.

I for one would be keen to jump back in for a port battle on occassion without having to commit to grinding to farm for gold.

With two level 50s and a level 18 and with 3Million in doubloons, I would have a nice boost in restarting this game.

Plus I am still hooked on this style of tactical/strategic gaming having just got Sid Meier's Pirates for my Wii console. I put in a nonstop 24 hour gaming session and it was great!

I started in 1620 The new colonists era as an English Privateer based in Barbados. I sailed south captured the Treasure fleet leaving Trinidad. 24 Hours of elapsed time later, I had a War Galleon with all the eight out fittings plus about 6 specialists (eg. Carpenter, Ships surgeon, cooper, etc) and 6 special items (ie. Fiddle, spyglass, disguise kit, Balanced swords). I was busy converting the minor Spanish colonies over to the allies by bombardment. The new minigame specifically for the Wii which allows you to take on the port defences and any docked ships in a sideways scrolling shooter. With 32 guns, I was able to blow away 25 fixed guns and the two ships with 4 x 32 pounders defending the port. At first I was firing a salvo, but learned to save the salvo for the ships and pick off the enemy guns with one shot per cannon.

This was only my first game in years. I think now that I know the game better, I will delete this save and restart and aim to convert those spanish towns earlier so I have a better base to raid the spanish settlements in south america and intercept the silver and gold convoys.

Only thing I dislike about the Wii version is the dancing controls tend to be inaccurate and the sword fighting is also not as accurate as it should be. Especially now that the Wii Motion Plus accessory is now a standard part of the controller.

2KGames China did a bit of a shoddy port of the XBox version.

Originally Posted by Atrayo

This has got me curious, I'll be more than likely keep an eye on PotBS as it gets closer to going F2P. Although it doesn't seem that the game dev's will be using SOE's game currency of "Station Cash".

Yeah, I remember Abaddon's fury having gone off to form a pirate society. Thats great, in many divisions (eg. EVE Online) multiple factions coexist under the TOG Banner.

In the past the Pirates faction is more a balancing force as it can't permanently conquer the map by changing over control of a port.

When pirates win a port battle the port is ransacked and returns to the national's control after 3 days. So the Pirate faction was more a balancing mechanism to delay a victory by a Nation by acting as a wild card and an ever present additional threat if a single nation ever negotiates a truce with the other three national factions.

So to have a meaningful strategic experience you need to go national faction rather than pirates.

Having said that, Flying Labs Software (FLS) has now reduced the number of servers from about six down to two main servers and a test server.

So there is no reason not to go say French national on Roberts and Pirate faction on Antigua or viceversa.

Hence you can play TOG both as a pirate and a national and switch over betwen the two depending on the level of player traffic at the time you want to game.

The important thing is to restart activity in PotBS within TOG and hopefully get something going long term now that there is no pressure to always be playing to justify a monthly subscription.

From reading the official posting, I think that even if you have never played before, spending USD$14.99 for one month means you get at least a decent amount of character slots, ship slots, storage slots and economy, before lapsing to the Premium mode.

The Captain's club is really only for those people who want to grind hard as you get bonus xp, faction, etc. as well as the premium missions. Even without the premium content there is thousands of missions available to do without paying anything.

[Ace Rimsey]

Pirates of the Burning Sea - Free Trial

You can soon play Pirates of the Burning Sea™ for free! Soon, no subscription will be required to access and play much of the game*. Premium content will be available for purchase through the in-game store, Treasure Aisle, or through a Captain's Club membership, available for US$14.99 per month (plus applicable taxes).
Click here to compare features included with free-to-play accounts, Captain’s Club memberships, and Premium accounts.

If you are looking for the trial version of the game, it is no longer available. Check back soon and start playing for free.
Pirates of the Burning Sea is an MMORPG featuring high-seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder. Set against the backdrop of the New World of the 18th century, players can choose one of three nations — England, France or Spain — or choose the role of a Pirate and battle it out for glory and power.
Key Features

• Choose to be a Naval Officer, Privateer, Freetrader, Buccaneer or Cutthroat.
• Battle other players to control more than 80 conquerable ports in the Caribbean.
• Become an elected Port Governor and influence economy and defenses.
• Engage in tactical ship combat, firing broadsides and boarding the enemy using one of over 150 historical ships.
• Specialize in one of four different styles of land combat — formal Fencing, dual-wielding Florentine, treacherous Dirty Fighting or brutal Brawling.
• Explore the world and make a name for yourself in more than 1000 missions.
• Vie for power and wealth with the fully player-driven economy.
• Design your own personal flags and customized sail patterns.

Pirates of the Burning Sea Free To Play Information

Play for Free!

Pirates of the Burning Sea can soon be played for free with unrestricted access to the Port Conquest system and core mission content*. For a subscription price of $14.99 per month (plus applicable taxes), you will be able to become a Captain's Club member, which will give you access to certain premium content and a discount at Treasure Aisle, the new in-game store. Those players who are not Captain's Club members will be able to purchase certain premium content at Treasure Aisle as well. Former subscribers with accounts that were not banned or terminated and players who leave the Captain's Club will become Premium Players, with access to certain premium content at no cost. Compare features included with free-to-play accounts, Captain's Club memberships, and Premium Player accounts below.
For more information about Free to Play, please read our FAQ.

Three classes of Membership

1. Free Account
Cost = FREE
Character Slots per nation = 2
Dockyard slots per character = 2, can purchase more
Ship storage Slots = 0, can purchase more
Economy slots per account = 2, can purchase more
Item Discount = None
Ship Insurance = No ship insurance unless purchased separately
Premium Missions = Available for Purchase
Experience/Loot/Faction Bonus = No Bonus

2. Premium Account
Cost = FREE after one month of Captain's Club membership
Former subscribers free**

Character Slots per nation = 6
Dockyard slots per character = 5
Ship storage Slots = 100
Economy slots per account = 10
Item Discount = None
Premium Missions = Available for Purchase
Ship Insurance = Automatic ship insurance
Experience/Loot/Faction Bonus = No Bonus

3. Captain's Club
Cost = $14.99 / month
Character Slots per nation = 6
Dockyard slots per character = 5
Ship storage Slots = 100
Economy slots per account = 10
Item Discount = 20% discount
Premium Missions = Automatic access to premium mission content including the Besieged Tortuga epic missions
Ship Insurance = Automatic ship insurance
Experience/Loot/Faction Bonus = 10%

* Terms and Conditions: Soon no software purchase will be required to play Pirates of the Burning Sea™, and no subscription purchase will be required to play much of the game for free. Some game enhancements and premium content will need to be purchased from Treasure Aisle, the in-game store, as part of the Premium Player plan, or by purchasing and maintaining a monthly Captain's Club subscription ($14.99 per month plus applicable taxes). Pirates of the Burning Sea™ requires internet connection to play, and you are responsible for all applicable internet fees. To play as a Premium Player at no additional cost, you must be a former Pirates of the Burning Sea™ subscriber with an account in good standing, or if you are a new player, you must pay for or have paid for at least one month's subscription at $14.99 (plus applicable taxes). To subscribe, update your Station Account profile with a valid credit or official SOE Game Card. To purchase Station Cash™, update your Station Account with a valid credit card or SOE Station Cash Card activation code. Promotional gameplay time and Station Cash are non-transferrable, and promotional in-game items are non-tradeable. Items, Station Cash and gameplay time have no cash value, and are subject to the game's End User License Agreement and Station Terms of Service.

** Former subscribers with accounts that were not banned or terminated will be Premium Players the first time they log into the game after it goes free-to-play.

[MMOGAddict]

I think I still have a 45ish spanish NO on Antigua. God knows if its still there or not, haven't played it since about 1-2 months after the Aus servers first game about.

[Ace Rimsey]

Originally Posted by MMOGAddict

I think I still have a 45ish spanish NO on Antigua. God knows if its still there or not, haven't played it since about 1-2 months after the Aus servers first game about.

Antigua is one of the active servers, so provided your subscription to Sony station only lapsed due to ending your subscription, you should be eligible to the Premium player account and access your old stuff.

When I restart the division, I will post a survey to see how many players want to play each faction and on which server and we can decide on how to divide up the TOG in to different factions for the different servers.

As you can have up to 6 characters, you could easily have a primary and some alts for economy production on both servers.

The great thing about a large society is that you will have lots of production slots to share with each society to help defray the costs of constructing the ships you will need to play with.

Once its free to play, its very easy to login occasionally and do your econ and pass on the materials to our ship builders and then later buy ready made ships for when you want to have a go in a port battle or coop mission.

I myself was still saving up for a 1st Rate, I have been running with 4th rate ships because the cost of a 1st rate is insanely expensive and I never had the time and patience to grind out enough cash to buy one.

NB: Since the new expansion all 1st and 2nd Rate recipes have been removed so only existing owners of these big bundle boats will be able to use them ingame. The largest ship now available is a third rate ship of the line for Naval Officers. Looks like the other classes now have the edge of the Naval Officers in class specific ship choices.

For those thinking about playing PotBS, this game is all about ships.

This URL will give you a good comparison of the ship types available ingame
http://www.potbs-companion.net/shipyard/index.php

[Ace Rimsey]

The selection of server to play on depends on if you want to participate in the strategic conquest of ports for your nation in Realm versus Realm (RvR) combat.

Even if you go pirate, you want to keep these times in mind as thats when the greatest number of nationals (potential victims) will be sailiing the high seas.

As I mentioned before, Flying Labs Software (FLS) have consolidated their servers down to two servers, one to cater to North American Players (Antigua) and the other for European Players (Roberts)

As can be seen these are extremely unfriendly times for Australian evening players.

Hence our best chance of participating in a port battle would be on a saturday morning or during the day which better aligns with Antigua (North America) 5:00am – 3:00pm AEST

In contrast if you are a night owl, than Roberts (Europe) 10:00pm – 10:00am AEST would be a better fit for you as you could participate in port battles held during the early part of the afternoon in Europe as our 10.00 pm to midnight each day is equivalent to midday to evening players in europe and morning players in America (5:00am – 5:00pm PDT)

In Summary for Australian Players

So if you think you will be only playing once a saturday morning each week or during the day in Australia than the choice would be Antigua (US).

However if you expect to playing late every night after the kids are tucked up in beds then you should choose Roberts (Eu)

===========================================
Server Status

Encyclopdia Piratica - Server Status

This page shows information about the Pirates of the Burning Sea servers. This information includes Port Battle times and the status for each server.

North America

Antigua
Status: Online (version: 2.00.49.00)
Port Battles: 7:00pm – 5:00am GMT*
*Noon – 10:00pm PDT, 8:00pm – 6:00am BST, 5:00am – 3:00pm AEST

Europe

Roberts

Status: Online (version: 2.00.49.00)
Port Battles: Noon – Midnight GMT**

**5:00am – 5:00pm PDT, 1:00pm – 1:00am BST, 10:00pm – 10:00am AEST