Tough one, i'm kinda anti-MMO now, they are ALL crap except WoW which really i can no longer access as a casual. I'm getting a seriously sick feeling to get the station pass lol. Though i still got the free month with this.

Quests: Lots, got 10 in my journal at any one time, but for most part it's running blockades, attacking fleets, boarding ships. Narration/lore is great, variation not so (suppose can only do so much with just sea)

Ground Combat: Not as bad as everyone says, in comparison to other MMO's. A fair comparison would be EQ2 release, just a bit faster. Three combat styles with what must be a dozen skill tree's in each. However, as far as i know, ground comabt is only fought on ships, ain't seen any in towns, but not sure.

Ship Combat: The key aspect of the game. Is tactically clever and involving. Taking into account the wind direction for you to get good speed/turning, then you're enemies position (you don't wan't his broadside with the guns facing you). I end up doing like a shark attack, circling around to hit the arse of the ship. It's good, amazing detail, but like EvE, i dunno how long you can just blow up ships for.

Character development: The character creation is pretty good, reminds me again of EQ2, similar settings. You can choose face, hat, belt, trousers,boots,vest,shirt,jacket,piercings,eye stuff, gloves,hair,etc. Though most people try to look like Jack Sparrow. Lots of skill tree's that effect mainly ship combat, such as speed. I haven't allocated a few of mine because it's hard to make a choice.

Ships: Lots of them, maybe 100+, but a ships a ship, mostly look the same to me. This is what you spend most of your active time in. For EvE is was a problem for me, in this it might be similar.

PvP: Haven't tried it yet, but hear the port battles offer little incentive at the moment: Losing your ship costs lots, winning gains you virtually nothing and ship combat can be slow.

Einvornment: Good graphics overall, but no jump, invisible walls, small maze-like towns and instances for virtually every situation. I hate instances. PvP is not open, you sail the open seas (which is kinda like a dumbed down map) and if you attack another ship, another isntance starts where the graphcis are turned up and you have a locked battle: not my cup of tea really.

Overall, it's interesting and different. I can't see a long termer here. People have capped in little over a month and the PvP is not rewarding. HUGE patch coming in next week or so will adress alot of things, but won't change the core game.
If you liked the idea of EvE, but found the depth a bit crazy and felt like it was an itneractive wallpaper, PotBS might be worth a try. Hardcore MMOers need not apply, doesn't offer enough to keep you hooked.

My rating would be 7.5/10: Fair-Good. (Reminds me of release SWG and EQ2 combined, though very few bugs, but it still has that slow feel and lack of variation)

The other choice right now is Tabular Rasa, which is the Planetside end of the specturm, but as such offers sod all but zerging.

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