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Author:
Nogame
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Interviewed: Taylor Daynes Lead Designer of PotBS
Interviewed by:
Nogame
GameAmp: First, tell us a little about yourself and your involvement in Pirates of the Burning Seas.
Taylor:Hey there! My name is Taylor Daynes, and I’m the Lead Designer on Pirates of the Burning Sea. I’ve been working at Flying Lab Software for seven years now, so when we started thinking about what project to work on after Delta Green, I was in a great position to be able to pitch a massively multiplayer pirate game. Since then, my role has been to design the game’s systems, and then to tune those systems once they are implemented. Most visibly, since it’s a major ongoing effort, I’m in charge of the systems and tuning behind sailing and our ship-to-ship combat.
GameAmp: What’s your favorite Pirate movie and why in the world do you think it is better then Sinbad and the Seven Seas?
Taylor: I’m probably going to be a little boring on this one, but how can you beat Pirates of the Caribbean? Not only does Johnny Depp kick ass, but – despite the skeleton pirates – Pirates of the Caribbean is incredibly realistic. They spent a lot of time researching their setting, and it shows – from the uniforms and costumes to the swivels guns and language. And to top it off, the Interceptor was played by the Lady Washington, a beautiful recreation of an 18th century brig, whose home port is near Seattle. I even had the opportunity to sail with her one beautiful summer day, which gave me the chance to fondly stroke axe marks left in the railing by Orlando Bloom himself.
I would rate Pirates of the Caribbean head and shoulders above Sinbad and the Seven Seas, primarily based on the simple fact that I haven’t – when you want to get technical about it - seen Sinbad and the Seven Seas.
GameAmp: Tell us a little bit about your MMO experience? What games have you played, what games were your favorites?
Taylor: My awareness of MMOs began with the beta of Ultima Online, but I was a Mac user at that time. Once I had a PC, I deliberately chose to sit EverQuest out on since the setting didn’t interest me, despite being fascinated by the MMO genre. At the time, however, I was already following the pre-launch news about Asheron’s Call, whose unique world and skill-based systems appealed to me. I got heavily involved in Asheron’s Call both in beta, and post-launch. As with may people, that first love made a big impression – few of the other games I played were able to hook me for very long. I briefly played Dark Age of Camelot, Neocron, Asheron’s Call 2, City of Heroes and EverQuest 2, and I’ve tried EvE Online, Earth and Beyond and Horizons. Like all good fans, I gave Star Wars Galaxies a good run. My big revelation was with World of Warcraft. I joined WoW the day it launched, and despite my skeptical prejudice, I’ve enjoyed it longer than I have any other MMO.
Character Progression
GameAmp: Traditionally MMOs use a level-based means of character progression. Does PotBS have a similar system of character development? How does the mission system tie in?
Taylor: Character advancement in Pirates of the Burning Sea should feel comfortable to people who have played other MMOs. As you defeat enemies and complete missions, you’ll gain XP toward your next level. Levels grant you access to bigger and better ships, outfitting, items and skills. And naturally, as your character advances, you’ll also be offered more challenging missions and opportunities for player-versus-player activities.
GameAmp: There are both skills and ship modifications that can be earned as your character progresses through the game? How are skills earned? How are ship modifications earned? Are there alternative ways to earn either?
Taylor: In general, you get skills by talking to an Instructor, and buying the skills you want with skill points which are granted each level. We’ve designed the system so that skills can be earned through other means as well. For instance, there may be cases where we grant certain skills as mission rewards. Our mission designers are wily – you never know what they’re going to do next! Ship modifications are like regular items – you qualify for them based on things like your level, skills you’ve chosen, and the career you’ve picked.
GameAmp: Through character progression, what will players receive that will distinguish them visually from a sea of lower level pirates? Will missing limbs and patched eyes be rewards for a job well done?
Taylor: We’ve considered that very thing, but to be honest, we’re still not sure how we’re going to grant eye patches and peg-legs. The problem is similar to the Jedi in Star Wars Galaxies: everyone wants eye patches, just like everyone wants to be a Jedi. We want players to wear their peg-leg as a mark of pride and distinction. We’ve got several plans, but nothing implemented yet. On the other hand, players will be able to distinguish themselves through rich clothing and elite customization options on their ships.
GameAmp: One of the most enticing features of the game is the ability to switch between ships when at a port. Meaning if your group needs a specific kind of ship (scout, hunter, dreadnought, etc) you can simply switch boats and play a different role in your group. Are there limitations on this system or can you change to any boat (or class) at any given time?
We’re excited about that too! It’s very powerful to be able to pick your role in combat based on the group you’re with, and the task at hand. We are planning on limitations in this system, but those plans must remain secret for the time being.
Mission System
GameAmp: It has been stated that missions can be obtained from NPC’s at ports. Are there any missions that can be obtained through different means such as finding a mysterious cargo, sailing into uncharted water or obtaining special accolades?
Taylor: Yep! Our mission system is tremendously flexible. We can make pretty much anything clickable, and we can make anything clickable offer you a mission.
GameAmp: Will you be able to group with friends to work towards the completion of missions? Will the missions scale to harder difficulties with the presence of additional party members?
Taylor: You and your group will be able to work together toward the completion of missions. There are some exciting exceptions to this having to do with personalized story arcs, but most missions share completion credit. City of Heroes is a great example of a game whose mission difficulty scaled with the size of the group. Lots of folks in the office loved CoH and the new City of Villains, and although we considered following the same route, we ended up deciding that a static difficulty level for missions made it easier for players to tailor their play experience. By advertising the relative difficulty of the mission, you can opt for a challenge by taking on higher level missions solo, or in small groups, and you can also get some friends to help you through a particularly tough mission.
GameAmp: Is there any estimate on how many missions will make it into the final release? Can all missions be obtained by any faction or are they faction specific?
Taylor: We were just talking about this very thing the other day, and the plan, at the current rate of production, is to have over a thousand missions in the game at launch. Most of those missions are universally available, but there are some that are restricted to specific factions.
GameAmp: It was once said that the missions in PotBS resemble “eBay” in the fact that they “go up in value the longer they go unclaimed”. Could you elaborate any on this very interesting process?
Taylor: That was indeed once said. The increasing value for unclaimed missions was a product of a much simpler “random mission generator” style mission system. Our new mission system allows us to quickly generate lots of great custom missions and content. Although this new system doesn’t include the original notion of increasing value, our missions are much more fun, so we’re happy with the tradeoff!
Loot / Merchant System
GameAmp: PotBS allows you to overtake a ship at the high seas often taking that ship’s cargo. Does cargo serve as a monetary value or will it allow you to obtain consumables or “repair items” that were held by the defeated player?
Taylor: When you defeat a ship, you get all the commodities it was carrying, you will often find repair items, ammunition and other consumables, and you may even find special items and outfitting. And in our world, all the commodities are used in the economy, so there’s nothing out there whose only purpose is to sell to NPC vendors. No matter what you find, someone else is going to want it!
GameAmp: Most MMO gamers love a loot-rich system that allows people to further distinguish themselves from other players. Does PotBS cater to the loot-lovers out there?
Taylor: Of course! We realize people love to make their characters unique – that’s why our character customization is so great! Similarly, people love finding, making or buying that great piece of gear that will set them apart from others, so we’re doing everything we can to make loot in PotBS plentiful, meaningful and cool-looking.
GameAmp: It has been stated that PotBS vendors will work from a supply & demand market meaning that the more an item is sold to that specific vendor, the less he will pay for it and vice versa. This is a very exciting choice of economy, why did the development team go with this format rather then the static item prices?
Taylor: Isildur recently released a lengthy dev-log regarding the economy we’ve designed, which does a much better job than I can do in this interview. To briefly answer your question, though, from the very start, I envisioned a game where tactical ship combat, a dynamic player-run economy based on mines, workshops and players hauling goods, and a player-driven port-conquest system were all integrated into a single game where the actions of a single player could change the world.
In order for a single person to make an impact on the world, their actions need to affect others, or the world itself, and the player-driven economy does that for us by making players the source of all resources, items and prices in the world. Now, as we’ve dreamed for so long, the British Navy can deny the French access to the best timber for shipbuilding, making it harder for them to put up a defense. This advantage can help the British take French ports that have access to other resources critical to British strategy. But that expansion spreads their defenses thin, and requires more trade ships to carry goods through dangerous waters, giving the French more opportunities for retaliation and blockade.
Early on, the interdependence of these systems was regarded as perhaps slightly overly ambitious, and I’m delighted that the game has grown into that ambition over the years.
Stay tuned to GameAmp for Part 2 of the Taylor Daynes interview where we will talk about PvP and the future of PotBS. |
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