Massively^™

In a very interesting Q&A session, the Pirates of the Burning Sea development team dropped some compelling details about upcoming game additions, improvements and balancing. The biggest improvements so far have been to the user interface, but the PvP system is starting to get some love as well. The design team says it was their goal to make PvP easily available for those who wanted to participate, but avoidable for those who didn't care to join in. Refreshingly, they admit that the current game doesn't allow for this and they're bringing the first changes in the 1.2 patch that's out right now.

Pirates of the Burning Sea patch 1.3 has been making more than a few waves since its inception. In a recent post to the PotBS community, Flying Lab designer Isildur discusses his views on the state of the economy. The basis is that Isildur, who mentions the economy as his baby, is not performing to specifications it was originally designed for. Players are making more than enough doubloons as traders, but PvPers are increasingly left behind.

As he states, "PvP is not sustainable without doing other non-PvP activities." The economy has fallen into the hands of the care-bear. That's not a bad thing, of course, since money is being made and doubloons are being generated. The problem lies in those warehouses so many folks in PotBS like to store things in. There are a lot of doubloons being generated into the hands of a few people and those coins aren't going anywhere. This leads to inflation which means PvPers, who don't necessarily make too much from PvP, are forced to partake in economic activities in order to stay afloat.

The Pirates of the Burning Sea development team has already given a couple previews for the upcoming 1.3 patch, but now they've put one up concerning some important user interface changes. The first change is the addition of a new window for the equally new NPC that will be accepting player's Marks of Victory. The window is simple and easy to navigate, while also looking quite nice.

Aside from the addition of the new window, an older window is getting a face-lift. The Mission Journal has been a point of complaint for players since launch. The changes being made are all good ones, in our opinion. The first and biggest improvement makes it easier for players to determine mission difficulty, an important factor when trying to level your character. Increasing the fonts have made it easier to read the actual missions. Apparently the fonts were small to help with localization. And finally -- because players have also been asking -- the missions will now tell you a bit more about themselves upfront. Players won't have to guess whether a mission is solo, group, tutorial, normal, epic, etc -- which is definitely a welcome change.

Flying Lab decided to change some things and make what was deemed a "shopping experience that was certainly less than ideal" slightly easier on the community to understand. Technical content designer Anna Murchison explains to aspiring buccaneers that the new exchange shop reflects a blend of the auction house and shop interfaces players are used to interacting with. When players enter an exchange shop and speak with one of the shop attendants, a new list will appear on the interface. Displayed on the left hand side of the list is what you need to receive an item. On the right hand side of the list is what you receive for the exchange. Pull down lists, filters, and the removal of the mission turn in system should make life easier for experienced naval commanders and fledgling fish mongers alike.