I pulled into the French town of Grenville, a heavily-trafficked port near the southern tip of the Floridian peninsula. A multitude of French societies treat Grenville as an unofficial base of operations, while even more French players -- naval officers, free traders, and privateers alike -- establish their main economic office somewhere inside the city limits. These are not player-built offices in the MMO world, per se -- these exist only as an icon within a player’s inventory menu. But these offices are the cornerstone to the always-dynamic player-driven economy.

Grenville situates itself within eye-squinting range of Spanish-dominated Cuba, and is perched just as close to the Bahamas which sits swarming with pirates and Englishmen. To the French, they’re all one in the same; and vice versa.

I’ve ranked up to level 16 since I first arrived in the New World, all bright-eyed and full of wonder up in Charlesfort (in modern-day South Carolina). The single-player missions in my original homeport took me up a comfy and storied path to level 11, never leaving the relative comfort of Florida’s east coast. Those lower-level missions -- of which about 75% are copy-n-pasted to all of the nations -- are eloquently-written vignettes that should be nominated for some sort of MMO short-fiction prize.

The missions in my early teens, however, began to sputter and lose their debonair spirit. The linking stories shortened down to quick one-off deliveries, or out-and-in sorties to sink an established number of baddies. The level cap is at 50, though, so there’s plenty of room to reintroduce what Content Director Jess Lebow brought to the table in the first place. As the story creator and producer for the original Guild Wars and Eye of the North (not to mention the fact that Mr. Lebow has a handful of D&D novels fattening his resume), I have no doubts that there’s more in store for me as I cruise up to the game’s crow’s-nest levels.

The reasons behind what’ll keep Burning Sea around for a long time (longer than many might expect) are legion. But a significant contributor will be the Realm vs. Realm play. Power-leveling up to 50 isn’t designed to be a Korean-styled (or even WoW-styled) grind. Developer Flying Lab Software isn’t the architect of endless 40-man raids customized for that uber-loot drop. Flying Lab wants the players fighting over the map. And that becomes most interesting when everybody can conceivably attain level 50, stop worrying so much about the NPCs, and start broadsiding other players for real estate in the Caribbean.

As of this writing, on the Blackbeard server, Fort-de-France in the Lesser Antilles is under siege from the Brits. The island of Haiti (which is in the vicinity of famed pirate getaway, Tortuga) is getting ransacked fore and aft by the heavy pirate population. The Spanish are making a run for England’s Turtling Bay on the Yucatan, and have also sent Havana (in Cuba) into a ruckus, which is also disrupting a very important trade route along the Florida Keys.

When a port falls under contention -- enemies drop of “unrest supplies” to destabilize a port’s economy, renegade missions are undertaken to blockade a port, etc. -- then civil unrest begins to mount. Continuous enemy action makes a free-for-all PvP radius begin to widen its berth around the contended port. Until finally a 25 vs. 25-ship battle royal ensues, and the victor runs their flag up the pole. Notably, pirates cannot play for keeps. They pillage and plunder, but go on about their way after 36 hours. The Spanish, English, and French, however, do indeed play for keeps.

Flying Labs has hinted that nations suffering from low player populations will receive benefits to make up the imbalance. I have not found any details, though, and until then the outnumbered nations have to man-up on the playing field. There’s also (on the Blackbeard server) a non-aggression pact between Spain and France brought about by several of the server’s top Spanish and French leaders in order to stem attacks from the much higher British and pirate populations; but I’m sure there’s plenty of room for such non-binding contracts to fall apart at the seams. And if you ask our own Kolby Kappes (who’s flying Spanish colors on the Blackbeard server as well) sending some “frog-eating French” down to Davy Jones’ Locker still rates high on his gameplay objectives.

Suffice to say, I’m rather enjoying my new square-rigged ‘Hermes’ Packet-Boat, a 16-gun scout ship (plus 6 swivel cannons) that fares better than many ship designs at sailing with the wind, and though it was historically introduced as a swift, seaworthy mail carrier, I’m using that swift seaworthiness to rush up on an enemy, broadside them with some crew-depleting grapeshot, and board their sorry land-loving hindquarters before they know what’s happening.

See you in the sea lanes.

I find it funny that some people think MS should've built the 360 with an HD DVD player. They think if MS would've done that then HD DVD would have have had a better chance or even win the format wars. Personally, I don't think Microsoft cares about the format.. First and foremost, they want to succeed as a gaming console whereas Sony has more at stake having their hand in not only gaming but multimedia. In my opinion, MS is thinking digital distribution all the way and thats what they want to focus on. The add-on was a way to keep the 360 from being caught with a dead format and of course to make the console cheaper to produce. Before all this, the majority of folks were glad MS decided to separate the HD drive from the main console. I still feel they made a smart decision. In the end, it doesn't matter which format wins as long as there's one left.

Nerf guns are always useful but this is one the better mods I've seen. This fan of Nerf guns and Gears of War built his own Lancer from merging the gun with a toy chainsaw. It's a great project and he details it so you can build one of your own. If the pictures aren't enough to convince you, check it out in action.

Thanks Kotaku. 

Dear EA,

I need to be able to pull this off in NHL 09

Thanks,

 ->Chuck

I think this is the greatest Guitar Hero 3 player ever. I mean watch his skills. It's incredible. How does he do it?

 

It's been an active first week in the Pirates of the Burning Sea pre-boarding event (the game's commercial release is January 22).

My inception into the Burning Sea begins with a horrific explosion of cannon fire and splintered wood.  I run into the next room and see a gaping wound in the ship's broadside.  Ship's Log documents, shattered furniture, and dead crewmen are scattered from hell-to-breakfast.  Two other sailors flank the hole in the bulkhead and I see a small, fast vessel passing on our portside, Jolly Rogers flapping in the wind at their mastheads.

Who they are is obvious, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous.

A second later, another volley of cannons rips through the same room I'm standing in, and one of the dumbfounded deckhands is thrown back, dead.  A ship's officer is standing by, hands clasped behind his back, his demeanor as cool as the other side of the pillow.  W walk towards him, trying to follow suit, but I see a second pirate vessel coasting by as I hazard a glance out of the starboard porthole.  We're outnumbered by at least two to one.  Probably more.

The officer informs me that we're being boarded.  I run topside, flimsy cutlass drawn.  I'm greeted by salt-ocean air, a band of fellow crewmates, and half a dozen enemy boarders on the foc'sle deck.  I lead a one-man charge, and the chaos of blade-to-blade combat ensues.   Picking them off one by one, I swab the deck with those scalawags.  With my first desperately-won victory, I brandish my blade in the air.

I stroll back to the Captain's Quarters, anxious to tell the Skipper of our success in repelling the boarders.  Instead, as I walk in, I see the captain lying on the deck, coughing, nearing his death, as another officer crouches nearby, tending to the Skipper's soon-to-be-fatal wounds in vain.  He dies, and with his dying breath, he entrusts a mysterious map into my possession.  A map that will serve as the impetus in following the critical path of the main storyline.  The Map of Destiny.

Plus, I've just been promoted to captain of this fine schooner, a fast-moving, four-gun corvette with a lusty wind off the port bow and a crew anxious for a little port-of-call.

* * * * *

Every player's story starts the same.  The only differences lie in the NPC pirate flavor.  Be they Los Ladrones ("The Thieves" in Spanish), or the Bloody Arms pirates (plaguing the French), a problem child is named, and a newly-acquired enemy will eventually grow into a long-standing blood feud through the (admittedly) excellent writing of the storied missions.

In creating your avatar, there are four nations to choose from:  The British, Spanish, French, and the "nation" of Pirates.  On the Blackbeard server, the Pirate population is expectantly high, while Britain and Spain tie for second place.  With the French population earning a "light" rating, I cast my lot in with them.  No idea why, other than the fact that in the 1700s the Spanish empire was largely in decline, I personally don't want to be stuck eating Bangers & Mash (not to mention Spotted Dick) seven days a week with the Brits, and I can't imagine a terrible amount of organization coming out of a bulbous, self-serving Pirate population.   What has France done for us lately?  Beyond introducing us to Laetitia Casta, I'm not sure I know or care.  Wish me luck.

Further, there are three classes to choose from:  Naval Officer, Privateer, and Free Trader.  Pirates are pirates are pirates.  I'm assuming they have to jerry-rig skills from all three classes, settling to be master-of-none.  But don't quote me on that.

So if you see some French privateer named Armand Dresden (what's with the German last name?  Again, I don't know), please try to keep the griefing to a minimum.  And I'll see you on the sea lanes.

Here are more pictures I took from out and around Vegas.  The first three were taken outside the registration desk at The Wynn on a patio while were waiting for our Vizio appointment.  The next two were taken from the top of a double-decker bus Chuck and I took over to the Las Vegas Convention center and are showing off the area around the front of the Sands/Venetian convention center.  The last photo is a shot of the front of the Las Vegas convention center South (right) and Central (left) Halls.  The North Hall is not in the photo.  Until you actually set foot inside the place, you cannot appreciate how large it really is.  Enjoy these pics, as I plan to post a few from around the show floor soon.

 

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Walmart listed Super Smash Bros. for $20 and Haze for $30. Now any reasonable person would know these two are pricing errors and that there's probably a slim to no chance you'd get the two games for well below the regular price. Every store has a clause on their website stating they are not responsible for typos. So naturally a ton of people tried to order and naturally everyone's been canceled.  Not surprising, everyone's pitching a fit over the cancellation. I've been around long enough to know that you might get lucky and get something for well below normal price when you run into these things but chances are there will be a red flag thrown up by the enormous amount of orders placed and the company will cancel it. There's no reason to be upset, angry, or complain about it because back in your head you probably knew it wasn't going to come to fruition. There's no reason to try to see if there's legal action to be taken. You're trying to save $30 on a game. Is it worth all the trouble and fuss for $30? Granted Walmart could've handeled it a little better and issue an apology email stating it was a pricing error rather than just outright canceling the order but we are talking about Walmart here.

Jalopnik.com has some images from the Detroit Auto show that show a new Hummer model that bears a striking resemblance to a vehicle most of us have driven hundreds, if not thousands of times, the Halo Warthog.  The Hummer HX Concept could be something that Master Chief would be proud to tool around in.  Check out more images after the jump or see the full article over at Jalopnik.  Thanks to an Observant XboxAmerica member that found and posted it.

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The dog just cracks me up!