Pirates of the Burning Sea launched two years ago this January following an elongated development period on the part of Flying Lab Software. Despite the factors of player run economies, developer immersion, a surprising balance in classes, and player vs player ship combat, the game fell short of a hot launch due to the steep learning curve and lack of documentation for new players. Despite that, reviewers called it innovative, and an example for other MMOs to follow, rather than a “reskinned Everquest.”
As I have pointed out in the past, reviewers can say what they want, an MMOs’ success comes down to one thing: Player retention. In late 08, in order to increase server populations, Flying Labs shut down seven servers, reducing the final number down to six worldwide servers.
Well, depending on how you want to see it, the consolidation was either a huge success, or just a temporary fix to a bigger issue. Flying Labs is at it again, and in the latest developer blog, the developer detailed plans to reduce the server count further, to two servers (Antigua and Roberts), one server in North America and one in Europe.
The servers will be live until March 5th, when they will be taken down. Until then, players are able to transfer their characters to one of the two remaining servers. More on the server merger as it appears.
MMO Fallout 