This month marks the second anniversary of the release of Flying Lab Software¹s highly acclaimed and award-winning MMORPG ­ Pirates of the Burning Sea. The game is rolling into 2010 bigger and better than ever with new and robust cinematic avatar combat; new conquest features, such as improved ship battles and blockading; and an abundance of new content including ships, missions, and clothes. A more detailed list of the new features can be found on the Pirates of the Burning Sea web site (http://www.burningsea.com/page/community/new).

Flying Lab Software will also be holding an in-game anniversary event on January 23, 2010. During the event players will be able to play against the creators of Pirates of the Burning Sea, and game rewards will be given. To join the party fun and check out the game, prospective pirates can test out their swashbuckling skills for free for 2 weeks by signing up at http://www.burningsea.com/try.

³Flying Lab is very proud to have such a strong and active gaming fan base for Pirates of the Burning Sea, and we are looking forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with our community,² said Russell Williams, CEO of Flying Lab Software. ³In the last 2 years, we have packed this game with loads of new features, and the gameplay is now more robust and action-packed than ever.²

Set against the backdrop of the New World of the 18th century, Pirates of the Burning Sea is an MMORPG featuring high-seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder, where players can choose to play as one of three nations (England, France or Spain) or choose the role of a Pirate and battle it out for glory and power.

Flying Lab Software is also still offering a special promotion to U.S. military personnel. This special deal for U.S. military men and women waives for 6 months the normal game costs of $19.99 on Steam or the Sony Store, as well as the monthly $14.99 subscription. The six months starts when they sign up and download the game.

I had been talking with Ophelea a good bit as of late, and Pirates of the Burning Sea came up as a topic. I had written the game off after trying the open beta, figuring I wouldn't play it. However, after the raving about it (and my burning desire to be a pirate), I decided to pick it up last week. I didn't have much time to play until now, though. I have to say, my first impressions are very positive, with one thing really jumping out at me -- the atmosphere that this game creates. Naturally, I wanted to be a pirate. So I created one. At first, I didn't do much beyond beating up a few guys on my ship. Nothing major. When I docked, though, the fun definitely started.

The town I anchored my boat at? It felt like a pirate town! The NPCs looked like pirates, I saw pirates walking around the town, everything. Especially interesting was the tavern and the multiple pirates I saw carting off women to places unknown. Too many games nowadays take these small touches for granted. Jumping into PotBS, though, definitely felt like it should. And for that, I am grateful -- this game would lose a lot of its appeal if you didn't actually feel like the pirate you are. Now, though, I'm going to have to check out all of the other nations and see if they have similar touches as the initial pirate town does.

Haha! Or should I say, Yarr! I am officially a Pirate!

Congratulations Land Lubbers you were one of the first 10 people to discover the treasure! As your reward, you get to name a character in Pirates of the Burning Sea that will forever live in the virtual Caribbean

Shiver me timbers and all that stuff! *does a jig* Ok, *I* am not a pirate – yet. I have to decide exactly who I want to immortalize. Should I ask for Ophelea to be immortalized? Or my sons? I’m guessing Rusty Williams (the President of Flying Labs) is in-game somewhere. He’s going to kill me for not knowing.

And I have no idea just how they will place this person…an NPC for color? A quest character. I’ve always imagined myself as a busty wench serving thirsty sailors in Tortuga or other ports wide and afar. I mean, look at my character!

If you haven’t yet spent time in the Caribbean, you may want to consider it as an alternative to standard fantasy fair. The game is a bit rough around the edges in the beginning but it is obvious that some thought was put into the systems. And once you reach level 20 it really starts to shine.

Once I get over this whole, “I am a pirate!” thing, I’ll talk about that. For now...I need a name.

Pirates of the Burning Sea has the most innovative feature in MMOs so far: user-created content. Sure, WoW lets you "design" your guild tabard. You can select from several dozen different icons, pick your colors, and select from a few different borders. It's pretty cool, but you're limited to what Blizzard has provided. Not so in PoBS...

Skilled artists can design flags and sail decals, and those less skilled can ask for community artists to help out with their idea. The truly skilled artists can even design their own ships for inclusion into the game! You need a great deal of skill with 3D modeling to do that, but the possibility to have your own ship design in the game is truly amazing.

Now of course this feature, left unchecked, could prove disastrous for the atmosphere of the game. Pot leaves on sail decals, band names on flags, you can imagine. And ship designs could be even worse. But Flying Lab took care of all that. All user-created content has to go through a rigorous review and voting process, first by the community, then Flying Lab has final say. Anything that's out of period gets voted out, though the community is very good about helping artists get their design "into period", if said artist wants to. Small changes are sometimes all that's needed to make a really anachronistic design into something that totally fits the period (the 1720's).

I even have my own Pirate flag. A community artist, Din85, did it for me. I have been following the game for many years, and once user-created content was announced I knew I had to have my own custom flag. I struggled for a year trying to think of a unique design, one that wasn't just another variation on a basic Jolly Roger. I studied real pirate flags and the symbolism behind them. Finally, earlier this year, I got a basic design idea in my head and asked for community help. Last week, Din85 finally offered to help and here is the design we ended up with:

The design borrows some pretty standard pirate symbology, but is a completely new and unique design. The main "charge", or icon, on the design is the sea monster at the center. All sailors have always been afraid of sea monsters, and I intend my pirate to be a true monster, so the symbol seemed to fit. He is holding an hourglass, which was used in real pirate flags to mean that the captain would not put up with delay tactics or give you any time to decide: you must decide now: surrender or fight. He is also holding a skeleton, which was used to symbolize the willingness to kill in battle. The swords are also there to mean a willingness to fight and kill. Pretty scary stuff to a 1720's sailor.

And because of the UCC feature, I will be able to have this flag flying on my ship in the game! You can have your own completely unique design too, and you're not limited by the developer, as long as your design follows the rules of staying with in-period designs and art techniques of course. It's such an exciting feauture!

WarCry has some PotBS love up in the form of screenies!

Today's Pirates of the Burning Sea screenshots are very different from each one. One shows a pirate posing in town, while the other gives us a glimpse of some swordplay in one of the game's dungeons.

One is really dark, but ya know....it's piratey! So who cares!