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POTBS game Closure


Wind

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What a ride! I wish the same to Naval Action one day. 10 years of epic glory. 

 

PORTALUS GAMES CLOSURE
August 31, 2018  /  Fodderboy

Being that this may be the most important announcement I have ever made regarding Pirates of the Burning Sea I will come directly to the purpose of this announcement before we lose any readers to explanation or verbosity.

Portalus Games will cease operation of Pirates of the Burning Sea on September 30, 2018.

I wish I could say this decision was a difficult one but the truth is that it is the best decision that can be made at this time regarding the game's future.  Hamled has decided to leave Portalus Games.  Since Hamled is the only code writer associated with Portalus Games the company is no longer capable of maintaining the game.  Without someone possessing the necessary code writing skills the game runs the risk of unexpected and unannounced shut down due to server software failures.  This is a situation we find unacceptable as we have always been dedicated to a minimum of 30 days notice for our game community if the game was going to close.  Rather than run the risk of all the issues that would come from a server software failure and an unannounced closure we have decided to commit to a specific closure date for Portalus Games that would allow proper advanced notice to our game community.   

I would like to stress that the closure of Portalus Games does not have to result in the closure of Pirates of the Burning Sea.  The game has a stable core community that has for the past 5 years been able to maintain the game servers and it is conceivable that this community could maintain the game for another 5 years or longer but it would need to be operated by a company better structured and better staffed than Portalus Games to do so.  I came to this conclusion after receiving the news that Hamled would be leaving Portalus and then spending some time evaluating the possibility of continuing to maintain the game as a solo operator.  While I have been able to maintain the current status and even resolve a couple of server hardware issues I am unable to resolve issues that result from software failures and given the scope of everything else involved in maintaining the game I am fully aware that I cannot realistically maintain this game alone.  For Pirates of the Burning Sea to continue it needs to transition from the hands of Portalus Games to a company better able to maintain it to succeed.

Once I came to this conclusion I began inquiry and negotiations with all the third parties involved with the operation of the game to determine if this transition was possible.  Overall the responses were positive and I have agreement in principle to allow the license to operate the game to be transferred from Portalus Games to an acceptable business entity capable of operating the game if one can be found.  This will be my focus moving forward as it is my hope that not only can another operator for the game be found but that it may also be possible to avoid an actual shut down of the game at the end of this coming September.

I believe the first possible replacement for Portalus Games as operator should be with the game community itself.  Over the years we have often had community members volunteer to assist with the game only to have to turn them away due to the company's structure and the legal requirements for compensation that the game could not afford.  If a new company were formed as a non-profit corporation representing the game community it would allow for volunteers to contribute to game operation and open the possibility of a much brighter future for the game than can be found with Portalus. To this end we will begin immediately on efforts to organize a new management group.  I would encourage those community members interested in joining the effort to form a new company to operate Pirates of the Burning Sea to join the community discussion regarding the subject on the community forum found here:  forums.burningsea.com/ .  

Updates regarding this effort and/or the search for a new game operator will be provided here when adequate information becomes available.  

I would like to thank the community for its support to date in keeping the game available for play and for any support provided during Portalus final month of operation.  I would encourage community at this time to pull together and take this opportunity to determine the future of your game.  The game has proven to be more durable than the companies that have operated it in the past due to the strength of the game community.  It is my hope that Portalus will simply be another chapter in a long history for Pirates of the Burning Sea and I believe that the strength of this game community has the power to make it happen. 

The forum is the best place to participate in the ongoing community discussions and to engage Portalus with questions/concerns/ideas/resources you'd like to add to the conversations. 

If you haven't registered with the new forum here is a link: http://forums.burningsea.com/

You can also contact customerservice@portalusgames.com

Edited by Wind
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Yes before NA closes,  player count at moment makes it not even worth logging on, just the same names over and over in RVR and dick measuring on this forum, the same names  seal clubbing around capitals for easy kills just to see their name in lights on the PVP leaderboard. 

Unless the next round of changes and release not only attracts but is able to retain a large number of returning and new players this will be joining POTBS. 

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Heth, the player base! It's supported by a handful of regular addicts and their alts that is all. Unless the next round of changes and release attract and most importantly retain new players without dick heads just killing them around capitals until they rage quit NA could unfortunately join POTBS. 

 

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Not youngster and a culture like my own that excels in promoting, cultivating and supporting all coffee cultures around the world for more than 500 years knows there's nothing wrong. Actually we know it is absolutely right :) Along with Vietnamese, Timor selections are also excellent this year. Less coarse and more smooth.

Of course the equatorial cultures remain a good all round choice.

Forget the hipster stuff like fungi and monsoon stuff.

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6 hours ago, Powderhorn said:

If you think everything is set to cater to RvR types, you haven't been reading admin's posts.  If this is to be a thread bemoaning the fate of NA, still in utero, it will be closed.

Delete offensive posts not harmless threads.  Wtf? 

Radio plays the music you don’t like, so you go and burn down the station?

 

Edited by Wind
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14 hours ago, Coraline Vodka said:

get all those players over to NA?

We do not want to let it die, so we are taking over & kickstarting 14k and buying new servers to let it live ;) More info will come soon!

There is even talk about new game remake kickstart under fresh team. 

Update: I do not think potbs will die any time soon. Same game new owners with 2 programmers and new future plans. 

 

Edited by Wind
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14 hours ago, Wind said:

Wir wollen es nicht sterben lassen, also übernehmen wir 14k und starten neue Server, um es leben zu lassen ;) Weitere Infos folgen bald!

Es wird sogar über ein neues Spiel Remake Kickstart unter einem neuen Team gesprochen. 

Update: Ich glaube nicht, dass die Kanne bald sterben wird. Gleiches Spiel neue Besitzer mit 2 Programmierern und neuen Zukunftsplänen. 

 

nice to read, I'm in 👍

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Never played it. Too little of sim in it. But anything that provides the "age of sail" experience is worth support.

Reckon fantasy for fantasy rather play other more recent projects that are less clicky clicky mmo ship does things.

But if you're into ArmA why not check a mod being developed for it set on the age of sail ? 

 

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On 9/3/2018 at 9:11 AM, Hethwill the Harmless said:

Fearmongering or what ?

I'm not getting this thread...

 

On 9/3/2018 at 9:29 AM, Hethwill the Harmless said:

... *sips coffee* ...

Nope. Still don't get what is the point.

 

 

On 9/3/2018 at 9:40 AM, Hethwill the Harmless said:

BecVUm9IUAAPwcU.jpg

 

On 9/3/2018 at 12:16 PM, Hethwill the Harmless said:

We all do :) 

Thing is, POTBS thread... NA discussion... 

In any case and not wanting to detract from the true purpose, vietnamese coffee is great this year, I kid you not. That is, if you like proper expresso. 

I, (and I'm sure many others) am wondering, did you hit your head recently or something? It's just that you've turned into a right proper dick on the forums lately.

Certainly not the sort of behaviour you'd expect from someone charged being responsible for helping to run a community. (Although, given the mindset of a majority of the remaining players, it probably fits)

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I, myself and me, asked help to understand how a news article about a game being shut after many succcessful years has anything to do with NA.

I cannot possibly "read your brains" hence clear text is needed. My own thoughts are not wired to immediately trace comparisons between this and that game.

As I said, I never played POTBS so I expect you to understand it means zero to me. Then I could ask, why isn't NA like WW2OL, which was very successful, more than POTBS, was hardcore and non instanced.

And the comparison between games and communities would never end.

Hence my initial question, what does this have to do with NA.

Also Tavern. At least I didn't go the Cider venue.

 

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