Pirates of the Burning Sea getting combat revision

Like most MMOs, Pirates of the Burning Sea is constantly being improved and built upon. The latest improvement comes in the way of one of the most important aspects of any modern MMO – the combat. In the case of the ale-swilling, cutlass-filled world of Pirates, this change in combat revolves around the swashbuckling mechanic.

Kevin Maginn, lead designer at the developer Flying Labs, wrote this in his latest development log:

... the animation team has been revising all the swordfighting animations; the UI team has been revising the UI and the particle effects; and the sound team has been iterating all the sounds of avatar combat ...

Maginn explains it as a “stripping” of the old mechanic down to its core value, taking out what isn’t interesting and reapplying what’s actually fun to do. Since I’m not spectacularly privy to what MMO people really desire in their combat, I asked Kevin to explain the change to me in the context of a fight between a blueberry pie and a crippled hamster.

Hit the break for his explanation.