Just wait a few minutes; that’s all I have to do. Just wait a few more minutes until my energy levels reach 25% and then I can attack again. I watch the status bar build up until, finally, I can click the attack button and put another victim in the shipyard. I count my gained experience points and revel in the moment of victory before choosing another hapless pirate to destroy. A few minutes later, I strike again, and the cycle continues. Welcome to the world of PvP in Star Pirates — a text-based MMORPG you play in a web browser.
When I first started playing Star Pirates, I couldn’t attack anyone and hope to win. My prey consisted of players who were either already wounded or those whose stats were significantly lower. I also had to avoid members of fleets, otherwise risk bringing the wrath of the whole lot of them down upon me. I quickly learned that any money you had on hand needed to be squirreled away into the bank as soon as possible because there are players who constantly search for other players who have money on hand and will loot you before you know it. By securing money in the bank, I become less of a temptation. Keep in mind, though, even penniless pirates are still worth some experience points.
After spending piles of money and copious amounts of research points, I was finally whipping my ship into shape. I’d upgraded to a larger ship with more hard points that allowed me attach an impressive arsenal of weapons. Oh, yeah, I was becoming a real tough guy, now. Claws, fangs, and a hide forged from an exotic heavy metal. Wiping out ships with little or no trouble at all, I didn’t even bother glancing at stats anymore. As long as I had more hull points, I was convinced I could win. I’d grown too confident.
She was a Frigate Mk. II with 280 hull points. Her captain didn’t even name her and she had a crew level lower than mine. “This won’t take long,” I said to myself as I clicked the attack button and waited for the results. The window reloaded, the log came in, and I was defeated. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Just because a player has a lower class and weaker defenses doesn’t mean they don’t have significantly stronger weapons. This is true for any game you play; whether a starship or a night elf, you never really know how a character is built until you find yourself either gloating over your victim or face down in the dirt. In the case of the Frigate Mk. II, her maximum damage rating gave her the advantage several times over. I had better defenses, but she was still capable of defeating me in only a few turns.
It’s hard to work up any amount of excitement for a text-based game that you play in your browser, but there’s a high level of suspense that comes from the fact that you can’t properly size up an opponent before heading into battle. Many of the key stats are hidden, so you never really know what you are getting yourself into until it’s too late. Again, there’s not much in terms of action, but I would imagine getting that “you were attacked and lost” message is just as aggravating for the person on the other side of the screen as it is for me. Of course, on the other hand, most of the game revolves around staring at a progress bar, reloading the page every few minutes, waiting. Waiting just a few more minutes before you can attack and start all over again.
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