Yeah, open beta ends the 1st I guess, they're having some final beta events going on I think this weekend, all of which I'll likely miss.
From goofing off with it I'd say it's pretty fun, but gets rather repetetive. Maybe they'll have more zone maps available for the swashbuckling missions on release, but for beta it's like the same 3 over and over again.
It's set up like WoW with 4 factions that can't seem to talk to each other, though I think you may be able to learn the other languages. You can have big battles over conquering ports though and nations can compete to conquer the carribean, which may be interesting. Didn't have time to get into nation battles. Muddled around and upgraded my ship to larger models 3 times though, and it is rather amusing trying to maneuver at sea, playing with the wind, in order to get in position to give another ship a broadside.
I got up to a 12 gun corvette and I really dug the 'boom' I got from it. Leveling up to a 100 gun frigate just for the bigger boom factor is an appealing idea. I guess you can get into building plantations and such and becoming a rum or rice trader as well, but I only put a few hours into the game.
The PvP might actually be interesiting as it seems more skill and timing based than anything else out there. I mean even a level 10 guy in a shoddy 6 gun rinky dink sloop could sail by a level 50 in a frigate and pop a few rounds into the guys riggings fucking up his speed and maneuvering in a fleet battle. Everyone could contribute.
Don't think I'd pay monthly for it, but maybe would be amusing to pop a few broadsides into the Spanish or French once or twice a week.