Uncharted Waters Online adds shipbuilding

@kaelidancer It seems like fun, but is there any mandatory boring, tasteless ground combat between exciting ship sailing?

There isn't, in fact. And even naval combat isn't *mandatory*, so long as you can catch the wind and get out of range, which I've always been able to do.

@kaelidancer Oh my. This was meant to be in reply to Standamongst, above. Sorry!

@mysecretid I found it to be a lot of fun. My advice for those who have been "warned" about the asian F2P games - is to try them for yourself :) They're free after all.

UWO seems very simplistic on the surface but quickly becomes very deep as you get into it. It's not very graphics-intensive, and it's easy enough to pick up an have fun. If you've enjoyed 'tradewinds' type games in the past you'll find a lot to like here, plus a whole lot more.

That said - the graphics are cute and anime style. I don't necessarily consider that a con, but some people do, and feel it takes away from what is otherwise a relatively accurate historical game. And the aforementioned chat filter - it can't be removed, and is as quirky as chat filters often are, so just communicating sometimes can be an issue. I have played many many games I would classify as "grindfests" but I wouldn't count this among them.

@mysecretid

I've tried a lot of Asian style grinders, F2P and otherwise, this game isn't like any of them.

Think of an anime set 'sometime in the renaissance era' (as in excuse or overlook all in-game historical inaccuracies) and then turn it into a trading/sailing MMO with a mainly economic, political and naval battle focus.

There is grind, but it isn't of the 'kill ten foozles - collect ten foozle hides' variety.

This is not a wow-style mmo in any shape or form. It has a slower pace but is quite enjoyable up to a point.

The cash shop doesn't have much in it, xp tokens, get out of pvp free tokens etc. nothing too horribly imbalanced.

Worth a go if you're tired of the normal stuff, it does things differently.

@Boojum The reason why because its made by Koei. They have been around since the 80s making games historical strategy game like Romance of the 3 kingdoms, etc.

@nhat Also just because the Japanese are asians, don't generalize. I don't go around saying all white people are fat or all black people like chicken, etc.