Looking forward to it Neal!
I played my first night of the open beta last night and, at first, I wasn't sure what to think.
Let me go further and say that after playing for awhile - I got hooked and didn't want to stop. As Neal said, the sailing model isn't 100% sim but it definitely has that feel and general setup. It may not be AoS2:PB but it's closer than any other pirate game I've played including such examples as fore/aft raking, and sailing into the wind (won't stop you but damn near) along with other similar staples. Sure, it has RPG-style things added but if I wanted a sim, I'd load up the old AoS2. The sea battles are a blast, especially when you're grouped up & taking on another fleet.
I think the melee system is based on a great concept but it needs a bit more work. Don't get me wrong, it works just fine that I've seen, it just needs some adjustments to keep it more interesting & varied. That being said: I
do look forward to it as a change of pace from sea combat.
I've not tried any kind of crafting yet, but I like their concept of letting you build up man-hours of work while you're not playing your crafter. This might entice me to actually take crafting seriously as long as I don't have to sit and grind out a bunch of menial BS. The stuff is actually useful too.
If you're interested at all in trying this game out, I'd suggest getting your butt in gear and trying it for free while there's still a week of Open Beta. It's a 5GB download, but I'm glad I did it because I'm hooked already.
Give it a full evening's attention & make definitely don't be afraid to group up for those hard missions.