Well, I'm guessing you didn't play with any of the mods, correct?
PotC stock is EXTREMELY buggy and not much fun as there are dead ends and crashes &tc to make your gameplay really frustrating.
With the Build, there are bugfixes, new characters and ships that have been either added or brought to life because we found them "hiding" in the code from a rushed job - never activated, or deactivated for some reason.
More quests now than before - some were completed, and others were created.
New ship skins that are sheer delight...
Active environments - both on land and sea - where you may be attacked by pirates or thieves, rescue damsels in distress, or encounter a LOT of ships while sailing around islands.
There actually ARE ships in the harbor now, and it's not uncommon for you to board your ship and actually witness the fort blowing the heck out of some pirates who are attacking... You may even be drawn into the fights...
Storms - well, they're storms, and if you want to avoid them you can but it's a skill I can't describe (but I'll try) - you have to be in the overhead map view and sailing between islands, and not really watching your ship but the ocean ahead of your ship. If you see a flash on your periphery, a storm is brewing, and you'll start to see dark clouds gathering. TURN your ship immediately to avoid them. If you can't, and get caught in a storm, just furl your sails and ride it out - I usually hit the "g" key to make the time pass quickly - and then continue on when you get the overhead map view icon so you can return to sailing to your destination. That method usually minimizes damage.
There are gradations in weaponry now, you might have a really great blade, but it will be older and in poor condition. There's a blacksmith on Douwesen who can fix your blade. He looks like Nathaniel Hawk and is walking around in the port. In a betatest version of an add-on pack, there are blacksmiths for every nation.
You have many choices that are toggle-able... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
" border="0" alt="yes.gif" /> So if you do not like a certain feature you CAN shut it off!
Best thing to do if you want to understand what B12 is all about is to read the README which Sir Christopher wrote - it is entertaining and comprehensive... It can be found in your POTC folder and is called Build12Readme.htm <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/me.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
" border="0" alt="me.gif" />
Hope this helps! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />