Considering people with it can change whenever they want (and aren't forced to change during a full moon like in most stories), it seems more like a boon than anything.
It will feel a lot like a curse when the entire town is outside your door with torches and pitchforks.
Natural lycanthropes can control it. The curse works a bit differently.
To be fair the entry for the curse doesn't provide much info. The monster entry gives a bit more detail.
A creature that catches lycanthropy becomes an afflicted lycanthrope, but shows no symptoms (and does not gain any of the template's adjustments or abilities) until the night of the next full moon, when the victim involuntarily assumes animal form and forgets his or her own identity. The character remains in animal form until the next dawn and remembers nothing about the entire episode (or subsequent episodes) unless he makes a DC 20 Will save, in which case he becomes aware of his condition.
A remove disease or heal spell cast by a cleric of 12th level or higher cures the affliction, provided the character receives the spell within 3 days of the infecting lycanthrope's attack. Alternatively, consuming a dose of wolfsbane (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 560) gives an afflicted lycanthrope a new Fortitude save to recover from lycanthropy.
Afflicted lycanthrope's have a harder time shapechanging.
All lycanthropes have three forms—a humanoid form, an animal form, and a hybrid form. Equipment does not meld with the new form between humanoid and hybrid form, but does between those forms and animal form. A natural lycanthrope can shift to any of its three alternate forms as a move-equivalent action. An afflicted lycanthrope can assume animal or hybrid form as a full-round action by making a DC 15 Constitution check, or humanoid form as a full-round action by making a DC 20 Constitution check. On nights when the full moon is visible, an afflicted lycanthrope gains a +5 morale bonus to Constitution checks made to assume animal or hybrid form, but a –5 penalty to Constitution checks made to assume humanoid form. An afflicted lycanthrope reverts to its humanoid form automatically with the next sunrise, or after 8 hours of rest, whichever comes first. A slain lycanthrope reverts to its humanoid form, although it remains dead.
Interestingly, pathfinder seems to have removed the language that truly made lycanthropy a curse. In older editions even after you were aware of your condition you would still automatically change during a full moon and lose control of your character (though I think you got a will save to resist each night). Additionally, if you ever transformed intentionally (that is attempted one of the above checks) then, while you would retain control of your character during the change, your alignment would permanently shift based on the type of lycanthropy you were infected with. Since PCs would often get attacked (and consequently infected) by evil lycanthropes then this means your character would turn evil.
So, either shift and lose control of your character during the full moon. Or embrace it and turn evil.
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Natural lycanthropy allows you to change at will (being born with it). The curse is specifically for those who get it from a bite:
Curse of Lycanthropy (Su)
A natural lycanthrope’s bite attack in animal or hybrid form infects a humanoid target with lycanthropy (Fortitude DC 15 negates). If the victim’s size is not within one size category of the lycanthrope, this ability has no effect.That leads to the following:
An afflicted lycanthrope can assume animal or hybrid form as a full-round action by making a DC 15 Constitution check, or humanoid form as a full-round action by making a DC 20 Constitution check. On nights when the full moon is visible, an afflicted lycanthrope gains a +5 morale bonus to Constitution checks made to assume animal or hybrid form, but a –5 penalty to Constitution checks made to assume humanoid form. An afflicted lycanthrope reverts to its humanoid form automatically with the next sunrise, or after 8 hours of rest, whichever comes first.And:
A creature that catches lycanthropy becomes an afflicted lycanthrope, but shows no symptoms (and does not gain any of the template’s adjustments or abilities) until the night of the next full moon, when the victim involuntarily assumes animal form and forgets his or her own identity. The character remains in animal form until the next dawn and remembers nothing about the entire episode (or subsequent episodes) unless he makes a DC 20 Will save, in which case he becomes aware of his condition.
At which point you discover a young druid or ranger took the pretty wolf as an animal companion.
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@ OP: Many GMs will treat the Curse of Lycanthropy as a Curse, as it's been in all previous versions. Pathfinder diluted some of the language making it truly awful, but many GMs will still play it as awful. I certainly do. This means you can't control it, you'll change unwillingly, you lose control of your character when you're changed, and the changed version is likely to commit atrocities. After your PC has murdered some children plus done a terrible job hiding the crime it will seem like a curse.
When I GM, a PC cursed with lycanthropy either cures it quick else becomes an NPC. Once it has taken hold the player loses agency over the character. Rather like being dominated by a demon turned into a vampire. Character is DONE.
What if you get infected by a werebear? They seem to default to good. Are you going to start murdering children?
What if you get infected by a werebear? They seem to default to good. Are you going to start murdering children?
They're likely to react like an animal bear.