Calling All Pirates!

[Crim]

I'm posting this thread for a few reasons:

• To show how the players can get the Pirates administration to act
• To give players a marginal sense of hope
• One player can make all the difference

I recognize the harsh tone, but this is an email between myself and a Pirates representative whom shall remain nameless for the sake of their privacy, etc.

To Whom it May Concern and to the Concerning of Whom it Applies:

First and foremost, please do not give me a pre-written response. If I should
take the time to write out this letter, I would hope for the same gratitude (in
addition to good customer service if I'm paying for my account).

I do not write this letter with negative fashion, perhaps with critical
criticism, but only out of a deep-rooted affection and affiliation for this
game. I do hope you take this seriously, because if it's just thrown aside then
I truly have no pity as to why so many members of the game have left.

I would like to address and bring to the attention of the Online Staff the
following 'grievances,' but do not mean to restate some things you may already
know.

But before I do so, I would like to implore that the Staff to take action once
more. What made the game so adventurous was the passion of the players and those
who run it. The administration, it seems, just doesn't care anymore. They don't
care about the state of their game and the fact that hundreds of players, along
with many guilds, have gone elsewhere. It's sad. I have forged countless
friendships (a good handful for whom I have known for five years now on Pirates)
along with stories of couples who met, got married, and now have children
together. Please ignite the passion once more - send out a mass email or
something. The content isn't as important when the Administration is directly
involved. Be innovative.

Now to my list:

1. A petition heralding over two thousand signatures has come to light to
address their 'grievances.' Two thousand. I dare say that is a reason to address
your players and address their grievances. Any responsible game administration
would reach out to players whom were troubled with THEIR game.

2. The third-party hacking. The condoning of such activity would not fly on
other games. When players report these instances, nothing gets done. I'm sure
there is to some extent, but honestly, nothing serious is ever done about it.

3. Minimize to Maximize. Most games have five servers that hold hundreds of
players. Disney has hundreds of servers with few players. Encourage player
interaction with few servers and concentrate on building those servers to
maintain speed and content so as to eliminate the need to produce mass content
and run maintenance on all of them.

4. Don't fix something that isn't broke. Pirates has changed and not entirely
for the best. They had so many features that were taken away without any
rational cause. For example, clothing options, editing of cut scenes, etc. Oh,
and especially the options to customize your character in the beginning. I
preferred the original format.

5. Be interactive. Most games have GM's actively playing, at least one, at all
times. Establish a national chat feature where players have the option to talk
to everyone on that server, while giving players the option to turn that chat on
or off.

6. Renovate the islands. Most wild islands are generic and seem rushed. Take
your time to actually enlighten the player's experience like you have done so
with the new caverns.

7. Make the game more movie-driven. We like the fact that you can capture the
Black Pearl and interact with the players, but add Davy Jone's in there, or even
so famous pirates like Black Bart, etc. This is a pirate game, make it seem
marginally real. If I'm correct, did Disney's: Pirates of the Caribbean ride not
originally feature real bones? (I understand it's a family-based environment,
but still - you don't JUST have kids playing this game. During my time in the
past five years, I've met kids ranging from 7 to adults in their 50's. (Keep
that in mind).

7. Introduce more movie-driven environments. For instance, Isla Cruces,
Pelegostos, Davy Jone's locker, Singapore, etc.

8. Monthly updates. Don't make 'Crew Days!' or 'Pirates Admins will never ask
for your information' the monthly update. It's redundant and insults our
intelligence. The rules are clearly stated upon signing up and provided on the
site. I'm not saying to not do away with it entirely, but give us an actual
update.

9. Better customer support. If people are playing, paying, and writing to you,
do not have the audacity to blow it off or give a 'standard message.' That's
simply rude and terrible customer service.

10. Care about your game. We used to (and still do). I am saddened at how
drastic this game has changed over the past five years. I used to see hundreds
of people people. Now, I hope to see more than 20. Please do something about it.
Encourage your old players to return and give them a reason to live the
adventure. At this point, you're simply saying goodbye to your players as if it
were nothing.

I hope you take these things, though only a scratch on the surface to which I
advise the staff to review their policies, standards, and game in its entirety.
I look forward to your response.

Best,
Crim, former Guildmaster of Crimson Squad and -Crimson Squad-, devoted pirate
and friend to many

____________________________

Dear Crim,

Thank you for your email, we appreciate hearing from our Players. We certainly
try to have personal emails for every guest that writes to us. I will certainly
pass along all your points to the appropriate people.

I can speak into some of the points you've mentioned. We make updates and
changes to the game according to what we hear as feedback and new additions to
the game. In fact most of the changes that have happened in the game have been
specifically for these reasons. We do rely on guests to actually contact us
regrading issues, questions and concerns as there are many websites out there
that people chat on. So unless they have actually contacted us through our modes
of contact there is no guarantee we will have heard it.

Hacking as you've mentioned is becoming an ongoing problem. We absolutely do not
condone this and Terminate any account caught cheating. Trust me this is an
active daily activity. To help us out please continue to report players you see
cheating in the game.

The updates you mentioned and the Blogs about 'Pirate Admins will never ask for
your information' are in direct response to trends we are seeing. It's not to
insult anyone. Although you are an adult and I know there are adult players,
this game is intended and designed for kids, but we certainly welcome all
players. But we do see kids (and Adults actually) sharing their information
which results in losing their accounts.

Like I mentioned before, I will pass along your feedback, we do appreciate it!
We certainly appreciate the friend you are to many pirates Online.

Sincerely,
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