Will removal of linked acct's effect you/your family game play?
 

Self explanatory poll.

You can choose more than one answer!

My husband and I shared an account, as did 2 of our children who pooled their money and did extra chores for game cards. They were very proud of themselves for earning enough for a 3 month game card to play all summer. So when they get home from school today what do I say? "Sorry guys, one of you has to quit"? We have two PCs, they started their own guild with their school friends. But they are still children with limited computer time, and there is not enough time to play one after the other.

I thought online gaming was supposed to grow and add to the experience. Not take it away.

Good idea on the poll, Basil.

I am considering just cancelling my account, but opted not to vote for that just yet.
I do have an annual pirate, and it just renewed a few months ago, so i'll still be in the game 'some' for awhile, but not sure how much anymore.

Bad move on Big D's part.

If anyone has ANY connection to ANYONE involved in the development of this game - GET ON THE HORN! If no one is telling them, they may take the complaints as just a few malcontents. But, this is starting to build into an uprising!

I don't want to see the game die.

Good Lord, I run a guild website and contribute to several others. I've been playing since January 2008... I have too much time invested in this game for them to put it down like a neglected dog. WE WANT TO PLAY!!

Why are they killing us like this? Long spells of nothing, a few spurts of garbage, and then the coup de' grace - stabbed right in the heart.

I will not stop playing. But I will stop paying. Goodbye unlimited access. I am disgusted.

Yes, ufortunately if affects our play. We were already playing less due to frustration with new content. Because of this, we will not be playing any longer. When we called to cancel our accounts, the lady at the billing department was very nice, but dreading the day as well.

She told us to write a letter too, but tbqh, I have written letters before about many things. I reported this on test multiple times as a bad idea. They don't seem to listen. JMO

I won't stop playing but this is by far the worst possible update. Sure, it may be a safety issue but people give out their accounts out of their own stupidity. Nobody else should have to suffer for their mistakes. I liked playing on multiple pirates from the same account, whether it is for crew rep or for heals. This is so unfair.

This is another classic example of Disney. Take away something that makes the game easier and better for people.

I'm disguested...

I have some connections and i have placed a call to them and have a meeting with them comming up soon . Will advise if i am alowed to on the status of what i am told ..I am sure i will be able to say some of the things that they will tell me .......i will post it once that will happened .....

Stay tuned ...


PS_.......I promissed to stay with in the rules and ruglation of the boards,,,,,,

No, It will have not effect on me

I'm only linked with my Mom's Disney account even though she doesen't play Pirates

I will deffinitelly keep playing, all I did for having linked accounts was for :
1. To run twice on one computer
2. So my friend coulc play on unlimited while he only had basic.

But thats about it.

Zep: I wouldnt quite cancel your account just yet, as I highly doubt this will hang around much longer.

Horrible choice. Completely effects our play. I hope something is done.... my patience is wearing seriously thin.

Disney's response to negative feedback!

Admin GM Cayman Trench
Thanks for your feedback regarding the change made to Linked Accounts. We understand your concerns and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, we'd like to take a moment to address your questions and comments:

Q: The Linked Accounts feature was implemented from the beginning, and used by a large number of subscribers and families, why remove it?

A: We removed the feature because it was being exploited more often than it was being used for its intended purpose. Players were using it to work around suspensions and holds after these players were removed from the game. In addition, many players were allowing other players to access their account with the feature too - In both cases, this compromised game security on several levels. Please know before we implemented the change we collected data on exactly how many people would be affected by it, in reality this change affects an extremely small number of our players.

Q: With this update, you have effectively made my character (that I have spent many hours to level and master) totally inaccessible.

A: If the character you're trying to access is yours, you should have the account information to access it. If you don't remember your account information, please use our Account Services to recover your Member Name and Password. Can?t remember your password or account information, then use the links below for help:

Forgot Your Account ID?

Need to Change Your Password?

Q: Is this so Disney can make more money on subscriptions?

A: We did this strictly to address security concerns. We?ve removed the ability for you to tab between linked accounts, not to link them, so families can still have multiple accounts and pay for those accounts through one primary account.

For the few families that actually used the feature to play with other members of their family at the same time using the same account, again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We're working on a solution that will directly address your concerns, until then, please access the account you want to play directly by using your account information.

Thanks for all your great feedback. We know any change takes some getting used to, but feel the change will not only improve account security but help make the game better as well by making players more responsible for the actions of their own accounts. Keep those comments coming!

Why not address the issue with a solution first, instead of shutting down the whole thing?

How about: When a suspension hits someone's account, suspend the account that holds the character the person was using?

His answer to the inaccessible pirates is not good enough. Legit users of the linked accounts cannot access their pirates because THEIR account doesn't have those pirates on them. It's on the linked account.

Somehow I feel like collateral damage. :(

it wont hang around long because of complaints to disney

I totally agree, as a matter of fact, just shot off more feedback to them saying this.

If an account is banned, then linked accounts should no longer be able to access it.
You cant even access a banned account from the website account management, why would it still work for linked accounts? Makes no sense.

Since all the people that I know even using linked accounts are using them for legitimate purposes, I find it hard to swallow their indication that those using it legitmately are only a small number/percentage.

This seems to me to be a total PR snow job trying to fix the PR side while leaving it as is.

Yes, exactly. I want to say more, but you pretty much hit the nail on its head - it just doesn't make any sense. If they are concerned that banned persons are still getting on through linked accounts, the simple and logical solution is just to ban the linked account as well, or prevent it from accessing the banned account. I'm not buying this either. It's alllll about the benjamins.

It will certainly not raise the amount of time I allocate to it, and since it's impossible to lower it, I'd say it won't affect me.

Kat and I had no knowledge of the ability to link accounts when we started, so we began with two seperate subscriptions from getgo. We figure 20 a month is easier to swallow then the hundreds we were paying out to other games that charged ala carte'.

Regardless of how this affects us, we feel badly for those who are negatively impacted by it, and hope we won't lose you from POTCO.

~Dog Seafury

Nope
 

This doesn't effect me since I only have one account.

Seriously this is another example of how Disney does not care about the family gaming experience and all they want is more money. I'm glad I don't play pirates anymore as Disney is ruining the game completely.

As if no new content forever wasn't bad enough.....

I totally agree. It would be so much easier, and cause them less of an uproar, to make banned accounts inaccessible through the link, instead of punishing us all.

I agree that this seems like a money thing - Im sad to say I also think Disney is less worried about the family play aspect, and is more concerned about more players playing on less accounts.

No family in this day and age - with the way things are moneywise right now - can afford separate accounts for all family members.

Its a shame - the best players - those here for the family fun, and to be good players - are those being penalized.

In case someone from Disney decides to look at this, notice how so far NOBODY is going to pay for a second account. So if you were trying to make a couple extra bucks...it doesn't look like that is working out to well for you.

This has really ruined the game for our family. My sons have been playing together online with linked accounts for over a year and now my daughter and I have joined them 6 months ago. We can't play together and we can't afford separate accounts so now no one even wants to play :( I've sent complaints from every member of our family, we all got the copy and paste reply. Very upsetting for sure.

Wouldn't a simple fix for Disney be to leave the linked accounts gone but charge an extra $5 a month for a multiple log in family account. Big D wins and gets extra revenue and familys can play together without having to pay for multiple accounts.

Even an extra $5 is ridiculous when we've had it for free for this long. There's no way I will (or can afford to) pay ANYTHING for another account. Anything less than how it previously was is unacceptable IMO.

My fambly all play on linked accounts. We each have our own accounts but have pirates on each other accounts. When one was on their account, we could still get to the pirate we wanted to play. Now Big D went and took that away. They have got sum really mad pirates on their hands bc of this new update.

In a way i can understand why they did it. If sum one gets a vacation, then that pirate should NOT be able to be accessable. I think once that "pirate" is on vacation, they should not be able to play it until their vacation is over.

Punish the wrong doers and let the ones that play the game right have their fun. Now as it is, none of us can get to the pirate we want unless the account is not being used. It has also put a damper on the friends list as well. We all have different friends on different accounts. Now no more talking to them on the accounts and pirates that we have them on.

BAD BAD BAD MOVE BIG D!!!!

I think if it were a better game (i.e. they added more content) and they warned us first, this would work.

But forcing us without warning to pay for a second account when many of us are debating even keeping the first one because we have nothing to do was a bad move on their part.

Just my 2 cents: Everything they have added so far has been geared towards making the game better for new players. New towns, enemies, etc will make the original quests take longer to complete. A new player who signs up today will take longer to finish, and will enjoy the game, far more than we did. And they'll never miss the linked accounts because they never had them. They may even pay for a second account.

I really think this is their aim, to get more new accounts, and if they lose a few older ones, its collateral damage.

JMO

Thanks Evie... now I feel like a flood victim.

"It all happened so fast... WHOOSH! All gone... guess I'll rebuild or something..."

I do see your point, Evie - just sad because we are the die-hards. We stuck it out for nearly TWO YEARS - for this? I am still playing, like a fool I suppose. But, I have too many friends I'd lose and I can't convince them all to play (EDITED) the only other online game I play...

**Sorry. I didn't think that game was competition for POTCO. And the name made the point somewhat funny...**

One comment there.

They have made the game EASIER for the new player. The Pearl quest, the first 3 crew members has gotten easier to finish. John Smith is easier, too. The guiding light, the hints, the better compass, have all made the game easier for the new pirate. The new tutorials, also.

The truth is, they have made it much easier to level and finish the quests than it was a year or more ago.

What they have really done is to bring the game to a level where even younger players can make it through without difficulty.

Sorry, Eliza, I'm sad too. I've played for a year, and made friends here that are more like family. I stayed so long because of them. But realistically, flood victim definitely describes how I felt yesterday.

I received this reply this morning:

Hello Paula,

Thank you for contacting Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

We appreciate your feedback and suggestions regarding the issue of
linked accounts for families. All of your comments will be shared with
the appropriate parties. In the meantime, rest assured: we are working
on a solution that will directly address your concerns.

We hope to see you in the Caribbean soon.

Thank you,

John

My sons and I play together when they have time but without the linked accounts they won't be playing at all unless one of my friends is on to help them. I liked the fact that we could play together and not have to pay for 3 accounts, not something we can afford right now. We may not be paying anymore after this anyway, it's just not right. Have one other Disney game we pay for and I will more than likely be canceling that one too. Most of you have already "hit the nail on the head" so to speak so just wanted to throw in my 2 cents as well.