The State of the Game, December 2009
 

Last December I posted the thread, "Dying or Dead, POTCO has let us down". It was a statement of how I felt about the state of the game at that time. This year, I am calling my end of year post as "The State of the Game".

Another year has gone by, and it's time for all of us to discuss the accomplishments, and the letdowns, that Disney has given us.

New enemies??!! The only new enemy that we saw this year is the Thrall Captains. Not one other enemy is new. They are only different levels and names assigned to old enemies. A Stump is a stump, regardless if it is called Corrupt or not.

I would also like to address the redesign of the islands. The old Port Royal, Tortuga and Padres were just as functional as these new ones, and in some ways were even better. The facelift the islands were given was interesting, but they did nothing to enhance or improve game play.

Next, the caves. I really like the graphics improvements (level of detail) here. BUT, I feel that these new caves are almost completely a waste of developer time. The old Lava Gorge and Catacombs were truely caves. The new versions are nothing more than tunnels. The old versions were very functional and felt more like CAVES and CAVERNS, not just paths through a mountain.

Next, the GM events and role-playing. These are aspects of the game that people either love, or else they hate them. I personally have attended exactly ONE GM event. It was a lagfest and I garnered exactly NO information from it. After it was over, I felt that I had just wasted 30 minutes of good game play time. I have not attended any since then.
I have heard and read all about the sightings of Constance the ghost, the meetings of Captain Walter, and other GM's at various times, the spontaneous running into of the Marceline Guild, but again, I have not attended any of these. Now they are closing the Constance and John chapter of the role playing. (See below comments)

Then there was the Captain Rott quests. These were released at the same time as the increase of the Notoriety and Weapons level caps. Since I had 4 level 40 pirates who I wasn't playing anymore, it was really good to see the level increases and that there was some quest rep to be earned again. I did the Cap'n Rott quests on all my pirates. It was fun to speculate on what the effect of doing these quests was going to be on the direction that the game was going to take. (See below comments.)

The increases in Notoriety and Weapons levels was, in my opinion, the best thing that Disney did for the game this past year. It gave many, many pirates something to do again. Even grinding weapons is better than doing nothing with those pirates that we all had worked so long and hard to get levelled up.

Next the Invasions. I believe that the invasions are a method to help pirates reach those new level 50 marks. The rep earned during invasions is huge, and serves no purpose other than to pop your notoriety! The invasions themselves do relatively little for individual weapons levels, and does nothing toward any quests. Although it is fun to be able to say that we successfully defended our server, they can be monotonous after a while.

Comments in reference to the GM events and Captain Rott quests. One of my major problems with the GM role playing and the Captain Rott quests is that they are limited. Once the Rott quests were removed from the game, now there are an entire new generation of players and pirates who will never get the opportunity to do those quests. Same with the role playing. Once a role playing event happens, it is over. The role playing events are limited in scope, do not happen on all servers, with all players, even when they are prearranged, let alone when they are spurious. Other players will never get the opportunity to ever see these events. Now the entire segment about Constance Sorrow is coming to a close, and any player who may have just joined the game, or who may join the game in the future, will never know what this is all about. Role playing in a game such as this one is not truely viable, unless you can get the role playing to ALL the players. Not just all the current players, but to future generations of players. Having role playing events that can only be attended by some players, or events that leave the game, OR having quests that are limited in time, and then disappear:: These things are not good for the game.

Last year I voiced my dissappointment at the lack of progress that the game had taken during 2008. Mostly, I was frustrated that Disney hadn't released enough, (ANY) new material that would generate interest in remaining in the game. I was upset that I had watched many, many friends, and entire guilds go away.

This year, that trend is continuing. Long time players have/are leaving in droves again. Even those who are staying are decreasing their game time. Large groups are moving to other games. Disney hasn't lived up to the hype they themselves put out throughout the year. I'm not going to address any supposed "promises" that were made. I'm just going to say that Disney made statements that they were going to do things, release stuff, and they haven't done so.

While I understand the need to correct problems with the game, (fix bugs), I don't see that Disney has done anything to generate increased interest in playing the game. Even the long awaited level increases were not accompanied by any story line or major quests that gave the senior players anything to do other than grind weapons.

I still enjoy this game. I still see great potential for it in the future. I just do not see that Disney has given the players the quality game that they (the players) have been waiting for for more than 2 years.
The game gets a solid grade of "B" from me, but Disney gets a "D minus" for the year. They have not lived up to expectations.

Well said, Boss.

It's good to see that there are others who care about newcomers' experiences, and as for those of us who have played a while (much, much longer than i, i feel much as you do and have not been a member for even a year), well ... It is still a lot of fun when guildmates are around, but when there is no one about ... I love this game, it has been a nice way to relax during breaks from the many hours i spend writing at a computer day and night, but it is so sad to go on and no one is there, and then have nothing to do but grind weapons (which is really not something many folks even enjoy) ... and that has been happening more and more frequently.

I was there today off an on quite a bit until just a few minutes ago - and only once was there anyone on from any of my pals and from two guilds. There have been quite a few folks i know who have even retired old and brought in new pirates just to have something to do lately. Was also hoping that there would be more to do over the holiday break from school.

Hope they do something about this ... in the meantime, i am content and happy to be there whenever anyone needs a hand or just to hang out and rib each other.

Perhaps we can take heart in that we have made some great play-pals there, eh?

Agreed, Disney has done a great job with the game but not as we expected. Old players may start to leave and it seems hard to get new ppl to join. Disney needs to work harder to make this game great.

Im quite optimistic about the game, but i have some negative views of me own. So Basil, I do not completely agree with you on your views on caves and caverns. Lava Gorge and Beckett's Quarry were so pathetic earlier! If you see the Catacombs now ( though i agree that the ceilings need to be higher and paths need to be wider ), it is completely amazing compared to the old Catacombs. To tell you the truth the old catacombs look like some Huge Concert Hall lol.
But one thing i hate about the Catacombs is the fact that Jolly Roger is placed in some vague corner with just some EITC soldiers and Raiders staring a him ( admiring his beauty lol ). But the Catacombs is nonetheless my favourite cave. The Cursed Caverns is good and creepy, while the Murky Hollow has its dark blue effect. The Thrall Captain is agreeably the only new enemy here and I for one expected much much more enemies. New Notoreity and Level cap increases are good but not my favourite update.
The Invasions are probably the best updates according to me, and though i haven't attended any, it seems to be getting boring if there's nothing new with each invasions. I just hope future invasions have something to do with cannons and ships.
The Main Island redesigns are very good, and compared to the old ones, these are 1000 times better. To tell you the truth, though i miss the old islands a bit I feel they were so HORRIBLE. Im glad they redesigned it. The performance has become overall great with it but with the new updates the loading screens take too long.
Some of the additions though are very nice to have been put in, and i like the way it influences the new players' experience. The quests such as Captain Rott ones do not need to be known by the new ones, and they will eventually find out somehow.
I also like the way they have held the events though i havent come for any.
I'm really having fun with the game as it though and I'm specially looking forward to the next Developers' Diary which will come out next month. We can also expect a good test update for the month of January, but a lot needs to be done such as redesigning of forests, swamps and wild islands as i have said many many times before.
Cheers to Pirates of the Caribbean Online

Ahoy Basil, I would offer this in the way of discussion.

1. Disney has made several modifications to the new pirate experience. The quests are much easier to follow and have better explinations and tutorials. Not too long ago the complaint was Disney is doing to much for the low level pirates and ignoring the mastered ones.

2. Done arguing about the geography changes. It was done to help those with lower lvl machines enjoy the game.

3. I would like to address the GM/Rott quests discussion. You stated that it's not fair to have these events/quests because newcomers missed them? So by that logic then every holiday event and every special bandana quest should be running all the time? So Constance and John should get reunited every day so someone joining the game in 6 months won't miss that? These events are part of the storyline and the story moves forward. You don't read the same page in a book over and over again. Disney posts the chapters in the lore section so newcomers can get caught up to what is going on. I understand what you trying to say but I disagree. I think a living evolving story helps the game not hurts it.

4. The new level increase and the invasions are bringing a lot of pirates back to the game. I have seen many old friends back in the last couple months. I do not believe pirates are leaving the game in droves. My guild is 6 months old and we now have 450+ members. 250 were gained in the last 3 months time. The fact is pirates come and go all the time and neither you or I have access to those numbers. Anything we say is simply speculation and personal observation.

I appreciate you writing your views on the state of the game Basil. I am glad to hear that you do enjoy playing the game and I too see great potential in POTCO. The fact is anyone can write a thread like this and they would all be different. I wouldn't even attempt to do so here because I know better (LOL). Again thank you for sharing your opinion as I do respect it and your posts are always well done.

Sincerely, Captain Whale

Something to address about the 'throngs' leaving. Let's be honest, there is no big campaign right now for NEW players. Remember when there were ads on Yahoo and on Sci-fi, Cartoon Network, etc.? There's been NO push lately. No conjecture on why, but commericals ain't cheap.

How many people have left World of Warcraft or stopped playing? No clue. But, they are running ads EVERY DAY online on TV. Getting a little tired of the Mohawk Grenade ad? That's because it's on nearly every hour to get NEW players or get old players back.

Something that I get frustrated with is the arguments over what all the game needs to improve. Part of the issue here is that the entire structure of the game is, honestly, limited.

It is set in a very narrow timeline in a very confined area. But, keep in mind - this game is a promotional tool too. Is it so that they only option is a massive reboot? I'm not a programmer but I work with them. Once you have a model you're working within, it sets up boundaries or limitations and if you didn't PLAN on major changes or growth - you're likely restricted.

And we can bluster about NEW stuff til we're blue in the face. It's not that they haven't heard us... they post and say at GM events about what is coming or being worked on. So, a lot of this goes back to time and money. Disney is NOT putting a ton of money into this game, so things will take longer.

Why should they? Club Penguin is probably making cash, hand over fist. Do you see POTCO toys, books and stuff animals? Nope. And Disney doesn't OWN the complete rights to the films either. I'm sure that hasn't helped the profit margin. They weren't even allowed to change the name of the Wicked Wench ship in the ride due to Bruckheimer.

Okay - I'm done with the negative rant. That's the most you will get from Eliza on that.

ON THE FLIPSIDE, compared to 2008 - the game has taken MAJOR strides forward. Would I like Chapter 2? Yes. Do I want to customize my ship? Yes. Do I want a bigger closet, more outfits, tats, etc.? YES, YES and YES. But, I'm not a programmer - so I have to wait for the one who program to do it. But, until then - thank you for the Invasions, thank you for the new environments, thank you Disney for role-playing events to keep us engaged.

I have hope for new things to come!

Jolly Roger is coming to a end. Some pirates say its boring while others have fun with it! What will they do after these invasions? Who knows... But in the time waiting I will probally see many pirates quit the game and as soon as that era happends we will see updates!

Basil, I think I agree with you more than just about any other pirate. And I admire your use of paragraphs. Others need to give it a try. : )

The question is content. Some say that content is anything Disney adds to the game. Others, myself included, feel that "content" is PLAYABLE. By my definition, there has been no serious content added to this game since I started playing almost 2 years ago.

I really liked the new islands at first. Then I realized just how little they added to the gaming experience. Didn't hurt it but it didn't help either. And, quite honestly, my machine has run worse since the additions. And I hate the fact that I can't swim to the back beach at Padres anymore.

The caves are pretty and were fun to explore...for about half an hour. Then they became claustrophobic and the idea of fighting all the way through a crowded hallway got silly. Until they lowered the aggression. Then it became pointless. And I really miss the Quarry as a great place for solo leveling.

Your take on the GM events is the same as mine. I am glad they are there for those who like them but they are not my cup of grog. I attended one the other day with Constance and John. I thought it was a little weird and a waste of half an hour. Between fawning adoration and trying to be annoying, very little was accomplished.

I have to say that the invasions were great fun for a while. A little laggy (OK, a total lag-fest) but on quiet servers they could be a great time. But after a while, it was just a little too "Space-Invaders" for me. I like the RPG part of MMORPG.

Sounds like I am hating on POTCO doesn't it. But I am really not. I play as much as I can. And as soon as I get my cable internet company to quit acting like it is a joint venture between Jolly Roger and the EITC, I will play even more. But I want some new content.

CONTENT. We have been given a lot of frosting but almost no cake. Leveling is fine but I am kind of a weird gamer. I want my leveling to come with a purpose. I get bored just grinding away, undead raider after undead raider... Content is what goes in your Journal. If it doesn't end up there, it isn't content.

All of what we have seen in 2009 is leading up to something big. It HAS to be. If it isn't then the great POTCO experiment is a failure. Sell it to a third party developer and let them fix it. But if 2009 ends or 2010 begins with a bright, shiny, thrilling, fun, dangerous, exciting, difficult brand-spanking-new storyline? I will give 2009 a B+ or an A-. If there is no new storyline in January? Disney gets a D-. The game is still fun but my guild is dead and I miss some of them. I just might join them in the role call of the missing in action.

Until then...Semper fidelis.

"All of what we have seen in 2009 is leading to something big" Thank your for that EX8404. Because this pirate truely believes that. I keep thinking about the saying "Rome wasn't built in a day". But on the reverse-Pompeii was destroyed in a couple of hours.
I won't go into more of my beliefs about what is to come. And I appreciate the feelings of others. Just my two cents for what it is worth.....

This is a difficult situation. My honest opinion is that the game continues to be interesting, and that most of the changes have been positive. To be fair, I think that there will be complaints by some no matter how often changes or updates are introduced.

For me, the most fun I have had was the privateering. That was tainted by users obsessively seeking out glitches, and not by a lack of creativity by the developers. It was a good change that engaged the majority of users.

I have also observed that a GM event results in a solid blue mass covering the viewable portion of my compass whenever they are encountered. The other night Old Sooty appeared and there was a morass of cyber-humanity, many of whom hung around long after the event. Using participation as a criteria for benchmarking success, its hard to see the role playing events as anything but successful.

The difficulty in assessing the progress made by the game is in deriving sufficient value for the required payment. For me, when the game grows stagnant I have found that playing a different game for a while recharges my interest - and when there are updates I can re-embrace POTCO with a higher level of enthusiasm. However, I can see a basis for discontent if you're paying for the game and it isn't providing reward for your investment. To me, the subscription fee is relatively negligible - which I realize is a very different perception than that which others may hold. I don't mind playing Combat Arms, Europa Universalis, or LOTR BFME II (I got Guild Wars for Christmas and am waiting for a chance to load it up and give it a spin) for a few weeks / months while waiting for updates.

So, I guess it boils down to this: Is the game worth $9.99 for THIS month?

Obviously, seeing as how I have remained an unlimited access member - for ME the answer is yes.

It took me three months to max out the new weapons caps, and I still have 3 levels to go to max out notoriety. I am content to wait for invasions, new enemies, or a quest to push forward.

FINALLY! Equalty to all players. I really think they should keep the gm events. Instead of Constance leaving for good or getting reunited everyday, they should have occasional visits to the game, giving a little hint here and there. Maybe a problem with them like when we had to rescue John from Jolly Roger. But something different. I did not like the gm events because it made more lag, and people sometimes bragged about how they met a gm. But only SOMETIMES.

Caves: I'm with you on the caves. The old ones made me happy to be in there. The new ones are just dumb little tunnels that you explore for half and hour. Then what? Find a glitch or 2? Its like Disney is just playing around trying to get us clausterphobic.

New Content: How long have they promised us the kraken, a new story chapter, and more closet space? A YEAR AGO!!!! What are they waiting for? More players? Right now they're losing players because of no new content. Hasn't this game been around for like 3 years?
Its been long enough. The newer players already have enough to play. But there are so many old players who need a chapter 2. Alot of players have left because of this. Chapter 1 really didn't feature the movie characters, but people who we didn't know about at all.

Invasions: It gave me something to do and look forward to, for about a week. Then it got boring. The lag was terrible on the A servers, however, the B servers were not as bad, and all the other servers.

Islands: They didn't do much, but they were nice. I personally think that they are more maneuverable than the old ones. But is that a good thing? Don't we want to explore the island to see what new wonders we'll find? I want the old islands back to explore. The old Port Royal (from what I have seen in pictures) looks more like in the movie. It also looked more fun to explore.


What was good: We at least had fun with some of the events for a short while didn't we? Even if it was for a little while Disney just has to work on keeping peoples attention.

Angel the game just had it's 2 year anniversary on 10/31/2009 and the "Promise" you are reffering to occured on July 14 2009.

They are waiting until the content is built and ready to release. They haven't been sitting on it going "hee hee I wonder how many will leave today! Boy they are gonna be sorry.". A lot of these developers work long hard days to bring you this stuff. Game development is a brutal business and most do it because they love the game they are working on.

You ask for different GM events but they have been doing different ones for most of the year. Captain Walter/Marceline guild and the ETIC Black guard have made numerous appearences as the towns were being redone. The GMs show up and give "little hints here and there". They have been doing this all along. I have no doubt that there will be more GM storylines. Captain Cromwell will now be giving out Invasion notices instead of Constance for example.

And again you don't have access to the numbers of people who come and go in the game. To say alot of players have left is your personal opinion based on some people you know who have done so. I am not saying that some are leaving but there are also some coming back as well as new people joining. I can't say whether POTCO's community is growing overall or shrinking. Besides many of those not leaving will be like Tuefenhandel and bide thier time until the second chapter comes out. Then they will be back. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Edit: spelling

Captain Whale

Ill just add that Thralls arent even new. Its a renamed Kelpbrain.

I think alot of unnecessary things were done IN PLACE OF game CONTENT. The game still lags, is a memory hog, but IS prettier in some respects. I miss some old places - old Tortuga, etc.

Guilds HAVE died out due to LACK OF content. Its a shame, but true. Something does need to be done - weapons changes/new weapons, and the MOST simple thing we have ALL asked for.

MORE CLOSET SPACE and an improved inventory system! Even have 'quest clothing' be in a different storage area so we can buy and sell our other clothes. Right now, to buy something new we would need to SELL quest items. This SUCKS. OR, make it to where once you have EARNED and COMPLETED a quest - you can then ALWAYS have that item for purchase. =P

Simple, but apparently not so simple to Disney.

The Thralls are actually the highest level enemy you can face:psmiley35:

The island and cave makeovers were fine for me. Some things were annoying such as access to the back beach, while it made some other things easier (such
as the back and forth between June and Greer i.e. shorter distance to run). The
caves look like caves now, twists and all. The minimap helps me not get lost but honestly, there are a lot of dead-ends in the caves where there's nothing of note.

Invasions? Fun every once in a while, I suppose. I think I've done at the most six invasions. I've got to agree with ex8404 on this one. There's only so much Defend the Castle I can take before it becomes a bit monotonous.

The GM events were eh to me. I've said that some good role playing in a MMO can be a good thing, but I also said it's better when people are actually involved in it. I don't believe the players are involved in the evolution of the story as they think they are. The GM events I've read about seem more of a one-sided show (where the GMs know the story and will act it out, while the players are the audience). Sure, the GMs will get player input and responses but they have the playbook. Sure, I do appreciate that they're spending their off-time to get "involved" with the community but there's got to be a better way to do this without it seeming like a puppet show.

Notoriety and Weapons increases? Why? What's the point? There are no new quests to gain rep from. Sure, from weapon grinding but I don't level my weapons that way. I don't plan on getting to notoriety 50 and weapons 30 for a long time as I don't see a point in it. There aren't even new weapon skills to unlock after level 20. How about a new skill or a new weapon? People want these sorts of things as an incentive. Actually, if you think about it, getting a more powerful weapon is counter-productive. The way POTCO's reputation system works is that you get less rep for more powerful attacks. Getting new weapons would mean that you have to grind longer to level them up. This still baffles me as this is the only game I've found that punishes the player for accomplishing a quest.

Sailing... I was having a great time until this last bigger update. I wish they'd stop fixing what isn't broken. I'll keep sending them reports but they've fixed the best part of the game.

They've done some across the board graphical adjustments to help lower-end machines play the game. Why? If there are settings for Low, Medium, and High, then please keep the High end of the spectrum looking pretty. Are they really pulling in metrics that show the majority of their player-base is using sub-standard equipment? If they want to fix performance issues, they need to address the memory and processor consumption issues that the Panda3D engine has had since they've been developing ToonTown Online. There's really no reason a game like this needs to be using 50-75% of my CPU and half of my memory. Honestly, it's not even that graphically intense. I also play another MMO that's lightyears ahead of POTCO in the graphics department. Currently, it's sitting in the background just taking 25-30% of my CPU while I'm typing this.

Why not? The beauty of this forum is that we all have different views and enjoy a good quality discussion. In the end, we're all players of the same game which is why we're here.

I do happen to be a programmer and I can agree with what you're saying. This past year I had to totally rewrite an entire application so it met our demands and was scalable for future growth. I think one problem Disney is going to face with deliverying new content is that they aren't going to know where to put it. They can put in a new story chapter but where will we go for the quests? Who will we fight? The same old places we've been? The same old enemies we've fought before? Is this the entire Caribbean that we know? Will they be able to expand our "universe"? Lack of planning? That might just be the case. Goodness knows I've seen plenty of it the past few years from upper management where I work.

That is understandable as well. Moral of our story could be, "You get what you pay for."

Overall, I guess they're doing okay. I've defended Disney earlier this year in regards to "how long they're taking" but they really need to throw something out there in 2010, and it better not be another notoriety/weapon increase. I'm also hoping it's not the mini-game-ish ideas they alluded to from that LA child focus group we heard about.

Oh well, until we see what they've got up their sleeves, all we can do is enjoy what we got and give them feedback where they'll hear it.

Boss - thank you for posting this thread. I like reading (for the second year now) your take on the 'state of the game'.

Captain Whale - I must most respectfully disagree with you. Angel is correct in that the Kraken promise she referred to WAS made in January 2009. D has done a nice little sleight-of-hand with a link for a Jan. 27 news article that actually leads you to the July link you mentioned.

Using that jumping off point you can use the Next link at the top of that page to get to Dev Diary #13, dated 1/27/09. In it you can read the following:

That's a pretty emphatic, cut-and-dried guarantee. No hemming and hawing to it. Or at least it seemed to be at the time. Lots of us were hanging our game hats on that statement.

Here is the direct link: http://piratesonline.go.com/#/game_i..._diary_13.html

By April Disney was apparently ready to admit they had major issues with the Kraken they'd previously promised:

Direct link:
http://piratesonline.go.com/#/game_i..._diary_14.html

To my knowledge Disney has not mentioned said foul beastie again this year, other than give us the notoriety increase.

I agree with Nelly; the Thrall Captains aren't even truly new enemies. They're jumped-up Kelpies.

I find the Tormenta cave visually beautiful, and many of the others more visually interesting, with much more attention paid to detail, but less playable than before.

The invasions were a fun diversion for a time, but I've lost my taste for them as the lag is too much for me.

I attend very few GM events. I was pleased the other day to finally see my first ghosts, but now that I have, I'm satisfied.

ex8404 summed up my feelings about content better than I ever could: I'm also in the game 2 years now. When I first started playing, the Black Pearl battle was down for repair. I was anxiously awaiting it, while completing my quests to be ready. After that was re-released you didn't hear anyone complain about anything, or ask for something new, for months. Because, for those players at that time, it was an outrageous, over-the-top feast of a Boss Battle.

2 years later Disney hasn't shown us anything that would indicate we have something like that to look forward to again.

I think what a lot of us want, and feel guilty about actually expressing, is TRULY a new chapter. New people to see that we haven't seen, new tasks to perform that we've never done before, new weapons to learn and gain skill with, new places to go that are foreign and strange to us. All leading up to an amazing battle that we really have to work at, and maybe fail at a few times, before we finally succeed.

IMHO, a lot of what we've seen this year seems like making stroganoff instead of steak. They don't have much meat to go around, so they're adding noodles to stretch their player-goodwill budget. And I hear Clara, from the ancient Wendy's commercial in my head, asking "Where's the beef?!

Sure, I'll keep playing. I agree with many others...this game has massive potential. I've got a lot of friends in this game that I like too much to lose touch with. And one of these days, I really believe, I'll log in and Disney will blow my socks off with something awesome. It's Disney - I never count them out.

well said ukebec, and i agree: Where's the beef!!!! lol

As always Bas, you continue to express the things many of us are thinking.

Just a few thoughts of my own:

Odd choice of the word "facelift," as it truely does remind me of a facelift. A facelift removes some of the wrinkles, but can make the subject look plastic-like and stiff. The graphics for me are lifeless now. All of the islands used to have swaying palm trees. Now they are stiff blobs of green. The game used to look much prettier before the updates.



Yes, the experience of accounting for friends who have left the game is still largely anecdotal. But,I still have a massive friend list on my original pirate. The friends that I had made back in Dec 07/Jan 08 have not returned to the game. Some of these friends, I haven't seen in game since Oct 08. Many of the friends that I have made since then, are now getting discouraged because they don't believe the game is interesting any more.



Well said.




Disney limited the pirating universe by making up a geographic freak of nature known as the Disney version of the geographical Caribbean. If they had designed the game with a more geographically accurate depiction of the Caribbean, we would have the whole Caribbean to explore. Just think of the storylines that could be developed if we had to deal with the native populations and the Spanish, Dutch, and French governments.

I think you're wrong by saying that Disney is to blame by making an inaccurate Caribbean, its the POTCO crew which did that. In movies they show Port Royal and Tortuga ( real places ), but they don't say that Port Royal is an island. It would be really nice if they completely redesign the Caribbean by putting real locations, and keeping the current locations just somewhere in the middle of them
I agree with you completely on that note, it would be fun to have careers, actually travel, trade, and do many different things.
Even the ships are to be completely changed, and the wayships move across the caribbe. For e.g, instead of ships moving in circles, make it that they travel from one place to another. And all general british war sloops should not be called 'Kingfisher'. I understand the British having light war sloops and calling it 'Kingfisher range of ships' but that wouldn't be realistic. The occurance of ships at sea should not be plenty and thus each name is rare. If i go and kill the Navy warsloop HMS Happyvale, the ship shouldnt immediately appear in the sea as if it spawns but instead over hours, another ship appears from Port Royal and sails to hunt for pirates
But gamewise i dont see if its possible considering that it's an MMO, and also u'll need tons of money and high end computers to have such things in the game.
But that would make the game only so awesome.
Going into vast tropical islands with volcanoes and all sorts of beasties and a huge variety of creatures

So Lostmymarbles, i suppose once Disney releases all it has promised, maybe we should all ask them in 2011 to release such content and we can expect it to release after probably a year on Dec 21 2012. Or just hopefully they've thought of it much before us and are working on it. When they said new islands i've always been thinking that adding a couple of more islands such Isla Cruces would make no sense. Like Armada of the Damned, this game should stop focussing on its relation with movies and be original in t act. Its kinda silly to find William Turner appearing on a random island called Bilgewater, after the first movie during which time he had no contact with Jack Sparrow and saying ' Oh your Jack's friend ', and if they cant put any great realistic Caribbean islands why the heck was a waste island like Rumrunner's put?

Thank you for the additional reference, I stand corrected on that Ukebec and give Angel her props. P)

Thanks for the encouragement Sven.

Captain Whale

First off, I'd lik to point out Disney's biggest limitation: the age group the game is focused on. We all, including Disney, know that even though the age group for the game is 10+, there is a large population of pirates below that. Because it is a "childs game" the CAN'T make it completely complex, at least at a playing level. Can you imagine how much money they would lose if they made the game comp;ex to the point where you would actually have to use a thought process to play? Its Disney, people. They've built their company on fairy princesses and talking animals. Its not like they are going to create a huge, complex game that takes up 12 GB, with a working economy system and an action/reaction based playout right off the bat. No matter how you look at it, Disney is all about the money, and they always dive rght in to the best place to make money; the kids.

Now that I've stated what I want to get off my chest, lets continue on to the topics at hand:

Agreed. As others have stated, you can't really consider the Thrall Captain "new" either, as its just a higher level Kelp, with a different name. The way I see it, is that a "new" enemy is an enemy with a different character model, with a new name, and a new level, in a different location. THATS a REAL "new" enemy.

Although I DO miss the islands that my pirate grew up on and learned to love like home, that doesn't mean I don't like these islands. Remember one of the reasons we all brought up why the game was under-developed when it first came out? To beat POTBS, and of course, get more money (theres that magic word again!), in a quicker fashion. So in order to do this, they made under-developed, poorly constructed islands. For example, the old Port Royal. Basically, what they did is said "Hmm, ok, make a big flat plain with two hills. Put the mansion over here, the fort over here, and then just through in a bunch of random buildings in the middle." Now that the game has become bigger, they did what they wanted to do in the first place, and make more realistic islands. I know, I know about the palm trees and all that (off topic, but doesn't the whole palm tree thing remind you of the "Save the Trees!" movement?). But Port Royal ACTUALLY looks like a PORT now. Padres actually looks like a volcano island now. And Tortuga actually looks like a pirate, bilgewater town now! I know, the new islands did nothing to make the game run better, nor improve how we play the game. But it HAS brought, I don't know how to explain, and better "feel" to the Caribbean, aye?

To be honest, the old caves were unoriginal, to say the least. Almost every single cave was the same (aside from the Gorge, Catacombs, and Quarry,) just with different things added to them. I like the new caves now, as they have a better "undergroud" feel to them, unlike the other caves. Heck, at least these caves actually have roofs! The old caves had nothing but a big black spot hovering above. Sure, the old caves were functional. But who ever said that nature was supposed to be a cake-walk?

In order to appreciate the GM events, you need to, in the whole sense, know how to act. Thats all role-playing is. As the game has truely intended, you have to pretend your an actual pirate, and that the events that go on in the game actually mean something. You know how Disney always puts emphasis on the imagination? Well, thats what role-playing is. Sure, information given is either very rare, or a lead that brings us to a dead-end. But still, its a nice break from your usual, everyday life, when you get to become a pirate like you used to do on Halloween.

I also really liked the Rott quests. Great rep, great gold, and they were one of the first things that started this whole "storyline" that has unfolded over the past few months. What else can I say?

Amen!

The invasions were created by Disney with the intention of 2 things: 1. Give pirates something fun to do while their devs work on more content. 2. To continue the "storyline" they've been working on, so they ca get out the content more quickly. But you do have a huge point. The invasions do skew the ranks, and often put pirates in the situation, just as before the increases, where you were a high level, with one really high level weapon, and the rest were low and hard to level. And, yes, while entertaining at first, after a while, we learn how to beat it, and get bored with it.

Wait wait wait; so your saying, that even though we've been with the game since it started, we should give the new guy a chance to do everything we did? No, thats not how it works. We should take all of this temporary content, the invasions, the Rott quests, etc. as a REWARD from Disney, for staying loyal to the game. If they wanna go learn about what the heck if going on, then do what I did when I started watching WWE right in the middle of the summer of 2006; go on the site, and read past news, to see what in the world led up to whats going on now! POF archives the news articles, so why not go read them if your so concerned as to whats going on? Look, I'm not trying to bash the new kids on the block. But look at it this way: Disney releases their content in a storyline format. And the story develops, just like how events in life go on around us. They follow a storyline as to when they release their content. But, in real life, is it possible to rewind? No. Same goes for the game. Once and event happens, it gone. If you join too late, welp, sorry.

While many old players ARE leaving, haven't you noticed lately all of the new pirates that are joining POF? Sure, pirates are moving from POTCO to another game, but other games are moving to POTCO!

Now, on to my OWN points. I'm going to say this, for the LAST time, because my head is about to explode if I have to say it again. Do you know why Disney hasn't released the Kraken, the story chapter, or any of that stuff yet? THEY. FOLLOW. A. STORYLINE! What do you think all these invasions, these GM events are? Just random things? No! They are following a storyline, and sooner or later, this story will hit points were it gives Disney a chance to release the content! Of course, some will say "But why do they need a storyline to release content?" *Points back to paragraph #1* Its all about the kids. They can't just drop bombs of content on the game at random times. They need to keep not only the kiddies, but ALL pirates involved in whats going on. You really think a 7-year-old will be able to process by themselves why the Kraken was released for some random reason? Do you think he'll be able to understand when he (or his parents, at least) mails Disney, and they reply with a 7-page report on their economic theories? Yeah. You guys just have to be patient. Thats all I can really tell you.

I know Disney has made a lot of promises that they haven't kept, and I;m not going to defend them on that. But whats my opinion on that all: Oh well, better luck next year. Its not going to do any good if we complain about what we don't have, instead of not appreciating what we do have (insert "there are kids in blah blah blah that don't have blah blah" speech here.) Look at what all we got this year. Notoriety increases, weapon increases, new quests, invasions, different GM events, but best of all, new friends. Don't see POTCO as just a game, also see it as a place to meet new people, and make new friends. And THATS what we ALL should be thankful for, no matter what opinion we have on content.

So, in the end, heres my conclusion:

The games grade - B
Disney's grade, content-wise - C
Disney's grade, for giving me countless adventures, and keeping me captivated - A++

I agree with a lot of what has been posted here, but to only some extent.

That s true, all the new enemies are just renamed/re-leveled enemies we've all come to know, and I would like some new ones as well. But to me, it doesn't really matter what they are, just the level they are. Unless these new enemies are equal, or greater than the Thrall's max level, then they wouldn't even matter to me. Again, to me, the level is more important than the appearance.

I agree with this a little bit. I like the old, and the new islands, but I feel as if the newer ones are more functional. The newer ones look like they were originally intended to be, unlike the old ones which were pretty unorganized. And on a negative note, the islands did do nothing to enhance or improve the game play, it did for some people, but to me it just brought in more lag.

I like some, but not all of the new caves as well. Not because they don't look like caves, but rather because there is very little originality. What I mean, all of the caves have pretty much the same appearance (different enemies, items, and what not, but in the end, all of them have the same "tunnel" like look). I would have preferred the old catacombs stay, and some more wide open caves as well, pretty much, keep some of the old and bring in the new.

I completely disagree with this. From the looks of things, people must at least enjoy the events, one way or another, because if they didn't, they wouldn't go to it to make it a "lag-fest". And the events can't really be judged based on a single appearance, to get the most out of it, attending multiple is a must. I've gone to quite a few, and have learned a lot of what they are planning on releasing one day. The saying "don't knock it til you try it" comes to my mind here, you may have just attended a bad one, try finding a quieter one, and everything will be much better (the GMs will focus on what it is they aimed to get out of it, rather than putting up with interference from the audience).

I agree, this was one of the best updates of the year, although, not to me personally, but to a wide variety of people. I really couldn't have cared less if they updated the cap prior to a new story, I don't like leveling a lot, I prefer to enjoy the game with friends, rather than alone. Plus, once we all fully mastered, there is nothing left to do except repeat the same process as before.

That is true, but indirectly. The invasions are intended to follow the story line, but at the same time, they offer pirates a easier path to 50, while encouraging them to take part in the invasions. As said before, the invasions aren't directly intended to help level anything, they do, but that is not the main point of them. They still want pirates to do as they did before, run around questing, leveling, and that sort of stuff until they master, rather than get the whole deal on a simple invasion. It does get monotonous, but nobody has to take part in the invasion, its there to be used, but not being forced upon us (unless we enjoy the practically free notoriety rep).

I 100% disagree here. This is actually good for the game in the end. New players should not be given the chance to attend these events if they joined after the event took place. Just like in our everyday lives, opportunities come and go, if we don't take them when they come, we're just gonna miss out. And with this kind of approach, should Disney just open founder access back up to the rest of the people who join/joined? No. As others have said, the newer people can check the archives to find out what happened. Plus, if Disney took the time to work on reshowing everything to new players, that would more than likely delay them from more important things.

I think Whale and a few others perfectly summed this up. Friends leaving, and friends joining, that is not a reflection on the overall population of the game, rather those you have interacted with. Personally, I have never seen less than 20 people online, on my friend list. That may seem small to some, or large to others, but those friends are those who have been playing between the launch date, and the end of 2008 (with the exception of a some). Meaning simply, some people may have more friends leaving, but some people may have a large portion still playing. If someone were to judge how many people still played, they should check the server list, when i'm online there are a few quiet servers, but a lot of ideal and busy servers, meaning simply, people are playing.

As for the promises, again, Whale and a few others summed it up perfectly. None of us can judge how easy, or how hard it is to make adjustments to the game. The developers have multiple challenges that they must face, one, making sure people like what they're aiming to add, two, getting the additions to work properly, and three, follow the story line. For example, if we're sitting here with the main story being, Jolly Roger invading islands, where would a Kraken fall into this? How would we get the Kraken to work properly? And would all the players actually want the Kraken, or would they prefer a new story quest?

Although many people agree with this, its just an opinion, not a fact. Small, large, good, bad, content is merely an addition to the game.

Personally, before ANY large amount of content comes in I would like them to address any issues that would take away from the enjoyment of that newer content. Such as, the amount of memory this game uses? The length of the load screens since the fog update? These are two things that are bothering me. I used to be able to play multiple pirates on one computer, no lag at all, but once the new islands came, it was hard to play one with no issues. As for the load screens, there is no reason that a game this size should take around 3 or more minutes to load once you log in.

So much to say here.

I understand that a lot of players consider this as a 'story'. The truth is, it's a game. For Disney to develop new content, making it a part of a story line is perfect. But to put out facets, or parts, of a game that can only be played for a very short period of time, is really something that is going to end up KILLING the game.

People come and go. The players get tired, bored, or move on to other games. New players come in. If Disney continues to put out parts of the game, then shut them down and never play them again, then any new players who join miss out on the experience.

Case in Point.
I have a total of 6 pirates. I have 2 empty spaces yet to be made. All 6 of my existing pirates had the opportunity to do the Rott quests, although one of them wasn't high enough level to get all the parts. Now, if I create my next pirate, he will never be able to do the Rott quests.

If Disney continues along these lines, they will actually LOSE perspective new players. I don't know a single person who would want to join a game once they found out that there were lots of parts of that game that they will never get to see. I wouldn't want to join a game and find out that the only way that I could fully understand where I am and what is going on is if I had to READ a HISTORY BOOK, full of info about the story behind the game. (Remember, the target audience is ages 10 and up. How many 10 to even 16 year olds want to join a game when they have to read pages of History and Lore in order to understand the game? I'm WAAAY older than that, and I wouldn't! I'd go find a game where I could be playing and enjoying myself the very first time I played.)

Example:
Ever since the Port Royal invasions have been released, there hasn't been a single invasion on Tortuga. A lot of people think this is acceptable because that is the development of the storyline. Well, start a new pirate, or introduce a friend to the game and then try to tell them that thier pirate isn't going to be given a lot of the opportunities to progress and grow, to level, the way your pirate was.

Disney HAS TO find a way to let NEW players experience ALL the story line. NOBODY wants to join a game part way through it and find out that they missed out on all the opportunities.

Let me take this one step further.
According to the discussions below; It is perfectly acceptable that Disney takes away the Rott quests and never lets any new players do them, because it was a part of story line that has passed.

So logically, When Disney releases the next story chapter, is it also acceptable that they take away the Pearl Quest? Any new player coming in, or any new pirate one of us creates, doesn't get to do the first chapter, since the second chapter has already been released? They can go read about it in the archives!

I'm just trying to follow the logic a lot of you have already presented. The Pearl Quest is integral to a pirates development. So are all the weapon qusts, and so are the Rott quest, the invasions, and all the other things. A brand new pirate has to experience the entire story, not start in the middle.

Just like the weapons quests, Disney has to 'open' some of this other stuff at certain levels to small pirates as they grow and progress.

If Disney keeps this up, they will continue to lose players just from basic attrition, and never get new players to replace those that are leaving.

I still have to point out the flaw in the content argument. If content is "merely an addition to the game", then why have quests or stories at all? I have to offer the example of the TV show again.

Your favorite TV show comes and it is great. Perfect episode. Next week? Same script, word-for-word. The only change is that now, instead of a Chevrolet, our hero drives a Honda. The next week? Same old script but our hero gets a new suit and the wallpaper in the kitchen is nicer. And it goes on and on for a year and a half.

Same old script but the sets look SO much nicer. The producers can't understand why the ratings have tanked and they say things like, "What about all the new content? It is SO much prettier."

Content is scripted, playable and ongoing in that it drives the player from one "scene" to the next. Content is what makes the player move forward and strive to complete the "mission" at hand.

I am out of missions. I like what used to be enough to keep the account open but I don't level grind. I could train a spider-monkey to level grind. Becoming a Pirate Master is not my goal and it is not how we "finish" the game. The Pearl Battle marked the end of the game for me. But there was enough content in the form of weapons quests to keep me playing. And then I started a new pirate. That was OK... But a third pirate? Nope. On test? OK.

But I am done now. All around. Bring on some new content and I'll be swinging my cutlass again...

I won't use the quote thingus here, it would be entirely too long. Suffice it to say you make an incredible amount of sense Bas. My pirates are a perfect example of this. Bear with me for a sec here people, little info so you get where I'm coming from.

I have 32 pirates, yes really. My big girl is 46. Two are over 20, 7 over 15, 4 over level 5, and the other 8 are sitting stagnating at level 1, 6 of whom have yet to land on the main servers, having never even touched a weapon.

On with the logic. So, because my big girl Kat was around for Rott, the invasions, and that whole part of the storyline, she's good. But the other 7 who started but could not finish the Rott quests, and the 24 who never touched them, should never be able to do them? Should never get the chance to speak to Constance in the Mire? Should never know what PR looks like under invasion. (Yes, they are all me. Assume with me that each is actually a different player here.) Should those level 1s who may not see game for months to come never get to do the Pearl Quest if a new chapter comes out?

What about this? I have a couple friends AFK from game, but coming back. Due to timing, they missed Constance. They missed all the invasions so far, and they won't be back probably till they are gone. How are they going to understand all the changes by the time they get back?

Then, the brand new players. How can you expect a new player to understand why the game is where it is, if they don't SEE it all themselves? Ok, so there are forums, like here, and D's own archive. Reading doesn't imply understanding. I still wish the nades quest hadn't changed here! Ok, many of you were not fond of the old quest. Kat may have been one of the last couple thousand to do it the old way. New players may hear talk about how it used to be. But will they ever understand what it feels like to have a mass of level 40's or 50's watching your back as you bumble through Kingshead for the very first time? That changed the way I saw the game. At that moment the game became more than just a solo endeavor. I feel sorry for all the new players deprived of the sight of 5 or 6 high level pirates at Kingshead. D really shot themselves in the foot on that one, because, for me, that is what made me determined to see Kat as far as she could go. It made me determined to PAY to get her there.

What do the new players have to change their mind about the game? Quests made easy enough to do solo? Running around seeing X's laid out in plain sight, instead of wandering around having to ask for help?

To me the entire game looks like they are leaning it into solo play. But then what is the point of guilds? Hmm? Should new players, thinking they can go it alone and don't need guilds be deprived of just how fun playing in a group can be? This pirate thinks not. D has gotten too far into messing with what isn't broken, and not progressing the story enough. Methinks D needs to take off an eyepatch, pull out an ear trumpet, and listen to the players!

I agree with absolutely everything mentioned above.

1: While I do see that you might not understand how the game got to this point, you're not gonna be doing the same thing over and over again, just for the new people, are you? As mentioned before: "You're not going to read the same page of a book over and over again, right?"
Two more examples:
1: Wouldn't you get tired of eating the same thing every day for dinner?
2: Would you go to vacation to the same place every year?

2: The old quests were actually good. The very last quests of having to constantly sink ships over and over again was pretty simple. Rather than that, we have to constantly sink a SPECIFIC ship ( I.E. Kingfishers ). Some people by that point would actually be Lv30+, so sinking ships under Lv30 would be somewhat pointless. Having to sink ANY ship of the Navy class meant that you could actually hang out at the Outcasts/Padres ships and sink Dreadnoughts and Corsairs all you want. As monotonous as it was, it was much easier. And at that point, you could actually sink Ferrets all you want, if you wanted to get the quest over with quickly.

3: "Should those level 1s who may not see game for months to come never get to do the Pearl Quest if a new chapter comes out?"
If I understood this correctly, my answer would be that, chances are they're never going to remove the Black Pearl Boss Battle, as it is part of the WHOLE storyline.

4: This game IS veering onto the point of everything being a solo thing. Having to dig up a Treasure Chest buried under a andom X's on a random oddly colored pile of dirt isn't much of a "Treasure Hunt" now is it?

Overall I felt as if Disney managed to "tread water" in 2009, What was addaed was nice, but has added little to the game itself.

The islands are fantastic, although I wish they could leave one server like it used to be for nostalgia purposes, I kind of miss the charge up the hill to the fort on Port Royal.

Disney needs to manage the GM events better, The Constance Sorrows reunion thingy was horrible, So much local chat going on that I had no clue as to what was going on. Perhaps they could deactivate local chat while it is going on.

The Thrall Captains are great, Tormenta is once again the feared Island it should be, it gives the lvl 40 plus characters somewhere to go to face at least a challenge once again. I wonder where the Kraken are? we have heard of them and seen rumors for awhile, but sea battles will remain rather monotonous until they bring in terror from the deep.

I enjoyed the invasions on Port Royal, it made sense to protect the governors mansion. On Tortuga? Protect a tavern and Jack Sparrow? hmm Ok, I can sort of go with it. Padres? What is Jolly after, lava? I haven't been able to participate in the Padres event yet so I'll withhold judgement for now. While on the topic though, there are many fine pirates such as myself on late nights almost exclusively, we feel cheated, Surely Jolly might make a night run wouldn't you think?

Overall, an OK job in 2009, I am glad they raised the notoriety lvl to 50, but without a new story quest, it still remains the same...

how is disney dreading on water?
>Thinks for a moment<
*They have plenty of membesr that pay for membership every month
*Its easy for them to make money
*They have a few parks that get $178,524-$1,800,456.That means the game could be better but they just gont want to!
*Many people are quitting of this because nothin' is getting better.
*they could make the veiwers happy if they wanted but, they dont!

the game is good but if they have all that money......
Make the game better!

Disney doesn't make the game. The Team who builds up the game is working under Disney.
The money which comes from the parks does not go straight into developing teams pockets,
i'm afraid. Disney makes other games, produces HUGE movies, builds new attractions, fan
products etc. Plus the people working there need to get their salary. 10$ a month is hardly
anything, and even less if payed with the yearly subscription.


And basing your assumptions on a Fansite is hardly a wise choice. Many people are quitting, but
more people are coming in. That's life, right? Pirates of the Caribbean has been getting better
and has better performance than ever. People may be leaving because of lack of content, but that
decision is based on their attitude towards the game. You can get content out of everything if you
want to, some people just feel like it is easier to complain than cope.


If the Developing Team wouldn't want to make us happy, they would have shut down the game.
Is that good then? Would they be having all of the contests and invasion and who knows what
updates in the future, if they didn't want to please us? "Make the game better" you say, yet
you don't want to give them time to do that? Doesn't make any sense to me, but what would
i know.

This is do or die time for Disney, and if there is nothing new by April, its VMK all over again.

I have been giving this some thought. Things might be slow on game development because of how screwed up the economy has been the last two years...

Disney is not just a couple of parks, remember. And while the profit from the parks can be measured in the BILLIONS of dollars and not just MILLIONS or :mybadki6: HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of DOLLARS, their profits are still down 25% last year. People just didn't take vacations last year.

The TV part of Disney lost considerably less money in 2009 but the film division was hammered with a HUGE decline, somewhere over 75%. Overall, Disney made money last year but it was 25% less than it made in 2008. Tie that all in with the recent purchase of the Marvel Comics Group and POTCO all of a sudden looks insignificant. Looking at the "big picture" and we should be happy the game is even still here....Of course we aren't. All of us would like to see steady and continuous growth but if it mattered as much to Disney, the development team would be larger.

I would agree ex8404 and each of these "sections/departments" of Disney do not feed each other. Disneyworlds profits do not feed into POTCO or thier movie sections. All of these are separate busness communities. Each area has a budget and a profit margin they have to maintain. I would have to do some research but POTCO may even be 3rd party subsidiary owned or just funded by Disney. So just because a Disney movie does well or the themepark has a record year doesn't mean anything to POTCO.

I agree that the ecomony has a lot of businesses doing more with less. It doesn't mean they are not trying, working hard and doing thier best. This industry is tough and developers are usually expected to put in extra hours as a matter of course.

I fully dispute you Swordshot that Disney doesn't care or that they are not trying to make us happy. Disney POTCO is doing what it can to provide us with entertainment. I personally think they are doing a great job and have re-upped my annual Unlimited membership.

Captain Whale

Well, to me, PiratesOnline = Fail. It is sad for me to say that because I used to play the game so much. The only thing I go onto for now are my friends, and just walking around doing nothing. And, in fact, I haven't been on in maybe 2 or 3 weeks. I lost count. I turned basic and I'm level 43 waiting for the story quest so I can level with that instead. I expect Disney to raise the level cap to 60 when they release the story quest. I mean, what would be in the story quest for the 50 leveled pirates? ( I also stopped playing because of so much lag )