Its the little things that count.
 

Pirates is a great game, What really makes me love the game is the Ship Combat since its real time. Sadly the game does not get a perfect score for a few things, I will list the few things and post ideas on how to improve it.

The Code:
This annoys me to death, How come we can; hack,stab,poison,incinerate, blow up, drown, and curse the navy but we can not shoot them??? I think its because Disney dosn't want the little kids to think its okay to shoot people... if this is true Disney gets a facepalm :mybadki6: . Seriously, if we can kill the navy in all those diffrent ways and not shoot them because of that the world has gone dumb.

Suggestion: Let us shoot the navy.
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Graphics:
The graphics of this game remind me of what we thought were good graphics in 2006. I am not asking for Modern Warfare2 meets Halo Reach graphics, just an improvement thats all

Suggestion: Better Graphics

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Censor:
Last time I checked numbers were not swear words however if I want to say I sunk three ships I get the message saying the words in itallic have been censored, and to my supprise the only word in itallic is three.

I can type the number or type out the full word, its all censored. Does Disney hate math or something?

Suggestion: Uncensor the numbers and rethink your censor.

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Lockon:
Sometimes its useful, sometimes its annoying. I find it annoying that no matter how well I try to dodge something, it hits me. What is up with the throwing knives following the person? Allow us to be able to dodge.EDIT: By dodge I mean step out of the way

Suggestion: Allow us to be able to dodge attacks.

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Pathfinding:
Disney's POTC Online has a great NPC Path finding system since the NPCs never get stuck, which sometimes is a bad thing.

It makes it dumb to try to attack someone at a range since they catch up with you in less then two seconds.

Suggestion: Fix the NPC path finding system.
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Pirateness:

I feel like when I play this game I am the good guy, Kind of odd since I am playing a pirate game.

Suggestion: Add some quests that make you feel like a pirate. Maybe some morality choices like they did in Army of Two 40th day.
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Mood Swings:

I was doing the quest where you need to give a dozen eggs to this Navy officer. I give him the eggs and he said now leave since I had enough of you. I walk away and I see him saying "Fairwell" with a smile and a wave...

Suggestion: Let the navy be mean to us after all we sink their ships...
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Ranks:
I am an ex player of Puzzle Pirates and the thing I loved about it was there were tons of ranks. Cabin Boy/Girl, Pirate, Officer, Fleet Officer, Senior Officer, Captian (no I did not look those up, I have good memory)
It is annoying that all we have is, member, officer, guildmaster. Talk about a good chain of command there...

Suggestion: Add more Guild Ranks and allow us to make our own custom ranks.
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Trading:
This game would be better if you could trade in my opinion. Get better deals off ships, help a friend, sell a rare sword.

Suggestion: Add Trading
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Capture Ships:
Suppose your a pirate in real life in the 18th century. You are on your sloop and see a war galleon that just came out of a firefight clinging to life almost to port. You give the order to attack, after some cannon fire your board it and kill the enemy crew, So what do you do? The logical thing is to capture the ship, no? In this game we are forced to sink the ship though.

Suggestion: Give us the option to board all ships and capture them.

Uh, numbers will never be allowed. No, they aren't swear words, but they can be used to give out personal info. Hence, numbers will always be only in open chat. (And even then they are often filtered.)

While it is a great goal, censoring numbers does nothing to achieve it because it is as easy as won , to, tree to work around it. Better to allow numbers, I think, and watch for number strings that might be phone numbers. Ages would be harder but then giving out your age is so easy now that not having numbers censored would make no difference. Just seems an unnecessary annoyance to me. But you are probably right, they will never change it.

1. I agree fully with your idea of shooting Navy. First off Disney has no right of saying this game is oriented towards kids because the rating is 10+ and 10 year olds are smart enough to know that shooting people is bad. And also the movies are PG-13 so why in the world would parents let their 7, 8, and 9 year olds play a game based off a movie for teenagers.

2. Graphics should be easy as Disney is a Multi-Billion dollar company and they say it takes them years to make something that could be done in a matter of months. Bungie the company that makes Halo is releasing a game soon that will equal Disneys audience in POTCO and Bungie makes probably 30 times less and has a smaller team than Disneys, but they can release a Graphics engine that makes 2009 engines look like 1999? Disney should not have any problem releasing new content and better graphics.

3. Again this game is for 10+ and I bet you that 90% of the 10 year olds have gotten the lesson from their moms to not talk to strangers, reveal Personal Info, etc.

4. I think I saw a dodge coming in with the next update if I'm not mistaken.

The Code - Lets think about this for a second; why do parents constantly put under fire games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty? Because you shoot people! You'd be surprised by the amount of parents that let kids as young as possible play games that are T, M rated, just because their kids want them! Its not so much a matter of a fail, as a matter of Disney not wanting to get sued.

Graphics - Have ya ever noticed that the better the graphics, the more adult-orientated the games get? Thats why games like Animal Crossing are rated E (hence their nice, fluffy graphics,) while games like Mass Effect are rated M. Better graphics tends to provoke realism, violence, adult themes, or all three. Besides, lets face it, its a DISNEY games. They are a "happy smile fun land!" type of company, and hardcore, complex graphics at any rate aren't up their alley.

Censors - Exactly what TheHawke said. Numbers can be used to give away anything from phone numbers, to addresses, to even an age. And we all know what that can lead to.

The scary thing is, people as old as 16, 17 are giving away their Personal Info. to people they don't know. Sure, you can trust the parents and uncensor numbers. But 99% of the time, the kids just ignore the advice their parents and teachers give them. And then what happens, when kids are getting their identities stolen (which IS a major problem with kids on the internet,) and sometimes things even worse? The company that acted as the predator's medium gets the blame. And once again, we find Disney not wanting to get sued.

Lockon - Thats understandable, and I am behind your point. But with the creation of jumping amongst pirates, I'm guessing its just to make sure that all pirates recieve the same amount of damage, so its somewhat fair.

Pathfinding - It wouldn't be that fair if pirates could just stand behind a fence, or on a ledge, and fire away grenades without getting hurt. It takes away the challenge in the game.

Disney has all the "right of saying this game is oriented towards kids" because it is rated 10+. That is because 10 year olds are kids. And if a person at the ripe old age of 10 knows that "shooting people is bad", why are people still shot every day? IS that something we forget as we get older?

Disney made the game for 10 year-olds because 13 + year-olds are playing X-Box.

Disney is a multi-billion dollar company. But that does not mean that it is all pointed towards POTCO. Bungie has one purpose in life and business. Make video games. And it takes up to three years to make a game like Halo Reach. Disney has to spend their money on Theme parks, ABC, ESPN, Toon Disney, a handful of movie studios, music licensing and a zillion other things.

Bungie's total employee count doesn't equal the night shift at Disney World. And those employees of Disney Worldwide need uniforms, workman's comp, insurance, training etc. POTCO is so far down the line of priorities we are lucky it still exists considering that the movies have been all but forgotten by the general public.

You don't know that. And the Disney name is worth far to much to be protected by guesses. One kid gets hurt or lost due to this game and Disney loses more than money. They act like mother hens because their brand name is precious and must be protected.

That would be cool. But it is not on the current update.

My response: I am not asking the enemies to be stupid, just not be able to dodge every thing item that gets in their way.

I know that I pay for the game, because I like that it is DIFFERENT from my other faves...visually it is a vacation from the ordinary(you need a better graphics card mate, cause on high graphics the detail is very good for what we pay)....the historical element appeals...and nothing is so complex that you can't leave the game for a bit....some of your points are valid...but Dis makes billions....they know the shortcomings of their game...it is what it is...lets keep giving them ideas for story-lines, and development ....and a little statistic for you,,,a child is abducted in this country every 40 seconds,,,almost 5000 a year are taken by outsiders(not family)...and of those the average age is 12...with 2/3 being female...whether a parent "talks" to their kids about stranger safety...really doesn't stop the bad guys...protective censorship might just slow em down...

Why can we shoot Skeletons and Animals in game and it be ok, but when we shoot a human enemy then the game is bad? It's the same exact concept, but different targets.

The better the graphics the better the game. Notice how every game you have mentioned except for Animal Crossing have a great review scores, have great replay value, and sell millions of copies. So your saying I could make a game with amazing graphics and all you do is pet kitties and it's going to be rated M, but if I make a game with horrible graphics with the same elements as GTA IV and it's going to be rated E? A lesson for you is that games are never rated by their graphics.

No matter what Disney does they will never get rid of people giving out Personal Info with Numbers. They would have to ban every word and phrase to get rid of numbers and we all know Disney won't do that.

You could ask everyone on POF and ask them if they did an Invincibility glitch somewhere in the game or have used the Grenade leveling up technique in Kingshead and 90% of the time you would get the answer yes.

You mean that in all of your time while playing pirates online you've never once seen the little "Dodge" word pop up by you, because you dodged an enemy attack? It doesn't show you dodge an attack, it just says it did, and depending on what skill types you use, you can either dodge attacks much easier, or the same as when you started the game.

I think the graphics are fine, although developer videos show that pirates were much more detail when they were working on them than they are now. Before, we were shaped almost like really people. Now we're boxy. During developing stages, you could have freckles, and face details were right up, I would even say better, than WoWs graphics.

Computer games aren't designed to be the same as console games. They're massive multiplayer, and console games usually only have you going up against 8 to 20 people.

The better the graphic the better the game? Nonsense. For a while there, PS3 games were terrible. Looked great but had terrible game play.

Along comes a silly little thing like the Wii and Sony is back pedaling like crazy. To the point of copying the Wii-Mote. Wii outsold X-Box and PS3 combined. Didn't last but it forced Sony to look at game play first and graphics later.

And Animal Crossing has been getting great reviews since it was first released. IGN gave it an Outstanding. Your friends sitting around and saying "Dude, this game sux" is NOT a review.

A lesson for you. Add great graphics, swords and grenades and cannons and guns and you will get an M rating. Period. There is no blood on POTCO for a reason. No one really dies for a reason. Everyone gets knocked out and everyone goes to jail and POTCO gets a 10+ even though playing poker should get it a T for teen.

If the problem with POTCO is graphics then play Modern Warfare. But if the real problem is that you don't realize that this is a kid's game then I am not sure what to say.

The truth is that POTCO is a neat idea that will NEVER be fully realized. It is a movie tie-in to a series of movies that the average movie goer has already forgotten about. Disney is a huge company and this little corner of the big picture is meaningless to Disney Executives.

I, for one, am happy to have anything at all...

Eh... I give it ten to fifteen years and the game will be bringing in big bucks for Disney, and it will be a prized game for them to have.(and toontown, too.)

@EX808: As I said I am not asking for MW2 graphics but a small update is needed. I do realize this game is marketed to preteens hence why I am not asking for blood and gore.

You fail to realize that I said nothing about adding in swords in guns. You quoted me on games not being rated on graphics and took it upon yourself to add something in so you could be right. Games are not rated on JUST their graphics.

Secondly the Wii outsold the Xbox and PS3 because it was a family oriented system. Unlike the PS3 and the Xbox it is far from being a console for real gamers, Call of Duty is like the only game for real gamers on there. And also I think the WII has great graphics, but un-realistic. And also notice how the Game of the Year last year was a PS3 game and critics are saying that the Game of 2010 is an Xbox game.

Lastly, I back up my argument of Disney having no excuse for taking so long on content with another example. Fallout 3 on PC was a great game and the Developers released an editing pack for it. Turns out the average person took maybe 5 hours from their day and made content better than the people who were PAYED to MAKE the game.

Never said they were. I merely added to the conversation by pointing out that better graphics means more realistic depictions of violence. And you cannot deny the existence of "swords in (and?) guns" in this game. Therefore, to say that better graphics won't lead to better looking weapons and, as a result, better kill shots is just wrong. Because if you give a mouse better graphics, he's going to want blood.

Thank you for making my point although I would argue that the Wii was just more fun in terms of gameplay. However, like the Wii, POTCO is family oriented. And it is the ONLY reason POTCO works. Period. Since you are in charge of deciding what constitutes games and consoles for real gamers, please tell me where POTCO fits in. In my opinion, POTCO is for casual gamers and to try and hang "real gamer" attributes to it is just plain silly.

You are comparing Disney with companies whose only purpose is to make video games. For machines that exist only to play those video games. They all have the same abilities. Your X-Box is just like my X-Box and My PS3 is just like your PS3. It is easier to hit a target that isn't moving. My PC is NOTHING like your PC. How do the developers deal with this? By marketing something for the lowest common denominator.

POTCO is, first and foremost, an advertising gimmick. And Disney is WAY too big to care about it much. I guarantee, the day POTCO loses a single dime, it gets shut down forever.

This is about as "real gamer" (what does that even mean?) of a game as Farmville is. It just happens to appeal to a lot of people. Leave it alone. It works as it is.

We agree on the intent if not the tone here. Disney has been WAY too slow in turning out content. But if Fallout 3 can be improved in 5 hours by some random Joe (who I can only assume was a "real gamer") who wasn't even PAID to do the job, then Fallout 3 must have been really, really bad.

The reason all the new content is taking so long is because POTCO was released before POTBS so that POTCO could make more money. Whether that's helped them or not is beyond me, but changing islands, caves, and the inventory system should have been done during beta.

Their only other excuse is that their developing staff is less than 20 people.

(took out part of the quote)
Graphics don't make a game better. It all comes down to what the player believes makes the game better. Take for example this, someone buys a Xbox 360 or PS3 game. The graphics look great, and they enjoy the story. A few weeks later they buy the PC version of the game. Graphics are worse, but the concept of the game is the exact same thing. If they like the game because of the concept, are they gonna trash it because the graphics are bad?

As for games not being rated by their graphics, that is 100% correct. Games aren't judged by their graphics when they get rated by the ESRB, they are judged by the concept of the game. If games were given E ratings because the games graphics sucked, wouldn't every game from the PS1 generation of consoles have an E rating?

The Wii outsold the Xbox and PS3 because it was family oriented, but also because it was something different. The Wii actually made gamers get more involved with what is going on, rather than using a controller to allow a character to complete a story. (Yes, the Wii used a controller, but it involved moving around, not sitting down mashing buttons.) Just to provide some proof, look in a gaming magazine such as Game Informer, they show the top selling games for consoles, Wii Fit has been in the top 5 for more than a year.. that there should say something, especially since Wii Fit can be played individually.

As for the PS3 and Xbox being for "real gamers".. that is completely false. There isn't such a thing as a "real gamer", you either play games, or you don't. Just because your favorite type of game is much different than another persons favorite game, that doesn't make one better than the other.

Not being contentious here or looking for an argument but just how has this little factoid become part of the POTCO lore?

Is it fact or conjecture? Truth is, for a while there I couldn't turn on my TV without seeing an ad for POTCO. I had never even heard of POTBS until I started posting here.

I would love to know the truth behind this and where it comes from.

Truly we are all here posting on this thread and all threads like this because Disney is too slow. If they had taken another 6 months or a year to increase the quality then we would be arguing less. But truly no game will ever feel complete to a player. There's always more to add and players get mad because of a game not having their ideal weapon or good graphics.

As far as the graphics go they were much better when the game was first released, but D greatly reduced the pixel count because of all the complaints about lag. D wants as many players to be able to play the game as possible, now while I rarely if ever experienced lag before or now and always have ran graphics wide open, alot of players on slower/older computers did so D drasticly reduced the polygon count to make the game run smoother for a wider range of players. More players able to play equals more money in D's pocket.

Sorry, I don't understand the first question.

I believe i'm one of the few people here... or maybe not, that was looking at POTBS and POTCO when they were both beginning. I wanted to see what game looked more fun. And then I started noticing a lot of talk on different forums, particulary POTBS forums, about which game would release first. Many people agreed POTCO would be released first, simply because Disney would think the game would make more money if they released before another pirates online game.

Whether the game was actually released just to be before POTBS or not remains to be seen. However, it would certainly make sense, considering the game has been redone in many areas(islands, inventory, caves) more than in any other game I've played.

Toontown hardly did any redoing once it was released. Changed fishing a bit, toontowncentral, and took out the merry-go-round in minnies melodyland.

Now, POTCO has redone 3 islands, ALL of the caves, and now redoing the inventory system. The new inventory system is certainly more user friendly, other than the fact that not all of our weapons will be at our disposal any time we want. What with the equpping you need to do.

Ok, I've been going on a bit too long. Anyways. if Disney actually cared about this game and its' content, these things would have been changed during beta. Simply put, it looks to me like they decided they need to release the game either in time to beat POTBS or in time with the second pirates movie.

EDIT: I agree with Swash's last post. I honestly wouldn't be posting this if the second story quest was out. I'd be in the game. But instead, I'm here hoping that the developers are reading our opinions. I'm bored of the game. Weapon griding is the majority of the game, and anytime I go on now it's for invasions and EITC fleets. Especially when I get to fight the "enemy" with the crew.

I just want to be playing a game where I feel like I'm accomplishing something. Without a story line I'm lost.

I TOTALLY agree with you. The game has been starting to bore me, and it has taken control of me before. I stopped about a year after i had joined a week after the game came out. The game needs a new story line, because my two major pirates finished their BP Quest before they were lvl 28. The bbs are too easy and need some changing around. Most of the pirates these days are oldies and need some new stuff to mess around with.

I do think that they could do more with the graphics, games such as super mario galaxy or sonic unleased are made for everyone to play and they have great graphics that do not promote violence or realism. Higher quality graphics would be great also along with bug fixes that seem to cause the game lag to many many players. I do agree that Disney is a company that does not want to get sued, which is why they do not let us shoot other human enemies. On the note of their censorship they do this to make the game safe for younger players, although the number blocks tend to get bothersome due to the fact that it makes it hard to tell other players how many more enemies you have to kill. I mostly agree with you Del but I defidently think this game needs higher quality graphics along with bug fixes for the lag. Disney is a huge company and if they invest more into this game it can mean a major rise in memberships which will mean more money for them.

Good points Johnny.

At Jonny Storm:

So Disney thinks its bad to shoot people in a video game that allows you to cut,blow up,burn,poision,drown,ect,ect,ect people???

I will never understands Disney's logic what so ever...

Anyways I am glad on how active this thread is. My first thread and its already populer :)

If I didn't watch the pirate movies I would probably think it was a message the developers were trying to send; at least it would make sense, don't shoot other people.

But since I've seen the movies, I'm actually going to say, I think the pirate code is just something the developers want, to challenge us. We're limited to the weapons we can use on the Navy and EITC, so we get a challenge... sort of.

Maybe the whole pirate code will come into play in the future? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we can't shoot the navy for some reason other than them being people.

Disney simpily wants to protect their image with the public, true we use swords and grenades and daggers on enemies but pistols or guns are more realistic and they do not want to encourage them in real life. All it takes is one accident and Disney will get sued and lose alot of money.

....a lot of pirate fiction, and old movies mentioned the pirate code....so Dis just used it to prevent having a first person shooter game, where nobody would ever even draw a sword..;)...historically, most people didn't have pistols...they carried blades. Um...where in the game do we get to poison and drown people?
Personally....I think you shouldn't be able to attack Navy or EITC til they deal the first blow,,,exept in pvp challenges...or ship fights...just me...they could put more rep for stealth , which would also reward one using his smarts......and since its Disney,,rewards for outstanding in -game behaviour might curb some of the stuff /language and behaviour we are seeing in game lately...

Seafox, you get to poison the Navy and EITC when you use venom shot, adder, or pestilence. Not really "poisoning" them but you get the point. Also when you sink ships the Navy and EITC go down with the ship (unless it's a flagship in which case they die before they go down). I would like to be able to shoot human enemies, bt even cooler would be if some of our enemies were equiped with pistols.

I hope you realize Disney can't be sued for allowing us to shoot Navy. After all, if the rating was changed to T for Teen then no one could do anything about it.

You can't sue call of duty for being shocked about what you may see. It's your choice to play the game, and isn't required, so if you get hurt playing the game(other than players bullying you) you only have yourself to blame.

Anyways, if Parlay(sp?) was in the movies, I'm pretty sure being in the game only gives us a better feel for the game.

Besides, we don't know if we won't be seeing any undead Navy in the future. ;)

To elaborate more on the subject, I mean that Disney does not want to get accused of encouraging shooting other people in real life. In example if some child tries to do so then says he/she got the idea from playing this game the parent might try to sue Disney accusing them of encouraging the behaivor. Thats why when you watch shows on TV like say WWE sometimes youll see messeges before the program like: Dont try this at home the people on this show are trained professionals. This is done so they can disscredit any law suites that should arise in a similar incident. Fact is that Disney just doesnt want to risk getting sued over something like this.

Then add a disclamer saying "Do not shoot people at home kids"

The Code: Can't agree with you more! Why would a ten year old have a gun? If a parent had like a hunting gun it would most likely be hidden or locked up so the kids can't get to it. Now older kids, it is the same for them too. But adults, well, no adult is that insane (well maybe some) to shoot someone because of a video game.

Graphics: Have you seen the Runescape Graphics compared to this website? It makes POTCO look even more beautiful! Set the graphics to high and they look even more stunning.

Censor: I do understand what you mean, we should be able to use numbers, but not saying certain phrases like "I am -- years old". But even without using numbers, people still can say words that sound like numbers (example: one-won).

Lockon: I know that its not realistic, but there are words that say Dodge above your players head. Because if we were to just step out of the way, we would never be hit.

Pirateness: I do agree on that. It makes the Navy seem like the bad guys! When actually you are supposed to be the bad guy. But I don't know how Disney could fix this because from your point of view, we are against the navy. And if you were on the Navy wouldn't you be against the pirates?

Moodswings: All I can say is Gotcha there.

@Angel:

Lockon: Thats why you should get in close to throw the knives. I am not talking about melee distance but not far enough that a USMC sniper can't even make the shot.

Pirateness: It feels like we are the good guys since we are the ones saving the world from Jolly Roger while the Navy just sits around. Shouldn't they be more involved?

Bump/Added a new Idea.

I think numbers should be uncensored. It's just annoying to try telling someone I need to sink a certain amount of ships, and I can just do some others ways to tell someone my age. A favorite I've heard? " I'm a dozen minus won " Or problems among those lines. Stop censoring numbers, and our lives get easier as simple as won, too, tree, for, hive, sticks, sven!

I most definitely agree with you there. I want to:
* Capture ships

*Use ship's materials to build my own ships.

For anyone that feels like the chat system is flawed by not letting you say ships you need for a quest, here's a very simple hint: Go the the speed chat phrases and go to quests, and you'll be able to say what you need for quests.

Yes, but let me give you an example. Pirate A needs 15 skellies for a quest. He has killed 7. If he has Speedchat Plus he cant type numbers, so he has to go to the quest thingee in the speedchat phrases... but it doesnt say how many you need now, it says the total amount you need, and doesnt change based on what you have done so far in the quest.

As for the code... yes it could easily have something to do with "shooting people is bad", but did you ever take into consideration how many shots from a gun the average human can take? Not many, I can tell you. And if its a blunderbuss.... :skull: Then again... the average person cant take that many hits from a sword either.... Could be that they dont want people killing Navy/EITC in one shot from a gun all the time, so they put the code in there.

^ Yeah but still, like you said about the sword, it's a one hit kill on anyone, and what about alligators and scorpions. Hers one thing you didn't add, if we hit a more vital point in somebody's body, skeletons dont count, then they take more damage.