Dying (or DEAD) Disney has let us down!
 

The game is dying, or has already done so. Disney has let us down.
The one year anniversary came on October 31. By the end of the first week in November, a ton of the players had let their accounts expire. By the third week of November, Disney cut about 1/2 of the servers, (We all know that it was because game play has dropped significantly.)

All the rumors about new stuff coming on the anniversary were bogus. Then the Tavern Takeovers, where the Disney GM's kept hinting and blatantly saying, new things are coming,, be sure to be at the Founder's Feast to find out more. (HA!) Other than the roast pig giving out 10 super tonics, nothing happened there, either.

There has been major update after major update, but none of them has actually added any major new content. Yeah, the clothing quests and the level 5 weapons, but no increases in Notoriety, Weapons levels, ships or ship capabilities. Nothing that the average level 40 pirate wants or needs!

Guilds are dying left and right. Most guilds are losing full access players, and they are seeing no new players coming in. The die hards are creating new baby pirates, but it is rare to find a "new" player. Be honest. If your guild has about 100 pirates in the list, then you may have 20 to 25 ACTIVE players right now! Probably even less.

Even those who play pretty regularly are beginning to chat about how bored they are with the game. No incentive to continue their memberships, because Disney hasn't given us anything to keep us active. Grinding weapons gets extremely boring, when all you are grinding them for is to reach the last level. There isn't even any fanfare for mastering, unless your friends make it for you.

Where is the second story chapter? What use is having the Pearl, if we can never sail her, or chase after Jolly Roger? When are they going to raise the notoriety and weapons skill caps? What use are weapons that are more powerful than our old ones, when there are no enemies to use them on, or they don't earn us any rep?

COME ON Disney!! Quit making up these little side quests and amusements, Give us something that is truely MAJOR! The Muertos Moon is fun, ONCE! After that, the best anyone can hope for is that it happens on a different server than the one they are on.

My suggestions:

Raise Notoriety max to level 60, using the same progressive scale factors that are in place now, the final level would require around 80,000 rep to achieve. This should keep us all busy.

Raise weapons max to level 50 each.. Same reasoning as for Notoriety.

Give us at least 2 new types of war ship, but only allow us 3 total. Time to make some decisions!

Allow customization of our ships, allow us to "move" cannons. I would love to take 2 cannons from the side of my War frigate and add them to the front. I would also like to be able to fly a Guild pennant from the top of my main mast. Paint job would be a nice touch, too.

New, higher level enemies and ships! We will need the challenge if we are going to raise the caps.

GIVE US THE NEXT STORY CHAPTER! There has to be a reason we did all that work to recapture the Pearl from the Navy. Jolly Roger has been growing more powerful. There are French and Spanish undead. Where is the story that ties it all together?


What does everyone else think?

I couldn't agree with you more Basil. The other day I was forced to delete a good 20 friends from Dragon off friends list simply because they don't play anymore. Active guilds are hard to come by. I'm so lucky and thankful I'm in PIC otherwise I'd be gone with everyone else. It's so frustrating to not have anything to do. The only time I have fun is when my friends and I get a game going. (Played hide and seek yesterday and SvS the day before). I really really wish Disney would scamming us with these pointless events. The Founder's Feast was pointless, all we got was some super tonic like you said, and there's no way to get it again once you use it all up, which blows even more. I only play now for the friends that I've made in the past few months. Other than that I'm ready to throw the towel in and go search for a new game.

Basil, I couldn't agree with you more. I really have never played any other online games but if the lack of new content is the same on those games as it is on Pirates, I can't see how they would stay so popular. If it weren't for my incredible guild mates I would have let my subscription go a long time ago. We need some major additional content and we need it soon. I am just about to finish maxing out my pirate and really have no desire to start over with a second one. I really have a hard time understanding why a company with the resources that Disney has doesn't publish more content on a consistent basis.

Basil has hit the nail squarely on the head with this post. The game has improved compared to what it was when most of us started. If you are brand new to the game there is plenty for you to do. But, if you have been around awhile, have a mastered pirate or two, then the new things that will keep a new player busy for a month we'll burn through in a few hours.

Tis a sad thing to say but I've seen too many mates leave the game. They either quit completly or just stop in from time to time when a new bone has been tossed our way. Disney really needs to step it up if they want to keep us around. We need something with substance to it and not more of the little string em along to keep em paying items we've been getting.

I guess I'm one of the die hards but it's getting harder for me to want to stay in the game.

It is a sad commentary on Disney that so many have left. I like the game, and have found ways to entertain myself and my guild while waiting for updates. Recently, we've started interacting with another guild to have more fun things to do. The main reason I haven't quit or disbanded my guild is because occassionally some of the 'rare' members pop on and it would bother me for them to come back to a guild without a guildmaster. That happened to me in another guild. Another is for the friends I have in the game. I have 3 lv40 pirates and my fourth is lv30. If Disney has not given up us more to do by the time James Buffitt Jr. hits lv40, I will let my account expire and go basic. Maybe in 6-8 months there will be something to do.

IMO they are working on the cars game now, when that launches they will turn attention back here. If I am estimating correctly when they release the game in england with all the upgrades, we will get them too. I dont however understand what their aversion is to raising the note level. Thats a simple fix that would make many people very happy.

Changes are comming, just in time for christmas , thats my guess, not a fact.

Wow, you saved me a whole lot of typing. I've been frustrated for quite some time now. POTC Online may not cost as much as some of the other online games, however...the other games release things called "expansion" packs which include far more than minor changes.

I'd hate to cancel my account after all the hours I've invested building my characters....but if this pace of expansion continues, I'm at least dropping back to basic access until major improvements are made.

This new added feature of ships being glitched at sea is wonderful as well. I was unable to repair or launch my ships for two characters for over two weeks. Finally someone helped bring a flag ship over to me so I could fire on it, grapple it and sink myself. That seems to be the only way to correct it. What did I get from Disney support besides we're working on it? A complimentary week (resets billing cycle).

Overall I enjoy this game and the people I've met. Unless something changes quickly I will continue to lose guild members and friends as they are frustrated as well. Sometimes when I sign in I have to ask myself....ok, now what?? Is this turning into a big Pirate chat room for $9.95 a month?? I certainly hope not.

Robert Darkskull
Pistols N Bladez

:CaneRogers:

Benjamin, I like your optimism. However, this is a multi-billion dollar company. They dont' have two people sitting in some back room working on pirates, they have teams of employees working every aspect of each of their online games. (although it would seem there are only three people and a little hampster running a wheel in the customer service dept.) Time to crack the whip on the POTCO division IMO.

Basil has many great points, and with how things have been going for alot of families, under the circumstances, POTCO is also one of the easiest things to cut when your doing your family budget. If your not getting your money's worth, why continue.. im sure goes through thier minds each month.

I've noticed some changes recently since the last update on the 11/20.
Server resets/maintenance that were common place (almost daily) have been discontinued (a sign they are not working on it anymore?) I havent seen the red notice that the system was going to be shut down a single time since the 20th (maybe I just missed it).

The comment that was made about Cars online, I hope thats not the case, as I dont see any major competitors coming along for that game genre, they have time to work on it, unlike the pirates genre which is much more competitive, and POTCO is losing ground steadily. And like Sarah mentioned, I believe they have the staff/funding to finish the project if they should choose to do so.

aye we all be fustrated... i still playin but my years up end of next month not sure i will renew and i did finally load pirates of the burnin sea,,, away more indepth game so far. but i do like the ease of this game so time will tell if big d want to keep this going or not.

Even before you posted this I have been trying to get a poll to go through, basically on this exact subject. If Uk is coming out soon with customize ships, darts, scars, etc. If you could would you go there. I haven't got it to go through a couple times so far.

I have been saying this for a very long time, while I basically argue with people saying the feast was great, not bad etc. I sure hope no way the Disney people ever read that junk and get the idea that's what makes everyone happy.

I have bit my tongue several times just the last few days, seeing posts on svs runner/dockers, while many find many ways to defend it. Where it really boils down, many gave up on it like me, when they took all the damage from characters who were running down the cheats, to leave the cheats in the game. The very mosted used tactic by the healer on the move ships was racing to dock if they got someone after them.

Or for that matter on bb battles and jumpers taking the wheel. What do people expect when damage is taken away, BB being half set up, and not having control to the wheel to the captain. (referring to who has the quest and gathered a crew) People just not left in guilds to help others do this type of battle and Forced to take who they can get.

Just never have understood the stupidity in game designs, that everyone says they want this or that, and it is completely ignored. While in the case here it has even gone opposite. Degrading of characters, so called upgraded weapons, that gives a high percent damage on low level skills, to slow down leveling. Promises, hints and such just doesn't make it for a game, that just never happens month after month.

I have even argued the point that everyone quiting is becoming a basic account, obviously there are going to be a lot more basic than unlimited, but you won't see that in the game. And by no means, whatever this grouping of people are who mainly don't play, dictate where the game and improvements should be going.

Benjamin,

I wish I could support your theory, but if there was any major content upgrades coming out in time for Christmas, then it would have to be on Test already. Although I'm not on test, I do know that anything that gets put there, information starts to leak out. Nothing has leaked from any of the test server pirates since they all disclaimed the October update!

Then again, maybe none of the pirates who have test accounts are using the test servers anymore. They were all so upset when the October update came out full of bugs that they had complained about and been ignored on, they may have all quit!

Aside from the limiting of ships (OCD - I want complete sets...and a racing sloop...LoL), I totally agree.

Like many others, if it weren't for my guild (what's left of it), I'd be done with Pirates.

Disney is a multibillion dollar company , that does not mean they are throwing that money at their online gamming division, I would be very curious to see exactly how many are really working on this game exclusivly, my guess all their division works on all their games. I dont think its as populated with staff as you would imagine it is

Basil do you know what you just did!? You just typed everything i wanted to say but couldnt put it into words. I agree 100% idk what they are doing but their game is dying. Guilds are falling apart because members arent logging on because there is nothing to do.

Guilds arn't falling apart.. at least PIC isn't

Nicely put, Basil. Couldn't agree more.

I love playing POTCO but when it comes time to renew my account in February, I'll pass if there aren't some new BIG updates by then. I don't really understand why they're developing a Cars game (don't get me wrong, I LOVE the movie, but it's been merchandised to death...but obviously its still selling, so...) but they need to remember us Pirates too.

I also agree with Zep...haven't seen a maintenance notice in a long while, but I also could have missed it.

Literally all but 5 of my friends haven't been on in months. Those 5 are ones I've made since summer. My guild is defunct. I've deliberately put off BB on my main pirate just to keep me something to do at some point, but have been thinking of going ahead with it cause I'm sick of seeing it in my journal. It just stinks to be paying for something that seems to be going nowhere... =(

This may very well in be part because PIC has been picking up alot of those whose guilds have gone the way of the dodo... as in disappeared. Maybe not, but as smaller guilds fold, pirates look for larger guilds hoping for some stability.

I would imagine that even PIC has noticed a drop in number of members online at any given time (I could be wrong).

PIC is a large, and well managed group (kudos Savvy!) your member base works on creating more things to do as a group helping to breath more life into this yes.. dieing game.

A comment was made about "test". Nothing new on test that I have seen on the test pirate I have access to. Matter of fact, it seemed to me the "Muertos Moon" in this case made it on open BEFORE it was on test this last week or so. I havent frequented test lately as i'd been busy with the holiday and family.

I have a L40 pirate and have mastered everything except 'nades and I am now too bored with the game to do that, I recently fell back to limited because I felt that Disney giving me enough value for my monthly $10.00 so I refuse to give it to them any more until that value has increased with some REAL updates.

Had to comment internally .
Great observations, Zep!

Well we have actually increased in numbers and members online at once in the past I would say month or so, so not really sad nor true :piratear:

as Ben said.....PIC has gained a lot of members as of late (mostly some of Sawyers friends LOL).

I have only been playing for the last several months myself. I get on when I can, but even my son (the little brat who got me hooked on Pirates) seems to be getting "bored" with the lack of things to do.
However, we ALL have the choice to play or not to play. The one's who stick around will eventually get what we are looking for (at least I hope so). Remember: Good things happen to those who wait! (My feeble attempt to look at the rum bottle half full).

Just wanted to throw my thoughts out there...

Now...

Where is me rum?

I have been on test, nothing there any more than on live servers. At least with nothing to do, I go there and see how much rep I can get in one kill or something.

As for guilds, my last one emptied about a month after the mess in svs. Some guilds would be expected to gain members as the old 250 max ones crash down to 0, and few that stay look for new homes. These are not just small guilds, these are guilds that had to constantly eliminate people who were not around, to make room for more and max. This particular guild was under rank 10 in everything on the xd site at the time, and came in much later than the starting guilds.

Never once heard these people say they didn't like the game as they left. Many times heard of cheats, no new content ever, and ban issues over such stuff as giving out guild site.

Amen Basil! When I first started playing at the beginning of November last year, I was looking forward to a lot. I leveled, started PIC, sailed, PvP'ed, etc etc. When I hit lvl 40, I was getting pretty used to the game's repetitive system of announcements and events. I was anticipating major updates such as SvS but after a week, you get used to it. Now, for the Founder's Feast. I thought that what the GM's said would be a surprise would be a lvl up for lvl 40 players or something along those lines--instead, we just got super tonics and a chance to socialize--something I do everyday anyway.... Fully mastered pirates do not need super tonics and if my obversations are correct, Disney is just excluding the ones who have achieved full mastery.
These kinds of rants have been posted LOTS of times here--I'm not surprised that Disney hasn't even been listening. Instead of raised caps and new islands, things that people request, we get Harkway ships (what ever those are) and the ever expected "Jolly Roger's curse has returned!"
I've been playing for well over a year now. At this point in time, the ONLY thing that keeps me playing is PIC and the other great friends that I've had the pleasure of meeting. I'm sure others feel the same too about their guilds and friends....

LOL Apparently Sawyer has a lot of friends who are just as bored with the game ITSELF as the rest of us.

Egads this is a depressing thread! If I had not played POTCO before, I certainly would look somewhere else for an online game after reading this. Maybe part of the answer is the age limitations. I have seen too many young ones on-line crowding up the servers and running around acting like young ones. If Big D would raise the age limit maybe they could divert some valuable time spent in filtering chat and banning people for yelling YAHOO instead of YIPPIE to upgrading the game to please the people who actually delve out the money for play time. It's a difficult task to balance a game between kids and adults... so just make it for adults! I know this is Disney...but you can't cater to everyone. Or has Disney made enough money on the game thus far that they just think that putting out another movie will increase their profits? Not in this economy, baby. Give these knowledgable pirates some satisfaction...they have been loyal to POTCO...why doesn't Disney return the favor?

I have seen threads like this time and time again...and all i can say is HA! HA!


I know where you coming from dude, I posted one of these Threads way way way back and got flamed for it (maybe my arguement was not as strong as your) but ya! lack of content yada yada yada.....I feel for ya..


Oh by the way anyone know where i find this so called guild name PIC, If they are really as you say u are and are very last remaining active players in the game that are maybe active guild 24/7 then.....i want to join my guild is dead with only like 2-4 active popping on at a time.

I'm Jack Stormfury in game Level 40 PirateMaster Founder Status.

Gimme a time and place to meet and I will be glad to join ya.

they aren't the only active guild left but if you wanted to try and join theres a sub forum here under guilds.

I have noticed it's getting quiet around the Caribbean as of late, but with the summer holidays over and all the kiddies at school before the holidays i figured that's the way it goes. As i see it, loyal players will still stay loyal to the game no matter what, i've heard rants that it doesn't compare to games such as WoW or LOTRO and that's why people leave after they complete it. I've tried both of those and always ended up playing this little repatative pirates game because i've made some amazing friends and still have things to do with more than one 40. But some people i know have become inactive, but all the more reason to get out there and meet new people and new friends who play, it's what i did. But the friends and people i've met through POTCO has not compared even the slightest to the other online games i've played and for that no matter my rants about lack of content and updates it's still my favorite.

I don't think all guilds are becomming that inactive, i found my old guild on my first pirate had some problems and so i changed guilds and found one gleaming with life 24/7 on my other pirate along with another of my pirates guilds (PIC WOO!). I still have respect for this game ever since the curse (which i wish they would just get rid of already and do something new) they have been holding more events, and hopefully with the grog blog and being able to make suggestions they are improving imo...or at least trying.

Aye, this is getting bad, with the christmas season coming, i will probably play anything new i get then this, even though im not quite to 40 i am starting to get bored with this same cycle of stuff. i respect disney and know they have alot of online games but that doesnt mean abandon us! I have seen people begging for the same things they are now when i joined in July, thats almost 6 months, and these people still aren't getting what they want...... *sigh* if things dont shape up within the next couple months, im gonna leave this game. And about the guilds, i have seen countless numbers of guilds die out or lose tons of members within about the last 2 months..... not good.

The last "major" upadte was SVS, and there wasn't really much to that. The last time anything I would consider major was added was the clothing quests. I love POTC, and up until I beat the BB Pirates was awesome. But I am seriously considering quitting and going to another game. I'm only waiting because their frantic addition of events suggests to me they are trying to keep us occupied until they can fill in the many holes of their hypothetical boat. I feel sorry for them, if they had maybe started working on this earlier they wouldn't be in this mess now.

I mean the addition of clothing changes, not the quests.

Until we "restarted," most of the Ironclads wern't playing.

I agree they should have made the game at least Teen rated.

What they got wrong was making this game WAY WAY WAY too easy. I didn't find much challenge to the game at all. I did nearly most things by myself or with one other pirate. I was wondering why everyone was in such a huge hurry to hit 40. I knew at that point I would be bored so I took my time. Even taking my time, I felt I hit 40 too quickly.

So what happens is everyone blows through the content quicker than they can add to it.

The glog blog, for me that is as useless as the chat system in the game. I find it a attempt to take people from looking at places like this forum, and posts of how wonderful and sweet and beautiful everything is.

Last I checked, you sure wouldn't find something like upgraded weapons really increase mostly lower skill damage. Basically nominal to higher skills, to only slow down rep, leveling etc.

Last I checked, probably most everything here on this thread you won't find there. So taking a one sided view of most comments, is not something I would consider very good.

WOW AGREED!!!!
I love how my generally constructive and civil criticisms never get "approved" yet all the "its great!" stuff always does. Also learned they wont approve anything from "Zeppers", have to use my old "Samuel Mcmalley" AND offer to give them a big kiss to get a post approved there, and well im just not into puckering as required.

After reading this thread it just made me sad and cuz it's right.

I hate to say it, but I agree. As much as it hurts me to say the game is dying down. On one of my pirates I see less and less of my friends and guild coming on. Most of the time I spend it on Ed for the company (THANKS PIC).

I haven't mastered my other pirate cuz it gets kinda boring leveling alone. I see myself staying basic longer than usual all because there's nothing to look forward to

A theory might be that the PotC movies aren't as popular anymore. I mean WoW have a new expansion pack and this is of all the oddest things i've ever typed before. I logged on and two guildies were talking about some unknown subject and it turns out these two both played WOW( World of Warcraft ) and were trying to find eachother's avatar. I think that this game will die unless they get better advertisment or better reasons TO play.

When I posted this thread this morning, I didn't do it to be a griefer thread, more of an observance of how I see the general progression of the game going. Please don't turn it into a rant.

I see that I have touched a nerve with quite a few players. Just to clarify, I have two pirates fully mastered, all skills. I have my third one at level 36 1/2 and have kept the game interesting by attempting to reach level 40 without doing ANY of the Pearl quest. My fourth pirate is level 12, and I will bring him along much more conventionally. I am NOT saying to leave the game, and I am not saying that all guilds are dying or dead. The guild that I am in, Dueces Wild, is a great guild. We are still very active and expanding.

I also know that there are quite a few good guilds out there. But most guild expansion is coming from the collapse of a lot of other guilds, which is due to Disney's inablility to keep us active. Total enrollment in the game has dropped drastically. And there have been almost no "NEW" players coming into the game.
A few of the items that I detailed in my first post could be the incentive to bring our friends back, and bring in new players.

The last truely good update was in the spring when they brought back the Boss Battle. Everything else has been nothing more than a carrot hanging on a stick. New little quests, unnecessary weapons upgrades, clothes???, and Ship vs. Ship battles. None of these does ANYTHING for a mastered pirate. And, although they give rep to lower level pirates, they are a waste of rep for the senior levels.Since the spring, the only truly good thing was the ability to relearn skills by assigning skill points. It allowed those of us who made mistakes the first time around to correct those mistakes.

Basil, I dont think anyone is trying to "Grief" anyone, or anything. Your OP definately touched on some sensitive points that has been bothering many a pirate here on the boards.

I myself am still here, still riding the tide, even when it seems to be as low as it can be, with no indication of rising. Im sure things will improve. I think discussion like this is imperative in hopes that Disney/Potco powers that be understand more what the players have on thier mind. It serves little purpose to continue to reflect satisfaction with the game as it stands, it does seem any one positive comment appears to blind them to the numerous other ones contradicting it. I hope that the game gets the attention again that it deserves. Such potential it has.

Basil, your OP was right on target. I saw no griefing. I agree with Zep.

It figures, soon as I got done saying there hasn't been anything on test, there was a release today.


Fixed a bug where some skills displayed the wrong values on mouseover. (Thought this looked odd, believe that to be two words, never have known without spell check haha)

This one has me a bit rubbing the head though. Appears to of fixed the triple shot lightning/explosive, but not the desolation.

Other fixes that have been recently issues, such as ships stuck. Several ship issues. No idea on Darkhart, I never had him lock up on live or test previously, to say there is a difference.

Basil, I applaud your post. It is right on, and I agree with those who said that Disney needs to know that their game is failing. I loved this game when I first started, and I still love it enough that I have 3 pirates, all over 30, and am considering deleting #2 so that I can start over. Again.

But, like others, I have noticed that since Halloween, there just have not been that many players on, and those who are on are largely talking about how bored they are, and digging for rumors of updates.

We just need more to do. Like others, we have been finding things to make it fun, but really, we're just stalling until they can come out with something.

Here Here Here the kitty agrees 100 % too.......on my last pirate and am not buying another account to keep my pirates playing. Hope they find something soon .found new game already just trying to decide which to buy. LOve my guild and all the ppl in it i look foward to seeing them every night . WE WANT SOMETHING NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure that the devs that could possibly be reading this do not know what to do actually. This topic has been discussed lots of times before, and yet, I don't see any improvement what so ever. I like how you can actually say what you feel should be said on POF, and that the devs actually look at it. At the Grog Blog, they reject anything and everything negative. To me, that's a sign of denial. They're most likely denying the fact that this game is dying so they can try to keep players while they work for about another year on notoriety increases and that sort.
A friend of mine, who was meeting up with the GM's a few weeks ago had some very interesting things to share. She told me that the GM's said that levels will be increased within a year. They're working on adding pets to the game, and of course, the long-awaited Kraken is apparently being taken into consideration. Now, my opinions are both positive and negative. Positive because pets, krakens, and higher levels are things that people want. I'm satisfied with the fact that Disney is actually LOOKING at SOME of these suggestions. If the devs weren't paying attention AT ALL, then what would the point of having GM events be?
This game is very young compared to other games. This game was released way too soon, most likely in spirits of competition. POTCO vs POTBS--POTBS was released later and yet, they're doing a heck of a lot better in terms of game content. With that in mind, the POTCO devs must be just a group of impatient, over-ambitious people who most likely just finished college and are working on their FIRST major project. Time is the key to success, just throwing ideas in and releasing them won't cut it. They should have added the stuff advertised before offically releasing the game. That way, we would have more things to do in game, even after full mastery. If Disney actually thought this through, the simple fact is that more content = better business.
My negative opinion that in a year, a greater percentage of POTCO players would have moved on already if new content is not added NOW. I'm sure the ones who would quit know that content will be added, just not any time soon most likely. A lot of players don't have the patience to wait another year just for raised level caps. It would be the game's second year, and THEN they start answering people's prayers.
It is to my experience as a POTCO player that the more updates there are, the more bugs and glitches there will be. Invincibility, invisibilty, auto-repairs, you name it, they have it. Disney has a strict rule against cheating and yet, some people are still finding ways to cheat in game. It's the cheaters' fault for being so low down and pathetic as to cheat in the first place but it all boils down to DISNEY not taking enough time to fix the problem.
When SvS was released, it was only on test for 2 weeks or so. I'm sure that there would have been more bugs if the testers had not tested the updates first but 2 weeks is an extremely short amount of time. A huge update like SvS deserves more time and patience than what Disney gives it. I agree that the testers are being ignored a lot, they report problems--doing what they're SUPPOSED to do on test and all they apparently get is an automated reply. I can't say for sure if this is true, but observation can tell a lot.
My overall grade on this game is D+. This game has A LOT of potential. Right now though, the game is falling faster than ever.

I really don't think I could have said it any better. I have been playing for a year now, keep trying to do fun things with guild to ease the boredom and to add excitement with hopes of something big that will happen. It is difficult to keep everyone entertained once they have finished with the pearl quest much less the tedious chore of lvling weapons. I have talked with guild about all the new stuff that supposedly will be coming out to keep the enthusiasm going with the game. Now I have to question as to whether or not that will really happen or when?

aye basil u hit the nail on the head with this....w 4 fully master pirates what do u do???? it hard to keep playing with nothin to do... ..are guild is still alive but that because of the activity we/you created... oursleves not what big d is doing...but we hav lost serveral to wow. i my self been playin the other game potbs some just checking it out i purchase it over 6 month a go never loading it until now. before finding DW's all my other guilds die most of them went to potbs and wow and other. u would hav figure big -d would hav had major update for ther 1 year aniv. but i think everyone that been playin for a while ....it was a big let down....at the way it going some of us wont be here much longer... hopefully big-d will wake up and save the game from this demise....

Wouldn't it be great if Disney had a poll on their site as to what content we'd want released next?

id say its more like just a shadow of what it once was now that we realize Disney wont live up to our expectations of what good mmo should be and should either have a mercy killing or a MAJOR update with lotsa new content (only accessible by unlimited accounts)

I gave up on trying to post to the grog blog as nothing I ever sent was posted.

BOT
I just signed on last month for another 6 month stint. I currently have 2 lvl40's with full masters, my first I use regularly for SvS (our guild is still active and we do this one quiet often as a guild activity) but the 2nd is just taking up space. Since finishing her I started a 3rd, took her to lvl30 and deleated her. My 4th is at lvl34 and only have weapons to grind to get the next level of weapons for any new quests. I started a 5th to keep my firends happy as they have all gotten into the mini-me pirates, (I'm not as thrilled as they seem to be but I like they're company so go along) and a 6th that I work on from time to time when I want to look at a decent male bod. ;) (use dh's acc for him lol)
I would love to see some new STORY quests, not just useless weapons. The increase in norto caps would be great but if there's nothing new to do you're just back to grinding weapons to lvl up.
WAKE UP DISNEY!!!! We want to keep playing but we're getting bored with the sameo sameo. :piratetongueor4:
I'm still addicted to this game, in fact I've found a nice little one room house on Driftwood I can move into as the owner is so busy talking to people he's never home. If I could just solve the problem with all the crabs and wasps it could be a really nice place. ;)

Well having read the latest approved messages now on the Grog Blog, they actually did approve some negative comments this time. Maybe they are hearing us some and seeing some of their err'd ways.
Don't want to be negative towards them, always trying to stay positive, but its exceedingly difficult as time passes. Test has some new fixes posted, so we are making some progress there. Maybe the devs took some deserved holiday time off. Of course we continue to "play" through the holiday so we dont always take that into consideration.
Still looking forward to POTCO's future, just hoping we dont have to wait too much longer before we see some of these promised ideas implemented.

You know, I thought it was just me. My Pirate reached Level 40 a couple of weeks ago and I was surrounded by my guild and we were having a great time. And then "BOOM." I Mastered my pirate. It took a long time because I'm a casual player. From June to November. I was excited and having a good time for about 30 seconds...

After that a question jumped into my head and never went away. "Now what?" The answer is, "Nothing..." I paid my money, took the ride and now it's over. The only reason I am still on is that my son likes to play and it doesn't seem fair to send him back to basic when he has come so far.

Don't get me wrong, I love this game and always will think of it fondly. I have made some friends and have a great guild. But my role in the game has been reduced to healer and fixer. Guild member needs gold? Come sail with me. Need to fight Neban the Silent? I'll heal. Boss battle? Sure...Have Staff, Will Travel. Too many bad guys...I got your back.

It's OK and I like to help the new guildies but not for 10 bucks a month. Basil said what I want to say and did so without flaming or whining. Very eloquent, very "to the point." It is time for a new chapter. It is time for increased notoriety. Pets? Blah... But Jolly Roger? Outside of an excuse for Undead Enemies, Jolly Roger plays no part in this game. How can Disney justify this?

Anyway, I am new to the forum and been playing POTCO since June. Just felt I had something to say.

C'mon! C'mon! let's get disney developers to view this site c'mon c'moN! if they actually would like to make this an official forums for the game that would be nice!

c'mon! c'mon! let's get them to view this site! hehehehhe

That sums it all up for me. I love being able to help out, heal, get some gold for those in need, but I'm tired of only having that to do.
The problem with new updates coming to the game is that with new stuff, comes new glitches and exploits. The very very very least disney can do is raise the caps. They don't even have to give us new weapons, at least not right away. Raise the level cap to twice what it is right now. It cannot be that difficult to do.
Come on Disney, you are losing your customers! You have to have noticed that by now!!
Stop with the pointless events, turn the sky back to its normal color, and give us something to do!

there feeling guilty...that's why there are so many events...it's usually a sign when a company is havin issue's...

The events wouldn't be so bad and pointless if they would release something worthwhile, or at least add a little quest like they did with the Father's Day event. For being a "multibillion dollar company" they could stop putting all that money into advertisements for Hannah Montana and so on, and put a little more into their online games. I know it may sound like nagging, but it took 4 months to master my first pirate, I've stuck around for the past 5 months for the wonderful friends I've made, and the fantastic guild that I am in now. I think Disney's trying to make it look like they care about those diehards that are sticking around, but I really really hope they are finally starting to see how much their game lacks.

It has been 24 hours since this thread was first posted. There have been over 900 visitors to the thread, and over 50 responses. (During the 7 + months that I have been here on POF, I have never seen such high numbers) Not a single response conflicted with the original posting.

DISNEY, please listen??!! We are trying to tell you that there is a loyal following, but you are losing us.

Maybe, Disney needs to develop a different type of relationship with the players? Having people on the test servers is one thing, someone definitely needs to Beta Test the software, ( I have volunteered, but never ben selected for it,) but maybe what they really need is player/advisors. It seems that there is a group of developers there at D that come up with ideas, and then they implement them in code. In this case, it is them who decide what to develop, and when. Sometimes, an idea that seems great to it's creator fizzles when put into production.

If Disney would develop a small group of game player/advisors, then they would be able to have a direct interface with the public, and could be fed the info that the PLAYERS would like to see developed into the game. These people would be regular players, and should be secretive about their position. But, they would be there on a regular basis, watching and listening. (Again, I volunteer, as I'm sure a hundred others would.) I'm not saying that Disney give creative control to the players, but that they would have a better concept of what the paying customer wants. I think it was Henry Ford, "Give the customer what they want." (Not sure if him or someone else.)

POF MODS: ( or anyone else) do you know if there is a way to document this entire thread, including data on number of visits and number of unique visitors, and forward the entire thing to a Disney Manager? Not just send it to some generic email address, but to a particular person?

Agreed on all counts Basil, and it would be great if the powers that be at D could see this. They need to know what's up, and if it ever gets to the right person or people, I hope it is taken into serious consideration.
Right now I am just glad I didn't sign up for a year because I may well drop to basic for a few months. Granted $9.95 a month isn't much, but I could put it towards some other expense.

I agree with Basil and Benjamin has a good point. I am still a low level but a lot of my friends have stopped playing and I have been thinking what am I going to do once I have mastered everything. I don't really want to start all over. I really hope they come out with something soon or at least give us a taste of what they are working on if anything.
Fare seas and Good breeze,
Senorfultes

if that happened to pirates online it would be the most addicting game ever and if disney looked at this i bet you would get more unlimited access members and it would stay the most succecful game of the year for the next MULENIUM!!!

I totally agree!!! I am just so BORED now - I actually fell asleep while playing the other night!!!! My friends and I all agree that we are done with POTC - UNLESS something new comes along - and not some foolish mini quest. WHERE IS THE SECOND STORY QUEST?!?!???
If anyone can suggest another online game that is similar to Pirates please let me know. I am looking for some new online gaming fun....

Cani give you guys a hug? If what you are saying is a religion i would join it. Disney is pulling my last hairs and im tired of them. hoenstly i hope they read this i hope the feel bad and they either

A) quit because we have no appriciation so disney hires new people who will hopefully do better

or

B) Step up their game and actually run the game not let it rot. s

You know what I just realized... I don't see POTC advertised on TV anymore. Thats how I found out about the game in the first place. I would see the commercials on TV during my Kids TV programs. Is this a sign that they totally gave up on this?

Imagine the possibilities as to what they could add!!! I mean they were 3 movies made! Can't they generate some new ideas from them to add to the game?!?!?!!!

Give us something new already!

I think that the big D did not expect the game to take off like it did and the ppl to play as hard as we have. We started playing and we were hooked i mean 7 days a week every hour we r able to play we are on playing. We caught up with them now, they cant stay up with us. I really dont know but ,it was a kitty thought. :psmiley27:

I have made this point before... my guild is made of me and all 95+ MIA members! the arrival/departures thread has seen quite a few of us leave the game because of the repetition of things/ lack of content, you name it they have left... my guild died before Boss Battle arrived. most got tired of waiting for the thing to arrive.

TT has a bank, a house, a pet, among other things. why not US!! we pay the same!!

I hope that Devs really read the threads here and get a hint...

Having the GM's show up in events is a great way to get ideas and do a market research for FREE!! they get to listen our demands.

In real life they could not care less about any of us fools that pay want or deserve.

I feel like I'm getting that promise of a gift that will never get. A fool's hope.

I even was under the belief that they were rushing things and letting those countless bugs that got reported during "the last push" with the new bosses and all.

I was wrong!! A drowning man's effort.... trying to save itself by any means necessary. Unfortunately as a former lifeguard... those efforts are usually the last ones.

They sure have been posting more of our comments as mine was approved and posted in the Grog Blog this morning. It was definitely not all positive (see below).

December 08, 2008 12:05PM
Robert Darkskull
The Feast was a good place to meet some new friends and grab some pork tonic. However, the LAG was terrible...even with a high end video card. I just hope there are some major updates coming to the game SOON.


Robert Darkskull
Pistols N Bladez
:bookishfj7:

Im still holding out for a big update when the UK verision is released. If people let there subscriptions go they just turn limited. If the new content comes all those people have to do is upgrade and they have all their base back. Im holding out with my opinion that when UK comes out we all will get the upgrade.

All of the pirates merchandise is pretty much out of the retailers right now maybe a few things here and there on th sale rack, they are getting ready for some kind of relaunch revamp. Pirates are too popular to just end it. Disney is famous for reinventing its products over and over.

Disney is also notorius for running there online stuff at a snails pace, apparently it does not matter to them cause toontown had a large gap before a few new things were added. They will get there, in their time, thats how they do things.

They know the fan base they have with pirates and they are counting on people comming back when they do update, and you know what, they will.

Just this humble pirates opinion.

do you know when the UK version is scheduled for release?

Aye aye, Basil. Come to think of it, I have been getting bored with the game lately. Been spending more time on the forums and our guild sites. Somehow, I still keep at least a little interest in the game, I really dont know how!
Could it be the awesome guild i'm in just keeps me interested?
Could it be I have to be active because I'm a co-guildmaster
Could it be I have to be active to keep our guild on top of the leaderboards

It could be all of these! But the main reason is like what I said in a post before. As long as my GM, and my guild stay active. I will stay active too!!!

Suggestions for people getting bored with game:
-Help out random pirates with any help they may need
-Do what I do, wave to everyone, and then start talking
-Swap servers a ton to meet different players
-Always ask if your guild needs help. To me, nothing feels better then helping another pirate in need :)
-Get your guild on the leaderboards. As a pirate, you always wanna try to aim for the top!
-Have fun, its a game, do all you can do to figure out the "glitches" and "tricks" to the game

The big get bigger and the small get smaller. Before the guild max was raised we couldn't guild anyone for a very long time coz we were full, and after the last update which didn't make that much difference anyways coz I know last month we had to do a huge cleanup on guildlist to delete the inactive members in Emerald Sea Gang when we had over 490 members just to make room. 2 guilds that have folded have came to ESG recently. The sad part about all this is about 200 members were deleted, some were founder accts too. That's how many ppl who have lost interest in the game to continue playing... this is coming from the 6th oldest guild in the game, founded on the day the game was launched...

I got 2 lvl 40's with all weapons & almost all quests done, only thing still missing is last half of the Spanish SvS quest for one of my pirates. I'm not making any more masters even tho my next closest is lvl 28, lately I've just been making holiday pirates for fun, helping guildmates, & collecting/errr TRYing to plunder my last missing treasures on my 40s.

I agree with everything here except this.
There is a guild(I wont mention a name unless you ask me to) that has the total amount of members a guild can have.
Yes, there are 500 hundred people in this guild. There is even a site for this guild.(wont mention)

But I think things like small guilds should be fixed. Disney, how about an update that will let us combine guilds and pick a name for it?

EDIT: Also I do have a warning for the POTCO staff if they ever read anything here. If any of them rush this big second story quest and it stinks...then they should expect a lot of members quitting.

MAC,
There is no need for an update to combine guilds. If there are 2 or more small guilds that are dying out, they just need to form a new guild, and everyone join. Either that, or ask one of the other guilds to absorb them. There are quite a few good guilds out there, and some would be happy to have new members. ( See other post I have quoted here!)

As to the last part of your statement, it is obvious that they AREN"T rushing the next story update. That's what all the commotion is about. No new content coming out.

As far as there being a guild with max members, there are more than just one!! They also have lost members, and have added new members by picking up from other guilds that have crashed! See Angel's comment, which I have quoted here. Just because there are a few guilds that are still doing well, doesn't mean that EVERYONE is doing well. One stock can double in value on the same day the entire market loses 500 points. Doesn't make it a good day on Wall Street!


Angel,
ESG is truely one of the special cases. But, you admitted in your post, that they had to delete about 200 inactive members, and some were game founders. Just last night, another guild announced that they are folding, and they were once a very large, well known and respected guild. But, Even with a membership of near 500 members, how many are TRUELY active? Play daily, or at least 4 times a week? How many are ingame at any single moment? And has this gotten to be less and less over the past couple of months? Having 500 names in the guild list is one thing, but if only 60 of them play on a regular basis, when 160 had played before, that is what this is all about.

Agree
 

I entirely agree, Disney has kept many of our masters not entertained! alot of the members who play are Pirate Masters and are extremely bored. Is this what Disney has really came to?

Horus

Basil,
Just because they haven't technically offically announced that no new stuff is coming out, doesn't mean they aren't working on it. Yes, the whole purpose of this thread was to basically rant about Disney not coming out with any new updates, or about no incentive to keep their diehards around, but like Ben said....


& I couldn't agree with you more Ben. Disney will give us more chapters and quests and so on, but don't count on it being any time soon, unfortunately.

This is the problem, many people have not even reached the area yet others did 6 months ago.

People with full maxed out accounts 6 months ago, have left, or reached their boiling point of nothing soon.

They have had 6 months and more to pick and choose and work on something. By no means, is this a new situation at all.

I agree with you Ben. Why would they stop advertising a product like this without a reason???
Also they may be taking a long time with these updates.....but really if its taking so long and you guys can't wait....why continue to play hour and hours without end? I know Disney is taking a while with these updates but you need to realize they aren't just focusing ALL of their time into this one game....and even if a lot of people quit its their choice in the end when they want to release stuff, just ends up either hurting or helping them in the end....and in this case its hurting them.

Ku-dos Sven!! There are a few countless people in the game that complain, and rant 24/7 about not having enough to do in the game, well hmm.... heres an idea: maybe if you weren't on the game ALL the time you could take your time with things and not run out of things to do so quickly....
The game isn't made to be played 24/7. Heck the game even says it "If you have been playing for more than two hours, you should take a break!"

Ben.. you took the words right out of my mouth :)

Drea,

First off, If you read the posts, This thread was never supposed to be a rant!.. I even asked others to NOT RANT or Grief. The purpose of this thread is to gather support and demonstrate to Disney that we are all here, dedicated to the game, and that they have an obligation to us, the people that have been here all this time.
Secondly, No one ever said that Disney made any announcements about NOT developing new stuff.
Lastly, If they don't do it soon, there won't be anyone here to see it when it comes out. People have short attention spans. In a gamer environment, they need new goals and achievements to keep the game interesting. Sideshows are fun, but not enough to keep everyone's attention for a long period of time. Every single day, we see posts about people leaving to go to other games. Anyone who leaves, spends even a month in a new game, won't just drop everything and come scurrying back because there is a new quest. We all have seen people leaving in droves, and most of them are leaving for other games. But it is more than just that; As a post earlier stated, they aren't even advertising this game on TV anymore, and if you log into DxD, they haven't even updated the news scroller there since Thanksgiving weekend. It still talks about Founders Feast weekend, and GM tavern Takeovers.

I respect Ben's opinion, and I sure hope that he is correct, that there will be something new when they release the UK version. The fear is that it may be too late to save things here.

I agree 100% with Ben's statement. Despite my impatience with the Disney staff, I know they're not completely asleep here. Why would they start the Grog Blog if they're not aware at all about peoples' desires?
It won't happen soon but it WILL happen.

I don't agree with you Basil.
First off, to me this is a rant, even if you don't intend for it to be one, it could be interpreted as one. This isn't me griefing either, this is just my opinion and how I look at it. Yes I know I said I was tired of it, but I'm not leaving it anytime soon. Only reading and expecting negative comments on this isn't the best way to address this to Disney. Ben and Sven both agree with me, you can't exclude our opinions from this issue, (it appears that way to some).
Second of all, the way everyone so far has posted, it sounds like they all think they aren't working on it, like Poison Elf said in his last post on this.
And lastly... There are those that even if they don't bring in new updates for a while they WILL come back when they finally do. And that's from from my expeirience. They haven't stopped advertising for the game completely either. AOL Instant Messenger continually runs ads for the game, thats how I found out about it in the first place. I believe it was Ben who said it, that if they stopped running ads for it on TV, there's a pretty good reason for it. As to the scrolly bar, as far as I've seen that has hardly ever been updated. There used to be things running from July in September.

Ben has it right IMO (and again this is MY OPINION, remember that) Disney is working on it, but they work slow, give them time, and if you don't have time, maybe you should take a short break from the game. POTCO is NOT meant to be played 24/7.

Yup, not everyone is doing well. The truly active ones that has lots of active ppl IMO (according to DxD leaderboards for enemies killed and my friends who are in these guilds) are Ronin-Vengence & Treasure Lordzz, look at when they were established (pretty recent compared to most others on the boards) & then look at where they stand on the Overall Board not to mention the Daily board too. They've passed many older guilds on the board that were established far longer than they been around for.


We're farrrr from 500, we deleted pretty much everyone who hadn't logged in for ages...we're down to about 340ish now...at night I think we have 15 ppl online or so at any given time. Just checked DxD and it says that yesterday we had 59 members killed stuff & 49 members sunk ships. Mmm I have an idea of which guild you might be talking about but not sure... a few days ago, a founder (on her new pirate that is guildless) from a certain guild asked me how ESG is doing & how many ppl were online at that moment. Her guild is older than ESG (fyi: only 5 guilds are older than ESG), most members in her guild are founders (I'd say about 75%, whereas ESG is more like 50%) and yes they are also well-known, also used to be in the Top 3 guilds with ESG/Pirate Guild 6 on the leaderboards, but her guild is not anymore. She was surprised at how many ppl were online in ESG and she said that the only time they can get that many ppl online is when a member masters. Her guild hasn't made the Daily leaderboards in a while...ESG is active enough to still make the daily leaderboards to maintain our spot though, not to mention that we also don't have members "rank" for guild stats... (lolol just had to say that coz some ppl think "ranking" gives a false interpretation of how active a guild truly is when they see how many enemies were killed or ships were sunk)

I'm sorry but there is no UK "version".
The only thing that's different is the POTCO UK site. Logging onto POTCO from the UK site will take them to the US server.
When the UK site is set up and ready then the US server will be known as the US and UK server.

It's just like on toontown.
Go here on the toontowncentral site to learn more...

Sorry to disappoint you guys but Disney isn't going to waste money on another server/"version".

Speaking of POTCO being too late. If it's too late here it's too late everywhere. This reminds me of playing toontown the first two years when everybody wanted more and more. Give it a few years and you'll look back knowing the game stunk but then it getting better.

I'm getting tired of everyone ranting(sorry but from some psots here it seems liek a rant to ME), if you're tired of the devlopers being too slow and not working hard enough quit. They have two interns and one of the smallest staffs I've ever seen. They'll get better, not anytime soon, but still. I'm gwtting tired of wasteful posts that have to do with people complaining about the game.
The only way for you to stop complaining is quit or take a break. Don't let a game rule your lfie and then complain about not getting content faster.

Couldn't agree with you more on that statement. Again.. POTCO is NOT made to be played 24/7 the game says that itself.

Im pretty sure I noted somethere in one of my posts that that the rumor was all the servers were going to be the same which is when the UK addition is released it will have all the updates listed on the site for the UK addition, I dont know what else you call it, the marketing blast in the UK, all it means is new content for us.

They are slow, toontown is slow, people leave and come back when new content is released, thats how it goes. Like the screen load says.....If you have been playing for more then 2 hours its time to take a break

That should be a big time hint they dont want people living here like on WOW, I give them kudos for that.

Wo, wo ,wo, hold your horses there!
Toontown slow? They've fixed bugs days to hours after people have found them! Right now they've been adding in little details for christmas(opps I have to be politicaly correct, winter). They try to release content as fast as they can and are doing pretty good.
The longest bug that was ever on toontown was a CEO boss battle invisble CEO bug glitch that lasted two months.(looks like pirates beat that by eight!)

I disagree with you 100% on that topic.

For people who play too much. I haven't been on POTCO in about a month. Limit your time!(or try too)
Also, I believe almost all of us here have never been a developer for a game before. You don't know how long it takes to fix a bug or make a model for the game do you? Cut them just some slack.

P.S. From what I've seen from toontown only the US and UK server will be the same.
EDIT: By same I mean UK people with US people.

I agree with you, on the slack , and i understand how long it takes to develop content, I also understand that like toontown this game is not ment to played 24/7 and im sure the releasing of new content may be more planned then people are guessing.

I was not speaking of Bugs I was speaking of new content release, reread my post and release those reins.:pirate2:

There's no real need for content to be released once a month.(from what posts say I'll guess that's what people want)
I would rather see big things come out and take longer than have little updates once a month.

Unlike MOST people I don't play POTCO and toontown daily. I come on when I feel like. And during summer I'm not on 24/7. I try hard to limit my time when I don't need to be playing often. Sorry but games don't need to be the center of my life.

EDIT: I think I'll stay out of the subject now. I don't think I need to talk about rushing for new content when complaining isn't gonig to do anything about it.

I agree with you MacIronHawk. I would prefer them to take their time with big updates and forget about these little updates. The more time they spend on it the less mistakes they will make on it. Also these little updates are becoming to repetitive.....weapon, weapon, pork, curse. Lastly I also agree with you on the time played......I come on during the afternoons now a days but when I am on I am either talking, go afk for a bit, or helping someone. People need to realize that it takes time to make these updates and by playing so much you are making short work of the stuff they use to buy time.

That is not what I was saying, and in fact my belief has been the Uk release will be the stuff we will see. What I was saying is they have had 6 months to do this with basically nothing between, to have something. 6 months ago people were asking for Kraken, level upgrade etc, nothing much different than today.

6 months ago people had maxed characters and several. Many today don't yet, but still are feeling the dead end when getting one there. I hope in sense some think I am one of these 24/7, when at the same time they don't like posts here. Wonder why there are so many posts here by some, must be because they are playing so much?

Some people do play a lot, at times I will play my share that is for sure. Again some people build a character in 3 weeks, and play half as long as many others making the same thing. In my opinion, people play how they play, and its not mine or others choice how or how long they enjoy them self. I can say the same type statements to people as well, how come it took ya so long to make a character to 40, you can get 500 rep a kill?

This is not how some people play, its a simple as that. It's also not our choice to decide if someone is laying in a hospital bed and enjoys playing this 24/7. I didn't see anywhere when money was accepted saying you can play this much time. I did see where it said if you are playing for 2 hours its time to take a break, because of the memory leak issue.

The subject is not people wanting to see something every month. It has been many months and not seeing anything. Some want to see their friends again, and not their guilds empty out.

Give them time has been done. Anyone here think 6 months was just not nearly enough time for anything?

This reasoning is like I will give you food and water to survive. I will wait three weeks and give it to ya, wait not sure, maybe we should wait longer, and umm, don't sweat 24/7. But wait I will give you this cup and plate in the meantime.

Yeah this game has gotten way boring..after I get maria to 40, im done "playing" the game 100%. After that I will just come on to socialize and help others.

The point I was trying to make was that there are a lot of players that DO play 24/7, they have mastered all 4 characters, and they still complain about not having anything to do. I'm not trying to tell people what to do, just giving my opinion and my point of view. Seems some don't really see that.

I too am staying away from this thread. Seems pointless to me now.

You know, I never saw the OP as a rant. I could read between the lines and see the evident frustration that he was feeling. Ranters generally enter a message board, make broad sweeping statements and then claim (as if anyone really cares) that they are NEVER playing again. The rant posts are usually misspelled and use lots of caps and punctuation. I honestly thought the the OP was thoughtful and concerned. And at no point did he say anything about leaving the game.

I am a casual gamer. The textbook version of a casual gamer. Heck, the only other game I've played in the last month was Roller Coaster Tycoon. The original one, not 2 or 3. As a result of my casual gamer status, it took me 6 months to master my pirate so no one can say that I "play 24/7." I hit level 40 the last week in November. I still play, still enjoy playing but I am starting to feel like the only reason I log in is to chat. I can do that with IM and not pay $10/month.

The problem with asking what the players want is that too many want too much. I have looked a the Grog Blog and all I can see is gamer greed. Unlimited clothing, pets (what's a real pirate need with a helper monkey anyway?), unlimited ships, massive customization options and weapons and so on and so on...Superficial stuff in my opinion.

So...what do I want? Higher Notoriety maximums. If Disney wants to throw these little "bones" to the players, then throw me that one. If I have to wait a year for a new chapter that has some depth and some excitement, at least give me a reason to keep playing. I don't mean "give me a reason to keep logging in" I mean playing. Last night I logged in, walked around Padres, chatted with some guild mates and then got asked to come help in Tormenta. So I went and pulled out my mastered voodoo doll and healed and healed and healed. Sometimes, when it got rough, I pulled out my (mastered) cutlass and leveled the playing field a little. It was fun but, ultimately, it gained me nothing. Not even gold because that has been maxed out for months. Couldn't even chat because I was so busy keeping up with healing.

Anyway...higher notoriety caps. That's all I want now. I can wait for a new chapter. In the "wouldn't it be nice" category, a new island with new challenges for pirates with 35+ notoriety would be cool...But I imagine that would require a whole lot more programming than an adjustment to notoriety.'TIll then, I will hang with the best guild mates a pirate can have (GOLD STRIKE!) and I'll help all I can. Heck, I still have four things to master, cannons (24), pistol (24), staff (24) and grenades (12!?!?!).

Sorry for rambling...slow morning.

Agreed
 

i agree with u all of ur suggestions r great im a vll 40 too and im bored of the game im jsut about to quit it on New years eve

The point of the thread, was IMO to extend concern over the slow progress causing volume of members to quit. Not a rant, but a concern based on current observations of ingame activity, guild member attendance, and forum commentary.

Disney has a tendency to look at only the good, and ignore the bad as if it doesnt exist. Sometimes folks need to be bolder in bringing the "bad" to thier attention to have any consideration towards resolving it. Hiding ones head in the proverbial sand and telling everyone they just arent patient enough is playing right into Disney's hand.

I find that most who have the more positive opinions, are those that are much newer to the game, not those that played and mastered thier pirates in months, and then waited for more content, being given a stray weapon or clothing quest occasionally, to keep them busy a short period.

I understand the perspective of 'take a break', etc. But honestly most dedicated gamers once they find another game that fills thier time, will leave POTCO behind and never look back. I have been an online gamer for nearly 20 years (yes even before the internet, playing bbs games), and seldom do groups return to games once they've moved on. We've seen this already with many pirates. Concern for this type of turn around I believe prompted Basil's original post. I do think that some turned it into a rant, expressing thier ideas (belong in suggestions thread) of improving the game. It wasnt as much about what needed to be added to the game as much as making some progress to actually keep people interested/satisfied.

No need to complain about what we've already been given. The noticed lack of attention towards POTCO simply has some people concerned about its near future.

Equating this to a problem only with those that play 24/7 makes it easy for those that are not unhappy to 'justify' thier opinions, however the accuracy in this thought is well, way off course. I have played this game for 10 months, and not 24/7. I am a casual gamer, playing a few hours an evening, sometimes more or less on weekends. I have only 2 fully mastered pirates, and I agree 100% with the OP. POTCO staying on the current schedule may end up being a great game with loads of content in a year or so, however thier popularity is not likely going to be based on current players at this point, but the future players that join up for its next bout of public relations/launching after they do add more content.

This is just something Disney does. Toontown is also in the same situation. They have a new significant content update about once a year. They do exactly the same things you mentioned with Toontown also, how many times have they said Speed Chat Plus would be coming the next month when it really wasn't? This is Disney's style of doing things so if you don't like it; find another game(No offense Intended, I think this is the message Disney is conveying :D).

Aye, I admit it guild numbers are down new guildables are fewer, freinds are not renewing membership.
WoW are really benefitting from disneys decision to use their resources to build the UK game and neglect the US one.
But really what can u do? I mean you are not saying anything new even if we all agree with it.

And the current notor should be doubled if it goes up at all, u shouldnt stop gettin notor when yer weps master. But for the rest of it a resounding, AYEEEEEEEEEEE!

Heres a thought if the die hards werent so bored would tort abassa be the crazy hole it is ? Would glitchin be as prevailant? Would drama be that interesting?
I saw a comment on the game developers page about them being so busy dealin with bugs and glitches that writing new game content is slow. But is it really that even though they have the capacity to increase the team writing this once overwhelmingly popular game, they would rather put that resource into the UK market as a cleaner meaner version?
Its disney they have the power, the resources, the dollar, the business know how....

Basil.. Ditto to all that you stated in your OP. Well thought out and well reasoned. And not a rant IMO either.

I've been playing the game (unlimited) since last December and have seen two guilds I belonged to completely die out. To my knowledge there are only two of my original guild who still actively play... me and Arianrhod...(just see our Kelly and Ari thread to find out what we do to amuse ourselves). And they aren't the only guilds that have died since this summer.

Thankfully, I found my way into Deuces Wild and Legion of Warriors. Both great guilds.

I enjoy the game. I play it intensively 4 nights a week. Fortunately I don't get bored easily. I have made a lot of friends here and hate to lose touch with them when they just stop logging in.

Hoping that Disney will have a nice Christmas gift for our pirates.. but not holding my breath.

no rant here just fact........i even hav made my own quest to keep playin... but it get harder and harder when u earn 0 reps 0 gold to keep playin. our gm has created many activitiy to keep people playing and hav fun which i think all of us DW's can atest to a good example when gm for the elite circle went awol ...he created the DW's to keep the group together... good job basil...and here be a new jug of rum for ye...enjoy

Having read all the posts in this thread I can see the many good points that have been made by those on both sides of the issue. The OP was not a rant IMHO, but rather a statement of concern for the game's ability to retain players that have been in this game for some time.

I've been in this game since the first Beta test and I, as well as anyone who is still in this game from that period, can attest to how far this game has advanced. Anyone who has been in this game from the date of the open release can tell you how much the game has improved. As I stated in a previous post in this thread, for someone new coming into this game now, there is plenty of content to keep them busy for some time.

All of the things that have been added are great improvements, no one is denying that, but they provide little reward for those of us with maxed out pirates. And that is the point I believe the OP was trying to convey. The game is losing people, that's a proven fact. For all the improvements that have been made, little has been done to provide content that will retain players who have reached the games current limits.

And it makes little difference how long it took to reach the limits. I know people who do play 24/7 and have many mastered pirates and I know people who have played from the start who have only just mastered their first. Once the limit has been reached, it's been reached. I know full well it takes time to write the code needed to implement new content and then more time to test it to make sure it's stable enough to run in game and I have no doubt that things are in the works to improve the content for those who have reach the limits. The questions is, will they make it into the game in time enough to keep the games oldest members?

I think this post has taken off a few different directions, and I can understand the views of some not wanting to just hear bad. I also agree with Zep a lot of newer players have a much more cheerful attitude towards things.

The thing is, some of us have nothing left, and don't care if we walk over some peoples feelings because they don't want to hear where they may be in a few months.

The point to this is not to sit here and say nener nener nener.

The point is to gather up and make a difference, let it be known what people want and they are leaving.

I plan to try to stick this out a bit more, but don't in any means believe for a second I am going to say its all grand and wonderful. If upgraded weapons for instance slow down leveling with increased lower skill damage, I am going to say it. I am not going to pretend its something its not.

This is my facts, 250 max guild up to svs I logged onto yesterday.
2 people were active at the Thanksgiving event.
150 people still in guild, most all officers in place.
100 left to others or quit.
2 out of 250, this can be YOU.
These couple I have seen are waiting on subscription to run out.
I have got on vent and caught up to many of these guys, they are not going to be back.
2 major issues to all who really liked the game.
bans
no content.

Thus I will hang on to the Last of the Mohican's tag.
And I will post posts to help yourself no matter how bad some don't want to hear it.

Let me post a DIRECTED question along these lines on the grog blog and lets see what results we get.

I see a GM ever again it won't be is there going to be something done with level cap.

Its going to be, are you proud of running off 250 (mostly paid accounts) max guilds from the game? If not what are you doing about it?

Pretty much made me sick to look at all those names/friends in the guild yesterday of people that loved the game.

We pay Disney for this entertainment however minimal, not another player gm in the game to find things for us to do.

So frankly, if some want to come up with 24/7, or be patient, let me go look at our guild members again, and I will give a statement back.

The hope, that they get this together with the Uk update very soon.

As my dear old pappy used to say, "patience is a virtue, desired by many, acquired by few".

My dear old Pappy also used to say. "If you can't dazzle them with diamonds, baffle them with Bull."

It appears that many of the player's are running out of patience. In an effort to keep us all paying, D is trying to dazzle us with a little Diamond "Weapon Quest" and "Founder's Feast", when really it is Bull because most want new content.

I'm paid through May. On two accounts. One of those accounts will definately go basic after this billing cycle. The other may go basic if the status quo remains.