Release Notes - December 16, 2008
 

Release Notes - December 16, 2008

* Added Winter Holiday decorations
* Added New Year's holiday event
* Resolved the majority of the issues regarding stranded ships
* Fixed a bug where players could sometimes not take the wheel of their ship
* Fixed a bug where players were occasionally dying repeatedly in jail
* Fixed a bug where some skills displayed the wrong values on mouseover
* Fixed some issues with NPC and ship movement
* Chat text should now be hidden when F12 is pressed
* Fixed a frequent client crash on logout related to special effects
* We now prevent Lookout access while in the Black Pearl boss battle
* Players who have been reverted to Velvet Rope status will no longer be able to use the number keys to access premium skills or ammo
* Enabled /time command for players
* Fixed a crash in Make-A-Pirate

Some people will be kinda mad about the Velvet rope status. If you dont know what it means. It means Basics will not beable to use unlimited skills

wow, so that means more people will quit the game probably. That is so unfair.

Why is it unfair? Why should basic non-paying members have unlimited skills? Glad they fixed it.

The holiday decorations are really un-piratey..kind of funny ;)

* Players who have been reverted to Velvet Rope status will no longer be able to use the number keys to access premium skills or ammo

It doesn't say you can't use them, just that the access will not be available by pressing the number key.

Unfortunately this means that those who used to be unlimited and have been reverted to basic access members are not able to use skills that are locked for basics.

For example, during the free weekend i unlocked the curse skill of the voodoo doll, but after the free weekend ended i was reverted to basic access and was still able to use that skill by pressing 4. Now i can't.

I think that in my case it is fair not being able to use it any more cause I have never paid for an unlimited account, but those who have paid, they should be able to use those skills.

[QUOTE=swashbuckler II;104974]Release Notes - December 16, 2008

* Enabled /time command for players
Noooooo! Now how are we supposed to survive!?

Lol no more /time crash :D also how is it unfair? They were never supposed to get them so it doesnt matter.

Great now when I go back basic I'll be just another basic guy with alot of health. I can just say good bye to Blade Storm, Brawl, Curse, Grave Shackles, and Hexeater...

Now on a more serious note: Why didn't they just say "Give me money or no skills for you!"?

They should of made the basic accounts a short term preview in the first place and saved tons of headaches.
With free accounts wanting to play like paid accounts its only drove out players wanting new content, rather than degrades, to make it better for basic accounts.

To me, finally a step in a right direction.

As for saying no more using the number key to access, I think basically is saying there will be no way now to access them.

If not, then there is no reason to keep these paid accounts at 40, with all maxed stats if you can get to each skill, paid or not.

I guess this update is only bad if you're basic.

Are you happy now you basic hating, rich, unlimited players?! j/k

Technically it fixes basic accounts to the way they have supposed to have been all along.
Just another glitch being fixed (and they all should be fixed).

Its not a matter of any hatred towards basics (although you were joking, the ideal is there).

If there has been any ill will I would say it was towards basics asking for more.

Its good to see them cleaning things up, fixing glitchs wether they be the ones everyone wants fixed or not.
Coding is a strange creature. It often takes cleaning up alot of the little things so you can address and clean up the big things.

Thanks Big D

Overall a very good update

I guess no reason for me to hide my future disappointment. I'm not basic yet, but I guess I'll be ok without some of my skills for awhile. If I can survive without a staff I can survive without Blade Storm. Just constantly going back and forth from basic to unlimited messes with my head sometimes.

F12 works again so it's good.

This is in cannon and sailing also is it not. Where a more complicated problem can exist.

Great they made all those fixes.
As Sarah said: "The holiday decorations are really un-piratey..". And that is true...just by looking those old-unpainted houses at Padres del Fuego Beach with that beautiful burgandy ribbon around them, it's funny. But, glad the Spirit of Christmas is there, in the game, that is more important then anything.

As a person affected by the "velvet rope," I'd like to point out that I agree with Poison Elf.

Yes, I paid for unlimited. When it ran out and I reverted to basic, cannon ammo, dagger, grenades and staff were locked. Cutlass, pistol and voodoo doll skills were still PARTIALLY accessible by using the keyboard. I did not ever think that was accidental. It seemed like they were intended to be locked from earning those skills, not from using the skills your pirate had earned. (Actually, it was a relatively small sub-set of them.) For whatever reason, they've changed their minds about that.

I am glad that it is more consistent now. As Zeppers said, it is a step in the right direction. It certainly is less ambiguous.

For me personally, I'm sad that I can't effectively help people level cannons behind PDF anymore. I'm sad that my pirate can't (in good conscience) take the wheel (when requested) in SvS to help someone make a come-back...my level 40 basic pirate is now approximately equivalent to a level 9-level 12 unlimited pirate. When I try to help out now, it isn't even comical, it is just sad. But, such is life - no big deal.

One of my hobbies as basic, was to get Josie McReedy quests for molusks, then go use hex eater on them on abassa/tormenta to help whoever was there. I'd also clear seabeards out of the way for people. Now all I can do is add 5% crew bonus...I can barely survive a molusk (sometimes...but often not.)

Now, after the change, there is very little I can contribute to the overall well being of POTCO in-game. I can camp in Governor's Gardens - those level 9 sergeants I can usually handle. But I'm sure some will suggest that that is kill-stealing. /sigh.

Seeing knee-jerk comments (maybe just uninformed?) like Sarah's above, make me shake my head. They took skills away from PAYING customers that were dissatisfied and reverted to basic...not away from freeloaders, glitchers or griefers. They did it to alienate people who pay when there is content to pay for.

Unlimited access players can sell and buy back a war frigate to get their gold back down from 65,000. Basics like me, with several max-gold pirates, can only donate gold playing poker. I suppose that is viewed negatively too?

Seeing changes like this, make me wonder what Big D is afraid of. They didn't fix other horrific glitches with basic access that drive newcomers away. (E.g. Teleport then open a chat window by pressing ENTER crashes the game 100% of the time, in preview mode. Work-around is to click mouse in window after TP or when ship lands - which you usually don't have warning about.) If they are worried about losing revenue because people are going back to basic, then ADD THE KRAKEN so that basic is insufficient. If they are worried about PvP or SvS, then I hope they realize that changes like this (while perhaps more consistent) drive would-be players (and therefore returning, paying customers) away.

Unfortunately, I think Poison Elf was right on target - allowing basic and unlimited to mix, makes it too unpleasant for would-be paying (returning) customers. It is also sometimes moderately inconvenient to some unlimited pirates. (Not as inconvenient as the pervasive glitchers, but annoying in its own small way.)

I'm sure if people would report glitches, instead of finding them and either exploiting them or ignoring them, Disney would fix them. I think most people tend to go to a forum such as this to report bugs, when the developers (in this case, Disney) need to be contacted about it. How is a forum community supposed to fix something they didn't make? :xtongue:


I've read on the Grog Blog little snippets of them hinting that this might happen :xgrin:

No knee-jerking here. I understand players being dissatisfied with lack of content, I know I am, but if you decide to stop paying (for whatever reason), you should be placed back into whatever basic access abilities are allowed everyone on basic. Yes, you earned higher skills, but do you honestly think it unfair that because you worked for them while paying for the game, you should be able to keep them when you decide not to pay? What would be the point in anyone paying after leveling? Disney isn't alienating anyone waiting to pay when there is new content released. Disney is doing what any for-profit company is out to do, trying to keep you buying their product.

I know from firsthand experience, that "properly" reported glitches are never fixed satisfactorily. I know that Disney admits to monitoring this site, anyhow. And I know others here on this forum that also report glitches "properly" as they are isolated or reproduced consistently. Are you suggesting that "infinite-ammo/skeleton glitch" has been fixed?

I don't think you (nor Disney) has thought that through. People take a break (for whatever reason,) is quite different from leaving permanently. Just as "unlimited pirates" showcase abilities for new basics, so did "formerly unlimited pirates." They've lost that and much more, from spitefully degrading abilities of formerly unlimited pirates. But I seriously doubt they've encouraged even one pirate to repurchase unlimited, as a result.

If pirates wanted to be Christmassy they could (theoretically) decorate their ships. Town decorations are done by townspeople.

lol i dunno... i guess you get what ye pay for.

[QUOTE=dpx;106690]I'm sure if people would report glitches, instead of finding them and either exploiting them or ignoring them, Disney would fix them. I think most people tend to go to a forum such as this to report bugs, when the developers (in this case, Disney) need to be contacted about it. How is a forum community supposed to fix something they didn't make? :xtongue:


I would disagree to this statement as well. To even the point other than reporting some things - to even posting some here to get others to report it.

Before the build came out that changed hex shot, I reported and listed it and others things that to this day have never been fixed. Though I think the point buy back was one of the better things they have done, changing things like cutlass and dagger to do so, left many with skipped combos others never can have.

Another one is the quick cast desolation been out for a couple months now.

So, being reported, also being posted here, I even took it a step further. In the tavern take over, I did the quick cast right in front of a GM and asked what he thought the effect to little pirates is, with desolation and skipped combos for things like the curse?

Both things are still in the game to this day. So those thinking these things just get fixed when reported, I think are barking up the wrong tree.

I agree with Edward there is nothing to bring unlimited back. I get on vent now and then and talk to people that left around svs update.

What can I tell them, cannon reduced, dagger reduced, all pvp reduced. One upgrade weapon event, to not get unless you are fully mastered. Basically can't tell them anything but perhaps they can buy skill points back, that it in itself with above problems.

I can't agree that Disney is trying to keep people buying their product, what evidence is there of this? Pirates at level 40 with everything mastered has what incentive to come back from 6 months ago?

lol, exactly. Well said.

BASIC members are allowed to "buy back" their skill points, but that is catastrophic in most cases. The skill points bought back cannot be reallocated past rank 2, only on the very few skills that remain unlocked. When I say that my level 40 Edward functions like a level 9 to level 12 unlimited, I mean it. The extra health points allow me to survive on the colossus flag sometimes, but only if I run well enough. (Yup, I went to jail during double gold.)

Just FYI, if anyone asks you, a fully mastered formerly unlimited (now basic) pirate can do these 17 things:

Cannon: Round shot, chain shot, grape shot. (same)
Sailing: Full sail, come about. (Before 12/16/2008: open fire, ramming speed, take cover and leadership via keyboard only.)
Cutlass: Hack, slash, cleave, sweep. (Before 12/16/2008: brawl, taunt and blade storm.)
Pistol: Lead shot, venom shot, bane shot. (Before 12/16/2008: hex eater, silver shot and steel shot.)
Voodoo doll: Poke, swarm, heal. (Before 12/16/2008: curse, scorch, cure, grave shackles and life drain.)
Dagger, grenades and voodoo staff entirely locked. (same)

But lose these 64 abilities:

Cannon: Firebrand, thunderbolt, explosive, fury, barrage and shrapnel.
Sailing: Open fire, ramming speed, take cover, leadership, tacking, treasure sense and taskmaster.
Cutlass: Flourish, thrust, brawl, taunt, blade storm and endurance.
Pistol: Hex eater shot, silver shot, steel shot, dodge and eagle eye.
Voodoo doll: Curse, scorch, cure, grave shackles, life drain, focus and spirit ward.
Dagger: Cut, swipe, gouge, eviscerate, asp, adder, throw dirt, sidewinder, viper's nest, finesse and blade instinct.
Grenades: Throw, long volley, explosive, stink pot, fire bomb, smoke bomb, siege charge, determination, demolitions, toughness and ignore pain.
Voodoo staff: Blast, soul flay, pestilence, wither, flaming skull, banish, desolation, concentration, spirit lore, conservation and spirit mastery.