Release Notes - October 17th 2008 - OPEN

[Christopher Trueshot]

Some of the updates are cool like the bosses and graphics and skill point relocation but they fixed some bugs that werent causing a big problem compared to ones like the svs glitches and stuff. And the hex eater shot update was terrible. i give the update a generous 7 out of 10

[mucki]

Overall, I really like this update.

I love the skill point re-allocation, the ship boarding options, the better display of Captain's Orders, the bosses, and having new quests.

Initially, I was dismayed at the changes to Hex Eater & dagger skills. However, after playing the updated versions and comparing them to my previous style of play, I've realized that I enjoy the new version more than the old. I'd gotten bored with gun & dagger, and hadn't really realized it; the update has made these weapons a bit challenging again, and I really appreciate that.

I don't love some of the new bugs that came along for the ride, such as sprinting Navy guys & skeletons - it's tough to kill 5 Grenadiers when they won't stop running! Unlike some of you, I haven't had any show-stopping issues or crashes with this release, and I'm optimistic that minor updates along the way will smooth things out quickly...

I give this update 8 out of 10, but I'm still hoping to see a new quest chapter before my game subscription lapses...

[Deadpool]

I've seen a friend with the level five Cutlass and it just looks like the Iron Cutlass. I like Fine Cutlass better. Soon as I get unlimited again I can either ignore the quest or do it and claim my reward.

[Evie]

I totally agree about the new cutlass. I likes the fine cutlass better too.

After playing this pretty much all day yesterday, there are things I like and things I don't. For one, I like the weapons quests. So far, they have actually been fun, but what happens when they're over? So my level 40 has new weapons... to do what with? Once she has them (which won't take very long since I got 2 of them yesterday) she goes back to leveling nades, then goes back in the box.

I'll admit to being in the minority and actually liking the fact that the kingshead and catacomb barrier glitches are gone. And I used them! But I found yesterday that I had to be more creative in how and where I threw my nades so that I could defeat an enemy without dying. Much more fun than hiding behind a wall collecting free rep. For the first time in 3 pirates, I actually liked this weapon!

I love the new bosses. Even the easy ones will give my baby pirates something to do. I love being able to retrain my weapons. My first pirate made more than a few mistakes, so I retrained all of hers.

Overall, I liked the changes. The bugs are annoying, but they usually fix them quickly. I just wish they would give my 40 more to do. Something that would last longer. Like a story quest...

[ukebec]

Well, here's my take after playing for about 4 hours last night.

Bugs I found:

While we can no longer hide in the rocks in the Catacombs on Padres, the grenadiers can. The first grenadier you encounter coming into the Catacombs from Lava Gorge melts into the near wall. The corner back wall where you could glitch through to the unfinished path...another grenadier glitches in there.

Navy seargent at the top of the tree-lined path on Kings glitches into the stone wall.

The floating seargent on Padres, just past the wooden bridge by the shipwright, is still floating and will now chase you nearly to the far arch into the village; the one that leads to Romany Bev's path.

Behemoth was firing double firebrand broadsides. Not just a graphics glitch...both rounds were damaging my war frigate. First round bloomed up around my ship from nowhere. The second round fired from the Behemoth as usual. The 2 rounds occurred with only 1 second's pause between rounds.

Navy on Kingshead giving their best 50-yard-dash tries.

More grenadiers in the game overall (not a glitch, but makes some areas feel very crowded).

Hex shot still did stunning damage to a witchdoctor in Tortuga graveyard (stopping him from using his doll), but one in Murky Hollow on Port Royal wasn't fazed a bit by it.

Undead bandits and giant scorps in Wild Woods on Tortuga are competing in world's fastest athelete competitions. An undead gravedigger in Kings Run on Port Royal is apparently training for that same event.

When running, you will know you've been hit by an enemy because you will immediately show down to a walk, even before a hit point is registered, and before a loss of health or dizziness shows.

Many structures, on multiple servers and multiple islands appear to be lit by spastic strobe lights as you're running toward them.

Enemy NPC ships needed for quests are not being "spotlighted" and do not always appear as a gold star on the compass.

At least one EItC Ogre seems to have now gained "come about" ability. Was making the tightest, quickest turns I've ever seen an NPC ship execute.

As mentioned before, F12 doesn't remove chat. Very annoying.

When changing servers, or tp'ing, chat disappears. A bother when you're in a conversation and have to keep opening the chat back up.

You cannot type the name of the Boss enemy brigand Bonerattler (in the Catacombs on Padres) into the chat box. This seems arbitrarily weird. He's a legit NPC, so why his name should trigger the filter is beyond me.



Now...to not just complain, there are some things I like:

Skill reassignment. Yay! I played this game solo for so long, with no guild affiliation, and not aware that POF existed, that I made some atrocious skill point choices. It's nice to be able to correct those mistakes.

All enemies that "sprout" from the ground now seem to give off a noxious green/yellow glow before they begin to appear, so you don't run right over the top of them as they spawn.

Boss enemies are challenging. Neban the Silent is a booger! He's a very formidable opponent.

I'm still questing for the new weapons, so I don't have an opinion yet on them one way or the other.

I do like the new game interfaces. And I also like the new weapons sighting changes. Nice to know right from the start if an enemy is out of range or not.



So, there are my observations.

[DvLzArchAngL]

Undead bandits and giant scorps in Wild Woods on Tortuga are competing in world's fastest athelete competitions. An undead gravedigger in Kings Run on Port Royal is apparently training for that same event.

I almost spit out my coffee reading that. lol

Took me a minute to take down that 90mph scorp.

How about the mini enemies too? Seems like some spawn as little bitty buggers.
Prolly just graphics since the tags are small on them too...

[Dr. Zeppers]

Im overall happy with the updates, curious if anyones done more testing in ship vs ship to see the scope of issues there. Have the cheats been resolved?

Was told boss battles would be repeable, which until this update was Takeing the black pearl.

When I requested repeatable boss battle, repeating that is what I meant.
Not making a bunch of uber critters, calling them bosses.

Let us redo "THE" boss battle please Potco?

[Harukantos]

The enemies seem ok now, but, they all come at you too much. Plus, PvP, geez loueez. Too much damage.

[ukebec]

Venom Slash, the dread scorp boss in Wildwoods on Tortuga is very interesting. You can nearly stand on top of him and he doesn't attack.

Not an incredibly formidable opponent, but he yielded 100 rep points for my level 39 pirate.

He may be my new favorite foe.

Here's his mug shot:

[Deadpool]

I went to the swamp in Tortuga and I walked past the huge gator but it didn't do anything. I saw a Boss but couldn't tell which because the gator, a giant crab, and a grenadier all attacked me for no reason at all.

That shocked me because:

1) The Huge Gator doesn't usually attack unless you attack it.

2) The Crab wasn't even there.

3) I was like a mile away from the Grenadier!

Has this happened before to anybody?

[Dr. Zeppers]

Originally Posted by Edward Ironbones

I went to the swamp in Tortuga and I walked past the huge gator but it didn't do anything. I saw a Boss but couldn't tell which because the gator, a giant crab, and a grenadier all attacked me for no reason at all.

That shocked me because:

1) The Huge Gator doesn't usually attack unless you attack it.

2) The Crab wasn't even there.

3) I was like a mile away from the Grenadier!

Has this happened before to anybody?

Both the huge gator, and giant crab spawns (Tortuga/Mistymire)are triggered by a pirates proximity. If another pirate triggered it, and you walk by, you'll see it there yet it may not bother you until you attack it. The crab often is not there until you walk up and then it spawns, it will attack anything that gets close. The grenadiers do seem to be a bit more aggressive.

[Evie]

I think aggressive is a weak word for it. Ridiculous might be more accurate. I was going through Becket's Quarry, and not only did 6 things lock on to me, they didn't even bother to follow me. They just stood where they were, hitting me with apparently magical cutlasses that reached through rock and over several yards. I know because I had to hunt them down and kill them before I could get back to what I was really trying to do.

This is not cool.

And btw, I want my old weapons back. The three I have so far ( doll, pistol, and cutlass) are ugly. We need an option to change weapons, like we have for clothes. Do the quests, get them all, then use the one you like.

I'm liking this less and less.

[Jason LoKing]

You can redo the black pearl boss battle.You need to go in lookout and click treasure maps.

[davy redflint]

on a scale of 1-10 i rate the update a -5 , the quest were poor, about 30min apiece to complete if that long. lot of new issues. hex shot not workin and so on.

[Angulique]

Disney POTCO updates are to the game what the EITC having Jones' heart was to the movies' Pirates.

~Mad Ange