Announcement ***POTCO Closing***

[HaveAMagicalDay]

Originally Posted by Kraken Guard

What does WoC stand for?

EDIT: World of Cars?



Hold on one bloomin' minute: Club Penguin wasn't even made by Disney...?



...

Originally Posted by SammyGamer

No, I think at first it was called Penguin Chat.

Yes, Disney bought Club Penguin for somewhere around $700 million dollars back in 2007, one year before they closed VMK.

Club Penguin never had a name change. It was always named Club Penguin, even before Disney bought it.

They need to get their money worth from their purchase, that's the only reason, in my opinion, for it staying open.

[Platinum Pirate]

I'd like to think they needed to get rid of the old way of doing things so they can make something better. But they're not even stating that. They're pretty much saying to buy Infinity, subscribe to Club Penguin, and download their mobile apps instead. They think they're doing us a great favor by not spending our money on TT, PH, and PO. You know what? It would have been greater if they had been forthright with us since last year instead of pulling a fast one on us like they did today.

That's just plain cold.

[titanic95594]

There was so much money on the table to be taken a hold of if Disney would overhaul POTCO. The game engine badly needed an update considering it's 11 years old. So much content that was promised never came such as the long-awaited Krakken and the sequel to the Black Pearl. It seemed just yesterday I created my account and started the story line.
I will miss those days of being with the guild after the game closes its doors.

[CarribeanThunder]

Originally Posted by Captain Sea

...for somewhere around $700 million dollars...

Well now we know where the update funds went.

One thing that bugs me about this all is their Q&A about the matter. You'd think that someone out there would have asked the question, "Will the game ever return/reopen?"
To be honest, I've just lost respect for Disney. There's no long, well thought out ending speech or any sort of apology for the game's sudden ending or lack of maintenance.
And a month-prior notice of the game closing? In my eyes, that just says they really want the games off their hands as soon as possible. At least a three month notice would've been nicer.

What's even worse is they do this after a nice weapon giveaway. It was great and all, but if the game was so close to closing anyway, what was the point in even wasting the effort?

And not only that, but Club Penguin wasn't even created by Disney? And they're closing a bunch of their other games just to support this game (and Infinity, I know), that they didn't even create? I'm not saying Club Penguin is a bad game - I don't play it, but it looks alright, but I find this all to be absolutely outrageous.

I hope in the coming weeks before shutdown, they'll give us more insight on specifically why, from their words and not computer-generated code, they decided to close several of their games.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

On another note, I don't understand these bonuses Disney is giving us. I understand they're some sort of compensation for the game's closing, but come on, what's the point? All the gold and plunder will be gone in a month anyway. Just doesn't seem like enough for me.

Oh well. I'm going to miss everything I own. Especially my warships, the Riptide Cobra Storm Chaser War Brig, Dark Cobra Skull & Bones War Sloop, and my prize, the Shadow Cobra Fortune Hunter War Frigate.
But most of all, I'll miss my pirates, William Goldwalker, Werner Von Croy, Serpentine Cobraltus and Venomous Vorpent.

Originally Posted by Platinum Pirate

I'd like to think they needed to get rid of the old way of doing things so they can make something better. But they're not even stating that. They're pretty much saying to buy Infinity, subscribe to Club Penguin, and download their mobile apps instead. They think they're doing us a great favor by not spending our money on TT, PH, and PO. You know what? It would have been greater if they had been forthright with us since last year instead of pulling a fast one on us like they did today.

That's just plain cold.

I agree 100%. It's absolutely stupid. I did mention this earlier in my post, but I wish they'd given a better notice at a much earlier date than just a month prior.
And the way they made their news article did strike me the same way. I felt as though they were telling me to deal with it, forget about POTCO and buy their other junk.
I wonder if Infinity will even be worth it.

[Kraken Guard]

The whole concept for Infinity does seem interesting at least, what with the characters you can play as. But I also feel that there will be opportunities with that game that they won't take.

For example: That game is all about playing as any Disney Character. Unfortunately, they'll probably only have a small handful of Disney Characters to play as. We'll only be given a small portion, when there is gigantic selection of Disney Characters that we would absolutely love to see in the game that probably'll never even make it onto the game, like the Horned King from The Black Cauldron(1985).

I can see Disney Infinity having potential, but I can also see Disney wasting said potential away.

Just like Pirates. So many opportunities...

And all that aside, I'm not gonna be able to play Infinity anytime soon.

[Tiberius Fireskull]

It's interesting. I've seen so many people online today that I thought had disappeared forever. Of course, I'm not surprised. This news is spreading like wildfire to all those who ever played this game. I suppose it shows how truly shocked, hurt, or angry we might be over this news.

While I'll probably post something more thoughtful later, I feel the need to say something here and now.

I, like most, am not surprised that POTCO is finally coming to its end. I think we all knew in our guts that the game wasn't going to last too much longer, but just days after the release of Infinity is still shocking. You'd think that they would at least wait a few months to see how Infinity is doing before deciding to shut down all of their other online games (minus Club Penguin). Not only is it insensitive and uncaring to those that play these other games, but it seems a bad business move to me. I'm sure some will switch to Infinity, but I'm fairly sure that many players, if not most, will simply get annoyed and move on. As cold as it sounds, I almost hope that Infinity ends up being a bust just so that Disney can realize what a silly move they made. I for one, will not consider playing it. I probably will end up staying away from Disney games from now on completely.

Originally Posted by CarribeanThunder

And a month-prior notice of the game closing? In my eyes, that just says they really want the games off their hands as soon as possible. At least a three month notice would've been nicer.

What's even worse is they do this after a nice weapon giveaway. It was great and all, but if the game was so close to closing anyway, what was the point in even wasting the effort?

In regards to the first part, I completely agree. More than that, it makes me wonder (with a great degree of certainty) if players' UA money went past POTCO and into creating Infinity. In that sense, we weren't even paying for our own game; instead, it's almost like we were unknowingly paying for POTCO to be shut down. It definitely does feel like we've been taken advantage of to an extent.

In regards to the second part, I almost wonder if the POTCO team wasn't told. It sounds unlikely, but everything was normal business until today. There was almost nothing to show that the game would suddenly be shut down so suddenly.

But alas, the decision is made. I doubt that any amount of petitioning or protesting will change this... infuriating decision.

I decided to go online today, to see my pirates again. At least now that I have UA again, I can dress them in their finest garb and see them as they were at their peak. I had the opportunity to visit some of my favorite spots in the Caribbean and do a bit of plundering, which felt nice. It's hard to believe that I won't be able to do that again. I had even planned on returning for next summer and spending a few months playing the game that had meant so much to me. So much for those plans, then.

I had imagined for a while how POTCO would finally go. I always imagined that it would be more peaceful. Instead, it and its fellow Disney games are simply being tossed aside like trash. "Trash" that meant so much to so many of us.

[Captain Jason]

I think that the sad part is that they didn't even try to keep the game going. There hasn't been an update for over a year, even though it's clear that people are still willing to play this game.

I'll miss this game and my pirates of course, but hopefully I won't have to miss my friends and guild-mates. Hopefully we can still find other ways to keep in touch.

[MacIronhawk]

My two Toontown accounts and one POTCO run $240 a year. There's no other MMOs I'd be willing to pay for, so that's money Disney won't be getting. I hope they understand that pulling the plug on these games won't make a lot of us buy Disney Infinity, Club Penguin, or some other Disney game. I payed for these games every year because I enjoyed them and saw limitless potential. It's sad to see all of that time and effort go away forever. I'll miss the players I've met and the joy that these games brought me.

[wmah]

NO Infinity or Club Penguin for me. I tried Club Penguin once and found all of it very boring and pointless and Infinity also looks like it will be boring.

[Platinum Pirate]

In light of how they handled this without any true measure of class whatsoever, I won't buy Infinity. To buy that or any of their mobile games is to betray Pirates itself. I was open to buying Infinity when I believed that POTCO would still be around. But now that their true colors have shown themselves for what it is, I won't buy in to their new way of virtual entertainment.

As for those who love everything Club Penguin, expect them to roll out a toy box set for that and shut down that game for good, too. They're not interested with online games period. Much easier to deal with you directly as a customer with their device you own. We never owned anything with their online games. Heck, it's true for all online games. You simply have the right to play online with others, most of whom, are complete strangers to you personally. Up to you as their customer whether you care to spend throw your money away or not for their service. So why play an online game you can't own?

Even if you do it so you can continue to play with your online friends, how soon will you become distraught with it anyway? Haven't you been paying attention to what's going on with the gaming industry? They're losing money. Players are fed up with their business practices. All those old timers will tell you how the game is no longer the same. Company is there to milk you for all your worth. Don't expect them to fix bugs, to truly punish hackers, to consider your ideas to improve it, or to appreciate your own efforts to keep it interesting for other players.

Like any new game, it's fun... at first. Then you learn the ugly truth. Well, no need to find out the hard way. We're already being warned from those gaming communities and publications. For example, WoW didn't just lose a few hundred subscribers recently, they lost over a million and counting. Who really left? The old timers. Each new content is a plain rip off.

When it comes to buying new games for your PC or game console, they're not that good either. If the annoying security measures doesn't get on your nerves, the lack of overall quality content will. Take Bioshock for instance. It is one good game. Freaky world but well done. Its sequel though is a disappointment. Same is true for the Command & Conquer universe. They were great when Westwood was in charge. Then their new ones were a rip off after they sold it to EA. Tropico met the same fate. I admired the developers for what they accomplished as they told it in their documentaries. They did much to shed light on how the gaming industry rolls and debunked their logic. In the end though, they sold out. Such a shame. I don't see them admirable anymore.

When it comes to POTCO, perhaps, if our community was far more vibrant, things would have turned out differently. So I would like to think. I won't have to the day they make Club Penguin into a Toy Box and shut that baby down for good.

Buyer Beware.

[andyspins]

I knew the rumblings of POTCO closing, but I never, ever, thought it would really happen. Guess that makes me naive. I'll write something more long winded and thoughtful later. D:

[ex8404]

Haven't been here for a while but I really do hate that POTCO is shutting down. I wasn't playing regularly but I would occasionally pop in and see what was going on. In its heyday, POTCO was a lot of fun for just about everyone. It was a good franchise that was just allowed to die on the vine. A shame, really...

[CarribeanThunder]

Originally Posted by ex8404

Haven't been here for a while but I really do hate that POTCO is shutting down. I wasn't playing regularly but I would occasionally pop in and see what was going on. In its heyday, POTCO was a lot of fun for just about everyone. It was a good franchise that was just allowed to die on the vine. A shame, really...

Though I haven't played Toontown in over a year much to my dismay, it too had fallen victim to neglect. I can't say for Pixie Hollow, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same followed for it.

It's a terrible shame. Truly, it is...

[Kraken Guard]

It truly is their own fault. Had they given these games some care and actually update them, these games would probably be teaming with life.

I mean, I won't deny the fact that I had eventually "Gone Turbo". After some time, I had ventured off onto Lord of the Rings Online, and into the realm of Middle-Earth; and let me just say, the world there was GINORMOUS in comparison to the Caribbean(which you could hold in the palm of your hands).

There are so many things you can do there in Middle-Earth; but no matter how occupying it was, my heart still belonged to the Caribbean seas. I would visit on occasion, but I would always tell myself: There is so much more they could do with this game. They could have learned so many things from other games - maybe incorporate it into Pirates, while also staying unique.

We've even told them ourselves, have we not? We have offered them feedback; suggestions; but they never listened to us, had they? Kinda makes me wonder why we even had that 'send feedback' button to begin with, as it has been completely useless, as it turns out!

There was so much potential in Pirates - Not just pirates, but the other games as well - but they were too careless about these games, and now they're pulling the plug on us all yet again.

I wonder if things would have been different, even if these games were more abundant? I had thought VMK was pretty popular. Then they closed it down.

Would they have closed these games as well, if they were more popular? Had more players? Would they have pulled the rug out from under us, if these games were at their prime?

They probably would; although you never know. We won't be able to know now anyway.

But as I said: There was so much potential from these games, and now it's all wasted.

[Wolfpirate2546]

what is going to happen to the forums? Will they shut down as well?