Release Notes - December 14, 2011

[Batleth]

New Features:

• Ship Customization and Upgrades! Loot and plunder all new rare materials from Bounty Hunter and Warships in order to upgrade Medium Class and War Class ships' armor, speed, and cargo hold. Visit any Shipwright to begin your Ship Customization and Upgrade path.
• Upgrades will provide your ship abilities that can be customized to fit your style of play:
  • Upgrade your cargo hull to maximize your plunder.
  • Battle at sea with the latest armor the shipwrights have to offer.
  • Streamline your vessel for speed with the latest sails and rigging.
• Personalize Medium Class and War Class ships with brand new sail colors, patterns, and emblems.
• Face off against enemy fleets in the brand new Pirate ship type, the BRIG - also customizable!
• All Light Hull class ships now made available to Basic Access Pirates - including the Light Frigate and the new Light Brig!
• Island NPCs now chat new town gossip regarding Ship Customization.
• On/Off Toggle now available for the Scoundrel of the Seas First Mate's voice (in the Game Options Menu - Audio).
• On/Off Toggle now available for changing the sailing "Ship Look Ahead" camera view (in the Game Options menu - Interface tab).
• New names submitted by you Pirates have been added to the Create A Pirate name-picker.
• Five new "Talk Like A Pirate Day" phrases submitted by you have been added under Expressions in SpeedChat.
• After looting at sea, Pirates can now take all items that do not take up Inventory space by clicking the "Take Small Items" button.
• Captains can now choose to not board a grappled Flagship, without waiting for the boarding timer to run out.

Fixes:

• Fixed several teleport bugs.
• Fixed a bug with ships that would occasionally get stuck at sea.
• Fixed a bug that incorrectly allowed player limits on a ship to be exceeded.
• Fixed a bug that displayed a Gold Plunder message right after a Pirate enters the Caribbean.

Known Issue:

• Pirates may experience a momentary delay while their inventory loads initially.
• Pirates may occasionally fall beneath the ocean when going into the waters off island docks. Walking or jumping back up onto shore will set your Pirate right again on dry land.
• The "Open Fire" boost does not function properly for the front cannons on Frigate and Brig class ships.
• Sea Charms, Cannon Rams, and Navigational Charts may sometimes not give the proper skill boosts when applied to new Ship Customization Rigging.
• If a Pirate has multiple active Quests in the Quest Journal, clicking twice on "Track" causes the Quest details to disappear. Re-clicking on the Quest brings back the Quest details.

[Hebe12]

Woo Hoo! Exciting!

[leo]

Why would they add something that had known issues that were yet to be fixed on test? Isn't everything supposed to be fixed on test first than move it to live?(or at least until no more known issues are there). Doesn't make sense because the known issues list is longer than the fixes of the game...and still not everything that was obvious? Just WoW.

Ship customization is the best addition to the game yet (at least in my opinion) but definitely to early considering what they posted on the released notes...Maybe they are still working so i wont pass judgement to early but it does look like a moronic move if they just added it because it was on test for to long. Time will tell.

[Captain Del]

Originally Posted by leo

Why would they add something that had known issues that were yet to be fixed on test? Isn't everything supposed to be fixed on test first than move it to live?(or at least until no more known issues are there). Doesn't make sense because the known issues list is longer than the fixes of the game...and still not everything that was obvious? Just WoW.

Ship customization is the best addition to the game yet (at least in my opinion) but definitely to early considering what they posted on the released notes...Maybe they are still working so i wont pass judgement to early but it does look like a moronic move if they just added it because it was on test for to long. Time will tell.

As I posted elsewhere:

I think many pirates fail to understand that there is barely any possible way that POTCO could have kept this update on test for so long that when they released it, there would be no problems. With all the coding that goes in to this update there are bound to be things that get messed up and go wrong, so it was smart of them to put it on Live when they had narrowed down all the possible bug fixes they could do on Test, and then finish it up on Live to make sure everything goes right on those servers. Just be patient - after 2 months of tireless work, I think we can all spare them another day.

[leo]

Originally Posted by Captain Del

As I posted elsewhere:

I think many pirates fail to understand that there is barely any possible way that POTCO could have kept this update on test for so long that when they released it, there would be no problems. With all the coding that goes in to this update there are bound to be things that get messed up and go wrong, so it was smart of them to put it on Live when they had narrowed down all the possible bug fixes they could do on Test, and then finish it up on Live to make sure everything goes right on those servers. Just be patient - after 2 months of tireless work, I think we can all spare them another day.

I said i wont judge the update to early and i think this is the best addition to the game yet. My point was, in the last test release notes there were knows issues meaning that they are not fixed yet but being worked on, Why add the known issues to the game? there were still possible fixes on test. There was still room for fixes on test and the ones above did not just come up right now because they were known issues on test. Considering that the game is closed, they might be working on them but why not finish it on test where you have more time and a better chance for perfection. I am pro fixes even if it takes a week of no game as long as the job is done. Again, time will tell how good the end product is.

I understand that this has been on test longer than any other content. But once a job is started, why not finish it?... Pirates did grow impatient but no reason to rush it when the chance of the content going to live is 100%. Those who played the game since it's release, hardly waited for this the entire time and until 4 months ago, it was still just a rumor. After 4 years, anything should be done right considering the potential, size of content, and the desire for it are so great. A lot of players did help on test, to come to disappointing result due to a early release, would not be so great news.

Human nature, I know. The closer it gets, the more impatient every one grows. BUT stay calm Pirates, Ship Customization is here but don't interrupt them while working on it. This is the final step. Let it end in peace.

[Tia]

=D
I LOVE YOU POTCO STAFF
But only for changing one thing...
LETTING US USE LIGHT FRIGATES AND BRIGS <3
My membership ends in 3 days so there's something to be happy about. Better ships :3

[Captain Del]

Originally Posted by leo

I said i wont judge the update to early and i think this is the best addition to the game yet. My point was, in the last test release notes there were knows issues meaning that they are not fixed yet but being worked on, Why add the known issues to the game? there were still possible fixes on test. There was still room for fixes on test and the ones above did not just come up right now because they were known issues on test. Considering that the game is closed, they might be working on them but why not finish it on test where you have more time and a better chance for perfection. I am pro fixes even if it takes a week of no game as long as the job is done. Again, time will tell how good the end product is.

I understand that this has been on test longer than any other content. But once a job is started, why not finish it?... Pirates did grow impatient but no reason to rush it when the chance of the content going to live is 100%. Those who played the game since it's release, hardly waited for this the entire time and until 4 months ago, it was still just a rumor. After 4 years, anything should be done right considering the potential, size of content, and the desire for it are so great. A lot of players did help on test, to come to disappointing result due to a early release, would not be so great news.

Human nature, I know. The closer it gets, the more impatient every one grows. BUT stay calm Pirates, Ship Customization is here but don't interrupt them while working on it. This is the final step. Let it end in peace.

As I stated before, not every bug can be fixed on the Test server because updates tend to act differently between Open and Test. After fixing the problems that they had on Test, they moved the update to Open to see how it would react with the game so they could fix anything that was left over that went to screw around on the live servers. Just because the Known Issues were posted with the Release Notes does not mean that they neglected them on Test; rather, it was the result of the coding of the update clashing with that of the Open server, and as with every update, they could only be fixed ON the Live server.

[Rannulf]

Originally Posted by Captain Del

and as with every update, they could only be fixed ON the Live server.

I had a feeling this would be the case.

I hope that some long standing problems are fixed as well. I will cross me fingers.

[Tiberius Fireskull]

I was actually able to get on to live a few minutes ago, and was able to do a short sailing run by myself. All servers were quiet, and I could have easily been one of ten people online at the time, or less. I had no issues at all with lag or any other problems. Perhaps it was fixed, but nobody else was able to get on from people that I know.

[Tia]

Originally Posted by Tiberius Fireskull

I was actually able to get on to live a few minutes ago, and was able to do a short sailing run by myself. All servers were quiet, and I could have easily been one of ten people online at the time, or less. I had no issues at all with lag or any other problems. Perhaps it was fixed, but nobody else was able to get on from people that I know.

There was probably less lag because of less people :P
But you got lucky Tiberius

[leo]

Originally Posted by Captain Del

As I stated before, not every bug can be fixed on the Test server because updates tend to act differently between Open and Test. After fixing the problems that they had on Test, they moved the update to Open to see how it would react with the game so they could fix anything that was left over that went to screw around on the live servers. Just because the Known Issues were posted with the Release Notes does not mean that they neglected them on Test; rather, it was the result of the coding of the update clashing with that of the Open server, and as with every update, they could only be fixed ON the Live server.

View this in any way you can. Computer logic or common sense. Why is it that none of the fixed bugs on test are a problem on live? Why is it that those random issues had to be tested on live?(which btw makes no sense). Why couldn't they be fixed on test since they definitely have the ability to then take the content to live where normal fixes get transferred just fine? Why does every fixed bug on test work perfectly fine on live when fixed on test first? Again, I love this content and in no way would I want to see it bugged. In the transferring of content from test to live, it's usually lag, delays and DCs that increase or change. If it wasn't that way then we wouldn't be able to find the live issues on test. Look back in potcos history. Most issues if not all were added due to content not being ready for live on test or rushed release. Big updates are horror to the game as they crash the game for days... It would be smart if they learned from the past and at least made sure the same problems don't occur...

[Tobias Daggercrash]

Ah, i was waiting for this day to come. Finally Red Tiger and Fire-Sail raptors could live up to their names.

[WeirdBeard]

WOO! Finally on live! To bad i can't come online for awhile. I'll try and get a game card during Christmas

[Davy Bluekidd]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
About time they released it, but I understand. They did an awesome job at making it, and finding all the bugs.
Plus, by releasing it on live, they have a ton more people who play pirates online to look for bugs, which will help it faster.
All in all, bravo.

[Ice_Storm]

Originally Posted by Davy Bluekidd

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
About time they released it, but I understand. They did an awesome job at making it, and finding all the bugs.
Plus, by releasing it on live, they have a ton more people who play pirates online to look for bugs, which will help it faster.
All in all, bravo.

There are still bugs with the update.

All hasn't been resolved yet, but they had a timeline to push this to mainstream.

Now, they recommend just hitting the Quiet oceans until they can shut the game down again and fix the remaining issues.

Originally Posted by leo

View this in any way you can. Computer logic or common sense. Why is it that none of the fixed bugs on test are a problem on live? Why is it that those random issues had to be tested on live?(which btw makes no sense). Why couldn't they be fixed on test since they definitely have the ability to then take the content to live where normal fixes get transferred just fine? Why does every fixed bug on test work perfectly fine on live when fixed on test first? Again, I love this content and in no way would I want to see it bugged. In the transferring of content from test to live, it's usually lag, delays and DCs that increase or change. If it wasn't that way then we wouldn't be able to find the live issues on test. Look back in potcos history. Most issues if not all were added due to content not being ready for live on test or rushed release. Big updates are horror to the game as they crash the game for days... It would be smart if they learned from the past and at least made sure the same problems don't occur...

But, if you see this:

Test Server = Endless time to create content

Test Server = Less volume in player send and retrieve packet functions

Test Server = Players are selected, not randomly given the permission immediately upon account creation

Test Server = No need if everyone could login to test (Defeats the purpose as they can't get any work done under heavy load).

Now if you see:

Live Server = Any player is allowed to play at anytime upon account creation

Live Server = Content in early stages of development are not present

Live Server = Load is 5-10 times greater than Test Server (Is why some bugs don't pop up on the Test version

Live Server = Hundreds of players playing at the same time hogs the server's resources, clogging packets and other data that makes it harder to process

Live Server = Will trigger new bugs as a result of high server load. Always.

Originally Posted by Tia

=D
I LOVE YOU POTCO STAFF
But only for changing one thing...
LETTING US USE LIGHT FRIGATES AND BRIGS <3
My membership ends in 3 days so there's something to be happy about. Better ships :3

Yeah, now I can finally use a good ship, the Brig, as a basic member and have fun sailing for a few days

Real time updates in-game:

As of 4:47 PM, 12/15/2011 I am getting huge server "hanging" time.

No server packet related actions are responded D:.

When I try to teleport, it hangs, doing no action.

When I try to open the Launch Ship menu, it doesn't open because it "hangs"


And this is happening on a quiet server....

There is a problem with this update... and it's seriously if it's happening in some quiet oceans...