My letter to POTCO

[Davy]

No, I didn't send in a rant. This was a suggestion to help make POTCO better and more fun to play

Hi, I have a suggestion for Pirates Online.

I think the game needs to be much more guild friendly. Now, your guild has to log on to DXD every time they want to see a guild news update or plunder parties. I think guildmasters and officers should be able to send out a popup to all guild members that a plunder party will occur (popup as in the Blackjack Fridays popup, etc.).

I also think that guild members should get a 10% reputation bonus for every 10 members in their guild, with a maximum of a 40% increase. This would disable a crew bonus for guild members but not disable the crew feature.

I also think guilds should be able to get their own servers. After all, how hard can it be to make a server? Not hard at all. Sure, it takes 5 minutes away from a staff member, but it is well worth it if your customers are pleased. After all, customer satisfaction is way more valuable than money.

The way this guild server deal would work is: a guildmaster fills out an application made up by you all at POTCO. If their application is good, then they get their own server, named by their guild that only their guild members can access.

I also think there should be at least 5 level requirement servers and at least 10 Unlimited Access Only servers.

PVP win bonuses would be nice too, such as 50 reputation for every time you defeat your opponent, etc.


Thank you for your time, and I hope to see these updates come soon in the game. If you need any further explanation of my ideas, please let me know in your response. Thanks again,

Davy

[Angel]

Heres one thing about the Guild servers. If everyone who had a guid, had their own server, thre would be a whole loooooooooooooooot of servers!!

[Davy]

Yes, but we wouldn't be able to see them unless we were in their guild. Get my drift? It wouldn't cause any lag either since the servers are installed to a person's game when they join a guild, log out, and log back in.

[Dr. Zeppers]

Hmmmm

Crew bonus's make sense, they encourage people to play together.

Guild bonus's based on volume of membership?
Is this what a guild is defined as? Such implementation changes it so.

Guilds: A contest to see who can get the most members, and thereby the most bonus reps as they play.

Having owned/managed an online gaming clan (ie guild of sorts) for over 9 years now, I know how people twist rules, glitchs, etc to take advantage. This would be twisted as well.

Having also helped to manage/operate a game server company, offering a dedicated server per guild would not be cost effective. I sincerly doubt that to this day, there is any one guild that has the volume of members online day to day to warrant thier own server (maybe if all thier members were on at once, but not a likely prospect).

A compromise might be a way to reserve a dedicated server. Have them setup a couple 'guild servers' that could be reserved by guilds for specific dates/times/events.

Zeppers lvl40
http://pirates.teamofx.us

[Davy]

Samuel, remember the maximum of 50%? Guild bonuses would not be based on membership numbers if the maximum bonus was 50% for 50 members.

Guilds are NOT a contest to get the most members. Guilds are not even a contest. Guilds are a way to have fun while playing the game with friends.

As for the guild servers - guilds don't want their servers crowded. It also would not cost POTCO much, if anything, to add the servers. Maybe a penny per guild server, which would add up to a whopping 25 dollars.

A guild wants a guild server so it is EMPTY and they can plunder alone with their guildies, not a crowded server in which you share every enemy with 5 level 7 basic access players button mashing with their cutlasses.

[Shadow Cat]

Even if Disney wasted their money on guild servers, I wouldn't play on them. Honestly, it's kind of boring seeing the same faces over and over in the game when there are so many other people to interact with.

[Samantha Wildhound]

thats the whole spirit of the game though, competition and meeting new people, is why i dont particuarly like the idea of private servers..i may as well ask for an offline mode so i can hack away in peace at all the enemies i want...

i do wish though, that they would make servers oriented towards certain styles of play/levels whatnot

like level 20's 30's etc, quest, basic, or guilds only, can go to find more of what they want, such as if they need help on the story, beats begging everyone on abassa server and being called a noob and laughed at.

[Dr. Zeppers]

I have a different view of guilds. I prefer a small guild, a small circle of friends. I do not want to amass a membership of 50+ people (I actually already own/manage an online gaming clan.. 9 years running, dont need another). I also don't think its fair that those that wish to play differently get bonus's the rest of us (ie small guilds) cannot get. I dont think you like people glitching and taking advantage, but this would be a way to achieve a similar advantage, within the games constraints (if implemented).

Where do you get your information from regarding server implementation?

After having worked for a few years for a game server hosting company...
I find your numbers pretty close to impossible, and severly downplay what adding a "server" likely entails.

Originally Posted by Samantha Wildhound

thats the whole spirit of the game though, competition and meeting new people, is why i dont particuarly like the idea of private servers..i may as well ask for an offline mode so i can hack away in peace at all the enemies i want...

i do wish though, that they would make servers oriented towards certain styles of play/levels whatnot

like level 20's 30's etc, quest, basic, or guilds only, can go to find more of what they want, such as if they need help on the story, beats begging everyone on abassa server and being called a noob and laughed at.

I like this idea... choice without unnecessary segregation.


Zeppers lvl40
http://pirates.teamofx.us

[Mattress]

Davy i agree with you about being more guild friendly, but there is no way they would ever do servers for each guild, thats like 200,000 mor servers which means a load more money more space and everything.

40% rep increase theres no way theyd do tht either people would just form guilds and inv loads of lvl 1 bucaneers and swashbucklers to join their guild to get increases which makes the use of guilds pointless.

Level requirement servers would just split the communtiy in half and reduce the social aspect hugely.

And 50 rep for each pvp won would just have people sitting in pvp 10 hours a day boosting their pirate.

I'm not trying to be mean im all for guild customisation and special stuff, but what you suggested would cut down a good portion of the social side of the game.

[Aliese]

I don't really have an opinion one way or another regarding guild servers; my pirates are the only ones in my guild (and that's the way I like it, LoL), so it really wouldn't affect me.

I actually like the new crew bonus, but I'd like it even more if the radius was large enough to handle a war frigate (uh, yeah, I love not getting the bonus when I'm on a front gun, that's super).

Servers for unlimited members only, and/or servers with level requirements I could definitely see myself using, though. Today at Fort Charles, with my new pirate, I had multiple basic moochers on every quiet server I tried.

[Dr. Zeppers]

Originally Posted by Mattress

I'm not trying to be mean im all for guild customisation and special stuff, but what you suggested would cut down a good portion of the social side of the game.

here here! Well said!

I hope none of my comments come off as mean.. I dont intend to be.
Just speakin my mind.

Originally Posted by Aliese

I actually like the new crew bonus, but I'd like it even more if the radius was large enough to handle a war frigate (uh, yeah, I love not getting the bonus when I'm on a front gun

I have still received crew bonus while my crewmate was at sea, and I was on land (just last night it was happening). I thought.. that it was odd, since the update. Seems sorta erratic on its decision wether to reward it or not.



Regarding Guild servers: If they DO have the capacity for more servers, then they should create more servers for everyone.. spread it out further. Less lag, less crowded.




Zeppers Lvl40
http://pirates.teamofx.us

[Bilgepump]

Originally Posted by Davy

Guilds are NOT a contest to get the most members.

But putting in a guild rep bonus would turn them into one. And what about the smaller guilds? They'd be giving up their crew bonus for a smaller guild bonus.

Originally Posted by Davy

As for the guild servers - guilds don't want their servers crowded. It also would not cost POTCO much, if anything, to add the servers. Maybe a penny per guild server, which would add up to a whopping 25 dollars.

Last I looked, a server was an actual physical piece of hardware, as in a rack-mounted computer, plus network connection, plus power requirements. I don't know how they implement the game on the back end, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't done like that. Sure, you can set up virtual servers, and maybe have a couple of dedicated boxes to host the umpteen virtual servers required for each guild, but that costs money and has some serious support needs, and doesn't have any real benefit to Disney.

I do like the level-limit server idea, and the unlimited access server idea.

[Chris]

maybe not guild servers but member servers would be great!

[nitnek]

I have the same opinion that Chris

Nitnek.

[Samantha Wildhound]

try having a higher level pirate "helping you" too LOL, is why i see myself wanting level servers,

i was a level 12 noob fighting some level 8 rock crabs on devils anvil, and this level 35 with a staff, thought he ought to blow away everything i was attacking..yay...flame skull on a rock crab...right....

wouldnt happen if we had "optional" level based servers, as i already DO split myself off from the community as is, with my higher level i avoid royal, tortuga, even padres at times, strictly because i get caught in the endless "friend/crew/help" ME syndrome of the lower levels.

and with my lower level i avoid the higher level "helpers" and often have to level at out of the way places on servers that are devoid of any pirates during off peak times.

im opposite on how you feel, i feel that the way the servers are now, is whats impacting my socialization with others.