Saying Goodbye

When I first entered the drawings to get a Pirate 101 Beta key, I knew that sooner or later this day would come. With the new pre-sale bundles coming out tomorrow - for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, no less - word has come down from One-Eyed Jack that today's major build release will come with the dreaded character wipe.

All the pirates in the Spiral are getting deleted today, so we can start fresh and focus on testing the new player experience. This also gives KI a chance to load-test the system, to see how it deals with the massive tide of a simulated Launch Day.

So it's with a heavy heart I say goodbye to Silent Sydney Lewis, a Privateer with a Witch Doctor's heart, sailing off into the Mooshu sunset for the final time. I don't know yet what I'll be on the other side, but I'm grateful for the battle lessons she's taught me.

This is the way I'll remember her, hiding on a beach at Fort Elena, spying on the Armada fleet.

Smooth Sailing!

Color Negatives

Back in ancient times before digital cameras, color pictures were taken on film. This film was then developed into color negatives, which were then used to print the pictures onto light-sensitive paper. The Haunted Skyway of Pirate 101 feels like I'm flying through a color negative of Cool Ranch's Big Sky country. Cool Ranch is the oranges and pinks of the painted desert and southwestern sunsets. Its Haunted counterpart, home to abandoned forts and ghost towns, is a gloomy blue-green world over sickly yellow clouds. In short - well done yet again, KingsIsle. A+ for atmosphere!

Eatin' Yer Veggies

When it comes to questing I'm usually a completist. I'd rather finish every quest I can in one area before moving on to the next. I've even gotten a couple of badges so far for completing areas, so I know I've missed a couple somewhere. When I started Cool Ranch, though, I was so eager to see where the story led that I decided to skip all the sides for once and go straight up the story line. I did accept random quests as I found them, but I consistently went back to the main path time after time.

By the time I'd gone up through Port Regal and back to Cool Ranch again I'd built up about seven pages in my quest log, but Pirate 101 makes it easier to stay on track by reminding you of your current story quest every time you log in. On the good side, story quests usually offer the biggest experience rewards, so I was getting a new level or two every day. I started Cool Ranch at 18th level a week or two ago and just hit 33 night before last. I was beginning to wonder, though, if what they'd said about Privateers was wrong, that we get more Companions than any other class. I seemed stalled at a crew of a dozen, including a "mercenary" I'd hired from a Troggy Horde pack, when other folks at lower levels seemed to captain a lot more.

Last night I finally got tired of a steady diet of entrees and went back to clean up some of those tasty veggie side dish quests - and gained three new Companions in one night, including my very first Swashbuckler (a Unicorn). Apparently I'd picked just the wrong time to stick to the main dishes, leaving a lot of crew potential hidden out there in those sides.

This morning on the way to work, I was telling my son about one of my new Companions, a giant Buccaneer chicken:

"What kind of weapons does he have, Mom?"

"Well, he's a boxer or something, he just punches the bad guys with his fists."

"How'd you get him?"

"I rescued him from the Frogerales' jail."

"Whoa. They must've arrested him for cock fighting."

*groan*

Before & After

One of my Companions had their second promotion quest tonight, gaining some stat boosts and a couple of nice Epic Talents along with a new wardrobe.

The left side is how he looked after his first promo, the right was after tonight's update. Visually it doesn't look like much of an "upgrade" to me. Yes, he's got a fancier sword now, and his peg leg's a touch more polished, but the feather & gold trim looks a lot richer than the supposedly improved outfit he's got now.
Ignore the Water Mole in the background - he's just jealous because they're almost the same level and he hasn't even had his first promotion yet.
- Smooth Sailing!

Juggler

Madame Vadima, the Witch Doctor trainer, must have been a big Labyrinth fan. If you watch her long enough, every once in awhile she starts juggling her crystal ball with moves that look a lot like Jareth's.

- Smooth Sailing!

Making Progress

I finally got my First Mate, Bonnie Anne, to quit fooling around and take a decent pic of me at the Sevilla docks in Valencia a couple of nights ago. Our ship's armor - that's those shields along her hull - have the same bird logo that's on her red sails. (Too bad you can't see that too well here.) Even my crew's all decked out in my colors. She's a Skull Island Frigate out of Puerto Mico. Y'know, for such tiny little guys, those Monquistans sure know how to build big ships!

I usually prefer not to leave any jobs undone, but tonight I thought I'd try sticking to the main questline instead - and I gained three whole levels in one evening! I'm a rank 23 Privateer now, with a good bit of Witchdoctor training on the side. So far it's served me pretty well.

- Smooth Sailing!

Blogroll

Now that the NDA has dropped and we can start talking openly about Pirate 101, I've added a sidebar for blog & fansite links. If you would like me to add you, please leave a link to your site in the comments below.

Smooth sailing!