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The Perfect Ten: Pirates ahoy!
Fantasy pirates: Love 'em or hate 'em, they're deeply ingrained in geek culture to the point that they're almost impossible to dislodge. This past Monday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, when everyone's inner pirate was encouraged to "Arr!" heartily, look for treasure in long-forgotten places, and embrace the fashion style of bandanas and eyepatches. It seemed like a perfect week, therefore, to look at piratey life in MMOs. From entire games to mere outfits and from the token pirate union that has a chapter in each game to delusional madmen, this list aims to sate the swagger of keyboard swashbucklers. It's a testament to the pirate phenomenon that most developers can't help but include a buccaneer or two, even if the setting isn't always asking for it -- a phenomenon even the U.S. Navy has accepted. Hit the jump to start, and sail straight on 'til morning!
Breakfast Topic: Do you participate in Pirates' Day?
Today marks the start (and end!) of one of World of Warcraft's most fleeting in-game holidays, Pirates' Day. It's Blizzard's way of honoring International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a "holiday" celebrated almost exclusively by people who like pictures of cats with misspelled words on them. Are you going to Booty Bay today, even though participating in the holiday isn't required for the What A Long Strange Trip It's Been meta-achievement? (Achievement point junkies can still score 10 points by traveling to Booty Bay and talking to Dread Captain DeMeza.) And do you actually like the holiday, or do you wish it would make like a tree and get outta here? Working on achievements? The Overachiever is here to help! Count on us for advice on Azeroth's holidays and special events, including new achievements, how to get 310% flight speed with achievement mounts, and Cataclysm reputation factions and achievements.
iPhone Monkey Island Special Edition 1 & 2 on sale
Here's a riddle for ya: Even if a woodchuck could chuck wood, and even if a woodchuck would chuck wood, should a woodchuck spend a buck -- aww forget it! Both Special Edition remakes of Monkey Island 1 & 2 for iPhone are currently just $1 -- and the iPad sequel is on sale, too!
Pirates of the Burning Sea announces "Power and Prestige" expansion, adds more staff
The guys from Flying Lab Software are busier than ever, as they have announced that they will be creating their very first expansion to Pirates of the Burning Sea and hiring to boot!Power and Prestige, the first expansion for PotBS, will focus on expanding the game's conquest system, allowing players to take on the role of Port Governor. Governors control how the port is built up, and can work towards building a bustling trade port or perhaps one that is more militaristic. Past that, the details list is being kept hush hush until the early part of 2010. Power and Prestige will be a downloaded expansion, freely offered to all players of the game.In the mean time, pirate enthusiasts have two things to look forward to. The first is that Flying Lab is hiring, and anyone interested in a job in the game industry should head on over to their careers page to see what they're looking for. The other is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, coming up on September 19th! Pull out your grog, your pirate hat, and set sail for a day of yarrrr!
Pirates of the Burning Sea celebrates Talk Like a Pirate Day
When you're the official game of International Talk Like A Pirate Day, today is your day to shine. So the folks at Flying Lab Software have been working hard to make today the ultimate in grog-swillin' and booty-plunderin' in their flagship game, Pirates of the Burning Sea.All day today and until September 26th, you'll find special missions and secret booty for all players. What makes it even better is a special 14-day trial, so you can try it all out for free. Plus, if you fear your Pirate-speak isn't up to par ...or yarr... today, Flying Lab has created a handy Pirate Reference Guide you can find right after the jump. If that's still not enough to shiver your timbers, several other MMOs are celebrating this day with special quests as well, including Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. Avast!
Breakfast Topic: Which class is the most piratey?
Yes, I know, yesterday was International Talk Like A Pirate Day, if I thought of this question on ITLAP Day, then that should make this count, right?Yar. Anyways, I got to wondering, which class would make the bestest pirates in the open waters, or on the open lands. My first reaction was rogues -- those scoundrelly rascals -- who could launch surprise attacks and scheme and cheat their way into any big adventure. But then I thought, no, rogues go around pick-pocketing people, hiding in the shadows, and wearing those silly hoods. No, indeed, rogues are actually much closer to ninjas with their "Ambush, Eviscerate, Vanish!" style of attack! And everybody knows "all nature says that pirates and ninjas must be enemies."So then I got to thinking maybe warriors would be better -- fury warriors! Dual wielding those fancy rapiers, shouting at the top of their lungs, wearing that fancy... plate... armor.... And then I thought, pirates don't wear plate armor. They have to wear snazzy buccaneer pants, a gentleman's jacket worn all lazy-like, and possibly have some good dreadlocks for good measure. Some dirt always helps too.My conclusion was that no class is an exact pirate match, but some classes come pretty close in spirit. Warlocks, for example, are very piratey in their own way, going against the grain of society so to speak. But perhaps it doesn't matter which class you are, as long as you can say "Arrr matey!" and perhaps have some Savory Deviate Delight. What do you think is the most piratey-est class in the World of Warcraft?
Breakfast Topic: Whar be the naval battles, matey?
Arr mateys! For those that be not in the know, today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and we be dedicatin' much a' today to those seafarin' scallywags, the pirates! That said, writing like that for any length of time makes my brain twitch, so you'll have to pardon me while I simply keep with the overall theme and instead wish you all a happy Talk Like a Pirate Day. Yarr!Warming up for Wrath of the Pirate King, err Lich King, I've been revisiting my old copies of the Warcraft RTS games. One of the things that I always enjoyed from Warcraft II was the fact that I got to build boats, load my Orcs and Trolls up and go pounce on the unsuspecting Alliance. (My friends seemed to enjoy doing much the same by pouncing on my little Horde villages in return when we'd play together.) In replaying the games now, I've gotten to once again load up those boats and sail around, torching oil platforms and raiding towns. With the talk of the buildings that will be destroyable in WotLK, I can't help but wonder -- where are our naval skirmishes? In WoW, you can ride the same boats with the opposite faction from Booty Bay to Ratchet. But at no point do you get to jump on a boat and attack the other faction's boats or take out shipyards.I can't be the only one who liked the ship battles from days of Warcraft yore. So for today's Breakfast Topic -- If they offered ship-based PvP, would you play it? How about if you were helping your side to cut the other side off from "resources" kind of like a ship-based version of AB? Did you like the sailing action in the previous RTS games too? How would you like to see ship battles enacted, were Blizzard to do them in the future?
