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Grimoire asks for funding to put FPS wizard multiplayer in your hands
You've played pretty much every first-person shooter that there is, but have you done a multiplayer FPS where there are no soldiers but wizards and no guns but fast-flung magic spells? This unusual bent on the formula is the basis for Grimoire, which has just begun a crowdfunding campaign. According to the Kickstarter description, "Grimoire is a multiplayer mage FPS with MOBA-style abilities that puts the player in control of devastating magic." Players can fight from first- or third-person views and take on the role of one of 10 wizard classes. Grimoire's been in development for a year, is currently being voted for on Steam Greenlight, and even has a combat preview demo that you can download and try right now. The makers said that the game's had "practically no budget" up this point, which is why they're looking to raise $42,000 to improve what's already been made. The soundtrack is being composed by Pirates of the Caribbean Online vet Marcus Zuhr. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Pirates of the Caribbean Online 'Rewritten' version claims Disney's blessing
Pirates of the Caribbean Online may have sunsetted last year, but if our inbox is any judge, some of you folks were really rabid about the game. So you'll no doubt be pleased to learn that some fans are trying to resurrect the MMO, and unlike similar ventures with high-profile IPs, this one -- dubbed Pirates Online Rewritten -- claims that Disney has given its blessing for the use of the game's assets provided the game is a free-to-play, not-for-profit endeavor. Developers have opened alpha signups and suggest that launch "could be as soon [as] June 2014 to November 2014." [A project leader for this game contacted Massively in November of 2014 to inform us that the claim that Disney had given its blessing for use of the assets was an elaborate lie told by a former staff member. "We never received any sort of acknowledgement from Disney Interactive Studios concerning the remake," he clarifies. I know you're all deeply shocked.]
New screenshots from Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Disney's free-to-play MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online isn't a game we hear much from, but it's got a fairly respectable following and is a fun departure from the standard-issue fantasy genre that marks so many free-to-play games. Never let it be said either that they don't know how to party in between all the privateering and swashbuckling and whatnot. Disney has released a handful of screenshots from their recent holiday events, and a great party was had by all. Festive streamers, bows, stockings, and greenery made an appearance in between the palm trees and sand. Characters were given a fun /noisemaker emote, and this year had a fun new addition: sandmen. No, not the kind that arrives to put you to sleep, these are the Caribbean version of snowmen. You see, the Caribbean has a distinct lack of anything resembling snow, and the locals have learned to compensate with cleverly designed pirates made of sand. Enjoy the screenshots provided, and maybe head over and check the game out if you haven't yet!
Pirates of the Caribbean Online announces privateering
Yarr! Privateering has come to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online, so get your eye patches and poofy shirts ready for action! This new feature is sure to shiver your timbers (ok, ok, we'll stop), as it introduces a faction-based way to earn gold and reputation points for players.This new feature will be accessible to both Basic and Unlimited Access players by siding with either the Frenchman Pierre or the Spaniard Garcia. These Pirate Lords will challenge players with quests where you can earn your very own French or Spanish tattoo. Plus, if you would like to learn more about privateering, you can check out their new Lore Journal The Rise of the Privateer on the PotCO website.
The Pernicious Privateers of Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Arr! Closer come ye, for I have risen with news of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online!Be ye an honest captain or be ye a pirate, be there one amongst ye who can clear the seas of the scum that floats upon 'er? Aye, I be talking about Privateering! Turn your sheets into the wind and lash the wheel tight and bring yourself to Isle D'Etable De Porc if ye be friendly to the French, or Isla De La Avaricia if the Spanish have y'r loyalty. Seek ye there crew, provisions and ammo fer the fighting ahead! And may the wind be ever at your back but pass over the sails of yer enemy! Privateering only be available to Unlimited Access members on the Test Server, but it be coming soon enough to the Live servers.I wager there be more news after yon break. Click ye through to see thar th' rest.
Anti-Aliased: How to pick the MMO for you
Let's be honest for a moment - there are a ton of MMOs out there. We have everything from fantasy, to dystopian future, to fantasy, to horror, to fantasy, to pirates, to fantasy, to sci-fi, and even all the way down to fantasy. While this is great for people who love choice, this is a complete nightmare (or should I say Bloodymare, ha ha, gaming puns) for anyone who's new to the genre or wants to start off with a fresh game that's different from what they're playing.How do you separate the good from the bad? How do you know if you'll stick to a game? You don't want to gamble with an expensive game only to find out that you totally hate it and wish it would burn in the deepest depths of hell. (I'm looking at you, Risk Your Life.) So, do you rely on what your friends tell you or what reviewers tell you?In my opinion, no one knows you except you. So when you sit down and want to pick the right game the first time, here's a few pointers and suggestions to get you started.
PotCO does double XP weekend
In the wake of the sad news about the Virtual Magic Kingdom... some yaaarfuly good news! Virtual pirates can double their piratey pleasure in Pirates of the Caribbean Online this weekend!Disney Online is giving Pirates of the Caribbean Online players the chance to earn double experience points and level up their pirate avatars twice as fast during two in-game events. But it's not all weekend so pay attention matey!Both Basic (free-to-play) and Unlimited Access (pay-to-play) players will be able to earn double reputation points in both land and ship battles this Saturday, April 12th... but only between the hours of 12:00 and 3:00 pm (Pacific Time). Pirating for Unlimited Access members will commence again on Sunday, April 13 during the exact same time frame (12:00 - 3:00 pm Pacific Time).Bonus bounty: later this month Disney Online will be be announcing details about new content that will include a bevy of new weapons, quests, and more... so stay tuned!
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day MMO-style
Though not many Americans can quite tell you why they are celebrating St. Patrick's Day or wear a bit of green. they do love an excuse to head to an Irish pub and drink a Guinness. And this year is no different with the holiday being observed anywhere from March 15 to March 17 this year. A few MMOs are getting in on the action as well. EverQuest II is celebrating all week long with their pub-crawl inspired Brew Day Festival which has in turn inspired a video parody. And Pirates of the Caribbean Online has turned the seas green as well as offering shamrock tattoos and green hair to players to customize their avatar.Even Lord of the Rings Online is slipping in its own St. Paddy's Day celebration with a quest that rewards you with a giant size keg during Spring Festival. Tapping that beast gets you so drunk, your character passes out and wakes up in another part of Middle-earth! Better in-game, than in life, eh? Finally, if Virtual Worlds are more your style, there are sure to be many player run St. Patrick Day events in Second Life. You may have missed yesterday's float parade, but you can always visit virtual Dublin any time of year. %Gallery-18489%
Hands-on tour of Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Recently, I sat down with Disney Online to get a tour of their MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online. To be honest, I didn't go in with high expectations. I mean, the movies were fun and all, but with only Toontown Online to DO's credit, I wasn't expecting something that appealed to me as an adult gamer. Boy, was I wrong.An adventure set around helping Jack Sparrow retrieve the Black Pearl is just as perilous as it sounds. You wake up in the same jail as the rogue pirate. Together you take advantage of cannon fire assaulting the Caribbean town of your incarceration to escape and begin your exploits. Those include meeting Wil Turner, the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma and a new villain, Jolly Roger among others. Not to mention facing down the Imperial Navy, hungry crocodiles, rampaging zombies, pirate-eating giant plants and cut-throat card players.There are no classes, servers or banks. This game isn't about inventory management, but is action-based about being a pirate. No tradeskills, either. The scourge of the High Seas don't craft, they take. The number of weapons available is small, but the skill ups for them are numerous. If you are looking for less strategy and more action in your pirate MMO, read on for a tour of the first few levels of the game.Character customization, sea battles, voodoo magic and cameos galore, plus two videos after the jump.%Gallery-14957%
Pirates creator criticizes Disney's hesitance to jump into games
At the DICE summit in Las Vegas Wednesday night, Pirates of the Caribbean creator Gore Verbinski gave a chat to game creators about movies, gaming, and his perspective of the industry in general. Beyond his generally complementary comments towards gaming, one particularly interesting aside that perked our interest was the displeasure he expressed towards Disney for not adapting the Pirates universe for an MMO more quickly than they did. According to Verbinski, they didn't even think of starting the project until a few years after the release of the original movie, and did so without his input. Of course, as we all know, they did eventually release Pirates of the Caribbean Online this past year, but Verbinski's comments certainly make us wonder if the game is all that it could have been.As we reported earlier today, Disney has ramped up its efforts in the MMO space considerably, putting a significant capital investment into what they see as an extension of the brand immersion seen in their theme parks. This conflicts somewhat with Verbinski's perception that the studios see MMOs in the same way that they see plush toys. One has to imagine that Pirates of the Caribbean Online would have been met with considerably more fanfare if it had the Pirates of the Burning Sea gameplay under the hood, but at what point does this sort of discussion degenerate into armchair quarterbacking? In this case, while I don't doubt Verbinski's sincerity on this issue, it sure seems like was hamming it up for the crowd.
Mickey goes online as Disney invests in Virtual Worlds
The Virtual World News site took the time to pick through an earnings call from the house of Mouse, and found that Disney had a ton to talk about when it came to Virtual Worlds. From comments made during the call by company President Robert Iger, their purchase of Club Penguin last summer and the launch of Pirates of the Caribbean Online was just Disney clearing its throat. In addition to an online world based on the film "Cars", the company plans to spend some $100 million on virtual worlds in the coming years.Iger clarified that there were a few reasons for Disney's shift to the virtual. First, the company's franchises are being re-examined for new opportunities. VWs fit in nicely alongside plush dolls, action figures, and kiddie clothing in a marketing agenda. Second, it's much easier to develop and staff a virtual world than it is to design and build a new theme park attraction. That's historically been the only place fans could really get 'inside' their favorite Disney products, and Virtual Worlds are a nice alternative. Finally, he notes that for a younger audience online worlds are just plain more important than they are for older generations. Yet more evidence of the growing cachet of online gaming.
PotCO brings the bling with avatar customization update
So ye fancy yourself a right good pirate eh me matey? We'll Pirates of the Caribbean Online will soon let players express themselves a whole better as part of the Avatar Customization update coming later this month. Finally! I really enjoy this game. It's easy to get into, fun to play, and hearkens back to my youth riding through the PotC ride at Disneyland. But character customization options are very limited. Thankfully, the devs have headed off the mutiny with what looks like the first of many upgrades.Included in this update will be PotCO's first round of emotes: dance, laugh, clap, and celebrate. Pirates will soon be able to get inked up at the tattoo parlor, purchase some sweet new bling at the jewelry store, and grab some slick new threads at the tailor shoppe. Additionally, new coats inspired by the Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court will be added (see above picture).To help ease the frustration of remembering which NPC to visit in order to complete a Quest, enhancements have been made to the tracking system. Which is good for an old fart like me who would forget my head if it wasn't attached. When you're in the "return to townsperson" stage of the Quest a ray of light will shine down from the heavens on to the NPC you need to find (they had this, but it didn't work so well). Plus, a yellow arrow at the player's feet will help guide the way.All in all, a hearty batch of goodies to warm the pirate blood! To see the new emotes, the shops, and the new threads, check out the Current News page on the PotCO website.
Yo ho yo ho a Pirate's (of the Caribbean) life for me
Disney's free to download and play Pirates of the Caribbean Online launched with little to no fanfare; odd given the media-centric world we live in. Apparently, the lack of an advertising blitz was intentional. In an interview with Ten Ton Hammer, Disney Online VP Mike Goslin said they wanted it that way in order to be certain the game was in working order when the masses started pouring in. With the recent release to DVD of Disney's third PotC movie, and the Christmas season now in full swing, expect to see an explosion of ads enticing folks to come live the pirate life.Mike explained that Disney is devoted to making PotC Online a long term success for all ages, giving parents the peace of mind that their kids won't be exposed to malevolent oddities (the game is rated E10+) while not limiting things for older players. They appear to have succeeded since the game world is always rife with players. For parents, one controversial aspect might be the voodoo abilities. Goslin boils it down by saying that every pirate has access to them once players get hold of a voodoo doll or staff. Players must dart in and tag an enemy, then run out of melee range to use it by poking the doll, setting it on fire, etc. Having used voodoo myself, these powers play no differently than magic in WoW, and add a great deal of fun to the game.While hardcore gamers might shun this peglegged casual MMO - don't. I've been sailing the High Seas since beta, and PotC Online is a fantastically fun, easy to learn game that allows players to romp through the one of a kind world that Walt Disney created in 1967. If you were a child of that era like I was (I'm dating myself), long before the advent of digital, lifelike MMOs, amusement park rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland in Southern California was as close to "virtual reality" as we'd ever seen. The recent trilogy of movies expanded on that wonderful childhood experience, and the new online games serves to continue the same wide-eyed tradition. There appears to be a firm commitment to make this a solid, long running game. With a considerable amount of new content already planned for the year, and since free is free... right now is the perfect time to hop aboard. Arrr, matey!
Disney's Mike Goslin stresses importance of low system requirements
Disney Online's Mike Goslin (of Toontown Online and Pirates of the Caribbean Online fame) said in an interview with Worlds in Motion that it's important for MMO projects to "support as low a minimum spec PC as possible." PC gaming is often criticized for being too expensive. You can buy an XBox 360 for $350 or a PlayStation 3 for $400, but a desktop PC equipped with the hardware necessary to smoothly run the very latest games usually costs $1,000 or more. That's a barrier to entry for many would-be PC gamers. Supporting low-end hardware isn't just important for children's and family games. A while back SOE CEO John Smedley told WarCry that "the biggest thing that hurts [Vanguard] is the high system specs." If the MMO genre is carrying PC gaming on its back, shouldn't MMO developers do everything they can to make their games accessible to a large audience?
Pirates of the Caribbean Online extends Founders program
Disney has announced that they are extending the Pirates of the Caribbean Online Founders program which was supposed to end the midnight before Halloween. It has been extended for a limited time, presumably to attract more paid players.The Founders program includes a Founder title which looks like a pretty gold coin with an F on it next to your name as well as some goodies that come in the mail at a later date. Pirates of the Caribbean Online is a free to play browser game with optional Unlimited access for $9.95 a month. I signed up to be a founding member because I wanted to see the goodies, but I didn't realize that free players don't get access to my favorite part of the game: poker. It's not listed in the Unlimited Access features list -- I only found out from the tips on the loading screens. I'm not sure what other ingame-only documented benefits I'm enjoying that aren't on the list.If you'd like unlimited access and the Founder's benefits, you can go to their signup site to enter your payment info. The official list of Unlimited Access benefits is after the jump.
Pirates of the Caribbean Online is now live
Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online has launched.For those of you who don't know, it is a MMO that uses your browser and is based on the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. It is free to play for limited access and unlimited access is $9.95 a month.If you are interested in checking it out, http://www.piratesonline.com will redirect you to either the news site or the Play Now site.The game still has some issues such as frozen black screens, but it does seem more robust than the last time I played in the beta.The character creation is fun and the in-game Poker playing is a blast, so I do recommend at least trying the free-to-play portion. See you in Port Royal!
Pirates of the Caribbean Online launching on Halloween - maybe
Though no official launch date has been announced as of this writing, all signs point to a Halloween launch for Pirates of the Caribbean Online.Fact: The Pre-Order offer expires at midnight on Tuesday, October 30th.Fact: The beta is over and all beta testers can transfer their accounts to the Test Server using the information in emails sent to their registered accounts. Fact: Beta testers are being invited to "celebrate the long night before the dawn of Pirates Online" on the test server where their beta characters await. New characters will have to be created when the game launches, however.Conjecture: If the offer to pre-order expires at midnight before Halloween and the beta is over, then Pirates Online will probably launch on October 31st.Is it ready? I don't know, but I'll be there with my colors hoisted. You'll most likely find me at the poker table. Yar!
Pirates of the Caribbean Online offering pre-order incentives
Disney wants YOU to be one of the founding members of Pirates of the Caribbean Online. If you pre-order the Unlimited Access for Pirates Online, you will get a few benefits that presumably won't be available after launch: 50% off your first month Limited edition cloth map Founder title for every pirate on your account Crew Kit (unknown contents) If you are considering this, there are a few things you should know:Free play: Like most web-based MMOs, you don't have to pay to play. There will be limited free play access to the game.Subscription fees: The cost of Unlimited Access will be $9.95 a month. As a Founder, your first month will be $4.95.Tangible gifts not immediate: The cloth map and Crew Kit will be mailed to your home address "a few weeks" after the launch of the game.No specific launch date: The launch "date" for Pirates of the Caribbean Online is Fall. So they have until December 20th to honor this time frame. Founders will not have their credit cards charged until launch.They may not be ready on time: Pirates of the Caribbean Online was supposed to be released with the third movie which was out this past summer. They have come a long way since then, but I'm not sure if they are far enough along to launch this season.I would recommend trying to get into the beta and seeing if you like the gameplay. Just remember that Beta testing means lots of bugs and lag and rollbacks. Otherwise, unless you are into collectibles, you may want to wait and try the free aspects of the game before you sign up for Unlimited Access. I signed up to be a Founder, but I'm a dork who loves pirates. I'll make sure to let you know if it was worth it.
Pirates of the Caribbean Online: First Impressions
Pirates of the Caribbean Online is in the Stress Testing part of Beta right now, which means there are regularly scheduled lagfests occurring on a weekly basis. This is usually the final part of Beta testing which means they should be able to meet their "Fall" release time. I haven't gone too far in the game and there is quite a bit of hint text missing on the loading screens, but for the most part things seem to be a lot more stable and "filled in" compared to when Beta first began a few months ago. Here is what I think of PotCO so far:Graphics: Not so great. A bit dated actually. But the overall look and coloring works well for what it is.Character Creation: There is a lot of customization available for your pirate. And the name generator is quite a bit of fun as well -- I am Samantha Truepaine. I would not rate the character creation as high as City of Heroes/Villains, but it's close enough.
