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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 Online goes live on Mac
I heard a few times that Disney's new casual MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online went live yesterday, but MacWorld reminds us that it's out for both Windows and Mac. Metacritic doesn't have too many reviews up as of this writing, but our friends at Joystiq found it to be a fun, easy to get into MMO when they played an earlier build of it, so if you're craving some pick-up-and-play pirate MMO gaming, it might be just what yer lookin' for, matey.Unless you're running Leopard, that is. Currently, the game's system requirements only list Tiger, and while MacWorld doesn't know whether Leopard is supported or not, they're not alone-- I called Laurie at "Pirates Online Customer Support" (boy, Disney sure poured a lot of money into this one), and while she was very helpful, she didn't know whether Leopard was supported or not. I threw a note into their system to try and check, and if I hear back, I'll update the post.Of course, you could just try downloading and running it yourself in Leopard, but then again this is only one day after Halloween, and running unsupported Disney software on your Mac is pretty scary -- might be a little much along with everything else.Update: Never mind-- our illustrious commenters say it runs just fine in Leopard. Keelhaul away!
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 Burning Sea's supernatural side
Gamespot has added a preview of Pirates of the Burning Sea that is solely to do with the supernatural content found in the game, and makes us anticipate the game's release even more. Apparently, a significant portion of content (10-15%) will take place in an area known as the Bermuda Triangle -- you may have heard of it. Happenings in the Triangle tend to lean towards the decidedly-spooky, and the quests that Gamespot managed to see involved zombie armies, voodoo priestesses and possessed crew mates. Some of the finer details in the preview show the effort that developer Flying Lab Software is putting in to make their game unique. An interesting part of the article tells of how the remains of a vanquished zombie can be donned and used as a disguise, to hide within enemy ranks. However, since the NPC monsters themselves move at walking pace, if you happen to break step and move a little too fast, the other zombies will realize something is up and turn on you.
Flying Lab unfurls second round of flag-making contest
In the seventeenth century, it was a fairly well known fact that pirates just weren't very creative folk. Swashbucklers? Sure. Dastardly dogs? Absolutely. Drunken, whoring scallywags? Even on their worst days. But they couldn't put a brush to a canvas if their very lives depended on it. Consequently, Flying Lab Studios has put out a bounty on creative pirate-lovers, offering fame and fortune in exchange for flag-designs to adorn the NPC pirate ships in Pirates of the Burning Sea.In a related forum thread, they've given the backgrounds on a number of gangs to offer inspiration to erstwhile flag-makers, as well as offering tips and submission guidelines for those new to the art. We weren't able to track down what specific kind of loot they're giving winners, but the prospect of having user content included in a retail game is almost exciting enough on its own.
Rumor: Super Mario Galaxy leaked online
Are those nasty pirates orchestrating their revenge after Nintendo sunk their chips earlier this week? According to a posting on NeoGAF, an unsavory EB Games employee decided to take the contents of an in-store Super Mario Galaxy demo disc and share it with the online world. Though the demo is usually constrained by a 10-minute time limit, the disc reportedly contains the full game and is fully accessible through use of a modified Wii console. As the pirate site offering the code isn't specified or linked to, it's difficult to verify whether or not Mario's currently making his way down some shady pipes.We contacted a Nintendo spokesperson for confirmation, only to be informed that we were the first to alert them of the development. Note that in the event of the rumor being true, posting of download links or impressions in the comments sections will be met with permanent bans and disapproving glares.[Via Maxconsole]
Pirates of the Burning Sea economy preview
Female Gamer has posted an Flying Lab Software-approved look at the "player driven economy" in Pirates of the Burning Sea. It's got a number of different innovations, starting with the fact that players don't just craft items-- they actually create their own logging camps, mines, shipyards, or plantations, and those "structures" have to be put in a certain area (where the enemies aren't) on the map.Crafting with those structures is different, too-- instead of simply collecting mats and hitting craft, there's an ingredient of "stored labor" in those recipes, and that labor is generated by the player-created structures. So instead of clicking the button to craft something and then waiting, you must wait first, build up "stored labor," and then you can click at will to create whatever you want. There's also a charge in doubloons to create each item, and those charges can be raised or lowered depending on what you're creating and where.FLS also chose a blind bidding system (similar to FFXI apparently, which I haven't played), in which bidders guess at the minimum price rather than aim for the highest bid (as in WoW). Just like EVE, you've got to be where an item is to receive it. That's annoying, but it fits with the setting, since there aren't exactly magic mail systems around. And finally, an auction house only shows trades in the same region of the game, so there are "trader" possibilities, where players will be able to take goods from one section to another and try to buy low and sell high.All in all, it sounds really interesting-- a combination of new innovations in MMO trading, and a number of compromises made based on the setting. Pirates, we're told is scheduled to release around January 2008.[ via VW ]
Founding an old MMO on new ideas
Rock Paper Shotgun has posted an interesting thought experiment: what if you took two of the world's biggest MMOs, EVE Online and World of Warcraft, and combined their best features into some kind of super, Frankenstein, monster MMO? I'm actually really interested in this, because I've been playing WoW for a long time, and have only recently come around to playing EVE. So what would World of EVECraft look like?First of all, I completely agree with RPS-- the best new MMO feature in both games is EVE's skill system. Instead of killing X rats (rats both in the old standby MMO monsters, and in EVE's jargon for "Pirates") to level, you simply level. That's it. Choose a level, wait a certain amount of time (from a few minutes to a few days), and at the end of that time, even if you've logged out in between, you get that level. It is the perfect system for MMOs, because it really does make your character persistent-- they're leveling even when you're not.And as RPS points out, it does away with the basic idea of "levels" anyway-- no longer must you wait until your friend reaches your level to join you, and no longer does a foe simply become insurmountable based on a number. The skilling idea also helps in PvP as well-- no matter what your skills are or how good you are, you'll get better over time.So what can we take from World of Warcraft?
Pirates of the Burning Sea: PvP details on port control
Avast ye scurvy rapscallion dogs! Arrreckon you want some PvPbooty so pay close attention. Alright, that's enough pirate-talk for one post. Isildur, developer/buccaneer extraordinaire has posted the nitty-gritty details on capturing ports and adds his own insightful commentary on the strengths and weaknesses for the first four maps or battlegrounds for ship-to-port combat to be ready for some keel-haulin' once the game sets sail. The maps look great and I'm happy to see real tactics like wind and positioning play a key-role in the overall outcome. It's also good to know that if the attackers land immediately they won't automatically win, they must face a series of challenging encounters first. Attackers won't be able to just land anywhere either, there are certain landing points and the entrances to the town and fortress are only opened until all their respective gun emplacements are destroyed. Before the battle starts, players will wait in a ready room, which is an avatar room -- no ships allowed in here, and within this room there are three exits for each spawn location. Players have 10 minutes in this room before the battle begins to formulate any plans, organize their groups and choose the location where they will spawn from. It's also important to note that the Pirates of the Burning Sea is still in beta and the way these four Final Battle scenarios play-out may not be set-in-stone.
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.
Pirates of the Burning Sea shivers your timbers Jan. 22
If a pirate you were meant to be, trimming the sales and roaming the sea, you'd best mark January 22nd on your Official Babes 'n Barnacles calendar. The date sees massively multiplayer online swashbuckler sim, Pirates of the Burning Sea, ransacking your internet ports and plundering your PC's precious CPU cycles. If you've grown tired of the company of elves and orcs, perhaps living it out on the high seas -- be it through honest exploration or the shameless sinking of ships -- is more your thing.Those who pre-order the game as of October 23rd will receive several bonus goodies, including a CD filled with "pirate-themed" music, "a blue and yellow parrot" and "a powerful weapon suited to their fighting style." The CD is an in-game item, as anachronistic as that may be. In addition, a pre-order nets you extra sailing time on the Burning Sea, with servers welcoming players 15 days prior to launch. Don't forget to pack some oranges.[Via press release]%Gallery-8176%
Pirates of the Burning Sea announces release date
The embargo has dropped and so now we can announce: Pirates of the Burning Sea will set sail worldwide on January 22, 2008. We've been drooling at the thought of a little MMO pirate action for a year or so now, so it's great to finally have a date to put "break the champagne bottle against the hull" on the calendar with.Preorders, we're told, will start up on October 23rd, and anyone who preorders will be invited to a "pre-boarding party" that will get into the game 15 days early, and have the option to level up to 20 before the plebians are allowed on deck on the 22nd. Preorders also get a "captain's best friend" (a blue and yellow pet), a weapon "suited to their fighting style," and a 60 minute original soundtrack.Are you guys ready to fly the Jolly Roger? I played Pirates about a year ago at PAX '06, and wasn't super impressed, but I only got to play it for a bit, and I'm sure it's come a long way since then. I am excited to play anything featuring pirates, of course (they're the second coolest thing in the world, right between monkeys and ninjas), but I may wait for the reviews on this one. At any rate, if you can't wait to get the eyepatch, tricorner and codpiece on and make some landlubbers walk the plank, you've only got about four more months to wait.
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Codemasters bringing pirates, wizards, and dragons to Wii, DS
Codemasters has announced a deal with Templar Publishing to release a series of games based on the multi-million selling 'Ology series of faux encyclopedias for the Wii and Nintendo DS late next year. The agreement includes the first three books in the series, Dragonology, Wizardology and Pirateology, with the former expected to ship first in the second half of 2008.While details are scarce, we know that the Wii version of each title will take a more action-oriented approach to the source material, while the DS will get more 'explorative' games, described by Codemasters as 'interactive books.' The latter certainly makes sense, though does it strike anyone else as odd that encyclopedias, even fantasy encyclopedias, are being made into action games? The books themselves are really amazing works, but it's anyone's guess how this material will be translated into an interactive format.
Pirates leak Halo 3 onto internet
When you rush in on Sept. 25 to finish the fight with the Covenant, don't be surprised if the fight has already been finished ... by pirates. GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Halo 3 has already leaked onto warez sites (if the kids are still calling them that) in the form of a 6.14 gigabyte that is, unsurprisingly, dowloading like proverbial hotcakes for play on modded 360s. Now, we who will both wait and pay for the game must trudge through the pirates who got there first lining the streets asleep, their bellies thick with grog, their pockets fat with $60 bills from all the games they haven't bought. But take heart, dear reader. You won't just be getting satisfaction from playing Gallant to their earringed, tri-corner hatted Goofus. You can also take comfort that, though they might have gotten there first, not a single one of those pirates will get a cat helmet.
Raiding Alliance bosses.... with style!
Some guilds are formed for raiding, some guilds are formed for PvP, some guilds are formed for leveling, some guilds are formed for social reasons... but Los Banditos Locos seems to have been formed with the goal of eliminating Alliance faction leaders while dressed up as pirates (well, okay, the pirate idea seemed to slip in later -- perhaps just killing faction bosses was dull on its own?). No, Los Banditos Locos isn't the only guild to make the effort to take out faction bosses, but with their pirate attire, they pull it off with more style than anyone else. So as a fitting end to Talk Like a Pirate Day, I offer you a complete collection of Los Banditos Locos raids (with their Bandito Coastguard video, above, as a bonus). See the Banditos taking out Archdruid Fandral Staghelm in Darnassus, the Lady Jaina Proudmoore in high in her Theramore tower, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon in the heart of Stormwind City, Prophet Velen (who probably thought the Exodar was safe), the Gnomish King High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque, and finally Dwarf King Magni Bronzebeard in Ironforge. For all the pirate action you need, check out the Fordragon kill and the Bronzebeard kill.
Captain Blackbeard's favorite piratical quests
Yarrr maties! It be me, ol' Cap'n Blackbeard, here ta tell ya about some of of me favorite quests in Azeroth! What, ye don't think us pirates are noble enough t'go on quests? Well, ye're right-- obeying is for landlubbin' scallywags. But we'll do anything to get piratey treasure, so occasionally yer pirate captain assists in a quest or two in between his normal piratical duties (those being combing his luxurious black beard, and makin' landlubbers walk the plank).And when that happens, it's only best pirate quests for your blackbearded leader! Here's my favorite pirate quests in the game, in no particular order, ye scurvy-ridden dogs!Pirate Hats Ahoy! Pirate hats ahoy is right! There's no bigger humiliation to a pirate than stealin' 'is hat, and those Southsea scallywags are askin' fer it! Go to Steamwheedle Port in Tanaris at level 40, and talk to Haughty Modiste-- she'll send you south to a secret pirate cove where it'll be time for fisticuffs! And don't forget to grab Southsea Shakedown while you're there, too-- you'll need to kill the same lubbers for that one.Deep Ocean, Vast Sea The ocean, she's a mean mistress, and ye can't know Davy Jones' locker until ye been down in it, fightin' fer yer life! At level 12 in Darkshore (at Auberdine), Gorbold Steelhand will send ye on the hardest journey ye've ever seen-- some say the hardest in the game! I don't know what ye mongrels are caterwhalin' about. Just swim down there and get the chests! And when you get back, scrub the deck until yer cap'n can see his handsome face in it! Finish the job or get fed to the kraken!
Captain Dan's Deadmines Battle
You may have already heard this one, but I figured it would be a good thing to post on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Our friends over at WoW Radio recently dropped a new track from Captain Dan, "rising star in the field of Pirate Hip-Hop," called "Deadmines Battle." You can listen to it over on their website-- it features some trippy beats, a little Casio jamming, and rhymes all about everyone's favorite pirate instance. My favorite part of the song, just like the instance, is Mr. Smite, of course.WoW Radio also says Captain Dan's new album hits today (it's called Rime of the Hip-Hop Mariners, which I, being a Coleridge fan, find very funny)-- there's more tunes and information about that over on their Myspace page.Avast ye maties, thar be some good rapping off starboard side! Now get back to yer deck-scrubbing, ye scurvy dogs, afore I keelhaul the lot of ya! Yarrrrrr!
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?
Blu-ray's Pirates of the Caribbean release has framing issues
Blu-ray is starting to look like the Bad News Bears: analysts predicting death, deserting studios and now, one of Blu-ray's biggest releases, Pirates of the
