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Steam sales arrrrr pirate-themed today
Ahoy, ye scurvy dogs! In honor of National Talk Like A Pirate Day, the landlubbers over at Valve have instituted a sale on pirate-themed games via Steam. Monkey Island, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, the Risen series and more all get their chance to come aboard your Internet-sailing vessel. Even space pirates - distant cousins though they may be - have slashed their prices with the buccaneer blade of savings. Aye, tis a good thing. Ye'll have to be quick to snag these beasties though, me lads and lasses; at the time of this decree, there be just more than a day's worth of hours left on these sales. Avast and draw the main sail; set course for Steam! [Image: Ubisoft]
The 5 best iOS apps for International Talk Like A Pirate Day
Ahoy, mateys! In case you hadn't caught wind of today's significance, let me be the one to welcome you aboard: Today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day! If you'd like to participate, feel free to make horrible puns (as I've been doing all day) and enjoy some of the best pirate-themed games currently available for your iPhone or iPad. Arrrrrrrrrre ya with me? (Sorry, I'll stop now) Sid Meier's Pirates! ($4.99) - A classic game that got a whole new lease on life thanks to the iPad, Pirates! is a fantastic action game that offers a nostalgic feel that might just bring a tear to your eye. They don't make games like this anymore. Assassin's Creed Pirates (Free) - A surprisingly competent spin-off of the console-borne Assassin's Creed francise, Pirates makes the open sea your battleground. The game looks absolutely gorgeous on Retina displays and while the character development is a bit weak, the fast-paced naval action makes up for it. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition ($2.99) - This point-and-click adventure game has a fantastic story and loveable characters, not to mention great touch-based click controls that are a joy to use. The game originally appeared on PC many years ago, but the iOS version is absolutely worth your time whether you've experienced the adventure before or not. Pirates Journey: Into the Caribbean (Free) - What do pirates have to do with a tower defense game? Who cares?! Build your defenses and push back your enemies in this lighthearted strategy game with great graphics and obnoxious characters. Crimson: Sea Pirates (Free) - Steampunk ships and 24 different voyages tell an intriguing tale set on the high seas in Crimson. The game's turn-based gameplay is both strategic and action-oriented and will keep you busy for short bursts and long play sessions alike. [Photo credit: Peasap]
Celebrate Pirates' Day on September 19th
Yarr, matey, it be that time o' the year again... no, no I'm not going to do the pirate speak for this post. Commenters of WoW Insider, I love you too much for that, despite the origin of this holiday. It is true, though, that tomorrow, September 19th, is the single-day holiday Pirates' Day in World of Warcraft. Dread Captain DeMeza has landed at Booty Bay along with her crew, and if you do so dare, you can find out if you have what it takes to raise a mug with her and become one of her crew! So take your toons down to Booty Bay and have some grog for Pirates' Day. Just make sure that your toons are on good terms with the Steamwheedle Cartel. My sad main will be sitting this year's Pirates' Day out, because those Booty Bay Bruisers are aptly named.
Aion's anniversary events include cakes, pirates, and an aethertech design contest
Remember when we teased a bit about the upcoming anniversary events in Aion? Well now we can share all the details! When the Alchemy Event wraps upon the 18th, the Daeva's Day Events will take over. These events feature the famous cake buffs as well as quests to obtain wings and challenges to earn golden feathers (to buy even more rewards!). There's even a hide-and-seek game: Mini cakes are hidden throughout Atreia for players to find. This event runs September 18th to October 2nd. But that's not all! GMs will host various mini-games and activities throughout the anniversary celebrations, rewarding players for participating. And on September 19th, players can celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with various pirate-themed activities and gear that's exclusive to NA. And finally, NCsoft is holding another Leave your Legacy contest -- this time for Aethertechs. Interested participants need to submit their original Aethertech Key and Mecha design by September 25th, and the winning one will be released alongside the Aethertechs when 4.5 comes to NA. Full contest rules can be found on the official site. [Source: NCsoft press release]
Talk Like a Pirate Day is tomorrow, maties
Ahoy there! Through popular culture, landlubbers have determined that all pirates of every era and nation talked the same way, and that leaves us scurvy swabs with our culture appropriated, and incorrectly at that! Now, ye might say to me, "but Cap'n Belfaire, sir, doesn't that encourage interested parrrrties to learn about the way we sea dogs actually lived?" No, matey! It doesn't! It just encourages the continued Halloweenification of our history through things like "Talk Like a Pirate Day" on September 19th. If ye play World of Warcraft, ye can celebrate Pirate's Day on the very same day (tomorrow) in Booty Bay, the heart of Azeroth's piracy! Visit Dread Pirate DeMeza! Become an honorary crew member of her fine vessel! Drink, dance, and participate in a burlesque of naval history! Get 10 achievement points! Yarrrrr!!
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!
The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth
What a difference a year makes, eh? One year ago, and you didn't have to put up with me yammering at you every Friday like a hyperactive badger with a personality disorder. One year ago, and we weren't free-to-play-anything, Turbine was its own company, the festivals were nowhere near as cool as they are today, and shrews freely roamed the land without fear of reprisal. So in my last Road to Mordor (of the year, stop rejoicing over there!), I thought it'd be great to look back at the wild rollercoaster that was 2010 in Lord of the Rings Online. I also thought I'd get an easy column out of all this, but that was before I had to read through 1,337 posts and my eyeballs began to lose pressure. January Stuff happened. Let's move on.
One Shots: Did you get your piratin' in?
Ye might have been too busy with yer chores to note, but yesterday was Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys! While many different MMOs had events going on to mark the occasion, Aion decided to take its normally graphically pretty avatars and make them look rather rum-soaked, if not deliciously deranged. This image from yesterday's celebration comes to us from Qaz, who writes in to give us some more background on this piratical image: "This is a screenshot from Aion taken after eating 'Pirate Form Candy,' which all players received free for Talk Like a Pirate Day. This was taken in the Ishaglen zone." If you've got celebration screenshots from your favorite MMO, we'd love to see them! Just email them in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Please make sure your image is at least 1024 pixels wide and has as few UI elements as is possible. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in! %Gallery-85937%
Flameseeker Chronicles: Tis the season to party in Guild Wars
Yarrr! Yesterday was Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day, and as always ArenaNet stepped up to the plate with a fun event. The Talk Like a Pirate event arrived last Friday, along with a mysterious poem that may or may not mean anything. At any rate, it's keeping a lot of fans busy trying to figure it out. This event heralds the start of what I call the Guild Wars party season. The pirate event is followed shortly thereafter by the Halloween event, then the Thanksgiving event, then Wintersday. In between are various community events as players and guilds throw parties to celebrate various holidays and milestones, and it's generally a few straight months of reveling. Each type of event -- both community-created and developer-created -- has its own ups, downs, and quirks. Follow along as I take a look at what they are.
Today only: get MacScan for free
MacScan is offering their anti-spyware program for free. All you have to do is download and run the 5.1MB installer. When prompted, click 'purchase macscan' and enter the coupon code 'PIRATE' during checkout. The download, install, purchase and registration must all be completed by Monday, September 20th 2010 by midnight PST. I am not a fan of Talk Like a Pirate day, but I am a fan of getting stuff for free. The software normally costs US$29.99. The subject of whether or not Mac users need to run anti-virus/anti-spyware software is a perpetual debate, with one side saying all you need is common sense and another side saying you can't be too careful. If you're in the latter camp, here's your chance to add security to your Mac for free. Since this is a "talk like a pirate day"-related post, I think I'm contractually obligated to include at least one sounds-like-a-pirate word. So..."Djibouti." There. Happy now? Update: several commenters point out that if you are not located in the USA, be sure to change the costs on the checkout page to US Dollars or it ends up costing $0.01.
Tales of Monkey Island marked down to $5 this weekend
We usually look down on special occasions that were obviously created for the profit of a particular form of big business (we're looking at you, Buccaneer Supplies Ltd.), but we've chosen to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day this year. Not by talking like pirates, mind you -- but rather, by purchasing Telltale's entire five-part Tales of Monkey Island series, which has been marked down to $5 this weekend only. That's a whole lot of seafaring for not a whole lot of money, so we recommend jumping on the offer before it disappears this coming Monday, at which point the game will return to its standard MS-Arrrr-P.
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!
Turbine celebrates Talk Like a Pirate Day in DDO and LotRO
Talk Like a Pirate Day is coming on the 19th, and Turbine is getting into the spirit of things with pirate-themed sales in both Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online. LotRO fans can stock up on pirate eyepatches, hats, and outfits, all brand-new items in the store. DDO players might find themselves on an unexpected shopping spree. Anything that could possibly be considered a pirate-themed item is 30% off beginning tomorrow. Two adventure packs, pirate grog, headgear, pirate weapons, and much more are all marked down, so you'll certainly want to browse through and see what you want to stock up on. LotRO players can find the item list in the forum, while DDO players can find their list on the DDO Store page.
Grog and drunken sailors arrive in Guild Wars for Talk Like a Pirate event
Ahoy there, Cap'n Tightpants! No, you haven't wandered into a Firefly revival, that's just one of the nonsensical phrases your Guild Wars character will spout while under the influence of pirate grog. If you're (un)lucky enough to have post-processing effects turned on, you'll get an eye-spraining visual effect too, as seen above. So where do you find this wonderful stuff? Luckily for you, ArenaNet is about to kick off its annual Talk Like a Pirate event and acquiring grog is as easy as killing a level two grawl. PvE enemies throughout the world will be dropping grog beginning at noon PDT Friday, and you'll find that the NPCs in Lion's Arch and Kamadan are joining the festivities as well. They've got a swashbuckling new look, and if you take a moment to chat with them, you'll find some interesting dialogue as well. If you need a place to store all the extra grog, ArenaNet's got you covered. A surprise update today introduced a sale in the NCsoft store, and extra Xunlai storage tabs are now half-price. The tabs are marked at $4.99 rather than their usual $9.99, and it's listed as a limited-time offer, so hurry and get your grog storage tab! The Talk Like a Pirate event lasts through Tuesday the 21st, and the storage pane sale ends the 19th.
One Shots: Sounds fishy to us
While the time has come and gone for "Talk Like a Pirate Day" we figure just about any day is a good one for pirates and silly fish tales about the big ones you've caught. Today we have a piratey shot from Liam B. who sent this in after being turned into a pirate in World of Warcraft on September 19th. He writes: Hey, I captured this after finding out that you could become a pirate for the day in World of Warcraft. This is at Stormwind Harbor and the one thing that keeps on running through my head is - "Yarrgh, caught her I did. Had t' use a deckhand as bait, and she was this big!" Calling all MMO players! We need your screenshots for One Shots. If you've seen anything fun (holiday events are awesome) imposing, interesting, or silly, we want to hear from you. If you haven't, gather up your group of friends and go have some fun, then send some screens of that in. All MMOs from large-budget to tiny indie games; from East to West are welcome. Send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name/server/game and a quick description of what we're seeing. Reader submissions keep One Shots running, so send some in today!
WRUP: Game like a pirate edition
Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day ye scalawags! We couldn't resist marking the date for all the landlubbers out there, as any day involving booty and rum is right up there in our books. We'd also note that if you hurry up, you can pick up a copy of LucasArts & Telltale Games' Tales of Monkey Island today for free until midnight Pacific tonight. Sure, it's not an MMO, but it's good, free pirate fun that we thought you might enjoy. If you'd prefer to stick with MMOs, though, there are lots of pirate options from Pirates of the Burning Sea and Pirates of the Caribbean Online, to one of our personal favorites for casual fun - Puzzle Pirates! As far as the motley crew here aboard the SS Massively, it looks like we've got a hearty mix of gaming going on this week. From old-school gaming to new titles like Champions Online, Aion, and Fallen Earth, we're all over the place. For all the rum-soaked details - and to join in the fun - join us behind the break for this week's edition of What aRe yoU Playing!
Free Realms hosts Pirate Party and doubles the dubloons, mateys
Yarr, mateys! If ye be not knowin' what tomorrow is, then ye obviously must be a bunch o' scalawags. Fer, ye see, tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day, don'chaknow? In order to celebrate th' day o' piracy properly in Free Realms, ye need to be haulin' yer keel to the Pirate Invasion Party this evenin' in the cove just south of th' Seaside warpstone. Th' pirate booty-shakin' fun will begin today (Friday, Sept. 18) at 4PM Pacific, with th' timber-shiverin' goin' on until 6pm Pacific. There be dancin', trivia, an' other merriment planned at th' party, too, for those brave souls willing to wander near Davey Jones' locker!As if that weren`t enough for ye, this weekend be also th' time when Sony Online Entertainment be offerin' double th' value fer any Station Cash cards ye redeem. So that means if ye pop by an' pick up one o' th' 1000 Station Cash cards fer $10 (which will also net ye a pretty nifty red buccanneer dog hat in th' mix) ye`ll land $20 worth o' Station Cash fer use in Free Realms, EverQuest, or EverQuest II. Pirate fun and double yer dubloons in the Station store? Now that's enough to make any freebootin' privateer dance a jig - without a noose 'round their necks, even.
The Queue: Full of it
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Since today's first question in Maelstrom-themed, we've decided today's edition of The Queue was a good time to link the supposed leaked trailer of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, to be announced at BlizzCon '09. We haven't embedded the video to try and dodge waking up to a DMCA tomorrow, so just check it out on YouTube. We'll let Google deal with the mess, eh?Revan asked... "What instances would you suggest for a Maelstrom expansion?" All of the things you suggested yesterday would work pretty well. Nazjatar and the Tomb of Sargeras would definitely be raid zones in a future expansion. I suspect we would also have a hella fun time in The Eye of the Maelstrom, which is the center of the whole storm there. Maybe we'd even visit Mak'aru, which is where all the gross crab people live. It probably wouldn't be a raid, but I could see a 5-man there. That is, if we don't ally with the gross crabfolk. Did I mention they're gross? Gross. I'd also lay down money that we'll get an Onyxia/Gruul/Malygos-style raid with a sea monster of some sort. The Lurker Below v2.0, now with eye lasers?
WoW Moviewatch: Some Brewfest highlights from last year
It's been an exciting couple of weeks in World of Warcraft. First there was the Harvest Festival, then Talk Like a Pirate Day, and now, Brewfest. Players are invited to kick back and relax with their friends while they participate in fun activities related to the alcoholic beverage we know and love -- beer. Some of the festivities include the Dark Iron Dwarves, racing rams, and beer goggles. While the special mounts are rare drops now, it doesn't hurt to get out your stein and have a good time trying to get it. If you fail, well, you're still drinking, so that's a plus!If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Pirate Loot Phriday: Foror's Eyepatch
Yaaaarrrr maties, that scurvy-ridden deck-scrubber Schramm was made to walk the plank during the last plunderin' voyage on the South Seas, so I, Capt'n' Blackbeard, be here to tell yer about my favorite Pirate Loot in the game today. Ye may remember me from such posts as my Piratical quest guide, and if ye really want to dress up like a pirate, maybe ye'll be interested in some Savory Deviate Delight. But enough high seas promotin' -- let's get to this Epic eyepatch!Name: Foror's Eyepatch (Wowhead, Thottbot, Wowdb)Type: Epic Leather HeadpieceArmor: 183Abilities: Yaaar maties -- this eyepatch increases yer Stamina by 19, which is good, because you'll need as much Staminer as ye can manage to drink toe to toe with ol' Blackbeard. O'course, +19 Stamina ain't much now that ye're sailing around the cosmos in Outland and such, but back when we pirates ruled the seven seas of Azeroth, it were plenty! It also increases yer crit strike rating by 28 (which'll help ye stab yer rapier right under the shirt folds of those bastards in the Royal Navy), and increases attack power by 44. Plus, it's as stylish an eyepatch as ye'll find. While there be plenty of eyecovers hidden in treasure chests all over the world, this be the only Epic one ye can wear (at least until our ships set sail again t'Northrend). Which reminds me, ye scurvy landlubbers -- did I ever tell ye how I lost my own eye? It was the first day I had me hook. Arrr, but that's a story for another day. How to Get It: Ah, to nab this beautiful booty for yerself, ye need to bring down the biggest freshwater kraken that ever terrified the trolls of Zul'Gurub. Aye, lads and lasses, Gahz'ranka, the dreaded Hydra that swims in the ancient Troll city. Once upon a time, the beast required a whole crew of 25 pirates to kill, but nowadays, with the shiny cutlasses and bootstraps ye adventurers have, ye can do it with just a few folks.But bringing the beast up from the swirling waters of Zul'Gurub is a quest in itself -- ye've first got to go into the instance and get the measuring tape of ol' Nat Pagle. Now, Nat Pagle isn't a pirate by any means, but those of us swashbucklers have to respect a man who's tamed as many fish as he has, even if he is a lousy landlubber. Give him the tape (last the echoes of Davy Jones' locker told us, he was in Dustwallow Marsh), and ye'll find him with a Mudskunk Lure. Then ye've got to go back into Gurubsville, fish out five Mudskunks from the pools in the water, and finally ye'll be able to face Gahz'ranka. Ye'll see the eyepatch once out of every ten kills, so get to farming, scallywags! That eyepatch ain't going to pull itself from the beasts' guts on its own!As for who Foror is, ye captain haven't a clue. But he must be a cursed yellow-belly landlubber if he's going to go leaving his eyepatch in the belly of Gahz'ranka! A real pirate would have taken off his boots (Posiedon knows ye don't want to get yer boots dirty), and climbed right down the throat of the beast to get it back!Getting Rid of It: Disenchants into a Nexus Crystal (yer pirate ain't so sure of disenchanting -- fishing is his only profession, and voodoo is better left to those who know how it's done), and will sell back to vendors for 2g 59s 33c. But real pirates don't sell -- if ye got treasure ye don't need, just bury it on a remote island somewhere! That's the pirate way!
