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Story Thread 5: More Musings

AuthorMessage
Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@The Doctor
in Achaea where those centaurs run free if you went left passed Pholus and keep going until you reach the ruins of a greek home and a cave to your right there is a girl standing there she has no name, has dark grey hair and is wearing white and blue clothes that are like the ones where you create your pirate. Why is she there?
I'm pretty sure she's not there by design - likely a placeholder that didn't get cleaned up. I'll look into it.

@Kai Alcott
Did Mooshu have a civil war a hundred years ago?

If they did in Wizard they did here. I'm not really sure how the Emperor came to power - that's the Wizard lore guys' domain.

@Merciless Morgrin
"I have confirmed your theory - the random perturbations of El Dorado's Stormgate are no accident - they occur by design."

The wording here reminds me of Kane's Grand Design. Coincidence? Or is this related to Kane's ultimate plan?
That would be telling. The secrets of the Grand design and El Dorado will be revealed. All in good time.

@The Vagabond
Blind Mew, I gotta ask: The Armada already have their fingers in Mooshu, Marleybone, a teensy bit of Cool Ranch, Valencia, and who knows how many other Realms of the Spiral. My question is, since both Morganthe from Wizard101 and Kane have been going at it for a while now, since I know they will never ally themselves together, will one eventually seek to destroy the other, due to both desiring complete dominion over the spiral? Furthermore, the Council of Light from Wizard 101: will they ever have to face the clockwork menace?

That's a good question. If Kane plans to take the whole Spiral, he'll have to deal with them eventually. I hope to go into some depth on that in the future. As for Morganthe, hopefully some wizard will take her out for him.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@awesomepirate540
1.Will we ever get a decommissioned Armada Trooper as a companion?

I'm really not a fan of the idea - there was a whole thread about this a while back. Long story short: the Clockworks need to be faceless and alien or they lose their menace. As cool as I, Borg was in Star Trek: The next Generation, Hugh really diminished the Borg as a concept - they were no longer a force of nature.

2.Will we ever get one of those Marleybone doberman as a companion?
I think Marleybione and Aquila are both really underutilized in the Companion arena - I'd like to see more ways of giving some of those cool characters out as Companions.

3.Will we ever get a Banditoad as a companion?
Perhaps - see above.

4.Will we ever be able to get an Armada ship?
That's a tougher question. There's some cool reasons why we'd do it (using it as a Shuttle Tyderium type disguise, for example), but they'd be difficult to pull off. I'd like to, but I can't commit yet.

5.Will we ever get One-eyed Jack as a companion?

Nope - he's too valuable as an NPC.

6.Will we ever go to Darkmoor?
I don't talk world list, sorry. Of all the worlds we've name dropped, however, it's a safer bet than most. A definite maybe.

7.can we get a decommissioned Armada Trooper as a housing item?
That's be pretty cool. I think there's something like that in the Musketeer house, if I recall.

8.Could we put our weapons on the wall as furniture?

That's a nifty request. I'm not sure what it would take to make that work. Forward it on to Jack.

9.Could there maybe be more Aquilan furniture?

There could - that's a bit easier to manage. We'll see if we can't roll more in in the future.

10.Could you make a place based off of Australia?

That'd definitely be a good fit. To answer snarkily, of course we could, but I cannot guarantee we will.

To be continued...

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@awesomepirate540 (continued)

11.Could you make a place based off of Scotland and one of the creatures there would be deer?

Albion is a close fit for that. If ever we go there, Deer would make a pretty cool set of inhabitants. I cannot comment on whether or not we'll see Albion any time soon.

12.Could you make a place based off of American history?
Well the Old West is technically American History . There are some plans to look into other eras.

13.Could you make a Shakespeare Companion/NPC?
Not sure how good a fit this would be, given our era in Marleybine is more 19th century and 17th. I'd expect to see something like him pop up in Wizard sooner than our game.

14.Could you make a place based off of Germany (in Hitler's time -1919)?
Hitler was around in 1919, but his ascendency didn't come until much later, in the late 20's/early 30s. Naziism is a touchy subject - I'm not inclined to do a direct analogue there. Now, a society being overshadowed by a ruthless, militaristic power that plans to change the world and sweep away old culture that doesn't suit its vision? You saw more than a little of that in Aragon, as i recall.

@10F1Musketeer
First, are you going to make a Belle Starr character in the Magnificent Seven named Bell Starr who is a cow/bull?

Wow, good idea! I'm not sure how much additional development Cool Ranch will get - our stories are told there. Still, if ever we go back, that's a good pun that got away.

Second, in the future, is the Eagle Mercenary going to promote? Or are any of the other high-leveled Aquilan Eagles (including Serpent Augur) going to have another promotion? Because if they are, I know what they're going to promote into because I've already seen their promotions.
You have indeed. Yes, they will promote. Give them time.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@Pirates O the Spiral
Is it possible there is more to Phule than we know? Like he could be someone in disguise working as a double agent? One of my crazy theories is that Phule himself is the toymaker in disguise.

Man, again with the Armada elites in disguise! That meme never gets old, I guess. Still, it serves me right for putting them in masks, I suppose. To answer your question, nearly anything is possible... More about Phule and his... interesting outlook will be revealed.

@Blixet
1) what are the odds that napoleguin draws us into a war getting us into polaris?

That's be a nice reversal, wouldn't it? It wouldn't surprise me - like his historical inspiration, war is never far from Napoleguin.

2) why are so many of the side quests basically pushing us from one area, to an area as far away as possible, then back, then to another really far place, then back, etc. this seems to be a common thing, although the long time spent in travel has no impact on the gameplay except to make it more tedious.
Part of that is wanting to make sure we re-use old areas, part of it is also making sure we very up your surroundings. We're working on the tedium.

3) apart from marleybone and mooshu, will p101 share any worlds with w101?
That's a very safe bet.

@AwesomePirate450
Why isn't Nadya a Witchdoctor?

Hmmmm don't know - you'll have to ask Ratbeard.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@KrokenGuy
I've been noticing that when we meet Phule, and he speaks to us, none of our companions make any comment like they normally would, and no in game character even acknowledges that Phule exists. Almost as though he's just a figment of our imagination... Any significance in that, or is it just to add to the creepiness?

Creepiness. Also, early on we weren't sure how chatty to make your crew. Phule is real, don't you worry.

Also, I've noticed that I've been connecting Kane's Court of Elites in my mind to Avery's Court- the class trainers. It would seem that there are five in each court, one of each class. Is this at all significant?
Fond as I am of symmetry, I wouldn't read too much into it. We wanted an elite of each class, and we had to have a trainer of each class. Not only that, but any game developer will tell you the coolest numbers are definitely 3 and 5. (I'm also fond of 60)

@10F1Musketeer
Blind Mew, is there going to be a world based off of medieval times (Renaissance, middle ages, etc.)?

Valencia has more than a dash of the renaissance, but on the whole we're focused on later eras - medieval worlds are much more Wizard's purview than ours.

@KrokenGuy
Hi Blind Mew. I just got the quest to heal Free Ranger, and I'm wondering why I have to buy a Chapter in Book 9 when I'm in Book 7.

I expect there's a short cut working against you. Talk to One-Eyed jack - it shouldn't be this way.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@KevinNewell
1. If our pirates knew that we already had Catbeard’s map, do you think we would we have gone to Marleybone to free him? Or left him there because of the war we started?

Wow, that's an interesting question. That'd be a really mean move... on the other hand, I expect Ratbeard and Bonnie Anne might be all for it.

2. Is there any information you can share on Kent? It seems like a very interesting zone in Marleybone and I would really like to hear more about it.

Nope. I'm afraid Kent must remain obscure for the time being.

3. How did Don Rodrigo accumulate his wealth?
Silver mines.

4. If you could expand on one existing world for side content, which one would it be? I know the schism with the Church is a plot point that could be used in Monquista, and Aquila has countless possibilities...

The schism you name in Monquista would actually be my first target.

5. This one I’ve been wondering about for some time now. During Beta, there was a side quest where Gortez, in Monquista, sent us back to the Isle of Doom, through a secret passage behind a waterfall, and back into the Valley of the Gold Monkey. Gortez wanted us to check on his followers, I believe, and we ended up in a battle with three of them (who would function as companions rather than allies) against invading Armada troops. May I ask why this quest was removed? I thought it was one of the best ones out there due to the further recognition that the Armada is closely involved with the Isle of Doom relics.

I remember that quest fondly. Unfortunately, it ended up causing some headaches on our end that weren't often visible to players, and would have been too much trouble to fix given how close we were to release. So, we decided to retire it. I'm hoping to do something similar in the future, with an implementation that will not cause as many problems.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@CaptainFlint193
Cool name!

1. Any update on whether Lunden's Bridge is going to be used?

Not at this time, though future promo quests would serve as an ideal time.

2. I recall someone on the threads mentioning a theoretical Mine of the Windstones in Aquila? What are the chances of us going to such a location to retrieve a windstone? Might be a bit easier than, oh, I don't know, raiding Fort Basset...

I've always toyed with the idea that Windstones are a finite (if really numerous) resource. They were produced in Aquila, but the secrets of their making are lost (or not achievable in modern times). Besides, why would i ever want to make Windstone acquisition easy?

3. If you could sum up Old Scratch's next promotion in a few (vague) words, what would they be?
Spooky. That, and a consequence of past decisions.

4. Is Monkey King due for a promotion?
Yup. The trick is making something appropriately cosmic...

5. What do you define as a "major update", if you don't mind me asking? A world? New furniture/gear? A mix of several aspects?
A major update is anything that calls upon a lot of work from us - a new Book, or a new system, new card packs, that kind of thing. They will often have mixed components (a system and some content, that kind of thing).

6. I remember you saying a WHIILE back that Book 18 was gonna be a doozy. Care to give us a hint as to why?

The art department won't be happy.

7. How far ahead are you in the storyline compared to us as we play it? So, while we are defeating Ophidians in Book 14, are you one book ahead in development? Two?

I'd rather not go into too much detail here. The whole story is outlined, but in terms of books, and content has to get mapped out before art and implementation can begin. But, it's hard to quantify how far ahead we are - it varies Book to Book. I get lots of emergent issues to deal with.

To be continued.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@CaptainFlint193
8. Is the next update going to be as large as it seems to be?

I think you'll find it full of surprises. There's a reason it's been a long time coming...

9. Will we have more mystery NPCs in the other trainers quarters...?
Who says they're NPCs?

@SJosten
It's obvious that we're heading into Valencia very soon, and every book has a universal grant, but you've said multiple times that you despise the idea of an Armada companion, so the next universal grant must be interesting to have survived in the middle of Armada's control (literally, if I understand what you've said about this before). Can we have any hints about him/her/it?

Despise is a strong word... But bear in mind there are far more than just Clockworks in Valencia. Also the situation you see in Aragon may not be very indicative of conditions elsewhere.

@KronosRoses
1. Do we ever go back to cool ranch?

For at least a visit. Don't know if I can guarantee more than that.

2. Do we ever get a new Ophidian companion?
I'd like to see that happen.


3. I was thinking about the amigos de uno in the tavern in Santa pollo cool ranch and thought this : "Doesn't amigos de uno mean the friends and one?" So my question is: do we join the amigos after we do all of the quests or is someone else the "one"
They're the Dos Amigos y Uno - the Two Amigos Plus One. You can see why we named them that way, I hope.

4.Why does Billy the kid of the seven heroes of tumbleweed get put in jail?
He was making trouble in Santo Pollo - He got really upset after losing Wyatt.

5. I was wondering why do swashbucklers get the most companions in every world but Aquila and Marleybone?
I'm not sure that's a true statement.

6.Which class would you say is the strongest?
Couldn't tell you - I have only a tiny grasp of systems stuff. I will say I only play musketeers - they suit my style best.

Community Leader
"@The Vagabond
Blind Mew, I gotta ask: The Armada already have their fingers in Mooshu, Marleybone, a teensy bit of Cool Ranch, Valencia, and who knows how many other Realms of the Spiral. My question is, since both Morganthe from Wizard101 and Kane have been going at it for a while now, since I know they will never ally themselves together, will one eventually seek to destroy the other, due to both desiring complete dominion over the spiral? Furthermore, the Council of Light from Wizard 101: will they ever have to face the clockwork menace?

That's a good question. If Kane plans to take the whole Spiral, he'll have to deal with them eventually. I hope to go into some depth on that in the future. As for Morganthe, hopefully some wizard will take her out for him. "


For some reason, I thought instantly.. "Too many pies, not enough fingers!" I'm not sure if I'm hungry for pies or I'm eager for an ultimate showdown between Kane and Morganthe.

On a serious note, will we ever encounter friendly robots? Like Data who was on our side vs Lore who was not in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." I still would love to have a friendly one as a companion, even though you said it's impossible and your reasons were good. What if it would look, talk, act different, so we wouldn't connect it to the Armada army and we could separate the two that way? I'm sure Kane is formidable and we might need a bit more help in defeating him. I can imagine the friendly one would help us that way since he/she would have extra strength and power than we do. I can even imagine the Toymaker making one for himself and just left it in a corner or kept it a secret like a companion for himself. But when we meet him or something, he'd say "hey, you need more help, so why don't you take my companion robot?" Something along those lines.

Also, will you eventually explain in depth how we activate stormgates? I mean, we get a windstone and then we put it in that windstone page? Then what? Does the thing on that page do something? Would love to see an mini movie of the machine on that page sparking up and shoot a beam at the stormgate making it open or something. So we'll go "AHA, so that's how that thing works!" Also there seems to be gears or latches on it, am curious what they do.

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Ensign
Jan 07, 2012
10
#1
Will you ever make a video on how Kingsisle made Pirate101?

#2
In any of Ratbeard's future promotions will we encounter any Waponis?

#3
Will there be any more encounters of The Rat Pack?

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@MizzyPirate13

1) I would first like to ask, where do you find all these amazing people to do the voices of everyone?! It's simply stunning in the range of them! Even for small parts! Wow!

Here in Austin we're blessed with a vibrant theatre and film scene, as well as a number of video game studios. As a result, there are a LOT of great actors we can work with. I'm very proud of our voice content, and love the contributions they make to the game. We also draw a lot from our own staff - Boochbeard, Gandry, Blind Mew (he said modestly), El Toro, Old Scratch, and many others are all voiced by Kingsisle employees.

2) And how do you come up with all the cool looks for the characters?
Careful work with the Art department - as soon as we in Content/Design come up with the idea for a character, we usually have a pretty good idea based on their world and story concept how they ought to look. We write an initial vision document, which we pass off to the Concept Art team. They doodle them until we're both happy, often adding really cool aspects we hadn't thought of. Themn the character gets passed to the 3D artists, who often have some refinements of their own, and who sometimes make changes based on the technical requirements of the game itself.

3) If El Toro is a takeoff of Zoro, that got me thinking, what about a character later on in the game, (after you get El Toro), based off The Lone Ranger?! I mean, if the description for El Toro is someone who wheres a mask and fights for justice, why not do the other masked crime fighter that there are many stories about? What do you think?
Waaaaaay ahead of you.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@MizzyPirate13 (continued)

4) If I were to write a story outside fan fiction about sky pirates like the ones on p101, would you have any suggestions on how I could differ the story enough to make it different?
Tricky question - I think the best thing you could do would be to groung it in a more "real" world (silly as that seems when talking about Sky Pirates) - make them all human, or at least one species. That'd be a good way to start. Also, having a clear explanation for why their ships fly, and crafting that in such a way that it helps create the look of their ships (hot air balloons/zeppelin gas bags, for example) would go a long way.

5) While on the topic of differing trademarked things, would you ever do a character based off Captain Jack Sparrow?! I know it belongs to Disney, but you have him listed in the pirate lore library on the site, and some of the other pirates listed there have parts in the game, so....
While we lovingly homage many characters, Ol' Jack is a little too on the nose, I'm afraid.

6) I have noticed SO MANY takeoffs in the game so far that I'm not quite sure others have caught, like The Rat Pack, (yes I know about the actual Rat Pack), Buster Crab and so many others. But I'm only at lvl 12, so I was wondering if you could tell me, are there more old gags like this later in the game?

You have no idea. If anything, they get thicker.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@FieryLukeSilver

At the end of Aquila, the note says to find this "Calistrago G" (I think that's how you spell it), but it doesn't exactly say where... (Sorry if they already said it, I'm having troubles remembering the story because it was so long ago *cough* *cough*)

Oh he does say it, and his answer is the huge hint I've often alluded to on there forums as to where we're going next. Raise the question out of this thread (which will remain locked for a while except for me) and I'm sure somebody can illuminate you.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
Here's a question from bountytaker over on pirate101central.com.

As for a question to add to the mix:

Throughout the game, we interact with "spirit" characters, meaning ghosts of the dead that remain in some sort of interactive form. Yet there doesn't seem to be a set means by which a character, upon dying, becomes a "spirit". I'm curious about whether there are set rules around "spirits" in the P101 universe, or whether it's done randomly to fit the needs of a certain story or activity. Simply put, what allows certain characters that have died to become "spirits" while others do not?

There are clearly rules (the backstories of Old Scratch and Captain Blood strongly imply that there are) but we've never defined them - like our precise chronology, I see quantifying them as a trap, from a story point of view - I never want to have to alter the story we've come up with because it doesn't fit rules we invented (or get called for it on the forums ). The closest we've come is with Ratbeard's dead crew - they all had unfinished business. I'm sure other spirits have other reasons.

There's a lot about death and the hereafter that's very vague. The Spiral seems to have a land of the dead - in Wizard we've seen the Underworld ruled by Hades. Is that just an Aquilan thing, or is it universal? And what is Hades' relationship to our Death? Who knows? I'm happy not to have to answer those questions yet.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@DarlingDestiny
1. Is Monquista based off of Spain or France, or is it a combination of the two? While the name "Monquistador" (not sure if I spelled this right) is obviously a play off Conquistador from Spain, and they have the right superior attitude as Spain did during that imperialistic time. But then one day I had the sound on, and the French accents through me off a bit. Unless my mind is completely playing tricks on me, as I usually don't play with the sound on, and I'm simply remembering this incorrectly. Though I also don't know much about politics during that time period, could the civil war we start, be a reference to the French civil war?

Monquista is Spain, as you correctly deduce from Monquistadors and the Latin American-style colonization in Skull Island. As for the accents, we were seriously aiming for Spain, down to the Castilian lisps some of the elite have. Your mileage my vary, but I think we did a pretty good job.

As to your second question, It's so long it gets a post of its own. To be continued...

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@DarlingDestiny (continued)

2. This question might end up being a bit long. While History has always been the subject I struggle most in, I find the history references in Pirate101 intriguing. So I'm curious how much of this I've gotten right, just from what knowledge I do have.

I have a college degree in History, and it's a undying love of mine - all that time worldbuilding from my tabletop RPG days got me a bit of a knack for it. History can be hard to wrap your head around, and I'm generally appalled at how poorly it tends to be taught before the college level. Keep trying - I hope you find it as rewarding as I always have once you break the surface.

And now for the rest of the question, bit by bit:

The story is set during the age of exploration.

I'd say the core of the story is - Skull Island and a lot of the principal worlds are definitely inspired by that period, though we do veer a bit here and there (Cool Ranch is clearly 19th century USA), and we never restrain ourselves from adding anachronistice elements to a world if the need arises - as some have pointed out, there's more than a little of the Blitz/Battle of Britain in the siege of Marleybone and our war is already a mash up of the Spanish Armada and the Napoleonic Wars.

Skull Island I would guess is based more off of South America, or the islands, with the tropical regions and Aztec-like ruins. Making the ideal spot for pirates as well as the great powers like Marleybone(England), Monquistan(Spain), racing to claim land and set up colonies to expand their "empires".

Spot on - it's definitely the New World, or at least its southern parts, plus the Caribbean. We haven't really touched on colonial-era North America (the French&Indian Wars, the British colonies int he northeast, etc). We may in the future - if we do, we'll likely keep it very early on - pre 18th century.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@DarlingDesinty (contined continued)

Cool Ranch is the North American counter part. Although the time periods don't match up quite right it seems, as the expansions "out west" did not occur till much later. Of course this is a game, so what does it matter, but it makes me curious where the settler chickens first originated from.

The time frames don't line up at all, but that's how we roll sometimes. The Chickens all come from "back East." Wherever that is...

Then Velencia I would guess is Italy, though I'm not sure the armada matches up with any real "villain" in history during that time.

Valencia is primarily Rennaissance italy, with a dash or two of Imperial Spain thrown in. No, the Armada are definitely their own thing, though some elements of them are drawn from more modern sources.

Mooshu is Asia, but I don't see any events that occur there matching up with history of that time. It does tie in with the Wizard story of Malistaire though.
A mix of China and Japan. The Japan portion (in Khotan) is based loosley on the Sengoku period, when all the Samurai lords were fighting the fill the vacuum of imperial power. True, the Emperor is not dead, but he's at least out of the picture. Our China is much more mythical.

Aquila is Greece, unfortunately I haven't quested that far yet, so I don't know much of the story there.

There's more than a touch of Rome too - it's really our Classical Mythology world. I hope you enjoy it when you get there!

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@DarlingDestiny

3. Another thing I love about the KingsIsle games, is the fan fiction the players produce. The world you've created, The Spiral, is so unique with so much room for creativity, there are an infinite amount of stories and characters that can be produced. I read and write my own fan fiction based off the two games, and it's even what prompted me to join the fan sites in the first place. So my question to you, do you like to read player written fan fiction? And if so, what do you enjoy most about it?

I try not to, actually - I'd hate to offend somebody by picking up an idea by osmosis and making them feel I'd stolen something. I also love the fact that we inspire people to such creativity, but I don't immerse myself in it.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@DarlingDestiny (coninuedx50)

4. I just started work towards a degree to get into game production. I'm going more towards the game art (I've always been absolutely in love with concept art and the idea of creating some of the beautiful graphics I see in games). And I actually have Wizard101 to thank for starting me on this track. Before I discovered the KingsIsle games, I thought video games were just boring.. Car racing games and whatnot (no offense if you like car races). But now I can't get enough of the creative and interactive worlds, stories, and characters that make up a good game.

Why, back in my day, there weren't no high falutin' college degree in video game makin'! Ye just lucked yer way in, and blundered on with no idear what ye were doin, like the rest of us! Heh, angry old man digression over. In all seriousness - I'm glad you're following your dream, and humbled to have had a part in such a momentous decision.

So I have a couple questions for you, as part of the game creating team .
A) You said earlier that you originally wanted to become a Social Studies teacher, what changed your mind? I was originally debating over teaching art, possibly at high school level, before deciding on this career path.

A lifelong friend and gaming buddy (DnD stlye games, that is) aked me to come write fiction for his "graphical MUD." I really needed a job at the time, and it turned out part time/freelance couldn't cut it - I went full time. The cool part? I get to still indirectly teach a little history, byt throwing lots of references in and giving fans the dish on where I got them from. If I can inspire just one player to go read up on some of the things we touch on, all my work is worth it. Also, a lot of the stuff you find in history is even stranger and better than fiction!

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@DarlingDesinty (continued x60)

Man, you're as verbose as me!

B) KingIsle has become a successful company, and I would be thrilled to work there some day. You said you were brought on to work on Pirate101, did you start out working on other games first? Did you have to start out small somewhere?

I started out very small, in a start up studio of about 20. Shipped a scrappy little MMO called Shadowbane, and stuck with that studio through 2 changes of ownership until it went the way of all flesh (and most small game companies). Since then I've worked at two big companies, counting KI. After some 14 years int he industry, I've worked on about a half dozen titles, but Pirate was only the second one to ship - that's MMOs for you. They're a lot like films, in that so many more are developed than ever see the light of day.

C) I've browsed around the different types of jobs and requirements that KingsIsle is looking for, to get a good idea of how a game company works, and I've notice there are often internships. I've considered applying for one, one Summer maybe. While I know the more experience the better, would you think it's worth it to apply? If I can get the funds to stay in Texas for a summer, that is.
There are indeed internships, though i don't know how you'd go about getting one - One-Eyed Jack would be a better person to ask, i think, and I'm sure we have info on the website. Other industry sites like Gamasutra might also be helpful for you.

Follow the dream - working in games is really hard sometimes, but it's also a blast! Godspeed to you!

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@CutlessClark
I understand this next question will probably get a "that would be telling" so my question is not designed for an outright answer, but for more of a "it is possible" or a "not going to happen at all". So here it is... When i was looking at the map of Marleybone I noticed that there is sort of a mainland where Big Ben resides. Will we ever enter this mainland, or meet the Queen ( which I presume lives there)?

That bit with Big Ben is actually an island close to the coast - it's the Marleybone that appears in Wizard101. Given the technical barriers to getting our games to mix, and the unsavory story compromises involved in you going there and finding no Wizards, going to Marleybone City (as we call it in Pirate) is highly unlikely. Meeting the queen, however/ Not outside the realm of possibitiy, but I'd have to come up with a good way to make that work.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@Row4N412
Darkfire054 from Central asked:
During our last story trip to Valencia, it would be glorious for the pc to recruit and lead our own armada of non-robots, pirates and friends he/she made ( ex. nelson, royal navy, etc. ) for one massive attack on the Armada, is this possible?

Definitely possible - though very difficult to work out. I've been toying with an idea like this for a while, though working out the details will be rough indeed.

Boy, it'd be worth it, though...

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@Trimond297
Well, what I mean is, from the times I've heard the voices of Gortez, Deacon, and Lieutenant Smollet, for examples, they're those characters that have had performed some same written lines, but have vocally revised them during the course of the game's update to make them sound more better than before... Not to criticize, mind you. Just stating out my opinions. At least... well... that's what I figure from my perspective.

I getcha. On this one I think we'll agree to disagree, as we sometimes do.

Maybe so, Blind Mew, but to me, I think she should have said "Whoever that was, went up to the Rafters!". It was clear to me that she didn't see the ghost's shape when she said that line, which led me to think of how that line should be revised. Just thinking.

I see your logic, but I still think the line works as is - after all, a glowing, transparent though still humanoid shape could well be a "whatever' - I figure she did see him. Changing the line would be a bit of a hassle, so I'm content to leave it as is.

If I know how the Armada works, once they have found a Map Piece outside of Valencia, they deliver it to Kane in Cadiz... He should have told the Pirates that they were far too late to wrestle the Map Piece from him, if that's what they were attempting to do, which was kind of the point of that idea at the time, at least. That would be the reason why.
Well, he had all your time in Subata, ,Port Regal, and Marleybone to deliver it, and there is a Stormgate direct from MooShu to Valencia. He's had more than enough time - I figured he thinks it goes without saying.

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
1. After Phule escapes our grasp and takes Christopher Clark's piece of the map to Shangri-La in Valencia, we could speculate that he sent it to Kane. But what if he failed? After all, we did see him in chains in Fort Elena, so could Marleybone have it now after they arrested Phule before he could send it to Kane?
I'm not clear on exaclty what you mean here - Phule taunted you over Pollo's Map Piece (which, if he's not lying, they took "weeks ago"), which he may not have even gotten himself - and it was shipped from a skyway in Valencia to a skyway in Valencia, while the Resistance was pretty much out of the picture. Shangri La, by the way, is not in Valencia - it's a mythical realm reference in MooShu mythology.And you got Clark's map piece - it was in Captain Blood's horde. The idea of a Map Piece going astray on delivery to Kane is a cool one, but i don't think it's happened yet.

2. Also, I rewatched all of the puppet shows through Bishop's show. (I'm only through to like halfway in Marleybone.) I noticed a humanoid octopus and an alien in a UFO that keeps on showing up in the shows. Could they be the dangerous threat(s) in El Dorado or something completely different? I know they're foreshadowing something! I'm guessing that the octopus is Cthulhu and the alien is one of the people from the First World. I'm thinking about the UFO's that are part of a Prospector Zeke quest in Azteca in Wizy...
Not everything is foreshadowing you know - sometimes we just like to be silly. The octopus is indeed a reference to Great Cthulhu, a dear old friend of mine. As to his (and the little green mens') presence in the puppet shows, i prefer to not comment. Now an possible UFO connection to Wizard, that's an idea to ponder...

Captain
Jan 26, 2012
646
@Bearkat904 (continued)

3. Speaking of puppet shows, when Catbeard is telling us about how Polaris betrayed Napoleguin, Valencia started a skirmish in Napoleguin's backyard, and Marleybone arrested him, did Rooke lead the Armada and that admiral guy in the War Room that constantly gives us missions to do in Marleybone lead the Royal Navy in that battle?

That all happened a while ago - before your Pirate was born. I'm not entirely sure Rooke existed back then. As for the general staff of the Royal Navy, it's possible Admirals Kearns and Doggett were in charge, but just as possible they've been promoted since then.

4. Suppose we got crazy and have Cao Tzu get killed off by the Armada so that we wouldn't get to El Dorado after we piece together the whole map. Would we go see Old Ambrose and Gamma themselves in Wizard City? After all, in the letter that Marco Pollo sent to Merle, Pollo did mention that both Ambrose and Gamma could translate the map as well.
I was thinking that you've already learned all you need to know from Cao Tzu - as you get more pieces, you'll be able to translate them yourself, no Ambrose or Gamma requiring. As to some final reversal that blocks your path to El Dorado even after you get the whole Map, well, that'd be a heck of a plot twist wouldn't it?