My Cat Pirate companion got to level 4 and had a lightning bolt indicating a new talent, but I didn't get to choose one, it just went POOF and back to spending training points.

Same here. I got the message also, but there is no option to choose a new talent.

I didnt get a talent either.

Has anyone at KI noticed this thread & bug? No responses here yet to indicate anyone noticed it, or to tell us we are wrong and there is no bug, or anything.

I know y'all are pretty busy, I just don't want this matter to slip off the radar :)

cats are sneeky like that, you should know better.

So, I'm seeing all kinds of updates being applies to the game, and I'm very glad the Pirate 101 team is so active and "on the ball".

But I have to be honest here - I'm significantly less interested in seeing ninja pigs get upgrades to their attack animation, than I am in seeing my *paid-for-with-real-money* Cat companion get his missing talent fixed.

Apologies if this happens to be some sort of very complex issue to fix, but aside from one post in another thread altogether from One-Eye Jack indicating that this thread has been "seen", there still has been no word, no replies, no anything about this bug, not even so much as an acknowledgment that "Yes, we at KI agree this is a bug and it is on our priority list of bugs to fix" or a "Sorry, the cat companion is not intended to be even remotely as good as other companions, so it doesn't get a talent, and won't be fixed".

Even the latter would be better than....nothing.

Ratbeard on Oct 19, 2012 wrote:

At the moment the "bug" is that it is erroneously reporting the talent. You're not supposed to get a talent at 4th level.

When we fix it, however, we'll probably do so by... giving you the talent.

Please understand that we are very circumspect about changes to the live game, and try to limit ourselves (at this time) to fixing game-stopping bugs.

When I have an open window to fix the Cat Pirate-- poof!-- you'll log in one day and he'll be improved.

In the meantime let's please avoid the hyperbole of, "Not remotely as good as other companions."

We appriciate the "fix" as you are describing. It may seem dramatic to you to hear "not as good as the other companions", however the tone people talk in is not translated in text. (said with a smile)

I think some of the frustation and why it seems like such a drama is that people have been asking about this since the beginning with no official response.. only talk from the patrons. This opens the door for doubt and then frustration sets in.

I do have to concur with the "drama" side... I paid for the Boochbeard on faith in your company and the good work in W101. I realize any perks given in the bundle are just that PERKS. With that being said, I would have expected the companion to be at least equal to the others. You say it was by design he didnt get a talent at 4th, thus placing his stats always lower than any other companion you recruit or purchase. Since he doesnt have an offensive Epic Talent for an attack like all the others, he is yet another step behind when weighing the capabilities. I think he has the coolest of all so far on kill emotes with his dance.. awesome. His attack damage is base so its equal to the others.. pending no player increases the damage output of the other companions. No player ever does that (sarcasm).

When putting capabilities on a scale for weighing, the cat comes up a little short every time. Hes missing an attack power that all the ones Ive run into so far have and he is short a talent. This basically relegates him to the better bottom of my list of companions. Its real cool to watch things happen in combat and think.. wow that was neat, but when it comes to winning, you have to go with what you think will give you the best opportunity.

And all this from the companion given as a gift for being willing to have faith in the company to commit to an entire year of subscription before ever even playing (no I was not in beta before purchase). I think thats where the frustration is.. based on no reply since it was brought up. There are other topics that will grow over time that havent received official response yet also. Then little issues will become big topics. Just saying (/smile)
My having to retire my hoodoo master is one. No response for KI yet and there have been several threads and multiple complaints about the abilities bar. I even "lost" 700 crowns thinking I could reset my skills and just skip all the ones I dont use. Nope. It just reset my practice points... bummer. Im still stuck with a bar full of specific instance abilities.. and cant get to my best attacks. Next I will have to remove my Crown gear and items to get cards off my bar. 25% defence is nice but my biggest attack is way more important to use regularly.

I have actually never noticed that, but I did notice one thing.

Both the cat and Sarah Steele, being level 5, have the same exact stats, except for one difference.

For Sarah Steele, I have chosen the +2 dodge talent. So Sarah Steele has +2 more dodge points than my cat. But, my cat has +2 more armor than Sarah Steele.

So, I suppose the cat has more armor, while the other Swashbucklers have something more in some other stat, depending on how the upgrades were made.

We're still trying to decide the balance that we want to strike between the Crown Shop companions and the companions we consider the "central cast"-- that is, all the companions from your background, and the ones you meet along the way with speaking roles. I'd hate to see Bonnie Anne shoved way down at the bottom of the roster, right?

Frankly I am shocked that nobody noticed that the Cat Pirate has access to ALL of the epic talents, and not just a subset like every other companion... I would have thought that counted for something...

Of course not everyone is as savvy as ol' Ratbeard, but tactical considerations aside, I'd put the Cat Pirate into my roster just to watch him do his victory dance.

And I don't even like cats.

"Of course not everyone is as savvy as ol' Ratbeard, but tactical considerations aside, I'd put the Cat Pirate into my roster just to watch him do his victory dance.

And I don't even like cats."

With a name like "Ratbeard", of course you don't like CATS. That's a good one Ratbeard !!

A simple we acknowledge your concern and this is how we feel about it kind of message is all I wanted. Its a fully moderated forum. NOTHING is posted without their approval. So, someone (presumably Ratbeard since he replies allot) read it.

Let me clarify at least this portion of the misunderstanding. I do not moderate the boards. I reply a lot because I enjoy active engagement with the players, and I want you to enjoy and succeed at what we've created. But I do this (mostly) on my own time, and I don't have time to read every post, let alone reply to them. The best I can do is check the subject lines for stuff that's in my wheelhouse and answer the stuff that I can answer faster than waiting for it to go through all the channels.

And of course we want all of your bug reports, but I don't know that we are able to respond to every report. Your official moderator is One Eyed Jack, and if he's expected to reply to every bug report, we probably should be paying him more.

From my perspective, the Cat Pirate was on my fix list from the first time I heard about it-- and eventually I popped in to explain what the bug was, and how I intend to address it.