Blind Mew on Feb 24, 2014 wrote:

Actually, Wyatt Earp died of old age, happily married. That's one of the most amazing things about him - despite his long range war with the Clantons and McClowrys and all the other gunfights he ever got into, he was never so much as grazed by a bullet. Our Wyatt had a very different end.

I'm very interested in old west history and also know quite a lot about it. And I agree, it's so amazing that he only died of old age.

why didnt you answer my list of questions mew? did the lists blur together again or wt?

@Duke of Westminster

1. Who is Warty Willy? I see his wanted sign everywhere in Cool Ranch but if my memories correct we never meet him.
He's a really nasty Banditoad, of course! So nasty, that he spends all his time hiding from the Frogerales. They have really rotten luck finding him. But then, they never were very efficient... No, we never meet him.

2. I asked this question before but fear it might have been lost in a bunch of other posts so you didn't see it. Here it is: Will we ever see Boochbeard and Gandry in person again?
I think I did finally get to this one - it didn't get lost, I got busy. To recap: the role they evolved into makes them problematic to put into standard quest content, but I'm looking into creating a context in which they could appear in game again.

Hey Blind Mew,

I'm a first time poster so go easy on me should any of my questions require answers that would be telling.

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!

2) And how do you come up with all the cool looks for the characters?

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?

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?

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....

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?

-Emmaline Taylor, Level 12 Buccaneer

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?

1. I'm hypothesizing( not guessing, as it's a educated one) that we are headed to Valencia and Cadiz. ( the C.) You gave away a huge hint that Vl is next with G's letter, and Avery practically tells you that Valencia's next. Why make such a obvious ploy?
Thos are both very decent assumptions. As I've said before, the ending of AQ does pretty much spell out where the next Book will be heading (although, as is my wont, I reserve the right to make the trip a little circuitous - getting there is half the fun, after all). As to why we spelled it out, I thought it made a decent cliffhanger as was. I think One-Eyed Jack disagreed, and the number of poster who didn't make the inference appealed to my endless hunger for being mischievous with hints.

2.Can the Conqueroo bundle be online? I live in a part of the US with practically no Walmarts, and it being online like the Admiral Bundle would be swell.
I don't know - that's a marketing thing, way outside my purview.

3.Also, in the first Musing, you told Cpt. Flint when you came up with Armada ideas, you gave an example of Public Relations. As every other Elite's role is played, she ( no name guessing here) is obviously Public Relations., unless you scrapped that concept. Of course, you can't confirm or deny here, but whatevs.
I cannot confirm or deny. So sorry. Phule could be public relations - though I wonder how good he'd be at it...

4.Are any fan made ideas up your sleeve? Zafaria (Zebfrica in the board concept) was one, so KI does look at that stuff and make it, unlike other companies ( HEM HEM looking at you Riot), so it's a possibility. Right?
I try to stay away from that sort of thing - I don't want to inadvertently upset somebody by not doing their idea the way they wanted it. There is often some overlap between our ideas and fan ideas, but that's often coincidence of parallel evolution.

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?

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.
The story is set during the age of exploration.
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".
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.
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.
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.
Aquila is Greece, unfortunately I haven't quested that far yet, so I don't know much of the story there.
To be continued.

@Garblesnip (continued)

5. When we eventually fight Kane, wouldn't it be neat if he revived his inner circle and we had to fight all six of them one by one, then all together
That would certainly be a nasty twist, and an amazingly difficult gauntlet.

6. In the Tribal Crew Booster Pack, could you guys up the chance for the Azteca companions a little bit because I've bought about one hundred of them and keep getting the same things just at different level requirements
That's a marketing decision - way outside my purview. I'd ask Jack about that.

7. In the future, will there be a point where the Armada will steal the map from us and beat us to El Dorado
Another nasty twist - I cannot confim or deny that, other than to say that Kane does have a plan - and when it springs into action it's going to make things very difficult for your pirate.

8. In the letter that Marco Pollo sent to Merle Ambrose, it said that his crew and him almost died in El Dorado could the "thing" that almost killed Marco Pollo and his crew be the Armada who could've followed him there but were forced to retreat or maybe the dragon titan from dragonspyre
Pollo's expedition happened a LONG time ago - before the Armada was ever created. The dragon titan? It would cwertainly fit the bill, though it seems a tad farfetched. Also, us tying the end goal of our game to a monster so integral to Wizard seems like it would dilute the weight of our plot too much - very unlikely.

9. This last one is just a suspicion, but could Kane actually be a human in a robot suit like a juggernaut and possibly have been a member of Marco Pollo's crew and mutinied and tried to steal his map and got kicked off Marco Pollo's crew?
Here we go, Kane's a disguise. There's much more about Kane's origins and Pollo's crew that's waiting to be revealed. The readiness is all - please be patient and we'll get to it.

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?

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.
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.
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?
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.

@Thunderchu9801 (continued)

3. Would the Mag. 7 ever get speaking lines? Of course, in a privateer's case, either Jane or Bill would have to be silent. But, if they suddenly begin having speaking lines, could one of the companions make an inside joke about how our Mag. 7 crew member "finally" began talking.
As I've said before, there are SO many talking companions now, adding another 5 or 6 would be a bit difficult to carry off. It's hard enough to keep the MooShu or Presidio 5 from becoming non-entities.

4. I'm curious about the skeleton cowboys in the Haunted Skyway and Miranda. Shouldn't they be skeletons of of birds, not bauble-headed skeletons of humans?
Heh. They also are all over Aquila, MooShu, and Skull Island. Either A) there's a lost human culture that was once Spiral wide that has been displaced, or B) we really like to re-use art assets whenever we can.

5. Any chance a goal for one of the main story quests is to defeat a turret boss? You know, that would make for an immensely better challenge than fighting 12 or 10 ships.
Hmmmm - turret bosses didn't exist when we first created those quests. Not a bad idea. There have been a few polish sweeps to that area, but we may try to do some more int he future.

@Trimond297 (continued)

Also, after Captain Kid said "I'll not be driven out! Leave this place!", Bonnie Anne said "Cap'n, whatever that thing is, it's gone into the Rafters!". That dialogue line made it like she was, to put it simply... oblivious to the ghost of Captain Kid. I think her line should be revised to "Cap'n, whoever it was, went up to the Rafters!". That will make her more obvious to the ghost. Could this be done, Blind Mew?
I have no problems with the line as written - she's not oblivious to the ghost, she's just not unsure if that thing was really it.

Oh, one more thing. About Boochbeard's voiceover line in the Sigils Tutorial Tip, "See that mark on the floor? It's a Sigil, and that means there's action on the other side o' that door!" it's been sounding the same since... I guess... beta, and it didn't sound like he had the professionalism in that voiceover. Could that dialogue line be revised to make his voiceover line sound more like the professionalism flair Boochbeard gives out?
I'm not sure what you mean by professionalism - the delivery is fine to my ear.

@The Purple Captain (continued)

who was the first companion designed?
Wow! Tough one to answer. I'd say the first character we knew would be a companion, specifically a universal one, was Bonnie Anne.

who voiced the troggies?
As policy we don't answer these questions. I will say, however, that the actor doesn't sound very much like a Troggy in real life - those sound cues went through a lot of post processing

after getting the taxes from the goat governor (forgot his name) i agree with ratbeard we're pirates i want the gold and bonnie says they need it more then us well bonnie remember that the next time you want companion training points.
Heh. We're looking to work more opportunities for true piracy into the game as things go on, but part of this is also the idea that your character is turning from a rapscallion into a hero.

what skyway was your favorite to make
Marleybone. Hands down.

what's your favorite world?
The same answer.

does lucky jack russel have a kick butt sister? I can picture him having one
Ha! I'd never thought about it. But that would be petty cool.

will we ever see the picture of the el dorado crew again *cough* add a place where we can see pictures like the el toro ones *cough*
That's an excellent idea - I'll pass it on.

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)?