Bat Masterson on May 28, 2020 wrote:

I wish I could give you news on new content for the game, but honestly we don't have an announcement of that kind planned. KI Live will still though be a mix of our games, including Pirate101 but also Wizard101. Whichever game you like playing (hopefully both), we hope you enjoy the show regardless! I love seeing my fellow Pirates fill the Twitch chat.

First and foremost, Bat, I'd like to show some empathy for the position you're in right now. I'm sure you're stuck between a rock and a hard place with a developer that assigned you to a game they manage incompetently, and a community that feels (and veritably so) that formalities and requests will no longer get them the long-overdue answers they deserve, but demands may be able to elicit some sort of response and rekindle their hope for the game. I understand your plight, matey, we all do, but you're our only conduit to the developer that has forsaken us and we must treat you as such should the community see any future for P101.

Now, to address your comment:

"I wish I could give you news on new content for the game, but honestly we don't have an announcement of that kind planned"

This absolutely baffles me. The whole point of KI Live is to reconnect and maintain transparency with the community on a monthly basis. I apologize if I sound presumptuous, but there is an innate pattern within every significant KI update (newsletter or livestream): it all seems like one big game of kicking the can down the road, phrasing open-ended statements provocatively and making false promises so as to milk our hopes for cash as long as possible. That's wrong. KI management may have fooled us before, but now that their core fanbase has one foot out the door, I hope they understand we'll be bringing our pocketbooks with us. We as a community are so passionate about this game, most of us have been loyal fans since childhood and we don't deserve the continual neglect we're getting from our devs. I'll share a piece of my personal story to add perspective to the matter: the last time the community received actual story content was in the summer of 2016, before my 8th grade school year. I'm pretty much a grown man now, and the state of the game is exactly the same as it was 4 years prior, save a few minor updates. We asked for Polaris, or Grizzleheim, or Krokotopia, and we got nothing. We then asked for smaller things, such as fishing, more packs, crafting, more houses, still nothing. Now all we're asking for is the truth, Bat, and it saddens me that KI can't even give us that.

"KI Live will still though be a mix of our games...we hope you enjoy the show regardless!"
I don't know about the rest of the community, but I don't tune in to KI Live in hopes of watching you and Falmea play Nautical Gauntlet for 20 minutes and have the occasional recycled microtransaction thrown at me. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but the truth is I'm there to glean any scrap I can about the future of the game, or really any information at all pertaining to it. Your positivity is admirable, Bat, but I think I speak for all of us when I say I wish there was more to smile about.

Bat Masterson on May 28, 2020 wrote:

I wish I could give you news on new content for the game, but honestly we don't have an announcement of that kind planned. KI Live will still though be a mix of our games, including Pirate101 but also Wizard101. Whichever game you like playing (hopefully both), we hope you enjoy the show regardless! I love seeing my fellow Pirates fill the Twitch chat.

Bat, who do we need to talk to, to get this game the attention it deserves?

You keep saying "We have nothing to announce right now," which we all get. My heart goes out to you for having to repeatedly say that to us - it's an unfair situation for you to be put in.

Here's the real problem though: the people making these unfair decisions are totally without accountability. We can't contact them them.

We're paying subscribers, many of whom have by this point invested easily hundreds of dollars into this game over the past 6-7 years. Many of us have been screaming in the only outlet we've been given, but it's functionally a mute button for the people in charge. Just ignore the angry customers until they throw their hands up and leave (it's been working). Heck, we're about to lose Anecorbie - think about the gravity of that sentence. She's been here for as long as I can remember (I'd been reading these forums for years before I started posting).

So, who do we talk to? What is the official Kingsisle twitter that we need to contact? It's about time the people asphyxiating this game of subs hear (not just acknowledge, but hear) us in a forum where they can't pretend we don't exist.

Bat Masterson on May 28, 2020 wrote:

I wish I could give you news on new content for the game, but honestly we don't have an announcement of that kind planned. KI Live will still though be a mix of our games, including Pirate101 but also Wizard101. Whichever game you like playing (hopefully both), we hope you enjoy the show regardless! I love seeing my fellow Pirates fill the Twitch chat.

Bat Masterson, the thought that you are being honest with us about this is both comforting... and utterly crushing.

Bat Masterson, this is the exact same thing you have been saying for the past FOUR YEARS. Think about the gravity of that for a moment. For years of "Not right now, but it'll come later. Not right now, but it'll come later. Not right now, but it'll come later..."

I am not a fool. It has become clear to me that you will keep saying that until you kick Pirate101's bucket. This statement "we don't have an announcement of that kind planned" is outrageous. You have had FOUR. YEARS. And those four years have been WASTED while Wizard and Mobile get all the attention. I am heartbroken at this gross negligence of your own game.

We deserve enormous compensation. As in, as soon as you see this, we need Falmea to come down to our little hole and apologize for not throwing anything into it. We need a pledge that we will get the content we deserve. We need to see the bug fixes that could have been done in a week, but have been shoved of for years.

We need to see, above all else, ATTENTION.

I said I'd wait until the middle of July to see this happen. But I no longer have that kind of patience. I need to see something happen, RIGHT NOW.

Bat Masterson, I know this is not your fault. I know you've been trying your best to keep us happy in situations beyond your control. You are not at fault here.

Instead I would like to direct my inquiries directly to KI's executives. Why are you ignoring Pirate101, and treating Pirate101 like one of your short-lived mobile games (of which it is not)?

After the lack of attention from KI Live, I've had a chilling calm... I think I've lost hope.

Where is Blind Mew?

Eager Blaze Dodger on Jun 1, 2020 wrote:

Where is Blind Mew?

Writing for W101, of course. There he's the Curator. We no longer have even a partial team working on our content. Wizard101 has stolen ALL of them.

I recently started playing Pirate101 and I find it sad that there's a lot of neglect from what I understand. I wish more love and effort was put into this game. Wizards gets 3 updates a year with decent amount of content, while Pirates only seems to get one update a year with very little content, or at least not enough content to be worth waiting an entire year for an update.
I truly wish something could be done, but it seems out of our control unfortunately. I wish the devs or the higher ups would address this, whether in a monthly newsletter or something, anything at this point. If there's an issue in Wizards, it gets addressed, while here it doesn't seem to get that much attention.
I wish that something could be done about the game, I'd hate to see it go as soon as I just recently started playing, but if something can be done about this poor, dying game, I think I can speak for everyone that we would like some news about the future of this game, if there is one. Whether it be a new house, a new bundle, something, anything. From what I understand there's been three years since a decent content update, and I understand the frustration of everyone.

I would have to say though, thank you for giving everyone the right to voice their opinions! It really does mean a lot. I hope everyone means a lot to you guys at KI!

It is now June.

Than means Kingsisle has only a month and a half left left to prove themselves to me.

We must have our responce from the Kingsisle management. Falmea, Ratbeard, Blind Mew, listen! You realize that this decision will affect your entire playerbase?

MistyDragon13 on Jun 6, 2020 wrote:

As much as I hate to say it, I think our words are falling on deaf ears. It's possible that we'll get a crumb of something in the fall update, if there even is one, but for now I think we have to make the most of what we have.

I refuse to do any such thing.

You know as well as I do that this not what is supposed to be happening. We have been promised on multiple occasions that this game will keep receiving regular updates. Those promises have been violated. You expect me to stand by and tolerate their, their lies? Nope.

Ratbeard, Falmea, if there is anything in you that cares about this game as you say, then come down and talk! What you are doing to us and our money may be borderlining on criminal.

anecorbie on Jun 11, 2020 wrote:

Don't blame Ratbeard, he's just a developer; address Leah Ruben, Senior Producer of MMO content.

True, but wasn't it Ratbeard who once promised to listen to our inquiries in the 'Ratbeard Q&A' thread, and then progressively ignored it? Still, you're right.

Professor Falmea, It doesn't bother me whether we get something big or just some long-needed fixes. What I need to see if you communicating with us. I am Lookit Light, a devoted fan of Kingsisle's MMO games. I have always enjoyed your communication with your playerbase. Why are you ignoring us now? You have said time and time again that you care about this game and those who play it.

What I want to hear from you is acknowledgement of our issue. If you so care about this game, why has it been ignored for almost four years? If you value communication with us, why have we had almost no contact from your team, apart from Bat Masterson dodging the topic? Explain this to us. Tell us why we are ignored. And give us a glimpse of Pirate101's future. We beg you to follow through on your promises.

I don't mean to sound demanding, and I don't mean to be threatening. But you have only two outcomes. Do this, and I and others shall forgive you and return to this game as if this never happened. But fail to do this, and your loyal ties shall finally be broken, your reputation among us irreparably damaged.

Time is almost out. A choice needs to be made.

I honestly understand if the team wants to stop the storyline after Valencia Part 2, but even then, there are just certain aspects of the game that feel neglected.

With Valencia 2 largely feeling rushed despite being in development for three years and bugs such as the incorrect Calabria Skyway marker continuing to exist in the game, there are plot threats that are just left aside. Cadiz, seat of Kane's power - was that another name for the Machine or scrapped entirely? Even the Machine itself - the Queen reveal at the end which only really served to give us a hint of something that would never really come to the game, and the fact that the Machine being a skyway factor seemed to be cut without any explanation. (There were even Armada guards outside like every other skyway entrance in the game)

Just, the five level ending just felt underwhelming to me and I honestly would be fine with just replaying the game if it got QoL updates, but I do feel an expansion of Book 15 is needed, especially with the 15 levels that I believe were planned for it. Even Blind Mew spoke about the planned storyline with building a clockwork to oppose Kane, which it seems never came into fruition.

@Bat Masterson May you alert Prof. Falmea to come to these Message Boards? She really needs to be here, as a response from the Senior Producer of MMO Content is necessary.

Bat Masterson on Jun 17, 2020 wrote:

Hi all! I know it's been a little while since we last responded, so I wanted to jump in here again. The comments we made in our previous couple of Producer's Letters is where we are currently at:
https://www.pirate101.com/free_game/producers_letter

I wish I could give you news of an imminent new world, but as we stated in the September letter, we currently have no plans for anything as large as new book-style content.

As we continue to gather feedback and read these comments, I'll be sure to have our team chime in on updates both big and small when we have something to announce.

Meanwhile, there is indeed more players out in the Spiral and it's been fun interacting with all of them! In fact, our recent Nautical XP Party was a blast with several new Pirates at the helm. I want to run another one of these, but it depends on your interest. What can we do for community activities, and how can we help those you are coordinating?

Keep me updated when new community events kick off and we'll be sure to get the word out about them!

Thanks for the honest response, Bat. I am very disappointed that you are still at that stage, but it's an honest response nonetheless.

If you wish to interact with us more through community events, I would be delighted to provide some suggestions. As well as Nautical XP Parties, I would suggest other varieties of events, like, say...

Pet Sparring Events. I seem to remember that you once hosted this sort of thing. I remember in particular the SpiderFight Pet Sparring event that you had on... I think it was the August KI Live of 2018? It was a fun gathering, I even remember fighting you, Bat! I think performing this sort of thing would not only grab the attention of many players, but bring about interest in competitive Pet Sparring. I would probably hop in myself if this was held.

As much as I would like to leave it here, though, Pirate101 cannot be saved trough occasional community interaction. These developers, chiming in on their updates... that had better happen soon.