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Guys Bring Pirate101 back alive

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Gunner's Mate
Jan 27, 2011
222
Amber hawksong on Mar 19, 2017 wrote:
Too bad not many wiztubers are playing pirate, I asked AwesomeTheSauce about his opinion on Pirate101, he doesn't seem to know too much about pirate but he stated he likes the pvp machinics. If more wiztubers played pirate, maybe it would draw in more players, that's partially why I joined (my mom by accidentally got Pirate101 membership instead of wizard membership).
Agreed, with Twitch and YouTube being such huge platforms now I don't get why KI fans haven't started streaming or making videos of the game. Well, I hear ya! Currently working out the details and kinks with my Twitch account (in other words: trying to learn how to stream properly) and then I'll be streaming Pirate101. I intend for it to be a family-friendly channel as well. I'll make a post over in the Tavern when I'm ready to stream and when my first stream will be, which hopefully will be soon (maybe even on Monday). Hang in there, I'm doing what I can to help! This ship ain't going down without a good, long, hard fight! We can do this if we all come together and work positively!

- Mortifer Crow (Morgrim)
Gunner's Mate
Jan 27, 2011
222
Vanessa Mythdust on Apr 13, 2017 wrote:
I think if the TV ads were successful, encouraging new players to join, and making a payoff, they'd still be airing. If something isn't working, KingsIsle will not continue to throw money in that direction.

KingsIsle can only put into Pirate101 what they get out of it. It's a cycle and a partnership between the game and its players. Therefore, the "they are not going to advertise, so why should I?" mentality is actually just shooting the game in the foot. Like I mentioned earlier, I think KingsIsle would still be airing commercials if they were successful. I don't think it's that they don't want to run ads, I think it's that it financially wouldn't make sense for them to do so. If on top of that, you don't advertise Pirate101 ... does that not just further hurt the game in the long run?

I don't think word of mouth is the strongest way to gain a player base, but it's better than nothing.

~Virtuous Vanessa
Can I shake your hand? Give you a high five? What about a hug? Heck, I'm doing all three, that's exactly how I've viewed the problem thus far, and exactly why I'm taking the initiative to do what I can to get this ship afloat. Word of mouth is the strongest way to gain a player base, it's free and is exchanged between mutual parties who trust one another enough to at least listen. Simply hearing about the game is enough, it draws attention and even if someone's not interested in the game they might know someone who would be. Television advertisements are actually scrutinized nowadays because of the many shady practices and word twisting taking place, hence why YouTube Top 10 MMO lists are far better forms of advertisements than any commercial ever could be (they're coming from fans and players who played the game in Alpha or Beta and since these individuals are usually credible, you see what I'm getting at here).

The problem with the population is some just want everyone else to fix it for them, they don't want to work for a solution and instead want to whine about literally nothing of value. Negativity accomplishes nothing; if anything it adds to the problems so if you negative whiners (not mentioning names, you know who you are) can't find anything worthwhile to contribute to solving this problem, the least you could do is walk away and let the abled take care of it.

(I really can't stand negative trolls)
Ensign
Jun 24, 2013
12
This is an awesome game, if only a bit cumbersome for the first 10 levels.

Anyway, with a new Pirates of the Caribbean coming out seems like a good time for KI to throw a few bucks t'wards adverts for Pirate101. No doubt the Harry Potter phenom did wonders for wizard101 as Pirates of the Caribbean did for the Disney game PotC online. Loads of layer were on that game before Disney abandoned it. Would be great to pick up those players looking for a pirate game.

Again, this game is so much fun! The humor, medium challenge and pop culture references are huge selling points

Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
I think a lot of people are missing the point of my pessimism.

I played Toontown Online from the days of early beta until a year before it closed. And the reason why I stopped playing was precisely because I saw all the signs that they were going to close: 1) No updates. 2) Their test world had been running the same test for a year. 3) Players were becoming disruptive and exploiting the flaws in the system. I loved that game, and it hurt to leave, but it was no longer fun to play.

Then I discovered Pirate101. It was new! It was exciting! It was funny!

But now, I'm seeing many of the same symptoms here that I saw there, most telling being the lack of updates for years. When we finally did get an update, it is revealed that they scraped several words and shortened the story.

I voice my pessimism as a warning to players: Unless we, the present players, do something to revitalize the game...well, I'll let that go unsaid.

But it annoys the heck out of me when Blind Mew out and out says that if we want more updates, and we want more worlds, we need to go out and recruit more players, to see player after player try to tell KI what they can do. I trust KI to do everything they can to keep Pirate101 going. I am heartened to see players come up with ideas of what the players can do: streaming more, holding pirate parties, stuff like that.

I say this stuff, because I really like the game, and want to see it thrive.
Lieutenant
Jan 20, 2013
113
Nightblood1995 on Apr 15, 2017 wrote:
Can I shake your hand? Give you a high five? What about a hug? Heck, I'm doing all three, that's exactly how I've viewed the problem thus far, and exactly why I'm taking the initiative to do what I can to get this ship afloat. Word of mouth is the strongest way to gain a player base, it's free and is exchanged between mutual parties who trust one another enough to at least listen. Simply hearing about the game is enough, it draws attention and even if someone's not interested in the game they might know someone who would be. Television advertisements are actually scrutinized nowadays because of the many shady practices and word twisting taking place, hence why YouTube Top 10 MMO lists are far better forms of advertisements than any commercial ever could be (they're coming from fans and players who played the game in Alpha or Beta and since these individuals are usually credible, you see what I'm getting at here).

The problem with the population is some just want everyone else to fix it for them, they don't want to work for a solution and instead want to whine about literally nothing of value. Negativity accomplishes nothing; if anything it adds to the problems so if you negative whiners (not mentioning names, you know who you are) can't find anything worthwhile to contribute to solving this problem, the least you could do is walk away and let the abled take care of it.

(I really can't stand negative trolls)
I accept any and all handshakes, high fives, and hugs (especially hugs!).

I think you nailed it. It's crazy how much advertising has changed in the past few years. I'm actually a Communication major (and Business Administration minor) in college right now, so I've been studying the rise of the "Digital Age." Seeing YouTube, Twitch, Instagram (and even Vine for a short time) become major company influences is both pretty awesome and somewhat unexpected.

I agree, remaining positive is key. Who would want to join a negative community anyway? That's not welcoming.

I wish you the best of luck with your Twitch endeavors! Hopefully others will follow your lead! Being on KI Live was really fun, so I was actually thinking about streaming/YouTubing more often as well. We'll see!

~Virtuous Vanessa
Once a super fan, now a KingsIsle QA Tester! I squash bugs.
~
_~ )_)_~
)_))_))_)
_!__!__!_
\______t/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lieutenant
Jan 20, 2013
113
Max DeGroot on Apr 16, 2017 wrote:
I think a lot of people are missing the point of my pessimism.

I played Toontown Online from the days of early beta until a year before it closed. And the reason why I stopped playing was precisely because I saw all the signs that they were going to close: 1) No updates. 2) Their test world had been running the same test for a year. 3) Players were becoming disruptive and exploiting the flaws in the system. I loved that game, and it hurt to leave, but it was no longer fun to play.

Then I discovered Pirate101. It was new! It was exciting! It was funny!

But now, I'm seeing many of the same symptoms here that I saw there, most telling being the lack of updates for years. When we finally did get an update, it is revealed that they scraped several words and shortened the story.

I voice my pessimism as a warning to players: Unless we, the present players, do something to revitalize the game...well, I'll let that go unsaid.

But it annoys the heck out of me when Blind Mew out and out says that if we want more updates, and we want more worlds, we need to go out and recruit more players, to see player after player try to tell KI what they can do. I trust KI to do everything they can to keep Pirate101 going. I am heartened to see players come up with ideas of what the players can do: streaming more, holding pirate parties, stuff like that.

I say this stuff, because I really like the game, and want to see it thrive.
I don't think you're being pessimistic at all - I think you're being realistic. There's a huge difference between pointing out concerns and trying to address them, and bashing the game/giving up on it. The issue I have is with the latter (which I know you haven't done).

Based on your posts in this thread, I'd actually say we have similar mindsets when it comes to the game right now.

~Virtuous Vanessa
Once a super fan, now a KingsIsle QA Tester! I squash bugs.
~
_~ )_)_~
)_))_))_)
_!__!__!_
\______t/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dread Pirate
May 27, 2009
2131
Vanessa Mythdust on Apr 16, 2017 wrote:
I accept any and all handshakes, high fives, and hugs (especially hugs!).

I think you nailed it. It's crazy how much advertising has changed in the past few years. I'm actually a Communication major (and Business Administration minor) in college right now, so I've been studying the rise of the "Digital Age." Seeing YouTube, Twitch, Instagram (and even Vine for a short time) become major company influences is both pretty awesome and somewhat unexpected.

I agree, remaining positive is key. Who would want to join a negative community anyway? That's not welcoming.

I wish you the best of luck with your Twitch endeavors! Hopefully others will follow your lead! Being on KI Live was really fun, so I was actually thinking about streaming/YouTubing more often as well. We'll see!

~Virtuous Vanessa
I agree that the community needs to remain welcoming, whatever our personal fears/beliefs regarding the future. Thank you, Vanessa!

Ensign
May 21, 2012
37
When i first found out about KI, it was from a game i was playing and it was really about to close down. Unfortunate of course and it was also because the lack of players. I was young back then. a friend in that game first told me about Kingsisle and Wizard101. that was back in early 2011. When i first tried Wizard101 i found it complicated and i really didn't like it. I seemed to find it outdated and the user interface was pretty weird to deal with. until I decided to find other games that were close to the game i used to play before it closed down. after a search that lasted for 2 months, I couldn't find any better game to play. Then i got back to the starting point where i had no other choice but to give Wizard101 another try. But when i gave it that second try, i tried to understand how the game mechanics work during the free to play. I liked the storyline and i started to understand how things are working and bought a membership. Then a few months later in 2012 they announced Pirate101. That's when my obsession started to get bigger with that game. I loved it more than Wizard and i've had a great hope that it'll be better than wizard and that it'll be bigger than wizard once was.

What is exactly my point? The point here is, Spreading about your favorite game even if it was just with words helps, Thats how i got to know about Kingsisle. And that's also how Pirate101 will grow up. Even Blind mew himself said it in his last musings, He's asking us to recruit new players to get them into the game. When there's darkness, There's light. We shouldn't be giving up. It's not too late. Spreading the word helps as of now, Even on Social media. Youtube and Twitch streams about Pirate101 helps as well. And i will continue to support this game until the end. And i really hope that the developers, One Eyed Jack and Falmea are reading our suggestions to advertise for the game.
Bosun
Apr 19, 2012
331
Word of mouth is one way to bring new players in, but in my opinion, not the most effective. I remember years and years ago I'd outgrown the game I was playing at the time. It was a game for little kids and I was no longer a little kid, so I started looking for a new game. I was watching TV and a commercial for Wizard101 came on and guess what...I liked what I saw so I started playing and seven years later I'm still playing. Well, I switched to Pirate101, but at least I'm still playing KingsIsle games. If commercials didn't work, companies wouldn't pay millions for them and just one commercial can reach more people than I could in a lifetime. Besides, most of the people I know are already dedicated to other games and they don't have the time or money to start a second game. I honestly believe that Pirate101 is one of the best MMORPGs ever made and once people try it, they will love it as much as I do. The trick is getting them to try it. Also, I hear everyone screaming for new content and yes it would be nice, but I've played many games that go years without a big update and these games do just fine because there are things besides the storyline to keep the players busy. The last update for Pirate101 wasn't a big one, but it kept my five max level pirates busy for months and sometimes that's all it takes. My question to those who always want new content would be...have you maxed all the classes yet and farmed the best gear for each of them? The game is different when you go through it again with a different class, so each update is like 5 updates for me.
Admiral
Oct 27, 2009
1439
I noticed something. When I returned to the boards after being too busy for a while, there seemed to be a core of longtime players who were posting, and some of the posts that were showing on the main list were a bit older. It seems like the pace of posting has picked up, and I've seen more posts of questions from beginner players. A Yar to those who are posting already, and an invitation to those who have the ability to post, to participate. People who are thinking of trying the game might be looking in the boards to see what it's really like, we can share what we are enjoying (and keep the threads active and with a recent date). In game, we can let new players in the free zone know about this font of wisdom, in case they haven't found it yet. I've run into players who don't know important basics, like the Musketeer that Spiral Cowboy helped out. I think there are a lot of players that are shy to ask questions, and ones that don't look at tutorials. The boards cover so much, and can explain things the tutorials don't. Keeping One Eyed Jack busy with positive funny posts certainly can't hurt. Don't know about you, but reading the boards often makes me feel like going pirating, too.
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
One thing going for Pirate101 that Toontown did not have: A public forum that we KNOW the staff of KI is watching and reading. Toontown never had that, and all too often it showed in their responses to e-mail.

One telling example: At one point there was a flaw in Toontown where players could accumulate floors defeated in buildings to have stars appear over your toon's head, and get your toon's name listed on a blackboard in Toon HQ when you accumulated enough. For example, every time you defeated a five story building, you would be credited with 5 points, but when that building got invaded by a cog, you would lose those five. Theoretically, you could accumulate enough points to account for every building in Toontown, but since cogs are always invading buildings, that is an unattainable goal.

However, I noted that there were toons on the blackboard that had a ridiculous number of floor accumulated. There had to be something wrong.

So, I wrote an email to Toontown pointing out the problem.

I got a polite email back claiming that a dedicated group of four toons could be able to do it.

I wrote back demonstrating in detail how even if a group of four toons were to defeat every single building in all of Toontown and each building happened to be a five story building, not only could none of those toons get the large numbers I was seeing, nobody else would be able to get any at all! There would be only four toons on the list!

About a week later the flaw was discovered and corrected.

The point being that I had to rub the staff of Toontown's noses in the obvious before they did anything.

Not so here! They are VERY responsive when you point out flaws in the game.

So, for that, Thank You, KI.
Ensign
Apr 15, 2017
5
Max DeGroot on Apr 16, 2017 wrote:
I think a lot of people are missing the point of my pessimism.

I played Toontown Online from the days of early beta until a year before it closed. And the reason why I stopped playing was precisely because I saw all the signs that they were going to close: 1) No updates. 2) Their test world had been running the same test for a year. 3) Players were becoming disruptive and exploiting the flaws in the system. I loved that game, and it hurt to leave, but it was no longer fun to play.

Then I discovered Pirate101. It was new! It was exciting! It was funny!

But now, I'm seeing many of the same symptoms here that I saw there, most telling being the lack of updates for years. When we finally did get an update, it is revealed that they scraped several words and shortened the story.

I voice my pessimism as a warning to players: Unless we, the present players, do something to revitalize the game...well, I'll let that go unsaid.

But it annoys the heck out of me when Blind Mew out and out says that if we want more updates, and we want more worlds, we need to go out and recruit more players, to see player after player try to tell KI what they can do. I trust KI to do everything they can to keep Pirate101 going. I am heartened to see players come up with ideas of what the players can do: streaming more, holding pirate parties, stuff like that.

I say this stuff, because I really like the game, and want to see it thrive.
Yeah, Coach Z

The Toontown community is kind of dead now, kind of a shame, used to be a really fun game. But now the community ruins it.
Lieutenant
Aug 15, 2012
161
Kind of a small world, but then again it shouldn't surprise me too much how MMORPG players would be involved in others and might recognize other popular players. Hello Coach Z, I hope you're doing well.

Anyway, that's one of the things I really appreciate about KI. I've always been very satisfied with their customer service and have yet to have any bad experiences. Sure, I had a bit of frustrating moments, but I still made my replies calm and respectful and I did not interpret their replies with any impatience toward me. Such as how I was trying to get Open Chat once I turned 18, but I wasn't able to and figured maybe there was a possibility of me getting my birth date wrong. I offered to provide proof that I wasn't lying, but they've told me that I couldn't. Although I was disappointed I was told I couldn't give them proof, I'm still satisfied with their customer service because they remained respectful to me.

I've had some bad experiences with customer service before with other companies. Good customer service always meant a lot to me, especially since I consider myself socially awkward, but I've been working on improving that. Anyway, this doesn't matter much now since I eventually was able to get Open Chat anyway once whatever the date was rolled by.

It also impresses me what they approve on their message boards. It's seriously nice to see how it's not all rainbows and sunshine and that they allow criticisms. Even better, they at least try to improve and learn from these constructive criticisms. It really means a lot to me because not many people can handle that.

I consider myself one of their loyal customers and I'd really like to see p101 be more successful again. Yes, they definitely have some things to work on and improve. It's just that compared to past experiences (especially with Disney's MMOs), in my opinion, KI is better not only in content, but also customer service. P101 deserves more success.
Ensign
Jun 24, 2013
12
Just a small suggestion...which may or may not work:

Offer Wizard101 players a free month of Pirate101 (matter during the opening of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie) - Just a suggestion

I have 3 wizards, but once I found Pirate101, after helping my nephew who loves anything "pirate", I like it much better! We both have accounts now and love playing together!

And BTW, the new mount "Wonky the Donky" is just a sample of the clever hidden gems and how much fun this game really is (and why I enjoy it more than wizard101)!

Long live Pirate101

Bosun
Apr 19, 2012
331
One thing that bothers me, is when I see long-time players standing around Avery Court going on about how the game is dying. Do they think this helps? If a new player is there and hears that, how likely do you think it is that they will be inclined to become a member or spend any money on the game? So be advised, if you're one of the people who does this, don't do it when I'm around. I don't like confrontations, but the next time I hear someone bad-mouthing the game, they won't enjoy my reaction.
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
Gunner's Mate
Jan 27, 2011
222
wolfww1217 on Apr 20, 2017 wrote:
Just a small suggestion...which may or may not work:

Offer Wizard101 players a free month of Pirate101 (matter during the opening of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie) - Just a suggestion

I have 3 wizards, but once I found Pirate101, after helping my nephew who loves anything "pirate", I like it much better! We both have accounts now and love playing together!

And BTW, the new mount "Wonky the Donky" is just a sample of the clever hidden gems and how much fun this game really is (and why I enjoy it more than wizard101)!

Long live Pirate101

That would be an awesome idea! Some advertising and giving a risk-free incentive to at least try the game out would help give the game more of the publicity it needs. I do intend to host 'giveaways' over on my stream whenever it gets big enough to accept donations (which would be strictly put aside for Crowns or Memberships for those watching not for me) via raffles to expose more players and even give some that aren't lucky enough to afford a membership right now the chance to at least have a taste of the game.

Aye my friend: Long Live Pirate101!
Lieutenant
Nov 05, 2011
138
I don't know if this is a way to bring people back but one way to keep people playing is to help people asking for it. My Swashbuckler is now max .I use half of the time I Pirate101 helping others with farming, ship battles and dungeons, and other half I use playing on my new Buccaneer. I think by helping those who need it and teaching newbies, it will keep them interested in the game. Also, today I was chatting to someone I had helped and they told me they are going to buy a one year membership , perhaps I helped peak their interest in the game? (Sorry if this post was kinda clique)
Lieutenant
Nov 05, 2011
138
An idea I have for getting people to buy membership for Pirate101 is having those occasional events like double pet experience events in wiz. I'm not sure why Pirate101 doesn't already have this but it would draw people's attention. The thing is, what would the event consist of, double nautical exp? Pirate101 already have potions for that. Perphaps more and longer KingIsle lives on Pirate101 would attract players? In all, what do you guys think would work?
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
Amber hawksong on Apr 22, 2017 wrote:
An idea I have for getting people to buy membership for Pirate101 is having those occasional events like double pet experience events in wiz. I'm not sure why Pirate101 doesn't already have this but it would draw people's attention. The thing is, what would the event consist of, double nautical exp? Pirate101 already have potions for that. Perphaps more and longer KingIsle lives on Pirate101 would attract players? In all, what do you guys think would work?
Yes, P101 has potions for double nautical experience, but those potions cost crowns. Having a limited time when nautical experience doubled when actually fighting ship to ship (not when you send out companions sailin') is not a bad idea.

But for me, the biggest thing I would love to see more of is training tomes. Having a special time occasionally when, say, a famous pirate needs your help (much like The Professor in Wizard101) and the reward for completing the quest is a training tome (if you haven't done it before) is also a good idea.
Ensign
Apr 24, 2017
9
Played this game when it first came out and just got back into it and what made me annoyed was spending 30 plus minutes doing a dungeon and killing the boss only to find out you had to spend real money to open his chest,
there was three items but i only had space for two but in order to get the last item the price had doubled.

this game prides itself being younger gamer friendly only find out there are paywalls on things that shouldn't be.

If you want to bring poeple back GIVE them something like lots of new content and lift the paywalls.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
GhostOfErn on Apr 26, 2017 wrote:
Played this game when it first came out and just got back into it and what made me annoyed was spending 30 plus minutes doing a dungeon and killing the boss only to find out you had to spend real money to open his chest,
there was three items but i only had space for two but in order to get the last item the price had doubled.

this game prides itself being younger gamer friendly only find out there are paywalls on things that shouldn't be.

If you want to bring poeple back GIVE them something like lots of new content and lift the paywalls.
The Second Chance Chest is side content for those who choose to use them, unlike zones, you don't have to use that chest.
Gunner's Mate
Jan 27, 2011
222
GhostOfErn on Apr 26, 2017 wrote:
Played this game when it first came out and just got back into it and what made me annoyed was spending 30 plus minutes doing a dungeon and killing the boss only to find out you had to spend real money to open his chest,
there was three items but i only had space for two but in order to get the last item the price had doubled.

this game prides itself being younger gamer friendly only find out there are paywalls on things that shouldn't be.

If you want to bring poeple back GIVE them something like lots of new content and lift the paywalls.
I see you are unaware as to how Boss Chests actually work in KI games. These chests are not like other MMOs, they are not a necessity and completely optional. It is only there for those who don't want to run a dungeon multiple times, and the price increases to promote less spending and more playing. Even if your backpack runs out of room, all Items acquired go to your Bank until that, too, fills to the brim. Then whatever Items you would've acquired are discarded. So the complaint is a rather moot one, considering Boss Chests are your own personal choice and not a requirement at all. If you took the time to do a couple runs of whatever dungeon you were doing, you would've gotten those same items for free. It's also on you for not paying attention to your Backpack space, I should add.

This game prides itself on being a Family-friendly MMO, not specifically targeted at younger gamers. Plenty of College kids, myself included, play Wizard and Pirate101 and I've even ran across plenty of older gamers playing with their kids.

The only 'pay wall' anyone can legitimately complain about is the starting F2P area in both Wizard and Pirate101, outside of that there is no 'pay wall' that's different from WoW, for example.

New content has been needed for a while now, and though we did receive an update last year with Valencia Part 2 the game does need more love than that. Hopefully, KI can level with players during KI Live! tomorrow and alleviate some fears and frustrations.

I have been streaming this game for a week now, and have exposed some new players to the game and they've come to enjoy it. So whatever 'pay wall' you're talking about is clearly a personal gripe, not a literal one, which is perfectly justifiable and respectable. But as it stands right now, Pirate101 has enough to keep casual players entertained for months on end; it's the 'gotta get to max tomorrow' players that seem to be having issues.

Mortifer Crow - Captain of The Silent Crows
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
GhostOfErn on Apr 26, 2017 wrote:
Played this game when it first came out and just got back into it and what made me annoyed was spending 30 plus minutes doing a dungeon and killing the boss only to find out you had to spend real money to open his chest,
there was three items but i only had space for two but in order to get the last item the price had doubled.

this game prides itself being younger gamer friendly only find out there are paywalls on things that shouldn't be.

If you want to bring poeple back GIVE them something like lots of new content and lift the paywalls.
So, increase the cost to KI and decrease their income.

Yeah, this sounds like a formula for success...
Gunner's Mate
Feb 26, 2013
245
anecorbie on Apr 26, 2017 wrote:
The Second Chance Chest is side content for those who choose to use them, unlike zones, you don't have to use that chest.
I agree. I feel like it's up to the player to decide whether or not they want to pay the money to open the chests. I think, though, the dungeons have a high level of replayability and replaying them is almost always an option. It's completely optional, like opening crown packs.
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