In response to your post last night:

Thank you for being frank with us about the stare of the game and your plans for the future. To have a word from you again is something we have been looking forward to.

However, it came far too late. The fact that Pirate101 is not receiving an update this year, of any scale or capacity, contradicts all of your statements and undermines the future longevity of this game. It has now been over a year since both the last Producer's Letter and the last update, and since then no real effort has gone into this game.

Falmea, I have reason to believe that your statements are blatantly untruthful. In comparison with the updates that came out in Pirate101's early history, we have now hit rock bottom. If you are actively looking at updating Pirate101, we would have heard something long before now. Meanwhile, Wizard101 has been receiving a vastly disproportionate number of updates ever since the development teams for both games merged. Your words contradict with what we, the community, have observed of your activities over the past couple of years and especially these past few months.

I will close off with a demand. The beginnings of Pirate101's lack of attention can be directly linked to the merge of the development teams for both games. In order to resolve this problem and fulfill your promises to the community, I demand the reassembly of a dedicated development team for Pirate101. These problems shall persist unless there is a group specifically assigned to solving these issues and improving the game.

I hope that the right choices shall be made.

Merciless Brian Ornsley, Level 70

Well, let me know when you've finished looking because I'm not spending or supporting this game until further notice. Professor Falmea, since the Valencia Part II update, you've had:

- 2016: "We’re spinning plans for what’s to come, though I don’t have anything concrete I can share just yet. We’re excited to continue charting our course and sail full speed ahead into next year, after a long winter’s nap, of course. May your course be true and may you steer clear of scoundrels this holiday season. From the crew to you, we wish you a warm, happy, and fun one!"

- 2017: "While we can't immediately offer our players a major story update, we do still want to move the story ahead; so we’re going to work on doing it in smaller, bite-sized chunks. The first episode involves our good friend Captain Avery asking for yet more assistance, this time in an Ambassadorial role. Skull Island is on the cusp of becoming a true, legitimate republic. Your exploits have helped other major powers realize that Skull Island should not be ignored; and Avery is positively giddy at the prospect of wealth and power. Navigate your way through the needy Ambassadors’ whims, and perhaps you can help Avery succeed with something he’s been trying to realize for FIVE LONG YEARS."

- 2018: "There’s actually quite a bit more coming throughout the rest of the year, but I don’t want to let ALL the Firecats out of the bag at once, so stay tuned for more info...We’re very much looking forward to 2019, and all that the new year will bring. We’ll be SEVEN! That’s pretty amazing! Let us at KingsIsle wish you a happy holiday and a bright new year to you and your crew." (This was the release of the 4 skeleton key bosses)

- 2019: "Keeping our sights on next year and beyond, we've got quite a few interesting concepts and systems we're evaluating, including ideas from the community. They all need more thought and work put into them before we can reveal anything, but know that we're excited to share them with you! Also, please know that we love playing Pirate101 too and are inspired by the community’s intense passion to see it continue, so we are dedicated to continue expanding and improving the game."

- 2020: Another empty promise to update this game. I can't quote a producer's letter because NOTHING HAS BEEN PRODUCED.

@RobotPirate30 - well said. I hate to use the word "lies" but we have definitely been led down the road that is "paved with good intentions."

Failure to take action -- whether due to procrastination, the often-mentioned lack of resources, or whatever other "reasons" -- happened. No one probably intended to abandon the game in those earlier years, but no one at Kingsisle has cared enough in the more recent few years. To say at this point that they "very much care" is a statement that needs action to make it believable.

Is it really an update, if the news to report is there is no update?

What exactly should we "stay tuned" for anyways.....more neglect?

Why is there an "MMO team" if no one is appropriately managing two different MMOs? Just call it the Wizard101 team and truthfully let everyone know that no one is working on Pirate101 at this time.

Here's a few suggestions as to what KI can do NOW to improve the game:

UPDATE the bundle tiers to our on-line bundles! ( C'mon, we only have 4 bundles, how hard could it be to give us those 5 extra levels, hmm? ) And do this before you have a bundle sale!

CLOSE down that irritating cabin glitch!. I've given up trying to explain to players ( in the Tower of Moo Manchu) that using the glitch is a banable offense covered by the ToS. All I get is an argument as to "Then why hasn't KI closed it yet?".

For later consideration: SIDE CONTENT!! for over 7 years we've been asking for crafting, gardening or fishing. Start working on this now and by Fall of 2021, we can have something to do!

Professor Falmea on Oct 14, 2020 wrote:

Hello Pirates,

In the September 2019 producer letter, we discussed a bit about the future of our updates – specifically that we were not considering any new worlds but looking at other ways that we could expand the game. A year later, we find ourselves in the same situation. We’ll be celebrating Pirate’s 8th birthday all month long, Veteran’s Day, and the Holidays like normal, but unfortunately, we don’t have any new content updates planned this year.

However, we are still actively looking at ways we can update Pirate. We have some ideas and plans but there’s nothing we can announce right now. When we have news, we’ll let the community know right away. Please stay tuned.

In the meantime, thank you for having fun playing the game and interacting with us on KI Live, in the forums, and elsewhere. While we may not have new content to provide at this time, we very much care about the community and fully support your initiatives. In fact, we've seen some of our most dedicated content creators recently discovering or rediscovering Pirate. It’s very exciting to see some new and returning folks having fun sailing the skies with us. We want to wish each and every Pirate a very happy 8th, and we’re looking forward to seeing you in the Spiral!

Sincerely,

Professor Falmea

Do you have plans to release something next year?

Halloween Chick on Nov 10, 2020 wrote:

I honestly hope that you get a straight answer to this question. It would certainly be nice.

That's a lot of wishful thinking but thanks for the support!

Willowydream on Nov 30, 2020 wrote:

What do we have between "wishful thinking" and "quiet resentment?"

@Bat Masterson - will Falmea be doing a Producer's Letter, or is this about all we'll get to end our disappointing year?

We've been talking about what makes sense for a producer's letter if we were to put one out yet. What are you looking to get out of it? This is a question we've never really asked the community before.

Bat Masterson on Dec 1, 2020 wrote:

We've been talking about what makes sense for a producer's letter if we were to put one out yet. What are you looking to get out of it? This is a question we've never really asked the community before.

What are we looking to get out of it? Something besides "We are still actively looking at ways we can update Pirate". Give us some solid information for once. Tell us what you're planning, even if it's not ready to be shown.
You tell your W101 customers what's coming, and I believe we should be treated the same way.
*Ship emote*
P.S. I promised myself not to rant about the seeming cluelessness of that question. It is the Yuletide season and I want to be in a happy frame of mind.

Miwais1 on Dec 7, 2020 wrote:

Wizard101 is fun and all but really I just am interested in the Arthur Wethersfield days...him and Marleybone. So its hard to get excited about new stuff and places (yes I know that's a weird thing to be losing interest after but I just REALLY like him (...I know he's a video game character but I also think he is quite handsome and has an awesome voice ). I personally love Pirate much more because there's a lot more characters in it that I can get interested in but they deserve more love and promotions and hopefully someday we'll get a quest to go find our foster father and they would join our crew. I think it would be an awesome way to bring Wizard City into this and have Arthur be our foster father if we chose Marleybone as our foster planet. I promise my obsession of him is a healthy one lol .

And what's wrong with having our foster mother or siblings in our crew instead? Who will teach the early Balance spells to Ravenwood students if Wethersfield leaves?

I'm really not interested in having Wizard NPCs join our crew. But "yar" for suggesting that KI does something for us.....

Bat Masterson on Dec 1, 2020 wrote:

We've been talking about what makes sense for a producer's letter if we were to put one out yet. What are you looking to get out of it? This is a question we've never really asked the community before.

Could y'all be a little more transparent with us in the future? That's what I would like to get out of the letter.

xXCampbellXx on Dec 15, 2020 wrote:

First off, thank you for saying the truth and letting us know the real state of Pirate101 since this seems very true.

Here is what a lot of people are wanting based on what I have seen: (Ranking from most wanted to least wanted)
1. El Dorado
2. Polaris
3. Grizzleheim
4. More companions
Reminder: This is just what I have seen.

Now the way I would implement El Dorado would be with your player's parents. The way this would work would be where you would find there grave and then there is maybe another map your parent's made buried. The reason I suggest this is because on the Isle of Doom when you are doing the shadow part of the trials to see Gortez the shadows of your pirate's parents say something along these lines: "The key to El Dorado. Find our grave, go to..." That is most likely not exactly what they said but it is something like that.

To get into El Dorado I would make it where it pops up in the middle of the transportation into another world. (Only accessible to players who have the map). Then you would have some sort of flying enemies that defend the entrance. I believe there is some Giant Squid that swallows you if you miss the gate, I don't remember. Then when you beat the enemies you can get into El Dorado.

I hope you can take some of this into consideration, I'm glad to see Pirate hasn't been completely forgotten and still has some sort of development and is having people brainstorm ideas for the future of the story line.

I would say at least on behalf of pvp players, we don't care about new worlds or gear that will probably further imbalance the game, we just want some basic balance changes to blatently overpowered abilities and companions and fixing the many bugs.