In Search of Yum on May 30, 2019 wrote:

When will we get answers to any of these questions or was it on the KI live and I missed it because of work?

Work's been very busy lately-- both expectedly and unexpectedly so! I'll do my best to catch up in here when things quiet down.

Please continue to use this thread to bring things to my attention.

As much as I love this game and the nostalgia it has provided, along with the rest of KingsIsle: Does Pirate101 HAVE a future?

I fear for the inevitable death and decline of Pirate. Is there any guarantee of the sustaining of Pirate for the considerable future?

Ratbeard on Jun 5, 2019 wrote:

Work's been very busy lately-- both expectedly and unexpectedly so! I'll do my best to catch up in here when things quiet down.

Please continue to use this thread to bring things to my attention.

hehehe - WHY has ratbeard been busier than expected and unexpected

Let's not keep submitting "when are we getting a new world, let's cut to the chase here Ratbeard" questions. These are not answerable at this time and will only scare away Ratbeard from interacting with you all when he can't respond at this time.

Please ask and discuss questions that do not directly ask about getting a new world or why Wizard101 is getting pack and Pirate101 is not, etc.

Thanks

Willowydream on Jun 6, 2019 wrote:

Thanks for checking back in, Ratbeard - for some reason I just pictured your famous newest employee making all kinds of waves, jamming the copier and unplugging something important to charge her phone...

(Just kidding, Vanessa Mythdust)

Her experience as a player in both games has to be quite valuable and everyone probably wants to have a chance to talk about insights.

I have a question -- Why were badges never really a thing for ship battles other than ranking up through Nautical levels? There could have been badges for 100 ships sunk, 500 ships sunk, 1000 ships, etc. I feel like I've sunk tens of thousands by now. Also -- the various boss ships and turrets throughout the skyways would make a cool badge source as well -- especially if it awarded a cool ship wake effect, like the holiday ships have.

Our ships are so fundamentally Pirate that I think focusing on them could be a simple yet significant avenue to explore.

I haven't jammed the copier … yet. I mean, that's probably only because I haven't needed to use the copier in the first place though.

But still!

Bat Masterson on Jun 6, 2019 wrote:

Let's not keep submitting "when are we getting a new world, let's cut to the chase here Ratbeard" questions. These are not answerable at this time and will only scare away Ratbeard from interacting with you all when he can't respond at this time.

Please ask and discuss questions that do not directly ask about getting a new world or why Wizard101 is getting pack and Pirate101 is not, etc.

Thanks

Could you give us an example? Something that hasn't already been thoroughly dissected and documented by a community who's had nothing better to do for three years?

I'd be glad to ask any question that's still worth asking.

Ratbeard on Jun 6, 2019 wrote:

Our ships are so fundamentally Pirate that I think focusing on them could be a simple yet significant avenue to explore.

We think alike. Ship combat also happens to be one of the things that we could do a lot better, and which could have a significant impact on new player retention.

Absolutely this. Everyone I've talked to hates the current system in some way. Standing still and hitting 3-4 buttons to win isn't exactly fun. Ship combat desperately needs to be revamped or changed in some way. I would highly recommend that you look at Pirates of the Caribbean Online's ship combat for a look at a very well designed ship system. I know many people who loved how it worked in that game. It would be a good reference for what you might change about the current system. Another obvious (and more modern) reference is Sea of Thieves, although it doesn't translate as well into this game.

I think that another major issue is overall companion usefulness. Many companions aren't ever used in combat, including even main companions (I'm looking at you, Hawkules!). By making more companions useful in combat, this would allow for much more variety instead of having them just sit at the back and do chores for you (which eventually you don't even need if you're a veteran of the game). Whether you do this by adding more powers to them or epics is your choice, but I think this could have a profound effect on the normal combat system depending on the scale of the changes.

doomrocks1 on Jun 9, 2019 wrote:

Absolutely this. Everyone I've talked to hates the current system in some way. Standing still and hitting 3-4 buttons to win isn't exactly fun. Ship combat desperately needs to be revamped or changed in some way. I would highly recommend that you look at Pirates of the Caribbean Online's ship combat for a look at a very well designed ship system. I know many people who loved how it worked in that game. It would be a good reference for what you might change about the current system. Another obvious (and more modern) reference is Sea of Thieves, although it doesn't translate as well into this game.

I think that another major issue is overall companion usefulness. Many companions aren't ever used in combat, including even main companions (I'm looking at you, Hawkules!). By making more companions useful in combat, this would allow for much more variety instead of having them just sit at the back and do chores for you (which eventually you don't even need if you're a veteran of the game). Whether you do this by adding more powers to them or epics is your choice, but I think this could have a profound effect on the normal combat system depending on the scale of the changes.

Interesting --

I would like our ship equipment, especially cannons and wheels, to be consumable -- using them actually wears them out and so they need to be replaced. I think this would lead to players thinking more about which ones they equip, and there would be a reason to replace items via farming, the Bazaar or the various ship vendors.

Or, they could have different stats depending on what else was equipped -- putting together the set of Chief's Hardy whatevers could give the whole ship different bonuses compared to the Ancestor's or Elder's set, for example.

Same for our companions -- maybe they could boost each other depending on what team you select -- Ratbeard plus Bonnie Anne plus Hawkules gives Hawkules more strength and an Epic Strike. Or a team of all monquistans would allow for a special attack where they all have a "Focus Fire" effect and all surround the enemy.

How fun would it be to discover new combos like Weasel Gambler plus Nurse Quinn allows Nurse Quinn to summon a Sky Hornet to the battleboard for your team? Or that putting the Batacuda, Krokogator and Sky Snake into a team would double the Witchdoctor's armor stat?

Willowydream on Jun 9, 2019 wrote:

Interesting --

I would like our ship equipment, especially cannons and wheels, to be consumable -- using them actually wears them out and so they need to be replaced. I think this would lead to players thinking more about which ones they equip, and there would be a reason to replace items via farming, the Bazaar or the various ship vendors.

Or, they could have different stats depending on what else was equipped -- putting together the set of Chief's Hardy whatevers could give the whole ship different bonuses compared to the Ancestor's or Elder's set, for example.

Same for our companions -- maybe they could boost each other depending on what team you select -- Ratbeard plus Bonnie Anne plus Hawkules gives Hawkules more strength and an Epic Strike. Or a team of all monquistans would allow for a special attack where they all have a "Focus Fire" effect and all surround the enemy.

How fun would it be to discover new combos like Weasel Gambler plus Nurse Quinn allows Nurse Quinn to summon a Sky Hornet to the battleboard for your team? Or that putting the Batacuda, Krokogator and Sky Snake into a team would double the Witchdoctor's armor stat?

I like that idea of some parts of the ship taking wear and tear damage. Sails, rudder, and cannon seem to be the most logical targets.

Is that coding possible? Would it be even more time consuming than giving us another bundle with or without a new companion?

Maybe companion order keybinds? I know it's a strange request but having to click orders and then the order seems just a bit long. It's especially prominent when you have multiple companions that you don't use. It would be nice if we got some hidden keybinds for each job so we can put them to orders faster, like pressing 1 on the order menu to select brawlin' and vice versa. Would heavily benefit us trying to put our extra companions to better use.

Fiorenza Rosanante... on Jun 10, 2019 wrote:

I like that idea of some parts of the ship taking wear and tear damage. Sails, rudder, and cannon seem to be the most logical targets.

Is that coding possible? Would it be even more time consuming than giving us another bundle with or without a new companion?

I've played an MMO where there was a chance of a weapon or gear breaking/wearing out - I hated it. If you were lucky enough to get a great ship drop, ( or even got it from a bundle ) how would you feel if it "wore out" after a few uses?
I don't care if it's possible or time consuming, this is a very bad idea.

anecorbie on Jun 14, 2019 wrote:

I've played an MMO where there was a chance of a weapon or gear breaking/wearing out - I hated it. If you were lucky enough to get a great ship drop, ( or even got it from a bundle ) how would you feel if it "wore out" after a few uses?
I don't care if it's possible or time consuming, this is a very bad idea.

Fair enough. But if they allowed you to repair the "good" stuff for gold, so you just had to keep an eye on the amount of wear taken, would that help? Bundle ship's stuff could be granted greater resistance to wearing out.

And I'm not thinking it should wear out after a very few uses or even direct hits. Heck, even in the 17th century stuff didn't wear out that quickly. But if after say, 25 or 30 battles you needed to go to a shipyard and get it fixed up back to original spec, it shouldn't be that much of a problem for anyone. Or as your ship in general, it got repaired with the use of a potion during ship to ship combat.