Pirate101 Monthly Newsletter

The Exciting Life of a Pirate

Pirates across the Spiral are wasting no time charging into 2019! We recently met many of you at PAX South right here in our home state of Texas and talked about your plans. In January alone we saw a bustle of community activity from Final Bastion, Ravenwood Academy, DuelCircle, and so many other websites and bloggers developing new guides and events for Pirates new and old. We can’t wait to see what you come up with in the year ahead. Ask our community team how we can help!

Meanwhile, here’s what mischief occurred in January that got 2019 off to a great start:

• Double Companion Orders Member Benefit
• Pack-a-Palooza!
• KI Live on Jan. 31
• Ravenwood Academy community interview
• Double Pet XP Member Benefit!
• Puppet Pirates #75
• PAX South and a fun giveaway
• Mega Monday!
• Free Miracle Mitch Services
• Feedback Fridays return
• Community tours at KingsIsle!

As always, keep updated daily on the latest news for next month on Twitter and Facebook!

Our Visit to PAX South on Instagram!

Before heading off to PAX South, we announced KingsIsle’s new Instagram account! Associate Producer Renee “Wooften” Wooten and Mathew “Bat Masterson” Anderson both attended and posted these fun photos:

Follow KingsIsle’s Instagram page for more photos throughout 2019!

We're still pouring over all the notes we took when the community visited the office ahead of their PAX South visit. The community’s insights into what they think should be updated in the games were incredibly valuable to our team. Thank you, community! Look for future producer’s letters that will go into some of the changes and additions we are preparing as we get closer to the Spring Update.

KI Live Livestream with Sparck & Professor Falmea

For more videos and recorded livestreams, be sure to subscribe to KingsIsle's YouTube channel!

Interview with 'Bat Masterson' at Ravenwood Academy

From Ravenwood Academy: “Recently the Wizards of Ravenwood Academy brewed up a batch of exciting questions for our amazing, Senior Community Manager Mathew “Sparck” Anderson. Our goal was to get answers to some questions the community has been asking, and Mathew did not disappoint. So, let’s get to it, we are excited to share this exclusive interview with you!”

What do you like best so far about your position at KingsIsle?

The team and players, all-in-one! Everyone: all Wizards, Pirates, baby animal fans, etc. I haven’t been a part of such a great team and community as what I’ve experienced here at KingsIsle. Everyone on the team participates in some form in developing and promoting our community programs, which makes it faster to get fun things out to you. The best part though is working with the community on their own events and projects, so please do keep creating those!

What can you tell us about your responsibilities at KingsIsle?

Oh my, well, where do I begin? A nice summary is that I ‘take care of the community’. This of course means several things, but first and foremost it starts with listening to your ideas and concerns about our games, then relaying that feedback to the development team. I also help to ensure the community is a safe place to be, working with our development and customer support teams.

Read the rest of the interview at RavenwoodAcademy.com!

Zone of the Month: Plundering Skull Island

With our previous newsletters we talked a lot about the diverse characters in the game. Now we want to explore the zones you all know and love! Kicking off the new theme is Skull Island, which covers multiple zones. Skull Island is the very center-piece of the game with high trade traffic and is the key starting point for all the adventures new Pirates have.

Name:

Skull Island

Location:

Skull Island is the largest island in Skull Island skyway, and the heart of the world of Skull Island.

Description:

Named for the massive, ominous skull-shaped rock that crowns part of the isle, Skull Island was originally a fortress of the Sharks that dominated the skyway. Explorers from Monquista surveyed the island and drove the Sharks away. The Monquistans explored the island, but never built a major settlement there – the Troggies of the remote jungles were too hostile, and the mysterious ruins on the island lacked the gold common to the other ancient ruins of the skyway. As colonial tensions rose between Marleybone and Monquista, the skyway changed hands several times, with Marelybone finally building a settlement and small fortress on the island. The Marleybonean occupation ended when the governor lost a wager with the infamous pirate Captain Avery, and pirates have claimed the island ever since.

Secrets:

The ancient tunnels behind the waterfall hold many dangers, and the main island has a secret valley up at its peak.

Don’t Miss This Side Quest!!

There’s a side quest called “The MooShu Falcon,” given by Billy Haze. The quest takes you all over Skuill Island skyway but begins on Skull Island.

Who’s That Boss?

Buster Crab, leader of the Red Claw gang of Crab pirates, lives in a cave up on the mountain.

Behind the Dev Process:

The name Skull Island (and the big rock that’s the source of the name) is a King Kong reference. The rest of the island is replete with historical and cultural references, from Captain Avery (based on the real-world pirate Henry Every), Blind Mew (taken from Blind Pew in Treasure Island), to the Beatles (Nancy McGill).

Which area in the game should we spotlight for March? Let us know by tweeting your suggestion @Pirate101 or by emailing community@Pirate101.com!

Welcome These New Official Fansites

Every so often we receive interest from either new or well-established fansites to join our Official Fansite Program. While we share content from across the community regardless of any official standing, the program exists to provide the community with a recognition of those sites that we deem safe and valuable to players. These sites may also receive additional support from us when they develop an event or other activity that requires item codes or some other giveaway opportunity.

Congrats to the following three new fansites for joining KingsIsle’s Official Fansite Program!

Arcanum’s Archives - www.arcanumsarchives.com

DuelCircle - www.duelcircle.com

Final Bastion - www.finalbastion.com

If you have a fansite of any kind that you feel deserves to be a part of our program, please let us know about it! Email an overview of the site to community@kingsisle.com and we’ll be happy to review it!

Puppet Pirates

Fan Screenshot of the Month

This month’s screenshot spotlight presents PvP group, Team Bishop! Led by Honest Abe and part of the Spiral 4v4 League, they are seen in the screenshot below preparing for what looks to be an intense battle. Luckily, they clearly have their battle plan synchronized for the fight!

Thanks for sending your screenshots to community@pirate101.com. This way we can share them with fans on social media!

Fan Art Spotlight

We have some truly amazing talent in the community, wow! Here is a drawing of Caroline Declark’s companion, Bonnie Anne:

We need to see more art from our fans for next month’s newsletter. Do you have something to share? Send it to us in an email to community@Pirate101.com! We’re always interested in showing off more fan art, gameplay guides, and other content. Thanks, Pirates!

Community News

Both Adventures of the Spiral and Final Bastion looked back at past updates.

Ravenwood Academy had an exclusive interview with Mathew ‘Sparck’ Anderson.

Stephanie Dawnheart shared a useful gear guide for Privateers.

On Final Bastion, Logan shared his thoughts on the Doom Mojo power.

Ravenwood Academy took a musical approach and listened to Skull Island music themes.

For the winter festivities, Flash33 displayed his Krampus costume and the items he used to make it.

NinjaPikmin shared a funny guide on how to become a PvP Champion during the Winter 2019 PvP Season.

Final Bastion looked deep into how matchmaking works for PvP matches.

Stephanie Dawnheart decided to challenge herself and solo Kane on her Swashbuckler.

The unaffiliated-with-KingsIsle “Community Newsletter” had a great selection of Pirate101-related links this month from around the web. NOTE: Be sure to visit and follow their Twitter page for more information. To subscribe to their newsletter, send a Direct Message to them over Twitter inquiring to be added or email them at community.newsletter.101@gmail.com. You can unsubscribe at any time by sending them an email with the phrase “UNSUB”.