Pirate101 Monthly Newsletter

February was a fun month for Pirate101. We released the all new Hoodoo bundle, celebrated Valentine’s Day in typical “Me Hearties” style, began a new type of in-game event known as Avery’s CourtCam, and ended it all with a half off sale on the Tribal Crew Pack. March has the potential to bring some good luck to Pirate101, so it’s best if you could keep your fingers crossed, horseshoes hung, and four-leaf clover handy.

Read on for more information and also a quick look at the past month in Pirate101.

All Pirate101 fans love Blind Mew, but how much do we really know about him?

Welcome to the Pirate101 Rogue’s Gallery. Subject, Blind Mew. A fixture in Skull Island since before Captain Avery took it over, this blind and bedraggled cat has made his living as a beggar and purveyor of information for as long as anyone can remember. Famed for his incredibly acute senses of smell and hearing, it seems very little goes on that escapes Mew’s notice. On several occasions Mew has silenced doubters by correctly guessing how many coins they had in their pockets simply by listening to the jingle in their walk.

Dismissed by most as a harmless curiosity, most have never noticed Mew’s uncanny habit of turning up in ports all over the place without ever being seen boarding a ship. One pirate even claims to have spoken to Mew on the docks at Skull Island before setting sail, only to find the Cat waiting for him in Scrimshaw! When asked how he makes his way about, the Cat wryly replies “That would be telling.”

These pirates and more await you when you play for free at Pirate101.com.”

Ahoy, First Mateys!

Selecting a first mate is an important decision in managing a Pirate’s crew. Peering thru the fog of the omniscient crystal ball, I can see Bonnie Anne and El Toro have earned the respect to have lead positions during the trials and tribulations of acquiring all the Pirate skills and as a second in command for the grizzled veteran Pirate.

Along with Bonnie Anne and El Toro, the most experienced Pirates choose to recruit their first mates from a mixture of those they cross paths with during their primary adventures, particularly Hawkules and Catbeard, and those that they stumble upon while exploring side adventures, such as Zeena, Samocles and the Eagle Hoplite. Two of the earliest Pirate companions continue to be of service, Kan Po and Sarah Steele are still found holding this coveted role for many seasoned Pirates. Rounding out the top ten first mates for high-level Pirates is the epically-skilled hired gun from the Empire Bundle, Nausica the Centaur Queen.

As for the younger Pirates still questing to achieve their maximum potential, when Bonnie Anne or El Toro are not tapped as first mate, they rely heavily on those they met early in their voyages. Kobe Yojimbo, Kan Po, Egg Shen, Subodai and Sarah Steele are often found leading the ragtag group of adventurers. A few comrades that are acquired on further side journeys make the grade and rise to the level of first mate, such as Froggo Villa, the Monkey King, and the Chicken Ranger.

Remember Pirates, promotion quests help your companions achieve great success and maximize their potential! The crystal ball reveals a group of Cool Ranch companions that seem to be over looked by many seasoned Pirates. The Magnificent Seven are not seeing their promotions handed out at the same rate as the rest of the crew members. Perhaps it is because the promotions for Wild Bill Peacock, Billy the Kid, Duck Holliday, Buffalo Bill, Jane Canary and Bat Masterson occur so near the end of the Aquilan journeys? Don’t forget these powerful allies when you’ve become a full-fledged Pirate captain!

Boochbeard: "How much did you pay him?" Gandry: "A buck buck buck!"

- By Canny Richard Armstrong

Who will caption the next Puppet Pirates? Stay tuned to our Facebook page to enter your caption on the next Puppet Pirates.

"Bend the world to yer Will with the Hoodoo Bundle fer Pirate101!

Ye feel like being "Naturally Spooky" ain't enough ta git ye through yer day? Juju in need of a pick me up-up? Well cast your bones this way, as the Hoodoo bundle comes complete with:

- A brand new Will-Boosting Conqueroo's outfit - both mysterious and powerful.
- A new Mojo Monkey companion with a top hat and an attitude.
- The Ghostly Galleon ship - appropriately tattered in appearance and drippin' with creepy energy.
- A new housing add-on, The Witchdoctor's Lab - move-in ready and set up fer yer arcane experimentation.
- Baron Samedi's Battle Standard -- perfect for startin' yer own zombie apocalypse.
- and 1 month of membership to Pirate101, or 5000 crowns to use as ya see fit.

Put down yer staffs and charms mateys. There be no need ta fight over this bounty. The Hoodoo bundle kin be yers, assuming yer money's not hexed, fer only $29 at Walmart.

The Hoodoo Bundle, only fer Pirate101!”

Ahh, Pirates! Have you heard about the mysterious Aztecosaurs that roam our Pirate world? Maybe you’ve heard the rumors of this amazing race? If Aztecosaurs sound like something you’d like reading about, I have a fun book that might be your speed.

This book is called “When Dinos Dawned, Mammals Got Munched, and Pterosaurs Took Flight: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life in the Triassic” by Hannah Bonner. Whew, this book's title is almost as long as the book, and it actually talks about a lot more than just dinosaurs. Dinosaurs showed up about halfway through the Triassic period, and this book explains how it happened, and what happened to the plants, bugs, and sea creatures at the time too. If you like it, check out her other books (with long titles too) When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm and When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth. You'll learn a lot and laugh too!

From horses to hoodoo, our fan sites didn’t miss a beat during February! While we can’t list all the great posts, here are definitely a few memorable highlights during last month:

• Johnny from Pirates of the Spiral gave us a hand when we discussed Super Bowl Sunday! We definitely had fun polling you on who you thought would win this year . . . the Aquila Seahawks or the Cool Ranch Broncos.
• We ran a quick promotion in Pirate101 this month and put a few horse-themed items on sale in the Crown Shop for the Year of the Horse. Looks like our fans thought Temujin and Ridolfo were the best bang for your “buck.”
• Pirate101 Skyways gave us a good laugh during the Year of the Horse Celebration . . . maybe she’s barn with it, maybe it’s Neighbelline.
• The Message Board Marauders on the official Pirate101 Message Boards also had us laughing with their Year of the Horse jokes: "Well, Ratbeard. My best Stallion, from Filly, is getting mare-ied, and the groom didn't ask me to be in the bridle party."
• Don’t miss this Black Storm Raider name generator from the Stars of the Spiral forums (- signed Faithful Hunter)
• Looking for some tips on how to do well at Dueling Diego? Be sure to check out Adventures of the Spiral’s post here.
• It was a lot of fun watching your reactions to our teaser for the Hoodoo bundle!
• Needless to say, we really appreciate all of our fan sites helping spread the word about the Hoodoo Bundle. Here’s just a sampling:
  • Mercenaries for Hire
  • A Pirate’s Portal
  • Around the Spiral with Edward Lifegem
  • Pirates of the Spiral
  • Art in the Spiral
  • Duelist101
  • MMORPG.com
• Speaking of the Hoodoo Bundle – dolor456 managed to conjure up 40 souls from his Baron Samedi’s Standard in one fight!
• Ditto asks a great question about six minutes into his latest Let’s Play video . . . what is in Dr. Quinn’s purse? The world may never know!
• Looking for some unique Boss Gear? This player guide by Swordroll may be just the thing you’re searching for!
• Oh, El Toro! Always taking those #selfie shots while #GettingMarried!
• Duelist101 helped break the news that Team Envy had partnered with the Machinima Network! Congrats!
• Duelist101 also hosted a great interview with top Pirate101 PvP Player Cunning Justin Silver.
• Josh Tigner, Lead Software Engineer for Pirate101, showed us an amazing look back at what Pirate101 used to be in its early stages of development.
• If you’re strapped for cash but love to decorate, Paige has some great ideas for decorating your bunkhouse on a budget!

What’s a Nautical Exp Party? Well, my friends, it is an amazing gathering of Pirate101 players to take on the biggest and baddest vessels in the skyways . . . no matter your level! If you’re looking for a fast way to level up, then you’re definitely going to want to attend these events because you’ll be watching your nautical experience bar overflow!

It’s not a strange occurrence to hear one of our great fan sites advertising a nautical exp party, and you’re going to want to listen up! Being in the right place at the right time is your first key to success.

The second key to success at these parties is to know your ship controls, and know when to take a breather and let someone else take the lead.

Let’s take a second to review your ship controls:

- Clicking on a ship selects it as the current target.
- The [ ] keys select the next valid target counter-clockwise and clockwise, respectively (use these often as it can be hard to click on a ship with a lot of ships around)
- Drop/raise anchor by pressing Spacebar
- Use hotkeys 1-4 to activate powers or you can click the buttons on your display.
- Toggle Boost on/off with Z or you can also click this on the display.

A simple rule to sinking ships in a group is that if you’re in a ship that doesn’t have a lot of health to back it up, it’s best to let someone else take the lead. If you’re in a ship with a lot of health, but not a lot of fire power, it’s best to take the hits for the group!

As soon as you see a ship firing on another player, use your bracket keys to target it and click your powers to activate. At these parties, you might want to use powers that do damage or debuff quickly so you’ll be sure to get the nautical experience you’re after.

Take a look at this video from JohnnyCentral1 that he made at the recent Secrets of the Spiral Nautical Exp party. The action can be fast and furious, so try to keep up and enjoy the strength in numbers!

This month we had a lot of fun using a new Social media outlet for Pirate101, Vine! Vine is a mobile app that many people use along with Twitter to create and post short looping video clips, which are usually around 6-7 seconds. Since the beginning of the month we’ve used Vine to showcase Gracie Conrad, tease players with a short video of the Witchdoctor’s Lab from the Hoodoo bundle, and engage players with in-game events we’re calling “Avery’s CourtCam.”

If you’ve been following us on Twitter, perhaps you’ve even been a part of these in game events!

February 21, 2014
February 24, 2014
February 28, 2014

We hope to see you at one of these events soon, pirates! Be sure to follow us on Twitter for announcements.

Avast, Pirate101 fans! This here be an interesting and (also “completely barmy”) concept art of a Skull Island character you’ve never seen before!