Pirate101 Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to October, Pirates! It’s a time of celebration for Pirate101 as we come upon our birthday month and Halloween at the same time . . . it’s Birth-o-ween, the craziest orange and black celebration in The Spiral! Be on the lookout for decorations to appear in the Spiral sometime in the middle of the month.

Preparing to celebrate? What costume will you be wearing to your local Birth-o-ween party? Let us know on the Message Boards! (You may want to scroll to the bottom of the page to see what costume one of our Developers has planned for the Halloween Birthday this year...)

Read on for more insights and a look back at the past month.

Witchdoctors know and love this plucky watermole as a favorite companion that joins their crew while on the hunt for Ratbeard. This month we’re taking a closer look at this shaman’s interesting past.

“Welcome to the Pirate101 Rogue’s Gallery. Subject, Mormo The hereditary position of Spirit Caller or tribal Shaman is a crucial one to the Nui, and has been passed down, from parent to child, for countless turns of the seasons. Mormo’s ancestor was the very first Shaman of the Water Moles of Rapa Nui, long before Skull Island was colonized by the powers of the Spiral. Mormo’s father was a great Spirit Caller of his people, who led the fight against the nefarious fire cult of the Waponi tribe. When he vanished, young Mormo was left in the care of the kindly tribal Chief, Omurtu. As was custom, Mormo was groomed to learn the way of a tribal Shaman and become the new Spirit Caller, but he became obsessed with finding his father – he left Rapa Nui for many years on a quest that was ultimately fruitless. In that time he learned magical secrets from many other Witchdoctors, and the traditions of his people gave way to a love of adventure and by the shiny glitter of Pirate gold. When whispers of a great lost treasure trove reached his ears, Mormo couldn’t help but turn his back on his birthright to seek his fame and fortune in the skyways of the Spiral.

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

Hello, my pirate friends! You have come to Vadima in search of knowledge. You want to know about Pirates who are strong. You want to know about pirates that are smart! You want to know about PIRATES WHO ARE BRAVE! Let us peer into my crystal ball.

Ahh, a vision of these pirates comes to us. Look! I see most players are defeated or flee combat at least once by the time they are level 10. Thousands more are able to survive until level 18 without ever being defeated or fleeing. Three hundred more pirates have even survived until level 26, but this is where things become difficult. Only a few have survived past this point. I see a number! The number is “9.” Only nine pirates have made it all the way to level 65 without ever fleeing or being defeated.

The visions fade, but the strength of these stalwart pirates remains. How far can you go without being defeated or fleeing, Pirate? Maybe you will be number 10!

The Tribal Crew Pack was a big hit last year in 2013, and it was highly requested that we add another fun pack for pirates to purchase! We were incredibly happy to surprise everyone with the new Grizzly Beast Pack along with the September 2014 update. The pack has a lot of fun items and features some new fun pets as well.

The grand prizes that everyone wants in this pack are the Grizzly Beast Companions. If you’re really lucky, you’ll find one of these many companions in the pack! It can be tricky since they’re very rare. Remember! It's a random loot roll every time you purchase a pack. The odds of winning reset with every attempt (so, if you have 1:100 chance of getting the desired item, each time you roll, your odds are 1:100 - that does not mean if you buy 100 packs, you'll get 1).

The new Grizzly Beast Pack has been all abuzz in the community lately. Duelist101 took a first look at the companions. Paige Moonshade used the new housing items to their fullest. Stars of the Spiral created a comprehensive list of items available in the pack. Swordroll made a top 10 list of the best items in the pack. And Pirates of the Spiral showed off the pack and Baar’s powers on video.

Boochbeard: “Ma always said I was worth my weight in gold.” By Jennifer West

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

Our fan sites were keeping a close eye on all the surprises that happened in September. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Do you have Nausica in your companion team? Well Duelist101 has a guide for getting the most out of this powerful Centaur.
• Interested in learning about all the new and hybrid pets that were discovered in the September update? Check out Petnome Pirates for all your Pirate101 pet info needs. And once you have a new beasty in your collection, level them up with help from this guide at Duelist101.
• What historical references have you noticed in Pirate101? Join the discussion on the Pirate101 forums.
• Alura from Art in the Spiral draws some new Pirate101 sketches showing off the new hairstyle in game.
• Ratbeard takes the spotlight in this new T-shirt design. Let’s get to it!
• How well do you know the FrogFather? Spot the true author in the latest FrogFather Friday.
• Clever Emily Jones asks on the Pirate101 Central forums, “Who’s your favorite female companion?”
• If you’ve taken on the Nefarious Five and need some help, Duelist101 has your guide to this challenging new battle.
• Check out this catchy tune from Jeffery Skullpants called Morphin’ Mash.
• Get a code for a free Grizzly Beast Pack item in the Talk Like a Pirate Giveaway at MMORPG.com.
• The Companion Database at Adventures of the Spiral celebrated their 1 year anniversary this month. Here’s to many more!

Yarr! September 19th be the best day o’ th’ year, me hearties! It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Pirate101 was celebrating along with the best o’ ye’ scurvy dogs. There was a great sale on our packs (even the new Grizzly Beast Pack) and all yer favorite Starting Companions, like Keisuke Yagi and Wagyu Sanjuro! MMORPG.com gave away free items from the Grizzly Beast pack in celebration (Word has it there are still some codes left over still – hurry), and fansites gave away free Crowns and goodies!

As always, the voice of Boochbeard the pirate has a special Talk Like a Pirate Day page that you really shouldn’t miss. He takes common phrases like “Hey! What’s up? Do you have any plans for this weekend?” and turns them into language only a true Pirate could understand.

Hello, my Pirate friends! Have you been busy reading? Of course you have! School is back in session! To those extents, here’s another fine selection to throw into your reading repertoire.

This month’s book is titled "Goblins," by Philip Reeve, and it starts out with pirates - sort of. Really, it starts with Skarper, the young goblin who's smarter than all the other goblins, getting into trouble by telling the Goblin King that pirates don't operate on land. That sounds pretty obvious, but the Goblin King is pretty dumb. And he gets mad when he's contradicted. THAT gets Skarper sentenced to the Bratapult, which is just about what it sounds like. It's once Skarper gets catapulted away from the goblin tribe in the Bratapult that his adventures really start. Skarper meets a boy named Henwyn, who may be a hero and may not be, and some wizards who probably don't actually know any magic.

If you like the "How to Train Your Dragon" books, Skarper will probably remind you a little bit of Hiccup, and his adventures will definitely make you think of some of the problems Hiccup gets into. Philip Reeve has written lots of books for kids and teens, so if you like Goblins you might try "No Such Thing as Dragons"!