One of the systems that reviewers feel stands out the most in Pirate101 is the combat. Combat in Pirate101 has been described as “deceptively simple” and “really fun”, but it took years of iteration and changes to finally arrive at the experience that players have today.
All of our games start out with a prototype, which is a bare bones concept of what will be the primary game play mechanic. In Pirate101, just like Wizard101, our prototype was the combat system. A majority of players will spend their time engaged in combat, so we need to get it right. We knew that Wizard101 did this with its turn-based mechanic. It allows the game to be played at a slower pace, but still incorporates strategy that can be quickly understood. That first acknowledgment led us to thinking of ways we could manipulate the concept of Wizard101 and make it our own.
The Prototype
The first incarnation of combat in Pirate101 was heavily inspired by various turn based strategy games. After a few short weeks of brainstorming, we began a furious attempt at completing a prototype. There were 5 actions available to choose from: Attack, Move, Wait, Defend, and Power. ‘Attack’ & ‘Move’ is still very much the same as it was during this phase. ‘Wait’ would defer the unit’s turn without skipping them. The ‘Defend’ option would allow you to increase your companion’s armor rating during the opponent’s turn. This would minimize the amount of damage they would take with the trade-off being that they were unable to perform any other action for that turn. The ‘Power’ action would summon a giant meteor onto the enemies dealing massive damage, but you could only cast it once per combat.
The Good: We knew we had the start of something great. Sure, it was rough around the edges but we had fun playing it. Casting Meteor was fun. We only had that one spell, but it was exciting to watch!
The Bad: Not many things are perfect on the first attempt, and the Pirate101 prototype was no exception. There were lots of issues to work out. Because each unit is given an initiative value to determine when they are allowed to perform their action, it was not uncommon for the turn order to switch back and forth between teams often. This resulted in turns taking much longer than we liked. A heavily alternating turn order would result in the player having to re-evaluate the board and begin the decision making process all over. The “Defend” mechanic just wasn’t fun, either. Why would I choose not to do any damage? This just resulted in longer, more drawn out combats.
Take Two
After several long meetings, and even longer emails, we had settled on revisions that should alleviate several of the problems we discovered in the Prototype. Teams would perform their actions all at once. This allowed the player to work out a complex strategy for their units without interruption. We also added player controlled camera rotation, improved the planning visualization, and added an official “Defend” stage.
The Good: Making all moves at once significantly sped up the experience. It also gave the player a better feeling of being “in charge” by dishing out a handful of orders at once. We began to discuss strategies around the office. How much should positioning matter? Should we gang up on the enemy or divide and conquer?
The Bad: It was difficult to see what was actually happening. It was not enjoyable to act as a crane operator so that you could watch the action. Selecting units in the 3D world wasn’t easy either. Small units would hide behind large ones. Enemy units would be completely surrounded and difficult to find. The “Defend” stage still didn’t work. Its days were numbered.
Stay tuned next week to see more iterations of the Pirate101 combat system and how it came to today’s gameplay!
Josh Tigner
Lead Software Engineer
It is pretty surreal to sit back sometimes and just look at how the computer gaming industry has evolved since I first played Pong so many moons ago (yep, I realized I just dated myself J). Games have grown from text based interactions and rudimentary pixel images to full blown immersive, interactive worlds. They have grown an industry from a relatively niche market to one larger than either the music or film industries. For many people, games have also become an important part of life. They are a way to interact with friends, compete against peers or relax with family.
It is to this last point that I would like to give a huge congratulation to The Syndicate (www.LLTS.org). The Syndicate just celebrated their eighteenth birthday last week and is the Guinness Book of World Records record holder for the longest running online gaming guild. It’s a pretty amazing feat if you think about how young the online gaming industry was 18 years ago. It is even more amazing when you realize there have been an estimated 66,000,000 online gaming guilds that have come and gone over these last 18 years.
While guilds haven’t been a part of KingsIsle properties, we have had the chance to work with members of The Syndicate and I have gotten to know a number of their members personally. It is an incredible group dedicated to the enjoyment of online games and in building friendships in a common passion. They had many members help early in the play testing of both Wizard101 and Pirate101 and provided great feedback. Perhaps most importantly, they have created a wonderful group that truly exemplifies their motto: “In friendship we conquer”.
My most sincere congratulations go out to Sean (aka “Dragons”) and all of The Syndicate members for your dedication to friends, to online gaming and having built something that has withstood the test of time.
Fred Howard
Vice President of Marketing
Did you know that Blue Oyster Cult lead singer Eric Bloom is a gamer, and not only that… a KingsIsle gamer? There’s even two quests in Wizard101 that are given by his NPC Snorri Oysterbloom,“Sitting Bear” and “Fall Tree Bower.” Eric also enjoys playing Pirate101 with his Witchdoctor character, Grumpy Eric. Check out his favorite Pirate101 game play tips!
Good day to all players and fans of Pirate101! As a player of Wizard101 I was pleased when Pirate101 was announced and released. I usually play a caster in Wizard101 when I have a chance so I created a Pirate101 Witchdoctor, Grumpy Eric. Grumpy Eric is now level 65 and finished with the game (for now). I also have a couple of alt characters, because I like to explore different ways of playing.
When I first started Pirate101, I did a little bit of reading in the forums but I’d rather play than read up so I usually just jump in the game and learn as I go. It doesn’t take long to figure out who the better companions are. Although you don’t get him for a while, I found El Toro indispensable, mostly for his buff. I set up my powers ‘deck’ with the Witchdoctor “JuJu” cards up first to get that buff as fast as possible. With El Toro’s buff and the one of the Juju buffs locked in, I then start the fight.
I hold off on area attacks until I have at least three opponents in the attack area. If it’s an easy fight, I disregard that first rule. My favorite companions towards the end of the game were Bonnie Anne (she’s always good) and Kan Po (equally as good). I scored Lemba Moonskull in one of the packs. He’s a good shot. Zeena and Ebon Moon would round out my better teammates, although there are plenty more depending on the fight. Towards the end of the game, you might benefit by putting your pet away and getting out and training up your shooters like Dan Drake, Rooster Cogburn and Lefty.
Use your bank for storage whenever possible and coordinate bank visits with your need to get back to Skull Island for other reasons. I tend to carry too much stuff, my biggest failing as a gamer, so the ability to off-load at the bank is a necessity.
Now that the game has the bazaar on Skull Island, it’s much easier to get decent gear, selling off what you can’t use for better items.
For training, I concentrated on “Will” since I’m a Witchdoctor and also on “Dodge”, but you can train many different ways to customize your gaming experience. Don’t forget to use your practice points to cross-train in other abilities than your main skills. Also, keep your best companions trained up as high as you can afford by buying training points at the taverns.
I like the broadside combat battles too. You’ll receive new ships on occasion as you age in the game, but perhaps buy an upgrade as you can get better ships. Ship gear is important as well if you want to succeed at sea. You might have to grind some Skyway battles to get to the higher levels of broadside combat, but it’s worth it! Besides, that’s the cheapest way to get better gear; you win it instead of buying it.
Good luck out there!
Eric Bloom
It’s hard to believe that we’ve already finished our third year of the “12 Days of the Spiral” promotion! Since we started this promotion back in 2011, it is amazing to see how much it has grown and evolved over that timeframe.
We started the 12 Days of Wizard in 2011, but when we launched Pirate in late 2012, the 12 Days of Wizard then had to become the 12 Days of the Spiral. In that first year of having two games for the holiday, we alternated and even shared promotional days between Wizard and Pirate. Finally in 2013, the 12 Days of the Spiral grew into two different events with specific days for both Wizard101 and Pirate101!
As you have seen, every year we introduce a holiday themed charity item to kick off this promotion. These special items help raise money for different organizations in the Austin and Plano areas that are devoted to helping children. I always look forward to the reveal of the charity item as we get closer to the end of the year. Our teams’ creativity never ceases to amaze me with what they come up with for the 12 Days of the Spiral!
We’ve had great items in the past like the Chrismoose and Fa-La-La-Llama mounts, but this year the team really outdid themselves with the creation of the Charity Noelephant. Thanks again to all the players within the Wizard101 and Pirate101 communities that helped us make our charitable contributions by purchasing this mount. The proceeds from the Noelephant allowed us to make $50,000 contribution across three charities: Make-A-Wish® Central & South Texas, Austin Children’s Shelter and the Children’s Medical Center at Legacy in Plano.
Along with the charity item, each year we have tried to offer up a good mix of site promotions, in-game item promotions, new in-game item launches and free goodies for our players. Quite often we have taken our players feedback into account when planning these days and how we execute on them. I see your comments on our message boards, on online fansite forums and on social media. Here are just a few examples of player feedback that have been incorporated into the 12 Days of the Spiral promotion:
- In 2011, players asked for free items to be available longer than just 1 day –> So in 2012 and 2013, we made those free items available until the 12 Days promotion was fully over.
- In 2011 and 2012, some players had problems getting the Mystery Coupons we sent them via email -> So in 2013, we automatically applied the Mystery Coupon to each player’s individual account.
- In 2012, players asked for Free Crowns (when don’t you ask for Free Crowns, ha!) -> So in 2013 for the first time ever, one of the promotional days was a Free Crowns giveaway!
We were pretty excited to be able to offer the Free Crowns day this year! It was a perfect way to cap the 2013 version of the 12 Days of the Spiral promotion. Based on player feedback, I would say that this year was quite the success! We were overwhelmed with all the positive comments and thanks we received from our awesome players! Thank you and I hope you enjoyed spending those Free Crowns!!
Here’s to a great 2014 filled with many Wizard and Pirate adventures!
If you have some ideas for future promotions you’d like to share or have other feedback you’d like to give on our 12 Days of the Spiral promotion, please do so in your comments below. I’m all ears!
Ryan Daniels
Director of Marketing
In a previous post I discussed some of the benefits that can come from online games. That post was driven primarily by the experience I had speaking at a conference and being concerned that so much of the press and academic focus was on the potentially negative aspects of gaming. I was thrilled to read a recent article on Venture Beat where Dean Takahashi had a chance to have a conversation with Mark DeLoura, the senior adviser for digital media at the White House. I highly encourage all of our fans to read the article and leave comments as it is wonderful to see this kind of focus on the POSITIVES that can come from gaming. If you hear cheering as you read this it quite possibly could be me still sitting in my office vigorously applauding. 🙂 This has been a message I have been trying to explain to the press for almost six years now. Perhaps more accurately stated this has been a message that we have heard from our players for the last six years. It is wonderful to finally see a well-known outlet cover the educational benefits of gaming. Perhaps just as exciting is to see the focus at the highest level of our government.
One uphill battle I’ve faced in relating our players stories was “Wizard101 isn’t a true educational game”. I guess in the most technical sense that rings true. Wizard101 isn’t a “Math Game” or a “Spelling Game” that was designed specifically as a game to teach math or to teach spelling. Of course, neither are some of the games that DeLaura references including Mine Craft (a wonderful building game). But the root of that argument is that if it isn’t a game specifically designed to “teach math” then it cannot help players obtain increased mathematical skills and thus is not an educational game. That argument seems about as flawed to me as to tell a teacher it was bad to assigning Harry Potter to kids as a summer reading exercise. Harry Potter isn’t written specifically as a textbook to teach grammar or spelling. It’s not a technical book to teach English fundamentals so does it have no learning or educational benefit to the reader? I would argue that the Harry Potter series is a wonderful story that keeps people of all ages engaged, stretches the imagination and certainly helps young readers improve their reading skills. Thus, it has “educational value” to the reader. I’m not sure how many people realize the extent of reading in Wizard101 but there over 50,000 lines of text in Wizard101. I feel confident talking about the educational value of Wizard101 because of the huge number of letters, comments, emails we have received from parents and players telling us how much our games have helped them improve their reading, spelling and grammar skills.
It’s the same story with math. While not technically a math game we hear countless stories about how player’s math and reasoning skills have improved. The card game behind Wizard101 has a huge component of statistics and our players learn this as they progress. They are taught to solve problems, to reason out solutions, to understand which combinations of spells lead to the best outcomes.
This same concept seems even more so when it comes to teaching creativity. Is Wizard101 technically an art game? Nope. But tell that to the thousands of fans who’s art submissions we receive (we have entire walls in our office decorated with fan art). How about to the players that have written thousands of pages of creative stories inspired by Wizard101? In an era where programs like creative writing and art are being cut from our school systems our children need an outlet and an inspiration for creativity. Whether that is Wizard101 or other forms of inspiration.
There last area I would like to touch on that was discussed in the Venture Beat article is the growing opportunity in our economy and workforce for actual technical skills. Skills like computer programing, digital art and engineering. While games like Wizard101 don’t really “teach” these skills I think it’s very hard to discount that passion that can be driven by experiencing an amazing virtual like Wizard101. I firmly believe that many of the future employees in these fields will get their “start”, their “passion” to pursue those careers by engaging with games like those that we make here at KingsIsle.
I would highly encourage you to share your views on this topic. Clearly leaving a reply here is great but if you are willing, please go to the Venture Beat article and leave a reply. Perhaps Mark DeLoura will read your comment and help him continue to position the values of these types of games at the highest levels. Who knows, maybe if enough positive comments are left President Obama himself may read a few 🙂
Fred Howard
Vice President of Marketing
KingsIsle Blog 