Pirate101 September 2014 Monthly Newsletter

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It's Septembarrr! Arrrgust was amazing! We received over 1,000 eye patch entries for our Design your own eye patch contest (contest winners are still forthcoming); Shark Week brought big discounts to pets, companions, and other shark-related goodies in the Crown Shop; an amazing amount of players took advantage of the free Sharrrkweek Code; Fan Site Contests were happening all over the Internet and gave away thousands upon thousands of Crowns; and finally, a big batch of Aquila furniture made its way into the Crown Shop. Not a bad Arrrgust at all, but the big surprise was the release of the Test Realm where pirates finally got to enter that giant Tower of Moo Manchu in the Paths of Penance and let us know what they thought. Let’s take a look back at Arrrgust and hope to see the Test Realm launch to the live game in Septembarrr! We’ve got a few other surprises you’re going to like in Septembarrr, but we’ll leave those a mystery for now. Read on, and thanks for playing, Pirate101!
Rogue's Gallery: Chantal Livingstone She’s one of the newer companions on the scene in Pirate101 as of spring 2014, and so little is known about her origin . . . perhaps this will help shed a bit of light on this Rogue’s journey before she became a part of your Musketeer’s crew. “Welcome to the Pirate101 Rogue’s Gallery. Subject, Chantal Livingstone Chantal’s father was a headman of one of the Flamingo tribes that live deep in the interior jungles of Skull Island, the first to have dealings with the Marleyboneans that settled in Port Regal. It was there, on a visit to her father’s good friend Ol’ Fish-Eye, that young Chantal saw her first sparkshooter. It was love at first sight. Chantal found herself taking a shine to Sparkshooters from an early age and quickly resolved to become the best shot in the Spiral. After a brief tour of duty with the Port Regal territorial militia, Chantal found herself craving more experienced tutors and even greater adventures. She served as a Marine on a Marleybonean frigate in Port Regal Skyway, and then jumped ship to serve as a gunner’s mate on a Wharf Rat ship out of Scrimshaw. The young Flamingo hoped to see the whole Spiral, but was disappointed that the Rats took her no farther than Skull Island Fort. However, when her father’s old friend Ol’ Fish-Eye proposed to introduce her to his most promising pupil, she jumped at the chance to sign on board with a new Pirate crew... These pirates and more await you when you play for free at Pirate101.com.”
Puppet Pirates "Dance, Monkey, dance!" "He talking to you or me?" - By Inky John Who will caption the next Puppet Pirates? Stay tuned to our Facebook page to enter your caption on the next Puppet Pirates.
Books for the Cultured Pirate Hello, Pirates! I know many of you enjoy travelling the Spiral with your friends and family, and so I must ask . . . what if you and your whole family were pirates? And what if, instead of sailing the seas, you sailed in outer space . . . a bit like traveling the Spiral Threads between worlds, eh? Well, that's what it's like for Tycho Hashoone and his family in Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra, by Jason Fry. Tcyho, his twin sister, and their older brother are all crew on the family spaceship, and all three of them are hoping to impress their parents enough to be chosen as the next captain. Tycho's mother, the captain, would say the family isn't pirates at all, but privateers - they have a letter of marque from the Jovian Union that says they are legally allowed to hunt merchant spaceships from Earth. But that means they have to keep the Jovian Union government happy, and Tycho's grandfather says it's not worth it - he misses the good old days when pirates were REALLY pirates. When the family captures a ship with a suspicious passenger onboard, they end up in the middle of a nefarious political plot that could stop them from privateering for good, if Tycho and his siblings can't work together. If you like adventure, intrigue, and pirate battles (and who doesn't?), you'll really want to read this book! And the second book in the series, Curse of the Iris, comes out in December, so if you like this one you won't have long to wait for more of Tycho's adventures.
Fan Site Information Galore! Arrrgust was a big month in the Pirate101 community and a lot of fun as well. First and foremost, we really need to give a big thanks to all of our Pirate101 Fan Sites for helping us run so many fun and creative contests during week 3 of Arrrgust, and congratulations to all contest winners! Here are a few other fun things that caught our eye last month: Sometimes glitches can be frustrating, but sometimes they are just plain funny. Mercenaries for Charter collected a hilarious set of screenshots of the funniest bloopers in Pirate101. The talented AluraRB from Art in the Spiral shows off her skill with this portrait of Captain Avery. Have you ever wondered what is in El Dorado? Share your thoughts at the Tavern in this thread started by Sparticus32. Some Pirates from the official Message Boards threw an in-game party to celebrate One-Eyed Jack’s birthday. Check out screenshots from the celebration at Pirate101 Central. Create and save your own battleboard image with this Battleboard Builder tool designed by Swordroll. Which companion do you think has the best moves? Percy at Pirate101 Central sparks a discussion on everyone’s favorite companion victory dance. Take a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Pirate101 Puppet Shows with artist and animator Robert Lovelett at the KingsIsle Blog. Duelist101 takes a look at the Hold the Line ability and how it can be used in PVP. Dr. Zeppers from Skull Island TV created a catchy little tune in celebration of Arrrgust. Check out the music video! Paige takes a tour of Noble Felix Yellowfish’s cleverly decorated Hideout in Pirate101. Spiral Radio101 focused on Arrrgust in Pirate101 for episode 18. Tune in to hear the discussion!
The Tall Tail Tale of Bonnie Anne Many players have seen the concept art of Bonnie Anne on our Concept Art page of Pirate101 or on Bonnie Anne’s Rogue Gallery Spotlight. All may appear in order on first look, but upon closer examination our fans have located a distinct difference between the Bonnie Anne in game and the Bonnie Anne Concept Art – Where’s the white tip! Player theories about this mystery are rampant: Bonnie is missing her white tail tip Concerning Bonnie Anne’s tail Marvelous Marleybone! Some possible theories include these: Maybe she is one of those rare foxes without one. We'll have to put it down to 'Spiral Logic' and 'KI did it because they felt like it'. She's special, and they probably wanted to make her stand out and look different from the other foxes. Maybe only the males have the white tail tip in Marleybone. They made her dye it white to make her fit in better for spying missions and when she finished she let her true colors come back in. Genetic mutation. One of our lead Designers had a very interesting theory himself: “Red foxes of either gender normally have a white tip (and often a white belly) although that can change with the seasons. Foxes partially communicate with their tails position, to express basic feelings (aggression, happiness, etc). The white tip helps with that communication by making the tail more noticeable. But by only the tip being white, then the tail tip can be tucked underneath when hiding from a predator (which is probably why there aren’t all-white-tail foxes). Since Pirate foxes can actually talk and walk upright in the game and have hands, the white tip isn’t really necessary and basically got bred out over time.” Very interesting . . . maybe someday we’ll know the truth . . . but for now it remains an intriguing mystery!
Vadima's Visions: Richest Sellers Hello my happy hooligans! Thank you for visiting my very special supernatural corner of the Spiral. I see you wish for me to gaze into my crystal ball for you and reveal a bit of hidden information. Very well, Pirate . . . I SEE! The Spirits tell me that there are several pirates enjoying the treasures they have found, and many more who enjoy selling the objects they collect in exchange for gold! Yes! Very rich pirates they are indeed! These pirates understand that while it’s good to collect gold in its coin form, selling extra items you collect can result in a very nice profit as well! Certain names are coming to me . . . Pirates with the name “Trevor” have sold the most items for gold as a group, followed by the names Orlando, Mary, Autumn, Payton, Sierra, Calamity, and Ryan. I see one top pirate named Mary who has sold enough items to equal almost eight million gold coins . . . a very rich pirate indeed! In fact, the top ten “selling” pirates have all sold over five million gold coins worth of treasures. The visions of these rich pirates fade for now. What could these pirates be buying with all their gold? Perhaps they’re buying expensive houses in the Crown Shop? Perhaps they’re buying large piles of gold from Aquila? Stop by our message boards and let me know what you would buy with millions of gold!