Ratbeard on Nov 23, 2014 wrote:

Oh. You guys want more story? Why didn't you say so sooner? We had no idea.

Of course we know that many of you are waiting for more story. We have many different teams and skill sets working on Pirate-- designers, programmers, and many different kinds of artists-- concept artists, character artists, environment artists, FX artists, UI artists... While we continue to work on the next story update, we have bandwidth in other disciplines to continue to deliver other kinds of updates to you guys. It is not a case of giving you one kind of content in exchange for another. Story advancements are very art intensive, and that frees up other resources (like design and programming) to build additional side content with lighter art requirements.

It is also important to remember that our player base forms a kind of pyramid. At the top of the pyramid are all of the players who have reached the end cap and are waiting on more story. But below that point, there are more and more and more players who have not reached the end of the story yet. The farther down the pyramid you go, the more players there are. Part of the reason for that is because not all players advance to the end content at the same rate. And part of the reason for that is because new players join the Spiral every day. There will always be more players at the bottom of the pyramid than there are at the top. We build all our games for the long term, with the knowledge that, in fact, there are more players out there who have never played the game before than have ever played the game so far.

So we will continue to build up the game with side content, not only to support that broad base of the pyramid, but to make that base even wider. Pets, PvP, the Black Market, Crafting-- you can expect to see all of these things, a few more things that you can guess at, and a lot of cool things you can't even guess are coming.

And of course we will continue to advance the story as well.

Thank you for commenting Ratbeard. We really do appreciate the hard work you put into this game.

However, these "side content" updates do need the talents of the artists so it does seem like they may slow down the story work (someone had to make the art for the ship cabins and the gear at the black market).
Also, I would argue that the black market and obtaining scrip for it is a "top of the pyramid" side activity. Higher level ships have a higher drop rate, and from what I have heard the gauntlet doesn't scale too well with level and you need to be max level to have any chance in it.

The main reason we are so impatient about the story is that the first expansion to it came out relatively quickly. But it has been 18 months since then. Surely it would have been better for everyone if you released smaller story updates more regularly. As it is, we will be expecting something major (at least cool ranch sized) and if it isn't, prepare for more complaints.

Wicked Savannah on Nov 26, 2014 wrote:

I have been reading all of the concerns and complaint post on many forums. As well as listening to discussions around the spiral. I have seen post from One Eyed Jack as well as Ratbeard so far. Are we as paying customers satisfied with these answers? Speaking for myself in a short answer NO.

I do comprehend the task of preparing the new content as well as the frustration to try to make the game challenging for every level of player. With the latest "pyramid" remarks my hopes for the game in the near future fell apart for the many many max level paying customers sitting idle. Apparently we are the smallest part of the community, sitting at the top waving our white flags.

To keep watching players leave the game is disappointing. But apparently not enough enough to cause any concern for KI.

I know the "cheerleaders" will be out in droves, but for the ones who are truly loyal to the game and wanting to see progress this is something that needs to stay in the forefront of the Devs minds. Concerns and opinions of the players need to be heard.

Wanting to see progress, for the sake of a few players remaining and so you have something new to do, is more being truly loyal to yourself and the other maxed players, not necessarily being truly loyal to the game and it's future growth and future players. I know I have posted many "cheerleading"-- "Ra-Ra-Sisk-Boom-Ba"-- type of posts and I apologize for being so wordy and disagreeable with all of the complaining lately. But I feel that I can speak from and with a bit of an understanding when it comes to the whole new story and/or new updates discussion and/or arguments.

I work in construction and build homes for a living. Now this may not seem that it would have to do much with producing a game, but actually the construction industry draws so many parallels to the developing of a game.....different technologies and means, but same general principles.

I liken, say the constructing of an amusement park, to the production of a MMO game. There is one focused project that is the overall 'completion' goal-- construct the theme park so that it can be enjoyed as soon as possible and also long term for future visitors; construct the game so that it can be enjoyed now and in the future, by as many players as possible. In both cases, you want to get it up and running, but you also know that you will be adding to the overall enjoyment of the 'project' by providing future expansions to the game and to the park, respectively. Also in both cases the entire project is composed of a team of many different entities working together towards the overall completion/improvement of the project. For the construction side you have many contractors/subcontractors, engineers, zoning/planning strategists, architects....that each play a vital role in the building process. Same for the game-- developers, programmers, artists, a sound team, design team, writers, voice actors.......

For both instances, the goal is to get the initial polished project up and 'usable' as to help fund current and future expansion, development and content. So, you start with the building and making the park/game serviceable and open the gates to recover costs and provide a way to begin the next 'installment'. So, you begin new construction on a wing/expanded area in the park...aka, new Book/Content in the case of the game. While this is going on you have to find a way to keep things fresh for current visitors/players and to also possibly make it more enticing to future customers. So, you go and spruce up some of those older areas of the park, add some new rides, tweak the old ones a bit and give 'the old' a nice new shiny overhaul or a new flavor-- just as the developers would do in a game, via smaller updates and content.

(continued.....)

Valkoor I understand your post in its entirety as you well know that my family is in the building industry and graphic design.

However, your analogy has one obvious (well obvious to me at least) difference regarding an amusement park v online game construction.

We cannot see the construction progress, or lack thereof, of an online game. Therefore it leaves the customer base anxious! We are also not informed of a proposed completion date either.

So you see there is no agreement, so to speak, between management and client/customer.

It has been a long time between the last story line update to now, and we are only left to wonder. So I can understand people leaving the game or asking/complaining on the forum.

I have no doubt that our Pirate101 staff are doing all they can to get things right, but this aspect of game construction is sorely neglected somewhat. Yes we get teasers but its just that ... a teaser.

Bonnie Anne on Nov 24, 2014 wrote:

If we told you about teasers ahead of time, they wouldn't be a surprise (or very teaser-y).

Patience, dear Pirates.

Quotes like this really don't help our situation.
We don't consider a story line update, in Wizard101 or Pirate101, a surprise but a necessary part of game progress.
I would however, consider side content a nice smaller surprise.

anecorbie on Nov 25, 2014 wrote:

Crafting is a way to make your own gear, furnishings, houses- it uses special equipment and 'reagents' basically ingredients found around areas. You gather reagents, take them to the crafting station in your home and voila! Instant gear, etc. That's how its done in Wizard101.
Crafting is coming to P101! ( Does happy dance ).

Crafting... Yeah? That makes me think of hours spent collecting ore instead of doing homework... I was kind of hoping to get away from crafting. Then again I wasn't a die hard crafter...

I really like the additions to skull island and some tweaks in other worlds, and the tower of Moo Manchu dungeon. So far we had seen pet sparing matches, expansion of the early chapter in skull island,the long and very challenging Moo Manchu tower and coming soon in the live realm able to go in our ships and other great stuff. I had a great time enjoying these additions.

But a new storyline is long over due, like what will happen next after Aquila and so fourth. This is over one year of the making, i bet these new worlds are super big like cool ranch or even larger. Judging the length of development, it's between 5 and 12 new books. Now that's a lot of hard work and dedication if this rumor is confirmed as a fact, a dozen new books .