The Virtual Pirate World

What was Pirates of the Caribbean Online?

Pirates of the Caribbean Online, also called Pirates Online, was a massive multiplayer online role playing game(MMORPG) and the video game companion to the block buster Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise created by Disney. The game, released on October 31, 2007, was an ambitious project created by the Disney Online Interactice branch of The Walt Disney Company. It seeked to allow fans of the movies to "live the legend" and plunder their way through many of the locations from the films. It also featured many fan-favorite characters, such as Joshamee Gibbs, Jack Sparrow, and Elizabeth Swann the players could interact with and complete tasks for to advance through the leveling system. Along with all the film-related aspects of the game, there were also many original aspects for players to experience, such as being able to purchase their own ship, gather a crew of fellow players, and plunder enemies on both land and sea. Pirates Online was the perfect compliment to the highly successful film series, and served as the official Disney Pirates of the Caribbean game from its release in 2007, until its closing on September 19, 2013.

The Game's Launch

Pirates Online had a somewhat rocky start, as it was first set to be released with the debut of the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. However, due to developmental delay, it was pushed back multiple times, one notable scheduling being the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Despite the many delays, the launch went surprisingly well; it received mostly positive reviews and had a very active playerbase, with player counts in the thousands. Although the game was targetted at younger fans of the franchise, people of all ages flocked to the MMORPG, causing a healthy and well-balanced community that helped the game prosper for over four years.

Gameplay

Membership

While the game was free to play for all people, the option to purchase a paid subscription, called Unlimited Access, was available for dedicated fans who didn't mind spending $10 per month to unlock every aspect of the game. Basic membership allowed the player access to most base-level items, weapons, and ships. The game was still very fun and engaging for those who did not purchase a membership, as they could still travel to every location in the game, participate in mini games, and even join the crews and guilds of Unlimited Access members for free. However, the larger ship classes and types were locked away from Basic members along with a majority of the weapons and all but the first few missions of the main story line. On the other hand, the owners of the paid subscription received access to the highest-calibur ships, weapons, clothing, and were able to complete the entire story line of quests as they pleased. They were also able to create and run their own guild, which was a sort of league of players that would help each other out and work together to finish missions. On top of this, Unlimited Access members' names were displayed in the color blue above their heads, while Basic Access members' names were displayed in grey.

Character Creation

Upon logging into an account for the first time, the player would be met with an old wooden pull-down tab that contained four slots reading, "Create A Pirate". By clicking any of these tabs, the player would then be entered into the character creation section, which contained story-telling cutscenes by Jack Sparrow, William Turner, and Bo Beck. After the first cutscene with Jack Sparrow, the player would begin to customize their pirate, being able to change a large variety of their features. Some of these included body type, face structure, hair color and style, and clothing. Then, after creating their ideal pirate that they would play as, the player would be able to either choose a name from a spinning wheel of pre-determined pirate-themed names, or type in their own name to be accepted by the moderation team. After the player had completed his character, they would be thrust into a tutorial mission which taught basic skills with sword fighting, canoneering, and skill points. Aside from the teaching factor of the tutorial, the player would also get a glimpse of the story, as Jack is escaping from the Navy and headed to Port Royal with his old accomplice, Bo Beck. Jolly Roger, one of the game's main antogonists, is in hot pursuit of Jack and his allies. After the tutorial has been completed(or skipped), the player arrives at Port Royal to being their journey in the Caribbean.

The Story

Jack Sparrow, the notorious pirate who is known for his cunning ability to improvise his way out of any dangerous situation, has employed the player into helping him rescue his beloved ship, the Black Pearl, from the clutches of Lord Beckett and his East India Trading Company goons. The player must battle his way through the British Royal Navy and the East India Trading Company, along with many encounters with Jolly Roger and his army of undead, in order to set Jack's beloved Pearl free. The player must explore the Caribbean, recruiting crew to aid in the liberation of the Black Pearl in hopes of gaining a large reward from Jack for their efforts. This is the main story line of the game, but through the years of development, there were many additional subplots added to branch out from just one story line. One of these newer adventures was the Curse of Ravens Cove questline that consisted of the player discovering the cruel actions of Jolly Roger as he completely cursed an entire island and turned its inhabitants to ghostly slaves. In command, he placed El Patron, a ferocious Spanish warrior whose duty was to hinder the player from finding the Cursed Blades, a collection of highly powerful weapons in the game. While there were many stories and quests added to the game, these two are by far the most memorable for any person who had experienced them.

Enemies

The two main armies of villains included the British EITC(with its ally, the Royal Navy), and the undead army of Jolly Roger. The British consisted mostly of soldiers, guards, assassins, and hired mercinaries with ruthless methods of defeating players both on land and at sea. One of these methods was their use of explosive and firebrand cannonballs in their higher tier ships on the high seas. The main headquarters for the EITC and Navy was Kingshead, a small military island between the ports of Padres Del Fuego and Isla de Avaricia. The island was full of Navy cadets, seargents, officers, and dragoons, as well as EITC grunts, thugs, assassins, and mercenaries the further into the base the player journeyed. A notable enemy in Kingshead was Remington the Vicious, a level 28-35 EITC assassin boss. He was a difficult enemy to defeat, so players that wanted to be victorious over him needed to band together and use team work in order to beat him. Before one could travel into Kingshead, however, they needed to defeat the large armada of Navy and EITC warships that circled the island for protection. On the other side of the spectrum were the undead skeleton and cursed army. Led by Jolly Roger, this army was spread throughout the entire Caribbean, present on almost every single island in the game! The cursed and undead army consisted of many ranks of skeleton pirates, cursed animals and plants, and Spanish and French privateers who lost their way. There were only two islands in the entire Caribbean that eluded the deadly clutches of Jolly Roger: Ravens Cove and Isla Tormenta. Other subtypes of enemies include the cursed army of Davy Jones on Isla Tormenta, and the ghost army of El Patron at Ravens Cove.

Weapons

Weapon types available for players to use included swords(cutlasses, sabres, and broadswords), guns(pistols, muskets, rifles, and bayonets), daggers, throwing knives, grenades, voodoo dolls, and voodoo staffs.

Swords

Swords are the basic weapon for pirates beginning their adventure in the Caribbean. After completed the tutorial, every character receives a free Rusty Cutlass to aid in their missions and quests. More advanced Swords can be looted from enemies all around the Caribbean world which include sabres and broadswords. The effectiveness of swords is derived from the ability to time combos to multiply damage dealt to enemies.

Guns

Guns are the ideal weapon of choice for pirates who desire a method to defeat enemies without taking much or any damage. Muskets are great for a close-range blast that will deal a massive amount of damage to enemies, rifles are effective at long ranges to snipe distant enemies, while pistols are medium quick-reload damage machines. Players receive their first pistol very early in the game after they visit the fan-favorite character, Hector Barbossa.

Daggers and Throwing Knives

Daggers and Throwing Knives are effective in group attacks, as their quick combos melt enemy health very quickly compared to swords when used in mass. Daggers behave like miniature swords, as they require the player to be in close-quarters combat to deal damage. On the other hand, throwing knives allow the player to deal fast damage combos from a distance, keeping them relatively safe from enemy weapons.

Grenades

Grenades are the best weapons to defeat large enemy hoards, as they deal splash explosive damage that effects enemies within its range of damage. Most players exclusively use the grenades once they unlock them at level 20 to dominate all enemies in the game. It is even possible to defeat the highest level boss in the game alone using grenades.

Voodoo Staffs and Dolls

The voodoo weapons are more effective as a support-style weapon, as their main power lies in their healing and damage buff effects that can be applied to all nearby allies. They are some of the least used weapons in the Caribbean, as not many players are up to the challenge of playing support, and only one of each type of voodoo weapon was necessary for every group of twelve players.

Ships

There are 4 main ship types, with 3 classes of each ship. These include the sloop, galleon, frigate, and brig, and their classes include light, regular, and war. Light ships were oriented toward Basic Access members, who were unable to purchase regular or war class ships. Regular ships are present to create a better ship to aid players in leveling from sailing level 5(the level needed to unlock the regular class ships) to sailing level 15 which unlocks the war class. They can be upgraded for doubloons and materials at the shipwright.

Sloop

Sloops were smaller, speed-fit ships designed to specialize in hit-and-run style attacks. They were the cheapest type of ship, but allowed the least player crew, had the fewest broadside, and the smallest cargo hoard. The benefits of sailing a sloop included better maneuverability and speed at the cost of armor and damage. The best ship upgrade route for sloop ships is the storm chaser line, as it increases the already superior speed and upgrades the damage output exponentially with the cursed thunder rounds.

Galleon

Galleons were ideal for a captain who desired a large ship that holds the most cargo and contains the most broadside cannons. They were great ships for long, drawn out battles against high-powered enemy ships, as their strong armor could take quite a beating before breaking. However, the costs included terrible speed and maneuverability, as well as having the fewest deck cannons available to player cannoneers. The best upgrade pairing for the galleon class is fortune hunter, as it adds more cargo space to the already massive hold, and allows the galleon to shoot firebrand broadsides at enemy ships.

Frigate

Frigates were the ultimate teamplay ship, as they had the most deck cannons available to players, the second strongest armor of all ship types, and a substantial cargo hold for a large haul of loot. The drawbacks of the frigate were slower speed, average maneuverability, and weak rear armor. With a full crew of 12 players aboard a war frigate, nothing but another war frigate could sink it. The best upgrade for the frigate class is copperhead, as it brings the rear armor's value up by a great margin, and allows the broadsides to fire explosive rounds.

Brig

Brigs are viewed as the jack of all trades, as they are equipped with moderate speed, armor, damage, cargo, and deck cannons. They are the ideal ship of a casual captain who desires an all-purpose war ship for any situation. The armor, while not even close to the galleon's level, was spread around the ship leaving no notable weak points. Its speed could challenge the sloop if equipped with a suitable captain at the helm, and its broadside damage was second only to the frigate. However, it was the most expensive ship in the game, selling for 80,000 doubloons, 4 times the price of the war sloop. Its best upgrade is the skull and bones line, that buff every aspect of the ship except for its already exceptional speed, and allow the ship to fire cursed fury broadside cannons.

The Game Now

As the game started to age, the Disney Interactive team started neglected Pirates Online in favor of their newer games, such as Club Penguin. This hit the playerbase pretty hard, as the lack of new players resulted in boredom amongst players. As the game became to gather dust both by the developers and the players, Disney made the decision to close down the game in September of 2013. They announced on August 20, 2013 that one month from that date, Pirates of the Caribbean Online would be shut down due to lack of development and players, and in an effort to focus their resources on more modern projects. However, the most driven and loyal fans of the game took it upon themselves to recreate the game as a passion project. The first major project was named "Pirates Online Rewritten", however, it was later merged with another group to form "The Legend of Pirates Online(TLOPO)". This is the major emulator of the game today, as a majority of players returning from Disney's game choose TLOPO over the competing reboots. The leaders of TLOPO are a crew of former community leaders from Pirates Online who dedicate their time to produce free content for their game. Their website can be found at tlopo.com.