Disney is SNEAKY!

Their tech support / live chat agents are always poorly informed of what goes on in the Test environment.

Testers are not given the same service and treatment as Live players, very evident from the email reply that Sven posted. The new body change (it does look horrible lol) affects only Test pirates, and no reasoning for it. Come on Disney, we know that the new body change is not to help run the game better, there is no difference in my game performance with a new and old pirate body.

Testers pays for the game too! We are paying customers, why should we be subjected to poor and unsupportive customer service. Most do not know that there are many dedicated testers who only play on Test server and rarely step a foot into the Live game, so why do we get such poor treatment from Disney!!!

Biggest worry next is one day, because how unvaluable we can be in their eyes, they might decide to close down the Test server! And our pirates deleted etc although we paid to level our test pirates up. (Just pondering about this possibility, not sure if this has happened on other games)

That is pretty funny.

All test pirates are paying members. You can't play on the test server without a live pirates account that's being payed for.

I'm just glad they're fixing these bugs now, and not later, on open. At least they're listening to us when we say, "Fix the bugs before the update goes live!"

Honestly, I don't care any more. As long as content is coming, I'm happy.

That is not true - look closely on the Test server, u might and will find a few basic pirates running around. Of course that is rare compared to Live, which almost everyone on Port Royal is a paying member.

I know i know on Disney website, in order to sign up for Test invite, gotta be an unlimited access member. That is so inaccurate afterall. Its just their way of telling us if we want the exclusive access to test, we gotta pay them.

Basics on test aren't basics forever. When I was in beta, and for a year after beta, I was a basic access pirate in test.

They sometimes switch pirates around from basic access to unlimited to test basic access features. I don't know if that's true now or not, but allowing people that don't pay for the game to be on the test server is silly. Allowing people that don't even pay for the game to see new content. Ridiculous. And on the site it says if you stop paying for the game you lose test access.

But back the the point, yeah, being on test has it's ups and downs. Unfortunately, we don't always get want we want, like new body types. Honestly, why? Why not add them in instead of taking the old body types away? Because animation is harder with the old body types? Big deal, they should care about the players. Even if it isn't animation, for whatever reason, replacing the body types instead of adding in four new body types is a waste. Should have had those body types from the beginning if they were going to change them.

Just in response to one thing:
Back when anyone could get on test, I logged in with two basic accounts - both of which were accepted. I still have access with both, never payed for either one of them.

Switching pirates from basic access to unlimited to test basic access features, might be true only in the Beta days. But to do that to paying customers now? I imagine those affected would cancel their subscription with disgust.

Maybe its ridiculous in your opinion to allow people that don't pay for the game to experience new content. What about people who had paid since day one but are not currently paying due to the lack of content before a certain update, should they be clustered together and subject to prejudice like other basic players?

As you said you were a basic pirate in test, but you were not cut off from test access, were you? And you were able to see new content when you were a basic pirate (past), did you think it was ridiculous? I'll say not at all.


- New Content -
It does make people happy, but when the new content does not work, and we turn to tech support, but all they could offer us is poor service, then there really isnt anything that we can enjoy.

Take the free game distributed in January "Call of Kraken" for example. Not really a new content in the game, just something new and free for members. Many were happy when they heard of this freebie, but probably more than half were unsatisfied with the fact that it does not run on Vista or newer OS. And Disney didn't address the issue, really bad part on big D. New content that does not work + No support = Fail.

You made me change my mind.(which isn't normal of me.) You're right that, people shouldn't be clustered together. But I also think having people that don't pay for the game to be on the test server, simply to see what basic priates might like. Or for the developers to figure out what content they can bring in to have people pay for the game.(although that's obvious, a new story quest.)

I wasn't cut off from test because I paid for the game since day one. I received an email saying that if I didn't pay for the game I may or may not be cut off from test server access. I stayed basic, even though I paid for open. I asked why and they told me so that I could test basic access limited features and what-not. They decided to give me full access a year later.

P.S. Speaking of call of the Kraken, I'm still angry that they refused to address the issue of some people not being able to play the game.

I told you they were liars:

That's the response I got, and it's not a valid excuse. If anything, they're doing it because they're too lazy to update the old models that aren't even available for new pirates anymore. Regardless, I'd rather that my pirate didn't "perform more smoothly" than be mutilated.

They are NOT too lazy the developers on this game work very hard especially on the new inventory system and the new weapons. I'm ashamed to hear someone hear that.:peopirate07bouncele

Sorry, but given the length of time they've had, the updates aren't impressive to me, especially considering that with most "updates" they take things away.

For example - the belt. I consider it to be a downgrade as much as it is an upgrade because it limits access to all six weapons. Switching through them is comparatively tedious, and when you're talking about game design, tedious is not a good thing.

Have you ever seen a MMORPG game where the player have to test the bugs for the dev ?
Yes, during a beta test session but no during the game is on. For me, it's the evidence that they are too lazy or they aren't enough to make new content like this.
Customers should never reports so much bugs, because they pay and they want to see a quality game, for what they paid.

James, they might not be "lazy", but they sure are something at times. But Aliese and Nitnek pretty much summed it up. Throw in the fact that over 75% of their updates so far are things that should of been with the game since it began.. I think you get the point.

Sven is right. They may not be lazy but there is something slightly off about the way things are going right now. Yes, they are working very hard on the inventory system. An inventory system that has been used in RPGs since the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Nothing special, nothing new and, certainly, nothing groundbreaking.

I get a mental picture of a bunch of guys who are just out of some technical school that advertises on G4 TV, who are slightly over their heads, pouring over a Panda 3D manual. The team is obviously getting better but as they push the envelope, I really think the problems encountered say more about Panda 3D than it does about the developers.

And the whole body change thing? I have yet to talk to anyone who is happy about it. I really just don't get it. It makes no sense whatsoever to change avatars.

On a Side Note: I still play the game. I may not be happy about some things but I still play. And I am still paying. I have $9.95/month taken out through PayPal and I don't miss it or think about it.

But this game, as a marketing device for Disney, has outlived its usefulness. The general movie going population just doesn't care about the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise any more. "At World's End" made almost $115 million LESS than "Dead Man's Chest" in the USA. Unless the 4th movie has a killer ad campaign, I think it will have moderate box office numbers.

I guess I am just saying that we should be careful what we wish for. Disney exists to make money. Period. The day they lose their first dollar on this little experiment is the day they pull the plug.

Alright, I agree they are something and could have put this stuff in the game last year or when it began. Let's just hope this year (2010) is the year we see stuff we want and not "redone" stuff like last year. :) :/