Is being a founder really that special?
 

Since my return, I've had countless pirates comment on my founder status. Did the rest of the founders quit? Back when I played, EVERYONE was a founder because it was automatically given to whoever signed up for unlimited by December of 07.

I've gotten numerous guild invites based solely on the idea that the guild needs a "founder" in it. Is the title really any more special than a silly coin and a gold name?

All it does is show you signed up early. Its not really important, its just different from other players names. It is just a coin and gold name, as you said.

not really...some founders are really cool and nice, others are sometimes grievers,stalkers, people that harass others.....

Hey..Call me a pirate if ya want...but I'll admit it... I'm jealous of the gold coin. (just a little)

I didn't discover the game until after the sign on had passed. Oh well.

Joined the game Dec 28, 2007

A founder is still just a founder. But they are a rare sight these days.

So to answer your question - yes, apparently most founders have quit.

*steps back into corner*

A Founder is just someone who registered for the game early, the only guilds with lots of Founders in them that I know of are McRaging, Emerald Sea Gang, and Partners N Crime (We have like 4)

I don't have a Founder in BBK--will you join?

Yup, that's all it is. It's a coin and a gold name and the bragging rights to say you've been paying for the game much longer than I have. But the differences end there. ;) We're all pirates.

Might want to check that list again :laughks2:

hehe :D

Seriously though - founders status is only a definition of time (December 2nd 2007) and not much else.

Though I'm a founder, I don't see myself as different than any other pirate out there. I would think that maybe one day they would add additional colors to the timeline, to show stages of how long you've been playing the game (theres a thread around here somewhere discussing this - I'll try to find it tomorrow and post the link if you don't find it first :D - but bed time for me...)

Here is what Max was talking about... post #8
http://www.piratesonlineforums.com/f...ad.php?t=12570

It's the mostest specialest thing you can have.

lol, jk. To me, it doesn't matter. I've been playing the game on and off since beta one, but I have no founder, cause at that point, I didn't wanna commit to another game besides vmk. When they announced it'd be closing in May of 2008, I decided to go back to pirates.

So, founder ain't important. It's the pirate below the coin and name that does.

To add on svens post, here is the direct link http://www.piratesonlineforums.com/f...62&postcount=8

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I'm recruiting new members! :piratetongueor4:

Are you desperate there bart? :mickeypiratezd4:

The founders coin is cool, but they should go beyond that.

For instance maybe make the GM of a guild have different color or get something special too.

The same goes for Officers as well. They really need to expand the guild options too.

Being a founder may simply be a matter of time - by definition. And most new players are not as aware of any significance... but -

The term does instill a certain respect, because it's assumed that since you were here at the beginning - you hold certain knowledge and secrets, as well as an inside tract to the future of POTCO.

One of my oldest friends in the game is a Founder. I didn't seek her out to be my friend, but after nearly a year and a half - I would not trade our connection for anything. True to the ideal, she is very knowledgeable and still enjoys the game. So, my judgement here is likely clouded. I'm sure there are folks with the big F that could care less and barely play at all.

It's a case by case thing.

Well said, well said indeed!!

Being a Founder means that you joined POTCO before Dec 2, 2007. I am not a founder, since I never even heard of the game til Feb, 2008.

It is always neat to see some of the founders are still playing the game, but in truth, most of them are long gone. We have 17 Founders accounts in Dueces, but only about 9 of them are very active. The others are rarely, if ever, seen.

I have seen many good ideas about how Disney should do things to recognize players/pirates for different reasons. Longevity, Mastered/Fully Mastered, and rank in guild are always brought up. I realize that there are way too many lists and options for this that it just can't all be feasible.

Simple things could be done though.

Longevity
Each 6 months an account is active, they could give you a hash mark at the end of your name. The fourth hash mark (the 2 year point) is a star. Even Founders could get these. (Saves on color coding and having to memorize it.) Letting your account go basic is considered a period of inactivity. So, your pirate may be two years old, but beacuse you let it go basic for 4 months, you would only have 3 hash marks.

Mastered/Fully Mastered
The name tag already shows the pirates level, so Mastered level 40 is already there. But, they could put an "M" up if the level 40 is also Fully Mastered, all weapons and skills.

Guild rank
That leaves color coding to the Guild names. Not the pirate names. (Picking colors by chance, not saying it must be this way.) A guild GM, the guild name should be Gold. They need to add Co-GM to the guild status, and for Co-GM's, the guild name should be Silver. Officers should show the guild name in Blue, and general members the guild name should be White.

Taking this a step further, If the guild is in ANY of the Top 100 lists, even for times in jail, the guild name should have a small "100" (half size font) at the end of it. This would be an acknowledgement of Guild overall rank.

These are just some suggestions.

Sorry, I don't think I said what I meant right.
I mean't you don't really see much founders anymore besides those guilds, and you got Grizz :piratetongueor4:.

Everytime this subject comes up, it makes me think of this post:

REALLY OLD POST

Wasn't a big deal then, isn't a big deal now.

December 5, 2007 ???

WOW, you're OOOOLLLLLLDDDD!!
(Haha, Sarah was asking the question in reverse.)

Dan,
A lot of guilds don't have a single founder in them. Having one or more does seem to lend some creedence to the guilds legitamacy. (At least, some think so.) Truth is, most players don't give it much thought. Sarah hit the nail on the head more than a year ago. Didn't matter then, still doesn't. It's the pirate under the coin that makes the difference.

When I'm with one of the founders, and someone runs up to ask why their name is gold, and where did they get the coin, I (sometimes) jump into the convo and say that they bought it at the jewelery shop on Kings Head.

I like having the Founders' status, although at times I wish I could turn it off so people wouldn't bug me about how I got it.

I've had people ask me, "Hey, you're a Founder, does that mean you helped make the game?" Seriously folks, it's just a tag you got because you joined at a certain date. I'd be lucky if I could even see what the devs were doing, let alone help them make the game.

I guess you could say it's special, although it's just a different color.

To the above post, the main reason I asked the silly question is because most people do indeed believe I have certain abilities that other players don't. I've had players report bad behavior to me. WE may know that it's meaningless, but the rest of the game certainly does not.

I think Founder is a bit of a status symbol & knowledge & skill are the expectation. Too bad so many Founders are gone. In PH being a Founder is a very big deal. The changes there from beginning to now are huge & Founders have items, clothing, Badges etc. that are basically unavailable now. So it seems to be a bigger deal there than here. For myself I am not a Founder in either game but respect those who knew about the game, started early on & are still playing & enjoying the Game :)

hehehe! :D those were the days :) I remember when pirate ships were Rowboats! None of these fan-dangled Galeons and stuff! ;) hehe

Ahh the good ol days, before we had the number key menu visable! Hmm, what was that command to bring my hex up?


Maj

It must be fun to be a founder, I luv gold, hehe

I don't think I said the question was silly, because I can understand why people think it may come with something really special.

People report you for having the founders status? That can get others banend for false reporting. I never realized so much chaos could come from a different colored nametag.

I think what Dan was saying is that other pirates come to HIM to report some user for bad behavior.

No, read that again, people try to make reports to him about other pirates behavior. I'll admit, I've gotten some strange requests and questions when I'm on my Solid Gold Cheese Coin pirates, but never been asked to handle the behavior of others. Sheesh.

Oops, sorry about that.

I still want the Sparrow Flag they sent to Founders after the first Anniversary.

I remember playing toontown and reading (i think it was) on TTC that there was a new game coming out based on Pirates of the carribean. You needed to sign up to the site, which I did and was lucky enough to get a beta key. Enjoyed the game (even in its infancy and getting booted every few minutes! And remember those stress tests!! hehe!) so I joined up on open and hey presto I became a Founder lol.
You are right we are no different than any other pirate, but we all had the option to join the game before a certain date and become Founders.The date was even extended I think for an extra week?? (correct me if I am wrong) Being from the UK i'm astounded I even recieved a beta key let alone managed to pay for the game once joined, so being a Founder is kinda special to me.
POTCO came along at the right time for me. I love the game, never tire of it and cant wait til the next big update arrives.
Maybe a long service medal is needed for all those who have played the game since the beginning but missed out on becoming a Founder?
I'm sure Dsiney have something in the pipeline ;D

Some of the things i see with the founders are i see half of them are not even level 40 yet lol i only see a hand full of founder that are level 40.

And sense the ones are not level 40 i mean come on they have had it for over 2 years now i made two level 40's in three months of playing lol

And i started oct last year

Molly, some founders (like many other players) have more than one account. If you're seeing a lower level gold coin out there, it may be their fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth pirate. Could also be that they're really taking their time with the game, have less time to play, or deleted a pirate from their account and started over with a new one.

@Sarah:

YOU FORGOT WAITING FOR NEW CONTENT!! LIKE ME!! LOL!!!

Then there's the flip-side of it: Abuse. I haven't had any too recently, but I can recall more times than I care merely standing on a beach somewhere checking my stats or having just arrived, and getting remarks such as "Oh, look, a Goldie. Hey Goldie, get lost", or even once, "I hate Founders".
Sheesh.
:xxxk0:

Well of course they one or two accounts i kinda figured that be cause i have three accounts lol.

Was just stateing that they have had there pirates sense the start of the game and some of them are not level 40 yet that's all i was saying i was not trying to be rude or any thing lol.


___________________________________________
Rule one of the pirate Code!!!!! Chose your friends wisely

"I hate Founders" probably really means, "I hate Founders because I am not one...If I had a gold coin, Founders would be really cool."

To me, seeing the gold coin really just means that the particular Pirate in question was rewarded by Disney for being an early adopter. I think it's great. But it also points out exactly how many of those early adopters have left... I used to see coins all over the Caribbean. Now? Maybe one or two a week. I still think of it as a nice gesture on Disney's part.

Could be because I tend to play on quiet servers. Come to think of it, there's a lot more of THOSE than there used to be too...