The video card on my laptop went

the other day (right before the update

), and was fixed today.
Much to my dismay, though, I couldn't log on to pirates! After re-installing and changing my pass I had no luck. I finally called POTCO and was helped by a very pleasant woman who came up with this solution: fix the date and time on the computer.
Moral of the story: if your computer ever poops the deck, make sure you have the correct date and time when you get the blasted contraption up and running again, or pirates won't let you play!