POTCO Release Notes - 2008

This Release Notes page will list major updates in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean Online during the year 2007. But, for the latest information - also check Pirates Online or Pirates Online Forums!

December 16, 2008

 * Added Winter Holiday decorations
 * Added New Year's holiday event
 * Resolved the majority of the issues regarding stranded ships
 * Fixed a bug where players could sometimes not take the wheel of their ship
 * Fixed a bug where players were occasionally dying repeatedly in jail
 * Fixed a bug where some skills displayed the wrong values on mouseover
 * Fixed some issues with NPC and ship movement
 * Chat text should now be hidden when F12 is pressed
 * Fixed a frequent client crash on logout related to special effects
 * We now prevent Lookout access while in the Black Pearl boss battle
 * Players who have been reverted to Basic Access status will no longer be able to use the number keys to access Unlimited Access skills or ammo
 * Enabled /time command for players
 * Fixed a crash in Make-A-Pirate

November 20, 2008

 * Several bugs and crashes resolved

November 18, 2008

 * Added various holiday events
 * Enemies are no longer appearing tiny
 * Voodoo meter added to enemies' health display when engaged in battle with a Voodoo Doll using foe
 * The Break Attunement effect caused by Dagger Asp and Throw Dirt now prevents enemy NPCs from casting voodoo hexes for 15 seconds
 * Draining an enemy NPC's voodoo power to 0 with Hex Eater will now prevent it from casting spells for 10 seconds
 * Various bug fixes for crashes and other show issues

October 23, 2008

 * Fixed several crashes
 * Fixed a bug with NPC disengage behavior
 * Reduced the amount of damage done by grenades in PVP

Known Issues

 * There is currently a bug with damage in land PVP. We are investigating a fix.

October 20, 2008

 * Fixed a bug with skill respec pricing
 * Fixed a bug where pirates on a Privateering ship with spawn-invulnerability could still take damage from cannon fire
 * Numerous minor bug fixes

October 17, 2008

 * Added new Quests for Level 5 Weapons. These new Quests are unlocked when a weapon reaches Level 20 and only after the Level 4 Weapon Quest for that weapon has been completed. These new Quests involve defeating Boss Enemies, so make sure you have a crew to help fight them! The Level 5 Weapons are:
 * Pirate Blade (L5 Cutlass Weapon)
 * Bloodletter Dagger (L5 Dagger Weapon)
 * Grand Pistol (L5 Pistol Weapon)
 * Taboo Doll (L5 Voodoo Doll Weapon)
 * Vile Staff (L5 Voodoo Staff Weapon)
 * Boss Enemies can now be found in the Caribbean. They are marked by a glowing skull icon over their heads and are much more difficult to defeat than normal enemies of the same level. Some boss enemies will always spawn in the same location, while others are more rare and randomly spawn throughout the world.
 * The Dagger has been rebalanced with new abilities:
 * Backstrike - Attacking an enemy in the back using a Combo Attack now does aBackstrike and deals extra damage. However, attacking an enemy from the front with a Combo *Attackdeals less damage than before.
 * Attunement Breaking - The Asp and Throw Dirt skills now can break Voodoo Doll Attunement on players and enemies. If a player using a Voodoo Doll is hit by these skills, they will lose their attunement and will need to re-attune their targets. Also, players who recently had an Attunement broken will be immune to further Attunement breaking for 30 seconds. Skeleton enemies who have their Attunement Broken will be unable to cast voodoo hexes for a short time.
 * Interrupt Ability- The Asp, Throw Dirt, and Viper Nest skills can now Interrupt another player who is charging an attack (such as Take Aim, Long Volley, and Staff Hexes). *Interrupting a charge will cause that player to have to start his charge over again.
 * Throw Dirt also now gives a 25% reduced accuracy instead of 40% and lasts a shorter duration.
 * Trainer NPC's at local blacksmiths can now retrain your weapons, by retraining a weapon you can refund all your spent skill points and allow you to re-choose your skills for that same weapon.
 * Captains now have more control over who boards their ships with a new ship-boarding permission system. Additionally, players at dinghies now have a better interface for finding ships to board.
 * The Game Options interface is now more clear and easy to use.
 * The maximum size of Guilds has been increased to 500 members.
 * Fixed a major issue in Privateering affecting when players can make ship repairs.
 * Fixed a bug where players were not allowed to sell a ship if they could not carry the gold received from the sale.
 * Pistol and Grenades deal slightly more damage in PVP now.
 * The targeting sights for weapons now only turn red when the enemy is within range. The Voodoo Staff targeting sight turns yellow when the target is within range of a Blast and turns red when the target is within range for the selected Hex.
 * Improved the sky, as well as updated and optimized many visual effects throughout the game.
 * Health meters for enemy ships should no longer randomly disappear.
 * Enemy ships can now attack your ship after you've disabled a flagship (but not after you've boarded it).
 * Players can now replay The Black Pearl Boss Battle even after defeating the Goliath.
 * Fixed some animation issues with NPC's that occur when players interact with them, also updated NPC movement to be smoother and less erratic.
 * Fixed an issue where crew members were not receiving their crew bonus when sailing on larger ships.
 * Fixed a bug preventing enemies from recovering Health and Voodoo. Since enemies now recover Voodoo again, Hex Eater no longer permanently disables a Voodoo Doll using enemy. Constant Hex Eater shots will still keep an enemy's Voodoo near zero (preventing heavy spell-casting). Once the shots stop, the enemy will recover his Voodoo slowly and begin casting spells again.
 * Green and Grey leveled enemies yield slightly more Reputation Points than before

Known Issues

 * Some players are experiencing problems when trying to update Pirates Online after downloading it for the first time.
 * Workaround:
 * Navigate to the PiratesOnline directory on your computer and delete the file named hash_data.
 * Launch Pirates Online again, and you will be able to finish updating the game.
 * Log in!

September 10, 2008

 * Improved the frame-rate of cut scenes on low end graphics hardware
 * Updated Quest dialog
 * Fixed a couple of rendering issues when using the DX9 and DX8 graphics APIs
 * Fixed an exploit in the Black Pearl Boss Battle
 * Fixed a crash related to friends' list management
 * Fixed the download progress bar exceeding 100% when entering the game for the first time

Known Issues

 * On rare occasions a player's ship will be stuck at sea
 * Workaround: The next time the game servers are restarted, the ship will return to the player
 * A recent AVG Internet Security update falsely detects Pirates Online's "Launcher1.exe" as a Trojan Horse.
 * Workaround: Download the latest definition file from AVG released Sunday, April 27
 * Trend Micro Anti-Virus has falsely detected Pirates Online's Launcher1.exe as a Trojan Horse
 * Workaround: Download the latest definition file from Trend Micro
 * Occasionally, a Boss Battle crew will not remain intact after teleporting to the Boss Battle
 * Members of the crew will sometimes get left behind when boarding a flagship, causing the player to be unable to move.
 * Workaround:Hitting F1 will release the player.
 * The Whisper chat window closes the second time you click Whisper and try to send a message.
 * Workaround: Close and re-open the Pirate's avatar panel each time you want to whisper to a fellow Pirate.
 * The Lookout System seems like it is often not able to find matches for higher level Pirates looking to do PVP
 * Workaround: Invite other high level Pirates to PVP before initiating the Lookout System.
 * The chat panel sometimes switches to Local when you are chatting with your Guild or Crew.
 * Workaround: Click either the Guild or Crew chat tab.
 * On rare occasions, pressing the Enter button on the keyboard will not bring up the Chat window.
 * Workaround: Click on the gold arrow next to the skull icon, which is found in the bottom left hand corner of the game window.
 * Game does not minimize when clicking Upgrade button on Mac.
 * Workaround: Switch your game settings to Windowed Mode
 * Grenades are not hitting the fort floors or ship floors.
 * Workaround: You must hit an enemy directly to cause damage.
 * Vista and Mac game-related crashes occurring while boarding, sailing, and docking ships
 * Workaround: For users with ATI video cards, try updating to the newest driver version.

August 28, 2008

 * Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when at the wheel of a ship

August 27, 2008

 * Added new Quests and new Clothing Sets as Quest rewards! Visit Nathaniel Truehounds, a tailor on Port Royal for the Pirate's Life Quest, Amelia Sunfellow, a tailor's assistant on *Tortuga for the Clothing For a Pirate Quest, or Adoria Dolores, a tailor on Padres Del Fuego for the Adoria's Family Quest. These new Quests award 3 new Coordinated Outfits. *Please note, you will need to have a minimum Notoriety of Level 10 to access the Quest from Nathaniel, a minimum Notoriety Level of 15 to access the Quest from Amelia, and a minimum Notoriety of Level 20 to access the Quest from Adoria.
 * Updated lots of Quest dialog
 * Fixed a crash that occasionally happened when teleporting to a friend or crewmate
 * Reduced the penalty for being caught cheating at Poker
 * Fixed a bug that was preventing some of the higher level ships (Death Omen, Juggernaut, etc.) from being spawned. You can now find these ships spawning around the outer perimeter of the Caribbean.
 * Disabled the red glowing crew icon
 * Fixed several camera related bugs
 * If you skip the Cutlass Tutorial, you are no longer required to unlock Sweep as your first skill
 * Your cannon ammo selection will now be remembered when you switch cannons
 * Broadside cannons will target enemy ships better
 * Relocated a treasure chest on Isla Perdida to a more accessible location on the island
 * Fixed the cannonball trail graphic for machines with integrated graphics cards
 * Reduced the travel time to Cuba
 * Lowered the difficulty of some of the Quest task goals for the Voodoo Doll Quest
 * Ships attacking you will now flash on your Radar
 * Fixed a missing icon on the Map Button in your Sea Chest
 * Changed the name of "Rutherford Bligh" to "Captain Job"
 * Fixed a case in Blackjack where a player has a non-natural 21 and the dealer has a natural 21
 * Updated the tutorial so that you have to get the free ship from Darby Drydock before being allowed to purchase additional ships
 * Added a Poker table in the King's Arm Tavern on Tortuga

August 14, 2008

 * Ships no longer spawn on top of one another in Privateering
 * Fixed an exploit that allowed you to run faster than normal if you were running and strafing at the same time
 * Added new hints for Privateering
 * Players can now dock immediately after respawning regardless of time since taking damage when in Privateering mode
 * Adjusted the collisions on ships
 * Fixed several crashes that would occur if you exited the game while using a weapon
 * The capitalization of the names of the Privateering islands and their lords is now consistent
 * You must now be at least a level 15 pirate in order to get the French/Spanish undead quests from Orinda Le Jeune
 * Reduced the amount of damage skeleton ships can deal

Known Issues

 * On rare occasions a player's ship will be stuck at sea
 * Workaround: The next time the game servers are restarted, the ship will return to the player
 * A recent AVG Internet Security update falsely detects Pirates Online's "Launcher1.exe" as a Trojan Horse.
 * Workaround: Download the latest definition file from AVG released Sunday, April 27
 * Trend Micro Anti-Virus has falsely detected Pirates Online's Launcher1.exe as a Trojan Horse
 * Workaround: Download the latest definition file from Trend Micro
 * Occasionally, a Boss Battle crew will not remain intact after teleporting to the Boss Battle
 * Members of the crew will sometimes get left behind when boarding a flagship, causing the player to be unable to move.
 * Workaround:Hitting F1 will release the player.
 * The Whisper chat window closes the second time you click Whisper and try to send a message.
 * Workaround: Close and re-open the Pirate's avatar panel each time you want to whisper to a fellow Pirate.
 * The Lookout System seems like it is often not able to find matches for higher level Pirates looking to do PVP
 * Workaround: Invite other high level Pirates to PVP before initiating the Lookout System.
 * The chat panel sometimes switches to Local when you are chatting with your Guild or Crew.
 * Workaround: Click either the Guild or Crew chat tab.
 * On rare occasions, pressing the Enter button on the keyboard will not bring up the Chat window.
 * Workaround: Click on the gold arrow next to the skull icon, which is found in the bottom left hand corner of the game window.
 * Game does not minimize when clicking Upgrade button on Mac.
 * Workaround: Switch your game settings to Windowed Mode
 * Grenades are not hitting the fort floors or ship floors.
 * Workaround: You must hit an enemy directly to cause damage.
 * Vista and Mac game-related crashes occurring while boarding, sailing, and docking ships
 * Workaround: For users with ATI video cards, try updating to the newest driver version which you can download from here

Privateering has been added:
vThe radar now remembers your zoom level when boarding and leaving a ship vFixed a bug with the voodoo doll that would divide healing power among all attuned targets(including enemy NPCs) instead of only dividing it among attuned targets that are players
 * Side with either the French or Spanish pirate "Lords" as a privateer and engage rival Pirates in epic sea battles
 * Launch your ship from the islands of Isla De La Avaricia (Spanish) or Ile D'Etable DePorc (French), and you will automatically be put into Privateering mode
 * New Privateering loading hint screens have been added
 * Added Privateering chat. Now you can communicate with other members of your team without an opposing team knowing about it. (This type of chat will appear in a gold color in your chat window.)
 * While in Privateering mode, flagships will sink immediately when you disable them
 * Adjusted the armor on NPC ships so it is slightly weaker than player ships
 * Cannon balls are no longer be able to be shot through islands
 * Added a minimum system requirements check to the game launcher
 * Added the Crew Heads Up Display (HUD) so you can see what other crew members are doing
 * Updated the Basic Access player popup
 * Added NPCs with glowing question marks above their heads. These "helper NPCs" will give advice in the same manner as Quest dialog. You can find a couple of these NPCs on the Privateering islands
 * The ship repair panel will update correctly when repairing your ship
 * Undead Grenadiers now animate properly when attacking players
 * Avatars that teleport to friends (but whose friends are still in jail) will be able to leave the jail, if the door was already kicked down
 * Updated the ship damage interface
 * Cannons do more damage the closer you are to your enemy
 * Removed the teleport totem icon from the map for Kingshead island
 * The Ray-Of-Light will guide you better to your Quest objectives
 * Fixed several Quest dialog bugs
 * Fixed a bug that caused the cannon reload status bar to occasionally hang at an intermediate point
 * Fixed a bug that was preventing clothing/jewelry/tattoo rewards from being dropped by enemies if your inventory was already full of these items
 * Fixed a bug that allowed players to appear undead outside of PVP
 * Fixed a bug that allowed the French/Spanish NPCs to respawn on their ship if it was taking too long to defeat all NPCs
 * Fixed a bug that would not allow you to run after you died while taking aim with the pistol

June 16, 2008

 * Fixed the radar. Townsfolk are green, players are blue, and enemies are red.
 * The quest journal should now scroll when using your mouse's wheel

May 29, 2008

 * Fixed a crash that happened when throwing grenades at fly traps or ships

May 28, 2008

 * Added new French and Spanish skeletons. French skeletons can be found on Isla Cangrejos and Spanish skeletons can be found on Cutthroat Isle. New French and Spanish skeleton ships can be found sailing around Isla Cangrejos and Cutthroat Isle, respectively. The new skeleton types are as follows:

French:

 * French Undead Maitre
 * French Undead Quarter Master
 * French Undead Lieutenant
 * French Undead Capitaine

Spanish:

 * Spanish Undead Conquistador
 * Spanish Undead Bandido
 * Spanish Undead Pirata
 * Spanish Undead Captain

Added two new islands to the world:

 * Isla De La Avaricia=
 * Ile D'Etable De Porc
 * Fixed a bug that was preventing people with PowerPC based Macs from being able to play the game
 * Adjusted the placement of Mother's day tattoos
 * Added new ship sinking cutscenes
 * Added an in-game feedback form. When using this form, please be as specific as possible. Please note that you will not receive any feedback from support using this form (click here for technical support). The feedback form button icon is a question mark and can be found on the options menu
 * In an effort to improve the early in-game experience, we have launched welcome worlds. This is a scaled down instance of the Pirates world that a player plays in until they launch a ship for the first time.
 * Added some debugging for tracking down lingering issues with textures when using the DirectX9 graphics API.
 * Fixed a bug that was preventing collisions with the masts of your ship once you had been on a cannon
 * A new quest titled "Skeleton Infestation" will be given out by Orinda Le Jeune located on the Tortuga Docks
 * Fixed some misspellings in quest dialog
 * Ship panels no longer disappear when they break
 * Fixed a bug that was breaking the "track quests" button after completing the black pearl boss battle

May 2, 2008

 * Put in a fix to prevent player on player damage that was occurring in parlor games and other non-PvP instances
 * Put in fixes for a handful of crashes related to sailing, PvP, and the Lookout System
 * Removed invalid crew invitation messages appearing when players switched servers
 * Put in a fix for input controls freezing when using the pistol, grenades, or tonics

April 30, 2008
You can now have an "inventory" of tattoos. You no longer have to remove a tattoo in order to buy a new - you can buy several and wear them whenever you want. Receive from Perla Alodia, Jeweler on Padres Del Fuego Receive from Mercedes Corazon, Tattoo Artist on Padres Del Fuego Receive from Dajin Ming, Jeweler on Tortuga Receive from Lala Lovel, Tattoo Artist on Tortuga Receive from Jeweler Smitty, Jeweler on Port Royal Receive from Solomon O'Dougal, Tattoo Artist on Port Royal Receive from Perla Alodia, Jeweler on Padres Del Fuego Receive from Dajin Ming, Jeweler on Tortuga Receive from Jeweler Smitty, Jeweler on Port Royal Receive from Solomon O'Dougal, Tattoo Artist on Port Royal Receive from Lala Lovel, Tattoo Artist on Tortuga Receive from Mercedes Corazon, Tattoo Artist on Padres Del Fuego
 * New quests have been added for level 4 weapon upgrades for: Sword, Pistol, Dagger, Voodoo Doll and Voodoo Staff. These weapon quests will automatically appear in your journal once you've reached level 15 Notoriety for that weapon.
 * Light Galleon ships are now available to Basic Access players.
 * Fixed a bug occurring in Basic Access mode that was causing an "Upgrade Now" popup to appear every time you defeated an enemy, if you were carrying a blocked quest.
 * Ammo pouches are now available for purchase. These pouches allow you to carry more ammo (i.e. bullets, cannonballs, daggers, grenades) than the base amount.
 * It's now easier to find a crew using your crew panel (to open your crew panel: hit the "F" key and then press the "Crew" button). You can now:
 * Create a crew: Crew Options -> Start A Crew
 * Search for crewmates (once you've started a crew): Crew Options -> Recruit Crewmates (there are also some advanced options for the more discerning captains)
 * Join someone else's crew: Crew Options -> Search For A Crew
 * Let others near you know that you are looking for a crew: Crew Options -> Looking For Crew
 * Better bonuses for crewing have been added: the notoriety bonus for a crew of 2 is 20%, and it ramps up to a max bonus of 50% for an 8 person crew.
 * Improved whisper functionality:
 * The chat panel remains in whisper mode as long as the player doesn't click X or try to reply to an absent avatar
 * By pressing "Alt-Enter", you can automatically whisper to the player that most recently whispered to you
 * The chat panel now provides more feedback when trying to send a whisper to someone who went away
 * Modified the way NPC's target their attackers: they used to attack the person that first attacked them, but will now switch between attacking the person doing the most damage, as well as others nearby that are doing damage.
 * The first voodoo doll quest, acquired at level 5, is now available to Basic Access players
 * Shortened the length of the groggy penalty
 * Shortened recharge time for tonics
 * Added a "/event" command so you can see what events are in progress and how much time is remaining. In order to activate this feature, type "/event" into your chat panel
 * Fixed the bug that was allowing strangers to board your ship. Only the captain's friends and crewmates are now able to board
 * Added the following new quests that provide jewelry and tattoo rewards that you cannot buy in shops:
 * "Spy Trouble"
 * "Black Market"
 * "Eliminating The Competition"
 * "Lala's Brother"
 * "Smitty's Sickness"
 * "Family Valuables"
 * "Precious Treasures"
 * "Picking Up The Slack"
 * "Smitty's Debt"
 * "Special Ink"
 * "Lala's Neighbors"
 * "Helping Mercedes Corazon"

March 27, 2008

 * Reopened the Black Pearl Boss Battle. Thank you for your patience!
 * Removed Headstone Cutscene after completing the Black Pearl Boss Battle.
 * Fixed a bug causing townsfolk to not appear neutral in the radar
 * Fixed a rare crash in the barber shop

March 20, 2008

 * Fix for the bug that was causing Grenade, Port Royal Teleport, Padres Teleport, and Cuba Teleport quests to not be assigned at the proper level
 * Adjusted camera angle when receiving a quest from an NPC
 * Fixed NPC animation for when they are talking to you
 * Added a close button to pop-up messages for holiday items and Blackjack Fridays
 * Fixed a bug in lighting on the jewelry shops in low graphic settings
 * Removed extraneous sound effects that played after hitting Escape button during a cut scene
 * Removed duplicate skeletons in the Port Royal graveyard
 * Lowered the level of the Navy soldier outside of the Governor's mansion
 * Moved the confirmation panel for a lookout match to the left of the screen
 * Fixed a bug with War Frigate broadsides always showing 10/12 broadsides on the ship page
 * Fixed the odd looking icon on the cannon level up message
 * Added icons to indicate an island tunnel entrance on the compass

March 8, 2008

 * Fixed a bug that was causing combat sound effects to go off every time a ship came into view

March 4, 2008

 * Added feature to let other players know that you are away from the keyboard. Type /afk or /away in your chat window to activate it.
 * Fixed crash that occurred when clicking on the Rename button after your Pirate's name was denied approval

March 1, 2008

 * Fixed a bug that prevented female avatars from changing clothing

February 29, 2008

 * Fixed a bug that was causing pirates to crash in rare cases when buying clothing and subsequently crash on login.
 * Disabled the CPU frequency popup
 * Fixed a bug that was causing Tattoos to not appear on your pirate on the DXD webpage
 * Fixed an avatar texturing problem for players using DirectX rendering
 * Fixed a bug where a pirate with a full friends list affecting other pirates on the account.
 * Fixed a crash on clicking the Upgrade button on the 7-day fullscreen preview panel on a Mac
 * Fixed the texture resolution on wooden panel for low-texture settings
 * Fixed an issue causing the quest speedchat menu from going off the bottom of the screen
 * Fixed several client crashes related to the guild invite panel

Avatar Customization

 * There are now jewelers, barbers, tailors, and tattoo parlors in Port Royal, Tortuga, Del Fuego, and Cuba
 * Added the ability to zoom in on your avatar with the middle mouse wheel if you are not moving or in combat.
 * Added random drops of rare clothing when defeating an enemy. The chance of getting clothes is rare, but the colors are unique and you can't find them in stores anywhere.

Emotes
==January 23, 2008
 * Added emotes! You can access them via the speed chat menu or by typing / at the chat prompt. Here is the list of some of the emotes you can use with the / command: Angry, arrr, bow, celebrate, coin, cry, dance, flex, greet, laugh, help, nod, sad, scared, sleep, smile, wave, wink, yawn, yes, no
 * Guild invite token system update
 * Added two additional types of Guild tokens: Limited Multi-use Codes (i.e. a token that can be redeemed 10 times) and Unlimited Codes (a token that can be used forever, until you invalidate it)
 * Added a button on the Crew panel that lets you put a "Looking for Crew" message above your head. Click on the "Crew Options" button in your Crew panel to activate this feature. You can also type /lfc in your chat window to toggle the Looking for Crew label
 * Added in-game pop-ups to notify players when Blackjack Friday has begun (Blackjack Fridays are every Friday from 3-9 PM Pacific Time)
 * Moved the Game Options button to the main screen, next to your sea chest - it is now available in both Make-A-Pirate and the tutorial
 * Fixed bug that was not allowing players to teleport or chat to guild/crew members who they couldn't see
 * Fixed bug allowing players to teleport to servers that are full from the Pick-a-Pirate screen
 * Added clearer messaging to explain why a teleport may have failed (i.e. other player's ship sunk, etc.)
 * Added a check to see if your CPU is running at max frequency. If not, you will get a pop-up after the client has been running for 2 minutes.
 * Doubled the chances of getting a cheat card dropped when defeating NPCs
 * Fixed flickering in interiors on low graphics settings
 * Increased maximum crew size to 12 so you can fill a War Frigate with a single crew
 * Fixed an exploit where you could have multiple avatars switching being captain of the ship to avoid recharge times for broadsides
 * Fix for short male and other low height avatar's feet showing up below the floor
 * Fixed a bug on the compass that caused North to point the wrong direction


 * Fixed a bug that was causing flagships to disappear over time
 * Changed default full screen resolution to 1024 x 768 for higher end graphics cards
 * Added a fix for issues that occurred while the voodoo staff is charging

January 18, 2008

 * Fixed the bug causing braids to be missing on female pirates wearing a bandana.
 * Fixed the bug that was causing players' ships to show up twice in the dinghy interface when they had a crew member aboard.
 * Fixed the crash that was occurring when someone used the "port of call" button before downloading the entire game.
 * Fixed the crash that was occurring when using the Voodoo Staff Soul Flay skill.
 * Removed avatar panel pop-up that occurred when clicking on other ships. This was allowing people to teleport to another player's ship even if they were not friends, crew mates, or Guild mates.

January 14, 2008

 * Fixed a bug preventing the ability to promote, demote, or eject offline guild members
 * Fixed a crash that occurred while teleporting to a friend's or crewmates' ship as they are docking
 * Fixed a crash from using the up and down arrow keys in the Pick-a-Pirate screen while in Basic Access mode
 * Fixed a bug that caused a change in the height of your pirate
 * Fixed a bug with ponytails not showing up for certain hairstyles

January 11, 2008

 * Changed default graphics settings to Medium, unless the player's video card is known to perform well at high settings.
 * Note: You will have a longer load time going into the game the first time after this update, as the game cache will need to be rebuilt as a result of this change.
 * Fixed the issue with the guild promotion not being present when clicking on an avatar.
 * Fixed the crash that occurred when clicking the "Rename" button after having an avatar name rejected.

January 10, 2008

 * Changed default game mode to full screen for Unlimited Players. The game was previously starting in windowed mode.
 * Clicking on a pirate's name in the guild panel will now bring up the regular pirate options panel. You can still update a pirate's guild membership through the guild button on that panel.
 * Fixed bug that was intermittently causing buildings to be missing when teleporting to an island
 * Made the placement of the pirate options panel more consistent when clicking on friend/crew/guild member in friends panel.

January 8, 2008

 * Added a 7-day fullscreen preview. New accounts will start the game in fullscreen mode. After 7 days, the game will revert to a windowed mode with ads.
 * Crew teleport issues should now be fixed.
 * Fixed a bug preventing family accounts with a large number of pirates from logging in.
 * Increased the Notoriety gain for Voodoo Staff (except for the Blast skill, which was reduced).
 * Reduced the amount of damage a lower level enemy deals to a higher level player.
 * Added a fix so that players can't kill Jack the monkey during the pistol tutorial.
 * Complete clothing system re-write to increase efficiency when rendering avatars.