POTCO Release Notes - 2009

This Release Notes page will list major updates in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean Online during the year 2009. But, for the latest information - also check Pirates Online or Pirates Online Forums!

Release Notes - December 31, 2009

New Game Feature and Improvement: Added a fix to improve server stability. Release Notes - December 23, 2009

New Improvement: Resolved the unusually long loading times for Windows 7 users Fixed the bug allowing a single ship to be "sunk" repeatedly after being sunk the first time Reinstated the mast breaking sound effect Sinking ships now sink stern first again Changed the "Sail" stat to "Speed" in the Shipwright's store Fixed several client crashes Release Notes - December 16, 2009

New Improvement: Privateering ships now display the correct sail colors. Fixed a bug preventing Pirates from using cannons and the steering wheel after being sunk in Privateering Fixed the cannon damage sound effects on ships Known Issues - December 16, 2009

Window 7 users may experience long delays logging in and at loading screens. We're working to resolve these soon. Release Notes - December 11, 2009

New Improvement: Fixed two ship-related AI crashes. Release Notes - December 10, 2009

New Game Features and Improvements: Ships and Sailing have undergone several improvements. You may see a boost in performance while at sea and slight changes to ship design and sail animations, depending on your graphics settings. Jolly Roger is now invading Tortuga A new lighting and fog system gives more atmosphere to the environments based on the time of day. Pirates are no longer physically blocked by other Pirates. This means you can walk through another Pirate rather than having to walk around them. This makes it easier to walk through tight, crowded spaces.

Fixes and Additional Improvements:

Fixed a bug that caused the Crew Display to disappear at random times. Pirates now get a small Reputation Bonus for reviving a fellow Pirate. The Viper's Nest Dagger Skill breaks multiple attunements. Your ship will no longer take damage from enemies sailing beyond visual range. Less valuable cargo will be dumped to make room for more valuable chests earned from sinking ships. Ship sails and masts now take significant damage from Chain Shot Ship armor is now more effective across all ships Boosted the defensive capabilities of enemy ships by 25% The screen no longer flashes red when you get hit by friendly fire. Fixed several graphic issues with a few cut scenes. Shortened Captain Barbossa's cut scene. Known Issues - December 10, 2009

Privateering Ships may not have their sails and nametags colored correctly. Galleon and Frigate sails do not raise when playing on Low Graphic Settings. There may be some missing cannonball sound effects during combat. Release Notes - October 21, 2009

Fire on the mansion lasts longer when overwhelmed by Jolly Roger's forces Players will no longer crash when teleporting away while the Invasion summary screen is being displayed. Jolly Roger can now be attacked with Voodoo Shackles. Bandanas are now displaying correctly. Release Notes - October 16, 2009

Beware of Jolly Roger's Invasion! Keep your eyes peeled, for Jolly Roger's ship has been sighted near Port Royal. When he attacks the town, defend the Barricades and the Governor's Mansion from Jolly Roger's skeleton army! Townsfolk will now notice nearby players and greet them. Enemies will either taunt or cower from nearby players. When waiting for a Revive, Knocked Out players no longer stand-up when hit by a grenade. Added different types of footstep sounds. Updated some of the loading screen images. Known Issues - October 16, 2009

Minor graphical issues in some cutscenes Release Notes - September 15, 2009

Fixed a reputation-gain shortcut from one of the side quests Cleaned up the misbehaving Voodoo Doll attune effects that remained after an avatar teleported away When creating your pirate, the belt color will randomize when using the Shuffle option Fixed a bug where players' levels were incorrectly displayed higher than their Pirate Profile card Fixed several collision issues in the new cave environments Improved the Mini-maps in several of the new cave environments Fixed some broken quest dialog for the Padres del Fuego shipwright

New Game Features:

 * Notoriety Level Cap and Weapon Reputation Levels have been increased
 * Notoriety Level Cap increased to 50
 * Weapon Reputation Level increased to 30
 * Pirates can level their character up faster, as you get more experience when defeating enemies
 * New cave environments in the following areas:
 * Murky Hollow, Port Royal
 * Royal Caverns, Port Royal
 * Thieve's Den, Tortuga
 * Lava Gorge, Padres del Fuego
 * Beckett's Quary, Padres del Fuego
 * The Catacombs, Padres del Fuego
 * Tormenta Cave (Now Renamed, Cursed Caverns), Isla Tormenta
 * New cave environments feature new higher level enemies
 * New Casa Muertos Quest (Quest available from 9/4 until 9/27)

Game Improvements:

 * Ship Speed Improvements
 * You no longer lose all forward momentum when making small changes to your direction
 * A new speed meter now displays how fast your ship is moving.
 * Ships now move faster
 * UI Improvements
 * The map in the compass now maintains consistent orientation with the full-screen minimap on land. The arrow in the center turns as the avatar turns
 * You can modify the compass behavior for land and sea on the Interface Options tab in the Game Options Menu.

August 6, 2009

 * Various bug fixes

New Features

 * Introducing the Revive System. This will let you keep mates from going "unconscious" and being carried off to jail when defeated in battle
 * When reviving another Pirate, you will use one of the smallest tonics in your inventory
 * Introducing new avatar body types for new Pirates created after this release
 * Improved Early Player Experience
 * Players now have the option of skipping the tutorial after creating their pirate
 * Removed the ad-frame for Basic Members, now Basic Members can play the game in full screen from day one
 * Improved the readability of the contextual pop-up hints
 * Gameplay Improvements
 * Many updates to balance the rest of the quest lines in the game
 * Creatures' levels, types, and locations updated as well
 * Increased the cargo capacity for Pirates' ships (new hold amounts are listed below)
 * Light Sloop - now carries 6 Cargo instead of 3
 * Light Galleon - now carries 10 Cargo instead of 7
 * Light Frigate - now carries 8 Cargo instead of 5
 * Sloop - now carries 10 Cargo instead of 6
 * Galleon - now carries 14 Cargo instead of 11
 * Frigate - now carries 12 Cargo instead of 9
 * War Sloop - now carries 14 Cargo instead of 9
 * War Galleon - now carries 18 Cargo instead of 16
 * War Frigate - now carries 16 Cargo instead of 12
 * Reduced the duration of the "Weaken" effect on Pirates
 * Pirates' automatic healing begins more quickly after battle now
 * The tonic icon now displays the total number of tonics you have in your inventory.
 * The tonic displayed in the icon represents the tonic you will use if you click on the icon or press 'T'
 * Made land enemies less aggressive
 * Better presentation when purchasing a voyage using the Stowaway option

Notable Bugfixes

 * The ship icons on the compass no longer disappear when sailing near the rocky islands

June 9, 2009

 * Various minor bug fixes

June 4, 2009

 * Fixed a server crash
 * Fixed a premature completion of some quest types

June 2, 2009

 * Improved Early Player Experience
 * Early Quests have been modified for better playability, including Quests to find the first three Black Pearl crew members and Quest lines related to the Voodoo Doll
 * Introduced new tutorial pop-up hints. These hints can be turned on and off from the Game Options Menu (F7)
 * In the Cutlass tutorial, Pirates are now shown the skills they can earn later
 * Transportation Enhancements
 * Added new Dockworker NPCs to help Pirates stowaway on ships. This is a new transportation option which helps Pirates reach their destination without sailing a ship or needing a Teleport Totem. To become a stowaway, find a Dockworker on the docks of Tortuga, Port Royal, Padres Del Fuego or Cuba and pay him the gold he requests for the service.
 * Added 38 new, player-submitted ship names to the Shipwright's Ship Naming Menu

Technical Enhancements
vPolished the drop down Main Menu and Escape key interaction
 * Changed enemy difficulties in areas throughout the game for better playability
 * Added Chat Permission Status to the Pirate Profile Panel
 * Added an option to toggle on and off Windows Sticky Keys (this option is disabled by default)
 * Additional Improvements & Bug Fixes:
 * Changing Cannon Ammunition types no longer restarts the recharge timer
 * Made several bug fixes to NPC's: returned Navy Sailors to normal heights, enemies no longer ambush players and enemies will no longer attack Pirates once you leave their area
 * Better feedback/flow for guild name requests
 * The loading screen now appears when starting game instead of a black screen
 * Made several improvements to the Ray of Light to address tracking and hint problems
 * Removed the Quest completion percentages from the Journal page
 * Re-enabled the "dazed" effect above a Pirates head (for higher-detail graphics/effects settings)
 * Fixed a bug where your ship's repair spots would not be available even when the ship was stopped
 * For security reasons, we have removed the ability to tab between Linked Accounts on the Pirate selection screen. Please sign in with the appropriate login and password for the account you want to play

May 7, 2009

 * Added debugging information to track down an issue

April 24, 2009

 * Fixed several client crashes and minor gameplay issues

April 16, 2009
vPlayers who were stranded on Tormenta Island after the most recent updates should now appear on Padres Del Fuego when they log in next time

April 15, 2009

 * Fixed several client crashes and minor gameplay issues

April 11, 2009

 * Fixed a few client crashes

April 10, 2009

 * Fixed invisible re-spawning avatars (this was most common in PVP)
 * Moved the team indicator on low-detail avatars in PVP
 * Removed some waterfalls from the caves that had rendering problems

April 8, 2009

 * New and Improved Padres Del Fuego: Players should see significant performance increases thanks to the new layout.
 * Improved the Reputation Bar. It is now easier to track your Notoriety and Weapon progress.
 * The Compass Map now rotates with the camera instead of the avatar.
 * Cleaned up the Tutorial and early Quest lines.
 * Female avatar emotes now animate better.
 * Crew members that are AFK will no longer receive cargo credit for sunk ships.
 * Made several improvements to Quest tracking with the Ray of Light.
 * The graphics options will now warn you if you try to change your settings from what is recommended.
 * More performance improvements.
 * Numerous bug and memory leaks have also been fixed.

March 17, 2009

 * Fixed a client bug that would cause tunnels not to work
 * Fixed an occasional download issue

March 6, 2009

 * Some missing NPCs on Port Royal and Tortuga have returned
 * Pressing "escape" now closes the Chat Panel as it used to
 * The Boarding Permission panel now hides when you click the Boarding Permission button
 * Fixed the ten second flicker on the Compass and Ray of Light for some tracked quests
 * Swamp water on Tortuga should look better now
 * Musicians in Tortuga tavern now have actual names
 * If a player rejects your invitation to become your friend, you now receive a notification
 * Harmless animals no longer appear as enemies on the Compass
 * Ships that have respawned now show up on the Compass
 * Your current ship now maintains its bronze color on the Compass
 * Fixed several client memory leaks
 * Fixed various other smaller bugs

Environmental Improvements:

 * Redesigned Tortuga (including the Minimap) for better game performance
 * Moved the entrance of King's Run to the back of the Port Royal graveyard . this will help new players progress more easily through the tutorial
 * General Bug Fixes:
 * Fixed some issues with emotes not displaying properly
 * Fixed an issue where players could escape from the jail without kicking the door open
 * Resolved an weapon exploit that allowed Pirates to cast Voodoo Staff Desolation without charging it
 * Players are no longer slowed down by Undead Gravediggers' throwing daggers
 * Fixed a bug where you could not see your own Whispers to unknown Pirates
 * Made several improvements and fixes to the Crew System
 * Pirates of the Caribbean Online now supports 16 bit color in windowed mode when using DirectX8 and DirectX9
 * General Improvements:
 * The Game Options menu can now be accessed in-game by pressing the "F7" key
 * Improved the way avatars are being displayed to improve frame rate
 * When tracking enemies to complete a Quest, the Compass now glows when you reach the target area
 * Returned the Musicians to the taverns on Port Royal and Tortuga. Pirates can now play the sheet music earned in the Cannons of the Deep mobile game.
 * Improved Broadside Cannon aim
 * The Windcatcher Ship Skill (which increases your speed at sea) works again
 * Added the ability to bring up your Pirate profile by clicking on your Pirate name in the chat window

February 17, 2009

 * Updated NPC dialog

Known Issues

 * Currently we're aware some players may experience a crash when trying to launch the gameon a Windows machine. We're working to resolve this issue which is related to graphics updates. Until we do, please use the steps below as a workaround to adjust your computers settings. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank *you for playing Pirates of the Caribbean Online.
 * Workaround:
 * Follow these steps to change the Color Settings in your Graphics Display properties:
 * Click on Start > Control Panel
 * Select Display
 * Click the Settings tab
 * Under Color Quality, select "Highest (32 bit)" and click Apply, your monitor will go dark for several seconds as the new settings are applied
 * Click OK to exit the Display Properties window
 * Sign in to Pirates Online and press Play.
 * If you still have issues playing the game, please submit a bug report with your game_options.txt file and most recent log files attached. These files can be found in your C:\ProgramFiles\Disney\DisneyOnline\PiratesOnline folder.

Bug Fixes:

 * Fixed a bug where a Pirate could become invincible on Kingshead
 * Fixed a bug that allowed you to harm other Pirates if they were in a Privateer crew and on a team different than your own
 * Fixed a bug in the Crew HUD that would not show some crew members if you disconnected and reconnected

Display/Graphic Issues:

 * Fixed the icon that was not showing up when Guests were playing on a Windows machine in windowed mode
 * Fixed texture issues for Guests playing on a Mac

February 5, 2009

 * Fixed the door in the smugglers' cache on Rumrunner's Isle. Pirates will no longer be trapped inside the cache.
 * Fixed text formatting issues with chat

February 4, 2009

 * Fixed a crash with NVidia and ATI graphics cards that prevented some Pirates from entering the game
 * Fixed the missing Dagger animations
 * Crew Members will remain pink on the mini-map
 * Plugged several client memory leaks which will improve performance during long game play
 * Fixed several crashes on exit
 * Optimized Teleportation effects to improve your frame rate when you teleport or when witnessing another avatar teleport.

January 30, 2009

 * New and improved Port Royal: Players should see significant performance increases thanksto the new layout.
 * New and improved Tutorial: Now more action packed!
 * Added a player Profile Card so you can view details about players you meet.
 * Early Quest Line has been smoothed out and should be much more fun.
 * Overall smoother gameplay: Fewer hiccups and pauses during the action.
 * Improved crew making and display: Starting and joining crews is easier than ever before. The onscreen crew display is now even more useful.
 * Improved Chat interface: Only one text entry box now and it routes your message appropriately.
 * Clothing Store changes: It is much easier to browse through all your wardrobe choices.
 * Fixed another exploit that allowed you leave a PvP while still undead.
 * Reputation gains are no longer reduced for Basic Access players.
 * Lots of other small tweaks and improvements!

Known Issues

 * If you have issues launching the game or experience poor performance with OpenGL, pleasetry changing the graphics library to DirectX9 via the "Graphics Options" button on the Launcher.
 * When clicking on another pirate or a friend in the friend's panel you may experience a crash. If this happens, change your graphics library (API) to DX9. This should resolve the problem.
 * The text describing emotes is not showing up in the chat log. We are currently working on a fix.