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So, about Book 15... (SPOILERS)

AuthorMessage
Dread Pirate
Jun 13, 2011
2037
You know, Blind Mew, if the momentum from the huge Books that were waiting to get solved & pushing the story in later Books were weighing you down, why didn't you decide to just shave some of it off by solving some mysteries that were left dangling in optional to some side dungeon zone updates? Would've been better to let some o' that momentum go that way while harboring the original outline Books 16 through 20 would've had intact.

Still, if you wish to let all that go to end the 1st arc at Book 15... so be it.

My greatest wish about arc 2... I hope the outline to it will go as planned, not have it end sooner to lose all the momentum it will gather & leave it to be finished in side content updates. Just not too much, though. Some is fine. Leave the important momentum in it. I also wish that arc 2 will have proper build-up, arc 2's Big Bad will have our many battles with that Big Bad before going into the Big Bad's last battle that should contain multiple forms, & a proper grand finale to arc 2 that should be well worth creating, not a shortened one.

With arc 2 now inevitable, at least give it the proper space & time needed to make it as grand as it can be, not shorten it. If you feel the set amount of Books to arc 2 wouldn't be enough to make you happy while the outline would be a bit longer than planned, then extend the arc by a few more Books. I wouldn't mind if it got extended to give you more time to shape the proper finale to it. Don't shorten it, extend it, if you feel you need more time & space on it.

All I can hope for arc 2 is to have at least most important questions, elements & mysteries that weren't solved concluded by the time arc 2 gets near enough to concluding it before the grand finale. Leave the minor ones to be solved in side content updates later. I don't mind that. Least we need are past mysteries solved before we get to the real finale & proper quality time with the next Big Bad. That's what we all need.

Take heed on these lessons, Blind Mew.

Dread Pirate
Jun 13, 2011
2037
Blind Mew, if you've read this post about Book 10's state & how it could be reshaped to meet some standards of most Books, I've something to say about this...

Why wasn't there any exposition & dynamic excitement in Book 10? What is the backstory behind how Pecos Skyway became Haunted Skyway? How did Captain Blood take over that portion of Cool Ranch into his own playground o' undead & evil?

These questions were unanswered as I went through it & soon felt that a portion of Book 10 after finishing "Blasted Desperadoes" & before "Secret Hideaway" would've been better off being a side quest chain of it's own, completely separate from the main storyline while a newer chunk o' the story would answer these questions & give it some more adventures & new enemies that would make to be the addition to Captain Blood's undead army.

These ideas of mine would be like how it was with the Skull Island Expansion update that gave better pacing to Book 1's main story quests, which is very satisfactory to many, so I thought, "Why not do the same thing to Book 10's main story quests?".

Blind Mew, hope you've time to re-do some portions to Book 10, 'cause, in it's present state, it's, well... unsatisfying to me.

Bosun
Dec 28, 2012
361
Time to say 2 years worth of questions

1. Would you ever consider having a skyway or world as a dungeon (You would enter the stormgate/skyway and it would say "Ahoy pirate, you're about to go into a dungeon")

2. Was the machine originally going to be longer?

3. Will we ever have another world like Avernus where we are only there for a few seconds?

4. Will we ever make a return to Avernus?

5. Will there ever be an island with a skyway inside it (I heard rumors the Machine was originally going to be like this?

6. If we go to Polaris, would it be pre wizard101 Polaris, during Wizard101 Polaris, or post Wizard101 Polaris?

7. Would there ever be a Valencia part III (most likely in Andalusian Skyway)

Gunner's Mate
May 02, 2009
253
That's very interesting, and I do like that reference to the Bible in Kane and Able with Able also not making it out if I remember some of my Bible facts correctly. That said, I do have some questions though.

1. If G was supposed to be the primary quest giver in the future then why was the story changed to Kane just executing him on the spot with his Sparkshooter?

2. Was it always planned on Kane destroying the Heart or not?

3. Are we ever going to go to El Dorado or not?

4. At the end of the Kane fight our parents tell us to avoid going to El Dorado. Why is that? And was this always intended to happen or not?

5. Why was the decision made to just rush to the end of the arc rather than to keep the original plan on track like before? It just seems to me like none of this would have happened if the higher-ups didn't decide to just rush everything to the end (look at Sonic 06 and Sonic R, two games that were rushed to completion: both are fun but are missing such key elements that would have made it even better).

Thanks in advance and as always thank you for your time.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
A facetious question: I once wondered whether Queen had skates on under her skirts, having now seen how swiftly and smoothly she moves ( hardly seeming to walk ), does she actually have wheels instead of feet?

Captain
Feb 11, 2010
644
I have a lot to say about this...

1. I think we as the players all deserve to know exactly WHY cuts were made to the incredible plot Arc 1 was going to be. I wish it hadn't ended too abruptly.

2. I noticed a mention of Ericka the Red in Book 16 or 17. Since this was cut, I must ask: Do we ever go to Grizzleheim? Will we ever go to Grizzleheim? I don't know for sure, but there have been some more things Grizzleheim related, with Knut and Bjorn. It's my favorite world, and I do hope we eventually go there.

3. Will there ever be new content added to Cool Ranch, such as a side story or dungeon similar to the Tower of Moo Manchu? That I'd like to see a lot. CR is my overall favorite world.

4. Any hints on Book 16, such as the world, the story, or maybe future promotion quests, you can give us?

Lieutenant
Apr 06, 2016
154
In Calabria skyway I saw the polaris stormgate.Are we by any chance gonna go there?Since we still never heard of the napoleguin since we freed him(Discluding Barnabus Promotion)

Another thing is Where are the pieces we need to get after kane's defeat?

Ensign
Feb 19, 2010
39
Do you already have an idea of how you want the second arc to play out or you're still not sure yet?

And in your explanation in what would have happened in books 15-20, you said we would get Kane's pieces and Erika's piece to have all 7. Actually, that's 6 pieces. 3+2+1 is 6. (3 being how much pieces we had, 2 being how much pieces Kane had, and 1 being Erika's piece) You still didn't tell us what happened with out mother's piece of the map.

Either way that original plan sounds amazing! I'm really sad we'll never get to see Able though, he sounds to be a pretty cool character that would rival Kane.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 10, 2009
6204
Thank you Sir Mew for that wonderful run down of what might have been. What delightful concepts (Kane & Able....Brilliant!) and though I am saddened to not experience them I trust you enough to know that you have many such delights in store for us. I truly hope funding increases and you will be finally unfettered to spin stories without constraint to delight us for many a year to come.

Dread Pirate
Jun 13, 2011
2037
Well, there is one other question I almost forgot to ask, even though it's design-related. Pass this to Ratbeard, if you please.

Were there any new secret bosses added in the latest update? I really like having secret bosses in P101, even though we only have one with no dialogue, unique badges & little custom-made unique loot, yet, that boss was nevertheless fine to defeat.

I was waiting to see more new secret bosses added to P101 to give us more hidden challenges to overcome, & still, there wasn't more new secret bosses in P101 so far.

I sent in my idea about the equivalent to the highly amazing W101's Skeleton Key secret boss system & having more secret bosses through that system not long ago, & thought you & others at KI have read it sometime or other.

I still would really like to see more new secret bosses added with new unique badges, more custom-made unique loot, special rewards, etc. Ratbeard said he planned to add in something sneaky in the next milestone, which would be some new secret bosses, & yet, that wasn't added as we waited.

I really hope we get more new secret bosses added in more updates to P101, rather than waiting for some milestone update bigger than any KI's done yet.

Ensign
Feb 07, 2011
7
Some more questions, for if you have the time:

1) I've noticed in the machine core Bishop had 0 lines, is it possible the 2 bishops were just showpieces made haphazardly by Kane?, and the real one is still alive?

2) I'm sure this has been asked before, but would it be possible for Gracie to have the know-how to reprogram a clockwork, or even learn how they were constructed to make finer versions for the royal navy?

3) Can we expect a new type of Armada foot-soldier in the coming books?

4) A small hint on what lies in the 3rd Valencia Skyway? or maybe just what animals call it home

5) If companions promotions were around the length of Scratch's second promotion, although short, would it cut down on the amount of resources used to make a promo quest?

Ensign
Feb 19, 2010
39
Ratbeard on Jun 22, 2016 wrote:
It's great that our loyal, existing fans are willing to continue to support the game.

But (and this is just my opinion) if I had the option of asking our existing fans to spend more on the game, or to just recruit or befriend one new player, I'd take new players every time.

Wizard101 isn't the more successful game because their players necessarily spend more to support it. W101 is the more successful game because they have a lot more players.

Players who create a fun, welcoming, enthusiastic environment to draw in and support new players are doing more to promote the game than those who create a negative environment, and I appreciate you all more than I would normally admit.

And now I will return to plotting horrible new ways to defeat your pirates.
Defeat our Pirates?

I might have a few ideas......

Dread Pirate
Jun 13, 2011
2037
I know you posted your answer about the promotion quests' states, in terms of how many companions would get take up too much time to do them in story updates, but, I'll just ask you this...

With the gold promotions placed in to many companions, even those that were supposed to get promotion quests, would we consider them placeholders until they got their promo quests, like giving them a stand-in until their proper canvases gets painted for them?

I mean, I don't want them to derive from KI working on story updates too much, since, upon reading that post, I see that they take long to implement, & still, I really don't want them to stop. If more places would rather be added in favor of more promo quests, I understand.

Now, I have another question...

I thought we would undergo another series of long adventures before going to the main story adventures, like those in arc 2's certain small pre-main world adventure story quests in W101(those which their short length I'm not likely wanting them to in P101), & the one with St. Fido's Church's hauntings(which should have a better explanation why Captain Kid & Governor Shrewsbury were haunting it in the 1st place), so, why were they omitted out in Book 15? I was looking forward to doing some favors before going back to Valencia. Hope we get to see these kind o' adventures again in the 2nd arc. I really want them to come back as the main staple in P101's story.

There's these other questions I didn't think about asking yet...

Since Wizards go to Khrysalis, shouldn't that world have Skyways of it's own? I'm at least interested to know which Skyway's name Khrysalis' central land & Isle of Arachnis takes place. And even if more lands besides those in W101 in that world are mentioned, which is likely someday, would we get the chance to explore them?

1 more question...

Will we get to see preview quests to arc 2 before arc 2 begins, akin to how W101 did it with Celestia? Would like to see them, to get the anticipation going.

Bosun
Dec 28, 2012
361
About how many books will arc 2 be, or has this not been planned yet.

Dread Pirate
Jun 13, 2011
2037
wizardrocks969 on Jun 22, 2016 wrote:
Do you already have an idea of how you want the second arc to play out or you're still not sure yet?

And in your explanation in what would have happened in books 15-20, you said we would get Kane's pieces and Erika's piece to have all 7. Actually, that's 6 pieces. 3+2+1 is 6. (3 being how much pieces we had, 2 being how much pieces Kane had, and 1 being Erika's piece) You still didn't tell us what happened with out mother's piece of the map.

Either way that original plan sounds amazing! I'm really sad we'll never get to see Able though, he sounds to be a pretty cool character that would rival Kane.
TWBT, as he will say it to answer that question.

You're right. He left out the other part in the outline, where would our mother's Map Piece be located in-between. That would've derive a bit from the plan, unless Kane found that piece by the time we're done with building G's plan to defeat Kane. That would make it 3+3+1=7, yes?

I agree with you on that, & I am also sad about not going to see Able, too. Maybe once arc 2 gets underway & done with the proper pacing, buildup & grand finale arc 1 would've had to begin with, I'd think & talk about doing another partial reboot, this time, to arc 1's book amount, especially to Book 15...

Ensign
Jul 30, 2012
5
Hi Blind Mew! I'm so happy that you're back! I have just a few questions and I hope that you will answer them, unless they would be telling. I also just have some feedback:

1. Do you think that maybe in the future, if we get more players, you could add in promotion quests for Gracie and Catbeard?

2. I'm just asking for a TWBT, but is it possible that those crystals which our parents used to tell us to let go of El Dorado were fake, and that Kane/Queen/Phule were trying to trick us?

3. Do you think we could ever get the original plan for Arc 1 as a puppet show? I mean, we would just unlock it after beating Kane or whatever, and we could see the original story in puppet show form, that would be really cool!

4. I really like the battle theme for Valencia 2! Who does the music?

5. Finally, some feedback: I'm so happy that you guys were able to put out an update, even if the arc had to be compressed. I hope that you at KI can now work with a clean slate and provide quality content for us players, and you get more players too. Heck, I convinced one of my friends who thinks that this game is just for kids to try it today, and he's already hooked Anyway, thanks for everything you do Blind Mew!

Community Leader
Blind Mew on Jun 21, 2016 wrote:
(continued)

As I was saying, I need your help.

This game has an amazing community of players - I will forever be humbled by your support, your loyalty and your patience. And the truth is: the more of you we have, the more content we can create. We're probably going to be painting on a smaller canvas in any potential future updates, but I want that canvas to be as big as possible. That's where you come in.

Go out and recruit new players. We'll keep reaching out as well, but we need your help. Tell your friends how much you like this game. Grassroots evangelizing was a big part of Wizard's success, and it can work for Pirate too. If even half the people reading these words bring in just one player and help them get through the first chapters, so much becomes possible. You want more content, and we want to produce it. The best way to get that content made, and made quickly, is to fill the skies with new ships.

Okay, so maybe this post isn't as long as I originally thought it would be. There's a lot more to say, but I figure this is a good point to open it up for conversation. Any questions?
Well, I love this game. But I honestly am disappointed by the short run in Valencia Part 2. It felt nerfed and I did not like it at all, even when the fights were challenging. The way you originally wrote the story for Book 15-20 was perfect. I would've loved to have done that version. I mean a robot named Able?! That would've been epic. I also want to be able to run on the golden streets of El Dorado. Not to mention the two islands we cannot visit in the Calabria Skyway. I thought that it was strange that there are pictures of one of the islands on the Pirate101 site and we cannot visit it... yet. It seemed incredibly important.

That being said, I did love the ending of Valencia Part 2. It was epic. My favorite scene is actually the eye dissing Kane. I laughed. Loved it. I also remember a Princess Bride scene back in Florenza that went something like "Wait, so if I do this for you, you'll hurt him bad?" "Yes, hurt him beyond your wildest dreams." "DONE!" Made me miss the movie actually.

But here's the biggest question - I would love to help get more people into this game. But what else can we do to support the game? Buy crowns, buy memberships, gift certificates, gift cards? What does the game need for it to be flush with funds to make better expansions, longer ones, next time? I mean there are crown players, membership players. It's quite confusing to know what we need to do to show our support for the game.

Thanks.

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Ensign
Jan 14, 2012
11
Will there any new ships and i mean new ships for players like me for arc 2.

Admiral
Jul 27, 2012
1196
Thank you so much for sharing the original outline for the story with us, Blind Mew. It sounded brilliant! I would have loved the story of rescuing Gazpaccio and helping him build Able (nice double pun!), getting to know and probably trust Able and then the heartrenching moments when both Able and Gazpaccio are killed by Kane, and evil seems to win. That would certainly be the suffering prophesied to us by the Serpent Fates in Aquila.

It must have been very difficult to give that story up. And I would have really loved much more build-up to Kane, and much more interaction with the Resistance. But, 'tis done. And you know, the story we have now is still excellent. Gortez' bold plan to get us into Valencia made perfect sense (avoiding the 'reception committee' that I strongly suspected might be at the end of the Avernus gate otherwise, Kane being doubtless sensible that way), and we got the realization of what it truly means to have 'friends in high places'. The side quests, though rather few, gave a very good impression of both the beauty of Valencia and the rottenness beneath (and delightfully silly stuff too, like the lukefisk quest). The mainline quest was tight and dramatic -- perhaps too tight, but certainly working well as a thoughtful, driving story. Though brief, our interaction with Gazpaccio led us not only to pity him, but like him (although he is candidly ashamed of his greedy actions and how he believes it ruined Kane, he has an appealing sweetness and even innocence to him) -- so when Kane murders him, we are not only appalled, but grieving too. That's good - we need that.

(continuing...)

Admiral
Jul 27, 2012
1196
(continuing)

As for Queen, oh, yes, I do so want to have more encounters with her and find out more what she is like. I, however, trust that this will come in the future. Perhaps she has the potential to be a more proactive, directly menacing villain than Kane has so far shown himself to be - not that he wasn't menacing. He certainly was (is, really) when face-to-face, but since Deacon's demise we haven't been looking over our shoulders all the time, because, of course, we weren't worthy of the effort. I'd like to have that uneasy feeling back (yes, really!) where I am looking for assassins or Armada agents in unexpected places -- in effect, that Queen would be more a Rochefort than a Richelieu. Or should I say, more a 'Milady' ).

And I really want to be involved a lot more with the Resistance - but I have hope that perhaps some 'instances' can be created to do so later.

Finally, thank you very much for the hints about the 'peculiarities' of the crystal visions at the end of the battle. I had been dissatisfied because it didn't seem 'right' in view of the story line. Now that I know it is supposed to be 'odd', I am satisfied! Good. A very fine story, all in all, and I am happy.

But, an actual question:
Must Hephaestus be angry with us forever? After all, it is not our fault that things didn't go the way the Immortals saw the currents of time before them. The 'heart' is destroyed (and I'm not entirely sure that is a bad thing, though Gazpaccio felt it was clean and good. I'm not so sure: the sentinel of the Puppet Show seemed awfully vindictive) Perhaps a future side quest in his interest?

Captain
Feb 11, 2010
644
If you guys need to spread the word of Pirate101 to the players, why not air some of the older commercials again, or make a new one altogether? That way millions of people can take notice and possibly start playing.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Why was Gazpaccio exiled? Who exiled him?
Why did Kane consider the Tortellinis worthy of an alliance?
Just how did Kane rise to power in Valencian society?

Admiral
Jul 27, 2012
1196
And, referring to one of the answers in "Well, I asked for it!":

Queen being both "devious" and having "impeccable fashion sense"! I love it! I can see I am going to enjoy this villain very much!

(Now, if you will excuse me, I am inspired to make some drawings... )

Dread Pirate
Jun 13, 2011
2037
Ratbeard on Jun 22, 2016 wrote:
It's great that our loyal, existing fans are willing to continue to support the game.

But (and this is just my opinion) if I had the option of asking our existing fans to spend more on the game, or to just recruit or befriend one new player, I'd take new players every time.

Wizard101 isn't the more successful game because their players necessarily spend more to support it. W101 is the more successful game because they have a lot more players.

Players who create a fun, welcoming, enthusiastic environment to draw in and support new players are doing more to promote the game than those who create a negative environment, and I appreciate you all more than I would normally admit.

And now I will return to plotting horrible new ways to defeat your pirates.
Ratbeard, before you do some more plotting your new ways, which are slightly concerning to some, I've this to ask...

Well, I enjoyed my trek through Book 15, albeit unexpectedly shortened, but, I must say, I was really looking forward to many battles with Kane through arc 1's remainder, especially him having a multi-form final battle at Book 20's end, though, Blind Mew's decision to end it at Book 15 saddened me that the original outline didn't come to reality.

Nevertheless, I had pictured Kane having multiple forms through the supposed last battle, as Big Bads should, where upon defeating his 1st form, he undergoes a mechanical transformation that makes him stronger, bigger, and more deadly than he was, all up to the very last form where he's at his strongest before his ultimate final defeat, making the arc's conclusion very epic with great grandeur and great representation of closure to the Big Bad we've been willing to finish off.

My idea about upgrading P101's combat system to accommodate larger enemies & bosses with weak points to their structures, larger multi-form bosses, & larger scrolling battle boards that I've sent would've made such battles with Big Bads & other new bosses more special, epic, & amazing, though, given the time that was going to be given with the outline kept intact, there wouldn't have been enough time to implement the mechanic upgrades to later updates. Disappointing, though.

Still, will my idea about upgrading P101's combat system to implement larger enemies, scrolling battle boards, & multiple form bosses be implemented someday? I really hope that there may be more than enough time to implement these combat system upgrades in, 'cause I can really imagine later larger bosses, larger, scrolling battle boards & Big Bads with multiple forms in the grand final battles in my head. Can you? Pass this on to the design team, if you please.

Lieutenant
Jan 28, 2014
104
Thanks for answering my questions, Blind Mew. However, I have a few more questions to ask of you about this Book, and Valencia in general.

1: What exactly is the "Core Concept" of Valencia? Is it the Italian Renaissance culture and architecture and the vast Villas, or is there something else I'm missing?

2: I can't believe nobody noticed there's TWO unused Villas instead of one. But anyways, my question: Perhaps if we go back to Valencia, or if you expand Valencia Part 2, you could get rid of these villas and perhaps make something more unique? The villas all look the same and repetitive anyways, so this would spice things up a bit. Of course, I'm probably just doing this because I'm a crazy huge fan of Valencia and would love to see many elements in it.

3: Why would you put in a Transportaler in Florenza, even though there's supposed to be one of them in each world?

4: Any plans to add new places in Aragon and Calabria as you go on?

5: Not Valencia-related, but I recall you saying if all goes well, we could be returning to Dragonspyre's Avernus Skyway for some plot-related things and a possible expansion. Perhaps we can still expect to see one?

6: There's a LOT of your art images on Google and in the housing furniture piece "The Art of Valencia" that we haven't seen in this Valencia, such as a city that looks taken over by Clockworks, a Unicorn Musketeer, Crab NPC art, Villa Tortellini, and so on. How'd those get out on Google, anyway? Perhaps we could expect all of these at Andalusian Skyway?

7: How many Skyways are there in Valencia? 3 or 4 or even more? Or would that be marked as "TWBT"?

8: So you said the Great Machine is meant to have more than one entrance. What else could possibly be in there, and why would we want to go back in there? Would that be telling?

That's all I got for now. Thank you in advance.