Hello all I have been a long time player of Wiz101 and I saw that we had a wonderful tactical turn based mmo to try and I had to give it a whirl. Unfortunately my play experience has been..hampered by several factors and I would like to explain my reasoning behind these and corrections I think would help fix the problems.

1. Crown Companions/Promotional Companions. I have run into a number of issues with these. Mainly I had my cute little ninja pig on my first character then decided to play a different one now I cant use my ninja pig. makes me sad. I understand the fact that KI makes more money by having people buy the same Crown Companions for every character but it also leads to people saying ugg I don't want to re-buy everything to rather then playing a new character I'm going to quit. Personally I think if you buy the companion they should either be Tradeable or Unlocked on every character for the account. The Tradeable idea runs into problems with if you set it to character level can be used as a free leveling exploit and just seems a little weird. Personally if KI wants to be stingy about it they could do either a Discount for Re-buying characters or paying an additional cost to unlock them across the account.

2. Pets. This little buggers I'm kinda having mixed feelings about. They offer no stat benefits like there wiz101 counterparts but are a mini-companion of sorts. Unfortunately they can be both helpful and hurtful due to there uncontrolled nature. On one hand I have seen them do some decent damage and KO a couple of enemies but I have also had them block access to enemies by moving taking up just the wrong square. Couple of recommendations here either allow normal companions and enemies to occupy the same space as them or Making them a random fully controllable companion.

3. Breaking level cap with Companions. This is a major balance issue that needs to most certainly be addressed before PVP get added or it will be game breaking. Currently right now if you get a companion when you are level 50, they will be past level 50 upon obtaining them. This is the only way to get them past the level cap. This raises major issues due to the fact if you wait till 50 to buy crown companions they will automatically be the strongest unless you live live a hermit and farm the 3 statues in the first dungeon till you hit 50 before playing the rest of the game....This strikes me as a pretty bad strategy for saying this is the only way to have the strongest companions in the game. But this has an easy fix. Just cap companions at 50 to promote balance. Heck you don't want to double penalize someone for buying a Crown companion early. Once for having to spend extra effort in leveling the sucker and the again for not allowing him to reach the same level as someone who bought him at 50

I have a few more suggestion/feedback to make but I'm running out of space and want to split this up into digestible chunks so Ill leave off here. Please tell me your thoughts.

I also added some bugs for Valencia so check them out if KI ever put's it on which they did with my other bug post and the posted it.
Jacob Freeman lvl 14

Dr Zeppers on Nov 13, 2012 wrote:

My thoughts on those ideas...

1. Not an issue from my perspective. This comes across as a "want" not a "need" to me. I want to use my NinjaPig companion from the Marco Polo map on other pirates, I understand the limitation, and dont see anything worth complaining about.
2. Pets, personally I LOVE the way pets work right now. They do get in the way once in a great while, but not that frequently. Giving the player control over them would make them OP. As for them being able to share the same spot... I dont know, it might complicate things. The way things work now, I can literally look at the board and guess with 80% accuracy where and what my pet is going to do especially towards the end of a battle. My friends are often shocked when I accurately tell them who my pet is going to finish off for me.
3. I saw your concern with this over on Central, and you've been a bit more focused here. I didnt agree there, but I can agree with what your saying here in regards to Crown Companions as long as we are talking about crown companions ONLY. I could see how that "might" be an issue in PVP, however not knowing how PVP will work just yet, I cant be sure it will be an issue.

1.&3. This issue is related to parity among players. Every player just stepping into the game with no outside knowledge should not have the chance to handicap themselves compared to other players. Once you and I hit level 50 and obtain the best gear and level up our companions and max out to the best of our abilities we should be on Rough Parity. Even outside of PVP this can become an issue. If your going with a group you obviously don't want to be the one holding them back and if this create situation where it makes people feel like they either have to buy crown companions or do insane grinds that is something that should be avoided. In any case breaking the Level cap seems to me to be an exploit.

2. Well my gameplay experience has differed greatly. Many times especially in smaller rooms I have had a pet block access to enemies(very annoying when its a boss like Fin Dorsel) some times it has gotten a companion killed by dying and triggering blade storm. Also we have to keep in mind the target audience of this game it younger then most mmos thus unduly handicapping a player should be avoided.

Magistermundisum on Nov 17, 2012 wrote:

Hmm was kinda hoping Ratbeard or One-eye would comment on this.

Just wanted to let you know that I had seen your thread, read it, and forwarded it on for internal discussion. We're watching the feedback on this thread as well.

Dr Zeppers on Nov 19, 2012 wrote:

"Every player just stepping into the game with no outside knowledge should not have the chance to handicap themselves compared to other players"
You should petition for them to change the character creation steps then, because this is where your comment I have quoted above stops being accurate in Pirate101 (apparently by design).

This is not Wizard 101. Pirate101 does not appear to be designed to make everyone equal regardless of their choices, it appears to be designed to vary characters abilities based on their choices/decisions like many MMOs. I personally see Pirates101 as a slightly more advanced MMO over Wizard101 for those very reasons.
As far as pets are concerned, I think people overstate their frustrations over a rather small number of undesirable occurrences (stuff happens). I have had pets get in the way, but havent lost a battle yet due to a pet. On the other hand there are more battles than I can count, that my pet has saved the day the way they are currently implemented. They are by far more a help, than a hindrance, and pets dont always do what we ask them to do in real life either (I know we arent after realism necessarily, but it doesnt hurt). A companion got defeated because of what a pet did... awww (whats it matter if the battles won, companions will be lost in battles while playing this game. The goal is to win the battle, not survive 100% unscathed)

You do not handicap yourself in character select every companion, class, and ability is useful in varying degrees. What I am pointing out is that in order to have the absolute "best" you have to effectively never buy companions till cap and grind as much as possible as this lets you use what amounts to an exploit in order to achieve something that without prior knowledge is unachievable. Your attempts to subvert the meaning behind my words are noted however.

I am so glad you have great luck with pets. Know that its not the case for everyone else. And while they will only rarely have such heavy repercussions as losing a companion in a fight they often become an annoyance. Pets, Housing items, Gear and Companions are the big crown shop items. You want to make them as appealing as possible to players. You don't want someone to buy something then have to shelve it as useless/annoying or you lose potential repeat sales.

Companions are a great dynamic to this game. I have purchased Wagyu Sanjuro and Keisuke Yagi (I think those are their names) on all my pirates, since they are the best crown companions in my opinion!

I also don't think they should be tradeable between pirates, since then they would be like pets and have to be the exact same level as the pirate, which would change the dynamic of companion training and training points. Also, KI is a business and needs to make money, companions are no different than houses, which can not be traded from pirate or wizards.

Pets are awesome, if you dont like your pet or if they get in the way, don't equip them or use them, it is that simple. If your companion dies because your pet dies, then maybe you should have healed your companions or pets. Who's at fault? the pets? I dont think so!

Now as far as companions going beyond the Level cap, that is questionable. KI makes the companions higher level than the pirate, so that you want to use the new companion and get familiar with them. Some pirates, if they are smart, will not get companions on side quests, will save those side quests until they are level 50, then do them and get those companions at a high level and not have to use a bunch of training tomes to train them.

There are many ways to look at pets and companions, but currently, they are fun and very useful.

As far as how a pirate is selected at the start, if you don't know or have played pirate101 before, you can easily pick the wrong things for your pirate and class. Some might get accuracy for their Musketeer, but Musketeers have and get more accuracy than they need, and cards that guarantee a hit, so either health, dodge, damage, or spooky effects would be better, but a beginner would not know this.

However, this makes pirates even more fun and diverse. I just wish they would give us back the gold farming area's and just reduce the gold a bit, so that keeps everyone entertained and keeps everyone happy and having fun!

The simple solution to pet problems in certain instances is to unequip it, if someone feels they may be a hinderance in gameplay or certain dungeons. Personally, I love the pets, as they have saved me many times in battle, or taken down an enemy that only had one health left.

The one thing that I don't want to see, and I will strongly fight against, is nerfing anything in PvE for the sake of PvP. I don't want to see Pirate101 stifled like Wizard101, because PvP players are whining about every little thing because it's not "fair", and this includes companions who can be more than level 50 (at this time).

I wait to get my side quest companions when I reach a high enough level, so I don't have to use so many training tomes in the game. Even if some of my companions are above level 50, it doesn't mean they will be the strongest in the game. Most of the companions are pretty lame and can make fights a challenge when they show up, even if you are a level 50 player and the companion(s) are level 51-52.

Pirate101 is a PvE game and that should be the main focus. Changing how the main game should be played or how companions can be obtained, would be detrimental, just to satisfy what the PvP players feel is unfair to them.

Megan Frostriver on Nov 22, 2012 wrote:

All companions are pirate specific and should stay that way. Crowns companions are IMO icing on the cake. We don't need them as we get plenty for free in game.

Pets are easily dealt with by unequipping them if you feel they are bothersome. I love pets and how they work. They often kill the NPC for me when I need one killed. Occasionally they might get in the way, but, that is rare. I have never had a pet contribute to getting a companion killed. If a companion dies that is on my shoulders.

It was explained new companions come in over level to encourage us to try them. I like that. It does encourage me to try them and get to know them. Otherwise to the bottom of my lineup they go. I think this feature is fine.

As for PvP, I sincerely hope KI has learned lessons in Wizzy. I hope they maintain some degree of separation between PvP and PvE. In Wizzy I really had my eyes opened when I made a friend who is a great PvP player. Watching him play made me see the terrific imbalance in gear and pets between PvP and PvE players. Suddenly, I understood why PvP players said PvE was to easy. It was for them. I was struggling and he blowing through stuff. He also had his eyes opened. Wizzy is now based on the BEST gear and pets (which most PvP folks have) rather slightly above average. You just can't balance out that discrepancy easily. IMO the PvE stats that KI collects should determine what happens in PvE. PvP problems should be dealt with in PvP. I don't want this game based on the BEST gear. I want it to challenge average folks. Advanced players can make their OWN challenge by using different gear.

This has now become a more major issue with the coming addition of PvP. Companions need to Cap at 50.

Woah woah WOAH!

Waittaminute .... I had waited until level 50 to buy all my companions that I would have bought, they all would have been 52?!

Alright, that is something I am NOT happy with. I don't think players buying companions at level 50 should end up with level 52 companions.

I actually bought my companions at 48, because I thought all companions would cap at 50, regardless, because that would be fair to everyone and anyone. So, the second horse, the ronin bull, the goose, and malik would all have been 52 if I had purchased them at 50, really?

I need to take another look at the crown shop ....

With pets, I kind of like how it is now.

But yea, companions all need to cap at 50, unless it is a quest companion that every body receives. If you get those companions early, and cap your pirate at 50, you can still spend additional companion points to level that specific companion to level 51-52.

Yes KI, I very strongly agree with companions. For all players, companions need to be capped at equal level. I am already a little taken aback 'potentially' knowing that there are level 50 pirates running around with all their super companions at 52, while mine are at 50. (Since I purchased them at 48.)

As for companions and other pirates. Well, I look at them like houses or ships. You can't trade houses or ships. So, I am willing to understand that concept.

Dr Zeppers on Nov 19, 2012 wrote:

"Every player just stepping into the game with no outside knowledge should not have the chance to handicap themselves compared to other players"
You should petition for them to change the character creation steps then, because this is where your comment I have quoted above stops being accurate in Pirate101 (apparently by design).

This is not Wizard 101. Pirate101 does not appear to be designed to make everyone equal regardless of their choices, it appears to be designed to vary characters abilities based on their choices/decisions like many MMOs. I personally see Pirates101 as a slightly more advanced MMO over Wizard101 for those very reasons.
As far as pets are concerned, I think people overstate their frustrations over a rather small number of undesirable occurrences (stuff happens). I have had pets get in the way, but havent lost a battle yet due to a pet. On the other hand there are more battles than I can count, that my pet has saved the day the way they are currently implemented. They are by far more a help, than a hindrance, and pets dont always do what we ask them to do in real life either (I know we arent after realism necessarily, but it doesnt hurt). A companion got defeated because of what a pet did... awww (whats it matter if the battles won, companions will be lost in battles while playing this game. The goal is to win the battle, not survive 100% unscathed)

I too don't want Pirate101 to become Wizard101 so pets are superfluous to me.

I only have one because I got one of the game cards from Gamestop. Pets are nice to have but I wouldn't have gotten one otherwise.

I LIKE that P101 is very different from W101 and hope it stays that way.

The only thing I hope to see carried over from W101 is the ability to stitch because there are some clothing that looks pretty nice but is woefully underpowered compared to my crown shop items.

Otherwise, please let everything else like Wizard101 STAY over on Wizard101.

1) Disagree that companions should be unlocked across all characters. Different classes can use different character classes to better advantage.

2) My biggest problem with pets is the lack of any pets that are significantly different (stats or talent-wise) from any other pets. They do occasionally get in the way, but allowing you to move into the same square as the pet would be annoying, and I like their autonomous nature.

3) I like that I just made it to level 50 without buying my favorite crown companions, thus getting them to level 51. Please don't make this like Wiz101 where every change is calibrated toward making PVP players happy (and this is coming from someone who plays PVP). Make changes based on how the players playing the general game will feel. Half the people I played PVP with on Wizard didn't even have subscriptions or crowns. They just hung around and played PVP all day, spending no money at all.

Anyway, there's no great difference between level 50 and level 51 companions.

Thomas Stormweaver on Dec 5, 2012 wrote:

I don't see how the people fretting over 1 level on companions ever survive Wizard101. When doing PVP with characters that aren't at the max, I frequently face opponents that are as many as 10 levels ahead of me. Now THAT's an advantage.

To reiterate, anyone has the ability to wait and get their companions at level 50 so it's not even the slightest advantage. It's called strategy. Get some.

1 - This is not Wiz 101, so comparing this to that game is really not relevant. But if it were, making a low level wizard face significantly higher level opponents is absolutely an advantage for the opponent, and hardly fair. But as the old adage goes, two wrongs do not make a right.

2 - Until people got to lvl 50 and posted here that companions could then be bought which break the level cap, why would anyone ever guess that this might be the case??? It is rather mind boggling that crown-companions work this way, really. As such, there is absolutely no need for such a rude statement as "It's called strategy. Get some.".

One-Eyed Jack, if you folks are still watching the thread for feedback on this matter, my opinion is that the level cap should be the level cap. If a bought-at-level-50 companion can break that level cap, then anyone who bought their companions earlier than max level should be equally able to make them reach the same cap-breaking level through training or such.

Or perhaps set a separate cap for companions than players? ie/ Players = cap of 50, companions = cap of 52 or 53?

As it stands now this is borderlining Pay-to-Win which is something that should be avoided. I don't care if its PVP or PVE players need to have a level playing field. Yes players who buy crown companions have more companions to choose from but it still maintains a rough parity because all companions are roughly equal. (Very roughly in some cases but I don't know of a single crown companion that dominates the game) however when you compare level Kobe 50 to his 52 crown companion version. There is a distinct advantage to the crown version. Yes of course it can be overcome if the other player is not as skilled but if players are of equal skill then Guy that used the exploit to break level cap is going to win.

Also when 2 players buy the same companion say at different levels 1 at say 48 and the other at 50. They pay the same prices but 1 player gets a superior product over the other one. And its not like the player who bought earlier can rebuy the companion or do ANYTHING to make that companion optimal again. Also keep in mind that it is not a linear progression on companion power. The gap form 50 to 52 is much Higher then say 30 to 32.

Also about the companion sharing I think after more thought being put into this that only Crown Companions should be unlocked or tradable across all characters when you buy them anything less then this feels a bit too much like being a Scrooge by kings-isle.