Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1501
Registered: 09-16-2004
IP: Logged

For some reason this doesn't have a thread yet, although I know for certain some of you have at least tried Y!PP. For people who are not familiar with it, Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is a massively multiplayer game, where most tasks you do are performed by playing various puzzles. Currently, there are 18 different ones, most increasing in difficulty as you become more proficient with it.

Anyway, the basic idea is, you're a pirate. You will serve captains at various ships doing chores like bilging, carpentry and sailing (all by playing puzzles) earning your share of the loot, and hopefully one day becoming a captain yourself.

What I liked about it:
- Open ended, and almost no tedious grinding whatsoever. Whether you want a new weapon, new clothes, new furniture, a better house, a ship... your situation is always the same: you want to get your paws on as many pieces of eight as possible. And there are a million different ways to do that. If you don't like a particular puzzle, do something else.

- A nice economy setup. Almost everything degrades over time or is a limited resource. Also, almost everything is made by fellow players. The ship you sail, the sword you wield, the commodities the captains trade in, all produced by people doing puzzles.

- No level difference. The clothes do nothing except looking fancy. The weapons have some differences in the swordfighting puzzle, but no huge advantages. With some skill and a bit of luck, you can beat a master wielding a "good" sword with your starting one. A refreshing difference from WoW.

- It's one huge community, and even NPCs are part of it. There are lots of things to do, and the puzzles are nice.

So, which of you people arr playing Y!PP?
I'm just recently started on the Midnight server, here's my profile.

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Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

You weren't motivated by the referral reward by any chance were you?

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1501
Registered: 09-16-2004
IP: Logged

Uh, nope, as you can see I intentionally haven't put up the link.
Ruining my credibility for some meager coins? I'm worth more than that!

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Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

My mistake. I guess I should have clicked on the "read more" button before I jumped to that particular conclusion.

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

I like Puzzle Pirates, but most of the novelty of the game's gone by this point and only the stuff that annoys me remains. Sailing, for instance, which is a bit of a problem.

Protips:

* Joining a crew should be your first priority. However, ensure you find a good one, so job with several different crews and see if they fit the sort of playstyle you want.

* Due to the way the scoring system works, you get the most money if you hang around the top-rated players. Essentially, seek out Shuranthae (and Whitefire if he still plays).

* Creativity will get you everywhere, especially on Midnight.

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What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

Nillo
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 548
Registered: 01-04-2004
IP: Logged

Maurog wrote:
(...) Almost everything degrades over time or is a limited resource. (...)

No level difference. (...)

If I may be blunt, where's the incentive to play the game for a prolonged period of time if your stuff gets destroyed and a newbie can defeat you?

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“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1501
Registered: 09-16-2004
IP: Logged

Social interaction, a competitive ranking system, and don't get the idea that there is no advancement. Clothes may do nothing but there are restrictions on what you can wear according to your status. And sure, a skilled newbie can defeat a veteran in the swordfighting puzzle. That doesn't change the fact that the veteran owns the ship the newbie works on and pays his salary. It just means the newbie will eventually have a high rank in swordfighting.

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

silver
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 915
Registered: 01-18-2005
IP: Logged

the decay of your clothing is retarded if you buy housing and appropriate wardrobe furniture to store your clothes in.

ships you buy never decay.

you can run businesses selling the things people need to run their ships, or selling clothing, or furniture, or the swords people use to fight, and most of the intermediate commodities.

the puzzles do require practice to perfect. while a newbie can beat an experienced player in theory, in practice this is incredibly rare. but the advancement through the ranks generally reflects player skill rather than character skill.

if you want to stay on top of the leader boards, you have to play periodically - unlike our high score system which never drops off inactive accounts.

so there's some incentive to stay - especially if you make friends. even after you tire of the puzzles required to work on a ship, you can play poker with your buddies . mostly, though, the incentive to keep playing is directly proportional to how addicted you are to playing little puzzle games. imagine all the time you spent playing tetris or bejeweled, now imagine that while you were doing that, it had "a point"


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Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

Maurog wrote:
Clothes may do nothing but there are restrictions on what you can wear according to your status.

Aren't these mostly crowns? Deliberately gaudy crowns?

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What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1218
Registered: 05-12-2005
IP: Logged

Good find Spent a couple of hours playing this last night.

Still a bit confused as to the *why* I'm playing all these mini games, but I'm sure it'll become clear with time

zex20913
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1723
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

...No, it won't. That's why I stopped playing a while back. I didn't think there was enough of a reward system to keep playing.

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Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

As I mentioned, that's why it's important to find a crew. Nearly all of the long-term goals require crew support.

While the game attempts to leave your 'goal' as open as possible, I found it very useful to be somewhat silly and make your own fun. At some point you've really got to say, okay, what exactly do I enjoy doing in this game?

Eventually my answer was 'I like to explore, but I don't like sailing. I like being social, but I don't really like any of the social games. I like the idea of running a shoppe, but I'm no good at it. I like running events, but I'm no good at organising them.' So I started playing World of Warcraft instead, and I've gotten to the point where I'm wondering what to do next in that.

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What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

techant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 854
Registered: 06-08-2004
IP: Logged

I like the game. I have been playing for over a year now. I am in the free ocean Viridian and I make sure to take jobs so I can earn money for cloths. While I now rarely pillage I like shopping, buying and wearing cloths, something that I don't do in real life. I stay so I can play hearts and dress up.

Look for techgirl or techlady if you are on the Viridian Ocean.

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DROD RPG Released!! You must try it out it is Great!!

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1218
Registered: 05-12-2005
IP: Logged

Will do. I'm on that ocean too and have been playing mostly hearts. Look out for Syntx (my nick was already taken)...

Anson
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 67
Registered: 02-05-2007
IP: Logged

I dont really like this game, its just beucase i got banned for saying "Hello" To Someone until they answered me, took more than a long time.

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Please, I admire Guthix, I solve problems, I fix rules too. I used to be a Scoundril, Complaining about the forums, But now i changed.

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
IP: Logged

Ah, yeah, that's something that I really enjoyed about Puzzle Pirates: most players have the ability to blackspot people and silence them for a short while. Of course, your use of the blackspot goes on record so if you use it inappropriately, it will be noted.

Ansom, the correct greeting is "Ahoy!", as you ideally should have inferred from playing a pirate game. And if people don't answer you the first time, it's highly unlikely they're going to answer you at all.

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What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

Anson
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 67
Registered: 02-05-2007
IP: Logged

Dubloons are so Expensive...
Oh Wait. Their gold.

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Please, I admire Guthix, I solve problems, I fix rules too. I used to be a Scoundril, Complaining about the forums, But now i changed.

Pneh
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 154
Registered: 09-09-2006
IP: Logged

I'm Pneh on the Hunters Ocean. I love the game.

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Sillyman
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 339
Registered: 09-08-2006
IP: Logged

I'm Sillypirate of the Midnight Ocean. I got in on the tail end of the Alpha, then purchased a lifetime subscription for the discounted price the Beta people paid for two years. I am also the captain of an empty crew called Insanity Squad, along with my alt/sister Celebfinwen, the chief senior officer. I'm not on very often, though, so if you want to work out any deals like joining my crew, contacting me through the CaravelNet Forum would be better. I hope to join a flag someday, once I get my crew's Fame stat up high enough to be allowed in a flag by the game.

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Who, me?
FNORD

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[Last edited by Sillyman at 11-04-2007 12:10 AM]