Pirates Of The Caribbean Online News
Pirates of the Caribbean Online is an MMORPG created by The Walt Disney Company, based on their film series and theme park attraction of the same name.
The game software is free to download, and players can choose either "Unlimited Access" for a $9.95 monthly subscription fee, or a free-to-play "Basic Access" version which restricts most of the game content and displays advertisements in part of the game window. The game is officially available to players in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada only. Disney also will announce this online game to be distributed in South East Asia by AsiaSoft in 2009.
The game allows each player to create his or her own customized pirate avatar. A player can create up to four pirates with Unlimited access, or two pirates with Basic access. During gameplay, these pirates interact with several major characters from the film series, including Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Hector Barbossa, Tia Dalma and Joshamee Gibbs. Each of these non-player characters assigns quests and/or instructs pirates on the use of weapons. Typical quests require pirates to defeat various enemies and creatures on land, and to sink enemy ships during battles at sea. The game's quests follow a central storyline in which the pirate helps Jack Sparrow to recruit a crew and retrieve his ship, the Black Pearl.
Major enemies in the game include the British Royal Navy, a fictionalized version of the East India Trading Co., and undead skeleton pirates who are commanded by Jolly Roger. Jolly Roger (voiced by Steven Blum) turns Captain Bo Beck into a skeleton and forces the player to walk the plank at the beginning of the game. Roger seeks to destroy Jack Sparrow, who he blames for turning him into a living skeleton. As pirates complete quests and defeat enemies, they earn "notoriety" (experience points/levels), gold, and gain access to additional weapons. A pirate's weapons include cutlasses, pistols, voodoo (the game's variation of magic points), throwing daggers and grenades.
The game's virtual world includes several island locations from the film series, including Port Royal and Tortuga, as well as additional islands such as Cuba. A pirate can sail from island to island by ship, either as captain or as a crew member on another player's ship, battling enemy ships while in route. Pirates can also board certain enemy ships (known as flagships, and recognizable by the flag icon above their name tag) and attempt to defeat the enemies on board for additional gold and notoriety.
With Basic (free) access, a player's progress is limited and eventually requires an upgrade. Basic access also penalizes all experience gained by the player by 40%. The player can only use the cutlass, the pistol and the voodoo doll, and cannot purchase a stronger boat, having been given a small sloop (an update has allowed basic access members to buy light galleons). Upgrading also allows the player access to more minigames (i.e. Texas Hold 'em), and areas, as well as the ability to form a guild.
The game also has similar (yet slightly reduced) safety features as Toontown Online, with a "Speedchat" chatting system and controlled naming of characters and ships. Players could connect with other players world-wide and chat with them. Similar to the online game, Guild Wars, Pirates Online has many weapon features.
 Pirates Of The Caribbean Online PC / Windows Items
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