Come Get You Some!: May 2009

SCRIPTS:
Using a "Script" like grease monkey to add pirates to yer crew may be against the Pirates Terms of Service. Which means that it's cheating and can get you banned from the game.

http://apps.facebook.com/piratesrule/tos.php

“except as may be the result of standard search engine or Internet browser usage, use or launch any automated system, including, without limitation, any spider, robot (or "bot"), scraper or offline reader that accesses the Site or use or launch any unauthorized script; "

NEW DISCUSSION THREADS:
"Add me!" and "Need Crew!" ''where can I get cannons ?'' posts:

Higher level pirates are very protective of this discussion board. If you start a new thread, especially one requesting to be added to crew, expect to be keelhauled. A LOT!!

If you start a new thread that asks a question that is answered in a "FAQ" thread, expect to be keelhauled. A LOT!!!

THIS IS A GAME.You are going to get attacked. You are going to get keeled. It is inevitable that there will always be someone as powerful or more powerful than you. That's the game. It's probably a good idea not to give folks an easier choice that it's you they want to keel.

PIRATE TYPES AND STAT REGENERATION
Swashbuckler
Health- 3:00
Energy- 2:00
Strength- 5:00
Income paid every 60 minutes

Buccaneer
Health- 2.00
Energy- 5.00
Strength- 5.00
Income paid every 60 minutes

Scallywag
Health- 3.00
Energy- 3.00
Strength- 5.00
Income paid every 54 minutes

POSEIDON'S CHEST
3 Locks - Jolly Roger Flag 18/18 Item
4 Locks - Octopus 18/18 Item
5 Locks - Boatswain's pipe - 20/20 Item
6 Locks - Exploding Cannonballs 22/22 Item
7 Locks - Wolfs Head Cannon 24/24 Item

There appears to be no further items after completing the 7th lock.

OFFENSIVE NAMES:
Please remember that Facebook is open to both adults and minors. Zynga’s policy is that offensive, vulgar, etc names are not allowed. There is a thread on the discussion board that contains a list of offensive names and have a tendency to request that those who have offensive names change them (for obvious reasons). It is likely you will be reported to Zynga / Facebook – who may take such action as banning you from the game, closing your account, etc. If you choose to use an offensive name, expect to be keelhauled. A LOT!!!

FOUL OR ABUSIVE LANGUAGE ON THE DISCUSSION BOARD
The discussion board is for everyone’s use and as such, it can be abused. Please do not post foul, abusive, vulgar, etc language on the discussion board. It is likely you will be reported to Zynga / Facebook – who may take such action as banning you from the game, closing your account, etc. If you choose to use offensive language on the discussion board, expect to be keelhauled. A LOT!!!

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OPEN WATERS OR HITTING LEVEL 70-- a primer:
When you hit level 70, you appear on the fight list for any and all pirates above your level (no longer have the range limit). There are suggestions on how to prepare your crew and items for this event. (Note: YOU WILL GET HIT AND KEELED BY HIGH LEVEL PIRATES)

Open Waters or Hitting Level 70-- a primerhttp://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=16421175101&topic=13340
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PLUNDERS

PLUNDER LEVELS:
Scallywag (Levels 1 - 4) – 6 plunders total, Boss Fight
-“Count yer ill-gotten treasure”
-“Show around yer crew's wenches”
-“Steal booty from merchants”
-“Break yer Mate out of jail” (Drops loot item)
-“ Beat down another Pirate and pick his pockets” (Drops loot item)
-“Defend your grog from drunken pirates”
-Boss Fight – “Showdown with Smitty Pete”

Swashbuckler (Levels 5 - 8) – 6 plunders total, Boss Fight
-Storm the town merchants (Drops loot item)
-Recover treasure from a sunken vessel
-Sneak onto the local town rowboats and take what you can! (Drops loot item)
-Ambush a band of sleeping scallywags
-Travel the seas in search of loot (Drops loot item)
-Bury an unruly crew member in a chest
-Boss Fight - Showdown with Captain Josephine Rackham

Scurvy Dog (Levels 9 - 14) – 7 plunder total, Boss Fight
-Go into town and party with yer wenches then take their gold (Drops loot item)
-Disguise yer crew as merchants and plunder (Drops loot item)
-Cause chaos on the High Seas
-Plunder the Wine & Brandy vessels (Drops loot item)
-Rifle through the wreckage of the Black Vessel (Drops loot item)
-Plunder the Sea Nymph & take their loot (Drops loot item)
-Raid the port town
-Boss Fight - Showdown with Captain Blackbeard

Deck Hand (Levels 15 - 25) – 6 plunders total, Boss Fight
-Find the crew member stealing loot and teach them a lesson! (Drops loot item)
-Drink and Sing, Yo Ho Ho, a Pirate's life for me (Drops loot item)
-Battle Blackbeard and claim his treasure
-Fight the Black Vessel & take prisoners (Drops loot item)
-Steal from yer crew's booty while they are sleeping (Drops loot item)
-Fight the one-legged Captain Jim (Drops loot item)
-Boss Fight - Showdown with Kraken

Pirate (Levels 26 - 38) – 6 plunders total
-Gamble yer gold against Captain Snake Eyes at the local tavern (Drops loot item)
-Ambush the town's local Red Soldiers (Drops loot item)
-Follow the Phantom Vessel quietly and sneak attack from afar (Drops loot item)
-Travel to the Phantom Islands in search of the Phantom Treasure (Drops loot item)
-Pistol duel with Captain Black Beard (Drops loot item - Blackbeard Hook)
-Get into the duel of the Ages with Davey Jones (Drops loot item)

First Mate (Levels 39 - 53) – 7 plunders total
-Roll the bones
-Shave Moustache Moe while he sleeps
-Defend your honor against a rival crew
-Sink a privateer vessel
-Seek a nearby volcano
-Hail the beacon of the Flying Dutchman
-Fight the Plague Crew of the Flying Dutchman

When the First Mate level plunders first become available to you, only the first three plunders are available. As you progress to higher levels, more will appear. At level 45 or 46 “Sink a privateer vessel” becomes available. By level 47, five plunders are available (you see the trend??). You CAN NOT complete the mastery for these plunders until they ALL appear.

Captain (Levels 54+) – 7 plunders total
-Swing Aboard an Enemy Ship
-Sword fight in the rigging
-Run a warship through a reef
-Make the prisoners walk the plank
-Give an approaching ship a 'real' 21 gun salute
-Sail through rocky, shark infested waters
-Avoid Charybdis

When the Captain level plunders first become available to you, only the first three plunders are available. As you progress to higher levels, more will appear. You CAN NOT complete the mastery for these plunders until they ALL appear.

OLD PLUNDER MASTERY BONUSES: ..need more info from lower level pirates to know if the bonuses have changed.
Scallywag..........................-30 seconds on health regeneration
Swashbuckler.....................-30 seconds on strength regeneration
Scurvy Dog.......................5% discount on property
Deckhand………………………unknown at this time (likely replaces old First mate bonus)
Pirate.............................-30 seconds on energy regeneration
First Mate.........................unknown at this time (old was +5% Plunder bonus)
Captain…………………………….unknown at this time

You must complete all the plunder tasks to level three mastery in order to obtain the bonus for the plunder level.

PLUNDER REQUIREMENTS:
In general, as you increase in levels in the game, plunders require you to have an increasing number of members in your crew and / or specific quantities of certain items, in addition to the required energy. For example, “Steal booty from merchants” (Scallywag level plunder) requires you to have a PET. “Go into town and party with yer wenches then take their gold” requires you to have 5 crew members, a parrot, and a schooner.

At the present time, the First Mate and Captain plunder levels do not have minimum crew member quantity requirements to perform them – only item requirements.

With the changes as they currently are with Plunders up to the Captain level, here are the minimum amounts of each item you should own to be able to do each task.
-Stick O' Wood 15
- Dagger 2
-Twin Daggers 2
-Sabre 24
-Matchlock Pistol 6
-Muzzle Loading Cannon 14
-Matchlock Rifle 12
-Long Cannon 12
-Wheellock Pistol 12
-Pistol Dagger 2
-Wheellock Rifle 50
-Hand Cannon 5
-Rapier 70
-Falchion 40
-Falconet 10
-Breech-Loading Cannon 21
-Eyepatch 8
-Shoulder Parrot 1
-Net 6
-Spiked Anchor 5
-Grappling Anchor 50
-Sea Mine 21
-Hand Grenade 12
-Rowboat 12
-Sloop 2
-Schooner 4
-Merchant Carrier 8
-Dutch Fleut 12
-Cog 6
-Spanish Galleon 6
-Pirate Cruiser 2
-Ghost Destroyer N/A
-Brig 14
-Galley 10
-Frigate 10
-Warship 15
-Hulk Ship 10

MUZZLE LOADING CANNONS:
They are required for the “Cause chaos on the High Seas” Plunder on the Scurvy Dog plunder level (Levels 9-14). These appear to still become available for purchase after level 20.

SHOULDER PARROT:
The shoulder Parrot required for the “Go into town and party with yer wenches then take their gold” plunder on the Scurvy Dog plunder level (Levels 9-14). These appear to still become available for purchase after level 10. Once you reach level 10 you will be able to buy this item in the Armory page.

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BOUNTIES AND FIGHTING

BOUNTIES:
You can claim the bounties you set. You can also claim a bounty set on a crew mate (whereas you normally are unable to attack a crew mate – only sword duel or bounty them)

For most higher level pirates this is standard practice. This is done usually in an effort to gain more keels and make the Infamous List, or because you've upset them and they want you dead! Most pirates don't mind this. Some do.

Some pirates prefer that crew collect an un-friendly bounty that is placed on them - *someone* is going to collect it, and those pirates prefer that the gold stay in the crew. Other pirates will be offended if you collect a bounty on a crew member. Best to figure out who is which before collecting the bounty set on a crew mate! :)

BOUNTY LISTS:
There are several bounty boards, they are rotated every now and then.There is no way of knowing if you have a bounty on your head unless a crewmate sees it and tells you or it is posted on the bounty board you can see.

DO YOU EVER APPEAR ON OWN BOUNTY BOARD
Yes, if whoever put you on it can see the same bounty server as you.

WHY CAN'T I BOUNTY ?
The pirate you are trying to bounty is either dead, or already on the bounty list. If a pirate logs off with zero health, or is keeled after logging out of Facebook, they will be "dead" until they log back on.

WHY BOUNTY ME AND CLAIM IT YOURSELF
Most pirates will do this for various reasons, you attacked them, you sword dueled them ( usually gets you more than one keel ), you set a bounty on them, you posted a new ' ADD ME ' thread just for you instead of using the Official add me thread, they are trying to get on the Infamous list for most keelhauls/most deadly/ best fighter

RULES ON COLLECTING BOUNTIES:
There are none! Some players prefer to collect their own bounties, and will retaliate if you "steal" it from them. Some players are offended if crew collects, other prefer it. In addition, if you are trying to collect on a higher level player, you will show in their newsfeed and should expect a keel from them!

GETTING HIT BY HIGHER PLAYERS:
Yes this is possible - and extremely likely if you make yourself known to them by doing things such as hitting them on bounty lists, attacking them in a sword duel or attacking their pet. If you get hit by a higher level pirate, the best course of action is to remain calm and lay low (without retaliating) until they get bored. If you are a vengeful pirate (and what pirate isn't), bookmark their page and come back at them when you are stronger than they are.

SWORD DUEL
A sword duel is a waste of a strength point, neither you nor the victim get experience points (XP) and it does not count in your wins/loss stats. It also irritates the victim to the point that many now keel all duelers that show up in their feed up to 10 times per poke with sword.

HOW TO KEEL:
When you attack, the damage on both sides is between 0 and 25. If your opponent's health is between 20 and 25, and you inflict greater damage than their health, they're keelhauled. If your opponent's health goes below 20, but doesn't hit 0, you can no longer attack, and you will get the message that they are dead/too weak to fight. To properly finish the job and get the keelhaul you have to set a bounty on that person and attack from the bounty board to get the keelhaul. It's called finishing what you start.

I WON THE FIGHT BUT GOT KEELHAULED, WHY?
You need to pay close attention to your own health level during all fights. This is easier, now, with the meter on the fight page, but if you didn’t, this can still occur. It happens when you manage to hit the other pirate hard enough to knock them down to zero, but as a result of the final fight the damage you sustained was sufficient to put you down to zero as well.

PIRATE WITH NO ATTACK OPTION ON PAGE
The pirate whose page you are checking is a member of your crew, you only have the sword duel and bounty options on your own crew.

ABOUT FIGHTS:
You can be attacked until dead (0 health) / too weak to fight (under 25 health, but not bountied). If you are giving out gold the attacker may leave you alone and come back to hit you again for more gold. You can be keelhauled only once after you log out and after you are keelhauled no one can attack or keel you again until you log back in. You can and will show up on the fight list any time of day, logged in or not. If you are attacked while logged out and are knocked down to the point where you “are too weak to fight”, you will eventually heal back up to the point where you will, again, appear on the fight list.

FIGHT LISTS:
Fight lists are level specific, with the range of levels expanding above and below you within a few levels. That changes when you hit level 70 (commonly referred to as ”open waters”). Once you hit level 70, you are visible to all pirates above that level. If you show up on a higher level players newsfeed or fight list before (or after) you hit level 70, expect to be hit. If you whine about it, expect to be hit even more.

USING ITEMS WHEN FIGHTING:
The amount of items/abilities you can use in a fight is limited to the amount of people in your Crew. You can only use 1 offensive, 1 defensive, and 1 Ship ability per Crew member. Until you reach the maximum crew requirement at 501 crew members. There is no limit to the number of crew you can have, but you can only fight with 501 of your crew. Adding crew after 501 is valuable, if you want to obtain more 18/18 items or islands (the weekly specialty items).

HOW DOES FIGHTING WORK?:
There are three factors that determine who wins a fight: Crew size, weaponry (attack weapons when attacking, defense weapons when defending), and personal Attack/Defense stats that you've allocated with your skill points.

Lance Manion posted the following:-if the system applies my offense and defense stats to each of my crew as a base stat, then does a total based on:

-total offense = (my offense stat + offense for offense item + offense for defense item + offense for movement item) * number of crew

-total defense = (my defense stat + offense for defense item + defense for defense item + defense for movement item) * number of crewThe game will automatically choose the best items to use.

Other players have speculated that the total value for the items used it added together and that value multiplied by your stats and number of crew is the fight value. Other players have also speculated that your personal attack and defense stats are added together and the total value is your personal "strength." All these arguments seem to have merit, but no one outside of Zynga knows exactly how it works - and they're not telling! :)

DAMAGE:
Is random between 1-25

Winner appears to get the lesser and the loser gets the higher damage, but in some cases the winner of a fight has taken more damage than the loser and still won.

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LAND:

LOTS:
Lots are the first revenue generation items that can be purchase. When purchased, the cost to purchase a Lot does not increase. Your "lots" (captured islands, bays, hidden coves and secret caves) are CONSUMED when you upgrade them to "operations" which have a higher income. This is like buying a plot of land and then building something on it - the building is now what you own and the land is gone. You don't ever get the "lots" back even if you sell operations.

You start off with a few Lots being available for purchase. As you progress through the game, more Lot types become available, with a higher cost to purchase them and an equally higher revenue from them.

OPERATIONS:
You start off with several basic Operations that can earn you revenue. As you progress in levels, more operations become available.

Unlike Lots, when you purchase an operation, the cost to purchase the next of that type of operation increases. Thus, it may be better (if you have the money) to purchase multiple operations at one time (getting a volume savings).

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SPECIAL ITEMS AND SPECIAL LAND LOTS:
These two items change on a regular basis. They require you to add 1 more crew members to buy one and each time you buy one, the crew requirement for both items will jump by 1. You can buy one special item or one special land lot each time you add a crew member.

It appears that, even if you add multiple crew members, your requirement for the special items / lots still increments by 1.

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MISSING TREASURE / UPKEEP:
Most items require upkeep. That means that it costs money to get them and to keep them. You need to make sure that your income (from islands) is more than your upkeep. If your finances are in the negative you are losing Gold every hour. The game can take your upkeep out of your Buried Treasure.

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BONUS LOOT AND DAVEY JONES POINTS:
You can get bonus loot and other items on the Davey Jones page by using favor points.

Favor points can be bought with real world cash, or you can get them for giving up personal information and completing offers from the "Davey Jones" page. In addition, you are awarded one favor point for each odd number level you reach.

Players can "Loot" from other players. What this means is when you are fighting, you can "steal" loot (handcuffs, snake eyes dice, skull pendants, etc.) from other pirates.

The other pirate, however, does not actually seem to lose this loot.

Some of these looted items are very desirable as they have the highest attack or defense values, but can only be obtained through fighting or plundering and con *not* be bought in the armory....so go FIGHT!

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501 CREW:
The game says you can ' fight ' with 501 crew, but you can have many more than 501 crew on your pirates friends list, this enables you to keep buying special items and islands.

UNABLE TO SEE ENTIRE CREW
At a guess that like many of us you're using Internet Explorer, which currently doesn't show all your crew. The following will let you see all your crew or you could simply download another browser (i.e., Firefox works well).

You highlight any part of Davy Jones name
(or actually any name, but it's easier with Davy because his name is not a link)
and hold down the tab key

The highlighted link will scroll across the crew, then down, then across, until it gets to the bottom of the page, then six more crew will scroll up, then 6 more, and 6 more, until you get to the one you want.

It's not the display of your crew that's broken in IE, it's the silly scroll bar.While the "Show all crew" page was loading, I was watching, down in the status bar, all the thumbnail images being loaded... so they're THERE, you just can't get to them using the mouse or cursor keys.

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PETS:
Sometimes when there is an update your pet will lose all happiness and energy. Feeding the pet costs two energy points. "Petting" your pet is free. You can also pet all of your crew mate's pets, or feed them individually.

ATTACKING PETS:
Many pirates consider attacking another pirate's pet to be the same or worse than engaging in a sword duel (you can't suffer any damage and automatically win). They tend to keel haul you multiple times for each time you attack their pet. Surest way to start a long term fight is to attack a pet.

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PIRATE CREW AND FRIENDS LIST:
It is possible to keep people on your crew, but delete them from your facebook friends list.

Once a person is on yer crew/family (they actually show up on the official crew page), and you don't need them anymore as "Friends" (that isn't as bad as it sounds ;) - Go to the (blue) menu strip at the top of your Facebook page.

Click on "Friends" (and you should be able to also choose "Recently Added" to make it easier).

At the far right of the "Friends" name is an "x". If you click on it it will remove the person from your Facebook homepage account, but the person will still be listed as a member of your crew.

It might be a good idea to send out a stock message to everyone who wants to add you to their game, but who you don't really know - that way they know that it's not personal and they don't get offended when they stop being "friends".

USING FRIEND CATEGORIES TO LIMIT ACCESS TO YOUR PROFILE
Many of us have lots of people on our friend list that we don’t really know. Did you know that you can customize what they can and cannot see? Here’s how:

1. Make a category specifically for your “Game” friends (if you don’t know how to do this, go here: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=768)
2. Click on “Settings” --> “Privacy Settings” --> “Profile”
3. For each section there is a drop down that will allow you to select from several options. Choose the one that says “Customize”
4. In the box that opens, at the bottom there is an option for “Except These People” Enter the name of the friend list that you created in step 1. Then click OK.

That’s all there is to it! Just repeat for each section that you want to restrict people in that group from seeing.

To test how your changes appear to them, go back to Click on “Setting” --> “Privacy Settings” --> “Profile” and look at the top of the page. There you’ll see the text "See how a friend sees your profile" next to a search field where you can enter the name of any of your friends. Enter the name of someone from the friend list you created and you’ll be sent to a special view of your profile that will allow you to see what will be visible to them.

And don’t forget; you can add them to a list right when you send/accept the friend request!

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FACEBOOK IN PIRATE ENGLISH
Arrrr, fer all ye pirates out there wantin ter give a little extra pirate touch to Facebook. Easiest way to do this is the following:1- go back to [home]2- scroll down to the bottom3- in the bar at the bottom next to [Facebook © 2009] you will find your current language in blue with two little triangles next to it4- click on the language and a box with all languages will appear5- click on [English (pirate) - BETA] and that's it!

From Zynga: Reporting problems

"If you are using our apps on Facebook, please refrain from using the “contact” button at the bottom of the page, as it will significantly increase our response time.Instead, please go to www.zynga.com/support, register an account, and do a search for articles on your issue. Be sure to click on one. Then click the Ask a Question button at the top of that page. We will respond soon."

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