I went back to Potco and found out that my press account had been cancelled and the new press account had no ability to do the higher functions that I was used to. I had been locked out of Potco due to a system crash which I have now recovered from. Disney changed its press relations team for the Potco by consolidating the online press relations people with the regular games. When companies consolodate departments it usually means someone is getting fired and someone else is expected to do a lot more work. The old press relations online team was very accomodating and had a strong presence at CES (Consumer Electronics Show). I could not find Disney at the 2009 CES in Las Vegas in January.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN ONLINE CELEBRATES ONE YEAR OF PIRATING AND ADVENTURES ON THE HIGH SEAS

First Anniversary Marked With Legendary In-Game Halloween Event & Contest

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – October 30, 2008 – Disney Online today announced the one-year anniversary of Pirates of the Caribbean Online (www.PiratesOnline.com), an immersive massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), which allows players to fully experience the untamed and action-packed Pirate world captured in the popular film franchise. Pirates of the Caribbean Online provides ever-changing, open-ended adventures with thousands of other players in a unique blend of action, strategy and role playing. To celebrate, Pirates Online will bring mayhem to the Caribbean with a haunting in-game event and contest on “All Hollows Eve.” Additionally, Walt Disney Pictures recently announced that a fourth installment of the hugely successful "Pirates of the Caribbean" films is officially in development.

Since the games launch in October 2007, players have achieved many milestones in world including:

· Ships Sunk – 121,602,136

· Hands of Blackjack Played – 19,815,360

· Number of Ship Repairs Completed – 33,829,645

· Tattoos Purchased - 288,547

“It’s been a great year for Pirates Online, thanks in large part to our active, growing community,” said Steve Parkis, senior vice president, Disney Online. “The feedback from our fans continues to inspire the Pirates team to create and deliver exciting new content and features that add to the authentic, rich and engaging world.”

Over the past year, a myriad of new features have been added to the game that expand the world and the overall game experience, including:

· Privateering (Player vs. Player Ship Combat) - In the quest to become a Privateer, players chose a side – French or Spanish – and assemble a crew for Pirate vs. Pirate ship combat on the high seas. Pirate "Lords" on both sides challenge players with quests to prove their worth. Completing these tasks earns gold and reputation points and a tattoo that will brand survivors as Privateering veterans.

· New Customization Options - Adding to the millions of possible player combinations available at launch – gender, body type, face, hair, clothing and names – several new customizations options have been added including tattoos, jewelry, additional clothing items (new pants, hats, coats and coats inspired by members of the Brethren Court), and new hairstyles.

· Shops - Tattoo parlors, jewelry stores, and tailor shops have been added to the game.

· Enhanced Lookout System - An in-game system was added to match players up with others looking to engage in the same activity. Players can now instantly see their percentage of finding a match (high, medium, or low) to help determine how long it will take before a match is found. Players can also now get more closely matched with other players that are at the same notoriety level as themselves.

· Emotes - With the addition of emotes, players can communicate with others through actions such as dancing, laughing, clapping, celebrating, crying, flexing, waving, and more.

· New Quests & Enhanced Quest Tracking System - A number of new quests for Unlimited Access Pirates have been added, including Pirate’s Life Quest, Clothing for a Pirate Quest, and Adoria’s Family. Each outfit is available for Pirates of varying Notoriety levels. In addition, enhancements to the Quest Tracking System were made so that when players are in the “return to townsperson” stage of completing a Quest, they simply follow the ray of light and the yellow arrow at their feet to return to their townsperson.

· Ghost Ships - Nightmarish forces of evil and danger, players must keep their eyes out for these ill-fated vessels that are sure to challenge skills and nerves. The undead sailors are doomed to skulk around the waters of Isla Cangrejos and Cutthroat Island in their ominous ships – Shadow Crow, Cerberus, and Blood Scourge.

· “Looking for Crew” Feature - Allows players to tell other Pirates that they are interested in crewing up by placing a “Looking for Crew” message above their avatar’s head.

· New Weapons – New level four and five weapons have been added, including different types and styles of voodoo dolls, daggers, voodoo staffs and pistols, which deliver more damage, faster reload rates and special effects.

To help celebrate the first anniversary and “All Hallows Eve,” Jolly Roger will cast a wicked curse on the populace of the Caribbean and stir up an epic in-game event. Starting October 31, the Pirates of the Caribbean Online world will permanently turn to night, and when the moon is at its fullest, any Pirate that doesn’t take cover will become cursed and turn into an undead skeleton. Chaos will ensue, and all of the cursed Pirates will be forced to attack the towns, and one another, all in the name of Jolly Roger.

In addition, a special anniversary contest will be held for all Basic Players and Unlimited Access members. The contest asks players to submit a short video documenting how much they love Pirates Online and demonstrating how they “Live the Pirates Life.” The contest will commence today and run through December 19, and the finalists’ videos will be posted on www.PiratesOnline.com. Players will have the chance to win exciting prizes including one grand prize: a chance to meet the Pirates Online crew and lead developer for a one-on-one Q&A and a lunch at Walt Disney Studios to see where the films are made. The winner will also receive a three-day trip to Disneyland and two nights stay at the Disneyland Hotel, with one night in the Pirates of the Caribbean Suite. A $100 shopping spree in the Pieces of Eight shop, MacBook and iPod Nano are also part of the loot.

About Pirates Online:
In Pirates of the Caribbean Online, players create and customize their own pirate, captain their own ship, and assemble a crew of their fellow rogues in an effort to become the Caribbean’s most legendary Pirate. The game is developed and published by Disney Online, is rated E10+ and features lower PC and Mac system requirements than most other games in this genre, allowing for easier access to a broader audience of players.

A portion of the game is available for free with the option to upgrade to an Unlimited Access subscription for a monthly fee of $9.95. New players can subscribe for $4.95 for the first month, continuing with a fee of $9.95 for each additional month. Game Cards that give players Unlimited Access for either 30 or 90 days are also available at select Target, Best Buy, CVS, and Rite Aid stores nationwide. Players can download the game directly and access additional information at the game’s Web site, www.PiratesOnline.com.

About Disney Online
Disney Online (www.Disney.com), a member of the Disney Interactive Media Group, produces the No. 1 ranked kids' entertainment and family community destination on the World Wide Web. Launched in 1996, Disney.com is the online gateway to all of the company's Disney-branded entertainment initiatives, providing comprehensive access to, and information about Disney movies, travel, television, games, mobile, music, shopping and live events.

In addition, Disney Online develops and publishes a range of online products and services including Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Disney's Toontown Online, Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online, Disney Game Downloads, Disney Game Kingdom Online, Disney Connection and Hot Shot Business.
Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) is an affiliate of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS).

In potco (pirates of the carribean online) you can change from one server to another in the flick of an eye. If your current server is full, you can simply switch to another server. You dont need to pay the hosting company a million dollars you just click on the change server button and viola you can join any server that has room.

This is one of the wonderful innovations that only potco has to my knowledge. If you know of any other games with this feature leave me a message.

Why do I like these features? Because they are fun. I like fun--dont you?

Many games have wonderful features. Some of these wonderful features should be incorporated into all MMPOG s, but they wont be incorporated because that would make way too much sense.

Final Fantasy online (FFO) had the feature to change class. What made this change class feature so special was that when you changed class the computer kept all the stats for your level and if you wanted to change back you would not come back as level one but at the level snd skills you developed on the class when you left it.

As a result in FFO people changed classes a lot and only had one character until they ran out of content and started another character to keep playing. This run out of content situation is currently being seen in potco (pirates of the carribean online). Why use the acronym potc when this is really potco.

Further explanation would be that let us say you had a level 15 necromancer and wanted to change to a champion class and worked that class up to level 10 but then decided to go back to the level 15 necromancer. In FFO you could do just that.

Another nice feature of this FFO change class was that there was an advantage to play multiple classes. Your character would retain many statistics built to the higher level on the other (old) class in the new class. There were some limits on these carryovers, but starting a new character from a class change had the advantage of higher stats than you would normally start with.

In potco, there is no need to change classes since you can be all classes at once which I also think is not a bad thing.

I like these kinds of things. Why? Because they make the game more fun.

In one massively multiplayer online game (MMPOG) when you set up a friend it includes all the alternates of that friend that you set up in the friends list. I really think this is a good thing. What do you think?

I am loving all the new quests, especially the weapons quests and the new weapons items to buy. The only problem is that I have no money to buy everything.

The new PVP ship to ship feature is fun also.

Guilds continue to be the most fun with lots of people online helping you with quests.

On the home front, I still cannot induce family members (or even business associates) to use the extra accounts that we have.

1. I love this game.
2. No gold spammers. No spammers period.
3. Simple fun game play.
4. Good if not copious content. We always can use more content.
5. Free play. Lots of players starting the game and trying it out. Lots of people to group with.
6. ship to ship and melee action.
7. mercinary missions?

Finding Captain Teague - A Father's Day Event May 28 2008

You've heard of the man reputed to be Captain Jack Sparrow's father? We're talking, of course, about Captain Teague. This notorious pirate has gone missing, and in honor of Father's Day we need your help to find him. Finding Captain Jack's father won't be easy ... but it may make you a legend!

Did anyone find the captain? Where was he? What was the quest like?