Yarr! Shiver me timbers! On the pirates versus ninjas debate, I fall firmly on the pirates side. When I was much younger, it was ninjas, but they have lost their flair. But pirates are on the upsurge. With the Pirates of the Caribbean movies among other things, the romanticism and the harsh reality of pirates is getting its due. And now of course I have given in to temptation and am playing Puzzle Pirates.
I think one of the best things about this game is that you can, if you choose, play for free. There are subscription oceans of course, for $9.95 a month (less if you buy 3 month or 12 month packages), and then there are the Doubloon oceans. In the Doubloon oceans, you can play parts of the game for free. Other parts require that you have a badge or pass to play, and those items are purchased with Doubloons, which in turn can be purchased from the game company. Of course, you can also buy Doubloons from other players with your Pieces of Eight (the money used in game). So, if you are willing to do the work, you can earn PoE and buy Doubloons from people who want to invest less time into the game. And just for fun, the games that require Doubloons are made free one or two nights a week so that you can play them and see if getting Doubloons in worth your time and effort, or cash.
Of course, earning Pieces of Eight isn’t always hard. While you might only earn a hundred or so from a sailing mission, on the nights when Poker is free, you can earn thousands of PoE in a single hand. Just last night I bought in to a table for 200 pieces of eight, and I left with over 2,000. And that was just a half hour or so playing.
Anyway, I’m still playing World of Warcraft, but when I don’t feel like dealing with it, for now I’ll be playing pirate. You can find me in the Hunter ocean (a Doubloon ocean) under the name Ishiro. Come challenge me to a swordfight.