Holy Update, Batman!

Fresh off the main forums, thought that I would share this here since I know that not all of us access those boards. But good news, kids! There's actual fun in store. FUN! Like OMG! Read on, because the major update just launched on test and here's what's going on.

• Weapons Upgrades for sword, pistol, dagger, doll, and staff. The upgrades will be available through new quests. (Note: These are temporarily disabled as PotCO modifies how exactly we obtain the quests.)

• Ammo pouches and cannonball barrels. Available to purchase in small, medium and large sizes (depending on your weapon level), these allow you to carry more ammo than the base amount. No more constantly running to the gunsmith or blacksmith to restock!

• Better rep bonuses for crewing: starting at 20% for 2 crew, up to 100% for 8 or more.

• A dozen new quests to receive jewelry and tattoos not available in the shops. (I've started 3 of them so far and they also contain several of the "go and talk to so-and-so" tasks for 100 Notoriety each. And the tasks include sinking Barracudas and Marauders, so they're not all fluff either.)

• Enemies will now switch their attacks between the person doing the most damage and others nearby that are doing damage -- not just the first person who attacked them. (PotCO expects to modify this some more and is asking for our feedback.)

• No more stowaways! Only friends and crewmates of the ship's captain should now be able to board. (Which means that Disney actually listened to what we had to say!)

• Groggy penalty has been removed for pirates under Level 10, and has been shortened for the rest of us.

• Tonics recharge faster.

• Improved functionality to Whisper Chat and Crewing Options.

• And one or two other things (like new animations when unlocking a new weapon).

Holy God. no more stowaways and ammo pouches??? Yessssssss, Disney, yessssssssssss. Those are my two favorites. With the ammo thing, which is a pain when you can only carry 25 of something, I was beginning to think that The Big D should allow us to use skill points to carry more ammo and such. This is even better! Now, time to get serious with the plundering, because I want to have enough money to buy everything at once! Also, the added crew rep is awesome. Awesome! Really looking forward to that one too.

Oh, and something I just noticed... When did we get the drunken ( ) smilie? Is someone suggesting that we're a guild of drunken pirates?

idgagfi;fhf;ohdafiudas sounds AWESOME DFGADFADFD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fresh from test, the complete list of what the update is going to bring to us.

Release Notes - April 18 2008

Added level 4 weapon upgrades for Sword, Pistol, Dagger, Voodoo Doll, and Voodoo Staff. You will receive new weapon upgrades through new quest lines. *Update: these are currently turned off as we modify the way you will obtain these quests.*
Can now purchase ammo pouches. These pouches allows you to carry more ammo (i.e. bullets, cannonballs, daggers, grenades) than the base amount.
Made it easier to find a crew using your crew panel. To open your crew panel, hit the F key, and then press the "Crew" button. You can now:
Create a crew: Crew Options -> Start A Crew
Search for crewmates (once you’ve started a crew): Crew Options -> Recruit Crewmates. There are also advanced options for more discerning captains.
Join someone else's crew: Crew Options -> Search For A Crew
Let others near you know that you are looking for a crew: Crew Options -> Looking For Crew
Added better bonuses for crewing. The notoriety bonus is 20% for a crew of 2, and it ramps up to max bonus of 100% for an 8 person crew. Note: you currently receive the bonus no matter where your crewmates are. We are likely going to change this so the bonus only applies to crewmates in your nearby zone. We'd love to hear your feedback on this!
Improved whisper functionality.
Chat panel remains in whisper mode as long as player doesn't click X or try to reply to an absent avatar
By pressing Alt-Enter, you can automatically whisper to the player that most recently whispered to you
Chat panel provides more feedback when sending a whisper to someone who went away
Modified the way NPC's target their attackers: they used to attack the person that first attacked them, but now will switch between attacking the person doing the most damage and others nearby that are doing damage. We will likely modify this after doing some more play testing.
Removed groggy penalty until you reach level 10 in order to make the early player experience a bit smoother
Shortened the length of the groggy penalty
Shortened recharge time for tonics
Moved tonics to the first tab in the gypsy cart to make them easier to find
Added "Welcome Worlds" for players coming out of Rambleshack. These worlds are separate instances and only contain Port Royal. Once a player gets on a ship for the first time, he/she will be placed in one of the main servers.
Added /event command so you can see what events are in progress and how much time is remaining. Type /event into your chat panel to activate this feature.
Fixed a bug that was allowing strangers on your ship. Only friends and crewmates of the ship's captain should now be able to board.
Added new animations and a panel describing your reward when unlocking a new weapon.
Added new quests to receive jewelry and tattoos that you can not buy in shops:
"Spy Trouble"
Receive from Perla Alodia, Jeweler on Padres Del Fuego
"Black Market"
Receive from Mercedes Corazon, Tattoo Artist on Padres Del Fuego
"Eliminating The Competition"
Receive from Dajin Ming, Jeweler on Tortuga
"Lala's Brother"
Receive from Lala Lovel, Tattoo Artist on Tortuga
"Smitty's Sickness"
Receive from Jeweler Smitty, Jeweler on Port Royal
"Family Valuables"
Receive from Solomon O'Dougal, Tattoo Artist on Port Royal
"Precious Treasures"
Receive from Perla Alodia, Jeweler on Padres Del Fuego
"Picking Up The Slack"
Receive from Dajin Ming, Jeweler on Tortuga
"Smitty's Debt"
Receive from Jeweler Smitty, Jeweler on Port Royal
"Special Ink"
Receive from Solomon O'Dougal, Tattoo Artist on Port Royal
"Lala's Neighbors"
Receive from Lala Lovel, Tattoo Artist on Tortuga
"Helping Mercedes Corazon"
Receive from Mercedes Corazon, Tattoo Artist on Padres Del Fuego
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i hope the tattoos are at least halfway cool.
and improved whisper functionality thank god.
this update seems to be the first small step they're taking to make this game even more fun.

Did they give any word about when this update would go live? Like an estimated week/month/day/hour/minute/second?

It seems like we're all going to need a shitpot of money the day it hits, so we oughtta get to plundering, right?

Originally, these were supposed to be "April Updates" - so they've still got a few more days left. But yeah, we are definitely going to need gold. But that's difficult when people have been on to plunder with. But since we might be hosting a try-out with an interested player tonight, that will give us a good chance to collect some gold along the way. That should help.

It seems like my pouches, cannisters and war ship are all going to come about the same time. So I'm gonna needs lots and lots and lots and lots. AND LOTS !