[Jeremiah]

This project would be a massive undertaking so I don’t take your hesitation as a debbie downer or anything. You make some good points and many of them I agree with. I don’t think the factions should all be balanced or similar. Their uniqueness is something I greatly enjoy and at times wish was even more pronounced. Nor do the cursed require a face lift to make them stand equal to the other factions.

I’ve been re-listening to several of the review podcasts where one of the most common complaints said about ships or keywords are their illogical point costs. (that is why this idea came to mind) I do find the idea of balancing a few of the keywords enticing just for the potential to unlock strategies that are hamstrung (and therefore never used really) for regular or campaign gameplay. You have said yourself that the cost of musketeers and marines should be changed and would make their use more tenable. This is just one of the many example I can think of where certain strategies could become a more realistic option and others (thinking cargo masters, trade currents, UPS, ect) made harder to exploit.

As I finish this post I am coming to terms with what you already mentioned and agree this is not likely to be the best approach. <span style=”background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; font-family: ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, ‘Lucida Grande’, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”> </span>

<span style=”background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #000000; font-family: ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, ‘Lucida Grande’, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”>At this point it seems like everyone has their own rulesets or preferred house rules, so a lot of things would be hard to iron out.  Even if something was “finalized”, people coming back to the community in a year or an influx of new players might completely disagree with a lot of the changes made.</span>

People who want these changes already have made them house rules. Perhaps a forum page should be dedicated to rule change suggestions? (this then goes against your policy of preferring personal database archiving and not relying on WordPress, photobucket, MT, ect which I am definitely coming around to)

In conclusion a forum discussing people’s opinions on suggested pointcosts, rule tweaks, and other such questions would be useful for new players and veterans alike. (the facebook group has had several questions posted already so it might be a good forum for both to have)

 

[Jeremiah]

So I remember back on MT there was a discussion (mentioned by Ben I believe) about formulating an “updated” pirates code based upon the the experience and opinions of the present fan base.

There are some examples of modified rule sets form other players http://www.miniaturetrading.com/im/forum/viewtopic/t=5893/highlight=Ruleset//

http://www.miniaturetrading.com/im/forum/viewtopic/t=5449/highlight=Ruleset//

From what I have seen so far there has not been an attempt to modify the existing pirate code in a way that maintains the framework of the games rules but addresses various issues we as fans have come to identify and fix via house rules.

Here is a list of examples of areas in pirates that I continue to see identified as potential issues or lead to problems. (not a comprehensive list)

-Turtle ship keyword and no protection from ramming
-Cargo masters and limit on effect
– A multitude of keywords likely way over( or under) priced
– Fear, SAC, ghost, possession, massacre, …. ect
– Unique ship types often crippled by overpriced abilities (scorpion, switchblade, subs,

-“sea monsters” (encompassing all creatures of the ocean, even sharks) and lack of captain ability and price issues
– Ships and the multitude of over/ under price on abilities. (especially for the cursed)
-Events….

What are your thoughts on creating an alternative Pirate CSG code that only seeks to balance out and address some of the key issues we routinely see? This would mean alternative point costs for ships and crew (not every piece just the most egregious pieces) as well as modifications of some keywords.

The goal would be to have the community (those present and willing to voice an opinion) vote and discuss how to best change parts of the code and then have Woelf (should he be willing and available) ratify the changes ensuring they improve game play and do not break the game. Ben has already done excellent work surveying the community about the rules and what opinions people have. This will be incredible valuable when attempting to identify key of the code to work on.

This of course would not be official changes to the Wizkids game nor required to be observed by anyone. It would however, provide players (both on vassal and at home) an improved pirates code helping to shore up strategic holes in the game and improve gameplay. I foresee an improvement in factions such as the Cursed where their general tournament weakness may be improved by cheaper point-costs and more realistic keywords.

[Jeremiah]

I mean both in a way. How did Wizkids actually print the ships and stamp them.

How did Wizkids decide on points and ship stats and in general come up with the ships.

We talk a lot about how these ships don’t seem to be play tested (Woelf seems to have confirmed that for some circumstances) but if that is the case then how did they determine what strategies were “good” for a pack.

How about just the “simple” question of what thoughts/concept went behind the development of the ships and crew?

It is a big and semi complicated question but I would like to pear into the mind of Wizkids some and understand how they perceived the game and the pieces they produced. It’s a tall order to ask and try to answer but it’s something I would love to know more about and potential help answer the age old questions of why some certain aspects of the game seem poorly priced or poorly designed and then others be nearly game breaking.

[Jeremiah]

Oh man I can think of so many.

 

1. General overview of how sets were designed and finalized.

2. What were some of his ideas that never made it into the game?

3. What sets did he work on?

4. What are things he would have changed in hindsight?

5. How did they make them?

6. Does he recall any sets/plans or potential directions Wizkids had in the works? Like what was the direction they had planned for the game?

7. Favorite memories of Pirates and his experience?

8. Ask him about his current projects and let him have some time to talk about his career now.

 

[Jeremiah]

@Ben

Just looked a bit through your customs sheet and discovered your three planned lighthouses. I’m excited to see what ideas you have for them. The Pillar of Eternity is a great addition already. Its ability (I won’t spoil your announcement of it since it has yet to be revealed) fits right into preexisting Pirates abilities so it doesn’t seem so foreign as many of my lighthouses do. Plus love the flavor text!

Also is there a planned “Published Custom” thread or how would you like us to present all our finalized customs?

@ Everyone
On a side note, should this forum be broken up into pages? From personal experience it takes forever to slide through all the posts on my phone…. what do you all think?

[Jeremiah]

I generally agree with what you all said in the podcast. Had Wizkids not been shut down in 08 and Pirates canceled then I would love for it to have continued as a collectible game. I enjoy the randomness of the pack opening and the collectible aspect of the game. But generic crew selection and other aspects of fleet building made it difficult at times with the complete randomness of the pack content. I don’t think I’ll ever have all 6 major factions balanced out with all the generic crew necessary.

So should it return I like the idea of a hybrid system where there is some degree of certainty and better miniature distribution but keep some aspects of the collectible alive.

[Personal example –Vassal is a good example of this, I have every ship at my disposal which is amazing but a brand new ship out of a pack even if it’s not amazing still makes me want to try to use it simply because it’s new. Knowing what I am getting would ruin part of that. ]

[Jeremiah]

MT is a ghost town now when last year at times it was quite busy. So jumping between the two forums does give me a sense of disconnect. Unfortunately for some like Xerecs it may not be possible to return. So I look forward to when everything becomes consolidated to one forum (it’s understandably in transition now). I think the facebook group and youtube channel are great advertisement and communities (never checked discord and forgot about reddit XD) that draw people to the forums should they choose but are sufficient on their own. I check those regularly it’s just having two forums that seems scattered to me.

[Jeremiah]

<span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;”>Question of the Day: Do you have a favorite custom game piece from this episode? </span>

One Handed John was one of my favorites. Even though it is untested yet I like the concept of uncertainty and chaos it could add plus it’s similar to other pirates pieces that teleport you (not events but Unique treasure). S+S may be just fine as long as the ship is not allowed to move afterwards. In this way the other player would have a turn to react or attack but the massive movement bonus would still be valuable. There certainly are issues such as putting him on a Home island raider and then teleport right to the home island could very easily be a game changer in that regard.

 

<span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;”> Do you enjoy the custom review episodes more or less than the other episodes?</span>

I like the variety, I enjoy hearing the ideas of new game pieces and potential strategy behind them. I enjoy hearing the comments on my own pieces as well as learn new ideas from other creators.

As side note lighthouses are intended to be compatible with forts, in fact I created them with that in mind. Their weakness means they can be alone but it’s more risky than if its near a fort. Also I added some very basic lighthouses to each faction, except to the Cursed (which I should probably add one) and Mercenaries (which only has one very special lighthouse) that only have the ability of trade current. For example Paradise Island, my intention here is to help add an element of territory expansion where you can establish home seas where your speed and defense (or offense) is improved.

[Jeremiah]

Glad to see the first Podcast of 2019. Thanks to everyone who participates in this content. Listening to your discussions and topics of Pirates is away fun while I work and I greatly appreciate the work you all put in.

Regarding your concern about available content and podcast frequency I would suggest you worry less about the number of episodes/ how frequent they are and more about quality of content.
As you pointed out in this latest podcast you all maintained a fairly consistent podcast schedule in 2018 covering all the sets and many customs while maintaining good quality discussions and format. As schedules change and life changes it makes sense to me that you all can’t record as often as you would like and personally I have not problem with that. It takes time out of your schedule to record and publish this content.

My suggestion forward then would be to focus more on the podcast content and discussion than the regularity of the content. (recording a lot at once then publishing it out in pieces over several weeks is a good model that can save you all a lot of time is widely used for Youtube channels and podcasts alike).

Regarding suggestions (I may have said some of these before on MT) here are a few ideas that range from easily accessible to some near journalist ideas.

#1. Continue to cover customs (maybe less frequently if they are not in popular demand)

#2. Go over Godmason’s, Ben’s, and others Top 10 Ranking threads. You all covered thousands of ships over each of the set reviews but now you can take some time to really cover the cream of the crop. I would suggest even going over it by faction, ship type, strategy focus(gold vs combat).

#3. Phone interview/skype sessions with  woelf, or perhaps other former wizkids employee’s. Talk about whatit was like to work in Wizkids. How the sets were designed and put together. Other insider info

#4. Interview other facebook or forum players who may have expereinced the tournaments and other pirates events back in the old days.

 

[Jeremiah]

Hello everyone,

Upon returning from a hiatus of sorts from pirates I found myself on an abandoned ship (miniature trading) but luckily most people seemed to have moved here so the community is not dead as I feared. I changed my username from MT to one that I use far more often. Nothing particularly special about it just a family thing.

Anyway glad to coming back to the forums and the game in general. Good work Ben and everyone involved with the data saving and transfer process. I left just about when I heard the news that MT was going down due to work/school.

[Author]

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