Release

• Pillaging missions will now be shown to greenies without any naval experience.
• Some drinking configuration changes:
  • Mugs may be disabled for standard-rules games.
  • The number of drinks is now always 3 when playing with standard rules.
  • The option to calculate all board stain bonuses at the end of the game has been removed.
• The tankard has been altered: now it gets +50 points per piece lost in an opponent's row.
• When painting, if you don't have the paint available in your hold you can buy it at the current market rate instantly from the painting panel.
• Fixed some portrait bugs introduced in the last release.
• External browser pages should now be working for win98 and winME.
• There are bubbles and splashy water droplets in bilge.

• Fixed the drinking bug that caused the client to display the incorrect player as the turn holder, often resulting in that player being unable to move.
• Changed the default drinking end-game condition back to 1500 points and added some more point targets.
• Some drinking user interface tweaks, including re-adding the right-click to drink. We'll continue to adjust some things in drinking in the weeks to come.
• Brawls must now be even or the initiator's team must be at a disadvantage.
• Brawls and swordfighting challenges now have game chat.
• Some user-interface changes have been made to the parlor table matchmaking system to reduce the "jumpiness" of the scrolling list as new tables are added and old ones removed.
• Top 10 lists have been changed to "ultimate" lists, and are now only updated once per day, and are linked from the name of the puzzle rather than a user's rating.
• Changed the way pillaging jobs are ranked on the noticeboard. The vessel's current location is no longer a factor, among other things.
• /eject has been changed to /plank. /planking is prevented in certain buildings where it could be abused.
• If you log on and are already in a tournament, the tourney info panel will appear in your 'ahoy' tab automatically.
• Added a button to return to the tourney join/full info panel from the info panel in your ahoy tab.
• When browsing tourneys, if you do not join one and dismiss the dialog you will be returned to the listing of all tourneys.
• A little help icon has been added to all help buttons.
• Chat limiting (hoarseness) has been removed from most 'private' chat channels, including crew/vessel/etc. In public places you'll still be limited. Building managers are exempt in their own buildings.
• Bugfix: worked around a problem with chat limiting that happens on Windows.
• Bugfix: stats on older portraits should be fixed.
• Bugfix: drinking games will now actually be rated!
• Various other under-the-hood bugfixes and optimizations which should improve play experience.
• In swordfights, the list of pirates on a team can now be scrolled with the mouse wheel.

• The drinking puzzle has been revamped. There are now mugs that may be used, similar to the way swords are used in swordfighting. Mugs have a variety of powers and can be purchased at distilleries.
• Officers may no longer access holds, or take charts or bid tickets, unless they are the owner of the vessel in question. Officers that do not have access to the hold will get the restocking cut of the booty division delivered directly to their pocket, and may buy rum and cannonballs for ship directly out of their pocket.
• Added a new crew rank called "Fleet Officer" that is between officer and senior officer. Fleet officers may access the holds on any unlocked vessel in the fleet.
• Brawls and drinking games have been united into the parlor game interface. The old drinking game is now completely gone, but there is a 'classic mode' in the new drinking game.
• Table games may be configured "local only".
• When you get challenged to a puzzle, the puzzle type is now shown in the ahoy panel.
• There is new code to throttle users more sensibly when the server is under heavy load.
• The "turn-almost-over" sound has been added to Treasure Drop and is now shared by most of the turn-based games.
• The mouse wheel can be used to change the selected tab in the 'sunshine' widget.
• There is a new tab in games that describes the game configuration.
• If a crew changes their booty share option after posting a job, the job is updated. All vessels will be notified of the change. Note that if a voyage was already started, the old booty share option will be in use for that voyage.
• All npp puzzle challenges will now be unrated except for those against the npps in inns or outside on the island.
• When booty is pitched overboard when a vessel is abandoned at sea, a message indicating such is stored in the vessel's log.
• Chat will be limited to a few utterances every 10 seconds or so, to cut down on spamming.
• The way preferences are stored has been changed to fix some bugs.
• Bugfix: Swordfight watchers will no longer be informed that their "own" team won/lost when the game ends.
• Bugfix: Swordfight watchers no longer have a delay before they can dismiss the puzzle.
• Bugfix: many fallback options are now tried to make launching an external web page work for all users.
• Bugfix: if vessel A was pursued by vessel B which was intercepted by vessel C, properly clear out vessel A's engagement status.
• Bugfix: small sailing bug that caused a piece connected to a piece on a platform to drop when pieces below it were destroyed.
• Bugfix: detect if Mac OS is not the proper version to run the game and pop up a warning, rather than booching.
• Bugfix: fixed some bogus text when challenging an NPP.
• Bugfix: game fonts should look better for Java 1.5 users.
• Bugfix: don't allow building taxes to be prepaid twice when the database is a little slow.
• Bugfix: stop showing "Internal error" on the in-game web browser when the info pages are being restarted, now a friendlier message will be shown.
• The button clicking sound has been changed. Isn't it better?

Avast ye! We have a few more nice bug fixes, most of them fixing issues above and beyond any introduced with last week's big release.

• Portraits: royalty from flags with "renowned" or better fame can now hold a sceptre. Cards may be held by experience hearts players as well as spades players.
• Fixed a bug with portraits that caused us to disable them for a few days.
• Fixed the skellies to not create savvy hats.
• Fixed up treasure drop to speed up animations if you are lagging and another drop has arrived or it's your turn and the last drop is still playing out.
• Fix it so that the top of the /who ahoy popup should always be showing when it first pops up.
• Fixed some bugs with wagers and disconnecting players at the parlor table matchmaking interface.
• Fixed scrolling to show your booty share during booty voting.
• Fixed apothecary scoring so that new players can advance more easily.
• Fixed the times displayed in the blockade panel on the notice board.
• Bugfix: when a pirate owning a stall is deleted, the stall will now be deleted instead of transferred to a manager or the governor.
• Bugfix: mute feedback is given if you /unmute a player that was not actually on your mute list. This should help people that claim they've unmuted someone but they still can't hear them.
• Bugfix: you can no longer mute yourself.
• Bugfix: duty puzzles would sometimes break if you passed star level 9.
• Bugfix: previously, if you disconnected after having items decay, you would receive a repeat message that the items decayed again. Fixed.
• Bugfix: the vessel tab will update to show the new owner if you're on it while the deed is traded.
• Bugfix: if you add an item to the pot bonus for a tourney and then click on "help" the item will no longer be stuck until you log back in.

Ahoy mates! Just a quick fix to address some issues from our very exciting last release.

• Per-drop wagering has been disabled in Treasure Drop.
• Fixed bug that reported that you left the puzzle when a swordfight started. Don't report anyone leaving after the game is officially over.
• Sword fight watchers should now see the correct status of all knocked-out players.
• Fixed spades watchers from receiving a fake hand.
• Fixed the countdown timer for parlor games to be 5 seconds again, giving time to boot players.
• Update the flag name in the island tab when a flag is renamed.
• Close all dialogs when a scene is changed to fix a rare bug in shoppes.
• Always show payout type in hearts, even if it's not proportionate.
• Tied games are reported correctly now in Treasure Drop.
• The scoreboard in Treasure Drop should look better for Windows players.
• Greeters will now be removed from the list of greeters in /who when they go off duty.
• Fixed a bug that caused items to be unwearable after almost adding them to a tailor rack.
• Fixed a bug that affected mates that play on cobalt and viridian, causing them to sometimes see a blank 'known world'.
• Fixed a small bug in the apothecary puzzle.
• Returned to requiring only Broad experience to show up on top 10 lists. Fixed it so that newly created alts should find it harder to catapult to the top of the ratings.

• There is a new game at the inns: Treasure Drop.
• Crew members who have not logged on in 10 days will now be marked as dormant. They will not have voting rights in the crew and will not be listed on the primary crew information page.
• There has been a giant revamp to the way booty shares and crew cuts work:
  • All crews have been wiped to the new default booty share option: "Even". Ship restocking cuts have been capped at 30%, and the crew's configured cut is now the maximum when dividing booty.
  • Crews may choose from one of a set of booty share options.
  • Any previous proposals to change crew articles that had not yet been passed have been wiped because they are obsolete.
  • Jobs posted on the notice board will list the crew's booty share option. The more jobber-friendly your crew's booty shares are, the better the chances of your job appearing on any particular noticeboard in the ocean.
  • Booty division has been altered. The proposer may only adjust other pirates up or down by 1 battle. The proposer may adjust herself all the way down to 0.
  • The ship restocking cut and booty share option are recorded at the beginning of the voyage, so that crews cannot sneakily change their articles after hiring jobbers.
  • The pirates in the booty division are now listed by rank, sorted by name within each rank. The booty proposal should jump to make your cut visible when the list is very long.
  • The proposal will stay up after it has been approved so that everyone can view it. It will be removed when the vessel sets sail again.
• A new player-made portrait background is available for a limited time.
• When a player jumps ship in the middle of a battle, a swabbie is immediately brought on board as a replacement. Thereafter, every 3rd additional player that leaves results in another swabbie coming aboard. These swabbies are extra and will leave when the battle is over.
• The list of products at the tailor will now start with the first female products when a female pirate opens the interface.
• Greeters may now change their on-duty status with /duty.
• Blockade cost and declaration windows are shown on the blockade status tab of the noticeboard for each island.
• Brigands will now be cowed by the navies of colonized islands: you may have to go further out to find good pillaging.
• Brawls cannot be started until the teams have been stable for 5 seconds to prevent accidental lopsided teams.
• If a pirate is playing a watchable game, clicking on them will reveal a new menu item allowing you to directly watch the game.
• Many bugs have been fixed:
  • The "take job" button will be re-enabled after a failure, so that if you already have three jobs you can quit one and reapply.
  • The governor's cut of stall opening fees are now properly recorded in the palace logs.
  • Don't allow clothing that is currently being worn to be added to the rack.
  • Always allow deed holders to remove money and items from their vessel, even if they have no crew.
  • The vessel report at the docks can now cope with more than 512 vessels in your crew.
  • Swords will henceforth be colored correctly in portraits.
  • Don't count an estate agent as a shop on medium islands.
  • Crews may now clear their public or private statements.
  • The 'disengage' button will be dimmed out if you no longer have the helm in sea battle.

It's another exciting release so soon after Hearts.

• A new "Fame" system has been added. Active puzzling players will accrue fame for their crews and flags, which then slowly wears off over the course of two weeks. Crews will not be able to join a flag until they have "Rumored" fame, or form a flag unless they have "Established" fame. Flags will not be able to blockade islands unless they have enough fame for type of island they're after: "Renowned" for outposts, "Celebrated" for medium islands, and "Eminent" for large islands.
• Some Hearts changes:
  • Sounds have been added.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the "shot the moon" text to leave a trail on the game board.
  • Messages will be sent to the chat box recording the direction of the pass at the start of each round.
• Puzzle Pirates is hitting store shelves sometime this week, you may see pirates sporting a new sword or new hat that only box buyers can have.
• The link to game documentation on the help panel will once again open up the docs using the in-game browser.
• Fixed a bug with duty puzzle ratings that should ensure that partial leagues are always counted.
• Tournament missions are no longer cancelled when you leave the inn.
• Bugfix: crews can now successfully invite jobbers that applied through the mission system.
• The layout of the pirate info page has been made nicer.
• Sword patterns are now displayed when configuring enamels in the ordering interface.

• The card game "Hearts" has been added to the inns.
  • Ratings for the 2nd and 3rd place players are adjusted based on their closeness to first place's score, so even if you are losing, every point counts. First place is a full win, 4th place is a full loss.
  • If a player leaves Hearts early, he or she will be replaced by a handy villager. The player that left will always be rated as a loss.
  • The 'proportionate take' payout option pays out the wager based on relative points taken.
• There is a new petition system for requesting help from an Ocean Master. Clicking 'help' on the ye panel will bring up a panel with links to documentation as well as buttons for complaining about a player, reporting a bug, and the new petition system.
• Players who time-out making a move in the card games will have slightly less time for their next turn. This will continue until they only have a few seconds each time. This makes the game more bearable for the others, and when the missing player starts playing cards again the time will gradually shift back to the normal amount.
• Player ordering in Spades has been changed from the matchmaking interface so that the first player on the second team will sit across from the first player on the first team.
• Tournament listings have been altered slightly so that pending tournaments are always listed above those that have already started.
• The last trade price is now shown in the doubloon exchange.
• Doubloon exchange offers now expire after 10 days.
• At the end of a wagered game, total poe won is reported rather than just the amount gained. (Example: in a two player swordfight with each player wagering 50 poe for a total of 100poe on the game, it would previously report that the winner as winning 50 poe, now 100 poe will be reported.)
• Swabbies and navy npps will automatically leave a duty station if you try to work there.
• There are now small informational pages about colonized islands.
• AFK status is now shown in /who info for a player.
• Hourglass animations in puzzles and sea battle have been made prettier.
• Text areas on in-game web pages will no longer have goofy horizontal scrollbars and should wrap words correctly.
• Pirates will no longer get stuck reading inscriptions on islands.
• Fixed a bug with refunding wagers for unstarted Spades games.
• At the beginning of a swordfight, the little red board views of human players will now be correct immediately instead of only updating after a few seconds.
• Wagers on puzzle challenges are no longer auto-matched for the pirate accepting the challenge.
• If a ship is out of rum during battle, the swordfighters will not fight as effectively due to their rumsickness.
• Fixed a bug with closed shops not updating the time until destruction.
• Fixed a bug that caused trial players to see a blue screen on login.
• Fixed a bug with entering a Spades game that has just ended.

• Allow tournaments to be configured 'for local players only', such that it's only available at the building at which it was created.
• The entry fee is included in large tourney announcements.
• Fixed a bug with rematching a Spades game in which there was no wager.
• Fixed an apothecary bug that happened when quicksilver was used.
• Added an ahoy popup inside banks explaining why they're closed.

• Your money is now with you at all times. It is not at risk when you're on a vessel. Banks, transfer fees, whisk burying, and the money report are all things of the past.
• Tournaments are ocean-wide now.
• Spades games may have wagers.
• Ferries charge a small fee for their services.
• On doubloon oceans, the doubloon exchange has been simplified and the top 5 offers are listed for buys/sells.
• Currently-held jobs may be inspected and quit while viewing a job offer at a shop.
• The layout of the personal info page has been changed.
• Fixed a bug with selecting colors at a tailor that only has one grade of cloth in stock.
• Fixed a bug with logging "display only" rack modifications.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed one to temporarily wear an item after trading it.

• Fixed a bug with painting that caused the paint to wear off after a short while.
• Fixed a bug with new buildings not having their entrance arrows work properly.

Arr, nothing exciting this time, just a follow-up release to address some issues.

• "Do not disturb" does not apply to your hearties.
• "Do not disturb" is automatically disabled if you apply for a posted job.
• The "Do not disturb" icons have been changed.
• Rearranged the buttons on the "Ye" panel to make them all fit on doubloon oceans.
• On doubloon oceans, the crew rank badges now once again only age on login days. The labor badge still ages daily.
• Fixed a bug that let hapless pirates join the fray with the skeletons just prior to them departing the island.
• When commodities are transferred from the construction site into the finished building, previously if one kind of commodity wouldn't fit completely it was discarded. Now, as much as will fit is added.
• Fixed a bug with building creation for governors.
• Fixed a bug with viewing orders in the info panel and having it tell you to press the nonexistant 'deliver' button.
• Gold ore is now correctly named on the tax rates page.

In addition we launched Bazaars, the next phase of the Puzzle Pirates economy, allowing each and every player with a few pieces of eight and the wherewithall to get some commodities together to participate in shopkeeping.

Along with that are the usual slew of bug fixes and minor tweaks. Arr!

• Island Blockades are introduced, whereby a Flag can declare its intent to blockade an island and, through naval dominance of the blockade board, win Governorship. Documentation coming soon, for now this thread has good information.
• Bazaars are implemented, wherein any officer can rent stalls and conduct business. Newly colonised islands are required to build Bazaars of the various types before ordinary shoppes. This will lead to greater competition in the Midnight economy. Bazaars will appear on the established islands over the next few days following the release.
• In order to find the best price, all shops now use an Agent ordering interface that searches the island for the best price and delivery time for an item. If you wish you can choose to 'shop at this shop only' at the top of the order panel.
• All buildings now have a rent due, including shoppes and stalls. The Governor can increase this rent in tax or lower it as a subsidy.
• Ship to ship and ship to shop transfers are implemented, from the hold or manage shop interface, along with the ability to dump goods to Davy Jones. Shops can no longer buy and sell goods that are not involved in the recipes that they create.
• Orders placed but not yet worked on may be cancelled, for a 15% restocking fee. Orders with an estimate of longer than 60 days are quotes as taking 'A Long Time'.
• Shop keepers do not receive the money from an order right away; the funds are held in escrow until the product is complete. Then the shopkeeper receives the funds net of any labour costs.
• Buildings are now created via a construction site, which is created when the Governor sets down the deed. The site must be stocked with commodities and labour before it begins work on the building. Buildings cannot be placed on top of herbs and minerals, or too near the dock portal.
• In Sea Battle the pillager must use Grapple tokens to board their opponent. This can be used in place of cannons on a turn. Ships can now ram each other, causing damage to both parties, and larger ships will push smaller ships around. In addition cannons now fire either to the left and right, larger ships can only move three times a turn, and 'auto sails' can be used to avoid micro-managing token creation. Grapples are not used in blockades. Going out of the sea battle board bounds causes damage, like hitting rocks. In addition sailing Tokens now decay after a few turns, currently six.
• The Island Map was revised to be made more useful.
• Bank Transfer fees were raised to 15% within the archipelago and 30% between archipelagoes. Time to ship yer money!
• The terrible skeletons now frequent many different islands, and their curse is more pronounced.
• Markets will now produce more basic commodities and no longer require labour. You will lose any market jobs.
• Muttonchops have been added as a male beard option. Yes, we will be adding a way to change your hair/beard etc. in the future. Conquistador armour and pantaloons have been tweaked.
• The usual array of various other bug fixes and tweaks! In particular we had to make a vast number of fundamental changes to names (which as you might imagine, permeate the entire game) in order to support our new localisation partners.