FIRST PRIZE: 20,000
Pirate101:TheBeginningtoBeta
By Clever Luke Lawson
Pirate101 is a great game! It’s been filled with surprises, delight, fun, and awesome critical attacks! I’ve been interested with the game ever since the trailer was released! My journey through the Spiral as a pirate started when I got a beta key from a contest that Stormgate Pirates held. Ever since, I’ve enjoyed battling enemies, casting powers, and dyeing mounts! Not only has the game been fun, but participating in the community has been too. Pirate101 is fantastic!
I couldn’t believe my eyes! In just the few days I was engaged with homework and hadn’t obtained time to play Wizard101, Kingsisle had released news of a whole new game! I watched the trailer in awe; Pirate101 was ingenious! I was delighted, but was a bit disheartened by the fact that most games are released months after the first news about the game. But, I was optimistic. I hoped that beta would come out in June, but that didn’t happen. It didn’t launchuntil August. I was joyous, but mostly surprised when beta came out. I was determined to get a beta key! And, on the first day of the beta key giveaway week, I got one! Stormgate Pirates had a riddle story with a beta key prize, an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up; I’m really good at riddles and trivia! To my astonishment, and happiness, I won! I couldn’t wait to start exploring the Spiral as a pirate, so I quickly entered my beta code and waited for the e-mail from Kingsisle! It came, I installed Pirate101, and off I was, a privateer with one mission: to have fun!
My first impression of Pirate101, before beta, was that it would have gameplay close to that of Wizard101. Boy was I wrong. The game has such a different feel; a different atmosphere, if you will. The combat was so much different too. Before I was really familiar with the combat, I remember thinking, “How will I ever give orders to 3-4 different characters in only about 30 seconds!” Turns out, not only was it easy, but it was also fun, and had a nice challenging aspect to it! Using powers came with great animations, and the criticals were EPIC! My favorite animation so far was when Gaspard de Vole tucked into ball and had his axe outstretched so it was like he was a large rolling ball of metal! I also loved the classes; so far I’ve tried every class, except buccaneer and musketeer. My favorite has been swashbuckler! Another aspect of Pirate101 I enjoy is, or at least was, dye-able mounts! When I first arrived in beta I was like, “These mounts are awesome!” Of course, Kingsisle removed the feature, but it was awesome while it lasted! Finally, I love the companions! They are so cool! Their criticals and voiceovers are so awesome! From ghosts to skeletons; horses to roosters, they’re all magnificent!
Of course, my absolute favorite part of beta was meeting Fearless Kristen Eastwick! When she was taking pictures of pets for her guide, I saw her, and kind of freaked out. She accepted my friend request too! I was so excited because she is a large part of the community. Pirate101 has a fantastic community, and the game hasn’t even released yet! Though I’ve won few contests, I still appreciate how friendly, generous, developed, and fun the community is! I love how dedicated people are to making guides, and improving the community itself! It’s been great, not only being a part of Pirate101 Beta, but also of the community!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing Pirate101! From the fighting, to the sailing, to the spice retrieving, to the water mole fighting, it’s all been a blast! Probably the most amazing part of beta was not just the game, but the support and dedication from the community. Pirate101 has been, from the beginning to beta, an amazing experience!
SECOND PRIZE: 5,000 Crowns
What I liked about Pirate101
By Tasha Sparkleheart
From the minute you create your character you are completely absorbed into the game. The story line is just fantastic and you really do feel like you become a part of the exciting adventure. The graphics are beautiful and striking. The combat system is unique. The game is just enthralling and the five classes are great, they are so different from each other and they give players a sort of identity to carry through out the game.
What I enjoyed the most in game was recruiting companions and having them battle along side me in combat. Battling beside me, spending time at the tavern enjoying bottles of yum and giving me little comments now and again has given me a great sense of team spirit. I've grown quite attached to my crew and I'm proud to be their captain. Whether it's defeating the Monquistan naval ships or defeating the very strong and hard to kill Fin Dorsal we give it our all, sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's hard, sometimes we lose, but then we try again till we get it right.
Another interesting part of the game is ship to ship combat. It is so much fun. I've noticed that a lot of players prefer hand to hand combat rather than ship to ship combat and that's probably because they aren't used to it. Honestly once you get used to battling from your ship it isn't hard at all. It also makes you feel like a real pirate, anyway who can resist sailing the Skyways in their very own ship? You might as well include it in combat, receive a lot of nautical experience and buy cool new ship parts and make your ship the most powerful and best looking ship out there. After all treasure comes second to a pirate only when compared to his/her ship.
I think that another important reason why Pirate101, even in it's beta stage has been such a huge success is because of it's community. Without the amazing community that both you and I belong to Pirate101 would be nowhere as fun as it is now. I know that sometimes the people who belong to this community can be impolite and even plain rude at times, but I think that the rest of the community make up for it. I've made a lot of new friends on Pirate101, some who help me complete my quests ad others who give me tips and advice on different strategies I could use in combat. This community is another reason why I love Pirate101.
Kingsisle has really outdone themselves with this game and I hope that they continue to develop both games, wizard101 and pirate101, and introduce more games to their millions of fans in the future.
See you around in the Spiral!
THIRD PRIZE: 2,500 Crowns
Pirate101 Essay
By Alexandra Zest
What I really enjoyed about Pirate101 beta was all of the companions! One of the companions I liked the most was Sarah Steele. Since I was a Swashbuckler in beta, she seemed the most like me if you know what I mean. Another reason I liked Sarah was because she was a really good fighter! Especially after you upgraded her, she was one of my best fighters. Another companion I liked a lot was Bonnie Anne. She just seemed so awesome! Bonnie was one of my Musketeer companions and I have to say she was the best by far because of her power and accuracy to hit companions that were out of range for non-musketeers. Some might say Sarah and Bonnie are two totally different companions and wouldn't make a good team but I think they make the best team. Not just because they are girls but because they both fight so well! They also seemed like sisters to me because they would be with each other in almost every battle and because it seemed like they defended each other. Ha-ha I know it seems crazy that I would think that but it just seems like they are perfect fighters, side by side. :)
The next reason I liked companions the most was because they could fight beside you. Pets in Wizard101 didn't do much to help you in battle. Sure they gave you spritely or spell proof but companions are like friends in battle. Dueling in Wizard101 was only you and your pet. When soloing in Pirate101, you have your companions to help you a lot more! I really thought companions helped a lot more than Wizard101. Also when a friend came, you had so many more 'helpers' to defeat a boss or enemy.
My third reason I liked companions is because you can train them. You could train pets on Wizard101 but companions are so much more sweet! When you reach a higher level than your companion already is, you can train them and get new talents. New talents could be strength, health, accuracy, resistance, dodging, and many more. You could pick the talents! That was the best part. On Wizard101 you got it random and it took forever to level your pet up especially to mega. On Pirate101, it doesn't take long to level them up! Maybe 20 seconds? Ha-ha. My favorite part about training is after you get the companion's special quest, you get to pick a new epic! My favorite new epic is vengeance strike and repel borders. New epics are really epic and can help you a lot! Vengeance strike or return fire is my favorite because your companion can attack again after being attack. Repel borders is another favorite because your companion attacks an enemy if they move within two spaces of your companion. Sarah Steele has repel borders and Bonnie Anne has return fire, that's another reason I really like them.
Companions were my favorite thing in Pirate101 beta but my second favorite that kind of goes with them is battling. I liked battling so much more on Pirate101 than Wizard101 because of the set up. The set up is a game board and it seems like you can do a lot more in with it than Wizard101's set up. With the game board, you can move anywhere on it (in the blue square range) and then attack the enemy. On Wizard101, there is really no way you can run away or run to the enemy. It's like you're immobilized and all you can do is cast spells on the enemy in front of you. On Pirate101 it's kind of like if you were fighting in real life. Not that I've done so... that would be very scary! On Pirate101, you can run away from enemy's and heal yourself or defend yourself then just go back and fight! In conclusion, my favorite things in Pirate101 beta were the companions and battling. I hope they will be an even better experience when the game comes live!
The next reason I liked companions the most was because they could fight beside you. Pets in Wizard101 didn't do much to help you in battle. Sure they gave you spritely or spell proof but companions are like friends in battle. Dueling in Wizard101 was only you and your pet. When soloing in Pirate101, you have your companions to help you a lot more! I really thought companions helped a lot more than Wizard101. Also when a friend came, you had so many more 'helpers' to defeat a boss or enemy.
My third reason I liked companions is because you can train them. You could train pets on Wizard101 but companions are so much more sweet! When you reach a higher level than your companion already is, you can train them and get new talents. New talents could be strength, health, accuracy, resistance, dodging, and many more. You could pick the talents! That was the best part. On Wizard101 you got it random and it took forever to level your pet up especially to mega. On Pirate101, it doesn't take long to level them up! Maybe 20 seconds? Ha-ha. My favorite part about training is after you get the companion's special quest, you get to pick a new epic! My favorite new epic is vengeance strike and repel borders. New epics are really epic and can help you a lot! Vengeance strike or return fire is my favorite because your companion can attack again after being attack. Repel borders is another favorite because your companion attacks an enemy if they move within two spaces of your companion. Sarah Steele has repel borders and Bonnie Anne has return fire, that's another reason I really like them.
Companions were my favorite thing in Pirate101 beta but my second favorite that kind of goes with them is battling. I liked battling so much more on Pirate101 than Wizard101 because of the set up. The set up is a game board and it seems like you can do a lot more in with it than Wizard101's set up. With the game board, you can move anywhere on it (in the blue square range) and then attack the enemy. On Wizard101, there is really no way you can run away or run to the enemy. It's like you're immobilized and all you can do is cast spells on the enemy in front of you. On Pirate101 it's kind of like if you were fighting in real life. Not that I've done so... that would be very scary! On Pirate101, you can run away from enemy's and heal yourself or defend yourself then just go back and fight! In conclusion, my favorite things in Pirate101 beta were the companions and battling. I hope they will be an even better experience when the game comes live!
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