Ten Ton Hamster

Questions by: Katie "Khatie" Postma, Community Director
Answers by: Disney's Mike Goslin

Now that Pirates of the Caribbean Online has been released for a few months we got a chance to catch up to the very busy Mike Goslin to ask him a few questions.

1. How is the game doing? What type of response have you gotten from launch?
We have not announced numbers for Pirates of the Caribbean Online, but I can say that we have been very happy with the response thus far.

Feedback from the community and the media has been overwhelming. Many players in the community have been with us since the beginning – playing the game through several months of beta tests – and are now enjoying the game in full since it has launched.

2. Tell us about the new features that were released for February, such as the new emotes and accessories like tattoos?
We’re very excited about the new content! Character customization is something we know players really enjoy, so to expand upon this we have added all sorts of new customization options including new hairstyles, tattoos, jewelry and clothing (including three brand-new “Brethren Court” inspired coats). Players can get their hands on these items at brand new in-game parlors, jewelry stores, and tailor shops.

We also just launched the first round of emotes, which allow players to communicate with others through avatar actions such as dancing, laughing, clapping and celebrating.

3. How much will the character customization change this month?
When you combine the expanded clothing and hair options and the new categories of jewelry, tattoos and emotes with the ability to change clothes and accessories, the impact on character customization is quite large.

4. What type of response has Blackjack gotten from players? Is it really the fastest and easiest way to make money?
Blackjack and Tortuga Hold-em are both popular with players. If you manage to get some cheat cards these games can be one of the fastest ways to earn money.

5. What plans do you have for future contests?
There is not another contest until April – stay tuned for details!

6. What new content is planned ahead for March and beyond, during 2008?
We have a lot of new content in the pipeline through the end of 2008 and beyond, including new quests and stories, improvements to the Lookout system and player matching, new enemies and characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and some significant expansions to ships vs. ship combat. We also have some extra resources available so we can respond to the things players are enjoying and want more of.

7. When will the ship customization come into the game?
Given the enthusiastic reception for our recent character customization expansion, we are pushing hard to release ship customization soon.

8. How are you keeping PotCO exciting, especially with not one but several other Pirate MMOGs appearing on the market? What makes Pirates of the Caribbean Online stand out from them all?
We believe the best way to keep Pirates of the Caribbean Online exciting is to keep releasing new content, so we are really pushing hard to bring players more of what attracted them to the game in the first place: thrilling sea battles, great stories and characters, cool treasure and accessible game play.

What sets our game apart from other pirate games is really getting a chance to live in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean, to sail your own ship manned with a crew of friends, to engage fearsome enemies in dynamic combat and to seek fame and fortune along with Captain Jack Sparrow and your other favorite characters from the POTC films.

9. Has the Pirates of the Caribbean Theme Park Ride become more popular since the game came out?
I am not sure, but the theme park attraction is already hugely popular.

10. Is there something you want to tell us about Pirates of the Caribbean Online that
we have not discussed yet?
Stay tuned for some great new ship-based game play.