Interview Week- Our Pirate101 Community Manager (Tom Purdue)

Ahoy Pirates! I've got a great interview with the one and only Friendly Necromancer, Thomas Lionblood, Tom Purdue, One Eyed Jack or whatever you wish to call him! He's the most epic Wizard/ Pirate in the Spiral! Oh and Ian Stormstaff you won the contest, you guessed right of what person I was going to interview, you get a choice of a Wizard101 or Pirate101 $10 card at the end of the year contest! Congratulations :) Here's the great interview you've been waiting for!

Me:

Hey Tom! Lets start off the interview and ask you how you found out that you made Community Manager for Pirate101?

Tom:

I found out about being a Community Manager one week after being invited to Kingsisle to play in the Pirate101 Alpha! As an active blogger in the Wizard101 Community, it tore me up to keep it all a secret, but since the game had not been announced yet, there really was no way to share my happiness with the community until the time was right, which was May 9th. You can read more about it here: http://thefriendlynecromancer.blogspot.com/2012/05/ding-new-badge-earned.html

Me:

Were you surprised when you found out you would be the new Community Manager for Pirate101?

Tom:

I was completely surprised! You couldn't pick my jaw off the floor for a month! The job offer really did come out of nowhere, and I had no idea it would be offered to me the way it was. Kingsisle had always been a fantastic company in my eyes, and it was just too good of a fit for me to pass up.

Me:

What did you think of Pirate101 when you first had a chance to test (play) it?

Tom:

I thought it was amazing and knew it would be a huge success, but it was also very rough, too easy, unfinished, and I completed MooShu with only casual play in about three weeks. LOL, but that's just how an Alpha of a game goes. When I was playing the game, broadside combat hadn't even been introduced yet. The game now is a rich and complex experience and really like two games in one with a lot of nice touches and an outright hilarious and compelling story. I'm enjoying the game even more now that it's live and my characters won't be deleted for a fourth time. ;)

Me:

Do you think Pirate101 will be as successful as Wizard101? (I know it will be!)

Tom:

Even as lofty as a goal as it is for a game to be as successful as Wizard101, I do! I think we've got something truly amazing here that's going to turn a lot of heads. I'm also excited to see all of the players who try Pirate101 without having ever played Wizard101 before.

Me:

So you've been a Pirate101 community manager for a few months, do you have a favorite day?

Tom:

I'm currently very busy as the community is in full swing and very talkative. The first few days of launch here really are long days full of talking with players and Kingsisle employees alike. This morning in particular I've been on email, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Youtube, Pirate101 Central, our other great fansites, our own Pirate101 forums answering questions, moderating posts, reviewing content, and forwarding hot topics on the right people here at Kingsisle. Someone needs to let everyone know what's going on in our community, and that's just one part of my job!

Me:

(That's a very busy day Tom! Good luck to you all!) Now.. There's a few people that have a favorite Pirate101 school and attack, what's yours? :)

Tom:

I'm a Witchdoctor fan myself; although, all the classes offer something unique. I picked up the "Da Claw" rare drop from Buster Crab a couple weeks ago plus I'm wearing the Tier One Dread Pirate's gear, and it's making me want to play a Swashbuckler. ALso, the AoE attacks like Mojo Strike are a ton of fun, and of course health drains like Jobu's Breath make me feel right at home since I love Necromancers in Wizard101.

Me:

(Same here Tom, my first character is a Witchdoctor! I love the School) What's your favorite Character, Pet, Companion and world?

Tom:

My favorite character is One-Eyed Jack of course! For pets, I'm liking the Skarakeet lately. For worlds, I just love Skull Island. My favorite companion keeps changing, but all the mainline characters are great. Have you seen the cat pirate's dance after he defeats an enemy? Awesome. Kan Po when he's fully promoted? Awesome. Bonnie Anne's bag of tricks? Awesome. I'm sure you feel the same about this... every companion has something different about them that I really like.

Me:

(I'm hoping I see all of those things soon, my favorite Companions are two you just mentioned! Kan Po and Bonnie Anne!) Here's an older question, its okay though! What's one thing you can tell everyone about Pirate101 if they aren't in Beta?

Tom:

I know this question is old now (sorry it took me so long to answer it), but the main thing I would like to tell everyone is simply... "welcome!" I'm glad you're all here playing now and seeing exactly how awesome this world is first hand!

Me:

Do you have anything you could share with everyone that no one knows about Pirate101 yet?

Tom:

Oh there's plenty of surprises in store for players. I would like people to know that we are hearing all the requests for the amazing features that have been added to Wizard101 over the past four years. A lot of those same features (or rather, similar features) are coming to Pirate101, but much like Wizard101, they'll have to be implemented in their own due time. We'll have a bazaar! It's just going to take some time before it happens.

Me:

We heard about the Boochbeard and Gandry bundles, do you think there will be any other bundles in the future for Pirate101 and Wizard101 memberships together?

Tom:

Again, I know this is an older interview question that I'm just answering (and you probably already know this), but the Cutthroat Bundle at Gamestop is super fun, and the Admiral's Bundle from Walmart is a great collection of items you won't be able to find anywhere else! Since the bundles are immensely popular, you can be sure we'll be making more of them in the future.

Me:

Will there best a test realm for Pirate101, when new content is added? Wizard101 Test realm being an example.

Tom:

Yes! Although it isn't available for download yet, we will have a test realm for Pirate101, and you'll see the bug report and Control+C functionality return in that environment. It will operate much like Wizard101's Test Realm.

Me:

Those are all of the questions! Thanks again for accepting the interview :) You're truly the best community manager Pirate101 could have and could ya tell Lydia she's the best community manager Wizard101 could have? :) Thank you!

Tom:

Thanks for the interview and thanks to everyone in the community for being happy and fun to work with.

Interview Week (Chris Drakeflame)

Ahoy! Today we're doing two Interviews! This is the first interview with Chris Devereaux (Chris Drakeflame- Wizard) This is his first interview! I am glad I asked him for an interview, I was planning on interviewing him a lot of times before but I never got a chance to ask him! Glad I can now :) I really hope you enjoy this interview! Here we go :) 

Me: 

Hello Chris! Before we start the interview, could you tell everyone how you got started on Wizard101 and Pirate101?

Chris: 

Well, this is actually an interesting question for me. Three years ago, I remember watching Spongebob, when I saw an advertisement for Wizard101 which looked very interesting. Immediately, I got on the computer, downloaded and started my adventure in Wizard City! I remember after playing through the tutorial and defeating Malistaire's henchman, having to wait around 30 minutes in Golem Tower for everything to load. Thus, Chris Drakeflame was born. Pirate101 was a necessity, of course! I was given a Beta Key for community work, and immediately started playing - Not much of a story. ;)

Me:

Lets talk a little bit more about Pirate101, it launched yesterday and everyone was very excited about the launch! How excited were you? 

Chris:

Well, being a player who has been at it for almost two months already since Beta, nothing surprises me much anymore about the game, other than the fact that as you keep questing, it becomes more and more fun! 

Me:

You have a Pirate101 Blog called That Swashbuckler, what or who inspired you to create your blog?

Chris:

Another interesting question. I was just giving out Polar Cat, Simbah, a bath in the Commons pond on a Sunday morning, since humongofrog messed up his icy fur. Afterwards I was looking for something to do, besides that difficult Avalon quests, I found out that many of my Twizard friends (including you, Edward) had blogs, so I decided to give blogging a shot!

Me:

Do you have any goals for That Swashbuckler?

Chris:

To be honest, all I want is for people to enjoy reading it. :)

Me:

Are you planning on submitting That Swashbuckler to Pirate101 for official?

Chris:

The answer probably merges with that previous question. - No I'm not. You see, having an official Fansite is a lot of responsibility, and much is expected of you. I don't quite think I'm ready for that as yet, since I barely have any time to post, because all of my schoolwork etc. I enjoy helping out on Stars of the Spiral, so right now, that's enough for me. :)

Me:

Do you have any advice for anyone that is planning on creating a blog/site?

Chris:

Just remember, have fun and be yourself. Don't just make a site because you want to get it official, it should be because you want people to enjoy your posts and experiences. :) Remember, when you start a site, you have 0 views/followers. Its your job to continue working on the site and make it interesting. I've seen a lot of people quit blogging because only a few people constantly read their blogs, but do not let that bother you. Once you develop a passion for what you do, you will gain a decent audience. :)

Me:

You're a very nice Twizard on Twitter, I've seen so much prizes you have won from Contests and you decide to give them away to the community to be nice, how are you so nice?!

Chris:

Well.. LOL. I really can't answer this, but I'll try! I know there are a lot of people in the community that are not as privileged as myself to win contests often. so I try to have contests of my own to help them out. Anyhow, don't think of me as kind, I'm very evil. Just the other day, I took a potato chip from someone's pack, and *psst*.. I didn't even say please. ;)

Me:

O: Chris! I don't think anyone reading this could do something that evil! LOL! I mean... x worried because you're evil x Okay.... Rofl, next question! Can you name your favorite attack on Pirate101 and Spell on Wizard101?

Chris:

Pirate101 Attack? Hmm, I'd have to say that Sarah Steel's critical attack in which adventurous music plays, is my favorite at the moment, being only level 11. For Wizard101 spell, I'd go with Sirens. I was a little jealous when I first heard Storm Wizards got to control evil mermaids, while Ice Wizards, such as myself, only got to command a huge, snowman-murdering Mammoth!

Me:

What about the sun?! And time to conclude the interview! Is there any other advice or anything you would like to say to the readers?

Chris:

Yes, never weigh a llama on your normal house-scale. Llamas weigh between 200.3-450.75 pounds, and will quite frankly, break the scale. :) Thank you very much for this opportunity, Edward! This has been my first interview (believe it or not) and I am pleased that someone as awesome as you who conducted it. :)

Me:

Thank you Chris, I'm glad someone as awesome as you accepted the interview! You're a great Wizard/ Pirate and I am glad I had a chance to interview, thank you so much! :) And nice fact! LOL You are funny!  

Pirate101 Launches to the Public today!

Ahoy Pirates!

Today, October 15th 2012, Pirate101 will be available for everyone to play! Surprising, time has gone by so fast, but I'm glad it has because everyone that's played Pirate101 gets to see everyone's reaction to this great game! I would like to give you a few tips to help prepare you for this game, so if you don't mind.. :)

• Side Quests: I've noticed that a few side quests give nautical experience! I don't really known if the other worlds do that, but I do know that Skull Island does. I completed side quests to get at least 70 nautical experience with each quest (4 quests all together) Nautical experience is how far you level with your Pirate Ship.. Defeating other ships.
• Battle Technique: Don't worry! You'll understand this soon! If you've played Wizard101 awhile, it may take some getting used to. You will understand it after awhile though. This new Battle Technique is great, lots of great attacks and let me mention that when you're battling on your ship you will see spells that are similar to Wizard101 that you can use on other enemy ships!
• Purchase a Membership: I'm sorry but like Wizard101 after awhile you will need to purchase a membership. You will reach a place called the Private Dock in Jonah Town, this is the place where the free places ends. Its where you get your second Pirate Ship, so if you want to purchase a membership make sure to go to the Pirate101 website and scroll to the Shop Icon to see what memberships you can buy. Or crowns. 
• Companions are Important: Your companions help you a lot more than you think they will, these companions needs to be trained, every time you see you get Practice Points (Training Points) you should train your companions. You can also save points for later on and level your lower level companions that you haven't had a chance to level. This will level it farther than normally if you wait!
• Have Fun! This is the last piece of advice I could give you! Don't level too fast on the game, make sure to look at the game and enjoy it :) If you level fast you may miss something you really needed to see! This game is not like Wizard101 when you level, you need to pay extra attention or you won't understand what's going on (the story-line). I love this game and I would like to Thank Kingsisle for the best game ever! Thank you so much!

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