Lowering the boom.

Full-on broadsides. A slugging match for ships.

Ahoy there, Cap'n!

Well, we can expect a leisurely wait between Official word from KingsIsle Fleet Command, so a lot of us can only dissect the minutiae and detail any/all data found at the Official Pirate101 Website.

*sigh* Waiting is the hardest part. Funny thing is, with every "Age of Sail" Pirate game, (Like Pirates of the Burning Sea, of Pirates of the Caribbean Online), the one thing that was always *first* to rub a digital callus in my gaming brain is the actual *sailing* itself. Getting from "Point A" to "Point B". I'm certainly curious to see how P101's Skyways tackle the dilemma of "distance vs time traveled". Pirate Sailing involves countless hours of monotonous bobbing, broken up by minutes of sheer combat anxiety.

But if Wizard101 is any guidepost, I expect it won't be so bad. With Fast Currents, and Sailing maps that are separate from Land Maps, I expect a small transition when going ashore, and that's to be expected. And what about the ships, themselves? Will there be "stitching" of custom ship components, or will it be "choose function over form"? I believe ship customization will be an art unto itself, and I can't wait for my first Boarding Party. Is it all cannonballs, or is the grapeshot, and chain-shot? Will be able to *name* our ships? Piratey-type minds want to know!

But, as to the ship-to-ship battles, I'm curious as to just how involved it's going to be. Will there be a "wind direction"?. I'm going to guess "probably not". (If you want to experience the *joy* of being enslaved to wind direction (which all ships of sail are), might I recommend this free online simulator from The Pirate King. While you're there, please do take some time to browse the entire, (and impressively comprehensive) site on "All thing Pirate", including a list of "every pirate movie ever made", (to which I challenge Cap'n Heather Raven to match lists) . Honestly, (and without fingers crossed behind me' back), I can say that The Pirate King is guaranteed to teach you something you didn't know before.

Valparaiso (Sting) From Master and Commander