Information for New Crew Mates

[Garibaldi]

Information for New Crew Mates

1. Your Crew
If you haven’t already done so, read the crew statement. Click ‘crew’ in the upper right hand corner and click ‘info’. Information about Midnight Serenade will be displayed including the crew statement and a list of the active mates in the crew. This will give you information about your new crew.

The best way to keep up with the goings-on in the crew and flag is to read “Issues” every time you log on. On the right side of your screen you’ll be prompted that “New Issues Have Been Posted Since Ye Last Logged On.” After you’ve said your “Ahoy’s” to your crew and hearties, it’s a good idea to read the issues.

Midnight Serenade is a friendly crew. When you log on most of your mates (the ones that aren’t focused on some silly puzzle) will welcome you. Don’t be alarmed. They won’t hurt you and they don’t want anything from you other than your company. Try to acknowledge them or you’ll hurt their feelings.

Midnight Serenade has several scheduled pillages every week. The schedule is below.

*Monday at 7pm Pirate Time (8pm Mountain Time, 9pm Central Time, 10pm Eastern Time) – Monday Madness and Mayhem Crew Pillage
*Tuesday at 6pm Pirate Time (7pm Mountain Time, 8pm Central Time, 9pm Eastern Time) - Twisted Taco Tuesday Pillage
*Friday at 7pm Pirate Time (8pm Mountain Time, 9pm Central Time, 10pm Eastern Time) – Freakin' Friday Fandango Pillage

Note: We often mention “Pirate Time”. Three Rings (the company that runs Puzzle Pirates) is located in San Francisco, California. Pirate Time is the same as Pacific Time.

Also, any time you log on you might see Serenaders at sea. We pillage often.

2. Boarding a Crew Mates Ship
Always remember to ask for permission to board any crew ship (usually abbreviated PTB) that you see with pirates aboard, whether in port or at sea. Most crews have this requirement. It’s considered polite and there are many reasons the officer in charge might not want another mate aboard;

A. He/she might be moving commodities. With another mate aboard the game spawns harder, more frequent attackers. Attackers are less frequent and easier with only one aboard.
B. The officer in charge might be memorizing a route. Once again, attackers are less frequent and easier.
C. The ship might be engaged in officer training. Training runs are usually done with the trainer, the trainee and bots to keep the attacker’s difficulty as low a possible.
D. The ship might simply be full.
E. The ship might be pillaging on a red or hard route. Another mate aboard can cause the game to spawn attacking ships that are bigger and shoot larger cannonballs.

Whatever the reason is, don’t be offended if the answer is no. Our mates have been known to leave a pillage to make room for a newly arrived mate and our navers are asked to give their crew mates first priority. Even if that doesn’t happen, there’ll be more pillages.

If the officer in charge offers a general invitation to the crew to board, asking PTB isn’t necessary.

Remember that the officer in charge might be busy with other things and distracted. If you don’t get an answer, ask again. You’re not being ignored on purpose. Keep checking the dock. When you the ship is no longer in battle you'll see "At Sea" by it. Now's the time to ask again.

Keep in mind that gunning and navigation are high stakes puzzles. Don’t ask to be stationed at these puzzles unless your stats are impressive.

3. “Yer Known World”
On the right side of your screen under your “Booty” tab you’ll see “Yer Known World”. If you click on “Yer Known World” and open it, you’ll see all the islands on the ocean that you’ve visited at least once before. There are 113 islands on Cerulean grouped in 11 archipelagos. Most of the islands are inhabited but some are not.

You can move from one inhabited island to another within the same archipelago by using the free ferries you’ll see at the dock. When you find yourself in an archipelago you’ve never been to before, it’s advisable to visit as many islands as you can by ferry so you can get them to appear on “Yer Known World”. If you’re on a pillage and happen to stop at an uninhabited island, disembark for a second. That will add the island to “Yer Known World”. Tell the officer in charge what you’re doing first.

4. Moving Around the Ocean
Traveling between archipelagos is a bit more complicated. You can use a whisking potion to travel to an island in a different archipelago or to an uninhabited island. The island has to appear on “Yer Known World”, however. You can purchase whisk potion at an apothecary on any island.

If you don’t have whisk you can also travel to a distant archipelago by boarding a crew ship that’s ported in that archipelago with a crew mate aboard. You can see which ships have some one aboard by looking at the dock. Ask in crew chat if anyone can help you get to the island without a whisk.

This link is for a map of Cerulean. If you print it, you can mark off the islands you've been to and you'll know what islands you need.

If you haven’t already, you should claim your free shack. The shack will be available on your home island (the island you spawned on). To get to your home island all you have to do is click “Go Home” on the right side of your screen.

5. Buying Nice Things
When you’re shopping for an item like whisk and you want to pay the lowest price, it’s best to check the bazaar for the item you want. If you click on the little island in the upper right corner and then click on the type of shop you’re looking for, the bazaar will be the one with the darker background. When you click the bazaar you’ll be taken to the lobby and you’ll see a tab to “Order Items”. Clicking the order tab will bring up a list of all the items that can be purchased from that bazaar. If you click the item you want and then click “Get Price” you’ll see a list of all the stalls and shops on that island that are selling the item along with their price and the time it will take for it to be ready.

If you’re not a subscriber be careful what you order. There are some bludgeons and swords you can’t use and some clothes you can’t wear. Next to the item it will tell you if it’s only usable by subscribers. You won’t be able to sail your own ship until you subscribe and become an officer so you might want to wait to buy one.

When your order is ready it’ll appear in you’re items tab. To find your items tab click your name in the upper right corner then click “info”. You’ll see the items tab there. When you click it you’ll see all the items near the bottom that you’ve ordered but not picked up yet. If it isn’t finished it will tell you how much longer it will take and if it’s done it will say “Finished”. You’ll have to go back to the island you were on when you ordered it to take delivery. Just your item tab again and you’ll see the item at the bottom of the window. Click the item and click “Take Delivery” and the item will be placed in your booty.

6. Your Crew's Fund
When you’re well on your way to becoming a rich pirate, you might want to consider donating some poe to your crew. The poe is used for prizes for crew events and contests. You can make your donation by boarding Groovy Garibaldi ported at Hephaestus' Forge (PTB isn’t necessary if no one is aboard). You can deposit poe in the hold by clicking the hold, typing an amount into “Deposit”, and clicking “Deposit”. Mates that went before you donated poe to purchase the crews war brig, Black Ling, and 2 war frigates. Sadly one of the frigates was lost in Atlantis. But, we had fun.

You can also donate to your crew by foraging from the Detestable Eel that's usually ported at Tadpole. When the hold is full, some one will sail the Eel to market and sell the commodities that are there. If the Eel isn't at Tadpole, it's probably on the way to or from the market.

You can also forage for your flag

You can also help your crew by volunteering to help to move the Eel when it's ready.

6-1. Your Flags Fund
The crew belongs to the flag Midnight Yacht Club. The flag maintains a defense fund for jobber pay, ship and ship stock purchases to defend Hephaestus' Forge in the event of a blockade.

You can donate poe to the defense fund by boarding the Spiraled Sailfish ported at Heph and depositing poe in the coffers, by forageing on the Adventurous Bream ported at Rhinoceros Ridge or by helping to move the Bream to market when it's full.

7. How to Get Assistance
If you have problems with anything, ask an officer for help. Midnight Serenaders are very helpful and will go out of their way to give a mate assistance.

8. Becoming an Officer
The crews officer requirements are available for crew mates to read in "Officer Requirements and Training" under "Midnight Serenade Crew" in this forum.

9. Yer New Mate Gift
Once you've read this you'll qualify for a gift. You'll have your choice of 2500 poe or the equivalent in clothes in your crews colors (navy and white). Just let your captain know that you're ready for your gift.

Remember mates, there's only really one reason any of us are here, and that's simply... to have fun!!!

[Garibaldi]

Welcome to Puzzle Piracy – A Puzzle Pirate’s Life for Me

This guide will help you understand what to do on a ship during a pillage, why you should do it and most importantly, since ye be a pirate, what be in it for ye! Yarrr!!

Pirates should have two goals in life: 1. to be respected by other pirates and 2. to amass a fortune in Pieces of Eight (PoE). The most common route to PoE and piratical interaction is by jobbing on a ship, or joining a crew and sailing with them. If you are in a crew (if you’re reading this you probably are), you can go to the dock or landing of the island you’re on to see if any of your crew has a ship out. Use the crew chat channel to find out who’s sailing and if they want another hand on board. Remember to always ask for permission before you board a ship. Most of the time the answer will be yes, but it’s polite to ask. Sometimes the answer will be no. Don’t be offended. It usually means that there’s no PoE to be made on that voyage or the ship is full. Remember that the game won't let you board a ship that's already in battle and battles can easily last 15 or 20 minutes. If your mates on the ship know you're waiting, someone will tell you when the ship is out of battle (OOB).

When you board a ship say, “Ahoy,” and ask the captain what you should do. If you are very good at something (or very bad at something) you might want to let the captain know. The captain probably has a pretty good idea what is needed, so try and do whatever he/she asks. If you’re not good at the puzzle the captain assigns you to, just let him/her know but do it anyway without grumbling. It’ll be good practice and help you become a more well-rounded pirate.

There are five duty stations aboard a ship; bilging, carpentry, sails, gunning and navigation. Gunning and navigation are high stakes puzzles. Don’t expect the captain to assign you to them unless your stats are impressive

For now we’ll look at the key skills of bilge, carpentry and sails. Each of these puzzles affects the speed of the ship. A fast ship is a predator while a slow ship is prey. New pirates should concentrate on becoming good (regularly getting excellent duty reports) in at least one of these puzzles, if not all three.

Bilge pumping removes water from the bilges of the ship. This is important because as water collects in the bilges, the ship slows down. Bilge water is indicated by the blue dial on the far right of the vessel display. The bilges creep up over time so they require periodic attention on small ships and constant attention on the larger ones. The more damage a ship is suffering the faster its bilges will fill. The dial at the right indicates that the bilge is half full.

Carpentry repairs damage. Damage, also, creeps up over time or can result from cannon hits and collisions during sea battles. Damage is indicated by the red dial in the center of the vessel display. Carpentry also requires periodic attention on small ships and constant attention on large ones. The dial at the right indicates that there is little damage.

Sails make the ship go. The more sailors and the better their scores the faster the ship accelerates and the more movement tokens the navigator has to work with during sea battles. The ship’s speed is indicated by the yellow dial on the left side of the vessel display. The dial at the right indicates that the ship is moving at about 3 quarters speed.

For each station there’s an icon that lets you know how well you’re doing. Carpentry, for example, uses a hammer. A brown hammer that is barely moving indicates that you aren’t doing very well, or have just started. A bright yellow hammer with sparks flying off of it (sparkly) indicates that you’re doing an excellent job.

Carpentry


Bilge

Sails

On a ship that’s fully manned with quality sailors damage is quickly repaired, there is never much bilge water and she flies across the ocean. Her captain can pretty much overtake enemy vessels at will and shoot them full of holes before grappling. There are times you’ll board a ship with heavy damage and a full bilge and you’ll have to play catch-up. If an officer gives you an order to move to a different puzzle, try to comply. They want to win battles and PoE, the same as you.

Always remember that leaving a ship that is in pursuit, being pursued or engaged in battle is considered by most to be a very serious offense. Some captains will dock your pay and not hire you again if you jump ship during a battle.

Finally, there is one last aspect of pillaging that every pirate should understand. Melee! The melee is the second phase of the sea battle. it occurs after one of the ships has grappled the other and will either be a group sword fight, if you’re fighting brigands, or rumble, if you’re fighting barbarians. During the melee you will see your puzzle in the center of your screen. There may be some dark blocks at the bottom (sword fight) or the top (rumble) of your puzzle. These are the result of battle damage and can’t be broken. On either side of it will be a list of pirate names, portraits and mini-puzzles. Your crew will be on your left and your foes will be on your right. You can tell which foe you’re attacking because his mini-puzzle is highlighted with a white outline.

Beside the mini-puzzle will be little dots that represent attackers. If you are the only one attacking a given foe there will be one dot next to his puzzle that is the colors of your sword handle and guard. If more than five pirates are attacking one foe, their dots are replaced by one large, red dot.

Teaming is a critical part of melee. The vast majority of captains will want you to be in teams of 2 or 3 with no singles (if that’s possible) for a sword fight. In a rumble melee most captains will want you to team in large teams of 4 or 5. Since you don’t get a breaker every turn, teaming lets you and your mates stack drops up on your enemy, forcing him to deal with more attacks per chance of getting a breaker than he would if you were fighting him alone.

Having four or more attackers on an enemy in a sword fight melee is a bad idea. Your foe will tend to stall (not use the space bar to quickly drop his playing pieces). This means that you and your teammates will build a long queue of attacks that will sit in limbo, waiting for his playing pieces to fall. If you manage to take your target down while there are still attacks in the queue, those attacks are wasted. Worse, while all of you are concentrating on one foe, his mates are able to take their time to build large attacks to pick off your mates.

Check your teaming often. Throwing a glance at your target now and then – especially when you hear the “YARRRR” sound effect, indicating one of your foes has fallen. If you find yourself alone, or on too large a team, change targets by clicking on the foe you want to attack.

If you find yourself being attacked by too many foes you may want to consider stalling yourself. Forget you have a space bar during a sword fight or wait until the last possible instant to shoot during a rumble. Consider it if there are 2 on you and do it if there are 3 or more. You may be knocked out eventually, but you’ll last longer and as long as the foes target you they won’t be targeting your mates and they can build larger attacks.

Once the melee has been going for a while and you find yourself alone, it’s best to look for a foe whose mini-puzzle is nearly full and who already has another attacker or two on him. Help finish that one off and then look for a new target.

After the melee say yer “Yarrr’s” and “Woot’s” (or yer “Poo’s” and “Drat’s”) and go back to yer station. Don’t laze too long.

At the end of the voyage the booty will be divided. The ships captain can’t divide the booty until the ship is in port at an island, and most captains don’t divide every time they pass and island. The reason for this is that the more battles you fight between divvies, the larger your plunder tends to be. You will be paid in proportion to the number of battles you fought and the total booty in the hold (after the crew cut). Sometimes a captain will dock a troublesome sailor’s pay, or give a bonus to a sailor who pulled the crews bacon out of the fire by single handedly winning a melee. If you have to leave the ship before the cruise is over (but not during a battle, remember?) your pay will automatically go into your booty.

Whether you leave after the divvy or at sea (not during battle) be sure to thank your captain for the PoE and the sail. If you had a particularly good time you may want to ask the captain or some one else on the ship if you can hearty them. Always ask first. It’s considered polite.

Remember, you’re here to have fun and so is the captain of the ship. He/she doesn’t want to be annoyed by begging (“Can I gun…huh…can I please…huh…huh”) or whining (“When’re we gonna divvy?”) and he/she doesn’t want to have to keep an eye on a pirate that wants to laze and not pull his/her weight. Being a nuisance will only get you planked and maybe put on a black list.

Be polite and work hard and ye’ll soon have the respect of yer mates and be a sought after pillager.

[Lailin]

These days are good to keep in mind if ye are not subcribed.
Free Puzzle Days
• Sunday - Blacksmith, drinking & poker
• Monday - Weaving, rumble, spades, swordfighting
• Tuesday -Fforaging, hearts & treasure drop
• Wednesday - Alchemistry, drinking, hearts
• Thursday - rumble, spades, swordfight
• Friday - Distilling, poker, treasure drop
• Saturday - Shipwrightery, rumble, swordfighting

[Garibaldi]

If Ye Find Yerself Alone

If you find yourself logged on with no crew mates to pillage with, you’ll probably want to job off the notice board. If you do that you’ll want to be careful what crew you job for. Since you probably don’t know the crew the first thing you want to check is the percentage of the booty that goes to restocking and the “Booty Share”. Booty share is the way the rest of the booty (after the restocking percentage) is divided.

Here are the Booty Shares.

Even
• 1 - Jobbing pirate
• 1 - Cabin person
• 1 - Pirate
• 1 - Officer
• 1 - Fleet officer
• 1 - Senior officer
• 1 - Captain
Rank's Privilege
• 3 - Jobbing pirate
• 2 - Cabin person
• 3 - Pirate
• 4 - Officer
• 4 - Fleet officer
• 4 - Senior officer
• 4 - Captain
Jobber's Delight
• 5 - Jobbing pirate
• 3 - Cabin person
• 4 - Pirate
• 4 - Officer
• 4 - Fleet officer
• 4 - Senior officer
• 4 - Captain
Crew Loyalty
• 4 - Jobbing pirate
• 4 - Cabin person
• 5 - Pirate
• 5 - Officer
• 5 - Fleet officer
• 5 - Senior officer
• 5 - Captain
Promotion Pays
• 5 - Jobbing pirate
• 6 - Cabin person
• 7 - Pirate
• 8 - Officer
• 8 - Fleet officer
• 9 - Senior officer
• 10 - Captain
Officer Club
• 7 - Jobbing pirate
• 5 - Cabin person
• 7 - Pirate
• 8 - Officer
• 8 - Fleet officer
• 9 - Senior officer
• 10 - Captain
Jobber's Bane
• 1 - Jobbing pirate
• 1 - Cabin person
• 2 - Pirate
• 2 - Officer
• 2 - Fleet officer
• 2 - Senior officer
• 2 - Captain
Trader Shares
• 4 - Jobbing pirate
• 4 - Cabin person
• 5 - Pirate
• 2 - Officer
• 2 - Fleet officer
• 2 - Senior officer
• 2 - Captain
The Cruel Shelf
• 5 - Jobbing pirate
• 10 - Cabin person
• 12 - Pirate
• 15 - Officer
• 20 - Fleet officer
• 20 - Senior officer
• 20 - Captain

Crews looking fer new recruits will often have lower restocking percentages and booty shares that favor jobbers. The booty shares that favor jobbers are Jobber’s Delight and Traders Shares. Even booty shares are fine too.

25% to 30% are common restocking percentages. Anything lower is a good deal for all the pirates working on the ship. Jobbing for a crew with higher restocking percentages or any other booty shares is just dumb.

Larger shares for jobbing pirates don’t necessarily mean more poe.
-Consider “Even”.
If the booty is 10,000 and the restocking percentage is 25%, the first 25% or 2,500 goes to restocking. That leaves 7,500 to split. If there are 2 jobbers and 2 officers on a sloop, the 7,500 will be divided equally giving you as a jobber 1,875.

-Consider “The Cruel Self”.
The same sloop with a 25% restocking cut leaves 7,500 to split between 2 jobbers and 2 officers. The 2 jobbers each receive 5 shares for a total of 10 shares. The 2 officers each receive 20 shares for a total of 40 shares. The booty will be divided into 50 shares for 150 per share. Each jobbers receives 5 x 150 or 750. What happened to the rest of the poe. The officers got it. Each officer receives 20 x 150 or 3,000.

What to Look for When Jobbing
When I job I look for Jobbers Delight (ye hardly ever see Traders Shares but that would be good too) with 30% or less restocking. My second choice is Even with 30% or less restocking. I’ll never job for any crew that uses the other booty shares.

A low restocking percentage and good booty share can make up for a less than legendary battle naver, but it’s a good idea to check the crew and naver if you can determine who that is.

You can see the crew’s info by clicking the crew's name on the notice board. If the crew was formed yesterday, give it a little more thought. Older crews will usually run better pillages, but some new crews have very experienced officers and bnavers in them. Don’t be too concerned about the crew’s fame. It’s not really a good indication of how profitable the pillage will be.

Check the captain’s stats by clicking on his face on the notice board. If they’re not good, it might be a good idea to move on. If his experience (don’t be too concerned about ranking) is generally low (broad or lower), don’t apply. If his experience is ok check his battle navigation ranking. If it’s respected or higher the pillage should be ok.

Once you’re on a ship, if the pillage turns sour, try to stick it out as long as you can if the crew and naver are pleasant. They’ll appreciate the help. I got some of my favorite hearties by finishing less than successful pillages.

[nothegreat]

For what i see is Evan is the most common for any basic crew.
then jobbers delight which is normal done by cap's that like to sail big ships and need more jobbers and i normal choose this one first unless the navers on other ships be a lot better.
then to me the next often i see is promotion pays and i don't join them i also have difficulties seeing how they get mates to job.

Edit
normally jobbers delight will have a higher ship restock then even.

[Hull]

Something I wanted to note here since I didn't know it until I did it. If ye apply for a crew mate's voyage from the notice board ye will automatically board their ship rather than give them a chance to decide if ye can come. *conjures little "The More You Know" rainbow which is promptly hit by a cannon ball*

Easy way to accidentally violate the PTB rule, and embarrassing to boot.

[DeltaQ]

Sept 19, 2011 14:57:29 GMT -8 Hull said:

Something I wanted to note here since I didn't know it until I did it. If ye apply for a crew mate's voyage from the notice board ye will automatically board their ship rather than give them a chance to decide if ye can come. *conjures little "The More You Know" rainbow which is promptly hit by a cannon ball*

Easy way to accidentally violate the PTB rule, and embarrassing to boot.

I have to admit, that happened to me too... until I saw the button. Is not "Apply" is "Board"

Besides this, if you make clear u hit the button in the notice board (NB) there will be no problem.

[Garibaldi]

You can also click the wrong ship at the dock. I've done that before.

An apology will take care of it for me. The problem is, if I'm in a puzzle, I won't even notice you boarded. In that case, just take a station that needs manning until I notice you're there.

Remember that most of the time, any ship with only one mate aboard is probably not lookin' fer booty.

A possible exception to the PTB rule is on regularly scheduled pillages. If you ask for permission and are ignored, I won't mind if you just board and say something. There's often a lot of extraneous chatter going on and PTB's are often missed.

[Hull]

Sept 20, 2011 2:41:15 GMT -8 DeltaQ said:

I have to admit, that happened to me too... until I saw the button. Is not "Apply" is "Board"

Well that's what I get for being completely scuppered half the time from all the drinking games I participate in.

[learyl]

Still wading through a lot of the info, but this is such an informative forum! Thanks again for letting me join your crew!
LOL, am I still eligible for the POE in item #9? :-P