Official:Parents
From YPPedia
An Introduction for Piratey Parents
Contents |
Ahoy, and welcome to Puzzle Pirates! This section of the site is provided as an introduction for the parents of intrepid young pirates. It's also useful if you and your family play together.
Our goal in this section is to help make sure that your family can enjoy Puzzle Pirates safely and without worry. Below, we provide information on what kind of experiences your family will have in the game. We also lay out what parts of the game are free, what parts may require payment, and how you can best manage the payments that you do make.
If you have any specific questions that you'd like to ask about the game before allowing your family to give Puzzle Pirates a try, please feel free to email us using the Puzzle Pirates Support form. We'll get back to you with an answer as soon as we can.
What is Puzzle Pirates?
Puzzle Pirates is an online game. Unlike other online environments, the game does not include simulated violence or gore. There are no guns in Puzzle Pirates. Instead, competitive interactions between players are resolved using one of fifteen different interactive puzzles. A player's skill at each puzzle determines how well he or she is likely to do in the game.
Online games can create an enormously fun environment. People are, after all, far more fun to interact with than computers! The challenge comes with making these kinds of interactions a positive experience. Our approach has been to design Puzzle Pirates so that it encourages our community of players to work together. Success in the game comes from learning to work cooperatively: Players are rewarded for forming crews, organizing expeditions, and interacting socially with those around them and not for being abusive or otherwise acting out.
Playing in a Social Environment
The challenge of an online game is that the same features that make it so exciting can also allow a small minority of players to act disruptively or irresponsibly.
As a company, we are committed to supporting a positive playing environment in Puzzle Pirates. We constantly monitor and respond to player complaints from within the game. Our support staff is on call 24 hours a day and is trained to take a "hands on" approach to resolving issues, including the rapid removal of disruptive players from the game.
Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that players will be completely insulated from the inappropriate behavior of those around them. To date, however, we've found that it does create a generally more positive and enjoyable atmosphere, as the reviews of our game bear out.
Getting Started
Puzzle Pirates is a free game. You or your children can play the game for free with some limitations for as long as you like. Generally, the only decision that you'll need to make is which Ocean you would prefer your family to play on (each Ocean is a separate playing environment). We have two kinds of Oceans:
The Midnight and Cobalt Oceans are free to play. However, optional access to the additional features in the game is based on signing up for a subscription. The subscription can be bought on a one-time basis or recurring. When it expires, the player can continue to play, but will lose the privileges gained from subscribing.
The Viridian, Sage and Hunter Oceans are also free to play. However, rather than supporting subscription, access to the additional features in the game is based on the purchase of a micro-currency called "Doubloons". Each doubloon allows a player to purchase access to the specific aspects of the game that they wish to use. Because these features are purchased individually, it's possible to spend more than the fixed subscription price on a Doubloon Ocean, but it's also possible to spend much less.
The choice of Ocean is likely to be irrelevant if you have no plans to purchase the optional additional features of the game. However, it's important to keep in mind the differences between the Oceans if you do think you or your child might eventually wish to sign-up.
Getting Help Online
As with all online games, Puzzle Pirates requires that players be at least thirteen years of age. While younger players might enjoy the puzzles included in the game, we believe it is equally important that each player have the maturity to react responsibly in uncomfortable situations created by other players.
Within Puzzle Pirates, it is relatively easy for a player to ask for help if they feel that such a situation exists. Click on the "Help" button on from the 'Ye' panel of the game interface. From there, he or she can register a complaint or send a request for help to in-game support.
A complaint will record the interactions the player is currently having. This information is used to determine how best to handle the complaint against other players. The information is forwarded to our in-game support staff, called 'Ocean Masters', who will address the issue as quickly as possible. The Ocean Masters are an important aspect of our efforts to ensure that the game continues to provide a positive atmosphere for all players. Members of your family should not hesitate to contact them if they need help.
Billing Issues
What Am I Paying For?
All Puzzle Pirates players are able to interact with those around them and play the basic puzzles required to sail like a pirate. Each player may also play the other Puzzles, although their access is limited to the days on which those additional features are available to all players.
Paying players are able to be promoted in a crew, become a Captain, sail a ship, and can take ownership of items in the game, as well as play all the puzzles.
Making Sure You Get What You Expect
It is important to us that the payments we receive for Puzzle Pirates are made with the full approval of the cardholder. We have several features in place to prevent unwanted charges, including limits on the totals that can be charged, and a requirement that the credit card be present for each transaction.
In addition to the protection we provide, however, it is important for you and your child to take precautions. Perhaps most critically, your child should be reminded to never give his or her username and password to anyone. Our customer support team will not ask for this information under any circumstances, and anyone that does is undoubtedly planning to act maliciously. If anyone asks your child for this information, please immediately file a complaint against the offending user. Likewise, of course, your child should not give out real-life information such as phone numbers, addresses, credit card information, etc.
In addition to this, we recommend that you consider the following steps to prevent any unwanted charges:
- Clarify with your child when payments are allowed.
- Watch your children play the game from time to time to ensure you are comfortable with the player(s) with which they are interacting.
- If you wish to limit your child to playing on the subscription Oceans, check the box to prevent payments for the other services.
- Consider removing your credit card information by clicking "cancel subscription" after making a payment. This will not remove the subscription time you've paid for, but it will remove the credit card information from our systems.
- If you're playing with Doubloons, do not enable the 'allow repeat purchases' button when making the initial purchase, and ensure that your child does not have access to your credit card details. Puzzle Pirates requires the CCV number on the back of the card as a confirmation each time a Doubloon purchase is made to ensure that the card is physically present.
- If your child is playing with Doubloons, consider checking the total number of doubloons they have to verify that the number is not unexpectedly high. You can access your child's complete history of doubloons obtained and spent at https://billing.puzzlepirates.com/billing/coin_history.wm at any time. Please note that all pirates on a single account share the same pool of doubloons - spending doubloons while logged in as one pirate deducts them from the entire account's balance.
What are the subscription and doubloon prices?
Pricing for Puzzle Pirates subscriptions are as follows:
- Monthly: $9.95 / month.
- Quarterly: $19.95 / first quarter, $24.95 / subsequent. [ $7.90 / month average over a year ]
- Annually: $74.95 / year. [ $6.25 / month ]
Pricing for Puzzle Pirates doubloons are as follows:
- $2.95 for 12 Doubloons (~$0.25c per Doubloon)
- $9.95 for 42 Doubloons (~$0.24c per Doubloon)
- $19.95 for 90 Doubloons (~$0.22c per Doubloon)
- $49.95 for 240 Doubloons (~$0.21c per Doubloon)
- $99.95 for 500 Doubloons (~$0.20c per Doubloon)
Getting Banned
The support team is charged with maintaining a positive playing environment. This means that they are sometimes obliged to ban a player from the game for their behavior. This action is not taken lightly. The following provides an overview of some of the likely causes of a banning.
Swearing, spamming (repeatedly saying the same thing or random letters/numbers, over and over) and other offensive types of behavior are strictly prohibited by the Terms of Service. If your child swears, spams or otherwise offends other players, he or she will most likely be banned. Most initial bans are temporary, depending upon the severity of the offense, but repeat offenders may be permanently banned.
Scamming, or the practice of deceiving other players to hand over items, currency (both pieces of eight and/or doubloons) on false grounds, is likewise strictly against the rules. Players who scam or steal from other players will also be swiftly banned, and may be permanently banned on a first or second offense if it is severe enough.
Other Issues and Further Questions
Please feel free to contact us with any other questions:
