The Woolly Potatoes
| The Woolly Potatoes at a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Emerald Ocean | |
| Captain | Sheepyleafy |
| Senior Officer(s) | |
| Politics | Oligarchic |
| Shares | Jobber's Delight |
| Flag Affiliation | Venom-East |
| Founded | 31 October, 2009 |
| Last updated on 23 August, 2014 | |
 Crew Info
| |
The Woolly Potatoes is a crew on the Emerald Ocean, formerly of the Hunter Ocean.
The Woolly Potatoes are particularily intrested in helping new pirates learn the game, especially encouraging them to develop a freindly attitude that is consistent with the world of puzzle pirates, but starkly contrasts with many other MMOs.
They need more pirates, especially experienced officers, so contact Sheepyleafy to join.
Contents
Public statement
The Woolly Potatoes are back!!! Looking to build a friendly community where all feel welcomed.
Extended public statement
We aim to build up a diverse crew, and participate in as many aspects of the game as possible, while mainting a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Teaching new players the way of the game and allowing them to become valuable officers for the crew is our primary objective.
TWP New Player Guide
Yer First Steps
If yer reading this, then ye have been jobbed into The Woolly Potatoes (TWP) via a pillage. A pillage is when a group of pirates join together in an attempt to win money (Pieces of Eight or POE) from non-player pirates (NPPs or bots). A pillage consists of yer ship sailing around the ocean until it encounters a brigand or a barbarian and is intercepted. At this point, a sea battle breaks out and the two ships enagage in a fight where they attempt to shoot each other with cannon balls before one ship grapples the other and a fray begins. Once grappled, a brawl breaks out and ye must play the swordfighting or rumble game to knock out yer opponents whilst staying conscious yerself. If ye win, the losing ship will surrender some of its POE to ye, and ye will be rewarded with some money for yer efforts. There are also various expeditions availble such as hauling treasure from sunken wrecks and foraging buried chests on desert islands.
During a pillage, yer job as a pirate is to perform duty puzzles in order to let the ship perforom at maximum efficency and thus give yerself the best chances of winning any battles ye may encounter. Generally, ye can play which ever puzzle ye wish, however there is only a limited number of spots for each puzzles duty station and sometimes the officer in charge (OiC) will request that ye play a specific puzzle. Sitting around and not playing any puzzles for long periods of time (lazing) is considered rude as ye will essentially be getting paid for doing nothing. This may even lead to the OiC planking ye off the ship!
- Sailing / Rigging - These puzzles make the ship move faster and generate move tokens for the OiC to use during battle.
- Carpentry / Patching - These puzzles repair any damage done to the ship, thus reducing the rate at which bilge water enters the ship.
- Bilging - This removes bilge water from the ship, which can slow the ship down if too much builds up.
The better ye play yer puzzle, the greater the positive change on yer ship. Yer performance is indicated at the duty report. In order of worst to best - Booched, poor, fine, good, excellent, incredible.
Ye also have an important role to play when the fray breaks out. Yer team is displayed on the left hand side of the screen, the enemies are on the right. The dots by each person's face represents one person attacking them. This means that when ye clear blocks or balls from your screen, they will be sent to the selected players screen. A solid red dot represents 5 people attacking that particular person. In order to have the best chances of winning, a strategy called teaming is used. This involves 2 or 3 pirates attacking the same enemy at once. This is represented by having 2 or 3 dots next to that enemies face. By ganging up like this, ye greatly increase the chance of knocking that person out and thus winning the fray and POE. So, at the start of the fray, look at the enemies faces and select a suitable one to attack by clicking on that enemies face. Make sure ye select one which already has 1 or 2 dots by it in order to team effectively. As the fray contniues, keep checking yer teaming and chaning the enemy ye are attacking if appropriate.
If TWP are pillaging, ye can join in on the action by clicking yer minimap in the top right hand corner, then selecting the dock and clicking on the ship which ye want to board. However, before boarding the ship, please ask in the crew chat if it is okay to come aboard (this is called asking permission to board or PTB) as sometimes the ship may be doing something that ye are not yet qualified for. If TWP are not pillaging, ye can pillage with another crew by selecting the "ye tab" clicking Notice Board and then Voyages and applying for a pillage. However, if ye accept an invitation to join that crew as a full member, ye will no longer be part of TWP, which would make us sad pandas.
Doubloons and a Pirate badge
Once ye have saved up around 2000 POE, ye can buy yerself a doubloon which can in turn be used to purchase a pirate badge. To buy yer first doubloon, click on the ye tab, then select yer pirates name and click doubloon exchange from the top of the screen. Ye can then place an offer to buy a doubloon. The left hand column shows the current pirate offers to buy doubloons, while the right hand column shows current offers on selling doubloons. When placing yer offer, ye can either buy a doubloon instantly by typing in the lowest price in the sell column, or save yerself around 100 POE by typing in the highest price in the buy column, however this way ye well have to wait a while for someone to sell one to ye. (Doubloons can also be puruchased with real money from the puzzle pirates website if ye are too impatient or need a quick injection of cash.)
Once ye have obtained yer doubloon, again select the ye tab and again press on yer pirates name. However this time, select Palace Shoppe from the list of options displayer at the top. A list of badges ye can purchase will be displayed. Scroll down until ye see the Pirate Badge, and then buy it for 1 doubloon. This badge will then allow ye to be rewarded with more POE from pillaging and will also allow ye to play some new puzzles. This badge lasts 30 login days before ye need to buy a new one.
By now ye will have noticed some strange words on yer pirate page, which can be found on the ye tab by clicking yer pirates name. Next to the picture of each puzzle can be found yer experience and standing in each puzzle. The first word is yer experience the second is yer standing.
- Experience is how long ye have played a particular puzzle for. The order is: Novice, Neophyte, Apprentice, Narrow, Broad, Solid, Weighty, Expert, Paragon, Illustrious, Sublime, Revered, Exalted, Transdescent.
- Standing is how good ye are at a particular puzzle, which depends on what duty reports ye get. The order is: Able, Proficient, Distinguished, Respected, Matser, Renowned, Grand-Master, Legendary, Ultimate.
Standings are generally considered the more important rating. Ye can improve yer standing with practice or by watching video guides found on this site or others.
Missions let ye job for the navy and also perform other random tasks such as buying a fancy new sword. They can be found on the misisons tab on the Notice Board. Selecting a navy mission such as Bilge with the Navy sends ye to a navy ship where ye can practice bilging in peace.
Gunning
Gunnery is a very important duty puzzle which loads the ships cannons and so damage enemy ships in battle. Achieving Apprentice experience in Bilging, either Carpentry or Patching, and either Sailing or Rigging allows ye to get the mission to Gun with the navy. To practice gunning, select this mission from the notice board and click the cannons once on the ship. A good gunner is invaluable to many pirate activities.
The Navigating puzzle (Duty Nav) multiplies the efforts of the sailors making the ships go faster. It also helps spawn suitable NPP ships to fight during a pillage. Getting experience of Broad or higher in Bilging, either Carpentry or Patching, Gunning, and either Sailing or Rigging makes the Navigate with the Navy mission availble. Navigating is a very difficult puzzle so don't worry if ye don't take to it straight away. Ye must also own a pirate badge to do this puzzle.
This is what it's all been leading up to, the puzzle everyone wants to get their hands (or hooks) on - Battle Navigation (Bnav). This allows ye to take the helm in battle and decide what moves to do and try and shoot the opposing ship. Getting good at this puzzle requires time, as with experience ye will be able to predict what moves the opponent will make and so can shoot them full of cannon balls. To play this puzzle, ye need to have Narrow experience in Navigation and ye must own a pirate badge. The battle Brigands with the Navy mission will then become availble. It is reccomened to try and find a Battle Navigation tutorial and watch experienced players do the puzzle to maximise yer success. At first, ye may find yerself being smashed to peices by the enemies cannons, but so long as yer doing it with the navy it's all just good fun, as ye don't have to pay for the supplies!
Shooting the opposing ship with cannons causes them damage. This damage reduces the ships performance and also causes part of the opponents screen to be blocked off during the fray. Ramming the ship or rocks also causes damage to you and yer opponent. Once ye have shot the opposing ship enough (maximum damage statistics can be found on the yppedia page for each ship), ye can attempt to grapple the ship.
Becoming an Officer
An officer badge costs 8 Doubloons from the palce shoppe and lasts for 30 login days. This badge allows ye to run yer own pillages for TWP. Once ye have saved up 8 doubloons, ye can purchase a WRAPPED officer badge from the palace shoppe. When ye have done this, contact an online senior office (SO) or the captain and they will promote ye to the rank of officer, at which point ye can unwrap yer badge, which is found in yer inventory, and start yer pillages!
Basic Pillage Guide
Before running yer own pillage, it is important ye are at least decent at Bnav, so please do plenty of practice with the navy first! If ye don't, ye will likely lose battles in yer pillage, which will cost ye money and will dissapoint jobbers so they might leave. It may be a good idea to take another officer (FO, SO or the Captain if any are availble) with ye on yer first pillage as they can help you out. Also, pillages take time to run, and if ye leave in the middle, all yer booty will be lost so make sure ye have enough time, at least 1 hour.
The first thing to do is to select a ship. Go to the dock and look for an unlocked sloop. Ye may have to try a few different islands before ye find one. When a suitable ship is found, board it. The first thing to do is to check the stock. Do this by clicking the hold then inspect inventory. What ye need is booze (Swill, grog, fine rum) and small cannon balls. With a bit of luck, there will already be some on board. Ye are going to need at least 15 fine rum and 50 small cannon balls. If ye run out of either, it will have dire consequences for yer pillage. If there isn't enough of either commodity ye can either try a different sloop or buy some. To buy some, click Buy/Sell commodities, and then sell price. Click on the cheapest suppliers of each commodity and buy as much as ye need.
The second thing to do is chart a course. Click on the helm (Big steering wheel thingy), select chart a course, then chart a course to a nearby island. Charts may already be on the ship, if not then ye will have to buy some from a shipyard on the island. Next, select configure voyage from the helm and make sure it is set to pillaging. The slider alters the difficulty of ships ye are looking for, but the default should be fine.
Next you need to get some jobbers. First, announce yer pillage in the crew chat to see if anyone wants to come. Secondly, post a job offer by clicking the picture of the pirates face located at the bottom of the vessel tab. This will post yer offer on the notice board. Ye can write a message to be displayed on the notice board on the manage jobbers buttom found on the helm. When people apply for the job, ye will get a notice on yer ahoy tab, which ye can respond to by clicking hire. The pirate will then come aboard yer vessel. Greet the pirate with a friendly Ahoy! Ye can now set the vessel to sail if ye wish, but ye may want to get a few more jobbers first. When the jobbers come aboard, click on them then press get pirate info. Look for a pirate who has at least respected (ideally renowned but finding some this good is unlikely) in gunning and ask them if they want to gun. If they would, you need to order them to gun by pressing on their name in the vessel tab and select gunning. Jobbers are not allowed to gun unless you order them to. For a sloop, ye can only have one gunner.
When the vessel is sailing, ye need at least one person on each duty station (Sailing, Carpentry, Bilging) and preferably two on sails. If ye have any bots (White names) on board, ye can order these to perform any duty station and they will switch to it instantly. If not, then ask or order one of yer jobbers to switch stations in order to make sure yer ship stays afloat. When yer happy with how yer jobbers are stationed, get into the crows nest (or navigate if ye wish) and begin looking for a battle. Mostly, ye do not actively need to do this as often a spawn will attack you anyway, but if ye see a ship ye fancy attacking, click on it and press engage. Make sure ye only attack NPP ships, as indicated by the presence of a swordfighting or rumble icon on the might ring around their ship. Only attack small ships, and only those with a green might ring.
When yer in a battle, make sure everyone stays stationed, and perform yer best in Bnav. When a fray breaks out, wish everyone on board good luck, and provide some teaming instructions such as:
- Okay good luck people. The enemies faces are displayed on the right, each dot under an enemies face represntes one of us attacking them. Try to keep 2-3 dots on each enemy. To change who you're attacking, click on an enemies face.
Instead of having to type this out, ye can save it as a chat shortcut by pressing ye then options then selecting chat shortcuts. This will allow ye to press a function button to send this message automatically. If ye win, tell everyone well done, if ye lose say better look next time. If yer Bnav was poor, don't worry just apologise for this and say you'll try better next time. Try not to get angry at jobbers, as this will encourage them to leave. If ye do happen to job at particularily annoying pirate, ye can type /plank pirate name, to kick them of yer fine vessel.
After the battle, get the damage down and remove any bilge before looking for another fight. If ye are heavily damaged, disable auto-targetting of ships, which can be found next to the job offer button. When ye have had enough of pillaging, put yer vessel into port at an inhabited island and divide the booty by clicking on the booty chest then divide the booty. When the booty has been divided, restock the ship to the specified amount on the officer bulletin board or to how ye found it at the start. Hopefully, ye will make some POE. Ye can use this POE to buy yer next officer badge, and to save up to purchase yer own ship from a shipyard.
Another important aspect of pillaging is recruitment. If any new players (green names) are jobbed onto yer ship, offer to answer any questions they have and tell them that they are welcome to join TWP. Be friednly, and send them an invite to join TWP by clicking on them and selecting invite to join crew. If they do join, welcome them and tell them that someone will promote them shortly, if not then don't force the matter. Ye can also ask if anyone else would like to join at the end of yer pillage.
See http://yppedia.puzzlepirates.com/Sloop_pillaging_guide for more information.
What else is there to do?
At any point in yer pirate career, ye can try out any of these things if ye want something else to do:
- Buy a bravery badge - These cost 5 doubloons and let ye go on trips to Atlantis, Cursed Isles, Haunted Seas and Kraken Lairs. Ye can make lots of POE doing this, however people often ask for specific requirements such as Master+ stations, or Silver Citadel trophy to job you.
- Buy a labour badge - These cost 5 doubloons or 15 for the deluxe edition and allows ye to play labour puzzles and take a job at a shoppe. If ye find ye are good at labour puzzles, ye can make some POE by taking a job at a well paying shoppe. This POE will cover the cost of your badge and hopefully make ye a bit extra on the side.
- Buy a parlour bade - These cost 4 doubloons and let ye lose all yer money playing poker! Well, that's what happens to me at least, ye may be better at it.
- Job in a blockade - On weekends, there are often blockades which can be found on the notice board. A high level blockade can pay ye a stupidly high amount of POE for puzzling on a ship in a blockade, so look out for these.
- Fight monsters - If when ye are on an island ye notice it is darker than usual, this means that there are fearsome creatures such as skeletons and zombies about, which can be challenged to a fray by enough pirates. Cost is 100 POE per fray and ye usually are reqarded with about 1000 POE if ye win.
- Become a merchant - Sail commodities and fruit across the ocean, selling them for more than you bought them for.
- Open a stall - Try yer hand at shopkeeping by opening a stall. This requires a large POE investment and often time and spreadsheets too.
There are probably many more things ye can do too, so keep yer eyes peeled!
Above all, we hope ye enjoy yer time here at TWP, and thank ye for choosing us.
