Portal:Doubloon Oceans/Selected article/2
The Midnight Ocean was the very first public ocean to open for Three Rings and was brought online on October 23, 2003. Midnight replaced the former testing ocean, Azure, as Puzzle Pirates transitioned from the closed Alpha development stage to the open Beta development stage. It's geography was mostly based on that of Azure's with a few minor tweaks to the locations and landscapes of certain islands.
From the first day, Midnight was a vibrant mix of pirates from all over the world, most of whom had participated in the earlier testing stages. Pirates broke new boundaries becoming the first to claim ultimates, own ships, and win familiars on this new frontier. With release 2004-04-28, blockades are introduced and a race begins to become the first flag to blockade and own an island.
Midnight, now almost in its fifth year, has had a constant struggle to keep up with the expansion of the game. Newer players are often turned off by the establishment of the Midnight political and social circles and the difficulty required to enter them. However, Midnight still retains many of the vibrant and multi-national characteristics that made it so exciting in the beginning and will continue to be home to many pirates for as long as it exists.
