Students Blog

I will be using Puzzle Pirates to relate to the assigned pieces.

First of all, Puzzle Pirates attempts to be a social metaphor in several ways. It employs many techniques to create a social atmosphere in which a player can interact with other players.

The most basic of these techniques in the ability to chat. When I carried on conversations with other players, I felt connected to them through the game. I could ask them questions about how to achieve certain goals in the game (such as how to level up my sword fighting skill, where to find a certain island or port etc).

The use of avatars gave me the impression that I was being social with other people. Although I’m sure that the avatar types, being restricted to pirates, were far from what the actual players looked like, it still adds a social element. It feels much more realistic to challenge an image on a pirate to a sword fight than to challenge the text of someone’s name.

As I soon discovered, Puzzle Pirates also offers players the ability to interact with one another through challenging one another at various puzzles. For example, I challenged a player to a sword fight, and quickly realized that my skills were not up to snuff. Despite being bested by a player with avatar name “Muffynz,” I enjoyed the challenge. I even wagers 10 gold pieces on it to give him some incentive to play. After he beat me so easily, he said “good game mate” and gave me my 10 gold pieces back (A testament to how poorly I preformed during the puzzle). Being able to challenge players adds a great deal of competition to the game. The very first puzzle I attempted was the Sailing puzzle. Although it was simple to find out and very fun, I felt that I wasn’t achieving anything because it was me vs. the computer. Even though I didn’t enjoy the sword fighting puzzle as much, I spent most of my time on it simply because I could play against other players rather than the computer. I felt the desire to learn the puzzles, and eventually to master them. The idea of developing a reputation among other players as a deadly foe to sword fight or “that fat bald pirate who can hold his liquor” provides incentives for a player like me to continue playing. I feel like every time I play, I can achieve something that will be there when I log on tomorrow (or in a few hours!)

Players can also form social networks. Upon inspecting one player, I noticed that he or she had a rather prestigious title. It did not surprise me that when I challenged him to a sword fight, I was rejected. I’m sure someone with the title “Officer and Bilge Rat of The Cartographers Member of the Flag Silver Dawn,” has much better things to do that deal with common rabble such as my character. Giving players the option to join a network such as the Flag Silver Dawn adds a great deal to the social aspect of the game. When a player logs on, he or she frequently sees the other players in the network. Although I did not get the chance to join one myself, I can see how joining a network would be beneficial. Players in the same network can help each other get better at the various puzzles, take on challenges together, or just chat about the real world. It’s fun to log on and see and socialize with other players that enjoy the game as much as you do.

Puzzle Pirates also relates to Lazzaro’s 4 keys.

For the players who play predominately for “hard fun,” the multitude of puzzles provides a great deal of strategy and skill. Being able to challenge other players of different skill levels helped me discover how good I really was at certain puzzles. There are even tournaments with cash and clothing rewards that are really good at separating the skilled players from the novices. Because there are so many puzzles, I felt like I had multiple objectives. For example, there were certain puzzles I didn’t like at all. I found them difficult to learn and unamusing. That’s ok though, because I can still become the greatest sword fighter in the land.

For the “Easy Fun” players, Puzzle Pirates offers a new world to explore. There are a number of islands to visit and towns to explore. Although I’m not sure how far into the game it continues, there is an initial story line and the player gets certain missions to complete (such as learning how to sail). There were a number of things that I saw and had no idea what purpose it served. For example, I saw a pirate decked out in black gear, and he had a tri-tip hat with a black feather. I went to inspect him, and accidentally clicked on the “inspect trinket” button. I discovered that the avatar was carrying around a skull for whatever reason. There are also a number of shops and skills that I have yet to understand. Having so many things to figure out makes puzzle pirates intriguing to players seeking “easy fun.”

Puzzle Pirates does a fairly good job of altering the players state of mind. The various puzzles really forced me to devote all my attention to the task at hand. Also, the sense of accomplishment I felt after beating a certain puzzle (especially the sailing puzzle) could fall into the “made me feel better about myself” category. Although I found many of the puzzles to be tedious learning experiences and unamusing, I can see how different types of players would really enjoy them. While these puzzles didn’t do a good job or keeping me from bordem, they certainly could do just that for someone who understands the puzzle better.

The ability to create and join networks is the biggest reason why the “People Factor” is well developed in Puzzle Pirates. When in a network, a player gets a chance to meet other players. Because you are in the same network as some other player, talking to them or performing tasks with them seems much more productive than talking to or performing tasks with players not in your network. For example, you can talk about a previous conversation or recall the difficult tasks you took on together. In other words, (depending on how much you play) you are going to see this person fairly often so it is worth being friendly towards them. Competitions such as challenging another player to a puzzle enhance the people factor, as does the opportunity for teamwork.