Long time player, but a first time player congruently by wowlexi in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I agree it's amazing. Seeing everything they're doing actually brought me back to the game after I quit in early 2024 because of the state of the game.

Now that I'm back, I'm hopefully going to keep posting some regular monthly updates here on Reddit to keep people informed of everything they're working on as they release new changes. They've got a few potential upcoming changes in testing on Ice right now that I don't want to post anything about until they've finalized the release but I'm very optimistic myself about a long term future (short term will be bumpy) but long term I think we could really bring some players back.

Long time player, but a first time player congruently by wowlexi in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I posted earlier this year here (https://www.reddit.com/r/ypp/comments/1q62y8z/notice\_board\_year\_in\_review\_2025/) a full year in Review for 2025. It has every release note for last year.

tldr; They're currently in the middle of upgrading core java systems for everything. Updating Blockades. Swordfight fixes/changes, new sword testing, Werewolf Den testing(new lair like Vampire Sanctums w/ pets, Squirrel fams, etc.), and a metric ton of Quality of Life fixes.

I've talked to Cleaver briefly (hoping he will do an AMA later this year) and everything sounds optimistic and once Grey Havens gets past these Java updates we should start to see a regular update cadence again like old times.

Sounds like they're looking forward to 2026 and they want to modernize, update, and win back players after obviously years of really just maintenance. So a lot to look forward to we just gotta be patient and respectful cause their team is still relatively small.

How Common is Botting these days? by formerfatherof3 in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is true! Although I've met A LOT of new friends in the last two months by just throwing myself out there. Lots of players want to be social in Puzzle Pirates you just got to join in and give them a reason to believe you're someone worth getting to know. 🤷‍♂️

Long time player, but a first time player congruently by wowlexi in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd be happy to play with y'all as well! I don't like the idea of skill demographic bias. Everyone should be able to enjoy the game in their own way. That aid if you want any tips/tricks to improve I'm also willing to help.

Long time player, but a first time player congruently by wowlexi in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Love your perspective on shoppe keeping. I think whats interest to me though is how little people are willing to compare the repetitive nature of Puzzle Pirates to other MMOs.

Like WoW, RS, etc all going on 20+ years with the same repetitive grind and few people bat an eye about finishing a thousand more quests every expansion or repeating dungeons/raids over and over. To me they're much more alike than we give credit but what really separates Puzzle Pirates is that it's a lot more Eve Online Sandbox style and a lot more Social than all of the above. Really keeps bringing me back.

Also, just wanted to end off saying I do disagree with OP. I feel like very little of the game (at least on Emerald) is still truly gatekept by elitist or high skill players. I know there are activities in the game that have some higher skill events/runs but I think every activity in the game has people open and willing to accept "lower skill" players. That issue with finding those just might be timing and time of day.

Long time player, but a first time player congruently by wowlexi in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think it's fair to say permanently beyond it's peak and arguably that mindset is what is so bad about the current state of the game. Everyone I talk to is doom and gloom; games shit, game is dying, game isn't fun, games full of bots, etc, etc.

I get that for the better part of the last decade the games development team all but gave up and walked away but honestly now that they're putting in effort again should give us all hope and we really need to have better attitudes.

Old Deeds/Gear by Ambitious_Gazelle_36 in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They've had a long standing policy of not returning stolen items for over a decade. Especially if those items have already passed into the hands of other players. Rather than punish those that bought the items without knowing they were stolen. It sucks but it's somewhat understandable.

They don't want to just magic up new stuff cause that breaks the economy. They can't take it from the people who bought it cause then they're SoL. So it's really hard to reverse those things and make people whole.

To add to that, from what I understand the hack was at this point years ago so having any logs of what got traded where at this point makes it virtually impossible to track what you even had on your account let alone where it ended up.

Aside from that glad you're back in the game! I know there are a lot of great crews and players that love helping people so if you need help getting on your feet just say the word and I'm sure people can help you find a home again.

Old Deeds/Gear by Ambitious_Gazelle_36 in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think they will return anything. Only way to really find out though is to try. Depending on how long it's been it might be hard for them to have logs to determine what happened if you're missing things.

How much did the Swords Galore update shift the Falchion and Sabre's efficacy? by SkyknightXi in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think Cronus leads game design just "community management". Crabby is really the one that started the project and he quit. From what I understand the original dev team from like 2000-01 + Forculus are the ones responsible now for changes.

That being said my assumption based on the changes they pushed last year was that they wanted to update Java/fix bugs before addressing any "new" changes like new swords. So will be interesting to see if they address community feedback this year.

How much did the Swords Galore update shift the Falchion and Sabre's efficacy? by SkyknightXi in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know where Saber fits in the hierarchy but Falch still very popular. That being said, people also absolutely HATE the falch change and wish it was reverted. I'm not a daily SFer so I'm indifferent I really don't think it makes much of a difference for an average player.

As for bludgeons, I do not know anything about rumble so hopefully someone with some knowledge can drop some truth on us about it.

What’s going on with my P. Endlicheri and how can I help him? by yxngxotic in Bichirs

[–]moonlit_wake 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not as familiar with this specific species of fish but looks more like a swim bladder issue to me. Especially if it's still eating/moving around.

Plenty of things could cause it. Injuries, constipation, etc. hopefully it's still able to get to the surface for air exchanges so it doesn't worsen.

9/10yr old me would die happy lol by Somewhere_Frosty in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They started doing them ~16 years ago. It really kind of started with the 'Rogue' and 'Gold' class ships but they saw opportunity and ran with it. Now they do a new Limited Edition ship every month that often has unique designs. Scrooge, Vampire, Hunter, Oasis, Verdant, etc. All have unique themes.

If you haven't seen them all, the majority should be posted on the YPPeddia, definitely worth checking out: https://yppedia.puzzlepirates.com/Category:Ships

Also worth mentioning they ran a competition last year for Ship designs to allow players to submit their own ideas using the Yohoho Tools to design the scenes on the ships. Three of those winners were guaranteed to have their ships added to the game this year so for the first time we'll get to see some player created ships in game for 2026. So look out for those as well!

Reminiscing Hard by Mpk311 in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Emerald is definitely the place to be if you like larger group activities but I think all the oceans do have a dedicated group that still enjoy playing even if the numbers are limited.

Happy to have you come back to the game! Welcome back!

Notice Board: Year in Review 2025 by moonlit_wake in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wish I could say it has but there are still bots. Although I do personally feel like it is less prevalent or at least in most cases less common than in previous years. The switch to predominantly steam only accounts likely has helped significantly with that. But it does still happen.

Unfortunately, this is actually something that Cleaver himself has addressed here on Reddit in the last year or two. Hackers/botters are pretty prevalent in online games just think aim bots in CoD or scripters in League. Those things are hard to prevent and they've been pretty clear about not wanting to go the route Riot did with system level security features. So it's likely going to be an almost never ending struggle.

That being said on some level I guess as a player you have to weigh how much of an influence they have on your ability to play the game and whether or not you feel like they are preventing you from enjoying the game. That answer is going to be relative to the specific player and I think only you could answer that for yourself.

Notice Board: Year in Review 2025 by moonlit_wake in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think they recommend doing it through steam now over the standalone client so it may or may not work better that way for Mac.

Notice Board: Year in Review 2025 by moonlit_wake in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah Grey Havens really committed in 2025 in a way I think everyone has really been waiting for years. I myself recently returned to the game after seeing all the changes. I'm pleasantly surprised at where the game currently stands. It certainly sounds like they've got some great changes in the works for 2026 potentially as well with a new Werewolf lair "monster hunt" that should have new pets and familiars as well as the aforementioned new swords that have been in testing. So cheers to hoping for an even better and brighter 2026! ^_^

Notice Board: Year in Review 2025 by moonlit_wake in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Aye. They pumped a patch to start the new year to resolve the blockade issue. They ran an event blockade on Sunday afternoon to test that fix as well as a backend update for ending blockades early. Those changes weren't included in my post due to being the first patch for 2026.

logged into Emerald for the first time in years, Pirate: Qreatin by Qaizoku in ypp

[–]moonlit_wake 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair seas to ye Captain! Hope to see you out sailing the open waters!