Log on, me hearties! Disney’s new Pirates of the Caribbean MMORPG

There’s a new online drug menace distracting our children and stealing our bandwidth in alarmingly increasing numbers. The Pirates have hit a new level of cannibalism when a ride-turned-movie becomes an MMORPG. At the low, low cost of free, this is a multiplayer accessible to anyone—but the first hit is always free. The Pirates of the Caribbean Online game is based on the same game engine as Toontown, another “tween”-focused free online game from Disney, and it looks very similar. So what makes this new attempt any different?

Free is a tempting offer for entertainment. However, if you want to play beyond the basic game, you will have to ask Dad for $10 a month. It may be worth it if you are under 17.

Is this the gateway MMORPG? Disney has tried this song and dance before with the Toonown online game and the defunct Virtual Magic Kingdom, an online adventure based on the Magic Kingdom theme park. The advantage this time is that they have chosen a subject matter that someone over the age of 10 may actually find enticing.

I logged on myself to give it a try. After creating my own personalized pirate, with a goatee, the game opened up with a surprisingly well-made story line. Captain Jack Sparrow helped me out of a prison cell, for some reason. He actually sounds just like Johnny Depp, but I have to imagine he has better things to do, like more pirate movies. What followed was a lot of sword slashing, map-finding, cannon-firing action. At least enough to appeal to those too young to pour money and hours of life into World of Warcraft. Nothing too complicated. Basically just walking around, interacting with things and poking at them with a sword. I know that a person, such as myself, who is unwilling to give up a social life to live in an online game world can say that something like this is a bit more my style.

So what does Disney intend to accomplish here? Keep viewers satisfied until the next Pirates movie comes out? Strain the last few drops of steam out of a fifty year-old theme park attraction? Or maybe to get kids hooked on safe, online gaming so they will eventually spend money on it? At the very least, they have succeeded in making an appealing game that is also a safe place for kids to meet and blow things up together. Yo-ho, indeed.