Avast, Puzzle Pirates on tablets is closing in!

In preparation for the tablet release of Puzzle Pirates, we're looking to our dedicated community of buccaneers, scallywags, and ne'er–do–wells in order to conduct a performance test of our recently upgraded server hardware. This test needs live pirates gathered on a single ocean, so please board Emerald on Friday, May 24th from noon to 3 PM PDT, and see if you can bring the server to its knees! We know that it can be hard to motivate a pirate without the promise of loot, so we will be giving away an iPad for every milestone of 1,000 pirates logged in concurrently on Emerald!* This means one iPad will be given away if we first reach 1,000 players logged in on Emerald at the same time during the event, a second iPad will be given out if we reach 2,000 logged in on Emerald at the same time during the event, and so on. As an additional bonus, we will also be increasing base pillaging and treasure chest payouts and increasing injury chances for the duration of the event.

Surrounding the event on Emerald, the three hour period of payout and injury bonuses will be applied to all other oceans according to the following schedule:

• Cerulean: May 24th, 4 PM to 7 PM PDT
• Meridian: May 24th, 4 PM to 7 PM PDT
• Jade: May 24th, 4 PM to 7 PM PDT
• Opal: May 24th, 8 AM to 11 AM PDT

For full event rules, please check back here as May 24th approaches.

*Eligibility for giveaway prizes is limited to legal US residents only. Winners will be announced and contacted on May 28th.

From now until 3:00 PM PDT on May 20th, 2013, you'll earn a FREE Banana Box for every $9.95 you spend on doubloons or every month of subscription time you purchase! That's 5 Banana Boxes for purchasing a $49.95 package, 12 Banana Boxes for purchasing an annual subscription, or even more!

Each Banana Box features a prize in the seasonal color of Banana, including a new Banana Octopus with Hat familiar, a Banana Snake Familiar, and a slew of Banana furniture and ships. If you live to collect trinkets, there's also an array of 12 old and new Banana trinkets. I promise the old ones don't have brown spots.

Good luck and don't slip on your way to the login screen! For a full list of available prizes and other more detailed info, the official rules can be found right here.

Operating under a shroud of deception and feints, fleets of smuggling ships have silently filled the ocean's Black Markets with brand new Series 4 Black Boxes! These new boxes reportedly contain a bizarre bundle of Smuggler and Vampire furniture along with a number of varied and shadowy Sea Turtle pets.

Rumors are spreading that some of these boxes containing deadly Booby Traps! There's a chance you could lose an eye, a hand, or a leg when opening one of these new Black Boxes, so be warned!

But perhaps that's right up your alley? In any case, creep on over to your local Black Market to engage in some dubious dealings! If you've simply got to know what's inside, you can take a look at the full list of contents right here.

Shadowy agents of the Black Market want everyone to know that it has become prohibitively difficult for them to stock the Series 3 Black Box with black and shadow unicorns. The following is copied from a note that I found pinned above my bed with a bloody dagger:

Series 3 Black Box supplies to expire on May 1st.
Last chance to buy remaining black and shadow unicorns.
Blood is fake.
This time.
Kidding--black humor.
There I go rambling.
Maybe why they took my tongue.
Let me know if you find it in a box sometime.

XOXOX,
Loose-lipped Lawrence, formerly Chatty Lawrence