Winter has arrived in New Zealand again, much to my dismay. I really do like the warmer seasons, and bemoan the dropping temperature every year. This year, I'm grumbling a lot as I'm facing moving into a caravan. Over two years after the earthquake that caused so much damage here, I'm finally approaching the top of the list for housing repairs. A few weeks ago, the house was assessed again and I was told that it would be better if I moved out for a month while repairs were done. I was also advised that I'd likely only get a few days notice of workmen arriving.

Yay?

So now, instead of catching up with long abandoned needlework projects in front of a cosy fire, I'm packing boxes, wrapping pictures and trying to work out just how to manage remaining in the house at night rather than freezing to death in a caravan. Helpful (?) suggestions of 'pitch a tent!' from fellow Oceanmasters aren't welcome, so I've given up my grumbling to them.

The other helpful suggestion of 'Go on holiday while the work is done!' is rather tempting, and I'd certainly like to be in San Francisco at the moment enjoying their warmer weather and the hospitality of the Three Rings office. I've been keeping a closer eye on that city of late as a distant relative is part of Emirates Team New Zealand currently camping out in San Francisco preparing for this year's America Cup. (Go Team New Zealand!!). Alas, I'll not be in that city any time soon (the best holiday I have on the horizon is a caravan in my driveway), but I'm already gearing up to support 'my' team for that event by indulging in Kiwiana!

So, think of me in a few weeks time, shivering outside in the cold while my house gets a makeover. I'll certainly be thinking of y'all in more comfortable circumstances...

Puzzle Pirates on tablets is speeding towards her final port!

To celebrate the imminent arrival of our tablet-friendly version, we're giving away one free iPad daily to eligible* players from June 10th through June 19th. That's a total of 10 iPads that will be given away to our swashbuckling community! We will select one winner per day based on a random drawing, after which the entry list will be reset and you may enter again. In order to enter yourself into each daily drawing, simply log in and follow the instructions posted on the notice board.

Please note that we will be resetting entries daily after each drawing. You may view the official rules for this giveaway here.

Good luck, mateys!

*Eligibility for physical prizes is limited to US and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec). As much as we would love include all of our international players, the giveaway rules are bound by arcane wizardry that cannot be undone.

Hear ye, hear ye! Gold Boxes are back in supply around the seven seas! To those of you living in the eighth, ninth, and tenth seas: the Department o' the Treasure is still busily playing the Distribution Rights puzzle for those areas.

June's Gold Box features a new assortment of colors for the Toucan familiar and a brilliant ruby Sea Turtle pet, in addition to the traditional lineup of golden goodies. Remember that Gold Box trinkets can be traded in at your local Trading Post for further prizes!

From now until 3:00 PM PDT on June 17th, 2013, Gold Boxes will be available from your local bank! For a full list of available prizes, the official rules can be found right here. Good luck!

WINNERS for this event have been announced. A hearty "Thank Ye" to everyone who participated!

Avast, Puzzle Pirates on tablets is closing in!

Please note: the event location has changed from Emerald to Meridian.

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 Meridian 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 Meridian!* This means one iPad will be given away if we first reach 1,000 players logged in on Meridian at the same time during the event, a second iPad will be given out if we reach 2,000 logged in on Meridian 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.

Please see the OFFICIAL RULES for full details.

Surrounding the event on Meridian, we will also increase payouts and chances of injury on each of other oceans according to the following schedule:

• Cerulean: May 24th, 4 PM to 7 PM PDT
• Emerald: 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

*Eligibility for physical prizes is limited to US and Canadian residents. We love our international players, but a pack of Atlantean lawyers saboteurs struck before we could maneuver through the hoops to expand eligibility. We hope you understand and will still join us during the event!