document_title: United States Senate elections, 2018

question_text: which republican senate seats are up in 2018

question_tokens: which republican senate seats are up in 2018

text: United States Senate elections, 2018

text: Partisan composition[edit]

text: Among the 33 Class 1 Senate seats up for regular election in 2018 are 23 currently held by Democrats, two by independents who caucus with the Senate Democrats, and eight by Republicans. The Class 2 seats in Minnesota and Mississippi held by interim appointees are also up for election.

text:
Parties

Total

Democratic
Republican
Independent

Last election (2016)
46
52
2
100

Before this election
47
51
2
100

Not up
23
42
0
65

Class 2 (2014→2020)
11
20
0
31

Class 3 (2016→2022)
12
22
0
34

Up
24
9
2
35

Class 1 (2012→2018)
23
8
2
33

Special: Class 2
1
1
0
2

Incumbent retiring
0
3
0
3

Incumbent running
24
6
2
32

tag: table

text: Change in composition[edit]

text: Before the elections[edit]

text:
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7
D8
D9
D10

D20
D19
D18
D17
D16
D15
D14
D13
D12
D11

D21
D22
D23
D24
Running
D25
Running
D26
Running
D27
Running
D28
Running
D29
Running
D30
Running

D40
Running
D39
Running
D38
Running
D37
Running
D36
Running
D35
Running
D34
Running
D33
Running
D32
Running
D31
Running

D41
Running
D42
Running
D43
Running
D44
Running
D45
Running
D46
Running
D47
Running
I1
Running
I2
Running
R51
Retiring

Majority →

R41
R42
R43
Running
R44
Running
R45
Running
R46
Running
R47
Running
R48
Running
R49
Retiring
R50
Retiring

R40
R39
R38
R37
R36
R35
R34
R33
R32
R31

R21
R22
R23
R24
R25
R26
R27
R28
R29
R30

R20
R19
R18
R17
R16
R15
R14
R13
R12
R11

R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8
R9
R10

text: After the elections[edit]

text:
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7
D8
D9
D10

D20
D19
D18
D17
D16
D15
D14
D13
D12
D11

D21
D22
D23
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Majority →

TBD

R41
R42
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

R40
R39
R38
R37
R36
R35
R34
R33
R32
R31

R21
R22
R23
R24
R25
R26
R27
R28
R29
R30

R20
R19
R18
R17
R16
R15
R14
R13
R12
R11

R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8
R9
R10

text:
Key:

D#
Democratic

R#
Republican

I#
Independent, caucusing with Democrats[4][5]

text: Most recent election predictions[edit]

text: Democrats are expected to target the Republican-held Senate seats in Arizona (open seat) and Nevada.[6] Democrats could also target seats in Texas,[7] Utah’s open-seat,[8] and Tennessee's open-seat.[9] Republicans are expected to target Democratic-held seats in Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia, all of which voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election and Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election,[10] as well as seats in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, all of which voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election.[11] Republicans could also target seats in Minnesota (at least one of the two seats), Virginia, Maine, and New Jersey.[6] Other races may also become competitive.

text: Most election predictors use:

text:
"tossup": no advantage
"tilt" (used sometimes): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
"lean": slight advantage
"likely" or "favored": significant but surmountable advantage
"safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory.

text:
State
PVI[12]
Incumbent
Most
recent
result
Cook
Apr 9,
2018[13]
I.E.
Apr 9,
2018[14]
Sabato
Apr 11,
2018[15]
NYT
Apr 11,
2018[16]
CNN
Apr 9,
2018[17]
RCP
Apr 18,
2018[18]

Arizona
R+5
Jeff Flake (R)
(Retiring)
49% R
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup

California
D+12
Dianne Feinstein (D)
63% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Connecticut
D+6
Chris Murphy (D)
55% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Delaware
D+6
Tom Carper (D)
66% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Florida
R+2
Bill Nelson (D)
55% D
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Lean D
Tossup
Tossup

Hawaii
D+18
Mazie Hirono (D)
63% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Indiana
R+9
Joe Donnelly (D)
50% D
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup

Maine
D+3
Angus King (I)
53% I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I
Likely D/I
Safe D/I

Maryland
D+12
Ben Cardin (D)
55% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Massachusetts
D+12
Elizabeth Warren (D)
54% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Michigan
D+1
Debbie Stabenow (D)
59% D
Likely D
Safe D
Likely D
Likely D
Likely D
Likely D

Minnesota
D+1
Amy Klobuchar (D)
65% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Minnesota
(Special)
D+1
Tina Smith (D)
53% D
Lean D
Likely D
Likely D
Likely D
Likely D
Likely D

Mississippi
R+9
Roger Wicker (R)
57% R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R

Mississippi
(Special)
R+9
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)
60% R
Likely R
Safe R
Likely R
Likely R
Safe R
Likely R

Missouri
R+9
Claire McCaskill (D)
55% D
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup

Montana
R+11
Jon Tester (D)
49% D
Likely D
Tilt D
Lean D
Lean D
Lean D
Lean D

Nebraska
R+14
Deb Fischer (R)
56% R
Likely R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R

Nevada
D+1
Dean Heller (R)
46% R
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup

New Jersey
D+7
Bob Menendez (D)
59% D
Likely D
Safe D
Likely D
Likely D
Safe D
Likely D

New Mexico
D+3
Martin Heinrich (D)
51% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

New York
D+11
Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
72% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

North Dakota
R+16
Heidi Heitkamp (D)
50% D
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup

Ohio
R+3
Sherrod Brown (D)
51% D
Lean D
Lean D
Lean D
Lean D
Lean D
Lean D

Pennsylvania
EVEN
Bob Casey Jr. (D)
54% D
Likely D
Lean D
Likely D
Likely D
Likely D
Likely D

Rhode Island
D+10
Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
64% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

Tennessee
R+14
Bob Corker (R)
(Retiring)
65% R
Tossup
Likely R
Likely R
Lean R
Lean R
Tossup

Texas
R+8
Ted Cruz (R)
57% R
Likely R
Safe R
Likely R
Likely R
Likely R
Lean R

Utah
R+20
Orrin Hatch (R)
(Retiring)
65% R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R

Vermont
D+15
Bernie Sanders (I)
71% I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I
Safe D/I

Virginia
D+1
Tim Kaine (D)
53% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Likely D
Likely D

Washington
D+7
Maria Cantwell (D)
61% D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D
Safe D

West Virginia
R+20
Joe Manchin (D)
61% D
Tossup
Tossup
Lean D
Tossup
Tossup
Tossup

Wisconsin
EVEN
Tammy Baldwin (D)
51% D
Likely D
Tilt D
Lean D
Lean D
Lean D
Likely D

Wyoming
R+25
John Barrasso (R)
76% R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R
Safe R

text: Race summary[edit]

text: Special elections during the preceding Congress[edit]

text: In these special elections, the winners will be elected coincidingly with the other races of the 2018 Senate elections, but will be seated before January 3, 2019. Ordered by election date, then by state, then by class.

text:
State
(linked to
summaries below)
Incumbent
Results
Candidates

Senator
Party
Electoral
history

Minnesota
(Class 2)
Tina Smith
Democratic
2018 (Appointed)
Special election scheduled for November 6, 2018.
August 14, 2018 primary election.
Interim appointee running.[19]
Bob Anderson (Republican)[20]
Karin Housley (Republican)[21]
Nick Leonard (Democratic)[22]
Tina Smith (Democratic)[19]

Mississippi
(Class 2)
Cindy Hyde-Smith
Republican
2018 (Appointed)
Special election scheduled for November 6, 2018.
If no candidate receives a majority, a runoff will be held on November 27, 2018.
Interim appointee running.[23]
Mike Espy (Democratic)[24]
Cindy Hyde-Smith (Republican)[23]
Chris McDaniel (Republican)[25]
Jason Shelton (Democratic)[26]

text: Elections leading to the next Congress[edit]

text: In these general elections, the winners will be elected for the term beginning January 3, 2019.

text: All of the elections involve the Class 1 seats; ordered by state.

text:
State
(linked to
summaries below)
Incumbent
Results
Candidates

Senator
Party
Electoral history

Arizona
Jeff Flake
Republican
2012
Incumbent retiring.[27]
August 28, 2018 primary election.
New senator to be elected.
Deedra Abboud (Democratic)[28]
Eve Reyes Aguirre (Green)[29]
Joe Arpaio (Republican)[30]
Bob Bishop (Democratic)[31]
Craig Brittain (Republican)[32]
Christian "C.J." Diegel (Republican)[33]
Michelle Griffin (Republican)[34]
Doug Marks (Libertarian)[35]
Martha McSally (Republican)[36]
Chris Russell (Democratic)[37]
Richard Sherzan (Democratic)[38]
Kyrsten Sinema (Democratic)[39]
Nicolas Tutora (Republican)[40]
Kelli Ward (Republican)[41]

California
Dianne Feinstein
Democratic
1992 (Special)
1994
2000
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
June 5, 2018 primary election.
Arun Bhumitra (Republican)[42]
James Bradley (Republican)[42]
Jack Crew (Republican)[42]
Erin Cruz (Republican)[42]
Rocky De La Fuente (Republican)[42]
Kevin de León (Democratic)[42]
Adrienne Edwards (Democratic)[42]
Dianne Feinstein (Democratic)[42]
Colleen Fernald (No party preference)[42]
Rash Ghosh (No party preference)[42]
Tim Gildersleeve (No party preference)[42]
Michael Girgis (No party preference)[42]
Don Grundmann (No party preference)[a][42]
Jason Hanania (No party preference)[42]
Pat Harris (Democratic)[42]
Alison Hartson (Democratic)[42]
David Hildebrand (Democratic)[42]
Jerry Laws (Republican)[42]
Patrick Little (Republican)[42]
David Moore (No party preference)[a][42][44]
Kevin Mottus (Republican)[42]
Mario Nabliba (Republican)[42]
Lee Olson (No party preference)[42]
Tom Palzer (Republican)[42]
John Parker (Peace and Freedom)[42]
Herbert Peters (Democratic)[42]
Douglas Pierce (Democratic)[42]
Gerald Plummer (Democratic)[42]
Derrick Reid (Libertarian)[42]
Ling Ling Shi (No party preference)[42]
Paul Taylor (Republican)[42]
Donnie Turner (Democratic)[42]

Connecticut
Chris Murphy
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.[45]
August 14, 2018 primary election.
Ann-Marie Adams (Democratic)[46]
Matthew Corey (Republican)[47]
Chris Murphy (Democratic)[45]
Dominic Rapini (Republican)[48]

Delaware
Tom Carper
Democratic
2000
2006
2012
Incumbent running.[49]
September 11, 2018 primary election.
Chuck Boyce (Republican)[50]
Tom Carper (Democratic)[49]
Kerri Evelyn Harris (Democratic)[51]

Florida
Bill Nelson
Democratic
2000
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
August 28, 2018 primary election.
Lateresa Ann Jones (Republican)[52]
Edward Janowski (No Party Affiliation)[52]
Howard Knepper (Republican)
Tamika Lyles (Democratic)[52]
Scott McCatty (Independent, write-in)[52]
Martin Mikhail (Republican)[52]
Bill Nelson (Democratic)[52]
Rick Scott (Republican)[53]
Joe Smith (Republican)[52]
Marcia Roberta Thorne (Republican)[54]
Angie Walls-Windhauser (Republican, write-in)[52][55]
Joe Wendt (Libertarian)[52]
Randy White (Democratic)[52]

Hawaii
Mazie Hirono
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.[56]
August 11, 2018 primary election.
Mazie Hirono (Democratic)[56]
Thomas Edward White (Republican)[57]

Indiana
Joe Donnelly
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.
May 8, 2018 primary election.
Mike Braun (Republican)[58]
Joe Donnelly (Democratic)[58]
James Johnson (Independent)[59]
Luke Messer (Republican)[58]
Todd Rokita (Republican)[58]

Maine
Angus King
Independent
2012
Incumbent running.[60]
June 12, 2018 primary election.
Eric Brakey (Republican)[61]
Angus King (Independent)[60]
Max Linn (Republican)[61]
Zak Ringelstein (Democratic)[61]

Maryland
Ben Cardin
Democratic
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
June 26, 2018 primary election.
Tony Campbell (Republican)[62]
Ben Cardin (Democratic)[62]
Chris Chaffee (Republican)[62]
Evan Cronhardt (Republican)[62]
Nnabu Eze (Republican)[62]
John Graziani (Republican)[62]
Christina Grigorian (Republican)[62]
Albert Howard (Republican)[62]
Erik Jetmir (Democratic)[62]
Bill Krehnbrink (Republican)[62]
Chelsea Manning (Democratic)[62]
Marcia Morgan (Democratic)[62]
Jerry Segal (Democratic)[62]
Neal Simon (Independent)[63]
Edward Shlikas (Independent)[64]
Gerald Smith (Republican)[62]
Blaine Taylor (Republican)[62]
Brian Charles Vaeth (Republican)[62]
Rikki Vaughn (Democratic)[62]
Arvin Vohra (Libertarian)[62]
Rica Wilson (Democratic)[62]
Lih Young (Democratic)[62]

Massachusetts
Elizabeth Warren
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.[65]
September 4, 2018 primary election.
Shiva Ayyadurai (Independent)[66]
Geoff Diehl (Republican)[67]
James Devine (Independent)[68]
Joshua Ford (Independent)[69]
John Kingston (Republican)[70]
Beth Lindstrom (Republican)[71]
Darius Mitchell (Republican)[72]
Elizabeth Warren (Democratic)[65]
Allen Waters (Republican)[73]
Heidi Wellman (Republican)[74]

Michigan
Debbie Stabenow
Democratic
2000
2006
2012
Incumbent running.[75]
August 7, 2018 primary election.
Bob Carr (Republican)[76]
John James (Republican)[77]
Sandy Pensler (Republican)[78]
Craig Allen Smith (Democratic)[79]
Marcia Squier (Independent)[80]
Debbie Stabenow (Democratic)[75]

Minnesota
Amy Klobuchar
Democratic
2006
2012
Incumbent running.[81]
August 14, 2018 primary election.
Robert Bamheiser (Republican)[82]
Amy Klobuchar (Democratic)[81]
Jim Newberger (Republican)[83]
Paula Overby (Green)[84]
Jack Shepard (Republican)[85]

Mississippi
Roger Wicker
Republican
2007 (Appointed)
2008 (Special)
2012
Incumbent running.
June 5, 2018 primary election.[86]
David Baria (Democratic)[87]
Danny Bedwell (Libertarian)[87]
Jensen Bohren (Democratic)[87]
Richard Boyanton (Republican)[87]
Jerone Garland (Democratic)[87]
Victor Maurice, Jr. (Democratic)[87]
Shawn O'Hara (Reform)[87]
Omeria Scott (Democratic)[87]
Howard Sherman (Democratic)[87]
Roger Wicker (Republican)[87]

Missouri
Claire McCaskill
Democratic
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
August 7, 2018 primary election.
Jerome Bauer (Green)[88]
Japheth Campbell (Libertarian)[88]
Jo Crain (Green)[88]
Angelica Earl (Democratic)[88]
David Faust (Democratic)[88]
Travis Gonzalez (Democratic)[88]
Brian Hagg (Republican)[88]
Josh Hawley (Republican)[88]
John Hogan (Democratic)[88]
Bradley Krembs (Republican)[88]
Claire McCaskill (Democratic)[88]
Tony Monetti (Republican)[88]
Kristi Nichols (Republican)[88]
Ken Patterson (Republican)[88]
Austin Petersen (Republican)[88]
Peter Pfeifer (Republican)[88]
Fred Ryman (Republican)[88]
Christina Smith (Republican)[88]
Courtland Sykes (Republican)[88]
Leonard Steinman (Democratic)[88]
Carla Wright (Democratic)[88]

Montana
Jon Tester
Democratic
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
June 5, 2018 primary election.
Timothy Adams (Green)[89]
Rick Breckenridge (Libertarian)[89]
Troy Downing (Republican)[89]
Steve Kelly (Green)
Russell Fagg (Republican)[89]
Albert Olszewski (Republican)[89]
Matthew Rosendale (Republican)[89]
Jon Tester (Democratic)[89]

Nebraska
Deb Fischer
Republican
2012
Incumbent running.
May 15, 2018 primary election.
Deb Fischer (Republican)[90]
Jack Heidel (Republican)[90]
Chris Janicek (Democratic)[90]
Dennis Frank Macek (Republican)[90]
Larry Marvin (Democratic)[90]
Jane Raybould (Democratic)[90]
Jim Schultz (Libertarian)[90]
Jeffrey Lynn Stein (Republican)[90]
Frank Svoboda (Democratic)[90]
Todd Watson (Republican)[90]

Nevada
Dean Heller
Republican
2011 (Appointed)
2012
Incumbent running.
June 12, 2018 primary election.
Kamau Bakari (Independent American)[91]
Sherry Brooks (Republican)[91]
Danny Burleigh (Democratic)[91]
Sarah Gazala (Republican)[91]
Tim Hagan (Libertarian)[91]
Vic Harrell (Republican)[91]
Tom Heck (Republican)[91]
Dean Heller (Republican)[91]
David Knight (Democratic)[91]
Barry Michaels (Independent)[91]
Allen Rheinhart (Democratic)[91]
Jacky Rosen (Democratic)[91]
Jesse Sbaih (Democratic)[91]

New Jersey
Bob Menendez
Democratic
2006 (Appointed)
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
June 5, 2018 primary election.
Brian Goldberg (Republican)[92]
Bob Hugin (Republican)[92]
Lisa McCormick (Democratic)[92]
Bob Menendez (Democratic)[92]

New Mexico
Martin Heinrich
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.
June 5, 2018 primary election.
Aubrey Dunn Jr. (Libertarian)[93]
Martin Heinrich (Democratic)[93]
Mick Rich (Republican)[93]

New York
Kirsten Gillibrand
Democratic
2009 (Appointed)
2010 (Special)
2012
Incumbent running.
June 26, 2018 primary election.
Chele Chiavacci Farley (Republican)[94]
Kirsten Gillibrand (Democratic)[94]
Scott Noren (Democratic)[94]

North Dakota
Heidi Heitkamp
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.
June 12, 2018 primary election.
Kevin Cramer (Republican)[95]
Heidi Heitkamp (Democratic)[95]
Thomas O'Neill (Republican)[95]

Ohio
Sherrod Brown
Democratic
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
May 8, 2018 primary election.
Melissa Ackison (Republican)[96]
Sherrod Brown (Democratic)[96]
Don Elijah Eckhart (Republican)[96]
Philena Irene Farley (Green, write-in)[97]
Michael Gibbons (Republican)[96]
Dan Kiley (Republican)[96]
Timothy A. Pinion (Republican, write-in)[98]
Jim Renacci (Republican)[96]

Pennsylvania
Bob Casey Jr.
Democratic
2006
2012
Incumbent running.
May 15, 2018 primary election.
Lou Barletta (Republican)[99]
Bob Casey Jr. (Democratic)[99]
Jim Christiana (Republican)[99]
Joseph Vodvarka (Republican)[99]

Rhode Island
Sheldon Whitehouse
Democratic
2006
2012
Incumbent running.[100]
September 12, 2018 primary election.
Robert Flanders (Republican)[101]
Robert Nardolillo (Republican)[102]
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic)[100]

Tennessee
Bob Corker
Republican
2006
2012
Incumbent retiring.
New senator to be elected.
August 2, 2018 primary election.
David Anderson (Republican)[103]
Trudy Austin (Independent)[103]
Phil Bredesen (Democratic)[103]
Marsha Blackburn (Republican)[103]
John Carico (Independent)[103]
Larry Crim (Republican)[103]
Gary Davis (Democratic)[103]
"Mr. Jim" Elkins (Republican)[103]
Tommy Hay (Republican)[103]
Terri Honeycutt (Republican)[103]
Dean Hill (Independent)[103]
J. Darrell Lynn (Republican)[103]
Kevin McCants (Independent)[103]
Aaron Pettigrew (Republican)[103]
Breton Philips (Independent)[103]
Kris Todd (Independent)[103]
Rolando Toyos (Republican)[103]
John Wolfe (Democratic)[103]

Texas
Ted Cruz
Republican
2012
Incumbent running and renominated March 6, 2018.
Carl Bible (Independent)[104]
Ted Cruz (Republican)[105]
Bob McNeil (American Citizen Party)[106]
Beto O'Rourke (Democratic)[107]

Utah
Orrin Hatch
Republican
1976
1982
1988
1994
2000
2006
2012
Incumbent retiring.
June 26, 2018 primary election.
New senator to be elected.
Tim Aalders (Constitution)[108]
Craig Bowden (Libertarian)[108]
Loy Brunson (Republican)[108]
Alicia Colvin (Republican)[108]
Jeff Dranfield (Democratic)[108]
Jeremy Friedbaum (Republican)[108]
Stoney Fonua (Republican)[108]
Abe Jenkins (Republican)[108]
Torrey Jenkins (Republican)[108]
Tim Jimenez (Republican)[108]
Mike Kennedy (Republican)[108]
Abe Korb (Independent, write-in)[108]
Joshua Lee (Republican)[108]
Larry Livingston (Democratic)[108]
Reed McCandless (Independent American)[108]
Larry Meyers (Republican)[108]
Samuel Parker (Republican)[108]
Caleb Dan Reeve (Independent, write-in)[108]
Mitt Romney (Republican)[108]
Mitchell Vice (Democratic)[108]
Jenny Wilson (Democratic)[108]

Vermont
Bernie Sanders
Independent
2006
2012
Incumbent running.[109]
August 14, 2018 primary election.
Folasade Adeluola (Democratic)[110]
Bernie Sanders (Independent)[109]
Jon Svitavsky (Democratic)[110]

Virginia
Tim Kaine
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.
June 12, 2018 primary election.
Nicholas Freitas (Republican)[111]
E. W. Jackson (Republican)[111]
Tim Kaine (Democratic)[111]
Corey Stewart (Republican)[111]
Matt Waters (Libertarian)[112]

Washington
Maria Cantwell
Democratic
2000
2006
2012
Incumbent running.[113]
August 7, 2018 primary election.
Maria Cantwell (Democratic)[113]
Jennifer "GiGi" Ferguson (Democratic)[114]
Clay Johnson (Independent)[115]
Mike Luke (Libertarian)[116]
Dave Strider (Independent)[117]

West Virginia
Joe Manchin
Democratic
2010 (Special)
2012
Incumbent running.
May 8, 2018 primary election.
Don Blankenship (Republican)[118]
Bo Copley (Republican)[118]
Evan Jenkins (Republican)[118]
Joe Manchin (Democratic)[118]
Patrick Morrisey (Republican)[118]
Jack Newbrough (Republican)[118]
Paula Jean Swearengin (Democratic)[118]
Tom Willis (Republican)[118]

Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin
Democratic
2012
Incumbent running.[119]
August 14, 2018 primary election.
Tammy Baldwin (Democratic)[119]
Kevin Nicholson (Republican)[120]
John Schiess (Republican)[121]
Leah Vukmir (Republican)[122]
Mary Jo Walters (Independent)[b][125]

Wyoming
John Barrasso
Republican
2007 (Appointed)
2008 (Special)
2012
Incumbent running.[126]
August 21, 2018 primary election.
John Barrasso (Republican)[126]
Dave Dodson (Independent)[127]
Gary Trauner (Democratic)[128]

text: Arizona[edit]

text: One-term Republican Jeff Flake was elected with 49% of the vote in 2012. He will be 55 years old in 2018. He has declared he will retire at the end of his term.[27]

text: In 2016, Republican John McCain was re-elected to a sixth term in the Senate. However, Senator McCain has been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor.[129] If Senator McCain's seat becomes vacant, Arizona law[130] requires that the vacancy be filled at the next general election. If this were to occur in 2018, then both Senate seats in Arizona would be up for election simultaneously.

text: U.S. Representative Martha McSally,[36] former state senator Kelli Ward,[41] owner, co-founder of IsAnybodyDown? Craig Brittain,[32] Christian "C.J." Diegel,[33] pharmacist Nicolas Tutora,[40] former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio,[30] and Michelle Griffin[34] will contest the Republican primary.

text: U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema,[39] Deedra Abboud,[28] airshow pilot Bob Bishop,[31] Chris Russell,[37] and former Member of the Iowa House of Representatives Richard Sherzan[38] are running for the Democratic nomination.

text: Eve Reyes Aguirre is running as a Green Party Candidate.[29]

text: California[edit]

text: Four-term Democrat Dianne Feinstein won a special election in 1992 and was elected to full terms in 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2012. She will be 85 years old in 2018. She is running for re-election.[42]

text: Democratic candidates aside from Feinstein include President pro tempore of the California State Senate Kevin de León,[42] Community Advocate Adrienne Nicole Edwards,[42] Eugene Patterson Harris,[42] David Hildebrand, John "Stuttering John" Melendez,[42] Douglas Howard Pierce,[42] Alison Hartson,[42] and 2016 candidate Steve Stokes.[42]

text: Republican candidates include Paul Allen Taylor,[42] Gary Coson,[42] Timothy Charles Kalemkarian,[42] Erin Cruz,[42] John Estrada,[42] Donald R. Adams,[42] Caren Lancona,[42] and Stephen James Schrader.[42]

text: Derrick Michael Reid is running with the Libertarian Party.[42]

text: Independent candidates include biologist Tim Gildersleeve,[42] Lee W. Olson,[42] and evangelist Ling Ling Shi.[42]

text: Connecticut[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Chris Murphy was elected with 55% of the vote in 2012. He will be 45 years old in 2018. He is running for re-election.[45] He is being challenged for the Democratic nomination by Ann-Marie Adams.[46]

text: Businessmen Matthew Corey[47] and Dominic Rapini[48] are seeking the Republican nomination.

text: Delaware[edit]

text: Three-term Democrat Tom Carper won re-election with 66% of the vote in 2012. He will be 71 years old in 2018. He announced he was running for re-election during an interview on MSNBC on July 24, 2017.[49]

text: Businessman Chuck Boyce is running for the Republican nomination.[50]

text: Florida[edit]

text: Three-term Democrat Bill Nelson was re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2012. Nelson will be 76 years old in 2018. He will seek re-election to a fourth term in office.[52] He is being challenged for the Democratic nomination by Tamika Lyles.[52]

text: Florida Governor Rick Scott has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. Scott will be 65 years old in 2018. First elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014, Scott's term as Governor of Florida is set to end by January 2019, due to term limits.[53] Lateresa Ann Jones,[52] Howard Knepper,[52] Joe Smith,[52] and Marcia Roberta Thorne[54] are also running for the Republican nomination.

text: Edward Janowski is running as independents.[52]

text: Angie Walls-Windhauser is running as a Republican write-in candidate in the general election.[52]

text: Hawaii[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Mazie Hirono was elected with 63% of the vote in 2012. She will be 71 years old in 2018.

text: Republican Thomas Edward White is running.[57]

text: Indiana[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Joe Donnelly was elected with 50.04% of the vote in 2012. He will be 63 years old in 2018. He is running.[58]

text: Congressmen Luke Messer[58] and Todd Rokita[58] and State Representative Mike Braun,[58] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: James Johnson is running as an independent.[59]

text: Maine[edit]

text: One-term Independent Senator Angus King was elected in a three-way race with 53% of the vote in 2012. King has caucused with the Democratic Party since taking office in 2013, but he has left open the possibility of caucusing with the Republican Party in the future.[131]

text: King has indicated he will seek re-election.[132] [60] He will be 74 years old in 2018.

text: State Senator Eric Brakey is running for the Republican nomination.[133]

text: Public school teacher and founder of UClass Zak Ringelstein is seeking the Democratic nomination.[134] Homebuilder and 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Benjamin Pollard originally was running for the Democratic nomination but has since dropped out and will run as an independent.[135][136]

text: Maryland[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Ben Cardin was re-elected with 56% of the vote in 2012. He will be 75 years old in 2018. He is running,[62] He is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Chelsea Manning,[62] Marcia Morgan, Jerry Segal, Richard "Rikki" Vaughn, Debbie "Rica" Wilson, and Lih Young.[62]

text: Tony Campbell, Evan Cronhardt, Nnabu Eze, Gerald Smith, and Blaine Taylor[62] are seeking the Republican nomination.

text: Arvin Vohra, vice chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, is seeking the Libertarian Party nomination.[62]

text: Independents Neal Simon[63] and Edward Shlikas[64] are running.

text: Massachusetts[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Elizabeth Warren was elected with 54% of the vote in 2012. She will be 69 years old in 2018. She is running.[65]

text: State Representative Geoff Diehl,[67] attorney and founder of Better for America, John Kingston,[70] former Romney aide Beth Lindstrom,[71] Darius Mitchell,[72] Allen Waters,[73] and Heidi Wellman[74] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: John Devine,[68] Joshua Ford,[69] and Shiva Ayyadurai[66] are running as independents.

text: Michigan[edit]

text: Three-term Democrat Debbie Stabenow was re-elected with 59% of the vote in 2012. When she runs in 2018 she will be 68 years old.[75] She is the only Democrat from the state of Michigan running for Senate.

text: On the Republican side, businessman and historic preservationist Bob Carr,[76] businessman John James,[77] and businessman Sandy Pensler[78] are running.

text: Independent candidate Marcia Squier is also running.[80] Marcia Squier ran as a Green Party candidate for District 14 of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016.[137]

text: Minnesota[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Amy Klobuchar was re-elected with 65% of the vote in 2012. She will be 58 years old in 2018. She is running.[81]

text: State Representative Jim Newberger,[83] Robert Bahmheiser,[82] and Physician Jack Shepard[85] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: Minnesota (Special)[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Al Franken announced that he would resign in December 2017. Mark Dayton, Governor of Minnesota, appointed Lt. Gov. Tina Smith on January 2, 2018, as an interim Senator until the November 2018 election.[138]

text: Democratic incumbent Tina Smith, Nick Leonard,[22] Republican Karin Housley,[139] and Republican Bob Anderson are running.[20]

text: Mississippi[edit]

text: One-term Republican Roger Wicker won re-election with 57% of the vote in 2012. He was appointed in 2007 and won a special election in 2008 to serve the remainder of Trent Lott's term. He will be 67 years old in 2018. He is running.[87]

text: Jensen Bohren,[87] David Baria,[87] and Howard Sherman[87] are seeking the Democratic nomination.

text: Mississippi (Special)[edit]

text: Seven-term Republican Thad Cochran, who won re-election with 59.9% of the vote in 2014, announced that he would resign April 1, 2018 due to health reasons.[140] Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi, announced on March 21, 2018, that he would appoint Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith to fill the vacancy.[23] She will be running in the special election.

text: Former United States Secretary of Agriculture and member of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Espy and Mayor of Tupelo Jason Shelton are running as Democratic candidates.[26][24] Republican Chris McDaniel is also running.[25]

text: Missouri[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Claire McCaskill was re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2012. She will be 65 years old in 2018. She is running.[88] She is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Angelica Earl.[88]

text: Attorney General Josh Hawley,[88] Libertarian presidential candidate in 2016 Austin Petersen,[88] assistant dean of aviation at University of Central Missouri Tony Monetti,[88] and Courtland Sykes,[88] are running for the Republican nomination. Japeth Campbell has declared his candidacy for the Libertarian nomination.[88]

text: Montana[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Jon Tester was re-elected with 49% of the vote in 2012. He will be 62 years old in 2018. He is running.[89]

text: State Auditor Matthew Rosendale,[89] State Senator Albert Olszewski,[89] former judge Russell Fagg,[89] and Troy Downing[89] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: Green Party candidate Steve Kelly is running.[89]

text: Nebraska[edit]

text: One-term Republican Deb Fischer was elected with 58% of the vote in 2012. She will be 67 years old in 2018. She is running.[90] Retired professor Jack Heidel is running for the Republican nomination.[90] Todd Watson is running for the Republican nomination.[90] Dennis Frank Macek is running for the Republican nomination.[90]

text: Larry Marvin, who was a candidate in 2008, 2012, and 2014,[90] and Lincoln Councilwoman Jane Raybould[90] are running for the Democratic nomination. Frank Svoboda is running for the Democratic nomination.[90] Chris Janicek is running for the Democratic nomination.[90]

text: Jim Schultz is running for the Libertarian nomination.[90]

text: Nevada[edit]

text: One-term Republican Dean Heller was elected with 46% of the vote in 2012. He had been appointed to the seat in 2011. He will be 58 years old in 2018. Heller considered running for governor, but has since chosen to seek re-election.[91]

text: Representative Jacky Rosen[91] and Jesse Sbaih[91] are running for the Democratic nomination.

text: New Jersey[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Bob Menendez was re-elected with 59% of the vote in 2012. Menendez was originally appointed to the seat in January 2006. He will be 64 years old in 2018. He is running.[92] Democrats Lisa McCormick[92]

text: Republicans Brian D. Goldberg[92] and Bob Hugin,[92] are running.

text: New Mexico[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Martin Heinrich was elected with 51% of the vote in 2012. He will be 47 years old in 2018. He is running.[93]

text: Mick Rich is seeking the Republican nomination.[93]

text: Aubrey Dunn Jr., New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands and otherwise the first Libertarian to ever hold statewide elected office in history has announced his run for the seat.[93]

text: New York[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand was elected with 72% of the vote in 2012. She had previously been appointed to the seat in 2009, and won a special election to remain in office in 2010. She will be 51 years old in 2018. She is running.[94]

text: Private equity executive Chele Chiavacci Farley has been nominated for U.S. Senate by the Republican and Conservative Parties.[94]

text: North Dakota[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Heidi Heitkamp was elected with 50% of the vote in 2012. She will be 63 years old in 2018. She is running.[95]

text: Congressman Kevin Cramer[95] and former Niagara, North Dakota Mayor Thomas O'Neill[95] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: Ohio[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Sherrod Brown was re-elected with 51% of the vote in 2012. He will be 65 years old in 2018. He is running.[96]

text: U.S. Representative Jim Renacci,[96] investment banker Michael Gibbons,[96] businesswoman Melissa Ackison,[96] Dan Kiley,[96] and Don Elijah Eckhart[96] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: Pennsylvania[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Bob Casey Jr. was re-elected with 54% of the vote in 2012. He will be 58 years old in 2018. He is running.[99]

text: Republican candidates include U.S. Representative Lou Barletta,[99] Jim Christiana,[99] and Joseph Vodvarka.[99]

text: Rhode Island[edit]

text: Two-term Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse was re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2012. He will be 63 years old in 2018. He is running.[100]

text: State Representative Robert Nardolillo[102] and former Rhode Island Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Flanders[101] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: Tennessee[edit]

text: Two-term Republican Bob Corker was re-elected with 65% of the vote in 2012. He will be 66 years old in 2018. Senator Corker filed his Statement of Candidacy with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate to run for re-election,[141] but on September 26, 2017, Senator Corker announced his intent to retire.[142]

text: Republican U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn,[103] Memphis ophthalmologist Rolando Toyos[103] and Larry Crim,[103] a perennial candidate who ran as a Democrat in 2012 and 2014, and Aaron Pettigrew[103] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: Former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen[103] is seeking the Democratic nomination.

text: Texas[edit]

text: One-term Republican Ted Cruz was elected with 57% of the vote in 2012. He will be 48 years old in 2018. He overwhelmingly won the Republican primary on March 6, 2018.[105][143]

text: Television producer Bruce Jacobson,[144] Houston energy attorney Stefano de Stefano,[145] former mayor of La Marque Geraldine Sam,[146] Mary Miller,[147] and Thomas Dillingham[148] were Cruz's opponents.

text: U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke won the Democratic nomination on March 6, 2018.[149] Other Democrats who ran include Irasema Ramirez Hernandez[150] and Edward Kimbrough.[151]

text: Nurse Carl Bible ran as an independent.[104]

text: Bob McNeil ran with the American Citizen Party.[106]

text: Utah[edit]

text: Seven-term Republican Orrin Hatch was re-elected with 65% of the vote in 2012. Hatch is the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, as well as the second most-senior Senator. He will be 84 years old in 2018. Before the 2012 election, Hatch said that he would retire at the end of his seventh term if he was re-elected.[152] Hatch initially announced his re-election campaign on March 9, 2017,[153][154] but later announced his plans to retire on January 2, 2018. 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is running for the seat. Attorney Larry Meyers is also running for the Republican nomination.[108]

text: Professor James Singer was running for the Democratic nomination, but he dropped out and endorsed Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, who made her Senate bid official on July 17, 2017.[155][156] Danny Drew[157][158] also was running but dropped out and endorsed Jenny Wilson. Mitchell Kent Vice is also running for the Democratic nomination.

text: Vermont[edit]

text: Two-term Independent Senator Bernie Sanders was re-elected with 71% of the vote in 2012. Sanders, one of two independent members of Congress, has caucused with the Democratic Party since taking office in 2007. In November 2015, Sanders announced his plans to run as a Democrat, rather than an Independent, in all future elections. He will be 77 years old in 2018.[159] On July 28, 2016, Sanders announced he would return to the Senate as an Independent, and two days later, in an interview on Real Time with Bill Maher, he said that he would run for re-election.[109]

text: In 2016, activist and journalist Al Giordano stated his intention to challenge Sanders for the Democratic nomination to protest Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, which Giordano claims has divided the Democratic Party.[160][161][162] In 2017, however, Giordano announced he would not run for the seat.[163] Jon Svitavsky & Folasade Adeluola are running for the Democratic nomination.[110]

text: Virginia[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Tim Kaine was elected with 53% of the vote in 2012. He will be 60 years old in 2018. He is running.[111]

text: State Delegate Nick Freitas,[111] past Senate candidate and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2013 E. W. Jackson,[111] and Prince William County Supervisor Corey Stewart[111] are seeking the Republican nomination.

text: Washington[edit]

text: Three-term Democrat Maria Cantwell was re-elected with 61% of the vote in 2012. She will be 60 years old in 2018. She is running.[113]

text: Jennifer "GiGi" Ferguson is running.[114]

text: Clay Johnson[164] and Dave Strider[117] are running as independents.

text: Mike Luke is running with the Libertarian Party.[116]

text: West Virginia[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Joe Manchin was elected with 61% of the vote in 2012. He originally won the seat in a 2010 special election. He will be 71 years old in 2018. Manchin is running for re-election.[118] Environmental activist Paula Jean Swearengin,[118] is running for the Democratic nomination.

text: Representative Evan Jenkins,[118] West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey,[118] coal miner Bo Copley,[118] Jack Newbrough, Don Blankenship, and Tom Willis are running for the Republican nomination.[118]

text: Wisconsin[edit]

text: One-term Democrat Tammy Baldwin was elected with 51% of the vote in 2012. She will be 56 years old in 2018. She is running.[119] Mary Jo Walters, a Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the 2014 primary,[165] and later that year a write-in candidate for Governor[166] is running as an independent.[125][167]

text: State Senator Leah Vukmir,[122] businessman and member of Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs Kevin Nicholson[120] and John Schiess[121] are running for the Republican nomination.

text: Wyoming[edit]

text: One-term Republican John Barrasso was elected with 76% of the vote in 2012. Barrasso was appointed to the seat in 2007, and won a special election in 2008. He will be 66 years old in 2018. He is running.[126]

text: 58 year old Gary Trauner, a Jackson Hole businessman and US House candidate in 2006 and 2008, is running for the Democratic nomination.

text: Businessman Dave Dodson is running as an independent.[127]


document_title: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

question_text: when did assassin's creed black flag come out

question_tokens: when did assassin 's creed black flag come out

root

text: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

text: Gameplay[edit]

text: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is an action-adventure, stealth game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. The game features three main cities; Havana, Kingston, and Nassau, which reside under Spanish, British, and pirate influence, respectively.[9] In addition, locations like Port-au-Prince and smaller locations like Greater Inagua are used as main story points. It also features 50 other individual locations to explore, including atolls, sea forts, Mayan ruins, sugar plantations, and underwater shipwrecks, with a 60/40 balance between land and naval exploration.[1] It has a more open world feel, with missions similar to those found in Assassin's Creed, as well as fewer restrictions for the player. The world opens up sooner in the game, as opposed to Assassin's Creed III, which had very scripted missions and did not give players freedom to explore until the game was well into its first act.[9][10][11][12] The player will encounter jungles, forts, ruins, and small villages and the world is built to allow players much more freedom, such as allowing players to engage, board, and capture passing ships and swimming to nearby beaches in a seamless fashion.[1][13] In addition, the hunting system has been retained from Assassin's Creed III, allowing the player to hunt on land, and fish in the water, with resources gathered used to upgrade equipment.[1]

tag: p

text: A new aspect in the game is the Jackdaw, the ship that the player captains. The Jackdaw is upgradeable throughout the game, and is easily accessible to the player when needed.[10] In addition, a new underwater component has been added.[9] The player has access to a spyglass, allowing the examination of distant ships, along with their cargo and strength. It can also help determine if an island still has animals to hunt, treasures to find, high points to reach for synchronization or additional side-quests to complete, such as assassinations and naval contracts.[9] An updated form of the recruit system introduced in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has returned,[9] allowing Edward to recruit crew members. While Kenway's crew will remain loyal to him, they can be promoted to captain acquired ships, and are needed to assist in boarding enemy vessels, they cannot assist in combat or perform long-range assassinations, as in previous games. Ubisoft removed this aspect of the brotherhood system, believing it allowed players to bypass tense and challenging scenarios too easily.[14]

text: In the present day, at the offices of Abstergo Entertainment—a subsidiary of Abstergo Industries—in Montreal, Quebec, players engage in modern-day pirating through the exploration of Abstergo's offices, eavesdropping and hacking, all without combat. As well, various "hacking" games, similar to previous cluster and glyph puzzles, are present, that uncover secrets about Abstergo.[15]

text: Multiplayer also returns, with new settings and game modes, though it is only land-based.[9]

text: Synopsis[edit]

text: Characters[edit]

text: The main character of the game is Edward Kenway (Matt Ryan),[16] a Welsh[17] privateer-turned-pirate and eventual member of the Assassin Order. Edward is the father of Haytham Kenway, and grandfather of Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor), the two playable characters of Assassin's Creed III. Real-life individuals that are encountered include the pirates Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch[note 1][18] (voiced by Mark Bonnar),[16] Benjamin Hornigold,[9] Mary Read,[9] Stede Bonnet,[9] Anne Bonny,[9] Calico Jack,[9] and Charles Vane[9] (Ralph Ineson).[16]

text: Setting[edit]

text: As is the case in previous games in the Assassin's Creed series, the story is divided into two intertwined halves, with one in the present day, one in a historical setting, and the events of each influencing the other. Although the present-day story had previously established that an Animus was required to view one's ancestors memories, the ending of Assassin's Creed III reveals that Abstergo can now view a host's genetic memories simply by sequencing the host's DNA. As such, the player character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment to investigate a pivotal character in Desmond's ancestry, the Assassin Edward Kenway.[19] A notorious pirate and privateer operating during the Golden Age of Piracy, Kenway's story is set in the Caribbean, and mixes open-ended ship-based exploration with combat and land-based adventures in Cuba and Jamaica, and on a number of Caribbean islands, parts of southern Florida and eastern Mexico.[20][21][22]

text: Plot[edit]

text: Samples taken from Desmond Miles' body in the moments after his death have enabled Abstergo Industries to continue to explore his genetic memories using the Animus' newfound cloud computing abilities. The unnamed player character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment, from their Montréal headquarters, to sift through the memories of Edward Kenway, an eighteenth-century pirate, the father of Haytham Kenway and the grandfather of Ratonhnhaké:ton. Ostensibly, this is to gather material for an Animus-powered interactive feature film, but in reality, Abstergo—the Templars of the present time—are searching for a First Civilization structure known as the Observatory, and are using the memories of Edward Kenway to find it.

text: As Kenway, the player must unravel a conspiracy between high-ranking Templars within the British and Spanish empires who, under the guise of cleaning up piracy in the Caribbean, have used their positions to locate the Sage—later identified as Bartholomew Roberts—who is the only man that can lead them to the Observatory, a First Civilization device which can monitor anyone anywhere in the world when provided a blood sample, which they intend to use to spy on and blackmail world leaders. Kenway becomes an unwitting player in their plot when he kills a rogue Assassin, Duncan Walpole. Seeing an opportunity for profit, Kenway takes Walpole's place at a meeting of Templars in Havana, where he meets Woodes Rogers as well as Cuban Governor, and Templar Grandmaster, Laureano Torres. His recklessness endangers the entire Assassins' Order, prompting him to pursue the Sage and the conspirators from the Yucatán Peninsula to Jamaica, eventually catching Roberts on the island of Príncipe off of the African coast.

text: Meanwhile, a band of notorious pirates—including Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch, Benjamin Hornigold, Mary Read (under the alias "James Kidd") and Charles Vane, among others—dream of a pirate utopia where man is free to live beyond the reach of kings and rulers. With Kenway's help, they seize control of Nassau and establish a pirate republic. However, poor governance, a lack of an economy and an outbreak of disease bring the pirate state perilously close to collapse, with the founders divided on the best way forward. Kenway attempts to resolve the dispute, but is too late to stop the Templars from exploiting the situation for their own ends.

text: Eventually, Kenway and Roberts uncover the location of the Observatory and retrieve the artifact powering it, but Kenway is betrayed by Roberts at the last moment. After a brief stint in prison for the crimes of piracy, Edward escapes with the aid of Ah Tabai, the Assassin Mentor, and elects to join their Order. Chasing down and eliminating Roberts and the Templar conspirators, Kenway retrieves the artifact and returns it to the Observatory, sealing it away for good. He is left facing an uncertain future with his newfound convictions until he receives a letter informing him of the passing of his wife and the imminent arrival of his hitherto unknown daughter, Jennifer Scott. Kenway travels back to England, promising Ah Tabai that he will continue the fight against the Templars back home in England.  Some years later, Kenway, Jennifer (using her mother's surname in her memory) and Kenway's young son Haytham are about to watch a play in an English theatre.

text: In the present day, the player is contacted by John, Abstergo Entertainment's information technology manager. John convinces the player that their employers know more than they are telling, and encourages them to investigate in more detail. He convinces the player to hack several Animus terminals and security cameras, and then has them deliver the information taken to Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, who are working undercover to infiltrate Abstergo. When the facility is locked down after the hackings are discovered, John arranges for the player to access the Animus' core, at which point Juno materializes into an incorporeal form. She reveals that although it was necessary to open her temple to avert disaster, the world was not ready for her, and she is unable to affect it or possess the player character as her agents intended. John is unmasked as the reincarnated form of the Sage and attempts to murder the player to cover up the failed attempt at resurrecting Juno, but is killed by Abstergo's security before he can do so, thus implicating him as the one responsible for the hacks. As Roberts, the Sage admits to Kenway that he owes no allegiance to the Assassins or the Templars and instead uses whoever he thinks represents his best chance of achieving his ends. With the Sage dead, the player is contacted by the Assassins as they continue their infiltration of Abstergo, but neither side is able to explain the Sage's presence or identify his followers, the Instruments of the First Will.[note 2]

text: Freedom Cry[edit]

text: The Freedom Cry downloadable content is set twenty years after the events of Black Flag and follows Adéwalé in his mission as an Assassin.

text: While attempting to intercept Templar activities in the West Indies Sea, Adéwalé is shipwrecked off the coast of Haiti. Making his way into Port-au-Prince, he establishes that the Templars are working with Bastienne Josèphe, the proprietor of a local brothel and a sympathiser to the Maroons, a faction of freedom fighters made up of liberated slaves led by Augustin Dieufort. Despite his obligations to the Brotherhood of Assassins, Adéwalé becomes sympathetic to their cause, and joins with the Maroons in hijacking a vessel, Experto Crede, in order to interrupt the slave trade.

text: Whilst working for Bastienne, Adéwalé begins to uncover a conspiracy within the French provincial government ruling Port-au-Prince. The local governor, Pierre de Fayet, plans a clandestine scientific expedition to measure the curvature of the earth and gather geographical data, which they intend to sell to the highest bidder with the promise of naval superiority. Adéwalé successfully sabotages the expedition by substituting the illiterate slaves being used by the expedition for literate members of the Maroons.

text: Tensions begin to arise within the Maroons when Adéwalé plots further raids against the slave trade. Bastienne objects, as de Fayet will only punish those trapped in slavery further as punishment. Adéwalé ignores her, but is horrified when he witnesses a frigate fire on an unarmed slave ship to prevent the slaves from joining the Maroons. Adéwalé boards the slave ship and manages to save a few slaves from drowning before the ship capsized with the rest. He plans retribution, but Bastienne cautions that taking revenge will weaken the Maroons' cause; if Adéwalé is to kill de Fayet, then he should do so acting as an agent of justice. After assaulting the Governor's Mansion, pursuing him through the city and fighting off a local garrison, Adéwalé finally corners and kills de Fayet, who claims that slaves are incapable of self-governance and turn to armed uprising at the slightest provocation. Adéwalé points out that none of the slaves or overseers came to his aid, and instead let him die. After killing de Fayet, Adéwalé returns to say goodbye to Bastienne before returning to the Assassin Order, but pledging to use his newfound convictions to aid people who are oppressed rather than the cause of their would-be liberators.

text: Development[edit]

text: In early February 2013, during its quarterly financial call to investors, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the next Assassin's Creed game, due for release some time before April 2014, would feature a new hero, time period, and development team.[23] On February 28, 2013, Ubisoft posted their first promotional picture and cover for their next Assassin's Creed game, following leaked marketing material days before.[24] It announced the title of the game as Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and featured an unnamed character holding a flintlock and a sword with a black flag in the back ground containing the Assassin's symbol with a skull.[24] A reported glitch on the official Assassin's Creed IV website suggested the game will release on next-gen consoles and October 29 as the release date,[25] which was confirmed by the first trailer for the game, released on March 4, 2013 (originally leaked on March 2, 2013, but was quickly pulled by Ubisoft).[1][26][27]

text: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was announced with a cinematic trailer on March 4, 2013.[26] Development began in mid-2011 at Ubisoft Montreal by a separate team from the one on Assassin's Creed III, with additional work done by Ubisoft studios in Annecy, Bucharest, Kyiv, Montpellier, Singapore and Sofia.[9]

text: Lead content manager Carsten Myhill stressed away the sentiment that the sequel should have been a spin-off in the same vein as Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood or Assassin's Creed: Revelations, given the ostensible similarities with Assassin's Creed III. He stated "The whole feeling of the game is completely fresh and new. It will feel very different from Assassin's Creed III. I think it completely warrants the Assassin's Creed IV moniker, not only with the new name and setting, but the attitude and the tone of the experience."[28] Assassin's Creed IV is the first main series numbered title to carry a subtitle, a decision which Myhill says was made to clearly distinguish the pirate theme from the rest of the franchise.[28]

text:
By utilizing the AnvilNext engine, the development team is able to work with one engine for both the next-gen and current-gen versions of the game, as the AnvilNext engine was designed with next-gen capabilities in mind, while still working on current-gen systems.[1] In addition, each system will have their own intricacies and feature sets, with support for the different controllers and utilizing features specific to each console.[1]
The PC version supports Nvidia's TXAA.[29]

text: Music[edit]

text:
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Original Game Soundtrack)Soundtrack album by Brian TylerReleased
October 14, 2013 (2013-10-14)Genre
Video game soundtrackLength
1:41:33Label
Ubisoft Music

text: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Original Game Soundtrack) was composed by American composer Brian Tyler, who also composed the soundtrack of the previous Ubisoft title Far Cry 3. Additional compositions and arrangements were provided by Sarah Schachner, Omar Fadel,[30] Steve Davis, Mike Kramer, Jeremy Lamb, Matthew Llewellyn, and Robert Lydecker. The soundtrack was released on Amazon MP3[31] and iTunes on October 14, 2013.[32] Two other soundtracks have also been released:

text:
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Game Soundtrack — Sea Shanty Edition), a second soundtrack containing a set of 16 sea shanties composed by various artists, was released on Amazon MP3[33] and iTunes on October 29, 2013.[34]
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Game Soundtrack — The Complete Edition), a complete soundtrack including the two previous soundtracks as well as the multiplayer soundtrack composed by Joe Henson and Alexis Smith, was released on Amazon MP3[35] and iTunes on December 2, 2013.[36]

tag: ul

text: The score to the Freedom Cry DLC was composed by French composer Olivier Deriviere. It was recorded at Avatar Studios in New York with La Troupe Makandal, a dedicated group for Haitian music, and at Galaxy Studios in Belgium with the Brussels Philharmonic.[37]

text: showAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Original Game Soundtrack) / Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Game Soundtrack — The Complete Edition) (Disc One)No.TitleMusicLength1."Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Main Theme[a]"Sarah Schachner2:132."Pyrates Beware[a]"Schachner3:163."On the Horizon[a]"Brian Tyler, Schachner3:014."The High Seas[a]"Tyler2:445."The Fortune of Edward Kenway[a]"Schachner1:576."In This World or the One Below[a]"Tyler, Schachner2:497."Under the Black Flag[a]"Schachner3:218."The Ends of the Earth[a]"Tyler2:539."Stealing a Brig[a]"Tyler1:5210."Fare Thee Well[a]"Tyler5:1411."The Buccaneers[a]"Tyler4:0512."Marked for Death[a]"Tyler3:2113."Last Goodbyes[a]"Tyler2:2414."Take What Is Ours![a]"Tyler3:1515."I'll Be with You[a]"Tyler6:0416."Lay Aboard Lads[a]"Tyler2:2417."A Pirate's Life[a]"Tyler2:0218."Men of War[a]"Tyler2:5719."Order of the Assassin[a]"Tyler3:1020."In the Midst[a]"Tyler3:0521."The British Empire"Tyler3:0822."Batten Down the Hatches"Tyler1:3723."Modernity"Tyler2:1424."A Merry Life and a Short One"Tyler1:1625."Queen Anne's Revenge"Tyler4:4226."Confrontation"Tyler3:1527."Prizes Plunder and Adventure"Tyler2:1228."Meet the Sage"Omar Fadel3:3629."Into the Jungle"Tyler1:4630."The Spanish Empire"Tyler3:5731."The Islands of the West Indies"Tyler3:0632."Ships of Legend"Tyler2:0233."Secrets of the Maya"Tyler3:2434."Life at Sea"Fadel3:10Total length:1:41:33

text: showAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Game Soundtrack — Sea Shanty Edition) / Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Game Soundtrack — The Complete Edition) (Disc Two)No.TitleMusicLength1."Randy Dandy Oh[a]"Sean Dagher, Nils Brown, Michiel Schrey1:352."Maid of Amsterdam[a]"Brown, Schrey, Dagher1:413."Leave Her Johnny[a]"Dagher, Brown, Schrey2:124."Whisky Johnny O'[a]"Schrey, Dagher, Brown1:215."Good Morning Ladies[a]"Dagher, Brown, Schrey1:386."Fish in the Sea[a]"Schrey, Dagher, Brown1:297."Dead Horse[a]"Dagher, Brown, Schrey1:078."Running Down to Cuba[a]"Schrey, Dagher, Brown1:299."Trooper and the Maid"Charlotte Cumberbirch, Dagher, Nelson Carter, Richard Irwin, David Gossage1:5710."William Taylor"Dagher, Brown, Schrey, Cumberbirch, Carter, Irwin, Gossage2:1611."Patrick Spens"Schrey, Dagher, Irwin, Gossage1:5212."Fathom the Bowl"Linda Morrison, Dagher, Carter, Patrick Graham, Gossage2:1313."Admiral Benbow"Schrey, Dagher, Brown, Carter, Irwin, Gossage1:5314."All for Me Grog"Morrison, Dagher, Carter, Graham, Gossage2:0615."Buleria"Marco Marin, Dominic Soulard, Eric Breton2:0616."Verdiales"Marin, Soulard, Breton1:26Total length:28:22

text: showAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Game Soundtrack — The Complete Edition) (Disc Three)No.TitleMusicLength1."Saba Island"Joe Henson, Alexis Smith3:372."Santa Lucia"Joe Henson, Smith3:103."Tampa Bay"Joe Henson, Smith, Christian Henson3:194."Prison"Joe Henson, Smith3:005."La Havana"Joe Henson, Smith3:186."Portobelo"Joe Henson, Smith3:457."Saint Pierre"Joe Henson, Smith, Christian Henson3:238."King Of The Seven Seas"Orivian3:08Total length:(Disc 3) 26:40(Complete) 2:36:35

text: ^[a]  signifies a song that is included in the "Skull Edition"[38]

text: Marketing and release[edit]

text: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 29, 2013,[5][6][7] while the Wii U was released on October 29, 2013 in North America,[3][6][7] November 21, 2013 in Australia, November 22, 2013 in Europe[2] and November 28, 2013 in Japan.[39] The Wii U version in Europe was delayed from its original November 1, 2013 release date.[2] It was announced on March 1, 2013 that the game will also come to the PlayStation 4, and on May 21 that it will release on the Xbox One.[4] Both versions were launch titles, with the PlayStation 4 version releasing on November 15 and November 29, 2013 in North America and Europe, respectively,[6][7] and November 22, 2013 worldwide for Xbox One.[6][7]

text: Ubisoft partnered with Sony to bring exclusive content to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of the game,[40] which will feature the protagonist of Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Aveline de Grandpré, in three missions. The Aveline content, which was written by Liberation writer Jill Murray, picks up after the conclusion of her story in Liberation.[41] The content is also available on the PC platform, through the Uplay Gold Edition.[42]

text: On June 21, 2013, it was announced that the Microsoft Windows version had been delayed "a few weeks" from its intended release of October 29, 2013.[43] Its new release dates were later revealed to be November 19, 2013 in North America and November 22, 2013 in Europe.[2] Lead designer Jean-Sebastien Decant explained that the delay was caused by the team working on the "master version" first, making sure it works and then proceeding to the other versions. For Black Flag, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version was the master, before the team adapted it to the other consoles.[44]

text: On October 31, 2013 Ubisoft announced that the Uplay Passport requirement would be removed from Assassin's Creed IV and all future games. Uplay Passport came with all new copies of the game and was required for accessing multiplayer and Edward's Fleet minigame. Owners of used copies could download Uplay Passport for a fee before the removal.[45][46]

text: A Japanese manga adaptation of the game, written by Takashi Yano and illustrated by Kenji Oiwa, began serialization in Shueisha's Jump X magazine on August 10, 2013.[47] The manga however contradicts many parts of the game's actual storyline, despite the manga being an adaptation of the game.

text: Downloadable content[edit]

text: On October 8, 2013, Ubisoft announced that a Season Pass would be available for purchase at the launch of the game on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC, and would include the Freedom Cry single-player missions, Kraken Ship pack featuring elements to personalize the Jackdaw, as well as additional single-player and multiplayer elements.[48]

text: Freedom Cry sees the player take on the role of Adéwalé, a freed slave from Trinidad who became Edward Kenway's Quartermaster, and later a member of the Assassin Order. The story mode takes place 20 years after the events of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag where Adéwalé has become a trained assassin with the Order and finds himself shipwrecked in Saint-Domingue, where he comes face-to-face with some of the most brutal slavery in the West Indies. The DLC is written by Jill Murray, who wrote Liberation and the Aveline content for Black Flag.[49] In February 2014, it was announced that Freedom Cry would be released as a standalone title on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on February 18, 2014 for North America and February 19, 2014 for Europe. It was released for the PC on February 25, 2014.[50]

text: Blackbeard's Wrath allows the player to play any one of three new characters in Black Flag's multiplayer mode. These characters include Blackbeard, The Jaguar and The Orchid. This DLC is free with the Season Pass.[51]

text: Guild of Rogues adds three new characters to the multiplayer mode. These characters are The Shaman, The Siren and The Stowaway. It was not released for the Wii U.[52]

text: The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 releases both contain an exclusive DLC, "Aveline". As an exception it is available on PC in the Uplay Digital Deluxe Edition and Jackdaw Edition only.

text: A Game of The Year version, called the Jackdaw Edition, was released in the UK for sale exclusively on Amazon.com. It was made available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles as well as PC. The edition includes all previously released downloadable content. No comparable editions were created for territories outside of the UK.

text: Reception[edit]

text: ReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic(PS3) 88/100[53](WIIU) 86/100[54](X360) 86/100[55](PS4) 83/100[56](PC) 84/100[57]Review scoresPublicationScoreCVG9/10[58]Edge9/10[59]EGM9.5/10[60]Eurogamer9/10[61]Famitsu37/40[62]Game Informer8.25/10[63]GameSpot9/10[64]Giant Bomb[65]IGN8.5/10[66]Joystiq[67]OPM (UK)8/10[68]OXM (US)9.0/10[69]PC Gamer (UK)90%[70]VideoGamer.com7/10[71]The Escapist[72]

text: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic, with critics praising the open world gameplay, side-quests, graphics and naval combat. In November 2013, Hardcore Gamer ranked Black Flag as the 70th greatest game of the seventh generation era.[73]

text: Black Flag was generally praised as superior to Assassin's Creed III,[67][71] with Game Informer's Joe Juba noting that Ubisoft responded to criticisms the previous game faced and rectified them.[63] CVG's Matt Gilman called the game "a return to form for the franchise,"[58] while Mikel Reparaz of Official Xbox Magazine stated that "After weathering the somewhat diminishing returns of Revelations and ACIII, Black Flag is exactly the shot in the arm Assassin's Creed needed."[69] Two days after its release, IGN ranked Black Flag as the 2nd best game in the Assassin's Creed series, only behind Assassin's Creed II.[74]

text: Several reviewers directed heavy acclaim to the game's open world structure, with the Edge staff declaring that Black Flag "sets new benchmarks not only for Ubisoft's series but for open-world gaming."[59] Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell called the open world gameplay "a surprising breath of fresh sea air,"[61] with Gilman stating it "revitalizes the series."[58] The large scale of the open world was praised,[66] with Greg Tito of The Escapist saying that the game "opens up the whole Caribbean."[72] Reviewers also praised the game's side-quests and collectibles,[58] as it actively encouraged the player to explore the open world,[61][66] with GameSpot's Shaun McInnis saying that "Black Flag presents a world full of adventure and opportunity and full of reasons to go exploring."[64] The side-quests were generally agreed to be superior to the main missions,[60][63] with IGN's Marty Sliva stating that "Black Flag is at its best [when you] set out in search of your own fun."[66] The assassination side-missions were particularly praised.[63][70] The seamless exploration between ship, land, and sea without loading was also praised.[64][70]

text: The graphics were also widely acclaimed. The Edge staff stated that "From a graphical standpoint, Black Flag's world is built to amaze regardless of which console generation you're playing it on."[59] Reviewers praised the game's open world as "beautiful" and "gorgeous;"[58][64] Sliva called Black Flag "one of the best looking games of 2013."[66] The game's level of detail was also acclaimed,[60] with the open world's water, rain and sea, being cited as "amazing" to look at.[58][63]

text: The game's naval combat system drew much praise. Reviewers noted that the naval combat was Assassin's Creed III's best feature, and consequently praised Black Flag for improving on it.[59] Tito explained that, while Assassin's Creed III's naval missions were linear and limited, Black Flag offered the player much greater freedom by allowing them to explore, fight or sail whenever they wanted.[72] McInnis said that the game "places a huge emphasis on naval combat," and stated that it "builds on ACIII's naval side missions to create an experience every bit as important as running around on dry land."[64] The naval combat received praise for its additions of boarding ships and attacking forts,[72] as well as the seamless transitions between ship and sword gameplay,[64][70] with Tito calling it "a great dual system that rewards both skill in naval combat, and [in] pirate action."[72]

text: The stealth in the game was praised for being more flexible than previous games by allowing the player more options to accomplish their goals.[58][64] The Edge staff said that "Stealth games are only as good as the flexibility of their encounters, and in that regard Black Flag is the most generous Assassin's Creed game to date."[59] However, some also criticized the stealth for being frustrating,[63] due to its clunky and poorly defined controls.[61][71] Reviewers noted that fighting as Edward was similar to previous games,[68] with some criticizing it for being monotonous,[61] too easy,[58] and lacking nuance.[72] However, it was also praised for being "an effective and violent power trip,"[70] and for being "fluid and lively."[64] Some also complained about the enemy A.I. for lacking intelligence.[68][70][71] The simplified crafting system was praised for improving over Assassin's Creed III's,[64][69] with reviewers noting it took inspiration from Far Cry 3.[59][70]

text: The story received a positive response overall. Reparaz praised it as "engrossing" and one of the Assassin's Creed series' best. Reparaz and McInnis also complimented the characters, and praised the way the story explores the human side of pirates, painting them in a sympathetic and relatable light.[64][69] Bramwell felt that the story "flourishes," particularly praising the supporting characters and Edward's character arc.[61] PlayStation Official Magazine's Joel Gregory felt that Black Flag's storyline was nothing unique for the series, though he praised the characters as "far more interesting, more likeable, and more varied" than previous games.[68] While he praised the story's first half, Gilman was more critical of the latter half, adding that its flawed pacing and structure resulted in player apathy towards the characters.[58] Both Sliva and Juba also criticized the main story,[66] with Juba complaining about its lack of purpose, or a compelling antagonist, and felt that most of the supporting characters were underdeveloped.[63]

text: The story missions had a mixed reception. Reparaz, who gave the game high praise, felt that they were the weakest aspect of Black Flag.[69] Juba and VideoGamer.com's Steven Burns both felt that most of the story missions were extremely repetitive and were tediously tiring.[63][71] Tito, however, felt that they were varied, and that the frustrating portions compensated by being challenging.[72] One particular aspect that received heavy criticism from most reviewers were the eavesdropping and tailing missions,[59][61][63][64][69][71][72] with several noting that these problems should have been fixed or removed entirely from the series.[58][68] The tailing objectives were also extended to ship/sea missions, with reviewers also criticizing this form of naval stealth.[59][67] The game's pacing and opening were praised, as it introduced the pirate gameplay without the need of an overly long tutorial,[60][66][70] with Juba noting it an improvement over Assassin's Creed III.[63]

text: Several reviewers labelled Black Flag a more pirate game than it is an Assassin's Creed one, due to its heavy focusing on pirating in gameplay, story, and characters.[59][67][68][70] Reviewers felt that it was better for the game; they praised Black Flag's more light-hearted fare and tone compared to previous games,[59][66][71] while also believing the game wisely avoided the usual convoluted Assassin's plot in favor of a simplistic pirate story.[66][70] Gilman stated that "Black Flag is a better pirate game than it is an assassin game,"[58] with PC Gamer's Tom Senior remarking that "Black Flag doesn't really want to be an Assassin's Creed game, and [...] that is a welcome move."[70] Reparaz called it the greatest pirate game he had ever played,[69] while Electronic Gaming Monthly's Ray Carsillo declared Black Flag to be "probably the best pirate simulation in gaming history."[60] Tito stated that Black Flag's gameplay reminded him more of a 3D version of Sid Meier's Pirates! than any Assassin's Creed game.[72] Edward Kenway's character as a self-motivated pirate rather than an Assassin was also praised by most.[61][64][66][71] Sliva believed that Edward's character was a "refreshing change of pace from a series that had started to take itself a bit too seriously,"[66] while he and Gilman stated that Edward was a "livelier" and more "palatable" protagonist than Assassin's Creed III's Connor.[58][66]

text: In December 2015, Game Informer ranked the game as the fifth best game in the Assassin's Creed series to date.[75]

text: Sales[edit]

text: During the first week of sales in the United Kingdom, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag became the best-selling game on all available formats, ahead of Battlefield 4.[76] However, the game's opening week sales were 60% down compared to 2012's Assassin's Creed III. Ubisoft blamed the fall in demand on uncertainty caused by the upcoming transition to eighth generation consoles.[77] According to NPD Group figures, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was the third best-selling game of November 2013 in the United States, only behind Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4.[78] In May 2014, Ubisoft announced that the game had shipped over 11 million copies.[79]

text: Awards[edit]

text: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag has received Game of the Year nominations from media outlets Cheat Code Central,[80] GameSpot,[81] and the Inside Gaming Awards,[82] It won the Spike VGX 2013 award for Best Action Adventure Game,[83] and the GameSpot awards for PS4 Game of the Year and Xbox One Game of the Year.[84][85]

text:
showList of notable awards and nominations for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Year
Award
Category
Result
Ref.

2013

5th Annual Inside Gaming Awards

Game of the Year

Nominated

[82]

Best Story

Nominated

Gamers' Choice

Nominated

Cheat Code Central's 7th Annual Cody Awards

Game of the Year

Nominated

[86]

Studio of the Year (Ubisoft Montreal)

Nominated

[87]

Best Graphics

Nominated

[88]

Best Action/Adventure Game

Nominated

[89]

Spike VGX 2013

Best Action Adventure Game

Won

[83]

Game Revolution's Best of 2013 Awards

Best Action-Adventure Game

Won

[90]

Best Publisher (Ubisoft)

Nominated

[91]

GameSpot's Game of the Year 2013 Awards

PS4 Game of the Year

Won

[84]

Xbox One Game of the Year

Won

[85]

Game of the Year

Nominated

[81]

PS3 Game of the Year

Nominated

[92]

Xbox 360 Game of the Year

Nominated

[93]

Hardcore Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2013

Best Adventure Game

Won

[94]

The Sequel of Sequels

Won

[95]

Game of the Year

Nominated

[96]

Best Multiplatform Game

Nominated

[97]

Best Multiplayer

Nominated

[98]

Best New Character (Edward Kenway)

Nominated

[99]

Best Technical Graphics

Nominated

[100]

Destructoid's Best of 2013

Best Multiplatform Game

Nominated

[101]

Best Action Game

Nominated

[102]

Best Competitive Game

Nominated

[103]

Giant Bomb's 2013 Game of the Year Awards

Best Surprise

Won

[104]

Best Game

Nominated

[105]

13th Annual National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards

Art Direction, Period Influence

Nominated

[106]

Character Design

Won

Costume Design

Won

Game Design, Franchise

Nominated

Graphics, Technical

Nominated

Game, Franchise Adventure

Nominated

2014

GameTrailers Game of the Year Awards 2013

Game of the Year

Nominated

[107]

Best Multiplatform Game

Nominated

Best Action/Adventure Game

Nominated

IGN's Best of 2013

Best PS4 Multiplayer Game

Won

[108]

Xbox One Game of the Year

Won

[109]

Best Xbox One Action-Adventure Game

Won

[110]

Best Xbox One Story

Won

[111]

Best Wii U Action-Adventure Game

Won

[112]

Best Wii U Sound

Won

[113]

Best Overall Action-Adventure Game

Nominated

[114]

Best Overall Music

Nominated

[115]

Best PC Action-Adventure Game

Nominated

[116]

Best PS3 Action-Adventure Game

Nominated

[117]

Best PS3 Sound

Nominated

[118]

Best PS3 Story

Nominated

[119]

PS4 Game of the Year

Nominated

[120]

Best Xbox 360 Action-Adventure Game

Nominated

[121]

Best Xbox 360 Sound

Nominated

[122]

Best Xbox 360 Story

Nominated

[123]

Best Xbox One Sound

Nominated

[124]

Wii U Game of the Year

Nominated

[125]

Best Wii U Multiplayer Game

Nominated

[126]

Best Wii U Music

Nominated

[127]

The Escapist Awards 2013

Game of the Year

Nominated

[128]

Best Action-Adventure Game

Nominated

[129]

Official Xbox Magazine's Game of the Year Awards 2013

Best Action Game

Won

[130]

Game of the Year

Nominated

[131]

66th Writers Guild of America Awards

Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing(Story by Darby McDevitt, Mustapha Mahrach, Jean Guesdon; Lead Scriptwriter Darby McDevitt;Scriptwriter Jill Murray; AI Scriptwriter Nicholas Grimwood; Scriptwriter Singapore Mark Llabres Hill)

Nominated

[132]

17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards

Game of the Year

Nominated

[133]

Adventure Game of the Year

Nominated

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Nominated

Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering

Nominated

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

Nominated

10th BAFTA Video Games Awards

Best Game

Nominated

Action/Adventure

Nominated

Game Design

Nominated

Music

Nominated

14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

Best Technology

Nominated

[134]

32nd Golden Joystick Awards

Best Visual Design

Won

[135][136]

Studio of the Year (Ubisoft Montreal)

Won

Best Audio

Won

Best Gaming Moment (Sea shanties)

Nominated

Game of the Year

Nominated

text: PETA criticism[edit]

text: The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights organisation criticised Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag for the usage of harpoons and "glorification" of whaling. The organisation said it was disgraceful that the video game industry didn't condemn the addition.[137] Ubisoft responded to the claims by saying that Assassin's Creed's is based on history and is a "work of fiction which depicts real events during the Golden Era of Pirates". Ubisoft claimed they do not condone whaling, along with other mechanics and features in the 4th installment in the series.[138]

text: PETA has had a history of criticising  video games, some of the notable cases being Mario and Pokémon.[139]

text: Series continuation[edit]

text: Assassin's Creed Unity, set in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution,[140] was released worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows on November 11, 2014.[141]

text: Additionally, Assassin's Creed Rogue is the sequel to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and the prequel to both Unity and III, following Shay Cormac, an Assassin-turned-Templar who hunts members of the Assassin order. Taking place in North America during the Seven Years' War, the game was released worldwide on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 11, 2014.[142]

text: Other data[edit]

text: In November 2013 the video game company of Ubisoft financed the exhumation of the remains of the Spanish corsair Amaro Pargo to reconstruct his face for its possible appearance in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. For the first time in history,[143] a company in the video game industry exhumed the remains of a historical character in a pioneering campaign that got the attention of national and international media. In addition, this exhumation had important discoveries on the physiognomy of this mythical corsair.[144]


document_title: Standard Marine Communication Phrases

question_text: when should the imo's smcp be used

question_tokens: when should the imo 's smcp be used

text: Standard Marine Communication Phrases

text: Background[edit]

text: The SMCP were adopted by the 22nd Assembly of the IMO in November 2001 in a resolution which also promoted the wide circulation of the SMCP to all prospective users and all maritime education authorities.[1]

text: The SMCP includes phrases which have been developed to cover the most important safety-related fields of verbal shore-to-ship (and vice versa), ship-to-ship and on-board communications. The aim is to reduce the problem of language barriers at sea and avoid misunderstandings which can cause accidents.[1]

text: Examples[edit]

text:
To describe an unmanned and abandoned ship floating adrift, the SMCP gives the correct phrase as, “unlit derelict vessel adrift in vicinity (date, time and position if known)”[2]
Being stuck in ice and requesting assistance: “I am fast in ice. I require assistance”.[2]
Damage to vessel by ice: “I have developed stability problems, heavy icing. Request ice breaker assistance”.[2]
Ship is sinking: “I am sinking. Please proceed to my assistance. What is your ETA at our distress position?”[2]


document_title: Seat belt legislation

question_text: when were seat belts first introduced in australia

text: Seat belt legislation

text: National comparisons[edit]

text: Australia[edit]

text: In Australia, after the introduction of mandatory front outboard mounting points in 1964, the use of seat belts by all vehicle passengers was made compulsory in the states of Victoria and South Australia in 1970 and 1971, respectively.[1] By 1973, the use of fitted seat belts by vehicle occupants was made compulsory for the rest of Australia and some other countries during the 1970s and 1980s. The subsequent dramatic decline in road deaths is generally because of seat belt laws and subsequent road safety campaigns.[2][3][4] Seat belts are not required for bus occupants, reversing drivers, and those driving some slow moving vehicles. The laws for these differ depending on the state or territory with jurisdiction.

text: Canada[edit]

text: All provinces in Canada have primary enforcement seat belt laws. In 1976, Ontario was the first province to pass a law which required vehicle occupants to wear seat belts.[5]

text: United Kingdom[edit]

text: In the United Kingdom, seat belts must be worn at all times if they are fitted to a vehicle unless reversing. Passengers may be exempt from wearing a seat belt for different reasons. Since September 18, 2006, children travelling in the UK must also use an appropriate child seat in addition to the standard seat belt, unless they are 12 years old and/or have reached at least 135 centimetres (53 in) in height.[6]

text: In the UK, a requirement for anchorage points was introduced in 1965, followed by the requirement in 1968 to fit three-point belts in the front outboard positions on all new cars and all existing cars back to 1965.[citation needed] Successive UK Governments proposed, but failed to deliver, seat belt legislation throughout the 1970s. Front seat belts were compulsory equipment on all new cars registered in the UK from 1972, although it did not become compulsory for them to be worn until 1983. Rear seat belts were compulsory equipment from 1986 and became compulsory for them to be worn in 1991. However, it has never been a legal requirement for cars registered before those dates to be fitted with seat belts.[7] In one such attempt in 1979 similar claims for potential lives and injuries saved were advanced. William Rodgers, then Secretary of State for Transport in the Callaghan Labour Government (1976–1979), stated: "On the best available evidence of accidents in this country - evidence which has not been seriously contested - compulsion could save up to 1000 lives and 10,000 injuries a year."[8]

text: United States[edit]

text: In the United States, seat belt legislation varies by state. The state of Wisconsin introduced legislation in 1961 requiring seat belts to be fitted to the front outboard seat positions of cars.[9] Seat belts have been mandatory equipment since the 1968 model year per Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208.

text: New York State passed the first law in the US mandating the use of seat belts in 1984 under the leadership of John D. States, an orthopedic surgeon who dedicated his career to improving automotive safety.[10] Depending on which state a driver is in, not wearing a seat belt in the front seat is either a primary offense or a secondary offense, with the exception of New Hampshire, which does not have a law requiring people over age 18 to wear a seat belt. In the front seat, the driver and each passenger must wear a seat belt, one person per belt. In some states, such as New York, New Hampshire, and Michigan, belts in the rear seats are not mandatory for people over the age of 16, though it is extremely advised. The driver and front-seat passengers aged 16 or older can be fined up to $50 each for failure to buckle up. In California, you must be 15 years or older to accompany the driver in the front seat. Children 14 and younger must sit in the rear seat until they reach the age of 15.Template:DMV.org

text: A primary offense means that a police officer can pull a driver over for the seat belt law violation alone, and secondary offense indicates that one can be punished for a seat belt law violation only if they are already pulled over for another reason. By January 2007 25 states and the District of Columbia had primary seat belt laws, 24 had secondary seat belt laws, and New Hampshire had no laws.[11] In 2009, Public Health Law Research published several evidence briefs summarizing the research assessing the effect of a specific law or policy on public health. One stated, "Safety belt laws work, but there is strong evidence to support that primary enforcement safety belt laws are more effective than secondary enforcement laws in increasing seat belt use and reducing crash injuries."[12]

text: Another found that "there is strong evidence that enhanced seat belt enforcement interventions can substantially increase seat belt use and its associated benefits."[13]

text: Developing countries[edit]

text: In many developing countries, pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaw operators and moped users represent the majority of road users.

text: In India, all cars manufactured after March 25, 1994 are equipped with front seat belts. The rule was extended for rear seats in 2002. The usage of seat belts is to be implemented by the respective states, with most states making seat belt usage for front seat passengers mandatory in 2002. Older vehicles that did not originally have seat belts were exempted. However, enforcement is weak in most parts of the country.

text: In Indonesia, belts are only mandatory for front seats. Many low entry car models are not equipped with rear seat belts.[14]

text: In Malaysia, the first stage of safety belt laws was implemented in 1979. This was expanded in January 2009 to include rear passengers. Passenger vehicles registered prior to January 1, 1995, and those weighing more than 3.5 tons are exempted from this rule. The third and fourth stages, which will deal with baby and child seats and the number of passengers in a vehicle, have not taken effect.[15]

text: In the Philippines, a seat belt law, Republic Act No. 8750, was approved in August 5, 1999. The law took effect in 2000 and requires all public and private vehicles, except motorcycles and tricycles, to have their front seats equipped with seat belts. Front seats as defined by the law includes the first row of seats behind the driver for public utility buses. Those below the age of six are prohibited to occupy the front seats of motor vehicles even if wearing a seat belt. Jeepneys are only required to have lap belts for the front seat passengers and the driver.[16][17]

text: The table below gives an overview of when seat belt legislation was first introduced in different countries. It includes both regional and national legislation.

text:
Country
Compulsory wearing
Compulsory fitting
Source

Cars
Bus passengers
Cars
Buses

Driver
Front passengers
Rear passengers

 Argentina
1994

1994
1994 (First row only, all in school buses)
[18]

 Australia
1970 (Victoria), 1971 (SA, NSW), 1972 (national), 1986 (child restraints)

1969, 1970 (back seat, Victoria) 1971 (back seat)
1983 (≤3.5 tonnes)
[19][20]

 Canada
1976

 Czech Republic
1966 (outside cities)
1990 (all)
1976
1990
2004
1968

[21]

 European Union
1993

[22]

 Finland
1975
1982
1987
2006

 France
1973 (outside cities), 1975 (cities at night), 1979 (all)
1990
2003
1967, 1978 (back seat)
2003
[22]
[23]

 Germany
1976
1984
1999
1970, 1979 (back seat)
1999
Angurtpflicht

 Hungary
1976

1993

[19]

 Hong Kong
1983
1983
1996
2004 (minibuses)
1996 (back seat)
2004 (minibuses)

[24]

 India

1994 (front seats), 2002 (rear seats)

 Ireland
1979

1992

1971 (front seats), 1992 (rear seats)

[25]

 Italy
1989
1990 (where available)‡
2006‡
1988 (new vehicles); 1989 (all*, front seats); 1990 (new vehicles, back seats); 2000 (all*, back seats)
2006
[26]

 Japan
1971† (1985)
1971 (no fines), 1985 (fines on freeway), 1993 (all)
2008
2008
1969

[22]

 Myanmar
2017
2017
2017
2016 (motorway buses enforced)

 Netherlands
1976
1992

1975 (front) 1990 (rear)

 New Zealand
1972
1972 (15 years and over), 1979 (8 years and over)
1989♣

1972 (vehicles registered after 1965), 1975 (after 1955)

[27]

 Philippines
2000 (those below 6 years prohibited to occupy front seats)

2000 (first row beside the driver's seat only)
2000
[28]

 Singapore
1973
1973
1993
2008 (small buses)
1973

 Spain
1975

 Sri Lanka
2011
2011

 Sweden
1975
1986
1969 (front) 1970 (rear)
2004
[22][29]

 Thailand
1996
2009

 United Kingdom
1983
1991
2006
1967 (front) 1987 (rear)

[30]

 United States
1984 (New York; seat belt use law is jurisdiction of individual states)

Wisconsin, 1961. Federally, front lap 1965 model year; front shoulder & rear lap 1968; 3-point front 1974

[22]

text:
* - actually only vehicles registered after 15 June 1976; in previous registered vehicles fitting is optional
† - required by the law, but no penalty for violation at the time
‡ - required by the law, but low enforcement
♣ - definitely introduced by this date, possibly earlier

text: Effects[edit]

text: Studies by road safety authorities conclude that seat belt legislation has reduced the number of casualties in road accidents.

text: Experiments using both crash test dummies and human cadavers also indicated that wearing seat belts should lead to reduced risk of death and injury in car crashes.

text: Studies of accident outcomes suggest that fatality rates among car occupants are reduced by between 30 and 50 percent if seat belts are worn. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that death risks for a driver wearing a lap-shoulder seat belt are reduced by 48 percent. The same study indicated that in 2007, an estimated 15,147 lives were saved by seat belts in the United States and that if seat belt use were increased to 100 percent, an additional 5024 lives would have been saved.[31]

text: An earlier statistical analysis by the NHTSA claimed that seat belts save over 10,000 lives every year in the US.[32]

text: According to a more recent fact sheet produced by the NHTSA:

text: By 2009, despite large increases in population and the number of vehicles, road deaths in Victoria had fallen below 300, less than a third of the 1970 level, the lowest since records were kept, and far below the per capita rate in jurisdictions such as the United States. This reduction was generally attributed to aggressive road safety campaigns beginning with the seat belt laws.[34][35]

text: A 2008 study in the Journal of Health Economics found that mandatory seat belt laws in the U.S. "significantly increased seatbelt use among high school age youths by 45-80%" and "significantly reduced traffic fatalities and serious injuries resulting from fatal crashes by 8 and 9%, respectively."[36] The authors note that these "results suggest that if all states had primary enforcement seatbelt laws then regular youth seatbelt use would be nearly universal and youth fatalities would fall by about 120 per year."[36]

text: Opposition[edit]

text: A number of groups and individuals are opposed to seat belt legislation. The most common grounds for opposition are:

text:
The view that laws requiring the wearing of seat belts are an infringement of individual liberty.
Claims that official estimates of the number of lives saved by seat belts are overstated or fail to take into account additional risks for other road users.

text: Risk compensation and other theories[edit]

text: The most common basis for disputing estimates of the benefits of seat belts is risk compensation and risk homeostasis, advanced by researchers John Adams and Gerald Wilde. The idea of this theory is that, if the risk of death or injury from a car crash is reduced by the wearing of seat belts, drivers will respond by reducing the precautions they take against crashes. Adams accepts the hypothesis that wearing seat belts improves a vehicle occupant’s chances of surviving a crash.[37] In order to explain the disparity between the agreed improvement in crash survival and the observed results, Adams and Wilde argue that protecting someone from the consequences of risky behaviour may tend to encourage greater risk taking. Wilde states, "to compel a person to use protection from the consequences of hazardous driving, as seat belt laws do, is to encourage hazardous driving. A fine for non-compliance will encourage seat belt use, but the fact that the law fails to increase people's desire to be safe encourages compensatory behaviour." [38]

text: Studies and experiments have been carried out to examine the risk compensation theory. In one experiment subjects were asked to drive go-karts around a track under various conditions. It was found that subjects who started driving belted did not drive any slower when subsequently unbelted, but those who started driving unbelted did drive consistently faster when subsequently belted.[39] A study of habitual non-seat belt wearers driving in freeway conditions found evidence that they had adapted to seat belt use by adopting higher driving speeds and closer following distances.[40] In another study, taxi drivers who were habitual non-wearers were timed over a route with passengers who did, and others who did not, insist on the driver wearing a belt. They completed the route faster when belted.[41]

text: In addition to risk compensation, Adams has suggested other mechanisms that may lead to inaccurate or unsupportable predictions of positive benefits from seat belt legislation.

text:
Case-control studies based on voluntary use of safety aids can attribute to the aid benefits that actually come from the risk-averse nature of those likely to use them voluntarily (confounding), particularly early adopters.
Fatality rates are subject to considerable stochastic noise, and comparison of single years or short periods can be misleading.

text: Individual liberty[edit]

text: Opponents have objected to the laws on libertarian principles.[42] Some do so on the grounds that seat belt laws infringe on their civil liberties. For example, in a 1986 letter to the editor of the New York Times, a writer argued that seat belt legislation was "coercive" and that "a mandatory-seat-belt law violates the right to bodily privacy and self-control".[43]

text: A counterpoint to the libertarian view is that by reducing death and serious injury, mandatory seat belt use and enforcement of seat belt laws results in substantial social benefits. For example, an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2010 non-fatal injuries to motor vehicle occupants cost the United States $48 billion in medical expenses and lost work.[44] An example is an unbelted driver who kills or injures another road user because he/she slides out of proper seating position and cannot regain control of the vehicle during slippery conditions. Another notable scenario is of rear-seated passengers being forced forward in a crash and thus inadvertently harming the driver or front passenger. A University of Wisconsin study demonstrated that car accident victims who had not worn seat belts cost the hospital (and the state, in the case of the uninsured) on average 25% more.[45]

text: Side-effects of seat belts[edit]

text: Neck injuries can be caused by the deceleration from a high speed. The passengers head continues to move forward while the body is restrained, potentially causing paralyzing injuries. A study of such injuries notes, "Seatbelts save lives. However, they may cause injury to adjacent structures and when they malfunction can cause injury to the abdominal viscera, bony skeleton and vascular structures. The motor industry has attempted to reduce these injuries by modification of vehicle design and safety equipment."[46]


document_title: For Your Love

question_text: who sang for your love in the 60's

question_tokens: who sang for your love in the 60 's

text: For Your Love

text: Background[edit]

text: Gouldman wrote the song at the age of 19 while working by day in a gentlemen's outfitters near Salford Docks and playing by night with the semi-professional Manchester band the Mockingbirds. He explained: "I was sleeping most of the time because I'd been gigging with the Mockingbirds the night before, and then during the day when I'd got any spare time I'd write in the shop. I used to shut up the shop at lunch time and sit in the back writing."[6]

text: Gouldman cited the Beatles as his influence, "We went down to Denmark Street and went round all the publishers trying to find a song ... we didn't get any songs that we liked or we weren't given any songs period and the Beatles had started and I thought 'well, I’m gonna really have a crack at song-writing.' I had dabbled a bit, but they were really my inspiration and gave me and I think a lot of other people the courage to actually do it. We all wanted to be like the Beatles. I wrote two songs and the record company we were with turned down one of the songs. The song they turned down was 'For Your Love', which eventually found its way to the Yardbirds."[7]

text: Gouldman's manager, Harvey Lisberg, was so impressed by the song he told Gouldman they should offer it to the Beatles. "I said, 'I think they're doing alright in the songwriting department, actually", Gouldman recalled.[8] Undeterred, Lisberg gave a demo of the song to publisher Ronnie Beck of Feldman's, who took it to the Hammersmith Odeon, where the Beatles were performing. By coincidence the Yardbirds were also performing on a Christmas show at the venue and Beck played the song to their manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, and the band.[6]

text: In 1965, the Mockingbirds began a regular warm-up spot for BBC TV's Top of the Pops, transmitted from Manchester.[9] Gouldman recalled: "There was one strange moment when the Yardbirds appeared on the show doing 'For Your Love'. Everyone clamoured around them – and there I was just part of an anonymous group. I felt strange that night, hearing them play my song."[6]

text: Recording and releases[edit]

text: The Yardbirds recorded "For Your Love" at the IBC Studios in London on 1 February 1965.[1][2]  The majority of the song was recorded with singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty backed by session musician Ron Prentice on bowed bass, Denny Piercy on bongos, and organist Brian Auger on harpsichord.[1] Guitarists Eric Clapton and Chris Dreja only perform during the song's double-time middle break section.[1]  Bassist Paul Samwell-Smith assumed the production duties and is listed as musical director on the 45.[10] At the conclusion of the session, Auger wondered, "Who, in their right mind, is going to buy a pop single with harpsichord on it?"[11]

text: Shortly after its release by Columbia on 5 March 1965, it became a hit in the UK.[1]  When it was released a month later by Epic Records in the US, it became the group's first charting single.[1] By then, Clapton had already left the group for various reasons, including their more commercial aspirations.[12]

text: The song has been covered by Fleetwood Mac, on their 1973 album Mystery to Me, and by Joe Jackson, on his 2000 live album Summer in the City, in medley with his own hit, "Fools in Love".

text: Chart performance[edit]

text:
Chart (1965)

Peakposition

UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[1]

3

UK Singles (NME)[13]

1

Canada Singles (RPM)[14]

1

US Billboard Hot 100[1]

6

Ireland Irish Singles Chart

10