Single or Multiple Characters per account ?

[Magnum]

What Johny Reb is describing to me would be more correct if it was a:

 

Toon a: Naval Officer for the U.S.

Toon b: Privateer/Merchant for the U.S.

 

 

THAT is how it should be IMHO.

 

Pirates should still be the outlaws and scallywags of the sea - can't get close enough to spy on anyone .....

[Johny Reb]

That's the problem Johny, your pirate wouldn't be a "free soul", it would be you using him as a secondary US character that can attack neutrals ( and will most likely scold and have your friends scold any US players that attack you ). You ruined your own argument when you stated you would make a "US friendly pirate", why would he be US friendly? because you main US? what's the point of the Pirates if everyone is just going to second them to support their Mains and their Mains Nation??, you wouldn't be playing your Pirate as a real Pirate, you'd just be using him as another weapon for your Nation.

I would be a free soul because I choose to play as friendly to a certain nation. I could always violate it as I choose but of course there would be consequences. How I play that toon in the end is up to me and my choice is in no way limited beyond how I choose to limit it. 

 

You make assumptions that aren't true in my case but may be true with others. My goal is to not tell any of my friends who my pirate is. I want to hide in the shadows, uncatchable and deadly. I will not scold a US player that attacks me because he won't catch me or because I won't want to reveal my identity to him. I will hunt waters that don't contain many US players and I will be avoiding the navies at all costs. So I will attack all the nations, British, Spain, Sweden, neutrals, etc no matter if the US is at war with them or if the US is allied with them. How am I not a pirate by choosing to leave one nation alone?

 

Why would a pirate be US friendly?  Because he is still a man and although a thief can still have his loyalties. As a pirate I can avoid the American coast and spend all my time in the Caribbean far away from US cities and the majority of their players.

 

There is also no difference between me playing a rat to help my main's nation and my main hiring a group of rats to rid the waters of neutrals without threat of attack. In the end the result is the same.

 

@Amp...   Pirates often had letters of marque from a nation even though they were cutthroats thru and thru. Port Royal was used by these Marque holding pirates as a place to unload their booty. And honest privateers often would play the pirate from time to time. There is nothing unreasonable about a pirate holding a letter of Marque with a nation.

[Magnum]

I'm with you ......

 

I agree Johny that the "rules" of life on the sea were very dependent on how many cannons and men you had at your back and that most Captains of the day were "flexible" about ownership -- at least non Navy Captains that is.

 

I am interested in how this shapes up and I hope to be able to "explore" many variations on "age of sail" game play upon release.