In the XVI and XVII centuries captains were employed by merchants and rich men(or rulers for that matter)and therefore they rarely owned the ship they were sailing with.They had to pay a big share out of the booty and had to work(or loot)hard to buy out the ship and most of the time the owners weren't willing to sell them since they were the source of their wealth.It is not true that a captain who captured a ship(especially a naval officer!!!)became rich simply because they had to pay not only to the owners but also to his ruler.That's why pirate(well most pirates sailed under one of the european kingdom's flag-the rulers or kings issued piracy letters-similar to letter of marque and gave them authority to sink and board enemy ships)stories are much more entertaining because they did whatever they wanted and kept the captured ship(though it rarely happened since they had to transfer crew which slowed down their ship big time)while a navy captain's life was more 'boring'-patrols-more patrols-pirate hunting(
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Every captain(even pirates)had to pay TAX!!!We all now that tax is as sure as death though everyones dream is to avoid both.
That is what I don't like in all pirate games-u can sell ur booty to the local merchant with HUGE profit and noone says a word.
In reality the captains had to pay tax unless they could bribe the proper officer(s) but as today everyone was corrupt then so even governors and commanders wanted their share out of the towns chests.
So I don't think it was so easy to get rich in a few years back then and it wasn't so easy to become the owner of a ship either.
Another thing is selling the cargo itself wasn't always straightforward(like in coas u can easily sell tons of cargo for millions of piasters!!!)and obviously the more cargo they had the more sacrifice they had to make.Haggling was very very common that times(try to go in tesco and tell the pretty girl behind the counter that ur not willing to pay that much-she'll be all over u)and lots of type of cargo had to be sold even well under real market price.Merchants and ports also barely paid the cargo full often paid with drafts or proposed to trade goods with goods.
So its not like in coas u go into town with a 5ship squadron-sell tons of cargo in a day(!) become millionare fix ur ships in a week(fallen masts!!)and off u go.
I would prefer a game where not the detais of the landscape is dominant but the atmosphere of that era...
Oh yeah and do not think that if a naval officer did his duties well and in time they got promoted that easily-corruption and 'friendships' and family bonds and noble lineage were much more important back then.