Captaincy
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Captaincy, literally, means "the post of captain". This article is about Captaincy; the technical knowledge, the practical knowledge, and the emotional knowledge necessary to hold that post. While many pirates dream of someday wearing the great big taco hat, there's so much more to it than having Captain above your portrait.
This article has been divided into sections based on questions that you should ask yourself before assuming the captaincy of any crew, big, small, young, new, skilled, green, Midnight, Sage, Hunter, Viridian or Cobalt. Of course, some of the best captains are the most unconventional, and some of the worst are the most by-the-book. But as a general rule, the issues raised in this article are of concern to anyone who hopes to lead a crew, and anyone who is in that crew. You see, being captain of a crew doesn't just mean you're a captain. This means that everyone else in the crew is now under your control. You, as captain, are responsible for ensuring they have the best gameplay experience possible. This is an enormous weight to bear. Some people carry it better than others.
So let'e explore these issues. Nobody can tell if you'd be a good captain based on an Y!PPedia article, and if you're looking for a multiple-choice personality test, look elsewhere. But if you'd like to see the reality instead of just what people want to see, read on.
Duties of a Captain
A captain's work is never done. Captains in newer crews:
- Run recruiting pillages to find new mates. This means you need to be able to bnav, or have a SO who can.
- Finance the crew. You own the boat, you pay the stock, you buy the charts, you pay for everything.
- Teach new players. You are responsible for the game experience of everyone else aboard your boat, but especially new players. Older players know that there are a lot of boats on the sea, but to a new player, as a captain, you are a walking god.
- Officer training. It's never enough to just throw a new officer on a boat; they might dockpress, they might not have charts, they might not know how to stock, they might engage blue-ringed boats, they might do all manner of, to an experienced CO, stupid stuff. It's your reputation as a crew on the line as much as theirs as a person. Teach them.
- Drama & discipline. There's always drama, no matter which crew or flag or type of person is involved. Likewise, especially in newer crews, there is need for discipline. One of your cabin people being rude on someone else's pillage? You're gonna hear about it, and you'd better be ready to deal with it.
- Discipline of others. As a captain of a crew that's big enough, you are entrusted with the strongest tool non-OMs have against other players: the blackspot. You have a societal obligation to use it when necessary, but a moral obligation to use it responsibly.
Ponder this list. Are you able and willing to fill all of these roles? Headhunter, teacher, trainer, banker, policeman?
Bigger Crews
Furthermore, think of your crew like a puppy. It seems easy now, but as that cute little puppy grows up and becomes a fully-grown dog, a lot of the lustre fades. Unless you'll be satisfied with 20 mates and nobody knowing your name, you'll need to grow. And as you grow as a crew, everything gets bigger. As a captain of a bigger crew, you have even more duties:
- Politics. Politics might be as simple as rejecting offers to join flags, or as in-depth as becoming monarch of a flag or governor of an island. It's what you make of it, but especially at the highest levels, the real battles aren't fought on the blockade board; they're fought in /tell.
- Shoppekeeping & the Economy puzzle. As you grow, you will inevitably attract a few merchant mates. If you grow big enough, eventually you get crew-owned shoppes and stalls, and managing these can be very time-consuming.
- Drama to the nth. Bigger crews, except those defined by one core idealogy, will attract mates who disagree with each other. Some people live for sinking and the blockade board, others are horrified by the idea of being at war. There are dozens of similarly divisive issues, and you'll have to balance them.
- Moral Obligations. As a captain of a major crew, you are an example for the entire ocean. Your behaviour will be constantly scrutinized by your allies and enemies alike. Every word you say, every action you make, will be questioned and second-guessed and, if you booch the social puzzle, challenged in parley. You're an example; be a shining one.
