User Manual

Hiring and Firing Sailors
B e f o re you decide to weigh anchor, you should take care of
your crew and make sure you have enough sailors aboard. In
case there are too few, your ship will fail to move and the
s h i p ’s name will appear red in the ship list. Just select your
ship to find out if your crew is ready to go. If you need more
sailors, stop by at the tavern (see also ‘The Ta v e rn’ in
chapter 10), for this is the place to meet unemployed sailors.
If you are experiencing financial problems, you might want
to sack your crew: In the selection window, press the ‘+’ and
‘-‘ buttons to choose the number you want and then select
‘Dismiss sailors’. Of course you can only dismiss your
sailors when your ship is in a port.
But do not proceed too light-heartedly and fire your sailors as you please, because if you keep
firing members of your crew, the remaining people will begin to lose faith in you. And what’s even
worse is that the sailors you fired will spread the news quickly and it will become harder and
harder for you to find people who want to work for you. Captains will be particularly expensive
to hire under such circumstances. And it will take some time for you to regain your reputation
as a dependable employer.
The Crew’s Morale
Firing sailors not only reduces their faith in you but also has a negative impact on the morale
aboard the ship. The crew’s morale is displayed on a scale between 0 (very bad) and 4 (very
good). If the morale drops too low, this will, for instance, reduce your chances of surviving sea
battles, because your sailors will simply not aim as well as they used to. A bad mood aboard the
ship will also make the captain think twice before rejecting offers he may receive from your
competitors. Lost sea battles and excessively long sea voyages will depress your crew. A couple
of free days on shore will help in this case.
Mutiny on the high seas
If you continually ignore the mood of your crew, don’t be surprised if mutineers take over your
ship, who might suddenly disregard the actual destination of your ship and head for a nearby
port instead. You can still select your ship, but you can no longer control it. The selection
window will inform you about the ship’s unfortunate status. Once your ship arrives at the port,
30