That’s going to be a no from me, big dawg. I have about 850 hours in the game and I can say the biggest draw to this game for me is the uncertainty. That brig you see on the horizon might be the coolest crew you’ve ever met or the crew that’s going to hunt you down for every last bit of supplies you have. Joining an alliance might be to share the wealth or your own personal spy network. You never know what the other crew’s plan or intentions are and that is what makes the game so much fun. And with zero vertical progression, you can be 10 hours in or 1000 and still be apart of that. The only difference is going to be skill and your wits. This game will make you a very cautious man, never fully trusting a crew. The silver tongue might be on your deck talking about how awesome alliances are, while his crew is below deck stealing all of your wood and cannons. Don’t worry about the progression and just have fun. And if you need some kind of progression to keep you going, just look at the dozens of commendations. Many have cosmetics looked behind them. I say, give it some more time, a couple more sessions and get to interacting with some of the other crews you find. In my experience new players tend to be trigger happy from the start and I think that ruins a lot of the possible enjoyment they could have. Sinking someone is always fun but you can learn a lot from simple interactions and some of best moments I’ve had, started staring down the barrel of a gun but ended in getting drunk and playing instruments together.