Any tips for starting crews?

[Sarah]

Snorri, we all have to start somewhere. Remember that. Some ventures turn out great, you make new friends, and all have the same goal in mind. Others, not so much. But really, what are you losing?? A few bits of gold to repair your ship. At least you get to keep quest items even if you sink.

My bit of advise, if the pirates are around the same level as you, and are willing to crew, go for it. If the pirates are way above your level and willing to crew, go for it. If it's a level one pirate, and is willing to crew, go for it, and show them the ropes.

Lay out the rules before you shove off. You're the Captain, it's your ship. You are allowed to lay down some rules. "Only shoot at so-and-so" "Shoot what I call out" et al.
If you're the crew member, listen to the Captain. If the Captain ain't talking, ASK what they are looking for. If they don't answer, find a new one.

Lastly, try a Guild. Paruse the threads here and see if one catches your fancy. Many a time I've shouted out to guild members when I needed help sinkining something for a quest, and they ALL wanted to jump on board. Not enough cannons for all of ye! LOL!

Fair Winds Mate!

[Steely Jim]

I don't know if you meant specifically the new crew options, if so then just chalk this up to another idea for the bin, but I've had really good success with people met through this forum. The upshot is that even if you don't hear from people ho post regularly, you still often hear from people who read the forums, and the upshot there is you usually get players who already have some awareness of good crew etiquette because they read it here. I have to admit a lot of the crews I've sailed with started outside the POTCO Crews and Mateys forum here; however, with a little planning ahead, you find you have better luck picking up better random crew members.

For me, I sort of just accepted that I had no reason to own a war galleon unless I was going to take a crew aboard, and so I just started responding to random threads where people were looking to sail or needed sailing help.