Starting nation...

[poison]

Pontificating on the impending hard wipe, on which direction I want to go coming out of it, and which (if any) guild I want to join, I realized I didn't know something that should've been noticed a long time ago. I had observed long ago that there is a vast disparity of power in the game, with England having the majority of ports, and therefore logically the most abundant resources. However that is evident as soon as you open the in-game map. I also read up on some things that at least seem to be nation-exclusive, most notably ships (pirates also seem to have a different naming system for their ranks, but that's cosmetic).

So, I suppose my question is this: aside from the obvious (player count, town distribution, etc.), what are the differences between nations? If I'm Swedish and I have blueprints for a French ship, can I build her? If I'm Dutch, do I have the ability to purchase more goods in Dutch ports?

[Powderhorn]

Coded differences between nations are non-existent outside of the starting location.  Pirates are treated a little differently, but are still in testing and development.

[Jon Allen]

As Powderhorn said, there are no other differences. Same ships are available to all for all, for example. You can find a Constitution in any port, if the game or a player is putting it there for sale. 

 

From port to port, some ports do have commodities and ships that others do not auto-generated. That's part of the trade dynamics.

 

Crafting ships is also not limited by faction.

[poison]

Ah, ok. Wondered why ships on the forum list are distinguished by nation, but if it doesn't matter for crafting purposes then I won't worry. Thanks guys!

[Bart Smith]

Message to New players: join not overpopulated nations to keep in game balance and mostly to keep fun from game. 

[Inkompetent]

Message to New players: join not overpopulated nations to keep in game balance and mostly to keep fun from game. 

 

Is there any way whatsoever to know what nations those are though, other than assuming that Britain, Netherlands, France, and USA has 90% of all players?

 

 

On a separate note, how viable are small nations like Denmark and Sweden with all nations being at war with eachother? Makes trade really bothersome since it drastically lowers the number of viable harbours.

[poison]

If I recall, players are told which countries are the easiest. From this, it's possible to conclude easier = more populous, since many people (myself included) picked England simply because they wanted to learn the game on an easier nationality before the wipe.

[Magnum]

If I recall, players are told which countries are the easiest. From this, it's possible to conclude easier = more populous, since many people (myself included) picked England simply because they wanted to learn the game on an easier nationality before the wipe.

 

I'm not sure - there is a lot of qq-ing about how the experienced sailors won't be able to even get out of Kingston/Port Royal because of being repeatedly included in the tags made by new players!!!