Re: Pirate Guild
Great question.
With any luck Pirates will have several ships with crew. They will go on treasure hunts that require sailing and attack other ships at sea. This will require some planning and good Ship Captains, because boat travel does take time.
When not sailing, pirate crews you would think are drinking and fighting. Great for ambiance, but players are not going to substitute their game time for tavern hangout time. Tavern owners will corroborate this.
It will be critical for Pirate guild members to put time into the game with their pirate characters. This will mean playing UO whatever way they like, but using their pirate character whether or not it is part of a guild activity.
In between sailing the crew should be spreading out in small groups or individually, hustling up gold and other valuables to bring back to the Den.
RP type raids will depend on having opposing groups open to raids and having something worth taking. Sea battles will depend on the same.
A thing that is desperately needed to tie all this together is a Merchant guild with members willing try to move goods over land and sea and groups buying these goods. Setting Yew up as a crafting community, recently suggested, could be a center for this type of commerce and conflict. Players already crafting their brains out, could simply do it in Yew and buy from the Merchants.
Pirates would be greatly helped by development of Merchants, Yew and some type of Royal Navy to act as protection.
[shameless plug] And so it begins Ongoing battle for control of Skara Brae resumes this Saturday at 12:30 eastern when Drow attempt to cross from the port area and attack defenders in the main town region. Ships landing from the open sea would be a big surprise.
/[shameless plug]