Rum limit cannot be brought back for various simple reasons:

1. The most popular ruby packs, "specials", come with loads of ships, leaving most coiners in deep negative. I hope I don't have to explain why is Plarium somewhat fond of coiners.
2. Trading limits (one 50k free gift per week) are ridiculous from the perspective of maintaining large fleets with the help of your BH and/or friends/shipmates.
3. I know that this will come as a surprise to some here, but people have real lives and cannot always be raiding to the max. just to get enough rum to maintain their fleet. Miss a day, lose loads of troops due to hunger thirst, and you have a very dissatisfied paying customer. Not a good business model, especially for a pay-to-win game (no, P:ToF is not a strategic game, sorry to disappoint :-P).

You can, of course, ignore these reasons, but they won't go away.

Like I said before: after years of listening about how this game is doomed because small players feel unhappy (yet, the game is still here), I stopped giving any credibility to that kind of thinking. Doesn't mean I'm happy with the state of the game, but the removal of the rum limit is not one of the problems that it has.

I understand and feel what you say Cabirdman.  You are not alone.

Know this.  It does not take coin to stand up to coiners.  I fought them for years without buying into it.   For those willing to spend a different level of fun can be obtained.  I will admit it is easier to fight with coin.  To me the real problem with the game in not coin but alts.  They infiltrate BH's make drama and are free to make a new one at any point so it is useless trying to keep them out. (as well as the military advantage of running 5+ havens)

If you are not a huge fish yet don't fight them head on.  Take to pita campaigning.  They want your troops.  Don't give it to them.  If you do make sure it is on blocks where they don't get infirmary or HDB bonuses.  If you want a bigger group to play with find a new BH that either will settle the problem thru diplomacy or fight them beside you.  I'm in Busted Knuckles (11 members atm) and we aren't afraid to annoy anyone who wants to come at us.  IMO those bigger bh's hitting the little guys have plenty of terror-tory to grow fast feeding from.  If ye want PvP they can provide that too.

If you are content to stay in a little bh with the faithful few who get that chat and laughter be what it is all about then just help keep they spirits up.  Share the laughs as you dodge the big dogs and show them what  a PITA pocket ye be!  HARRRR!

The real trick to the game is looting res, quein' ye troops, an' solvin' the LH casino.  It doesn't take money it takes time.  Money be a shortcut that makes ye cabin pretty.  Spend down ye res, tuck ye troops, and loot the aft monkeys entire flag!  Sure it can be painful if they sink ye on a block.  Be smart.  Save enough troops to work ye LH!

or

Leave ye server coords and swell goodbye note.

Loads of great advice from KDH, as always. You guys should listen to him!

He can teach you how to get Fireships from prizes (or thin air? I dunno, but not with money... definitely not with money... the great mastermind is beyond that!). So many that he can waste them daily on empty havens! 

He can also tell you how to get hundreds of Dreads (I bet he'll say that it's from tournaments, because he'd never spend a dime on the game, nooo... spending money is for peasants, not brave, honorable warriors like him!). 

As for "standing up to coiners", his strategy is simple: pick some weak, obviously non-coining members of those BHs you don't like, and pick on them. Mostly hit their blocks, because real attacks are risky, but occasionally hit for real too (of course, after checking with those out-of-thin air Fireships that there is no def). If someone does it to you or your BH call them a "bully", but when you do it, call it "standing up to coiners (who you never touch, but who's asking?)".  

Oh, and a big thanks for giving me a good laugh with the alts rant. Just imagine... those evil coiners having alts, when you should be the only one allowed to have them... Yeah, yeah,... they are "real people who [we] pissed off" (and who happen to have the exact same activity as you do, even when you're gone for months). 

I've learned not to trust people who claim to rule the map without paying. Sounds too good to be true? Really?!  I wonder why...

hmm I think someone missed the "for years part".  I didn't say I don't spend.  I even said a different level of fun can be obtained spending and that I thought it was "easier to fight with coin".  Not sure where you got the I pull FS out of thin airs from that.  I usually buy them at diskount and send them to those BH's targeting my stuff.  Like hitting B's & P's or raiding the inactive shark chum.  Ye know crimes against the flag.

But really how much does it take to kill one bonnie guarding a block?  5? 

500??  be sure to look at the date.  Those are all free game troops there. (coiners FS are quicker)

I do spend money these days.  I bought most of my camping equipment last year so I'm enjoying that other level of fun while I wait for a bit more snow to melt.

as fer the alts.  Who me?  I know you don't believe it but it's just one haven and these days only one server.  I hear some players even built massive alt accounts to get the pirates den achievement and then made entire BH's out of them.  I guess everyone enjoys spending their time in different ways.  A shame I never got a solid response on how often I could attack a bastion.   every 10 minutes?

Is level 125 weak?  How about 95?  90?  85?  I guess it be relative to who you are.  I still say the best strategy when an aftcap gives ye grief is to profit from their flag in any way possible.  Arrr we not pirates after all?  I still don't get why everyone tries to play soldier of fortune or farmer 500.  Loot those weak poorly defended blocks they steal lunch money from and feed ye own crew if ye is smart!

Choosing to fight against the scum who give ye cause ye might have to give up ye cannon vanity or join the alt club.

I was a bit of a slacker this week but currently fighting 2 BH's I had plenty close by to target and keep those production ques flowing.  At one point last year I had them stacked for so many weeks I took a well needed break from it all and came back ready fer action.   It was a long 1080 day login streak before plarium broke it for me.

While I got 100's of the  "invicible" fleet dread and a few flints/cannons from tourneys, long gone I'm afraid are the yahoo days where we had real payouts that included large numbers of plague ships.  Most of those I get in the 10 dollar packs that I buy instead of 7 dollar cigs packs.  But then again ye knew that from the kabummer days when I mentioned that in the forums over there before we got flushed down the johnny to plarium.  Wasn't that even your thread I posted it in?  Ye know back when we were somewhat mates before our flags clashed.

KDH, you either found (yet another) bug or you need to get better at faking your reports (hint: seemingly unsupported Dreads in the second one).  (that "bug" doesn't appear in my reports, sooo... :-P)

P.S. "Ye know back when we were somewhat mates before our flags clashed." -- I maintained that relationship regardless of that clash, until I realised you're just another cowardly bully, harassing the weak under a pretence of a holy war you're trying to sell to anyone naive enough to believe it.

all depends on yer own viewpoint(s)  I suppose.

I stand up for what is important to me.  He wants to dump on me and mine so I'm returning the favor on his flag and mates.  It is as simple as that.  Just like I told the OP to do.

I'm a Pirate. Did you all really expect me to just put everything on the beach for a pvp hunt and then send the Offense at a fully loaded P?  ROPL  Pirates prey upon the weak. if you can call a level 85 weak. Ye sure I'm the disillusioned one?

 I'm not a simpleton or a soldier of fortune.  I'm growing stronger daily both from me coin and from your BH's blocks.  I urge anyone having issues with a "bully BH" to do the same.  Sooner or later you will have your own mass of troops regardless of spending coin or not.

The secret to this game is in the LH.  Raid empty havens.  Spend on upgrades and troops,  tuck ye productions as much as possible and loot any flag that dares cross ye in it's entirety at whatever holes ye can stick it in.

Crowbar.  Is not your BH's statement  "Everything is open with Everyone"?  Would this not include their blocks and havens?  Well Rich made it a point to keep us from having a presidio so I'm making it a point to say hello to his flag on a regular basis.

Is it right?  Is it wrong?  Is it a game?  Have some fun with it and tell ye mate to do the same.

err I think ye need to get some glasses Crowbar.  There be 50 fleet supporting 1 invincible capable of boosting 20 fleet.  I think a flint boosts fifty right?  Definitely more than 50 pirates in the lot.  Keep in mind we didn't have level 30 bonnies back then.  At most that is equivalent to a level 18 mission requiring 360k to keep 10 or less troops safe.

Before you call me out on the sliders to the right in the screenshot.  Yes I did splice them together.  Believe the numbers or not.  I've fought them without coin and I've fought them with coin.  If they give me a reason to stand against them I will to the best of my ability.

One last question.  How would you know a person's activity level in another BH relative to the other members of that BH?  ROPLSHIFO (rolling on plank laughing so hard I fell off)  lest any of ye get the wrong idea.

KDH said:

I stand up for what is important to me. [....]

Same ol' crap for the naive. You conveniently ignore that my comments are about you harassing weak player(s?) daily, not about hitting them and their stuff occasionally.

Also, a nice switch of theses that some might miss. "He wants to dump on me and mine" somehow became "on his flag and mates", not "on him and his".

The player in question told me that you said something like him being the closest. Funny, since you whirlpooled there. You didn't whirlpool near any of the two players you claim have wronged you.

Be a "pirate", that's your call. I'm calling you out over pretending to fight a holy fight, when it's just about excuses for bullying the weak.

KDH said:

err I think ye need to get some glasses Crowbar. There be 50 fleet supporting 1 invincible capable of boosting 20 fleet. I think a flint boosts fifty right? Definitely more than 50 pirates in the lot. Keep in mind we didn't have level 30 bonnies back then. At most that is equivalent to a level 18 mission requiring 360k to keep 10 or less troops safe.

I'm not the one needing the glasses. Supported Dreads have green support bars, not red ones (check aah's report). Also, supported units get the swords icon.

KDH said:

One last question. How would you know a person's activity level in another BH relative to the other members of that BH? ROPLSHIFO (rolling on plank laughing so hard I fell off) lest any of ye get the wrong idea.

hmmm I think I whirlpooled to the center of the map AFTER whirlpooling to Rich's location next to his bastion for months until the bastion moved?  Recall that?   weak players.  lol.  i don't think you have anyone under level 70 in your BH do you?  Wasn't Seth only about 5 levels different than me?  Isn't el devil dog about 9 levels higher than me?  What about the over level 100's I target so frequently? 

Crowbar said:

I'm not the one needing the glasses. Supported Dreads have green support bars, not red ones (check aah's report). Also, supported units get the swords icon.

→try looking at the BH frigs, veteran frigs, and marine units fer ye x's...oversupported dreads used to get red btw.  

anyway dead horse.  Ye know why I'm targeting your BH and anyone with a problem like the OP should stand up instead of flee the game.  imo.

KDH said:

Ye know why I'm targeting your BH

I thought I would speak on bullying since that kind of is the summation of the thread.

A bully won't stop when you ask them.  Will not be reasonable.  Will enjoy inflicting emotional or physical harm.

While my enemies use some pretty disturbing, provoking, and blatantly rude language in parrots constantly provoking me or otherwise I do not do the same.  ok maybe a little provocation minus all the potty mouth.  I try to be creative.

My enemies give me no option but to accept their ultimatums telling me they will do what they want and laugh.  I have given them the option of leave my flag alone and I'll go away.

This is a war game.  People fight.  Flags fight.  Individuals fight individuals or groups.  A leader of a group targeted mine and will not let us progress in the game without constantly attacking our presidio telling us we are too weak to have one. Mocking our membership and the like.  Even accepted an enemy status between flags.  Cares not who his members raid or antagonize.  Then I start responding to his flag as a whole.  One member well over level 60 is close to me and gets a lot of my block poaching, or annoyance and now I'm the bully.  That's rich!  pffft.

In life anyone can be viewed as a bully for fighting whatever the reason they chose to do so.  This is a game.  No one gets hurt.  Some try to do it with words but if you are a strong enough person those words have no power over you.  Know in your heart your own humanity and laugh with your mates.

We've not heard back from the OP.  A shame.  Never let a bully take your spirit mates!

KDH said:

A bully won't stop when you ask them. Will not be reasonable. Will enjoy inflicting emotional or physical harm.

I wouldn't have described you better myself (a quote from your post: "any discomfort my enemy may endure is a source of pleasure and entertainment for myself")!  Thank you.

KDH said:

This is a war game. People fight. Flags fight. Individuals fight individuals or groups. A leader of a group targeted mine and will not let us progress in the game without constantly attacking our presidio telling us we are too weak to have one. Mocking our membership and the like. Even accepted an enemy status between flags. Cares not who his members raid or antagonize. Then I start responding to his flag as a whole. One member well over level 60 is close to me and gets a lot of my block poaching, or annoyance and now I'm the bully. That's rich! pffft.

As before: "Someone wronged me, so I have moved close to someone else, and I'm constantly picking on them, which makes me righteous!". You're right again: that IS rich!