I am not a fan of the flashy, colorful, and ostentatious looks that most of the clothes, weapons, and ship designs have. My capstan on each of my ships is the default one, because none of the other capstans feel 'real' or even 'piratey'. They are clearly make-believe capstans that would never exist IRL. We need a capstan reinforced with brass or steel. The bilge rat cannons are simple enough but they have a major crack in the barrel, where are their clean, undamaged counterparts?
I'd like more brass and steel in the weaponry as well, something that actually resembles the kinds of weapons they used to have back then instead of stuff themed after parrots and bananas... Not that I have anything against pirates who like those kinds of things, I'd just like to see more realism representation.
Anything that 'feels' realistic also 'feels' broken, i.e. the Sea Dog and Castaway sets. Most of the things from those sets are bandaged together, cracked, or visibly worn, but they are also the most 'realistic' items in the game apart from the default items.
