Anyone is welcome to join the PPA, whether or not you're a paid subscriber. However, unless you become a subscriber, the game constrains you to the rank of cabin person, so if you plan to stick around, we encourage you to subscribe. We'd be happy to talk to you about what you get when you play for free during the trial period, versus the additional opportunities you get when you subscribe, if you have any questions.

Some of our crew members stay with us forever, content to be cabin persons and pirates. Others are more ambitious, and work their way up the promotion ladder to enter our officer training program, and graduate into other crews. Some of our mates start as officer trainees sent to us from other crews; they complete their training in the PPA and then go back to their original crews. Some like the academy life so much that they decide to stay on as instructors. You don't need to make any of these decisions now; we're happy to have you in our crew for as long as you wish to stay.

If you're a new player fresh off the Pollywog, we recommend that you spend a little bit of time learning the way the game works, talking to people and trying out the puzzles on the Navy ships. But if you want to join the PPA immediately, we'll be happy to show you the ropes, and if you decide that you'd prefer another crew after you figure out how things work, we'd be glad to help you find a more permanent home -- though of course we hope you'll stay with us.