## New
- **Spread-out match starts.** Caribbean Standard no longer clusters everyone within
spitting distance of each other — matches now open from 16 points scattered near the
major ports (Havana, San Juan, Cartagena, Port Royal).
- **Inventory panel.** Press **B** (keyboard or gamepad) any time to check your hull HP,
cargo hold, and upgrades at a glance.
- **Bigger parties.** The party cap is now 12 total seats — couch co-op partners count
against it, so a full lobby is 12 real players, not 8 connections with couch mates
riding free on top. Trying to join a full lobby now tells you it's full instead of just
dropping your connection.
## Changes & Balance
- **Starting ships trimmed to Sloop and Schooner.** Brigantine, Frigate, and Galleon are
no longer pickable at the start of a match — you can still buy your way up to them once
you're in port.
- **Pirates hold grudges longer.** They now keep attacking you all the way up to a
1000-gold bounty, instead of backing off the moment you're merely "wanted" at 100g.
- **A third bounty hunter joins the hunt** once the most-wanted player's bounty crosses
3000 gold.
- **Fighting back doesn't bounty you.** Return fire against someone who attacked you
first is now bounty-free for 20 seconds after they hit you.
- **Bounty hunters fight to the death.** Privateers no longer cut and run mid-fight.
## Fixes
- **NPCs actually shoot back.** Fleeing ships (and most NPC types) now return fire when a
broadside bears, instead of just running silently.
- **No more coast-hugging NPCs.** Fleeing ships no longer get stuck pinned in a corner
against the shore.
- **Respawn camping closed.** If an enemy player is lurking near a port, that port drops
out of your respawn choices until they leave — you'll never be stranded with nowhere to
respawn, though; worst case, you get whichever port is safest.
- **Couch co-op join feedback fixed.** A refused couch-partner request (lobby full, etc.)
now actually tells you why, instead of getting silently overwritten by a stale
"requesting…" message.