Just started playing this a few days ago, and I was thinking about this as well. When you have no other players on your ship and go to the deck view, you should see a few of your crew. It could be based on the size of the ship, and as for the ones who show up, it could either be a few random ones, or the next ones on the roster after the first mate. Alternatively being able to go down in the deck to see your crew there would also be nice touch. Likewise maybe a few lines of dialogue, but more of a bonus then a requirement for it.

One of my favorite things about the game so far has been when you go into the cellar of the tavern and see your motley crew that you've thus far assembled. It's the small things like that, that really sell the atmosphere and the style of game.

In Short: In full support of this idea (however much a new guys opinion on the matter matters..)

It would be a neat addition if you could assign each crew member a spot to patrol, especially on the bigger ships, or even gave them a specific task in combat, which might give different bonuses depending on what type of character they are. Have a swashbuckler character working the canon? They won't hit for as much, but will fire much more often. Something like that. Always room for more intricacy in an MMO

I think when they add "Captain's Quarters" it is supposed to act like a tavern so we would see our crew then. Though this is just an educated guess.

Haha! I suppose so. But it woudl make sense if you think about it like this: a buccaneer type could lift heavier cannon balls, a musketeer would be more accurate, swashbuckler could load faster, witchdoctor could add status effects to the shot, and a privateer could add more explosives to each payload. And you could do that kind of thing with every job on the ship.

I fully support the idea of having companions wandering the decks of our ships...as previously stated, the number might vary based on size of the ship, and the roster can be a rotating one of random picks from your crew list.