User blog comment:Dentface/Revive POTCO - Sign Now!/@comment-123.2.14.81-20120805222348/@comment-1140008-20120805222941

They actually allowed you to see other players on ships way back in the start of the game. You could also physically dock on islands, and shoot holes in sails. You could even shoot cannoneers on enemy ship in SvS.

They removed all this to help with the server lag. They were cutting corners. Instead of removing tiny details that make the game feel real, they should get down to the core problem and get a new server client.