I am one of those who does best with guarding. I usually say, "I'll guard" when playing with people I don't know, and the people I play with often know that I'll guard. I choose the winch because I like the fire power. Yes, a woman who loves to blow stuff up!
I don't maneuver well with pirates so I am best at guarding. Find your niche and stick to it. A few times my teammates have gotten themselves blown up and I've had to run for the flag. The winch is not good for running, but a little luck and I've done it.
I've also managed to get myself blown up right out of the gate by a flag grabber and been of no use to my teammates. I feel badly when that happens, but it happens. I've also blown up two flag grabbers at once, so it all balances out.
I always try to let everyone choose their ship, which has backfired on me too, when one more person joins and we have to wait through a last joiner.
Oh, and let's not forget the ones who tell me to boot someone to make it even so we can start. I don't boot. Period. I did it once because I misunderstood someone and felt so badly about it I played like dookey. It was a guest too! There goes MY shot at community leader. Anyway, if you see me start a game and you are in a hurry, you might want to choose someone else's game.
Now, if someone could explain the battle game to me, I'd be happy. But, since I am so bad at that, and I don't want to frustrate everyone I'm playing with, I stick to capture the flag.
That's my rant on pirates. Bottom line is to know your strengths and weaknesses and play to those. And to those of you who are so competitive that you hate being around incompetence, playing an online game geared toward kids (allegedly anyway) is probably not your best choice! Go play World of Warcraft or something.