For gamers new to Akella's pirate games its good to know a little of what has passed before as it explains a little of the game's checkered past. Even if the Age of Pirates name is new to the world of gaming, the game can only be seen as the spiritual predecessor of Sea Dogs. Released some 5 years ago, Akella surprised friend and foe with a very engaging game with a decent storyline, crisp graphics, RPG elements and open ended gameplay. Sea Dogs was fairly successful and a sequel was announced not long after. Rumour has it that Akella was running out of money during the development of the game. When Disney needed a pirate themed game for their Pirates of the Caribbean movie and knocked on their door with a bag of money, Akella did a quick&dirty makeover and Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC) was born. Obviously, it killed Sea Dogs II as well. I'm assuming that the rights to the Sea Dogs name are in the hands of Sea Dogs publisher Bethesda and that somewhere in the above story, there's a reason to be found why Age of Pirates isn't called Sea Dogs II. I guess it will never be publicly known, but that Age of Pirates and Sea Dogs are from the same tree is obvious.