Flying Lab Software has announced that they are offering population incentives to encourage players to join the less populous nations in Pirates of the Burning Sea. The incentives are tuned to the individual situation on each server, with France and Spain as the main beneficiaries of the bonus XP and loot reroll chances.

With Milestone 1.12: Rebel Apostles we are introducing incentives for characters belonging to nations with the lowest populations on each server. We are hoping to point new players, and returning players who make new characters, towards those nations who need higher populations to compete in the conquest of the Caribbean.

These changes should help new and current players add to the strength of their nation, grow their economies, support their society structure and enhance their RvR efforts and participation.

The first change you will notice is that character creation will automatically default to the nation most needing new recruits for that specific server. The nation selection is not locked, however; you can still choose other to play other nations. We’ll continue to monitor population numbers and adjust which nations get this special status as time goes on.

If a player does choose one of the high population nations in character creation, a window will appear indicating that lower populated nations are seeking aid. The server Message of the Day will also list the lower populated nations and the incentives that players of those nations will receive.

Read more here.