First off I'm sorry it took so long for me to respond to this thread. As always, there were other things pulling at my time, but I should have gotten back to this thread long before I did.
Our overall vision of the Privateer class is a fast, hit and run style combatant, with a significant amount of flexibility. We don’t expect Privateers to stand in the line of battle*, we expect them to work the edges, to harass the flanks and chase down injured ships. We expect Privateers to engage and harass other Privateers at the edge of the battle, and move in quickly to take advantage of unexpected openings. Basically, we expect Privateers to be the equivalent of skirmishers in a land battle.
Right now, there is a serious issue with the speed values of several of the more agile high level ships. Taelorn addressed these in his devlog here. That will be fixed in 1.2, which should help Privateers fill that role.
The other problem is that speed is incredibly powerful. We’ve tried to strike a balance between the high top end speed of Ships of the Line and the higher acceleration and greater maneuverability of frigates. This is a delicate balance, and I’m not prepared to say it’s perfect, but we can’t give one high level ship the best acceleration and the best top speed.
Because of this we’ve started looking at other ways to help Privateers fill the agile, hit and run tactics, role. Towards that end, we’re currently focusing on giving Privateers more ways to protect and recover their sails. Hit and run doesn’t work very well if your opponent can rip your sails off in a single broadside. That is the origin of the Unpredictability: Sail Defense change, and you’ll likely see some similar changes in that vein.
In addition to that, we are looking at addressing the lack of group oriented skills for Privateers, Freetraders, and Pirates. Right now the skills of the Privateer are oriented mostly towards solo performance. While that’s nice, and certainly fits the classic image of the Privateer as the independent operator, it doesn’t work very well for game balance. I don’t have any details on that, but it is on our radar, and it is something we’ll work on going forward.
Privateers are not the right class for everyone. They are finesse fighters, not well suited to a grueling slug fest. If you want to sail big, slow, ships of the line, Privateer is not your class. If you want to use hit and run tactics, strike and then fade away, harass your opponents with superior maneuverability and acceleration, then Privateer is the right class for you.
*I say we don’t expect Privateers to stand in the line of battle, but I have personally seen that happen. The different gun load outs of different ships create range bands where frigates can have a firepower advantage on a 4th rate. Smart players can take advantage of this situation.