Yeah I agree, that's what I'm worried about. When Phase 2 starts, my hearties list will be wiped clean as well, and it'll be difficult trying to find the pirates I teamed up with in Phase 1. Oh well, like schmoofy said, if it means we can actually complete quests this time around, then I'm all for the character wipe...

P.S.: I'm looking for some of my hearties. Hopefully a few of you are forum members...anyone here have pirates named TrueHazzard or TrueMenace?