Just to comment on what everyone else is...
I don't really see any point in hurrying to level 50. A while back, I said that one reason a lot of people were bored waiting for these updates were they rushed to 40 (although it was a long time). If we rush to 50, we're just gonna be on the same boat again.
Plus, I really see no point in aiming to be the first person to hit 50. There are A LOT of people who spend too much time leveling, and would beat me there.. although it would be nice to be in the first 100
And another thing... as of now, I have two level 40's. One is my main, one is my second pirate. I also have a level 23, and a level 12 (?). I don't want to ever put my main one on the shelf for too long, since I like to play as SOS. But I also want Sven D to level.. and the two little ones as well at some point. Given that, I would probably spend half of my available time on SOS, and the other half on the remaining three.. so i'm really in no rush by that way.. lol