What is the "Players" list?

[Maximvs]

I see no benefit whatsoever in friending someone's "player" when I can just friend their pirate, because as far as the game is concerned, they are the exact same thing.

This is very handy for when you want to friend a player with multiple pirates without using multiple spots...

So if I know you and you have three pirates you want me to friend - by using the 2nd friend button I get one entry for all your pirates (so no matter which one you long in with - it shows up in the list).