The 1st mates taking up sailor slots is a big blow to free2play players due to the fact they can not be fired. (There is the option but patch clearly states they can not be fired and it has been tested).
Overall being limited to 9 sailors or even 7 if one would like all 3 first mates is a big limitation that causes more of a negative perception as it feels more forced to buy slots, than the motivation of wanting to gain the stats from the available cabin space. The 1st mate bonuses can be good but the stat loss is pretty heavy.

Option 1: Please consider either giving 1 free slot with the 1st mate upon quest completion.
Option 2: Allowing of firing of the sailors to allow a swapping of them and rehiring at another time. So I could fire Proix then go to Tranan hire him after having completed the quest. Then once done fire him and talk to Proix to rehire.

Option 3: After milage revamp more options for sailor slots.
Option 4: Add basic 2-3% universal stat boost to 1st mate.

Why would a for-profit company care to improve the life of a F2Per?

what they'll probably do is increase the number of captain's medallions we can buy in the pearl shop, and increase our max sailor slots again

Upvoting! Supporting and enhancing playablity is always win!

Love this suggestion!

Not just this but with the upcoming 110 cabin slots for carrack we need 2 free slots for sailors