Pirate Empires lied to him! He thought the virtual board game accurately reflected the woes of becoming a mercenary commander or a pirate commander, but in fact it missed such a huge hole!
In hindsight, Ves recognized that their depiction of how to run a pirate gang was overly romantic and glossed over many essential facts. The biggest one being that pirates relied on slavery to fulfill their shortage in technical and support personnel!
Ves already knew that the Dragons of the Void thumbed their noses against the taboo against brainwashing humans. Enslaving them was a logical follow-up to their loathsome behavior.
Yet commercializing their brainwashing facilities and opening them up to other pirates with too many prisoners on their hands sounded absurd. They basically empowered the independent pirate outfits this way.