Just for those who want to know:
When you play Pirates Online, you are in communication with two servers. One contains the game that you play on, while the other stores your account information, including pirates and inventory. Back in February of 2011, after a maintenance, they didn't properly connect the server that stores your account information. So players were able to play the game, but none of the account info could be received. This resulted in most players having the "Level 0" bug and the "Jolly Roger Stole your Inventory" display. Ultimately, this resulted in server resets and players loosing progress, twice.
As compensation, the Dev Team gave us
Jack's Brew, a one of a kind potion that awards a 500% boost in reputation for one whole hour! Now, if you are experiencing the Level 0 bug, simply log out, then log right back in. This will fix the issue most of the time. If it doesn't, check the
official web site. When they are experiencing connection issues, they will often announce it on a red banner on top of every page.