Hi all.
Firstly I liked the guide it made sense. I'm really new here and maybe more than a little confused, but surely an easier way to determine if you are at max plunder (now that everyone knows what that is thanks to this guide) would be to compare your theoretical plunder with your actual plunder? This can be done in seconds and does not require hiring an unwanted allie.
Theoretical plunder would be (total allies gold value)/(223.4)
Why 223.4? The relationship between a players hire value and their plunder bonus to allies is linear. Go to any players profile and divide their "Hire value" by their "max plunder bonus" value. It's always (near enough to) 223.4.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.