Islands are randomly placed around the map by a computer starting every month (procedural map generation). Islands are evenly distributed across the map to ensure there are no areas without any islands. In addition, starting every month, the map is covered in a fog of war, meaning players must venture out to discover the map again (which changes every month).
Furthermore, islands have risk/loot levels. The greater the risk/loot level, the more aggressive and powerful the enemies on the island and the greater the loot found there. The risk/loot levels are indicated by the green/yellow/orange/red zones on the map below:
Islands in the green zone have a 50% chance to be level 1 risk/loot and a 50% chance to be level 2 risk/loot.
Islands in the yellow zone have a 50% chance to be level 2 risk/loot and a 50% chance to be level 3 risk/loot.
Islands in the orange zone have a 50% chance to be level 3 risk/loot and a 50% chance to be level 4 risk/loot.
Islands in the red zone have a 50% chance to be level 4 risk/loot and a 50% chance to be level 5 risk/loot.
This means the further you venture away from the starting port, the more dangerous the NPCs on the islands will become, but the greater the value of loot found upon it. When looking at an island through a spyglass you can see what level the island is.
Note that trying to loot level 5 islands at the very edge of the map is almost impossible without a full crew well equipped players, as it is meant to serve as the extreme-difficulty end-game content zones with extremely good loot that is extremely difficult to acquire.
In addition, the greater the risk/loot level of an area of the map, the rougher the ocean. The map will also get darker the further you venture from the main port. This means a level 5 area is set in night and appears extremely haunted, venture within this territory at your own peril. Hurricanes, storms and other moving map hazards like a ghost ship or sirens are also more likely found in higher risk zones. The green zone might appear calm and sunny but venturing to the edge of the map should shiver your timbers.
PVP should be toggle-able only in the main starting harbour at the centre of the map. Which raises a large pirate flag at the top of the ship. When a ship with PVP turned on leaves the green zone, they can harm one another. You can naturally sink, kill and steal from other players you encounter who also have PVP on outside the green zone.
Alternatively, players who do not have PVP on can trade resources with one another, for example by asking for food and offering something in return through a parley menu, which can be opened when two ships are nearby. Players can also offer and request map information, meaning they reveal what they have discovered on the map to the other player (before trading this away, the other party can see which parts of the map will be revealed to estimate how much value their map information has).
Players suffer hunger over time, if someone’s hunger bar reaches 100, they start suffering health damage over time until they die. Or until they eat food to reduce hunger (food restores hunger first, and then health). Food can be found on bountiful islands or by fishing at reefs (some islands are just barren rocks). The goal of hunger is to add a risk-factor to sailing far from port. You have to plan ahead or stock up on food in order not to starve while at sea for too long. The ship’s inventory is thus also limited to ensure players have to carefully balance the supplies they choose to take with them to sea.
What this means is that you will often times see PVP players trading with non-PVP players at sea. And in regions deprived from bountiful islands or reefs, you might be able to sell food to other players at high prices, as they might be at sea for a long time and be starving. Or trade map information with players you find at sea so you can specifically look for islands with loot that you need to craft something (for example you’re specifically looking for islands with spice). For in order to upgrade parts of your ship or character, you get a randomly assigned combination of materials you need to perform the upgrade.
