I think it would be kind of cool if players could, from the main menu, enter into a new arena mode called 'the fighting pits'.
Upon joining, players would be thrown into an instanced lobby(similar to the current arena waiting lobby) that would just be one big circular room with a big fighting pit in the centre.
Once inside this lobby, players could interact with a board to place themselves into a bout and spectate other players currently dueling inside the fighting pit.
When their bout begins, players would be teleported from the spectator area(no weapons allowed) to the pit area(weapons allowed) and would have to fight an opposing pirate. Once the fight is complete, they would be teleported back to the spectator area.
This format could possibly support tournament style match ups, 1v1 fights, 2v2 fights, 3v3 fights or 4v4 fights, depending on how each player has assigned themselves to the board. The boards could also maybe be used to setup number of lives for each fight(1, 2 or 3).
Fighting and winning in this arena mode would give players sea-dog rep, as well as work towards unique 'fighting pit' commendations.
The fighting pit itself could be equipped with all kinds of obstacles, pitfalls or trap-switches. Each player could also be given 5 coconuts at the start of their bout.
