Hi. I'd like to offer a suggestion that would give players a goal or reason to play after they have already become rich and advanced through the ranks of the different factions.
My suggestion in one sentence is this: A reasonably large and highly customizable base island which serves as the main menu for the game.
This Island would not be connected to the rest of the map, but would serve as a hub that players directly load into after launching the game. This groundwork gives players a place to hang out with friends before embarking on journeys and a place to chill out after completing a longer quest. Players would interact with a NPC, or a table map, to open a menu from which they would join a server like normal.
To build off of this groundwork, a focus on giving each player the ability to customize the island will make each island feel personal. How deep the experience is for each player is only limited by the amount of things you are allowed to personalize.
I suggest the ability to change the structures of buildings within their given plots on the island. Would you like to make your hub seem closer to Port Merrick or Sanctuary Outpost? Would you like your hub to be themed around the Gold Hoarders or the Order of Souls? Purchase the stylized buildings of your choice and make your Island your home. Take this framework and narrow it down; what music would you like to play when you enter in to your tavern? Use your gold to purchase the song you'd like the most! How would you like the walls to be decorated? The furniture? The NPC's that run the shops? Should the lamps that light up the walkways burn a normal color or a dark red?
This also gives room for unique locations that are built to showcase the achievements of each player. Go to the town hall and customize it with trophies, paintings, and commemorative items that show off your achievements. Alternatively, you could diversify into different locations based by faction. A location made and themed around the Order of Souls that would be separate from the others.
Another idea for a unique location: A music hall with unique instruments or cosmetics. Take inspiration from Pirates of The Caribbean and create a large organ with unique music!
This would take a lot of work to make. Why would this be worth doing?
The largest problem that affects players of all types is that they become extremely rich and level up to the max ranks. They hit the ceiling and the gameplay loop becomes less engaging knowing that you're not working for any major goal. The pay-off becomes less and less desirable.
A currency reset, at first glance, may seem to be a fix for this issue. The primary issue with this is that it leads to the same problem via a different route. The pay-off of getting rich or leveling up are worth less when you are aware that they will be taken away for the sole purpose of letting you do it all again. The player base needs to feel as though they are working towards a end goal with tangible results.
This is why the cosmetic system is such a core part of the gameplay loop. All of your journeys are meant to give you creative freedom; your ships and character are YOURS.
The dev team should not shy away from this. They just need to expand on it. The problem to be solved is each player can not have full creative freedom in a shared world. This is why the hub is so important. It is, in my mind, the key aspect which Sea of Thieves is missing. The dev team seems to know this intuitively because the greatest aspect of Athenas fortune is the secret base that only select pirates can enter. The thing which requires the most work is the most valuable.
I haven't fully fleshed out this idea, but I hope a dev sees this and it can serve as a suggestion for them to expand on. There isn't a game like Sea of Thieves out there. It's a interactive piece of art. I really want it to keep being a successful game, but I would like things to be added that I can work towards.
