I understand this topic is a rather heated one for this community and also comprehend the choice made by Rare to maintain SoT as a PvPvE focused title hence I'll get it out of the way that I don't wish to force this idea through (not that I have the power to so do myself, at any rate), it is merely a suggestion rather than begging for features as yet confirmed not in consideration by the developers. So don't give me links to Rare's stance on the matter as you'd waste your time due to my aforementioned knowledge of this fact.
Now, I think my suggestion is rather simple and isn't only to implement some form of segregation in the playerbase between the PvP and PvE oriented players, my idea is something akin to GTA V's passive mode in which you cannot be damaged nor deal damage.
The fact is that this mode works as it is in GTA V because missions are lobbied rather than set in the open of the world map as it is in Sea of Thieves, to remedy the lack of balance to the concept of risk versus rewards that this game desires to embrace, it could perhaps come with a debuff of some sort, notably in the way of reduced repute and monetary gains, a reduction sufficient to maintain the PvPvE the more viable option to garner progress but enough to not render the endeavours of a passive crew pointless.
It could extend from the ship being PvP proof to the crew hailing from the ship as well, hence players couldn't simply be targetted by other crews who would have the intent to make a dent in some way in the passive crew. Players playing in passive mode and those playing the game the standard way could be made to not be able to steal from eachother's vessels though to remedy the potential issue of something that's not hoarded aboard a crew's ship being stolen by another crew playing in a different mode, perhaps voyages undertaken by passive crews could be flagged in the system as "passive" and consequently the actual objectives' loot would just as well be flagged; and so standard players wouldn't be able to interact with the finds were they to follow a passive crew to their objective, same vice-versa as passive players would only be able to interact with mission treasures on the islands relevant to their voyages.
The side riches found on islands which aren't the main goal of a given voyage, passive or standard, could perhaps be accessible to both standard and passive players alike, turning this part of the goodies into a marathon for profits without completely ruining the quest for gains of the crew, passive or standard. It would maintain an aspect of competitiveness despite the non-use of murderous means, and such in a way I believe fair as both sides could prey on eachother's side dishes but not touch the main event. It could turn into friendly competitions since the extra goods are just so, extra.
I think this would effectively block the chance for toxic undefendable-against theft since the crew on the voyage for the now stolen loot wouldn't be able to regain said loot, a fact effective for both standard and passive, thus the proposed counter to this.
In order to not completely lock passive players out of most else than their current voyage, passive players should still have access to forts and similar low progression-impact areas that don't necessarily have an explicit objective but wouldn't profit of the loot protection found in their own voyages, hence if a PvPvE or (other passive, if more than one per sea) crew wishes to, they could come along and begin looting the fort themselves and it'd be fair, I believe, as if a passive crew wishes to defend their non-privatised goods they'd need to opt out of passive and play the game in PvPvE. Hence making forts (and similar) best profitable to PvPvE players still and asserting the game's true way of being played as envisioned by the developers.
Perhaps passive players should be restricted from generally very profitable events like FotD and such, in order to keep things fair towards the standard players who are willing to shoulder the risk of PvP fully for their rewards. Whether through some sort of invisible wall-bubble around the given area that would block or repel crews flagged as "passive." Similarly, in order to keep griefing such as ramming and path-blocking of other ships playing in different modes from a given crew, despite the lack of damage, perhaps ships would go through eachother, and crews playing in standard and passive mode would go through the others' as well, whether on ship or off ship.
I believe it's doable and fair that if one currently must run away to avoid trouble from another crew, in order to avoid another crew phasing through your ship, and ruining your view, you could simply sail away. It would keep the goofing at a lighthearted level considering the amount of passive crews would be limited to something less than the PvPvE crews' count, hence making it an instance of mostly harmless trolling rather than being rammed into islands by another crew who doesn't take damage from pushing you along.
Another idea could be to make only the ship accelerating towards another be impacted with damage/hull breaches and also not make the targetted ship be importuned in the way of deviation or bouncing off, the downside to this that I can see, though, is that if a ship purposefully goes in front of an innocent vessel, the vessel would go towards and impact instead being the ones to deal with the leaks and such. Which is why I think my idea of ghost-phasing through other player ships better as it completely circumvents this potential issue.
Also, on the matter of forts and such, extending upon my earlier thoughts, perhaps anchored ships would be bounced off of by other, different mode playing crews rather than phased through, this would prevent some sort of exploit in which crews delivering goods would somehow put it not in their own but the other crew's ship due to the phasing, hence if anchored, no ghosting through eachother, but also no damage, the ones accelerating towards the docked ship should perhaps be given the damage, or mayhaps bounce off, or simply slide along as if nothing was happening since they wouldn't be able to jump aboard and would instead fall in the sea anyway.
This idea doesn't require an entirely different server from the ones at current disposal, I think, rather, perhaps the amount of passive crews per server could be limited to one or two depending on how it scales with the already existing amount of servers in use, the limit would serve to deflect from "needing" for PvE to be divided from the PvP aspect in order to be "viable" as a feature, which I agree would result in radically changing the game from PvPvE to both options separate and ruining the experience of the game as a whole.
Something that has been endlessly proposed previously and is overly too simplistic and draconian in my opinion.
Instead I propose using the same servers without such heavy division as previously stated, with limited slots per Seas which would offer the possibility for less PvP interested crews to either chill and socialise, go on less profitable adventures though moreso fun for them despite the losses, in a way, I believe, that would prevent draining the playerbase from the "PvPvE/standard mode" into something that isn't the game's focus as well as keep the players from being spread thinly across varieties of multiple, costly servers.
One could mayhaps choose to enter adventure mode as passive which would from the get-go matchmake the crew into a free passive slot on a server. Opting-in and/or out of passive mode whilst sailing the seas shouldn't be allowed and maybe it would require to wait for a timer to elapse whilst in the vicinity of an outpost in order to eventually, at the timer's end, have the option to opt out, similarly when opting-in; so as to not abuse this by hopping in and out of inter player invincibility and creating toxicity between passiveness. If the sea's passive slots are full, a crew could initiate a vote that would perform similarly to "Scuttle and change seas" but in the form of "Scuttle and change seas passively" or some such in order to migrate as if from the main menu into a game without having to wait around for the aforesuggested timer to elapse.
Also, with this idea I think explosive barrels that were detonated aboard or around a ship should be non-damaging to the given ship and its crew if it was detonated in whatever way by another crew, whether fellow passives, if multiple per servers are allowed, or standard players if the act is done against passive players.
Sometimes, some players, whether weathered seadogs or weary ratlings, would indeed enjoy the contact with other crews no matter their stance across the seas as this game is great for socialising and simply having a relaxing and good time, having fun with other people in an online game you know, but without the need to constantly look over your shoulder when all one desires to do at a given time is let their guard down and take in the views, the moments, enjoy the Sea of Thieves.
As things stand, oftentime one can be found deprived of the peace and quiet that very well has potential to be found in Sea of Thieves; and please do not tell that if one wants to socialise somewhere they may well go and launch VR Chat or some other such, players who love Sea of Thieves enough to want to enjoy it at that level, in this way, which it inherently has the potential, tools and features to support, should be allowed to so do upon the Sea of Thieves. Sometimes one might simply want to take the factor of aggression out of the randomness of encountering others or playing with others. Telling fellow players to leave a game you yourself enjoy isn't very productive in the end as you push them out and kill the playerbase a little more every time players give up due to such lack of openness.
Thank you for reading if you did and I hope this can turn into something of a meaningful discussion without being shelved, I really only intended to exchange upon this idea rather than debate the prevalence of PvP versus PvE versus the already established PvPvE, even if it remains but an hypothetical.
It is a Sea of Thieves indeed, though even Thieves need a breather occasionally and tavernfuls of grog don't always offer the needed respite.
