A concept that could give incentives to playing the game in a variety of ways would be to have badges that reflect your playstyle and that would be visible to other players.
If you mainly initiate PvP (you apply damage to crews or ships that have not yet damaged you) then you accrue rep/rank towards a “terror of the sea” honorific.
You mainly play on weekends and only on a sloop - you earn “weekend yachtsman” rep.
How about you are frequently on the cannons - “master canoneer”
What would be the benefit of this - if you combine these ranks with seasonal resets (every 3 months) then you have a way to recognise and incentivise different play styles.
The titles should be creative so it’s not just a question of who has the most playtime.
How about a title for stealing treasure without doing damage to the other crew (“silent night”?). Demolitionist for doing lots of damage with exploding barrels.
Darwinian Scholar for having an even proportion of all the different animals delivered to the merchant alliance so that people consider non-golden animals.
The most important thing would be that other players can easily see your badges in game - then you have your pirate reputation.
I might feel good about attacking a “terror of the sea” but maybe I give the weekend yachtsman or the Darwinian scholar a free pass.
Even better if there are cosmetic rewards that allow you to look the part.
