Season 18 is focusing on the D.R. Here is my hopes for Season 19.
Something that might be a great addition to the game would be to add back Bilge Rats and Fallen Sea Dogs, but as two new official companies/factions.
The purpose would be to introduce two companies at once that give ultimate freedom with no faction specific voyages tied to them, but instead they rely on playing how they want, while still being rewarded and gaining rep.
Bilge Rats would be a Trading Company that you can raise an emissary for and all loot raises the grade and you can still sell to any outpost, much like Guilds, except you are never marked on the map like g5 guild emis are. This would be a good addition for players who are not in Guilds or who simply want to raise an emissary flag and just sail around and see what happens. It also gives a new Trading Company to level up and allows us to keep the Bilge Rats in the game. No new loot is needed to be added into the game and you could still do any of the raid voyages for Bilge Rats, it just gives a mixture of treasure from different companies. Keep the grade multipliers somewhat similar to guild emissary flags (maybe a little bump) and you have a perfect faction for new players looking for gold and adventure anywhere and even veteran players who have maxed the other companies and maybe just want to sail around causing mischief while still keeping an emissary raised.
Bilge Rats could also act as an onboarding faction, with the emissary flag being unlocked from the start and it allows new and old players to simply explore the world while still being rewarded for any treasure they come across or any crews they may steal from. Yes, we already have guild flags, but tbh most do not run those emissaries and having Bilge Rats added caters to every single person, regardless if they're in a guild or not.
Fallen/Sea Dogs could be a Trading Company that is leveled from doing HG and/or turning in Athena or Reaper loot. So, crews can raise a Sea Dog emissary flag and then vote to either represent Guardians or Servants in HG and level up the faction that way. Otherwise they can find/steal Athena, Reaper, mermaid gem loot and sell it at a rep outside Sea Dogs Tavern or any Sovereign rep to level up that way. Sinking ships on Adventure and turning in their emissary flag also grants rep. The easiest way to level Sea Dogs would be to participate in HG, but we should allow some rep from the aforementioned treasure types, just like how you can level Servants by handing in Athena loot and vice versa. Sea Dogs would be a fun faction thrown back into the mix, where players can have a new PvP faction to grind since we've been having to choose between guardians and servants for almost three years now. They would act as the wild card, in it for the thrill of the fight. Their introduction into the game could also bring a host of new changes and features to Hg that the community have been begging for.
Since many OG players have had Sea Dogs leveled in the past and a bunch of Arena cosmetics are tied to the Sea Dogs, I think they should stick to calling this faction the Fallen Sea Dogs, which also allows everyone to start from level zero. It would be good for the lore, and give Rare a chance to do recolors and create new cosmetics tied to the faction, which would also give HG players an entire new faction to be excited about grinding. If Rare really wanted to get crazy, they could have random PvP events that the F.S.D.s host from time to time (not just 1v1s, but literally anything Rare wants, KotH, TDM, 5 ships FFA, etc). Since it would be events, it might be easier on Rares dev team?
At most Rare just has to make some new cosmetics for ledger rewards and maybe some Trading Comp cosmetics... Then if they do not want to elaborate on these Trading Companies right at the start, the rest of dev time can be spent on QoL and attempting to fix server stability issues....
Two factions that focus more on the freedom to just play PvE and/or PvP while being rewarded with a level grind for new Trading Comps without having to worry about making a whole bunch of new content (like voyages, events, etc.) when major fixes need to be made might not be a bad way to go for S19.
Also, a few nice adds to the season if Rare had time:
*Ghost Ships- not to be confused with phantom ships, these storm wrecked eerie galleons wander aimlessly in heavy fog banks, no crew remains, only treasure and mystery are still onboard. These would be rare finds, but have a nice heap of loot inside with rare potential for CoL and CoFs. Crews can anchor the slow moving Ghost Galleon or simply shoot at it until it sinks. The hard part isn't stopping it, but actually finding it in the fog, the only place they can be found. (Galleon cannot be helmed, only the anchor can be dropped. Ship's bell randomly rings in the distance and occasional whispering can be heard when near or on board the ship.)
*Raise the mast heights on galleons just a smidge or raise the bottom of the sails. Let helms actually be able to see under them while still keeping our sails fully dropped...
*Add in the Black Market idea that's been proposed so we can get some old cosmetics and spend our doubloons...
