So before I actually explain my idea, I want to justify why I think these additions would be important and necessary. The game in it's current state is very dry. Voyages get boring quickly, and new commendations dont provide a long term incentive to play. Every game needs an incentive to play in order to be fun, even if the fun itself is the incentive. Rewards are a great incentive, but the cosmetic rewards aren't enough. There is not a lot of risk and reward, which lowers incentive. There is no incentive for PvP, because most people don't battle with loot on their ship. There is no risk, and no reward. The only reward is the satisfaction of sinking a ship, and that doesn't go very far. PvP is a very fun aspect of the game, however it quickly gets dry because there is no reward for sinking ships. A ranking and reward system for PvP will give every player the necessary incentive to engage in combat. A ranking and reward system for PvP will make almost any encounter exciting and intense. When the stakes are high, things get intense. A ranking system will give players a reason to come back to the game. A ranking system will give a long term incentive to continue to play the game and work for something. CS:GO, R6 Siege, Overwatch, etc, all have ranking systems that keep those games fun for a long time.
So this idea has two parts. I will start with explaining the ranking system. A ranking system in a game like this is hard to implement, but it is possible. Every player must have their own individual rank/elo, because crews change. For simplicity sake, these will be the ranks (example): Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond. Elo can be gained by sinking a ship. Elo can be lost by getting sunk by another ship. Every player in a crew will have their own personal rank, but the ship will have it's own rank based upon the ranks of the crew members. The crew member's elos will be averaged out, and that will become the rank of the ship. For instance; if half of the crew was Bronze and the other half was Diamond, then the ship rank will be Gold. If the whole crew was Silver, then the ship rank will be silver. The ship rank would be displayed somewhere on the hull, visible enough for other ships to see. Ships will be put into servers with similar ship ranks, which would make sure that the competition is fairly equal. Of course this isn't perfect since players can leave and join, which can change the ship rank after it is put into a server. Sinking a ship with a higher rank than yours will get your crew a lot of elo, while sinking a ship with a lower rank will get your crew few elo. Being sunk by a ship of a higher rank will make you lose only a little elo, while getting sunk by a ship with a lower rank than yours will make you lose a lot of elo. Being in a certain rank will allow you to buy and earn cosmetics from that rank. This ranking system will give players a reason to stick around and play in the long term. Players will have to spend a lot of time climbing the ladder, and their rank is at stake when engaging in PvP. Having 4 - 8 seasons each year will give players a reason to come back and climb the ladder over and over again, especially if each season has its own new cosmetics to go along with it.
Now for the second part to this idea, which is the PvP rewards. If players arent enticed enough to engage in PvP in order to earn a higher rank, then this will surely get them to engage in at least a little PvP. There will be a new type of currency called something like Infamy Points. Infamy Points can only be gained by sinking other player's ships. The catch is that Infamy Points can be lost. If your ship is sunk by another crew, then you lose all of your Infamy Points. All of your Infamy Points will be divided up between the winning crew. Infamy Points can be cashed in for many different cosmetics and prizes. There are a wide range of items you can buy at a wide price range. Cheap items require low risk since you don't have to hold on to your Infamy Points for long. Expensive items are riskier to go for since you have to try and save up your Infamy Points to buy it. Saving your Infamy Points for expensive items can end badly because you can be sunk by another crew, and you will have to start back at zero Infamy Points. Bounties can be placed on your ship too. If the crew's total Infamy Points is high, a bounty will automatically be placed on you. A bounty will not give away your position. A bounty will give extra coins or Infamy Points to the crew that sinks your ship. The more infamy points you have, the bigger the reward if a crew sinks you. Infamy Points add risk and reward to the game, and give people a strong reason to engage in PvP. Skilled crews can save up their Infamy Points to buy cosmetics that are impossible for noob crews to save up for.
So in conclusion; the ranking system gives something for players to work towards in PvP, and the reward system makes PvP more fun and rewarding. This is something that this game desperately needs, because the rest of the game becomes very dry very fast. PvP is very dry as it is, and it is supposed to be a focus of the game. The ranking and reward system will give PvP the necessary components it needs in order to be fun, and actually worth engaging in.
