So,
Let's talk about ship customization.
Custom flags... Back in the golden age of pirates, the first thing people looked at was what flag the ship was flying. If they knew what flag it was, they knew what crew it was. So I was thinking...
Rare could add a custom crew system like GTA V has, one person creates a closed crew and invites people into it.
So the leader of the crew can then design a custom flag with a integrated emblem designer (Just like Rockstar's socialclub). The leader of the crew can then lock the emblem and "claim" it as his.
Only people that were invited and are in the crew can sail under that flag.
To prevent unacceptable flags and other things like "sw*stikas" etc, they can add a "Report flag" option, and then one of the employee's can check if this is relevant or not.
I hope they add it, because this is one of the ways to get yourself known on the Sea of Thieves.