As it stands, SoT is primarily a pve game, with elements of pvp but no incentive to pvp.
Fair enough, the developers want to encourage people to work together, I get it.
But what about those of us who already know how to play well with others, that just need a competitive outlet?SoT offers a beautiful platform to accomplish this but lacks any real competitive system.
I have heard mention of arena type combat, instanced in a match making system. While this would provide a balanced instantly gratifying experience... it lacks any room for meta gaming or a personal touch.
One idea I had, first of all, is to track voyage metrics per ship and crew... maybe even the ship and crew separately. Just basic stats, like how many cannon balls fired, how many holes repairs, distance traveled. Have these metrics be accessible just like all the other item and customization interfaces in the game with it own unique item or module.
This simple act of tracking metrics, actually motivates a lot of people in ways that are hard to explain to someone who doesnt spend endless hours playing video games. they are just things people like to look at, for what ever reason.
How long can a ship really last? Probably as long as the server isnt reset, is the technical answer. Were it possible for the unique identity of the ship to carry over for... who knows? years? this introducing another, very interesting prospect. Having ships that havent been sunk for years, is cool enough in of itself... but what if that ship also had kill markers, showing how many other ships it had sunk? how about if the ship metrics were accessible to anyone in an out of game website ... sort of like a ranking list where you can look at people's profiles and ships? Ok how about famous ships that havent been sunk in so long that the community actually recognizes them and imbues the ship with a commendation of some sort, like a unique glowing aura, whatever. This list goes on and on, for what you can do simply by making each ship unique with traceable metrics
