@wilbymagicbear
because sea of thieves is more than the fight, its the full package, something for everyone; giving the option to fight or flee if you choose. fighting is part if you choose it to be, if you impose these rules you are choosing for it to be fighting for me, I dont want to play your game I want to play mine. I haven't played arena, but it sounds like that's the area you'd be interested in, if the rewards aren't up to par, then I would say that's the issue.
halo is specifically a shooter, Mario is run and jump. SoT has sailing, exploring, fighting (NPC and player base), hunting, fishing, so many things to do. why cut it down to one small aspect?
I know your not saying remove the other aspects of the game, but as many people who are for the implementation of further conflict, just as many are opposed to it. what audience should rare pander too, pvp or pve?
from my perspective, I have only started playing again after about a years absence, with the emergence of the arena the hostile encounters has significantly decreased (despite people talking about being target attacked during tall tale missions). most ships keep on sailing, with the odd ship seeking confrontation, the game is exactly where I want it to be. if I want to completely avoid other players I just need to be more patient or be willing to leave at a moments notice which interrupts my game. if you need extended time to find a willing opponent to play your game then that's your trade off.
these changes might give you more incentive to attack me, but still no incentive for me to want to attack you. so many other things that I enjoy doing that I doubt I would ever be interested in the pvp aspect of the game.