Honestly don't know what to say that I haven't posted already years ago. I uninstalled the moment the Plunder Pass came out and have always wanted to get back into this game since. It was my bread and butter to work towards cool shipsets and time limited cosmetics from the events. Then Pirate Emporium came out and it existing was already a huge red flag, but it was limited to other IP stuff, pets, and emotes at the time so I didn't care too much. Fast forward a year later and there's already no reason for you to be bothered with the Shrouded Ghost, the rarest creature in the entire game, because all you get from it is a title while Captain Preschool can ask mommy to buy a shipset, costume, and weapons all centered around the mythical meg. And it just kept getting worse from there. Halloween 2019 we got a whole new raid. Halloween 2020 we got a new Ghost set locked behind a paywall and only its costume and weapons are earnable. Then the Plunder Pass came out and locked even more cosmetics behind paywalls. Content updates became less meaningful as what's the point in all this gold if there's nothing to spend it on. Holidays and events became about bringing out your wallet. Heck, the Hunter's Call is so ignored that they literally went "welp Merrick's dead now... anyways, here's this new Hunter's Call wrecker set available only at the Pirate Emporium." And now to top it off, the one update I was looking forward to for 4 years, the only thing that I hoped would get me back into the game AAAANNNDDD $5 to change your ship's name and name plaques from previously existing sets only in the Pirate Emporium.
The Emporium has been nothing less than a stain on what this game used to be.