Following the end of 2022, I noticed that thanks to Season 8, a lot of what we assumed for skill was solidified once we had gotten more intense and tough encounters against other players. By now, it reached a breaking point, so much so that a lot of people started quitting the game, or became more competitive than ever. It was too much pressure for me that I took a mental health break for about 3 weeks since the start of the new year and felt more detached from the game's communities as other issues started to fester and caused even more people to leave.
Now that I managed to return to this game, I have little desire to want to do anything now, I don't want to solo, I can't find crew to do anything that would make me want to sail, I have little want to do anymore PvE because I've cleared most of the commendations for cosmetics I wanted to obtain already, got max reputation on all trading companies (factions not included because yeah), don't like fishing, and now I feel worthless for any PvP crew out there.
If my acquaintance @Frogfish12 is right about how each season goes from an update that expands content followed by a QoL season that offers little new to actually do (as shown with Season 5 to Season 8), Season 9 is going to turn into a devastating fall-off point for me. I have no idea what I'm even meant to do in the game anymore since organic encounters either end with my ship at the bottom of the ocean, or the other player's ship at the bottom of the ocean (or they run away and I can't be bothered to chase). I don't have talent for #SoTShot, Capture-a-Code or #BeMorePirate (or good connections to participate in these contests in general), sailing the seas has become so boring that I'm ramming rocks and islands due to watching YouTube videos or consuming other social media while sailing...
I just feel stuck on wanting to play the game and don't see a lot of my own worth out there because I have no profession in any of the activities or immediate crew, and yet, I know so much about the game like the back of my head, and I don't practice what I preach. It's an odd scenario, I don't want to quit, but I don't want to play either.