@entspeak
"First, a question can’t be a straw man argument"
Just because you added a question mark, doesn't necessarily mean it's a legitimate question. You phrased it like a statement, and asked a question regarding an argument he never made as a rhetorical question, as if to make a point.
You were making an argument, with a question... You're not immune to making a straw man just because you slapped a question mark onto something, mate.
"Appeal to popularity."
... It's literally not just his belief, though. Besides, if the forum suggestions aren't popular... chances are those suggestions wont make it into the game...
So i'm afraid popularity matters... Rare implements what the majority wants. The majority is against your idea... Their opinions and thoughts behind disagreeing with you could be all kinds of incorrect, but they still disagree with your suggestion.
Make peace with the fact that sometimes, majority or popularity or whatever you want to call it, actually matters... Not always, but sometimes.
"If you’d read this thread, you’d know that your advice falls flat with me."
I know, but i engage in madness, as a hobby... So i told you anyway.
I'm fully aware that you wont learn anything from this forum thread, given you're not learning from your hunting failures.
"I didn’t create this thread because I’m a chaser."
And yet, your suggestion, is made to convenience chasers and remove the consequences of pushing their targets too hard... Your suggestions benefits chasers only, nobody else. A heavy-handed change that makes the game easier for chasers, for no other reason than: "boohoo, i "accidentally" pushed my target into the red sea, now their treasure is lost there, that's unfair!" when it was the chasers own fault for pushing the target in there to begin with.
"I created this thread because there are people who sail the edge of the map and turn into the Red Sea solely as a means of avoiding the consequences of sailing with a ton of loot on their ship."
Are you serious? Of course there are consequences for target if they sail into the red sea... They lose their treasure mate... They lose their treasure anyway, they just don't want you to have it. Of course there are consequences, what the bloody hell are you talking about?!
They are in possession of the treasure, so they decide what to do with the treasure.. If they want to deny the chasers their chance to get the treasure, that's their choice.
Your failure to realize these things is what makes me think you're a chaser... There's a clear bias behind your suggestion (given the inconsistencies behind your arguments), and it obviously only favors the chasers, not the chased.
"Theft is a fundamental aspect of the game."
So is risk vs reward... Play smart, or face the consequences.
"I don’t believe the devs created the Red Sea so that players could say, “If I can’t have it, neither can you.”"
It's more like "if your fight has reached this far... It's time to give up, otherwise you're gonna just gonna lose more than you gain."
If you've spooked your target into the read sea, mate... You messed up, that means give up and try again another time... 'cus you're not good enough to get the treasure before you reach the red sea, so you don't deserve the treasure to begin with.
This means, get the enemy, whilst they are unaware of your presence, get the enemy with tricks before they get a chance to get to the red sea, etc... If you can't do that, find a different and easier target elsewhere, simple as that.
Rare isn't going to guarantee you success against passive players, mate, simple as that... You're not ever going to be guaranteed treasure if you chase a target long enough... Because you're not guaranteed treasure to begin with, another fundamental part of the game, is that you are not ever guaranteed treasure. :P
"That seems to me to go against the concept of needing to actually protect your stuff from theft."
Sailing into the red sea to dump your treasure to the depths to prevent other pirates from getting it, is indeed protecting your stuff from theft... By disposing of the treasure completely. xD
Just because the original owner doesn't have it, doesn't mean the treasure isn't protected from the likes of YOU, for instance.
"If the devs wanted a way for players to take their chests and skulls out of play, they’d have created a way to do that inside the map."
Or maybe, just maybe the Red Sea is intended to encourage players to keep their fights inside the map? In other words, don't push your targets too hard, otherwise the fight will spill off the edge of the world causing you BOTH to lose...
See, robbing ships in Sea of Thieves is like fishing... When you feel a nip, you pull back gently to ensure the hook attaches onto the fish properly, if you pull too hard, the hook either destroys the fish's mouth and sets the fish free and the fish swims away, or it doesn't get a chance to attach to the fish at all and the fish swims away.
Basically, if you notice the enemy is heading into the red sea... Give up on them and go elsewhere, because you have reached a dead-end in the fight... You can't sink them fast enough to prevent them from dumping the treasure deep into the red sea anyway... And you can't retrieve the treasure from the red sea... So you might as well give up on them and prevent the treasure from getting wasted to begin with... Or here's the shocker, like a proper fisherman, pretend to give up (give the fish a lot of line to make it think it's free), and come back when the enemy has returned, and be sneaky about it if possible.
Don't pull hard, pull gently.
Be smart, or be a failure, simple as that.