Whatever you do, don't turn this game into Sea of Thieves. I'm not saying it's a bad game, but to be competitive you have to gives us things they don't. Like optional PVP, ship customization, leveling systems, etc.
Sea of Thieves alienates 20%+ of its possible userbase by ignoring their pleas for PvE servers, or at least balancing PVP so its not 4v1 all the time.