Pirates, as always, will be pirates, even from other pirates. The continuing problem with Sea of Thieves, however, is that the pirates most likely to fight on the high seas are those with little to lose.

Fighting other ships in Sea of Thieves is fun most of the time, but it is not something most players want to do when they have a lot of loot. They usually want to sail safely to the nearest outpost and sell their treasure chests and trinkets before ship-to-ship combat ensues. In most ship-to-ship battles I have experienced, when the smoke clears and the enemy ship sinks, there is usually very little loot floating on the surface.

"Unpredictability is a big part of Sea of Thieves, but the ship is a complete mystery box," said Mike Chapman, creative director of Sea of Thieves, when we spoke earlier this week." I'm a little less confident that we're loaded with anything of value until we finish the release and have an extraordinarily valuable voyage like everyone else is doing."

While it's a shame to not come home with anything of value after a long battle, the new Emissary system in Sea of Thieves' Ships of Fortune update means that even ships not loaded with loot won't come up empty-handed after taking down another ship

The new Emissary system will be used in the following ways.

The new Emissary system allows players to sign up to represent one of five factions: the Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, Merchant Alliance, Athena's Fortune, and a new faction: the Reaper's Bones. Sailing under the banner of a faction pays better for loot, and completing a voyage raises the emissary's grade. Importantly, sinking another messenger ship pays the crew, even if it is not loaded with loot.

"Emissaries guarantee rewards in PvP," says Chapman. If there is loot on board, of course that will also surface, but if the ship is sunk, this broken emissary flag will surface. And the value of that flag is reflected in what the players have done. So if they did a lot of things to raise their messenger grade, then the value of that flag will be even higher."

Players will be able to see the value of the flag even before the battle: the pennant fluttering at the top of the messenger ship will get longer the more the crew achieves, so at a glance, they will know whether they are dealing with a worthy, high-grade crew or a group of messenger rookies who may not be worth the effort will be able to tell if it is a good idea.

The Sea of Thieves Ships of Fortune update is out now. This update includes not only the emissary system, but also new premium pets (cats) and a new system for reviving fallen teammates. Read more here.