Seen a lot of requests for flags etc in OW, as well as in Battle, generally the ensign was only raised when it was deemed necessary, to identify your self to either a friend or a foe , also the use of the "ruse de Guerre" was commonplace, and acceptable as a tactic, as long as the correct colours were hoisted when the engagement was joined. So for open world I would say not needed, however mast pennants were generally present , as they were a good indicator of wind direction, so, I would suggest those being present in OW, and also some mast pennants that are less guady....most of the ones in game seem to be signal flags, and do look a bit out of place, so it would be nice to personalise ( or have the option to) these pennants to taste......also for us nasty 'orrible piratical types, the option to customise the black flag.....and or customisation for Clan Colours.
The suggestions for deck selection is also a good idea, it would be nice for example to use only the heavy guns on the gundeck at longer ranges, as a lot of people use Carronades as weather deck guns, and they are pretty much useless at ranges above 100 m
Finally....navigation tools !!! all we need is a ruler, a pencil, maybe some dividers, but those arent really important, and a compass, actually ON the map , I find navigation a chore, yes its do able, and 8 times out of 10 I get it right, , which no doubt some of you will say is good enough, however, for those really long trips, the ability to plot a basic course with some accuracy would be appreciated, it doesn't have to be a gps, you cant bend it, all singing , all dancing, laser accurate, thing, but something that reflects the ability to navigate , as those worth sea Captains had in those days, I find the lack of nav aids annoying, and frustrating, long travel is boring enough without having to dead reckon all over the darn shop.