I was noticing that someone from World of Tanks was helping with the development of this game. I was also noticing that there was a first step towards naval combat, and then the MMO later.
If there is a screen where you can select a ship from your 'naval yard' upon which to sail, and if the battle portion of this game is set to something similar to World of Tanks, then a few of these suggestions would benefit the game.
IF SELECTING A SHIP FROM YOUR FLEET, THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS APPLY:
A basic and rustic Captains cabin appears, before you set out for battle; changing with each ship you own.
As your Captain gains skills/rank in that particular ship alone, you unlock the ability to purchase upgrades to that Captain's cabin. [Examples: a leather cushion couch, instead of a wooden bench, bookshelf, paintings, parrot, paint and trim colors, chair and table upgrades, beautiful map and compass, telescope, nicer bed/hammock]
As the finally, you gain a musician/musicians [depending upon the size of your cabin and the rating of your ship] that will play songs on a violin and/or chello from the musical era of that time period when that ship was historically sailing in real life. You can select the songs you wish for him/her to play from a list, and gain more songs if you buy them with the in-game currency.
These upgrades are much more time consuming to obtain, and expensive as you purchase higher tier ships, naturally.
Paintings can be placed in multiple slots in the room, and can be swapped in location as per the captains wishes.
Benefits: If a player likes a certain ship a lot, and it's not the top tier ship, then why shouldn't that captain be rewarded for his/her efforts in a manner that is visual, and fun to obtain? These cosmetics would of course not change the need for exterior ship cosmetics and upgrades as well.
IF STARTING GAME IN MMO SETTING, THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS APPLY:
Interface menu once logged in, would change to a Captain's cabin [hopefully that of your Primary Ship (set by yourself as your favorite ship); but can just be ANY really nice Captain's Cabin to start out with - Example: Cabin of a 1st rate]
The cabin would be upgraded as explained above, according to your skills and ranks
Items of intrinsic value with regard to major in-game missions would be displayed in special places allotted for those items, and can be swapped for something else, depending upon the look you want to achieve.
Real world money can be used to upgrade interface options such as gold trim, carved-out wood trim within the cabin, nicer lighting, different hardwood floor textures, more personal storage slots/chests etc. [basically anything to do with the actual function of the cabin and/or the architecture and look of the cabin itself, and not the furnishings necessarily]
That's the idea, anyhow. As always, respectful feedback is most welcome!