I started out playing this game as an Intro to Gaming. It was pretty much smooth sailing and other players by far stayed away from us. In the three to fourth months that I have been playing this game, the PvP portion has become more and more prominent, and has escalated from a 2 to a 9 on a scale of 10 since the start of Season Six.
While actively avoiding other players, I still ended up getting robbed of hours and hours worth of loot/accomplishment 9/10 times which is why I have given the previous rating for the prominence of PvP. Even the previously untouchable Tall Tales are not immune to players (famous streamers nonetheless, because it is like so funny to prank other players) sabotaging you, such as by ramming a rowboat into the Order of Souls tent, so that you cannot complete the Tall Tale.
Like many others have stated, if you are looking for a relatively stress free game, this game isn't for you. At this point, this game is only for players primarily interested in PvP and newbies who don't care to invest too much time into a game. If you're into pranking, direct engagement with other players in the form of close combat or ship battles, and being pranked in any number of ways, then by all means, let the pirate wind take you to places where only a prepubescent prankster would only dream of - an ocean full of betrayal, robbery, thievery and pirate grade espionage. Hey, it is called "Sea of Thieves".