Community Spotlight – Captain Butterfinger

Take a seat, pirates, we’re back with another Spotlight – and this time we’ve decided to shine it on one of the merriest and most inquisitive souls on the seas. From cataloguing every single sail that’s ever been seen to causing mischief with his crew and generally spreading good cheer, Captain Butterfinger is a pirate well worth catching up with for a chat!

[Q]: Can you tell us a little about what got you into gaming?

[A]: Getting the original Xbox for Christmas as a surprise gift, and finding myself playing Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex and other games more than smashing two pieces of Lego together in my small, messy room littered with Lego bricks waiting to be stepped on. A couple of years later I was given a Nintendo Wii and played mostly Lego-themed games like Star Wars, and there’s a good chance I may have played Lego Pirates of the Caribbean too but I honestly can’t remember.

[Q]: Were you a Rare fan before Sea of Thieves? Do you have any favourite Rare games?

[A]: I don’t think I was, but I roughly remember playing a bit of Viva Piñata on the Xbox 360 and watching videos of Conker’s Bad Fur Day. I only really became a Rare fan when Sea of Thieves was close to release, and it soon became my favourite Rare game!

[Q]: What other games are you currently playing? Any favourites?

[A]: Since the announcement of Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island, I have decided it would be an interesting and fun experience to take a trip to the 1990s and learn more about the series before the collaboration! So far I’m having a blast, laughing at some of the moments like the Fettuccini Brothers which I won’t spoil if you’ve yet to encounter them!

The puzzles in the game can be challenging, but it sure is exciting when you get it right after much trial and error and thinking about how to use the items you’ve found. It’s not long since I finished the first one so I’m currently playing LeChuck’s Revenge, the second Monkey Island game, and soon it’ll be Return to Monkey Island and then watching some videos about The Curse of Monkey Island!

[Q]: What brought you over to Sea of Thieves and its community?

[A]: I saw the E3 2016 cinematic and gameplay trailers, then a video of a crew trying to hunt the Kraken at Kraken Watchtower, and lastly both the Museum of More Pirate ads and the Sea of Thieves release date announce trailer. That sealed my fate and made me pre-order to begin my greatest adventure to become a true Legend on the sea!

I’ve never once regretted that situation, and I’m forever glad that I watched the Pirates of the Caribbean films that really got me into pirates long before Sea of Thieves was released. When I signed up on Twitter just so I could keep up to date with Sea of Thieves, I really didn’t expect to find myself creating long-lasting friendships or doing anything special with the community. But here I am, in a Spotlight and listening to the reactions of my friends that I’ve made here as they read this. “You are Stinky!”

[Q]: You’ve been cataloguing all the sails that Sea of Thieves has to offer – how did that start?

[A]: Well… that happened mostly because of being me bored and wanted to do something dumb like many of the strange adventures I’ve had, such as rowing with Hat & Belt the Rowboat skeletons seen in ‘Captains of the Damned’, or helping a Foul Bounty Skull quench the thirst at Devil’s Thirst in the surprisingly refreshing ‘Heart of Fire’ waterfall because a villainous golden skull told me to!

So I started cataloguing all the rarest sails back in January 2022 to cure myself of boredom, for fun and maybe to teach some sailors about the history of sails like the Notorious Arena League Sails or Golden Banana Sails like a historian!

[Q]: What were the hardest sails to find and are there any you haven’t managed to catalogue yet?

[A]: The only sails that I have yet to take pictures of are the Loot ‘n’ Lore Sails! Rumour has it there’s only one set in existence and unfortunately it was lost in the Devil’s Shroud, trapped within a huge cavern filled with treasures. I hope to find that ship one day and bring it back for all to see again!

The hardest sails that I have actually managed to find were definitely the Golden Banana Sails. Only two pirates have these, so it took me a while asking around the taverns until I was directed to one of the Banana Lords!

[Q]: Which has been your favourite set of sails to picture for posterity, and why?

[A]: You probably expect me to say the Rare or Golden Banana Sails, BUT NO – it’s the Inevitable Reaper Sails, by far my favourite mostly because of the design, the rarity and me unfortunately not having the sails or any of the old Reaper sets before The Reaper’s Bones were added, so having a selfie pic with the sails brings me some comfort.

[Q]: Thinking back, are there any standout moments for you in Sea of Thieves since you started playing?

[A]: Killing the original Hungering One, completing ‘Shores of Gold’ and listening to the music one last time, stacking a Sloop with a deck’s worth of Banana Crates, being one of the first few crews to obtain the shanty from Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life and taking part in a legendary tribute video for Glitterbeard were all great moments.

But nothing is better than the time many years ago that my Galleon sunk a 2-3 ship Alliance at Plunder Outpost in one spectacular broadside, claiming all their Emissary Flags and whatever else they had left!

[Q]: What are your favourite recent additions to Sea of Thieves?

[A]: I love Sea Forts, Emissaries, Hourglass battles and The Devil’s Roar region, but my favourite addition is Captaincy! I love being able to name and decorate my ship with Trinkets, especially ones that have a history in the game like the Merrick painting.

[Q]: What are your greatest achievements in a game, Sea of Thieves or otherwise?

[A]: Max levels and getting all the Commendations, winning #SoTShot, being awarded the HAT – but personally I feel there’s no greater achievement than winning the Sea of Thieves Plunder Games and being awarded the Obsidian Banjo, the last piece I needed to complete the Ebon/Midnight/Obsidian/Onyx/Black Dog set… why does this set have so many different names, just PICK ONE!

[Q]: If you had to choose a pirate and ship name, what would they be?

[A]: I have named my beautiful Black Dog Galleon the Midnight Order. By the way, those Captain’s quarters are in desperate need of redecoration. *coughs in a cheeky request for Obsidian Captaincy cosmetics*

What would I name my pirate? Probably the first thing that randomly comes into my head, and that is Captain Butterfinger, the Black Dog Captain, totally feared by all and photographer of truly Rare Sails in his spare time!

[Q]: What kind of other hobbies do you enjoy outside of gaming?

[A]: Whenever I’m not playing games I usually spend most of my time caring for my two dogs and cat, while watching films to relax or sometimes doing small garden woodwork for a friend. I occasionally build Lego Architecture sets if I have any and the time to do it.

[Q]: Share a fun fact about yourself. Anything is fair game!

[A]: Never had a Butterfinger bar…

Many thanks to the intrepid Captain Butterfinger for taking time out from his escapades to speak to us! We hope that amongst all his other adventures, that quest to capture all the sails on the seas is finally successful, completing a historic collection of beautiful shots.

If you can’t wait to hear more from our community, you can check out our previous Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights. Or to see what else our players have been up to and some of the wonderful creations they’ve been making recently, head over to our Community Hub. Until next time!