Community Spotlight – Captain McGuffin

Many pirates are lucky enough to find a new home and friends on the seas. With so many varied and welcoming communities, it’s easy for any swashbuckling sea dog to secure a place in one of these blossoming spaces. The pirate in our latest Spotlight is not only part of a thriving community for the Portuguese player base, but is a dab hand when it comes to research and investigation as part of Ancient Isles University. We took some time out to talk to Captain McGuffin!

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

[A]: As someone born after the creation of the World Wide Web, I have been playing videogames forever. I spent a fair amount of time playing Disney, Super Mario and Sonic games, and it was early in my childhood that I discovered my fondness for puzzle and exploration games, like the Submachine and Jinx series.

However, my introduction to what I consider the modern concept of videogames came with the original Assassin’s Creed games from Ubisoft, as they combined my love of history and exploration.

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

[A]: Frankly, most of Rare’s games were completely off my radar during childhood. So Sea of Thieves was my first and favourite game from Rare Ltd. Although I do have a vague memory of playing GoldenEye 007 on a family member’s Nintendo 64…

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

[A]: Sea of Thieves was my first real multiplayer experience. I played a few MMOs, but never went deep into them. SoT was the exception as it made me finally feel part of a community. Mostly, I play single-player games. I’m currently replaying Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes games and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

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

[A]: I was actually an Alpha tester, even though I don’t remember what exactly motivated me to sign up. I sailed through the beginning of the game and helped defeat the Hungering One, but then made the worst mistake of my life as a pirate: I stopped playing right before Cursed Sails.

But the seas eventually called me back, and I returned in Season Three, as a lot of my friends obviously wanted to test the unexpected crossover.

My friends left the game soon after, and I was beginning to fear having no-one to play with again. However, that’s when I noticed the profile of a specific Boatswain, NunoAzuldimeter, the administrator and owner of Sea of Thieves Portugal. Not even once had my stupid brain thought of searching my own country’s community. I immediately joined the server and it’s safe to say I would not be an active player of this game if it wasn’t for them. I made some special friends, finally did Glitterbeard and met my crew.

One year later, I got accepted into Ancient Isles University, a like-minded group of pirates who enjoy exploring every corner of the Sea of Thieves we inhabit. Joining their ranks solidified my love for the game and was the reason I created a Twitter account in the first place.

[Q]: Your Twitter bio states you are Head of Forensics at Ancient Isles University, so we have to ask: what does that entail?

[A]: The Forensics Department was formed amidst the case 000013/SDR.3AIU, commonly known as the Fallen Sea Dog. The group needed a dedicated channel to post all theories and clues about the case, one more focused than the lore discussion. Therefore, the Deans created my department, dedicated to solving and recording all the mysteries and secrets found upon the waves, which required more field researchers than usual.

I was nominated by the Deans to lead this department and investigation, not only for being extremely active on the server, but for having an actual degree in Criminology.

Besides ‘Who Killed DeMarco?’ and ‘The Hoarder’s Hunt’, there was a brief investigation made for the Imposter™ at Port Merrick, the case 000014/NGS.6AIU. At the time of the Festival of Giving reveal, we believed the imposter would be a new spy thriller mystery, and Dean Spanospy immediately created a clue board to help us in our efforts. You may have seen me on Twitter, reporting on each sighting of the rat on social media.

In my downtime, I help TheCrimsonCrafter with Project Alexandria which aims to record every single piece of written and video lore from Sea of Thieves, not only the journals but especially lore that could be lost to time, like the Visions of the Orb, the Prophecy of the Herald of the Flame and all of Nine Cat Nura’s Lost Pages.

[Q]: You’ve done some brilliant work with Sea of Thieves Portugal, what’s been your favourite project with them?

[A]: All my work with SoT Portugal has been indirect, as I’m only a member, but those guys deserve all the attention and love from the projects they’ve been on. As a longtime fan of trading card games, their SoT Portugal TCG, which celebrates both Portuguese pirates and lore characters, is my favourite above all. I actually didn’t know what I was taking photos for at the time, as it was a secret project.

As for personal projects inside that community, I’m the Orb Guardian. It’s my sworn duty to announce and remind people of ongoing Twitch Drops. I conquered this role by staying awake for almost three days at the original Orb Twitch event, tagging everyone once a Drop came up.

[Q]: You’re also a Boatswain, representing the best of us on the seas. What has been your favourite encounter to date?

[A]: My favourite encounter has to be slightly before getting Boatswain. WeldenWarden was taking pictures of my pirate and ship for a secret project for SoT Portugal. A Sloop crew arrived at the same Outpost and stopped as they recognised my ship’s name from Twitter, and wanted to take a picture and chat. It was a small moment, but very wholesome and made my day. That was the first time I felt like a true legend.

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

[A]: How many to pick? Getting Pirate Legend? Co-founding my crew, the Orbital Alliance, with First Mate Fungus? Bucketing my friend Bones?

If I had to choose only one, I would say the time when I redid ‘The Shrouded Deep’ Adventure. We had just started the awakening ritual when we saw player ships on the horizon. As the cannons were ready to fire, a Kraken emerged to engulf us all. A four-ship battle, with a Shrouded Ghost, Flameheart’s Ghostly Armada and the Kraken. I’d never been in such a fight. I’ve used that moment to exemplify the peak of Sea of Thieves, the mix between PvP and PvE at a grandiose scale.

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

[A]: As mentioned, I have a predilection for exploration, so I have fallen in love with every new location added on the seas. Port Merrick, the expanded Hideouts, the secret Vault. I really enjoy the aesthetics of the Siren Shrines.

Gameplay-wise, I really liked the concept behind Soulflame Rowboats and wish they would make a permanent comeback, as they added a new tool to the sandbox.

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

[A]: Getting Boatswain status is definitely my biggest achievement, as it wasn’t even a goal I was striving to get.

My second biggest was, together with Lorenz Sinclair, Novac and Phsyclops, officially finding out who killed DeMarco by being, supposedly, the first to open the puzzle mural door at the Shrine of the Coral Tomb. We then failed at getting the right combination three times in a row and the door closed on us, robbing us from getting the Commendation first.

I’m also proud to have earned the Serpent’s Lie Sails from Sea of Thieves Partner KaidaWrath in the most McGuffin way, guessing the approximate price of a glass bottled orange-flavoured Fanta in Norway. To commemorate such an ‘achievement’, the ship flying the sails has been baptized the Fantom Fangs.

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

[A]: The name of my flagship is the Plundering Phoenix, inspired by my bow, the Rising Phoenix.

My pirate’s name was always and always will be Captain McGuffin. When I created my Microsoft account for the Technical Alpha, I wanted to go with a name that English-speaking pirates would remember, instead of a mouthful of a Portuguese name. Due to my love for storytelling theory, my pirate was named after a MacGuffin, an object or event that serves as a catalyst to trigger the plot. A bit narcissistic, I know.

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

[A]: Reading books, from classics to fantasy, to practical and theoretical books about crime; reading comic books, especially DC Comics; NOT going on long walks on the beach (I hate sand); and, for about six or seven years, I have practised archery. Wish I had as good an aim with a mouse as I have with a bow.

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

[A]: I have a scar in the shape of a X on my upper lip, and no, I have never used “X marks the spot” as a flirting tactic.

Oh… and my pirate is not bald. Do not believe in such tall tales.

And with that, we put down the pen as we reach the end of another Community Spotlight. Thank you so much to Captain McGuffin for taking the time to answer all our questions. We’re looking forward to seeing more events and findings emerge from both Sea of Thieves Portugal and Ancient Isles University!

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!