Community Spotlight - Mr Fawlout

Robert Ambrose AKA Mr Fawlout is well-known on social channels for sharing his exploits on the seas through some stunning in-game photography, as well as his extensive merch collection that he’s been amassing since launch. You might also remember him from Twitter last year when his explosive Boom Boat did the rounds!

As he’s involved with many aspects of the game’s community across multiple platforms, for our latest Spotlight we thought it was about time we sat down with the fantastic Mr Fawlout for a chat about his life on the Sea of Thieves…

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

[A]: My family and friends got me into gaming when I was young. Growing up, I would play whichever games or MMOs my dad would be playing at the time. EverQuest was the first game I remember getting me hooked on multiplayer gaming and involved in a community. After that I really got into World of Warcraft and Dota 2 until I started focusing more on console gaming.

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

[A]: Yes, I was a Rare fan before Sea of Thieves. Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instinct were some of my favorite Nintendo games growing up, and I really enjoyed Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo on the Xbox 360 when they first came out. Mickey’s Racing Adventure for the Game Boy Color was another fun game I played quite a bit.

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

[A]: Right now, I’m playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Fallout 76. I've always enjoyed the stories and features both franchises have to offer, although I’m having a lot of fun just building my camps up in Fallout for people to look at and taking in the sights in Assassin’s Creed.

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

[A]: I’ve always been a fan of pirates and skeletons thanks to Disneyland and Pirates of the Caribbean, so I wanted to check it out. Seeing everything from the trailers, it made me want to play it that much more. Just seeing how everyone interacted and worked together during The Hungering Deep update, it showed me how amazing the community can be, and I wanted to make sure I was a part of that.

After a time, I started sharing my adventures on Instagram until I stumbled upon Facebook and Twitter communities where I get to hear everyone’s stories and share my own.

[Q]: Your Boom Boat got a lot of attention on Twitter. Is this a prime example of ‘because I can’ or was there some other motivation, and do you have any plans to recreate it?

[A]: The crew and I fought off a few ships and had just finished our fifth Fort of the Damned, and we wanted to transport the 21 Stronghold Kegs safely to an Outpost for the gold, so we just decided to do it in style in a Rowboat.

To honor the one-year anniversary of the Boom Boat, we made a bigger Boom Boat using over 45 Stronghold Kegs during a community event. We rowed it over to The Reaper’s Hideout and surprised everyone who was waiting.

[Q]: You have an extensive collection of Sea of Thieves merchandise acquired over the years. What’s your favourite piece and why?

[A]: My favorite would have to be the Sea of Thieves mosaic with everyone’s screenshots making up the picture. To me, not only does it show off some great shots, it brings so many individuals together to form one great thing and knowing I’m a part of that makes it special to me.

[Q]: What are your favourite additions to Sea of Thieves over the past year?

[A]: I really like the addition of the Seasons, special Events and new Voyages. The Voyages to the Gold Hoarders’ Vaults have been a lot of fun; completing the blocks at the end and rushing to collect everything with the crew or trying to trap some of them inside for the fun of it. The Ashen Winds world events have also been a lot of fun to do, both solo and with a crew. I’ve had some fun moments thanks to the Ashen Lords.

For the Seasons it’s been a lot of fun collecting the exclusive cosmetics that were added as rewards. It’s nice to have more items to make my pirate look more unique.

[Q]: You’ve shared some beautiful screenshots on Twitter – how did you get into in-game photography?

[A]: I’ve always loved artwork, and the detail that’s put into games and seeing other people share their experiences with their communities made me want to do the same. Sea of Thieves and the people in the community are what really got me wanting to take more photos to share, though. Every moment can turn into an epic shot, whether it’s just a sunset or a Megalodon about to attack.

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

[A]: Before the Legends of the Sea update, I was collecting selfie shots with various pirates who had immortalizations in the game. One such pirate arranged a surprise meet-up with quite a few other pirates hidden around their Easter eggs, who would pop out as we talked about them. I ended up with more shots than I planned that day and being able to hear their stories was amazing.

Another moment that stands out was my first Ashen Winds Skull steal. I had tucked on the island while one crew fought the Ashen Lord and a Galleon crew was waiting on the other side for them to finish. In the confusion, I grabbed the Skull and used it to torch the nearest pirate before escaping to the nearest island with a Rowboat!

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

[A]: Winning the Creator Crew controller in one of the Sea of Thieves Creator Crew contests with the Blunderbomb theme would probably be my greatest achievement, besides the Boom Boat post getting a lot of views on Twitter and Reddit. Once the controller comes in, I have some fun stuff at home planned to commemorate both. For both achievements, I can’t thank my crewmates enough for their help.

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

[A]: Captain Evidyr Fawlout with the ship The Green Goblin. Evidyr is a character name that’s stuck with me since my EverQuest days and means evildoer, and I semi-customize my ships after Marvel characters if I see the inspiration for it.

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

[A]: Besides gaming, I like attending conventions and collecting pop culture memorabilia. One of my favorite things I’ve collected is a Ready Player One poster signed by the cast at a convention I attended a few years back.

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

[A]: I’ve been the admin for a Facebook Sea of Thieves community group with over 37,000 people for over a year now and it still blows my mind. I couldn’t ask for a better place to end up.

And that’s where we end our latest Community Spotlight! Thanks to Robert for talking with us – we look forward to seeing more in-game antics and additions to the merch collection in the future. While the rest of you wait for our next community star to hit the Spotlight, don’t forget you can always browse through our previous Community Spotlights to see who’s been featured so far. Until next time!

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