Creator Spotlight – AShinyRay

The Spotlight is back in action once again, this time shining on a long-term Sea of Thieves Partner, story aficionado, podcast host and lover of all things Flameheart. With several years of content creation already under his belt, best known for his news, discussion and lore videos, AShinyRay is the formidable pirate we’re catching up with today!

Interested in signing up to the Sea of Thieves Creator Crew? Find out more here.

[Q]: What was your introduction to the world of games?

[A]: My earliest memory of gaming was when my brother and I were bought a PlayStation One. It’s still probably my favourite console of all time. I have fond memories of playing Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon and Croc. Crash was always really difficult, especially the first game, and Dad would often have to beat the later levels. Spyro was my favourite and still is to this day.

[Q]: How did you become part of the Sea of Thieves community?

[A]: I guess when the game was revealed at E3 2015? I remember seeing the trailer and thinking “Wow, that looks different”. As subsequent E3s arrived, so did more trailers, and the game looked better and better.

When the Alpha dropped, I played in December 2017 as part of the Pioneer Programme, and I knew Sea of Thieves would be one of the all-time greats. It’s the only game I’ve been playing for five years consistently. I really started to feel like I was part of the community when the game launched, mind you.

[Q]: How did creating content become your ‘thing’?

[A]: I started making videos during the first major lockdown in 2020. I actually started talking about Gears 5, as it was a franchise I loved, but wasn’t totally happy with some of the issues the game had. Thankfully, in January 2021, I started making Sea of Thieves videos and got really lucky with my first proper video getting some traction. Two years or so later, I still get to make videos every week as a part-time job. Although I am ready for a new Gears game now.

[Q]: How do you decide what kind of content to create?

[A]: As Gears 5 was coming to the end of its life, I decided to get back into Sea of Thieves properly. I thought, I love Sea of Thieves, why not give it a go? I’d already watched channels like Captain Falcore and PhuzzyBond, so my videos are inspired by them. As I loved lore, that was a given, but there was a gap for Sea of Thieves discussion videos so I guess I naturally gravitated towards that niche.

[Q]: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced while creating content?

[A]: Finding out what works and what doesn’t is always tough. Sometimes I make videos for me, sometimes I make videos for my audience, and that doesn’t always align. I still work full-time, so it can be hard to stick to a schedule or vice versa, and news or announcements can throw me for a loop.

[Q]: What different channels do you have?

[A]: The vast majority of my content is on YouTube, but I do have a Twitch channel. YouTube better fits my work-life balance and I know the platform. Twitch is hard, no one tells you how tiring playing games are when you have to be mindful of a tonne of things. Are you talking too much, too little? Is the stream fun to watch? Am I all caught up on chat? I don’t envy the full-time streamers.

With YouTube, you can control your content, it’ll promote ‘good’ content and it just fits my content style better. Although I do love a good SoT Television stream or an E3 stream (when E3 was happening). Xbox Showcases will have to do.

[Q]: What’s been your most memorable Sea of Thieves moment so far?

[A]: For me, it’ll always be opening up the game when The Seabound Soul update released. Being hit with that fresh title screen and haunting music was bliss. Then we got to play the new Tall Tale, with that delicious reveal of Flameheart finally coming to the game. The Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life reveal was awesome too because no one knew it was coming. So I’ve cheated and picked two.

[Q]: What do you enjoy most about the game now, and what are you looking forward to in future?

[A]: I really love the Hourglass mode. I rinsed Season Eight a bit too hard when it came out, I loved it that much. I’m enamoured with the whole roleplay aspect, the fierce battles and The Reaper’s Lair. Season Nine’s Fort of Fortune update was chaos too.

As for future content, I’m looking forward to seeing Flameheart back (in the bone?), along with all the fantastic cosmetics he will bring. Flameheart and Burning Blade cosmetics when?

[Q]: What’s something you’re particularly proud of accomplishing in gaming?

[A]: I managed to get all the achievements for Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. If you’ve even played it, getting all of the time trials in Gold or higher is extremely hard, especially in Stormy Ascent. 10/10 would start it all over again. With that being said, the fourth game is ridiculously hard and I have yet to attempt 106% completion.

[Q]: How did you come up with your channel name?

[A]: I needed to change my gamertag one day, and at the time, I was getting back into collecting Pokémon cards. Rayquaza is my favourite Pokémon, and his alternate colour (Shiny) form is really cool. AShinyRayquaza looked nice, so I went with that. For obvious reasons, I shortened it when I made the channel. Now people just call me Ray or Raymond.

[Q]: What do you like to get up to when you’re not making videos?

[A]: I recently got back into Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. I collect them but also started playing the game in Master Duel. It’s changed a lot since I last played 10 years ago but I love it nonetheless. I also love heavy metal music and my favourite band released a new album in June, I’ve been listening to that on repeat.

[Q]: What advice would you give to a new content creator?

[A]: Quality over quantity is the game if you’re making a YouTube channel. You will need to invest a bit of money into a good mic and proper software if you’re making videos. People will put up with poor visuals but will not stand for bad audio. Thumbnails need to be clear, crisp and colourful, but don’t give too much away in them, or the title. Make videos that people want to click and keep them watching through quality or interesting narratives.

Oh, and use YouTube, TikTok and Instagram to promote your Twitch, not the other way around. Twitch has bad discoverability, but the others will push good content.

[Q]: What’s one thing you would advise a content creator not to do?

[A]: Don’t be afraid of content flopping. It can be extremely disheartening to see a video flop or get worse views than normal, but sit back, take a second and have a look at why this is the case. Sometimes it’s out of your control, so why should you worry about something you can’t control? If it is, then there’s always next time, the time after and so on.

Every day you will improve your content. But don’t ignore other priorities if you can’t afford to, especially mental health and family matters.

[Q]: Could you give us one more random fact about yourself?

[A]: I once grabbed some milk out of the fridge in Tesco and it was cold, so the outside had condensation over it, making it slippery. The handle sort of slipped out of my hand and it landed lid-down, causing it to explode, with the milk hitting me… but mostly the poor worker next to me. I was mortified and offered to clean it up, but they just told me it was fine. I still think about that from time to time. If you’re miraculously reading this, I’m sorry!

You never know what you’re going to get with that last random fact! Thanks to AShinyRay for taking the time out of his busy video schedule to chat to us – make sure you all keep a keen eye out for the regular new videos going up on his YouTube channel and the podcast run alongside his co-host Captain Blubber.

Keep up with all the latest from Sea of Thieves by following us on our many social channels. You can also find previous Creator, Community and Legend Spotlights in our News section, catch the latest activity in our Community Hub and check out all our current Partners in the Sea of Thieves Partner Directory. Until next time!