Creator Spotlight - OphieIRL

Our latest Creator in the Spotlight is relatively new to the Partner Programme, having started his Sea of Thieves career as part of our Bilge Rats Community Stream Team. He is known for cosplaying the burger clown Donald McRonald, bringing pirate strangers together in a cacophony of chaos before helping them accomplish their goals as a bonded team. Whether they’re looking for reputation, gold, Commendations or the Glitterbeard experience, the Quarter Pounder Crew is there to help. So we wanted to sit down and ask OphieIRL... do you want fries with that?

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]: I didn’t play very many games growing up, outside the ones my friends had at their houses. The first game I ever played from start to finish was Donkey Kong Country (that minecart level sent me to therapy), so the serendipity of Rare being a part of both my childhood and my present is not lost on me.

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

[A]: A friend of mine introduced me to Sea of Thieves in October of 2019, and after doing my first loot stack, I was sold. Sitting on a ship with the water moving under you while you sit and talk with a good friend is still one of the most relaxing experiences I have ever had in a game, and the fact that you can change it up on a dime and get your adrenaline pumping and hands shaking from a rousing round of PvP means that Sea of Thieves has something to offer anyone.

Whether you’re a swabbie or a competitive pirate, there is something here for you, and I wanted to be a part of that.

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

[A]: I started streaming in 2020, looking for a distraction from a difficult time in my life. I started out as a middling Hearthstone player, and one day just to change things up, I introduced Donald McRonald to my small community at the time. I honestly didn’t think that people would enjoy what I do in Sea of Thieves, so it took some pushing from a few community members and friends to get comfortable enough to dive into it fully.

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

[A]: When I started playing Sea of Thieves, and after seeing the brig voting mechanism, I quickly understood the roleplaying possibilities. I went into the Vanity Chest looking for props to base a character on, and after a few character iterations, the big afro found me.

I created Donald to be a hyperbolic embodiment of people that we have all met. He’s the overly corporate boss, the professional yet incompetent co-worker, the shift manager who doesn’t do anything, etc. Equally important though is that somehow Donald has become a sterilized and overt example of what gaslighting, narcissism and manipulation can look like, and I try to use him as a tool to help people identify those characteristics in others.

In short: Donald started out as a coping mechanism for me to deal with the effects of personal and professional relationships that I had in my own life, and by making light of those experiences, I hope to be able to inform, help and entertain people with backgrounds like mine.

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

[A]: When you put yourself on the internet for all to see, there is a level of fear and/or rejection that you deal with every time you push the button to go live. I think every streamer is looking to connect with their community in their own way, and determines for themselves how much of their personality to share. The largest personal hurdle I had to overcome (and still struggle with from time to time) is dropping my pride enough to be authentic.

Putting on the wig and facepaint is easy, but maintaining the vulnerability that being on camera requires is a challenge that sticks around.

In addition to that, impostor syndrome can be a real Debbie Downer, so searching for ways to give back to my community and show reverence for their time and their support is a constantly moving goalpost for me. I work hard every day in the hopes that I can get to the point where I feel like I have earned the love that my community gives me, and the drive to do so can be both a blessing and a curse. It pushes me to be better, but it can be a little overwhelming at times.

[Q]: What different channels do you have?

[A]: I have a Twitch channel, a Soundcloud for most of my covers, and a YouTube channel (video posts are more of a trickle than a deluge, any editors out there?)

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

[A]: There are too many to count. Setting up a fake TDM (team deathmatch event) so that a father could look super-sweaty in front of his daughter, so many tear-jerking Glitterbeard experiences, looking back at clips of when I first ran into strangers who became personal friends of mine, putting together a Fast Food War with some great folks from the Sea of Thieves community, setting up a game show at Port Merrick, and every single time that someone thanks me for showing them a side of the game they never knew about.

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

[A]: I fell in love with Sea of Thieves because of its ability to foster interactions consistently. There is no other game that affords such a perfect environment for that, and as long as that opportunity exists, I will be here to enjoy it. I am really excited about the PlayStation folks joining the community. A massive influx of new pirates, playstyles and skillsets is really invigorating for the current player base. Not to mention the increase in potential burger clowns.

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

[A]: I have brought together enough people to celebrate the memory of James White through the Legend of Glitterbeard more than 45 times.

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

[A]: Ophie is short for Ophiophile, which is a mix of the Latin and Greek words for a person with a fondness for snakes.

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

[A]: I like to hang out with my cat, Grumbo, record vocal covers, watch TV, and go out looking for wildlife.

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

[A]: Don’t do what everyone else is doing just because everyone else is doing it, or you’ll only end up competing for their audience. Be yourself, be authentic, do what you love because you love it, and you will naturally find your people.

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

[A]: Never prioritize numbers over people. Behind every username in your community, there is a person with their own trials and tribulations, and they are choosing to spend whatever time they have with you. Respect that.

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

[A]: I spent a decade working with venomous snakes and crocodilians in the wild and in captivity.

Thanks to Ophie for taking the time to speak with us, and we can’t wait to see him work his way up to his 100th Glitterbeard completion as he shares his experiences with ever more sailors!

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!