Community Spotlight - triheadedmonkey

Following our Community Spotlight on LatchedGlue, we wanted to continue celebrating our recent Legends of the Sea update by catching up with more players immortalised within the world of Sea of Thieves. In this latest Spotlight, we speak to a player who goes by the name of triheadedmonkey – a pirate who can proudly say that he has left his mark on the seas both in-game and as a Moderator on the official Forums. Over to you, sir!

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

[A]: My earliest gaming memory is owning a NES and playing Duck Hunt and Punch-Out!! for many, many hours! (I hate that dog to this day.) From there it was the usual route of Mario games on SNES, then one year we got a ‘computer’ (Amiga 500+ no less!) for Christmas and at some point I ended up with a copy of Monkey Island… some rumours say this was the day triheadedmonkey was really born…

After that I had a PS1, then a PS2 and an N64, though I also had a friend who lived around the corner (hi Mr Box 360!) who was fairly into games and often pre-ordered both games and consoles, which did lead to some… slightly exaggerated… sick days from school, conveniently on release days… and having my driving licence meant I could take him to collect them, booking my place as player 2!

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

[A]: During the N64 days I did spend a large amount of time playing GoldenEye (using Oddjob IS CHEATING!) and later Perfect Dark, and I do vividly remember the spinning Rareware logo, but didn’t fully appreciate the history behind it at the time. I also, oddly, have memories of playing WWF Wrestlemania…

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

[A]: It always sounds like an advert or that I get commission for saying it but Game Pass is a wonderful thing! Without it I would have missed out on some real gems. Currently playing through A Plague Tale: Innocence which is both pretty and charming but my favourite from Game Pass (and easily one of my favourites of all time) is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice! It is absolutely beautiful, brilliant and harrowing in equal measure! The folks at Ninja Theory did a phenomenal job with it and without Game Pass I would likely never have played it. Senua's Saga also looks mind-blowing and can’t come soon enough!

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

[A]: I was watching E3 in 2017 just out of curiosity as to what new games were coming and was making notes on what I fancied playing next. I had made a few notes (Hellblade was also on the list but I don’t think it was currently playable) and then… the beautiful world of Sea of Thieves appeared on screen and I was hooked… and then there was mention of an Insider Programme and a website address, so I signed up and was lucky enough to be invited to take part in the Technical Alpha soon after!

I spent a fair amount of time on the Forums, mainly looking for updates and info, but eventually started joining in. There were so many passionate people all united by the same interest and even when there might not be any new info available people still chipped in with their own ideas, suggestions, stories, art and all sorts! It was all so welcoming that I decided to stay!

[Q]: Let’s start with the Forums – you’re part of our amazing team of community Moderators. How did you first get involved with the Forums and what kept you there?

[A]: Again, it all started after the E3 trailer. I saw the chance to get my hands on the game (even if it was an early version) and jumped at it. I almost stalked the Forums for a while, but seeing how welcoming the rest of the community was I started contributing. What kept me there? The friendly sense of all being in the same boat (‘pun’ intended) and wanting the same thing. That and seeing the continuing development of a game that already looked amazing.

[Q]: Is there anything you’ve learned or challenges you’ve faced along the way as both a Sea of Thieves fan and Moderator?

[A]: As a Sea of Thieves player and gamer in general, playing and talking with other people has been a bit of a new thing for me as I have never really been comfortable talking with people I don’t know, but now I enjoy it! As for being a moderator, potentially being seen as ‘the bad guy’ is never good… I’m actually quite nice… not as nice as Musicmee, obviously, but still. Being part of a team makes things a lot easier!

[Q]: Have you been this involved with other gaming communities, and if so, can you tell us more about that?

[A]: Sea of Thieves is the first game I have ever gotten involved with outside of just playing the game. There is just such a sense of community that I am sure exists in other games for other people, but I had never experienced it personally. Before Sea of Thieves I rarely played multiplayer games with/against people I didn’t actually know and my Xbox headset was just sat on the side gathering dust, but the first time I got the chance to play during the Alpha (before ship choice or any sort of selective crew-making!) I was put into a crew with three others I had never met or gamed with. Pretty soon we were just laughing and getting along as if we’d played regularly.

[Q]: When did you first stumble across your player immortalisation, and how did it make you feel?

[A]: I jumped into Sea of Thieves after an update just to bumble around for a bit and I spawned at Sanctuary Outpost. I noticed a framed photo on the wall of the tavern and a ‘banner’ on the other wall… I knew that Rare had a habit of adding stuff and not putting it in the patch notes, so I ventured back to the Forums to see if anyone else had noticed anything new. I mentioned the picture and ‘banner’ and as I was typing and trying to describe it, the penny dropped… it wasn’t a banner, it was a flag with three monkey heads on it…

I immediately jumped back in and made my way back to Sanctuary to double-check. As soon as I saw it again, it all made sense and I just stood next to it and did the clapping emote. It was brilliant, perfect and I love it.

[Q]: If you were to immortalise anyone else in Sea of Thieves, player or not, who and what would it be?

[A]: I like to think the hot tub in The Arena tavern is a nod to the folks at Fortune who were featured in the first issue of the Pirate Times for creating a Pirate Spa. They are also responsible for creating events such as Beacon Brawlers, Skullball and The Grand Odyssey. Although DreadPirateDoug has an immortalisation, I think the Race of Legends deserves its own… and The Longest Johns! If you haven’t heard The Longest Johns, do yourself a favour and do it! (Or if you want to kill two birds with one stone, tune in to the Race of Legends!)

[Q]: We just have to ask, where did your triheadedmonkey alias come from?

[A]: It came about as a combination of my love for Monkey Island and XBL gamertag limitations when I first got my original Xbox… ThreeHeadedMonkey was apparently too long, it wasn’t allowed to start with a number so 3headedmonkey and 3HM were out… and so triheadedmonkey was born!

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

[A]: One that springs to mind immediately was the first time I helped with the setup for a Fortune-organised community event. We were collecting Boom Booms for use in the event and transferring them from a ship to the beach to be organised and distributed accordingly.

We had spent hours collecting lots of Booms and it was getting close to the start time of the event, so we were getting the last few off the ship when I heard someone say “oops” followed by someone else saying “what the…” Luckily the rest of the sentence was inaudible as someone had tried dropping a Boom off the bowsprit and it had fallen short and started its journey back towards the hull of the ship. It exploded, as did the remaining Booms on board… and the HUGE number already accumulated on the beach.

Needless to say, the Boom portion of the event had to be rethought and changed. He’ll deny it and likely try to blame me, but I know that everyone at Fortune has forgotten and forgiven Sir Lotus by now…

[Q]: What are your favourite new additions to the game since the Anniversary Update launched?

[A]: The Tall Tales! I love the extra story element and the building of the lore and I can’t wait to see what is yet to come. The Maiden Voyage is also a beautiful addition! I loved exploring the island (and the peace and quiet).

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

[A]: I am not sure I’ll ever top my flag! No-one who has seen my PvP ‘skills’ in Sea of Thieves is likely to believe me but I did actually top some global leaderboards for Medal of Honor: Warfighter many moons ago!

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

[A]: Having been triheadedmonkey for so long, I would find it hard being anyone else. As for a ship name, I’d go for something like Clueless or Doomed to help manage expectations.

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

[A]: I enjoy dabbling with Photoshop (one of my favourites probably being the Neatjo Libre picture I made during X018) and 3D modelling using Blender.

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

[A]: I have a tattoo of a three-headed monkey and can hold my breath for 10 minutes!

That concludes another Community Spotlight. We salute you, triheadedmonkey, for taking the time to chat to us and more importantly, for helping to keep these seas safe in your own way! As for us, we have to set our sights on the next Spotlight but you can catch up with our previous community conversations at the Sea of Thieves website.

If you want to stay up to date with Sea of Thieves news in general, click through to our various social channels via the buttons below!