Better pirate selection

I think this would be a great addition to the game, things like this would just add another level of a personal connection with your pirate, great suggestion!

@reddmatterr thank you budder god!

I 100% Agree, spending real money on a Item and then not being 100% sure if you're actually going to use it. It feels like a lootbox where you're not sure if you'll be happy with the outcome unless you spend 5 hours trying to find the right pirate.

@max-kappa its like this on purpose. The design of the pirate generator is so that you can't get the "perfect" pirate. They are meant have defects, be a little off, give you a reason to enjoy rheir flaws.

My pirate looks like his nose was crushed by a shovel and when he grins he's missing a tooth. Ive built my story around my pirate. Now he's been my character for nearly 3 years and I cant imagine changing him.

If there was ever going to be a slider, the only acceptable one in my opinion is gender. everything else should and needs to stay random.

This is the best suggestion since sliced bread. I think you should work for Microsoft. Maybe rare has some free job spaces? Really are the next Bill Gates my friend.

P.s. Have my children?

My suggestion is that the pirate generator remains the way it is, but let players change appearance by paying, not in Ancient Coins, but a decent sum of gold - somewhere in the 50,000-100,000 range. Better yet, add the option to alter our appearance to our liking, but keep a "random" button available for those who care little about appearance.

The pirate generator is a really fun feature and there's lots of variation to the characters you can pick. Which is why it makes little sense to me that we're only allowed to use it once without paying extra or resetting progress.

"Perfect Pirate"
This isn't Pirate Barbie. -_- You dont really need to spend hours spinning the pirate merry go round to look for: 1) A pirate you wont even see 90% of the time. 2) Only see when you Emote. 3) When viewing clothing.

Spending real money to find a pirare? When...I spent money on a video game to play a pirate game, what did you buy?

• I can tell you, it took me 5min and Im happy with my handsome pirate

The only thing I can agree too, is Gender option. That way it still 99% random and nobody will have dubs.

@captain-coel i think you misunderstood my point. i also want a pirate like this, the pirate i have tried to find a pirate with no teeth, a squashed nose, a massive scar. im not here trying to create a pirate with no flaws and perfect everything.

@max-kappa every time I've used the pirate generator (I have several alts) I have found a decent pirate in under 10 min, and a keeper in under 30. I think that's fine. I have a general direction I wanna go and thats it

@galactic-geek said in Better pirate selection:

The only thing the IPG needs is the ability to turn your pirate around, zoom in and out, and show more skin to check for scars and other things.

Other than that, it's fine.

It's always good to hear different perspectives, and I'm glad you haven't found it limiting.

But as most of the other commenters in this thread have said: this is a great idea and one that would be enjoyed by many players (both new and old).

So just because you might not like the idea that doesn't mean there aren't many players who would like it and, most importantly, it doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

Because seriously, what's wrong with having better representation for players within the Sea of Thieves?

Here's the thing, the IPG is designed to make players think about playing a character they would not normally play, according to the devs back in 2018.
Apparently it took Rare four years to develop the IPG.

Now my Retail pirate is quite unique and resonates with me, but my Insider pirate gets a lot of IPG spins.
In this way I get to see the intent of the developers. I like it because it has inspired me to play both genders and people of many different origins.

All of them had something interesting that I had to see ingame.

Not once was I intetested in finding my perfect pirate, only in finding an interesting looking pirate.

SoT has a way of punishing players with a bias from other games and thier tried and true game mechanics.
It starts from the beginning with the IPG.

@joe-krakatoa At what point do we stop giving that much weight to what Rare may or may not have said back in the day...? I mean, the Plunder Pass is a great example of words only having so much value.

@thagoochiestman

The IPG hasn't changed since launch and Rare has made no announcements to do so, so why wouldn't thier mindset then not be relevant now?
Because they implemented opt out for Xbox and making private servers?

I'm not giving weight to Rares words, merely recounting history as I remember it.
None of which tells me Rare is considering sliders for the IPG.
Like PvE only servers, post for changes with the character generator have been around since before launch.

@galactic-geek From the posts I've seen I don't think anyone was asking for the ability to model the specific facial/body features of characters like you might see in other games (i.e. Cyberpunk, GTA/RDR2 Online, NBA 2K) but more for the ability to filter down the results of the IPG based on either gender and/or skin-color.

So based on that understanding, it would still be the IPG doing its work, players just wouldn't have to needlessly flip through various pirates if they knew those didn't meet their desired criteria. (And in this game, saving time anywhere is an accomplishment 🥁)

But the fat-pirate conundrum and the whole wardrobe problem is probably because of another major element of the game: tucking.

That strategy alone (with the help of streamers) has led to a meta-outfit (not too dissimilar from CoD gun loadouts) and a good understanding that the smaller your pirate is, the harder they'll be able to see.

The only thing I can agree too, is Gender option. That way it still 99% random and nobody will have dubs.

If there was ever going to be a slider, the only acceptable one in my opinion is gender. everything else should and needs to stay random.

TL;DR - The system seems fine as it is.

The long story is that it would be a bad business idea to allow you to select a gender. This is because the issue is edging around very dangerous waters for RARE...I would imagine they will be trying to avoid the minefield of "gender" where there are now allegedly over a hundred different ones (according to the BBC - although apparently they have now removed this video) to choose from. Can you imagine having to code that...amid the worry of those not satisfied turning on them? Any company will be petrified of the potential backlash for this sort of thing and thus avoid anything to do with it.

RARE would either have to include all of these genders from an extensive list, or risk sticking to the conventionally approved "male" and "female" genders and then be made to walk the plank by those who are offended, either way - it is a massive risk and I can see why the current system is as it is.

RARE are actually being sensible to avoid all of this by not including any real notion of definable explicit gender in it at all and it seems that this is probably the best way to go by continuing to inspire us to use our imaginations surrounding the context of our characters.

I think it would also be a good idea to add a way to zoom in on the pirate you have selected so you can see details of them up and close

The game would feel far less organic if everyone could fine tune their pirate to their liking. Everyone would use paper thin characters to make tucking easier and have semi-good looking characters. There would be little variation, but the system in place makes every character feel unique and fresh.

@max-kappa I like this idea as long as it doesn't go to the point of character creation. Filters are good. I want to play as a man so give me a "Male" filter, I want them to be old so give me a "Old" filter, etc.
From the beginning, my pirate looks nothing like me, and that's true for 90% of the people who play SoT. I like how you get a pirate that you like, but they're still the ragged, dirty pirate that SoT gives you, and the pirate grows on you but its not you, instead it's your in-game persona. A character creator would fly in the face of getting a pirate that isn't perfect, but still yours. I know you weren't saying that I just know that a character creator is the road that some people would drive down based on your idea.

@gunner-rat How your pirate looks have nothing to do with their (mental) gender. we are talking about physical appearance filters and as far as i know, there are only two distinct (intended) biological genders exist... The other thousand made-up genders don't come with their own unique natural physical attributes. Not labeling the physical gender of obvious female or male figures won't change the fact that they still have distinct female or male shapes. We don't need to pretend we are blind or deaf. The gender you are talking about is identity, not physical appearance.

Anyway, how on earth seeing the word "female" "male" on screen would offend anyone? You can still dress your pirate up however you want... The game never mentions your gender thus giving you the freedom to identify as anything you want of any origin.

@uzugijin said in Better pirate selection:

@gunner-rat How your pirate looks have nothing to do with their (mental) gender. we are talking about physical appearance filters and as far as i know, there are only two distinct (intended) biological genders exist... The other thousand made-up genders don't come with their own unique natural physical attributes. Not labeling the physical gender of obvious female or male figures won't change the fact that they still have distinct female or male shapes. We don't need to pretend we are blind or deaf. The gender you are talking about is identity, not physical appearance.

Hello,

How gender interconnects with cultural norms and the representation of self is complex - far more so than "looks" vs "mental gender" as you call it. Visually, this presentation of self is intrinsically linked and has everything to do with how we view ourselves and how the outside world views us.

That all said - I agree with you for the most part, but I think you are confusing my stance. My post you are referring to is not in favour of all these newly invented identities that have more to do with individuals finding "place" and "differences" to celebrate and where consumerism and celebrity culture teaches us that we need to be extreme in order to "succeed".

This is a somewhat Adlerian view, coupled with Alfred Adorno's critique of capitalism, in a world where at our core - humans are very similar to each other and are easily tuned to focus on things that are either out of our control, or unrealistic. Adorno argued that consumerism is the art of distracting us from focussing on the real issues that face us, such as climate change for example.

Post modernism ignores Adorno et al, whether you like it or not in it's attempt to move the Overton Window in favour of a hyper individualised utopia of "tribes", interconnected via a certain struggle that gives impetus to "exist" and "struggle"- often while in pursuit of intangible and arbitrary goals under equally as escaping slogans such as "total equality now". A nice thought - but impossible to achieve as equality always comes at the expense of freedom and vice versa. That of course doesn't mean we should strive for these things as generally it should benefit us all, but an element of balance and realism is what's important here - something that the Hegelian dialect focusses on in terms of thesis, anti thesis and then synthesis.

Anyway, gender is intrinsic to both physical appearance that is linked with identity. Anthropological studies have long show the importance of visual representation in regards to both gender and identity. Rightly or wrongly, whether we like it or not, culturally in the west, it is normal to associate a dress or a pair of tights with a particular gender and say a black suit and tie with another. I'm not saying that one gender cannot wear the others clothes - I do not personally give a damn lol. It is just a social observation and besides, everything is on a sliding scale in life.

Anyway, how on earth seeing the word "female" "male" on screen would offend anyone? You can still dress your pirate up however you want... The game never mentions your gender thus giving you the freedom to identify as anything you want of any origin.

I do not understand why people are offended by such things explicitly, but they are. People get offended over anything. It's controversial, so I will refrain from giving you sources and ask you to look yourself.

Again, you are agreeing with me and I you here - The game never mentions your gender thus giving you the freedom to identify as anything you want of any origin. I agree this is a good thing as it leaves us free to use our imagination - you should take issue instead with those calling for a slider to change the gender more specifically. ;)

Cheers

@gunner-rat Then let's call it.... XX and XY slider... or to be super careful "shape01" "shape02" slider. Look, I spent 4 hours to roll myself a pirate. I had this weird idea in my head that i would go for a girl or at least for my own personal idea of a girl. So i did that. Not for a single moment have i considered the other masculine options the game generated for me. IPG only makes the selection process unnecessarily longer than it should be without any filter! Why should I waste 4 hours when it could be just 2 for the same result?

btw, RARE itself brought up CHARACTER BODY CUSTOMIZING (overhaul of the ipg / more control for players / wider variety of looks) as an option to vote on back in 2018 as part of a community poll. So i don't think they are afraid of anything, not mention the fact that still to this day other games offer at least male/female options as well (as a base), because they are flexible enough to create your own custom whatever.

@uzugijin said in Better pirate selection:

@gunner-rat Then let's call it.... XX and XY slider... or to be super careful "shape01" "shape02" slider. Look, I spent 4 hours to roll myself a pirate. I had this weird idea in my head that i would go for a girl or at least for my own personal idea of a girl. So i did that. Not for a single moment have i considered the other masculine options the game generated for me. IPG only makes the selection process unnecessarily longer than it should be without any filter! Why should I waste 4 hours when it could be just 2 for the same result?

I chose a rather dashing, cool and sophisticated swashbuckling old man as my avatar and it took less than a minute. They say you often choose something you can never be eh lol.

btw, RARE itself brought up CHARACTER BODY CUSTOMIZING (overhaul of the ipg / more control for players / wider variety of looks) as an option to vote on back in 2018 as part of a community poll. So i don't think they are afraid of anything, not mention the fact that still to this day other games offer at least male/female options as well (as a base), because they are flexible enough to create your own custom whatever.

But seriously, that's good they did, but it sounded like a vague poll that perhaps did not focus on gender. I would say a lot has changed since then. Let's see them do a gender poll anytime soon...

@gunner-rat "They say you often choose something you can never be eh lol."

Ouch... 🗡️💔

@uzugijin I agree with you tho.