Introduction
Since season 8 released we've seen plenty of complaints from those who have managed to achieve allegiance 100 with the reapers bones that the skeleton curse just lacks cosmetics with some, such as AShinyRay, making excellent points discussing why the skeleton curse is so underwhelming, so what are the actual problems people have with the skeleton curse?
Chapter 1: What does the skeleton curse do right?
Before we get into the topic of the issues with the curse, I think it's best to highlight what it does great.
The sense of achievement, it's difficult to obtain, it's essentially a medal of honour to show off your PvP skills to whomever may see you upon the sees, when seeing your skeletal structure any opponent will know, especially with its show offy nature, that you will present a fearsome fight even if starting at a disadvantage, you have proven your worth in the battle of the sea of thieves and are invaluable to the reaper cause.
The curse itself is customisable, this is absolutely unique to the SOT, we originally had a gold curse that was unique to each player however as it was randomly generated as how it would present some players got really unfortunate leading to many being upset so it did eventually got removed, however this curse completely circumvents as it's completely optional how you want the curse itself to be, you just have to earn the options, which is amazing as it gives you additional end game content to chase after once you have the curse, it allows the curse itself to truly feel like your curse.
Chapter 2: The Problems
So after all that praise what is the issue with the curse? Well the issue with the curse doesn't lie with the curse itself, it's simply amazing as is however it's what else happens around that curse that issues start to arise. Upon equipping the curse, unlike every other curse, you will notice that all your cosmetics just disappear and this is because said cosmetics were never made with skeletons in mind and would require a lot of work to make even a small portion of the cosmetics compatible with the skeleton curse, but because of this all of the following issues arise.
- Lack of personalisation / self expression
- No history
- Role playing reasons
- Lack of aesthetic options
These are all things that AShinyRay identified in his video he uploaded a month ago discussing the state of the skeleton curse, but I personally believe this expands to the rewards for achieving reapers allegiance 100 as well as the reapers faction more generally, for a faction that is directly competing with Athena's fortune the pool of cosmetics is greatly underwhelming and disappointing, the Athena faction has a lot more liberty in self expression and a lot more ways to differentiate yourself from the pirates who haven't achieved the same things as you, however I will be focusing on the skeleton curse and leave a brief honourable mentions list at the bottom as to better tackle the other areas.
Chapter 3: (A) solution
As previously mentioned we can't simply allow all the old cosmetics to work on the skeleton curse, as they weren't made with the curse in mind and would require a lot of art and remodelling work to make it work.
So here is my personal solution, a second curse for reapers who achieve allegiance 110, where only your right arm and left leg will be under the effects of the skeleton curse, giving you two subtle ways to showcase your dedication to the flame. For those who need a reference this would appear similar to how the curse is on Tasha the Tavern keep and would operate like any other curse before it, in that it can be used with your current pirate cosmetics with the majority of the pirate model going unchanged.
In an ideal scenario this curse would also be affected by the bone colour changes, as to retain the customisation of the curse itself, but I don't think this is necessary at all and the base skeleton bones would just do fine.
This will also better more directly compete with the Athena faction in regards to cosmetics as it would mirror the Legendary curse that you can get upon achieving allegiance 110 (I think) with Athena's blessing. A subtle badge of honour that dedicates your demonstration to the cause you represent.
This directly addresses the issue of history as it allows you to fully embrace your pirates past whilst still having a curse related to your PvP prowess and dedication to the reapers, it's also nice for the aesthetic, personalisation and role playing aspect of character design, the other issues mentioned, whilst not perfect for everyone in all these categories I feel as though this new curse will improve the issues many players have with the current skeleton curse encouraging them to brandish their bones more and be more happy with what they've earned.
Chapter 4: Conclusion/wrapping it up
With all that being said, I truly think that this is the most realistic and best option to solve the issues that the skeleton curse currently has without us demanding unrealistic remodelling efforts by the art team to pump out and port over additional cosmetics for the skeleton curse.
Thank you for reading my wall of text, I hope my feedback proves helpful and sparks ideas.
Chapter 5: Honourable mentions/additional ideas
This is just going to be a quick fire of a few additional ideas that I will give brief explanations on
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Gradually port over hair and beards to the skeleton curse - this alone will dramatically increase the personalisation of our skeletons
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Reaper Pajamas recolour - maybe with a silver accent and mask instead of gold, allows you to differentiate yourself from regular reapers
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Skeletal ship set - to mirror the ghost set of Athena
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Ruined Athena cosmetics - cosmetics that are akin to current Athena ones, just ruined a bit to show that they have been taken from slain Athena opponents.
