This is a topic of which that has sat at the back of my mind since the launch of this game... The gnawing feeling I get every time I see my own pirate as I sail the Sea of Thieves is always one of disappointment and perhaps even a dysphoria of sorts. As in any game where you have a character that represents you on your journey in a game world, having the character look like you or the way you want to appear has been an important part of many games over the years, as it is a means of immersion that only enhances a player's experience. This is often a major factor of enjoyment and fulfillment on my part in many games. I would not have as immersive an experience if I could not create my own character in games like Mass Effect, Elden Ring, Pokemon, etc. Of course, some games obviously don't and shouldn't have a character creator (even if they do allow a modicum of customization), such as the recent Star Wars Jedi titles where you play as a specific character in that world.
That brings me back to Sea of Thieves, however. Our player characters are not of the latter category, but of the sooner. Our pirates are supposed to represent us, the players in this vast sandbox ocean. We get access to a whole host of customization between clothing and curses, ship cosmetics and pets. But we are still forced to pick what is ultimately a randomly generated pirate that will never quite look how we might want them to look. A game where the cosmetics are the reward for the many quests we complete and gold we accumulate, yet those cosmetics might never feel or fit quite right on our pirate because that pirate never feels quite right for us. Perhaps it wouldn't be a problem if we never saw our pirates outside the first-person perspective the game is set in, but we see them every time we perform an emote, which for me is often. There would be great personal joy in seeing a character of my own creation performing the many emotes that have entered the game since launch.
I understand from a development standpoint why we have the infinite pirate generator, however. Keeping characters within the artistic design of the game appears to be crucial to the dev team, which is altogether understandable and quite frankly impressive with how they managed it. But should that artistic vision be a means of preventing player immersion by disallowing character creation? That's the main question I'm putting forward in this post. The IPG (Infinite Pirate Generator) is certainly something that should remain in the game, as it's perfect for some people, but not for everyone. A character creator can and should be able to coexist in this game, where your character, the journey you go on, and the cosmetics you obtain are so central to the experience.
I've seen arguments that the infinite pirate generator is also meant to be a means to get people who play out of their comfort zone, but to what end? Sure, the game should push people to play in ways no other game does in a multiplayer sandbox, however... Should that lack of comfort extend to one's perception of their gender, which is often heavily important to many people who use characters in games as a means of representation? As it currently stands the IPG only provides clearly feminine or masculine pirates, with little or no room for androgyny or gender-nonconformity. The IPG accounts for many things such as sex, race, ethnicity, body size, etc., but it does have a number of key weaknesses when it comes to gender or perhaps the lack thereof. A personal point of contention is the lack of androgynous body types and faces. These are aspects that, if included, could improve the IPG if there is never access to a character creator of any kind.
The IPG is clearly capable of producing a vast array of different pirates, but even after playing this game for roughly six years, I have never been content with any of the pirates I've played as. I've changed at least seven times, with one of those being before the appearance changing potion was implemented. I reset my pirate, willingly lost all my progress, including some event exclusive cosmetics, just so I could change my pirate at that time. Since the addition of the potion, I've spent hours trying to find a pirate I found suitable, but never did. I've had to settle and move on so I could play the game. In fact, I write this post as I sit on the pirate generator menu.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy and love this game regardless. I have tremendously wonderful memories from these many years. I've made and lost friends who became important to me. But the lack of character creation has and will always be one of my major gripes with Sea of Thieves. For some, its addition would be a great boon to their enjoyment. In a game where player choice is core to the experience, why can't our character we play as be a choice outside the whims of the infinite pirate generator?
