It has been a good long seven years or so since the original Shores Of Gold tall tales released, and ever since then one set of cosmetics have been obtainable, but with a big asterisk.
The Morningstar clothes. Red white and silver. Very dignified. Consisting of a hat, jacket, belt and dress for clothing, and a hairstyle, beard, and eyepatch for your vanity. These items are only available while actively undergoing the eighth tall tale in the original Shores Of Gold series, and perhaps controversially, so it remained that way.
On this subject, Mike Chapman has made multiple statements, primarily near to the launch of these adventures.
Two major points have been raised.
- The team want players who are going through the tall tale to look recognizable as such.
- The team wants the legacy of the Morningstar's crew to be honored by how uniquely flashy their uniform was. They want the original outfit to remain distinct, in a design sense.
I will now chronical a long and frankly mundane series of updates to the precedent that I believe recontextualizes these early concerns and should be reviewed internally.
Following the release of the outfit, many promotional characters have been created for marketing purposes. And many have worn the Morningstar set while doing activities wherein you cannot have a tall tale active, such as diving for hourglass. Minor inconsistencies.
Then they released a reskin of the Morningstar set, the Rising Morningstar set. It fleshed out the incomplete clothing and vanity, while sporting a darker red for the trim and a light grey for the secondary, and a dark green for the primary. Its' palette is darker and less vibrant, cementing it within the idea what the Crew of The Morningstar is meant to represent a level of refinement above most modern pirates. The set is however incomplete, being sans hairstyle or beard, which remains exclusive to the original Morningstar set.
Next on the relevant timeline is the release of Safer Seas. This added the ability to (and encourages) players who are experiencing the tall tales to do so in their own server, free of pirates to threaten the campaign experience. This way, there is no longer anyone to which to signal that you are undertaking the tall tale.
And on an anecdotal note, I have not posted a single screenshot on social media, even to experienced players, that has not been received with "huh? what's that (beard/belt/etc)?" Not many pirates would recognize a the outfit or what it means in the modern age anyway. The tall tale is old and not revisited often, and the sheer number of cosmetics to remember is far too great for anyone to really care.
The penultimate but perhaps the most important change to precedent happened directly after the last. The release of the Monkey Island tall tales were met with acclaim. These tall tales were the next to use the disguising mechanic, in line with the Lucas Film game's puzzle gameplay, along with an item or two that were needed to complete their quests, such as a golden sword that appeared in the original games. Subsequent to release, due to some demand, these items were retroactively added to the rewards list. Some were added as reskins, some were added as-is.
Lastly, at time of posting, Rare began a new regiment of twitch drops that will take place and fill out over the next few game drops. This clothing set is called the Reigning Morningstar set. Thus far only a pair of pants and boots, the new palette is a brilliant clean white, bright shining gold, and a deep red. Far more prestigious than the original set.
Looking back on all of the precedent that has been laid after the famous anniversary update over these seven years, I would like to see the fate of the original Morningstar set revisited internally. If not possible, I'd like the topic touched on again with whatever new philosophy lies behind the Morningstar set remaining restricted after so much has changed in the studio.
Sincerely,
A pirate historian who cares far too much about hats.
