Community Spotlight - Jackie

The latest Community Spotlight shines on stream star and travel aficionado Jackie!

Back in September we launched our Sea of Thieves Weekly Stream series. It was a great success, and since then we've had a variety of guest streamers and community members joining our ranks for regular two-hour sessions of unadulterated Sea of Thieves fun.

During that inaugural stream, the team ended up bumping into a member of our community named Jackie who, after befriending us through talk of 'boomboxes' (gunpowder barrels) and life in general, became a bit of a star with our viewers.

Since then, Jackie has made a load of new friends in the community and so we wanted to take the time to talk to her and find out more about this very well-travelled Sea of Thieves fan!

Jackie and her crew with a haul to make any pirate proud!

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

[A]: I was very unwell at the age of 20 and I went to the pharmacist for some medication and came back with a Spectrum +3 to take the boredom away from being confined to my house with the illness. The Speccy +3 looked like it would be good fun and I was suddenly into computer games. I then befriended the guys who ran the local games shop, progressed through the years with a Commodore 64, Amiga 500, Sega Mega Drive and then SNES, N64, PlayStation and Switch, but recently purchased an Xbox purely to play Sea of Thieves.

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

[A]: I wouldn't say I was a Rare fan, but I knew of Donkey Kong Country and one of my favourite games was GoldenEye.

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

[A]: I am currently only playing Sea of Thieves, as despite being a gamer, there are few games that hold my attention. I liked ActRaiser, the Zelda games, Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing and more recently Breath of the Wild, but none has grabbed me in quite the same way as Sea of Thieves.

[Q]: What was it that first drew you towards Sea of Thieves and its community?

[A]: When I first saw the world of Sea of Thieves I loved the way the ocean looked and the idea of being able to sail on my own boat with other people. When I first played the game, to be able to talk and play in real time with real people and be part of a team that sailed a Galleon, ran around islands and looked for treasure felt awesome.

Being able to chat together and have a laugh, share this gaming experience on a 50" screen and be drawn into such a beautiful world is a new way of experiencing games for me. It still makes me smile when you hear other gamers say "ouch!" when they fall some distance and break their leg. Or curse the skeletons and scream with surprise when they get blown up by a boombox like it actually happens to them. I think this is because we view the world in first-person and we can't change that to third-person, so it feels like it's us in the game rather than a pixel-created character.

We're hoping that's not Jackie's ship in the background...

[Q]: During our first weekly Sea of Thieves stream, you ended up bumping into the team and being a hit with our viewers! How did that feel?

[A]: I know who Rare are, but I didn't know who the people were, so I was overwhelmed by the volume of messages I received on my Xbox and people asking to join my Sloop. The Rare crew seemed like a nice crowd and I'm always up for a laugh when I play Sea of Thieves. I saw the boat coming in and was ready with the boombox to either use on a hostile boat or make a joke with a friendly crew.

I've since sailed with a few viewers who made contact and we've had fun which is what the game is all about for me. In terms of how it makes me feel now, I'm always glad to have plenty of like-minded Sea of Thieves players to call upon to play the game with.

[Q]: How big a part of your life has Sea of Thieves been since it launched back in March?

[A]: Sea of Thieves had been a talking point for a while amongst my friends, so when one of them said he had bought it I went out and got an Xbox and the game. It felt good to talk in real time with that friend who was thousands of miles away in Canada. I play every day, he doesn't so much. I moved on to other groups, random crews, and watched streams to see if I could play the game with any others. I like Slooping alone sometimes, but I still prefer the teamwork of a Galleon and the laughs you can have with a good crew.

I love Sea of Thieves! The sunsets, the islands, the colours and movement of the sea, the sounds, the sky at night. There are some things that this game has really nailed, like cannon fire close or in the distance, the sounds are spot on. In real life I want to sail the Pacific and visit every island and this game reminds me of that bucket list item I have. It might be the nearest I come to doing it, but I hope not, everything is achievable if you want to do it enough.

I think my biggest thing for Sea of Thieves is NO MORE LOADING TIMES! Yes, a game that once it's loaded in, off you go, it doesn't matter how far you sail, how many islands you get off and visit, how many caves you go down, there are no loading times. The game is so fluid once you're in, which is why I think the experience feels so real. The way the islands get closer along with the ships is how we experience things in real life, they get closer or further away. How this has been managed is way beyond me, but to play a game like it is phenomenal.

[Q]: What has it been like to be a member of the community since your appearance on the weekly stream?

[A]: I'm not so short of like-minded players to team up with now, so it makes playing the game that much better. The people you play with and come across are the real stars of the time you spend together. I do love the 'Sea of Friends' direction the game is taking, and I'm glad I've taken part in 24-hour streams and teams that have gathered boatloads of loot. Streamer OctagonRon showed me how you could defend yourself against the thieves, she remains one of the best players of the game I've seen.

So many crewmates staking out their own space on deck!

[Q]: Do you have any standout Sea of Thieves moments?

[A]: Tons to draw upon! The first time I was in a group of ships sailing from Shark Bait Cove to fight Megan, in a small fleet of five boats sailing around to sit in the Skeleton Thrones, or six ships in an Alliance the first time I played against the Skeleton Ships. We had three Galleons, two Brigs and my Sloop, 19 of us.

We all ended up on the last remaining Galleon and went to the Outpost together full of exuberance after winning against the final Captain. 19 people able to communicate over game chat and have such a fun time together and praise each other for the bailing, the cannon fire accuracy, taking the boomboxes over to the Skeleton Ships, throwing buckets of water onto their boats when you've run out of cannonballs. Real people getting a buzz out of teamwork, combining efforts, resources and sharing jokes to get through some very tough gameplay.

[Q]: What are you looking forward to most in Sea of Thieves’ future?

[A]: Mike has promised me a boob tube pirate costume to replace that awful bandage, so that's what I'm most looking forward to! Honestly, I trust this team to deliver more exciting gameplay and I look forward to just being able to play whatever they come up with. I would like a driftwood hut on a beach on one of the islands and a jetty for my Sloop, and it would be nice to have a central Tortuga town area where you could meet and team up with other Sea of Thieves players. Just having days where I can sail into the sunset and stand on the pointy stick at the front of my Sloop and watch the sun go down is still one of my favourite things to do.

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

[A]: I like to complete games, I got all 900 Korok Seeds in Breath of the Wild, so it was nice to become Pirate Legend in Sea of Thieves and have all the Bilge Rat Commendations so far. I'm working my way through the game achievements and just loving the journey. Having fun with others regardless of distance is one of the best social experiences Sea of Thieves delivers.

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

[A]: I've started a second character and if I ever come up with the perfect pirate name, that's what I will call the second lady pirate I started. Maybe Capt. Seven Seas.

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

[A]: I now travel since giving up work a few years ago, and I am slowly making my way around the globe. I like to pick a reason for going somewhere, so it was the whales in Alaska, the pyramids of Honduras, Mexico, Belize and Egypt, the culture and hills of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Russia and Estonia for the old buildings and Scandinavia for the progressiveness, equality and happy societies. Venice, Croatia, Split and Dubrovnik for picture-box towns, Greek islands for sun and fun and Santorini for the volcano of Thera.

Africa, specifically Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia for the wildlife and Victoria Falls. A Mekong River trip through Cambodia and Vietnam for culture, Angkor Wat and Buddhist temples. India for wildlife, history and beautiful buildings.

In Canada the people have a rich sense of humour. America, not all of it yet, but I've certainly seen a lot of it on a road trip from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio where I met friends and we travelled by car down to Fort Lauderdale, where we got on a boat and went round a few Caribbean Islands till we reached Aruba before sailing back to Florida. Then I had a flight back to London, I think I travelled 13,000 miles that time.

On a trip to LA and San Francisco I was lucky enough to go to Hawaii, my first time on the Pacific Ocean. Hopefully I will get to sail around that before I die.

Just the opportunity to meet other people from other parts of my home planet and see how their lives compare with mine. Possessions and things are not always what make people happy.

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

[A]: I spend most of my time on a real sea, not being able to walk in a straight line or have control over my balance and walking. I don't get seasick, but it's like I'm drunk without having had alcohol!

Jackie's world travels have led her to Rio, amongst many other places!

And that’s a wrap for this latest Community Spotlight! Many thanks for Jackie for taking the time to talk to us and for being such a supportive member of the community. We look forward to more stories from you, whether those are from your in-game or real-life adventures!

We’ll be back again in no time with a Spotlight featuring another awesome member of the Sea of Thieves community, but until then, check out all the Spotlights so far and keep those spyglasses primed on our social channels to stay up to date with the latest Sea of Thieves news.