Small but meaningful cosmetics

And if that said country was…well you know. Would you still raise that flag and have to deal with the outcome?

I rather not see that happen.

@teufel72400

I know a few discord groups that are specifically for veterans (and I thank you for your service). However country flags aren't a great idea in this game.

I understand the sentiment of having something like this in the game but I would not recommend for the game to go that way.

SoT is an immersive adventure game where you create your own story and bringing stuff from the real world in it will always be jarring. Cosmetics that according to bigger parts of the community "don't fit in the game" like Halo or Jester Cosmetics (and others I cannot recall rn) are really borderline.
Even the Twitch flag is on the edge but at least deeply rooted in gaming culture.

Another issue is representation. You do not know how the companies/brands/organizations behind those icons behave in the future. Will they be controversial or are they already?

Will some malicious group take over that icon/cosmetic and therefore ruin it for the rest -- similiar to rainbow flags (unfortunately).

Nation flags are a good example. So many toxic players specifically target players with a certain nationality/ethnicity background and that's just from them deducting it from their ship/player/guild name.

@teufel72400

I think it's admirable to be proud of what you do and it's a nice thought to want to represent that in your online gaming BUT military groups is a bit of a risky one. I think SOT wants to remain inclusive and open to everyone so having someone rocking about with a US marine corps flag would be seen as openly politically aligning themselves with the military activities of the United States of America past and present which would perhaps alienate some people... Having an American flag would probably be more doable but the downside of this is the United States of America was yet to be formed during the golden age of piracy and that's the time period SOT is supposed to be in.

I'm not an American but we are allied nations so I'll say it too: Thank you for your service.

🍻

Personally I think Rare should have kept the real world out of SOT altogether.

That being said, there is nothing inherently offensive or exclusive about a country's flag and in the age of sail, ships did fly flags representing nations, they still do. Pirates also flew "false colours" of friendly nations to deceive navy and merchant vessels.