Community Spotlight – Middy

Time for us to sit down with a masterful artist whose creative talents have captured the hearts of the Sea of Thieves community! From vibrant illustrations to animated wonders, their artwork brings the pirate life to... well, life. We’re excited to talk all things pictures and pirates in this latest Community Spotlight, so settle down and grab a grog as we spend some time with Middy...

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

[A]: It was my parents, essentially. When I was a kid we had an old computer with some very simple and short games, and a PlayStation 1 with a minigame bundle disc. Eventually they introduced me to other games like Spyro, which really really got me hooked. Soon after that you’d see a little kid obsessed with videogames of all kinds!

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

[A]: Yes, unknowingly! When I got my Nintendo DS console as a kid, one of the games that I got gifted was Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, a game that I loved, completed fully (100%!) over the years and still go back to from time to time just to swim in nostalgia. I obviously didn’t care much about the title screens with all the logos, being so young, but when I discovered Sea of Thieves I did some research to know more about the company behind it and I was surprised to find that both games were made by the same studio!

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

[A]: As weird as it might sound, I like watching people playing games more than playing them myself. I consider myself absurdly bad at videogames no matter the time I spend on them, although I enjoy them a lot! However, there are games I can’t let pass. I currently sometimes play Wayfinder with friends, while also having fun with Perfect Heist 2, and not so long ago I played through both God of War (2018) and God of War: Ragnarök, two of my favorite games out there. Stray is also a big favorite of mine.

[Q]: What brought you over to Sea of Thieves and its community?

[A]: I discovered the game through a YouTube channel called WorstPremadeEver, years back when my computer could absolutely never imagine running a game like Sea of Thieves. I liked the concept a lot. When I was able to play, it took me about a year to get into the community thanks to my now Guildmates.

[Q]: Can you remember your first piece of Sea of Thieves art?

[A]: Oh, it’s old now. I think it must have been from a year or two back, picturing my pirate back then. I wasn’t drawing a lot of Sea of Thieves art, they were just doodles and most of the time uncolored. The first illustration I made blew up in the community, though!

[Q]: What has been your favourite Sea of Thieves piece to work on?

[A]: Must have been the one I have with EliEelEye, both playing music and singing by the fire at Port Merrick. Although it looks simple in details and composition, I’m still happy about the colors and lighting in this one! Not to talk about how I got it to be rigged and animated by Sunshoot. I still have it as a wallpaper on my computer to this day and it always makes me happy to see other people do too!

[Q]: Do you have any exciting projects on the go at the moment that you can share with us?

[A]: I do have some in mind that I’d love to start working on soon. Biggest one I have on the planning table is a mini fan art book from the point of view of Merrick, studying the anatomy of the fish types in Sea of Thieves, providing details of each, studies of their scale patterns, what they would taste like, etc. It would make me use both my illustration and professional graphic design knowledge. I honestly can’t wait to start that!

[Q]: Thinking back, are there any standout moments for you in Sea of Thieves since you started playing?

[A]: Many! Every time I play with my regular crewmates we always stumble upon the most fun situations. Just the other day we got to stack up to 10 Forts of the Damned while fighting the whole server repeated times. Any player interaction, a friendly encounter or not, already makes it memorable. However, I think my favorite thing has been meeting all of my current friends and partner.

[Q]: What are your favourite recent additions to Sea of Thieves?

[A]: Throwing knives and the Horn of Fair Winds have been pretty fun to use! Now I’m finding disguises and blowpipe darts super fun to mess around with crewmates and enemies.

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

[A]: Overall being in multiplayer games. My hands got very shaky and cold whenever I tried joining a multiplayer game a while back, and it didn’t matter if I was with friends or not. I’m not sure what was exactly causing that feeling of nervousness, but now I’m able to play with no issues!

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

[A]: My first and most beloved sloop is called Mr Worldwide. Little guy has seen everything. Friends drowning in the seas, enemies being sent to the Ferry, the roars of the Burning Blade, countless failed harpooning attempts… I hope the shipwright never runs out of planks to repair it every time it sinks (or I will cry).

As for my pirate, I already changed the gamertag a long time ago! He’s Middy Seabirb, my social media name and a ‘Seadog’ variant (because he doesn’t like dogs that much). The last name is completely made up. I don’t think he remembers his real last name.

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

[A]: I’d say hanging out with my boyfriend and friends, art, editing videos and organizing whatever’s in my hands.

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

[A]: I stole your supplies as you were reading this. Also, if you ever find me on the seas, just say hi and I’ll be drawing your pirate!

Thank you so much to Middy for taking the time to talk to us. We’re excited to hear of many more crew shenanigans in future, and of course lay eyes on plenty more pieces of stunning Sea of Thieves artwork.

If you can’t wait to hear more from our community, you can check out our previous Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights. Or to see what else our players have been up to and some of the wonderful creations they’ve been making recently, head over to our Community Hub. Until next time!