It was a slaughter.
My unending quest for Pirate Legend took me and Curt to a skull fort on a warm night with a full moon. Our ship was full of cannon balls and our hearts were full of courage. This meant nothing to the skeletons that swarmed from the fort; those bastards make Seal Team Six look like the Bad News Bears.
We died multiple times, and the third time the ship was about to sink we were ready to give up; that is until a pirate jumped on board and began to fix the hull, and not just any pirate, a Pirate Legend. He and his crew patched our ship, decimated the skeletons, and unlocked the vault. We agreed to give them the stronghold chest and skull as we would never have seen the inside of the vault without them. It was nice to see a Pirate Legend; I had never seen one in-game and had only read about them online.
Let me catch up those who are behind real fast. The quest for Pirate Legend is a long haul, and the race to be the first one was fraught with drama. Prod1gyX is a streamer who used his fan base to get to Pirate Legend first in Sea of Thieves. He would jump into one of his viewer's games as they turned in loot, get the cred, and move on. My thoughts when this first happened were that this was not the most honorable way to achieve the title of "First Pirate Legend," but you know... pirate.
Sea of Thieves is rough despite its cartoon art direction, and I think anything that doesn't change the game code or use another program for assistance is kinda fine. Short of walking into my house and knocking the controller out of my hand, I'll allow it. Even then, that seems pretty pirate, but the wife would be pissed. The rest of the internet is not so forgiving.
As Prod1gyX approached Legend status he began to sense the tide was turning. The Subreddit r/seaofthieves lost its collective shit and that, of course, flows directly into Twitter and #notmypiratelegend was born. We all waited to see if he would really get the title and what his reward would be. As it turns out, when you get Pirate Legend status, you get access to a cave, some new clothes, and death threats. Can't wait...
Prod1gyX would go on to defend himself on Twitter and Twitch, claiming that he did 80% of the game as intended, and it was his followers who willingly helped him achieve the last 20%. Another criticism was that once he achieved Legend he got stuck in menus and couldn't solve the final riddle quickly enough. Prod1gyX would contend that he had been streaming for over 24 hours and that contributed to the confusion.
Meanwhile, the game was being criticized for its own problems, mainly a lack of content. The lack of content gave people plenty of time to dwell on who was or was not the real first Pirate Legend. Major game publishers even began to pick up the story. At one point the subreddit began taking down new posts regarding Prod1gyX, first because the quickly turned vile and second because they were taking over the sub. With the subject closed on Reddit, we all went back to playing the game we loved or loved to hate, working our way to a reward none of us wanted anymore. All was right with the world, and Curt and I faithfully sailed to our dooms at the skeleton fort.
After being saved by the legend and opening the vault I asked “How long have you been a legend?” He replied “I was the first.” It took all my wherewithal to keep from saying something stupid while he was streaming. I realized that the only friendly pirate I’ve ever seen in this game, including myself, was the most infamous pirate on the sea, and he was likable, too likable to be honest. Both Curt and I thought he was pouring it on thick so when he finally did kill us it would hurt that much more.
Prod1gyX took me to his ship to see the 130+ chests they had as they worked their way to a new record, and, to really top it off, one crewmate remained behind to help us load the treasure. It was, as my mother used to say, "Classy as fuck." Seeing a boat full of treasure earned and a crew that seemed to be having a great time, It was hard to harbor any ill will toward this guy. He seemed to know the game inside and out and really enjoy plplaying it. The lesson here isn’t simple; the internet has banded together to punish those that needed it in the past like pewdie and Logan Paul but what happens when thatis turned on a person and subject that doesn’t deserve it and how do we know where to draw the line? I don’t know the answer, but I’m doubting it’s at Pirate Legend.
I don't know if Prod1gy’s rise to Legend was respectable, but I don't think it was cheating. I also know the code, and the code states: None shall quarrel or overly dissent against another crew, but let every engagement be settled by sword, pistol, and good seamanship. In the end, maybe we all broke the code more than Prod1gyX or his crew.
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A photo of Curt with Prod1gyX, if you disagree with the article you should take it out on Trickster4hire.