Sea of Thieves players of a certain vintage may well recall Wanda.
Wanda was a weaponsmith on Golden Sands outpost back in year one, as unremarkable a background character as any of Sea of Thieves’ NPC shopkeepers. One day, though, something strange occurred. Word began to spread among players that Wanda was behaving shiftily; she forgot her name, lost her voice, and started hiding her arm behind her back whenever anyone was in range. More inquisitive sorts thought to catch her unawares, scaling atop her shack to peer through a window unseen. And that’s when the truth was revealed; Wanda was undergoing a horrific transformation, slowly turning skeletal as the weeks progressed. Things only got stranger from there; pungent plumes of smoke could be seen rising from her chimney, a mysterious companion was spotted lurking at the back of her store, and then she was gone.
Eventually, with the arrival of Sea of Thieves’ Cursed Sails update, all was revealed; Wanda had uncovered a dark power she thought she could exploit, ultimately leaving her cursed and transformed into the bloodthirsty Captain Warsmith. Now terrorising the oceans with her fearsome fleet of skeletal ships, outposts across the map were in lockdown, NPC characters cowered in fear for their lives, and players were tasked with bringing down her rein once and for all. It was a wonderfully organic bit of storytelling, blending subtle background mysteries only the most observant players might spot with huge centrepiece moments, cleverly folding in map changes and new mechanics along the way.
Wanda’s saga hinted at what I’d always hoped Sea of Thieves would be: an ever-changing world full of evolving stories, shifting allegiances, and more. And while it was neither the first or the last time Rare has subtly reshaped its piratical world in the run-up to a big new feature, it was certainly the most ambitious, and I’ve remained a little surprised that – for all the impressive additions brought to the game in the last four years – Rare hasn’t really attempted such an all-encompassing approach to narrative design since then. But that’s about to change.