My theory:

It's not exact, but the coordinates of the shipwreck of the Whydah Gally off the coast of Cape Cod are Latitude: 41.8920 Longitude: -69.9620. Google maps won't give me much information but this seems to be very close to the given coordinates in the Cape Cod Ocean Sanctuary.

The Whydah Gally was a slave ship which carried a cargo of slaves and gold from Africa to the Caribbean in 1715, before being seized by the pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy in 1717 off the coast of Cuba. Bellamy took the Whydah Gally as his flagship, raiding his way up the North American coast but taking storm damage along the way. In April of 1717, the ship ran aground on a sand bar in a storm off the coast of Cape Cod, sinking with the crew and gold and leaving only 2 survivors. Salvagers set upon the wreck, but while mapping the site found much of the cargo scattered along 4 miles of seabed.

Flash forward to 1984, an archeologist using the maps made by salvagers searched for and found the wreck of the Whydah Gally, with the stolen treasure still in place. A bell inscribed with the name of the ship made it the first recovered shipwreck in which the name of the wrecked ship was confirmed definitively.

So we've got a treasure ship, pirates, a shipwreck, a treasure map, and underwater archeology. Given that this is a naval update and the event is a treasure hunt, my bet is the coordinates have something to do with that.

Seems compelling, that's a really great find, grug!

Second set of co-ordinates (101001°101’100010.1110000111’’N 1001000°110’11010.100010’’O) is in binary - which, if I calculated it correctly should be 41°5’34.903’’N 72°6’26.34’’W (I'm assuming the 'O' = 'Ouest' ('west in French)). If so, the location given is Gardiners Island, just off Long Island, New York - a place where Captain William Kidd buried some treasure just before his death the following month (the treasure was actually dug up and used against him as evidence of his piracy in his trial). So yeah, in combination with the last set of co-ordinates indicating the resting place of the Whydah Gally, and this whole event being a treasure hunt where we make progress by pillaging, taking place just before a big naval update, the reward has to be something pirate-related.

I hope it won't be privateers only (known from opendev).

irw wrote:

I hope it won't be privateers only (known from opendev).

Interesting, Cat said 'a new unit or two' when asked about new submarine in the next update previews. Maybe Privateers will return with their own unit line?

Also, huge props to the lads working out those coordinates! I will echo someone who said that in the Anniversary blog, probably a pirate-themed avatar and/or hat, hopefully with an option to put it on Lucy, so she looks like in the Game Awards trailer ;D

I'm starting to fantasize already about being able to sail the seas with my inca pirates. Naval update, a rework on commerce and poaching, and then all of the hints. It does really seem that the secret feature is about piracy, and boy, I could not be more excited about it.

Can't wait to the update release!

Whilte the privateers are a nice guess, I'm afraid I have to shoot that one down right away before people hype themselves too much: The reason they were removed in the first place was that they turned out to be more trouble than they're worth. The amount of work and time required to implement them and adress the edge cases far outweight the gameplay options they would add.

I'd agree, but the final clue throws a wrench into pirate theme for me. It's not even something I'd call a generic pirate treasure map. That's the same artwork as used in 'The Lost Cities of Gold', but I don't think the other two clues have any ties to the El Dorado.

Maybe it just suggests that it's a place? Some pirate-y themed Natural or Cultural Wonder?

DNLH wrote:

I'd agree, but the final clue throws a wrench into pirate theme for me. It's not even something I'd call a generic pirate treasure map. That's the same artwork as used in 'The Lost Cities of Gold', but I don't think the other two clues have any ties to the El Dorado.

Maybe it just suggests that it's a place? Some pirate-y themed Natural or Cultural Wonder?

There's a VERY TINY set of coordinates hidden in that map

Oh, yup, that's what I get for not zooming in.

SpikedWallMan wrote:

Last set of coordinates is for Blackbeard's Castle in the Virgin Islands.  Methinks we be hoisting the Jolly Roger soon.

The exact coordinates I got after conversion do indeed put it in Charlotte Amalie on a hilltop that overlooks the deep harbor. Bluebeard's Castle is probably the closest attraction, but is off by enough that I wouldn't assume. Blackbeard's Castle is almost as close, so all signs do seem to indicate something piratical.

Probably a pirate avatar or persona?

Perhaps a pirate-based scenario to try all the new naval combat and trade route plundering with?

Wild guess: If you assume each set of coordinates refers to something different, they could be referring to naval combat (shipwrecks), plundering trade routes (buried treasure), and.... improved ability to sell off/trade/gift territories?!? (US Virgin Islands)

Looks like we were on the right track, pirates it is! Will definitely be fun to see this in game. 

grug wrote:

But on the other hand, this is pretty different from the other cultures they have had. The Norsemen, for instance, are not called the vikings, as víkingr is the profession of seafaring adventurer not a cultural group - so why is a single profession now a playable culture? They have had disunited cultures before, like the Bantu or Phoenicians, but while internally diverse they came from a shared cultural tradition with a lasting legacy rather than pirates from distinct backgrounds which never really faded away as the defining cultural identity of an individual before splintering without any claim to a shared legacy. The Huns were only really held together as a cohesive group by a common interest in raiding and (as far as I know) had few lasting cultural impacts after being assimilated into their new homeland, but they had a distinct shared experience unlike pirates who fought on both sides of most wars in the Caribbean and for whom cohesion was the rare and questionable exception, not the norm. So while other cultures in the game may have had a short duration of existence, mixed backgrounds, no common language or religion, no common homeland, and been divided by warring political interests and a splintered legacy, by calling this culture "pirates" the only defining feature is their profession. And how can that be used to represent the farmers, merchants, tradesmen, and scientists populating my cities, or the development of a shared ideology and religion, or a unified course of diplomacy? It's interesting, but it verges on being a gimmick.

So, on some level I understand and even agree with your points. However, in my mind "pirate" is more of a legal status rather than a profession. Outlaws, although that might be due to more modern usage of "piracy". Coming at it from another angle, seafaring pirates were certainly known to recruit or impress more traditional professionals (e.g., carpenters, surgeons, etc.) into their crews for limited periods of time.

On the other hand, I would find it hard calling a farmer on Tortuga a pirate. Even if the grain they grew eventually became hardtack for a buccaneer.

Something like "Caribbean Buccaneers" with the sloop renamed the "pirate's sloop" would make a bit more sense to me by redefining the culture to a group which was also internally diverse and could also take advantage of the newly released naval and piracy mechanics, but had a more visible shared culture/ set of experiences and lived in the region permanently rather than representing every privateer and outlaw that plied the Caribbean by excluding certain pirates outside of that shared culture and including, say, women and children who lived as civilians in camps along the coast.

For what it's worth, "Caribbean Buccaneers" sounds too much like "Scandinavian Vikings" to my ear.  From a more practical standpoint you'd probably also want to rename the emblematic unit. 

Caribbean Outlaws? No, that brings up images people wearing black cowboy hats, wielding six shooters, and speaking with a Jamaican accent.

I suppose if they stick with Caribbean Pirates there's always the chance they can get Johnny Depp to do some voice work. ;)

Oh wow, 'a new playable culture' crossed my mind for a reward, but after being cooled off with my new units post I didn't want to hype up for something like that and decided to guess safely avatar/cosmetic. I'm impressed.

I agree it may feel a bit weird to have them as their own culture, but it can be an interesting gimmick. I do wonder how they will look aesthetically, buildings and districts. Units will likely use the generic western models, but Buccaneers should be fine to be your main infantry. Exciting stuff all in all. Fingers crossed they'll make the narrator do a halfhearted 'yarr' when introducing them.

Very much looking forward to the culture, I love maps with a focus on smaller terrains with a variety of islands now and again, and would be curious to see how this plays.

Cool thing is that both units have been breifly showcased in the Console Launch trailer :

Sloop :

https://youtu.be/ZvGFLJ69MsA?t=33

Buccaneers :

https://youtu.be/ZvGFLJ69MsA?t=36

Waykot wrote:

Cool thing is that both units have been breifly showcased in the Console Launch trailer :

Sloop :

https://youtu.be/ZvGFLJ69MsA?t=33

Buccaneers :

https://youtu.be/ZvGFLJ69MsA?t=36

I've been slooped :

And buccaneered :