KickStarter Shroud of the Avatar - Lord British's Not-Ultima Online 2

But he's driving away 99% of the single player fans and probably about 80% of UO fans with the hybrid idea. It was predicable and he isn't stupid. Either it is his ego (must make something unheard of or bust) or space travel is to blame.

Let's ask Kosmonaut.

 

Yeah, but he is going to nickel & dime his rabid fanboys on microtransactions and the episodic content, so he'll make the money regardless.

 

No way. 15 000 players just don't add up. He could potentially get the hundreds of thousands UO once had back (maybe more) with monthly subscriptions and make tons more. It isn't the money.

 

Maybe this is truly his vision for the Ultimate RPG, who knows. I don't want any part of it though.

 

Sadly, this is where we are in agreement.

 

It's all sad, really. I truly believe Garriott has it in him to create an awesome game, but this is all just a money making scheme with a nostalgic veneer to lure old fans in. He's trying to get his slice of the social gaming/MMORPG pie while also drawing in the classic Ultima fans as extra victims.

The more I read about this, the more disingenuous it seems. Fucking Garriot. I have respect for the man for his previous accomplishments but it seems like he jumped ship to "FIRST AND FOREMOST LETS MAKE MONEYZ" a while ago. I mean, I'm sure guys like Brian Fargo et al. have their careers in mind first and foremost, but they also seem to be sticking to a vision of a game they personally love designing. Microtransations and yearly DLC/"expansions" just reeks of milking a playerbase. Hell, maybe this truly is his dream game, but I doubt it. Maybe dream money making project.

I hope this business model crashes and burns. It's awful. I detest mictotransactions to the core. No one should be supporting this model.

 

Yeah, somebody said earlier that Garriott really just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the Ultima series and I think I'd agree with them. He had good ideas in the past and he was able to make them into games but perhaps he was never truly the genius of CRPG design some would have hoped him to be. Either that or he's just off his rocker now.

Judging from all the video interviews and stuff he seems like a very conceited guy. He was going on about all the innovations he made with the Ultima series and now he's going to reinvent CRPGs again. I think he really expects old school Ultima fans to enjoy his new game because how could they not? It's LORD BRITISH!

 

Yeah. I can attest that space travel can cause you brian damage.

 

Haha, yeah, this video going over all of his accomplishments was embarrasing to watch. Whether or not it's true, tooting your own horn and speaking about your supposed accomplishments does nothing more than make you look like a douche. I'm not sure how that was supposed to help the kickstarter campaign.

 

What's the rate of pledges for this thing? It seems, at least compared to P:E, W2 AND T:ToN, to be just inching towards their goal. It's been in the 80-85%% funded range for days now, right?

 

They expected to hit goal on Monday, and it's been crawling along at a glacial crawl for the past few days. Maybe next Monday sounds more realistic.

 

There's no way that thing is going to get CLOSE to 4.4m! I know Kicktraq numbers are unreliable but if RG thinks that might happen he's been in his castle too long.

 

He might be the only developer with an alpha build who refuses to show how the game works in engine. I mean, apparently we can play a piano or launch a catapult

 

they are expanding retard anuses, that's what they're really expanding.

 

I hope Mr. Garriot will appear in new Shrug Off the Avatar, it would be a poetical justice.

 

God, I want to like this so bad, but it's like being in denial. There is probably no hope at all for this game. This is just depressing and gets moreso with every update.

Ultima is dead.

 

Rock Paper Shotgun interviews Lord British;

Link.

I don't think his answers are going to put any ones concerns to rest.

Here's some highlights;

Great job at dodging the question, he never says why he can't just plop a million of his own cash down on this project. Doing so would stop him being beholden to ANY outside influences and by his logic make the best game of all time.

This next one takes the cake;

So luckily you dont need to pay money for small inconsqential crap like a blue cow. If you read his answer he actually says "The answer becomes "yes" when you use the word "larger". Sweet, I love paying money for big pieces of game content.

 

It is truly a bad thing to kickstart MMORPG. Adding multiplayer to CRPG made sense only for NWN.

 

Wow, give it up already. This game is shit.