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

[octavius]

Garriott is a larper, and larpers need appreciating auditory, hence the MMO obsession. There is no fun acting like a paladin when there is only your computer and you

Exactly. Garriot has been crazy about MMO's since UO and doesn't listen to reason. Which is why he's seemingly obsessed with repeating all the player-economy problems of UO with this turd. Limited real estate means that price of housing will skyrocket quickly - the usual going price for even the smallest house was a hundred thousand gold on Europa after Second Age came. There were almost no actual villages, as every possible land was absolutely filled with player housing. I can only imagine how bad the situation got later on. Even then, there were players who specialized in watching non-maintained houses that were in danger of collapse, with a deed at hand, ready to place their own house the second the old house vanished. Hell, there were gang-fights when a mansion or a castle was in danger with folks sacrificing characters for perma-red for the chance to get a castle for "free".

And player crafting sounds awesome, until you realize what macros, bots or even just no-life 'sperging nerds can cause. I remember that awesome feeling of crafting my first own sword in UO, only to realize that no-one is ever going to buy it because supply had oustripped demand thousand times over - every other house had two or three vendors on the door step, selling masterwork weapons dirt cheap. Or when I tried to support myself as a fisherman/cook - no luck either, because people with ships who could exploit the outer sea fishing spots were selling a thousand fish cakes for fifty gold.

Unless I missed something on the last twenty pages, that I admittedly just skimmed, nothing has changed and this shovelware will repeat all those mistakes and not even providing the best thing of UO - nearly limitless PVP and full looting.

I really can't see the point in such a game.
Either you do something productive in real life, or you do something heroic, exciting and fun in a game.
What's the fucking point of working in a game?

 

[Infinitron]

Chris Roberts finally gets around to supporting his old boss: http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/game-changers-richard-garriott/

 

[Blaine]

Unless I missed something on the last twenty pages, that I admittedly just skimmed, nothing has changed and this shovelware will repeat all those mistakes and not even providing the best thing of UO - nearly limitless PVP and full looting.

Pretty much. He's already stated that "only a few dozen City homes will be available to players in-game" (direct quote), and he's sold 34/40 to backers for $3,000-$3,500 a pop. It's not unreasonable to assume that those will be the only 40 City plots in the game, or very nearly so, thus making it incredibly difficult for a "normal" player to obtain one unless they pay an excessively exorbitant fee, probably in USD rather than in-game currency... all before the game's even begun. Not cool.

Lord Yiddish is not only rewarding his high-dollar backers, he's making them landed nobility in a persistent world, with the titles to prove it. It's not that I couldn't afford one of those houses if I wanted to (and that's the first thing those backers would accuse me of—jealousy), but rather that I can't get behind game design that passes out titles and rarefied virtual property to wealthier players years before the game even begins.

I've seen persistent housing done right. It was done right (not perfectly, but there was always room for everyone somewhere) in Star Wars Galaxies. It's been done right in a couple of the text MUDs I used to play, a function of 1.) small playerbases and 2.) being able to program more rooms into the game. Shroud of the Avatar is already a pretty obvious recipe for persistent housing done wrong.

 

[BobtheTree]

If nothing else, this Kickstarter got me into playing a free shard of UO. I imagine it's nowhere near its original glory, but with a few buddies I've been having a lot of fun with the game. If modern MMOs were like this, I'd be in real trouble.

 

[Niektory]

Which one? I've been itching to try UO for some time as well.

 

[Minttunator]

There are several free shards with different rulesets - including, of course, pre-Trammel. If I was to play, I'd pick one of those. Obviously there are less people playing than back in the day, but it's still probably a better experience than most modern MMOs.

 

[Blaine]

There are several free shards with different rulesets - including, of course, pre-Trammel. If I was to play, I'd pick one of those. Obviously there are less people playing than back in the day, but it's still probably a better experience than most modern MMOs.

Of course it is.

 

[BobtheTree]

Which one? I've been itching to try UO for some time as well.

We decided on UO Forever. In the evenings there are still a ton of people on and the community has been super helpful so far at helping out new players.

 

[Infinitron]

UPDATE 17: What IS this game?

 

[Diablo169]

I'm so glad he's told us what the game is with 8 days left on the kickstarter. It sickens me that this will probably get 2 million before the end. :/

Matt Daubenspeck about 12 hours ago

personally, I'd prefer females in leather to metal. Metal is so... male.

Holy shit they're everywhere

 

[Blaine]

And yet it still relays only the broadest and most vague information about the game's feature set.

 

[Stabwound]

Well, you see, it'll be an RPG. And it will have choices and consequences related to virtues. Also, there will be an over-arching storyline that you'll get to experience in 5 parts at full recommended retail price. Not only this, but you can build a house and dress up your character in cute clothes, plus play one of 5 musical instruments. Be sure to buy in now at our $500 tier for a tax-free house: it'll pay for itself in no time!

Will you join Lord British on his newest and most harrowing business venture yet?

 

[80Maxwell08]

Honestly I still have absolutely no idea how the hell this game is played. Is it an action RPG like the Souls games? Is that combat supposed to be like WOW? I've yet to figure it out and haven't heard anyone else talk about it. Anyone here know?

 

[Blaine]

Honestly I still have absolutely no idea how the hell this game is played. Is it an action RPG like the Souls games? Is that combat supposed to be like WOW? I've yet to figure it out and haven't heard anyone else talk about it. Anyone here know?

Sorry, no. Explaining how the game will actually work in even the broadest of terms will be the last-minute stretch goal for $3m.

 

[Infinitron]

Well, you see, it'll be an RPG. And it will have choices and consequences related to virtues. Also, there will be an over-arching storyline that you'll get to experience in 5 parts at full recommended retail price. Not only this, but you can build a house and dress up your character in cute clothes, plus play one of 5 musical instruments. Be sure to buy in now at our $500 tier for a tax-free house: it'll pay for itself in no time!

Will you join Lord British on his newest and most harrowing business venture yet?

 

[hiver]

Honestly I still have absolutely no idea how the hell this game is played. Is it an action RPG like the Souls games? Is that combat supposed to be like WOW? I've yet to figure it out and haven't heard anyone else talk about it. Anyone here know?

Sorry, no. Explaining how the game will actually work in even the broadest of terms will be the last-minute stretch goal for $3m.

When you figure that one out you might want to let me know the exact same things about Torment too.

Because i have no idea about any feature at all.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Torment will have TB combat and you journey through the world of Numenera, trying to find someone who used you previously. Along the way you will encounter many strange and wacky people, some of which will join you along the journey. Game will mostly play through conversations, though some adventuring elements, like puzzles and of course combat, will be included. The conversations will give you plenty of freedom to define your character, instead of keeping you on rails with meaningless Bioware-choices.

 

[Infinitron]

"Fuck it, here are all the stretch goals."

I guess the Kickstarter didn't go quite as well as they'd planned.

$1.5M: Content is King + Iolo + Spoony interviews Richard

Denis Loubet Cover art! (Denis made every Ultima cover except Ultima 2)
New David “Iolo” Watson musical composition! (Iolo created “Stones” for Ultima!)
Noah “Spoony” Antwiler interviews (roasts?) Richard “Lord British” Garriott
20 additional unique scenes including arctic scene sets
Starting continent doubles in size

Actually, I hope they reach this one.

$2.5M: Full VR Treatment!

Virtual Reality: LB has always been a VR enthusiast and a VR skeptic... many times, we have looked at supporting the myriad of 3D goggles and head trackers only to find them too slow, too heavy or too low rez... But the times, they are a changin! If we hit the $2.5M goal, we will support all the great new VR technologies that are coming of age now. Key examples are: Occulus Rift HMD goggles.

o_O

 

[GarfunkeL]

This is getting crazier and crazier.

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

Making interviews is now a part of a stretch goal, keep on digging your own hole . The editor sounds nice, but having it in a hybrid sp/mp game may give a green light to cheat.

Also

• A new City Center Theater building
• Rentable by an individual or group for a performance
• Only approved individuals may enter backstage or on stage
• Players must pay to enter seating areas
• Viewers may only emote, such as claps (claps are tracked to “rate” the performance)
• Money goes to performers for their performance
• Also useable for weddings and other community events!
• We add a full complement of “masks” and “costumes” for use at various events.

Theatre of Tragedy, hillarious.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The larp is strong with this one?

 

[FeelTheRads]

What a fucking trainwreck.

Marriage, though. That sounds romantic.

Key examples are: Occulus Rift HMD goggles.

Key examples are: one example.

 

[Mortmal]

Making interviews is now a part of a stretch goal, keep on digging your own hole . The editor sounds nice, but having it in a hybrid sp/mp game may give a green light to cheat.

Also

• A new City Center Theater building
• Rentable by an individual or group for a performance
• Only approved individuals may enter backstage or on stage
• Players must pay to enter seating areas
• Viewers may only emote, such as claps (claps are tracked to “rate” the performance)
• Money goes to performers for their performance
• Also useable for weddings and other community events!
• We add a full complement of “masks” and “costumes” for use at various events.

Theatre of Tragedy, hillarious.

People were doing that already in UO , on trammel side, however we are speaking of the good old times when only an elite and select few were accessing mmorpgs. I remember people roleplaying artisans in medieval faires, people were making their own stories like on europa server with the baronny of cove and the city state of vesper. As of today i dont think anything of this could work anymore, the playerbase is both massive and massively dumb.

 

[tuluse]

I'm considering pledging just to watch the Spoony interview.

 

[Minttunator]

I think there's a pretty good chance of it reaching $1.5M. A Spoony interview could be majestic if Spoony doesn't wimp out and calls LB on his bullshit.