Creator of Ultima Online kickstarting a new MMORPG for 2014

[Godefroi]

Here is the kickstarter with a 90 days demo.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0

[Bazia]

There's already like 2,000 MMO kickstarters out there atm

no thanks

[t0lkien]

The game videos shown look pretty ordinary. The vision is great though, and I mean holy cow, it's Richard Garriott. It's worth a look.

[Kika Maslyaka]

The guy looks surprisingly respectable, unlike a typical game-geek designer...
Consider UO was a hardcore nightmare - which I personally refused to play, this could be just the person we need to deliver a game that would utilize modern technology with original 20th century RPG approach....

On other hand, unless he is working with a team of super-geek enthusiasts who work for donuts, there is no freaken way he will finish an MMO on a $2m budget.

Graphics (char models) looks unimpressive - DOAC style, but its not Disneyland EQN/WoW, so there is some promise...

On other hand - it could end up being UO-like PK-fest and insane hardcore time sink, worse than EQ1

time will tell...

[timhutton]

Why does a formerly successful company need a kickstarter to build a game? Did they go bankrupt and dissolve or something? j/w

p.s. game looks like shit

[Pringles]

Game looks run of the mill WoW clone, but because of who its from I am willing to give it a shot. My experiences in UO (pre-trammel) are still *the* best MMO experience I've had to date... EQ is second.

[Estolcles]

It's Garriott. Without his ideas, things like EQ would never exist.

If it was as tough as UO but without the PK, I'd be into it.

I'd give it a shot.

[Godefroi]

He's spent 30 M USD to go to the ISS and become the 6th "space tourist".

fyi TESO global consolidated budget per quarter is 8 million euros. This can give you an example of how much of a challenge developping an mmo is in 2013.

[t0lkien]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wckfc-0WyPs

The game looks better than it seems to in the Kickstarter material. MUCH better. They even have proper cloth/cloak tech.

Also, he's speaking some truth: http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/shroud-of-the-avatar-creator-game-designers-suck/

[formallydickman]

Why does a formerly successful company need a kickstarter to build a game? Did they go bankrupt and dissolve or something? j/w

p.s. game looks like shit

After Tabula Rasa I believe he was fired or let go or 'quit' from NCSoft.

[timhutton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wckfc-0WyPs

The game looks better than it seems to in the Kickstarter material. MUCH better. They even have proper cloth/cloak tech.

Also, he's speaking some truth: http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/shroud-of-the-avatar-creator-game-designers-suck/

Jesus, that is 10000x better than the kickstarter vid.

[timhutton]

I WANT TO CHANGE MY VOTE BECAUSE PIXELS

[Talgurin]

He should have said MMO designers suck, not game designers in general. In this sense he's insulting designers from Bethesda / Fallout / Skyrim, other cool games like Bioshock, Mass Effect, ETC -- all of whom are better designers than Mr. Lord British is.

However Garriott does have "street cred" with MMOs, since old school UO is still a legendary game.

If you want a sandbox PK fest, I'd go check out Mortal Online. I can barely play it despite a really awesome world to explore, because every time I log on reds murder me and it gets old. But, it's definitely good for certain folks.

This game is not an MMO. It sounds more like Diablo 2, where you can play solo or in a limited multiplayer structure.... sounds OK, i'd prefer a decent MMO though.

[Tecmos Deception]

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtue.

What a fucking abysmal name. Sounds like a name someone who played too much Lineage 2 would think of for his new strategy browser RPG in 3 minutes of brainstorming.


Hearkening of Tomorrow: The Wakening
Dominion of Azgalar: The Reborn Kingdom
The Saga of Endless Adventure
Forgotten Depths: Dungeon of the Underking
Beyond The Horizon: Forever Onward

[Estolcles]

I just want ESO.

And maybe an MMO based on "Lunar". That would be awesome.

[bloodmuffin]

No top down isometric views? The fuck is this shit?

[thugcruncher]

I'll play if I can tear myself away from Tabula Rasa.

[Tealia]

I will never forget the travesty and slap in the face of Ultima IX, Garriot.

[Azure]

Lord british may be a hasbin but I believe he has what it takes to make another great game if he doesn't try to cater to a market and publisher.

For sure you will be able to make and sit in chairs in that game )

[crkhobbit]

Too many !'s and typos, bad graphical elements for me to take this seriously.

[NegaStoat]

I can have a house, chop wood, make a chair, sit in the chair, and with any luck... possibly even pvp and loot other people's chairs.

I'm sold. Can't wait.

[Buma]

This is old news about this kickstarter. The main issue with this one is not only is Richard porting to tablets for this game he openly said he wants more people to play mmo's on tablets and is why he is going this route. The game will be for PC but hearing him say tablet threw me off.

Also any mmorpg being developed by means of backers is just wrong in my opinion. You have all these people who back it, they all get goodies, including a big edge over other players when the game goes live just because they donated some money. I think kickstarter mmorpg's is going to be something I will stay very clear of. Why would you people throw your money at a company not even knowing what you are going to get. Developers always promise things but never fully give them. EQ Next for example, when they came out with the Pax 2009 video of the development team telling us the game will not change from current EQ, just the graphics and AI will get great improvements and story and questing will further be developed on, what we hear from them now is a totally different game not even resembling EQ.

[gotrocks]

Saw this a while back, looks awful.

My biggest problem is that Garriott is soooo full of himself. You should hear the way he talks about other developers. Not ok. I refuse to support any of his work when he has pretty much straight up said all developers except him, peter molyneux, and a couple others are total shit

[Borador]

Also any mmorpg being developed by means of backers is just wrong in my opinion. You have all these people who back it, they all get goodies, including a big edge over other players when the game goes live just because they donated some money...

Agree... The easy mode casual gamer trend is one thing, but the pay for power stuff has to go. I really don't see why people like this.

[Estolcles]

he has pretty much straight up said all developers except him, peter molyneux, and a couple others are total shit

Molyneux.. the man who promises insane stuff, and delivers on only a quarter of the things.

All the "Fable" games, for instance....

[Estolcles]

Agree... The easy mode casual gamer trend is one thing, but the pay for power stuff has to go. I really don't see why people like this.

People would rather pay to have top gear instead of questing for/earning it.

Fucking lousy modern-age gaming...

[t0lkien]

Saw this a while back, looks awful.

My biggest problem is that Garriott is soooo full of himself. You should hear the way he talks about other developers. Not ok. I refuse to support any of his work when he has pretty much straight up said all developers except him, peter molyneux, and a couple others are total shit

The new vid looks pretty great, and the no-hand-holding aspect of the design is loooooong overdue. Save us from WoW babies and their God awful cartoon diaper universe.

However, his trash talking about other designers is actually warranted in at least one way. The state of modern game design is ferking attrocious, and the guys generally put in charge of games in lead positions are aggressively mediocre and intentionally so. Lead design is a middle management position in which only those who capitulate to upper management survive i.e. they are yes men. I've been a Lead and have been forced into that same awful compromise, and it's soul destroying if you have any integrity. The ones that survive and endure there are not good designers - actually, I question what sort of people they are.

There are exceptions of course, but they are few now when they used to be (almost) the rule. Black Isle, Interplay, Origin, Sirtech, (young) id Software, the original LucasArts, the original Bioware and old Blizzard/Blizzard North (RIP) - so many of the ground breaking companies that created the genres we play now no longer exist, and the best of the designers have passed on to other things. Garriott on this point is spot on. His choice of designers whom he considers "his equal" are terribly misplaced IMO, and he obviously has a huge ego in this regard (and I don't necessarily agree with him). Calling the industry out for what it has become (http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/19/richard-garriott-game-designers-suck/), though, just makes me cheer from the sidelines. It's a long overdue truth.

[Rogean]

He's going to create the next modern MMO with $2kk from a kickstarter?

Good luck.

[Godefroi]

I can have a house, chop wood, make a chair, sit in the chair, and with any luck... possibly even pvp and loot other people's chairs.

I'm sold. Can't wait.

Lmao

[Kika Maslyaka]

He's going to create the next modern MMO with $2kk from a kickstarter?

Good luck.

was my point exactly. However other sources say that Kickstarter camping was just a way to get some free dough and early pre-sales, and 30M have already has been put into a game. Plus, the guy is filthy rich. Combined with his ego, he can actually deliver a game exactly how he wants it... Even if no one is going to play it ;)

[myriverse]

I can have a house, chop wood, make a chair, sit in the chair, and with any luck... possibly even pvp and loot other people's chairs.

I'm sold. Can't wait.
That demo he showed bored me silly. What's with the whole chair thing? Build your own. Capture the lich king's. Are you running your own in-game Ikea or something? It's never been a pressing issue for me, in any game, to have a comfy seat. Sitting on the lich king's bone throne should have ended with perma-character death/deletion.

And changing the torch colours? Meh. Is this game about home decorating?

And power saws?! If that's the case, I want a shotgun for the lich king.

[Swish]

This thread didn't need a poll if we're honest.

[Borador]

People would rather pay to have top gear instead of questing for/earning it.

Fucking lousy modern-age gaming...In Korea? Or China.... Its huge. I read something about how it makes peoples real jobs seem like the quests. Instead of farming in game for hours they just farm a desk job for money then buy dragon loot. Its a nice concept i guess, but i think it requires the boss to buy into it also. Maybe after 12 hours straight of working you leave with nothing but a few pennies. Then one day you walk I and 5 minutes later an envelope full of cash drops on your desk. I could see that making things interesting.

But ya, I don't need more rich person envy...

[CharlesBarkley]

How have all of you people not even bothered to read the page

"Shroud of the Avatar is a Selective Multiplayer game, allowing players to choose how they want to play! Whether in Single-Player Offline mode or any of three online modes, the main quest line will provide greater than 40 hours of focused, story driven content.

Shroud of the Avatar can be played as an offline DRM free solo experience or online, where our servers will enable player to player transactions, group finding, patching, streaming of dynamic content, and exploit prevention."

It's not an MMO

[SamwiseRed]

poll is the only good thing about this thread

[Masq]

UO best game ever made.

[Trelaboon]

I love how people on this forum complain about modern MMOs all the time, and yet, this new project is a very old-school feeling project and everyone is hating on it because you can craft chairs etc. I'm super pumped, I think this looks like the most promising new MMO concept in the market. I think everyone here just looks for ways and reasons to be as negative as possible.

[CharlesBarkley]

I love how people on this forum complain about modern MMOs all the time, and yet, this new project is a very old-school feeling project and everyone is hating on it because you can craft chairs etc. I'm super pumped, I think this looks like the most promising new MMO concept in the market. I think everyone here just looks for ways and reasons to be as negative as possible.

It's not an MMO.

[Borador]

It's not an MMO.Not a pure MMO but it will have online play. Even a partial online RPG generates many of the same issues a full MMORPG has.


http://diablohq.com/is-diablo-3-an-mmorpg-or-just-a-rpg/

[Kika Maslyaka]

same could be said about Guild Wars2 - since difficulty of any encounter adjusts automatically with number of players engaged in encounter - could very well be played solo.

[myriverse]

If it were just left to Lord British and UO, I'd have never got into MMOs. I'm grateful there was something opposite that experience (EQ) to run towards.

[Borador]

If it were just left to Lord British and UO, I'd have never got into MMOs. I'm grateful there was something opposite that experience (EQ) to run towards.Absolutely agree. I remember how much hype there was for UO, and it did sound amazing. It turned out to be awful though. UO games attempt to recreate straight DnD where you can basically do anything, but its just constantly failed in my mind, I'd rather play the sims.