shroud-of-the-avatar
Latest
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding September 8 - 21, 2013
In the oft changing world of crowdfunding hopefuls, faces come and faces go... and sometimes they come back again. If one of the newcomers to this edition of Make My MMO looks familiar, that's because the game ran a shorter, unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign last July. With a longer run this time around, perhaps Story Quest Online will fare better. On the flip side, one campaign flipped sections: We congratulate StarCraft Universe on meeting its goal and joining the ranks of the fully funded. Plenty of other news came from the funded ranks as well, from the crowdfunding king hit more funding goals (again) to progress reports and new feature reveals. You can catch all the details right here.
Shroud of the Avatar makes progress on homes and cloth armor
Hey gals and guys, you know what we've been wondering? We've been wondering how Shroud of the Avatar's been doing. Should we check in with Richard Garriott's upcoming title to see how it's cooking? Oh, let's! Two updates this month have highlighted several projects that the team's been tackling. First up are the four home models that will go in the game, including ones for founders, benefactors, and those who shell out $50 for a giant Viking home. Floorplans, exterior shots, and interior views are all included. The second update is a hodge-podge of smaller topics, including motion capture videos, the revamp of the male avatar, and cloth armor concept art. Cloth armor: when you positively, absolutely must be bludgeoned with bare minimum protection while still looking fabulous.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding August 25 - September 7, 2013
If you build it, they will come. While that adage hold true for baseball diamonds in cornfields, it's a little bit different for MMOs. If you're set on developing a new virtual playground, you get them to come so you can build it! That's the philosophy behind crowdfunding, anyway, and many are latching onto it. So how fare the fields of crowdfunding lately? New projects (Alteil Horizons, Epic Space) sprouted up, one took root and grew stronger (Divergence), and others (Project Snowstorm, Realms of Creation, Enspira Online) withered away from lack of nourishment. See how your favorite projects are growing right here in Make My MMO.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding August 11 - 24, 2013
Just when you think it will be a quiet couple of weeks on the crowdfunding scene... it isn't. Crowdfunding hopefuls seem to be following the advice of The Gambler this week: Know when to hold them, when to fold them, when to walk away, and even when to run! The funded crowd is holding steady with only a few bits of news, but two projects are on the brink of folding as they are both far short of their goals. Legends of Firestorm, on the other hand, didn't just walk away -- it high-tailed it out of Kickstarter without a word of explanation. In the meantime, thwo new projects (StarCraft Universe and Enspira Online) have joined the scene, and another project resurfaced. Check out the details right here.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding July 28 - August 10, 2013
Ah, the joys of bringing more games into the fold. Sadly, we don't know whether this will be just a brief passing in the night or a more permanent stay; that all depends on how newcomers Project Snowstorm and Legends of Firestorm do on their respective Kickstarter campaigns. Will the community help them make their MMOs? We'll keep watch and keep you informed. Speaking of keeping informed, a few of the funded projects found themselves in the news lately -- and we mean more than just crowdfunding king Star Citizen! And we've got it all rounded up right here for your perusing pleasure.
Shroud of the Avatar unleashes its content creation kit
Richard Garriott's Portalarium may have successfully kickstarted its Shroud of the Avatar project back in April, but that doesn't mean the team is done with the rewards. In last night's dev update, Executive Producer Dallas Snell introduced the Dungeon Kit: a Unity-based content creation tool that is now available to all Developer-Level ($400+ pledge tier) backers. This tool not only lets you build assets for SotA, but it also allows you to build assets for any Unity-based game that you may be working on. Snell reports that this may be the first time that something like this has been made available to other game devs or publishers before the game is even released. Be sure to check out the full update for much more on getting started with the kit, getting started with Unity, and some interesting factoids on how surveyed devs will be using the Dungeon Kit.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding July 14 - 27, 2013
Another fortnight down; another MMO hopeful lost. The casualty? Story Quest Online, which didn't come close to meeting its Kickstarter goal. The newest addition to this list, Realms of Creation, is still moving toward its goal and has another 34 days left to reach it. To see more about it, check out the new video after the break. In other news, Pathfinder Online also has a new video, and Star Citizen's Chris Robert's talked at length in an exclusive Massively interview. Even controversial Greed Monger headlined with a demonstration of its house building feature. Catch all the links to these stories right here in Make My MMO.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding June 30 - July 13, 2013
The last two weeks haven't been quiet on the crowdfunding front. While Star Citizen takes the lead with the most news (from ever-expanding coffers to just "finding ways to make the game more awesome"), other titles had their own snippets to report as well. There's also some upheaval in our ranks: We gained a new MMORTS/MMORPG mix project but lost two others from our list when both Skara: The Blade Remains and Anthym didn't meet their goals. And yet another title makes its final appearance before moving on to Betawatch! That's right, folks; TUG is saying hasta la vista to Make My MMO in favor of alpha land. Curious as to what all else has transpired? Then check out the details after the break.
Garriott and crew show off early Shroud of the Avatar gameplay
Richard Garriott and two of his Shroud of the Avatar lieutenants took the stage at RTX 2013 in Austin, Texas, last weekend to preview Portalarium's upcoming crowdfunded fantasy opus. Joining Garriott were former Ultima Online producer Starr Long and SotA technical director Chris Spears. Garriott's presentation started with a historical look at roleplaying games and the game industry as well as insight into his plans to leverage crowdfunding and community involvement to reinvent the genre. Aside from the early gameplay footage, Garriott also had plenty of interesting anecdotes to share about the gamemaking process, including the differences between traditional development -- where you can "smoke and mirror" the unfinished bits until you're ready to launch -- and crowdfunded work, which is done largely in full view of potential customers. The full presentation video can be found after the break. The gameplay demo starts around the 22-minute mark.
Shroud of the Avatar team adds Starr Long to the mix
Fans of the Ultima series should be happy to hear that Shroud of the Avatar has added Starr Long to its roster as executive producer. Don't recognize the name? You should; according to Richard Garriott, Starr Long is the reason that Ultima Online existed in the first place. As Garriott puts it, while there had been discussions about doing an online installment of the series, Long was the one who was insistent that Ultima Online needed to happen. He was so much the driving force behind it that Garriott points to him as the push that kept him working on the game. A formal announcement will be made on Saturday at RTX 2013 alongside a special demonstration of Shroud of the Avatar, which will be available via livestream. If you've been hoping to see some of the key players behind UO back together, it looks as if you're in luck. [Source: Portalarium press release]
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding June 16 - 29, 2013
Go ahead -- make my MMO. And here you thought this phrase only worked when interrupting a robbery! What was a unique phenomenon in the not-too-distant past has become an increasingly popular trend: crowdfunding new MMOs. Whether they're using the Kickstarter funding platform or another, more and more developers are turning to the public instead of publishers to take their designs from the drawing board and into reality. In fact, sometimes it feels like there are just too many to keep up with! Besides the new campaigns that seem to be popping up like dandelions, there are the successfully funded games to keep an eye on. So here's what we're going to do for you: We'll make it easier for you to keep tabs on both the new campaigns hitting the crowdfunding scene and the progress of those MMOs that already made their goal and have moved on in their development journeys (but haven't made beta yet). Join us past the break for the inaugural Make My MMO, a biweekly accounting of all MMOs crowdfunded. Have you heard about new campaigns that aren't listed? Send us a note and let us know!
Shroud of the Avatar introduces layaway program for backers
Portalarium's Kickstarter campaign for Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues cruised past its initial funding goal of one million dollars, landing at $1,919,275 by the time the clock ran out. Though the Kickstarter drive has ended, the company is still taking pledges for the project through the official SotA website. In fact, SotA offers a whopping 22 different pledge tiers ranging from $10 to $11,000. If you don't have $11,000 in your pocket but would still like to pledge as much, Portalarium has announced a layaway program that will help backers contribute larger amounts of money by breaking the payments up into smaller chunks. The layaway plan, which should go live this month, establishes monthly payments for big pledges -- and assigns a monthly finance fee. The company is promising another update this month with more details on the plan, which was designed in part due to backer requests. The layaway plan will be available to both new backers and those looking to upgrade their pledge tier. [Thanks to FlyinBuddha for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: Do you use Kickstarter to pre-order MMOs?
In MJ's interview with TUG's Peter Salinas last week, Salinas said that the most interesting thing about the community reveal of Nerd Kingdom's sandbox MMO was just how many people consider Kickstarter to be a pre-order system instead of, you know, a way to kickstart a game they want to see made. This jibes with Massively columnist Brendan Drain's observations earlier this week that "the most popular reward level for video game Kickstarters is almost always the lowest-priced tier that provides a digital copy of the game." I'm so guilty of this. I put exactly as much money into the TUG and Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter pots as I had to in order to secure myself the cheapest pre-order copy of the games I could, but I didn't chip in for an Android game Kickstarter from a dev who couldn't offer the game .apk in any tier. I don't know whether I feel bad. I want to see the games made, and I willingly pay for my copy; I consider my discount a fair tradeoff for paying them years before I'll download a client. But that's my personal limit: a pittance and a vote of confidence, really. I'm guessing most gamers aren't so fabulously wealthy as to heavily fund indie games even if they wanted to, and those who could do so probably have a lot of other worthy non-gaming causes that take precedence. So do you also take advantage of cheap pre-order tiers on Kickstarter? Do you hunt for the tier with exactly the right combination of swag? Or do you approach each Kickstarter knowing you want to donate a certain amount, regardless of what you get in return? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Some Assembly Required: Your guide to MMO sandboxes in 2013 and beyond
Welcome to Massively's guide to MMO sandboxes in 2013 and beyond. I've collected the essential details on all the major sandbox titles releasing this year and in the near future in one easy-to-reference article. If you're wondering whether ArcheAge forces you to PvP, or if you can't tell The Repopulation from Origins of Malu, this is your post. I'll be updating it as game features are added, removed, or revealed, so be sure to use the comments to let me know if I've overlooked a particularly noteworthy item. Finally, I want to point out that this isn't an exhaustive list because of the sheer number of sandbox projects ongoing. For now, I'm choosing to focus on the ones that will be playable in 2013/2014 as well as the projects that have a big-name developer attached.
Shroud of the Avatar reels in over $1.9 million on Kickstarter
Richard Garriott's fantasy RPG project Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues saw its Kickstarter campaign end this morning after having received $1,919,275 in funding support. The Ultima-like game reached a number of stretch goals after its initial $1 million goal was realized, granting the final product a pet system and additional Lost Vale and Mysterious Island content.Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is expected to launch for Windows, Mac and Linux in October 2014, and is the first in a five-game series, with each subsequent episode expected to release annually.
Shroud of the Avatar is well and truly Kickstarted
Time has run out for the Kickstarter campaign for Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar. The closing tally for the campaign was $1,919,275, raised over a humble $1,000,000 goal. When you throw in the donations made through the game's site rather than Kickstarter, the whole effort raked in just over two million dollars. Given that the game hit its funding goal back on March 19th, we realize the success of the campaign was never really in question. The project has enough funding to have unlocked nine or ten stretch goals, including a Tracy Hickman novel and a host of systems and content goodies.
Raph Koster is open to making another 'worldy MMO'
On his personal blog, Raph Koster announced that he has left Disney to become an unemployed game developer. The big question is, of course, what's next for the driving force behind Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. The answer is... he doesn't know. However, Koster does indicate that he is open to working on another traditional MMO, but not one born of Kickstarter. "I suspect that those of you who want this all want me to make a worldy MMO," he writes. "I may yet make one of those in the future, but I don't think that you can raise enough money on Kickstarter to do it justice." Koster says that he might be doing some consulting, writing, and speaking, but what he wants to do most is to "simply start making games." He claims that GDC inspired him to get back into the game-making business, big-time. He also says contrary to some rumors, he is not working with Richard Garriott on Shroud of the Avatar.
Rewards expand for backers of Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar
If you've been meaning to throw money at Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter campaign but haven't yet, the good news is that there are now more rewards for people who pledge support to the game. The $50 reward tier now includes a special Immortality Fruit, a special title, and early access to your surname. At $60, you also get a special tunic, weapon, and pet. The new $80 tier adds in future access to episodes 2 & 3 of the game, an indestructible starter tool, and the ability to tame an elusive monster out in the wild (assuming the game reaches its stretch goal for the taming system). Those who have already donated will receive the rewards as well, but there are several more expanded tiers that might convince fans to bump in a few more dollars.
Garriott talks Shroud of the Avatar story, questing, and mechanics
Richard Garriott recently dropped in on Matt Chat to talk up Shroud of the Avatar with host Matt Barton. Lord British has a lot to say over the course of the hour-long show, including some elaboration on Shroud's curious is-it-or-isn't-it-an-MMO design structure. "While most people will probably play in what I call the default setting of the open world, you can also turn it down to the other levels of comfort or safety that might prefer," he says. There's plenty more where that came from, including bits about the story, Tracy Hickman's involvement, and the game's approach to traditional RPG questing. Click past the cut for the full interview. [Thanks Avaloner81]
Shroud of the Avatar gets serious about housing
The Portalarium team has heard the many, many questions that potential players and Kickstarter backers have about Shroud of the Avatar's player housing system, and so they have released a video to help clear up several of the details. Houses in Shroud of the Avatar are purchased with in-game currency, exist in a shared space, and can be traded between players. Unlike early-era Ultima Online, Shroud won't render you vulnerable to burglars and thieves; house items will remain safe, although sometimes the house itself will be taken out of commission during a siege. There are several different types of player houses, from city houses to village cottages, that can be decorated on both the inside and the outside. The team decided to go with a deed system that will allow players to buy, sell, and trade the land on which houses are built. If a deed is acquired through the Kickstarter campaign, the house will be maintenance-free for life. You can watch the devs discuss the housing system after the jump.
