shroud-of-the-avatar
Latest
Garriott: 'I think most game designers really just suck'
Richard Garriott has some harsh words and a bit of tough love for game design professionals in a new interview at PC Gamer. Lord British, more visible in the press these days as a result of his successful Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter project, sat down with the mag to talk at length about what ails gaming and who he thinks is capable of doing something about it. "I think there's really very few great game designers," Garriott says. "I think Chris Roberts is one of them, Will Wright's another, Peter Molyneux is another. They clearly exist, but on the whole, I think that the design talent in our industry is dramatically lower than we need, as an industry. It's a very hard skill to learn." Garriott cites a lack of education and a lack of extra-design skills as problems plaguing many designers and the industry at large. If you're not a good artist and not a good programmer, but you still like games, you become a designer, if you follow me. You get into Q&A and often design. And the most valuable part of creating a game is the design, which the programmers are technically executing. And they'd be happy to just execute some of them. But in my mind, most artists and programmers are just as much of gamers as the designers, and I usually find in my history that the artists and programmers are, in fact, as good of designers as the designers. They're often better, because they understand the technology or the art. So we're leaning on a lot of designers who get that job because they're not qualified for the other jobs, rather than that they are really strongly qualified as a designer. It's really hard to go to school to be a good designer."
Shroud of the Avatar tops $1 million in funding, adds stretch goals
Lord British's Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter project has officially surpassed its $1 million funding goal with 19 days to go. That means stretch goals and bonus rewards, and the project website has been updated with a listing that includes a pet system (both social- and combat-focused) and seasonal weather functionality. Bonus rewards have also been added to all of the backer tiers beginning at the $60 founder level. New goodies include various avatar titles, in-game house decor, physical collector's items, and more. [Thanks Don!]
Shroud of the Avatar taps Dragonlance author as lead story designer
Fantasy author Tracy Hickman will be the lead story designer on Richard Garriott's latest venture, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. Hickman is a New York Times best-selling author, perhaps best known for his Dragonlance and Death Gate series of novels.In the above video, Hickman argues that the graphics, sound and physics engines of computer games have "made quantum leaps forward," it's the gameplay that's lacking any real progression. "In fact, gameplay hasn't changed that much for 30 years," Hickman added. Shroud of the Avatar is currently sitting in the low $900,000 area. With over three weeks left to go before the Kickstarter campaign comes to a close, the goal of $1 million seems well within reach.
Tracy Hickman tapped for writing duties on Shroud of the Avatar
If you were a fan of fantasy games in the 1980s, you know Richard Garriott from the Ultima series. (Our younger readers are more familiar with him as someone who went to space.) Odds are good that you were also familiar with Tracy Hickman, co-author of the popular Dragonlance novels during the '80s. And if that sounds like two great tastes that taste great together, you'll be happy to know that Tracy Hickman has been announced as the lead story designer for Garriott's upcoming Shroud of the Avatar. Hickman's writing credits aside from the Dragonlance series include the Death Gate Cycle, the ongoing Dragonships series, and the online serial novel Dragon's Bard. There's no word on whether his frequent co-authors will be joining in on the writing duties as well, but even Hickman alone should make some old-school fantasy fans very happy about the direction of the upcoming game.
Richard Garriott explains why Shroud of the Avatar is on Kickstarter
Richard Garriott has been to space, but his upcoming game, Shroud of the Avatar, is not in space. It is on Kickstarter, and according to Garriott himself in a recent interview, that's because it allows him to release a game without oversight. Garriott claims that the unnamed games he's released to sub-par reception have been chiefly the result of publishers meddling with the finished product, whereas the games he has been allowed to finish his way have been classics. While the game is not explicitly tied to the Ultima franchise for copyright reasons, Garriott sees it as very much being in the spirit of the older games, since Ultima IX ended with the world more or less destroyed. He also discusses influences on the game world's design and how players can switch between single-player and online modes of operation without a problem. If you're looking forward to the game, you can get more details in the full interview.
Shroud of the Avatar promises offline mode with no DRM
As Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter campaign continues, the team has posted an update on a few topics that in no way have to do with the recent SimCity kerfuffle. The post states that the team is creating an offline version of the game for those who prefer that style (or find it more convenient). While players won't be able to take their offline character into the online version, there may be the possibility of doing the reverse. Other words of comfort include the promise that Shroud of the Avatar "will not use any form of DRM" for its offline mode and that the single-player version won't be littered with microtransactions. [Thanks to Don for the tip!]
Leaderboard: What's your feeling on Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar?
Richard Garriott's recent Shroud of the Avatar announcement was greeted with both huzzahs and catcalls (though the former seem to outnumber the latter if the project's current Kickstarter numbers are any indication). Now that Lord British has spent the weekend answering questions via livestream and elaborating on game mechanics in the press, what do you think about the new project? Are you backing Shroud's Kickstarter, or are you taking a wait-and-see approach? Or do you not care one whit? Let us know via the voting booth after the cut. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar to feature 'personalized multiplayer'
Richard Garriott's new Shroud of the Avatar project is proving pretty popular on Kickstarter. As of press time it's already raised over $600,000 of its $1 million goal with 28 days to go. Why all the excitement? It would be easy to single out Lord British's Ultima pedigree, but it's also worth noting that the project itself seems to be aiming for those old-school gamers who are feeling a little left out due to the homogenization of current-gen MMOs. Garriott recently spoke to GamesIndustry.biz and elaborated on Shroud of the Avatar's mechanics, which he described as "personalized multiplayer" rather than massively multiplayer. The game is "the antithesis of what people have been doing with MMOs these last few years," Garriott explained. "They not only build every stitch of technology from scratch, they build a giant world, and they build them all in the exact same horrifically difficult but no longer impressive model. At one time it was brilliant, but now they're all the same." Shroud will have Garriott staples like a classless character system, virtues, housing, and extensive crafting, but it won't have thousands of players thrown together on a typical MMO-like server. There is no server where everyone that is connected that happens to walk onto the same map will all see each other. If you do that it's terribly complicated and it's largely a waste of time for you. If you're walking on the streets of New York you don't really care about most of the people going by the other way. The only people you care about are the people you've met before or you are likely to meet again in the future. We can determine that by whatever information you're willing to give us, and if you're not willing to give us information we'll use a heuristic to pull people into your current play space. It's much cheaper, for you and for us, and much more likely to be relevant to you." Garriott also says that while you can play Shroud of the Avatar offline, it will still be persistent. "Everyone's in the same world," he notes. "If you log on just once a month, you'll have downloaded the current state of affairs of ownership and the current blueprint of people's houses. Everyone who has a shop that sells things, whatever it is that has been built up in the world you'll get to see. Your world will advance because of the contributions of other players."
Richard Garriott Kickstarts 'Shroud of the Avatar'
Richard "Lord British Ice Cold 3000 de Cayeux" Garriott is working on a new fantasy role-playing game, "hearkening back" to his most famous creation, the Ultima series. Naturally, Shroud of the Avatar is being funded through Kickstarter, because that's what Kickstarter is for now: throwing tons of money at reboots of old PC games.The details are unclear, but Shroud of the Avatar is intended to return the focus of RPGs to "role playing" over grinding. "Players may choose to follow the life of the adventurer or, if they prefer, focus on exploration and discovery," reads the Kickstarter description. "Players may even choose the life of a homesteader; either nestled within the safety of the settled lands, or on the dangerous but potentially lucrative frontier. The world is full of opportunities and challenges!" It features both online multiplayer and solo offline play, with a persistent online world for those who want to play online.Or, at least, it will, pending the $1,000,000 Kickstarter drive. If, for some reason, you want to give Garriott's company Portalarium $10 out of the goodness of your heart, or "if you ever pirated an Ultima game or used an exploit to grief other players in Ultima Online," you can opt for the "Guilt Pledge" tier, which promises delivery of your cleared conscience in October 2014.Other reward tiers give you real things, starting with the game and alpha access at just $25, all the way up to a trip to Garriott's house Britannia Manor and a copy of his first game, Akalabeth.
Garriott kickstarting Shroud of the Avatar multiplayer RPG
Richard Garriott is officially returning to his RPG roots with a new project called Shroud of the Avatar. Lord British has launched a Kickstarter project, and while the FAQ reveals that the new title isn't an MMO, it will have some sort of co-op/multiplayer component. As you might expect, it's a fantasy world with a heavy emphasis on sandbox elements, exploration, combat, and storytelling. Shroud of the Avatar is currently planned only for the PC, though the game's website does allow for possible mobile functionality via stretch-goal funding. Currently, Garriott is looking to raise $1 million over the next four weeks. You can watch his pitch video after the cut. He's also livestreaming at LordBritishPresents.com.
