Shroud of the Avatar - Looking back

[HiddenX]

KiraTV looks back at Richard Garriott's career and Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues:

$15,125,684+ Taken, 10 Years Developed, Complete Failure

More information.

 

[Vaelith]

Quite a few of these "has-beens" pretending they're an authority on good game creation because they had success 30 years ago, when the truth is that most of the reason of the success is that there was no competition and people would play and grow fond of whatever was above average.

It doesn't help that game megacorps make the same safe, tried and boring formulas for mass appeal, making it for an easy narrative when trying to sell the "indie game that will change all".

Then Kickstarter, EA, and other exploitable ways to get money of people without actually doing anything, together with the good will of people, and their desire to return to the times of old leads to massive scams like this.

Here's a hint: The times of old are never returning. I really can't blame people for trusting someone who brings them fond memories, but hopefully, we can all learn a lesson through things like this.

 

[Couchpotato]

I remember this game and it's kickstarter that promised a return to Ultima, and backed it

Right away I regretted it as the SP was axed and it became a milking machine selling DLC instead. Just look at all those updates begging for money, and selling digital houses.

Still remember when our site was targeted for our opinion.

Can't remember what member got featured in that video as it was years ago.

 

[Moorkh]

Sad.

 

[bjon045]

most of the reason of the success is that there was no competition and people would play and grow fond of whatever was above average.

That is quite some hogwash. Ultima 4/6/7 are still a source of inspiration to game designers even today. Many features that were standard in these Ultima games still haven't been replicated to this day despite people wanting to achieve it. Sven himself holds Ultima 7 as the Holy Grail as to what he wants to achieve. The interactivity in D:OS1/2/BG3 was acknowledged by Sven as being based on Ultima 7. He wanted to include day/night cycles but they still haven't been able to. He wants to have proper schedules but also haven't been able to do it.

No competition? Really? Take late 91/1992 for instance - generally regarded as one of the most formative years in the history of gaming - Super Mario Land, Dune 2, Final Fantasy 5, Mortal Kombat, Contra III, Wolfenstien, Indiana Jones FoA, Alone in the Dark, Sonic, Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter 2, Prince of Persia - the list goes on and on. And guess what? Ultima 7 - the same year as all these titans of gaming

 

[JDR13]

I'll always remember Shroud of the Avatar as the first game I can recall that had people paying exorbitant amounts of real-world money for virtual real estate.

I never did try it. I see it's free on Steam. I wonder how many people are still playing.

 

[Carnifex]

One of those kick starters that never fails to re-haunt me. I do my best to put this shameful product in a different realm than the earlier Ultima games.

 

[SpoonFULL]

One of the biggest KS scams. Started and promised as offline then switched to virtual real-estate scam carried over by the Ultima reputation and (has-been) original cast of developers. It was a good wake up call!

 

[Stingray]

Can't remember what member got featured in that video as it was years ago.

That was me, I said it was essentially a scam in some off-hand comment on RPGWatch and some nutjob went berserk over it and made a video including a screenshot of the RPGWatch thread.

 

[JDR13]

One of the biggest KS scams. Started and promised as offline then switched to virtual real-estate scam carried over by the Ultima reputation and (has-been) original cast of developers. It was a good wake up call!

Ironically, it has a fully offline mode now. It still looks MMO-ish though.

I watched a recent gameplay video, and the game looks quite clunky and dated.

 

[bjon045]

Ironically, it has a fully offline mode now. It still looks MMO-ish though.

I watched a recent gameplay video, and the game looks quite clunky and dated.

Is the offline mode available if you are f2p? I might download and give it a shot if it is.

 

[JDR13]

Is the offline mode available if you are f2p? I might download and give it a shot if it is.

I don't think there's any other version besides f2p. Let us know how it is if you end up trying it.

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues on Steam

SHROUD OF THE AVATAR: FORSAKEN VIRTUES is a multiplayer fantasy RPG that sets the player on a path filled with peril and tough choices as they explore a persistent realm that can be shared with other Avatars. It is the spiritual successor to Richard Garriott’s Ultima games.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Morrandir]

I watched a recent gameplay video, and the game looks quite clunky and dated.

Yes, and it already looked dated and clunky when it was released back then.

 

[Hastar]

Didn't one of the developers sell their blood to raise money? I think it was Garriott himself.

If my memory is wrong I still want to believe that

 

[Morrandir]

If my memory is wrong I still want to believe that

Yes, it was him.

 

[Hastar]

Late-stage capitalism at its worst (or best).

 

[Yamcha]

One of my (very few) kickstarter regrets. Funnily my 2nd, Star Citizen, has crossover with this game. Bake both and you get some goodies in either game

Chris and Richard have the same business sense.

 

[fabrulana]

Me too, thought even after Richard's space game debacle maybe there is a chance but nope. Luckily didn't buy any of the expensive things after the kickstarter, seemed to scammy to me especially with their corny money raising videos. I'm afraid Richard has became a second rate Peter Molyneux...

 

[RPGFan77]

I'll always remember Shroud of the Avatar as the first game I can recall that had people paying exorbitant amounts of real-world money for virtual real estate.

I never did try it. I see it's free on Steam. I wonder how many people are still playing.

I have been playing it for the past year or so, among other games. I did not donate to the kickstarter, I just decided to check it out on advice from a friend. I have to admit it is pretty fun and the players are generally kind and helpful to new players in general chat(even gifting people with free items to help them get started). The population of players there is low but that does not bother me. I did have to put a few pvp trash talkers on ignore, but after that I had no problems there. PVP is optional there, you can turn it on or off. Seems to be a skeleton crew still running it and adding new content(Garriot seems to no longer be involved with the game but he does show up once a year for an anniversary event, it seems). One thing I like about it is you can choose instancing or non-instancing in zones. This has been a big help for when I want to go harvesting. At first I had a lot of trouble competing with other harvesters and respawn times on harvestables can make your patience wear thin. But if I go into an instance, only myself and those grouped with me can be in that instance, so if I am there solo, I have the whole zone to myself and can harvest all the ore, wood and herbs I want without having to worry about the competition getting it before I can and then having to wait for the long respawn times.
Something else I enjoy about the game is travelling on the overland map where you can come across random encounters, and choose to challenge them or run away from them. The towns under siege which happen at random are fun too, but not meant for low level players. People who have fond memories of Ultima Online(myself included) I think will enjoy Shroud of the Avatar. The character that I play there is an animal tamer/bard(bard songs are used to enhance the effectiveness of my combat pet). Currently using a pet giant spider as my tamed pet(because of it's web attack and poisonous bite) but there are many other different pets to tame if you don't like giant spiders.

 

[Saxon1974]

That is quite some hogwash. Ultima 4/6/7 are still a source of inspiration to game designers even today. Many features that were standard in these Ultima games still haven't been replicated to this day despite people wanting to achieve it. Sven himself holds Ultima 7 as the Holy Grail as to what he wants to achieve. The interactivity in D:OS1/2/BG3 was acknowledged by Sven as being based on Ultima 7. He wanted to include day/night cycles but they still haven't been able to. He wants to have proper schedules but also haven't been able to do it.

No competition? Really? Take late 91/1992 for instance - generally regarded as one of the most formative years in the history of gaming - Super Mario Land, Dune 2, Final Fantasy 5, Mortal Kombat, Contra III, Wolfenstien, Indiana Jones FoA, Alone in the Dark, Sonic, Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter 2, Prince of Persia - the list goes on and on. And guess what? Ultima 7 - the same year as all these titans of gaming

I agree, these games are still brilliant even now dated graphics and all. All the fancy graphics and tech of now still cannot hold candle to how immersed those games were for me. I remember dreaming about them and being in Britannia during school. The worlds just felt so cohesive and real, the interactivity, npc schedules and each game had a really interesting over arching story that was not usually kill the big bad wizard.

Sadly Garriot was always one of my heroes but his recent stuff has really sullied him for me. I didn't back this as during the campaign I remember them always talking about the multiplayer and once in a while they would say something like "And oh yea, there sill be a single player option...moving on". It was pretty clear to be they were lying about any focus on single player early on so I didn't back it.