Shroud of the Avatar seems to be in trouble

https://www.reddit.com/r/shroudofthe…kl&sh=9f1b7a6a

Now, I'm not really sure exactly what this means - but it seems confirmed that they're running really, really low on cash.

Based on my time with the game over the course of the last few years, the game is most definitely NOT ready for any kind of release.

It absolutely sucks in pretty much every way right now - and does nothing impressive of any kind.

I was still holding out hope it would eventually be a decent game, but that seems highly unlikely now.

Anyway, there it is.

I always hoped that Garriot would sell Ultima to Spector. I think he would care enough to cater to the 4-7 single player audience.

I don't think Ultima is Spector's thing. He's much more into the immersive sim genre - like Deus Ex or System Shock.

I don't know what happened to Garriott, but at this point - it's pretty clear that he doesn't give two shits about doing something special.

That said, I never found Ultima particularly compelling because of the setting. It was more about the systems and world simulation. That could happen in any setting - so I honestly don't think we need it for much at all.

Original Sin 2 should be more than enough Ultima for singleplayer fans - I think.

Personally, I was more into the Ultima Online part of Shroud - but there are other games coming for that purpose. Albion Online seems like a great alternative already - but I'm not really into the isometric perspective for an MMO.

Oh well, I guess we'll see what happens.

Originally Posted by PapaJoker
I AM ABOUT TWO CUPS OF COFFEE AWAY FROM REPORTING THIS BLATANT SCAM LOOKING SHIT TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION! https://www.ftc.gov/complaint

Such a well found handle.

Terrible - after the bad will of the inevitable bankruptcy that will occur no will ever trust Garriot again (this includes bank investors or publishers), and we will never get an ultima or ultima clone again.

rune looks to be part of that conversation - I wonder if he's getting the usual harassment over there for his opinions. I believe he was banned on the official forums.

Well, after Tabula Rasa - I was already sceptical, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

That said, while I didn't expect this outcome - I had really low expectations for the game. It really does suck big time.

Originally Posted by NewDArt
Well, after Tabula Rasa - I was already sceptical, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

That said, while I didn't expect this outcome - I had really low expectations for the game. It really does suck big time.

I had low expectations for this too gamewise.

However, seeing the mock up he made for the facebook app Shroud was originally planned for I didn't expect much in terms of production. It looked to be either a step up or step down from the current Ultima Online.

The facebook app was scrapped due to the collapse of the FB app market IIRC - I don't know if this is still true. But I do like the look of Shroud from what I've seen - it looks like Ultima 9 Online.

Its just no where near finished and has very little content.

These are the folks that ported Horizons to NA and built Tabula Rasa from scratch? I'm giving an unqualified no because those people tried to not pay Richard what he was owed after the failure of those games.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
I had low expectations for this too gamewise.

However, seeing the mock up he made for the facebook app Shroud was originally planned for I didn't expect much in terms of production. It looked to be either a step up or step down from the current Ultima Online.

The facebook app was scrapped due to the collapse of the FB app market IIRC - I don't know if this is still true. But I do like the look of Shroud from what I've seen - it looks like Ultima 9 Online.

Its just no where near finished and has very little content.

These are the folks that ported Horizons to NA and built Tabula Rasa from scratch? I'm giving an unqualified no because those people tried to not pay Richard what he was owed after the failure of those games.

This isn't really true. He made another game called ultimate collector which was the game before shroud…but I think he was testing microtransaction collecting for shroud.

Anyways, I sent this in as a news story because I think if you have anything invested in this right now you should cash out now. I'm betting they have no more than a couple of months of funding left. They said they have 500k in the bank and are burning through roughly half that a month. Unless someone backs them for a large amount of money they won't be in business that long.

What a mess of a situation.

Failure of this project has been on the horizons and maybe not surprising.

However and I think what concerns most is: will Garriot and his gang get away with it? I surely hope not.

This is not surprising at all. I hate t come off like a dick but I am glad it is failing.

I hope we never here from again!!!!!!!

Considering that Garriot is a billionaire, I'm confused how money is an issue here. Does he really care so little about the project that he's unwilling to reach into his own pocket to help it out?

This is the same guy who once spent 30 million to go to a space station for 12 days.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Considering that Garriot is a billionaire, I'm confused how money is an issue here. Does he really care so little about the project that he's unwilling to reach into his own pocket to help it out?

Well there are many answers to this question.

But I am guessing he is realizing what he thinks the world wants or better said he wants to force to us is nothing close to what the public really wants.

I personally think he is insane!!!!!!!

Strangely enough, he's making sense when he's talking about game design. Meaning, he still has somewhat of a grasp of how to make a good game.

I guess it's the actual execution he just doesn't care about at all.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
I always hoped that Garriot would sell Ultima to Spector. I think he would care enough to cater to the 4-7 single player audience.

Would be nice except for the fact EA owns the Ultima IP.

It could be that Garriott just doesn't have the right personnel to pull off the execution of this project, and hasn't from the start.

IIRC this game is yet another MMO advertised in it's early stages by selling someone's blood.
Seriously, what's there worth any discussion?

Originally Posted by beldurax
It could be that Garriott just doesn't have the right personnel to pull off the execution of this project, and hasn't from the start.

Are you saying he's not responsible for the people being hired and ensuring a certain level of competence and understanding of the overall vision?

Originally Posted by JDR13
Considering that Garriot is a billionaire, I'm confused how money is an issue here. Does he really care so little about the project that he's unwilling to reach into his own pocket to help it out?

This is the same guy who once spent 30 million to go to a space station for 12 days.

I had the same idea. I think its clear that this project or games in general are not real passion for him anymore. It was just an opportunity to revive some nostalgia and brand using KS. But its not something he really have to make, to achieve something to be proud of. He is past that point in life. I also think he hoped for more solid cash cow, something closer to Star Citizen over time.

Originally Posted by NewDArt
Strangely enough, he's making sense when he's talking about game design. Meaning, he still has somewhat of a grasp of how to make a good game.

Maybe he just likes to talk. Maybe he tries to be better than Molyneux in "Molyneux's own game".

Has anyone heard anything about SotA as it relates to their finances? There was this rush of news in June and mostly crickets since then.

Well they ran their seedinvest project which attracted no real investors except silly people already in the game pooling their money for a $10,000 gold castle.
At the 11th hour they crossed the minimum pledge barrier so they got to keep all the money.
They had to release their financial documents which were a complete shit show showing complete drain of cash and no viability. Basically their good ol boys team has bankrupted whatever cash they had there. Viability of entire company was pretty much month by month after that seedinvest ended.
If you read the financial docs and the seedinvest docs, basically you were buying B class shares which mean absolutely nothing, have no value, have no limit, have no ownership rights or dividends etc. They also reserved the right to use the sale of B shares to repay investors of A shares (which were listed as Richard, his companies, his wife, his developers and their companies etc). More or less a Ponzi scheme to get some extra money in the bank so the A class could remove their money.
They sold off license rights to a russian company to make a F2P russian server. They say they are not but if you have a russian friend or can use google translate effectively the russian forums say otherwise. They whole thing is a clusterfuck with Starr Long, Chris Spears, and Richard Garriot lying everytime they open their mouths. Their rep is 100% shot which is probably why they are chasing the russian market right now.
I log on occasionally after patch to see what they have changed but to be honest I dont play at all anymore. The entire game is a pathetic joke.