Shroud of the Avatar - Richard Garriott Interview

Dualshockers interviewed Richard Garriot about Shroud of the Avatar:

Shroud of the Avatar Interview – RPG Legend Richard Garriott talks Ultima’s Spiritual Successor

Richard Garriott, the legendary Lord British from the Ultima series, is back with Shroud of the Avatar, that will feel very familiar to the fans, and yet new.

Today legendary Ultima creator Richard Garriott and his team at Portalarium finally brought a five-year-long journey to fruition with the release of Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues.

In order to know more about the game, I had a chat with Garriott himself, who also showed me the really impressive improvements the game received over the past several months.

Shroud of the Avatar is the spiritual successor of all things Ultima, with a complex story based on the virtues, deeply interconnected roles like Ultima Online did, and a detailed world simulation.

The world itself has a day/night cycle, movements of the starts, and orbiting moons. The alignment of those moons with the constellations actually creates gameplay, so learning the astronomy of the world is relevant.

The game has evolved massively in its visuals compared to what we saw in early footage. According to Garriott, this is due to the fact that the first 80% of the game is made of creating systems. Only during the final 20% of development, those systems are connected and the true quality of the title really gets exposed.

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Thanks Farflame!

More information.

If I only take this article into account, the game sounds pretty good, but I remember that most people on this forum hate it. Will any of you try it after release? I'm still undecided.

If a single player version actually exists and is released sometime this century, I'll at least likely look at it. I'm not at all interesting in anything that resembles Ultima Online from the nineties, and that is not at all what I contributed monies for. If being online is a requirement, forget it.

Originally Posted by GabrielMP_19
If I only take this article into account, the game sounds pretty good, but I remember that most people on this forum hate it. Will any of you try it after release? I'm still undecided.

Leaning towards "no". None of the multiplayer stuff appeals to me at all. I'd need to hear a lot more positive noise about the single player experience before being persuaded. I'm not saying never, but I'm very doubtful.

Been messing around since the game "launched" last weekend. Great game for those that want to solo and explore. Combat is less than satisfying, which is a shame because the skill system is fun to explore. Card combat system is fun and keeps fights somewhat random, but still under player control (somewhat).

Problems so far are serious lack of polish and performance issues. People looking for the single player w/ MMO features got sold down the river awhile back. Game still feels like it needs another year before it will be "done" in a mainstream kind of way, but those that enjoy Gothic 1 for its roughness should enjoy this game.

I’ll need some kind of single player announcement before installing it. The RMT and MMO aspects of the game are a big turn off I want no part of that.

This game's virtual store bothers the hell out of me. I'll likely never touch this game.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p…5#tab-featured

I was a huge Ultima fan, so I jumped at the chance to beta test the original UO… and it forever turned me off to MMOs. I'm not looking to repeat the experience with SotA… I'd rather replay U7 for the umpteenth time.

Originally Posted by LootSeeker
This game's virtual store bothers the hell out of me. I'll likely never touch this game.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p…5#tab-featured

Cmon, a musthave Observatory Village Home is discounted. So buy, buy!

Originally Posted by LootSeeker
This game's virtual store bothers the hell out of me. I'll likely never touch this game.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p…5#tab-featured

Originally Posted by joxer
Cmon, a musthave Observatory Village Home is discounted. So buy, buy!

Damn and I thought Star Citizen was bad with the overpriced add-ons.

$100 for 115 of the gold crowns of the obsidian - this is a steal!

I pity the fool who buys this garbage mocks my jewelry!

Originally Posted by joxer
Cmon, a musthave Observatory Village Home is discounted. So buy, buy!

Go and craft whole worlds yourself for £12.50 on Minecraft!

1000$ for an ingame property lot. Wow. Either some people have too much money, or take their games way too seriously.

Whoever designed that store has an unhealthy obsession with the word "ornate".

Rumor has it that the Kobolds continue to make clever musical instruments with annoying sounds to drive humans mad but I think this is obviously not true. Beautifully crafted, this ornate bagpipes can be carried with you, always handy when you wish to enchant the crowds with your beautiful music.



Can be played freeform using simple key presses along the number row (1-8), with three modifier keys (SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT) providing the player access to a full three octaves of notes, sharps and flats included.

You can also use this instrument to play ABC/MML music files stored in the Songs directory (learn more here).

With Synchronized Play, members of a party can play synchronized songs together!

Only reason I'd consider playing this. I bet having me playing these bagpipes in your homes would drive you all to violent acts. I'd roleplay the insane scottish bagpiper.

That bagpiper is all kinds of ugly. Dislocated shoulders, enormous fingers, narrow-set eyes, and a shrunken head. Is that the character style, or has somebody 'shopped it?

Just feeling the love.

Originally Posted by rjshae
That bagpiper is all kinds of ugly. Dislocated shoulders, enormous fingers, narrow-set eyes, and a shrunken head. Is that the character style, or has somebody 'shopped it?

Just feeling the love.

Heh, his head is totally too small. If you stare at it long enough, it starts to look like Picasso's dude with a clarinet.

Originally Posted by rjshae
That bagpiper is all kinds of ugly. Dislocated shoulders, enormous fingers, narrow-set eyes, and a shrunken head. Is that the character style, or has somebody 'shopped it?

Just feeling the love.

So you are saying he looks like a Scotsman?