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Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

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Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#141

Post by CamperBob2 »

papsosouid wrote: post #52
autarch wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or ... this is a good way for him to see if there's actual interest in the product. And given his track record of actually finishing stuff, it seems like this is relatively low risk as far as Kickstarter projects go.

Neither of your points address the concern I raised. This is a guy who paid $30M to go in to space for fun. A guy who lives in a castle. If he wants to make a game, he can. He doesn't need kickstarter at all. He is simply using it to make a game for free, rather than investing in it personally. The idea behind kickstarter was to allow people who couldn't get funding through traditional channels an opportunity to appe…

That was pretty much his last $30M, at least at the time.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#142

Post by CamperBob2 »

papsosouid wrote: post #116
adventured wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've got it exactly backwards. Your sentiment is anti-entrepreneur, as you're trying to dictate who is or who isn't an entrepreneur by an artificial and entirely subjective $$$ funding basis. There's no set definition of funding requirements to be considered an entrepreneur. Not have to invest anything? Try putting a price on his reputation and time.

>as you're trying to dictate who is or who isn't an entrepreneur by an artificial and entirely subjective $$$ funding basis. No I am not. I am saying it is unfortunate that what was a way for small independent projects who could not get funding through normal channels is being taken over by rich people using it as a platform to avoid having to take any risk. >Try putting a price on his reputation and time. The last t…

Sounds like you probably shouldn't contribute, then.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#143

Post by AndyJPartridge »

wodow wrote: post #38
simonsarris wrote: post #28

I'm glad that "Meaningful PvP" was singled out. PvP is important to me and its one of the things that Ultima Online got right that vast swaths of MMOs since have floundered with (in my opinion). In parts of the world (Felucca[1]), UO was a rare RPG where anyone could kill anyone, for any reason, but with the repercussion that they would be branded a "Bad person" (visible with a gray or red name instead of blue). Stea…

Vote yes to permanent death [1] in MMOs! Richard Bartle: "[without permanent death] Newbies (and not-so-newbies) feel they can never catch up. The people in front will always be in front, and there's no way to overtake them. The horizon advances at the speed you approach it." [2] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_death [2] Designing Virtual Worlds, 2003

It's a good concept if your Internet connection is reliable.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#144

Post by AndyJPartridge »

simonsarris wrote: post #28

I'm glad that "Meaningful PvP" was singled out. PvP is important to me and its one of the things that Ultima Online got right that vast swaths of MMOs since have floundered with (in my opinion). In parts of the world (Felucca[1]), UO was a rare RPG where anyone could kill anyone, for any reason, but with the repercussion that they would be branded a "Bad person" (visible with a gray or red name instead of blue). Stea…

The progression of UO over time is not unlike that of most computer games over a longer period:

We used to have 3 lives, and pixel perfect jumps. Not a "100 life" buffer with health packs or -worse- life regeneration if you hide behind a tree. Or a completely safe MMO world like UO ended up as. Few went to the Dark Side of the UO world.

Most games have become movies, with little chance of anything bad happening to the viewer except getting popcorn hitting the back of your head.

UO was exciting when you thought you might get jumped and killed. It made you think hard about what you took out hunting.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#145

Post by coopdog »

adventured wrote: post #59
bobsy wrote: post #11

I am going to rant about graphics here. The graphics on this game look 8 years old. A game doesn't need to look fantastic to be good but surely a new game should have good graphics. I am not talking about realistic graphics. Simply esthetically pleasing graphics. The graphics in the video look like something from runescape... Looking elsewhere. Is this game not called 'Ultima Online' because Garriot doesn't own the r…

Imagine how poorly something like Minecraft would sell today. Minecraft was amazing when it was released with a 256 color palette in 1993, but nobody would go for that today. People want graphics, not great gameplay... No, they want great gameplay first, and great graphics second. That has always been true and will always be true.

Minecraft has pretty interesting terrain, whereas this kind of looks.... flat, like a table with a few objects added onto it, but you can still see the flatness.

I still backed it, hopefully they shake the terrain up a little and add some more shrubs.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#146

Post by thisone »

Erwin wrote: post #40

I'm not sure what to feel when someone who spent (reportedly) $30MM for a space trip: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott#Spaceflight asks me for $1MM But I guess the more power to semi-independent studios we can give through Kickstarter the better. I like the $10 "guilt pledge": "If you ever pirated an Ultima game or used an exploit to grief other players in Ultima Online, here’s your chance to repent! For…

I don't think personal wealth of an owner has anything to do with a business. I'm probably a greedy SOB, but that's his money, not the company's money.

If the company can't exist without him paying his own money into it, then the company probably shouldn't exist.

I find it laudable if an owner would help float a company through a short bad period using their own money, but I wouldn't expect them to beggar themselves (or not get paid back) just to keep a failing company running.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#147

Post by lordofmoria »

The timing on this and the Torment kickstarter is truly impeccable, with all the hate at DRM, EA. What better way to vent frustrations than help support the revival of the old-school?

Personally, I really hope this succeeds. If KS represents the next generation of game studios/production, then I'm all for it.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#148

Post by adamrights »

I played Quantum on Atlantic and Heroku and later helped run parts of the Dr.Twister network :). Short of WoTMUD early UO is the best pk system I've ever experienced. I still talk of game memories with my brother and my friend Jason that played Sir Alf.

I don't think the felucca 'carebear' world helped the game. Yes, there were some issues with griefing -- but the playerbase was in control (I admit I'd polymorph into a slime around coveous, flag myself gray, and have people attack me to freely pk them).

When Sir Alf and I used to raid this RP heavy village, and we became a nuisance -- they hired guards...real players -- to keep us at bay. Eventually they befriended us and paid us in regents and offered protection.

We once betrayed a friend in-game and the father called us -- I learned peer mediation from UO :)

I got my first case of the shakes.

I wish LB the best in this venture

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#149

Post by phaus »

simonsarris wrote: post #28

I'm glad that "Meaningful PvP" was singled out. PvP is important to me and its one of the things that Ultima Online got right that vast swaths of MMOs since have floundered with (in my opinion). In parts of the world (Felucca[1]), UO was a rare RPG where anyone could kill anyone, for any reason, but with the repercussion that they would be branded a "Bad person" (visible with a gray or red name instead of blue). Stea…

I too wish there was a game that offered meaningful pvp, but I'm not sure they will deliver.

Most MMOs claim that they won't neglect hardcore pvp, but almost all of them end up catering to the lowest common denominator.

Games where people are allowed to kill anyone, at any time, for any reason are generally economic failures.

I have high hopes for this game, but I remain skeptical.

Re: Lord British launches “Shroud of the Avatar” on Kickstarter

#150

Post by phaus »

picklefish wrote: post #92
simonsarris wrote: post #28

I'm glad that "Meaningful PvP" was singled out. PvP is important to me and its one of the things that Ultima Online got right that vast swaths of MMOs since have floundered with (in my opinion). In parts of the world (Felucca[1]), UO was a rare RPG where anyone could kill anyone, for any reason, but with the repercussion that they would be branded a "Bad person" (visible with a gray or red name instead of blue). Stea…

While UO was my favorite game of all time, this is not UO. I won't be helping fund this. Garriot does not have a track record anymore. He's had failure after failure post-UO. He needs to take a step back and look at the successful games that have taken off recently that have roots in UO. My best example is DayZ. You run around with items that if you die fall on your body. Weapons have low relative value like UO. You…

In his defense, Lineage was a horrible game before he got there.

I'm hoping that with complete creative control, he can go back to his roots and create something truly amazing. He probably won't, but I'm willing to wait and see.

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