Keeping Up With Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues
It's been eight years since Richard Garriott (a.k.a. Lord British, General British) graced his adoring crowd with one of his productions. The long wait for the next game from the creator of Ultima series finally comes to an end later this year with the release of Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues via Portalarium, Inc.
First announced in 2013, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is the first of five episodes and promises to be a spiritual successor to the popular Ultima series because Garriott was unable to secure the rights for Ultima from Electronic Arts. The title is a crowdshared creation that combines crowdfunding with user-created content. The game racked over $2 million in funding and backers whose original art assets were made specifically for the game will be compensated if their work is accepted.
The game is scheduled for release later this year and backers got to see the latest version of the game on January 29th when Garriott released the pre-alpha build 14. This latest build takes a deeper look at the overland modeling and includes more in-game books, new abilities, updates to crafting (craft multiple items together), stone basements, and a free pointy/funny hat! All the new content may be easily discovered via the new Grand Star Quest. Further, the title's core gameplay continues to look better with each update including more exploration and combat.
The word "ambitious" doesn't quite begin to describe Garriott's mentality and work ethic. His objective with Shroud is to take the current MMORPG standard to a new level. For starters, the game will feature a 40-hour offline quest with storylines affected by the player's choices. Offline MMORPGs aren't unheard of, though they're not exactly common either considering the online aspect of MMOs. There's also a Friends Only option as well as regular Open Play.
The game will also do away with traditional classes and skill sets. Instead, players will have access to 20 different skill trees that may be mixed and matched any way the player sees fit. You can have barbarians with magic skills and skeletons with armor; the options are endless.
Housing options in the game also surpass those of other MMORPGs. Most games tend to throw players into homes onto the outskirts of game maps, far away from the action. Not so in Garriott’s new venture. Any building on themap is fair game for occupation. Each home is heavily customizable, and groups of players may band together to run a home, a couple of homes, or an entire town. Imagine that: your very own commune in cyberspace.
Finally, Shroud appears to have created a player-driven economy that actually works. The economy runs on the sales of crafted items via NPCs and player-to-player sales, minus the important/rare plot-specific items that the game will generate when necessary. All in-game items may only be obtained in this manner. Some items will also be leveled so that a level 1 Turkey can't run around with an item meant for a level 485,739 Beelzebub. Costs of raw materials and the price of crafted items will also be balanced in order to avoid an economic crash.
While Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is currently in pre-alpha, it already looks like a must-own game. Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is currently accessible in its current form for $45 for those of you who are too impatient to wait for the full product (and we don't blame you!).
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