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[Interview] Shroud of the Avatar: Heralding the Future of Games
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
After spending some time with Richard Garriott last week, there were a bunch of topics that we discussed which did not make it on video. One of the main ideas was where video games are going, especially MMOs. With both Shroud of the Avatar and Star Citizen doing so well with crowd funding the games are really more about community than ever before. This led to the discussion of why Shroud of the Avatar will herald in a new era of games that continue to bring players together on many levels.
Read more of Garrett Fuller's Shroud of the Avatar: Heralding the Future of Games.
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Pirate MMO Tattered Sails https://store.steampowered.com/app/2883040/Tattered_Sails/
Release later this year (~October 2014)
Currently in Pre-Alpha with Monthly "Test" release weekends. (Currently on Release 4)
Those who Pledge to Shroud get Alpha/Beta Access and Episode 1 when it releases later this year. There is no Monthly Subscription.
Come join the community! We're having a blast.
Heralding the future of games by restricting access to key features such as housing behind a paywall... well, unless you're happy with a dumpy little plot which can hold a one room hovel.
If by 'new era of games' you mean 'pay to win garbage', you might just be correct, given how quickly RG's fan squad were tripping over themselves to pay that jackass hundreds of dollars for virtual property.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
There are many, many Current Backers who have not purchased land plots or houses via the on-line store. The Developers have stated many times there will be land plots available in game, for in-game gold when Shroud launches. Will the lots be limited? Yes, that adds value but they have also said they will be adding more lots in later Episodes as well. People who have purchased pledges that contain land plots and houses have done so because they believe in the game and want to support it.
You can Choose to simply back the game at a Modest Adventurer level, if you wish, and choose to get a lot and a house in game with spoils you earn there.
None of the pledge or add-on items are items that effect game play. Shroud is not a Mini-Transaction game. Like Star Citizen, some items might be visually different to represent Founder, or Benefactor status of backing but nothing we are getting will make us any better in game then those that come after.
Come see for yourself.
I don't get why they didn't make this an MMO. Disappointing.
So the future is kickstarter, player made content, and going back to living world/economy/housing that Ultima Online did back in 1997.
The whole hamster wheel, or spinning your wheels and going no where feat that the MMORPG genre has accomplished is pretty amazing.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/Garriot and others are halfway right when it comes to the future of MMOs (and much of gaming in general). Bringing the community into development and having them play an integral part is such a no-brainer that it's hard to know why it wasn't happening much, much earlier. On the other hand, it's too early to know how impactful crowd-funding will be in the future of game development.
If the argument is that small-scale or niche games will now be able to find an audience and get made then, yes, crowd-funding will be a big part of the future. But for blockbuster projects, for AAA games, publishers still have a role and will still set the tone for games, not entirely unlike how book publishing has evolved. I have my doubts about how enjoyable a game lacking a big budget like CU will be in the end, even for fans of AvA PvP a la DAoC. The fickleness of MMO players is legendary-- how will KS'd MMOs fare with less budgets for art, fluff, and extra systems?
The assumption is that most of these popular crowd-funding games will find commercial success once released and validate the faith of their backers. I don't know that anybody can say for sure whether this will happen or whether people will be turned off from donating if a game they've backed turns out to be worse than they expected.
Developers only listen to the PvE crowd and thats why PvP became a watered down WoW PvP game with insurance and a card game as combat system. Nothing here for the PvP players.