Will Shroud of the Avatar Live Up to the Hype?
Will Shroud of the Avatar live up to the hype?
There are only a handful of people that can send gamers into a frothing frenzy at the mere mention of their name. Richard Garriott, aka Lord British, is one of those people. He's responsible for the Ultima series of games, including the revolutionary Ultima Online. His latest effort is Shroud of the Avatar, and a large number of mmo gamers have banded together to back the project. The game offers to bring back old school excitement in a sandbox setting with modern features, not to mention lore by renowned author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance!). The game is still a few years away from launch, but players have been drawn to the game, either to praise or to criticize it. Will Shroud of the Avatar live up to the hype?
There's no denying that the Shroud of the Avatar hype has been steadily building. What else would you expect from a game headed by a legendary developer? In this era of casual gaming that requires little effort, old school gamers are eager for an online rpg that harkens back to the early days of online gaming. To be honest, there are a number of Shroud of the Avatar features that are worthy of getting excited about.
Shroud of the Avatar players
First is the classless system found in Shroud of the Avatar. One thing that gets me pumped about a game is the ability to create the character that I want. A character gains skill points when they level up, which is then used to buy skills (and spells) to make the character more powerful. Giving a player control on how they develop their character instead of being forced into making miniscule choices based upon a class is always a good thing. Another reason for the Shroud of the Avatar hype factor is how players interact with NPCs. In standard mmos, the player might have some conversation choices available to them. In this game, the player actually types what they're saying to the NPC, and the game responds with a reply. If the NPC says something important that can be useful (such as possibilities for quests), then that info is automatically recorded in the character's journal. This is probably the most important feature that has grabbed me. My background is pen-and-paper roleplaying and actually conversing with an NPC is far more immersive than making a choice from two or three canned options. However, I do worry about how extensive this system will be. Will it pick up only a few keywords or will there be hundreds, or thousands, that can be used? Another important factor is that a great deal of work will have to go into writing the conversations and responses given by NPCs. When you factor in the multitude of NPCs that players will encounter, that's a lot of possible conversations that has to be created beforehand.
Another of the important Shroud of the Avatar features is the involvement of the players in creating the world. Players will be able to create assets that will be used in the game, and they will also have a direct impact upon the game's environment in the creation of towns and cities. The latest test cycle featured the first player-owned town, PaxLair. To me this is a double-edged sword. If the community is passionate, then playing in that virtual world should be a blast. There is no more creative group of people than gamers, and their combined output will put an entire game company's development team to shame. I really love the thought of a group of gamers getting together and carving a city out of the wilderness. Imagine walking into a tavern owned by another gamer and actually starting up a conversation. However, if the player base is not passionate, then the life and vitality of the game's world will wither and die. Another factor is how the game will address new players that come into the game long after older players have already carved up, settled, and now control the game's world, such as trade and crafting.
Another reason for the Shroud of the Avatar hype is that fact that the developers promise that the game will have several modes, such as playing online with friends or playing single player offline. This will really help sell more units of the game if they manage to pull it off. It's still too early to tell if the developers will be able to manage this feat as the actual work on single player offline mode will begin after the full groundwork on the typical mmo mode has been built.
Shroud of the Avatar bank
Lastly, combat is one of the Shroud of the Avatar features that draws both praise and criticism. Their method of combat is built upon the player using decks, which then pop up over time during combat. It seems that each testing phase leads to players declaring that the latest mode (such as ranged magic) has become the most powerful and popular. I've read quite a few players complaining that playing a melee character is especially difficult with this system. This deck system could be problematic for the game as combat is always a key component of an online game. Still, they do have plenty of time to work on refining the system (or perhaps replace it entirely).
So, we've gone over the features that have led to the Shroud of the Avatar hype, but can the mmo live up to it? To be honest, I'm unsure. The stated goals by Richard Garriott and the other developers are noble and lofty, and I do hope that they manage to reach them. However, I do worry that they are trying to include too much into the game, which may cause them to fall short. There are a number of stretch goals that will include even more features to be included if they are met, and the grand total of those stretch goals is $1.4 million. Personally, I'm not a fan of buying items for a game that is still essentially pre-alpha, but I can understand gamers wanting to do so. I must admit that the mmo does have regular test sessions where supporters can log in and play, which does show that the developers are working hard on the game and not just spending the money raised on pizza and beer. In the end, my personal thought is that Shroud of the Avatar will most likely be a good game, but the developers may be trying to do too much to make it truly groundbreaking. The downside is that supporters may become too emotionally invested and anything short of perfection may be seen as utter failure. I do hope that Shroud of the Avatar does succeed and becomes a refuge for gamers looking for an incredibly immersive and vibrant virtual world.
There are only a handful of people that can send gamers into a frothing frenzy at the mere mention of their name. Richard Garriott, aka Lord British, is one of those people. He's responsible for the Ultima series of games, including the revolutionary Ultima Online. His latest effort is Shroud of the Avatar, and a large number of mmo gamers have banded together to back the project. The game offers to bring back old school excitement in a sandbox setting with modern features, not to mention lore by renowned author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance!). The game is still a few years away from launch, but players have been drawn to the game, either to praise or to criticize it. Will Shroud of the Avatar live up to the hype?
There's no denying that the Shroud of the Avatar hype has been steadily building. What else would you expect from a game headed by a legendary developer? In this era of casual gaming that requires little effort, old school gamers are eager for an online rpg that harkens back to the early days of online gaming. To be honest, there are a number of Shroud of the Avatar features that are worthy of getting excited about.
Shroud of the Avatar players
First is the classless system found in Shroud of the Avatar. One thing that gets me pumped about a game is the ability to create the character that I want. A character gains skill points when they level up, which is then used to buy skills (and spells) to make the character more powerful. Giving a player control on how they develop their character instead of being forced into making miniscule choices based upon a class is always a good thing. Another reason for the Shroud of the Avatar hype factor is how players interact with NPCs. In standard mmos, the player might have some conversation choices available to them. In this game, the player actually types what they're saying to the NPC, and the game responds with a reply. If the NPC says something important that can be useful (such as possibilities for quests), then that info is automatically recorded in the character's journal. This is probably the most important feature that has grabbed me. My background is pen-and-paper roleplaying and actually conversing with an NPC is far more immersive than making a choice from two or three canned options. However, I do worry about how extensive this system will be. Will it pick up only a few keywords or will there be hundreds, or thousands, that can be used? Another important factor is that a great deal of work will have to go into writing the conversations and responses given by NPCs. When you factor in the multitude of NPCs that players will encounter, that's a lot of possible conversations that has to be created beforehand.
Another of the important Shroud of the Avatar features is the involvement of the players in creating the world. Players will be able to create assets that will be used in the game, and they will also have a direct impact upon the game's environment in the creation of towns and cities. The latest test cycle featured the first player-owned town, PaxLair. To me this is a double-edged sword. If the community is passionate, then playing in that virtual world should be a blast. There is no more creative group of people than gamers, and their combined output will put an entire game company's development team to shame. I really love the thought of a group of gamers getting together and carving a city out of the wilderness. Imagine walking into a tavern owned by another gamer and actually starting up a conversation. However, if the player base is not passionate, then the life and vitality of the game's world will wither and die. Another factor is how the game will address new players that come into the game long after older players have already carved up, settled, and now control the game's world, such as trade and crafting.
Another reason for the Shroud of the Avatar hype is that fact that the developers promise that the game will have several modes, such as playing online with friends or playing single player offline. This will really help sell more units of the game if they manage to pull it off. It's still too early to tell if the developers will be able to manage this feat as the actual work on single player offline mode will begin after the full groundwork on the typical mmo mode has been built.
Shroud of the Avatar bank
Lastly, combat is one of the Shroud of the Avatar features that draws both praise and criticism. Their method of combat is built upon the player using decks, which then pop up over time during combat. It seems that each testing phase leads to players declaring that the latest mode (such as ranged magic) has become the most powerful and popular. I've read quite a few players complaining that playing a melee character is especially difficult with this system. This deck system could be problematic for the game as combat is always a key component of an online game. Still, they do have plenty of time to work on refining the system (or perhaps replace it entirely).
So, we've gone over the features that have led to the Shroud of the Avatar hype, but can the mmo live up to it? To be honest, I'm unsure. The stated goals by Richard Garriott and the other developers are noble and lofty, and I do hope that they manage to reach them. However, I do worry that they are trying to include too much into the game, which may cause them to fall short. There are a number of stretch goals that will include even more features to be included if they are met, and the grand total of those stretch goals is $1.4 million. Personally, I'm not a fan of buying items for a game that is still essentially pre-alpha, but I can understand gamers wanting to do so. I must admit that the mmo does have regular test sessions where supporters can log in and play, which does show that the developers are working hard on the game and not just spending the money raised on pizza and beer. In the end, my personal thought is that Shroud of the Avatar will most likely be a good game, but the developers may be trying to do too much to make it truly groundbreaking. The downside is that supporters may become too emotionally invested and anything short of perfection may be seen as utter failure. I do hope that Shroud of the Avatar does succeed and becomes a refuge for gamers looking for an incredibly immersive and vibrant virtual world.
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