KickStarter Shroud of the Avatar - Lord British's Not-Ultima Online 2

[Xavier0889]

Fuck my 25$ .

http://joelrunyon.com/two3/25-things-to-do-with-25-dollars

 

[Jaesun]

He's even targeting the game for Ouya?

 

[Charles-cgr]

How does Steam force you to not make a DRM free copy available (which is the real question). It isn't exclusive. Is that RG answering or his community manager?

 

[Stabwound]

Any possible incline that could be in this game is going to be wiped out by Garriott's love of tablet gaming. He's determined to get the game on that platform since that's all he plays on, but he also said it has to be done well in the offline setting because he plays on airplanes and such where there's no WIFI. He said his favorite game is Plants vs. Zombies...

And wait a minute, are house "taxes" real life dollars?

We can't just come out and state "THERE WILL BE NO DRM!" because it could close off too many other opportunities that would benefit the end user.

Yes, because DRM offers so many benefits to the end user.

If they plan on making a game with this business model, though, you can't really expect them NOT to have DRM, as shitty as that is.

 

[Metro]

Can't believe some of you actually expected this man to come up with an old school Ultima game.

 

[evdk]

Can't believe some of you actually expected this man to come up with an old school Ultima game.

Nostalgia and desperation, in equal measure.

 

[Zeriel]

How does Steam force you to not make a DRM free copy available (which is the real question). It isn't exclusive. Is that RG answering or his community manager?

The fact they have 8M in private funding is what makes DRM required.

 

[janjetina]

We can't just come out and state "THERE WILL BE NO DRM!" because it could close off too many other opportunities that would benefit the end user

Yeah, but will it have both Starforce and code wheels?
So, LB will try to pass off DRM as a feature?
Only a braindead dumbfuck would kickstart a DRM infested game. I don't think that even MMO players are that lacking in the brain function department.

 

[Ozma]

Holy SHIT are these guys out of touch with the Kickstarter crowd.

EDIT:

hahahahahaha

To be fair the kickstarter crowd is terrible and i dont blame them
On the other hand, he's making a game for the booyah

 

[Charles-cgr]

How does Steam force you to not make a DRM free copy available (which is the real question). It isn't exclusive. Is that RG answering or his community manager?

The fact they have 8M in private funding is what makes DRM required.

So his investors are requiring DRM to ensure a return on their investment... Just like the Sim City folks (to name but one fiasco). And he prefers not to admit it (or did I miss something?) and says it is because of Steam and Ouya, who have never prevented a dev from selling DRM free on GoG for instance. It looks like he's walking the same tightrope on the financial side (investors requiring DRM and crowdfunding) as he is with the game itself (single player and multiplayer at the same time).

You can buy a house or a business and it will be yours in a persistent world but no one will see you in it because you're playing offline and so is everyone else.... How can that lead to anything other than a ghost town? Or perhaps scripted NPCs that look like your character will take your place in other people's game... I guess that could work but he mentioned guilds, and people that met in MMOs and got married and mourned the deaths of online game buddies....

I still can't wrap my mind around this. I must be too old.

 

[FrancoTAU]

I was in the same camp as you at first Charles, but he's making Ultima Online 2 and is just trying to string along the rest of us.

 

[evdk]

I was in the same camp as you at first Charles, but he's making Ultima Online 2 and is just trying to string along the rest of us.

Can't be UO2, griefing would hurt the online economy.

 

[Delterius]

I was in the same camp as you at first Charles, but he's making Ultima Online 2 and is just trying to string along the rest of us.

Can't be UO2, griefing would hurt the online economy.

That's what they said, weird.

In my experience, Griefing hurts the game's 'economy' as in, it may prevent new players from getting into the game. Whereas the in-game economy can actually benefit from griefing or even the potential of griefing.

 

[octavius]

From what I've heard about this so far it sounds more like a Lord Blackthorn game than a Lord British game.

 

[Saduj]

FFS, if they are only now "exploring" the never-connect option then the game as they originally intended to release it is an MMO that allows some offline play.

Its actually disgusting to mislead the more desperate and gullible fans of the original Ultimas into thinking they are buying the next single-player Ultima with all this vague "offline play" bullshit when Garriot knows damn well that he has been making an MMO.

 

[Metro]

Apparently I missed the fact he already has $8 million lined up from private investors/publisher... so... why is this on Kickstarter?

 

[evdk]

Apparently I missed the fact he already has $8 million lined up from private investors/publisher... so... why is this on Kickstarter?

Free / actually revenue generating P.R.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Apparently I missed the fact he already has $8 million lined up from private investors/publisher... so... why is this on Kickstarter?

I hear people bringing "good marketing" up for rich people using Kickstarter a lot though I would think that Garriot's name alone would be plenty of marketing. Of course there's always the simple explanation of he wants more money.

 

[Metro]

What a joke. This is about as laughably bad and jam packed with every neo-Garriott cliche you can think of... it's amazing.

 

[evdk]

And it's going to make it.

 

[Blaine]

Meanwhile, on the Ultima Dragons Facebook group

Some guy :

‎...and they said we were clinging to a dead game.
They called us relics, hoping for a return for a dead saga.
VINDICATION!
I feel like an apostle at the resurrection!
(...and since I've been pagan since age 13, that's saying something!)
I'm more proud than ever to be a part of this group!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=63o8exNK4-Q

And later, the same guy

I'm 43 CENTS short in my account of the tier at which I want to subscribe! GAR! $.43!!! I still have to wait til Tuesday! DAMNANDBLAST!

This guy is broke and getting broker to please his Lord. Who likes to have a walk into space once in a while.

Holy fuck, this is amazing. "Pagan" Asperger's sufferer is broke as a joke (my guess is no job, living with his mother) and ready to hand over every last cent of his allowance to Lord Yiddish, King of the Jews.

 

[Metro]

Almost as bad as Chris Roberts... what is it with these former Origin guys?!?

 

[Jaesun]

Apparently I missed the fact he already has $8 million lined up from private investors/publisher... so... why is this on Kickstarter?

On Facebook:

Garriott said something interesting to me, namely that the Kickstarter is intended to help "accelerate" (his exact term) development of the game. I interpret that to mean that Portalarium has sufficient funds to complete the game, but that a successful Kickstarter drive will serve to a) build enthusiasm for the game, b) start getting fan feedback about it, and c) allow them to grow the team so as to get it out the door sooner

 

[Blaine]

Almost as bad as Chris Roberts... what is it with these former Origin guys?!?

There are three important differences between Lord Yiddish and CR.

1. Roberts is developing a game that Wing Commander/space sim fans actually want, and that looks very promising.
2. From day one, Roberts had an extensive tech demo to show, as well as extremely in-depth explanations of the game's planned features.
3. The most ostentatious in-game pledge reward for Star Citizen cost $1,000, compared to $3,000 for a persistent player house in Yarmulke of the Avatuches.

Can't deny that CR went full-on Jew mode during the campaign, but Lord Yiddish is going a step further—and he's doing so for a badly-explained game that looks and sounds like it'll be shit.

 

[Jaesun]

Look like dog shit. *sniff sniff* Smeeeeel like dog shit. Taste like dig shit.

Is probably dog shit.