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

[Makabb]

Look, the average Ultima fan is slowly approaching an age where prosthetic hips are becoming a part of their life's reality.
.

We are dying out slowly

 

[Mortmal]

I am an early kickstarter backer. I knew what I was getting into, to be honest, but the Ultima series has sucked so much time of my teenage years and early adulthood that I knew I would play the game, however bad, at some point, for curiosity's sake.

I was not expecting the associated rabbit hole.

Also, just to be clear, this doesn't prevent me from having fun with the game but I am an easily pleased gamer. And you have to be, with this game. I wonder if the Ultima community is not just people who dropped gaming and picked it up again for this game, and are therefore more willing to ignore its faults, because really, pretty much everything in this game is not only unforgivable, but the more you hang out in the forums, chatrooms associated with this game or Ultima fans you cannot help but wonder : is it denial, or are they really oblivious to the game's faults ?

It has to be a mix of both, because really, the game is being panned everywhere. Steam reviews are mostly trashing this. The french forum listed a series of positive reviews, but the only major french publication to have reviewed it, Canard PC, has completely trashed the game.

It's pretty unbelievable ; you have to take this game's purpose litterally : when you start playing it, you really are getting yourself into another, much different world, alternate reality.

As for my progress, I'm starting to wonder if I'm not actually already 1/3 of the way done. If so, something is also wrong with the length of that game despite its huge size.

https://uo.com/endless-journey/
You can still have a look for free at the old UO,hopefully you still remember your account passwords, a lot changed in those 17 years. New client is great plenty more content, and much more important to my eyes ,best community ever.

 

[Mortmal]

When I tell you it's just medieval Second Life, this shit proves it.

In a couple of months, people will be selling pretend sex. In the meantime, it's nice that some people will be able to pretend they went "dancing" this weekend and totally "hooked up".

Look, the average Ultima fan is slowly approaching an age where prosthetic hips are becoming a part of their life's reality.
Setting up virtual dance parties to pretend you are just as active as in 1993 is really just covering the demands of your target group.

40+ is the average age in my UO guild topping at 75... As i said best and most friendly community ever.People always helping, giving items for free, something never seen anywhere else.

 

[Mortmal]

I am an early kickstarter backer.

I as/was as well. I had hopes, but the KS just became massive decline as it went along.

I LOVED Ultima Online (b4 they fagged it up).

Honestly, I'd probably still be playing it (UO), BUT, they care beared the shit out of it.

Such is life...

Zep--

Still plenty of pvp action on feluca side zep, stat scrolls only drops in pvp champion spawn, wich gives usan incentive to go pvp and lot of action .

 

[taxalot]

I have been loooking at this building for a while now, because the drawing on its banner, its heraldry somehow reminds me of something.

Looked down the screen at my Razer keyboard and...oh...

Immersive.

And no, it's not a "player housing building", it's related to the main story.

 

[thesheeep]

Subtle.

 

[grimace]

http://sotawiki.net/sota/Death_Adder_Cloak

Death Adder Cloak
Death Adder Cloak


Available in Cross promotional with Razer ID.
Razer ID

This cloak bears the secret Death Adder symbol of Min Liang Tan, a respected citizen of Ardoris who is rumored to practice Necromancy. It is whispered that wearing this symbol in his presence will be rewarded.

http://sotawiki.net/sota/Min_Liang_Tan

Min Liang Tan is a Minister of the Lotus in Ardoris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min-Liang_Tan

Min-Liang Tan



Min-Liang Tan is a Singaporean entrepreneur. He is best known as the co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of gaming hardware company, Razer Inc. and CEO of THX as of May 2017. He directs and oversees the design and development of all Razer products

 

[taxalot]

Yeah, Min Liang Tan is an important character in the storyline. I had no idea he was actually working for Razer. What in the serious fuck.

BTW, you left out the best part

It is whispered that wearing this symbol in his presence will be rewarded.
Trivia

• All backers can register with their Razer ID to receive this in the game.
• A Razer ID (and registered Razer products) also provides other benefits

Incidentally, the next thing is that the game takes you to the "Tower of the Shuttered Eye" which is a dungeon where that fucking logo is everywhere and where Min Liang Tan serves as a boss fight.

Up until that point you have only been in Tier 1 zones ; said dungeon is suddenly in Tier 4 zones. Retarded balancing for retarded product placement.

 

[taxalot]

And look at that fucking shit :
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...mbol-at-the-tower-of-the-shuttered-eye.40634/

People are actually defending this crap and calling it a good thing.

 

[Deathsquid]

Hey, it's Lord British's subtle way of saying that Razer is evil and the gamers should fight back.

Subliminal messages and shit, my man.

 

[taxalot]

Out of an experiment, in a zone where I had 30/40 FPS on my desktop rig (I7 4790k, 16gigs of Ram), I tried lowering the resolution from 1080p to 1024x768.

The framerate didn't change.

I disabled all graphic options.

The framerate didn't change.

Shroud of the Avatar is litterally CPU limited on an I7 4790K.

Think about that.

 

[Deathsquid]

:unity:

 

[thesheeep]

Shroud of the Avatar is litterally CPU limited on an I7 4790K.

Most fitting typo ever.

 

[taxalot]

Making some good progress on the main quest. It's all that matters by this point. Completed path of Truth & Courage, still having some problems with the fights in Love, but whatever, it looks like I'm near the end for that too. Then apparently there is what has been described to me as a "lenghty fetch quest" that can last "from 4 hours to 20 hours" .

But anyway, did I tell you guys if you want to have a second character slot, you just have to buy the game again ?
Well : if you want an extra character, you need to buy the game again.

Oh, and also, this:

Also, apparently, owning a house is not enough ; you have to pay some (((virtual))) taxes to be allowed to keep it.

 

[Morkar Left]

But anyway, did I tell you guys if you want to have a second character slot, you just have to buy the game again ?
Well : if you want an extra character, you need to buy the game again.

You should try Elite Dangerous!

Oh, and also, this:

Also, apparently, owning a house is not enough ; you have to pay some (((virtual))) taxes to be allowed to keep it.

Where else can you get a sex change that cheap, huh?

 

[grimace]

taxalot do you plan to write a review of the game?

 

[taxalot]

taxalot do you plan to write a review of the game?

I will. Whether it will be accepted by the high standards of Codexia will remain to be seen. If it's not I will just post it here.

I want to at least finish the main storyline before I start writing it, however. After all, it was also sold as a single player game. And I also want to see more of the crafting and optional stuff.

Don't expect it before june.

 

[Mortmal]

Also, apparently, owning a house is not enough ; you have to pay some (((virtual))) taxes to be allowed to keep it.

Thats some really deserved karma payback for you !

 

[thesheeep]

Oh, and also, this:

Also, apparently, owning a house is not enough ; you have to pay some (((virtual))) taxes to be allowed to keep it.

Where else can you get a sex change that cheap, huh?

Venezuela?

 

[grimace]

Does Classic Charm Make for an MMO Worth Playing?

Reviewed By: Gareth Harmer
Reviewed On: May 07, 2018


It’s been over a month since I last checked in about Shroud of the Avatar. In that time, there’s been heated debate on our forums about Portalarium’s KickStarter-backed indie title, covering everything from the core mechanics, to whether it even qualifies as an MMO. I’ll be getting to both of those questions later on in this wrap-up, but it clearly demonstrates how divisive this is. One player’s perfect experience is another’s critical miss.
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That conflicting opinion can even be seen as far back as our ‘early access’ review. In August 2016, Markus Rohringer praised the diverse sandbox but was disappointed by dated visuals and minimal content. In the 18-plus months since that initial steam debut, has Richard Garriott and team managed to turn things around?

The answer, predictably, is complicated. On the one hand, there’s now an abundance of content blended with an intriguing dialogue-based quest system that definitely scratches a lore-heavy itch, and some deep mechanics and systems that offer huge choice. But, on the other hand, clunky character animations, dated visuals and a primitive user interface all combine to make the novel or retro seem tedious and tired. Like running through a blissful meadow while wearing lead boots, the charm can wear off.

A Welcoming Beginning

Back when Shroud of the Avatar first lurched into Early Access, it was rightly hammered for having virtually nothing to welcome new players, and a lack of quests to discover while playing. It’s criticism that Portalarium took to heart, spending some significant effort in building a new player experience that introduces the Avatars and how they are prophesied to change the landscape of New Britannia. As I mentioned in the first part of my review-in-progress, it’s a technique that worked brilliantly to pull me in.

That cycle of build, rebuild and polish has also extended to the various locations across the continent of Novia (or ‘scenes’ as Portalarium likes to call them). Three paths have been woven around particular virtues of Truth, Love and Courage, coming together in a saga surrounding the all-seeing Oracle. Not only that, but there’s a collection of side quests to discover in the adventuring areas, each of which offering their own rewards. It’s sufficient that I don’t feel I’ll start running out of content even though I’ve clocked up some 30-odd hours in the game. Even more, it feels like I’ve barely scratched the surface.

So why the gripes? I’ll get into more detail shortly but, basically, it’s in the underlying mechanics. Progressing combat and crafting skills is a long and grind-heavy process, leaving me feeling like it’s holding me back. It wouldn’t be so bad, but the combat itself is unsatisfying and tedious, lacking in weight and momentum. And, partly due to that early access, I can’t help but feel like an imposter at launch, late to a party of adventuring heroes.

Massive or Not?

While there’s no clear-cut definition of what’s considered an MMO (Garriott himself once put a minimum threshold of 500 players in one zone - a feat that many modern MMOs would struggle with), there’s a generally accepted experience that most of us expect. Part of that is a persistent world shared amongst a massive number of players, with social structures that support groups of players and content for them to participate in together. A shared economy and sandbox components add to the experience, with town traders and player housing featuring in abundance.

So, in many respects, Shroud of the Avatar does qualify as an MMO; it’s even tagged as such on the game’s own Steam page. However, that’s not to say there’s no drawbacks. Each town, adventuring area and dungeon exists as its own ‘Scene’, carving out a small part of the world and with a small-ish number of players. Stringing these together is an overworld map, where it’s still possible to spot others out travelling. But the result is a feeling of lots of ‘pockets’ of world, rather than one cohesive experience.

Adding to the confusion is a planned single-player offline mode. Proposed since the early days of SotA’s development, this option would allow players to experience the story without any of the multiplayer featured getting in the way. Although, at this point, you have to wonder why anyone would want to.

The bigger question is whether Shroud of the Avatar feels and plays like an MMO, and for the most part it does. At most of the major towns or cities I’d see other players completing quests or crafting items, or even simply performing music. Chat is lively and generally supportive, and guilds are actively trying to help and recruit new players. My only social gripe - finding groups for more challenging content - has literally just been addressed in the latest update with the addition of an LFG tool.

Retro or Rehash?

Over the last year, classic MMOs have experienced a surge in popularity as players have desperately chased that spark of charm that pulled them into the genre. The mantra - ‘they don’t make them like this any more’ - is often thrown up. And yet, with skill and progression systems inspired by old-school RPGs, Shroud of the Avatar is exactly that: a rebuild of some classic mechanics in a more modern setting.

Depending on your point of view, this has its pros and cons. As I’ve touched on previously, questing is made much more interesting by providing detailed interactions with NPCs. Exclamation marks or overhead symbols are gone, and dialogue is in the form of free text with some guided options. A guardsman’s nameplate would change to Sergeant Bash after asking for his name, and it’s only by asking about rumours that I might stumble on a quest. It might seem like an ordeal, but it works wonders at rooting me in the lore.

Unfortunately, there’s two areas in which these old mechanics break down. The first is with bugs - quest log entries might not update on progression or completion, leaving me scurrying around the map. The second is with grinding, in every aspect. Whether it’s skilling up in weapon or armour usage to take on tougher foes, or collecting materials to make better gear, there’s a heavy reliance on the repeatable loops of monotony.

I wouldn’t normally have a problem with grinding away to progress my character, as long as the combat itself is satisfying. Unfortunately, in Shroud of the Avatar, that isn’t the case. Whether it’s swinging a sword or casting a spell, offensive actions have very little weight to them, and the animations themselves feel clunky and repetitive. Poor combat sounds amplify that disconnected feeling, with my character’s abilities making all kinds of unusual whooshing noises instead of the typical strikes and shouts of battle.

That’s not saying everything about combat is disappointing. While the skill-up process itself is grindy, the skill trees themselves are incredibly flexible. Want to play a Paladin-type? Then simply level up in Blades, Shields, Heavy Armour and a touch of life magic. How about a rogue? Go for light armour and sink points into subterfuge. Completing mobs and killing quests build up a skill point pool, which are then gradually allocated to skills the more they’re used. It’s a neat system that molds itself around how you play, but requires time and effort to sink into it. Hence the grind.

Last Decade’s Leather

Back in my first look, I described Shroud of the Avatar as a modern game engine (Unity in this case) with the skin of an older game thrown over it. Although time has passed, it’s a description that stuck, as the appearance is just as dated as the game mechanics that underpin SotA.

Yes, the continent of Novia could look better, but that’s not my most significant complaint. If anything, my biggest disappointment is reserved for the hot mess of a user interface that combines inefficient skeuomorphism with primitive iconography, producing an amateurish and inelegant result that does no favours for the game. It’s a sort-of retro but mostly ugly misfire, and Shroud of the Avatar would benefit hugely from ripping it up and rebuilding it from scratch.

That unrelenting disappointment is only strengthened by the synth-heavy musical score. Sometimes catchy but often annoying, it feels like a throwback to console-era RPGs with chintzy tunes that mostly didn’t matter. Today, we know what good sounds like, and more often than not the game gets muted.

The Value Question

At roughly $40, Shroud of the Avatar has a major challenge in demonstrating that it’s better value than other MMOs and RPGs on the market. With Steam Sales now biting, that’s a tough ask to meet, if it weren’t for the strong community and consistently regular monthly updates. The world of New Britannia is constantly changing, which certainly counts for something.

But then there’s the in-game item Add-ons Store, which features some astronomically eye-watering prices. Want a castle or grand ship to call your own? That’ll be $300 please. Need a place to put your property? Some of the most expensive locations in player-owned towns weigh in at $1,600 dollars. With supply limited due to how the world is designed, and the significant advantages players get to owning property in prime locations, and it’s clear to see the direction being taken by the developers, even if some players are setting up free rental options.

Which is why, ultimately, Shroud of the Avatar is difficult to recommend. Yes, Portalarium’s MMO has some interesting ideas, and the approach to story and questing is certainly enough to hook me. But there are other RPGs out there with just as compelling a story, and other MMOs who provide updated content on just as fierce a schedule. But, and possibly more crucially, they also have a healthier respect for the player’s wallet.




Final Score
6.5

Pros
Passionate community
Skill systems have huge depth & customization
Solid story & novel questing

Cons
Dated appearance
Grind
Heavily overpriced housing
Poor combat
Ugly user interface


Reviewed By: Gareth Harmer
Reviewed On: May 07, 2018

https://www.mmorpg.com/shroud-of-th...harm-make-for-an-mmo-worth-playing-1000000500

 

[taxalot]

Some good points, but he's overly apolegetic for the story and questing ; those are actually the most broken parts of the game to a point it has to be seen to be believed. And I'm talking more than bugs, I'm talking poor design.

Let's just mention the story, for instance. The game begins as a mechanical creature called "The Oracle" pulls you in to the game world, summons you in his chamber, and says you are an Avatar like many people around ; by this it acknowledges other players yet struggles, stutters at convincing how "special" you are compared to other players. It tries to, while tiptoeing around the question. As if this wan't confusing enough, you quickly meet other NPCs that claim to be themselves Avatars ! And they're just selling shit. What the hell ? I thought they were special ?

But it gets worse : the oracle asks you to follow the path of Truth, Love, and Courage. But he sets you on one path. So I was pretty much confused at the beginning thinking the T/L/C path was just a beginning path (similar to Dragon Origins) or if I had to do everything ? It turns out that you quickly understand "because gameplay" that you need to do 3 paths, and that the Oracle seems to acknowledge it at some point, but it's still a blurry mess.

And the mess gets only blurrer : what the hell is a "path of truth" "path of courage" or "path of love" ? Well, you vaguely understands from discussing with NPCs that mostly all repeat the same thing when they bother to talk to you at all (most NPCs let you enter 'dialog mode' but a lot even decline to give you a name pretending it's not important and have nothing to say) that those 3 paths are connected to 3 cities ; what you need to do is stumble through these 3 cities and somehow notice the Quest line that seems more important than the others. Nothing more ; there is an obvious lack of storytelling.

The politics and game world of Novia are also strange as fuck ; while Britannia used to feel like a united, coherent game world it looks like most people here have no awareness of their surrounding. No one mentions deep events going in another region, events as futile as, you know, a fucking army of Undead about to crush a few of the major cities in another region. Did they actually hire a writer, Tracy Hickman, for this. At first I was even confused in the difference between Novia and New Britannia, and I'm not even sure I grasped it correctly. The cities are an organisational mess, it's hard to understand if they are governed by anyone, and nobody mentions Lord British at all. Is he the ruler of the land ? I still have no idea. He's nowhere to be found in the game as of late and I'm uncertain if he is missing or "not here at the moment" as one NPC that is supposed to be RG's wife told me.

The quest system, also, in itself is broken. A lot of quests do not bother to register as "completed", even in the main quest leaving you with constant fear that a broken flag will make the game incompletable. And when they work, they are mostly fetch quests, or talk to X/Y. There are a few choices with little consequences, but nothing out of the ordinary for a game that was supposed to present virtue dilemmas. And let's not even mention the balancing in the game that is completely, absolutely non existent, and even the bits that exist are fraudulent. As I mentioned earlier, the game is divided in "Tier 1 to 5" zones, but I stumbled on a Tier 10 encounter that doesn't seem to be acknlowedged by other player or even the fucking website. Tier 5 zones are supposed to be out of reach for my character right now but they happen very early in the storyline.... and some of these are easer than Tier 3 zones because 10 tier 3 wolves jumping at you are much worse to handle than a single tier 5 troll.

And the... storytelling ? Oh god, where do I start ? Not only is it absent most of the time as I explained above, but when it's present, it just doesn't work or is unfinished. As in previous Ultimas, there is a scene where you are strongly encouraged to kill children but can somehow avoid. Well, those kids died on their own, it just fucking happened yet people said I "did not have to kill them".... what ? Some NPCs ask you to "follow them" and walk at an incredibly slow pace. Walls of texts and conversation between several NPCs happen randomly and say nothing interesting. The game has HUGE areas that are supposed to be filled with life but there is NOTHING there. One of the major castle when a few major scenes happen has 2 NPCs in it yet is bigger than all the castles of Ultima games combined. Another scene has you needed to talk to a Kobold king, and to get there you have to cross this huge, interesting looking city with dozens of building to finally get to the palace and talk to the guy. But there is no interaction available in the city. You cannot talk to anyone. In the palace, nobody will even say anything either. Still, it takes like 10 to 15 minutes to cross the city and get there.

Some NPCs present themselves as ferrymen taking you to islands, yet the interaction with them is broken, making me think I had broken my game. They said they would take me to the island, but they don't. Another said I was to talk to him "tomorrow", but he kept saying that every day. The solution is to exit to the world map and click on a tiny boat there. Why have this NPC then ? What the hell ? There are confusing situations like this every 3 minutes.

I really do not understand that reviewer sympathyzing over the questing and story. This is incredible. Nothing of what I saw so far would be acceptable in a game that is supposed to be "released". It's a clearly, unfinished game in an unforgivable state as of now.

And I have talked to people who say that "At least this game is trying something new", but, seriously, all monetization bullshit aside, what is it trying new ? There is the housing that is retarded for most people, but the rest? Every MMO and its cousin has crafting. Every MMO around now has a single player story that is also told in a much more effective fashion than SOTA's. For how long has these people not touched any game at all ? And the multiplayer PVP/PVE mechanics of SOTA are not even that good. And Single PLayer Offline, while present as an option, is an even worse "option." that would make question the sanity of the one trying it.

 

[thesheeep]

taxalot bravely suffering for our sins.

 

[taxalot]

http://sotawiki.net/sota/Death_Adder_Cloak

Death Adder Cloak
Death Adder Cloak


Available in Cross promotional with Razer ID.
Razer ID

This cloak bears the secret Death Adder symbol of Min Liang Tan, a respected citizen of Ardoris who is rumored to practice Necromancy. It is whispered that wearing this symbol in his presence will be rewarded.

http://sotawiki.net/sota/Min_Liang_Tan

Min Liang Tan is a Minister of the Lotus in Ardoris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min-Liang_Tan

Min-Liang Tan



Min-Liang Tan is a Singaporean entrepreneur. He is best known as the co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of gaming hardware company, Razer Inc. and CEO of THX as of May 2017. He directs and oversees the design and development of all Razer products

Holy cow. I was browsing my old Steam screenshot collection ; this asshole seems to insert himself in a lot of games.

Spoiler

[/quote]

Tan was also included in the Torment: Tides of Numenera as a character called the Min of Tan Liang [28] as well as in the game Holy Potatoes as Chief Min.

Tan has also had cameos in movies like Dead Rising: Watchtower where he acted as a zombie.[29]

Must be nice being a rich guy.

 

[grimace]

I really do not understand that reviewer sympathyzing over the questing and story. This is incredible. Nothing of what I saw so far would be acceptable in a game that is supposed to be "released". It's a clearly, unfinished game in an unforgivable state as of now.

Will Episode 1 be "complete" when episode 2 content is said to be launched?

Players who have been keeping up with the release notes have a better idea of how to play the game than players who have installed for the first time to play thru episode 1 story content.

Patience is the unseen virtue that keeps Avatars rewarded for waiting. And waiting. And spending $5 a month. (PubG does it! Every "modern" game has "micro" transactions! Is this the state of game development? Is there no other way to develop a game?)

 

[taxalot]

I really do not understand that reviewer sympathyzing over the questing and story. This is incredible. Nothing of what I saw so far would be acceptable in a game that is supposed to be "released". It's a clearly, unfinished game in an unforgivable state as of now.

Will Episode 1 be "complete" when episode 2 content is said to be launched?

They are still working on Episode 1. And I'll be honest : they seem hard at work and seem to produce quite a fair bunch of contents every month, possibly more than any MMO currently on the market. But everything that is added right now should have been there on LAUNCH day. They called the march version "release" but make no mistake, it's still in alpha stage. This is what infuriates me the most about the game right now, far beyond any other issue that the game might has.

But there is a huge matter at hand, a super-fat elephant in the room that the SOTA/Ultima community tries hard to ignore : a game that is reviewed so badly can't have sold well. Who the hell has fucking heard of SOTA ? It relies entirely on the Ultima community and I am not certain even them will be able to stand the emptiness & shallowness of that game for long.

My point is : I think Episode 1 will be finished... to a point, because there is still an incredible amount of work left to do. Then they will try developing Episode 2. But will they have enough money to keep afloat for all this time ? Planning 5 episodes seem delusional at this point. Portalarium will be bankrupt much sooner than that.

It's a problem coming from the over ambition of the game. SOTA should have been set in a much smaller world, with far smaller cities. They really have no idea how to fill these and it contributes a lot to the awkwardness of a Truman Show like experience.

Players who have been keeping up with the release notes have a better idea of how to play the game than players who have installed for the first time to play thru episode 1 story content.

That is something I am starting to understand. Yes. New players have no time to get used to the mechanics and the awkwardness of the game. I mean, I had to use the wiki of the game to pretty much learn what experience points were for !

I'll give it a fair point : the game doesn't hold hands with the player ; there is no super lengthy tutorial or anything and you are pretty much straight in the action, but there is a serious lack of information inside the game both about gameplay mechanics and the world setting.

Patience is the unseen virtue that keeps Avatars rewarded for waiting. And waiting. And spending $5 a month. (PubG does it! Every "modern" game has "micro" transactions! Is this the state of game development? Is there no other way to develop a game?)

When I mentioned on the Ultima Dragons discord that I was certain that they would never be able to complete the 5 episodes and that they would go bankrupt, I've been told, by several people, that they are not really worried because they run monthly telethons in which they are always eager to give to.

What more is there to add ? Fools and their money.