Awesome interview, Gordon. I’m a big Garriott fan and really interested in his latest project. I’ve actually pledged, but haven’t jumped into the game yet. I think I’m going to soon, as it sounds like it’s really coming along now.
His comments on the splitting of UO into PVP and non-PVP servers were interesting. I’m in the camp of not wanting total PVP in my face all the time, so it’s good to hear his plan for Shroud.
Thanks for posting the link, it was a great read!
I watched and read a bunch of Garriot interviews, and he tends to go more into his history with Ultima than talking about Shroud. I’m an Ultima fanboy; I consider U7 to be Best Game of All Time. So I enjoyed that stuff too. But it would be nice to hear how Shroud actually plays.
Opening for general “pre-alpha” early access on the 27th.
It seems to be out now, though?
I was just about to jump in to play right now for a bit this afternoon. I went in for one of the low tiers during the Kickstarter and have had it installed for quite a while, but haven’t really dug into it at all yet. The one time I played many months ago it was pretty rough, but it is looking much improved and I wanted to get a chance to check it out before new Steam buyers get in.
The newsletter and Steam page both indicated it should be available today.
The game is still very early on in development, but they seem to be updating it at a good clip. For prospective buyers, I probably would not worry about picking it up yet unless you’re interesting in watching how development progresses, as opposed to playing a game to relax and have fun.
Weird. I checked and it is available now. Odd because earlier it was saying the 27th. Shrug.
So I snagged a good deal on this with the Gem sale. I know it is very, very, very early, but it sure does feel like MMO’s of 10 years ago. Is anyone playing this regularly?
Does it look like Ultima IX?
Its very rough right now. Character models looks like something from 5 years ago, true, but scenes looks pretty good actually. I’m holding off until it works better though, and the UI has had a few passes. I do think it will be something special, though.
I’ve been mucking around with it over the past couple months. The graphics seem OK to me considering its indie status, but featurewise it’s very incomplete and it takes some research to find out how to do anything. Curious to try the most recent release. I haven’t as yet found much gameplay, just a world to wander around in and various inventory things to mouse over. I’m a backer, though, so fingers crossed and all that.
Can I ask why you refer to it as indie? It has Richard Garriot, Tracy Hickmann, Scott Jennings and what…80 other people involved in this? Is it the self-published part that makes this an indie game?
Don’t forget Starr Long!
I think not having a major publisher makes them indie. Sure these guys are all industry icons, but they’re not supported by a big publisher and having to fund through kickstarter, EA and their own means while also having to self-promote their game. Maybe given the size and experience of their team blurs the lines of what should be considered an indie project, but I’ve always thought it stood for “independent from publishers”.
Of course - that makes perfect sense. and forgot about Starr Long yes - its actually a pretty interesting team, mostly because there of course there are a lot of names there that I recognize and have some good experience with.
I backed this on Kickstarter, and I’ve got it in my Steam library, but I’m holding off until it’s (more or less) complete. I find games like this prone to early burnout from playing them in an alpha/beta state, so I’m trying to keep the fresh experience for the game launch. I don’t need the Santa Hat/Special Blackbird Pet/Super Pants that they hand out for doing stuff in the various alpha/beta phases.
I’m waiting. There’s just plenty of good games in a finished state to play right now for me to spend a lot of time on something in such an early stage of development. I’ve also learned my lesson about burning myself out on games in alphas/betas.
That being said, I do pop in every other release or so just for a 2-3 minutes to get a glimpse of what’s going on. It’s come a long way this year, but still has a very long way to go.
Can you elaborate on what you see as special? I have not read up on the promises, but based on the experience of just running around, I don’t see what will make it unique, though I suppose they are hoping the community is going to be the thing…
If you look at it as a WIP, right now I see it as very grindy. and you have to travel a lot, zoning in and out of things. Most of the towns are fairly deserted, but typically you can find all these people standing around the skills trainer or a merchant, but no where else. In a lot of ways the monster hunting is very Everquest I/DAOC. Again - I understand the time phase of the project, but are other things going to begin to remove these aspects of the play? Is there a list of the cool features to come?
This is on flash sale atm, was wondering if the future of the game is looking positive?
Or is it shaping up to be another dull mmorpg?
Too early to say, it’s still pre-alpha, but I think it will be different, at the very least.
I’ve played this game a fair bit, and interviewed Garriott and at other times Starr Long about it… I don’t really know what the hell it is yet, to be honest, or whether I like it, but it’s not going to be ‘another dull mmorpg’ if by that you mean in the Everquest/Diku line. Its inspiration comes more from the Raph Koster lineage. Lots of player participation, housing, not much in the way of theme-park-ness. It may end up a train wreck, but it’s not a WoW clone by any stretch.