Shroud Of The Avatar Forsaken Virtues is the forthcoming selective Multiplayer game from Lord British (AKA Richard Garriott), creator and designer of the legendary Ultima series of games. Shroud Of The Avatar is not a sequel to the Ultima games, quite possibly due to the fact that Electronic Arts and not Lord British own the trademark to Ultima.
Shroud Of The Avatar is a new form of MMO, where you can take the multi out of the equation if you wish, as the FAQ explains :
Shroud of the Avatar is a new form of multiplayer online role playing game we are calling a Selective Multiplayer Game. This will allow players to choose how they want to play. Play options will include solo offline, solo online, friends only online, or open multiplayer online. For players who play in the default open multiplayer, Shroud of the Avatar will feel very much like a traditional MMO. However, Shroud of the Avatar also includes a full solo player story crafted by Richard Garriott and Tracy Hickman, best known for his best selling Dragon Lance series of books.
Player housing in MMO’s is a growing area and Shroud Of The Avatar is going to offer plenty of options in this area. There will be a variety of sized lots avaialble, rows, villages, cities, towns, keeps and castles. So how do you get these lots, again we turn to the FAQ :
There are three ways to purchase a Lot Deed. Backers at Citizen level and above receive Lot Deed with their pledge. Players can also purchase a Lot Deed in the game through earned in game currency. Finally players can purchase Village size Lot Deeds from the Add-On store.
We can see from the add-on store that land can be somewhat costly, $1050 for a City Lot being the higher end of the spectrum. There’s also a monthly tax that has to be paid with inworld game currency. However players can buy and sell lots to each other.
Ah virtual land sales, whose really going to want to do that? Enter Lady Anshe.
Continue reading “Lady Anshe’s Empire Expands To The Territory Of Lord British”