Change language

View desktop website

STORE COMMUNITY ABOUT SUPPORT

Install Steam

	Interface	Full Audio	Subtitles
English

Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“As a crowd funded and crowd sourced game we have felt that an open form of development is critical to making this game the best it can be. Early Access on Steam will greatly increase our access to community members who can help make the game better and is a natural iteration of the early access we have been providing our backers for the last year.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We hope to reach Beta by mid 2016 and launch shortly after that but we will not be launching until the product is ready.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version is a monthly updated snapshot of the game in active development. That means there will be periodic data wipes and large balance changes. Single Player offline mode will only be available in the full version.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Shroud of the Avatar is currently in pre-Alpha. This game still needs a LOT of work, and will be under construction for some time. This means it won't feel like a finished game to you because some of the features are half-finished or missing entirely, the design hasn't been balanced, performance hasn't been optimized, lots of bugs to fix, etc. Joining now means participating in the development, not just playing the game”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Prices may increase after Early Access.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We are in a constant dialog with our community and we allocate 30% of each monthly release to player requested changes. We also crowd source content including art, music, sound effects, code, etc. Contributors have a choice to be paid in real dollars or double the amount in add on store credit. Additionally as a sandbox the players have many opportunities to create in game events. To date players have created plays, sermons, quests, mazes, PVP tournaments, birthday parties, dance parties, hot tub parties, murder trials, town hall meetings, etc. with the in game tools.”

Buy Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

41,99€

Add to Cart

Recent updates View all (200)

6 August

Release 32 Patch Notes: August 6, 2016

Welcome to Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues Early Access Release 32! Notes on what is in this release are available here.

August 6, 2016

Build Number 458 10:00 AM

Changes:

Fixed issue that was causing Network disconnections on Linux clients
Supply Cache differential bundle for players who had already claimed Supply Cache before we increased ingredients to match "Double Starting Recipes" reward and added fuels. (for real this time apparently)
Fix to Nyssa's lost love quest in Soltown
Fix to Bentley's dialog in Soltown
Etceter: Made slight adjustments to NPC schedule volumes to stop error messages.
Performance optimizations for load times
Removed clothing from merchants that could potentially be salvaged for more than it's worth

Known Issues:

UI nameplates in the upper left do not appear to update to display other party members when joining a party
Active tooltips can cause framerate loss
Some items listed in the R32 instructions are not in the game yet including:
- Merchant inventory overhauls for POT Merchants: Most of these are complete except for Farmer Merchant
- Blood Reliquary Bundles: Some items still being built
Using the Mirror on Isle of Storms can crash sometimes
Bloom can't be disabled
Armor Set Bonuses not working
Novia Overworld rework has introduced various stuck spots, incorrect collision and "exit into the air" issues
Some UI text is not wrapping correctly
Rain is coming through the roof of some buildings
The new Targeting system still has various issues that need fixing
Stability: The latest version of Unity we are using has introduced significant stability issues along with memory leaks. We are working with Unity to resolve these as quickly as we can
Pathfinding is breaking in some houses and basements
Local chat is failing in some situations
Many SFX are not properly tied to the sound volume controls.
Lighting and fog levels are still being tuned to work with the new weather system, expect anomalies
Death and Resurrection do not work properly in the team arena
Water lots in Dynamic Player Owned Towns can currently only be placed along shorelines, not on docks
If your video drivers are out of date characters will appear as if they are covered in triangles.
Some cities are experiencing performance spikes
Some pledge, add on, and stretch goal items have not yet been built and/or do not yet have tech support.
The update to Unity 5 caused a host of general texture and lighting related issues, and not all of these have been resolved.
Distant tree billboards may have a white outline that is especially noticeable at night, and some trees may shimmer with white at night.
Skin tone will sometimes not match properly on different parts of the body
ALT key can no longer be bound. This was necessary to re-enable quick self cast with ALT

0 comments Read more

5 August

Update of the Avatar #188: Special Star Citizen Offer!

Update of the Avatar #188 has arrived!

For a limited time, get a Star Citizen Aeronaut Helmet Starter Bundle (Limited Edition of 250), and Star Citizen Airship Home (Limited Edition of 150)! If you get one of these bundles, our friends over at Cloud Imperium Games are offering a special Star Citizen item pack for you!

Here is what else is in this week's update:

Estgard Remake
Juggling Bottles
Land Rush Update
Dawn of New Britannia Community Trailer Contest
Alienware Indie Contest
Add On Store Updates
15% Bonus and 17 Day Countdown to Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 2
Upcoming Events
Community Resources – Players Helping Players

Check out the complete update at the Shroud of the Avatar website, and then join us in the game to check out Release 32 and prepare for the next Summer Telethon event on August 22nd!

1 comments Read more

See all discussions

Report bugs and leave feedback for this game on the discussion boards

About This Game

WARNING: THIS GAME IS EARLY ACCESS PRE-ALPHA. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAME VIA CROWD FUNDING, BUG TESTING, AND FEEDBACK. PLEASE ONLY PURCHASE IF YOU ARE ALSO PREPARED TO HANDLE PERIODIC WIPES, SERIOUS ISSUES AND INCOMPLETE CONTENT. PLEASE READ THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS PRIOR TO PURCHASE, MANY OF WHICH WARN YOU OF THE CURRENT UNFINISHED STATE OF THE GAME.
SUMMARY:

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is a new type of third person fantasy RPG that combines a single player narrative with a sandbox MMO. It is being created by a team that includes: Richard "Lord British" Garriott the creator of the Ultima series, Starr Long the original Director of Ultima Online, and Tracy Hickman the author of the beloved Dragonlance Novels and Dungeons & Dragons modules.

Episodic Content: Shroud of the Avatar will consist of five episodes that will tell a series of virtue based stories created by Richard Garriott and Tracy Hickman. All supported by a series of prequel novels starting with Blade of the Avatar. Forsaken Virtues is the first episode (this is what you are purchasing access to).
Single Player Offline Mode: Players will adventure through over 40 hours of story in an interactive world where their choices have consequences, ethical paradoxes give them pause, and they play a vital part in weaving their own story into the immersive world and lore surrounding them.
Selective Multiplayer Modes: If you want to go through the story online you can play with everyone in a single world with three different online modes (Single Player, Friends, and Open).
Classless Character System: Vast customization options with hundreds of skills and spells in over 20 different skill trees.
Skillful Combat: A new way to prepare and fight in an RPG by building custom decks of skills and dynamically activating them in combat.
PVP: Consensual with Open PVP flags, zones, and Guild Warfare.
Player Housing: Non instanced, finite, and embedded in the world with multiple group living options.
Player Driven Economy: Deep crafting system where the best items are made by players and player items are the main source of loot found in the game.
Pay Once to Play: No subscription fees. Each episode (released approximately annually) is a one time fee and everything in the game can be purchased with in game gold that can be earned (except for some exclusive backer rewards).
Social: Full Guild System, Highly Active Community and Player Owned Towns.
Crowd Sourced & Funded: Support the project by contributing content (and receive compensation) or by pledging (and receive exclusive rewards).
Open Development: Players help shape the game by giving feedback on monthly early access releases, videos, weekly updates, blog postings, forums, chat, etc.

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is currently in pre-alpha so there are a lot of features and content still to be built. Even the current content needs polish and balance. On the third week of every month we release a major update to the game that includes new features, new content, and bug fixes. We update the schedule for these on a quarterly basis with a final update for each release the day before it goes live.

Current Version

Housing: Purchase property and a wide variety of buildings to place there. These can be customized with hundreds of items (paintings, crafting stations, chairs, tables, food, plants, fountains, statues, lights, etc.). Players can also set permissions that allow them to share this property with other players. Higher level pledges begin the game with property and house deeds. (Find out more at www.shroudoftheavatar.com)
Crafting: Gather and refine resources to craft a wide variety of objects including weapons, armor, potions, food, and furniture.
Player Trading: Trade with each other for items or gold.
PVP (Duels and Zones): Fight other players in Open PVP zones of the map or 1 on 1 duels in any location.
Dual Scale Map: Explore the world by walking across a map (aka The Overworld) like old school RPGs with random and roving encounters mixed among named points of interest.
Combat and Magic Skills: We have over 100 skills in a wide variety of combat and magic schools including Blades, Fire, Water, Life, Polearms, Shields, etc.
Multiple Online Modes: Play how you want in one of two modes: Single Player Online or Open Multiplayer Online.
Character Customization: Customize your character's facial features, hair style, hair color, facial hair, skin tone, and gender. Also express yourself with a vast array of different gear that when equipped shows on your character. (cloaks, armor, weapons, hats, tools, torches, etc.)
AI Behaviors: Archers will try to maintain distance, warriors will try to surround you, Liches will summon skeletal allies, and villagers will turn on lights when night falls.
Advancement: As you gain experience fighting and questing you gain levels which give you skill points that you can use with a trainer to purchase new skills or to raise your attributes.
Hint System: Each time you attempt something for the first time a hint will appear with basic instructions (this can be disabled in options)
Fully Interactive World: Every attempt is made to make the world respond to you. All the lights you see can be turned on and off, doors can be opened/closed/locked/unlocked, objects can be taken from shelves/tables/etc.
Dynamic Lighting: Time of day changes as you play along with all light sources casting light in a realistic fashion.
Summoned Allies: Certain schools of magic can summon allies including Ice Elementals, Fire Elementals, Liches, and Skeletons.
Control Points: Grab control of Vertas Pass and see how long you can hold it against ever increasing waves of Dark Elves.
Emotes: Express yourself with a wide variety of emotes including dances, bows, laughs, bows, yawns, etc.
Guilds: You can form or join a guild
Banks: Store all your gear and loot when it gets too heavy to carry around.
Character tied to Pledge: All versions of the game (aka pledges) come with special rewards (gear, houses, titles, emotes, etc.).
Player Owned Towns: Players can purchase and customize from templates their very own town.
Player Vendors: You will be able to set up NPC vendors to sell the goods you have crafted or found adventuring.
Player Made Books: Write your own book in the game and pay in game gold to have it published widely.
Dye-able Gear: Customize your gear by changing the colors.
Crowd Sourcing Create content for the game (music, sound effects, and art) and be paid for it.

Future Updates

Story: A rich narrative that presents you with complex moral choices will come online closer to launch.
More Scenes: Many additional scenes will come online including cities, dungeons, deserts, arctic areas, swamps, fortifications, battlegrounds, etc.
Performance: Continued optimizations as well as sophisticated fallback routines will greatly improve performance.
More Magic & Combat Skills: More skills will be coming including the Chaos Magic School.
Localization: Support for multiple languages.
More Creatures: More creatures along with multiple variations and new behaviors.

We estimate reaching a Beta version with all features and content sometime in the first half of 2016. All features and plans listed here are subject to change. We may modify, add or remove features as we see fit during the development process.

Website for more information: www.shroudoftheavatar.com

System Requirements

Windows

Mac OS X

SteamOS + Linux

Minimum:

OS: Windows 7 64 bit or newer
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX10 Compatible ATI Radeon HD 3870 / NVIDIA 8800 GT / Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics
DirectX: Version 10
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 7 GB available space

Recommended:

OS: Windows 7 64 bit or newer
Processor: Quad Core Processor 2.4GHz or faster
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX10 Compatible AMD Radeon HD 6850 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550
DirectX: Version 10
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 7 GB available space

Minimum:

OS: 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion), 10.9 (Mavericks)
Processor: 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Dual-Core)
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3870 / NVidia Geforce 640M
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 7 GB available space

Recommended:

OS: 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion), 10.9 (Mavericks)
Processor: 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Dual-Core)
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5870 / NVidia Geforce GTX 775M
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 7 GB available space

Minimum:

OS: Ubuntu 10.10 or newer officially but most linux flavors supported
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3870 / NVIDIA 8800 GT / Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 7 GB available space

Recommended:

OS: Ubuntu 10.10 or newer officially but most linux flavors supported
Processor: Quad Core Processor 2.4GHz or faster
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6850 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 7 GB available space

2015 Portalarium

See all

More like this

Customer reviews

Customer Review system updated! Learn more

Filter:

Summary

Most Helpful

Recent

Positive (533)

Negative (298)

Funny

Recent:

Mixed (55 reviews)

Overall:

Mixed (831 reviews)

Recently Posted

Posted: 8 August

I have played Shroud off and on since release 17 I believe. I have seen the improvements in graphics and impro vements in gameplay over the last 15 releases. I had my doubts and concerns as I seemed to see little progress between releases, lots of catering to whales. This game is a cash sink.

I have invested somewhere between $325.00 and $375.00 and have some 131 hours in game with the hopes that it would be a true succesor to Ultima Online, and it is indeed developing in that direction.

There has to be some major optimization at some point. The zones are so small that there really is no need of any mounts at this time in the game. teh load screens are absolutley killing the game and breaking an possible immersion. I am playing on a newer Alienwarea and I am experiencing 1-1.5 minute load times for small zones.

I am enjoying the game and hope that it eventualy develops in to a more open world sandbox type experience without immersion killing load screens.

Its a gamble at this point, investors do some research and read further reviews before taking the leap.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 7 August

This game is the next big thing in mmo. The crafting system is as deep as probably most have ever seen. Still in testing the game is in my honest opinion better than most games out there of its likeness. Buy a piece of land, and pay taxes. Mine ore, farm recources, grow crops and craft. I will be playing this game for a long time. Normally games are in and out in 6-12 months.. it will take that long to get through the first phase of this one. Once someone that time frame ends they are coming with phase 2! The glyph system "card deck" abilities that create another complete set of abilities when combined is a bit difficult to understand but with time will learn it. 10 button tool bar for the easy play gamer like myself "I cannot stand 15 + buttons" can actually navigate the skills better. If you havn't checked the lastest version of this game out you are missing "it" some fantastic gaming. massive world, and Large lifelike dungeons... I am impressed with the story, and questline. Once you finish the three "only" then might you go to the final for this series.
#SOTA #Sota.com #sotahud #Steam #MMORPG #Gamer #MMO #Shroudoftheavatar

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 7 August

Fun. Sandboxy. Ultima feels...

Yes, people gripe about the cash shop cosmetic items. This review would be 20 pages long if I listed every game that monetized cosmetics. Get used to it and get over it, server lights got to stay on somehow.

The game is in heavy developement and itterates frequently. The devs ask for feedback on features and work with it. Ina few weeks I watched the new test targeting system go from rubish to fun and pleasant. If you do any real QA, Dev, or engineering work, you can realize to itterate that much with feed back is no mean feat.

As of R32 the basics are in, but the game is not feature complete or content complete.

Pros -
Overworld map for travel / random encounters.
-Reasonably sized scenes, newbie ones are smaller and intimate while some later are rather expansive and interconnected.
Crafting gives players better control over gear and are pleasant.
Combat is not a total Dance Dance Revolution finger twist.
Combat is not a total snooze.

Cons -
In developement, not content complete.
- Not all quests are complete.
- Side quests are not fully populated
- Some scenes are not complete, and are clearly marked.
Balance passes in progress for skills.
Balance passes in progress for itemization.

Also note, the devs stream and answer questions on a regular basis.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 7 August

Feels dated and it isn't even done. I just don't see this taking off any time soon.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 6 August

Disappointed. The "evolution" of this game is contra to continous improvement. Online play is exteammly laggy - frequent freezes every few (10-15) seconds for a second or two. Zombies running away from you when shooting with a bow - the AI is flawed as they run away then charge back, run away and charge back....this in the "tutorial" section. No idea of what I'm supposed to do...go into town and.......then what?

A poor quality product so far.

It is Alpha and there maybe an improvement over the coming months, but given the backward steps taken to date, I doubt it.

The game is unappealing and while I do have hopes that the game becomes enjoyable, I have seen nothing to support my hope.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 6 August

Really enjoyed the past week not playing ground hog day and am appreciating the work evident since I last logged 4 months ago. I loved Ultima On-line. The class-less, use-gain skill system is still one of my favorite ways to kill time after two decades. Keep up the good work!

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 6 August

So much hype. Yet poor execution. Bad interface, mediorce controls, questionable graphics, combat that is at least 10 years old and instanced locations which was main killer for me. I stuck with this one for a long time, tried all of the updates and I simply cant give it a passing mark. I'm writing this report now since they started taking money on Steam which makes it "released" in my book. This one does not have the excuse of early access any more. Shame, I had high hopes for it.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 4 August

Okay, so like an idiot, I wrote this review a few times and it failed but I didn't save it.... now I'm going to try and give an abridged version! (PS> I got to the end and failed to write a short review, I only recently installed steam so not many hours on steam yet - a lot of the people who play this game don't even use steam, they got their game through the website and didn't link it).

DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME - if you want a completed game. It's not in beta, it's not in alpha, it's just a work in progress. I think it's great what has been done thus far - Lots of character variety, Amazing breadth of crafting (seriously, it confuses me a little, thousands of recipes and combinations at first glance). I like the graphics. It's an MMO, don't expect to see the witcher here.

Craftiing Skills - 5 Gathering Skills, 6 Refining Skills, 5 Production Skills (these make the final items)

Adventuring Skills - Each of these is a tree with 9-10 options
Combat - Blades, Bludgeons, Ranged, Polearms, Light Armor, Heavy Armor, Shield
Magic - Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Sun, Moon, Life, Death, Chaos
Strategy - Tactics, Taming, Focus, Subterfuge

I started as an archer, didn't like being an archer, switched to sword and board, and now use 2-handed sword.... and thinking of switching to magic.

Basically you gain experiene completing quests and killing monsters, and then you level up skills by using them - but the great part is, you can't just macro it because leveling up skills draws from your experience pool. Cast healing touch 100 times and it won't level up if you've used up your experience pool.

What I REALLY like is that I can let skills decay (this is what prevents you from getting infinite skills - though you can get a lot of skills up) and totally change your build. Maybe you're an archer with air magic (how I started) and you transition to a fighter specializing in sword & earth magic. Or you go pure chaos mage + fire.

Don't get me wrong, the game isn't done, and you'll see lots of reviews that dismiss the game because it's not finished (or they don't like it)- and that's pretty fair. It's unfortunate that they didn't read the warnings in some cases - and in other cases they just won't like the game, not everyone likes every game.

Housing - this is where some people get up in arms. Yes, there's some huge HUGE lots called castles, I think there's (30?) in the game that people got by paying a lot of money to support the game development. But who cares? The smallest property size which can hold a 4-story house and 5-story basement (row lot) is 85$. And it is absolutely possible (at the time of this writing) to grind the gold and trade it for a row lot from someone. Yeah, it'll take time, but long-term goals are good - and even at 85$ that's, what, a 6 month subscription to WOW? The game has - NO SUBSCRIPTION - it sold property deeds/pledges instead to fund development of the game.

Pretty much anything can be accomplished in-game as even things like buying a fancy blue version of a chair (that you can craft the brown leather version in-game) can be obtained by trading with other people.

So, DO NOT PLAY - if you cannot take a game that isn't slated to be released for still another 6 months (and may only be hitting what you might call beta around that time), but if you want to get in and play with friends and can accept that there is still balancing, a few crash-bugs to fix, and a growing community (there's been 60k game copies sold, but I think that's fine for a game that is still in pre-release/early access and not launched yet). If you have any questions feel free to look up "Lord Andernut" in the forums.

The forums do require 5$ to post publicly in, but Private Messages are free. Buying the game also allows you to post. (Used to be some targetted spam issues that stopped with the 5$ minimum).

Long story short, I like what I see, I'm enjoying playing and trading with people in-game, but I can't stress enough that it's not done. So you can level up, and explore, but there's a lot of game-content and game-mechanics still to come. I'm personally avoiding the "story" until it's finished and polished.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 4 August

First of all this is not a game for everyone.
To quate another review

"This game is a little rough sure, but if you ever enjoyed the old school pure idea of the MMO genre then this may be for you. Examples would be Star wars galaxies Ultima online and a dash of EQ.

The UI is rough.
The AI is rough.
The Graphics are rough..»"

When you startet playing you think you understand the game, but you dont. I Thought it was like the bad reviews but they have not played enough to get to the point.

I feel i have found my new «Star wars galaxies online» and i LOVE IT.
Bye bye kids, this is eve online in a Fantasy world.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 4 August

This game is not good. And sadly, I don't think it ever will be good.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Most Helpful Reviews In the past 30 days

BelazorkE 26

1,295 products in account

11 reviews

Posted: 27 July

***PLEASE READ COMMENTS BELOW TO SEE OTHER PEOPLE'S TRUE OPINIONS ABOUT THIS GAME AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF IF IT IS TRULY WORTH YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY***

"Do not go were the path may Lead! Go instead were there is no path and leave a trail of Doo Doo Poo, so you know not to come back to this Garbage Dump! Heed me oh Avatar, I am The Guardian and you have been warned! And Batlin says Hi.......

Overall rating for game: "G" = Gimme your money so I can laugh all the way to the Bank!

Final verdict: "A" = "Avoid" this like you would a junkie trying to jab your arm with his Dirty needle to suck your Blood out for his "Reliquary"!

LoL!!They got my money and I still constantly get emails to spend more money and buy Hats, smoking pipes, chairs, pledge more money, silly outfits, paintings, coal, candy, houses, donate money, emotes, fans, clocks, silly helmets, pledge more money, pets, pet names, Telethon Funding, Pay to see Starr long dance, pay to see lord british fly to space, just pay, pay, pay, pay,pay to breath air, pay for every time your heart beats, pay to go to the bathroom, pay to eat, pay to goto sleep, Donate huge amount if you want to wake up, need more funding please pay for the sh_tty graphics, Pay to have the achievement page graphics redrawn by a sixth grader intead of the first grader who drew them, pay so you can stand around with everyone else in the game and pretend to have a party, pay so that the game can be finished in the year 2299. Just pay because at this point the game has cost more money than games like Pillars of Eternity, The Witcher 3, Skyrim! Don't be fooled by my hours logged here on steam because I have played this heap of sh_t longer than I should of and I should have those guys pay me for my wasted time on this cash cow! Even if it does get finished be ready to spend money just to open doors or access areas or dance around in game with Lord British! I played Ultima online back in the day and that is what drew me to this money pit, sadly if you have played the old ultima online don't expect that from this game but do expect them to drain your bank and right now if you act quickly you can buy a lot for a deed to a house for only $15,000 and Lord british will escort you in for a extra $1,200, and
if you donate $750 Starr Long will drink a shot of Tabasco and for a mere $500 get a piece of toilet paper used my his majesty Lord British!

If you think I'm joking about the stuff posted above, then read this and you will be amazed to how low these guys are willing to go to get your money in their pockets!
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/07/finally-you-can-buy-richard-garriotts-blood/

Act now or you may miss out on the chance to be part of one of the most expensive games ever created with the same Graphic Engine, Tool Set and Editor used to create Ultima Online from 1997!

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=60564
They have raised close to $10,000,000 at time of me writing this, and what you get if you buy this game is a place to buy a virtual house or castle (pricing at $15,000) and than you get to decorate it, but of course you have to buy the virtual furniture with real money, basicaly if you like Barbie Dress up games you'll love this one, you can dress your avatar up in silly costumes and run around the game spreading peanut butter all over your self jumping up and down displaying fancy emotes which I might add cost money as well, also have fun decorating your house or castle if you can afford to buy either of those. This game is basically a rich man's Minecraft! Just be prepared to spend,spend, and spend! The developers claim they use all the money people have spent and dump it into the games developement but maybe they are referring to Richard garriotts other Failed project "Tabula Rasa"! Same situation, people spent alot of money buying his game and than he leaves it to fly off to space, seriously he paid millions to go on the space shuttle, which of course the game failed closed down and all the people who spent money lost but not richard garriott, he blamed ncsoft for it failing and won $32,000,000 in a law suit against them.
https://www.engadget.com/2011/10/25/richard-garriott-wins-lawsuit-against-ncsoft-again/

Powerhouse Games like The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Bioshock, Dark Souls, and many others Made awesome games with out all the Circus bullSh_t that Shroud of the Avatar guys have pulled, these guys spent more time dreaming up new ways to make money by pushing non game related stuff and too much virtual game items instead of getting down to what would make this game look and play good. because the majority of time spent on the game was for promoting Virtual items they failed to even have a presentable playable game after 3 years of working on it!
But hey those of you that paid $15,000 for that house deed and ran around to find a suitable plot to build your house after "Final Wipe", I say hope your kids don't grow hungry and may I suggest a cheaper version of building your house and running around cheering and jumping around----"Minecraft"!

Im sure Shroud of the Avatar will do their best to Ban this review because it exposes the truth of what has happened in the past with games made by these guys so be wary as you have been warned! These guys don't care about their consumers and the product that they are buying but only care how much money they can make by duping unexpected buyers into buying silly virtual items for the game instead of finishing the game and polishing it for existing new customers!

This Game needs an E_nema! Oh wait thats right, you can buy the remains of Richard Garriott's E_nema if you act now for a Paltry $20,000! But worry not Avatar's the funds go back into developing the game!

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

von Crandall

76 products in account

3 reviews

Posted: 22 July

Zones are small, boring and lack anything resembeling immersion. Everything is instanced because each zone lacks any real depth so that if there are more than 2 people in it, there's nothing to do.

PVP is forced and forgetable.

PVE is a complete afterthought.

This game had a bit of steam to get going and has since run out of it. It's not going anywhere anymore.

I would absolutely LOVE a refund.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Johnnydement

529 products in account

4 reviews

Posted: 28 July

I gived money to Richard Garriott in 2013 to bring me a new AAA RPG story focused, with plenty of options and varied gameplay. Not little money, I got the 125$ tier!

On 2016, I decided to try the game, after avoiding all previous releases in order to avoid wipes...

And I find a 2000 game, not even 2010, outdated graphincs, clumsy interface, boring lore...

I've seen during 3 years how they've milked the game keeping selling houses and ítems for an unfinished game, they took the same approach as Star Citizen with the big difference being this is a crappy game meanwhile SC is showing incredible results...

- Outdated graphics - can improve? doubt it
- Clumsy interface - can improve? seems pretty final to me...
- Boring and Static combat - Ugh! this was already outdated in 2005! LOTRO or WOW are way more dinamic!
- Limited character creation - One of the promises was a bast one... HAS to improve...
- Subpar optimization - Can't be this bad in final

Don't have much hope for the final product... will check again when it happens...

Really dissapointed

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Nkrumah

6 products in account

1 review

Posted: 26 July

This game is going to flop at an astronomical level, total money grabber. Final wipe is coming to game in a few short days and most of the main systems in game arent anywhere near where they need to be. Usually as games progress in alpha they get polished and become better and better, SOTA is the exact opposite. From targeting changes that make no sense, to useless PvP, to lack of content. Not worth the money in my opinion.

If anyone is honestly providing positive feedack for this game its prob because they pledged large amounts and dont want to admit it wasnt worth it. I had high hopes for this game, RIP UO this game is far from a spiritual successor.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Burt Lancaster

47 products in account

7 reviews

Posted: 30 July

Pledged at kickstarter. Dropped 1500 dollars into this, back then, while riding on the kickstarter hype train. Now I sorely regret my decision, as this game has gone virtually nowhere after three years. In spite of a huge community investment, and no publishing demands.

I'll play it, partly because I have to somehow get my 1500 dollars worth. How? I have no idea. For the rest of you who haven't yet paid or pledged. Don't do it. Just give that money to a charity, or a beggar, or hell throw it down a hole.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Jimmy James

691 products in account

51 reviews

Posted: 28 July

It's not looking good so far; for a game with a supposed 9.3 million in backing funds, the quality is abysmal. Everything about the experience is clunky. Most MMOs draw you in during the first few moments and this game does anything but. This is one of the few games I really regret backing.

If you can somehow get past the terrible interface, graphics, combat, and animations, you are treated to the only Ultima game in the last 28 years or so that doesn't have an open world. You travel from one small, lifeless zone to another through an overworld map with load screens in between each step. Gone are the non combat spells that made magic so appealing in these games. All that remains are skill trees with damaging and summon spells, with a few stun and buff/debuff ones sprinkled in that you cast from your toolbar, just as in every other game that has done what SoTA attempts (cash for housing aside) better.

One aspect of the game that I'm sure works perfectly is the store, where you can buy a birthday cake or a pipe for $10 USD, or an in-game house for $350, or a castle for only $11,000 and so on and so forth.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

KURT RUSSELL

286 products in account

4 reviews

Posted: 27 July

I was really willing to give SOTA a chance, to wait forever, to even ignore the huge list of problems with this game...

But today, the day of the so called final wipe, I tried to login just to aknowledge that they have limited the number of players on the servers, without even making a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ QUEUE SYSTEM.

This game can't surprise me anymore.

1/10 RIP Ultima

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Lanceman

180 products in account

2 reviews

Posted: 29 July

I really wanted to like this game, I just didn't have any fun.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Willem

200 products in account

30 reviews

Posted: 30 July

The big release...well ♥♥♥♥ me.
You know what Sir Richard... Go step on lego for a while ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Miriadis

377 products in account

1 review

Posted: 2 August

Kickstarter backer here. This game is terrible.

Very ugly graphics, terrible animations, horrendous performance, clumsy controls, bad GUI, bad story…

Every time I tried to play and check the development of the game, I couldn't go past the starting zone out of frustration. Also, years have gone by and I didn't notice much progress from previous builds in these aspects.

This was supposed to be a successor to UO, for goodness' sake! Extremely disappointed. No hopes for this game.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

Browse all 831 reviews