I discovered the Divinity series recently and backed the Divinity: Originl Sin Kickstarter because it was promoted by the Ultima fans as a spiritual successor to Ultima VII in many ways. Ultima VII is one of my favorite games of all time, and apparently a few of the Larian devs cite the Ultima series as a major inspiration for the Divinity series. I wonder now if the Divinity fan community will return the favor.
Richard Garriott has his own crowd funded game as a spiritual successor to the Ultima series. They were successfully funded, but they're making a second push for funding right now to improve the game.
There are a few reasons to be really excited about this game.
It appears to be one of the rare games with selective multiplayer. You can play it offline like a solo RPG. You can play in your own hosted game with friends online. Or you can play it completely online like an MMORPG where everyone shares a world. People hacked NWN for persistent worlds, but this game does it out of the box.
Like Ultima Online (this is made by Richard Garriot and a bunch of UO vets), the gameplay is meant to be organic and emergent. You can steal from a player, but get a bounty on your head. If an NPC describes an artifact in conversation, you have to actually ask other people about that artifact to get info by typing in keywords. There are no quest markers. The game aims to have minimalist UI.
Ultima VII is one of my favorite games of all time. Ultima Online was fantastic (aside from griefers). The idea of a game that merges the best of single and multi player in an RPG is pretty exciting.
Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott are doing story. Starr Long is producing.
You pre-order the game for $45, get beta access included, and game play online or offline for free.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.comIf you end up backing it, please consider putting my email address down as a referrer - enderandrew@gmail.com
