My Lord British history and my entry to this world...

Greetings All,

So, I just (as in 5 minutes ago) purchased this game on Steam. I've been following Shroud of the Avatar for a few years now and finally decided to give it a try. I'm excited, while also somewhat apprehensive as I try to avoid games that seem to utilize micro-transacations for major elements. That being said, I have a long history with Lord British titles and want to try.

Way back when, way way back, my first EVER video games purchased for my Apple IIC were Ultima IV and Flight Simulator. I loved Ultima IV from the first time I saw it. I read both of the books, studied the world map, loved the real Ankh in the box, and then entered the game.

I hadn't read anything about Ultima IV up until that point, I didn't follow gaming magazines at all, so it was with some misgivings that I looked at the first screens, but I continued. I enjoyed the Gypsy questions and then entered the world. I was a Mage, which means I started by Moonglow. I was kind of clueless at first. I charged off to the north and ended up completely lost in the jungle, unable to see anything, and soon attacked.

Fast forward an hour or so of play and I finally figure out how to enter towns and start my questing. I still have my binder of notes on a shelf here at home somewhere. I loved taking notes and exploring. Fast forward another 50 hours of play or so and I am still in the game, running around and still starting level. You see I never made it to the castle to level up. Boy was I surprised when I got to the castle and talked to Lord British. I think I jumped to level 5 or 6 right away.

I'm afraid I was a bit of a scoundrel. I robbed everything I could find, killed fleeing creatures, lied to townsfolk, and, when I found the Skull of Mondain, I used it This was my first experience being able to do whatever I wanted in a game and I loved it. (I also didn't quite get that the goal of the game was to be an Avatar.) I also didn't have any companions yet, though I did love that magic wand weapon.

Finally, I figured out what I was supposed to be doing and finally did become an Avatar. That was about the time Ultima V was coming out, and I imported my character.

All of which is a long winded way of saying that Ultima IV was one of my most wonderful experiences ever playing a game, closely followed by Ultima V (I didn't like the later titles as much. Changes in graphics styles seemed to detract too much from the story and freedom, and also shrunk the world.). The only game that has come close since then has been some of the Elder Scrolls titles.

So anyway, I'm here because I want to see how this game turns out and thought it was time for me to get involved. I'm here for the story and the character's development and, if I'm right, a lot of that isn't in yet. And that's ok.

Anyone with any tips for someone of my playstyle, I'd love to hear. A lot of the reviews I've read online seem to indicate that getting started can be tricky and disheartening, and I don't want to be disheartened.

Thanks all!

Ragthor

 

Welcome @Ragthor to Shroud of the Avatar... Have fun playing... ^^

 

Hey welcome to the game man! It's alot of fun and you'll meet lots of nice people ingame as well

 

Welcome Ragthor. Like you, I am an avid Ultima fan and for me, V and VII really blew the doors off anything I had ever played. To this day I still love going back and replaying them both.

As for play style, that's one of the best things about SoTA. It doesn't force you into the typical RPG archetype. You can be a heavy armor wearing mage if you want to. Or as i'm building out my character; a Moon magic wielding warrior who likes to sneak and pick pockets lol

Just be patient (I have to remind myself of this often) and ask folks questions. The community here is amazing! Cheers!

 

Welcome @Ragthor - another Ultima fan here! The game can be a bit hard to work out initially; the tutorial etc are continually being worked on and improved, and after a while you get thoroughly sucked it! The community is awesome as well - friend me in game and people are always happy to answer any questions!

 

Welcome @Ragthor! Love your LB story.

 

Welcome home @Ragthor!

Feel free to ask questions in game or in the forums. The community here is great and most people will help you.

There is also a wealth of info here on the forums.

Feel free to add me as a friend in game and I will help you out. My avatars name is the same as my forum name.

 

Welcome Ragthor. My experiences are similar to yours, except that I played ultima IV on a Commodore 128. I agree that U4 was a blast to play back then, and the fun part was the open world where you could try things out such as deliberately dropping your virtue points down to the bottom just to see what Hawkwind had to say afterwards . Anyways, I hope you have fun with this game. The community is very helpful here.

 

Never fear. This game is in no way Pay to Win. It is, as a friend of mine recently said, Pay to Look Good. Meaning that the Add-on store items are very nice but ultimately cosmetic. They don't give you any sort of advantage in the game.

But boy, do they look good.

 

Welcome Ragthor. I was a UO player myself but I've played offline games and enjoyed the story and discovery aspects of them very much. This game is a bit of a Learning curve and at first you may not see all there is to see and if course all there will be to see is not all in the game. Each release brings us closer to release date. This happens the last Thursday of every month. This is the time to see lots of new stuff coming in game in preparation for release. After that there will continue to be more new things as they are developing them. I'm Majoria in game if I can ever help. . Welcome to Shrouds

 

Welcome Ragthor!

I played UO as well and became THAT addict for many releases. Fishing was the best imo and waiting for the new fishing release in SOTA.

If you ever need help or have question in game send me a whisper (/w Governor Tempest, {enter}) if you need a place for a home I have lots of room in my town.

Have a great time!

 

Welcome Ragthor!

I'm also from a 'single player ultima' background. While I'm enjoying some of the Multi-Player elements I'm waiting somewhat apprehensively for the story/quest/single player (ala Ultima 4,5,6,7) to be polished to a level where it is enjoyable. At this point they still have placeholder NPCs and quests are a bit rough.

fingers crossed we'll get a great storyline with memorable characters like the Ultima's of old.

 

It has become a bit pay to win if you're interested in PvP though.

e.g. I can buy $100 worth of Coins of the Obsidians, sell these in game for around 20,000gp and then buy a bunch of greater healing potions, greater focus potions etc and nail PvP.

BUT, if you're in it for the quests / story etc (ie non-competitive stuff) then it's totally not pay to win at all. (perhaps pay-to-complete faster?).

 

Many thanks to everyone for your replies. This community sure seems to be very inclusive and open to new players.

I've finished the installation and played just a few minutes. Just as far as the oracle really. I look forward to what is to come next.