What's RG up to these days?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Preachyr, Jan 9, 2018.

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  1. Spoon

    Spoon Avatar

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    Well apart from celebrating the holidays then he is usually deep in the Jira jungle terrorizing @Lum the Mad
    ...hence why Lum has returned to that moniker.
    ;)

    https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/standup-corner.2315


    Monday December 18, 2017
    Richard Garriott: Jira entry & Playtesting on Live & Completion tracking

    Tuesday December 19, 2017
    Richard Garriott: Jira & Leads meeting

    Wednesday December 20, 2017
    Richard Garriott: Travian meeting & Character meeting & Playtesting

    Thursday December 21, 2017
    Richard Garriott: Jira entry and management

    Friday December 22, 2017
    Richard Garriott: Jira & Playtesting & Planning

    Friday January 5, 2018
    Richard Garriott: Meetings & Telethon prep & JIRAs & Travel preparations

    Monday January 8, 2018
    Richard Garriott: Jira updates & Telethon

    Tuesday January 9, 2018
    Richard Garriott: Telethon & Jira updates & Playtesting
     
  2. Elwyn

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    It also didn't have 3D graphics or a multi-player online mode. Those tend to drive up the cost a bit.
     
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  3. Cryodacry

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    Star citizen isn't out yet sorry still in Alpha
     
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  4. Bubonic

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    3d graphics, as a tool, do not necessarily increase production costs. its all about the implementation.
     
  5. Lord British

    Lord British Lord British SOTA Developer

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    We have MANY forms of community connection.
    I am DAILY on Twitter doing outreach, I am on Discord MOST days.
    I am on the forums only about once a week.
    I play the game most every day, though often unseen in the dev client.
    BUT, while I was in the ARCTIC the last two weeks, I was not on the forums, at all.
    Next week I will be off as well, as I will be in Germany.
    But you will see me here again, fear not!
    Richard
     
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  6. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

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    Woooot. Why? Where ^^?
     
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  7. Rufus D`Asperdi

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    Because you're filtering his words through your own preconceptions. If you, for example, listen to his preamble from telethon last night, everything he claimed about the game is objectively true... I'm sure you would disagree with it.
    Have you watched it? It's here if you haven't:
    https://www.twitch.tv/videos/216716364?t=01s
     
  8. Vallo Frostbane

    Vallo Frostbane Avatar

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    What did he say about the game? I'm too busy conquering cities at the moment! :p
     
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  9. Rufus D`Asperdi

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    I neither the time nor the motivation to create a transcript.
     
  10. Mykll

    Mykll Avatar

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    SOTA is an online RPG
    Spiritual successor of Ultima games, lineage carries through to today
    NPCs with schedules
    Choices that matter
    Virtues
    Avatar
    Cloth maps
    Massive sandbox, make choices based on virtues
    RG pushed team to make world as interactive and immersive as possible
    Rich story, RG co-wrote with Tracy Hickman
    Selective Multiplayer

    Edit: Above what RG said. I stopped when he passed to Starr and Chris. People can debate how true all of the above is.
     
  11. Bubonic

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    Is this really true? Is the actual game story written by RG and Tracy Hickman?

    Or is it actually (what I suspect to be the case) that RG and Hickman wrote the overall background PLOT of the game, but not the actual story?

    Before I get crucified for this, here's what I mean:

    In a lot of games, especially a game like SotA which has no "flavor text" added to dialogue, the story is presented to you via Dialogue and Journal Entries. That is the method by which the end user is presented the "story", and pretty much their only interaction with it.

    So with this in mind:

    When did Tracy remove himself from this project? We know its been a very long time, like a couple years at least. How much of the game's actual story was written AFTER he left? It seems like the only DIRECT representation of anything lore- or story-wise that was created during his actual tenure was the introduction. (And oh man, that intro is so very weak. Getting sucked into your computer?? Sigh)

    So am I off base here? Is it really true and honest to say that RG and Hickman have written the story for Shroud of the Avatar if not a single word of their actual writing appears in the game (except for, perhaps, the introduction)?
     
  12. Silverti

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    But... but...but :)

    If they wanted to make Ultima VII (AAA game) based on the technology people expect today, add two zeros to that and multiply by 4.

    Take into account all of our issues we may have about SOTA, for 12 million its actually a fantastic game, most people lose sight of that.
     
  13. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    This topic is about Richard Garriott and his past games plus his direct involvement in Shroud, not another debate about the Kickstarter or debate about his involvement. Keep the topic on-topic... thanks.
     
  14. Rufus D`Asperdi

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    Ultima VII was released April 16, 1992... 25 years, 8 months, 25 days ago... meaning 25 years, 8 months, 25 days of inflation, and 25 years, 8 months, 25 days of increased technology and expectation...
    I could easily see Ultima VII, developed to a modern AAA standard as a Stand Alone, Single Player game (Which no one makes anymore) sucking up far more than the 12 million dollars that's gone into the development of Shroud of the Avatar.
    These comparisons have next to no value.
     
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  15. Bubonic

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    Sorry Berek but what's the difference between "his direct involvement with shroud" and "debate about his involvement" with shroud?
     
  16. Lifedragn

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    It is highly amusing that you are comparing budgets and team sizes to the early 90s as if the inflation figures we're given are accurate or even closely related to the cost of a video game.

    To work with that kind of budget, we'd need a 2d sprite based game most likely. Which I'd be down for, but would likely be a mass market dud even if excellently crafted. I would consider this a mid-size game. The multiplayer aspects make it a more expensive mid-size game. Here's a business article about video game budgets that can help temper some expectations https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/...ets-skyrocketed-in-recent-years/#3fb07b033ea5

    Granted a budget of ~12 million to date, the game is actually pretty impressive. Could it be better? Hindsight is a bit... erm, maybe. I think the most relevant aspect is in this statement...

    "Either you have to go ultra-lean and be really, really efficient or you have to go large and simply out-spend most possible rivals. If you’re just there in the middle, things are pretty rough."

    SotA is in the middle. It is way too complex to be considered ultra-lean. And it lacks the budget to brute force their way through with money. They are in the most difficult place to be in the industry and making a pretty good show of it.
     
  17. Bubonic

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    Not true. If they had stuck with a top down/isometric view, they could easily have worked with that budget and stayed fully 3d. A huge percent of their working costs include creating high resolution art that holds up under close ground-level scrutiny... not to mention re-working art that was already created and later found to be lacking in fidelity.
     
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  18. Lord_Darkmoon

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    I would have been OK with something like Divinity: Original Sin 2. They did not have a budget of 12 million dollars and they delivered one of the most successful and highest rated games of 2017. A great game. I love it!

    Or what about Kingdom Come Deliverance? The game has a budget that is much less than SotAs and it looks incredible.
     
  19. Silverti

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    Not sure the reasoning you use here. I have thousands of hours into playing SOTA and I still actually like playing. I have serious issues with the game, but I still play it. You are injecting your own opinion into how we all should feel about the game. I respect your opinion, you dont like it as much as those games.

    Fallout 4 cost hundred of millions and was a fantastic game: I had 100 hours into it. Throw in hundreds of games. I still have more time playing SOTA then those games.

    Did you play Divinity for 2000 hours? If you had 2000 hours into that game, how would you rate it?
     
  20. Lord_Darkmoon

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    I don't want to play a game for thousands of hours.
    I want to experience new stories, explore new worlds, meet new NPCs and experience new and different game systems, figure out how they work etc.

    That's what I always liked about games. Being able to play something new and different after getting the achievement of finishing one game.

    That was also great with the old Ultimas. Every game was different, felt and played different due to new mechanics, new stories and different graphics.
     
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