Richard Garriott is one of the most well-known developers of MMORPGs. He created the milestone Ultima Online. Now he is working on a new game based on blockchain and NFTs. He argues that players anyway sell items and accounts on the internet. NFTs make these transactions safer and fairer.
What kind of game will it be? Much is not yet known about the new MMORPG, it doesn’t even have an official name. Garriott will work on the title with his colleague Todd Porter (Ultima IV) and Chris Spears (Shroud of the Avatar).
The MMORPG is supposed to be a modern Ultima, featuring an isometric perspective, fantasy content, and its own shops and lands that players can own.
It will also rely on NFTs, which according to Garriott will benefit the players. The blockchain is supposed to help make trading safer so that players do not have to resort to black markets. However, he is dissatisfied with the current implementations of NFT games.
Richard Garriott was also the one who coined the term MMORPG, as you can see in this video:
A modern Ultima with NFTs and financing from players
How will this work with NFTs? Players can buy their own land for real money. There they can set up a shop or place a portal to a dungeon they created themselves. For this, players can then charge admission or profit directly from sales in their shop.
The NFTs and the blockchain are supposed to help make trading safer and more effective. Players would not have to resort to eBay as was the case before:
In Ultima Online, when people started buying and selling shops on eBay, we had to make the effort to think about what we thought of it. Should we stop it because we cannot guarantee that the sale will really be permanent? And we had nothing from it.
All we got from people trading items are risks and complaints. [The blockchain] is a way to settle economic relations in a very fair and consistent manner between players who buy, sell, and trade these virtual goods.
Interview via PCGamesN
Through the NFT system, players are supposed to earn real money, which ties them even closer to the game. Garriott explains that while he enjoys investing in cryptocurrency, everything is too complicated and confusing.
Their new MMORPG is supposed to not draw players’ attention to cryptocurrency but let all these things happen in the background so that players do not have to immerse themselves in that world.
Players are skeptical, also due to Garriott’s past
Who is Richard Garriott anyway? Garriott is one of the most famous game developers in the world. Some know him by his Ultima name “Lord British”. Garriott had programmed himself as a ruler in the world he created.
With the Ultima series, he established his reputation as a legendary developer back in the 80s. With Ultima Online he developed one of the first MMORPGs in the world .
Then Garriott went to space, lived in a kind of castle in Texas, and developed the online RPG “Shroud of the Avatar”.
YouTuber Josh Strife Hayes took a closer look at Shroud of the Avatar in 2020:
What is the problem with the new MMORPG? Besides the fact that many players are skeptical because of the NFTs, Garriott has lost reputation due to his last project “Shroud of the Avatar”:
- The game was funded through crowdfunding and offered packages for over 6,500 euros. Even blood from the developers was sold to advance the project.
- However, the initial beta versions of the MMORPG received a lot of criticism.
- There were layoffs, delays, and the closure of the office.
- Garriott also insulted the press (via MassivelyOP).
- The highly praised story, which was supposed to come with choices, disappointed.
In the end, Shroud of the Avatar became a niche MMORPG that fell far short of expectations and the success of Garriott’s previous products. That Chris Spears, the current head of Shroud of the Avatar, is now also part of the new project while simultaneously continuing to operate the old MMORPG, is viewed negatively by some (via Twitter).
How do you see the idea of the new MMORPG? Does a modern Ultima Online appeal to you? And do you see NFTs as a way to make trading safer? Or do you generally stay away from black markets?
If you want to play a new MMORPG this year, you should keep an eye on this title:
New “75 million €” MMORPG features huge boss fights – Looks stunning
