Richard “Lord British” Garriott is back with us this week for a Virtuous edition of Hangout of the Avatar! The hangout will begin at 2 pm CST on September 27th, and as always, I’ll have the link for you 15 minutes prior to broadcast.
This will be another focused, 30 minute Hangout, so I will primarily be taking your pre-submitted VIRTUE related questions via Google Hangout at #LBSotA_Hangout. For those with an aversion to Google, you can also submit your question on the comments section below.
And be sure to stay tuned. At 2:30, Chris, “Dungeon Master” Bill, and Starr Long will be revealing the results of our first Unity Scene Jam!
In U4, virtue “points” were gained, or lost, with the characters actions to the environment or creatures, as in not killing fleeing creatures and such.
In SotA, in additions to a similar concept, would the application of skill-items (in combat or otherwise) affect virtues, and furthermore would your virtuous standing affect what skill-items become available? (e.g if a “honesty” high standing, then would an assassination related skill-item be available)?
I’d like to know how much freedom of virtue will be allowed within SoTA. Will it be like UO or maybe a new, more sophisticated system?
If i group with players of a different virtue over a long time will this influence my own?
I would like to know how the virtues of a character will alter the story? As a fan of Ultima 6 and Ultima 7 I really liked the way your companions would respond when you weren’t being virtuous and would like to know how this type of thing will affect the storyline in SOTA.
How much, if at all, will virtues constrain the skills we can use and their efficacy? For example, will one be a less effective mage if they don’t want to play a character that is honest, meaning you won’t be able to play a conniving mage?
Q: Can a player complete the main story/quest line if they completely ignore the virtues?
Q: Will the virtues play a part in harvesting, crafting or combat, as an advantage if you’ve spent time demonstrating them in-game?
Q: As in previous games, will each town, city and dungeon be virtue or anti-virtue themed, in Episode 1 of SotA?
Q: Will forsaking the virtues be a legitimate, encouraged play style, in SotA? Is there a story and systems for players to develop and demonstrate the anti-virtues such as Pride instead of Humility?
Q: Historically, certain colors stood for certain virtues. Sacrifice was Orange, Honesty was Blue. Will this be true in SotA?
Q: Will our choice of housing plot location be tied to the demonstration of a particular virtue (or anti-virtue)?
How visible will ones own alignment with the virtues be? Some GFX, for example, for being very virtuous or anti-virtuous. Did you consider Vices in contrast to Virtues as, for example, the new World of Darkness setting incorporates?
Thy Lord mistakenly believes he slew a dragon. Thou hast proof that thy lance felled the beast. When asked, dost thou say?
I’d really like to know what Lord British thinks of the recently announced SteamOS from Valve, and how he sees that playing a role for PC gaming in general, as well as for SoTA.
I hope he explaines “virtues” also for those, who never played any Ultima game before.
i just want smash heads over and over again, loot their bodies and then practice my carving skills over them. Dont know how that affects to virtues, but, anyways, can we loot and dismember other players bodies¿??¿
It appears that “RG” is aiming for a single character system where you can change your role as your desires from the game change. With that in mind, will the virtue system allow characters to sway strongly from one set of virtues to the next over a period of time?
Virtues are in contrast to their equal and opposite anti-virtues. Will there be equal gameplay for the anti-virtues? This would provide a depth in a virtual world unforeseen to date.
Will there be the possibility to “sell one’s soul” to the devil and play a demonic influenced character?
How much will virtues affect crafting? For example, will smiths that excel in justice be able to imbue justice related properties into their weapons?
Will there be an anti-virtue system?
Q: Will the Virtues play a role in character creation?
Q: Are there shrines to the Virtues in New Britannia, or will we Avatars need to build them?
Will we have a new set of virtue parables much like the tale of Iolo and the brigand to guide and inspire us, and to perhaps create our own in-game religion much as we did in Ultima Online? Or will we have the ability to bring those tales along with us for the journey? (as in we won’t get spanked for saying anything against someones trademark?)
1. Humility didn’t get much love in UO. Do you have anything planned for it in SotA?
2. Are virtues going to be relevant in player-to-player interactions? IE: will murderers be associated with chaos, can compassion truly be measured and rewarded, etc.? Measuring an actual player’s honor, valor, or sacrifice seems like almost impossible task.
I just hope a lot of this can be governed by other players somehow. Not just in-game mechanics.
This was a problem with UO in later years. This virtue mechanic they introduced was redundant. A players behaviour dictated how “honest” they were and the response from other players, positive or negative, was the world’s feedback that dictated if you were truly virtuous or not.
You did not need to earn “honesty points”…