Spam Spam Spam Humbug 129 – Shroud of Catnip, Blade of Incompetence
Subscribe on Anchor | Subscribe on iTunes | Subscribe on Google Play | Subscribe on TuneIn | Subscribe on Stitcher | Subscribe on Android
Podcast Topic(s)
Though this episode begins with a brief discussion of Hearthstone player blitzchung and Blizzard’s punishment thereof after his remarks — on stream — about Hong Kong, the topic quickly turns toward the acquisition of Portalarium, and all its assets, by Catnip Games. No, not the Netherlands-based Catnip Games that made a few lightweight action titles; this Austin-based studio is Chris Spears’ personal development studio (and a handle that he has gone by for quite some time. e.g. on Twitter).
Also discussed is the debacle surrounding the cancellation of shipping out signed physical copies of Blade of the Avatar/Sword of Midras, the Tracy Hickman-penned prequel to Shroud of the Avatar, to Kickstarter backers who were promised them. Indeed, it comes as a surprise to some in the discussion that Hickman himself didn’t even have a copy of Sword of Midras on hand for himself!
What follows is a meandering discussion of a number of different things related to Shroud; who is even working on it, other than Chris Spears, at Catnip Games, what the exact relationship Portalarium established with TOR Books entailed, who owns the rights to the Shroud of the Avatar novels, the history of odd and biased moderation practices on the Shroud of the Avatar forums, whether virtual items constitute a valid or acceptable replacement for physical, real-world items, and so forth.
Harmony Dragon, Umbrae Dragon, Golem Dragon, and Draxenath do discuss some of the positive experiences they had with Shroud of the Avatar, as well, especially during the earlier days of its development. They also discuss the game’s implementation of player-vs-player (PVP) combat, and how this compares to some other notable titles (Neverwinter Nights, The Realm Online, Ultima Online, and EVE Online), and some of the planned and scrapped virtual world systems that were created for Ultima Online.
The discussion then shifts back to focus on Catnip Games; questions are raised concerning whether the company will be allowed to use Kickstarter to raise funds ever again, and why the company and its staff seem so reluctant to fully admit some of the failings they have made both in terms of rewarding backers of the game, and in developing the game itself. A few other Kickstarter projects — Leisure Suit Larry and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, notably — are mentioned by way of comparison; these projects did well by their backers. And the discussion ends with some thoughts about the toxicity that can crop up in gaming communities, what can be done to combat this, and why the “games as a service” model seems to make for overall less enjoyable, less original games.
Community & Patronage
And, as always, this episode of Spam Spam Spam Humbug is brought to you by our Patreon backers; thank you to everyone who supports Spam Spam Spam Humbug and the Ultima Codex by that means. And, as always, a hearty thank you to our co-producers: Seth, Goldenflame, Chris, Brickbat, Dominik, Violation, Cranberry, Christopher, Bruce, Dark Wraith Dragon, Helgraf, Gronkh, Pascal, and Thorwan.
Support Spam Spam Spam Humbug
Patreon | Buy Games at GOG | Like Ultima on Facebook | Follow the Ultima Codex on Twitter
Join the Ultima Community
UDIC.org | Ultima Dragons on Facebook | Ultima Dragons on Google+ | Follow the Ultima Dragons on Twitter | Ultima Dragons on Slack | The Weyrmount | Ultima Dragons on Discord
Send Feedback
Send Us an Email | Leave a Voice Message | Join Us on Discord
Get Social
WtFD – Twitter | Facebook | The Ultima Codex | About.me
Golem – YouTube | The Ultima Codex
Draxenath – Steam | Twitter | Facebook | Facebook Page | Twitch | Discord | Record of the Dragon Goddess
Sir Klaus – Twitter
Umbrae – Twitter
Music
Ultima VI Gates of Creation by OC ReMix
Ultima V – Stones 2001 Remix by DJ Lizard
The list of forsaken virtues would be too long to fit here.