I am a 73 year old gamer, a bit of an outlier, I am sure, but not alone. I bought in early to both Star Citizen and Shroud of the Avatar and have really enjoyed watching the two games develop over the last 4 years. Both games drew millions of dollars from a kickstarter campaign mainly from the nostalgia of gamers who played the Wing Commander and Ultima series in the 1980's.
Ultima: Richard Garriot
Wing Commander: Chris Roberts
Chris Roberts (Star Citizen) got a boatload of cash and is creating a fantastic game, and I am sure I will play the stand-alone game when it is released, and will dabble in the persistent universe multi-player version. My preference is still with Shroud of the Avatar because of the complexity of Star Citizen with its flight simulator and first person shooter components all seem overwhelming. That said, I believe Star Citizen will be very popular for those same reasons.
I "grok" Shroud of the Avatar, most of the elements of the Ultima games have, as far as copyright issues allow, been a re-creation of the game and is in my opinion entitled to be called the "spiritual successor" to the Ultima series. There is now a large virtual world to explore, a well developed economy, and challenging crafting and combat systems to engage in.
A number of studies that show that computer gaming is beneficial for aging brains is increasing. For example:
https://www.wired.com/story/could-a-videogame-strengthen-your-aging-brain/
The social aspects of multi-player gaming are not well studied and socializing is important for mental health. Mature adults will probably avoid games with excess "griefing" and other immature game play. I can safely say that, at this time, the population of players in Shroud is more mature than the average MMO game. This may change once the game is officially released but I believe the more established players will maintain the present tone.
The developers often offer some free game access that make trying out the game easy and full access is not too expensive.
I hope this encourages some to give this game a try and offer assistance to any who ask and I plan to make additional posts about this game.
Give it a try.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/
I am not an employee nor an investor of the game development company.
