Axe of the Blood God Episode 2: Lord British Offers his Blessing
What it's like making an MMORPG using money from Kickstarter? Not easy. Plus: Richard Garriott's shares his philosophy on game design.
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This article is part of our ongoing coverage of GDC 2015. You can find more of our GDC news and analysis here.
This week on Axe of the Blood God, Lord British offers USgamer's new RPG podcast his blessing. He also talks about the challenges of crowdfunding, which can knock even the best designers down a peg or two.
During GDC, I had a chance to sit down with Ultima creator Richard Garriott, as well as Shadowrun Online (now Shadowrun Chronicles) producer Jan Wagner, to talk about the progress of Shroud of the Avatar, MMORPGs, Kickstarter, and what games deserve to be in a museum (we digressed a bit). Garriott, as always, has plenty to say about... well... everything. But alas, I didn't get a chance to ask him about space. Forty minutes just aren't enough.
On a sidenote, this podcast was mostly recorded on the fly using a microphone that I brought with me to GDC. Thankfully, I managed to avoid crowd noise while recording, but the sound does shift a bit from the Wagner to the Garriott interview. Thankfully, it doesn't detract from the conversation itself.
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Show Description
Richard Garriott offers an update on Shroud of the Avatar as well as some of his philosophy on game design in this special episode for GDC 2015. Plus, Cliffhanger's Jan Wagner speaks frankly on the challenges of developing Shadowrun Online (now Shadowrun Chronicles) using money from Kickstarter.
Music from Axe of the Blood God is courtesy of Leif Chappelle, who has also contributed the themes to Active Time Babble and Roleplayers' Realm. I also used music from the RPG Music Pack over at rpgmaker.net. Check it out!
Next week: Monster Hunter! Also, an interview with Cosmic Star Heroine designer Robert Boyd!