I used to run an Ultima Online server on RunUO when I was in high school. Consumed me for 3 years but was a real blast and gave me the introduction to programmi

I used to run an Ultima Online server on RunUO when I was in high school. Consumed me for 3 years but was a real blast and gave me the introduction to programming that would later lead me to majoring in CS in college. I thought this was going to be about Richard Garriot's new game, 'Shroud of the Avatar' which he said he would have called 'Ultima Online 2' if he could have obtained the rights. Apparently 'Shroud of the Avatar' is trying to finally deliver a true 3D version of Ultima Online, and it looks like they have reunited a few of the old Ultima Online developers. What I find interesting is they've chosen to work in the Unity3D engine and have been able to crowdsource good portions of the map design by releasing various dungeon/city kits. This got me thinking down a similar path to the 'Shards Online' developers. Its clear players want to develop their own worlds, its expensive for developers to do it, so why not try to bring these interests together? I'm interested to see if the curated approach of 'Shroud of the Avatar' will beat out the have-it-all approach of 'Shards Online'.