Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues nearly doubles Kickstarter target - closes at $1.9 million

Most people would be ecstatic about raising the money for their dream project on Kickstarter. But Richard Garriott has been to space, so presumably every subsequent achievement pales in comparison. "That was an excellent quiche I just made," a man who had been to space might hypothetically think, "but it wasn't as good as the time I was strapped into a giant rocket and went to goddamn space ." Nightmare.

If Garriott can still feel earthly pleasure, he's presumably pretty pleased right now. The Kickstarter for his spiritual successor to Ultima, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, has closed out at $1.9 million - nearly double the required target.

The SotA:FV team have updated their Kickstarter page with a message of heartfelt gratitude: "A sincere thank you goes out to all our backers for pledging your support to “Shroud of the Avatar” and helping us raise almost double our Kickstarter goal! This game would not be possible without your dedication and feedback – what a fantastic experience it's been to interact with all of you, learning what is most important and desired in our new world."

Despite coming in just short of $2 million, the team has ticked off that particular stretch goal - perhaps due to PayPal donations. That unlocks a series of Guild abilities for the online portion of the game, including a guild house, bank and a full-time PvP status. Unfortunately, we miss out on the $2.25 million stretch goal, which would have brought mod tools for the offline game.

Avatar of the Forsaken: Shrouded Virtues of Lord British: Forsaken Shrouds: Origins Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is due out October 2014. Hopefully by then I'll be able to consistently remember what its word jumble of a name actually is. Trailer below.

Thanks, Gamespot .