Anyone here know who Richard Garriott is? No? Okay, let's try this again. Does anyone here know who Lord British is? NO?! What the... Well, I guess that's what happens when you haven't made a game in over a decade.

Lord Richard Garriott is, for a lot of old-school gamers, still a household name though. He's the man behind the ancient but still legendary Ultima series, which I'm sure most will agree, peaked with Ultima 7, and then fell down a slippery slope with the two following titles, before fading into obscurity. Since then, he's been loosely connected to a multitude of MMOs, including City of Heroes, Lineage 2 and Tabula Rasa. That is, of course, in addition to his producer role at Ultima Online - You know, that massively popular MMO that was released way back in the day, before most people even knew what the hell an MMO was.

Okay, enough history. The reason I'm mentioning Lord British is, his unannounced mystery project has been revealed as a Kickstarter for a new game, and guess what? It's an RPG! Specifically, Shroud of the Avatar. It will be a multiplayer RPG, but not an MMO. It aims to give a higher focus on actual "role playing" and less on constant grinding, which is something Garriott apparently dislikes about modern RPGs. Though it doesn't look all that impressive graphically at this point, knowing the Lord's ambition, this project is something every lover of deep and diverse RPGs should keep an eye on. Or two.

So don't forget to check the Kickstarter out. And if you remember Ultima VII, then you'll most likely want to plunk down a little cash to support this, because Garriott's true return to the industry could turn out to be a real Godsend.