The Kickstarter campaign for Shards Online launched today (thanks for noticing I missed putting in a link, Kevin!); Citadel Studios has kicked off their (rather modest, it must be said) effort to crowdfund the development of their player-driven sandbox MMORPG. I’d recommend watching the video above; it’s only about six and a half minutes in length, succinctly communicates the point of the game, and shows off a lot of gameplay footage…which is nice, seeing as how we haven’t seen what the game itself looks like before now.

Here’s the basic gist of the game:

Shards Online is the next step in online sandbox gaming, heavily inspired by the great herald of online worlds, Ultima Online, and other popular sandbox games. Citadel is breaking away from the modern MMO conventions of levels, classes and quest grinds. With Shards Online, we are returning to living virtual worlds where stories emerge naturally as players explore the worlds laid out before them.

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The game will launch with a complete game containing several official rule-sets. Our current plans include one with a well balanced set of gameplay, a hardcore PvP battle-royale, and even one featuring permanent character death: the ultimate game of risk versus reward.

And here’s where it diverges somewhat from the standard MMORPG template, at least in terms of how server access and administration is handled:

Upon purchasing the game, you will also receive a 30 day optional premium subscription that provides access to the official Citadel Clusters. These are massive clusters running official rule-sets with real customer support, live events, and early access to new content.

In addition to the official Citadel Clusters, players will be able to run their own clusters by signing up for a cluster server that is hosted by Citadel Studios. We have not yet decided on the pricing for cluster hosting, but we only intend to charge just enough to cover our costs. These clusters, when marked public, will be listed in-game for all players to see and join.

Ultimately, we aren’t just creating game that fosters a single player community, instead, we are giving our players the tools to create their own in-game communities.

And the systems described in this excerpt might trigger some happy memories in those familiar with the systems that were planned for inclusion in Ultima Online, but ultimately cut from the game for various reasons:

The multiverse of Shards Online is built on a philosophy of creating living, breathing worlds. Unlike other games where quests are eternal, or special events can be relived again and again, Shards Online is a game in which actions have real consequences.

You can talk with the NPCs about the latest gossip, hints for adventures, or about the weather. Walk away, and you might find them already moving on to visit the pub or talking with another NPC. Everything is in motion.

Emergent behavior, chaos theory (butterfly effect), dynamical systems – these are all core pillars of how we approach creating gameplay. Rather than attempt to script out huge, structured storylines, we prefer to provide our world’s inhabitants with small, interrelated bits of functionality that all build on top of each other to cause complex and, in many cases, unexpected behaviors.

Coupling these behavioral systems with real players and gods gives us incredibly rich opportunities for cause and effect. The egg you steal from a dragon today may be the reason she’s attacking a town you left behind tomorrow. Giving the beggar some gold on the street may make all the difference between him starving to death or having the strength to resume his secret criminal past.

I pitched the idea, in the Ultima Dragons Facebook group, of a UDIC-specific shard, one which would preferably feature Cinnabons as a craftable item. You know…provided enough Dragons buy in. Certainly, the ideas at work behind Shards Online seem to have a certain appeal to them: Citadel Studios aren’t really attempting to craft a full-on game and storyline themselves, but rather want to deliver to players the ability to do just that, with the maximum possible amount of in-game freedom. That the game draws heavy inspiration from Ultima Online should come as no surprise; many of the developers at Citadel Studios are UO veterans, and are well-respected within the UO community.

As of this writing, Shards has earned $18,878 toward its $320,000 goal, and has 29 days to go in its Kickstarter campaign. I, for one, hope it reaches its goal.