Early access to Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is now available through Steam, offering the chance to check out Richard Garriott's return to fantasy role-playing game design (and to Earth, for that matter). The game currently carries a 15% discount along with warnings that it is still in the pre-alpha stage of development. Here's word:

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is a new type of third person fantasy RPG that combines a single player narrative with a sandbox MMO. It is being created by a team that includes: Richard "Lord British" Garriott the creator of the Ultima series, Starr Long the original Director of Ultima Online, and Tracy Hickman the author of the beloved Dragonlance Novels and Dungeons & Dragons modules.

• Episodic Content: Shroud of the Avatar will consist of five episodes that will tell a series of virtue based stories created by Richard Garriott and Tracy Hickman. All supported by a series of prequel novels starting with Blade of the Avatar. Forsaken Virtues is the first episode (this is what you are purchasing access to).
• Single Player Offline Mode: Players will adventure through over 40 hours of story in an interactive world where their choices have consequences, ethical paradoxes give them pause, and they play a vital part in weaving their own story into the immersive world and lore surrounding them.
• Selective Multiplayer Modes: If you want to go through the story online you can play with everyone in a single world with three different online modes (Single Player, Friends, and Open).
• Classless Character System: Vast customization options with hundreds of skills and spells in over 20 different skill trees.
• Skillful Combat: A new way to prepare and fight in an RPG by building custom decks of skills and dynamically activating them in combat.
• PVP: Consensual with Open PVP flags, zones, and Guild Warfare.
• Player Housing: Non instanced, finite, and embedded in the world with multiple group living options.
• Player Driven Economy: Deep crafting system where the best items are made by players and player items are the main source of loot found in the game.
• Pay Once to Play: No subscription fees. Each episode (released approximately annually) is a one time fee and everything in the game can be purchased with in game gold that can be earned (except for some exclusive backer rewards).
• Social: Full Guild System, Highly Active Community and Player Owned Towns.
• Crowd Sourced & Funded: Support the project by contributing content (and receive compensation) or by pledging (and receive exclusive rewards).
• Open Development: Players help shape the game by giving feedback on monthly early access releases, videos, weekly updates, blog postings, forums, chat, etc.