Will Iolo Appear in Shroud of the Avatar?

It would appear that, at least as far as David Watson — the real-life inspiration for everyone’s favourite bard — is concerned, the answer is “yes”:

@corboukHe certainly features in the promo.But to answer directly, I believe Iolo will be in the game.

— David R. Watson (@DavidRWatson2) March 8, 2013

One wonders if other old companions of the Avatar, based on the real-life friends and acquaintances of Richard Garriott, will likewise appear in Forsaken Virtues?

5 Responses to "Will Iolo Appear in Shroud of the Avatar?"

Shroud of the Avatar: Will Iolo Be In It? says:

March 8, 2013 at 8:10 pm

[…] It would appear that, at least as far as David Watson — the real-life inspiration for everyone’s favourite bard — is concerned, the answer is “yes”. […]
jaesun says:

March 8, 2013 at 8:12 pm

I’d assume “Iolo” the character name that cannot be in the game, because all the character names in EA’s Ultima IP of which they own?

Obviously Gariott however did not sell the name Lord British. with the IP.
ZephaniahGrey says:

March 8, 2013 at 8:24 pm

Man I hope so. The companions feel like old friends that I haven’t seen in far too long.
Sanctimonia says:

March 8, 2013 at 9:46 pm

Copyright and trademark law is kinda sketchy from everything I’ve read about it, but I believe it can’t be considered a “derivative work” or directly violate copyright or a trademark. So there are a handful of ways you can lose an eighth (or all eight):

1) Using assets, including code (graphics, music, sounds, models, etc.)
2) Using a trademarked name (“Ultima”)
3) Using enough non-trademarked material for a reasonable person to consider it a derivative work (using all the character names, town names or the littoral of the map)

Filing for copyright or trademark is several hundred dollars per filing, with no guarantee of acceptance. Companies always copyright the work as a whole and trademark the major points such as its title, subtitle, and whatever else they deem important and specific to the game. Very few companies get crazy and attempt to trademark things like town and character names. Bethesda is an exception, trademarking silly things like “dragon shout”.

I would hope that Garriott and EA are on good enough terms that they can cooperate on these issues outside a courtroom.
Sergorn says:

March 9, 2013 at 5:05 am

Iolo is a real name though. So I’m not sure they could “copyright” it. It’d be like Lucasfilm trying to shut down a movie because the main character is called Luke.

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