Cultural Impact
The use of the word "avatar" in this manner is the first time that the word represented a concept defined by its modern virtual context. They are not an embodiment of a god but of the virtues inherent to the game's paradigm. From Ultima IV onward, the player must consider and reflect upon the Avatar's actions, bringing them in line with such Virtues. Since the games in the series focus on spiritual growth and seek share virtuous ideas with the players as well, the implication behind the Avatar character is that it is representative of the actual player in the "real world". As part of this focus, players for the first time in the history of the medium were able to choose the gender and race of their characters. The Avatar concept also pioneered a role-playing game (RPG) video game design where the player has control over a single character and subsequently builds a party of followers from pre-existing non-player characters.
The Avatar character makes a cameo appearance as the last heroic adversary in Dungeon Keeper (also released by Electronic Arts but developed by a different subsidiary, Bullfrog Productions) and is humorously included in the last cutscene as being locked in a wall for knife-throwing target practice.
Read more about this topic: Avatar (Ultima)
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