The Dragonlance saga has always been one of my favorites of all times. It also was the first setting I ever played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with, and the one that most kept a special place in my gamer heart. Yesterday Portalarium announced that Dragonlance's co-author Tracy Hickman joined the team of Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues as Lead Story Designer. "Nerdgasm" is a word that I normally dislike (the fact that it's not a real word may be a contributing factor in that dislike), but in this case it probably describes my reaction pretty well.

Hickman himself commented on the announcement:

There is a tremendous opportunity to create something meaningful, challenging and wondrous in Shroud of the Avatar. I’m thrilled to play a part in it.

Portalarium founder Richard Garriot had something to add as well:

Tracy is not only a good friend, but also a master storycrafter whose writing I've greatly admired for over twenty years. Tracy’s talent will add a unique richness and depth to Shroud of the Avatar.

Personally, while lately I'm growing a little tired of the "everyone's doing it wrong, we're gonna do it right!" message that accompanies most Kickstarter projects, especially when backed or initiated by veteran developers, it's really hard not to be extremely excited at the idea of seeing those two Fantasy pioneers working together.

Incidentally, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues has almost hit its $1,000,000 Kickstarter goal, with $928,217 pledged at the moment of this writing by 13,977 backers. If you want to contribute yourself you can head here. You can also check out a video message from Hickman himself below.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/AteG_NXZF2o