Pantheon : Rise of the Fallen
I checked out Shroud of the Avatar and am now keeping an eye on this one. I played all of the original Ultima's growing up and then Ultima Online in the late 90's/early 2000's and have always liked them. Sadly, I had no idea this was even in the works until reading this thread a few days ago. I'm glad I did.
Another title that I have been watching over the last couple of years is Pantheon : Rise of the Fallen. Link : http://www.pantheonmmo.com/ It's being marketed as an "old school" MMO with elements of the modern MMO games and is being led by one of the original EverQuest creators. So far it is looking fantastic to me.
I prefer games that take time to play and progress in. I like death penalties and longer travel times. I like having an in depth crafting system with meaning. I enjoy epic style quests that take weeks and/or months to complete. These are a few things that I have come to miss in most MMO's out there today. I understand time constraints and such as I too have become an older gamer now in my mid 40's and do not have the time to play games like I used to however I do not want my games to be "dumbed down" or made "easy-mode" either because I just end up getting bored with them at that point.
I probably fit into that niche of "old school" gamers. I played EverQuest from 1999 to 2004 and then EverQuest II from 2004 to late 2014 before leaving "for good". I still log in once in a while but don't actively play it. The game had just become so easy that it just felt like a waste of time to me. I was no longer getting a sense of accomplishment from playing, and slowly drifted away.