Lord British himself, Richard Garriott, shows off new features like housing, crafting, creatures, maps, combat, magic, and more in this progress report of the upcoming RPG, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. You can check out the new video at IGN.
It is important to remember that the game is only 6 months into development and much of what is shown is pre-alpha / prototype. Something new that you will see is the "card based" combat system which they are trying out.
Shroud of the Avatar Developer Commentary - IGN Video