The selective multiplayer RPG Shroud of the Avatar has changed since the Kickstarter campaign, and this could actually be a good thing.
I have always been an advocate for the original vision of the game, which promised a story-focused game during the Kickstarter campaign that resembled more of a single-player RPG, but also allowed players to play with friends or interact in an MMO mode with many others.
Imagine a kind of Skyrim where you can invite some friends for cooperative play at any time? Or a game where you can switch to an MMO mode to participate in larger events with many other players.
Shroud of the Avatar: Changes since Kickstarter concept – good or bad?
However, the game has changed over the years, there’s no doubt about that. The focus is more on the MMO part, but there is still the option to play alone or only with friends.
The story, or rather its presentation, had to be adapted to certain limitations that arose from the focus on the MMO part. For example, no consequences for the actions and decisions of the players can be displayed. This shifts the story and quest aspect away from that of a single-player RPG.
Yes, that is unfortunate, but this new direction of SotA, focusing on social interactions, a player-driven economy, housing, and PvP might have been the right step to make Shroud of the Avatar a game that is played for a long time.
A single-player RPG is usually set aside when the story is done – unless there are modding tools like in the The Elder Scrolls series. Perhaps you might also dig up a game after some time and play it again, but long-term motivation is typically only present in online games.
Online focus for longevity
With the focus on the MMO part, players in SotA have the opportunity to live a second life in a fantasy world. They can significantly participate in keeping the economy running, they can become master crafters or miners, or hunters …
They can take on an important role in cities and play a part they are satisfied with. PvP is also important here, as it brings a certain risk. If all of this works well, a community will be built that keeps the game “alive” for a long time.
This is important for an online game. More important than telling a story that ends after a few hours. There will still be a story with quests, but due to the focus on the MMO part, you simply cannot expect it to play out like in a single-player RPG.
It took me some time to understand this. I was fixated on the announcement during the Kickstarter campaign. I wanted to see a single-player campaign that could be compared to that of other single-player RPGs.
Shroud of the Avatar: A hybrid game that has never existed before
But I’m slowly beginning to understand why some decisions were made the way Portalarium has done. Shroud of the Avatar is not a single-player RPG and it’s not an MMORPG. It is a mix of both and this naturally means that some compromises have to be made.
Due to the hoped-for longevity of the game through an online community, perhaps more compromises were made on the single-player side, but that has to be accepted. Perhaps in the end, an interesting hybrid game will emerge.
The only thing that still bothers me is that these changes should have been communicated better. And even now, to talk about a role-playing game with “single-player narrative structure” and “decisions with consequences” is rather questionable. This raises expectations from developers that the game will most likely not be able to meet.
Perhaps it’s time to make some changes in the game’s description so that it aligns more with what SotA really is – a sandbox MMO with player-driven economy, social and RPG aspects, PvP, and a story.
Last May, Andreas thought differently about this topic:
Shroud of the Avatar: From innovative RPG mix to standard MMO
