The time has come: The development studio Portalarium has set the quasi-release date for the MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar – quasi, because they leave a backdoor open for postponements.
On December 1, 2017, Richard “Lord British” Garriott, founder of Portalarium, announced on Twitter that the final release date of Shroud of the Avatar would be announced soon. On December 14, it finally happened. However, it was no longer referred to as a “final” date, but rather a “Release Candidate”. So a version that – if everything goes well – could become the release version.
Possible Release Date Revealed
This Release Candidate will be published on March 27, 2018. That is supposed to be the date when Shroud of the Avatar leaves the Early Access phase. There is no longer talk of a real launch. Also, the offline mode that was so praised during the Kickstarter campaign is now only a small entry in the list of upcoming features for the next three months. A map feature for the offline mode is supposed to be adjusted. This has once again led to some controversial discussions, which is basically a part of SotA’s daily life.
According to the developers, they wanted to take care of making SotA a good offline gaming experience in the end. But so far, the offline mode plays anything but well. It feels like an offline MMORPG and not like a “full-fledged” single-player experience. Since fans of the offline mode have been waiting for improvements until the very end and these are apparently not coming, there is once again a tense atmosphere.
Free Trial Stealthily Released
Also somewhat surprising is the stealthy release of the unlimited playable Free Trial of the game, essentially a kind of free-to-play mode with restrictions. This version launched on December 20, without any real announcement. There is a small hint about the launch on the official Facebook page. Given the currently low player numbers (about 135 simultaneous active players according to Steamcharts), one would think that the developers of SotA would want to increase the population with a “quasi-free-to-play mode”.
The download of the trial version is also well hidden on the website. Regarding the restrictions of this version, there is no trading among players, skills can only be increased up to level 50, and the offline mode is not accessible.
Will SotA Really Launch in March?
March 27 is going to be an interesting date for fans of Shroud of the Avatar. Will the MMORPG actually launch then? What impression will it make at release and can the required 50,000 active players, as stated by the developers, really be reached to maintain operations? One can only hope that Shroud of the Avatar does not meet the same fate as The Culling. There, the end of the Early Access phase did not bring in new players.
As can still be seen from comments about the game on many websites, the opinion about Shroud of the Avatar has not improved. Many fans are still angry.
