Shroud of the Avatar will be released on March 27 and aims to be a mix of single-player RPG and sandbox MMO. However, since there has already been a lot of criticism about the game before its official release, the developers believe in an organized smear campaign against their title.
Every month, the developers of the MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar (SotA) release a comprehensive update that brings numerous innovations and changes. Just on February 22, version 51 was released, which introduces the possibility for players to specialize in certain skills. Additionally, there are new side quests, visual improvements, optimizations to the combat system, adjustments to adventure scenes, and much more. Each update is full of content.
The criticism just doesn’t stop
And yet there is a lot of criticism. The reviews on Steam are currently “mixed”, the player count of the early access version is according to Steamcharts at an average of 150 players (it should be mentioned that SotA can also be played without Steam and that the number of Steam players makes up only about 35 percent of the total player population according to the developers).
In many comments to articles about the game, criticism arises. Among other things, the following are criticized:
- a supposed strong departure from the concept that was presented during the Kickstarter campaign
- too much grinding, although the game was supposed to have little grinding
- too much focus on the in-game shop
- hardly any choices with real consequences, although this was announced
- a rather dry presentation of the story through very many texts
- an offline mode that feels more like an MMORPG and not like a single-player RPG
An organized smear campaign against the game?
Starr Long, the producer of the game, commented in the comments section of an article on Eurogamer regarding the criticism. He wrote: “It should be mentioned that we have been victims of an organized campaign by a group of individuals for years. They post on every website, in reviews, on social media where features of the game are mentioned. This group spreads misinformation. They take information out of context and present information that is incomplete. And that is to harm the game and manipulate opinions against the project. Therefore, one should be cautious about the “facts” from some sources.
Is there really such a smear campaign against the game? Or does Shroud of the Avatar have to deal with disappointed fans whose passion has turned into resentment?
A change in direction of Shroud of the Avatar may have alienated fans
For fairness’ sake, it must be said that a Kickstarter-funded game never has it easy. Sticking to the vision presented during the Kickstarter campaign is difficult. Especially when you want to involve the community in the development process. Then a vision can change. This becomes problematic when you have already raised money for the originally planned design and then the changes upset the players who were looking forward to the “original idea” and had given money for it.
Judge for yourselves about the MMO
According to designer Richard Garriott, however, they fulfill the original vision of the game. Shroud of the Avatar is a role-playing game that can be played both as a single-player RPG and as an MMORPG.
- Does a group of angry fans really exist who want to ensure that the game fails?
- Or are the mixed reviews due to something else?
The best part is: Everyone can make their own judgment about the online game based on the Free2Play trial, which can already be looked at now, before the release of the game on March 27, and play for free in SotA.
Why is SotA being criticized so heavily?
