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  1. #1
    Ket's Avatar Legendary
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    First Alpha Test Starts Dec 12th

    Those that pre-order Shroud of the Avatar will be getting the first taste of SotA only 9 months into development on Dec 12th-14th. As I have said before, this kind of exposure to a game this early in development is quite a change from the norm. This is due to its crowdfunding to pay for the development along with crowdsourcing assets that will be used in game as well.

    If you are interesting participating in the alpha and beta tests, you simply need to "pledge" which is basically pre-ordering. If you do so, please consider using my referral ID 3489.


    https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/fo...1-status.4226/

    "From DarkStarr in the Shroud of the Avatar forums.

    Hello Everyone,

    Thank you for your patience at our relative radio silence for the past week or two, as we have put our heads down to get Release 1 ready for you. We are on track to deliver the first early access next Thursday December 12 and we are happy to say that we are going to deliver just about every single item (except for head shapes in character creation). As a reminder, here are the deliverables for Release 1:

    RELEASE 1: December 12 - December 14, 2013

    • Install / Patching system: Step one for you guys to play the game is for you to download the game and then patch the game. Since this is the first hands on impression of the product, it is critical.
    • Login / Registration: Players should be able to log in using their existing accounts and if they have not yet registered, they should be intuitively led to the steps to register.
    • Character Creation: Players should be able to create and customize their character. Creation / Customization options for Release 1 will include: name, gender, head shape, skin tone, hair style, hair color, and eye color.
    • Single Player Online: All public releases prior to commercial launch will be online only. For Release 1 and 2, it will be constrained to single player online only.
    • First Town: Our first town, Owl’s Head will be open for exploration. This is important for testing purposes so we can better tune our performance metrics on real user machines. For Release 1, exiting the town will just funnel you back into the same town (anyone see Groundhog Day?)
    • Conversation: Important that players converse with the townsfolk so we can start expanding the dialog system. As you talk to NPCs, we will be tracking your conversations and using them to add more content based on your input.
    • Bag Inventory: This is a hot topic in the forums so we want to get it in your hands for feedback on preferences. Immersion vs. ease of use, let the battle begin!
    • Equipment: Players will be provided with several chests full of “ph@t lootz” (armor, clothes, weapons, etc.) for trying on for size.
    • House Claiming: Players will be able to select a house from the entire list of player houses (even Lord of the Manor!) for free so that we can test out the various size houses on the lots and allow players to test drive the various houses so they can have a better idea of which they ultimately want to own.
    • House Decorating: Chests full of furniture and decorative items will be provided so you can stress test the decoration system and try out various styles of interiors. Help us figure out all the ways you can break things! (Look forward to screenshot contests on this!)
    • Metrics: All the while you are playing, we will be stress testing our metrics system. This system is critical to maintaining a balanced economy, tracking exploits, and gathering data to improve the experience.

    So now that it is clear what you can expect we should also be as clear about what you should not expect:

    • Mac & Linux: We are definitely going to support these Operating Systems but we were unable to get them working satisfactorily for Release 1. For Release 1 we will only support Windows. Our goal is to try again for OSX and Linux support for Release 2.
    • Performance: Our goal with Release 1 was to build a machine challenging scene with Owl’s Head. We have only done rudimentary optimizations and we do not yet have a full suite of fallbacks (LODs, etc.). This means for R1 the game will be quite slow on lower end machines and due to memory usage might be unstable in certain conditions (like densely decorated areas). With each release we will be doing further optimizations and adding to our fallbacks to improve performance.
    • Game Loop: Even though we have clearly stated that there will not be a complete game loop (adventure, loot, spend, craft, quest, etc.) until Release 4 there is still some expectation of those activities. For R1 there is just character creation / customization, NPC conversation, and home decoration.
    • Advanced Player Housing: There are some advanced features for player housing including basements, home exterior decorations, and ceiling decorations that are not yet integrated. Expect to see these appear in future releases with the goal that by Release 4 they should all be present.

    Over the next few days we will release more information about how to install, patch, play, and submit bugs. Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with and we are proud to be on this journey with you.

    Sincerely,
    Starr Long
    "
    PS We have included some surprises around Owl’s Head so be sure to explore thoroughly."

    First Alpha Test Starts Dec 12th
  2. #2
    Disphotic's Avatar ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) CoreCoins Purchaser
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    I've looked at the game and it looks quite interesting and fun, however there are some aspects that I think are wayyy out of hand. Like the amount of money some of the pledge packs costs, and the benefits you get from them.

    And the fact that there were some very good bonuses if you did it before may which you can never get anymore. I mean, 800$ for a pack that includes a building. And the add on store selling buildings for 50$ at "50% off".

    Why buy this, and not get EverQuest Landmark instead, where you can freely build?

  3. #3
    Ket's Avatar Legendary
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    First and foremost you must remember that SotA is a crowdfunded game to pay for development and publishing and not have to go to larger companies like EA for funding So while it may seem to be emphasized more than most people are used to...it is key to ensuring the game that fans really want gets made. It is also something of a learning experience for both potential players and developers in walking the line of raising funds while not being viewed in a negative light.

    The answer to your questions depends on how familiar you are with Ultima Online and some of its features as Shroud is the "spiritual" to UO and the single player Ultima games.

    Let me clarify this question: "I mean, 800$ for a pack that includes a building. And the add on store selling buildings for 50$ at "50% off"."

    There is 2 kinds of deeds. One is the Lot Deed which allows you to claim any open village, town, city lot property. The other is the House Deed which is the actual house you would place on that claimed lot. The $50 house is just the price of the House deed and doesn't include a Lot Deed. The $800 pledge tier includes both a Lot and a unique House deed (Knight House) along with other bonuses for pledging.

    Now you still may wonder why pledge packs costs are priced high but if you are familiar with the history of the UO real estate market you can appreciate the value. Here are a couple points on housing and real estate value:

    1. Housing will be non-instanced, limited in space and reside in every NPC town throughout the game. There will not be a separate area for player housing....it will be very much integrated within each city. IE your house could be right across from the high traffic NPC bank.

    2. Location, location, location.... Player run vendors. You can have NPC vendors placed on your property to sell any item you want. IE your house across from the high traffic NPC bank would have crazy sales.

    3. No global auction house. Now your house with your vendor is in even more demand.

    4. Selective Multiplayer. If SotA is able to pull this off, there will be only 1 server 1 world. Now imagine the value of your house across from the bank just from a monetary standpoint.

    5. Land Rush. Those who pledge before the release of the game will have special timeframes to place their pre-purchased deeds before the general public.



    So the value of houses and lots are definitely there as in the end, a house in a great location will be worth far more in real life money than just the initial pledge. This is also not taking into account the "fun" factor of possibly being "famous" in game for living in a house that everyone sees, or the fun events and stories you could create on your property.

    My last point on the housing and pledge is this. These are the same developers who created Ultima Online, the first MMORPG. There was a land rush there as well and players started selling their real estate for thousands of dollars and it was the first time you saw news report of the RMT Market. UO also never took action against players selling real estate but you have to figure they realize that they lost out on lots of potential revenue as they didn't foresee the value of it all. For Shroud of the Avatar, I believe they are putting that potential revenue to good use by using it to help fund the game we all hope to see made.

  4. #4
    Deathyaw's Avatar Contributor
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    Thanks for the info Ket Might consider testing it later on when im not playing Wildstar.

    All i could think of is Tibia for some reason when you wrote the things with the houses

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