If you’ve picked up and played Shroud of the Avatar in early access over the past year or so, you’ll undoubtedly have noticed that its beginner experience has been under construction and in need of fleshing out and polishing. It’s to this end that the team has shifted its focus as of late, responding to player feedback concerning the first few hours of the game.
The team said that several issues, such as too many loading screens and a lack of vendors, have kept potential players from taking root in the fantasy MMO. “As we shift our focus to improving the New User Experience (NUE), and as we are able to measure new player progress through events like our recent free trial, we realize that we must address these issues sooner versus later,” Portalarium said.
As part of this effort, the dev team is creating a trio of new “Outskirts” maps to be the landing zones for players following the tutorial. The Outskirts will be large regions full of enough content to keep players busy for a few hours without undue distractions (such as confusing player housing neighborhoods). The first Outskirt revealed is Solace Bridge, which includes a refugee camp, a swamp, ruins, and a bandit camp.
