Live as of this morning in Shroud of the Avatar is the October update, better known as Release 59. As we’ve been covering this month, the patch includes the second phase of the fishing content, over 100 bug fixes, the new rewards UI, and the removal of some “gameplay restrictions of story, trade and lot ownership from our free players.” There’s also no more experience decay on death, and the universal chat channel is live; existing players who’ve bought the game will receive the channel for free, while free-to-play players can pick it up for a mere $2, confirming the hunch that the fee was chiefly about curbing spam.
Probably most importantly for the health of the game, the newbie experience has been completely retooled.
“For Release 59, we have revamped and improved the New User Experience by separating the tutorials from the story spaces in the three starting areas (Battle of Solace Bridge, Battle of Highvale, and Blood River Massacre). We have also built a new focused tutorial space in the Isle of Storms that walks you through the game basics in a gated fashion (i.e. you cannot advance to the next room until you prove you can swing a sword). Another change is that choosing your story path is now independent of your starting decks!”
An army of Avatars gathered to fight Hemswal The Descended in a devastating battle in the Dysborg Ruins. Follow the story and help saving Novia in our ongoing Roleplay Event: https://t.co/f7607ylSxp
— Shroud of the Avatar (@ShroudofAvatar) October 24, 2018
