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Shroud of the Avatar: Huge Release 3 Features List Posted
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Portalarium has posted a massive list of features that Shroud of the Avatar players can expect to see when they try out the game during Release 3. The team has taken player feedback from the previous two released and packed Release 3 to the brim with features and enhancement to existing systems. Release 3 will kick off on Thursday, February 20th and run through Saturday, February 22nd.
Shopping: Shopkeepers will be open for business for selling and buying. NOTE: Now that we have this functionality coupled with crafting we have removed many of the loot chests and greatly reduced the content that can be found in them. The chests mentioned in the Ten Ton Hammer article were only for very early testing of R3.
Configurable Controls: We completely understand the myriad reasons why players desire the ability to play the game with different control schemes so we have started adding this functionality. This first version is quite basic so expect us to expand what controls this can change as we get further in the schedule.
Crafting Improvements: We made a bunch of improvement to make crafting more useable while preserving the experimentation and discovery aspect.
Auto Place: Once you discover a recipe you can double click on it in the recipe log to automatically place all ingredients and tools on the table.
Take All: There is now a “take all” button that removes everything on the table
Starter Recipes: Crafting Log now starts with a handful of recipes
Recipe Status: Recipes now display the status of whether they can be crafted including details about what ingredients you have, or do not have, in your inventory
More Recipes: 52 more recipes bring our grand total to 153.
Read the full list on the Shroud of the Avatar site.
Comments
Looking at their releases, they're just releasing features over time. This one looks pretty good now that multiplayer is available. I think most backers are still waiting for two big things: combat in Release 4 and then PvP combat in maybe Release 5. And everyone else with only a passing interest is waiting for the real Beta later this year, when everything comes together and has a ton more content and polish.
Right now, there is no cash shop. Don't confuse that with the ongoing funding campaign. The game has not launched yet, so there's no such thing as a cash shop -- YET. Only once the game launches will we see what's still in the Add On Store available for purchase and decide then if whatever items are sold will create any dominating advantage for players.
And regarding the ability to buy gold, that has never been confirmed and are ideas they're toying with. And buying gold by itself is not P2W. It's what you can buy with it that makes it P2W. If you can buy experience potions, clearly P2W. If you can buy house decorations like plates and spoons...uhm no. If you can buy cosmetic gear to pretty up your avatar, nope.
They know the world is watching them on this and it's going to be very interesting to see what they do given that they have no subscriptions to play. For all we know, this game could turn out to be Beauty Pageant of the Avatar or Cribs of the Avatar.
Both of you are wrong.
There WILL be a cash shop. But it isn't going to be "pay to win".
I have to wonder if either of you actually read anything about the game at all. They stated plainly that there will be a shop, and not just for items they make "like houses" but also PLAYER created content will be sold, with the creator getting most of the sales. Any armor or weapons sold on the shop will be normal items, not stat based.
Also, this game is going to have an offline option so you can play it like a single player game so it would be like buying the original Ultima games. You can also play online, but alone. Online with "friends" only or full MMO.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
How do you like it so far? I'm really interested, been a Richard Garrott fan for years, and I really could use some input on this one.
I never said there never will be a cash shop. I'm just saying one does not exist right now because the game hasn't launched yet and it's all speculation. Everything being offered is to drive the funding campaign. Once the game launches, only then will we see what truly is a "cash shop". I fully expect tons of housing options (house variations, interior and exterior house decorations), avatar options (clothing, gear), miscellaneous items like more snowballs, fireworks, and even consumables like chocolates (they were going to do that for Valentines but didn't have time). I'm very up to date on the game.
But we cannot in any way shape or form claim what we know about ANY cash shop post launch because they have not confirmed anything definitively -- only ideas they're toying with. It may be very likely that some of the existing items stick around, but you never know. They change their minds randomly and sometimes make contradictory decisions (founder / KS exclusivity, anyone?). I would not be so naive as to think there won't be any items of "advantage" in the cash shop post-launch. How big of an advantage, we won't know until we see it.
Ignoring all that, you can definitely play the game offline and not be affected by any cash shop, but naturally they want to monetize the players so they encourage us to at least play SPO. The default online mode will be OPO. Richard has said that any player that goes online, they will make every attempt to monetize them as much as possible. Which is why the tax-free deeds, tax-free vendors, etc. are pledge rewards to backers -- to drive funding.
So far it is difficult to tell as we are still very very early on.It's kind of akin to asking Doctor how surgery is going after he has just made the first incision
I like the ideas and the graphics are pretty decent and housing seems very cool. Combat implementation will be the crucible for this game. If the combat is bad, they will struggle much like TSW did. If they get it right, it could be the next best thing since UO. In RG we trust, I hope he does it right since I pledged 550 bucks at kickstart for this and with other games coming down the pipe with a awesome fun factors like Wildstar, Albion, and GV hopefully this turns out well and implements some of the magic that still makes people like me talk about UO after all these years.