Shroud of the Avatar Officially Announced as a Free to Play Title - MMORPG.com

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Shroud of the Avatar Officially Announced as a Free to Play Title - MMORPG.com

Portalarium has sent definitive word that Shroud of the Avatar is now officially a free to play game. No purchase is required to jump in and start playing and the available features to free players have been expanded. The news comes after last week's release of the retooled new player experience.

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LeFantome

Yes, we have plenty of players, everything is alright.
...
Huh..say again?

Raquis

i never should have crowdfunded this crap! Richard Garriott is a c**t!

Aeander

Raquis said:

i never should have crowdfunded this crap! Richard Garriott is a c**t!

Richard Garriot is a has-been, capable only of competing in the 90's gaming market when technological and mechanical standards were far below even the most mundane games of today.

Ozmodan

And the downward spiral continues.

Albatroes

So Bless finally got done milking their player base....oh wait, sorry, I just felt like I read this same thing recently....

Panther2103

What are the limitations for a free player? I can't seem to find that. Also do I get anything as a previous backer?

Tiller

I like how even these days people still act all surprised when pay to play MMOs go free to play all of sudden lol.

kosac

leveling expirience is bad..

Scorchien

 I spent a good bit of time over the weekend and up to today , testing out the changes for new players , I deleted and started over..

          Its definitly better ..

         It feels smoother first of all (performnace )

          The story has better direction and is more interesting..

          SOTA crafting is really nice , very in depth ..

          Harvesting/Gathering is well done tho some things seem hard to find ...

 

           Combat still feels a bit floaty ..

           Builds are really well done , leaving endless options for how you want to build/play your class..

                 Now that being said , altho there certainly are some nice points and well done mechainics , in SOTA they still feel disconnected , there is no cohesive feel to these systems , which has been my major complaint since early betas ..

  I really dislike the World map travel , feel very disconnected there also ...This and the zoning in and out of towns and adventure areas contribute to a fragmented game play experience ..

    Also altho i enjoy the questing in general , having to read and think some things thru and pay attention to surroundings , the journal itself is shit ..Unless i am really missing something here ..

 I mean how can i take the time to write an indepeth detail Quest history but not title it in the Journal , so when i do need to reference it, i need to flip thru 20 pages of text looking for specific quest each time ..  Horribly annoying .. And why cant i abandon quests .. ( again ill stress unless im missing something here)

Also some quests in the starter area still seem broken or require work arounds .. This should not be happening at this stage ..

     Overall there are parts of SOTA i really enjoy and will continue playing from time to time , but i dont see me spending much money or dedicating a.lot of time  until they deliver a more friendly and cohesive product ..

                                          over all i would give it a 7 of 10 ( im being a touch friendly there) I wanted to go like 6.8 , but i think if they continue addressing the issues it can become a solid game ..

Scot

Also notice the moves just in this last update to be like every other MMO out there, some might be better options, but they were a different way of making a MMO:

Global chat
Elimination of experience point decay on death
Looking for Group system
Doubled XP gains across the board (previously slower progression)

We have seen this before of course, but can anyone doubt that uniformity is part of the problem that besets MMOs today? There is no such thing as optimal gameplay so any genre always doing things the same way all the time will lead to stagnation.

Aeander

Scot said:

Also notice the moves just in this last update to be like every other MMO out there, some might be better options, but they were a different way of making a MMO:

Global chat
Elimination of experience point decay on death
Looking for Group system
Doubled XP gains across the board (previously slower progression)

We have seen this before of course, but can anyone doubt that uniformity is part of the problem that besets MMOs today? There is no such thing as optimal gameplay so any genre always doing things the same way all the time will lead to stagnation.

As far as I'm concerned, everything you've mentioned above is an overwhelming positive. There is a reason why global chat, lower death penalties, LFG systems, and less glacial progression have become industry standard.

Octagon7711

Sounds like they finally took a look around to see what their neighbors are doing. The market is full and it's so easy to go elsewhere now-a-days. It's not like it was in the old days when MMO's were few. Still, I wish them luck and hope they continue to adapt and grow.

Gutlard

I was an early backer and played for a few hours way back, and never went back.

I'm pretty much moved on at this point.

Gut Out!

Skellybones

this could be seen as a attempt to revamp a game that has been failing, but i actually think this is what this game needed one more thing i may add is make Housing MORE AVAILABLE To commoners i will be streaming the f2p version so check me out twitch.tv/snsgaming

Albatroes

Aeander said:

Scot said:

Also notice the moves just in this last update to be like every other MMO out there, some might be better options, but they were a different way of making a MMO:



Global chat

Elimination of experience point decay on death

Looking for Group system

Doubled XP gains across the board (previously slower progression)



We have seen this before of course, but can anyone doubt that uniformity is part of the problem that besets MMOs today? There is no such thing as optimal gameplay so any genre always doing things the same way all the time will lead to stagnation.

As far as I'm concerned, everything you've mentioned above is an overwhelming positive. There is a reason why global chat, lower death penalties, LFG systems, and less glacial progression have become industry standard.

90% of people dont ask for things to be harder. More importantly, the dude was selling his blood to people.

Octagon7711

Panther2103 said:

What are the limitations for a free player? I can't seem to find that. Also do I get anything as a previous backer?

@Panther2103, it took some doing but the only place I could find information was what Suzy posted in another thread.  I went to their site, and Steam and could find nothing available, just so happened I remembered her post.  One would think such information would be a lot easier to find.

Here is the updated list of Visitor limits:

• The term (Visitor) is appended to their character name
• Max skill level set to 50
• NEW! Limited to a single Story Path (Truth, Love or Courage)
• Cannot purchase nor sell items via Player Vendors nor Public Vendors
• No ownership of player property nor use of player property signs
• Cannot move/interact with items on a player property (even if given permissions)
• Cannot interact with public chests
• Cannot give items to other players via Trade or Mail
• Cannot flag as Open PVP
• Cannot gain nor create ransom items when you kill or are killed in PVP (in Open PVP zones)
• Character data may be deleted if not eventually upgraded to a paid account
• Cannot play in Offline Mode

https://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/477021/sota-is-now-free-to-play

Someone on Steam forum added this: "And by finishing a story you can get a property deed and row home, so housing is now available for free accounts."

Chaserz

For the old school Ultima players: enjoy. I uninstalled it after 10 minutes of trying it.

Albatroes

"Character data may be deleted if not eventually upgraded to a paid account."

"Cannot give items to other players via Trade or Mail."

"Cannot purchase nor sell items via Player Vendors nor Public Vendors."

Unless I'm missing understanding each one of those, they have SWOTR beat on f2p restrictions.

Scot

Aeander said:

Scot said:

Also notice the moves just in this last update to be like every other MMO out there, some might be better options, but they were a different way of making a MMO:

Global chat
Elimination of experience point decay on death
Looking for Group system
Doubled XP gains across the board (previously slower progression)

We have seen this before of course, but can anyone doubt that uniformity is part of the problem that besets MMOs today? There is no such thing as optimal gameplay so any genre always doing things the same way all the time will lead to stagnation.

As far as I'm concerned, everything you've mentioned above is an overwhelming positive. There is a reason why global chat, lower death penalties, LFG systems, and less glacial progression have become industry standard.

With some exceptions what global chat now is not a liability which does more to turn of new players than anything else? I agree death penalties can go too far but not that there has to be no penalty (which is what we near enough have now) it is a balance. Having a LFG is a two edged sword but on the whole I agree. I am not sure that slower progression is that bad an idea, again a balance which has gone so far to the fast lane it whizzes by.

Panther2103

Octagon7711 said:

Panther2103 said:

What are the limitations for a free player? I can't seem to find that. Also do I get anything as a previous backer?

@Panther2103, it took some doing but the only place I could find information was what Suzy posted in another thread.  I went to their site, and Steam and could find nothing available, just so happened I remembered her post.  One would think such information would be a lot easier to find.

Here is the updated list of Visitor limits:

• The term (Visitor) is appended to their character name
• Max skill level set to 50
• NEW! Limited to a single Story Path (Truth, Love or Courage)
• Cannot purchase nor sell items via Player Vendors nor Public Vendors
• No ownership of player property nor use of player property signs
• Cannot move/interact with items on a player property (even if given permissions)
• Cannot interact with public chests
• Cannot give items to other players via Trade or Mail
• Cannot flag as Open PVP
• Cannot gain nor create ransom items when you kill or are killed in PVP (in Open PVP zones)
• Character data may be deleted if not eventually upgraded to a paid account
• Cannot play in Offline Mode

https://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/477021/sota-is-now-free-to-play

Someone on Steam forum added this: "And by finishing a story you can get a property deed and row home, so housing is now available for free accounts."

Dang that's pretty harsh in terms of restrictions. 

DarthBumblebee

Like most MMOs that made the switch to Free2Play this obviously is the last burst of strenght before the end.

Also it is outrageous that they now simple make this game into a MMORPG, removing the other modes effectively after having collected money for a Selective Multiplayer Game. Shame on Portalarium for this scam! This game needs to die!

laserit

If I was in charge I'd drop the F2P bullshit and call it a Demo

gervaise1

DarthBumblebee said:

Like most MMOs that made the switch to Free2Play this obviously is the last burst of strenght before the end.

Also it is outrageous that they now simple make this game into a MMORPG, removing the other modes effectively after having collected money for a Selective Multiplayer Game. Shame on Portalarium for this scam! This game needs to die!

Well ESO dropped its sub so its not necessarily a last ditch attempt - I know what you mean though and maybe it is.

Backers though can play without any of the above restrictions. The question is have they delivered the sort of game they set out to do? If so backers shoul be happy. And if opening up the game to more people is what it takes to keep the game running I doubt that would be an issue either.

The issue might be if changes are made to keep the game running which compromise some fundamental stuff - which may be what backers signed up for.

Change or closure - which is best; worst case would be change followed shortly thereafter by closure.

Kyleran

Chaserz said:

For the old school Ultima players: enjoy.
I uninstalled it after 10 minutes of trying it.

Crappy PC eh? I heard it was pretty hardware intensive.

Scot

Panther2103 said:

Octagon7711 said:

Panther2103 said:

What are the limitations for a free player? I can't seem to find that. Also do I get anything as a previous backer?

@Panther2103, it took some doing but the only place I could find information was what Suzy posted in another thread.  I went to their site, and Steam and could find nothing available, just so happened I remembered her post.  One would think such information would be a lot easier to find.

Here is the updated list of Visitor limits:

• The term (Visitor) is appended to their character name
• Max skill level set to 50
• NEW! Limited to a single Story Path (Truth, Love or Courage)
• Cannot purchase nor sell items via Player Vendors nor Public Vendors
• No ownership of player property nor use of player property signs
• Cannot move/interact with items on a player property (even if given permissions)
• Cannot interact with public chests
• Cannot give items to other players via Trade or Mail
• Cannot flag as Open PVP
• Cannot gain nor create ransom items when you kill or are killed in PVP (in Open PVP zones)
• Character data may be deleted if not eventually upgraded to a paid account
• Cannot play in Offline Mode

https://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/477021/sota-is-now-free-to-play

Someone on Steam forum added this: "And by finishing a story you can get a property deed and row home, so housing is now available for free accounts."

Dang that's pretty harsh in terms of restrictions. 

But they is only one direction for free to play restrictions, they get removed.