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Shroud of the Avatar's Release 8 is here, and so are its tutorials
It's time for Shroud of the Avatar's Release 8. No really, it's time right now, as you're reading this. Portalarium has published instructions and a lengthy list of features (both included and not included) in this particular build. The focus is on PvP this time around, and to that end both Scott Jennings and Chris Spears have posted tutorials. Jennings' takes the form of a PvP deck-building guide that's hosted on the SotA forums, while Spears narrates a 24-minute video that you can watch after the break. Release 8 started at 11:30 a.m. EDT this morning and it runs until 11:00 a.m. EDT on Monday, July 28th.
Garriott and crew show off early Shroud of the Avatar gameplay
Richard Garriott and two of his Shroud of the Avatar lieutenants took the stage at RTX 2013 in Austin, Texas, last weekend to preview Portalarium's upcoming crowdfunded fantasy opus. Joining Garriott were former Ultima Online producer Starr Long and SotA technical director Chris Spears. Garriott's presentation started with a historical look at roleplaying games and the game industry as well as insight into his plans to leverage crowdfunding and community involvement to reinvent the genre. Aside from the early gameplay footage, Garriott also had plenty of interesting anecdotes to share about the gamemaking process, including the differences between traditional development -- where you can "smoke and mirror" the unfinished bits until you're ready to launch -- and crowdfunded work, which is done largely in full view of potential customers. The full presentation video can be found after the break. The gameplay demo starts around the 22-minute mark.
