The official press release for Shroud of the Avatar’s final wipe — the final wipe of server data, and the beginning of persistence in the game’s world — was sent out yesterday. Evidently, Portalarium are now calling tomorrow’s server changes the Beginning of the World event.

AUSTIN, Texas, July 26, 2016 – Backers of the crowd funded Shroud of the Avatar™ (SotA) will get their chance in two days to lay claim to a permanent plot of land in the fantasy world being developed by legendary game creator Richard Garriott and his Austin, Texas based studio, Portalarium®. Shroud of the Avatar is the spiritual successor to Garriott’s hugely popular Utlima series of fantasy role playing games.

At midnight Central Daylight Time (CDT) on Wednesday, July 27 (5:00 UTC on July 28), developers will take SotA game servers offline to begin the final player data wipe. The game will be turned back on at 9:30 AM (CDT) on July 28.

During that 9-hour 30-minute offline period, developers will be expiring the homes and basements from the Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2 pledges. New Player Owned Towns will also be expired. Details of the final player data wipe schedule can be found on the Shroud of the Avatar website.

The milestone will be celebrated with a livestream telethon (available on YouTubeand Twitch) leading up to the wipe. The telethon begins at 12 noon CDT on July 27 and will last 12 hours leading up to the beginning of the wipe at midnight. There will be prize giveaways (store credits, merchandise, Razer gear, pledges) in addition to telethon funding stretch goals for backers.

“When we turn the servers back on July 28, we expect there to be a major land rush,” said SotA Creative Director Richard Garriott. “Similar to the Oklahoma land rush of the late 19th century, our players will be able to venture out, plop down their house deeds and claim their property in Shroud of the Avatar for good. This will be the beginning of true persistence in the world.

“Expect the best properties such as great vistas and overlooks, strategic locales and waterfront real estate to go first. And expect some maneuvering between now and the end of the data wipe as higher level backers will get the first choices.”

SotA Executive Producer Starr Long says this milestone in the game’s development sets it apart from other massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG). “When comparing crowd funded MMORPGs, we believe Shroud is the first in the fantasy genre to reach a final player data wipe and to reach persistence. We are thrilled to reach this critical juncture and couldn’t have done it without the incredible support we have from our community.”

If you want to find out when your opportunity to select a house lot will begin, you can visit the official Shroud of the Avatar site. Log in there, and your user account profile page should list which housing group you are in.