Starr Long has posted the instructions for Shroud of the Avatar’s 24th monthly pre-alpha release, Release 24 as it is otherwise known. Can you believe that they’ve been doing this for two years now?

Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 24 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, November 19, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (16:30 UTC).

Has it really been two years and twenty four releases? Were we really so crazy as to let our backers in before we had all the features in place, much less the content? Have we really been able to work together as a community of backers and developers to make something this special? It is a big resounding YES to all of those questions, and we have each of you to thank for it. Thank you for being patient with us as we try this new way to make games. Thank you for allowing us to take more time, and yes, spend more money. Thank you for letting us make some mistakes and then letting us try to correct them. Thank you for letting us balance fulfilling our kickstarter and pledge promises against making changes we all feel will make a better game. Thank you for understanding when at times we have had to make some painful compromises. Most of all, thank you for being here with us.

Release 24 was supposed to be a short release where we didn’t add very much content and we focused almost entirely on fixing bugs, polishing content, and optimizing performance. As you will see below, that is not really what happened. Instead we ended up delivering a lot of new content and delaying most of the polish and performance work we had originally planned. A big part of why we did this was because we started working on our Alpha Punch List while we were finishing R23.

This list of course contained all the systems and pledge rewards we wanted to have complete by Alpha, and was mainly fed from our Kickstarter goals. Once we had that list, we looked at what items we could get in place quickly and realized there were a few that could happen as soon as R24; including Localization, more Story Maps, Guild Housing, Clockwork Pets, Talking Mirror, and extensions to the Weather System.

This just opened the floodgates, and R24 quickly became a tide of new content with multiple new scenes, a Pickpocket skill for the Subterfuge combat tree, more musical instruments, Mystery Boxes, snowball throwing, NPC renaming (pets, vendors, etc.), and more feminine clothing options. We are incredibly excited to share all this new content with you, but we do know that we still have a lot of performance and polish to do before we are ready to launch next year. In the meantime, however, enjoy the new content and give us your feedback!

Yet again I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to our Dev+ backers who tested all of the below on the QA server and uncovered lots of bugs. They also provided editorial feedback on this post, so they are a big reason that this post actually matches what is in the game and that it is easy to read.

While we are getting closer to launch, we are still in a constant state of change, and we do not yet have in-game systems to inform players of these changes, or to share ways to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely entirely on this message, and the linked instructionsand known issues to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports because some players elect not to read this valuable information. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. So, be sure to check out a couple of the Community Events Calendars run by our community members (via in-game book or the player run websites Avatars Circle Community Events and Events of the Avatars calendar).

You can, as always, check out a summary list of change notes — details about what is new or has changed in Release 24 — at this calendar entry here on the site, or you can read over the complete change notes on the Shroud of the Avatar website proper.

I’d normally end the article there, but there was one item in the notes that I wanted to highlight here, because it greatly amused me:

• Clothing: We created several new clothing items, including various Bodices as part of our effort to offer more feminine options.
  • 2015 Yule Hat: This plain dyeable version of the Yule hat is available in the Add On Store.
  • Satin Bodices: A Satin Bodice and Panty can now be crafted in game by tailors. Additionally skirted bodices, long gloves, and lace ankle boots are available for purchase in the Add On Store.
  • Yule Velvet Bodice: In celebration of the winter holidays, players can now purchase from the Add On Store a red velvet and fur lined skirted bodice, long gloves, and ankle boots.
  • Bonnet: This plain dyeable version of the Grand Tour hat is available in the Add On Store

Now, I’m all for women in lingerie; I’m kind of a fan (as my wife will attest). That being said, however, it’s the wording here I find amusing: as part of an effort to offer more feminine options in clothing, Portalarium have added…sexy lingerie.

Plus ça change, as they say.