The December Community Newsletter for the Shards Online fandom has been published by Citadel Studios. As per usual, Derek Brinkmann’s opening letter handily summarizes most of what is discussed in the update:

December has been an amazing month for the project. Our army of supporters has grown more this month than any other month since Kickstarter. By the time you read this, we should have over 2500 supporters in total! It is great to see so many new faces in the game exploring the world of Celador. Here’s what people are saying about our latest release:

“Absolutely LOVING the game so far, can’t stop playing it literally. It’s in-depth, it’s rich, it’s %$#%$^#ING delicious.” – RipperX from MMORPG.com

“Most fun I had in an MMO in 10 years” – YoMamma

“Best fun I have had since my Beta UO days” – Elinari

We are so glad everyone is having fun. We’ve also received some great feedback and squashed some pretty nasty bugs since the release. Sorry guys, you can’t train an un-killable demon into the village anymore!

Looking ahead, things will get a little quiet as we work on our next maps, Outlands, Catacombs and Founder’s Shard, as well as the technology to seamlessly travel between them. To keep things interesting, we’ll also be rolling out a few additions like our first hirelings: Player Run Merchants, and guild housing!

If you haven’t pledged yet, there is no better time than now. A 40$ pledge will get you instant access and you could be playing Shards Online in just minutes. And the higher tiers are chocked full of cool rewards that get you even more involved in the project.

Click on through to the full newsletter for more details about the referral program, the Tournament of Champions, player-run merchants, and modding support.