Shroud of the Avatar’s thirty-third consecutive monthly content release — Release 33, as it is known — begins today. And, as you have hopefully come to expect by now, Starr Long posted a new set of change notes and instructions to the game’s website last night:

Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 33 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, August 25, at 10:30 AM US Central Daylight Time (15:30 UTC).

Impact of Persistence:
Release 33 is our first Release since we went Persistent with Release 32. Being persistent of course has had an impact on the project and how we move forward. We made the tactical decision that the immediate needs of R32 would take precedence over any R33 work. Quality of life, balance issues, exploits, stability, performance, etc. in R32 would be patched regularly, daily if needed, even if it cost us some R33 deliverables. The result of this decision has been incredibly positive. Overall player mood remains high as does our funding, which reached an astounding $10 Million during our Summer Telethon of the Avatar Part 2 (which by itself raised $200K!) This funding will allow us to finish the Roadmap we outlined earlier this year that both finishes our Kickstarter promises, while at the same time polishes the game to a very high standard. Thank you community for your incredibly humbling generosity.

Housing:
Lot Selection has wrapped up and in Release 33 we will be starting the Lot Deed Raffle for Taxable Lot Deeds in the game. This will be our method to distribute the remaining available land in the game in all locations (NPC towns, Player Run Towns, and Player Owned Towns). Additionally, Release 33 will be the first appearance of uncloned scenes that include player lots after persistence. These will give players a chance to see how we will be improving and individualizing each scene while preserving the game mechanics.

PVP:
We have always said that all PVP in Shroud of the Avatar will be consensual and players will choose to engage, or not to engage. With that said, we also want to make sure PVP is an integral part of the experience and is a balance of risk vs. reward. For those reasons, players will now encounter other players in zones flagged for PvP regardless of their match-making mode. You will no longer be able to enter these areas in Single-Player or Friends modes to circumvent PvP risk. There are a few areas, like the Obsidian Ruins, where story elements require venturing inside. However, we are going to work on alternate ways for players to navigate those areas like we have experimented with in some of the Control Points (i.e. the teleporting Wizard). We know this change will be controversial, but we believe it is the best decision for the long-term health of the game.

Yet again, I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to our Dev+ backers who tested all of the items 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 all the 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 mostly on this message, and the linked instructions and 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. Be sure to check out a couple of the event calendars run by our community members (via in-game book or the player run websites: Avatars Circle and Events of the Avatars). You can also get the latest official events on the Main Website.

Without further ado, here is a list of what you can expect to see in Release 33.

I want to just further draw out one thing, in particular, that Starr talks about above; it’s reflected in the change notes attached to his post as well:

PvP Zones Are Open Multiplayer Only: Players will now encounter other players in zones flagged for PvP regardless of their match-making mode. You will no longer be able to enter these areas in Single-Player nor Friends modes to circumvent PvP risk. There are a few areas like the Obsidian Ruins where story elements require venturing into those areas and we are going to work on alternate ways for players to navigate those areas like we have experimented with in some of the Control Points (i.e. the teleporting Wizard). We know this change will be controversial, but we believe it is the best decision for the long-term health of the game.

Certain areas of Novia, you see, are considered PvP Zones; these include the three Shardfall areas, in which all manner of dangerous creatures and exotic resources can be found. Previously, if one was playing the game in either Single-Player Online or Friends Online modes, one wouldn’t be at risk of encountering PvP-minded players as one explored these areas. However, with Release 33, this will change; any player playing any online mode of Shroud of the Avatar will be forced into Multiplayer Online mode, with their PvP flag enabled.

Now, practically speaking, I’m not sure how much of an issue this will actually present. Instances in Shroud of the Avatar have fairly limited populations — 16 or so players at the most, typically — and many of the PVP Zones are not exactly safe places for would-be PKs to camp, awaiting their prey. So in practical terms, the potential for griefing is probably somewhat smaller than one might first think. That said, this change will probably have some chilling effect on resource-gatherers, which will in turn impact other areas of the crafting and pet taming economies in the game.