Shroud of the Avatar gets social with latest release

 It's been a while since we last hear from Portalarium regarding Richard Garriott's fantasy role-playing game, Shroud of the Avatar; but, apparently things are going pretty well. Today marks the launch of a brand new release for the game which, among other things, enables players to interact with other players via chat and emotes.

Additionally, there's an "add friend" menu can can be accessed by simply pressing the "F" key. Social features aside, players are now able to explore a third land, Braemar, and sell their crafted items to merchants.

“It’s been almost a year since we first announced Shroud of the Avatar and started our Kickstarter launch,” said Portalarium’s creative director and co-founder Richard Garriott.

“In the last eight weeks we’ve asked our backers to enter the world so they can experience our progress first hand. The momentum is building and now we have a chance to see how our multiplayer functionality stands up to the test. These short three to four day tests allow us to see how we are doing and to close the loop with our fans so we can make the game they want and we want.”

Shroud of the Avatar is expected to launch at the end of 2014. Backers for the crowd-funded game can find instructions for downloading the Release 3 client here.