Shroud of the Avatar is Ultima mastermind Richard Garriott's sprawling medieval MMO that's lived in Early Access since November 2014. Although still in testing, it underwent its final wipe last year and has since spawned some lovely stories—such as this one about how fan musicians became the game's official composers. If you'd like to craft some tales of your own, it's running a free trial this week.
From now through March 9, a slightly limited version of Shroud of the Avatar is free to try. Players who sign up can't swap items with other players via trade, for example, and cannot purchase or sell items via Player Vendors nor Public Vendors. Players can't own property either, interact with public chests, move or interact with items on a plot even if given permissions, or create ransom items when they kill or are killed in PvP. The free trial also prevents players from playing in Offline Mode.
If players decide to fork out for the paid version of Shroud of the Avatar following the trial, all character details will carry over. Full information on the trial's restrictions can be found in this direction, which is where you'll find the game's installer client and its system requirements.
Shroud of the Avatar is free to try right now though Thursday, March 9.
