Update of the Avatar #56 – 01/17/14: $3 Million Milestone, Release 2 Countdown, BotA Chapter 5, Edelmann Cabana, Founder Weapons, Cooking Pot, and More!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

  • Lord British Hosts Hangout to Celebrate $3 Million Milestone
  • 6 Day Countdown to Release 2 Launch!
  • Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 5
  • The Spoony Interviews
  • Founder Edelmann Village Waterfront Cabana
  • Founder Melee Weapons
  • Cooking Pot of Prosperity
  • Village Lots Make A Comeback
  • 80 Days Remaining for Early Founder Pledge Prices

Lord British Hosts Hangout to Celebrate $3 Million Milestone

Shroud of the Avatar has crossed the $3M milestone thanks to your generous support! The team and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of our Backers for your belief in both our team and our vision for New Britannia!

To celebrate our $3 Million milestone, and the launch of Release 2, I’m hosting a late night Video Hangout next Thursday, January 23. We’ll post more details about the video hangout next week.

Your Humbled Servant
~Lord British

6 Day Countdown to Release 2 Launch!

We’re only 6 days away from the launch of Release 2 and the team is working feverishly to get it ready! We’re all looking forward to another great turnout from our backers, so please come check out the new features and content, and help us find bugs and provide design feedback! Stay tuned for a special update next Wednesday, January 22, providing all the details about Release 2.

Release 2 is only available to backers starting at the $45 Adventurer Pledge Tier (and $25 Early Founder First Responders), so if you want to play and haven’t backed the game yet, then please make sure you have registered on our website and made your pledge.

SotA_Blade_ofthe_Avatar_Title

Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 5

The latest installment of the serialized SotA novel, Blade of the Avatar (BotA), written by Tracy Hickman & Richard Garriott, is now available for download! If you are an Early Founder, or you purchased BotA in the Add-On Store, then you will find a download link for the current installment of the novel on your personal SotA account page (log into SotA website and click on “Account” in the top-right corner).  If you are a Kickstarter backer you’ll need to have your Kickstarter account linked to the SotA website (click here for instructions to link your Kickstarter account).

Here is a brief excerpt of the latest installment (illustration by Denis Loubet):

Chapter 5: Dark Horizon

The last to leave Midras were the caravans and their escort warriors under Aren’s command. The column of heavy wagons laden with food, equipment, tents and all else needed to support the army wound northwest across the plains, the road running close beside the meandering course of the Shimano River. Before them always was the dust cloud raised by the bulk of general Karpasik’s army with which they struggled to keep up. The dust would have been unbearably choking during the dry season, but the recent rains had dampened the ground before them and granted something of a reprieve to the teamsters at the end of the column. Behind them, the towering column of smoke from the still burning Midras continued to remind them of where they had been and what they had done.

Aren, astride his horse, found himself looking back often.

Of course, not everyone under Karpasik’s command was leaving Midras. Nearly one out of five of their warriors had been left behind to garrison the city. The Guardians of the Priestess had proven to be both resourceful and tenacious. While General Karpasik had declared Midras pacified, no one among the Army’s command staff, including the general, was so foolish as to believe it to be true. The city itself had been built upon the ruins of the previous city, and its roots were honeycombed with passages, chambers and tunnels in which rebellion could fester and flourish. While they had been unable to capture any of the Guardians alive, there was no way of knowing for certain whether all of them were dead.

Download your copy of the latest installment of BotA to read the rest of this exciting chapter!

Map Reveal

For your map puzzle collection:

SotA_Map_Puzzle_Story13

The Spoony Interviews: O British, Where Art Thou?

A medieval short featuring Spoony and Lord British. Need we say more…

The Avatar loses a lot more than an eighth.

Founder Edelmann Waterfront Cabana

This week’s Parade of Homes features the Founder Edelmann Village Waterfront Cabana, available as an Early Founder reward in the Edelmann level pledge. Designed by Bob Cooksey and Michael Hutchison, this one-story, waterfront cabana features a single spacious room sub-divided into 3 areas, with a cozy, exterior covered porch.

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SotA_Founder_Edelmann_Cabana_exterior2

 

SotA_Founder_Edelmann_Cabana_interior1

 

SotA_Founder_Edelmann_Cabana_interior2

 

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Founder Starter Melee Weapons

The Founder Starter Melee weapons are included as Early Founder rewards in the Founder pledge tier. The Founder Starter Melee Weapons, like the Founder Starter Armor, Founder Starter Shield, the Founder Cloak, and other Founder items, displays the exclusive Founder symbol, an eclipse of the sun by the shattered moon. These weapons include:

1-Handed Founder Starter Cutlass

SotA_Founder_1HCutlass

2-Handed Founder Starter Axe

SotA_Founder_2HAxe

 

Cooking Pot of Prosperity

SotA_CookingPot_Prosperity

Next in our “Prosperity” line of unique items is The Cooking Pot of Prosperity!

This unique, indestructible, cooking pot increases the ability to make higher quality foods. While cooking pots with similar effects can be crafted and purchased in the game this particular pot never needs repair.

Get Your Cooking Pot of Prosperity Now and save 33%!

For a limited time we’re offering 33% off the Cooking Pot of Prosperity! Reserve yours (or send as a gift) at the Add-On Store!

Village Property Deeds are Back in the Add-On Store

Our ongoing fund raising efforts are allowing us to expand the number of villages available when the game launches, so we have added 250 more Village Property Deeds to the Add-On Store!

Village lots are located in almost every village, town, and city across New Britannia. The Village Property Deed in the Add-On Store includes the Shingle-Roof Village Home, shown here next to an empty village lot:

lot1

At 20 x 30 meters, there is ample room for a variety of homes, including the spacious Knight Village Home and Viking Village Home!

There are many benefits to being a property owner in SotA, including:

  • Having a permanent residence, a place to put down roots, to hang your helmet, to decorate to your taste, to invite your friends over to hang out.
  • Provides a location for you to have a vendor to sell your wares.
  • Provides a location to set up private crafting stations, saving you the trouble of visiting public crafting stations to produce your wares.
  • Plant your own gardens to grow whatever you need.
  • Dramatically increases your storage space. Your house can be filled with decorations, and you can place chests at your house to expand your backpack inventory.

If you purchase your Village Lot Property Deed through the Add-On Store, you will have lot placement priority over everyone else that waits until SotA launches before they purchase a property deed.

[NOTE: Village Lot Property Deeds purchased through the Add-On Store will have an in-game currency tax that must be paid monthly or the lot reverts to being for sale and the Lot Deed is returned to the owner. Backers at Citizen pledge level and above already have one tax exempt Lot Deed as a pledge reward. All lot deeds are transferable between players. See the FAQ for Lot Selection Priority.]

80 Days Remaining for Early Founder Pledge Prices

It is hard to believe we are only 80 days away from the 1-year anniversary of our successful Kickstarter campaign! What a fun and tumultuous ride that campaign was, with all of our Early Founders helping drive us to almost double our funding goal! If it weren’t for all of you, none of us would be here today!

At the end of that campaign, and as an expression of our appreciation, we announced that our Early Founders could purchase additional pledges, or upgrade existing ones, at the same price they were available during the Kickstarter campaign, for up to one year! Well, that year draws to a close on April 7, 2014, only 80 days from now. This is a reminder that if you plan on upgrading your pledge, or purchasing additional pledges, you might want to consider doing it soon while the lower prices are still in effect.

(NOTE: Any pledge payment plans started prior to April 8, 2014 will remain in effect at the original Early Founder price until that plan is completed or cancelled)



34 Comments





  4. Adiun TesserandeAdiun Tesserande

    Okay, that was utterly hilarious. But Spoony, a question. Why didn’t you just grab a brass plaque from somewhere?


  5. monxtermonxter

    Thanks, good stuff! Already read the BoTA chapter, fun to see it progress on the map… Can’t wait to walk it myself.
    Nice founder goodies, looking forward to seeing the rest. Cheers!


    1. dallasdallas Post author

      It’s really available to all backers at the First Responder level and above. New backers don’t have access to the Kickstarter First Responder level so they can only get in at the $45 Adventurer pledge level or higher. Could be reworded to make it a little clearer.

    2. DarkStarrDarkStarr

      That particular section of the update was a call to action for those who have not yet pledged and the minimum price for new pledges is $45




  9. menglormenglor

    Does anyone remember where or have a link to what the release schedule and contents are? I remember seeing it somewhere. ie: release 1 dec 2013 has …, release 2, jan 2014 has …

    And for Dallas, for the lazy people like myself, any time you post something about the next release maybe some tidbits of whats in or out would be nice. Well assuming you can put it up.

    please and thanks.


  10. Gracekain

    How much longer until we can “Melt” our add on store purchases? With newer items being introduced i hope it doesn’t take much more longer.

    1. DarkStarrDarkStarr

      Tass is working on Mac and Linux builds but as soon as he finishes that we can have him work on this. I would expect it early March, no later than R4


  11. Blood0menBlood0men

    Cool, another item to which to purchase added to my collection: im wondering and don’t know if this was Addressed but do chest have an amount of stuff you can place in them before it tells you its full??

    If so maybe they need a Chest of prosperity, just something to kick around I guess.

    2. KeldrinKeldrin

      Yeah, Chest of propserity or maybe lord British’s personal chest (kind of like the cloak).
      Would have to buy more than one of those :)





  15. SirRichardSirRichard

    entertaining movie, funny guys, thank you! very much looking forward to participating with my first release. See you all in there :)


  16. KeldrinKeldrin

    OK, couple of questions about being able to buy additional pledges at the kickstarter price.
    1) where do we go to buy additional pledges? While logged into my account, when I click pledge, it lists current pledge pricing.
    2) If I purchase a additional pledge now, does the new pledge come with founder bonuses? Will it come with the Dark Star bonuses?

    1. smacksmack

      1) There is only one pledge per account., which can be upgraded. You can create multiple accounts or gift pledges to someone else instead.
      2) No, the Founder rewards are exclusive to early backers who pledged prior to 12:00 pm CST May 20, 2013.

    2. dallasdallas Post author

      smack is partly correct in his reply. Here’s how it currently works:

      1) You can have as many pledges per account as you wish. To purchase another pledge on the same account, select the “Pledge” button in the right side-bar on the main page, pick the pledge you wish, and once purchased it will appear on your Account page (allowing you to upgrade it if/when you wish)

      2) Since you are an Early Founder, you should be able to purchase additional pledges at Early Founder prices, and those additional pledges will have Early Founder status. However, we’ve discovered there is a bug in this system that is displaying Benefactor prices and Benefactor status for those additional pledges. We are going to have that bug fixed by end of next week.

      3) We have been allowing multiple pledge holders to transfer any of their pledges (except the $10 Guilt Pledge) to another account, usually a family member or friend, allowing that transferred pledge to retain its Early Founder status and rewards. Currently we have to do this manually after receiving a Customer Support request. However, in the coming months we plan to add a “Transfer Pledge” button to your account page that will allow backers to transfer their secondary pledges (except the $10 Guilt Pledge) to another account so we don’t have to do it manually. In essence, allowing Early Founders to purchase multiple Early Founder pledges that they can gift to whomever they please.

      4) Once we have the bug fixed that allows Early Founders to purchase additional Early Founder pledges, we are going to provide that same functionality to the “Send Gift!” button on the main page, making it more convenient for Early Founders to purchase and immediately transfer additional Early Founder pledges to whomever they wish.

      After April 7, 2014, this 1-year Early Founder Campaign is over and additional or gift pledges purchased by Early Founders will be at Benefactor prices with Benefactor rewards. Any existing pledge designated as an Early Founder pledge will also pay Benefactor prices to be upgraded, but will receive all the Early Founder rewards.

      This is a bit complex, so let us know if you have any further questions.


    1. dallasdallas Post author

      OSX and Linux is supported in Release 2 (with a few caveats). The game currently requires a two button mouse and while a trackpad technically works we are not fully supporting it yet. For Linux, Unity only officially supports Ubuntu so if you are running other versions it may not work.


    1. dallasdallas Post author

      Well, I don’t think Bob Cooksey was thinking of a smiley face when he designed the two porthole windows on the front. However, Bill Kirkman, who placed the decorations for the images used in the update, couldn’t resist the urge to strategically place the boat directly beneath the portholes. :)



  20. slandrewslandrew

    As a follow up to Keldrin’s question regarding the purchasing of additional pledges:

    Even though it displays the benefactor price will I only be charged the founder price if I purchase before that bug is fixed?

    Also, do adventurer+ level pledges bought in this way still count towards the recruit a friend promotion?

    Thanks,
    Slandrew

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