Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
- It’s PvP Time – Play R8 Now!
- The Mad Hermit’s Video Guides to Release 8 Combat
- Shardfall Ruins – Open PvP Zones
- Starr Long shows off Release 8 with MMORPG!
- Sequanna, The Titan of Love
NeverAlways Read the Comments- Lord Marshal Drinking Horn
- Underground Player Towns
- Alienware Sponsors 1000 Access Keys and Prizes for Release 8
- World Builder/Level Designer Job Opening
- This Week In The News
- Upcoming Events
It’s PvP Time – Come Play Release 8 Now!
Release 8 successfully launched yesterday, July 24th, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes! R8 is mostly about the combat system and PvP. New content includes:
- Open PvP areas – Deathmatch modes in 7 PvP Zones
- Combat systems updated – Including positioning and line of sight
- 20+ New skills added – including fire magic, water magic, blades, heavy armor and focus skills
- Glyph combat and deck building – a completely new way to fight in an RPG
- New adventuring scenes on the main continent including Ferig’s Battle Camp
- …and more!
The Mad Hermit’s Video Guides to Release 8 Combat
Shroud of the Avatar has developed an innovative combat system that combines elements of card combat systems with traditional RPG combat systems. The SotA dev team has provided the player with an elaborate system that allows you to configure your combat system in a multitude of ways.
Community member, The Mad Hermit, has created several how-to videos that ease you into the new deck-based combat system. If you want to jump start your combat deck building skills and get a leg up in your PvP (or PvE) combat encounters, then we highly recommend you take a few minutes and let The Mad Hermit guide you through the new combat system, including building your deck, setting up a traditional combat bar (referred to as “Dallas Mode” after a certain old-school RPGer), and building a hybrid deck that combines elements of both the old and the new.
Release 8 Patches
We’ve already pushed out several new versions of Release 8 since first releasing it to the Dev+ backers earlier in the week. Click here to see the complete list of patch notes.
We need all your help with testing the new patches, putting more stress on our multiplayer servers, and testing the new game content, so please join us in playing Release 8!
If you have not backed the game yet, you will need to register and login at www.shroudoftheavatar.com, select the “Pledge or Send Gift!” button in the right side-bar, and purchase a pledge at the $45 Adventurer level or above. For a limited time, you can get the Adventurer pledge for only $25 with the Alienware Pledge Upgrade Coupon (see details below).
Shardfall Ruins – Open PvP Zones
Shroud of the Avatar will have several open PvP zones scattered across New Britannia. Some of those zones will be contained in the aftermath wrought by the cataclysmic storm, Shardfall. Stephen Daniele recently posted some concept art to the public forums illustrating the history of the PvP zones in the Shardfall Ruins:
From an age past, the birth of Daedalus and the end of two celestial beings. A cataclysmic storm descends upon New Britannia…Shardfall! The world forever changed as celestial debris rained down upon the surface…
What strange secrets will be unlocked within the craters of Shardfall? The Obsidian Order understood the power unleashed and sought to harness it. Mutation, corruption and blight…
Shards, Redthorn, flora…wildlife?
The Island of Novia will have a number of open Player Vs. Player (PVP) zones. Shardfall Crater, a fantastical landscape set within a massive crater. Shardfall Ruin, a ruined town were the fool hardy once sought to harness the power of the Obsidian Order.
Starr Long shows off Release 8 with MMORPG!
Sequanna, The Titan of Love
“After the moons collided and civilization fell, three great and powerful leaders rose to become the Titans of Truth, Love and Courage, the surviving principles of the times before the fall. Great are they, and great are the monuments built to them. While the Titans themselves may no longer exist, we are still inspired by colossal statues in their likeness, occasionally found throughout New Britannia.” – Lord British
The below image shows Stephen Daniele’s original concept art for Sequanna (leftmost image) and the in-game WIP version by Andy Cortez. You’ll be able to see the Titan of Love in-game in Release 9 next month:
Never Always Read the Comments
The Shroud of the Avatar community is, without a doubt, one of the most awesome communities any of us have ever had the pleasure to be a part of. We’re always eager for the passionate and insightful feedback our community provides us. But even Sequanna, the Titan of Love, would admit that sometimes tough love is needed, and some community members don’t hesitate to share their tough love!
We think Jimmy Kimmel’s Mean Tweets are hilarious and decided to make our own version of Mean Tweets called “Always Read the Comments“. Watch team members read some of our favorite “over-the-top” comments (Note: video contains a bit of explicit language):
Lord Marshal Drinking Horn
Included in the Lord Marshal pledge rewards is this unique vessel to hold thy lordly drinks!
Underground Player Owned Towns
Player Owned Towns continue to be quite popular, with 46 of them already pledged for! Players have proposed some great ideas such as the larger Metropolis and being able to set the PvP status. This week, community member KillingJoke requested an underground Player Owned Town that he could place beneath his above ground Player Owned Town. This was an intriguing idea so the devs huddled up and discussed the feasibility of it. In short order it was decided to do it, so now players will be able to chose an underground or above ground version of their Player Owned Town (or, like KillingJoke, one of each)!
Alienware Sponsors 1000 Access Keys and Prizes for Release 8
1000 members of Alienware’s Shroud of the Avatar Group have been granted early access to Release 8 (July 24-27). Hurry over and join the Alienware Shroud of the Avatar Group so you don’t miss out on their next Weekend Access Giveaway: http://na.alienwarearena.com/giveaways/shroud-of-the-avatar-release-8-key-giveaway
In addition, Alienware is sponsoring prizes to be given away to players that log in to Release 8 during the weekend access period. We’ll randomly select players from each of the four days R8 is open (Thu, Fri, Sat, & Sun) to receive an Alienware prize (such as a gamer mouse, keyboard, headset, or laptop messenger bag).
Alienware Sponsors $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon
Alienware’s powerful gaming rigs are a perfect match for Shroud of the Avatar! To show their support, Alienware is sponsoring $20 SotA Pledge Upgrade Coupons to members of their Alienware Arena community!
These coupons can be used to start a SotA pledge account (for new backers), or to add $20 to an existing pledge account. If, for example, you have a $90 Royal Artisan Pledge, you can use the Alienware coupon to bump you up to a $110 Virtual Collector Pledge.
Pretty sweet deal, right? So, hurry over to the Alienware Arena website and get your $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon now!
[NOTE: Only one Alienware Pledge Upgrade Coupon can be used per account. Coupon does not apply to Add-On Store items]
World Builder/Level Designer Job Opening
We currently have an opening for a mid-level to senior-level World Builder/Level Designer for Shroud of the Avatar. Qualifications for the “ideal candidate” are:
- Minimum 3 years industry experience (preferably on a shipped game)
- Unity experience
- Scripting ability
- Experience building, texturing, and decorating natural, terrain based exterior environments
- An eye for detail, with strong scene compositional skills
If you’d like to join the Portalarium Tribe working on the ground-breaking Shroud of the Avatar, please submit your resume to jobs@portalarium.com. Provide links to your work (if possible), either as actual game play or in document form including images, maps, and event descriptions.
This Week In the News
July 18 – Yahoo: Richard “Lord British” Garriott takes us deep into the world of Shroud of the Avatar
July 18 – Yahoo: Classic role-playing gets a crowd-funded boost with Shroud of the Avatar
July 21 – MMORPG.com: Shroud of the Avatar Column: Release 8 – Good Old Ultraviolance
July 22 – Lightspeed Science Fiction & Fantasy: Interview with Richard Garriott
July 25 – Starr Long shows off Release 8 with MMORPG!
Upcoming Events
2014.07.30 – Monthly Video Hangout: R8 & R9 Discussion
2014.08.09 – SotA at synDCon
2014.08.21 – Release 9 Access
2014.08.27 – Monthly Video Hangout: R9 & R10 Discussion
2014.08.29 – SotA at PAX Prime Seattle
2014.08.29 – SotA at Dragoncon
2014.09.25 – Release 10 Access
2014.10.01 – Monthly Video Hangout: R10 & R11 Discussion
2014.10.23 – Release 11 Access
2014.10.24 – SotA at Captivate
2014.10.29 – Monthly Video Hangout: R11 & R12 Discussion
2014.11.14 – Duke & Lord of the Manor VIP Design Roundtable with Lord British and Portalarium Studio Tour
2014.11.15 – HoBLotH II: Legends of the Hearth
2014.11.20 – Release 12 Access
2014.11.26 – Monthly Video Hangout: R12 & R13 Discussion
2014.12.18 – Release 13 Access
I’m proud to know that none of my comments made the cut.
I cried laughing watching the team read trolls talking about their own work. Well played!
That “always read the comments” section was most entertaining, really good laugh.
Also who ever it was that put the doors on the LM house for this release thank you! The home is a beast love it & in tradition of keeping with the viking style theme added the arena basement.
Been having a lot of fun with this release and the combat system has a real good feel to it, nice work people.
This is probably the best release so far, and I’ve loved them all! PVP combat even this early is loads of fun.
Loved the “Always Read The Comments” video. Keep them coming!
my moment of immortal fame, killing darkstarr & mmorpg com on live video and now forever immortal. hey who cares if they were busy talking, they WERE in the pvp arena
Amazing concept art.
I’ve been trying for days to download the latest release; it gets stuck right away at “Starting update….”, with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the launcher. I also just deleted the whole thing and downloaded the latest launcher – same result. Is it working for anyone else on Linux?
Hi, sorry you are blocked by this. This doesn’t happen to everyone on Linux, but it does happen to some. Unfortunately, I’m still trying to figure out what the problem is, as I can’t reproduce it, myself, so far.
In the meantime, please refer to this thread – Dozer Belador posted a workaround, to get you to play the game: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/launcher-stuck-on-starting-uploader.12948/#post-220006
Sorry again, and thank you for understanding
“Always Read The Comments” was something new – I liked it.
Will it be recurring once a month?
Next update you must write about an open PvE area to balance all this pvp stuff
I was laughing at “Always read the comments” while also praying that the next comment read wasn’t going to be one of mine. I’ll be very careful how I word my future posts! Great video and hope there will be another!
There space for more visual tweaks, but for a work in progress, everything is just in the right path.
Shroud of the Avatar affects two groups:
1- The traditional WoW gamer, who puts hundred icons in the base to repeat the same line forever, until some update increases the number of icons, and everything looks new again… Everquest pills.
2- The open world shooter type, addicted to graphics, velocity and immersion – hot word to use in the place of more RPG elements (stats and customization, consequences, damage to armor, etc). Since Fallout3 and SKyrim, everything with requirement of learning curve = no fun and boring.
Somehow I feel those were probably some of the nicer things the haters had to say. Obviously some of them are far too young to back up their statements. Maybe we should post some screens from Ultima IV and VII so they can actually see what game graphics looked like in the 80’s and 90’s.
Just saw this update, a week late. That statue of Sequanna is fantastic work!