Time is Running Out!

Summer 2015 Bonus & Reward Expirations

SotA_10PercentBonus-v1If you were thinking of pledging your support to the development of Shroud of the Avatar, upgrading your existing pledge, or purchasing/upgrading a Player Owned Town, now’s a great time to do it! To celebrate twenty months of successful monthly releases, we are offering a 10% Summer Pledge/Town Bonus! Starting at 10am CST, July 10 and running through Midnight CST, August 31, 2015, you will receive an additional 10% bonus added to your Store Credit for any pledge purchases/upgrades, or Player Owned Town purchases/upgrades (including monthly pledge or town payment plans).

(NOTE: The 10% Bonus will be applied to your Store Credit within 24 hours of your purchase; 10% Bonus is for Pledges and Player Owned Town purchases/upgrades/payment plans only and does not apply to Add-On, Stretch Goal, or Make a Difference Store purchases; Existing Store Credit applied toward a purchase does not qualify for the 10% Bonus)

Additionally, as we enter the last half of 2015, and major milestones such as Alpha and Beta are looming closer on the horizon, we will be announcing a series of expiration events regarding pledges, rewards, and related services. The first expiration event coincides with the end of our 10% Summer Bonus promotion at Midnight CST, August 31, 2015. These expirations include:

  • Select Pledges (including their specific rewards):
    • $220 Patron Pledge
    • $375 Navigator Pledge
    • $450 Developer Pledge
  • (Updated 8/17/15) Darkstarr rewards, including Darkstarr emote (all tiers), cloak (Founder tier), metronome (Virtual Collector tier), and moondial (Citizen tier)
  • Signed physical goods (Patron pledge and above)
  • Home and basement stacking (Ancestor pledge and above)
  • Secondary lots (Lord pledge and above)
  • Player Owned Towns with Overland Map Access

Please know that these expirations DO NOT affect any backers that already have these rewards. If you already got ’em, then you get to keep ’em! These expirations only affect new backers, or existing backers that have not upgraded to the specified pledge tiers before the expiration date.

[NOTE: Any payment plans started for the specified pledge tiers (Patron, Ancestor, & Lord) or above prior to Midnight CST, August 31, 2015 will not be affected by these expirations]

Pledge Expirations

The Patron, Navigator, and Developer pledge tiers will no longer be available after August 31, 2015. Any current pledge less than Patron that upgrades after August 31, 2015 will not receive any of the unique pledge rewards included in those tiers (regardless of Era: Royal Founders, Founders, and Benefactors). This includes:

  • Patron Pledge Rewards:
    • Autographed “The Story of Mondain in the World of Sosaria”
    • Autographed Akallabeth D&D Campaign
    • Honorific title of “Patron” or “Royal Patron”
    • Teachable Emote – Head Stand
    • Your name permanently listed in the in-game Domesday Book
    • All Three Non-Combat Clockwork Pets
    • One (1) non-combat pet (out of 3 to choose from)
    • Fyndoro’s Tablet of Finding
    • Magical Printing Press
  • Navigator Pledge Rewards:
    • Honorific title of “Navigator” or “Royal Navigator“
    • Teachable Emote – Tai Chi
    • Novia Map Atlas
    • 3-Story Row House
    • 1-Story Row Basement
    • Phonograph
    • Cloth map hand signed by Richard “Lord British” Garriott
  • Developer Pledge Rewards:
    • Honorific title of “Tinkerer” or “Royal Tinkerer”
    • Your name proudly displayed in the in-game credits
    • Printed “Tinkerer” Certificate, hand signed by Richard “Lord British” Garriott
    • Help create and name a character in the game
    • Teachable Emote – Shadow Boxing
    • 4-Story Row House
    • 2-Story Row Basement
    • PDF version of Developer Design documents
    • Unity Asset Packs
    • A digital, framed “Tinkerer” Certificate as an in-game decoration
    • Aether Vibration Amplifier (i.e. wireless device to listen to Avatar’s Radio)
    • (Dev+ access to private Developers Forums will remain available to all pledges above the Developer pledge tier)

All pledges at or above Patron level prior to August 31, 2015 will continue to receive all of the expired rewards at or below their pledge level as they upgrade.

Darkstarr Rewards (Updated 8/17/15)

The Darkstarr rewards available to backers that have a pledge dated prior to July 31, 2013 will be expiring after August 31, 2015. All backers that are eligible for any of the four Darkstarr rewards will have those rewards delivered to their account. They will be listed on your profile account page, similar to the manner in which any Add-On Store items you may have purchased are displayed. The Darkstarr rewards include:

  • All Tiers ($25 and higher) – The Darkstarr Salute!  A special emote that only backers can master and teach to others.
  • Founder Tier ($65 and higher) – The Darkstarr Cloak! A special cloak for your in-game avatar to wear, proudly displaying the unique Darkstarr symbol, identifying you as a backer of the game.
  • Virtual Collector Tier ($110 and higher) – The Darkstarr Metronome! For those of you planning to play virtual instruments this mechanical metronome could be very useful! Set this in-game decoration next to your instrument and turn it on!
  • Citizen Tier ($550 and higher) – The Darkstarr Moondial! A special in-game, yard decoration which will track the heavens day and night! Very useful when planning strategies in-game, as astronomical events which drive some story aspects will be easily determined with this device.

Once those Darkstarr rewards have been granted to the eligible accounts, they will no longer be associated with specific pledges and cannot be transferred automatically if a pledge is sold or gifted to another account.

Signed Physical Goods (Patron pledge and above)

Any current pledge less than Patron that upgrades after August 31, 2015 will not receive any signed physical goods pledge rewards (regardless of Era: Royal Founders, Founders, and Benefactors). This includes:

  • Richard Garriott’s “The Story of Mondain in the World of Sosaria” (Patron+ pledges)
  • Richard Garriott’s  Akallabeth D&D Campaign (Patron+ pledges)
  • Cloth map signed by Richard Garriott (Navigator+ pledges)
  • “Tinkerer” Certificate, signed by Richard Garriott (Developer+ pledges)
  • Village Property Deed signed by Richard Garriott (Citizen, Edelmann, Knight pledges)
  • Blade of the Avatar novel signed by Richard Garriott and Tracy Hickman (Edelmann Citizen+ pledges)
  • Town Property Deed signed by Richard Garriott (Knight Marshal, Lord, Lord Marshal pledges)
  • City Property Deed signed by Richard Garriott (Baron 1,2,3 pledges)
  • Keep Property Deed signed by Richard Garriott (Duke pledge)
  • Castle Property Deed signed by Richard Garriott (Lord of the Manor 1 & 2 pledges)
  • (Note: The signed Akalabeth Cassette Cover will remain in the LotM 2 pledge rewards)

All pledges at or above Patron level prior to August 31, 2015 will continue to receive all of the signed physical goods at or below their pledge level as they upgrade.

Home and Basement Stacking (Ancestor pledge and above)

Currently, any pledge that includes property receives the home and basement for that pledge PLUS all the homes and basements from the previous pledges. After August 31, 2015 any pledge below Ancestor that upgrades will only receive the home(s) and single basement available to the pledge they upgrade to (actual reward will vary by era). For instance the Lord (Founder era) pledge currently includes 16 homes (see list below), after August 31st, the Lord (Founder era) pledge will only include 2 homes.  All pledges at or above Ancestor level prior to August 31, 2015 will continue to receive all the homes and basements included at or below their pledge level as they upgrade. As a reminder, here is a list of all the rewards that currently stack, but no longer will after August 31st:

  • Ancestor: 2-story stone Row house
  • Navigator: 3-story stone Row house; 1-Story Row Basement (plus all those above)
  • Developer: 4-story stone Row house; 2-Story Row Basement (plus all those above)
  • Citizen: Shingle Roof Village Home (+ Waterfront Cabana for Founder/Royal Founder); 1-Story Village Stone Basement (plus all those above)
  • Edelmann: German-style Village Home (+ German-style Waterfront Cabana for Founder/Royal Founder);  (plus all those above)
  • Knight: Keep Village Home (+ Waterfront Lighthouse for Founder/Royal Founder); 2-Story Village Stone Basement (plus all those above)
  • Knight Marshal: Tower Keep Town Home; ; 2-Story Town Stone Basement (plus all those above)
  • Lord: Lord’s Town Home (+ Waterfront Houseboat for Founder/Royal Founder); 3-Story Town Stone Basement & 5-Story Row Basement (plus all those above)
  • Lord Marshal: Great Hall Town Home: 5-Story Town Stone Basement & 2-Story Village Stone Basement (plus all those above)
  • Baron 1: Baron’s City Home (+ Waterfront Frigate for Founder/Royal Founder); 2-Story City Stone Basement (plus all those above)
  • Baron 2/3: Baron’s City Home (+ Waterfront Galleon for Founder/Royal Founder); 2-Story City Stone Basement (plus all those above)
  • Duke: Duke’s Home (+ Waterfront Island Castle); 2-Story Keep Stone Basement (plus all those above)
  • Lord of the Manor: LotM City-sized Home (+ Waterfront, Grand Island Castle with Keeps); 2-Story Castle Stone Basement (plus all those above)

Double Lots (Lord pledge and above)

Currently Lord and above pledges include a second smaller lot deed and corresponding basement. After August 31, 2015 any pledge below Lord that upgrades will only receive a single lot deed and basement.  All pledges at or above Lord level prior to August 31, 2015 will continue to receive both lots and both basements. Expiring items include:

  • Lord: Rent Free Row Lot Deed & 5-Story Row Basement
  • Lord Marshal: Rent Free Village Lot Deed & 2-Story Village Stone Basement
  • Baron 3: Rent Free Village Lot Deed
  • Duke: Rent Free Village Lot Deed
  • Lord of the Manor: Rent Free Town Lot Deed

To try and help summarize this information, here is a table that shows the home, basement, and lot changes for all Founder Era pledges that will be affected:

 

To repeat what we said above, please know that these expirations DO NOT affect any backers that already have these rewards. If you already got ’em, then you get to keep ’em! These expirations only affect new backers, or existing backers that have not upgraded to the specified levels before the expiration date.

[NOTE: Any payment plans started for the specified pledge tiers (Patron, Ancestor, & Lord) or above prior to Midnight CST, August 31, 2015 will not be affected by these expirations]

 

Player Owned Towns with Town-to-Town Access are Still Available

We have limited the number of Player Owned Towns (PoTs) with direct Overland map access rights to 230 total, all of which have been sold. However, we still have PoTs available for purchase that can connect to another PoT that has Overland map access, or to an NPC town.

Additionally, we are including Player Owned Towns in our 10% Summer Bonus promotion! Starting at 10am CST, July 10 and running through Midnight CST, August 31, 2015, you will receive an additional 10% bonus added to your Store Credit for any Player Owned Town purchases/upgrades (including monthly payment plans).

(NOTE: The 10% Bonus will be applied to your Store Credit within 24 hours of your purchase; 10% Bonus is for Pledges and Player Owned Town purchases/upgrades/payment plans only and does not apply to Add-On, Stretch Goal, or Make a Difference Store purchases; Existing Store Credit applied toward a purchase does not qualify for the 10% Bonus)