Avatars! Are you ready to participate in the biggest event to hit Novia since the great cataclysm?
Like no other world-ending event in the history of gaming, the first part of The Summer Telethon of the Avatar event is nearly upon us! For 12 hours, starting at Noon (12 PM CDT) until Midnight on July 27th, we will be celebrating the lead up to the Final Player Data Wipe; where persistence officially begins in our game and housing lot selection begins in earnest.
As always, we will be answering your questions during the telethon. You can pre-post your questions right here in the comments section or post them live in Discord during the Telethon.*
What exciting events can you expect throughout the day? An array of fun activities and engaging content, many of which you can directly participate in! We will also be giving away a ton of fabulous prizes*, and if the following stretch goals are met, we will be adding amazing new content into the game.
Help us to achieve the following goals during the telethon! As a special bonus, we are offering Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards to any backer that pledges a minimum of $5 from the start of the telethon, until Midnight (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). The Summer Telethon of the Avatar Funding Stretch Goal Rewards are:
- Achieved! $10,000: /fan emote (player fans themself with a small folding fan)
- Achieved! $25,000: Aeronaut Helmet
- Achieved! $35,000: Hacked Oracle Crawler Pet
- Achieved! $50,000: Clockwork Wings (goes in cloak slot, does not grant powers of flight)
- Achieved! $65,000: Hacked Oracle Flyer Pet
- Achieved! $80,000: Tiny Airship Pet
- Achieved! $100,000: One Man Band Steampunk Wearable: Works with our ABC music system
- Achieved! $130,000: Organ Grinder Instrument (Works with our ABC music system) & Clockwork Monkey Pet
- $150,000: Baby Clockwork Dragon Pet
** $145,000 **
Current Telethon Funds Raised
Cheer on the Devs!
For every $2,500 donated, all developers on camera have to either dance, sing, or drink a shot of alcohol.
Additionally, we will be spinning the Wheel of Fortune & Doom! (we borrowed this idea from our friends over at Crowfall). The wheel will have 14 items at any given time, but dozens of total prizes ultimately will be given away! This includes developers that, if selected, have to either dance, sing, or drink a shot of alcohol.
As the wheel is spun, what is selected will be replaced by something in the list below. Items already selected will be permanently removed. Keep in mind that some of these may never come up, so cross your fingers for your preferred item!
Wheel of Doom Items (placement on wheel will be random):
| Dev On Camera | Flash Sales | |
| Chris Spears | Blood Reliquaries 10% off for 1 hour | |
| Dallas Snell | All Lot Deeds 25% off for 30 min | |
| Finn Staber | Viking Houses 20% off for 1 hour | |
| Joaquin del Canto | POTs 5% off for 30 min | |
| Matt Schmitz | Elven Elder Armor 10% off for 1 hour | |
| Rhys Romero | Pets 20% off for 1 hour | |
| Richard Garriott | Hot Air Balloon & Airship 25% off for 1 hour | |
| Rick Holtrop | Stone Statues (incl Dragons!) 15% off for 30 min | |
| Sarah Dworken | Obsidian Homes 20% off for 30 min | |
| Scott Jennings | Pipes 30% off for 1 hour | |
| Starr Long | Wearable Bundles 20% off for 1 hour (incl Kobold Masks, Sigil Cloaks, Satin Bodice, Viking) | |
| Prosperity Tools 10% off for 1 hour |
We also have these exciting prizes to give away throughout the telethon!*
- Store Credits
- Viking Bundles (Viking Row 2 Story and Viking Village)
- Kobold Bundles (Kobold Row 2 Story and Kobold Village)
- Pledges (Ancestor and Edelmann)
- Lord British relics
- Challenge Coins
- Shroud of the Avatar t-shirts
- Sword of Midras audiobook AND hardcover copies!
- Razer Gear
Here is a peak at what to watch out for as the telethon progress:
Schedule (All times and content subject to change)
- Noon: Welcome to the Summer Telethon!
- 1:30 PM: Brittany Tour with Sorcerous Steve.
- 2:30 PM: Tour of Portalarium.
- 3:00 PM: New User Experience & Hospitallers.
- 4:00 PM: Crafting, Enchanting, Masterworks Discussion.
- 5:00 PM: Combat Discussion.
- 6:00 PM: The Story and Characters of SotA.
- 7:00 PM: Player Housing Discussion with Darkstarr.
- 8:00 PM: Crowns of the Obsidian, smoking pipes, and Artifice with Scottie and Sir Frank.
- 9:00 PM: AMA live chat question time with team.
- 10 PM-Midnight: Royal Tour with Lord British and Darkstarr
- Locations: Brittany Central, Aerie, Resolute, Ardoris, Owlshead, Desolis, Spite, and a selection of Player Owned Towns (final list soon).
- Midnight: Final Player Data Wipe! Servers will be offline until 9:30am CDT on July 28th.
Watch The Telethon on YouTube!
You will also be able to watch the telethon on at Twitch.tv/Shroudoftheavatar! If you wish to win prizes during the Telethon event, be sure to still be in Discord chat!
Warning: Telethon is Rated PG-13 for Alcoholic Content
(might get upgraded to Rated-R depending on rate of pledges)
Expirations and Final Player Data Wipe
While Final Player Data Wipe is NOT “Launch” of our game, we are super happy to be at such an important milestone with our community of backers. We couldn’t have built the game nearly this far in its development without the support and feedback of everyone playing. There’s a lot more to go yet, but we’re about to cross a major hurdle this summer, and can’t wait to cross it with you!
At 11:59 PM CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27th, we are expiring the homes and basements from the Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2 pledges. We are also expiring new Player Owned Towns (upgrades of existing POTs will continue to be available). All other rewards (including tax free property deeds) that are currently available in the remaining pledges will continue to be available.
The final player data wipe will also occur at 11:59 PM CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27th. To celebrate this momentous milestone, we are holding a 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 1, starting at 12:00 PM (Noon) CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the final player data wipe start.
Servers will be brought offline after 11:59 PM CDT on July 27th until 10:30 AM CDT the next morning on July 28th. This gives us enough time to ensure servers are properly cleared and ready for the beginning of Release 32 and the exciting opportunity to make your mark in Novia!
See you on the livestream chat at Noon this coming July 27th!
Had fun attending our telethon event? Stay tuned…
After July’s telethon, we will also be holding a second event on August 22nd. At 11:59 PM CDT (5:00 UTC) on August 22, 2016, we are expiring ALL remaining pledges, including: Adventurer, Founder, Royal Artisan, Explorer, Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2.
* There will be some really awesome prizes awarded during the telethon, but you have to be present in the Discord chatroom to qualify for each drawing. Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to each segment will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief. Only 3 Questions per person.
Question 1: Are we calling this event in New Britannia history anything special? If the cataclysm was “the fall”, will this be “the rise” or “the return” of the Avatars?
Question 2: Noticed Chris working on ” New starter skills”. Can you please explain what these are and how players will be impacted so we do not start with skills we don’t want?
Question 3: Since we will soon be persistent, can you please talk about your methodology in determining when to have a rollback? Obviously there is the potential for many rollbacks in the near future, what type of events might cause a rollback, and what kind of warning or cautionary prevention can players take to avoid being miserable when this happens?
Please replace my question about “new starter skills” and replace it with this one.
Question 2: Will we be able to use Gold Obsidian Crowns to pay player vendors, soon?
Question 1; Can you elaborate on the plans with housing as they relate to crafting… Like will there be the ability to change the appearance of the exteriors through the use of different materials during the construction, or change the interior layouts like removing the pillar in the middle of the first floor open space of the Wood and Plaster 2 Story with Balcony (for example)…
Question 2: Can we get a version of the Wood and Plaster Two Story With Balcony Town home without the pillar in the middle of the first floor open space?
I thought the biggest event to hit Novia since the great cataclysm was the Welcome Quest!
Sounds like a great telethon! I cannot wait.
Will payment plans return for bundles? or for the end of POT buying spree?
Question 1: Can we please have some insight into the Blessing Mechanism associated with Monuments in POTS?
I would especially like to know what the intended benefits of the Moon Towers are to be. At one point it was to power objects such as the Aether Amplifier and other ‘electrical’ devices for a whole scene. At another point it was to ward a town against NPC Attacks/Sieges. What are the current plans?
Question 2: Would you consider having Separate limits for POT NPC Buildings and Monuments?
Currently POT Owners will be incented to Not use the NPC Buildings in favor of the Monuments as the Monuments confer a benefit whereas the NPC Buildings do not. This, I fear, will lead to NPCs standing out in the open in many towns, and indirectly penalizing those who wish to use the NPC Buildings for their intended purpose.
Question 3: Can Windmills please reclaim the ability to be placed on rooves?
The best place for a windmill is as high as possible, in the wind.
Question: Will the Deed Lottery apply equally to both “Standard” deeds and POT Only Deeds?
Question : Would it be possible to selectively claim the reward items instead of having them all dumped in the bank when claiming?
+1
+1
+1
+1
Would be nice to be able to pick which reward item we want from a drop down list like EQ2 did…. so I can select what I want, when I want and or need it … ty
+1
Please share your thoughts on what the thinking is for long term goals for avatars post-storyline. (Not just more difficult content – but things that every avatar might seek after but few attain – rares NOT purchased from the store?
+1 for rares
Q1: Will Lord British have his traditional court jester in Brittany once everything is in place with regards to NPCs and questing?
Q2: Seconding that question above from Rufus D’Asperdi re: windmills on rooftops. That would be great and I’ve wanted it for ages!
Q3: Come the launch of persistence, if I place a house in an “under construction” PRT or NPC town should I consider it safe from any lot resets?
Q1: Lord British doesn’t live in Brittany, nor even in Novia.
Q2: Thank you.
Q3: They’ve said that they will be able to replace the Template underneath all the houses in a PRT without disrupting them.
Heh, I should thank you for answering all that!
That brings up an important question. Who are we paying taxes to in Episode 1 ?
Aloha,
I will earn my house ingame and want to participate in the POT Market with a vendor.
When and how will I be able to rent a vendor ingame? Will this be implemented in R33-34ish when I finished collecting the gold for my lot?
Player vendors will be for sale for gold in R32. They will likely be sold upstairs from the banks where the housing decorations were sold before.
Q1: When is the plan to introduce vendors that are able to be hired in-game, as opposed to the free pledge vendors? Will it be before final wipe? I know there will be many players that would appreciate them by that time.
Q2: What are the devs thoughts on conventions for vendor nameplates? What about having it so they function like NPCs and you have to talk to them to find out their name, and otherwise they have a generic title like an NPC does, whether ‘vendor’, or ‘blacksmith’, or ‘blacksmithy vendor.’
Q3: What are the devs thoughts on tying vendors to houses in some way? Whether that means they have to be in a house (since we have signs now, its not as important for vendors to be outside), or they have to be in a lot that has a bed in a house for them, and, ideally, they go on a schedule and go to sleep at night?
Q: Can we have an “Author” field on books, so we can differentiate the author from the scribe, crafter, or publisher? That way Lord British could publish The Wizard of Oz, but still attribute authorship to L. Frank Baum, or Hubert’s Hair Raising Adventure, and attribute authorship to Bill Peet. Or, at the very least, have the game not say the book is “by” the scribe, which may be misleading; but just created by him.
Will players be able to earn reputation or celebrity within the storyline? At some point, will NPC characters recognize players and already know their names or possibly offer them jobs directly?
Question: Have you guys reconsidered the recent changes to focus based on a lot of the threads talking about it in the forums (like mine). Seems like most people feel the change was to extreme, will it be dialed back a bit?
Question 2: Some of us people have to actually work fer a living. Is there any chance you guys can in the future take a Monday off and have these telethons on Saturday so that everyone can watch? I know its pretty late into the dev cycle to make this kind of request.
+1
How ready are you guys for zero day exploits? Big cheats that people may have figured out and kept quite to hit with persistence?
A reminder to please ask at most 3 Questions, thanks!
We still have no edit capability, Berek.
No worries, we do :).
Question: We need a way to reward only those who have successfully completed a player created quest. One solution would be to have a chest with a combination lock, the code for which is discovered digit by digit during the quest. Can we have this please?
How do you keep that information from being socialized, Womby?
Question: What Pokemon commonly inhabit the environs of the Portalarium World Headquarters?
I can tell you where to find Plenty of Magmar… Anyone interested in an information trade?
Question: Will being a GM Crafter mean more than just less fuel used? Right now there is very little reward for getting to 100+ skill.
+1, tie Bzus and GingerLoaf to the screen until they reveal their dark sorcery.
Are you guys truly ready for persistence? I have been playing the game non-stop for 6+ months now and while the game has come a long way in almost every category, it feels more buggy then ever before. I hope someone isn’t waiting on a “zero-day” bug.
Question: What changes to gathering skills can we expect to see this year to make them more interesting and fun?
+1
+1 here also ….
Question: When will Poison and Ignite weapon work on arrows for archers?
+1
+1 Been hoping for this for a long time since poison was introduced…
Q2:
I think I remember from some years ago, that it was intended that holding a pass would result in the pass opening on the overmap for a certain amount of time. This gives guilds another motivation to conquer the passes and ease the travel for the new members. However I have never heard about that again.
Will this be implemented and when?
Are you reconsidering having to pay for Crowns to repair items from the AddOn store? I have stopped playing the game and I know a few people that have sold their pledges because of this decision. I am hopeful this will be removed, I am ok with deco items in the store but to pay to repair gear and weapons just doesn’t feel right.
+1 agree …. I would’t mind using those crowns though for stuff like Special mounts and mules etc once they are actually rideable….
Q3:
What kind of long-term Motivation do you plan for the game?
Thus, what can we do after we raised all our major skills, crafted each item and visited each dungeon?
What do you plan to offer us in terms of events(?) or end-game content?
Will there be craftable Crafting Stations in the game that are better than the ones that came with pledge rewards like the Prosperity Tools vs in game Engraved?
[QUESTION] Are there plans on bringing in Herding? We need a shepherds Crook!
[QUESTION] Can we have dance emotes from the peanuts? like “the concussion” and “Ruby Slipper Vulture” (my favorite) can be like /peanut and /Merrik err… I mean /peanut2
[QUESTION] When are we going to get to wear a shroud in Shroud of the Avatar???!!??? I mean come on guys… it’s “Shroud of the Avatar”….
PS: in case you don’t know the charley brown dances…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2SGwdHTKr8
Answer removed due to plot spoiler.
Will we ever be able to craft Nihonto (Japanese blades, such as a Katana) or other oriental weapons? We had them in UO, why not SotA? We already have a Shogun, so we are already dipping into that culture.
QUESTION: What are the long term plans for player generated content? I see the availability of player created content contributing to the longevity of Shroud. Think of them as the Expanded Universe of Shroud.
My question is less about the game, and more about the team. How is everyone holding up this last week before final wipe? What is the atmosphere in the office while everyone frantically rushes to get all the last minute fixes in place?
You guys have 9 million raised? How much more could you possibly need?
[Question #1] Can we expect an official launch of the game by the end of this year, or do you feel that it may be pushed into 2017 sometime, depending on when Portalarium feels that the game is considered ready for ‘official launch’? (if this question was already answered, please ignore or better yet, provide a link).
Q1. Any further updates on the Unity Linux issues? Especially the 64 bit walking while standing issue.
Q2. How does the team feel about Linux, what are your favourite distributions?
Q3. How would you sell SOTA to someone who hasn’t grown up with Ultima and is only used to modern MMO’s?
Because of the BLOOD Reliquaries that was done during the Last hangout, I was wonder any chances that Vampires OR Werewolves will be IN game in the near future
thanks
Question 1: I want to create quests and reward only those players who complete them. Can we please have a container with a combination lock so I can reveal parts of the combination in the quest?
Question 2: Can we please have a large in-game chroma key screen to help us make interesting SotA movies?
Question 3: Can we please have harmless ghosts as POT decorations?
This may have been answered somewhere and I am sorry if it’s common knowledge and I just don’t see it.
Will all rewards claimed go back in to bank on wipe? Should we pull up placed items and so on for wipe? How will the items already pledged be avail after wipe?
Q: I’ve heard that we will be able to upgrade lots in-game while maintaining their tax-free status. Is this true?
Q2: Are the names of the planets finalized and when do we get to find out what they are? (I have books to write and I need to know
)
Q3: What can you tell us about the economy going forward? (ie changes to currency? anything you’re particularly excited about?)
+1
Q1 when will crafting stations be able to be placed as pot deco items?
Q2 will pots purchased via cash be upgradeable via in game gold ?
I.e. hamlet to villiage etc?
Q3 what are some of the cool things and ideas do you have for esp2?
+1 ….
Question: Will Town sieges be coming soon? How about Roving encounters, please tell us more details…
+1 sounds like fun fun fun …..
Question: In the past it was mentioned Port would test on the “worst possible case” servers then upgrade to bigger, better ones, Is that still a possibility or is that on the back burner for now till full release Just curious if/when the new server will be put to work?
Question: what will be sold on steam when the adventurer pledge expires? (one of the basic bundles?)
1) Question: Is the plan to auction the entire +30% of additional NPC Deeds after release or will there be a percentage of free NPC/PRT lots left free for churn?
2) Question: Is there a plan to allow tax free and taxed deeds to be upgraded with either in game gold or cash after release? For example, buy a taxed Row deed now and over time upgrade it to a Castle deed.
3) Question: Will Keep/Castle place any location deeds be sold again in the future? Will POT only Keep Castle deeds be sold at a later date?
Thanks for the GREAT WORK!!!
Question 1: Can we have some more detail on the upcoming enhancements for fishing and agriculture?
Question 2: Are maritime features planned for the future? I.e. crafting boats and sailing around, maybe some deep sea fishing and treasure hunting?
Question 3: For fun, share an Ultima Online story that stuck with you?
Question: once was idea that when you gained adventurer experience you also gained a small amount of crafting experience
And when you gained crafting experience you also gained small amount of adventurer experience
Is that still the idea?
Question 1: What made Ultima games special was the enormous amount of detailed interactions (world and npcs). That’s something hard to find in games these days. And what made UO special was all the unexpected moments we experienced (live-events, freedom, and a good rare-drop system helped a lot).
Whats the approach you guys have in mind to bring the best of both experiences to SotA?
Q: Any chance we’ll see bundles of farm animals coming to the add-on store? Like chickens, ducks, goats, sheep and cows.
All questions below is about what could be possible or not for Dynamic PoT customization.
Q1: Would it be possible to have custom large tree for the PoT ? Does it help to specify speedtree URL of the vegetation ?
Q2: Would it be possible to have huge (or stretchable) paver that will look like farm lands with crop of choice ? This will help fill the blank if we want off-center placement of the houses.
Q3: On island PoTs, can we have remote islands flattened enough so that we can place row lots ? Would we be able to place waterfront lots on them in the future ?
QUESTION: Can we get melee staves in the game, and what weapon class would they be? For example, a quarterstaff or bo-staff, and would it be bludgeon or polearm?
Question: Is it still in the plan for POTs being able to be upgraded with in game gold as well as real money?
COMBAT Question: I can sit there and pound on a caster with barely any damage. If they can run fast then my big ol 2H hammer should be able to hit a fast cloth wearer a LOT harder
I must be missing something, but how do I donate for the telethon?
+1
Just buy something (without using store credit). Spend more than $5. Pledge, use add on store, buy a bundle, etc.
I bought a few addons but used $9 store credit – the additional cash was >$5 – wouldn’t I qualify for the rewards?
Thanks, the whole topic was a bit confusing from just reading the Telethon invite.
Yes you do, and we just handed them out (see on account page under the “Special Rewards”-tab).
Question: are there any plans for treasure maps ans sos bottles leading to on the water treasure hunting (once ships are in and working)?
I have donated again.
seeing owls head being invaded is a hoot 
how do we get on discord chat?
I have spent the last 2 hours trying to find a “troubleshooting” guide for very basic problems, but can’t find anything – I haven’t done anything with SOTA for the last 6-8 months and have now downloaded everything, and have been sitting on the window that says “Updating the game – About to start game” for just over 19 hours.
For some reason, it doesn’t try to open into the game, I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the game, but it goes to that point and no further – Where can I find “Troubleshooting ” help?
Question 1: Can you guys add doors to Shogun Row Homes, please? So, players that own and use them can rent those extra rooms to fellow avatars. Thank you.
Question 2: When will the DX11 crash get fixed? This is not only affecting those with minimum specs machines but even those with higher specs and it has become worst in R42. Thank you.