Avatar’s Update #256: The Making of Elysium Mines

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

Game Development

News Announcements

Community Updates

The Making of Elysium Mines

While digging some of the deeper tunnels for the Elysium Mines the Satyr miners discovered an elaborate labyrinth with two giant statues looming over the entire complex. Legend has it that the statues are of two brothers and one of the brothers killed the other and that deadly feud is the source of the undead haunting the maze.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]

Hey folks, I have a few screenshot of our uncloning of Elysium Mines. In our new version, Satyrs are looting and mining from and ancient labyrinthine city. The mines are also home to a horde of spirits and undead who serve the ghost of one of the “Twins” who’s spirit was trapped by his bother in the labyrinth. The visual inspiration for this mine comes from the Minoan City of Knossos in Crete, where the original Labyrinth from Greek mythology was said to have been. The glowing river is partially inspired by the river Styx, and is closely associated with the spirits wandering the labyrinth.

Due to feedback we received from our uncloning of other mines, I’ve decided to split this mine into two areas that will serve different player interest. The lower area of the mines will be resource rich, and comparable to the original mines. The upper areas will have more enemies, puzzles and traps, for players who want more of an adventuring experience. This scene is still a work in progress.

Chris Wolf
Level Designer

R47 Telethon Items

This week we continued adding images to the thread about the R47 Telethon Items.

Release 47 Postmortem Rewards (Icy)

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Starr “Darkstarr” Long]

We have now begun working on the R47 Postmortem rewards which were Icy themed.

Virtue Fur Hat:

Snowflake Pattern Cloak:

We will be making and posting in these kinds of threads so that our players can stay up to date on the latest images of items like these as we make them. In the case of the Telethon and holiday content they will first go in Dev+ and then later be included here in the Weekly Update.

Release 48 Postmortem Telethon Results

Our Release 48 Postmortem Telethon was a huge success and achieved a bunch of our Stretch Goal Rewards! A heartfelt thank you from the entire Dev Team to all of you, our backers, that have contributed to the development funding of Shroud of the Avatar. Friday’s Telethon was yet another example of your amazing support and contributions!

The total as of 07:00 PM CDT, December 1st was an amazing:

** $75,000 **

As promised, Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards will be rewarded to any backers that pledged a minimum of $5 from 12:00 PM CDT to Midnight December 1st (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). These rewards should show up on your account page within the next couple of weeks and will begin showing up in the game over the next few releases starting as soon as Release 50.

  • ACHIEVED! $10K: Icicles Pattern Cloak
  • ACHIEVED! $25K: Ice Hot Tub
  • ACHIEVED! $35K: Ice Elemental Statue with icy effects
  • ACHIEVED! $50K: Ice Sword & Ice Shield
  • ACHIEVED! $65K: Ice Crown, Ice & Snow Themed Gown, and Ice Wand
  • $80K: Ice Dragon Statue with icy effects

NOTE: We stopped tracking towards stretch goals at the end of the telethon at 7:00 PM CDT.

We had deep dives, world building tours, answered questions, danced, sang, spun the Wheel of Fortune for flash sales, and handed out tons of prizes!

Did you not get your question answered? Fret not! Starr “Darkstarr” Long (with help from the rest of the team) will answer some of the questions that we did not have time to answer during the telethon at some point in the forums next week.

Moustache of the Avatar Movember Results

The Movember Foundation’s mission: “The state of men’s health is in crisis. Men experience worse longer-term health than women and die on average six years earlier. Prostate cancer rates will double in the next 15 years. Testicular cancer rates have already doubled in the last 50. Three quarters of suicides are men. Poor mental health leads to half a million men taking their own life every year. That’s one every minute. Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends are facing this health crisis and it’s not being talked about. We can’t afford to stay silent.”

Back in 2013 we created a Portalarium Movember team called Moustache of the Avatar and raised $1,680 for charity. Last year we reformed the team as Moustache of the Avatar. This year we came close to matching our original record and raised $1,367. However if you factor in the sales of our Movember items, including the Cloth Map bundle at the R47 telethon, we raised an additional $1,522 for a grand total of

** $2,889 **

The team did an amazing job with Chris “Atos” Spears and Starr “Darkstarr” Long almost tied for the lead with both raising an amazing $500 and $501, respectively. They chronicled their moustached misadventures and even shaved off half their moustaches on the last day to symbolize Movember’s goal to halve the number of men who die too young from prostate and testicular cancer by 2030. Starr even went to REI and Whole Foods over his lunch that day but was sadly disappointed that no one said anything about his half stache. 

BrightLocker’s Crowd Equity Campaign Shroud of the Avatar Perks

We are providing BrightLocker’s crowd equity campaign on StartEngine with some special in-game Shroud of the Avatar items! Support BrightLocker and you can receive the following bundle, along with many of their other offered Perks:

  • Shroud of the Avatar Game Access
  • Golden Viking 1-Story Village Home
  • Tax Free Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed

Golden Viking 1-Story Village Home (this is NOT the same as the one for SeedInvest)

Tax Free Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed

BrightLocker is a revolutionary platform that enables gamers to connect with their favorite developers and gain exclusive access and interaction as they make upcoming games.

At present, BrightLocker has over a dozen games hosted on the platform. Gamers receive exclusive content, such as unique in-game items, physical rewards and more whilst also enjoying revolutionary and unique studio interaction. This interaction comes in all varieties, from forum chats with developers to livestreams of games while they’re being made.

Visit the official BrightLocker campaign page to learn more on how their unique platform works.

Community Wellness with the Meretz Fitness App


Get the Meretz App

We strongly believe in promoting well-being in each and every member of the community, and their extended network of family, friends, and associates. We are partnering with Meretz, a free and unique way to transform your physical activity into virtual fitness currency. They are hooking in Shroud of the Avatar to their app so we can get you in-game rewards for using it!

To help promote awareness and recognition of wellness behavior and events, we came up with the Wellness Cloak, similar in concept to the Clasped Gauntlets Cloak for community events. For joining the effort, users of the Meretz app will get this Wellness Cloak that you can wear in-game as a symbol of your wellness goals.


You can redeem Meretz Points for in-game Obsidian Potions. There are currently 7 potion options:

  • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
  • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
  • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
  • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
  • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
  • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills
  • Potion of Stamina: Decreases focus use from sprinting

How it works:

  • Download the Meretz app
  • Connect to Apple Health, Google Fit, or Fitbit
  • Earn Meretz Points for being active
  • Connect Meretz to Shroud – get the free exclusive Meretz Cloak!
  • Use your points to buy Shroud potions and other game items

Other Meretz related in-game wellness items are being considered, so stay tuned for future updates!

New Free Trial Continues! Runs thru Dec. 13

Our Free Trial tests continue with the latest running run from Nov. 22 to Dec. 13. As with our previous tests, this one will let us continue to gather data about uptake, drop-off, conversions, etc. These tests are invaluable for us in order to improve the New User Experience and the Free Trial System.

Free Trial access allows you to play the entire game in any of the Online modes with a few key differences in game play. You will be able to explore hundreds of scenes, talk with thousands of players, adventure through the opening quests, and gain experience and skills as you get used to the world of New Britannia!

Join us in New Britannia for free this weekend!

Upcoming Events Calendar

Nov 22 – Dec 13, 2017 – Free Trial
Dec 14, 2017 – Release 49
Jan 8, 2018 – R49 Postmortem Telethon
Jan 12, 2018 – Portalarium Grand Holiday Party
Mar 9 – 18, 2018 – SXSW
Mar 21 – 23, 2018 – GDC

Visit the official Community Calendar to see the great lineup of activities our amazing community has planned for this weekend! And be sure to check out this month’s Release Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events.

AERIE Fund Dev Crafting Competition & Charity Auction

Today begins the charity auction that now includes items from Lord British! This first annual Master of the Forge competition showcases the devs’ creativity and skill at the crafting tables. Click the link below to see the available items, and how you can participate in other community led crafting competitions!

If you wish to bid on items, please visit The AERIE Fund Shoppe!

[A Forum Post by Thexedor Markhamm]

MASTER OF THE FORGE
Developer Crafted Item Charity Auction:

Our friends at Portalarium have generously offered up their time to craft some epic gear to support AERIE Fund in our continued works in New Britannia.

This 1st annual Master of the Forge competition showcases their creativity and skill at the crafting tables, and let’s you take home a unique piece of their vision. These collections are filled with one-of-a-kind relics that’ll destroy on the battlefield and/or shine in your trophy cases.

The Developer Crafting Process:

Like us, the Devs have to spend hours (and in some cases: days) crafting these items. There’s no cheat mode when it comes to masterworking, enchanting, and/or creating exceptional items. They blow up stuff at the same pace and frequency we do. They do have access to unlimited resources, which helps with the time (they have a game to launch, after all!). None of the items are given stats beyond what a player could achieve with available crafting skills. And…

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Based upon community feedback, Dev crafting skills have been locked between 100-120 to ensure these items are not imbalanced or unobtainable by player crafters.

Here’s a sample of the quality and awesomeness of these items:

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Learn more and get involved by catching up on the contest details in the forums!


Contest: The Avatar’s Guide to Knowledge and Virtue

Do you have in-depth knowledge on a feature in the game that new players should know more about? Would you call yourself an expert in a particular field of gameplay? This is your chance to create a valuable how-to video that can be shown to the entire community (and help grow your channel as well!)

The ‘Avatar’s Guide to Knowledge and Virtue’ video contest kicks off today. You have from Nov. 17, 2017 to Jan. 15, 2018 to design a walkthrough video for all New Britannians to use as a resource for making their way successfully in the game.

When you have a video to submit, please post it in this thread. You are allowed to edit your posts up until the submission deadline on Jan. 15, 2018 at 11:59 PM CT (Jan. 16 at 5:59 AM UTC). We will be posting all final videos on Portalarium’s YouTube channel in a Playlist after the contest ends.

Below are the details of the contest, including what you can win!

[Read More…]

Party: Portalarium Studio Grand Holiday Party – Jan. 12

Let it be known far and wide that a Grand Holiday Party will be held at the Portalarium Studios and in Shroud of the Avatar on Friday, January 12, 2018 at 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM Central Standard Time (US)(2300 UTC to 0400 UTC).

We are going to have a lot of fun and activities for people attending in Austin AND also all those online from around the world:

  • Meet the Developers
  • Plenty of Drinks and Food
  • White elephant gift exchange
  • Games, Storytelling and Jokes
  • Live in-game party in Shroud of the Avatar
  • Video live stream
  • Live music
  • Twitch streaming
  • Audio streaming
  • Discord chat

Visit the discussion forums for details on this community hosted party!

Resources – Players Helping Players

SotA_NewPlayerWelcome_Forum

The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.

Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.

Recommended Project to Support – Denis Loubet Patreon

Our good friend Denis Loubet, and the one responsible for Shroud of the Avatar’s cover art and almost every piece of cover art for Ultima, as well as many other art pieces in SotA’s early days of development, is now running his own project. Denis is creating more Science Fiction and Fantasy Art for you to enjoy. Check it out over at Patreon!

If you remember the Ultima series of computer games, I’m the guy that did most of the covers and the manual illustrations, as well as a lot of the in-game art and animation. I’ve been doing game art since the 80s for companies such as Steve Jackson Games, Hero Games, Origin Systems Inc, Kingsisle, Disney, and many more.

I want to try doing art directly for my fans, with no middleman. That’s the reason for this Patreon project.

Backer Shipping Addresses

SotA_ShippingAddressIn preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards around the game’s launch period, on your Account Page, please enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image.

A reminder to be sure that support@portalarium.com is unblocked from your e-mail account!



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