Avatar’s Update #287: Episode 2 Stretch Goals, Rewards Program, R55 Livestream Results

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

News Announcements

Community Updates

 

Episode 2 Stretch-Goal Store

As revealed in the Release 55 Livestream we have launched the Stretch Goal store for Episode 2! These are stretch goals with rewards that can be used in the game now (or at least very soon)! When you purchase the item you will get it as an in-game reward immediately (or very soon if the item is still in progress), even if the stretch-goal is not met. These rewards are completely unique. They will not be sold in the add-on store, in-game nor as a bundle item. Once the stretch-goal is met we will begin work on the functionality for Episode 2 and all the items purchased would gain some function related to the goal when Episode 2 launches. For instance the foal from the Mounts stretch goal would grow into a horse that you could then ride. Each goal will have a progress bar underneath tracking the progress. General philosophy is that these items cost slightly more than equivalent items because they are linked to stretch goals.

We are starting with the Mounts Stretch-goal and will add further stretch-goals over the next several months including Flexible Lot Placement, Pack Animals, and Elven Playable Race. NOTE: Many of these items are similar to the previous stretch-goal store items but these are different and unique.

Mounts: Players will be able to ride horses around the game (including horses tamed in the game)! These baby horses will grow up to be fully grown and mountable horses when this feature goes live in the game. NOTES: There will be some kind of summon mount emote / key. When mount appears you automatically vault into the saddle. Cannot fight while mounted. If you are hit / enter combat while on horseback you are knocked from your horse. Mounts cannot be ridden indoors or underground.

Ornate Hitching Post: Decorate your lot with the Ornate Hitching Post! This item may have additional functionality if the Horse Mounts stretch goal is met for Episode 2.

Roan, Appaloosa, and Dun Foals: These foals (baby horses) can be used as non-combat pets that are both placeable as decoration pets on a property, and will follow you around town! If the Mounts stretch goal is met for Episode 2, these horses will grow up into rideable mounts!

Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program

We are excited to announce the launch of our Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program! Earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive rare stretch-goal items from our monthly livestreams! This program automatically enrolls you in the monthly livestreams (counts as the $5 minimum purchase) along with other perks.

For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

  • 9 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
  • Automatic Participation in the Monthly Livestream Stretchgoals (counts as the $5 minimum purchase)
  • Exclusive Title every 3 months
  • Pick any Dye Pack every 6 months
  • Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
    • 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

Release 55 Livestream Results

Our Monthly Livestream for Release 55 was a huge success and we achieved a bunch of our Stretch Goal Rewards! We had deep dives, world building tours, answered questions, and handed out tons of prizes! A heartfelt thank you from the entire Dev Team to all of you, our players, that continue to play and contribute to Shroud of the Avatar. This month’s livestream was yet another example of your amazing support and contributions.

The total for the Friday July 6 livestream as of Midnight CDT was an amazing:

** $54,500**

  • ACHIEVED $10K: /Blue, Yellow, Red, Silver Aerial Combo Replenishing Box of Fireworks
  • ACHIEVED $25K: Silver Serpent Crackle Aerial Combo Replenishing Box of Fireworks
  • ACHIEVED $35K: Lord British Silver Serpent Wand (he loves magic!)
  • ACHIEVED $50K: Lord British Pavers
  • $65K: Lord British Round Table
  • $80K: Lord British Large Telescope
  • $90K: Lord British Sword and Halberd
  • $100K: Lord British Coronated Leather Helm and Bow

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 July 6th. 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 58.

R54 Livestream Missed Questions Part 1

We had over 16 pages of questions left unanswered after the two R54 Livestreams! With assistance from the team we were able to get many of those questions answered and we posted them to the forums Thursday.

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

Here is the first part of the questions that we did not have time to get to during the R54 Livestreams (which are also now on youtube here and here). I tried my best to answer these (with help from the rest of the team) but some we just don’t have details yet to provide. I probably won’t have time to do any follow ups to these. The community did a great job assisting us this telethon to make sure we didn’t miss a single question.

Please note I deleted some duplicate questions and also deleted any questions that we answered with the Q2 post or with the release of R54 or that we answered in previous livestreams. Also note that we are generally going to stop answering questions about “when?” as those are answered by our quarterly schedule posts and any other answers are going to be either “No ETA” or “soon” or “will update with the next quarterly post”.

Also note that we see a LOT of repeat questions and requests. Please consider reading one of the other missed question posts, watching one of the previous livestreams, reading one of the transcripts, and/or reading our Post Episode 1 plan post before posting a question. Your question might have already been answered.

A new final thought: This tradition of answering almost every single question may not be sustainable in the near term with our current team size so please understand.

Lone-Wolf: Will it be possible to put repeatable quest in it own tab in the journal
STARR: Yes

Xkillerz: What about a sound when you find an artifact or effect around your avatar that makes everyone notice you got one?
STARR: Nice idea

Gandik: Can we get treasure maps to the fishing loot table?
STARR: Sure, once we add a treasure map system to the game (Episode 2).

Calan Caitin: Could masks be made to provide eternal patterns for leather helms? (Zombie, Elf, Kobold, etc…)
STARR: yes

Warrior B’Patrick: Some creatures we fight are not tamable, Unicorn, but it would be really nice to be able to tame a mushroom. Their confuse attack would be very nice.
Pawz: When are higher level tamable pets coming?
Pawz: Will Unicorns be tamable?
Pawz: Will we be getting new taming skills?
STARR: When we expand the taming system to include leveling pets and more pet skills these requests could become realities (Episode 2).

Anvar: can the brewed alcohol please have some buffs or purpose beyond just the rp of it.
STARR: Yes, that is the plan for magical brews

[Read More…]

Lord British Birthday Double XP Weekends

In celebration of Lord British’s birthday on July 4th, starting this weekend (June 22) and through the end of July, Avatars will earn double XP (Adventure & Production) when playing on the weekends!

NPC Submission Requests: Brittany Alleys (extended to R56)

Earlier this month Scott “Lum” Jennings posted our latest request for NPC submissions for Brittany Alleys. This is for Developer+ level backers who are eligible for the “Design an NPC” reward “Help create and name a character in the game”.

For reference here is our current status on which towns we have done this work on and which towns remain to be done:

Done:

  • Aerie
  • Ardoris
  • Braemar (no backer NPCs)
  • Brittany Wharfs
  • Central Brittany
  • Desolis
  • Estgard
  • Etceter
  • Graff Island
  • Jaanaford
  • Kiln
  • Kingsport (no backer NPCs)
  • Northwood
  • Owl’s Head (no backer NPCs)
  • Resolute
  • Solania (no backer NPCs)
  • Soltown (no backer NPCs)
  • Spite
  • Xenos
  • Yew

In progress:

  • Brittany Alleys

To be done:

  • Bramble
  • Brittany Fields
  • Broochash
  • Brookside
  • Celestis
  • Eastmarch
  • Elad’s Lighthouse
  • Fortus End
  • Goti
  • Mud
  • Noreach
  • Point West
  • Port Graff
  • Storm’s Reach
  • Westend

NOTE: We are extending the submissions for another release.

Humility[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Lum” Jennings]

Thank you for your continuing support of Shroud of the Avatar! This month, we move from the jewel of the realm to its seamy underbelly – the district known as Brittany Alleys. The dark streets of the Alleys are full of mysteries and stories, perhaps one of which is yours…

Because of Brittany Alleys’ size, this will be the only area we are adding backer NPCs to for this release. If you do NOT want your backer NPC to be in Brittany Alleys for whatever reason, or if you absolutely have a character who should be in a given city not named Brittany, you should wait until we advertise for that city. We do plan on eventually populating every city in the game with unique NPCs!

First, some brief notes:

  • Brittany Alleys has many NPCs which are not currently unique. Thus, the NPCs are already in the game, but we can change appearance (to a degree, as seen below), gender, etc. to suit your request. If you want to pick a specific NPC (for example, one near your own house) we will do our best to accommodate you but may not be able to.
  • NPC visual customization, as you may have noticed, is still at a very early stage in development. Right now for the backers who want to be added to Brittany Alleys, we cannot offer any visual customization options beyond our standard gallery of NPC models. (Do note, however, that we frequently add to that gallery – the pool has doubled over the past 6 months, for example.) If you would like to have input over the visual customization of your NPC, you can wait for further releases when we can offer this. We will also allow a one-time visual re-customization once customization has been added if you would like to add your NPC now.
  • There are MANY NPCs within Brittany Alleys’ walls. Although we will be accepting submissions on a first come first serve basis, if you are a Developer+-tier backer (as in, you can see this post), you are welcome to submit an NPC of your own design, but people who have not yet submitted an NPC will take priority over those who have. If your NPC doesn’t appear in Brittany Alleys, feel free to respond again in future posts. We still have quite a few towns and cities to populate!
  • When responding, please list a first and second choice for profession.
  • Due to the great number of NPCs to populate this release, the amount of custom dialog we can add will by necessity be limited. If you would like specific custom dialog added for your NPC, it would help us GREATLY if you could submit in the form of [keyword that triggers a response] [the response desired] so that we have a better idea of how you would like that NPC implemented. We reserve the right to edit or change any dialog submitted, or not use it if we feel it inappropriate for the NPC or the game in general.
  • Things that will cause Lum to send you a regretful message saying we can’t use your NPC’s background: if your NPC has a backstory that contradicts the lore of the game (“my grandfather helped Aren Bennis win the Obsidian Wars”), thinly-disguised advertisements for your player-owned town or guild, references to races or major events that do not appear in-game (“my mother was an orc”), or a name that is an obvious reference to a real person, popular fictional character, or historical figure.
  • This is currently for the district of Brittany Alleys ONLY.
  • NPCs for Brittany Alleys should be primarily human, but we will consider submissions of elven migrants.

Still with us? Great! Here’s what we need for Brittany Alleys:

  • 40 38 guards
  • 89 86 citizens/travellers
  • 24 20 children/orphans
  • 1 guild registrar
  • 2 1 bankers
  • 3 1 town criers
  • 2 public vendors
  • 2 combat trainers
  • 1 crafting trainer
  • 1 alchemist
  • 1 blacksmith
  • 1 weapons salesperson
  • 1 butcher
  • 2 cooking supplies salespersons
  • 1 housing deco salesperson
  • 1 housing deeds salesperson
  • 3 2 fisherfolk
  • 2 farming supplies salespersons
  • 1 baker
  • 2 innkeepers
  • 1 tavernkeeper
  • 2 waiters/waitresses

If you’d like to have your namesake be a resident of Brittany Alleys, please respond via private message on this forum to Sannio using the following format:

  • NPC name:
  • NPC gender:
  • NPC profession (first choice):
  • NPC profession (second choice):
  • District NPC appears (optional):
  • NPC background (optional): A paragraph on whom your NPC is, how they would respond to nosy outlanders poking about their business, what brings them to Brittany Alleys (or keeps them there), or anything else you’d like to add. We may or may not use this background, and reserve the right to edit and/or reject any background that does not fit the lore and setting of the game.

Please specify in your submission that this NPC is for Brittany Alleys.

We will respond if: your NPC is used; if it is rejected for whatever reason (such as an inappropriate name); if a supplied background is inappropriate, or if your NPC missed the cutoff for this release.

Thanks for your support, and keep a tight hold of your coinpurse when in the Alleys!

Weekend Flash Sale: Brewing & Taverns

Brewing launched in Release 55 including new crops to grow, alcohol to brew, and casks to decorate with. To celebrate this new feature all Inns (which have a tavern space in the bottom floor), mugs, pipes, shopkeepers, and other tavern / brewing related items are on sale this weekend!

Follow the links to learn more about each item. Also, you’ll want to explore the game in detail for there are many more craftable items available!

Upcoming Events Calendar

July 26, 2018 – Release 56
Aug 10 – 11, 2018 –Syndcon
Aug 21 – 25, 2018 – Gamescom
Aug 30, 2018 – Release 57
Aug 30 – Sept 3 –Dragon Con
Sept 27, 2018 – Release 58
Oct 11-13, 2018 – SOTACON Austin 2018
Oct 25, 2018 – Release 59
Nov 15, 2018 – Release 60
Dec 13, 2018 – Release 61

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.

Win a Pair of SOTACON 2018 Tickets!

SOTACON Austin 2018 is giving away a pair of tickets and t-shirts to SOTACON Austin 2018!

Enter daily to win! To enter, get the Meretz App:
https://www.meretz.com/promo/sotaconaustin

Or watch Lunch with Laz & Jack Daily for additional entries, as well a chance to win a weekly prize of a Custom SOTACON t-shirt!

Project to Support – Portrait of Scottie for Shroud of the Avatar

From community member Frank Baxley:

Scott “Scottie” Jones has long been a favorite among the backers of Shroud of the Avatar. A natural storyteller, he treats us to detailed narrations of scenes he’s designed, sings us Elvish songs, and creates poems about the scenes we experience as our stories unfold in New Britannia.

Portalarium, the creators of Shroud of the Avatar, allow us to import portraits created by significant artists, most notably Denis Loubet. Denis is well known for his work in gaming, cover artwork for the Ultima series, as well as working alongside Scottie creating the earliest concept art for the game that would become Shroud of the Avatar.

Some time ago, a call arose on the official forums to create an in-game portrait of Scottie to show our appreciation. I am answering that call and creating this Kickstarter project to fund an official portrait.

Scottie has given us permission. Denis has agreed to work it into his schedule. Portalarium has agreed to import the resulting portrait into the game as both a standard portrait and a Kickstarter exclusive version.

All we need is the funding. The price for a top-quality portrait is $2500. Kickstarter adds fees that can range from 5%-10%. Hence our goal of $2750.

Please Join Us in honoring our friend Scottie in this way!

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.