Updates

Avatar’s Update #245: New Scene & Item Content and SeedInvest Perk Screenshots!

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 Northwest Blackblade Mountains

SPOILERS: For Release 46 we are reworking Blackblade Pass to establish a path through the mountains and underneath the lava that is Tier 2. This involves adding Tier 2 side paths in Southeast Blackblade Mountains and Northwest Blackblade Mountains that connect to the entrances to Blackblade Pass, as well as adding a Tier 2 bypass tunnel in Blackblade Pass itself.

Additionally, we have completely rebuilt Northwest Blackblade Mountains (it was previously a clone of another scene) and it now contains a devastated arid landscape of dragon bones, mesas, sand, and possible dragon encounters!

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski]

Here’s some early teaser shots of progress on un-cloning the Northwest Blackblade Mountains. Let me know what you think of them!

Read more…


Community Livestream – Northwest Blackblade Mountains

Get ready Avatars, this is going to be another fun Friday livestream! We kick it off with updates from Starr Long about the upcoming Release 46, SeedInvest Perks, and more (have a look at Starr and Richard’s just released Dragon Con interview!).

Afterward, Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski will give you a sneak peek of the Northwest Blackblade Mountains scene coming in Release 46, and Fletcher Kinnear will show off some cool armor he’s been working on.

Rumor is also going around that Richard Garriott may make an appearance…

The fun begins on Twitch this Friday at 4pm CT. Also join the community watching on Discord chat to ask questions about what’s presented:


Community Spotlight – Serenite Crafting Museum

Recently the player town of Serenite opened the doors on its new Serenite Crafting Museum. The town would like to invite one and all to come browse the museum’s historical artifacts today!

What is a crafting museum? It’s a place where many of the game’s craftable armor and weapons have been collected in one convenient place in an effort to answer all your crafting questions related to the finished product.

Ever wonder what the damage difference is between a short bow and a long bow? How about how much protection does Meteoric chain offer over Iron chain? Just how much difference does it make if you go with Augmented or Fortified? All of these items have been gathered and placed together for your convenience so that you can compare the finished products and make the final decision for the gear you need regardless of if its protection, damage or just what looks the fanciest.

The museum can be found at the top of a hill behind the Serenite main castle:

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #244: More News with a Fresh Title!

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 South Longfall Wetland

We are focusing the next few releases on building the mid-level and lower tier scenes near the cities along the paths of Truth and Courage. Most of these scenes have been clones of other scenes and will now be replaced with completely original scenes.

In Release 46 scenes being updated include South Longfall Wetland which is a Tier 2 swampy area in the Longfall region near Aerie, Crooked Shank (see below) which is a Tier 2 mountainous area in the Verdantis region, and North Shattered Hills (see below) which is a Tier 3 mountainous area in the South Paladis region.

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea-Wolf”]

Hey folks,

I have a few screenshots of our update to South Longfall Wetland! The new areas includes a maze of poison gas, an abandoned village, a raft flotilla inhabited by pirates, and a secluded witch’s hut. This is still a work in progress, but feel free to leave feedback.

Poison Fields:

Read more…


Dragon Con 2017 Cosplay Contest Winners

Congrats to the following Dragon Con Cosplay Contest entries! We announced them originally on yesterday’s R45 Postmortem Telethon. Amazing job to all in coming up with a cosplay costume so quickly for the contest! We are glad you all had a chance to meet Richard and Starr.

Winners, please be sure to reach out to community manager Berek so we can confirm with in-game outfit you would like!

First Place goes to @PhilMarunowski:

Read more…


Release 45 Postmortem Mini-Telethon

** $52,000 **

Telethon Funds Raised

Watch live video from shroudoftheavatar on www.twitch.tv

Telethon Stretch Goal Rewards:

  • ACHIEVED! $10K: Virtue Bierkrug (aka Beer Stein) (NOTE: image is placeholder)
  • ACHIEVED! $25K: Virtue Oktoberfest Beer/Pretzel/Sausage Banner
  • ACHIEVED! $35K: Virtue Oktoberfest Tent with Garland Decoration hanging from ceiling
  • ACHIEVED! $50K: Virtue Dirndl: traditional female Bavarian outfit
  • $65K: Virtue Lederhosen: traditional male Bavarian outfit
  • $80K: Virtue Flaming Tuba

Greetings Avatars,

Release 45’s Postmortem Mini-Telethon is going to be Oktoberfest themed in honor of our new Munich, Germany based publishing partners – Travian Games! They will be helping us kick off the livestream. As we announced last month, they are partnering with us to bring Shroud of the Avatar to other regions around the world. Travian Games is lucky enough to be headquartered where THE Oktoberfest happens every year in September, hence our choice of the theme.

This latest telethon continues our new monthly Postmortem Mini-Telethon format, as announced for Release 44 last month. See below for the details!

Read more…


Update of the Avatar #243 – 2017.01.09: Play R45, Postmortem Telethon Sep. 6, The Crags and North Shattered Hills, Dragon Con Contest, R44 Raffle Winners, Community Events, and More!

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

Play Release 45 Now!

Release 45 successfully launched yesterday, August 31, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

Read more…


R45 Instructions

Starr_avatar

[See the forum post to join in the discussion of this update!]

Avatars,

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues.

Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 45 access for all Early Access backers begins this Thursday, August 31, at 10:30 AM US Central Daylight Time (15:30 UTC).

Release 45 is our first release after reaching the Story Complete milestone last release. We are now able to focus on polishing the game experience. This release, we have rebuilt multiple scenes, added more quests, polished the user interface, and continued to balance combat.

Read more…


Dragon Con 2017 Cosplay Contest

Calling all Dragon Con Avatars!

We know that some of you attending Dragon Con may be in cosplay… perhaps even of a Shroud theme :). We want to see your costumes! Tweet @ShroudofAvatar and/or #LBSotA with a photo of you in costume with either Richard “Lord British” Garriott and/or Starr “Darkstarr” Long at Dragon Con 2017 to enter into our Dragon Con Cosplay Contest!

You have until 11:59pm CT on September 4 (last day of Dragon Con) to submit your entry. The top three winners will receive a complete Shroud of the Avatar in-game outfit of their choice (must be currently available in the add-on store)! All other valid entries at Dragon Con with Richard and/or Starr will receive $10 in Store Credit.

Bonus points and recognition for making your costume Shroud themed!

To find Richard or Starr during the event, you can attend any of their panels.

All valid entries will be placed into a photo album on Facebook.

We can’t wait to see your costumes!


Richard and Starr at Dragon Con This Sept. 1-4!

Attending Dragon Con this year? We want to meet you! There will be several chances to see Richard Garriott and Starr Long at the event. Together they are on 11 different panels between the Video Game Track, Space Track and other miscellaneous tracks.

Have a look below at the detailed schedule (check the schedule on the official Dragon Con site regularly in case times and other details change!).

The Panels

  • Friday Sept 1: 10:00 AM EDT
    • Future of Video Gaming: What’s next in video games? What new technologies are on the horizon and who’s making it happen?
    • Panelists: Starr Long
    • Location: Augusta E-G – Westin
  • Friday Sept 1: 01:00 PM EDT
    • Androids and Automatons: This presentation will cover the history of artificial life from the ancient Greeks to modern automata artists. Techniques for creating your own automata will also be shared.
    • Panelists: Brett King, Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux, Anthony Francis
    • Location: Augusta – Sheraton
  • NEW TIME/DAY: Friday Sept 1: 04:00 PM EDT
    • Avoiding Tropes and Stereotypes: Panelists will identify common pitfalls that lead to boring plot lines and unoriginal characters and discuss ways to avoid them.
    • Panelists: Alison Carrier, Starr Long, David Haddock
    • Location: Augusta E-G – Westin
  • Friday Sept 1: 04:00 PM EDT
    • How to Write the Game Everybody Wants: If your goal is to write a game the gaming masses will love, be here for this panel! Experts share their experience & knowledge to help you on your journey.
    • Panelists: Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux
    • Location: International North – Hyatt
  • Friday Sept 1: 05:30 PM EDT
    • An Hour with Lord British: A deeper dive into the past and future adventures of Lord British covering subjects like the Ultima franchise, space travel, deep sea exploration, IP development, and game design principles. There will also be a discussion of Richard’s new book, “Explore and Create”
    • Panelists: Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux, Jason Gonding
    • Location: Augusta B-D – Westin
  • Friday Sept 1: 07:00 PM EDT
    • Space Tourism: Private Access Needs Private Destinations: Commercial space launches for private citizens are not far in the future but where are they going to go? Russia can give access to their section of the ISS but not something they will do unless they are paid for bringing that person up. Not happening these days so what’s left?
    • Panelists: Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux
    • Location: 212-213 – Hilton
  • Saturday Sept 2: 11:30 AM EDT
    • Behind the Scenes of Commercial Space: Rocket launches seem to get all the news regarding commercial space but that encompasses just a few big name companies. Many smaller companies lay behind the scenes pushing forward the needs for commercial space and what makes it go.
    • Panelists: Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux, A.C. Charania, Sam Ortega, David J. Hewitt, Andy Dykes, Laura Seward Forczyk
    • Location: 212-213 – Hilton
  • Saturday Sept 2: 02:30 PM EDT
    • World Building 101: We examine different takes on world building, whether it be for a game, movie, or video game! What does it take to create a believable, breathing world?
    • Panelists: Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux, TBD
    • Location: Centennial I – Hyatt
  • Sunday Sept 3: 10:00 AM EDT
    • Living & Working on the ISS: Being in the Space Station is cool! Flying through the modules in zero gravity, ask anyone who’s been there – they’d do it again! But it’s not always easy & if you’re there you’ve got work to do!
    • Panelists: Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux, Garrett Reisman, Rebecca Kim
    • Location: Grand East – Hilton
  • Sunday Sept 3: 01:00 PM EDT
    • Shroud of the Avatar Q&A: Lord British will provide a development update and host an open Q&A on the current status of his latest project.
    • Panelists: Starr Long, Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux
    • Location: Augusta B-D – Westin
  • NEW TIME: Monday Sept 4: 11:30 AM EDT
    • Crowdfunding – How to Successfully Kickstart Your Game: Join industry professionals who have successfully kickstarted games in a discussion on what worked and didn’t work for them, followed by Q&A.
    • Panelists: Starr Long, David Haddock, Mark Jacobs
    • Location: Augusta B-D – Westin

All times and other details subject to change. We hope to see you at Dragon Con!