Updates

Summer Telethon Success! Thank You Community!

May 31, 2017

** $115,000 **

FINAL Telethon Funds Raised

For the following Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards, we offered them to any backer that pledged a minimum of $5 from the start of the telethon until the end (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply):

$10,000: /smokevirtue: blow the virtue symbol in smoke from a pipe
$25,000: Balloons: a small cluster of balloons held in your hand. These particular balloons are black with a silver virtue symbol.
$35,000: Miner’s Helmet with flame on top (generates light)
$50,000: Flame Pattern Stained Glass Oil Table Lamp (3 Pack)
$65,000: Fire Elemental Statue with flame effects
$80,000: Flame Shaped Shield and Scimitar
$100,000: Flame Leather Armor

Click here to see what the complete schedule of the telethon included. Recording of the telethon is currently on Twitch and will be uploaded to YouTube in the next few days.

Thanks again Avatars for making this project possible!

Update of the Avatar #229 – 2017.05.26: Play R42 Now, New Mail System, Libris Ruins First Look, Final Free Trial Weekend, Next Week’s Summer Telethon, Community Events, and More!

May 26, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Play Release 42 Now!

Release 42 successfully launched yesterday, May 25, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

Community Livestream – Oracle Colossus Tour!

May 25, 2017

We will be kicking off this week’s Community Livestream by giving players an in-depth look at the Oracle Colossus scene! We’ve been talking about this scene alongside the Colossus of the Oracle, and Oracle itself, for a few weeks now.

Now that all three paths (Truth, Love, and Courage) are playable we have begun work on the Finale part of the plot, aka The Path of the Oracle. One of the crucial scenes of that path is the Oracle Colossus. This is of course the famous depiction of the Oracle from the concept painting by Stephen Daniele inspired by passages from The Sword of Midras prequel novel by Tracy Hickman. This scene was built as a placeholder and is now being polished into a final state.

As mentioned in the Release 42 Instructions, this scene is now available to play. Read back on various Weekly Updates for more about the scene as well, including first look screenshots! Watch for a sneak peek video of the Colossus of the Oracle by tomorrow’s livestream!

The fun begins on Twitch this Friday at 4pm CT! We may even catch part of the Release Dance Party at 2-4pm CT. Also join the community watching on Discord chat to ask questions about this scene.

Release 42 Instructions

May 24, 2017

Avatars,

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked Instructions and Known Issues. Join the discussion of this update in the forums.

Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 42 access for all Early Access backers begins this Thursday, May 25, at 10:30 AM US Central Daylight Time (15:30 UTC).

Release 42 (R42) is another significant step forward in progress with a staggering amount of new content as well as a ton of balance and polish. The Path of the Oracle is finally revealed, along with the Oracle herself, starter scenes have seen an amazing amount of polish, more gear can be placed as decorations, Mail is seeing its first iteration, many weapon decorations are now able to be placed on both walls and floors, combat got lots of balancing including additional functionality for Locked Decks and adjustments to Experience Decay, and enemies have been beefed up with new abilities and smarter behaviors!

Update of the Avatar #228 – 2017.05.19: Ornate Moondial Video, Making of Sequanna Colossus, Blood Bay Puzzles & Treasure, Our Community, Flash Sales, Free Trial, Event Calendar, and More!

May 19, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Moondial Effects First Look Video

As a recap, we recently did some re-ordering of the celestial bodies in the heavens. There are now more game systems directly tied to the positions of these celestial bodies. Due to these changes, Richard “Lord British” Garriott has decreed that we update our orreries to not only accurately reflect these new sequences, but also add the constellations in an outer ring.

Here is a video of the Ornate version of the Moondial that we talked about in last week’s update. This moondial version will go in the Add On Store and will come in a variety of sizes ranging from tabletop to a giant version that you can walk under! These versions are due to make an appearance in Release 42:

Community Livestream – Magic Movers!

May 18, 2017

We will be kicking off this week’s Community Livestream by giving players an in-depth look at how the Property Manager helps you move your home and lot belongings (a.k.a. Magic Movers) works by visiting Hometown and trying the feature out!

As mentioned in the Release 39 Instructions, we added a really powerful new feature to Player Housing where:

“Players can now save a fully decorated lot or basement and reload it later onto that same lot or onto a different lot in that same scene (as long as that lot is the same size). Players will start with 5 slots and, in future releases, will be able to purchase more for Gold Crowns. In a future release, we will expand this feature to allow movement of a fully decorated lot/basement between separate scenes for an, as yet, undetermined cost.”

Details for how to use this new feature can also be found in the Player Instructions document. Darkstarr also posted a detailed explanation in the forums.

The fun begins on Twitch this Friday at 4pm CT! Also join the community watching on Discord chat to ask your questions about the Property Manager.

Shroud of the Avatar – A Community Like No Other

May 17, 2017

Written by Berek, your Wood Elf Community Manager…

When I came on board to Portalarium early last year, I was already a dedicated Shroud of the Avatar (SotA) player and guild member, eagerly checking out the content in-game as it was added each release. The community’s excitement up to that point had seeped deep into my veins, compelling me to see how I could join the team to help the community move to new heights.

From the very first day at the office, I quickly realized there was so much more to discover with the community than I originally thought. I saw huge potential as I learned more about how each of you contributes content and feedback. From player-created resources on various community-led websites to a ton of in-game activities and real life meetups, I also quickly realized I was going to need the community’s help to succeed at this role!

In my years working with communities, I have seen few as passionate and determined as what we have for Shroud of the Avatar. A sense of belonging and camaraderie is imbued in all corners of the community. Many of the players come from as far back as the Ultima days (circa 1981-1999 including Ultima Online to the present day). Everyone should be proud of what has been built up to this point!

Little did we all know how exciting and wild of a ride it was indeed going to be in just this past year, eh? Let’s take a look back and see what’s changed!

Moondial Madness Update

May 16, 2017

From last week’s Update #227, and picking up from the first mention of changes to the Moondials, a Moondial Madness update from Scott “Scottie” Jones!

Recently we did some re-ordering of the celestial bodies in the heavens. Additionally there are now more game systems directly tied to the positions of these celestial bodies. For instance Town Sieges are directly tied to these. Due to these changes Richard “Lord British” Garriott has decreed that we update our orreries to not only accurately reflect these new sequences but also add the constellations in an outer ring. The first pass is to update the Darkstarr Moondial that players already own. We also created a new Silver Darkstarr Moondial that will only be available through our Referral program when that comes back online. Other variants that look very different from the Darkstarr versions will then be created including a craftable version (more mechanical in nature) and an Ornate version for the Add On Store that will come in a variety of sizes ranging from table top to a giant version that you can walk under!

The updated Darkstarr Moondial is live in Release 41. Stay tuned for updates on when the other versions will become available.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones]

OK!!! After having the chance to consider and discuss the feedback, I was able to talk with Starr and Richard, and the decision was made to scale the constellation placards down by 15% further! After testing this by going into the game, hitting “V” a few times to go into first-person mode, and trying to read the runes at the new scale, it seems it’s still possible to make out the words, which is really all we were trying to maintain… This is the “normal” way they’ll be seen with the character near them for size comparison…

Read more…

Update of the Avatar #227 – 2017.05.12: New Free Trial Begins, Black Sun Game Publishing Partnership, Oracle Update, R41 Postmortem Recap, Localization Update, Flash Sales, Community Events, and More!

May 12, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

The Making of Oracle Colossus

SPOILERS: Now that all three paths (Truth, Love, and Courage) are playable we have begun work on the Finale part of the plot, aka The Path of the Oracle. One of the crucial scenes of that path is the Oracle Colossus. This is of course the famous depiction of the Oracle from the concept painting by Stephen Daniele inspired by passages from The Sword of Midras prequel novel by Tracy Hickman. This scene was built as a placeholder and is now being polished into a final state.

We hope to have the Oracle Colossus ready for Release 42 or 43.

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

Here are some early shots of progress on the Oracle Colossus area.

I, explorer Earl Greyhot, arrive at the site of the Oracle Colossus, where a previous expedition from the University of Britannia dissapeared under dubious circumstances.

Community Livestream – New Inn First Look!

May 11, 2017

We will be kicking off this week’s Community Livestream by giving players a first look at the upcoming Wood and Plaster Village Inn Player Home!

While room renting will work in any player home, the layout of the Wood and Plaster Village Inn is specifically optimized for renting out rooms to other players. We hope to have the Inn and Room Renting live in Release 43.

After the tour of the Inn, we have Damon Waldrip ready to talk about the visual effects in the finale sequence of the Titan Grannus story character that went into the game in Release 41. If there is any time remaining in the hour, we also have Fletcher Kinnear ready to show off the Oracle, which is due for appearance in Release 43.

The fun begins on Twitch this Friday at 4pm CT! Also join the community watching on Discord chat to ask your questions about Room Renting, the Inn, Titan Grannus, and the Oracle.