[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Greetings 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 27 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, February 25, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (16:30 UTC).

Release 27 is the first release where our pivot to focus on Final Wipe is becoming very visible. It can be seen in the rapid expansion of scenes, filling out entire regions, albeit with scene clones (that we will later make unique). It is also the beginning of major polish passes and rework of the starting scenes to make them more playable and more directed. It is also visible in the new creature behaviors of play, resource guarding, Oracle scanning, Escort Quests, and NPCs talking to each other.

Even though this was a short release at only four weeks (which means just three weeks of development) and we had a LOT of R26 patches, we still managed to add a bunch of new content to the game. Additionally, behind the scenes, we continue to optimize performance and improve our data tracking/reporting (heatmaps are the latest addition). We have also begun a complete overhaul of our avatars, including mesh, texture, skin, hair, clothing, and animations. We hope to reveal those changes next release when we plan to have the new male avatar in the game.

Yet again, I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to our Dev+ backers who tested all of the items below on the QA server and uncovered lots of bugs. They also provided editorial feedback on this post, so they are a big reason that this post actually matches what is in the game, and that it is easy to read.

While we are getting closer to launch, we are still in a constant state of change, and we do not yet have in-game systems to inform players of these changes, or to share ways to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely entirely on this message, and the linked instructions and known issues to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports because some players elect not to read this valuable information. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. So, be sure to check out a couple of the Community Events Calendars run by our community members (via in-game book or the player run websites Avatars Circle Community Events and Events of the Avatars calendar).

Without further ado, here are the R27 deliverables.

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• The Making of Shores of Malice – Part 2
• Shooter Jennings’ In-Game Worldwide Premier of New Album “Countach”
• The Making of Skrekk – Part 2
• Release 27 QA Build Available for Dev+ Backers
• Public Cache Chests Now POTable
• RizeUp Gaming Seattle Children’s Hospital Charity Drive
• Final VIP Roundtable, Studio Tour, LotM Visit & Dinner
• Story in Scene
• Sandillox Ent Presents BINGO Bango!
• Release 26 All Player Towns Gathering
• The Gauntlet [EVL]
• Round Elven Greenhouse
• 10 Day Countdown for Stretch Goal Store Expiration
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• This Week In the News
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

The Making of Shores of Malice – Part 2

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

Hey guys, SorcerousSteve chiming in with an update on Malice, now focusing on the interior Dungeon and its surrounding chambers, including the Well of Sorrows!

Malice is populated by the vengeful dead, an army being raised to sweep down over the lands of the living and avenge Anapa and the injustices done to him and the dead of the Drachvald.

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Happy Birthday Avatars Radio!
• The Making of Skrekk
• The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress)
• Valentine Scavenger Hunt & After Event Party
• The New Britannia Breast Cancer Awareness Biathlon
• Happy Valentine’s Day!
• 17 Day Countdown for Stretch Goal Store Expiration
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

Happy Birthday Avatars Radio!

We’d like to wish a heartfelt “Happy Birthday” to Avatars Radio! Founded by Amber Raine, Avatars Radio is the first, and oldest, Shroud of the Avatar radio station, dating all the way back to SotA Release #1!

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• The Making of Shores of Malice
• The Entrance to Artifice
• Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 26 Postmortem
• New Greenhouses
• New Player Owned Town Templates
• In-game Community Events
• This Week In the News
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

The Making of Shores of Malice

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

Hey guys, once again its SorcerousSteve here with my latest map: The Shores of Malice entrance to the Malice Dungeon (final love quest location)!

The Shores of Malice are located on the banks of Stormwater Lake on the northern section of Drachvald bounded by the treacherous peaks of The Sirens.

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Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Play Release 26 Now!
• The FireLotus Release 26 Party!
• R26 Patch Notes
• SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Final Wipe and Lot Selection
• Shooter Jennings’ In-Game Worldwide Premier of New Album “Countach”
• The Entrance to Artifice
• Valentine Goodies
• New Player Homes
• Checkers Anyone?
• The Giant Yew Tree
• In-game Community Events
• This Week In the News
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

Play Release 26 Now!

Release 26 successfully launched yesterday, January 28, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes! Lots of new content to explore, including:

• Full Wipe to allow for fundamental changes to several systems, including crafting and quests
• New Summon Chaos Daemon Spell, plus polished/balanced dozens of existing spells & skills
• New Consider System to show level difference between player and enemy
• Points of Interest polish added to 16 existing scenes
• 5 New scenes including Resolute, Aerie, North Varisalla Foothils, Sanctus Spine, and Dysborg Ruins (PVP zone)
• New Valentine’s Day and Lunar New Year items
• New Grasslands Biome Template for Player Owned Towns
• 21 New Player Owned Towns
• New Crafting System that allows for material modifiers, gear naming, components, etc.
• Agriculture System Balance/Polish
• Performance Imrovements
• Language Translation Progress
• …and more!

Read more…

UPDATE: JULY 12, 2016: Updated the group numbers to current backer numbers.

[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Greetings Avatars,

We are incredibly excited to announce that we have scheduled final lot selection and our final wipe, including all social data (names, friends, guilds), [UPDATE: 06/21/2016] for Release 32, July 28, 2016! After Release 32, we will no longer be wiping the game state. Your characters and your properties will be persistent from that date forward.

Please understand that final wipe is not “launch”. We will continue to be working to finish the game’s story content well past final wipe, while we remain in Early Access. Until then, the game is neither “launched” nor complete, but as mentioned below, the concept of “launch” may not even be applicable to this development model. Launch will be when we pull the game out of Early Access and we start marketing / public relation campaigns to pull in new customers. We have no plans to do those things in July. We know that this plan will generate a lot of questions and stir up plenty of emotions, but we firmly believe this is the best possible course of action for the project.

By Release 32, our goal is that the virtual world and economy will be fully functional and reasonably balanced. Additionally, the Love storyline will be polished and playable from beginning to end, with all characters and quests complete. The Truth and Courage storylines will also be completely playable from beginning to end, although not in as polished a state as Love. We are purposely holding the finale part of the storyline that ties the three threads together until the entire plot has been polished. This allows us to really focus on the new user experience and one storyline instead of spreading that effort out too thinly. ***Please note that the story is nonlinear and non-exclusive. It is designed to allow free movement between the three storylines and it is only until all three are complete that you move to the finale (this structure will be very familiar to Ultima players). So just because you finish the Love story, you are not excluded in any way from experiencing the other plots.

As part of all of this, we are also announcing the 2016 Spring and Summer Expiration Events.

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• The Making of Paladis Shardfall
• The Making of Dysborg Ruins
• Changes to Expired Patron, Navigator, and Developer Pledges
• POLL: All Content Available in Offline Mode?
• R25 End Of The World Party (Doc’s Cotton Pickin’ Party)
• Fastest Decorator in the West
• Bear Tavern Brawl R25
• Fireworks 45-Piece Assortment 2
• In-game Community Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

The Making of Paladis Shardfall – Part 2

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

Hey guys, its SorcerousSteve once again, here to give you an update on the Paladis Shardfall!

Read more…