Updates

Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017

January 12, 2017

Avatars! Join us on TWITCH and get ready to shrug off the winter blues and welcome back fun in the sun. Today, we’re announcing the Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017!

At Midnight CST, March 9, 2017 (6:00 UTC, March 10, 2017), we are expiring the following content from the Add On Store (and the in-game Crown Merchants). This means that these items will no longer be available at all.

Viking Village Home
Wizard Tower Village Home
Tower Village Home
Windmill Village Home
Druid Town Home
Tower Town Home
Brown Nomad Hat
Red Fez Hat
Brown Chaperon Hat
Brown Pilgrim Hat
Brown Pilgrim Bonnet
Sigil Cloaks 3 Pack
Lord British Cloak
Ornate Flamberge
Ornate Flamberge Pattern Pack
NEW: 2017 Valentine Card 5-Pack
NEW: 2017 Valentine Gift Boxes 3-Pack
NEW: Replenishing 250-Piece Mystery Fireworks Box

Additionally Introductory Sale Pricing ends on the following items:

Shogun Lighthouse Village Water Home
Viking Village Water Home
Rustic 3-Story Village Water Home

Help us to achieve the following goals during this next event!

As a special bonus, we are offering Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards to any backer that pledges a minimum of $5 from the start of the telethon, until Midnight (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). The Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017 Funding Stretch Goal Rewards are:

$10,000: /flowerleap emote (leap into the air and throw flowers)
$25,000: Butterfly Mask
$35,000: Stained Glass Hand Lantern
$50,000: Floral Pattern Stained Glass Oil Table Lamp (3 Pack)
$65,000: White Flowered Topiary Creature Statues (3 Pack of Dragon, Bear, Satyr)
$80,000: Leaf Shield and Leaf Spear
$100,000: Large Spring Themed Fountain with Floating Candles
$130,000: Thorn Bow and Thorn Sword
and more to be revealed if we hit these goals…

Community Spotlight: Chateau du Lys – Player Owned Town

January 12, 2017

This week’s Player Owned Town spotlight features Chateau du Lys, brought you by your wood elf druid, Berek! A magnificent and thriving metropolis led by Duke Dariuss, Chateau du Lys is located on a spacious island near Kingsport in the Hidden Vale.

Chateau du Lys is a safe haven for people who like to be next to important cities such as Kingsport or Owl’s Head, and at the same time, to live in a peaceful, natural, beautiful environment. The town is based mainly on French culture and that reflects into their merchant NPC names and also by the PoT name itself. Many of the members are bilingual and love to share and learn with people from different cultures. It’s an amazing experience to live.

The island is also the home and headquarters of the guild Gardiens du Lys. It is connected to BattleDale PoT, which is accessible by boat from the main port. Chateau du Lys is a unique place in the Hidden Vale for people who like a variety of activities and locations to meet their needs.

Right from the entrance of the island, you can notice the natural beauty that nature in New Britannia can offer you. From the main port, you can see the warmth and welcoming path ahead, waiting for you to explore its mysteries. This is where I came in and began to explore the town around me.

Update of the Avatar #209 – 2017.01.06: SotA Voted #1 Crowdfunded Game 2016, Canyon Siege, Brookside, Perennial Coast, Blood Bay, and More!

January 6, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

The Making of the Canyon Siege Encounter

Periodically, NPC towns come under siege by the Obsidian Cabalists. The timing, duration, and location of these sieges is driven by Celestial Mechanics. When you attempt to enter a town under siege, you will first enter the Town Siege scene where the enemy has made camp outside the town and is fighting the town defenders. You can choose to join the battle and end the siege early or work your way around the perimeter, perhaps encountering only some scouting parties. The first iteration of this feature (and one map) went live in Release 37. In Release 38, we are adding another map based on bridge spanning a canyon.

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

Hey folks, today I’m going to share what I’ve been working on this week. These are some screenshots of the upcoming Canyon Bridge Siege Map. In this scenario, enemies have seized a deteriorated bridge which was previously under construction, and have set up a war camp from which they can lay siege to a nearby town.

The Bridge

Community Spotlight: Styx – Player Owned Town

January 4, 2017

This latest Player Owned Town spotlight explores the Crossroads Village of Styx. Styx is a small island located off of the shores of Elysium, and is a short boat ride from the bustling city of Xenos.

Styx has only a short history as small but vibrant farming community, delivering much needed supplies to the resource heavy southern isle. It offers respite to travel weary adventurers and exhausted miners.

With the late Duke Kharon’s passing, his merchant son Kastagir returned from sea to assess his newly acquired estate and title. It had been many years since he had called this land home, and the island felt almost unknown to him upon his return.

Kastagir Kharon, the town Governor, waved from the city wall as I disembarked the mainland ferry. The journey was short, but the sea was choppy due to the storm and I was glad to be on dry land.

“Hello! Welcome to Styx!” Kastagir exclaimed as he shook me by the hand. “Come, you must be soaked? I have arranged food and board at the Ferryman Inn. We can see the sights in the morning when the weather has cleared. It’s going to be a fine day tomorrow!”

It was almost pitch black when I first arrived during the storm. I could barely make out the path beneath my feet, and a handful of faint silhouetted buildings as I was led to the inn. Sure enough, morning came and the storm lifted. We met back at the main gate and began the tour.

The Making of Brookside

January 4, 2017

The last several weeks have seen Brookside scene development come to life. See below what level designer, Esteben Zaldivar, included in last week’s Update of the Avatar #208!

Brookside is located in the Drachvald region in the northwest of Novia directly south of Spite. It is the hometown of Samael and was overrun by the Undead armies of Anapa not long ago. Players will encounter this town when following their quests along the Path of Love. Brookside started as a cloned scene using one of our PRT / POT templates based off of the Forest 02 POT template (a forested variation of the Grasslands POT template). In Release 38 it is being rebuilt with new flora, new atmospheric settings like permanent fog, a graveyard, and other unique features. Note that when we un-clone these scenes, we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage.

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

Hey guys, SorcerousSteve here once again to give you the latest scoop on my most recent map!

The town of Brookside is a village located in Drachvald between Spite and Rhun. It is the site where Samael lost his family. The village has a history of being overrun by the undead, it is a dark foggy town nestled in pine forest filled with wary town folks and decrepit buildings.

Inspiration shot after chatting with Art Lead Michael Hutchison.
Read more…

From Release 37.5: New Water Houses, Shogun Houses, Shogun Wearables, and New Emotes!

January 3, 2017

Just before the holidays we released a major content patch that included new homes that can be placed on water lots, new wearables and houses from our upcoming Shogun Bundles, and new emotes players can learn in the game. Have a look below at what was added!

Shogun Wearables: These outfits were originally developed for the city of Ardoris and will be featured in the upcoming Shogun bundles. You can purchase these in the Add On Store and when molds launch in Q1 you will even be able to craft limited numbers after purchase.
- Ardoris Guard Armor: This samurai inspired armor consists of 5 pieces including chest, helmet, gauntlets, boots, and legs.
- Ardoris Shogun Armor: Shogun Siranto who co-rules Ardoris from the Palace of the Mountain wears a version of this armor that players can now also wear. It comes in 4 pieces including chest, helmet, gloves, boots and legs.
- Ardoris Priestess Robes: Priestess Khasi who co-rules Ardoris from the Palace of Winds wears these elegant robes and elaborate headpiece that players can also now wear. It consists of two pieces including robes and a headpiece.
Read more…

Happy New Year from Shroud of the Avatar Team!

December 30, 2016

We hope that all of you have had a most joyous and festive holiday season thus far! As 2016 draws to a close, we wish to share our most heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you for your generous support, and even more so, for the profound sense of belongingness that this remarkable community fosters in us all. There is no greater value than being able to share this extraordinary journey with you.

The entire Shroud of the Avatar Development team wish you the Happiest of New Years!

Update of the Avatar #208 – 2016.12.23: Q1-17 Schedule, Brookside, Perennial Polish, Blood Bay, Water Homes, Shogun Items, New Emotes, Floral POT, and More!

December 23, 2016

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

[From a forum post by Starr “Darkstarr” Long]

Q1 2017 Schedule Update

Greetings Avatars,

As we have stated previously, we intend to publish quarterly schedule updates for our monthly releases. Even though the goals outlined in these schedules are likely to change somewhat as we react to feedback, we feel it is important to periodically provide you with an updated roadmap.

Our priority continues to be to deliver new content to our backers each and every month so that you can give us feedback that will help us iteratively improve Shroud of the Avatar. This collaborative process continues to benefit the game, and often results in sweeping changes such as the switch over to use-based advancement. As you have seen in previous releases, the flexibility inherent to this process means that we sometimes push things out, but we also often pull new things in.

For the first quarter of 2017 we will be putting the finishing touches on the Path of Love while moving on to the Paths of Courage and Truth. We will continue to expand Crafting with the additions of molds for visual variations as well as polishing Agriculture and Fishing. Combat will continue to be balanced and will be expanded to include cover as well as a refactor of ammunition. The user interface will get several polish passes including refactoring of the conversation system and tutorial as well as an overall improvement to visuals and usability. We will also continue to give each region a visually distinct appearance, from the Shogunate beauty of the Perennial Coast to the Viking starkness of Norgard and Verdantis.

The New Britannia Carolers – Creative Writing Contest!

December 20, 2016

Sing along with us! The contest is simple and fun – for the next two weeks, from December 20, 2016 to January 3, 2017, we want to see what songs, poems, and other holiday stories you can come up with that are related to Shroud of the Avatar. Can include videos too if you like!

When you have something you wish to submit to the contest, post it in This Thread! You are allowed to edit your submission up until the end of the contest on January 3, 2017.

THEMES

Similar to the house decorating contest, we will be judging entries based on the following themes:

Most inventive…
Romantic theme
Holiday theme
Adventure theme
Character/NPC theme
PvP/Combat theme
Town/Scene theme
Funny TIP (see below for details)
A surprising theme! (please keep it clean and to the Community R&G)

Also like the house decorating contest, if a theme doesn’t get any entries, we will remove that theme and add a second winner to a theme that has multiple entries up for consideration.

Do not copy from existing copyrighted works! These must be original writings or video works. Please limit entries to no more than 800 words and 3 pages with up to 4 images (if you need imagery), or 3 minute videos or less. Shorter is usually better, so don’t feel you need to max out these limits!

YOUR FUNNY TIPS!

Thank you community for submitting over 400 loading screen tips so far! We need more though! This time we want your funny and witty tips. They should still be useful, accurate, and factual, but with a funny or witty twist added to them.

Learn about the tips initiative and how to submit yours here.

PRIZES

Each theme winner will be awarded $20 worth of in-game credit, as well as the 2016 Winter Holiday Soundtrack – Wax Cylinders (digital) store reward! Perfect for replaying those holiday tunes well into the 2017 new year.

Have fun being a creative writer, Avatars!

RULES & GUIDELINES

Since this is a value based contest, a committee of judges will be formed at Portalarium, and any tie breakers will be resolved by the committee. Any disputes or disagreements in the community on who ultimately won will NOT be tolerated as an open discussion in the forums. Please PM Berek in the forums instead.

Anyone attempting to subvert the contest in any way is subject to an immediate suspension and disqualification from the contest. Inappropriate/Vulgar submissions are prohibited and will also result in immediate disqualification.

Submissions containing any of the following are considered inappropriate:
Sexual content or references
Disparaging race/gender/group of people
Drug/alcohol abuse
Death/suicide of persons real or fake
Graphical bugs
Depicting the state of the game in a negative manner

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON, PLEASE SEE COMPLETE RULES FOR OTHER RESTRICTIONS. THIS IS A SKILL-BASED CONTEST. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. AFFIDAVIT OF ELIGIBILITY / RELEASE OF LIABILITY / PRIZE ACCEPTANCE AGREEMENT MAY BE REQUIRED.

Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 37 Postmortem

December 19, 2016

UPDATE! Livestream has concluded. You can now watch the recording on YouTube here:

Original Announcement:

Join us Tuesday, December 20th at 3:00 PM Central (21:00 UTC) on Twitch for our monthly Hangout of the Avatar! The team will be chatting about the upcoming Release 37, the recent holiday events, and looking ahead to what’s going on in the next year!

As always, we will be giving out rare Lord British artifacts of immense power and glory, and answering your latest questions. For a chance to win an artifact, or to speak your voice on the latest game changes, be in Discord chat during the livestream. There will be multiple chances to win throughout the broadcast!