Updates

Update of the Avatar #71 – 2014.05.02: R5 Perspectives & R6 Revisions, Benefactor Baron Home, Founder Emotes, Crafting Table Asset Pack, Castle Arena Basement, BotA, and More!

May 2, 2014

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Release 5 Perspectives & Release 6 Revisions
Benefactor Baron City Home
Founder Teachable Emotes
Recruit-A-Friend Emote
Dev+ Crafting Table Unity Asset Pack
Castle Stone Arena Basement
Rustic 2-Story with Loft Village Home
Wood & Plaster 3-Story Village Home
Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 20
Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
Upcoming Events

Release 5 Perspectives

From Lord British:

We made it! The team was scrambling till the 11:59th hour, and the last few bits made it in during our live patches, but it all worked out! Release 5 went very well.

Once this gem in the rough was in YOUR hands though, you did some MIGHTY impressive things with it. We turned on persistent housing that would not roll-over every hour and added quite a few new player towns, and you ran with it! The RP’ers and homesteaders could finally begin to dig in, and what they created was outstanding! We even saw the 1st player town, Pax Lair, which was also the 1st player town in Ultima Online…

[Read the full post in the forums]

Community Flashback ~ The Bear Tavern

April 28, 2014

Once in a while, we like to check back in on our Community Spotlight Sites and see how they’ve grown. This past week, I had the privilege of chatting with Vallas over at The Bear Tavern as they celebrate their one-year anniversary.

So, tell us a little about The Bear Tavern.
The Bear Tavern is a community which is building towards the establishment of a fully working Tavern within Shroud of the Avatar. Our aim is to build a landmark, providing everyone a place to freely interact with others in a neutral environment. We aim to become a prominent feature within the lore of New Britannia, both as a leader in our craft as well and a contributing member of the wider community.
We operate primarily across both East Coast US and EU timezones. We have a broad membership, which we intend to expand even further as time goes on.. Read more…

Update of the Avatar #70 – 2014.04.25: Play R5 Now, Mad Hermit’s R5 Video, Founder Emotes, Referral Rottweiler, BotA, and More!

April 25, 2014

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Come Play Release 5 Now!
The Mad Hermit’s Video Guide to Pre-Alpha Release 5
Founder Teachable Emotes
Recruit-A-Friend Rottweiler Hunting Dog Pet
Amazon Interview with Starr Long
5 Days Left for Easter Bunny & Confetti Eggs Basket
Shingle-Roof Village Home
Wood & Plaster 2-Story Village Home
Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 19
Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
Upcoming Events

Come Play Release 5 Now!

Release 5 successfully launched yesterday, April 24th, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and exploring the new content!

Lots of new stuff to check out in this Release, including 35 (of 171) Combat Skills (such as Whirling Blades, Crushing Blow, Death Touch, Flame Fist, Healing Touch, Resurrection, Ice Fist, Lightning, etc.), more starting recipes for crafting, on screen compass, 9 new player towns with new house types, new creatures (Chest Mimics, Skeleton Archers, Satyr Mages & Satyr Archers), a journal, overland map polish, new Vale scenes, and over 600 lots for players to claim with persistent ownership throughout the weekend (so stake your claim and show everyone your awesome decorating abilities).

Release 5 Update & Instructions

April 23, 2014

[A Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to our loyal backers of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 5 access for all backers at First Responder level and above, and those with Weekend Access Passes, begins this Thursday, April 24 at 10:30 AM Central Time. Release 5 access will end on Sunday, April 27 at 10:00 PM Central Time. Starting today, you can begin installing and patching (see instructions below), but login will not be enabled until Thursday morning.

We are happy to report that we were able to add a bunch of new content and features, while iterating on existing ones. However those deliverables didn’t quite end up matching our original goals. The sheer scope of getting skills working, while also responding to R4 feedback, made us radically shift focus for Release 5. Below are the original R5 deliverables, along with some extra notes and new deliverables in italics.

RELEASE 5, April 24 – 27, 2014:

Community Spotlight ~ Avatars Radio

April 21, 2014

I am happy to shine this month’s Community Spotlight on Avatars Radio! Created by the Shroud of the Avatar community FOR the Shroud of the Avatar community, Avatars Radio is dedicated to serving the needs of our community while playing some of the best crowd-sourced music the community has to offer! And they not only play music from the game, but welcome player created submissions for clever station identifiers, sound bytes, and are looking for some DJ talent to fill out their ranks. You may even recognize one of their newest guest DJ’s, (that fiery lass over there ~>) who will be making her On-Air debut this Friday, April 25th at 5 pm CDT, spinning tunes from Fire Lotus Tavern during R5.

Update of the Avatar #69 – 04/18/14: Happy Easter, R5 Coming, DND#1 Contest, In-Game Crests, LotM Crown, Mortar & Pestle of Prosperity, and More!

April 18, 2014

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Only 6 Days Until Release 5!
Richard Garriott’s DND #1 Contest
Limited Edition Art Print?
College of Arms & In-Game Custom Crests Pledge Reward
Founder Lord of the Manor Crown
Mortar & Pestle of Prosperity
The Enhanced Town Stone Arena Basement
Rustic 2-Story with Loft Town Home
Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Balcony Town Home
Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 18
Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
Upcoming Events

Happy Easter!

Today we are hosting the Duke and Lord of the Manor VIP Design Roundtable with Lord British and Portalarium Studio Tour, and tomorrow our visiting dignitaries will be joining us for Portalarium’s Family Easter Celebration in Castleton (Richard’s lakefront property on beautiful Lake Austin).

From all of us at Portalarium, we wish you and your families a Happy Easter!

Richard Garriott’s DND #1 Contest!

April 16, 2014

Richard Garriott created one of the very first computer based role playing games in 1977.

The game was inspired by a bet between Richard and his father Owen.

Richard had already written many smaller programs and simple games on the teletype he had access to since 1974. His early programs included calculating radio wave propagation in the ionosphere. Variations of this early “ray tracing” code he wrote won him numerous science fair competitions up through international competition. Still games were his obvious early passion.

Richard’s father told Richard, that if he could create a whole working role playing game, that he would split the cost of an Apple ][ computer with him. The result was DND #1!

Update of the Avatar #68 – 04/11/14: Anniversary Recap, New Asset Pack, More Basements, Duke & Baron Crowns, and More!

April 11, 2014

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

One-Year Anniversary Recap
Dev+ House Pack #2
Lord of the Manor’s 2-Story Castle Stone Basement
Founder Duke Crown
Founder Baron 2 & 3 Crown
Benefactor Baron Bed
Benefactor Tunic
Village Stone Arena Basement
Castle Stone & Timber Split-Level 5-Story Basement
Rustic 2-Story Village Home
Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Overhang Village Home
Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 17
Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons and Release 5 Access Keys
Upcoming Events

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! (Did We Happen To Mention “Thank You?”)

The One-Year Anniversary Telethon was an amazing success, raising over $95,000 and setting a new record for post-Kickstarter single-day funding! The day was filled with tons of community interaction, prize giveaways, and the usual zany antics that seem to be a common theme running through SotA Telethons. If you missed the live streams, you can watch the recorded videos here.

A Special First Anniversary Community Spotlight!

April 7, 2014

It has been an amazing year, and a huge reason for that is because of you, our Community! And once a month, we shine our Community Spotlight on one of those amazing community members, fan sites, or player groups who make the Shroud of the Avatar Community the best that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. So, as we celebrate our one-year Anniversary, it seemed fitting that we should take another look back at some of our most favorite Community Spotlights!

Our very first Community Spotlight featured one of our favorite fan sites, Forsaken Virtues; and Dame Lori is still one of our favorite Community Leaders! Not only did she set the bar for what a fan site can be, she created the Runic Font you see everywhere in game! She is currently re-imagining the Forsaken Virtues site to be more than a news hub, and we can’t wait to see what she comes up!

HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

April 7, 2014

It is hard to believe that it was one year ago today, April 7th, that we completed our successful Kickstarter campaign! What a fun and tumultuous ride that 30-day campaign was, with all of our Early Founders helping drive us to almost double our funding goal! If it weren’t for all of you, none of us would be here today!

The tremendous support that all of you have shown over the past year has been phenomenal! Not only did you help kickstart Shroud of the Avatar, but throughout the year you have continued to pour your support into the project with your participation in the forums, your crowdsourced art and music, helping enlist new backers, and your ongoing funding support through pledge upgrades. Your passion, commitment, generosity, and sheer love for what we are all building together is the fuel that drives all of us on the dev team on a daily basis!

We started the One-Year Anniversary celebration last week with our one-hour daily Developer Hangouts, leading up to our all-day telethon today, as well as re-opening Release 4 to all our backers, all day today (it’s open now, so jump on in)! You’ll find more details about today’s broadcast schedule and events below.