Updates

Update of the Avatar #73 – 2014.05.16: R6 Coming, Plantronics Partnership, Lord Town Homes, Royal Founder Rewards, New Team Member, BotA Chapter Countdown, and More!

May 16, 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 6!
Plantronics Partnership
Lord Town Homes
Royal Founder Rewards
New Dev Team Member: Alyssa Reuter, Technical Artist
Richard Garriott’s DND #1 Contest Update
Barn 2-Story Village Home
Upcoming Duke and Lord of the Manor Events
HoBLotH II: Legends of the Hearth
Only 3 BotA Chapters Left!
Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
Upcoming Events

Only 6 Days Until Release 6!

The dev team is burning the midnight oil getting Release 6 ready for launch in just 6 short days! Next Wednesday you’ll receive the full Release 6 Instructions, but if you want a reminder of what is included in Release 6, check out Starr’s forum post about it.

We really hope you join us in playing Shroud of the Avatar Release 6! If you have not backed the game yet, you will need to register and login at www.shroudoftheavatar.com, select the “Pledge or Send Gift!” button in the right side-bar, and purchase a pledge at the $45 Adventurer level or above. For a limited time, you can get the Adventurer pledge for only $25 when combined with the Alienware Pledge Upgrade Coupon (see details below).

Plantronics Partnership

We are happy to announce that Shroud of the Avatar will be a featured game at the Plantronics booth at E3. We want the audio landscape of SotA to be as immersive as the visual landscape and Plantronics is a great partner for us to work with on achieving that goal. During our one year anniversary promotions you may have noticed that some of the prizes we were giving out were Plantronics headsets and at that time we hinted about more to come, like this, from that partnership. Richard Garriott, Starr Long, and Finn Staber will be representing the game at the Plantronics booth in the South Hall at booth 515 so if you are at the show come see us!

If you’re a fan of Plantronics Gaming Headsets (like we are), then check out their Plantronics Gaming Facebook page, and if you like what you see then give them a “Like”!

Truth, Love, & Courage + State of the Realm

May 13, 2014

Community Spotlight ~ The Sights and Sounds of Melchior

May 12, 2014

This week’s Community Spotlight shines on the very talented Melchiormeijer! Not only has he provided us with some pretty amazing Unity Art Assets for the game, but now he is wowing us with his SFX work! I had a chance to interview him earlier this month, and I thought you guys would love getting to know him a bit more just as much as much as I did!

FireLotus: If you were an NPC in Shroud of the Avatar, how would describe yourself?

Melchior: Well, if you would be looking for that NPC for some specific reason he would probably be the hardest to find in the game. Not because he’s hiding, but because he’s off doing something different every time you log in. He’s interested in almost anything, can be busy with the smallest insignificant thing for hours until it’s perfect. If something seems to be impossible to solve, this guy would find the weirdest way to solve it. BUT he WILL solve it.

Same thing when I’m working or creating 3D and sound assets for SotA. i can tweak some things on a small insignificant item that is almost too small to actually see. Like my bobbers for instance . One of them is a cork with some letters on it. You will probably never be able to read those letters, but i spent WAY too much time on them to get them perfect.

Update of the Avatar #72 – 2014.05.09: 100k New Britannians, Dev Team Growth, 4 BotA Chapters Left, Wedding Attire, Extended Monthly Payments, and More!

May 9, 2014

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

One Hundred Thousand New Britannians!
Development Team Growth
Only 4 BotA Chapters Left!
Dev+ 3ds Max Rigged Avatar Model
Extending Monthly Payment Plan
Wedding Dress & Tuxedo
Store Credit Gift Coupons
Add-On Store Multi-Select
Alienware $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupons
Upcoming Events

One Hundred Thousand New Britannians!

It is a testament to the exploding interest in Shroud of the Avatar across the entire world-wide gaming community that the number of New Britannians on the SotA website has surpassed 100,000 and keeps on growing! Long live New Britannia!

Pen of the Avatar 2014-05-06 – Standing Stones Splash Art

May 6, 2014

Download Stephen’s Updated Brush Pack

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.