Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
- PaxLair: SotA’s First Player Owned Town
- Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings Comic
- Summon Phoenix Skill
- Abe’s Solace Bridge Upgrades
- Release 17 Dev+ QA Server is Live
- More Fences Galore
- AmbushedGamer Live twitch Interview with Lord British
- Get Your Red Fez Hat!
- Send Gift Function Added to Account Page
PaxLair: SotA’s First Player Owned Town
Dallas writes:
I found myself having an emotional moment last night when I logged into the R17 Dev+ QA servers to get some screenshots of PaxLair for this update. I found 20 or so other backers when I arrived, some of them long-time citizens of PaxLair from Ultima Online days, and others just visiting. PaxLair is the first Player Owned Town (PoT) in SotA, and we’re using it to help us work out the construction process for all PoTs.
The concept of PoTs in SotA goes all the way back to our Kickstarter campaign, when some of us on the team discussed the notion of “Guild Towns”, places that guilds could call their own. These discussions were mostly internal to the team, as it wasn’t something we felt we could include in the design of SotA for budgetary reasons.
But over the course of the first year of our development, Richard and Winfield, the Governor of PaxLair, discussed how PaxLair could find a home in SotA. PaxLair has been operating in Ultima Online since 1998, and is considered the oldest, continuously operating Player Town in UO. PaxLair was established in SotA during Pre-Alpha Release 5 in April 2014 with the first PaxLair Town Hall. Lord British visited their first SotA “homestead” and declared it to be SotA’s first Player Town.
Starting with Pre-Alpha Release 6 in May 2014, PaxLair established itself in the the SotA town of Valemark, meticulously rebuilding their town between every data wipe (which was happening every month until just recently). PaxLair wasn’t alone in these endeavors. There were several other “homestead” towns that re-built themselves every release, including Dara Brae – The Celtic Holdfast (established in Northshire), Vengeance (established in The Brave Coast), Beran’s Reach (established in The Brave Coast), and Port Phoenix (established in Holtrot, then Kingsport).
Discussions between Richard and Winfield about player towns continued, and due to the success of our ongoing crowdfunding, it was decided in June 2104 to make Player Owned Towns an official feature of Episode 1. Player Owned Towns were added to our website store, and PaxLair was the very first to purchase our largest PoT, deemed a “Player Owned City“.
We were not prepared for how popular PoTs were going to be. Backers were purchasing more towns than we anticipated. In fact, many backers wanted even larger towns, so we made a “Metropolis” available, which PaxLair (among others) immediately upgraded to. PoTs weren’t scheduled for development until Q1-2015, so PoT owners have been excitedly waiting until we could deliver their towns to them. Last month we were finally able to start that process.
As described in our PoT Store, all PoTs will be based on a collection of pre-designed templates that can be varied by lot placements, NPC home placement, and type of biome. We are just beginning the process of designing those templates. Because of PaxLair’s unique and long-running history in the worlds of Britannia (and New Britannia), our ongoing discussions with them over the past two years, and the fact they were the first to purchase our largest PoT (a City which became a Metropolis), we chose them to be the “guinea pig” for our first test template.
Like most PoT owners, they had a very specific vision for their PoT. However, they had to greatly revise their vision to accommodate the constraints of our world building technology and the further constraints of operating as a template. Our goal has been to have this first template we use for PaxLair be one of the several templates all PoT owners will be able to select from. Under those conditions, the design of PaxLair needed to conform to the many template-based constraints our development process imposed.
It has been almost a year since the first PoTs were purchased, and now, with Release 17, all backers will be able to experience SotA’s first player owned town, PaxLair. It is still a work-in-progress, while we collaborate with the owners of PaxLair to sort through the issues of template-based town development. But even given all these constraints, once we were able to walk through this first iteration of a player owned town, it was a moving experience.
I started this article by saying I found myself having an emotional moment last night when I logged into the R17 Dev+ QA servers to get some screenshots of PaxLair for this update. I specifically wanted a screenshot of Wody’s Tavern, the location for the FireLotus Release 17 Party scheduled for next Friday, May 1, at 2:00 pm CST. I initially zoned to Amber Raine for directions, but she was AFK. Sean Silverfoot was nearby and he graciously volunteered to escort me to Wody’s Tavern, and stood by while I grabbed some screenshots. Sean suggested I also check out the Stage that Themo Lock has been building, as it more decorated out than Wody’s Tavern was at the moment.
I chatted with Sean, and several of the PaxLair citizens, and I was moved by their excitement and passion for finally being able to settle into their own town. It caused me to reflect upon how momentous an event these Player Owned Towns represent in the realm of RPG virtual worlds, and the impact they are going to have on all of us. This fact was driven home for me when Sean expressed his deep gratitude to all of us on the SotA dev team for helping them live an experience that many of them have been waiting 17 years for (yeah, I got a little misty-eyed when he said that).
We, the development team, cannot take credit for what PaxLair, and all other PoTs, are to become. We have simply provided the canvas upon which the communities of these towns will paint their masterpieces. The wealth of community-generated content, community-run events, and community-driven social connectivity, are the well-spring of the deep and lasting sense of belongingness they will bring to each of our lives.
dallas
PaxLair’s town marker on the in-game Overworld map of Novia:
Umm, are these yellow flowers supposed to be PaxLair? (okay, okay, we’ll get some buildings there soon):
Wody’s Tavern (the location of the FireLotus Release 17 Party next Friday at 2:00 pm CST) is housed in the Greenhouse building located in the town square near the base of the tall Moon Tower:
Themo Lock is busily decorating the theatrical stage area in preparation for The New Britannia Theater Troupe presentation of Aurum Berries at 9:00 am CST, Sunday, May 3:
PaxLair is organizing several community events for their inaugural weekend May 1 thru May 3. Those events will be reflected in the community calendars here and here as they are scheduled. Stay tuned to next week’s update for more information on those events.
Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings Comic
Portalarium and myself are excited to announce the availability of the first officially licensed SotA comic from Tortoise & Hare Creations, Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings!
Created by W.O. Billman II (plot, script, and editing) and Indi Martin (pencils, inks, colors, and lettering), New Beginnings tells the story of a corrupt land, where a young farmer and his wife find themselves embroiled in a lethal powerplay with local constables, and seek a fabled escape to a legendary world.
New Beginnings is available now in both print and digital copies, including signed print copies:
Unsigned Print on Demand & Digital Copies: http://www.indyplanet.com/?product=122157
Signed Print Copies: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TortoiseHareCreate
Here are a few sample panels from New Beginnings to whet your appetite:
Become a Tortoise & Hare Creations Patron
If you enjoy Indi and William’s work then check out their Patreon page and if you like what you see become a Tortoise & Hare Creations Patron! I am a proud backer myself. Indi and I enjoy some simlilar things and as a fellow artist and writer, this couple is a joy to have gotten to know.
Summon Phoenix Skill
The Summon Phoenix skill has been added to the Sun skill group for Release 17, and Wow, it looks pretty awesome! Check out these images that Finn Staber captured:
Here are a few images of the Phoenix inside the new Soltown Sewers, also coming in Release 17 next week:
Abe’s Solace Bridge Upgrades
Abe Robertson recently turned his attention to the combat-ravaged version of Solace Bridge used in the starting area. Here are a few samples of his work that you’ll find in Release 17:
Release 17 Dev+ QA Server is Live
For Release 17 and all future releases, the dev team is going to make an effort to get the QA server up sooner for Dev+ backers and patch it more often during the release cycle. Starting with R18 they plan on publishing at least once a week so we can give earlier feedback on the new features and to give them more time to balance changes before launching a release to all backers.
The Release 17 QA version was launched yesterday to all backers at the Developer pledge tier and above. Here is the Dev+ Forum post from BurningToad with instructions for accessing the R17 QA version:
We will be starting Dev+ testing early this release! The QA version of SotA has been updated to version 202, which is available through the Launcher or through Steam (follow instructions below.)
Dev+ Access is now enabled. I don’t yet know if it will be up continuously until R17 or if we will take it up and down.
The test set up is like the R16 Dev+ test, with the test happening on a separate server, known as the “QA Server.” You will be able to play through Steam or through a new SotA Launcher install.
If you want to play through Steam:
WARNING: Participating in this could use up to 2 GB+ of data download via steam each time you move back and forth between versions.
To participate follow these instructions:
- Right click on the game in your game library
- Go to Properties
- Click on the tab at the top that says BETAS
- Enter the beta access code “DevPlusOnly1″ and hit Check Code.
- Select “devplustest” from the dropdown menu
- Steam will switch the install to the new branch
To return to playing in normal follow these instructions:
- Go back to the properties beta tab and select “none – opt out of all beta programs” and it will switch you back to the normal install.
If you want to play through the Launcher:
WARNING: If you have not downloaded a QA installer before, you will have to download another copy of the game, which is currently about 3.3GB of data. However, you won’t have to do this each time you switch back and forth.
You have to download a separate copy of the game. For Windows users, you can download and install this new installer, which will install the QA version of the game. It exists independently from the regular live version of the game and installs to a separate folder.
Windows: https://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/Installers/SotAInstaller(QA).exe
Linux: https://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/Installers/shroud-of-the-avatar-launcher-qa_1.0.0_amd64.deb
Mac: https://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/Installers/Shroud of the Avatar – Installer(QA).pkg
More Fences Galore
We’re adding sixteen new fence styles to Release 17 which launches on April 30. Some of the fences will be available in-game and some in the Add-On Store, and some will even be added to basic pledge rewards (stay tuned for that info in an upcoming Update). Last week we showcased seven of the new fences, and here are the remaining nine that’ll be available in R17:
Hedge Fence (add-on)
Floral Hedge Fence (add-on)
Rough Wooden Fence (in-game)
Tall Hedge Fence (add-on)
Tall Floral Hedge Fence (add-on)
Tall Ivy Covered Stone Fence (add-on)
Ornate Wooden Fence (add-on)
Ornate Stone Fence (add-on)
Tall Rough Stone Fence (in-game)
Be sure and check out the Release 16 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here.AmbushedGamer Live twitch Interview with Richard “Lord British” GarriottThe Ambushed Gaming Network is already hard at work streaming SotA live at all hours with audiences both large and small. Join Kevin “Beetlebear” during the live broadcast of his interview with Richard Garriott at 2:00pm CST on April 28th at http://www.twitch.tv/ambushedgamer.
Get Your Red Fez Hat!
This Red Fez Hat is now available in the Add-On Store (and will be available in-game with Release 17 starting April 30).
Send Gift Function Added to Account Page
The ability to send un-claimed Add-On items as gifts has been added to your SotA Account Page. This makes it easy to send Add-On items you’ve already purchased as a gift. Just go to your Account page and you’ll see the new “Send as Gift” button along side the “Convert to Credits” button for any of your un-claimed Add-On items.
