When I first heard about the Telethon of the Avatar that the Hearth of Britannia will be sponsoring this weekend, I thought that maybe I would upgrade my account from the Developer tier to Citizen and be done; thats about what I could afford anyway. That would be fine; I would earn some cool swag and the game would be just a little bit better.

However, that only benefits me. It doesn’t grow the community, as part of the Double-Down on Community effort, nor does it earn more pledges or referrals.

Instead, I came up with a plan. What we will do is offer another incentive for new pledges. Anyone who starts a new account and pledges at the Adventurer ($45) tier, which is the minimum tier to get the game, will be entered in a drawing. At the end of the Telethon, we will draw a winner from those pledges and upgrade them to the Explorer tier ($140), which includes the following (in addition to the digital download of the game that you have purchased):

REWARDS:

• In addition to Episode 1, “Forsaken Virtues”, you will receive DRM-free, digital download versions of the ENTIRE Shroud of the Avatar series, including full-length, standalone games in Episodes 2, 3, 4 and 5!
• Full size cloth map of New Britannia!
• Collector’s Edition Box!
• Physical media game, in addition to the digital download.
• Physical media game soundtrack, in addition to the digital download.
• Illustrated, printed manual, in addition to the digital download.
• Digital download Runic Language translation print.
• Digital download Art Book.
• Digital download of Richard “Lord British” Garriott’s original typewritten, high school English class essay of “The Story of Mondain in the World of Sosaria”. This is the original story that was the foundation of Richard’s Ultima games!
• Digital download, high quality scanned images of Richard “Lord British” Garriott’s, original handwritten notes for the “Akallabeth!”, the Dungeons & Dragons campaign he designed as a teenager that became the foundation of his first commercial RPG, “Akalabeth.”
• Your in-game avatar will receive the honorific titles of “Adventurer”, “Artisan”, “Pilgrim”, “Archivist”, and “Cartographer”; any of which can be proudly displayed for all to see.
• You will receive one starter-level, indestructible, artisan’s tool for the skill of your choice.
• You will receive one non-combat pet (out of 3 to choose from)
• You will receive a unique, in-game, musical lute specially designed by David “Iolo” Watson!
• You will receive one Immortality Fruit seed, which when planted will bear a single fruit. When eaten, this fruit will fully heal you, and leave you with another Immortality Fruit seed. This allows you to plant and harvest the fruit, over and over, for all eternity.

Additionally, Rustic Dragon himself will upgrade the winner to a higher reward tier for the Telethon of the Avatar rewards, which will also include:

REWARDS:

• 8.5×3.6″ Hearth of Britannia decal.
• A full set of Virtue Cards.
• A full set of Legends of Ultima Cards.
• A Hearth of Britannia shirt.
• Access to the Digital Locker.

All in all, a $315 value to one lucky winner! To win, all you need to do is go to the Shroud of the Avatar website and register. During the Telethon of the Avatar, which will run over the weekend (from noon on August 24 to noon on August 25), make a pledge to support the game. When you receive the confirmation e-mail, simply forward it to redeem@hearthofbritannia.com, and include your contact information (for prizes) and who referred you (either myself, Browncoat Jayson, or the Ultima Codex in general).

While I would appreciate anyone donating during the Telethon to use me for a referral (my Referral ID# is 1583), that isn’t a necessity for winning.

On related news, Rustic announced on the Hearth’s Facebook page that the first pledge has been redeemed! Gildor Dragon, over the pond in France, upgraded his original SotA pledge by $55 and earned not just a bump to the next pledge tier, but a FULL SET of Virtue and Legends of Ultima Cards! Way to go Gildor!

We can make Shroud of the Avatar even better. Let’s change the game together!