Shroud of the Avatar – Update of the Avatar #79

by GolemDragon · June 27, 2014

Greetings Friends and Fellow Avatars! Release 7 is upon us, and I hope you have taken advantage of it to check out the tweaks and changes the dev team have implemented for us to test and give feedback on. As many of you may have read Kenneth, aka WTF Dragon (WTF = Withstand the Fury), will be on vacation until after the 4th of July weekend. I hope to bring you some special articles and posts from my own collection as I continue to work on various Ultima, Origin Systems, and SotA projects…

So without further delay, here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

Come Play Release 7 Now!
The Mad Hermit’s Guide to Pre-Alpha Release 7
More E3 Awards
Final Week of 10% Pledge Bonus Promotion!
SotA at RTX!
Alienware Sponsors 1000 Access Keys and Prizes for Release 8
Lord Marshal’s Great Hall
Patron Rewards: Fyndoro’s Tablet of Finding and Magic Printing Press
Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Balcony Village Home
Boats Stretch Goal
Through the Lunar Rift!
7 Days Until Lord British’s Birthday
International Shipping
In The News
Upcoming Events

Come Play Release 7 Now!

Release 7 successfully launched yesterday, June 26th, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes!

Lots of new stuff to check out in R7, including the return of the 3D Overworld Map, player-to-player secure trade, water lots, improved targeting, better house lighting, the Graff Gem Mines, 64 bit version, improved character customization, kindred property permissions, and more!

Check out these awesome R7 images, most of which were posted by players in the forums:

Release 7 Patches

The team has already pushed out 4 new versions of Release 7 since first releasing it to the Dev+ backers on June 24th. Click here to see the complete list of patch notes.

We need all your help with testing the new patches, putting more stress on our multiplayer servers, and testing the new game content, so please join us in playing Release 7!

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 with the Alienware Pledge Upgrade Coupon (see details below).

The Mad Hermit’s Video Guide to Pre-Alpha Release 7

SotA community member, The Mad Hermit, created another great how-to video for Release 7, ”The Mad Hermit’s Guide to Pre Alpha R7” highlighting the return of the 3D Overworld Map, player-to-player secure trade, water lots, island player towns, kindred lot permissions, new homes, Graff Gem Mines, improved targeting, and other features. It’s another “must see”, so take a few minutes, crank the video quality up to HD, and let The Mad Hermit give you a tour through Release 7. Don’t forget to subscribe to his YouTube Channel as well for regular updates on other videos:

More E3 Awards

Ten Ton Hammer Awards Shroud of the Avatar Best New Concept of E3 2014

“We know what you might be thinking: how can Shroud of the Avatar win an award for Best New Concept when the game is based upon many of the same RPG hooks that helped make the Ultima series so successful?…The simple fact is that we’ve reached an era when it is a breath of fresh air to see a developer return to the roots of what an MMORPG could – and perhaps, should – be. It’s incredibly fitting that a visionary like Richard Garriott who helped put the industry on the map to begin with would be leading that charge.” – Ten Ton Hammer

Gaming Trend Nominates Shroud of the Avatar Best MMO of E3 2014!

Best MMO Nominees:
Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade (Winner)
Shroud of the Avatar
Black Gold Online

The Final Week to get your 10% Pledge Bonus!

10PercentPledgeBonus_left_small If you were thinking of pledging your support to the development of Shroud of the Avatar, or upgrading your existing pledge, now’s a great time to do it! Thru Lord British’s birthday on July 4, 2014 we’ll add an additional 10% to your pledge! Don’t miss out!

For all new pledges or pledge upgrades that you purchase for yourself, or as a gift, between 12:00 am CST June 5, 2014 and 12:00 am CST July 5, 2014 Portalarium will add another 10% to your pledge! (Note: the original date started on June 6 but since they published the new reward information in the public forums on June 5 it was decided to start the pledge bonus promotion a day earlier)

For example, if you love the new Row House included as a bonus reward in the Ancestor tier and purchase the pledge for $275, Portalarium will add an additional $28 to your pledge account ($275 times 10% equals $27.50 rounded up to $28; the pledge package doesn’t handle cents so they round up to nearest dollar).

[NOTE: The 10% bonus pledge won’t show up in your account immediately. Give about 10 business days after the end of the promotion period to tally everyone’s purchases and add the bonus pledge to your account. The 10% Pledge Bonus is non-transferable and is not applied toward Add-On Store or Stretch Goal Store purchases]

SotA at RTX 2014!

Some of you may recall that when Portalarium launched the Kickstarter campaign in March 2013, they did so with a live broadcast from the Rooster Teeth studios right in Austin, Texas. The team is excited to announce that Shroud of the Avatar will be showing at the RTX Convention hosted by Rooster Teeth, July 4-6.

Alienware is providing their kicka** X51 gaming rigs to power the game demos, and Plantronics is furnishing their awesome RIG headsets so attendees have an optimal game audio experience! If you’re a fan of Plantronics Gaming Headsets (like the team and myself are), then check out their Plantronics Gaming Facebook page, and if you like what you see then give them a “Like”!

If you’re at the convention then stop by, say Hi, and check out the latest version of the game (we’re in booth #235)

Release 7 Re-Opens for RTX Weekend

The team is re-opening SotA Release 7 during the RTX convention the weekend of July 4-6, so be sure and check it out if you can’t make it during the normally scheduled weekend access (June 26-29).

Alienware Sponsors 1000 Access Keys and Prizes for Release 8

During the four weeks leading up to SotA Release 8, 1000 members of the Alienware Arena Shroud of the Avatar Group will receive Weekend Access Keys to SotA Release 8, scheduled for July 24-27.

In addition, Alienware is sponsoring prizes to be given away randomly to players that log in to Release 8 during the weekend access period

Stay tuned to a future update for more details…

Alienware Sponsors $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon

Alienware’s powerful gaming rigs are a perfect match for Shroud of the Avatar! To show their support, Alienware is sponsoring $20 SotA Pledge Upgrade Coupons to members of their Alienware Arena community!

These coupons can be used to start a SotA pledge account (for new backers), or to add $20 to an existing pledge account. If, for example, you have a $90 Royal Artisan Pledge, you can use the Alienware coupon to bump you up to a $110 Virtual Collector Pledge.

Pretty sweet deal, right? So, hurry over to the Alienware Arena website and get your $20 Pledge Upgrade Coupon now!

[NOTE: Only one Alienware Pledge Upgrade Coupon can be used per account. Coupon does not apply to Add-On Store items]

Lord Marshal’s Great Hall

Bob Cooksey hit it out of the park (again) with this magnificent Lord Marshal Great Hall (included in the Lord Marshal pledge tier), shown below sitting on a town lot. This home is comprised of 5 floors, 4 great rooms, a porch and patio on the first floor, a wrap-around deck on the third floor, and a covered terrace on the fifth floor.

Patron Rewards: Fyndoro’s Tablet of Finding and Magic Printing Press

Here are two new rewards recently added to the Patron Pledge tier:

Fyndoro’s Tablet of Finding

Our good friend Ernie Cline has allowed the team to include Fyndoro’s Tablet of Finding from his best-selling novel, “Ready Player One”. It can be used once per day to find a player by writing the name on the tablet. How cool is that!

Here’s the excerpt from Ready Player One describing the tablet:

Fyndoro’s Tablet of Finding wound up selling for even more than the Cataclyst. According to the auction description, the tablet was a flat circle of polished black stone, and it had one very simple power. Once a day, its owner could write any avatar’s name on its surface, and the tablet would display that avatar’s location at that exact moment. However, this power had range limitations. If you were in a different OASIS sector than the avatar you were trying to find, the tablet would tell you only which sector your target was currently in. If you were already in the same sector, the tablet would tell you what planet your target was currently on (or closest to, if they were out in space). If you were already on the same planet as your target when you used the tablet, it would show you their exact coordinates on a map.

Magic Printing Press

Once per week a Patron (or above) can use the Magic Printing Press to publish a book in the world for free (publishing normally costs a fee per copy). I hope certain amazing community members who have been already working on book content take advantage of this awesome item.

Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Balcony Village Home

Next up in the line of Wood & Plaster homes is this 2-story, 4-room village home, with a second-story side-facing deck, now available in the Add-On Store:

Get Your Wood & Plaster 2-Story with Balcony Home Now for 50% off!

For a limited time they’re offering 50% off this home! Reserve yours (or send as a gift) at the Add-On Store!

Boats Stretch Goal

This week we have the adding of Boats to the Stretch Goal Store. For this stretch goal, you can sail boats around the waterways of New Britannia. From rowboats to Frigates, the world is your ocean

The boat items available for purchase are an Admiral’s hat and outfit, rowboat deco, longboat deco, anchor deco, and a spyglass (fully functional, view distant objects up close through the science of lenses). Here are the boat items that currently have images:

This boat anchor is one of the recently approved crowdsource art assets submitted by Melchior Meijer. The team approved several of Melchior’s recent nautically-themed submissions so more of those may be showing up in the game during the months ahead.

Through the Lunar Rift!

These tales, told as a weekly series of journal entries written by Gina “FireLotus” Dionne, will feature the people and places of New Britannia and give you a bit of insight, and hopefully some inspiration, when creating your own stories while exploring the lands of Shroud of the Avatar.

On Wolves, Bears, and the Darkness…

I’ve lived in a lot of places where the wildlife can kill you. There is nothing more humbling that floating lazily in a one person kayak only to realize there are a set of eyes watching you from about 6-feet off your bow. Then the realization hits that the gator that belongs to those eyes is probably longer than the boat you’re sitting in. But I’ve always been an explorer. Back home, all I needed was a camera with a telephoto lens and a leather-bound journal to document my adventures in and I was a happy girl. Having a close encounter with the local wild life just made the adventure even better. To see nature in nature… well, there was no better way for me to spend an afternoon.

That didn’t change when I ended up here, even though I no longer had a camera (I have gotten pretty good at sketching, though). Some of my very first moments away from Owl’s Head were spent exploring the nearby woodland. But that was before the darkness had spread this far north. I’d seen some wolves, and even a couple bears during my excursions, but the last time I was out, they were different. I’d heard Kendra talking about how there were acting odd, and considering how in tune with nature she is, I should have headed her warning to stay put within the safety of the town walls. But Thomas was watching the Tavern and I had some exploring to do.

It wasn’t long before I got the distinct feeling that something was watching me. I’ve learned to rely on my instincts when I’m out adventuring, and that instinct served me well that day. I moved to a more open area, atop a large rock where I could get a vantage point, and that was when I saw him. A large brown bear stalking through the treeline. Normally, shuffling is a word I would use to describe their movement, but this one was moving carefully… silently. And he never took his eyes off of me. Then in a moment he started towards me, murder in it’s eyes. But not just murder… rage. I threw my hands out and flames shot forth, scorching a nearby patch of grass and scaring the beast away. That was the first time I manifested fire like that. And I have to say I was very grateful that I had. The small blade I was carrying would not have done me any good at all…

Read the rest of the story in the forums

7 Days Until Lord British’s Birthday

Replenishing Birthday Cake

Lord British’s birthday is coming up on July 4th, and to help celebrate his birthday we’ve added the Replenishing Birthday Cake to the Add-On Store! This is a special birthday cake, that each year on the anniversary of when you created your pledge account, will generate a random item! They’re only available until July 31, 2014 so reserve your Replenishing Birthday Cake (or send as a gift) in the Add-On Store now!

Replenishing Fireworks Box

For those of you that missed out on the Replenishing Fireworks Box during the New Year’s sale, we’re bringing it back in time for Lord British’s birthday on July 4th, or the U.S. celebration of Independence Day, or if you just want to blow off some fireworks! A magical box of 50 fireworks that regenerates periodically. They’re only available until July 31, 2014 so reserve your Replenishing Fireworks Box (or send as a gift) in the Add-On Store now!

International Shipping

Hail all! Portalarium has streamlined the process for international shipping fees for physical pledge rewards. Those of you who had already paid for international shipping will notice that the $15 fee is no longer reflected in your pledge amount and now appears on your user account page (https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?page_id=4557) as an International Shipping add-on. If you live outside of the United States, have physical rewards coming your way, and have never opted for international shipping, please purchase the International Shipping add-on in the add-on store. Even if you have a lot of physical rewards coming, you only need to purchase one International Shipping add-on. Also, if you no longer require international shipping (e.g. you move to the United States) you may convert your International Shipping add-on into store credit.