Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Sorry about the lack of extra posts lately from me. Things have been crazy busy in my life. I did finally hit major progress with some things so I am hoping starting here in the springtime to get back on schedule with my SotA and Ultima work calendar of fun… Yes this means hopefully a post on the Full Loot thing that Chris Spears talked about, as well as some of my own artwork, and other fun projects…. But for now, here’s what I have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
- SotA Community App for iOS and Android
- SotA on More 2015 Most Anticipated Lists
- SotA at SXSW
- Lord British and Lord Blackthorn Keynote CGF2015: Ultima Online Post Mortem
- Help Name SotA’s Streets
- Abe’s Overworld Work-in-Progress
- Player Owned Town Price Changes
- Player Bank Upgrades
- In-game Community Weekend Events
SotA Community App for iOS and Android
Wow! We were blown away when we learned of this new SotA Community App, built by community members, for community members! Here’s an excerpt from Matterio’s forum post for the iOS version:
FEATURES & USE
Avatars Radio
Click the on and off button to access the radio stream. This version of the App is compatible with bluetooth. You need to turn off any other radio application, i.e. Pandora for the stream to be heard on a paired bluetooth radio. The volume does reset itself when you exit the App. Be aware when you touch the volume as it may increase the volume. The radio is directly linked to a shoutcast stream. We will want to get feedback on the quality of the stream. Any disconnections, crashes, locks, etc. Be sure to click the link at the very bottom to test the functionality and don’t forget to support them!
News
The news feature is pulling RSS feeds from a few select sites. We plan to expand the amount of sites in the future. For now, basic functionality is key. Upon clicking a news link, it will open a browser window. You can pinch and swipe to manipulate the web window.
IRC
The IRC scene will bring you to a Kiwi IRC menu. At this time, you won’t be able to log in with your registered name. You can authenticate after logging in unregistered. You are by default directed to #sota. You may need to adjust the IRC window by pinching the screen to fit the window.
Calendar
The calendar is drawing from one source at the moment. This function uses the Google calendar integration. You can select an event and see more details within the post event. You can add the event to your calendar if you are a Google subscriber. We do have future plans to integrate with iOS default calendar.
Wiki – Future release
Maps – Future release
Known Issues – iPad may present misaligned graphics.
I want to thank everyone on the team who put in countless hours to make this App possible. This App’s intent is to bring the community closer by integrating the various utilities and solutions into one App. More features will be introduced in future releases.
THE TEAM
Matterio: iOS
Belgeran: iOS/Android
Umbrae: Android
Bubonic: Graphics
If you’d like to help alpha-test the SotA Community App, then go to these links for further information. Please note the servers are being hit hard by all the requests so there may be slowness, propagation time for permissions, etc.
Android: http://tinyurl.com/lqvbqkf
iOS: http://tinyurl.com/qe78vze
SotA on More 2015 Most Anticipated Lists
SotA was included in a couple more Most Anticipated game lists for 2015 from MMORPG and GamingBolt! Check ‘em out:
The List: Top 10 Most Anticipated MMO Releases of 2015
“It appears that we are entering a new era of MMOs, where developers can’t simply rely on the tried and true principles that have gotten them to where they are today. In 2015, it’s a year about diversity and reaching new audiences – and here are our most anticipated releases in the MMO world for 2015.”
#8 – Shroud of the Avatar: Ultima. Richard Garriott. Hardcore. Old-school. If any of those things sound familiar or intriguing to you, then this is a game you should already be excited about. Shroud of the Avatar was originally funded at almost twice its $1 Million target back in April of 2013, so the game is finally starting to come together. With a major focus on immersion and engaging stories, it has the makings to be one of the next big ones that people will play for years. The hype has died down recently and it’s been in an alpha state for quite some time, otherwise it would be higher on the list.
Most Anticipated MMOs And MMORPGs of 2015
“If you’re looking for epic adventures, brawlers or some shooters with friends and gamers all over then you may want to look into these select video games. Set to release in 2015 with an open-beta or full release, here are the top MMO and MMORPG based video games.”
Shroud of the Avatar: An upcoming spiritual successor to the Ultima Series, development studio Portalarium will be releasing Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. This is an upcoming fantasy role-playing video game that will offer five episodic content with unique virtue based stories…Little information is released about the overall story but it will be supported by the Blade of the Avatar novel. While players will have to pay a one time fee for each episode, there is an option to enjoy the game fully offline otherwise there will be two multiplayer modes for friends or completely open-world online gameplay.
SotA at SXSW
Austin is pretty insane right now with the massive SXSW going on all week. Richard Garriott and Tracy Hickman helped kickoff SXSW activities last weekend with their interactive panel moderated by Starr Long entitled Linear versus Nonlinear Narrative in Video Games.
Lord British and Lord Blackthorn Keynote CGF2015: Ultima Online Postmortem
Richard and Starr will be presenting an Ultima Online Posmortem as the keynote for Classic Game Fest 2015. These two veterans of the game industry will be reflecting on the challenges they faced from early UO development to maintaining the game well after its launch. Come learn how a combination of insane ambition and idealistic cluelessness can sometimes result in creating something that changes people’s lives and the course of an industry.
Now in its 8th year, CLASSIC GAME FEST has become one of the largest retro video game conventions in the country. The last event featured more than 25,000 square feet of retro gaming awesomeness and attracted over 4,500 enthusiastic attendees from all over Texas and around the world. Come celebrate the biggest retro video game convention in Texas during 2 days of exciting classic video games, retro game tournaments, costume contests, live video game music, and more! See you July 25–26, 2015 in Austin, Texas!
Help Name SotA’s Streets
During last week’s video Hangout of the Avatar, Starr and team discussed the need for street names in SotA. They are going to need lots of street names, so community member, Lollie, started a street-naming thread in the forums:
So in this thread we’re going to think up a whole bunch of street names – imagine that you’re coming up with names for all the streets in Ardoris, or in Owl’s Head or Kingsport, or Braemar, Holtrot, Northshire, Southmarsh, Greystone, Port Mirren…etc. So a whole huge range of names would be needed, for all the different kinds of areas. Probably thousands of street names will be needed, by the time we get to the mainland. We could help save the devs time if we can provide a quick and ready list of names to pick from…
Sounds like a cool idea! Once we’ve added the tech for street signs, Lord British and team will review all the community suggestions, and if we find names we can use, then we’ll put them in the game! So head on over to Lollie’s post and add your favorite street names to the growing list!
Spectral Mines Entrance
Abe took a break from the Overworld map this week and cranked out this new entrance to the Spectral Mines. Pretty cool looking, Abe!
Player Owned Town Price Changes
Last week there was a Starr Long’s forum post that discussed the scope and design for Player Owned Towns. If you’ve been thinking about getting your own Player Owned Town, then you might want to take advantage of the current price, because the price for all Player Owned Towns will be increasing approximately 20% starting May 1, 2015.
Player Bank Upgrades
Your bank inventory size can easily be upgraded with in-game gold, with the price in gold increasing the larger your bank gets. For those that need/want really big banks faster, the team added a Bank Upgrade to the Add-On Store. Currently, each Bank Upgrade adds 10 more slots to your bank inventory, but that number is subject to change based on game balancing needs.
In-game Weekend Community Events
Our community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Here is the latest schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar:
Saturday, March 21
9:00am CST – PaxLair Working Hours – Host Winfield (Valemark)
10:00am CST – Valemark Days R15 – A Festival of Events (Valemark; details)
11:00am CST – Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service – Topic: Ignorance is Bliss (Or is it?) (PaxLair, Valemark; details)
3:00pm CST – Gladiators Conquest – [Warriors Only] – 1v1 Double Elimination – Prizes! (Braemar @ Assassins Arena or “/zone Bambino LudoVate”; details)
9:00pm CST – Ostara Ball – The BMC’s First Annual Spring Equinox Ball (Look for person in Braemar for zoning info; details)
Sunday, March 22
6:30am CST – Explore Novia with royalsexy (Owl’s Head entrance)
11:00am CST – Registration for 4B PvP Tournament – 1v1 Ranged Double Elimination – Prizes! (Brave Coast Ranged Arena – town lot on the highest hill, or “/zone Net”; see screenshot of arena below; details)
12:00pm CST – 4B PvP Tournament – 1v1 Ranged Double Elimination – Prizes! (Brave Coast Ranged Arena – town lot on the highest hill, or “/zone Net”; see screenshot of arena below; details)
5:00pm CST – Phoenix Republic Town Hall (“/zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre” or “/zone Jack Knyfe”)
5:00pm CST – BMC Grid Iron Feast and Registration (details)
6:00pm CST – BMC First Blood at Grid-Iron (details)
7:00pm CST – PaxLair Meeting (Valemark, or “/zone Winfield”)
8:00pm CST – Fishing with Winfield (some lake or pond, “/zone Winfield”)
9:00pm CST – Beach Party by BMC (details TBD)
Be sure and check out the Release 15 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here.
