Shroud of the Avatar – Update of the Avatar #264

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

 

Play Release 50 Now!

Release 50 launched January 2, with backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

  • Framerate Improvements
  • Story Polish
  • More Side Quests
  • Starter Scene Polish
  • Scene Rebuilds: Yew, Sunless Barrens, South Drachvald Spur
  • Refining Skills
  • New Recipes & Patterns
  • More Virtue Armor
  • UI Polish (Item Locking, Target Highlighting)
  • Combat Balance (Ransom Polish, Torch Weapon)
  • Wild Boars & New Wolves
  • New Female Peasants
  • New Houses (Watermill, Log Cabin, Hollow Log Home)
  • New Decorations (Viking Crafting Pavillion, Obsidian Obelisk)
  • R48 Telethon Items
  • R49 QA Testing Incentive Winners


…and much more

Check out the Release 50 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content.

 

Release 50 Player Instructions

Release 50 Known Issues

 

Release 50 Postmortem Telethon

 

The R50 Postmortem Telethon is coming up fast on February 2 from 3-7pm CT!

LIVESTREAM SCHEDULE (Central Time Zone)

Telethons are livestreamed on Twitch and include answers to your gameplay questions, world building tours, prize giveaways, sales on items, and more! Here is the schedule:

  • 3PM: Introductions and Postmortem Q&A
  • 3:45PM: Deep Dive 1: Combat
  • 4:30PM: World Building Tour: Quests & Puzzles!
  • 5:30PM: Deep Dive 2: Crafting & Economy
  • 6:15PM: Postmortem Q&A Continues
  • 7PM: Ending Announcements

Schedule is subject to change. Check back here before the livestream begins!

EXPIRING ITEMS:

STRETCH GOALS (Mardi Gras / Carnival Theme!)

As a special bonus, devs are yet again offering vanity item rewards to any backer that pledges a minimum of $5 for twelve hours during the day of the telethon, on February 2 from 12:00 PM to 11:59 PM CT (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply) .

For this telethon they are having a Mardi Gras / Carnival theme since Mardi Gras is happening on February 13! Each item represents something related to either Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Flambeaux, Jester, Garlands) or Carnival in Rio (Feather Outfit, /samba). 

NOTE: While the livestream ends at 7pm CT, everyone will have until 11:59 PM CT to spend $5 to get the stretch goals. We will announce the final total on the following day.

  • $10K: /samba
  • $25K: Mardi Gras Garlands
  • $35K: Flambeaux (equippable 2 handed open flame gas lamp)
  • $50K: Mardi Gras Mask Fountain
  • $65K: Feather Outfit including Feather Back and Head Piece (like Rio Carnival)
  • $80K: Mardi Gras Jester Outfit

*Please keep in mind that stretch goal rewards take time to develop and will most likely not be available in-game at Release 52 at the earliest.

 

Shroud of the Avatar Launch Event

Post from Lord British and Darkstarr:

Greetings Avatars,

In video games it is traditional to have a launch event. These events generally come in two flavors. They are either a party in which the development team has an opportunity to celebrate their achievement, or it is a press event meant to create enthusiasm with journalists and influencers. On rare occasions it is a mix of the two. On even rarer occasions these events are made open to the fans. Twenty years ago we did that very thing with the launch of Ultima Online and had a party with the fans at a nightclub called Paradox here in Austin, TX.

We are happy to say that we are going to do the very same thing with Shroud of the Avatar! The launch event includes our team, press, AND the game’s loyal backers, who are cordially invited as guests to the event. We feel very strongly that community is what this game is all about, so we want you to join us! The event is being made possible by our partner, Travian Games, who is co-sponsoring and will be in attendance.


The event is going to be one spectacular and historic celebration (literally). It will take place at the Bullock Texas History Museum in the Pong to Pokemon video game history exhibit that Richard Garriott and Starr Long helped design and contributed artifacts to show. Shooter Jennings will also be in attendance and playing a short concert.

Space is limited! In order to attend you must be a backer (game access purchase or higher) and in good standing with the community. We are only able to accommodate one person per registration. We can only accept the first 100 confirmed backers due to event space. We will inform the community when registration is closed.

Event Details

Where: The Bullock Texas State History Museum

When: March 14, 2018 6:30 – 10:30 PM

What:

  • BBQ Buffet Dinner
  • Cash Bar (Admission comes with 2 drink tickets, attendees must be age 21 or older)
  • Shooter Jennings Concert
  • Mix & Mingle with the Developers

Attending:

  • Backer (Game Access Purchase or Higher Required)
  • First Come, First Served (100 person limit)
  • Good Standing (Approval Required)
  • Travel & Accommodations NOT provided
  • Dress: Dressy Casual to Black Tie (No Shorts, T-shirts, Athletic Wear)
  • Consent to Photography: By attending the event you consent to photos and videos of you being taken and shared for promotional purposes.
  • Aged 21 or older

Fill out this form to submit your request to attend

We look forward to seeing you at the event! If you are unable to attend, fret not! There are going to be several in-game celebrations planned as well (details on those as soon as they are finalized).

Sincerely,

Lord British & Darkstarr

R50 & R51: Skill Unlearning 100% Return

[From a forum post by Starr “Darkstarr” Long]

For R50 and R51, all skill unlearning will return 100% of the experience that was spent on them. We made this change because of the major changes to combat math, ransom, and movement speed that some players might feel invalidate skills they invested in.

As a reminder here are those changes from the R50 Instructions:

  • New Combat Math: We have made major changes to how combat math is calculated. We have done away with the old 0-100 system and replaced it with a weighted scale system. The vast majority of players will not notice any difference but high end players will likely notice that some of their tricks to completely avoid being hit will no longer work. Additionally, the attack roll is now split into multiple rolls which makes it possible to have a combination of things happen. For instance, it is now possible to parry a critical hit or get a glancing blow that you also block with your shield.

  • Ransom Changes: We have made several changes and improvements to how ransoming items works that are gained in PVP (either through combat or pickpocketing).

    • Notification: You now get an onscreen notification that you have lost an item through PVP or pickpocketing. There is an intentional 5 minute delay before a ransom icon appears after being pickpocketed. As in life, you don’t often notice theft until it’s too late.
    • Duration Increase: The time to pay the ransom has increased from 2 hours to 24 hours, to give players plenty of time to gain their items back.
    • Valuation: Crafted items and artifacts are now worth much more when ransomed.
    • Item Selection: The way items are randomly selected for ransom has changed so that we only consider each item type once, so many small stacks of an item type only count as a single chance during the selection process (i.e. those of you that have been using many different stacks of items as “defense” are out of luck).

  • Max Movement Speed Check: Effects that modify movement speed can only allow stack to a maximum of two. Additionally, their effects add together instead of multiplying each other as they did previously. This should fix the issue where stacking various buffs and artifacts with movement effects would produce insane movement rates.

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