Author Archives: Berek

Berek

About Berek

Senior Community Manager for Shroud of the Avatar.

Release 48 Postmortem Telethon

** $75,000 **

Telethon Funds Raised

 

Telethon Stretch Goal Rewards:

  • ACHIEVED! $10K: Icicles Pattern Cloak
  • ACHIEVED! $25K: Ice Hot Tub
  • ACHIEVED! $35K: Ice Elemental Statue with icy effects
  • ACHIEVED! $50K: Ice Sword & Ice Shield
  • ACHIEVED! $65K: Ice Crown, Ice & Snow Themed Gown, and Ice Wand
  • $80K: Ice Dragon Statue with icy effects

Greetings Avatars,

The next Postmortem Telethon, for Release 48, is already fast approaching! The winter season has fully set in and we’re celebrating with holiday stretch goal items ready to be achieved. This telethon is coming up fast on December 1!

This telethon is going to mark a new format for some items. We will be somewhat going back to briefer Deep Dives. Also, we will be focusing more on related questions to those Deep Dives. Please see below on what questions we will and will not be taking.

Read more…


Community Spotlight – New Fawn

Today’s spotlight is about a very old town, one that was around before the days of the sundering. Long before the world was re-made into the lands of Novia and Hidden Vale, this town had many names. It was often called Fawn and sometimes “The City of the Sea”. It was originally a beautiful place to visit and honor a great many people.

Since those times, the town has grown, but many parts have kept the ways of the past. You can still find the followers of Love in one of the town’s three boroughs, along with followers of Virtue and Chaos. Smiths do not hide their exotic armor and weapons anymore, but actively promote their skills. All who live here now come willingly and with hope to see the town eventually grow to be a major seaport.

Let us take a tour of the crossroads sized town of New Fawn. My name is Warrior B’Patrick and I will guide you. I was elected governor 36 years ago as noted in the records of this land. I had no experience leading a town, but I care deeply for all creatures and so the residents of New Fawn deemed me worthy of the title. Since that day New Fawn has grown into the city you see upon visiting.

New Fawn is located in the Naryad Channel and can be reached from the town of Harvest using a boat at the docks, or reached via our sister town of Hollaim using a wagon near the stables. There is a note on the town’s bulletin boards with instructions.

Read more…


The Avatar’s Guide to Knowledge and Virtue – A Video Creation Contest

Do you have in-depth knowledge on a feature in the game that new players should know more about? Would you call yourself an expert in a particular field of gameplay? This is your chance to create a valuable how-to video that can be shown to the entire community (and help grow your channel as well!)

The ‘Avatar’s Guide to Knowledge and Virtue’ video contest kicks off today. You have from Nov. 17, 2017 to Jan. 15, 2018 to design a walkthrough video for all New Britannians to use as a resource for making their way successfully in the game.

When you have a video to submit, please post it in This Thread. You are allowed to edit your posts up until the submission deadline on Jan. 15, 2018 at 11:59 PM CT (Jan. 16 at 5:59 AM UTC). We will be posting all final videos on Portalarium’s YouTube channel in a Playlist after the contest ends.

Below are the details of the contest, including what you can win!

Read more…


Community Livestream – Artifacts & Virtue Gear

We just set live Release 48 and with this latest game build we have another round of content for players! Updates to two of those areas are Artifacts and Enchantments, and Virtue Gear.

Artifacts can now be enchanted and masterworked, but must also be repaired using ancient essences that can only be salvaged from other artifacts. We also have been adding unique components that can be salvaged from gear found on enemies. In addition to the virtue-themed decorations introduced in earlier releases (Virtue Banners), we have also begun creating virtue-themed gear that players can earn by completing quests in the game. The first six of these are chest pieces and helms with the symbols of the three principles on them.

We’ll be bringing on Chris “Atos” Spears to talk about the Artifact system, along with Brandon “Bzus” Cotton to talk about the enchanting of Artifacts, and then Fletcher Kinnear to show us some of the Virtue Gear. As usual, we will be giving away seasonal prizes, so stick around throughout the livestream for a chance to win!

The fun begins on Twitch this Friday at 4pm CT. Also join the community watching on Discord chat to ask questions about what’s presented:


BrightLocker’s Crowd Equity Campaign on StartEngine Adds Shroud of the Avatar Perks

We are providing BrightLocker’s crowd equity campaign on StartEngine with some special in-game Shroud of the Avatar items! Support BrightLocker and you can receive the following bundle, along with many of their other offered Perks:

  • Shroud of the Avatar Game Access
  • Golden Viking 1-Story Village Home
  • Tax Free Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed

Golden Viking 1-Story Village Home (this is NOT the same as the one for SeedInvest)

Tax Free Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed

BrightLocker is a revolutionary platform that enables gamers to connect with their favorite developers and gain exclusive access and interaction as they make upcoming games.

At present, BrightLocker has over a dozen games hosted on the platform. Gamers receive exclusive content, such as unique in-game items, physical rewards and more whilst also enjoying revolutionary and unique studio interaction. This interaction comes in all varieties, from forum chats with developers to livestreams of games while they’re being made.

Visit the official BrightLocker campaign page to learn more on how their unique platform works.


Community Livestream – Scottie’s Yuletide Gifts

Next week is Release 48 and with this latest game build we have another round of content for players to enjoy! A great deal of that content is in the form of yuletide seasonal decorations and other placeable or wearable items.

Scott “Scottie” Jones will be on this week’s livestream to show off the latest gift boxes, stockings, and more that he’s designed. Reid Rollo and Bob Cooksey may also make an appearance to talk about their own Yuletide items going in Release 48.

And as usual, we will be giving away seasonal prizes, so stick around throughout the livestream for a chance to win! (P.S. – Stick around for next week’s livestream too, as we’ll be giving away some of these new items!)

The fun begins on Twitch this Friday at 4pm CT. Also join the community watching on Discord chat to ask questions about what’s presented:


Release 47 Postmortem Telethon

** $60,000 **

Telethon Funds Raised

Telethon Stretch Goal Rewards:

  • ACHIEVED! $10K: Snowflake Pattern Cloak
  • ACHIEVED! $25K: Big Silver Fur Hat
  • ACHIEVED! $35K: Winter Pattern Stained Glass Oil Table Lamp (3 Pack)
  • ACHIEVED! $50K: Ice Staff & Ice Bow
  • $65K: Ice Elemental Statue with icy effects
  • $80K: Ice Dragon Statue with icy effects

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! See what we have planned below beginning at 3:00 PM CT on November 3:

  • 3:00 PM: Introductions
  • 3:30 PM: Postmortem Q&A
  • 4:30 PM: World Building Tour
  • 5:30 PM: Postmortem Q&A Continues
  • 7:00 PM: End of Telethon!

Read more…



Russian Version Launch Sale Week 1: Wearables and Property Deeds

In honor of our Black Sun partner launching the Russian version of Shroud today we are coordinating a three week long series of sales that represent some of our biggest sales with some of our deepest discounts ever!

Tune in each Friday to find out what will be on sale. Week 1 (November 3 – November 9) is all of our Wearable items and all Property Deeds!

See below this week’s sales…

Read more…


The Making of the Oracle Temple [SPOILERS!]

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Michael “Hutch” Hutchison]

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers for the Oracle Temple scene that is the story climax of Episode 1…

Hello All,

With R47, we have finished the art requirements for the climactic Oracle Temple scene! When I stopped to consider the long road leading up to this point, I was struck by how this scene, perhaps more than any other single scene in the game, involved contributions from nearly every member of the Shroud team, either directly or indirectly. It is also a great example of how our iterative process worked to build one thing upon another.

Like anything else it all started with an idea. In this case, it was Richard’s initial idea that was the creative spark, and what followed was a process of evolution over years, as ideas changed, and grew, and became fully formed. Development of the objects, characters, and story followed a sequence of connected tasks, each one informing the next. Over time, it was this deliberate process that built all the smaller parts that contributed to the cohesive whole.

The importance of the Oracle becomes evident from the very first moments of the game, when you meet her in the Confirmatory on the Isle of Storms. That’s part of what makes the Oracle so special – she is there when you start the game, is present throughout your progress, and is there when you ultimately reach the story climax. But long before the Confirmatory was included on the Isle of Storms map in Release 31, the Oracle had already undergone several iterations.

Early Development

Everything started, of course, with Lord British himself. During the initial development of what became Shroud of the Avatar, Richard worked directly with concept artists (beginning very early with Scott Jones and then a bit later with Stephen Daniele) to develop the look of the Oracle architecture, her Watchers, and the Oracle herself.

Early Oracle design as seen in concept art…

…and with the 2013 statue head decoration

While the initial glimpse of the Oracle came in December of 2013 with the Oracle Statue Head (made by former team member Jay Reichman), it would prove to be merely a teaser of what was to come…

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