Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
News Announcements
- Shroud Convention Livestream Today
- 10/11 Crown Shop Updates
- Catnip Games Acquires Shroud of the Avatar
- Sword of Midras Printed Copy Reward Replacement
- October Login Reward: Skull Mask
- Release 70 Reward Program Items: Spooky!
- Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles
- Player Made Content & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube)
- Upcoming Events Calendar
Community Updates
- Community Event: Release 70 Dance Party
- Project to Support: Through the Moongate Part II Kickstarter
- Project to Support: Crowfall
- Resources: Players Helping Players
Shroud Convention Livestream Today
Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday October 11, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! This week we are going to be broadcasting live from the SOTA International Convention!
Release 70 Rewards Program Exclusive Items (Spooky Theme!)
Halloween is right around the corner so we decided to make the Rewards Program items for Release 70 spooky themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 70!
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- Obsidian Order Altar
- Executioner’s Mask
- Baby Black and Orange Spider Pet
As usual we will be giving out prizes at 4:15 and 4:45! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store or log into the game and type “Nightmares do come true” in the chat window (no purchase necessary).
Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 4 PM CDT!
Are You a Livestreamer?
Get this exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Livestreamer Program!
10/11 Crown Shop Updates
Greetings Avatars,
Don’t forget that Spooky Seasonal Recurring items are back for a limited time until November 8! We are continuing the spooky theme for the Vault with another round of expired spooky items and livestream spooky items!
- Spooky Seasonal Recurring Items: With Halloween coming up we have brought back all of the Spooky Seasonal Recurring items to the Crown Shop for a limited time! Get them before they expire again until next year on November 8!
- Undead Specimen Vats
- Giant Lich Statue with Magic Portal Dungeon Entrance
- Giant Grim Reaper Statue with Magic Portal Dungeon Entrance
- Ornate Giant Grim Reaper Statue with Magic Portal Dungeon Entrance
- Ornate Scythe & Pattern Pack
- Dead Tree with Spider Webs 6-Pack
- Day of the Dead Masks
- Spooky Emotes: Breathe Spiders, Rain Spiders, Puke Blood, etc.
- Woven Spider Web Cloak
- Spider Web Cloak
- Ornate Spider Legs
- Zombie Pets
- Undead Specimen Vats
- The Vault: Current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, October 24 at 10:30 AM Central Time. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc
- 2016 Rotten Armor
- 2016 Rotten Flesh Cloak
- Ghost Dog (digital)
- Ghost Cat (digital)
- Ghost Raven (digital)
- Juggle Skulls Emote
- Zombie Wings
- Zombie Mask
- Obsidian Village Home (note this was supposed to be in the last round)
- 2016 Rotten Armor
Catnip Games Acquires Shroud of the Avatar
As of October 2019 Austin-based production studio Catnip Games has acquired the operating assets of Portalarium, Inc.; primary of which is Shroud of the Avatar.
Portalarium was co-founded in 2009 by Hall of Fame videogame designer Richard Garriott (aka “Lord British”). Portalarium’s most recent game Shroud of the Avatar has a large global community of players which Catnip Games will continue to develop and expand.
Catnip Games was established by Chris Spears, who served as CTO of Portalarium for over 6 years and was appointed President of Portalarium in 2019.
Commenting about the acquisition, Richard Garriott noted “We’re immensely grateful to the community who has built this game with us. The community’s support and participation remains strong and growing, and Starr and I plan to continue being involved in the community and within the game.”
Starr Long, the executive producer of Shroud of the Avatar, also commented on the acquisition; noting that “Chris has successfully led the design and the team for many years, he is an all-star A player.”
Chris Spears added that “The development team remains with the project, and we plan to continue with the established patterns of regular releases, frequent live broadcasts, community events, release parties, and a development cadence focused on both constantly improving the core game, while also working towards Episode 2.”
Lowenstein Sandler provided legal counsel to Portalarium on this transaction. Deal terms were not disclosed. Any questions about the transaction should be directed to VLPC at tbailey@vlpc.com.
Sword of Midras Printed Copy Reward Replacement
To all our loyal Shroud of the Avatar Backers,
There is only one physical reward from the Kickstarter that is still outstanding to deliver. That is a physical copy of the novel written by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott entitled the Sword of Midras (originally entitled Blade of the Avatar). Digital copies were delivered as promised but unfortunately we could never reach an agreement with the publisher on distribution of a physical copy to our backers. Please accept our apologies for our failure to deliver the reward and the extreme delay in an outcome.
It is not all bad news however! We have come up with unique book themed replacement rewards!
Kickstarter backers at the Patron level were eligible for a physical copy of the book. They will receive instead a unique in-game reward of a Challenge Dungeon Remote Dungeon Entrance! This entrance allows direct access to the Challenge Dungeon from the property it is placed on. The entrance itself is disguised as a magical book with the Blade of the Avatar symbol on the cover!
Kickstarter backers at the Citizen level (and higher) were eligible for a physical copy of the book signed by Richard and Tracy. They will instead receive two unique in-game rewards. The Sword of Midras Library is a huge unique dungeon room filled floor to ceiling with books, similar to the Lyceum in Artifice. It can be placed in any Player Made Dungeon. The Sword of Midras Magical Printing Press allows you to create 12 book copies per week without needing any blank books and each of these copies automatically comes in a book bound with a Blade of the Avatar symbol book cover!
We hope to have these items complete and delivered on later than the end of this year.
NOTE: Citizens will also receive the Patron reward of the Challenge Dungeon Remote Entrance for a total of three unique rewards.
Below are pictures of the original Magical printing press and the Lyceum in Artifice that we will be using as reference (note these are not the actual rewards).
October Login Reward: Skull Mask
Next week is the first week to login and obtain the October login reward! To celebrate Halloween, every player who logs in during the month of October will receive a unique Skull Mask!
To receive the rewards simply login to the game before the end of October and check your rewards tab!
NOTE: You still have three days left to receive the September login reward (Dragon Statue with Flames)!
Release 70 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Spooky Theme!
Halloween is right around the corner so we decided to make the Rewards Program items for Release 70 spooky themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 70!
-
- Obsidian Order Altar
- Executioner’s Mask
- Baby Black and Orange Spider Pet
NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s exclusive rewards.
The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive exclusive monthly reward items!
For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:
- 900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
- Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month)
- Exclusive Title every 3 months
- 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
- 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
- 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
- 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
- 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
- 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
- Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months
- Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
- Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
- Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
- Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
- Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
- Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
- Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills
Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles
As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of the Portalarium Offices, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold!
Complete List of Rewards:
- UPDATED: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land!
- Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle
- NEW: Unique Lord of the Isle Home (to be revealed later)
- UPDATED: PLUS Choice of any 1 House currently available in the store
- Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice
- Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot)
- NEW: Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (to be revealed later)
- 1400 Crowns
- 999 Bank Slots
- Pick 12 Prosperity Tools
- 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later)
- Early Access to Episode 2
- Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team
- 1 hour one on one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference)
- One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8
- In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version)
- Tour of Portalarium Offices
- Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC.
NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD.
NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Portalarium for Tour & Dinner.
Player Made Content & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube)
The Player Made Content Livestream last week was a blast! Here is the livestream from our YouTube channel in case you missed it:
Atos and others also sometimes livestream and you can check those out on our YouTube channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Note that if you subscribe to the channel you will be notified when they go live.
Upcoming Events Calendar
Be sure to check out the Forums Recurring Events section for other events!
Oct 19 – Release 70 Dance Party
Oct 31 – Release 71
Nov 14 – Release 72
Dec 12 – Release 73
Jan 30 – Release 74
Feb 27 – Release 75
Mar 26 – Release 76
Community Event: Release 70 Dance Party
Saturday October 19. 2 – 4 PM Central Time.
Join DJ Darkstarr on Virtue Radio for the Release 70 Dance Party in Blue Rose Isle (near Etceter) hosted by Drake Aedus and Wind Silvermoon!
Project to Support – Through the Moongate Part II Kickstarter
“Through the Moongate – Part II: The story of Richard Garriott, Origin Systems Inc and Ultima – From Wing Commander and Ultima VII to Portalarium” a book by Andrea Contato.
Through the Moongate is the ambitious two-volume comprehensive history of the Ultima series, Lord British, and Origin Systems at-large. Part I was successfully Kickstarted on October 16th, 2018 and covered Richard Garriott’s humble beginnings up through Ultima VI. Part II covers Ultima VII to Portalarium and includes Wing Commander and other important Origin titles.
Part II, which is already finished in Italian, is currently on Kickstarter to raise funds for translation and printing. If you’re interested in the history of Lord British and Origin Systems, definitely check out this project! Also, if you missed Part I, copies are conveniently available with certain pledges in the Kickstarter.
Project to Support – Crowfall
Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion!
Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power!
Resources – Players Helping Players
The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.
Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.
1400 Crowns !? You are missing two zeros !
Ya just kick us on your way out! What about fools like me who payed for a second copy of the book so we wouldn’t mess up our signed copy. What a load of garbage! All you guys have done is spend all development time making more junk for fools to buy in your crown store and loosing dedicated fans and supporters on top of that some of us really had hope and have been feeding you 9 bucks every month hoping things would change for the better.
Looks like some people are loosing a couple of the 8’s!
I approve