Happy Valentine’s Day Fellow Avatars!

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

Hearts of Britannia Valentine’s Poetry Reading!

Extra, Extra Early R3 Test Results

Founder Lord Waterfront Houseboat

Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 9

Hearth of Britannia Cabinet of Virtues

Tanning Knife of Prosperity

The 6-More Pack of Prosperity

Stretch Goals: Lord British vs. Darkstarr

Last Week for the Pantheon Kickstarter Special Cross-Game Cloak

New Events Page

Only 52 Days Remain to Purchase/Upgrade/Gift Founder Pledges

Hearts of Britannia Valentine’s Poetry Reading!

All the poetry submissions are in, and today, Valentine’s Day, the winners are being decided by Dame Lori, Sir Dom, Lord British, Firelotus, Stephen and Starr!

The winners will be announced and poems narrated by Holt on a special Live Hangout on February 15th. A Roast shall take place afterward where entertaining anonymous runner-ups are also narrated. The Hangout/Poetry Reading will begin at 7 pm CST, Saturday, February 15th. The hangout link will be announced 15-30 minutes ahead of time.

All winning entries will be bound into an in-game book which can be found in-game. The top winners of the Lord British and Darkstarr poems will receive the in-game Darkstarr or Lord British cloaks. We will also create a video of Richard, Starr, Gina, and Stephen reading the winning poems that were written to them.

MAY THE BEST POETS WIN LUV 4 ALL TIME!



Click here to read the forum post with more information

Thanks to everyone that helped the Poet’s Circle meet their fundraising goal to purchase the instruments needed to record the music they are making for Shroud of the Avatar! They are still accepting donations toward the music so please help if you can: http://poetscircle.net/donations/

Extra, Extra Early R3 Test Results

Our Dev+ backers were a great help during the Early R3 Test today. Starr Long posted this in the Dev+ forums:

Thank you everyone for doing this early test with us. I cannot tell you how amazing it was to see all of you in game! I have to be honest we were a little verklempt over here. Our little toddler is taking her first steps.

We are very sorry many of you could not get in but that was the purpose of the test to have you guys and gals helps us identify those issues before we open the floodgates next Thursday. As Chris said we will do another test first thing next week to verify our fixes so you will have another opportunity to get in. Thank you again!

Also we got some righteous screenshots that we are going to use for PR so some of you might get a little famous.

Founder Lord Waterfront Houseboat

This week’s Parade of Homes features the Founder Lord Town Waterfront Houseboat, available as an Early Founder reward in the Lord level pledge. Designed by Bob Cooksey and Michael Hutchison, this two-story, waterfront houseboat features two vast rooms on each floor, a private bedroom on the second floor, and a large, first floor front deck, with two cozy back decks.

Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 9

The latest installment of the serialized SotA novel, Blade of the Avatar (BotA), written by Tracy Hickman & Richard Garriott, is now available for download! If you are an Early Founder, or you purchased BotA in the Add-On Store, then you will find a download link for the current installment of the novel on your personal SotA account page (log into SotA website and click on “Account” in the top-right corner). If you are a Kickstarter backer you’ll need to have your Kickstarter account linked to the SotA website (click here for instructions to link your Kickstarter account).

Here is a brief excerpt of the latest installment (illustration by Denis Loubet):

Chapter 9: Amanda

Amanda sat, as she did each day, in the seat of the bay window of the small cottage and looked down the street. The small squares of wavy glass fixed into the lead latticework, she could look over the top of the Harbor town of Etceter to the docks beyond. Each day she would watch as the ships came down the coast from the Northwest, or along the eastern shores as they navigated the fringes of the tempestuous Bay of Storms. On a good day, she might catch the dark outline of the Siren Isle sitting on the horizon to the north, but far more often, the perpetual squalls which gave the bay it’s name would veil it from her site.

Somewhere beyond the darkness, beyond the lightning and the fury, Amanda knew each day that Syenna would be coming.

Amanda shifted her legs painfully beneath her. Although they always ached to one degree or another, and sometimes with excruciating pain, she had been determined since her sister had last departed, to surprise her by standing on her own when she greeted her at the door.

It had now been more than ten months to the day since Amanda had watched Syenna walk down the length of the dirt road and sail away. Every day since, she had begged and wheedled Sarah, the woman who took care of her, to help her to stand and try to once more walk. Sarah had been appalled and, at first, refused. But Amanda was determined, and would not be distracted of her purpose by tapestries, needlework or tatting. In the battle between their wills, Sarah at last succumbed to Amanda’s unrelenting and stubborn assault and surrendered, on the condition that Amanda continue her tatting and to never, ever let the Baroness Agra know that Sarah had ever been a party to such dangerous nonsense.

Download your copy of the latest installment of BotA to read the rest of this exciting chapter!

Map Reveal

For your map puzzle collection:

Hearth of Britannia Cabinet of Virtues



During Hearth of Britannia’s 24 hour Telethon of the Avatar in August 2013, we made the “Hearth of Britannia Telethon Pledge & Mystery Decoration” Add-On Store item available only during the Telethon. That “Mystery Decoration” became the Hearth of Britannia Cabinet of Virtues. We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all that participated in the Telethon and helped raise $13k during the event. Here at last, is the Cabinet of Virtues:

Tanning Knife of Prosperity

This unique, indestructible tanning knife increases the quality and quantity of items produced when tanning. While tanning knives with similar effects can be crafted and purchased in the game this tanning knife never needs repair.

For a limited time we’re offering 33% off! Reserve yours now (or send as a gift) at the Add-On Store!

The 6-More Pack of Prosperity



If you love the 6-Pack of Prosperity (and we know you do), you’re going to love the 6-More Pack of Prosperity even more!

Get the latest items of Prosperity for a discount in our 6-More Pack of Prosperity bundle, available now in the Add-On Store! Includes the Smithing Hammer, Carpentry Hammer, Cooking Pot, Scissors, Smelting Tongs, and Cubit Measure.

Add-On Store Conversion

When we released the 6-Pack of Prosperity, many backers felt the sting of early adoption when they realized if they’d just waited long enough they could get the same items at a reduced price. We totally agreed with that sentiment and Starr posted a solution in the forums:

“I am happy to announce that we will begin work in the new year on a program that allows you to convert your add on purchases to credit that can be applied to your pledge or even other add on store purchases. We got this fantastic idea from our friends over at Star Citizen. We hope that this change improves your experience of being a loyal backer.”

We haven’t yet implemented that solution as our programming team has had a lot on their plate, but we expect it to be implemented no later than March.

Stretch Goals: Lord British vs. Darkstarr

Only $24,000 more to reach the $3.25M stretch goal of Lord British and Darkstarr fencing in puffy shirts! Here are the full details:

$3.25M = LB vs. Darkstarr Fencing in puffy shirts

$3.25M by Feb 20 = Training Montage

$3.3M by Feb 20 = Loser jumps in the lake

Pick your team and add one of these images to your forum signature to show your support:

7 Days Left to Get Your Special Pantheon/SotA Cross-Game Cloak



In a joint effort with Visionary Realms, both Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen and Shroud of the Avatar are offering a cross-game cloak to those who back both projects. Pantheon will feature a Shroud of the Avatar symbol (Lord British’s Coat of Arms) emblazoned on a cloak in their game, while Shroud of the Avatar will have a cloak bearing the Pantheon symbol.

To qualify for the special Pantheon/SotA cross-game cloak you must be a Pantheon backer at the FALLEN’S SPECIAL PLEDGE tier (or higher) and the SotA FIRST RESPONDER (Kickstarter) / ADVENTURER (post-Kickstarter) Pledge tier (or higher). There’s only 7 days remaining in the Pantheon Kickstarter campaign, so if you’re as big a fan of Brad’s games as we are, then head over to the Pantheon Kickstarter site and pledge your support!

New Events Page

To help you keep track of all the cool stuff we have going on, we’ve added a new Upcoming Events page to the SotA website. Just click on the “Community” menu and select “Upcoming Events”. Here’s a peek at the headlines:

02.15.14 – Hearts of Britannia Valentine’s Poetry Competition Reading and Winners Announced

02.20.14 – Release 3 Access

03.07.14 – Duke and Lord of the Manor VIP Design Roundtable with Lord British and Portalarium Studio Tour

03.07.14 – Portalarium at SXSW

03.20.14 – Release 4 Access

03.22.14 – Lord of the Manor Dinner and Tour of Britannia Manor

04.07.14 – End of One Year Founder Pledge Promotion

04.18.14 – Duke and Lord of the Manor VIP Design Roundtable with Lord British and Portalarium Studio Tour

Only 52 Days Remain to Purchase/Upgrade/Gift Founder Pledges

Until the promotion ends on April 7th, 2014, Founder backers will be able to purchase and/or gift additional Founder pledges containing all the original Founder rewards, as well as upgrade any of their pledges at original Kickstarter prices. After April 7th, prices for upgrades, gifts, and purchases will increase to Benefactor prices and no new Founder pledges can be created. Don’t miss out!

Referral Bonus for Gifted Pledges!

Early Founders who wish to act as patrons to their family, friends, guildmates, or members of the SotA community, will also continue to receive the $25 Referral Bonus for every additional pledge they purchase as a gift for others. Not only are you helping out others to become Founders, but you are also growing your own pledge account by $25 every time you do! Win-win for everyone!

We’ve created the Player Marketplace area in the forums to help facilitate these transactions between our community members and we ask that you keep these transactions in that section.

Hurry and take advantage of this tremendous offer as there are only 52 days remaining until the Early Founder Pledge Promotion ends on April 7, 2014.

[NOTE: Any pledge payment plans started prior to April 8, 2014 will remain in effect at the original Early Founder price until that plan is completed or cancelled. Until we automate the process, you can send a request to support@portalarium.com to have your pledges merged.]