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

Game Development

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Tutorial Area

As mentioned in Update #289 and Update #301 part of our Q4 efforts to improve the New User Experience is separating the tutorials from the story spaces in the three starting areas (Solace Bridge, Highvale, and Blood River). We are building a new focused tutorial space in the Isle of Storms that walks you through the game basics in a gated fashion (i.e. you cannot advance to the next room until you prove you can swing a sword). Once you complete all the tutorials you will then journey through the Lunar Rift to one of the three starting areas. Those areas are being polished to be more focused and tighter in their direction. We are also removing the tutorial elements and having them be almost entirely focused on story. In the case of Solace Bridge this means rebuilding it completely for Release 59.

This week we are showing off more views of the new Isle of Storms Tutorial Area which is also the focus of this week’s livestream:

New User Experience Livestream Today

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday October 19 at 4 PM CDT on Twitch!

This week we are going to talk about the rebuilt New User Experience that is going live in Release 59. This includes a new tutorial area in Isle of Storms and a rebuilt version of Solace Bridge. Keith “Sannio” Quinn and Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski will walk us through the new tutorial area and discuss the key differences and improvements of this experience including how choosing your story path is now independent of your starting decks.

This is the final Friday to earn the Release 58 Dragon themed stretchgoals by making a purchase or by participating in the Rewards program! These stretchgoals are in honor of the Wyverns which went live in Release 58. We have already hit the first three goals!

ACHIEVED $10K: Dragon Egg Decorations

ACHIEVED $25K: /breathefirespiral

ACHIEVED $35K: Dragon Skin Rugs (2 colors)

$50K: Dragon Dungeon Entrance Pattern

$65K: Dragon Bow & Dragon Plate Helm

$80K: Dragon Sword & Dragon Polearm

$90K: Dragon Mask Set (multiple color variants) with smoke VFX

$100K: Unique Dungeon Dragon Encounter Room

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 “Light it up” in the chat window (no purchase necessary).

Watch on Twitch this Friday at 4 PM CDT!



Release 59 on QA Server

An early version of R59 is on the QA server. R59 is full of new content most of which is now on the QA server for early testing. We could really use everyone’s help to test all of this amazing content before it goes live!

Fishing Phase 2: Freshwater, Saltwater, Fetid Water, Lava Tons of new fish! New Fishing skills New Fish Recipes with new buffs Group Bonus POT Bonus

Pumpkin Head and his minions (seasonal)

Revamped New User Experience

Universal Chat

Decay Removed

Spooky Dungeon Entrance Patterns

Tons of Bug Fixes

R57 Livestream Items

and more!

Testing on QA makes you eligible for Testing Incentive Rewards including gold crowns, the Ant Farm, Antennae, Bug Cloak and Paintings.





50% Item Fridays & 20% Crown Weekends Holiday Sales

To celebrate our first holiday season since launching we are putting most items* in the store on sale for 50% off, our deepest discounts ever, every Friday noon to midnight, until December 21, 2018!

Additionally we are having our first sale on Gold Crowns of the Obsidians ever! Some packages are discounted as much as 20% every weekend through December 21, 2018!

*Note that this sale does not include the already discounted and expiring Bundles and associated items.

Elven, Obsidian, & Shogun Expirations

To celebrate our first holiday season since launching the Elven, Obsidian and Shogun Bundles are expiring at 11:59 PM CT on December 21, 2018! As a limited time bonus we have added Episode 2 access to these bundles! We will also be expiring several of the items that are included in those bundles including pets, weapons, decorations and homes. We are also discounting these items, some as much as 30%! For City level bundles this means a $1000 discount!

NOTE: This is a final expiration. Upgrades will not be allowed after these bundles expire.

Viking & Kobold Expirations

To celebrate our first holiday season since launching the Viking and Kobold Bundles are expiring at 11:59 PM CT on November 30! As a limited time bonus we have added Episode 2 access to these bundles! We will also be expiring several of the items that are included in those bundles including pets, weapons, decorations and homes. We are also discounting these items, some as much as 30% For City level bundles this means a $1000 discount!

NOTE: This is a final expiration. Upgrades will not be allowed after these bundles expire.

Physical Goods Shipping Phase 2 – Check your Shipping Address by Nov 2!

[From a forum post by Serafina]

We would like to thank you for your continued patience with getting Physical Rewards out to you.

As you may already know, we had issues with the address verification system unconfirming addresses. We have removed the bugged system.

If you are due physical goods with your pledge but haven’t gotten them yet, we plan to ship them out to you with Phase 2, which is scheduled for later in Q4.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW:

1. Make sure your Shipping Address is filled out on the Account page under Edit Profile.

2. Check the box below it that reads, “Ship my physical rewards to this address! (This box must be checked for physical rewards to be shipped.)”

3. Click the “Update Profile” button at the bottom of the page.

If your address was confirmed before this change, the checkbox should be checked already, but please make sure it’s checked and you click Update Profile to be safe.

For shipping addresses outside the United States, you must have International Shipping listed under your Add-Ons tab on your Account page. If you do not have it listed, you can purchase International Shipping in the Game Services store.

The deadline for checking the checkbox and purchasing International Shipping on your account (if applicable) is November 2, 2018.

Thank you again for your continued patience and support!

Signed Boxed Edition (limited time) For those of you who missed the opportunity to purchase the Collector’s Boxed Edition of Shroud of the Avatar during the Kickstarter (expired on January 4, 2016) you will be able to purchase the retail Boxed Edition from Amazon very soon. We are excited to announce that for a limited time we are also offering a signed version of the retail Boxed Edition (see above) for purchase directly from our website! This edition includes:

Physical Goods:

Game Box signed by Lord British*

Game Manual

DVD in case

Runic Translation Card

Ankh Trinket

Cloth Map

Our Epic Origins

Digital Items:

Digital Download of Shroud of the Avatar, Episode 1 (Full Game Access)

30 Bank Slots to store your gear

1 Gold Crown

Pick 1 Obsidian Potion

Digital Download of Shroud of the Avatar, Episode 2 (Full Game Access when released)

Exclusive Title: Visionary

Exclusive Emote (exact emote to be created at a future date)

NEW: Unique Item (to be created at a a future date)

Scaling & Trophies Weekly Livestream (YouTube)

Last week’s weekly livestream was about the new scaling and trophy tech going into Release 59 and Q4 and we showed off some truly epic pumpkins and Jack O Lanterns. Lord British and Darkstarr were in full regalia as SotaCon was in full swing! We gave out lots of dyes as prizes to tie in with the weekend Dye sale. We also made steady progress towards the Dragon themed stretchgoals with players making purchases or by participating in the Rewards program. These stretchgoals are in honor of the Wyverns which went live in Release 58.

In case you missed it you can now view it on YouTube:

Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive rare stretch-goal items from our monthly livestreams! This program automatically enrolls you in the monthly livestreams (counts as the $5 minimum purchase) along with other perks.

For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

9 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month

Automatic Participation in the Monthly Livestream Stretchgoals (counts as the $5 minimum purchase)

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

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



Weekend Flash Sale: Spooky

In Release 57 we added back in our recurring spooky items. In Release 58 we added the 2018 Jack O Lantern rare items as well as Ornate Dungeon Foyers. In honor of all this spookiness all spooky items, including dungeon items, are on sale this weekend!

Follow the links to learn more about each item. Also, you’ll want to explore the game in detail for there are many more craftable items available!

Upcoming Events Calendar

Oct 19, 2018 – Weekly Livestream: New User Experience

Oct 25, 2018 – Release 59

Oct 29, 2018 – Release 59 Dance Party

Nov 2, 2018 – Release 59 Livestream

Nov 15, 2018 – Release 60

Nov 19, 2018 – Release 60 Dance Party

Nov 30, 2018 – Release 60 Livestream

Dec 13, 2018 – Release 61

Dec 17, 2018 – Release 61 Dance Party

Dec 21, 2018 – Release 61 Livestream

Jan 21, 2019 – Release 62

Feb 28, 2019 – Release 63

Mar 8 – 17, 2019 – SXSW

Mar 18 – 22, 2019 – GDC

Mar 28, 2019 – Release 64

Apr 25, 2019 – Release 65

May 30, 2019 – Release 66

June 27, 2019 – Release 67

July 25, 2019 – Release 68

Aug 29, 2019 – Release 69

Visit the official Community Calendar to see the great lineup of activities our amazing community has planned for this weekend! And be sure to check out this month’s Release Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events.

Community Event: 4Brain – Where is Net?

[Forum post by Net]

When: 2018-09-28 18:00 – 2018-10-26 18:00 UTC (The event ends October 26th 1pm CDT)

What: Some of you have wondered where was Net in Riya’s event last month. I was busy exploring all the wonderful mazes in the Novia and preparing myself for the new events. Since preparation of in-game events takes time (and resources), here is a fun maths and exploration event for you to keep you busy this month.

You have to solve one simple equation to win this event. 1st person to solve it correctly will win the Ornate Cornucopia 2016 and 5 golden crowns, however everyone successfully finishing the event in time will also get uniquely numbered 4Brain book with cool puzzles and stuff.

So, without further ado, here is the simple equation you have to solve:

W=X-Y-Z

Now, to find the values of X, Y, Z there are three more equations for you:

X=5×a-5×b+2×c

Y=(-17×f-28×d)/(29×e-46×d)

Z=15×i-10×g+h

To get the values of a-i, you will have to explore Novia a bit and find the locations where I was in the pictures below. If you find the exact spot I was in, you can use the /loc command to get the coordinates in the form (x, y, z), you should ignore decimal places (e.g. for loc (20.9, -15.4, -196.6) the x = 20, y = -15, z = -196).

You will find the loc (a, b, c) in this place. You will find the loc (d, e, f) in this place. You will find the loc (g, h, i) in this place. Prizes:

1st place – Ornate Cornucopia 2016 and 5 golden COTOs

2nd-5th place – 1 golden COTO

Everyone successfully completing the event – 1st edition of the upcoming 4Brain book (details TBA, but it will contain at least one brain melting puzzle)

Everyone finding at least one location – gets a chance to win a filled spirits cask with the 4B heraldry



Community Event: Novia Market R58 Grandmastery Bundles

[Forum post by ldykllr]

NoMa Grandmastery Bundles (R58)

Every month we are offering four professional-grade bundles:

Adventurer’s Bundle – some of the highest grade gear available in the land, ready to take a novice adventurer to the journeyman level! This month we are featuring armor from Grizelda TheHag (@Grizelda TheHag ) Crafter’s Bundle – Are you an aspiring Tailor? The Tailor’s Starter Kit comes complete with all the items you will need to get started! Custom Bundle – This is something new we are offering. This is NOT geared towards the beginner player, this is for all the veterans out there. Ever want to get a set of custom armor made? Well here is your chance! These tickets will go for 20,000gp for a shot at getting a FULL set of armor and a weapon (Tier 2 mats only, no rares – this excludes Bone Armor, Obsidian Armor, Mossy Handles, Unicorn materials, etc). Your choices will be from the following types — Bronze, Meteoric, Constantin, White Iron, Fustian, Carapacian, Supple, Hardened, etc). NOTE: It can take from 2 weeks to 1 month for your custom armor to be fulfilled to your specifications. Consumable Bundle – Our consumable bundle this month includes a set of consumables (food and potions) sponsored by Zeetocht (@Zeetocht — Combat Consumables).

These bundles will be raffled on October 26th (the day after R59 release). Tickets are on sale now and priced especially for beginners at 500gp each bundle (with the exception of the Custom Bundle – see above). No matter how many tickets a character purchases, they will only get a single chance at winning that bundle – so purchase only one ticket per bundle!

We are hosting the ticket vendors and a display table of what each bundle entails at Market Square, at the south end of NoMa (if you check in with the town crier, it is the only City lot in town and under Governor Robyn Hood’s name). As you wander past all of our merchants, please do some window shopping and take a look at what all of our residents have to offer!

(Screenshots below to help you find your way).

Cheers,

Ben & Robyn

Screenshots

Location of the Market Square in Novia Market

Meretz: Win a Gothic Village Inn

Win a Gothic Village Inn & earn free SotA in-game items daily!

Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs).

The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy!

Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries, Relics by Rild giveaways, and tons more.

With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month.

This month, we’re giving away a Gothic Village Inn – valued at $100!

You can also enter to win a Relics By Rild $50 Gift Card, SOTACON Austin 2018 tickets, and other cool prizes.

AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes.

What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY!

Project to Support – Immortal Darkness

Immortal Darkness: Curse of the Pale King is a dark fantasy dungeon crawler that features real-time tactical combat, twisted traps, stimulating puzzles, and a wide array of spells. It expertly blends old school dungeon crawler fun with a gripping storyline, modern visuals, smooth mechanics, and captivating atmospheric audio. Available now on Steam for $19.99.

Longtime industry veterans Chris Shrigley and Damon Dubois were inspired to build a dungeon crawler that married the intimate, story-driven feel of tabletop gaming with accessible action-adventure gameplay. Fun fact Chris Shrigley and Starr Long worked together at Disney where Chris was Starr’s Technology Director for several projects.

The team includes writer Ted Petersen of Elder Scrolls fame, renowned game artist Yigit Koroglu, expert visual effects artist Joel Benefiel, classically-trained composer Jan Glembotzki, primo voice actress Lani Minella, and legendary voice actor Mark Dodson.

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.