Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Lord British Hosts Hangout to Celebrate $3 Million Milestone
• 6 Day Countdown to Release 2 Launch!
• Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 5
• The Spoony Interviews
• Founder Edelmann Village Waterfront Cabana
• Founder Melee Weapons
• Cooking Pot of Prosperity
• Village Lots Make A Comeback
• 80 Days Remaining for Early Founder Pledge Prices

Lord British Hosts Hangout to Celebrate $3 Million Milestone

Shroud of the Avatar has crossed the $3M milestone thanks to your generous support! The team and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of our Backers for your belief in both our team and our vision for New Britannia!

To celebrate our $3 Million milestone, and the launch of Release 2, I’m hosting a late night Video Hangout next Thursday, January 23. We’ll post more details about the video hangout next week.

Your Humbled Servant
~Lord British

6 Day Countdown to Release 2 Launch!

We’re only 6 days away from the launch of Release 2 and the team is working feverishly to get it ready! We’re all looking forward to another great turnout from our backers, so please come check out the new features and content, and help us find bugs and provide design feedback! Stay tuned for a special update next Wednesday, January 22, providing all the details about Release 2.

Release 2 is only available to backers starting at the $45 Adventurer Pledge Tier (and $25 Early Founder First Responders), so if you want to play and haven’t backed the game yet, then please make sure you have registered on our website and made your pledge.

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Welcome to another edition of Update of the Avatar! The team is working hard to get Release 2 ready for this month’s launch, and the excitement is mounting! Stay tuned for more Release 2 launch information in an upcoming update. Here’s what we have for you this week:

• Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 4
• SotA on More Top Ten MMO Lists for 2014
• The Spoony Interviews
• Founder Citizen Village Waterfront Cabana
• Founder Royal Artisan Taming Creature Call
• Carpentry Hammer of Prosperity

Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 4

Chapter 4 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 Chapter 4 (illustration by Denis Loubet):

Chapter 4: Messages

“Captain Bennis!”

Aren awoke with a start, sliding his feet over the edge of the cot and coming to sit in the familiar gloom of his tent. He was awake at once, though noted he was feeling a few aches and pains that were unfamiliar to him. He still wore the tunic and the breaches from the previous day. He reached for his nearby boots, dragging them on even as he spoke.

“I am here,” he called out, his voice still a little hoarse. “What is it?”

“General Karpasik requests that you come at once!”

The captain stopped what he was doing immediately, dropping the second boot and then running his hand back through his untamed hair. The cascade of actual emergencies that had suddenly flooded into his mind along with each of their dire and immediate responses fled from him. “And did the general say what it was that he wanted?”

“He… He would like to inquire as to just how soon the Victory March might begin.” The voice from beyond the tent flap was young and high-pitched. Aren felt some sympathy for the young warrior. Few soldiers in the Army of Conquest received a message from the general with politeness.

“The Victory March?” Bennis shook his head in disbelief. “Is the general in some particular hurry?”

“The General has received orders from the Obsidians,” came the muffled voice beyond the canvas of the tent. “We are to leave a garrison force, but the bulk of the Army is to strike the encampment and prepare to march.”

“So the General has received orders to move the Army, but he still insists on having his parade,” Bennis muttered, shaking his head once again. He raised his voice slightly so that the messenger could hear him clearly. “Please inform the General that I will report to him shortly.”

“Yes, sir! And… Err…” “What is it, boy?” Aren could hear the hesitance in the voice outside.

“The General asks that you bring the tribute that you discovered in the ruins yesterday,” the warrior said, tripping over his words.

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

Read more…

Happy New Year Fellow Avatars!

Welcome to our first edition of Update of the Avatar for 2014! We hope all of you enjoyed your holidays and brought in the New Year with a bang! We’ve got some cool stuff to help get your New Year off to a great start:

• SotA Makes the Forbes and MMORPG.com Top Games Lists of 2014
• More Spoony
• Benefactor Cloak
• Add-On Store Conversion
• Let’s Talk About Lots
• Darkstarr Salute
• Hammer of Prosperity
• Sigil Capes
• Changes to Chat

SotA Makes the Forbes and MMORPG.com Top Games Lists of 2014

MMORPG.COM Ranks SotA #2 Most Wanted MMO of 2014!

The staff at MMORPG.com are kicking off the New Year with their Top 10 List of The Most Wanted MMOs of 2014, and Shroud of the Avatar came in at #2!

“The spiritual successor to Ultima Online, driven by much of that game’s staff, and featuring both MMO play and completely offline adventuring. Need we really say more?”

Here’s their complete 2014 Top 10 List:

1. Wildstar Online
2. Shroud of the Avatar
3. EverQuest Next: Landmark
4. Elder Scrolls Online
5. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
6. ArcheAge
7. Destiny
8. The Division
9. Elite Dangerous
10. The Repopulation

Forbes Includes SotA in their Best Video Game RPGs of 2014 and Beyond!

“When it comes to roleplaying video games, it often feels as though the golden days are behind us…But when you start looking at all the incredible games coming out in the next couple years, you begin to realize that there are in fact quite a few great-looking RPGs in the works…From the creator of the old Ultima games, Richard Garriott, Avatar is a crowdfunded RPG that promises to bring back some of what made those games great.”

Read more…

We Wish You the Happiest of Holidays!

From the entire Shroud of the Avatar Development Team

The Replenishing Snowball Box

And in the spirit of the season, we’ve added the Replenishing Snowball Box to the basic rewards of all pledge tiers as a holiday gift for our backers. This magical box of 50 snowballs regenerates annually during the holiday season.

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Welcome to this week’s Edition of Update of the Avatar! We have a lot of great information to share about our successful launch of Release 1, plus much more!

• Release 1 Results
• Britannia Burns – Part 3, the Spoony Roast
• Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 3
• Founder Duke Island Castle
• Founder Knight Home Renovations
• Founder’s Tunic
• Town and City Lots
• Oracle Statue Home Decoration
• Hoe of Prosperity
• The 6-Pack of Prosperity

Release 1 Postmortem!

Starr Long (Executive Producer) shared his perspective on the Release 1 results in a post on the public forums. Here’s an excerpt:

Greetings Avatars,

Release 1 lasted a short four days but it is having a very lasting impression on all of us. For us it was a chance to bring our loyal backers even closer to the product with hands on experience. For you it was a chance to see what you made happen through your generous pledges. At a more fundamental level Release 1 was a test of this new paradigm of crowd funded and crowd sourced development. That paradigm is about a much more transparent and tighter communication loop between the community and the developers. Nowhere is that more true than with an early test like Release 1. Yes of course it was a test of specific systems like patching, login, character customization, housing, and conversations. At a deeper level it was a test to see if we could give you something so very early in development and have you understand what to expect. We worked on that by being as clear as we could on what to expect, and what not to expect. It seemed to have worked as almost everyone who played understood what they were looking at. This understanding allowed all of you to give us really valuable and accurate feedback that we can act on…

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

It’s been a super exciting week as backers are finally able to log into Release 1 of the game and explore character creation, home decorating, and NPC conversations! Read more about it in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar, which includes:

• Release 1 Open to Play until December 14!
• Britannia Burns – Part 2, the Spoony Roast
• Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 2
• Founder Starter Armor
• The Darkstarr Cloak
• Sickle of Prosperity
• Holiday Specials

Come Play Release 1 Now!

Release 1 successfully launched yesterday, December 12th, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and exploring the town of Owl’s Head! We need all our backer’s help with stress-testing the servers and testing the game systems, so please join us in playing Release 1.

In this version, you can create an avatar and equip them with different clothing, armor and weapons (scattered throughout town in chests). You can also select a house from the entire list of player houses, even the vast Lord of the Manor estate.There are chests of furniture and decorations all over Owl’s Head for you to pick up and outfit your newly established homes. You will also be able to try out the dialogue system by conversing with NPCs.

[Note: This early release is single player online only. Release 1 access will end on Saturday, December 14 at 10:00 PM Central Time]

Hurry and join us in playing Shroud of the Avatar while Release 1 access is open! (click here for more complete instructions on downloading and playing Release 1)

The Spoony Interview/Roast: Britannia Burns – Part 2!

This week we’re featuring the next installment of the Spoony interview/roast of Lord British! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

British hates the little children.

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Blade of the Avatar Novel: Chapter 1
• Gearing Up for Release 1 Next Week!
• Kariela’s Song by David “Iolo” Watson
• Founder’s Crystal Sword
• Skinning Knife of Prosperity
• Taming Reindeer Call

Blade of the Avatar Novel, Chapter 1

Chapter 1 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 Chapter 1 (illustration by Denis Loubet, renowned Ultima artist):

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar. Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday we’re publishing the update early this week. Lot’s of great stuff to share, including the first installment of the SotA novel by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott, and some awesome Black Friday weekend promotions!

• First Installment of Blade of the Avatar Novel
• Combat Design
• The Immortality Fruit
• The Royal Elderberry
• The Pickaxe of Prosperity
• Black Friday Weekend Promotions
• Kickstarter: The Space Bards Present Their First Album, “Neon Milk”!
• Movember: Shroud of the Mustache

[Book Cover Art by Stephen Daniele and Tracy Hickman]

Blade of the Avatar Novel, Installment 1 – Prologue

The first installment of the serialized SotA novel, Blade of the Avatar (BotA), written by Tracy Hickman & Richard Garriott, is now available for download! Digital version of BotA is included as an Early Founder reward at all pledge levels $25 or higher, and is also available in the Add-On Store for everyone. Early Founders can download the first installment at the new Early Founder Rewards area in the community forums (accessible to Early Founders only; Early Founders are backers that pledged any amount by May 20, 2013). 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).

If you purchased BotA in the Add-On Store, then you will find a download link for the first installment on your personal SotA account page (log into SotA website and click on “Account” in the top-right corner).

This installment consists of the Prologue. Here is a brief excerpt (illustration by Denis Loubet, renowned Ultima artist):

Read more…

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s edition of Update of the Avatar includes:

• Britannia Burns! The Long Awaited Spoony Interview/Roast!
• Benefactor Knight Village Home
• Founder Knight Home Improvements
• Story Sneak Peek #7 & Map Reveal
• Founder’s Cloak
• Lord British Cloak
• Axe of Prosperity
• Hearth of Britannia Lords of the Hearth Event
• Gifts of the Avatar!

Britannia Burns! The Long Awaited Spoony Interview/Roast!

You wanted it! You earned it in our Kickstarter Stretch Goals! You waited for it! Well, wait no longer! Presenting… Spoony meets Lord British, Part 1!

The unvirtuous force meets the inscrutable object!

Read more…