A sincere thank you

Hi Community,

It took me a few days to figure out what to write here. As you have seen by now, some of us are no longer working at Portalarium. I am unfortunately one of them.

While I've only been at the studio for a fraction of the time since the Kickstarter was announced, community relationships between many of you were already in existence for quite some time, and in some cases go all the way back to the Ultima series over three decades ago. This amazing community was a catalyst to my resolute determination to join the Portalarium team, and a big reason why I'm going to miss being your community manager and a part of the development process for Shroud of the Avatar.

When I came on-board Portalarium in 2016, I honestly wasn't quite sure what to expect. This was my first time managing a community that already existed on such a scale. As I got to know the team and how the community so closely tied into the team's passion for making the game a success, I quickly dove in and sought to find a place for myself. Working with Richard Garriott, Starr Long, Chris Spears, and everyone else at Portalarium and our partners, was a true pleasure and an amazing experience. Some of you have even been to the studio and seen the magic happen behind the scenes. You know what it takes to make a game and it's not easy... but they're making it happen here, even with occasional bumps in the road.

The Shroud of the Avatar community is one of the strongest communities I've ever seen, and am proud to have gotten to know all of you. Helping to get the word out about your events was a lot of fun, not to mention attending some of the more wild dance parties, pvp tournaments, and SotACon and other in-person meetups. You have something truly special here, so hold onto that experience, whatever form the game takes in the future. Work together to see it through and help the developers to build up Shroud of the Avatar. There's no other community like this one, where the developers are willing to work with you and be as open and transparent as they are to make it all happen.

There are so many names to mention, I'll just say that all of you made a positive impact on me... including some of the more eccentric community members . I may have been a stern moderator at times, but it was for the betterment of the community. I also learned a few more things in the process, so thank you for that. Know that Portalarium, Travian Games (thanks @Cerus!), and our other partners, all intend to keep the community strong and need your help in making it happen.

While one part of my story with you is closed at this time, another part has opened that I'm excited to start exploring. The game world is now available for me to journey through as a true equal community member. I have a home in Ordinis Mortis (thanks @Minerva!), Hometown, and hope to expand to other player owned towns as town governor's welcome me to their communities. I'll be playing as much as I can, and hope to join you in exploring the regular monthly content the team builds for the game. I'm especially excited to see when Episode 2 content starts coming out.

Thank you community for being the best community I could ever hope to have managed... no, to have joined. Here's to Shroud of the Avatar!

 

Hey @Berek, sorry to see you go man. Was happy to work with you on improving the Add-On Store descriptions and posting updates. I'll miss you doing the weekly videos and giving away too many prizes.

Good luck in your next adventure.

 

See you in New Britannia!

 

Even though I was never able to eat you as a dev, I always appreciated your direction. I look forward to eating you as soon as possible. Thanks for being tasty!

 

Hi @Berek
I will miss your live streams on Fridays where you were passionate about sharing the team's achievements and of course your wolf shirts. They kinda almost made me feel badly when killing wolves. (kinda, the resources are good just saying) Your enthusiasm and pronunciation of dragons will be surely missed and will always be a part of the unofficial SOTA lore. I wish you the best in life and if you ever save enough gold for a second home, Diamond Fields would welcome you lol as I am sure 100+ other pots would as well.

 

Out of all the games I have played over the years (and there have been quite a lot), you are the only community manager that I care to remember. It has nothing to do with how recent the experience was, and everything to do with the type of guy you are and what you've done for us. Thanks!

 

Good fortune to you @Berek !

 

so it's a farewell and a welcome

looking forward to meet ya ingame

best wishes in the real life

 

This will be always your home @Berek.

Thank you for these two years, and wish you the best! see you in Ordinis.

 

Thank you @Berek for all you did for the game and for us and also for listening to some of my nagging so politely. I wish you much success in your adventures in life including happiness and good health. Best wishes always. Take good care.

 

Very sad to see you leave, but very happy to see you stick around in Novia with us. You're always going to be my #1 Community Manager. Now, please take off your God mode

 

Will really miss you here. You were great with the Community!

Thank you, and I wish you the best for the future!

 

Thanks for you service friend. You took a lot of hits on behalf of us all, and managed to stay positive.

Good luck in your career, and looking forward to seeing you in game!

 

I am so surprised by this decision with your involvement in the game and that worries me .

Good luck Berek i'm sad for you all ..

 

I wish you all the best on your future career and thank you for your good work on SotA.
See you InGame.

 

See you in New britannia my friend thank you for being there for us berek! and i wish you all the best in your future endevours.

 

Good luck out there @Berek hope you are able to find suitable employment as well as establish and maintain a success. All best to you.

 

It's very reassuring and indeed quite amazing to see the amount of ex Port staff who can't wait to come back in just as players.

This shows the bonhomie in the team, credit to the team leaders for that, and very importantly, their love for the game and their unswerving faith in its future.

 

Thank you, Berek.

 

Thank you Berek and happy to see you ingame.
Live long and prosper