SOTA NewsAvatar’s Update #301: Signed Box Sale, Lava Fish, Scaling & Trophy Stream Today

Jack T. Lamplighter · 10/12/2018 02:45 PM

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

Fishing Phase 2 Updates: Trophies & Lava Fish

Fishing Phase 2 is going to include some amazing expansions to the fishing system and we outlined these during the Release 57 livestream as well as our recent weekly livestreams. In last week’s update #300 we revealed the freshwater, saltwater, and fetid water fish going live in Q4 as well as a preview of the scaling tech. This week we reveal the Lava Fish and a bunch of the new fish mounted as trophies!

Here’s a list of some of what Fishing Phase 2 includes and will be appearing over the course of Q4 this year:

4 Different Water Types: Fresh, Salt, Fetid (Swamp, Dungeon, Sewer), and LAVA!!!!
More Fish: New fish types to go with the new water types including more rare and fantastical fish (rainbow trout that have actual rainbow coloring).
More Loot: We will add more random loot to fishing.
Different Bait and Lure Types: Different lures/baits work better/worse with different water types and for catching different fish. Gems are the only lure that works in Lava.
Bait as Active Skill: To use all the different bait types this will now become an active skill, much like seeds are the active skill in Agriculture
Trophy Data: You will now have a chance to catch a “trophy fish” that will have extra data on it including information like Weight, Who Caught, When Caught, etc. We will also scale the fish based on this trophy data.
More Recipes: More recipes using the new fish introduced as well as new recipes using original fish.
Group and Social Bonuses: Randomly selected Player Owned Towns with water will get a short fishing bonus. We will also be introducing an experience bonus for fishing while grouped.

Starting Scenes & New User Experience Rework

As mentioned in Update #289 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.

New Isle of Storms Tutorial Area:

Rebuilt Solace Bridge:

New Website

We have launched a new look and layout for the website! After several weeks of work Damon Waldrip and Tassilo Philipp have finished a complete overhaul of our website as part of our overall effort to improve initial impressions of the game for new users that will also include a complete rework of the new user experience and tutorial for Release 59 on October 25.

Scaling & Trophies Livestream Today

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday October 12 at 4 PM CDT on Twitch!

This week we are going to talk about the new scaling technology coming online in Release 59 to support Fishing Phase 2, harvesting, and agriculture! This tech allows us to scale items when they are harvested or caught through systems like fishing. Above you can see a picture of some trophy pumpkins that were harvested. Joaquin “Wizardsmoke” Del Canto and Brandon “Bzus” Cotton will be showing off how this system works with pumpkins and we will discuss how it will work with trophy fish.

As a reminder you can earn the Dragon themed stretchgoals by making a purchase on any Friday during Release 58 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!

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%!

Physical Goods Address Verification Update

[Forum post by Serafina]

Greetings Avatars!

The address verification system we’ve had in place on the account page is not working the way we intended. With that in mind, we’ve decided to remove the verification system. This will probably be removed next week.

If your address is currently in a confirmed state, our work will not unconfirm your address, but simply remove the verification state.

As we expect to ship physical goods with Phase 2 later in Q4, there is nothing you need to do right now with your address. More information will be coming next week as we complete the work.

We will extend the Oct 19 deadline by two weeks to November 2.

Thank you for you continued patience!

Shroud of the Avatar Signed Boxed Edition on Sale!

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) we are excited to announce that for a limited time we are also offering a signed version of the retail Boxed Edition for purchase directly from our website! For videogame collector’s Lord British boxes are “must haves” and were the first games to even come in boxes (and first to include cloth maps, trinkets, etc.)!

In celebration of SotaCon, the annual convention of all things Shroud, this rare signed version of the box is on sale for only $89 (a $50 discount!) until Monday October 15!

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)

Oct 5 Weekly Livestream (YouTube)

Last week Serafina hosted our weekly livestream and gave out more Dragon themed prizes which was the theme of our Release 58 Livestream the previous day. We also hit another Dragon themed stretchgoal: Dragon Skin Rugs! As a reminder you can earn the Dragon themed stretchgoals by making a purchase on any Friday during Release 58 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: Dyes

In Release 58 we updated over 30 decorations to be dyeable including the craftable beds, Ornate Elven Furniture, craftable Elven furniture, tents, and awnings. To celebrate we are putting all dyes 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 12, 2018 – Weekly Livestream: Scaling & Trophies
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 – Through the Moongate Kickstarter

“Through the Moongate: Richard Garriott, Origin, and Ultima” a book by Andrea Contato.

Richard Garriott, Origin Systems, and the legendary CRPG series Ultima are central to the history of video games. This is their story.

If you have played a computer role-playing game (CRPG), chances are Ultima played a part in its inspiration. Created by visionary Richard Garriott, and produced by his company Origin Systems, Inc., Ultima is one of the most important and influential CRPG series in the world. Through the Moongate illuminates the path of the Ultima games’ history and the creative people behind this landmark series. It also covers some of Origin’s other games, especially Wing Commander, and touches on several contemporary titles. Many of these tales have never before been told.

Join the Kickstarter now!

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.

View the full article

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SOTA NewsAvatar’s Update #301: Signed Box Sale, Lava Fish, Scaling & Trophy Stream Today

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