Update of the Avatar/Update 239

Update of the Avatar #239, posted posted_on::August 8th 2017

Update of the Avatar #239 – 2017.04.08: Etceter and South Paladis Scenes, Norgard Garments, Travian Partnership, Portalarium is Hiring, R44 Telethon, Dragon Con & PAX, Trailer Contest, and More!
Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

The Latest Game Progress News Announcements Community Updates
 * Etceter Polish (cont.)
 * New Norgard Garments (cont.)
 * Making of South Paladis Scenes: Middle Downs and South Broken Road
 * Travian Games Partnership
 * Portalarium is Hiring: Sound Designer
 * R44 Postmortem Mini-Telethon Aug 7!
 * Free Trial Test #5: Aug 9 – 30
 * DragonCon Schedule: More Panels Announced!
 * PAX Dev Schedule Update: Starr’s Crowdfunding Panel
 * Shroud In the News: Ideate TV, VentureBeat
 * Weekend Flash Sale: Elven, Clockwork, and More!
 * SeedInvest: Minimum Exceeded! Last Chance to Invest!
 * Upcoming Events Calendar
 * ‘Welcome to New Britannia’ Community Trailer Contest
 * Community Livestream: Celebrating Release 44
 * Events: RPOTA’s August Writing Contest and Mad Hatter’s LAN Party
 * Resources: Players Helping Players
 * Recommended Project to Support: Out of the Woods



Etceter Polish (cont.)
Etceter was cloned from Kingsport originally and while we made significant changes to the scene to make it unique we still felt it needed more polish. It also needed more obvious visual references to the historical locations mentioned in The Sword of Midras (the prequel novel written by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott). Additionally after building Xenos we established a characteristic Greco-Roman ruins look for that region of the world and we wanted to propagate that look to nearby towns. For instance Aerie now has a “Little Xenos” quarter.

Since Etceter is the main port that takes you to Xenos it only made sense that it should have some strong influences from that style.


 * ''&#91;A Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones&#93; Having finished my part of the polish pass for Etceter, I wanted to share some of the final results for the areas I haven’t had the chance to showcase to you fine folks yet…  [[Image:Etceter-17.jpg|800px]]  When commenting earlier in this post, I hadn’t had the chance to make a beautifying pass on the outer areas of the scene, such as the main entrance and edge conditions. That has now changed, and as you can see by the images, one of my primary focuses was making sure that where areas of nature met areas of old construction and civilized development, there was a very “intentional” feel to the placement of natural objects and built structures. In these initial images you can see the remnants of these walls, which I have used to demarcate the roads more distinctly than they were before, and to beckon travelers toward areas of both commerce as well as the general entrances of the various estates scattered throughout the scene.  [[Image:Etceter-18.jpg|800px]]  In Etceter, for example, descriptions in the book (pertaining to Amanda’s cottage) indicated that chest-high walls often lined the edges of the town’s roads in various places. Since 200 years and an Obsidian occupation has taken its toll, these walls have fallen into disrepair and neglect, but are still a rustic reminder of Etceter in its heyday, when it had been a prosperous port flowing with the wealth of its mine, and rich trade from along the coasts of the Bay of Storms.  [[Image:Etceter-19.jpg|800px]]  I have repainted the roads, which before had a somewhat “spotty” look, moved the stones away from the center of the road towards the edges (where they would naturally migrate as they either got ground down into the dirt, or tossed aside by road-weary travelers), and did my best to make more natural paths that locals might have begun using as holes in the crumbling walls offered easier access. You’ll notice in these images that you are merely seeing placeholder houses instead of the actual fully-decorated player lots that occupy the live scene now, but rest assured that much of what you see has been carefully placed after I diligently scrutinized the real scene in our GM Live build, to make sure I took into account the existing layouts and entry features that well-nestled players have already grown to love. I was urged by our Art Director Hutch to be incredibly cautious about placing anything that might ruin either the convenience or the view of existing properties, and I worked hard to be as respectful of both access as well as beauty when improving the edge conditions of these areas for your business and pleasure…  It’s important to remember, when seeing these images, that though this was once a place in its prime, with a great degree of prosperous development and commerce, it has since fallen on hard times after the Obsidians invaded, its royalty was butchered, many of its houses destroyed, and with only a small population to keep it going even after the end of the wars (now including the dubious presence of satyrs and fauns). Etceter mostly survives today due to what little trade and travel occurs between it and Xenos. All the details I’ve added needed to indicate its past glory while still emphasizing its current state of “developed” decay. Hopefully you’ll all find my changes have provided some new excitement, interest, and immersion to the areas you now call home here!  [[Image:Etceter-20.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:Etceter-21.jpg|800px]]  Speaking of its current trade, I had mentioned earlier in the post that I wanted to share some of the changes I’d made to its harbor and dock-side areas. In the image above you can see the treatment I’ve applied to the sea-facing properties along the Western Road, which essentially adds a more “intentional-looking” quality to the path along this part of the coast, and the retaining wall that protects the nearby properties from the high tides that surely arise during storm-swells. It only makes sense that any architecture constructed along such a coast would need to be built either on stilts like some of the shanties in the poorer eastern quarter of the town, upon slightly higher ground as seen above, or upon firmer foundations of stone such as those seen supporting the pier-side shops of the commerce area. At this point, however, I would be remiss not to start the series of coastal images by showing a new feature than can be seen from many areas of town now, but especially along the docks. Seen below is the harbor itself, with its horizon changed to match both the world map, as well as the “Sword of Midras” a bit better. As described in the book, Amanda enjoys wistfully gazing out across the town and the distant bay, where she can sometimes see the outline of Siren Island to the north when the view is not obscured by the squalls that commonly assail the storm-tossed sea…  [[Image:Etceter-22.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:Etceter-23.jpg|800px]]  Of the many new qualities I wanted to capture with my additions to the harbor-side area was a stronger sense of commerce and connection between Etceter and Xenos. In these next few images I wanted to give a hint of the goods often traded here, especially since this is one of the few ports of call where passage to Elysium is easily acquired. Elysian amphorae, exotic rugs and fabrics, pottery, architectural elements, and decorative sculptures can be seen here and there along the docks, either waiting to be bought and sold, or already adorning some of the shops to be found here. Alleys and side-streets are no longer bereft of details, since some of these wares gladly spill over into them. The stone foundations of these portside buildings offer welcoming walkways where tourists stamp sand from their sandals (much of which gathers where the walls meet the granite pavers) before entering to sample the wares within!  [[Image:Etceter-24.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:Etceter-25.jpg|800px]]  And lastly, venturing toward the central marketplace, we can see the crumbling stones of the older walls and foundations hugging the newer shops and domiciles built within the last five decades or so. Again, with an eye to both “developing” and “unifying” the look of the town, I added these details more heavily in areas where permanent NPC buildings and non-decorated areas of homes presented themselves, while carefully indicating remnants of this same style-choice in and around player properties in ways that would accent the chosen “look and feel”, while not directly interfering with already-placed decorative elements, building choices, and points of convenient access…  [[Image:Etceter-26.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:Etceter-27.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:Etceter-28.jpg|800px]]  And with that, my little loving pass over Etceter is complete. Like I said, not nearly as extensive or dramatic as the changes I made to Xenos, but hopefully these simple touches will really tie the various elements of this scene together to help tell the story of its tumultuous history, as well as its present-day predicaments and concerns. I’ll now be passing this scene on to Dan to insure any changes I’ve made to the town and its environs are now reflected in the behaviors of the NPCs that inhabit it!  Have a great week everyone!  Scottie ^_^ Senior Environmental Artist''



New Norgard Garments (cont.)
We have begun creating the Viking-inspired clothing for the NPCs in the Northwest regions of Novia, including Norgard and Verdantis. This will complement the already established architectural character of the region and help to better define the area as a whole. We are creating garments for Guards, Citizens, and Merchants/Nobility, all of whom “courageously” display the color yellow which everyone knows drives the Kobolds mad, or so they say.

For Release 44 we updated the Guards in the region. In Release 45 we will update the other NPCs (Citizens, Upper Classes, and even enemies) in the region and we will create player wearable versions of these outfits.


 * ''&#91;A Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear and Kevin “UglyFist” Wells&#93; Hey everybody!  I finally took a few minutes to get some shots of Norgard guard stuff. All of this Norgard work is in-progress. I still need to make color adjustments, fur-cards, and more — but this is everything so far currently with the player wearable, and also guards’ gear.  Feedback welcome as always. Thanks, all!  Here is the player wearable armor…  [[Image:VikingGuardArmor.jpg|800px]]  Here are female Norgard guards so far…  [[Image:NorgardFemaleGuards.jpg|800px]]  And finally, some male guards…  [[Image:NorgardMaleGuards.jpg|800px]]



Making of South Paladis Scenes: Middle Downs and South Broken Road
We are focusing the next few releases on building the lower tier scenes near the cities along the paths of Truth and Courage. Most of these scenes have been clones of other scenes and will now be replaced with completely original scenes. In Release 45 two of these scenes are in the South Paladis Region. Middle Downs is a hilly Tier 1 scene near the mountains with a network of burial mounds and an abandoned village. South Broken Road is a Tier 2 scene comprised of a winding road through the mountain full of various encounters including plunderers and undead.

Middle Downs

 * &#91;From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar&#93; Hey guys! SorcerousSteve here to give you a sneak peek on my latest map, The Middle Downs!  The Middle Downs are located in South Paladis just south of Highvale in a rolling hills region. Serene and peaceful the area is lush, but scattered throughout the region are mysterious burial mounds built hundreds of years ago.  What mysteries do these burial mounds hold? Is there a link between their location/orientation and what puzzles/traps may lay inside?  [[Image:MiddleDowns_05.jpg|800px]]  The Western Mound  [[Image:MiddleDowns_04.jpg|800px]]  An abandoned village in the Middle Downs moments before sunset.  [[Image:MiddleDowns_01_01.jpg|800px]]  Another burial mound located to the South.  [[Image:MiddleDowns_02.jpg|800px]]  A lowland bog cuts through the center of the Middle Downs.  [[Image:MiddleDowns_03.jpg|800px]]  Stay tuned for more updates on the Middle Downs!  Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar Level Designer

South Broken Road

 * &#91;From a Dev+ Forum Post by Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski&#93; Here’s some sneak-preview shots of South Broken Road, a Tier 2 area between Opalis and Jaanford.  Garret The Fabulous, longtime purveyor of fine hair tonics and plague cures, has gone missing somewhere along the South Broken Road. If someone were to find his wares untended, let’s hope they wouldn’t try to make their own mixtures.  [[Image:south_broken_road_k6nAyjq.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:south_broken_road_7JioXJ6.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:south_broken_road_Ax4VrMz.jpg|800px]]  [[Image:south_broken_road_TNKkF9s.jpg|800px]]  Thanks for following!  Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski Level Designer



Travian Games Partnership


AUSTIN, Texas, July 31, 2017 — Portalarium®, an Austin, Texas based game developer, and Travian Games, a Munich, Germany based publisher and developer, are pleased to announce today a formal partnership to bring Shroud of the Avatar™, the much-anticipated fantasy role-playing game from legendary game designer Richard “Lord British” Garriott to Europe, South America, Central America, the Middle East and North Africa. Travian Games will be coming on board as a partner immediately as Shroud is moving closer to the game’s commercial launch later this year. “We were looking for the best upcoming MMORPGs in our industry as well as a strong cultural fit, so we are truly excited about the opportunity to work with Richard and the Shroud of the Avatar team on bringing another great game to our community,” notes Lars Janssen, CEO of Travian Games. “Portalarium’s vision is very similar to ours and we believe this is the start of a long-term relationship between our two teams.”

“Europe has always been a strong market for the Ultima games so we wanted to be sure we found the very best partner who could who truly understands what we wanted to accomplish with Shroud,” explains Richard Garriott.

“Travian Games is that partner because they really understand community and development which has allowed them to build a huge base of millions of players.”

To date, backers of Shroud have logged more than three-million hours of game testing, and the latest update, Release 44, now permits backers to complete the entire Episode 1 story, from beginning to end.

Shroud of the Avatar, the spiritual successor to Garriott’s Ultima series of fantasy role-playing games, is a “selectively multiplayer” game, and includes a deep story crafted by Garriott and New York Times bestselling author, Tracy Hickman ( Dragonlance series). The game combines a detailed sandbox style Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) with a single player narrative mode. With Release 44, players can now complete the paths of Truth, Love and Courage and ultimately discover the secrets of the Shroud of the Avatar.

“The story craft is not at an end,” said Garriott. “More side quests and revisions to improve quality, will continue to be added to the game month after month, yet this is the first time the full plot has been playable, and is among the last major milestones needed for a commercial launch later in the year.”

The remainder of the game is already in what would traditionally be considered a beta state. There are some skill trees and recipes still needing to be completed, and plenty of balance and debugging remains, but Portalarium is now shifting its team and company into the stance of a publisher as the commercial release approaches.

“This marks the 44th monthly release for Shroud of the Avatar,” exclaimed Garriott. “And these updates have occurred on the last Thursday of the month on time, and the servers have had nearly four years of continuous software stability. In Release 45, players actively testing the game will receive the ability to ‘reset’ their story status, and thus be able to get a fresh run through the now completed main quests, without having to start a new character.”

Shroud of the Avatar’s original crowdfunded campaign began in 2013. Currently with more than $11.8 million in crowd funding, Shroud is the second highest fully crowd funded game ever. More information about the crowdfunding campaign and the game can be accessed at www.ShroudoftheAvatar.com.

Recently Portalarium extended their crowdfunding efforts to include equity crowdfunding using the SeedInvest platform. This allows people to invest in Portalarium while backing the project. To learn more go to www.seedinvest.com/portalarium/series.b.

At this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, journalists have the opportunity to interview Richard “Lord British” Garriott and Lars Janssen about the game and the new partnership.

Disclaimer: Portalarium is offering securities under Regulation CF and Rule 506© of Regulation D through SI Securities, LLC (“SI Securities”). The Company has filed a Form C with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its offering, a copy of which may be obtained here: www.seedinvest.com/portalarium/series.b.

About Portalarium Portalarium was formed in September of 2009 in Austin, Texas. The company was co-founded by legendary game developer Richard Garriott, who created Ultima, one of the longest running and most successful fantasy role playing game series ever. The company is currently developing its next game, the crowd funded Shroud of the Avatar.

About Travian Games GmbH Travian Games GmbH, based in Munich, is a world-renowned, self-publishing developer of online games. The company offers complex, multi-layered adventure worlds that inspire players with their gaming depth and guarantee long-lasting enjoyment. A motivated team develops and markets online entertainment for all age groups. Travian Games currently services the following games: Crowfall, goalunited Legends, goalunited PRO, Miramagia, Rail Nation, Travian: Legends, Travian: Kingdoms and UnitedGP. They are translated into up to 40 languages and can be enjoyed by fans of long-lasting gaming entertainment all around the world. More information: http://www.traviangames.com

Press Release also published on Gamasutra and other websites.



Portalarium is Hiring: Sound Designer


We currently have an opening for a Sound Designer for Shroud of the Avatar. Qualifications for the “ideal candidate” are:


 * Minimum 5 years industry experience (minimum of at least 1 shipped game)
 * Unity development experience
 * Ability to create and modify Sound Effects (SFX) for a variety of game events (combat, environment, social, etc.)
 * Ability to connect SFX to game events (animations, interactive objects, particles, etc.)
 * Experience using Source Control (Perforce, SVN, CVS, etc.)
 * Ability to record Voice Overs
 * BONUS SKILLS (any one or more of these):
 * Ability to make and edit videos
 * Avid game player
 * MMO game development experience

If you’d like to join the Portalarium Tribe working on the ground-breaking Shroud of the Avatar, please submit your resume to jobs@portalarium.com. Provide links to your work (if possible), including actual game play, videos footage, and document form (images, maps, and event descriptions).



R44 Postmortem Mini-Telethon Aug 7!


Greetings Avatars,

Traditionally our Telethons have been held quarterly and lasted 12 hours (and in some extreme cases 24 hours!). While these lengthy telethons allowed us to cover a very wide range of subjects, they also led to a bit of meandering at the end due to fatigue (and maybe a bit of overindulgence). Recently we had a much shorter telethon (6 hours) for Lord British’s birthday, discovering that we spent more time answering questions and remained much more focused and alert. Your response was also quite positive in both pledges and feedback after the telethon!

So, starting with Release 44, we are going to experiment with extended Postmortems that are also Mini-Telethons. This will increase the frequency of our telethons to monthly but also keep them short (4 hours). We are confident that this will both allow us to focus more time on development while at the same time provide a higher frequency of direct interaction with you, our community.

Since this is a shorter telethon we want to make sure as many people can participate in the stretch goals. We are going to extend the amount of time that your purchases can be eligible for the stretch goals to be 12 hours from 12:00 PM CDT to Midnight. NOTE: We will still stop tracking towards stretch goals at the end of the telethon at 7:00 PM CDT, but everyone will have another 5 hours to spend $5 to get the stretch goals.

We hope you find this change an improvement! Now, onward to the telethon’s details!

TELETHON SCHEDULE (Central Time Zone)

Telethons are livestreamed on Twitch and include answers to your gameplay questions, world building tours, prize giveaways, sales on items, and more! See what we have planned below beginning at 3pm CT on August 7:


 * 3:00 PM: Introductions and R44 Postmortem Q&A
 * 4:30 PM: World Building Tour
 * 5:30 PM: Postmortem Q&A Continues
 * 7:00 PM: End of Mini-Telethon!

''Schedule is subject to change. Check back here before the livestream begins!''

EXPIRING ITEMS

As part of the R44 Postmortem, at 7:00 PM CDT, August 7, 2017, we are expiring the following content from the Add On Store (and the in-game Crown Merchants). This means that these items will no longer be available in our store after this date.


 * 2017 Replenishing Lord British Birthday Cake
 * Blackened Metal Baby Clockwork Dragon
 * Black Squirrel
 * Elven Elder Fighter Armor
 * Elven Elder Archer Armor
 * Elven Elder Mage Robe
 * Elven Elder Fighter Armor Pattern Pack
 * Elven Elder Archer Armor Pattern Pack
 * Elven Elder Mage Robe Pattern Pack
 * Silver Clockwork Armor
 * Silver Clockwork Armor Pattern Pack
 * Vintage Red Velvet Nailheads Furniture Set
 * Vintage Blue Velvet Nailheads Furniture Set
 * Ye Olde Hot Tub

STRETCH GOALS

As a special bonus, we are offering telethon funding rewards to any backer that pledges a minimum of $5 at any time on August 7 from 12:00 PM to 11:59 PM. (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply.) NOTE: We will still stop tracking towards stretch goals at the end of the telethon at 7:00 PM CDT but everyone will have another 5 hours to spend $5 to get the stretch goals.


 * $10,000: Oracle Eye Sparklers
 * $25,000: Oracle Eye Mirror: Home decoration with the Oracle Eye on top
 * $35,000: Oracle Eye Helmet: Fencing Mask with Oracle Eye painted on mesh like the Obsidian Cabalist masks
 * $50,000: Oracle Eye Throne
 * $65,000: Oracle Cable “Wings” + /juggleoracleeyes

CHEER ON THE DEVS! For every $2,500 donated, all developers on camera have to either dance, sing, or drink a shot of alcohol.

Additionally, we will be spinning the Wheel of Fortune! The wheel will have 12 different categories of sales plus the Lord British and Darkstarr wildcards where they get to choose any category! Each time a category comes up it will go on sale at approx. 20% off for 1 hour.

WHEEL OF FORTUNE FLASH SALES:


 * Viking Bundles
 * Obsidian Bundles
 * Kobold Bundles
 * Elven Bundles
 * Shogun Bundles
 * Make a Difference
 * Home Decorations
 * Outdoor Decorations
 * Property Deeds, POT Upgrades, Homes and Basements
 * Pets and Music
 * Emotes and Fireworks
 * Wearables, Dyes, and Patterns

WIN THESE GREAT PRIZES!


 * All of the above Expiring Items
 * Bank Upgrades
 * COTOs
 * Store Credit
 * RelicsbyRild.com merchandise
 * and more!

We will be giving prizes away on an hourly basis with many being given away multiple times. If you wish to win prizes during the Telethon event, be in Discord chat! We will be active on Twitch and YouTube chats as well, but they will not be our portal for prize giveaways.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS!

We will be answering questions throughout the telethon so submit them in the comments section of the original post here or on Discord chat during the Telethon. Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to each segment will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. Please keep it to 3 total questions in the comments section below!

Keep an eye on @ShroudofAvatar for updates before, during, and after the telethon. See you on Twitch at 3pm CT this coming August 7!



Free Trial Test #5: Aug 9 – 30
The next test (#5) of our Free Trial system for Shroud of the Avatar will run from August 9th thru the 30th, and will let us continue to gather data about uptake, drop-off, conversions, etc. These tests are invaluable for us in order to improve the New User Experience and the Free Trial System.

Free Trial access allows you to play the entire game in any of the Online modes with a few key differences in game play. You will be able to explore hundreds of scenes, talk with thousands of players, adventure through the opening quests, and gain experience and skills as you get used to the world of New Britannia!

Get ready to join us in New Britannia for free!



Shroud at Dragon Con: More Talks Announced
Dragon Con has announced even more talks (marked in italics below)! The schedule for the Videogame Track now includes Starr and/or Richard on five different talks! Stay tuned for more schedule updates as Richard is slated to appear on the Space Track, too. Note that we have also added locations to the panels.


 * Friday Sept 1: 10:00 AM EDT
 * Future of Video Gaming: What’s next in video games? What new technologies are on the horizon and who’s making it happen?
 * Panelists: Starr Long
 * NEW! Location: Augusta E-G – Westin


 * NEW! Friday Sept 1: 01:00 PM EDT
 * Androids and Automatons: This presentation will cover the history of artificial life from the ancient Greeks to modern automata artists. Techniques for creating your own automata will also be shared.
 * Panelists: Brett King, Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux, Anthony Francis
 * Location: Augusta – Sheraton


 * Friday Sept 1: 05:30 PM EDT
 * An Hour with Lord British: A deeper dive into the past and future adventures of Lord British covering subjects like the Ultima franchise, space travel, deep sea exploration, IP development, and game design principles. There will also be a discussion of Richard’s new book, “Explore and Create”
 * Panelists: Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux, Jason Gonding
 * NEW! Location: Augusta B-D – Westin


 * Sunday Sept 3: 01:00 PM EDT
 * Shroud of the Avatar Q&A: Lord British will provide a development update and host an open Q&A on the current status of his latest project.
 * Panelists: Starr Long, Richard Lord British Garriott de Cayeux
 * NEW! Location: Augusta B-D – Westin


 * NEW! Sunday Sept 3: 07:00 PM EDT
 * Avoiding Tropes and Stereotypes: Panelists will identify common pitfalls that lead to boring plot lines and unoriginal characters and discuss ways to avoid them.
 * Panelists: Alison Carrier, Starr Long, David Haddock
 * Location: Augusta E-G – Westin


 * Monday Sept 4: 10:00 AM EDT
 * Crowdfunding – How to Successfully Kickstart Your Game: Join industry professionals who have successfully kickstarted games in a discussion on what worked and didn’t work for them, followed by Q&A.
 * Panelists: Starr Long, David Haddock, Mark Jacobs
 * NEW! Location: Augusta B-D – Westin



PAX Dev Schedule Update: Starr’s Crowdfunding Panel
The schedule for PAX Dev has been finalized and Starr “Darkstarr” Long’s talk: ‘Evolution of Crowdsharing: Sourcing, Funding, and Equity’ will be at 11:45 AM PDT on August 30 in the Fifth Avenue Room in the Westin Seattle Hotel:

''Working with communities has expanded beyond a mere feedback loop between developers and players. In the last decade this relationship has formalized with the growth of Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and marketplaces like the Unity Asset Store. Most recently communities can even gain ownership via equity platforms like Seed Invest. Using projects like Shroud of the Avatar, 25 year game veteran Starr Long will describe this evolution of Crowdsharing and share techniques.''

If you’re in the Seattle area next month, swing by PAX Dev to meet Starr!



Shroud in the News: Ideate TV, VentureBeat
Ideate TV: Ideate TV‘s Tiffany Young of interviewed Starr and Richard at Comic Con.


 * IdeateTV host Tiffany Young interviews Richard Garriott AKA Lord British & Starr Long AKA Darkstarr. Tiffany finds out more about how they got into gaming and how Starr worked for RIchard on the Ultima series. They also talk about their latest project Shroud of the Avatar.

VentureBeat: Jason Wilson picked up the Travian Games press release and then asked us a few questions about it which lead to an article entitled: “Richard Garriott’s Shroud of the Avatar gets publishing help from Travian Games”
 * “The agreement included a licensing fee that we will allocate as needed between development and publishing,” a spokesperson said over email. Games in Travian’s portfolio include the railroad sim Rail Nation and Crowfall, another crowdfunded MMORPG. Portalarium is promising a huge world for players to explore and create their own tales in, but it also has a 40-hour main story created by Garriott and noted fantasy author and pen-and-paper RPG designer Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance, Dragonships of Vindras). The studio confirms that it’s complete, and it “includes a series of moral dilemmas and ethical choices” that are a hallmark of Garriott’s work on Ultima. “This is all built on top of a sandbox where players can indeed ‘tell their own stories’ as well,” the spokesperson said.

The Travian Games deal also got picked up by a lot of press in Europe (golem.de, GAMESMARKT, JeuxOnLine, 4players.de, GamePerspectives.hr, GamesWirtschaft, and HeiseOnline) and the United States (MassivelyOP, MMORPG.com, MMOexaminer, and gamesindustry.biz).



Weekend Flash Sale: Elven, Clockwork, and More!


This weekend’s flash sale will run right through Monday’s R44 Postmortem Mini-Telethon! Get a look at all of the items in the sale below. You can also view each item individually in the Add-On Store:
 * Blackened Metal Baby Clockwork Dragon
 * Black Squirrel
 * Elven Elder Fighter Armor
 * Elven Elder Archer Armor
 * Elven Elder Mage Robe
 * Elven Elder Fighter Armor Pattern Pack
 * Elven Elder Archer Armor Pattern Pack
 * Elven Elder Mage Robe Pattern Pack
 * Silver Clockwork Armor
 * Silver Clockwork Armor Pattern Pack
 * Vintage Red Velvet Nailheads Furniture Set
 * Vintage Blue Velvet Nailheads Furniture Set
 * Ye Olde Hot Tub



SeedInvest: Minimum Exceeded! Last Chance to Invest!
We have exceeded the minimum investment amount and this is your last chance to join Portalarium on a journey from being just a developer to also becoming a full fledged publisher! We are currently using the SeedInvest platform to take investments in the company that will make it possible to expand our marketing resources for Shroud of the Avatar and future products.

Those of you who’ve made a reservation, please convert it to an investment!

To convert, head to the official SeedInvest website, log in to your account, and from there you will be able to complete your investment.

You can also go to the above link to become an investor! A reminder that there are now several new in-game gold perk additions, including detailed images of the perks, and entire new perk tiers for more investing options.

Thank you Avatars! Lord British and the Portalarium Team

'' * Disclaimer: Portalarium is offering securities under Regulation CF and Rule 506(c) of Regulation D through SI Securities, LLC (“SI Securities”). The Company has filed a Form C with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its offering, a copy of which may be obtained here: https://www.seedinvest.com/portalarium/series.b''



Upcoming Events Calendar
Aug 7, 2017 – R44 Postmortem Mini-Telethon Aug 9 – 30, 2017 – Free Trial 5 Aug 10 – 14, 2017 – Syndcon (Austin) Aug 24 – 25, 2017 – Gamescom (Cologne) Aug 29-30, 2017 – PAX Dev Panel Aug 31, 2017 – Release 45 Sept 1 – 4, 2017 – Dragon Con Sept 22 – 23, 2017 – Ultima Online 20th Anniversary Party Sept 28, 2017 – Release 46 Sept 29 – Oct 1, 2017 – IgroMir Expo (Moscow) Oct 13 – 15, 2017 – SotA Con 2017 (Austin) Oct 26, 2017 – Release 47

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.



‘Welcome to New Britannia’ Community Trailer Contest


Get those eye popping video ideas ready, Avatars! Like last year’s trailer design contest, this is your chance to show that Shroud of the Avatar is both the game, and community, that new players will want to play to launch and beyond.

The ‘Welcome to New Britannia’ Community Trailer Contest is in full swing!

You have from July 13, 2017 to August 18, 2017 (11:59 PM CT) to design a video trailer for all New Britannians to admire. Capture shots of key city districts, bustling player-owned towns, luxurious houses, intense combat, majestic outdoor scenes, crafting of valuable goods, or any of the other amazing features of our game that you think will help sell the game to other players.

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Community Livestream: Celebrating Release 44
We kicked off this week’s Community Livestream by celebrating Release 44 at the traditional Dance Party, hosted by Port Phoenix player town in-game!

After the dance party, we brought back Dan “PlagueOfLocust” Brennan and Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski on camera as we explored the final changes to Grannus Colossus, and summoned some dangerous dragons…

For more livestreams, be sure to subscribe to www.youtube.com/portalarium



Events: RPOTA’s August Writing Contest and Mad Hatter’s LAN Party
August’s RPOTA Monthly $155 Writing Contest



Hear ye! Hear ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers, Videographers and Musicians! RPOTA.COM is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill, camera, piano or lute! Simply have your creations submitted by midnight of the last day of every month to be eligible for that month’s contest! See Elgarion for (details)

Mad Hatter’s LAN Party – Friday, October 6,2017 All Day



As mentioned in the Summer Telethon Part 1 and Lord British Birthday Telethon, Mad Hatter is excited to be holding the first Shroud of the Avatar Community LAN event! This event will be held on “Mad Hatter Day 10/6” in Chicago. Mad Hatter hopes it will be an annual event, so please join in on the fun!


 * We are a community that comes together by means of a game in a virtual world. This usually happens from all places across the globe. Now this LAN party gives us a chance to come together at one location in the beautiful city of Chicago. Not only will we join the game together live but we will make all attempts to get community member leaders in respected fields to attend the event and give us an inside look LIVE on the giant projected Big Screen. We will also see if Portalarium can attend and support the various topics above.  As the event unfolds I will be updating this thread to keep all informed. – Mad Hatter

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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.

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Recommended Project to Support – Out of the Woods
Once upon a time there was a game designer called American McGee who having lived a life of dramatic ups and downs, decided to present a unique creative take on a selection of traditional fairy tales as a Tabletop Card Game, Illustrated Book, Coloring Book, and Collection of Art. He hoped the lessons contained within might help others along their journey through the dark woods of existence.

If this project is a success we hope to turn “Out of the Woods” into an ongoing series of games, books, and original art which will explore lessons for overcoming life’s challenges contained within classic fairy tales.

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Backer Shipping Addresses
In preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards later this year, we have added Shipping Address fields to your Account Profile page. To enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image.

A reminder to be sure that [mailto:support@portalarium.com support@portalarium.com] is unblocked from your e-mail account! <br style="clear:both;">