Shroud of the Avatar

Yeah I'm done with this game ever since they banned me from the Steam Forums for voicing my opinion on how I didn't care for the game.
 
I'm playing as well and yes, the game is still in development. Quite early - they just no longer will be wiping progress. There are still massive parts of the games not implemented so while they've added a ton of content, there's still a lot left to go. For instance, there are 3 "starter storylines" that harken back to Ultima games of old, where you make some choices through a personality test etc... and it sets you on the "Courage", "Love", or "Truth" . You can eventually do all three, but only "Love" is fleshed out to any extent at the moment. Likewise, there are very limited hairstyles available at current, but they will be added down the line. Each build of the game brings new content and happens just about monthly. Note that this is not just basic content, but entirely new systems and whatnot - consider this still an early crowdfunding title with some ambitious goals so I'd avoid making any content or system judgments until the 1.0 release is content complete - which it is far from at the moment . Overall the game won't be for everyone, but if you enjoyed the Ultima (including Ultima Online) style of game or are looking for in depth immersion roleplaying games, the title is worthwhile and I anticipate it becoming more so. Until Chronicles of Elyria, SotA is pretty much the most "in depth roleplaying" style MMO ambitions I've seen today and its something not served elsewhere in the market. There are some really unique elements such as those I described before where you actually type to NPCs through keywords to interact, not just click on the guy with the ! over his head!

This is not to say I don't have criticisms, mostly regarding apparent monetization. Shroud of the Avatar has a LOT of in-game items for real money purchase or otherwise exclusive elements, at least so far as the MMO "online multiplayer" version goes. I understood some of these (ie Founder tabards and whatnot) for those pledging in 2013 like I did, but even as someone who spends more than most on projects like this, I still feel their implementation needs to be changed. For instance, if you compare Star Citizen - the 800lb Gorilla of the crowdfunding world - one thing SC does is that for all the ships and items they make available, each and every single one has a paragraph listed saying "Each of these ships and items will be available to be earned in game, without additional real money purchase. Buy them now if yo uwant to support us and be able to start with a different kind of experience". Shroud of the Avatar however, it is still up in the air which items will be truly exclusive. For instance, many early Founder or Benefactor housing styles are said to be exclusive to pledgers (unless you buy one from someone who pledged for it later, in game etc). Likewise there are many items from the admittedly excellent clothing and housing system that are sold for real money. Now, there are also other things to be made in game, but it seems the "cool" versions are often cash up front. A basic walking stick can be crafted in the game, but one with a dragon's head on the cane pommel is for real money etc. I continue to lobby vehemently for them to make ALL items (or almost all of them - there are a few things, like a customized facial model for those who bought the biggest packages. Stuff that let them create their own individual developed items. And that's just fine. ) available to be earned in game. They've already promised that if you choose to play the game as a single player RPG (and maybe as a private server) all of the items will be unlocked then regardless. However, I point out that they'll be turning off potential players with the sheer variety of things to sell during the MMO. I get they need to make money, but Star Citizen proved you can do it without being fully exclusive about it. They seemed open to criticism so at least that's something.

Aside from the monetization issue, I'm pretty pleased with Shroud of the Avatar, assuming development continues at its current brisk pace and with an understanding they still have a ways to go. They even have a Linux (and Mac) client from the start! I encourage those who enjoy the Roleplaying in RPG, in depth MMOs, or the Ultima series of yore, to give it a look if you can be patient as it develops and play along the way. If you can put aside looking at the items for sale in the web store (note - the store is NOT intrusive in game, thankfully. You never see a "GO HERE SPEND MONEY GET THIS AWESOME HELMET") you actually get a pretty good deal for SotA's basic buy to play price on Steam. Any other questions, feel free to let me know.


Edit: They banned you from the Steam forums? There is a lot of criticism on the official and Steam forums and people don't normally get banned simply for saying they didn't care for the game or its systems etc.
 
I'm thinking about picking this up, and was curious if anyone had any updated thoughts on this over the last year or so. I keep talking about Ultima games with people, have replayed all of my favorites so many times, that I thought this might be a cool option. I mainly would play in single player, but could see creating an online based character for occasionally visiting the online world. (who knows, maybe I'd even grow to prefer that, but I'll probably start offline for a while) Is there plenty to do in its current state?

Edit: Hmm... I've been reading some reviews, other forum posts, etc. It may not be a good time to pick this up. Might be better to wait and see what happens.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
WARNING: THIS GAME IS IN EARLY ACCESS. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT
OF THE GAME AND ARE PREPARED TO HANDLE SERIOUS ISSUES AND INCOMPLETE CONTENT. PLEASE READ THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS PRIOR
 
Ultima Ascension back in 1999 was the best attempt at making a good 3-D game that was actual true to the Ultima series.
 
Unlike a lot of people, I really like Ascension. Even now, though it's obviously quite dated, the graphics are quite beautiful. More the ideas behind everything I suppose, but they did an amazing job building that world within the limitations of the time. It's really too bad about the fractured development of it. There are quite a few fan patches now that fix a lot of things, give access to a few of the areas that they chopped, add more to the scenery, etc. The voice acting was pretty bad, but you can just turn that down and read instead, which makes it more like the previous games. I was also a fan of Pagan. Once they patched out the asinine jumping, it was pretty much a perfect game. I recently played through the complete version of VII, and Pagan, so maybe I'll play through Ascension or VI. It's actually been a long time since I've played VI properly.

Anyway, still keeping an eye on SotA, as it does look quite promising. I just want to make sure they deliver on at least the bulk of it, and then I'll bite.

Oh, yeah, I thought that negative review thing was kinda funny too. :D
 
I enjoyed Ascension and Pagan too, but not as much as Ultima 7. Wait until Q1 of 2018 to get Shroud... they are still polishing the main quest and adding side quests in the next 3 monthly releases, as well as improving performance which is still not great.

Also keep an eye out for Underworld Ascendant, the sequel to Ultima Underworld.
 
Last edited:
I remember seeing something about UWA. Will definitely grab that. I have ALL of the Ultima games sitting in my GOG account, as well as all the latest snapshots, mods, etc. for all of the source-ports. The complete version of VII is also one of my favorites. I give a nod to Pagan's atmosphere though. There's not another game like it as far as just the heavy feeling it gives you, and the way it pulls you into that oppressive world. Still one of my favorite games. I really need to go back and at least play IV and V. I'm not sure I can go all the way back to the first trilogy, but you never know. I may try it some day.

Thanks for the tip on Shroud. I'll wait until they release the next major revision, then give it another look. It looks like I'd really like it, but I do want it to at least have a first pass on the polish side of things.

Side note: Speaking of the first trilogy, I've actually been looking at Caves of Qud (just due to its similar dungeon-crawling appearances). It looks like it could be fun in that early CRPG sort of way.
 
J3RK said:
Thanks for the tip on Shroud. I'll wait until they release the next major revision, then give it another look. It looks like I'd really like it, but I do want it to at least have a first pass on the polish side of things.

Side note: Speaking of the first trilogy, I've actually been looking at Caves of Qud (just due to its similar dungeon-crawling appearances). It looks like it could be fun in that early CRPG sort of way.
Click to expand...

On Tuesday March 27, 2018 (Release 52), they are planning to launch out of Early Access. That may be a good time to try the game.

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/q1-2018-schedule-update.106312/
 
Nice! I'll definitely keep my eye on it. If it gets a fairly positive reaction, I'll grab it.
 
Did they ever end up getting a single player story in place? I might grab this but only for offline play and depending on how good the story is.
 
bigdogchris said:
Did they ever end up getting a single player story in place? I might grab this but only for offline play and depending on how good the story is.
Click to expand...

Yes, but I would wait a bit longer because they haven't finished some of the side quests yet. Honestly i don't know if the story is any good since I'm also waiting a few more months to play it.
 
bigdogchris said:
Did they ever end up getting a single player story in place? I might grab this but only for offline play and depending on how good the story is.
Click to expand...

The game will be playable in single-player mode, including a version of the full story and whatnot. Furthermore, they announced that all the items/cosmetics etc... that come from the Add-On/Bundle etc Store for real money on the multiplayer-online server (and thus have will be available to everyone for in-game currency only, in single player mode!

As of yet they're still polishing the story modes, both main and side stories, as well as many many aspects of the game. For instance, long have I felt that player avatars themselves are WAY too limited on customization in terms of hair/facial etc...features which they will be adding closer to launch. There are also some placeholders for certain elements (ie someone told me crafting-harvestable trees still use the two placeholder models) that will be replaced in time. Each build of the game expands and polishes, but if you have a low tolerance for lack of a cohesive experience even in an evolving MMO type title like this, I'd wait until "official" launch Though to be honest, even at launch I think they will still have a lot of future work and development to do to expand features highly desired by the populace, as well as future expansions to add major game systems (ie mounted combat, playable Elves, etc).

However, the game in its current form is certainly playable and there's a lot to enjoy for fans of the Ultima series and story / Ultima Online style play, and MMORPGs with a strong focus on the "RP" in general. Playing online reveals a lot of really neat player-derived features such as Player Owned Towns in which you can settle, frequent events and specially created community content, and much more. The game has a lot of potential and despite the fact I have some misgivings with their monetization policies and the order in which they've developed certain content, I believe it could be a fantastic experience.

Edit: While I've not been able to get established in SotA MMO as of yet and pick a lot, I do have a Royal Founder era pledge with a tax free, place-anywhere land deed (most deeds require in-game currency taxes and some are restricted as to where you can claim such as only a lot in a Player Owned Town as opposed to a lot in one of the official towns )o I'll be able to claim anything up to Town size plot (there are 5 plot sizes of increasing size: Row, Village, Town, City, and Manor/Fortress. All buildings/homes require a lot of a certain size or larger to contain it. ) including Waterfront placement (Much like in real life, waterfront locations are coveted and many deeds only allow "land" claims as opposed to Land+Water. There are certain buildings and homes that are made for/can only be placed in a Waterfront lot.)

Land ownership has some benefits but can be expensive/difficult to acquire even entirely in-game. Thus, there are some less expensive alternatives including renting a room in a player-owned Inn! I am strongly considering placing an Inn on my land and will give [H] players discounted rates and access to any crafting stations or sharable assets I can offer on my plot. :)
 
Last edited:
Game is Launching live today at 10:30am Central

27th of March 2018 I'm going to Install it and try it out again.....
 
Last edited:
This game should of been Top Down View I played for about 15 minutes the graphics are from 2006 clunky I think this is Lord British's last game this game sealed the nail in the Coffin for the Ultima Series. I'm sure the Graphics Improve out of the starting area but have no desire to get that far since the combat item pick up UI just doesn't go together.
 
There graphics won't win any awards but they're nicely styled in certain areas, playable in a wide variety of hardware configurations and supported on all major OSes including Linux. Not to mention that you can interact with the game world way more methods than most games (ie you can interact with nearly all furniture, people and items have weight/space/presence in the game world so you can grab a plate off a table and put it in your bags and/or place it on a nearby shelf. There's a full music system in game including multiple instruments being played "live" on your keyboard or via music files, a system of in-game writing and printing of books, leaflets, scrolls, and much much more ). Graphics do improve and even more so style/appearance as both towns and adventure scenes have a crafted feel to them with varying themes - for instance, the city of Ardoris has a lot of East Asian inspiration and you can see this in architecture, decoration, clothing of NPCs .

What bothers you so greatly about the combat and item UI? Do you mean looting corpses, or do you mean dragging stuff from the gameworld itself to pick them up? Its a bit hard to tell. I've not played for a couple of builds (gotta get more SSD space...), so perhaps something changed but I'll go and take a look. I grant that certain elements of item interaction, last I recall them, differ from the standard MMO looting setup, but I don't necessarily think that a bad thing - in lots of way, SotA in my experience is a lot more "deliberate" and a different pace compared to other games. In so many other titles we're told to "optimize" our playthrough, but SotA is about the journey - its not the kind of game for people who don't want to talk to NPCs, skip all the quest text, etc. This is not to say that there aren't things that can and should be improved (I personally have found the lack of hairstyles and "easy to select appearance variants" to be a major sore spot; I wonder if this has improved with release). I'll have to give R52 a try and see how things progress forward

P.S. - Anyone interested, the game can be played as both a buy-to-play MMO multiplayer title and a single player experience. Though some of the core story elements (ie the Ultima stuff) can be on both, the multiplayer servers for instance have player owned town zones and the items that are available in-game may differ (ie there is MMO style item rarity in some cases where certain items will require COTO currency which can be earned in game as well as bought, some need to be unlocked by trading with other players who already have them, and and there are some that are limited to backers during crowdfunding some of which can be exchanged or "taught". For instance, I have certain rare emotes that are only given to certain early backers, but I can teach them to others as I choose). However, if playing in Single Player mode ALL items in the game, even those only granted in rare situations like those who payed thousands of dollars during early crowdfunding, are available for standard in-game gold. Lots of players who enjoy the online experience may play offline to say "plan" their housing and see what's out there, before spending their rare type currency in the MMO etc.
 
Last edited:
I think it looks pretty good actually. Not a technical tour de force, but as Xaeos said, it's got style. While some aspects of the Ultima series pushed ahead a bit in graphics, the series wasn't really about that until later anyway. Pagan and Ascension were really the ones that pushed graphical boundaries for their times. Black Gate and Serpent Isle looked pretty good, but there were other games then that looked better. The Ultima series was always more about freedom to approach things how you want, to explore beyond your current mission, and to do a million side tasks that may or may not have any bearing on the actual game. It also has always had cool, interesting, and mysterious locations and nicely crafted characters. I'd say if Shroud has all this now, is more refined in the bugs department, then it's probably on track. I'd love to try it, and will sooner than later, (especially now that it's seen a more official release) but probably won't have time for the next month or two.
 
Just bumping the thread to report that the Release 53 Telethon is going on today, May 4th from 3 - 7pm CT ! https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=89581

Every month, SotA has a Telethon where the players and devs get to chat. During that time , and in fact until 11:59pm CT TONIGHT, if you make at least a $5 purchase - you will get whatever the community unlocks by the end of the telethon! This month for instance the rewards (were actually switched at the last minute) and are Sky Navy themed... as listed below.

  • $10K: /floatmeditate (sit crosslegged and float)
  • $25K: Blue Electric Sword
  • $35K: Cylindrical Automaton Pet
  • $50K: Electric Halberd, Electric Staff
  • $65K: Adobe Dome Deco Set (with bonus Burned Skeletons & Blue Cylinders decos)
  • $80K: White Aeronaut Clockwork Full Face Helm, Black Aeronaut Clockwork Full Face Helm, & All Metal Crossbow
  • $90K: Double XP (including Crafting) & Red Electric Sword
  • $100K: White Clockwork Aeronaut Armor
  • $110K: Black Clockwork Aeronaut Armor with Cloak

They've offered some really cool stuff during the telethons in the past and this doesn't seem any exception so if you enjoy the game and have $5 to spare, go for it! Furthermore, during every Telethon they also have discounts on premium cosmetics and stuff. Thankfully, items that used to be available solely on the add-on store for $ are now available for COTOs (coins of the obsidian) which can be both bought or earned in game! So when stuff goes on sale for the category you enjoy, you can pick things up for fewer COTOs / dollars! They also have free giveaways pretty often - last I recalled every 15 or 30 minutes - during the Telethon livestream, so it can be fun and rewarding! The livestreams themselves happen on Twitch, but if you want to talk to the devs/as questions, you'll need to be in their Discord channel. All of this info and more is on the link above.

Those who can spare $5 at least or want to pick up a cosmetic of their choice on sale, you'll be likely to get some unique items for pitching into the community! If you're a fan of SotA already or just want to see one of the fathers of computer RPGs hanging out on video, its worth a shot. Enjoy :)
 
Last edited:
Time for the Release 54 Telethon currently ongoing from 3-7pm CT, June 4th ! More info - https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=92870 .

Direct stream link - https://www.twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar

Same premise as last time - its a good idea to spend at least $5 from - 12pm to 12am, not just during the stream itself - and you get all the unlocked good stuff Last month we made it to 90K (I was really looking forward to that 110K reward that sadly we didn't unlock...I hope they'll put it in the game later at some point). This month's theme is Tropical! Here are the rewards...

  • $10K: /rainbow
  • $20K: /wardance & /hula
  • $30K: Leaf Backpack
  • $40K: Palapa
  • $50K: Polynesian Dress with Tropical Flower Crown
  • $65K: Polynesian Axe & Spear
  • $80K: Large Tiki Heads with Flames
  • $90K: Polynesian Bow plus two other Weapons
  • $100K: Polynesian Daemon Themed Armor with Full Helm

At time of writing (5:30 CT its around $30K thus far)

Stuff on the add-on/cosmetic store is at least at 20% discount on sale, so that's nice as well. Also, the stream has a nice amount of giveaways for those interested . Anyone who has any questions feel free to ask them here, or check out the stream to see a bit more of the game :D
 
Xaeos said:
Time for the Release 54 Telethon currently ongoing from 3-7pm CT, June 4th ! More info - https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=92870 .

Direct stream link - https://www.twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar

Same premise as last time - its a good idea to spend at least $5 from - 12pm to 12am, not just during the stream itself - and you get all the unlocked good stuff Last month we made it to 90K (I was really looking forward to that 110K reward that sadly we didn't unlock...I hope they'll put it in the game later at some point). This month's theme is Tropical! Here are the rewards...

  • $10K: /rainbow
  • $20K: /wardance & /hula
  • $30K: Leaf Backpack
  • $40K: Palapa
  • $50K: Polynesian Dress with Tropical Flower Crown
  • $65K: Polynesian Axe & Spear
  • $80K: Large Tiki Heads with Flames
  • $90K: Polynesian Bow plus two other Weapons
  • $100K: Polynesian Daemon Themed Armor with Full Helm

At time of writing (5:30 CT its around $30K thus far)

Stuff on the add-on/cosmetic store is at least at 20% discount on sale, so that's nice as well. Also, the stream has a nice amount of giveaways for those interested . Anyone who has any questions feel free to ask them here, or check out the stream to see a bit more of the game :D
Click to expand...

WTF did I just read?
 
Lol. Taking the wtf cake with that fundraiser? $100k in real money for armor? Hell. Star citizen is only asking $27k for all of their ships
 
TheToE! said:
WTF did I just read?
Click to expand...

Hmm? What was unclear? Shroud of the Avatar, is a crowdfunded, buy to play MMO (though it can also be played in single player mode if you wish) that focuses heavily on roleplay/immersion features. Every month a new build of the game releases and the week after there is a Telethon Livestream by the developer with a retrospective of the past month and plans for the future. As a fundraising endeavor, the day of the stream there is a promotion where if a player spends $5 or more on the AddOn /cosmetics store (many of the cosmetics can also be purchased with an in-game earned rare-type currency known as COTOs), they will "lock in" all of the day's Telethon rewards. The time for qualified purchases range from 12pm to 12am US Central time, so it isn't only during the streaming itself that counts. Every stream of this type has a theme, such as this month's Tropical or last month's Sky Navy, and there are an assortment of cosmetics and other in-game items - many of which are unique to these livestreams for quite awhile - that are listed aside various dollar amounts.

Everyone who spends the aforementioned $5 at least qualifies for the day's rewards, whatever they will be when the final totals are added up, so everyone benefits when higher goals are reached. During the livestream there are also prizes given out in terms of free in-game items (including those with higher dollar values like deeds to land or in-game homes) and the cosmetics/add-on store itself is often discounted either on certain categories or across the whole thing - its 20% off right now for instance, so people who think they may want to pick up a new cosmetic item often wait until these Telethons so they can pick up the discounts and qualify for the day's Telethon Rewards by making a purchase over $5.

I posted here for those who may be playing or otherwise interested, so they wouldn't miss the chance to lock in the rewards from today's Telethons as I said before, they're usually pretty unique . Does this help a bit? My explanation was in reference to my above post so it was a reminder for those already knowledgeable about the title, but I see how it could seem obtuse to one not familiar with the game.

Any questions are welcome.


"
spaceman said:
Lol. Taking the wtf cake with that fundraiser? $100k in real money for armor? Hell. Star citizen is only asking $27k for all of their ships
Click to expand...
"

I'll answer this as if it was a question in good faith, though I suspect it may not be from your perspective in Star Citizen threads if I recall correctly... (if I am in error, apologies). If it turns out I wrote a lot in response to a joke, perhaps it could still be useful :)

No, no one person if paying 100K for armor. If everyone during the telethon together spends that much, then everyone who spent at least $5 during the day gets all the rewards, including the armor. These are not items already in game, but brand new things that will be added , typically within the next month's build, so they're rare in a way and available rather cheaply if you're there at the right time etc.

SotA is a buy-to -play title with a cosmetic/add-on store, not unlike Guild Wars 2 in that respect (and even some subscription MMOs also sell items a la carte, a factor I'm rather displeased with in FFXIV and WoW with a handful of exceptions), so this is how they maintain funding for the MMO environment. In some ways they're even better than GW2 because their rare/real-money currency is not exclusively available by purchase (or trading with someone who did purchase it) but can be acquired to some extent in game itself. 100K is peanuts compared to what many games with "item malls" make per month (or even per day!) and many of them are far, far more egregious and unscrupulous (ie just about every Korean MMO is based on such a principle and don't even get me started on the mobile market).

If anything, look at it as getting those in-game cosmetics for $5.
 
Last edited:
How is the single player story mode coming along? I hope to eventually grab this.
 
bigdogchris said:
How is the single player story mode coming along? I hope to eventually grab this.
Click to expand...

Its expanding a bit more every month, just everything else. I know one of the more recent patches had as its focus a major upgrade to NPC AI, friendly and otherwise and I remember the devs talking about how this would specifically affect some of the "NPC group members" that come with you in single player mode; they'd be smarter, better during combat/pathing and lots more, for instance. In addition, there's a lot of development going into new areas and upgrades - on the livestream yesterday the devs showed an upcoming side quest hub of friendly undead (or people cursed to look like undead anyway) due to be implemented.

I can't say I've played the story to its conclusion so I wouldn't be able to give you a full assessment, but if you look at it like many CRPGs it offers both a number of "Main story quests" and "side quests". The "Main Story Quest" for instance has 3 starting branches and which you choose is indicated by the "personality test" of sorts you take when you start the game (though you also have the option to simply choose one or another). Each of them is a length line of quest scenarios that give you breadcrumbs to start seeing the world (such as each starting in one major city), as well as a bunch of scenes, zones, and encounters. It also introduces you to some of the major factions of the world, their leaders, and a lot of lore that will become important later in your travels. It used to be that only one branch was really active during earlier testing, but all 3 of them are now present. Along the way you'll make decisions - all of which have future ramifications and story elements, and its not set up in the Bioware style "Choose A which is PRISTINE or B which is EVIL" the vast majority of the time, with many decisions a lot more subtle.

Each path has you meet a particular NPC who is somehow related to the Virtue that you're currently questing in service of and they will become a traveling companion especially when playing solo. Finishing each path will grant you something special related to it and you can actually play through the other two paths later at your choosing on the same character - it isn't as though two are locked out forever! In fact, I believe it is necessary to complete all 3 of them to reach the later stages of the main quest. I don't know the particulars, but I do know that when you finish the main quest itself you're given some items of note (aesthetically and functionally, and yesterday's livestream included comments that the late June release will confer an extra item when finishing the questline), but this isn't the end! New content is added in additional patches and everyone should know that this is only Episode 1 of SotA - future episodes, along with major changes and rollout of new features (ie sailing vessels and whatnot, playable Elves etc) will come in expansions, so long as they are doing well enough to develop them, as some features will require a considerable rewrite (ie devs talked about yesterday the ability to place houses in specific areas on a housing plot, instead of them going to a particular place, would require massive changes to the grid used for pathing and interaction between objects, but they're looking into it etc)

The Single Player mode is certainly playable at current and many enjoy it both independently and as a "staging area" to try things out before doing them on the MMO mode - such as buying and checking out how a particular kind of higher-value item like a housing type etc... would work for them without having to spend more limited resources online, or checking out a rare item that is no longer available (because ALL items, including those few were only given to earliest backers and not currently available for new purchase, are available in Single Player mode. This is a good feature, but I have mixed feeling about this and even being a Kickstarter backer myself, would be all right with items being rotated back in to the MMO version now and then, rare but available) before buying it from another player. I think the inclusion of the single player mode is rather novel and I'm glad that Richard Garriott is rather committed to making a game that works well, though slightly differently, as both an offline experience and a MMO.
 
Just bumping this to mention that today, 6/8 there is a rare "second chance" Telethon Livestream and promo! This means any SOTA purchases $5 or more made today between 12pm Central and 12 AM will both qualify for the Telethon rewards as previously described AND add to the cumulative total that began on the 6/4 livestream! Thus, everyone gets more items!

On 6/4 we achieved up to the 40K Palapa reward, but thanks to this "second chance" option we've now unlocked both the 50K Polynesian Dress w/ Flower Crown AND 65K Polynesian Axe and Spear so far! In addition, everything on the add-on store is discounted 20% again so now's a good time to pick things up! Those that haven't made a qualifying purchase can do so now for $5 minimum and get all the unlocked telethon rewards!

The Livestream itself has been pretty neat, going over game design documents, answering questions, and giving away physical cloth maps for the game every 30 min!
 
Shroud of the Avatar's "Release 55" was made playable a few days ago, but I just wanted to let everyone know that today - July 6th - is the Release 55 Telethon! More info: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=95511

The Telethon runs from 3pm-7pm CDT, but all purchases from 12pm to 11:59pm "count" towards the Telethon goals and as always a minimum $5 purchase during this windows grants users all R55 rewards unlocked.

Since it is Richard Garriott's birthday, all the telethon goal rewards are themed with that in mind. As they list...

"
  • $10K: Blue, Yellow, Red, Silver Aerial Combo Replenishing Box of Fireworks
  • $25K: Silver Serpent Crackle Aerial Combo Replenishing Box of Fireworks
  • $35K: Lord British Silver Serpent Wand (he loves magic!)
  • $50K: Lord British Pavers
  • $65K: Lord British Round Table
  • $80K: Lord British Large Telescope
  • $90K: Lord British Sword and Halberd
  • $100K: Lord British Coronated Leather Helm and Bow
"

As always, there will be discounts/sales on various item categories, however thanks to Lord British's birthday the game itself is also on sale! SotA is currently on sale for $19 and has been over the last week or so, with today being the final day for such a discount!

In light of this, if all goes well (once the Telethon purchase window starts at 12pm) I'll purchase a couple copies of the game to give away! I'd like to at least give one of them to a [H] forum member if any are interested, so please speak up on this thread if so!

There is no purchase necessary to enter; I only ask a few things and they're all on the honor system. Please have a genuine interest in the game, a reasonable belief it would be something you'd enjoy, and willing to give a chance; like many of its genre, many game systems are revealed and expand as you continue playing and are bolstered by the community and involvement of others, as well as the frequent enhancement of the game with monthly content patches. The game version I'll be offering activate directly on the SotA website, which will also generate a Steam key for you. You can play either via a direct download/separate patcher and/or Steam as you please. In addition, each copy of the game as I mentioned before has both MMO online and Solo/offline modes to enjoy, and supports not only Windows but also OSX and especially Linux!

If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask!
 
So can you aquire vanquishing weapons in this? Always enjoyed one hitting fools with my hammers and bo's.
 
Er...vanquishing? In what way? You can absolutely vanquish your enemies! There are multiple types of weapons in the game including blunt weapons for one hand or two. One great thing about the talent/XP system is that you can level up pretty much any skill in the tree through use; there are no class-based restrictions. I'm sure at high enough level and/or with good equipment and stats you can one-hit certain enemies :)
 
Last edited:
Xaeos said:
Er...vanquishing? In what way? You can absolutely vanquish your enemies! There are multiple types of weapons in the game including blunt weapons for one hand or two. One great thing about the talent/XP system is that you can level up pretty much any skill in the tree through use; there are no class-based restrictions. I'm sure at high enough level and/or with good equipment and stats you can one-hit certain enemies :)
Click to expand...

Oh, hehe. I should have clarified my post a bit. In OG UO, vanquishing weapons were the top tier damage types. People tended to not train up two handed wepons due to them being slow. I always rocked 2 handers, due to the fact, that when you landed you usually 1 hit peeps. Perma red people hated my ass.
 
ElGuapo242 said:
Oh, hehe. I should have clarified my post a bit. In OG UO, vanquishing weapons were the top tier damage types. People tended to not train up two handed wepons due to them being slow. I always rocked 2 handers, due to the fact, that when you landed you usually 1 hit peeps. Perma red people hated my ass.
Click to expand...

Vanquishing halberd coated with deadly poison was the way to go for PVP :) Open up with a Corp Por and then one hit was usually all it took, lol.

Xaeos, do you have copies to give away still? I played UO religiously back in the day (stopped not too long after T2A came out) and I've been curious to try SotA.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
Vanquishing halberd coated with deadly poison was the way to go for PVP :) Open up with a Corp Por and then one hit was usually all it took, lol.

Xaeos, do you have copies to give away still? I played UO religiously back in the day (stopped not too long after T2A came out) and I've been curious to try SotA.
Click to expand...

Oh man! Totally forgot about that combo! Jesus, I cant believe its been 20 years since that game came out. Man I am old.
 
Ohhh that's right back in the UO days hehe. You know I'm not sure if there's anything specifically like that right now, but considering that Richard Garriott is behind SotA as well, I would not be surprised! There are frequent updates to various game systems after all!

I've not really checked into the PVP side of the game but there is a system where players can drop certain inventory items/equipment that is not "bound" to you. I even recall reading that attempting to steal from a player character, if successful will either grant you some of the money they have on them or an item from their non-equipped/bound inventory! Of course if someone notices you stealing or you go PKing around a lot you'e going to get on thee criminal list with aggressive town guards and whatnot ; there are real consequences. This reminds me to look into it...

Colonel Sanders - Let me check to see if i have any more - there's one of mine I intended to gift that seems to be "stuck" to my account for the moment so let me see if I can work that out . However, I can certainly put your name on the list and if anyone else is interested don't hesitate to ask!

Have you looked over the SotA pages and /or forums? There's a lot of neat info there on the various release announcements, news posts etc... on the main site. There's also some good info on Twitch/Youtube channels of past dev chats and livestreams.
 
Last edited:
Xaeos said:
Ohhh that's right back in the UO days hehe. You know I'm not sure if there's anything specifically like that right now, but considering that Richard Garriott is behind SotA as well, I would not be surprised! There are frequent updates to various game systems after all!

I've not really checked into the PVP side of the game but there is a system where players can drop certain inventory items/equipment that is not "bound" to you. I even recall reading that attempting to steal from a player character, if successful will either grant you some of the money they have on them or an item from their non-equipped/bound inventory! Of course if someone notices you stealing or you go PKing around a lot you'e going to get on thee criminal list with aggressive town guards and whatnot ; there are real consequences. This reminds me to look into it...

Colonel Sanders - Let me check to see if i have any more - there's one of mine I intended to gift that seems to be "stuck" to my account for the moment so let me see if I can work that out . However, I can certainly put your name on the list and if anyone else is interested don't hesitate to ask!

Have you looked over the SotA pages and /or forums? There's a lot of neat info there on the various release announcements, news posts etc... on the main site. There's also some good info on Twitch/Youtube channels of past dev chats and livestreams.
Click to expand...

Thank you! :D Yep, I have spent a lot of time watching streams and stuff. It definitely looks to be in the Ultima spirit, which I love.
 
Xaeos said:
Ohhh that's right back in the UO days hehe. You know I'm not sure if there's anything specifically like that right now, but considering that Richard Garriott is behind SotA as well, I would not be surprised! There are frequent updates to various game systems after all!

I've not really checked into the PVP side of the game but there is a system where players can drop certain inventory items/equipment that is not "bound" to you. I even recall reading that attempting to steal from a player character, if successful will either grant you some of the money they have on them or an item from their non-equipped/bound inventory! Of course if someone notices you stealing or you go PKing around a lot you'e going to get on thee criminal list with aggressive town guards and whatnot ; there are real consequences. This reminds me to look into it...

Colonel Sanders - Let me check to see if i have any more - there's one of mine I intended to gift that seems to be "stuck" to my account for the moment so let me see if I can work that out . However, I can certainly put your name on the list and if anyone else is interested don't hesitate to ask!

Have you looked over the SotA pages and /or forums? There's a lot of neat info there on the various release announcements, news posts etc... on the main site. There's also some good info on Twitch/Youtube channels of past dev chats and livestreams.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't think I have patience anymore for PvP. Back in the UO days, myself and 6 buddies all lived together in a house with the fat dual ISDN line. We all set up in the living room and played UO for a whole summer. This was pre VOIP days, so all of us playing in the same room was brutal on the competition in PvP. We seriously wrecked shit. Fun times.

When I get some free time I am for sure checking this out. Looks fun.
 
ElGuapo242 said:
Yeah, I don't think I have patience anymore for PvP. Back in the UO days, myself and 6 buddies all lived together in a house with the fat dual ISDN line. We all set up in the living room and played UO for a whole summer. This was pre VOIP days, so all of us playing in the same room was brutal on the competition in PvP. We seriously wrecked shit. Fun times.

When I get some free time I am for sure checking this out. Looks fun.
Click to expand...

It almost sounds like you lived in one of my old houses. :D
 
I really need to get this now. I just don't have time yet to play it. I will soon though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top