Shroud of the Avatar, It’s Dev’s, and the Community In the News

A lot more has been showing up in the news of late and I am sure this has to do with the upcoming Launch as well as some of the bigger conventions starting up.

No matter how busy his game get’s Richard Garriott continues to show up all over the place!

He is quoted in this particle article regarding motion sickness in VR.

One fan of this new solution is videogame developer and former astronaut Richard Garriott, who said in a statement, “It has a very natural feel” and that “It doesn’t require a joystick.”

Virtual Reality: Motion Sickness May Be Avoided With New Innovation | Fortune

Have $45 million in Bitcoins? You might want to check this out!

Richard Garriott offers 'significant discount' for using bitcoin to buy $45M Austin estate – Austin Business Journal

He’s talked about in this article on Crowfall as well as how the Portalarium team has worked with the Crowfall developers.

When you look back at the history of fantasy and online games in Austin, one name that always pops up is Richard Garriott, who co-founded Origin Systems in the early 1980s and who has for many years loomed large in the local games community.

ArtCraft's "Crowfall" creators have already lured 40,000 early players

Shroud of the Avatar is also discussed in this article regarding Crowfall.
Austin's ArtCraft Entertainment has cobbled together $20M for 'Crowfall' video game – Austin Business Journal

Specifically to Shroud of the avatar, MMORPG talks a bit about the state of the game in this article.

Starr Long crushed the dreams of a small segment of the player base like so much playdough recently when he announced that the bag inventory system would be dropped from the game.
Read more at https://www.mmorpg.com/shroud-of-the-avatar/columns/release-the-kraken-1000012463#6rO9pKXqztxVtKiC.99

Shroud of the Avatar – Release the Kraken – MMORPG.com

Take a break, watch a movie!

You probably got it from the horse’s mouth already, saw it, heard about it from somewhere. It bears repeating though CONFIRM YOUR PHYSICAL ADDRESS IF YOU BACKED THE GAME!!

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues by Portalarium, Inc. — Kickstarter

Hey, don’t forget in addition to writing this blog I am an independent entrepreneur, that also sells Shroud of the Avatar in-game items! Not just in it for the sales, I am a day one backer, Seed Investor, fan, and player!

Visit my store here, which has been recently updated with large amounts of inventory!

Shroud of the Avatar

Also now running faster after a new server migration!

Category: Blogs, Game News Sites, Lord British | Comments Off

February 5 2018

Keeping of with Shroud of the Avatar, It’s Community, and It’s Developers

Hello, everyone!

Just another short and quick to the point piece for you Shroud of the Avatar players, of things you may have missed. Most of these items will not be found mentioned on any of the official communication platforms for the game, but are rather pieces I found elsewhere.

Shroud made MMORPG’s list of games that had it worst in 2017.

Richard Garriott is a legend. Portalarium’s goal to make the ultimate RPG is a lofty one, but one that just can’t seem to find its footing.
Read more at https://www.mmorpg.com/columns/the-mmos-that-had-it-worst-in-2017-1000012365#Z37ixTXvmMbbjITQ.99

The MMOs That Had It Worst in 2017 – The List – MMORPG.com

Massively Over Powered talks about the addition of Log Cabins to the game.

With such a strong emphasis on player housing, Shroud of the Avatar has fans guessing as to what other interesting abodes the team is cooking up inside of Lord British’s lab. Turns out the answer to this is “log cabins.”

Shroud of the Avatar goes nuts for log cabins – Massively Overpowered

If you scroll down towards the bottom of this Article on Sim City, you will see a piece and a short video that references Starr Long & Richard Garriott, in regards to Virtual Ecology.

See the long-lost NES prototype of SimCity | Ars Technica

This was my favorite!

An article that references Richard Garriott.

What this means is that Todd Howard is going to join the ranks of Ultima developer Richard Garriott and the entire team at Rockstar Games – they have won this prestigious Legend Award in the past

Todd Howard To Receive Legend Award At New York Video Game Awards

Richard Garriott is going to be talking about Shroud of the Avatar at the Austin Convention Center!

After several years of successful development as the second highest crowdfunded game ever, Shroud of the Avatar is finally launching! Join Richard “Lord British” Garriott himself

It's Here! Shroud of the Avatar and What's Coming Next (OFFICIAL)

Air and Space magazine has an article this way, about 2017 being a popular year for Astronauts to release memoir books.

Tales of the Space Explorers | Daily Planet | Air & Space Magazine

Well, if you missed Richard Garriott’s book I HIGHLY recommend it. In fact being familiar with most of his stories it has even become more fun for me, as when I am telling someone about something I am now able to pull it off a shelf and say “read these two paragraphs!”.

You probably saw this one through official channels, but it’s worth watching again!

IGN Talks about SXSW hitting Austin in March!

For starters, attendees can enjoy exclusive access to industry luminaries, creators, performers, and high-profile players at the Discovery Stage. The nine sessions announced so far include appearances by System Shock / Deus Ex mastermind Warren Spector, Ultima creator Richard Garriott (on the eve of launching crowdfunding phenom Shroud of the Avatar), Castlevania dad Koji Igarashi, Sega’s Sonic posse, and many more.

SXSW Gaming's About to Storm Austin Once Again – IGN

Looking to buy Shroud of the Avatar digital items for the game?

Check out Caveloot.com! My store, where I keep a section dedicated to digital products just for the SotA Player!

Shroud of the Avatar

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November 26 2017

Keeping up with Shroud of the Avatar, it’s Developer’s, and it’s Community

Long overdue to highlight some of the things taking place that may be of interest to many of the Shroud of the Avatar community!

One thing that just happened is community member Rosemourne transcribed the R46 post-mortem telethon. Definitely, a cool thing to do for the community!

R46 Post-Mortem Telethon Transcription | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Both Richard Garriott and his wife Laetitia Garriott, who met through their joint interests in spaceflight, also held duel judge positions recently!

Surprise Double Prize at the Austin “Sharks in Space” Event

Let’s not miss out on the articles by various game sites, magazines, blogs, and other such places that have done articles on Shroud of the Avatar itself!

Shroud Of The Avatar Details Release 48 Updates | MMOExaminer

Are Too Many MMORPGs Using the Fantasy Genre? | MMOExaminer

Shroud Of The Avatar Shows Off Armor And Holiday Items | MMOExaminer

Shroud of the Avatar – Invading Europe – MMORPG.com

Shroud Of The Avatar Gives Patch Notes For Release 47 | MMOExaminer

Warum hacken alle auf Shroud of the Avatar rum? – Mein-MMO.de

What's Ahead for the Balance of 2017? The Journey to Early Access Release – Shroud of the Avatar – MMORPG.com

Some cool things from the community! Speaking of which, I am going to be in a play soon! Right, the stuff..

Join the Meretz SotA Tribe | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Some other Misc Stuff

Gamasutra – GDC 2018 to host a special 20th anniversary

Windows 10 Issue and Workaround | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Visceral Games Joins A Long List Of Studios Closed By EA

News – All News

Tracy Hickman working on some cool things outside of Sota!
The VOID Tackles Star Wars Universe in Next Experience – Utah Business

Category: Crowdsourcing, Game News Sites, Lady British, Lord British, Lord DarkStarr, Space Sites | Comments Off

September 26 2017

Shroud of the Avatar, It’s Community, and It’s Developers in the News

Just some various things I have had come across my desk over the last month or so, that you may want to check out if you missed them.

Legendary game celebrates 20 year anniversary – micetimes.asia

Shroud Of The Avatar Brings New Update – MMOExaminer

Great Gaming Minds: Harvey Smith (Dishonored, Deus Ex)

In the money: Richard Garriott's Portalarium, other companies raise nearly $4M – Austin Business Journal

How Richard Garriott Got Players to Start Thinking About the Choices They Make in Ultima IV | USgamer

Gamasutra – Richard Garriott remembers calling his

Break Out: Ultima III and the familial origins of Origin Systems | VentureBeat

How Richard Garriott got started in games – Polygon

Gamasutra – Press Releases- Travian: Legends launches

Choose My Adventure: Many kinds of lost in Shroud of the Avatar – Massively Overpowered

Attendance success for gamescom and inagural devcom | Latest news from the game development industry | Develop

In the wake of the Game of Thrones finale, indulge in the nostalgia of Dragonlance – Vox

Category: Game News Sites, Lady British, Shroud of the Avatar, Tracy Hickman, Ultima Online, Websites | Comments Off

August 30 2017

Portalarium, Shroud of the Avatar, It’s Dev’s, and It’s Community

CONGRADUUUUUULATIONS SHROUD OF THE AVATAR

Shroud of the Avatar has now successfully raised over Twelve Million in funding. That’s worth taking note of! My congratulations to everyone involved in that, something to be proud of.

Let’s take a look at some of the recent going on’s that are involved in that, shall we?

With Richard Garriott having opportunities to talk about it a bit at a Gaming Convention with over 350K people, I hope we will see a few new players!

Gamescom 2017 Keynote Speakers Announced; Includes Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, Richard Garriott, and More

GamesCom 2017 – Preview

More than 350,000 attend Gamescom 2017 – Thumbsticks

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds Panel Coming To Gamescom – GameSpot

Gamasutra – Press Releases- From Playerunknown's

Speaking of Richard Garriott and conventions.

Devcom to return in 2018 | GamesIndustry.biz

A community continuing to create resources for each other!

Travel journal about the South entrance to Dragomir Mori – Part 1 | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Travel journal about the South entrance to Dragomir Mori – Part 2 | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

The Rest…

Shroud of the Avatar works on replacing placeholder scenes – Massively Overpowered

Also if you did not see one of my new projects, I am running an online auction site now. Located in my store, Caveloot.com, where you can also find Shroud of the Avatar Items listed under the “virtual Games” category, under the “shop here” menu tab. More products being added all the time!

What’s great about this project is that we sell for the community for a fairly low commission. If you want to learn more about it why not just drop my an email at customerservice@thecaverns.net?

I also have a nice write-up detailing the program over here in the forums:
Online Auction Services at Caveloot.com being offered | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Category: Blogs, Crowdsourcing, Game News Sites, Interviews, Lord British, Other Games | Comments Off

August 14 2017

Shroud of the Avatar AND It’s Players, Communities, and Developers in the News

This is one of my summary pieces, in which I point you out to various things that may be note worthy if you missed it over the last month or so!

Ultima fans, as well as Shroud of the Avatar fans, will definitely want to check out this article! I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Learning morality through gaming | Life and style | The Guardian

If you play Shroud of the Avatar, there is an upcoming Crafting event you may want to take a look at.
BMC Crafting Fair – August 19, 2017 – Black Rock Cove – Garrison Road Bazaar | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Not currently a player? Give it a try for free!!
Free Trial to Run From August 9- 30th – Shroud of the Avatar – MMORPG.com

Other things of note:

Shroud Of The Avatar Team Talks Forests And Post-Episode Content | MMOExaminer

CoinReport NEVERDIE announces details for interoperable Teleport Token – CoinReport

Shroud Of The Avatar Update Highlights New City Polish and Armor | MMOExaminer

Take a break from all those articles and reading, and listen to something new from one of our community members, Dan Span!

Go Back to reading now…

BioWare Montreal Closes: Will EA kill this brand like it has these? Part 1: Origin and Westwood

Travian Games to publish Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar | GamesIndustry.biz

Category: Blogs, Game News Sites, Music, SotA Fansites, Video's, Websites | Comments Off

August 2 2017

Shroud of the Avatar, Portalarium, and it’s Developer in the News

Richard Garriott, as always, has been in the news a lot of late. Seriously, when is he not?

Both Portalarium and Shroud of the Avatar are also seeing a lot of increase in the news, with their Seed Invest campaign! Speaking of which, that is drawing to a close so if that interests you, get in on it!

A Lot of articles are being syndicated around on the bigger websites, as well as original pieces coming out. Here are some of those for you to check out!

Gamasutra – Press Releases – Travian Games and Portalarium Partner for Shroud of the Avatar as it Reaches Story Complete Milestone

Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar gets publishing help from Travian Games | VentureBeat | PC Gaming | by Jason Wilson

Travian Games to publish Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar | GamesIndustry.biz

Shroud Of The Avatar Team Gets New Partner | MMOExaminer

Portalarium Inks Deal with Travian for EU Publishing – Shroud of the Avatar – MMORPG.com

Update of the Avatar #235 – 2017.07.07: New Elves, Scene Polish, Shroud at RTX, Free Trial Live, Telethon Results, Your Questions Answered, New Flash Sale, Contest Winners, Community Events, and More! | Shroud of the Avatar

NEVERDIE Creates Interoperable Teleport Token to Use Across VR Worlds and Create Gamified Virtual Reality Jobs – CoinSpeaker

Portalarium Partnership with Travian Games | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Bullock Museum Scores Video Game Exhibit: “Pong to Pokémon” traces gaming’s Texas ties and rapid evolution – Screens – The Austin Chronicle

From "Pong to Pokemon," explore 50 years of electronic gaming at the Bullock Museum exhibit in Austin, opening Saturday, July 29 | Community Impact Newspaper

Want to hear how some things are going from the Developers themselves? Grab a bag of popcorn!

Category: Blogs, Dev news, Game News Sites, Lord British, Video's, Websites | Comments Off

July 24 2017

Shroud of the Avatar, It’s Players, and It’s Developer’s in the News

This is another one of those summary pieces. Oozes and Blobs that have crossed my path fairly recently that I hadn’t passed along yet and all that.

You may remember a little while back that Protalarium was doing an AMA on Reddit for Shroud of the Avatar. Red Thomas has a nice summary piece set-up over here on MMORPG if you missed it!

Mainly, there’s a lot of questions about what’s going on in development and how it impacts them. So, the Shroud of the Avatar team set up a Reddit AMA to answer their questions.

Shroud of the Avatar Team Hosts Reddit AMA | MMOExaminer

Not the only recent Article from Red Thomas, you may also want to catch this one about Offline mode for Shroud of the Avatar

Shroud of the Avatar – Offline is On – MMORPG.com

Richard Garriott is certainly no stranger to Interviews. I also doubt this is the first time he’s been interviewing while playing a game.

In this episode of Antwand Pearman Vs The Interview, Antwand interviews game developer and explorer Richard Garriott over a very special game of “Save Matt Damon.” They talk about how Richard developed the Ultima series, weird things about space travel and much more! Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

How about those Lunar rifts? When do they go where?

Duke Gréagóir has a fantastic link to a spreadsheet posted over in the forums that help with just those sort of questions!

It is a google doc and starts 6/29 at 4:151:15 pm central time / new britannian time. It is easy to modify as the forumla is adding 8 minutes and 45 seconds for each stop. If you see it is off, Let me know or you should have access to edit it too (if the setting works in google docs).

SOTA Lunar Rift schedule

Duke Greagoir's Lunar Rift Schedule Worksheet | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Heres Some Article links to check out!

NEVERDIE Partners with Richard Garriot – The Merkle

Neverdie and Lord British partner to develop VR infrastructure – Gamereactor UK –

Gamasutra – Press Releases – Portalarium & Lord British (Famed developer of Ultima & Shroud of the Avatar) Joins Forces with NEVERDIE in Support of Their ICO to Provide Millions of Gamers Universal Ethereum-Based NEVERDIE & Teleport Gaming Tokens

Shroud of the Avatar – My Journey to New Britannia (Part II) iMMOsite – Get your gaming life recorded – my.mmosite.com

Partnering with NEVERDIE on their ICO for Etherium Block Chain Tokens | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Ultima's Famed Lord British Joins Forces with Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs to Unite Millions of Gamers in Ethereum-Based Gaming with NDC and TPT Tokens

Shroud of the Avatar – Richard Garriott – Goals, Milestones, and Expectations – MMORPG.com

'Welcome to New Britannia' Community Trailer Contest Submissions | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

Ultima creator Richard Garriott looks back on nearly four decades making video games | VentureBeat | PC Gaming | by Dean Takahashi

Austin’s annual RTX gaming convention set to be biggest yet | KXAN.com

Category: Game News Sites, Interviews, Lady British, Video's | Comments Off

July 5 2017

Game Reactor Posts An Interview With Richard Garriott

Game Reactor put out this recent interview you may want to take a look at.

We sat down with Honor Award recipient Richard “Lord British” Garriott at Gamelab to talk about his long career, his new game Shroud of the Avatar, space adventures, and more.

Lord British: Shroud of the Avatar is "all about virtue test" – Gamereactor UK – Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Category: Game News Sites, Interviews, Lord British, Video's | Comments Off

June 18 2017

Stile Teckel Catching Up With Shroud of the Avatar and It’s Developers

I mentioned recently that I am going through a lot of piece’s I hadn’t been able to get to until recently, and so am sharing those with you in case you may have missed them.

One piece that I have read and even discussed with some others, but am just now sharing with my readers, is of particular interest.

Posted by Shack News a piece titled “Museum Takes Possession of Original Doom Memorabilia Under Guard”, which speaks of a Gaming Museum in Texas and its many cool artifacts being collected. Of particular note though is that there is a section on some contributions by Richard Garriott.

Richard Garriott, aka Lord British, who created the Ultima series of games and is now working on Shroud of the Avatar MMO, donated quite a bit of memorabilia as well. “I am and always have been a huge pack rat,” he said via email. “I have kept every note, every disk, every bit of hardware or materials I/we have used in making games.”

The article does go on to detail what some of this includes, so head on over and read the whole thing.
Museum Takes Possession of Original Doom Memorabilia Under Guard | Shacknews

What if you’re looking for a guild to join for Shroud of the Avatar? You don’t want to use the forums or the internet. In fact, you don’t even want to leave the game!

One of the community projects in place to help with this is being done by Nick (Name from SotA Forums). The concept is that in one of the heavier high traffic areas of the game is to have a setup, which using books act’s as a directory of in-game guilds.

For instance, The Caverns Guild would have its own book and inside that book would be information about the guild including how to contact them if you are interested. What a great project!

I am inviting all guilds (big or small) who wishes to put up their guild information to send 2 copies of their guild information to be placed in Soryn Fields. The guild information will be:

1) a paper, with minimal writing via the subject, to describe their guild in a few words. This will be listed on the vendor.
2) a book, to describe the guild in detail. This will be placed on a shelf inside the inn for outlanders to read.

There will be no cost associated with the listing.

You can read the whole article, get more information, ask questions, or tell them The Caverns sent you, right over here.
Looking for Guild information | Shroud of the Avatar Forum

If you are looking for something to read, here are a few articles I have not referenced or linked for you previously you may want to take a quick gander at.

Black Sun Game Publishing to Bring SotA to Russia – Shroud of the Avatar – MMORPG.com

Gamasutra – Press Releases – Portalarium's Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues Gets Russian Publishing Deal

This one is even new!
Richard Garriott probed over additional Shroud of the Avatar funding

Need something a little more visual after reading those articles? Grab a seat in the theater and see what Markee Dragon has for you!

PERRRRTTTTYYYYY

Looking for In Game items, COTO’s, or Gold? Our sister company, Caveloot.com sells Shroud of the Avatar virtual items. Swing on over and check it out!

Category: Game News Sites, Lord British, Markee Dragon, Video's | Comments Off

Caverns, Dungeons, and Beyond

Dungeon Masters Journal for Shroud of the Avatar