Recently the devs of Shroud of the Avatar came together in a livestream to talk up the game, give away prizes, and more importantly commemorate several members of the MMORPG’s community as they joined the Order of the New Britannia Empire (OBNE) for their contributions to the community as a whole. That final part is something to note primarily because it was enough of an event to bring Richard Garriott and Starr Long back to the livestream for the ceremony among other devs.
As one might expect, Garriott had plenty of things to say about his various real-world adventuring, particularly his sojourn to Antarctica this coming February, along with recounting visits to various haunted house attractions during the Halloween season. Long, meanwhile, talked up the OBNE’s importance to forming a community, which he reasons is even more important for a crowdfunded game like SOTA. The ceremony was mired by technical issues both in-game and in terms of video chat, but otherwise the recipients were given their due kudos.
There was a point near the tail end of the stream where the devs talked about future SOTA updates, noting that January should see Release 97 come out, which will feature “a lot of dungeon work on it.” The stream also showed off a variety of statues and other decorative items that players will soon be able place on their property, while the early half of the stream held a Q&A session. For those who care to sit through the full four hours, the video can be seen below.
