SotACon Virtual

Virtual online Shroud of the Avatar Convention

About Us

Note: All ideas and concepts posted here are subject to change with little or no notice. Fun!!

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Contents

About SotACon-Virtual 2020
Concepts for SotACon-Virtual 2020
Planning SotACon-Virtual 2020
Planning Team Members

About SotACon-Virtual 2020

  • Purpose: We are providing virtual online Shroud of the Avatar Convention (SotACon) capabilities and events for players, developers, and friends of this massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and more!
  • History: SotACon (physical events) started in November 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland, and continued in Austin, Texas during October 2017, 2018, and 2019. The conventions were held at major hotel conference facilities for developer panel sessions, dance parties, and dinners.
  • 2020 and COVID-19 Pandemic: Planners were gearing up to hold the 2020 physical event at Richard Garriott’s private property (Curtain Theater and Castleton medieval village) in Austin, but they had to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Going Virtual in 2020: The show must go on! The SotACon 2020 (October 16-18, 2020) will be held virtually over the Internet with a worldwide audience.
  • Future: After we succeed with the first SotACon-Virtual event, we may be able to do this annually, be on call for special occasions throughout the year, and even directly support the physical SotACons to bring in more audience.

Concepts for SotACon-Virtual 2020

  • Open and Diverse Audience: This convention is open to anyone who has an interest in Ultima, Ultima Online, Shroud of the Avatar, and any other similar games, genre, medieval, renaissance,
    • Game Guilds
    • Community Groups
    • Developers and Previous Developers
    • Actors, Playwrights, and Storytellers
    • Everyone!
  • Cost to Attend: Zero, nil, nothing!
    • All costs are covered through donations. Excess donations create prizes for the audience.
    • If you want to donate, reach us.
  • Activities: Out-of-game and in-game activities for 3 days.
    • Face-to-Face Events and Games
      • King’s Dinner, Killer Breakfast, Pencil and Paper Dungeon by Lord British, Avatar Squares, and more.
      • Developer panel sessions, debates, and speeches.
      • Community sidebar rooms and lounges.
    • Live and Recorded Special Events
    • In-game Events and Quests
      • Competitions – fishing, control points, force-on-force PvP, decorations.
      • Quests – self-paced, group-led.
      • Role-playing – parades, protests, story-telling, tours.
  • Twitch TV Streamers: All streamers can get involved!
    • You can register with us, help us advertise, and live-stream various events. We need your help!
    • You can run some events through your stream and everyone can watch!
    • There may be certain events that cannot be streamed (due to copyright of material or private parties).
  • Massive Use of Virtual Technology: We want to leverage lots of social and virtual technology. If you have ideas, please reach us!

Planning SotACon-Virtual 2020

  • Short Planning Cycle: Can we really do this? There is little time to plan SotaCon-Virtual 2020. It is now July 4, 2020 and the convention is scheduled for October 16-18, 2020, just three months away! Therefore we will enthusiastically try many ideas, involve as many people in the community as possible, and “fail fast” in some areas while we succeed in major areas.
  • Creativity, momentum, and enthusiasm are our tenets.
    • Be Creative – All ideas are welcome! Let’s use technology to put together a great event and show with superb audience participation. Let’s create the virtual environment for panel discussions, quests, stories, dinners, and in-game and out-of-game events worthy to be remembered for years to come.
    • Gain Irreversible Momentum – When we get rolling, things keep going and going and going! Let’s bring in many people to plan the convention with their ideas, and they bring in more people. Let’s have small trial events before the convention that build-up to the big week.
    • Be Enthusiastic – Huzzah!! Let’s make this fun to create and attend for everyone. Let’s create a “buzz” that draws interest to have high standards for a great virtual convention and gets there with lots of action and activity.
  • Decision Making: Everyone on the team can make decisions and move quickly forward! As long as the decision is not irreversible or causes some liability, go for it! Keep the Team Leads informed. Let’s keep it simple and fun!
  • Join the Planning Team: Anyone can be on our planning team — we can use the help!
    • We want planning this virtual convention to be fun, awesome, and open to as many people and ideas as possible.
    • Reach us here to join the team and tell us your interests.

Planning Team Members

  • Team Leads:
    • Winfield – 1985 with Ultima IV, 1997 in Ultima Online (still there), 2013 with SotA Kickstarter, presently in UO and SotA. Helped plan, run, and support SotACons since 2016, Portalarium studio telethons & holiday parties, and SotA Meetups in Austin. Designed and ran the infamous King’s Dinner in Austin (2018). Enjoys supporting the Baron’s Men (https://thebaronsmen.org/) at Curtain Theater.
    • Sean Silverfoot – 2000 in Ultima Online (still there), presently in UO and SotA. Helped in SotACons, the King’s Dinner (2018), and New York SotA Meetups.
    • More Team Leaders are needed! Talk to the above people, please. Team leaders simply help us focus on important facets of the convention and bring things together, like virtual technology, content, advertising, streaming, in-game deco, contests, etc. Team Leads can help as much or little as they can, yet need to stay in good contact with the other Team Leads.
  • Team Members: We shall list people here who join the planning team and want to be publicly acknowledged. We want to keep this really simple! If you have a talent and interest, reach us! You can do a single thing or multiple things. Want to help do in-game deco, run a quest, do Zoom control, improve the website, publicize, moderate, have ideas, … join us!
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