Jack T. Lamplighter

Greetings Fellow Avatars! This week’s update brings you some great news about the Vault! Not only will the vault be automated soon, it will be packed with MANY more items in the coming months. Also, for those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the... Avatar’s Update #384: Vault Round Automation! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! This week’s update brings you some great news about the Vault! Not only will the vault be automated soon, it will be packed with MANY more items in the coming months. Also, for those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: News Announcements Vault Round Automation! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Latest Store Items: Male & Female Shopkeeper Outfits, Electric Katanas & More! June Login Reward: Floppy Beach Hat! R78 Reward Program Login Items: Beach Theme! Streaming Reward Program Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles Upcoming Events Calendar Community Updates Meretz: Win a Shogun Lighthouse Village Home (No Trade) Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney Community Event: Summer Showdown Group Combat Event Community Event: 6th Annual Soldier’s Memorial Ball Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands Project to Support: Rodasurf Project to Support: Jar Wars Project to Support: Dragonfight Project to Support: Crowfall Project to Support: Avatar Express Resources: Players Helping Players Vault Round Automation! What mysterious and ancient treasures can be found within the Vault on the Crown Store? Soon, Avatars? Much, much more! Currently, about 200 items manually cycle into the vault. The process took a considerable amount of developer time to hand select 9 new items every 2 weeks and prep them for store availability. Albeit the process allowed for more theme related selections, time could be better spent elsewhere on more important parts of the project. Going forward, these changes will enhance the Crown Store experience for all players: Vault Item Selection Automation: 9 items will automatically be selected within the pool of available Vault items. Vault Item Pool Increase: Currently about 200 items cycle into the Vault. We’ll be adding roughly 400 additional items into the pool in the coming months to provide a much more varied availability of old Stretch Goal, Monthly Telethon, Rewards Program, Monthly Login, and expired items. Pledge Rewards are still not eligible to become Vault items. Vault Duration Change: Now that the Vault will be automated and the old manual process is no longer a factor, Vault items will change out every week instead of every 2 weeks. As we load in the additional Vault items, this duration could possibly be shortened again in the future. We hope you enjoy the wider variety of available Vault items coming your way very shortly. This week, we will not have the normal Vault Round available items announcement since this system is about to go live, and the items will be randomly selected. Happy shopping, Avatars! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, June 5th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream! To enter the prize drawings, type “soaking up the rays” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT! Latest Store Items: Male & Female Shopkeeper Outfits, Electric Katanas & More! Merchants of New Britannia! Make room in your wardrobes for the Male and Female Shopkeeper Outfits! These splendid wearable items are a perfect fit for any up-and-coming or veteran merchant players. Chest and leg pieces of both sets can be dyed. The female version features TWO chest pieces, one with a choker and one with a necklace. Other exciting new additions which arrived lately were the Electric Katanas coming in three colors (Pink, Red, and Green). These “electrifying” new 2-handed swords, if salvaged, will yield eternal patterns which can be applied to player-crafted 2-handed swords. The katanas are fantastic accessories for the new Dark Shogun Armor Set which boldly strode into the store recently! This armor set will yield plate armor Eternal Patterns if salvaged, which can be applied to other plate armor to apply the style. Male Shopkeeper Outfit Female Shopkeeper Outfit Dark Shogun Armor Set Pink Electric Katana (Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Item) Red Electric Katana Green Electric Katana June Login Reward: Floppy Hat! Just in time to hit the beaches, this floppy hat is perfect for abating the sun during shoreline festivities. Simply log in during the month of June, and the hat will become available in the Rewards Window. Time to catch some rays, beachgoers! Release 78 Reward Program Login Reward Items: Beach Theme! Avatars! Rewards Program login reward items for Release 78 are beach themed! Reward Program members will receive these items immediately upon logging in during Release 78! Surf’s up, Avatars! Beach Towels (4-Pack, Dyeable) Male Swimsuit (1-Piece, Uses Chest & Legs Slots, Dyeable, Also fits females) Female Swimsuit (2-Piece, Dyeable, Also fits males) NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s rewards. The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following: 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month Monthly Login Reward Items (3 per month) Exclusive Title every 3 months 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith 6 Months: Keeper of the Word 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge Pick any Dye 12-Pack every 6 months Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including: Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills Are You a Livestreamer? Soon, the Streaming Reward Program will be returning. As the details are getting reworked, we’ll reveal more information. Traditional streaming rewards included an exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Streaming Program! Expect the camera reward to return! More goodies will come to your way as the program fully develops. Thank you for streaming Shroud of the Avatar! Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on our TWO Twitch Channels: twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar and twitch.tv/communityoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow and get the latest information right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!! Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over at our other social media venues: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShroudoftheAvatar/ Catnip Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/catnipgames Shroud of the Avatar Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShroudofAvatar Shroud of the Avatar Discord: https://discord.gg/GuBXakQ Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of Lord British’s property, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold! Complete List of Rewards: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land! Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle Unique Lord of the Isle Home (pictured above) NEW – Town Size Upgrade (if a town is not owned by the LOTI supporter, they may gift this size upgrade to another town owner. Maximum possible town sizes will be taken into account, but the Megalopolis size just became available!) Choice of 1 House currently available in the store Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot) Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room 140,000 Crowns 1000 Bank Slots Pick 12 Prosperity Tools 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later) Early Access to Episode 2 Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team 1 hour one-on-one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference) One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8 In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version) Tour of Lord British’s property Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, and Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC. NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31, 2019). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD. NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Catnip Games for Tour & Dinner. Upcoming Events Calendar Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums: 2020 Events June 25 – Release 79 July 30 – Release 80 Aug 27 – Release 81 Meretz: Win a Shogun Lighthouse Village Home (No Trade) Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy! Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away a Shogun Lighthouse Village Home (No Trade)! AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes. What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY! Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney For the Anglers of New Britannia, a weekly developer run fishing event has arrived! These weekly tournaments start at Noon CT every Friday and will last until Noon CT the next Friday. Players may register towns to be put into a registry list which will dictate most of the venues available for the fishing competition. Every week, the venues shift to the next 3 towns from the registry. Also each week, a new spotlighted PvE and PvP scene cycle into the contest. Each category (POT, PvP, PvE) features different prizes and goals. All fish must be caught within the timeframe of the contest. Here are some of the details: Largest Fetid Fish (Town): Prizes: Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed, Large Gold Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught from one of these towns Islands of Wonders (@Sole) Meadow’s Edge (@Jefe) Dragomir Mori (@CatherineRose) Largest Fish (PvP):​ Prizes: 2 Chained Obsidian Shard 3-Packs, Large Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in The Brave Coast Largest Lava Fish: Prizes: Fishing Rod of Prosperity, Large Bronze Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in Blackblade Foothills Consolation Prizes: Prizes: Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Everyone who submitted an entry that did not win an above prize Spinoff/Crossover Events: Islands of Wonders: (@Net): 4Booty – Obsidian Report lost at Islands of Wonders Event! Check on this forum post for more information! 50K Gold: (@cyro): Cyro is offering up an additional $50K gold to each of the 3 winners! Prizes provided by the Community Manager will be available for attendees, but governors, guild leaders and players are welcome to sweeten the pot by providing additional prizes based on objective criteria entirely of their own design. In fact, please consider planning events to overlap the duration and chosen weekly locations of the Fishing developer events. Please post these events in the in-game events forums and the Community Manager will promote accordingly. Expect a constant stream of weekly events, each to feature new locations and new objectives. Head on over to the Fishing Event Forum Thread for more information. Happy adventures, Avatars! Community Event: Summer Showdown Group Combat Event [Forum Post by Grumpy Krabnevir] 2 Teams Enter, One Team leaves​! This is a group combat event for the purpose of providing a fun and entertaining tournament atmosphere for players to participate and win prizes. There will be limited team slots available on a first come first serve basis. A team slot is not committed to a team until all signup requirements have been met and verified. This event is for fun and entertainment, it may not be perfect. Contestants are welcome to check out the course prior to the tournament. The dungeon will not have active spawns. When (Pre-Event Newcomer Bracket): June 14th, 12:00 Noon CST (Austin Time) When (Main Event Bracket Starts): June 14th, 2:00 PM CST (Austin Time) Where: Judgement Square Prison Cage Dungeon located in Krabnevir Overview: Using opposing entrances, 2 teams enter the gauntlet and race along equally distant paths until they encounter the opposing team at the main center fight room. The objective of each team is to successfully defeat and get past the opposing team and be the first complete live team to exit the gauntlet through the opposing team’s entrance. Any team that successfully kills all opposing team members need only to resurrect any dead teammates if necessary and exit the opposing team’s entrance with all team members alive. There are no ankhs within the gauntlet, if you resurrect in the foyer, you are out of the match and your team loses. ALL TEAM MEMBERS MUST EXIT ALIVE THROUGH THE OPPOSING TEAM’S ENTRANCE FIRST TO WIN. Tournament Structure: Each Tournament will be a bracket tournament with double elimination with the winner of the winner’s bracket facing the winner of the loser’s bracket for a ONE ROUND championship match. Tournament entries will be accepted up until 24 hrs before the start of the tournament. Tournament seeding will be determined by random selection… For more information (and there is MUCH more), please visit Grumpy’s Forum Thread on the official forums. Community Event: 6th Annual Soldier’s Memorial Ball [Forum Post by Bowen Bloodgood] It is time once again for the Soldier’s Memorial Ball. (Yes this is really our 6th year!) This year we are returning to the glorious ballroom at Caer Dracwych with DJs from Avatar’s Radio. We shall have DJ’s Asclepius in the morning and the Dark Lord Celith Wraine in the afternoon. When: Sunday, June 21st, 9AM to 1PM CT Where: Caer Dracwych While I’m quite pleased with our ballroom, I am looking for a little help from the community to put in the finishing touches in the form of heraldry and maybe a dragon head or two. Heraldry needed is in the form of plate armor, short banners and shields (any shield type will do). Anyone interested can either PM me for details, send donations via in-game mail or leave items in the library donation chest located just inside the observatory (dragon heads needed: 2 Red and 1 Purple). As always, this is a formal event. Time to break out your best! For more information, be sure to read the forum thread on the official forums. Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands [Forum Post by CatherineRose] Another chapter of the Black Sails Saga has begun, Avatars! When the creative minds of CatherineRose and friends start writing a new chapter, it can mean only one thing — adventure awaits thee! Typically, these stories start as forum story writing and role-play, which then work their way into the game as role-playing adventures. Upon the chapter’s end, a giant battle between players usually takes place, so be sure to get involved now. Ready thine quills and ink, oh pirates of New Britannia, for a grand player-made adventure awaits thee! For more information, please contact CatherineRose for an invite to the planning conversations on the forums. Months before this day ……….. A spy for our Black Sails had given a message to one of the guards to warn us that as the great leader @Antrax Artek was leaving his headquarters with his army and as he made his way toward the battle which was underway in Blood Bay, a strange purple mist began to overtake the army. As the spy looked on with horror he saw one by one of each of the soldiers fall to the ground. Their bodies began to shake as if a great monster were picking each up and violently throwing each into the air. Upon falling to the ground they did not move from any position whether arms were out stretched or bent into grotesque shapes. All succumbed in like manner even the great Antrax himself as well. The next strange and frightening thing to happen was that each of the soldiers beginning with Antrax woke. They stood up at attention as if ready for orders to be given. Yet they were in some kind of stupor or trance. Antrax turned, in this trance as well, and shouted orders to his army. “We are to battle in Blood Bay. You will kill all living avatars except for any in our own army, Antax Army. You will kill all Pirates as well as all Obsidians. Let their blood reach from the edge of the cursed water’s of Blood Bay across the battle ground until it flows and touches the mountains . Let no one escape your sword.” “Show no mercy.” Antrax and his army did just that. Blood ran deep from all this death. The deadly purple mist affected all who marched through it. No one was spared. Mass confusion took place as well. No one that day had the ability to think like a fighter. No one that day could distinguish allies from enemies. In time the purple mist cleared from the survivors bodies. Antrax and his army returned to his headquarters. The Black Sails and Allies who survived, that were able, began to train for the next battle. We knew we would never retreat. We would never give up the goal of having peace. The evil Obsidians had again used the powerful knowledge they possess to continue their quest to control and then to destroy all of Novia. However,we knew our purpose would l not be thwarted. We repaired our ships, bandaged our wounded. We also, sadly buried the many dead. I received, from one of my guards this message which was intercepted by one of our spies: “I, Lord of a Obsidians, Master of all the World, now order you bring together our most feared fighters as well as the strongest of the trained animals which are scattered about Novia. Bring them to the Underworld under the purple mist in Blood Bay where the four rivers of Lava meet. Antrax and his army along with The pirates and allies are working to becoming again. Ha! They will not be strong enough to go against the mighty Obsidians.. We will go to the place called Malus and stop them from crossing into their new lands… (continues on the forums) Project to Support – RodasurfAvatars! Yet another news outlet has spotted Darkstarr on a RodaSurf board. Be sure to check out this latest sighting in this latest Austin360 news article! Darkstarr and the Rodasurf team also dazzled us with another interview which aired on Spectrum News not too long ago! The RodaSurf board is an accessory to the Onewheel XR device. Simply snap and lock the Onewheel into RodaSurf’s latching system, and you’ll be surfing the streets before you know it! For the full article PLUS a fantastic video, be sure to head straight over to the Spectrum News Website and see our beloved Lord of Chaos show off his latest venture! Project to Support – Jar Wars While you are delving into Virtual Reality (VR), be sure to check out this exciting and hilarious new game, Jar Wars! Our very own Darkstarr has been busy on some side projects, one of which is Jar Wars, a slapstick multiplayer game made just for VR enthusiasts. Battle your friends with wacky weapons and intriguing gadgets for total domination of the Moon! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Dragon Fight Darkstarr has also been hard at work with the team for Dragon Fight VR which recently went live on Steam! Dragon Fight VR is an internal experiment to capture the “essence” of a dragon fight, the classic penultimate experience of every fantasy story. We wanted to create a short visceral, realistic experience stripped of user interface, lobbies, scores, levels, and other visual intrusions that might distract. There were some key elements of fighting a dragon that we wanted to capture and we felt VR was uniquely qualified to convey: Face to face with a large scale hostile creature trying to kill you Using a sword and a shield Fire! Nowhere to run! This started out as an internal experiment to learn some things about VR’s capabilities, be reductionist in our designs, etc. We felt that the experiment was successful enough to release as a free experience to share. Enjoy! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Crowfall Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion! Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power! Project to Support – Avatar Express [Forum post by Vladamir Begemot] I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site. If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening. You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like. Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game. It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts! So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us! 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. View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! This week's update brings you some great news about a new concept coming to Episode 2 adventure scenes called Dynamically Scaled Difficulty! Soon after release, players will be able to experience the first scene enabled with this new tech. Also, take a sneak peek into the new Shadow Creatures effects coming to encounters near you! For those wishing to participate in any community activities,... Avatar’s Update #383: Play Release 78 Now! Dynamically Scaled Difficulty! Shadow Creatures Preview!View the full article

For folks wanting a sneak peek a day early or wish to help with edit suggestions, here's a draft copy of tomorrow's release notes. I've got one more article to write about the new Shadow Creature skins/effects, but otherwise it's fairly complete. Keep in mind, I didn't really have time to read through it a second/third time which I'll do tomorrow, but anything you spot can really speed along my review. Enjoy!... DRAFT: Release 78 Notes View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! This week’s update brings you some great news about a new concept coming to Episode 2 adventure scenes called Dynamically Scaled Difficulty! Soon after release, players will be able to experience the first scene enabled with this new tech. Also, take a sneak peek into the new Shadow Creatures effects coming to encounters near you! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: News Announcements Dynamically Scaled Difficulty! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Shadow Creatures Preview! June Login Reward: Floppy Beach Hat! R78 Reward Program Login Items: Beach Theme! Latest Store Items: Male & Female Shopkeeper Outfits, Electric Katanas & More! Obsidian & Island Vault Round! Packaging Items for Trade Available! World & UI Changes Crafting & Economy Changes Combat Balance & Changes Updated Player Owned Towns Bug Fixes Streaming Reward Program Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles Upcoming Events Calendar Community Updates Meretz: Win a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney Community Event: Silverdale Market Fishing Contest Community Event: Celtic/Irish Celebration Community Event: 6th Annual Soldier’s Memorial Ball Community Event: Concert by the Sea Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands Project to Support: Rodasurf Project to Support: Jar Wars Project to Support: Dragonfight Project to Support: Crowfall Project to Support: Avatar Express Resources: Players Helping Players Dynamically Scaled Difficulty! Adventurers, rejoice! A new concept for Shroud of the Avatar, called Dynamically Scaled Difficulty, brings a variety of user selectable difficulty levels to a single adventure scene. Here is a breakdown of the difficulty levels available in the first iteration of the new tech: Easy (Tier 7) Medium (Tier 10) Hard (Tier 12) Epic (Tier 18) Dynamically Scaled Difficulty will not only scale the tier level of spawns, but also the experience awarded for each opponent defeated. After further testing occurs, loot will also scale accordingly. Every new scene added to the game will feature scaled difficulty options, but not every scene will be broken down identically. The first scene to feature this new tech is a cloned version of the beautiful yet underutilized Tier 2 location known as South Midmaer Way. Of late, in addition to adding entirely new scenes, the team has routinely revamped old underutilized low tier scenes such as this to feature greater challenges for higher level players. Some of these updates included the revamp of Spectral Peaks, Owls Head Sewers, Ravensmoor, Ruins of Ravensmoor, Mysterious Swamp, Deep Ravenswood and Ulfheim. We learned a valuable lesson when the original version of Ulfheim was removed, because some fans of the old clone longed to see their favorite hunting grounds restored, hence the Ruins of Utheim appeared. So, to head off a similar concern, we’ve decided to leave in South Midmaer Way at its original location and difficulty, and the new scaled version of this scene will be placed in Mistrendur in a patch shortly after the release. Known as Lachem’s Bazaar, the location now features revamped spawns and NPC dialogue adjustments and is fully integrated into the new dynamic system. The 3-day puzzle buff (+30 Agility, -10 Strength) which also resides in South Midmaer Way will temporarily be available in Lachems Bazaar, but soon that puzzle will yield entirely unique yet undetermined benefits. Spindelskog, an Episode 2 adventure scene nearing completion, will likely be the next scaled adventure scene coming your way. Dynamically Scaled Difficulty adventure scenes are just some of the exciting features to arrive this year. Read more about what’s on the horizon in the Shroud of the Avatar 2020 Vision! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, May 29th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream! To enter the prize drawings, type “may the fourth be with you” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT! Shadow Creatures Preview! write cool stuff about the new shadow creature effects/skins June Login Reward: Floppy Hat! Just in time to hit the beaches, this floppy hat is perfect for abating the sun during shoreline festivities. Simply log in during the month of June, and the hat will become available in the Rewards Window. Time to catch some rays, beachgoers! Release 78 Reward Program Login Reward Items: Beach Theme! Avatars! Rewards Program login reward items for Release 78 are beach themed! Reward Program members will receive these items immediately upon logging in during Release 78! Surf’s up, Avatars! Beach Towels (4-Pack, Dyeable) Male Swimsuit (1-Piece, Uses Chest & Legs Slots, Dyeable, Also fits females) Female Swimsuit (2-Piece, Dyeable, Also fits males) NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s rewards. The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following: 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month Monthly Login Reward Items (~ 3 per month) Exclusive Title every 3 months 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith 6 Months: Keeper of the Word 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including: Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills Latest Store Items: Male & Female Shopkeeper Outfits, Electric Katanas & More! Merchants of New Britannia! Make room in your wardrobes for the Male and Female Shopkeeper Outfits! These splendid wearable items are a perfect fit for any up-and-coming or veteran merchant players. Chest and leg pieces of both sets can be dyed. The female version features TWO chest pieces, one with a choker and one with a necklace. Other exciting new additions which arrived lately were the Electric Katanas coming in three colors (Pink, Red and Green). These “electrifying” new 2-handed swords, if salvaged, will yield eternal patterns which can be applied to player-crafted 2-handed swords. The katanas are fantastic accessories for the new Dark Shogun Armor Set which boldly strode into the store recently! This armor set will yield plate armor Eternal Patterns if salvaged, which can be applied to other plate armor to apply the style. Male Shopkeeper Outfit Female Shopkeeper Outfit Dark Shogun Armor Set Pink Electric Katana (Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Item) Red Electric Katana Green Electric Katana Obsidian & Island Vault Round! The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, June 4th at 10:30 AM CST. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc. Obsidian Tower (Town Home) Obsidian Sarcophagus Obsidian Order Throne Obsidian Order Plate Armor Set Island Dress Island Flower Crown Island Spear Large Tiki Statue Hula Emote Packaging Items for Trade Available! Just arriving on the Live Server is a very useful new feature which allows players to trade formerly no-trade Heritage items by packaging them for trade. Simply right-click the item, then select “Package Item for Trade” which will spawn an option window requesting a Crowns payment for the packaging. Once packaged, the item can be freely traded to another player, who can then unpackage it for use simply by double-clicking upon the item. Allowing for the trade of formerly no-trade Heritage items is just one of many useful new features to arrive this year. Read more about what’s on the horizon in the Shroud of the Avatar 2020 Vision! World & UI Changes These miscellaneous updates affecting the game world or aspects of the user interface (UI) patched in during R77 or will go live on or shortly after R78: The Forgeries: (spoilers) The first in a new series of daily repeatable quests has been added to Ardoris at the Caravaggios Wolf painting shop near the market square. Caravaggios Wolf is the alter-ego of Stephen Daniele, the lead concept artist during Shroud of the Avatar’s early development. If players speak with Caravaggios, a quest to locate 5 paintings can be obtained. If players speak with Stephanie Broadmeadow, an alternate quest to locate 5 paintings (with alternate effects upon your virtue) can be obtained. Expect additional dailies to be added in the future, each featuring a wide variety of experience rewards depending upon the difficulty of obtaining the items required or reaching the NPC turn-in location. Envy Angel: This envious angel has fled into hiding once again, and she will return around Valentine’s day in 2021. Atavists of Purity: The narrow minded Atavists have returned to New Britannia in force. The Atavists roam the desert region of Grunvald, and if challenged, players will face a wave battle ending with the appearance of the infamous Luminous Atavist. Comet & Aether Creatures: The comet has returned to the skies of New Britannia; therefore, a large variety of Aether Creatures roam the lands once again. Beware, Avatars! Ulfheim: Players can now utilize teleporters in Ulfheim which greatly assists late to arrive party members to catch up with others in their party. Also, the breakable portions of the bridge have been removed. Additionally, the teleporters require a new Ulfheim Runestone quest item to activate, which reset 5 minutes after activation. This item drops from barbarians in the scene. Kaiser the collector will buy one each day. Quests XP Revamp (1st Pass): Experience received from questing has received a “first pass” revamp scaling the rewards to be more inline with the difficulty or scene tier of the quest. More XP adjustments will occur in the future as this work continues. Eastreach Gap: Exploited perching spots were removed or shortened near the control point pad. Invisible barriers were also placed in some areas around the control point. Troll Roaming Encounter: The mountain pass roaming encounter in the Quel region required for the “Twin Troll Toenails” questline now spawns more frequently. Crafting, Items & Economy Changes These changes to the player economy, in-game items, or crafting patched in during R77 or will go live on or shortly after Release 78: Supply Bundles: Ore has been added to supply bundle loot, and XP Items which drop in bundles are now tradeable. Agriculture Skills: Harvest Plants and Water Plants abilities can now be added into a deck. Conversationalists: The NPC’s with customizable dialogue now feature a max of 10K characters (doubled) for conversation character limits. Pax Rings: Only one Pax Ring can be equipped at a time. Decorative Vases: Objects, such as umbrellas, can now be placed inside the new decorative vases. Gathering Changes: Experience awarded for gathering T4, T5 and T6 nodes has dramatically increased. Nodes now also award Adventure XP as well as Production XP. Meticulous Collection: Meticulous collection successes while gathering now yield experience equivalent to the base node times the number of meticulous successes achieved. For instance, if you mine a T5 node with a meticulous X3, the player would receive 7500 experience. Batch Teleport Scroll Recipes: The 12X batch recipes for scrolls now yield 10X XP, instead of the same XP as crafting a single scroll. Repair Kits: Locked repair kits can now be used to repair equipment, and locked items can now be repaired. White Birch Trees: These tree decorations are now stackable in a player’s inventory. PvP Tourney Trophies: Unique glowing shard styled PvP trophies have been created for use in upcoming developer run PvP events. Water Wells: These decoration items now also function when placed as POT decoration. Combat Balance & Changes These changes to combat skills or concepts patched in during R77 or will go live on or shortly after Release 78: Mesmerizing Melody: This skill is now available at the Bard skill trainer in Ruins of Utheim Savage Sonata: This skill now works like other bard skills and does not require a pet in order to be cast. Bard Specialization: Bard skills are now adjusted to scale with specialization level. Bard Skills: Skill descriptions for many bard skills were updated. Bard skills are also now interruptible. Updated Player Owned Towns These updates affected Player Owned Towns which patched in during R77 or will go live on or shortly after Release 78: A’doe Trunalor: Upgraded to Megalopolis and moved to Mistrendur. Aelasar’s Forest: Moved to Mistrendur. Argent Aspis: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Arlia: Added new Holdfast, nested in Central Brittany. Ashiya Hama: Upgraded to Hamlet and added interconnections. Blackstone Gate: Moved to Mistrendur. Braeside Farm: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Chao Insula: Moved to Mistrendur. Crematorium: Corrected spelling of name. Fenrir: Moved to Mistrendur. Ironholde: Moved to Mistrendur. Isla de Muerta: Moved to Mistrendur. Islet of Long: Moved to Mistrendur. Jade Mountains: Moved to Mistrendur. Justice Hold: Moved to Mistrendur. Knightmare Falls: Moved to Mistrendur. Lys Market: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Meridian: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Moonvale: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. New Britannia Swap Meet: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Noshima Island: Updated interconnection boats. Novia Market: Upgraded to City. Ogygia: Moved to Mistrendur. Ophelia: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Ravenna: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Rock Ridge: Added new Village to Mistrendur. Sea Bear’s Black Market: Moved to Mistrendur. Siren Song Bayou: Moved to Mistrendur. Skalabrekka: Moved to Mistrendur. Solace: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Sparrowhawk Run: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. The Caverns Under Neath: Moved to Mistrendur. The Clockworks: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Thunderclap: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Tower of Xee: Added new Holdfast to Mistrendur. Weirafurt: Added new Crossroads Village to Mistrendur. Bug Fixes Albeit many bug fixes patched in during R77 or will go live on or shortly after Release 78, here are some of the highlights! Dark Shogun Cape draping into armor has been improved. Dark Shogun Armor patterns now properly apply. Esmerelda in Highvale Outskirts now only awards her bundle a single time. Far Hinterlands “Noble Stag” wave battle now resets properly, and the entire questline received a variety of other fixes. Bunker C received a variety of bug fixes. New Books of Learning now properly display the amounts of XP granted. Spider companions for the elves in the Plains Encounter are no longer mislabeled as trained wolves. Tartarus maze mobs can now more effectively pursue players up the tower stairwell. Additional decoration surfaces were added in the Lord of the Isle mansion. Etceter Crag Mines Bandit Chief quest functionality has been improved. Isabelline Stone 2-Tier Outdoor Fountains now function properly. Are You a Livestreamer? Soon, the Streaming Reward Program will be returning. As the details are getting reworked, we’ll reveal more information. Traditional streaming rewards included an exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Streaming Program! Expect the camera reward to return! More goodies will come to your way as the program fully develops. Thank you for streaming Shroud of the Avatar! Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on our TWO Twitch Channels: twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar and twitch.tv/communityoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow and get the latest information right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!! Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over at our other social media venues: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShroudoftheAvatar/ Catnip Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/catnipgames Shroud of the Avatar Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShroudofAvatar Shroud of the Avatar Discord: https://discord.gg/GuBXakQ Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of Lord British’s property, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold! Complete List of Rewards: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land! Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle Unique Lord of the Isle Home (pictured above) NEW – Town Size Upgrade (if a town is not owned by the LOTI supporter, they may gift this size upgrade to another town owner. Maximum possible town sizes will be taken into account, but the Megalopolis size just became available!) Choice of 1 House currently available in the store Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot) Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room 140,000 Crowns 1000 Bank Slots Pick 12 Prosperity Tools 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later) Early Access to Episode 2 Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team 1 hour one-on-one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference) One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8 In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version) Tour of Lord British’s property Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC. NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31, 2019). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD. NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Catnip Games for Tour & Dinner. Upcoming Events Calendar Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums: 2020 Events May 28 – Release 78 June 25 – Release 79 July 30 – Release 80 Aug 27 – Release 81 Meretz: Win a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy! Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) to FOUR lucky winners! AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes. What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY! Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney For the Anglers of New Britannia, a weekly developer run fishing event has arrived! These weekly tournaments start at Noon CT every Friday and will last until Noon CT the next Friday. Players may register towns to be put into a registry list which will dictate most of the venues available for the fishing competition. Every week, the venues shift to the next 3 towns from the registry. Also each week, a new spotlighted PvE and PvP scene cycle into the contest. Each category (POT, PvP, PvE) features different prizes and goals. All fish must be caught within the timeframe of the contest. Here are some of the details: Largest Saltwater Fish (Town): Prizes: Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed, Large Gold Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught from one of these towns Falling Waters Fortress (@Tazar) Knight’s Watch (@Belladonna Rose) Krabnevir (@Grumpy Krabnevir) Largest Fish (PvP):​ Prizes: 2 Chained Obsidian Shard 3-Packs, Large Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in Kas Ruins Largest Lava Fish: Prizes: Fishing Rod of Prosperity, Large Bronze Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in Oracle Colossus Consolation Prizes: Prizes: Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Everyone who submitted an entry that did not win an above prize Prizes provided by the Community Manager will be available for attendees, but governors, guild leaders and players are welcome to sweeten the pot by providing additional prizes based on objective criteria entirely of their own design. In fact, please consider planning events to overlap the duration and chosen weekly locations of the Fishing developer events. Please post these events in the in-game events forums and the Community Manager will promote accordingly. Expect a constant stream of weekly events, each to feature new locations and new objectives. Head on over to the Fishing Event Forum Thread for more information. Happy adventures, Avatars! Community Event: Silverdale Market Fishing Contest [Forum Post by simon1974] Hail to all Avatars! You are all summoned to Silverdale Market to fish for the biggest fish possible in salt water. When: Saturday, May 30th, 0000 to 2359 CST Where: Silverdale Market Prizes: 1st, 2nd & 3rd place win Crowns! One fish per character only. First entry only will count, so make sure to deposit it at the end of your fishing trip. There will be some deposit chests at the docks. In case of a tie, first entry will win. All fishes will be returned to their owner upon completion. While you are in town, make sure to visit all of our vendors! This tournament is sponsored by Xee (the Governor of Silverdale Market) and also by the Silverdale Museum. Make sure to visit it. (Aim for Lijuan Zhang’s City lot). For information, please contact Lijuan Zhang via in-game mail and the forum thread on the official forums. Community Event: Celtic/Irish Celebration [Forum Post by Ser Kyrlieon] There will be singing and dancing and even a fashion show for those of you looking to sport your special outfits! Your host this evening shall be Brutess. She is relatively new to Britannia and wants to kick it off with a spectacular social event. When: Saturday, May 30th, 8PM CST. Where: Knight’s Watch (Castle on the hill) Come join the festivities!! For more information, be sure to read the forum thread on the official forums. Community Event: 6th Annual Soldier’s Memorial Ball [Forum Post by Bowen Bloodgood] It is time once again for the Soldier’s Memorial Ball. (Yes this is really our 6th year!) This year we are returning to the glorious ballroom at Caer Dracwych with DJs from Avatar’s Radio. We shall have DJ’s Asclepius in the morning and the Dark Lord Celith Wraine in the afternoon. When: Sunday, June 21st, 9AM to 1PM CST Where: Caer Dracwych While I’m quite pleased with our ballroom, I am looking for a little help from the community to put in the finishing touches in the form of heraldry and maybe a dragon head or two. Heraldry needed is in the form of plate armor, short banners and shields (any shield type will do). Anyone interested can either PM me for details, send donations via in-game mail or leave items in the library donation chest located just inside the observatory (dragon heads needed: 2 Red and 1 Purple). As always, this is a formal event. Time to break out your best! For more information, be sure to read the forum thread on the official forums. Community Event: Concert by the Sea [Forum Post by CatherineRose] The 2nd Annual Outdoor Music Concert is this coming! Ezekiel Cooper and a few of the members of his musical group will be performing music he wrote and/or arranged. Mark the day and time on your calendar and come to enjoy this great music. Dragomir Mori just a few yards north of Aerie. When: Saturday, May 30th, 11AM CST Where: Dragomir Mori For more information, please contact Duchess CatherineRose (Governor of Dragomir Mori) on this forum thread on the official forums. Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands [Forum Post by CatherineRose] Another chapter of the Black Sails Saga has begun, Avatars! When the creative minds of CatherineRose and friends start writing a new chapter, it can mean only one thing — adventure awaits thee! Typically, these stories start as forum story writing and role-play, which then work their way into the game as role-playing adventures. Upon the chapter’s end, a giant battle between players usually takes place, so be sure to get involved now. Ready thine quills and ink, oh pirates of New Britannia, for a grand player-made adventure awaits thee! For more information, please contact CatherineRose for an invite to the planning conversations on the forums. Months before this day ……….. A spy for our Black Sails had given a message to one of the guards to warn us that as the great leader @Antrax Artek was leaving his headquarters with his army and as he made his way toward the battle which was underway in Blood Bay, a strange purple mist began to overtake the army. As the spy looked on with horror he saw one by one of each of the soldiers fall to the ground. Their bodies began to shake as if a great monster were picking each up and violently throwing each into the air. Upon falling to the ground they did not move from any position whether arms were out stretched or bent into grotesque shapes. All succumbed in like manner even the great Antrax himself as well. The next strange and frightening thing to happen was that each of the soldiers beginning with Antrax woke. They stood up at attention as if ready for orders to be given. Yet they were in some kind of stupor or trance. Antrax turned, in this trance as well, and shouted orders to his army. “We are to battle in Blood Bay. You will kill all living avatars except for any in our own army, Antax Army. You will kill all Pirates as well as all Obsidians. Let their blood reach from the edge of the cursed water’s of Blood Bay across the battle ground until it flows and touches the mountains . Let no one escape your sword.” “Show no mercy.” Antrax and his army did just that. Blood ran deep from all this death. The deadly purple mist affected all who marched through it. No one was spared. Mass confusion took place as well. No one that day had the ability to think like a fighter. No one that day could distinguish allies from enemies. In time the purple mist cleared from the survivors bodies. Antrax and his army returned to his headquarters. The Black Sails and Allies who survived, that were able, began to train for the next battle. We knew we would never retreat. We would never give up the goal of having peace. The evil Obsidians had again used the powerful knowledge they possess to continue their quest to control and then to destroy all of Novia. However,we knew our purpose would l not be thwarted. We repaired our ships, bandaged our wounded. We also, sadly buried the many dead. I received, from one of my guards this message which was intercepted by one of our spies: “I, Lord of a Obsidians, Master of all the World, now order you bring together our most feared fighters as well as the strongest of the trained animals which are scattered about Novia. Bring them to the Underworld under the purple mist in Blood Bay where the four rivers of Lava meet. Antrax and his army along with The pirates and allies are working to becoming again. Ha! They will not be strong enough to go against the mighty Obsidians.. We will go to the place called Malus and stop them from crossing into their new lands… (continues on the forums) Project to Support – RodasurfAvatars! Yet another news outlet has spotted Darkstarr on a RodaSurf board. Be sure to check out this latest sighting in this latest Austin360 news article! Darkstarr and the Rodasurf team also dazzled us with another interview which aired on Spectrum News not too long ago! The RodaSurf board is an accessory to the Onewheel XR device. Simply snap and lock the Onewheel into RodaSurf’s latching system, and you’ll be surfing the streets before you know it! For the full article PLUS a fantastic video, be sure to head straight over to the Spectrum News Website and see our beloved Lord of Chaos show off his latest venture! Project to Support – Jar Wars While you are delving into Virtual Reality (VR), be sure to check out this exciting and hilarious new game, Jar Wars! Our very own Darkstarr has been busy on some side projects, one of which is Jar Wars, a slapstick multiplayer game made just for VR enthusiasts. Battle your friends with wacky weapons and intriguing gadgets for total domination of the Moon! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Dragon Fight Darkstarr has also been hard at work with the team for Dragon Fight VR which recently went live on Steam! Dragon Fight VR is an internal experiment to capture the “essence” of a dragon fight, the classic penultimate experience of every fantasy story. We wanted to create a short visceral, realistic experience stripped of user interface, lobbies, scores, levels, and other visual intrusions that might distract. There were some key elements of fighting a dragon that we wanted to capture and we felt VR was uniquely qualified to convey: Face to face with a large scale hostile creature trying to kill you Using a sword and a shield Fire! Nowhere to run! This started out as an internal experiment to learn some things about VR’s capabilities, be reductionist in our designs, etc. We felt that the experiment was successful enough to release as a free experience to share. Enjoy! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Crowfall Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion! Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power! Project to Support – Avatar Express [Forum post by Vladamir Begemot] I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site. If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening. You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like. Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game. It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts! So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us! 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. View the full article

This week’s update brings you some great news about new PvP trophies slated as unique rewards for upcoming Official Catnip Games PvP related events. Also, 3 types of sales will be active over the holiday weekend! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the... Avatar’s Update #382: Official PvP Event Trophies! Crowns, Deed Upgrades & Two Hour Flash Sales! View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! This week’s update brings you some great news about new PvP trophies slated as unique rewards for upcoming Official Catnip Games PvP related events. Also, 3 types of sales will be active over the holiday weekend! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: News Announcements Official PvP Event Trophies! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Crowns, Deed Upgrades & Two Hour Flash Sales! Obsidian & Island Vault Round! New Store Items: Male & Female Shopkeeper Outfits, Electric Katanas & More! May Login Reward: Greenery Day Potted Plant! R77 Reward Program Login Items: “May the Fourth” Theme! Packaging Items for Trade in Player Test Environment (QA)! Streaming Reward Program Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles Upcoming Events Calendar Community Updates Meretz: Win a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) Community Event: Release 77 Dance Party! Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney! Community Event: Mad Splatter Tea Party! Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands Community Event: Streaming with Dinheru Project to Support: Rodasurf Project to Support: Jar Wars Project to Support: Dragonfight Project to Support: Crowfall Project to Support: Avatar Express Resources: Players Helping Players Official PvP Event Trophies! For nearly a month, the development team has hosted an official weekly fishing tourney and provided unique trophies and other prizes to the dedicated anglers of New Britannia. Soon, a revival of official decoration contests will be announced, and the unique decoration contest trophies will get some use once again! But now, its time to provide some love to the PvP community! The team is now planning officially hosted events to the PvP’ers of New Britannia! To do this properly, we desired to create some high quality unique trophies related to PvP lore concepts within the game. A new variety of shards, remnants of the moons which collided during The Fall, blanket the twisted landscapes of the Shardfalls/PvP zones throughout New Britannia. Amongst the litter of moon fragments, a new variety of Shards have been discovered, but they will only be awarded to participants of Avatar vs. Avatar combat during official Cantip Games PvP events. Master artist Damon a.k.a. @enalNomad on the forums, has designed these amazing shard PvP trophies to function as a light source, rotate and occasionally have sparks of electricity amongst the glowing ethereal mist which coats the stone’s surface. The set includes 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place versions as well as a small tabletop Participation Trophy version. As the official PvP events begin to unfold, the community manager will distribute these wondrous trophies (amongst the other prizes provided) to further inspire PvP combat within the game. More announcements about PvP concepts are just around the corner, to include a PvP Queuing system and a Developer-Owned PvP Town as an optional venue for official and community sponsored PvP events. Happy adventures, Avatars! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, May 22nd at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream! To enter the prize drawings, type “may the fourth be with you” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT! Crowns, Deed Upgrades & Two Hour Flash Sales! The Crowns Sale continues, Avatars! Still at 20% off, players will have the entire holiday weekend to enjoy the discount. Deed Upgrades are ALSO 20% off! To upgrade a deed, place the deed into your inventory, then right-click the deed to reveal upgrade options. But that’s not all! Starting on Saturday at 1PM CST, the Two Hour Flash Sales event returns for another round! So watch your clocks, Avatars! A new batch of 9 sale items will rotate into the in-game Crown Store every 2 hours! Players have until Wednesday, May 27th at 1PM CST to take advantage of these great discounts, at which time all 3 sales events expire. Happy shopping, Avatars! Obsidian & Island Vault Round! The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, June 4th at 10:30 AM CST. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc. Obsidian Tower (Town Home) Obsidian Sarcophagus Obsidian Order Throne Obsidian Order Plate Armor Set Island Dress Island Flower Crown Island Spear Large Tiki Statue Hula Emote New Store Items: Male & Female Shopkeeper Outfits, Electric Katanas & More! Merchants of New Britannia! Make room in your wardrobes for the Male and Female Shopkeeper Outfits! These splendid wearable items are a perfect fit for any up-and-coming or veteran merchant players. Chest and leg pieces of both sets can be dyed. The female version features TWO chest pieces, one with a choker and one with a necklace. Other exciting new additions which arrived lately were the Electric Katanas coming in three colors (Pink, Red and Green). These “electrifying” new 2-handed swords, if salvaged, will yield eternal patterns which can be applied to player-crafted 2-handed swords. The katanas are fantastic accessories for the new Dark Shogun Armor Set which boldly strode into the store recently! This armor set will yield plate armor Eternal Patterns if salvaged, which can be applied to other plate armor to apply the style. Male Shopkeeper Outfit Female Shopkeeper Outfit Dark Shogun Armor Set Pink Electric Katana (Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Item) Red Electric Katana Green Electric Katana May Login Reward: Greenery Day Potted Plant! In celebration of Greenery Day, this decorative potted plant is yours simply by logging in during the month of May. It’s a perfect addition to your home or garden, and in the spirit of this celebration, players can express their love of plants and nature. Happy gardening, Avatars! Release 77 Reward Program Login Reward Items: “May the Fourth” Theme! Avatars! Rewards Program login reward items for Release 77 are “May the Fourth” themed! Reward Program members will receive these items immediately upon logging in during Release 77! “May the fourth be with you!” Electric Sword Training Orb Pet Electric Sword Training Helmet Blue Electric Katana NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s rewards. The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following: 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month Monthly Login Reward Items (~ 3 per month) Exclusive Title every 3 months 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith 6 Months: Keeper of the Word 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including: Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills Packaging Items for Trade in Player Test Environment (QA)! Just arriving to the Player Test Environment (QA) server is a very useful new feature with which allows players to trade formerly no-trade Heritage items by packaging them for trade. Simply right-click the item, then select “Package Item for Trade” which will spawn an option window requesting a Crowns payment for the packaging. Once packaged, the item can be freely traded to another player, who can then unpackage it for use simply by double-clicking upon the item. Allowing for the trade of formerly no-trade Heritage items is just one of many useful new features to arrive this year. Read more about what’s on the horizon in the Shroud of the Avatar 2020 Vision! Are You a Livestreamer? Soon, the Streaming Reward Program will be returning. As the details are getting reworked, we’ll reveal more information. Traditional streaming rewards included an exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Streaming Program! Expect the camera reward to return! More goodies will come to your way as the program fully develops. Thank you for streaming Shroud of the Avatar! Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on our TWO Twitch Channels: twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar and twitch.tv/communityoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow and get the latest information right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!! Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over at our other social media venues: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShroudoftheAvatar/ Catnip Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/catnipgames Shroud of the Avatar Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShroudofAvatar Shroud of the Avatar Discord: https://discord.gg/GuBXakQ Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of Lord British’s property, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold! Complete List of Rewards: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land! Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle Unique Lord of the Isle Home (pictured above) NEW – Town Size Upgrade (if a town is not owned by the LOTI supporter, they may gift this size upgrade to another town owner. Maximum possible town sizes will be taken into account, but the Megalopolis size just became available!) Choice of 1 House currently available in the store Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot) Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room 140,000 Crowns 1000 Bank Slots Pick 12 Prosperity Tools 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later) Early Access to Episode 2 Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team 1 hour one-on-one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference) One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8 In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version) Tour of Lord British’s property Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC. NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31, 2019). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD. NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Catnip Games for Tour & Dinner. Upcoming Events Calendar Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums: 2020 Events May 28 – Release 78 June 25 – Release 79 July 30 – Release 80 Aug 27 – Release 81 Meretz: Win a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy! Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) to FOUR lucky winners! AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes. What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY! Community Event: Release 77 Dance Party By Royal Warrant, Virtue/Avatars Radio presents the Release 77 Dance Party & Stress Test Location: Immortal City at Toff’s Premiere Nightclub, Chaotica Host: DJ Celith Wraine When: Sunday, May 24th, 11:00AM – 1:00PM CST Come out and sport some awesome dance moves, trade emotes and recipes, chat with friends, launch off fireworks and simply have a lot of fun! For more information, check out the main forum post on the official forums. If you’d like to learn how YOUR town can become a site for upcoming Release Dance Parties, find out here! Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney For the Anglers of New Britannia, a weekly developer run fishing event has arrived! These weekly tournaments start at Noon CT every Friday and will last until Noon CT the next Friday. Players may register towns to be put into a registry list which will dictate most of the venues available for the fishing competition. Every week, the venues shift to the next 3 towns from the registry. Also each week, a new spotlighted PvE and PvP scene cycle into the contest. Each category (POT, PvP, PvE) features different prizes and goals. All fish must be caught within the timeframe of the contest. Here are some of the details: Largest Fresh Fish (Town): Prizes: Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed, Large Gold Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught from one of these towns Crystal Cove (@Scooby Doo) Crafters Town (@Elrond) Riptown Creek (@Mhtic) Largest Fish (PvP):​ Prizes: 2 Chained Obsidian Shard 3-Packs, Large Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in Dysborg Ruins Largest Lava Fish: Prizes: Fishing Rod of Prosperity, Large Bronze Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in Bunker C (Near the ore nodes at -19.058, -16.081, 179.324) Consolation Prizes: Prizes: Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Everyone who submitted an entry that did not win an above prize Prizes provided by the Community Manager will be available for attendees, but governors, guild leaders and players are welcome to sweeten the pot by providing additional prizes based on objective criteria entirely of their own design. In fact, please consider planning events to overlap the duration and chosen weekly locations of the Fishing developer events. Please post these events in the in-game events forums and the Community Manager will promote accordingly. Expect a constant stream of weekly events, each to feature new locations and new objectives. Head on over to the Fishing Event Forum Thread for more information. Happy adventures, Avatars! Community Event: Mad Splatter Tea Party [Forum Post by Sonja] The Mad Splatter Tea Party takes place every 3rd or 4th Sunday of the month, this time at Brittany Fort. We will meet at the dock, take a short stroll through the wilderness and enjoy a picnic tea party and music next to the river by the waterfall. Bring some of your favorite poems and songs to play. Location: Brittany Fort (Meet at the docks) Time: 3pm CST, May 24th (Usually every 3rd or 4th Sunday of the month) Attire: This is a role playing event tea party so come as your avatar Look forward to seeing you, Avatars! Tea time! Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands [Forum Post by CatherineRose] Another chapter of the Black Sails Saga has begun, Avatars! When the creative minds of CatherineRose and friends start writing a new chapter, it can mean only one thing — adventure awaits thee! Typically, these stories start as forum story writing and role-play, which then work their way into the game as role-playing adventures. Upon the chapter’s end, a giant battle between players usually takes place, so be sure to get involved now. Ready thine quills and ink, oh pirates of New Britannia, for a grand player-made adventure awaits thee! For more information, please contact CatherineRose for an invite to the planning conversations on the forums. Months before this day ……….. A spy for our Black Sails had given a message to one of the guards to warn us that as the great leader @Antrax Artek was leaving his headquarters with his army and as he made his way toward the battle which was underway in Blood Bay, a strange purple mist began to overtake the army. As the spy looked on with horror he saw one by one of each of the soldiers fall to the ground. Their bodies began to shake as if a great monster were picking each up and violently throwing each into the air. Upon falling to the ground they did not move from any position whether arms were out stretched or bent into grotesque shapes. All succumbed in like manner even the great Antrax himself as well. The next strange and frightening thing to happen was that each of the soldiers beginning with Antrax woke. They stood up at attention as if ready for orders to be given. Yet they were in some kind of stupor or trance. Antrax turned, in this trance as well, and shouted orders to his army. “We are to battle in Blood Bay. You will kill all living avatars except for any in our own army, Antax Army. You will kill all Pirates as well as all Obsidians. Let their blood reach from the edge of the cursed water’s of Blood Bay across the battle ground until it flows and touches the mountains . Let no one escape your sword.” “Show no mercy.” Antrax and his army did just that. Blood ran deep from all this death. The deadly purple mist affected all who marched through it. No one was spared. Mass confusion took place as well. No one that day had the ability to think like a fighter. No one that day could distinguish allies from enemies. In time the purple mist cleared from the survivors bodies. Antrax and his army returned to his headquarters. The Black Sails and Allies who survived, that were able, began to train for the next battle. We knew we would never retreat. We would never give up the goal of having peace. The evil Obsidians had again used the powerful knowledge they possess to continue their quest to control and then to destroy all of Novia. However,we knew our purpose would l not be thwarted. We repaired our ships, bandaged our wounded. We also, sadly buried the many dead. I received, from one of my guards this message which was intercepted by one of our spies: “I, Lord of a Obsidians, Master of all the World, now order you bring together our most feared fighters as well as the strongest of the trained animals which are scattered about Novia. Bring them to the Underworld under the purple mist in Blood Bay where the four rivers of Lava meet. Antrax and his army along with The pirates and allies are working to becoming again. Ha! They will not be strong enough to go against the mighty Obsidians.. We will go to the place called Malus and stop them from crossing into their new lands… (continues on the forums) Community Event: Streaming with Dinheru Avatars! Tune in at Twitch.TV for streamer Dinheru and the BSU Crew/Knights of Ardair! Semi-casual gamers, not so casual fun! Dinheru goes live two days a week, Sunday and Wednesday at approximately 6PM CST. For more information, check out Dinheru’s main forum post on the official forums. Enjoy the show! Project to Support – RodasurfAvatars! Yet another news outlet has spotted Darkstarr on a RodaSurf board. Be sure to check out this latest sighting in this latest Austin360 news article! Darkstarr and the Rodasurf team also dazzled us with another interview which aired on Spectrum News not too long ago! The RodaSurf board is an accessory to the Onewheel XR device. Simply snap and lock the Onewheel into RodaSurf’s latching system, and you’ll be surfing the streets before you know it! For the full article PLUS a fantastic video, be sure to head straight over to the Spectrum News Website and see our beloved Lord of Chaos show off his latest venture! Project to Support – Jar Wars While you are delving into Virtual Reality (VR), be sure to check out this exciting and hilarious new game, Jar Wars! Our very own Darkstarr has been busy on some side projects, one of which is Jar Wars, a slapstick multiplayer game made just for VR enthusiasts. Battle your friends with wacky weapons and intriguing gadgets for total domination of the Moon! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Dragon Fight Darkstarr has also been hard at work with the team for Dragon Fight VR which recently went live on Steam! Dragon Fight VR is an internal experiment to capture the “essence” of a dragon fight, the classic penultimate experience of every fantasy story. We wanted to create a short visceral, realistic experience stripped of user interface, lobbies, scores, levels, and other visual intrusions that might distract. There were some key elements of fighting a dragon that we wanted to capture and we felt VR was uniquely qualified to convey: Face to face with a large scale hostile creature trying to kill you Using a sword and a shield Fire! Nowhere to run! This started out as an internal experiment to learn some things about VR’s capabilities, be reductionist in our designs, etc. We felt that the experiment was successful enough to release as a free experience to share. Enjoy! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Crowfall Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion! Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power! Project to Support – Avatar Express [Forum post by Vladamir Begemot] I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site. If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening. You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like. Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game. It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts! So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us! 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. View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Check out what’s new this week! Flash Sales! These new short duration sale frenzies will be going live this weekend! Also, we’re providing a sneak peek of the new Shopkeeper Outfits due into the store soon. For those searching for social activities, new one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Also, be sure to... Avatar’s Update #381: Female Shopkeeper Outfit! Two Hour Flash Sales! Latest News Q&A Livestream!View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Check out what’s new this week! Flash Sales! These new short duration sale frenzies will be going live this weekend! Also, we’re providing a sneak peek of the new Shopkeeper Outfits due into the store soon. For those searching for social activities, new one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: News Announcements Female Shopkeeper Outfit Preview! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Two Hour Flash Sales! Latest Store Items: Dark Shogun Armor, Electric Katanas & More! Riding Outfits & Pack Animals Vault Round! May Login Reward: Greenery Day Potted Plant! R77 Reward Program Login Items: “May the Fourth” Theme! Packaging Items for Trade in Player Test Environment (QA)! Streaming Reward Program Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles Upcoming Events Calendar Community Updates Meretz: Win a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) Community Event: Mythical Dance Party in Ordinis Mortis! Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney! Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Fishing Contest! Community Event: Mad Splatter Tea Party! Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands Community Event: Lunch With Laz & Jack Community Event: Podcasts & Poetry on Virtue Radio Community Event: Virtue Radio Weekly Schedule Project to Support: Rodasurf Project to Support: Jar Wars Project to Support: Dragonfight Project to Support: Crowfall Project to Support: Avatar Express Resources: Players Helping Players Female Shopkeeper Outfit Preview! Merchants of New Britannia! Make room in your wardrobes for these upcoming new outfits, perfect for shop owners throughout the lands! Soon to arrive to the game is the Female Shopkeeper Outfit! Coming in soon after will be a Male Shopkeeper Outfit modelled after some of the NPC merchant styles currently available. These new Female Shopkeeper Outfits (functional on male characters as well) will feature a dyeable bodice and a dyeable aproned skirt. In fact, this set includes TWO dyeable bodice pieces, one with a pendant necklace and one with a choker. Long leather gloves and high leather boots also accompany the outfit. All these splendid wearable items are perfect fit for any up-and-coming or veteran merchant players. Happy vending, shopkeepers! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream! Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, May 15th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream! To enter the prize drawings, type “may the fourth be with you” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT! Two Hour Flash Sales! Watch your clocks, Avatars! A new Crown Store sales event is launching and will last throughout the weekend — Flash Sales! Starting on Friday, May 15th at 1PM CST, a new batch of 9 sale items will rotate into the Crown Store every 2 hours! This fast-paced new sales concept provides community members a total of 108 sale items to consider for purchase each full day of the event opposed to the 9 normally offered. Players have until Monday, May 18th at 1PM CST before the Flash Sale event expires. Flash Sale events are just one of the many exciting changes to arrive this year. Happy shopping, Avatars! Latest Store Items: Dark Shogun Armor, Electric Katanas & More! Exciting new additions which arrived lately to the Crown Store are the Electric Katanas coming in three colors (Pink, Red and Green). These “electrifying” new 2-handed swords, if salvaged, will yield eternal patterns which can be applied to player-crafted 2-handed swords. Also recent to arrive is a pack of English ivy to adorn the deco surfaces of building sides — perfect for making that knight’s keep a little more rustic! Last but certainly not least — plants! Many plants! The Cherry Pie Plant, the Potted Banana Plants (3-Pack) and the Potted Chusan Palm Plants (3-Pack) will all offer much more variety to the plant-type deco throughout your homes and gardens. Recently, the Dark Shogun Armor Set boldly strode into the store! This armor set will yield plate armor Eternal Patterns if salvaged, which can be applied to other plate armor to apply the style. These new decorations and gear were inspired by “May the Fourth,” Japan’s Golden Week and Greenery Day! Dark Shogun Armor Set Pink Electric Katana (Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Item) Red Electric Katana Green Electric Katana Ivy Wall Decoration Set Cherry Pie Plant (Heliotrope) Potted Banana Plants (3-Pack) Potted Chusan Palm Plants (3-Pack) Riding Outfits & Pack Animals Vault Round! The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, May 21st at 10:30 AM CST. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc. Saddlebags Decoration Grey Donkey Cria (Baby Llama) Saddle Stand Decoration Lady’s Riding Outfit Gentleman’s Riding Outfit Black Foal White Foal Adobe Brick 2-Story with Roof Access Village Home May Login Reward: Greenery Day Potted Plant! In celebration of Greenery Day, this decorative potted plant is yours simply by logging in during the month of May. It’s a perfect addition to your home or garden, and in the spirit of this celebration, players can express their love of plants and nature. Happy gardening, Avatars! Release 77 Reward Program Login Reward Items: “May the Fourth” Theme! Avatars! Rewards Program login reward items for Release 77 are “May the Fourth” themed! Reward Program members will receive these items immediately upon logging in during Release 77! “May the fourth be with you!” Electric Sword Training Orb Pet Electric Sword Training Helmet Blue Electric Katana NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s rewards. The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following: 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month Monthly Login Reward Items (~ 3 per month) Exclusive Title every 3 months 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith 6 Months: Keeper of the Word 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including: Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills Packaging Items for Trade in Player Test Environment (QA)! Just arriving to the Player Test Environment (QA) server is a very useful new feature with which allows players to trade formerly no-trade Heritage items by packaging them for trade. Simply right-click the item, then select “Package Item for Trade” which will spawn an option window requesting a Crowns payment for the packaging. Once packaged, the item can be freely traded to another player, who can then unpackage it for use simply by double-clicking upon the item. Allowing for the trade of formerly no-trade Heritage items is just one of many useful new features to arrive this year. Read more about what’s on the horizon in the Shroud of the Avatar 2020 Vision! Are You a Livestreamer? Soon, the Streaming Reward Program will be returning. As the details are getting reworked, we’ll reveal more information. Traditional streaming rewards included an exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Streaming Program! Expect the camera reward to return! More goodies will come to your way as the program fully develops. Thank you for streaming Shroud of the Avatar! Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on our TWO Twitch Channels: twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar and twitch.tv/communityoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow and get the latest information right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!! Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over at our other social media venues: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShroudoftheAvatar/ Catnip Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/catnipgames Shroud of the Avatar Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShroudofAvatar Shroud of the Avatar Discord: https://discord.gg/GuBXakQ Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of Lord British’s property, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold! Complete List of Rewards: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land! Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle Unique Lord of the Isle Home (pictured above) NEW – Town Size Upgrade (if a town is not owned by the LOTI supporter, they may gift this size upgrade to another town owner. Maximum possible town sizes will be taken into account, but the Megalopolis size just became available!) Choice of 1 House currently available in the store Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot) Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room 140,000 Crowns 1000 Bank Slots Pick 12 Prosperity Tools 2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later) Early Access to Episode 2 Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team 1 hour one-on-one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference) One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8 In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version) Tour of Lord British’s property Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC. NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31, 2019). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD. NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Catnip Games for Tour & Dinner. Upcoming Events Calendar Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums: 2020 Events May 28 – Release 78 June 25 – Release 79 July 30 – Release 80 Aug 27 – Release 81 Meretz: Win a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy! Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away a Giant Lich Statue (No Trade) to FOUR lucky winners! AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes. What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY! Community Event: Mythical Dance Party in Ordinis Mortis Mythical Music Radio Presents their very first Mythical Dance Party! Join DJ Darkstarr for a Mythical Dance Party in Ordinis Mortis (near Brittany) on Saturday, 1-3pm CST in Shooter’s Party Basement! Also listen in on Mythical Music Radio with your Aether Vibration Devices! Trade your emotes and recipes! Hang out with friends! Dance the day away! Bring fireworks and costumes! Ask for summons! Location: Ordinis Mortis (Near Central Brittany, Shooter’s Party Basement) Host: DJ DarkStarr a.k.a. Starr Long When: Saturday, May 16th, 1:00 – 3:00 PM CST Listen || Website || Attend In-Game Location Come out and sport some awesome dance moves, trade emotes and recipes, chat with friends, launch off fireworks and simply have a lot of fun! For more information, check out the main forum post on the official forums. Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney For the Anglers of New Britannia, a weekly developer run fishing event has arrived! These weekly tournaments start at Noon CT every Friday and will last until Noon CT the next Friday. Players may register towns to be put into a registry list which will dictate most of the venues available for the fishing competition. Every week, the venues shift to the next 3 towns from the registry. Also each week, a new spotlighted PvE and PvP scene cycle into the contest. Each category (POT, PvP, PvE) features different prizes and goals. All fish must be caught within the timeframe of the contest. Here are some of the details: Largest Fetid Fish (Town): Prizes: Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed, Large Gold Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught from one of these towns Novia Market (@ldykllr) Bard’s Rest (@TaiKee Vetrae) Stormsong Vale (@Phamyns) Largest Fish (PvP):​ Prizes: 2 Chained Obsidian Shard 3-Packs, Large Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in Libris Ruins Largest Lava Fish: Prizes: Fishing Rod of Prosperity, Large Bronze Fishing Trophy Rules: Must be caught in Sunless Barrens Consolation Prizes: Prizes: Silver Fishing Trophy Rules: Everyone who submitted an entry that did not win an above prize Prizes provided by the Community Manager will be available for attendees, but governors, guild leaders and players are welcome to sweeten the pot by providing additional prizes based on objective criteria entirely of their own design. In fact, please consider planning events to overlap the duration and chosen weekly locations of the Fishing developer events. Please post these events in the in-game events forums and the Community Manager will promote accordingly. Expect a constant stream of weekly events, each to feature new locations and new objectives. Head on over to the Fishing Event Forum Thread for more information. Happy adventures, Avatars! Community Event: 2nd Annual Novia Market Fishing Contest [Forum Post by Robyn Hood] Calling all Avatars! Come and join us for the 2nd Annual Novia Market Fishing Contest! This will be a 24 hour competition, May 16th from 1200am (0000) NBT to 11:59pm (2400) NBT. I will post the in-game date that fish must be timestamped for submission, after contest starts. This competition will be taking place during the official Catnip fishing contest. For more information about the rules and additional prizes for this event, please visit the forum post from Robyn Hood. Community Event: Mad Splatter Tea Party [Forum Post by Sonja] The Mad Splatter Tea Party takes place every 3rd or 4th Sunday of the month, this time at Brittany Fort. We will meet at the dock, take a short stroll through the wilderness and enjoy a picnic tea party and music next to the river by the waterfall. Bring some of your favorite poems and songs to play. Location: Brittany Fort (Meet at the docks) Time: 3pm CST, May 24th (Usually every 3rd or 4th Sunday of the month) Attire: This is a role playing event tea party so come as your avatar Look forward to seeing you, Avatars! Tea time! Community Event: Black Sails Saga – From the New Lands [Forum Post by CatherineRose] Another chapter of the Black Sails Saga has begun, Avatars! When the creative minds of CatherineRose and friends start writing a new chapter, it can mean only one thing — adventure awaits thee! Typically, these stories start as forum story writing and role-play, which then work their way into the game as role-playing adventures. Upon the chapter’s end, a giant battle between players usually takes place, so be sure to get involved now. Ready thine quills and ink, oh pirates of New Britannia, for a grand player-made adventure awaits thee! For more information, please contact CatherineRose for an invite to the planning conversations on the forums. Months before this day ……….. A spy for our Black Sails had given a message to one of the guards to warn us that as the great leader @Antrax Artek was leaving his headquarters with his army and as he made his way toward the battle which was underway in Blood Bay, a strange purple mist began to overtake the army. As the spy looked on with horror he saw one by one of each of the soldiers fall to the ground. Their bodies began to shake as if a great monster were picking each up and violently throwing each into the air. Upon falling to the ground they did not move from any position whether arms were out stretched or bent into grotesque shapes. All succumbed in like manner even the great Antrax himself as well. The next strange and frightening thing to happen was that each of the soldiers beginning with Antrax woke. They stood up at attention as if ready for orders to be given. Yet they were in some kind of stupor or trance. Antrax turned, in this trance as well, and shouted orders to his army. “We are to battle in Blood Bay. You will kill all living avatars except for any in our own army, Antax Army. You will kill all Pirates as well as all Obsidians. Let their blood reach from the edge of the cursed water’s of Blood Bay across the battle ground until it flows and touches the mountains . Let no one escape your sword.” “Show no mercy.” Antrax and his army did just that. Blood ran deep from all this death. The deadly purple mist affected all who marched through it. No one was spared. Mass confusion took place as well. No one that day had the ability to think like a fighter. No one that day could distinguish allies from enemies. In time the purple mist cleared from the survivors bodies. Antrax and his army returned to his headquarters. The Black Sails and Allies who survived, that were able, began to train for the next battle. We knew we would never retreat. We would never give up the goal of having peace. The evil Obsidians had again used the powerful knowledge they possess to continue their quest to control and then to destroy all of Novia. However,we knew our purpose would l not be thwarted. We repaired our ships, bandaged our wounded. We also, sadly buried the many dead. I received, from one of my guards this message which was intercepted by one of our spies: “I, Lord of a Obsidians, Master of all the World, now order you bring together our most feared fighters as well as the strongest of the trained animals which are scattered about Novia. Bring them to the Underworld under the purple mist in Blood Bay where the four rivers of Lava meet. Antrax and his army along with The pirates and allies are working to becoming again. Ha! They will not be strong enough to go against the mighty Obsidians.. We will go to the place called Malus and stop them from crossing into their new lands… (continues on the forums) Community Event: Lunch With Laz & Jack [Forum Post by Lazarus Long] NBNN is New Britannia’s premier video streaming news network. This community effort mobilizes streamers into a global endeavor of promotion for the greater Shroud of the Avatar community. Whether it be the latest news or a revealing interview, NBNN never fails to surprise! When: Weekdays At Noon, 12:00 – 1:00 P.M. CST Where: https://www.twitch.tv/nbnnnews or https://www.twitch.tv/sinassist Daily Giveaways, Fun & Shenanigans! Bringing you the latest news and information inside and out of Shroud of the Avatar for over 5 years! Community Event: Podcasts & Poetry on Virtue Radio [Forum Post by Asclepius] Attention Avatars! The Shroud of the Avatar community is INCREDIBLY creative, and over the last five years, many community members have composed short stories, poems, and other creative works. Asclepius, along with a number of other narrators have had the privilege of rendering them into audio form. There is a huge vault of podcasts on the Caverns site with well over 200 amazing creative contributions. So after fiddling with the broadcast software, Asclepius now offers to share them with you. This is planned to be a regular WEEKLY segment, about an hour in duration. Listen in and you will hear a curated selection of short stories and poems, interspersed with some great community music. When: Wednesday Evenings at 7 PM CST How to Listen: There are two methods to tune in to Virtue Radio Utilize your in-game Aether Vibration Devices for Avatar’s/Virtue Radio (radios, clockwork pets, clockwork helms, etc.) Simply point your browser to Avatar’s/Virtue Radio: https://zcu.io/jXP8 For more information about these reoccurring broadcasts on Avatar’s/Virtue Radio, please contact Asclepius on his forum post about this topic. Community Event: Virtue Radio Weekly Schedule [Forum Post by Alleine Dragonfyre] Avatars! Here’s the latest and greatest line-up from those DJ’s over at Virtue Radio! Players can tune-in using their website or in-game devices such as Clockwork & Aviator Helmets, Clockwork Pets or Aether Vibration Amplifiers! Podcast and Poetry with DJ Asclepius, Mondays 7pm NBT Radio Oz with the Doctor DJ Asclepius, Every 4th Wednesday 7pm NBT DJ Jarkith Chaotic Country, Thursdays 10PM NBT DJ Alliene Dragonfyre: The Beat Of Novia, Fridays 8PM NBT DJ Mick Foley Holds the Rocking Power Hours, Saturdays 2PM NBT DJ Stryker: Lost in the Spaces, Sundays 9AM NBT DJ Celith Wraine: Faster and Louder, Sundays 12 Noon NBT Interested in DJ’ing on Virtue Radio? Send a PM to any of our staff members @Alleine Dragonfyre @Celith Wraine @Stryker Sparhawk, @Asclepius for help! Project to Support – RodasurfAvatars! Yet another news outlet has spotted Darkstarr on a RodaSurf board. Be sure to check out this latest sighting in this latest Austin360 news article! Darkstarr and the Rodasurf team also dazzled us with another interview which aired on Spectrum News not too long ago! The RodaSurf board is an accessory to the Onewheel XR device. Simply snap and lock the Onewheel into RodaSurf’s latching system, and you’ll be surfing the streets before you know it! For the full article PLUS a fantastic video, be sure to head straight over to the Spectrum News Website and see our beloved Lord of Chaos show off his latest venture! Project to Support – Jar Wars While you are delving into Virtual Reality (VR), be sure to check out this exciting and hilarious new game, Jar Wars! Our very own Darkstarr has been busy on some side projects, one of which is Jar Wars, a slapstick multiplayer game made just for VR enthusiasts. Battle your friends with wacky weapons and intriguing gadgets for total domination of the Moon! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Dragon Fight Darkstarr has also been hard at work with the team for Dragon Fight VR which recently went live on Steam! Dragon Fight VR is an internal experiment to capture the “essence” of a dragon fight, the classic penultimate experience of every fantasy story. We wanted to create a short visceral, realistic experience stripped of user interface, lobbies, scores, levels, and other visual intrusions that might distract. There were some key elements of fighting a dragon that we wanted to capture and we felt VR was uniquely qualified to convey: Face to face with a large scale hostile creature trying to kill you Using a sword and a shield Fire! Nowhere to run! This started out as an internal experiment to learn some things about VR’s capabilities, be reductionist in our designs, etc. We felt that the experiment was successful enough to release as a free experience to share. Enjoy! Available for free on Steam! Project to Support – Crowfall Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion! Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power! Project to Support – Avatar Express [Forum post by Vladamir Begemot] I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site. If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening. You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like. Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game. It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts! So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us! 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. View the full article