Jack T. Lamplighter

Hello everyone! Here is the news! Hope you are enjoying Release 30!!! Play Release 30 Now! Hospitaller Refueling Stations Release 30 Postmortem Invite Brittany Alleys Name Reservation New Cloth Tunic, Polished Cloth Doublet, & Viking Helm New Tropical Island PoT Template & PoT Templates Page MMORPG Previews: Release 30’s Big Changes Gold Crowns of the Obsidians Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Deeds (Bundles Only) Viking Row House Tax Free Player Owned Lot Bundles 61 Day Countdown to Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 1 Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back The post Echoes From the Caverns 05-27-16 appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: Play R30 Now! Hospitaller Refueling Stations Release 30 Postmortem Invite Brittany Alleys Name Reservation New Cloth Tunic, Polished Cloth Doublet, & Viking Helm New Tropical Island PoT Template & PoT Templates Page MMORPG Previews: Release 30’s Big Changes Gold Crowns of the Obsidians Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Deeds (Bundles Only) Viking Row House Tax Free Player Owned Lot Bundles 61 Day Countdown to Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 1 Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back Play Release 30 Now! Release 30 successfully launched yesterday, May 26, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes! Lots of new content to explore, including: New scenes including Valhold and Brittany Fields Courage Storyline First Playable Targeting Interface Polish Masterworks for Smithing, Carpentry, and Tailoring Companions & Save Games for Offline Mode New Female Avatar Spring Telethon Rewards Performance Optimizations …and much more Check out the Release 30 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content. We need all your help with testing the new patches, putting more stress on our multiplayer servers, and testing the new game content, so please join us in playing Release 30! If you have not backed the game yet, you will need to register and login at www.shroudoftheavatar.com, select the “Pledge or Send Gift!” button in the right side-bar, and purchase a pledge at the $45 Adventurer level or above. The basic Adventurer level pledge is also available on Steam Early Access. Release 30 Player Instructions Release 30 Known Issues Hospitaller Refueling Stations Hospitallers are volunteer players that help new players (or veteran players) that are seeking guidance, or just friendly conversation (in-game or out). Hospitallers can be spotted in game by their purple “Hospitaller” title, and hospitaller signs designate locations where players can find guide books and other useful materials. One such Hospitaller station has been established by community member, SeleneNoctua, in the town of Westend (map). In addition to stocking helpful materials for new players, she also stocked materials for other Hospitallers to replenish their supplies with. SeleneNoctua recently shared the following information about the new site with her fellow Hospitallers: So, playing on the Virtue Houses idea that Spoon and Elgarion came up with, I have set up a trial “House” in Westend. We are also building a full crafting pavilion with expert stations; there is also a park and a community garden of 3 greenhouses. From the entrance of the town, the Hospitaller House is pretty easy to see. Inside there is a public chest that is pretty much a free grab. There is a note that says if the chest is abused (filled with junk or emptied repeatedly by the same person), the offender will be banned from the lot. I have placed some resources, scrap, potions, crafting tools, etc. Also, there is a bookcase to act as the future home of recipe books and other helpful books created by players. In the back, there is a private chest for Hospitaller use for items we want to hand out individually. I have placed some recall and teleport scrolls, as well as a few items. Anything you guys think I should add to this, please let me know. I’ve added all the Hospitallers that I knew the in-game names for to the house as kindred. If you happen to be helping new players in the area, feel free to drop by and use whatever is useful to you. If I missed anyone, just PM me in the forums or in game and I’ll add you. If you are interested in becoming a Hospitaller, or contacting a Hospitaller, then go to SotAHelp.org for additional information. Release 30 Postmortem Invite Join us Wednesday, June 1st at 3:00 PM Central (20:00 GMT) for our monthly Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about Release 30 and looking ahead to Release 31, as well as starting to talk about the impeding R32! In an exciting twist to the normal flow of the livestream, the new community manager, Mathew “Berek” Anderson, is set to spice things up by not only taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance right here in the comments section, but will be on the livestream in the office with Starr and Chris!* We will be giving out some really awesome prizes during the livestream. All you have to do to qualify for one is to come hang out with us in the IRC chatroom during the broadcast. Be sure to join us throughout the livestream for multiple chances to win cool Shroud of the Avatar swag! Watch here at 3pm CST on Wednesday, June 1st: *Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to this release’s specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief. Brittany Alleys NOTE: Brittany Alleys is scheduled to go live in Release 31. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Richard “RrMatey” Matey] Hey there! Back again for another scene update. I was tasked with Brittany Alleys, which is another neighborhood of the Brittany kingdom. This section of land is dedicated to having an urban environment that has a bunch of player houses / plots, so we have more chances to increase our Brittany Citizen population. This is a place for immigrants to live and work. Factories are here to provide jobs and a harbor for exporting goods. I was inspired by New York City and London. Have a gander at the progress so far. Inspiration Board Rough Concept Map Name Reservation Starting with Release 29, we began maintaining a record of character names for all pledge levels of Immortal Adventurers and above. When you log into the game for Release 32 after the Final Wipe, you will have the option to use the last saved name you used during Releases 29 – 31 or choose a new name. Please note that we only record the most recent name. If you have any issues with this process during Release 32, please submit a support ticket to support@portalarium.com. Please note that this replaces the previous Pledge Reward of “Last Name” in the Immortal Adventurer Pledge. Get your last name early! Experience in battle leads to Notoriety, but unlike ordinary adventurers, Immortal Adventurers will have the right to select and display both a first and last name right from the get-go! New Cloth Tunic, Polished Cloth Doublet & Viking Helm As part of our rework of the Avatars, we are steadily progressing through many of the clothing and armor items to improve their visual quality. We periodically update the progress of this effort. NOTE: The Cloth Tunic will go live in Release 31. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “Skullmuncher34” Kinnear] Hey all! Here’s an update on some of the clothes for the next release: Updated Cloth Doublet, a new dye-able tunic, and a Viking Helm Tunic by fletcherkinnear on Sketchfab Cloth Doublet by fletcherkinnear on Sketchfab Viking Helm by fletcherkinnear on Sketchfab New Tropical Island PoT Template and PoT Templates Page In Release 30, we created a new island template covered in palm trees and surrounded by sandy beaches. We have also created a new web page that shows all the current Player Owned Town Templates so that town owners can view all their options. Previously, these images were only visible either in update or in the PoT submission form. MMORPG Previews: Release 30’s Big Changes Red Thomas over at MMORPG.com wrote another Release preview article: We’re only a couple releases away from the final wipe for Shroud of the Avatar, and that means the team is now working with a hard-stop time constraint. In actuality, the Agile development philosophy that they’d adopted at the beginning of their development and monthly release schedules are probably the best possible preparation for the run-up to final wipe they could have asked for. That said, throwing in last-minute major changes to major systems like targeting tend to toss the scariness factor off the scale. Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the fallout around the decision to make that dramatic design shift and how it impacted some of the changes we’ll see in Release 30. We’ll then get into what I’m most excited about, which is some potentially controversial updates to the crafting system, and we’ll also talk a bit about what their choices suggest about the health of the game. Targeting Elephants There is no doubt that the move to modal targeting was a critical design decision, and I’ve made no secret of my doubts about the timing. Do I think the idea behind the new system is superior? Absolutely and without question. My concerns are strictly related to the timing of such a massive change, and those questions are not without merit. This last month has gone a long way towards demonstrating the validity of my concerns, but the next release looks to provide comfort in equal measure. Looking in the SotA forums, there was a significant level of consternation in the first couple weeks of the new targeting system going live. You could probably debate whether the negativity was the result of actual problems, or just general irritation at having to learn a new system. The fact that the complaints started to fall off rather quickly might suggest the latter, but I don’t think that’s the case. Gold Crowns of the Obsidians [From a Forum Post by Starr “Darkstarr” Long] We introduced Crowns of the Obsidians (COTOs) as rare items back in Release 28. COTOs drop from almost any activity, with higher occurrences on higher level creatures and resource nodes. They come in several different metal types, and each type can be exchanged for specific types of items. In Release 29, we introduced Potions of the Obsidians that could be purchased with COTOs, and these grant various temporary boosts to things like carry capacity or gathering speed. In Release 30, we added the ability for COTOs to restore Maximum Durability to items and also added Crown Merchants to the game, which allow you to exchange the various COTO types for Obisidian Potions or Gold COTOs. Gold Crowns of the Obsidians are unique in that they can be sold to any merchant in game for gold and now, starting today, they can also be purchased directly from our website or through Add On Store Bundles like the new Viking 2-Story Row Home Bundle (see below). As you have probably surmised, Gold Crowns function as a premium currency for Shroud of the Avatar. As we expire all our pledges and move towards a commercial launch, hopefully near the end of this year, we must also move to a commercial model of monetization. As promised, we are not going to be adding a subscription nor are we planning to make the game free to play. However, as an online game, we must have a steady stream of income (in addition to base game sales) in order to pay for support of the game including monthly updates, bandwidth, servers, community support, etc. Our analysis shows us that Add On Store item sales will not be sufficient. When we have been asked for examples in the past of models we wish to emulate or that we admire, we always point to Guild Wars as an example of a Pay to Play with an Add On Store as the closest archetype to what we hope to achieve. Selling Gold Crowns and allowing those Crowns to be exchangeable in game for Gold currency and potions with game benefits (like repairing of maximum durability) is something we believe is a good and fair balance of revenue while still maintaining play-ability and player economy. We are working hard to ensure that the purchased items from Crowns are all matters of convenience, not power. For example, the Obsidian Potions do things like small increases to carry weight, slightly longer sprint times, or slightly reduced gear wear. It is of course worth remembering that since Crowns can be earned in game, no player will ever be required to purchase them, making them purely a time saver and convenience. As part of this introduction, we have added Gold Crowns to all Pledges. The amount of Crowns added to each pledge is based on the size of the pledge and is as follows: First Responder, Second Responder, Pioneer, Adventurer: 2 Immortal Adventurer: 3 Founder: 4 Royal Artisan: 5 Virtual Collector: 6 Explorer, Explorer – All Digital: 7 Collector: 8 Patron: 12 Ancestor: 15 Navigator: 20 Developer: 25 Citizen: 30 Edelmann, Edelmann – All Digital: 31 Knight: 35 Knight Marshal: 40 Lord: 45 Lord Marshal: 50 Baron, Baron 2, Baron 3: 65 Duke: 90 Lord of the Manor, Lord of the Manor 2: 200 Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Deeds (Bundles Only) With the launch of the new Add On Store Bundles, we are pleased to include Tax Free versions of the Player Owned Town Lot Deeds that we introduced in Update #172. These deeds can only be used inside Player Owned Towns and they can only be purchased through bundles, not individually. This is to mirror what we did with regular Tax Free Lot Deeds (which could only be purchased through pledges). We will carefully monitor sales of these as compared to placed lot markers in Player Owned Towns to make sure we do not oversell them. This week, we are introducing Row Lots but we plan to sell bundles with Village, Town, and City Lots soon. Viking Row House Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Bundles Our first bundles to include both the new Tax Free Player Player Owned Town Lot Deeds and Gold Crowns of the Obsidians are the Viking Row House Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Bundles that includes a variety of Viking themed items. Viking 2-Story Row House Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Bundle Digital Download of SotA: Episode 1 (includes Early Access) Tax Free Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed 2-Story Viking Row House Viking Helm Viking Fur Cloak Viking Chest Pet Bloodraven (a blackish red variant of the raven) 4 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians Pick 2 Prosperity Tools Pick 2 Obsidian Potions Aether Vibration Amplifier Console 100 Bank Slots Viking 3-Story Row House Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Bundle Digital Download of SotA: Episode 1 (includes Early Access) Tax Free Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed 3-Story Viking Row House 1-Story Row Basement Viking Helm Viking Fur Cloak Viking Chest Pet Bloodraven (a blackish red variant of the raven) 6 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians Pick 4 Prosperity Tools Pick 4 Obsidian Potions Aether Vibration Amplifier Console 110 Bank Slots 3 Pack Potted Blue Spruce Trees Ornate Skull Candle Viking 4-Story Row House Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Bundle Digital Download of SotA: Episode 1 (includes Early Access) Tax Free Player Owned Town Row Lot Deed 4-Story Viking Row House 2-Story Row Basement Viking Helm Viking Fur Cloak Viking Chest Pet Bloodraven (a blackish red variant of the raven) 8 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians Pick 6 Prosperity Tools Pick 6 Obsidian Potions Aether Vibration Amplifier Console 120 Bank Slots 3 Pack Potted Blue Spruce Trees Ornate Skull Candle Ornate Metal Phonograph Dev+ Access Look for more Bundles in the Viking line soon, including a Village Home, a Village Keep, a Town Keep, and a City Great Hall. 61 Day Countdown to Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 1 As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone, we are having a Summer 2016 Expiration Event split into Two Parts! Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 1 At Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27, 2016, we are expiring the homes and basements from the Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2 pledges. We are also expiring new Player Owned Towns (upgrades of existing POTs will continue to be available). All other rewards (including tax free property deeds) that are currently available in the remaining pledges will continue to be available. The final wipe of all game data will also occur at Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27th. To commemorate this momentous milestone, we are holding a 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 1, starting at 12:00 pm CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the Final Wipe at Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC). Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 2 At Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC) on August 22, 2016, we are expiring ALL remaining pledges, including: Adventurer, Founder, Royal Artisan, Explorer, Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2. To commemorate the final expiration of all remaining pledges, we are holding a 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 2, starting at 12:00 pm CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the Final Pledge Expirations at Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC). Community Resources – Players Helping Players The official SotA Player Created Resources Forum is the place to find 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. Here are a few samples: Hospitallers Hospitallers are volunteer players that help new players (or veteran players) that are seeking guidance, or just friendly conversation (in-game or out). While in-game, new (or veteran) players can signal to other players they would like help, or newcomer guidance, by pressing Keypad “-” and setting their title to “Outlander“. Helping players can display their “Hospitaller” title to signal they are available to help other players. SotAHelp.org SotAHelp.org is a player support site run by a team of volunteers, or Hospitallers, dedicated to improving the new player experience within Shroud of the Avatar. Can’t find a Hospitaller in-game? Then go to SotaHelp.Org where you can ask questions offline or schedule an in-game meetup. Multiple languages supported. Join us for our weekly in-game meetings (Sundays at 11am CT, TeamSpeak 3 Server: Pax et Veritas, 43.245.163.15:10099, Discord Chat Channel). Avatars’ Circle Avatars’ Circle is one of the first Shroud of the Avatar resource sites created by by the SotA community, not only providing links to other popular SotA resource sites, but also home to the first SotA community events calendar! SotA Wiki A premier source of information for all of New Britannia! This site is being actively updated, so if there isn’t something you need, let them know! Avatars’ Radio Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers. Check out their daily program of amazing DJs. SotAMap.com This amazing map allows you to pan the camera out for a global view of the map of New Britannia, or incrementally zoom in until you make out the finest details of the Overworld map of Novia and The Hidden Vale. And more of the town maps are being added every month! New Britannia News Network (NBNN) 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! Role-Players of the Avatar (RPOTA) Role-Players of the Avatar is a social environment where you will find a creative outlet for story writing and adventure creation. We are a community which feeds your desire to be someone else… a crazed barbarian, a cunning scoundrel, maybe a quirky wizard or perhaps a mysterious assassin. Crafting Resources SotACrafter.com: This is an amazing site that simply gets RIGHT to the point. Need a recipe? Simply use the drop-down menu and voila! Instant recipes to peruse. SotACraft.com: This is a one-stop-shop for crafting recipes and instructions. Beautifully laid out with images for each recipe, sorted by category! In-game Community Events Our amazing community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Special thanks to community member SpookyJenny (aka Jenny Phoenixfyre in-game) for her help in compiling the schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar: Recurring Events RPOTA Monthly $170 Writing Contest Here ye! Here ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers and Videographers! RPOTA is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill or camera! (details) The Unreliable Travel Guide The Unreliable Travel Guide, created at the SotA Writing Round Table, is not an event, but a collection of hilarious short stories published by two drunken layabouts who have nothing better to do than try to derive a dishonest income from newly arrived avatars. (details) Avatars Radio (Daily Programming) Welcome New Britannians to Avatars Radio – Radio of the Avatars. Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers. Check out their daily program of amazing DJs: http://avatarsradio.info/schedule.php NBNN Lunch with Laz & Jack (Weekdays, 12pm CDT) Join NBNN every weekday for Lunch With Laz & Jack. They will be covering the daily goings on in SOTA. Calendar updates, Relevant issues happening in the days news. Come chat with us about upcoming events and general information. http://nbnn.info Order of Vengeance Guild Meeting (Mondays, 9pm CDT) Held at the Guild Hall in Vengeance PaxLair Town Manager Hour (Tuesdays, 2:00pm CDT) Join PaxLair’s Town Manager, Sean Silverfoot, to ask questions about PaxLair, being a Citizen, holding a lot and any other questions concerning PaxLair or any of it’s boroughs: Dragons Watch, Tenakill, Lockbrier, Island of Wonders, Knowhere, Sea Nymph Grotto & Serentiy Isle. (map) EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl (Tuesdays & Saturdays, 7pm CDT) Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday (for advanced players) and Saturdays (for newer, less experienced players) to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point for Tuesdays is in Owls Head (map) at the center of town near the trainer (Zenie is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master), and for Saturdays it is in Soltown (map; Shady Death is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master) (details) EVL Virtue League PVP Tournament (Wednesdays, 7pm CDT) Looking to break into the PVP scene but don’t want to be placed against established god-like players? We have you covered with two divisions, one for the newer, less experienced player, and one for the cream of the crop who have something to prove! (Chaos Caverns underground at Virtue Oasis on the Hidden Vale; details) Stryker Sparhawk’s Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CDT) Stryker will travel to one of the local Novia taverns for an hour to open a bar tab for drinks in hopes of sharing stories, news, critique of the arts, music, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Teleport to Stryker Sparhawk (details) Friday, May 27 2pm CDT FireLotus Release Party Come join us for the biggest party of Release 30! Enter from the Overland map and follow the canyon. Meet the vendor with directions to the party. You can also follow the streetlamps to the crossroads and take a balloon ride up the side of the mountain. See you there! Party details here. 7pm CDT Vengeance Madness PVP This is an Open PvP event where everyone fights it out in a royal rumble to see who the ultimate death dealer is! An hour of PvP madness that you cannot miss. The person who ends up with the most kills will be the champion! This is an opportunity to test skills, templates, items, and strategy, but most of all to have fun! An hour full of madness you cannot miss out on! Whether you are a usual PvP’er or not… Anyone is welcome to come out and join us. Winners may win entries into the BMC-Grid Iron. (City of Vengeance; teleport to Bambino LudoVate; map). 7:30pm CDT Friday Night Astronomy Interested in New Britannia Astronomy? Just enjoy gazing at the stars? Join us every week as we explore the night sky above New Britannia. (Player Town of Caer Dracwych, map; teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; details) Saturday, May 28 7:00am CDT Wake Up New, Britannia!!! With Woftam and Selene Woftam and Selene Noctua broadcast on AvatarsRadio from the Wake Up New Britannia Studio in Owlshead (right behind the crafting pavillion). Includes Interviews with the Community, Contests for in-game Gold, What’s new for the week in New Britannia, and your Best Bets for SotA weekend events! (details) 9:00am CDT PaxLair Working Hours Come to PaxLair and see what’s happening! For two hours (more or less) we work together on projects, create ideas and have fun together. It’s sort of a weekly time to gather and do things together. Everyone in Novia is welcome! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield or Sean Silverfoot) 11:00am CDT Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service High Priestess of Chaos, Amber Raine, and the Dean of the Novian Academy, Kazyn Phoenixfyre, welcome you to the Church of the Dark Star. A shared project, built upon equality, where all are welcome. Services range from what is Chaos and Order to how they affect different aspects of our life. The path you choose is yours. (Alternating locaions; details) 6:00pm CDT Port Phoenix: Social Nights Come out and join the republic in one of many potential events (chosen new each week). Each week we get together for everything from fishing, to music, to gustball to PVE duneoneering and adventuring. (Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre for details) 7:00pm CDT EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl Do you crave adventure and don’t want to battle alone? EVL has your back with our fun packed PVE nights hosted weekly! An EVL dungeon guide will assist newer less experienced players in their pursuit of adventure and glory! It meets in Soltown (map) and your teleportation avatar and guide for the evening will be Shady Death. 8:00pm CDT Overthrow Vengeance PVP Event Come overthrow Vengeance! If there’s no fighting it’s because the PKers didn’t show… if there is only death it’s because the virtuous didn’t show to protect those of us who are still weak and unable to protect ourselves (Vengeance, map; details) Sunday, May 29 8:30am CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield; teamSpeak: 43.245.163.15:10099) 11:00am CDT Hospitaller Weekly Voice Meeting Everyone is welcome to our player community’s weekly Hospitaller meeting. It is open to anyone and everyone, not just Hospitallers. We talk about many things and work hard to find ways to help new players. This meeting is one hour long and we have additional sidebars after the meeting. (Soltown, map; Discord Chat Channel, SotAHelp.org) 2:30pm CDT Gustball Training Want to learn how to play Gustball? Need some tips on how to improve your deck or hone your skills on the field! Join Coach Sheamus McGuinness of EVLs for a 30 minute Gustball lesson and practice session just before the big game at 3pm (Owl’s head, map; or teleport to Sheamus McGuinness) 3:00pm CDT Gustball The game of Gustball is a great community event, not dissimilar from soccer or football, where Avatars of all levels & skill can compete in a fun, friendly game that uses the Gust skill (1st level Air Magic spell) to blow a Gustball into your opponents goal. (/whisper or teleport to Sand, Sheamus McGuinness, or Bambino Ludovate, details) 4:00pm CDT EVL The Gauntlet THE GAUNTLET is a combination of American Gladiators & American Ninja Warrior. This timed obstacle course is run by a single Avatar and the fastest time is the overall winner! The EVL Gladiators will do their very best to slow you down using a variety of magic spells along the course. A free event suitable for all levels of Avatars. Competitors can look forward to TOP PRIZES every month for the winner and runner up. Held in the underground town of Chaos Caverns, connected to Virtue Oasis (map; teleport to Sheamus McGuinness or EVL; details) 5:00pm CDT BMC Grid Iron Feast and Registration Register to compete in the BMC Gridiron and mingle with other participants and spectators before the big fight! (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 5:30pm CDT BMC Gladiator’s Grid-Iron The BMC is proud to present the nastiest, the foulest, the most feared arena in all of New Britannia! The Grid-Iron is equipped with a pit-style arena, locker rooms, a VIP round-table, betting & vendor booths, and all the blood-sport you can handle. (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 7:00pm CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield) 8:00pm CDT Fishing with Winfield Come sit with Winfield on a log or rock to hear some fish tales or tell your own. Chat about anything from the moons to the earth worms. Spend a relaxing day in nature near a stream or lake — bring insect repellent or a sword. (some fishing spot or pond, teleport to Winfield; details) Be sure and check out the Release 29 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here. Upcoming Events 2016.06.01 – The Hearth of Britannia: Legends of the Hearth III 2016.06.01 – Release 30 Postmortem Livestream 2016.06.30 – Release 31 2016.07.27 – Summer Telethon Part 1 + Pledge Homes / POT Expirations (Final Wipe at Midnight) 2016.07.28 – Release 32: Lot Selections 2016.08.22 – Summer Telethon Part 2 + Final Pledge Expirations Episode 1 (Pledge Expirations at Midnight) 2016.08.25 – Release 33 2016.08.26 – Syndcon 2016 2016.09.02 – DragonCon 2016 2016.09.21 – Austin Games Conference 2016.09.29 – Release 34 Backer Shipping Addresses In preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards later this year, we have added Shipping Address fields to your Account Profile page. To enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image: For country and regional tax assessment purposes, our tax accountants have requested that we start collecting a buyer’s physical/shipping address for all purchases, whether digital or physical. We’ve tried to streamline that process as much as possible, such that once you’ve entered a physical address we will pre-populate the address fields with your default address. Recommended Projects to Back Here’s the latest from BrightLocker, the first crowd publishing platform for games. BrightLocker was launched by fellow ex-Originites Mark Rizzo and Ruben Cortez, members of the original Ultima Online Network Ops team from back in the day. LightEaters has completed development and will launch on June 23rd! Between now and launch, we’re offering a unique opportunity for our fans to receive daily updates in a ‘retrospective’ of LightEaters’ development process. FOLLOW the game now to make sure you get all the latest updates! Daily Updates will include: Build Notes from each day’s retrospective build, so you can read exactly what the dev team were working on each day Concept Presentations Art files, the building blocks of the game visuals Sound effect files A huge thanks to everyone who participated in our second Semi-Final voting round last week. Round 3 is open, so get those votes in for your favorite video game ideas and submit an idea yourself – it could be chosen to be made into an actual game! Speaking of voting, our very own Shroud community member enderandrew is also a Brightlocker community member and has been working on getting some of his ideas through the system and he posted about his experience in our forums. He didn’t make it through that voting cycle but he’s going to try again next cycle which opens up on June 5th so head over to Brightlocker and support your fellow Shroud community member! Check out enderandrew talking about his game starting at 2:15 and then go vote on June 5th! View the full article

[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long] Greetings Avatars, Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues. Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 30 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, May 26, at 10:30 AM US Central Daylight Time (15:30 UTC). The pace of change as we approach Final Wipe and Lot Selection continues to accelerate as we make our final few, but quite impactful changes and additions to Shroud of the Avatar. Release 30 is full of these important changes, and includes large additions to the story, reworkings of the crafting system, and refinements of the new targeting mechanics we introduced in R29. The statue of Grannus in front of the crumbling Valhold Castle Maximum Durability: The biggest change of course is the change to maximum durability, which can no longer be repaired at crafting stations unless you use a Crown of the Obsidian (see below for details). I understand that this change to durability so that items eventually break permanently feels challenging to process right now. On top of that, the amount of time to gather materials and the sheer amount of materials it takes to make items seems daunting to say the least. Our goal has always been that it takes specialization and time to become a crafter and the goods you sell should have real value. If we tune gathering to be fast and items to use only a few materials, then everyone could make their own goods and there would be no economy and no demand for crafters. If items continued to be in good repair indefinitely, then crafters would have no demand to fill once players got a favorite set of gear. We believe that all of these designs are necessary to have a truly player-driven economy where effort is rewarded and the amount of time to make items is relatively commensurate to the time it takes to fight and advance through enemies. With all of that said, the entire experience needs to balance entertainment with effort and we will be carefully tuning the experience over the next few releases (and forever for that matter). Masterworks: Crafting is finally also expanding with new skills including Masterworks; which allow Smiths, Carpenters, and Tailors to add new abilities to items they create. This works exactly like the Enchanting we introduced for Alchemists in R29, although both of these systems now balance the power of the abilities added with reductions in durability. Our goal for the system is to create interesting choices between power and convenience. We also envision scenarios where Avatars might have specialized sets of powerful gear that they use for boss fights and PVP tournaments versus their everyday adventuring gear. The Path of Courage: In Release 29 Avatars were able to follow the Path of Love from beginning to end for the first time. In Release 30 the story again greatly expands with the Path of Courage now being playable. To support that, Valhold can be visited for the first time and various other scenes have been filled out with supporting story including Skrekk, Demig’s Battlecamp, Ferig’s Battlecamp, and Estgard. This makes two of the three Paths of Virtue playable, with only the Path of Truth left to implement in the game (which we will start in Release 31). We also have added the first of our three Companions who will adventure with you in Offline Mode. Targeting System: Finally we spent time iterating and polishing the new targeting system we introduced in Release 29. Our goal was to provide the same level of functionality we had before we added the new system while still enjoying the advantages of the new system. To that end, we have added back in target selection and target cycling amongst a host of other changes (see below for details). Yet again, I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to our Dev+ backers who tested all of the items below on the QA server and uncovered lots of bugs. They also provided editorial feedback on this post. So they are a big reason that this post actually matches what is in the game, and that it is easy to read. While we are getting closer to launch, we are still in a constant state of change, and we do not yet have in-game systems to inform players of these changes, or to share ways to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely entirely on this message, and the linked instructions and known issues to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports because some players elect not to read this valuable information. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide. Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. So, be sure to check out a couple of the Community Events Calendars run by our community members (via in-game book or the player run websites Avatars Circle Community Events and Events of the Avatars calendar). Without further ado, here is a list of what you can expect to see in Release 30. Key: Plain Text: The original plan for the Release deliverables. We intentionally preserve the original text so that our backers can compare plan versus actuals. Italics: Extra notes and new deliverables. Strikethrough: These are items that did not make the release. RELEASE 30, May 26, 2016: Story: The town of Valhold on the island of Norgard will appear in game and we will begin a final polish on the Novia overworld. Novia Overworld Rework: When we first built the overworld map for Novia we strayed a bit too far from the original design as laid out in the cloth map. This resulted in a lot of discrepancies including some major geographical mismatches, rivers that looked like oceans (or which were missing entirely), roadways that were as wide as mountains, misplaced points of interest, and other such oddities. In Release 30, we begin the effort to correct all of these errors and have brought Novia back into alignment with the contours and geographic features of the cloth map. During this process, all coastlines and areas throughout the entire, expansive interior of Novia were honed. Consequently, we were required to temporarily remove a lot of the props and decorations from the scene, but we will be putting those back in steadily over the next two releases. This work also required us to re-position some of the towns and other points of interest. Additional changes include the addition of boat teleporters for every Player-Owned Town island, as the proper method for travel to them. Please note that the locations of a few POTs have changed during this work. If your town location changed during this process and you are unsatisfied with the new location please post as a bug in the bug forums with a requested new location and we will do our very best to accommodate your request at no charge. Path of Courage: The Path of Courage is now blocked-in from start to finish for the first time. However, there are many moving parts to the story and some are only in as placeholders, while others are not yet working properly. We will need all of your help playing and testing so we can begin getting it to a more finished state. Valhold: The ruined capital of the isle of Norgard was once a place of greatness but banners of yellow hang from crumbling stone pillars. Explore this key area in the Courage storyline and learn more about the war with the Kobolds, the titan Grannus, and the power of yellow. Valhold once stood as a beacon of hope and power, the home of the Knights of Norgard and the protector of those who were under threat. Yet who will protect the protectors when they themselves face their greatest peril? Now stricken with despair, its defenders wounded in both body and spirit, Valhold still stands, stricken, yet shield aloft, waiting for the final blow. Much of the fate of King Grannus and his family is revealed here, and players will find the Path of Courage reach its climax. Note that while the city of Valhold is available in multiplayer, the Throne Room of Grannus is a solo player instance. Ferig’s and Demig’s Battlecamps: The wayward sons of Grannus wage an ill-fated war against the Kobolds from their Battlecamps which have been updated with story content for the Path of Courage. Estgard: A palisade along with several checkpoints – at one of which you must convince a guard to allow you within the wall – has been added to this town as part of the Path of Courage. Skrekk: With the introduction of the story behind the Path of Courage, the reason behind why players must penetrate the depths of the mysterious city of Skrekk becomes clear. Avatars may now try to discover why the Kobolds and the Knights of Norgard are at war, and possibly, if they are true to the virtues, a path forward for both Kobold and human. Brittany Fields: This primarily agrarian neighborhood to the southwest of Brittany supplies most of the food to the greater Brittany area. It is also home to a huge population of outlanders—primarily holders of village-sized deeds—but there are a variety of other lot sizes here as well. Quel Passage: Quel Passage is part of the continuing expansion of the Underground Network. The Forsaken Hewer lurks within Etceter Crag Mines with the key that allows entry. An exit from Quel Passage to Kiln Cistern is planned but not yet implemented. Equitas Passage: Equitas Passage is another addition to the Underground Network. Take the key from the Loathsome Trafficker to gain access from the Serpent’s Spine Mines, or enter from the Hilt Fortress if you have the key from the Deplorable Archmage therein. Elad’s Lighthouse: Elad is rumored to have worked for Lord British at one time as his shipwright and lighthouse builder, but has since retired to live a life of semi-seclusion in the lighthouse in Spindrift Bay, which he built himself. His reclusive retirement was short-lived, however because what was once a sleepy little village around the massive lighthouse has since grown into a rather large settlement of Outlanders. This town went live in Release 29, but was just using our standard lighthouse. In Release 30, you will be able to see the amazing custom model Bob Cooksey built and that Keith Quinn placed and propped. Crypt of the Avatar: The Crypt went live in Release 29, but we only really utilized the first rooms and The Crypt was devoid of creatures and resources. In Release 30, the entire Crypt is now playable and filled with deadly creatures and valuable resources. Note that this is still a Single-Player Instance. Aerie: Crowdsourced NPC conversations and backgrounds have been added for over 90 NPCs. In addition, many shops and locations now have unique place names referred to by those NPCs. Etceter Crag Mines: Increased spawn rates of resource nodes greatly. Control Point Perks: Control Point perks are various rewards that are earned upon successful defense of the Control Point to more scenes. These are manifested as chests that unlock, doors that unlock to secret areas, etc. In Release 30, we added reward perks to the following three Control Points: Vauban Pass Brightbone Pass Eastreach Gap Wild Wisps: Wild versions of the Wisps from the Moon school of Magic can now be found in various areas of Novia, namely the following: Nightshade Pass Brisach Pine Forest South Varisalla Foothills Ulfheim Artifice Approach to the Shuttered Eye Hidden Vale Polish: We have not spent much time over in the Hidden Vale in quite a while, and those scenes have gotten out of date with new features like Dynamic Spawners and Tier Markers. In Release 30, we returned to the Vale and began polishing some scenes there. Dynamic Spawners: Owl’s Nest and Moors of Northshore. Tier Markers: Moors of Northshore, Ruined Keep, Wynton’s Folly, and Mysterious Swamp. Owl’s Nest: Increased spawn rates of resource nodes slightly. Multiplayer Economic Balance: A pass will be made through creature loot bundles, merchant pricing, property taxes, public vendor fees, harvesting rates, agriculture growth, crafting recipe ingredient amounts, and other factors to begin establishing an equilibrium for the multiplayer economy Multiplayer Economic Balance Delayed: Crafting base viability was not where it needed to be, so we are delaying balancing until we can get Crafting where it needs to be. Obsidian Crown Merchants: These Merchants only accept the incredibly rare Crowns of the Obsidians (COTOs). COTOs can be found on just about anything that provides loot (monsters, ore nodes, etc) but appear more frequently the higher the difficulty of the target. For now, Obsidian Crown Merchants only sell the Potions of the Obsidians we introduced in Release 29, but we will be expanding their inventory over time to include various exotic and rare items. These merchants can be found in Ardoris, Brittany, Aerie, and Resolute. Please note that the fictional background for the Crowns (including a line of quests within the Obsidian laboratories of the Epitaph) has not yet been implemented, but we wanted to add a means to exchange these coins as soon as possible. Multiplayer Combat Balance: A pass will be made through combat skills, creature stats, player stats, advancement rates, zone difficulties, and other values to establish an equilibrium for multiplayer combat. Multiplayer Combat Balance Delayed: Our number one engineering focus for Release 30 and our number one systems design focus was crafting, so unfortunately Combat Balance had to be delayed. PVP Flagging: Players who receive a PVP flag from attacking a PVP flagged player are now permanently flagged PVP until they visit the Oracle. This removes the previous behavior that allowed players to temporarily flag PVP and have that flag removed simply by leaving the scene or logging out for a short time. Please note this does not affect PVP flagging related to PVP scenes like Shardfalls and PVP Player Owned Towns. Targeting Polish: We made several improvements to targeting to improve the new system and make sure it retained some of the function it had in the earlier system; like having a selected target. Changes include: Sticky Targeting: Your reticle will now pop onto a target when you get close and it will stay on it even if your camera is not directly on top of them. You can pull the reticle off either through cycling (see below) or by pulling your camera far enough away from the target. Softlock Target Selection: You can also “select” a target by holding shift and clicking on a target. Target Cycling: You can now once again cycle through targets by hitting the G key. Multi-Target Reticle: When you use a weapon or ability that allows you to hit multiple targets, your reticle now shows up on all possible targets. Over the Shoulder View: When you zoom into the avatar, the camera now moves over the shoulder instead of staying directly overhead so that you can better see your targets. As part of this, first person mode is now triggered by the V key. Resurrection Ankhs in Basements: All basements now have Resurrection Ankhs in them for those who choose to conduct PVP activities below their homes. Ranged Critical Chance: A math error in ranged critical chance was fixed. This was causing archers to critical as much as 80% of the time. This has been corrected and bow damage increased slightly to compensate. Single-Player Offline: The first Single-Player Offline specific features will become available to players in the form of Save Games and Companions. Companions: Companions are a hallmark of Lord British games and will appear for the first time in Release 30 in Offline Mode. They will travel with the player and assist whenever possible in your adventures. They will also engage in conversations with you about the world you find yourself in. The first companion to appear in the game is Fiona Fitzowen, the travelling bard and companion to the Avatar on their path of Love. Fiona is a bard in every sense of the word – a master of the lute, someone who will usually sing a song when prompted (and often when not) and without fail, will have something to say about the situation she finds herself in (and she seems to find herself in many) which will infuriate some and entertain more. Fiona is not one for fighting, but does keep a small crossbow ready when necessary (or when on the road and hunger beckons). She knows a smattering of magical arts, but like most travelling bards, just enough to be amusing. Many claim to have stolen Fiona’s heart; it is an illusion she is happy to perpetuate. In fact, if you ask who her current love is, she will quickly change the subject. For someone who makes a living at telling stories, that is a tale she is not yet willing to tell. She is drawn to the avatar, but not in the romantic way everyone assumes. But…that is a tale she is better off spinning. Fiona can usually be found in Peladjar’s Tavern in Ardoris, singing for her lodging and her amusement. Please note that Fiona is a work in progress—for R30, she will accompany you on your adventures and speak to you, but her dialogue is by no means complete and for now her comments on your travels are limited to Ardoris. Save Games: In Offline Mode, players can now create and load save games. Game files can be transferred between computers as long as each computer is on the same version of SotA. Please note that save game data is currently tied to version, so when we publish new versions, we may overwrite the save game data. This will be solved when we update Offline mode to work properly with patching and deliver offline rewards. User Interface Polish: Various aspects of the user interface will be refactored and upgraded for visuals and usability. Solid Black Window for Chat: Players now have the option to make the background of the chat window completely opaque for better readability. New Color Scheme for Titles/Nameplates: After several weeks working closely with members of the community, we have updated the color scheme for Titles and Nameplates. New Handwritten Font: We have updated our Handwritten Font to a newer font that better supports Localized characters. Collapsed Tooltips: As we have continued to add more modifiers to crafted items and shown what each component was contributing the tooltips for, items were becoming huge. So, we are now defaulting the tooltips to items to be in a collapsed mode that you can expand by holding down CTRL. Player Towns: Player-Owned Towns (POTs) that have locked submission forms will appear in the game, and more Player-Run Town (PRT) scenes with small NPC cores with basic functions (banks, shops, trainers) will appear across Novia. New variations on the town templates may also appear. Grassland PRTs: The newest style of PRT is based on the Grasslands PRT template and can be found scattered around Novia. We managed to get one example of this new PRT type into Novia: Snell’s Bend (in Grunvald, at the crossroads northwest of the desert) Player Lot Pathfinding: Players and NPCs should now pathfind properly on player lots. POT Tropical Island Template 01: This new island template is covered in palm trees and surrounded by sandy beaches. For R30, it is only available as an option in the POT submission form. In R31, this template will begin showing up for those that select it for their Dynamic POT and as one of the example POTs in Hometown. Rotated POT Templates: The following POT Templates are now available in 3 rotations: Right 90 degrees, Left 90 degrees, and 180 degrees. In R31, they will begin showing up for those that select them for their Dynamic POTs. Forest 02 Island 01 Tropical Island 01 Snowy Mountains 01 Snowy Mountains 01a Mountains 01 Grassland 01 POT Updates Without Wipes: We now have the technology to process Template, Owner, and Name changes that previously required a wipe. Please note that Template changes will force all contents of the town into the bank. Balloon Teleporters: New balloon teleporters have replaced any wagons on mountain and snowy mountain POTs that send players to islands, and replaced any boats on island POTs that send players to mountains or snowy mountains. (Please note that these balloons are intended to be used when interconnecting an island directly with a landlocked location, and do not replace other wagons or boats.) New Dynamic POTs: For POTs that used the new Lock & Submit procedure, we processed all new requests since R29 and any existing requests. Please note that the locations of many POTs have changed during the Novia Overworld rework. If your town location changed during this process and you are unsatisfied with the new location, please post as a bug in the bug forums with a requested new location and we will do our very best to accommodate your request at no charge. Allaman: Upgraded to City. Arx Draconis Aerie: Upgraded to Village. Caladruin: Nested interconnection changed to within Brittany. Celestial Gardens: Upgraded to Village. Interconnection (with Brittany). Central City: New addition. Diamond Fields: Interconnection (with Jade Valley). Dragon’s Fall: Upgraded to Metropolis. Interconnections (with Port Graff and Graff Island). Changed location. Haunted Keep of Solania: Upgraded to Hamlet. Jade Valley: Interconnection (with Diamond Fields). Refugees Hideout: Upgraded to Village. The Time Tunnel: New addition (nested in Wizards Rest). Wizards Rest: Interconnection (with The Time Tunnel). Performance: Major efforts will be made to optimize performance. This will include frame rate improvements, load time improvements, and memory footprint improvements. We will also be adding DX11/12 support for Windows and OpenGLCore for Linux and OSX. Performance Manager: There is now a Performance Manager in the game that works to maintain a constant framerate by actively turning up and down various features and levels of detail. LODs & Collisions: Burned Down Tavern City Walls Crafting Pavilion Elven Greenhouse Kobold Gazebo Skull Dungeon Entrance Coliseum Chains Dungeon Kit Medieval Environment pack assets Titan Statues Upscale Stables Elad’s Lighthouse Tavern Memory Footprint: Speedtree texture optimizations to reduce memory footprint. Scene optimizations to reduce texture load. Prop and texture audit to ensure proper import settings for a wide variety of items. Character: New Female Avatar As many of you saw in a recent weekly update and Dev+ forum post, we have done a complete overhaul of the female avatar just like we did for the male avatar. Now that she is complete, we can focus on hair and improving the customizability of the faces of both the male and female avatar. NOTE: Morph targets for the female face have changed. This means that previously created female characters will likely look strange until you make a new character, especially in the chin area. Our apologies for the inconvenience. Polished Wearables: We did visual overhauls on the following wearables: Chain Helms Cloth Helms Leather Helms Merchant Outfit Cloth Doublet New Male Ardoris Guard NPCs: We recently purchased a new male guard asset which we used to create a set of unique guards for Ardoris. Character Creation Next Button: Some players were not noticing the tabs in character creation that allowed a variety of customization options, so we added back the next button to character creation. Spyglass: This Stretch Goal Store item captures light through lenses arrayed in a tube so that when Avatars hold it up to their eyes objects that are far away appear closer! Pledge Light Enchanted Items Fix: Light enchanted items (ex. Lord Marshal Helm) now once again increase the ambient light level. Crafting Exceptional Items: Critical Success during Carpentry, Smithing, and Tailoring will create Exceptional Weapons and Armor that have increased durability (+50). These Exceptional Items are able to absorb more special qualities from Masterworking and Enchanting due to their increased durability (see below). Masterworks: Carpenters, Smiths, and Tailors can use a new crafting skill called Masterworks to add modifiers to weapons and armor. Each time a Masterworking is done on an item, a small amount of durability is lost and there is a chance the item will be destroyed. The chance of destruction increases with the number of modifiers on the item, but the Masterwork skill helps to boost success chance. For now, the modifiers are simple stat increases (ex. +5 to Strength), but in Release 31 these will become very specific to each item type (ex. +5 to blade damage). Note that an item must have at least 30 maximum durability in order to be Masterworked or Enchanted. Enchanting: Enchanting now also removes durability each time, just like Masterworks. For now, Enchanting is still simple modifiers (ex. +5 to Strength), but in Release 31 Alchemy (including Gem Socketing) will expand to cover a lot more magical properties including elemental damage/resistance and random chances to cast spells on hits. Maximum Durability: When you repair items at a Crafting Station, it now only repairs current durability, albeit more efficiently than using a Repair Kit in the field. Maximum Durability is no longer repaired when an item is repaired at a crafting station unless a Crown of the Obsidian is used as an ingredient. As part of this change, we have halved the rate at which maximum durability decreases. This means that items will now eventually break and not be repairable unless you find a rare COTO and are willing to spend it to save the item. This change is to create a real need for crafters to constantly generate weapons and armor for the player driven economy while still providing players opportunities to preserve certain unique items on rare occasions. As part of this change, we have normalized durability for all the items to the following values: Hands: 50 Feet: 50 Helm: 80 Legs: 100 Chest: 100 (partial) or 150 (full) Shield: 100 Weapons: 100 Ring/Amulet: 50 Crafting Station Bonuses: Crafting Stations are now properly applying bonuses. Crafting Advancement Curves Rebalanced: These have been refactored to give much more rewarding advancements earlier. Gathering Time Bonus: There were some errors with gathering time bonuses that, when stacked with things like the Obsidian potions, could get them to zero allowing instant gathers. Gathering time bonus skill was reduced 30% and Pickaxe with True Bronze Engraving gathering time bonus was reduced 20%. New Furniture Recipes: We added 8 new furniture recipes based on items we added to the game from Artifice. Brown Suede Sofa Brown Suede Ottoman Brown Suede Wingback Chair Brown Suede Armchair Fancy Bed Fancy Stool Dinner Bench Dinner Chair Social: Scene Chat Channel: We have added a new chat channel to the game that includes all players in the scene you are currently in. Please note that this defaults to off. Emotes: /starrlton: This special emote, as demonstrated by Starr Long during a recent Hangout of the Avatar, can ONLY be learned from Darkstarr himself, or those he has taught it to! Are YOU willing to spread throughout the land the mystical dance of the Starrlton? /cower: This emote can be learned by asking fauns in cities about their satyr antagonists. /tableflip: This special emote can ONLY be learned from Atos, or those he has taught it to. New Defaults: /headbang, /giggle, and /goodbye are now granted to all players Bug Fixes: Nobles Chat: This chat channel for those with Noble Discourse Orb should be working properly again. Guard Emote: This emote now once again correctly uses the weapon you currently have equipped. Spring Telethon Rewards: As mentioned in Update #175, our Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon was a huge success! We achieved all the Stretch Goal Rewards and even had to create new ones! We were so grateful by the incredible outpouring of support from our community that we accelerated development of the rewards and they will be available in Release 30! /flowers: rains flower petals down around the avatar Flower Crown: a large circlet of flowers. Wearing this increases the duration of /flowers rain of petals Giant Butterfly Pet: Do not call her Mothra. She hates that. Giant Dragonfly Pet Audio: The biggest change to audio in R30 was the implementation of a Day / Night system where ambient sounds change with Dawn, Dusk, Day, and Night. For now, we have added this to 4 types of scenes (see below) and will steadily propagate this throughout all scenes over the next several releases. Additionally, we continue to add new audio files and polished existing audio assets. Day / Night Ambient Sounds: Forests Plains Swamps Hills New Ambient Assets: Birds Frog River Waterfall Wind Bushes Foliage Owl Crickets Hawks Flys Gnats New Audio Volume Sliders: We added a whole new set of separate sliders to the Audio Tab so you can fine tune your audio volume Avatar Motion World Weather Interface Creature Audio Polish: Oracle Flyers Oracle Spider Kobolds Lich Troll Zombies Elementals Avatar Footstep Polish Emote sounds volume fixed So, now that it is clear what you can expect, we should also be as clear about what you should NOT expect: Stability (especially Linux): The latest version of Unity that we updated to for Release 29 introduced quite a higher level of instability and memory leaks than we have ever previously encountered. This is especially bad for the Linux version of the game. We are working directly with Unity engineering to resolve this as quickly as possible. Performance: We have begun performance optimizations (LODs) as well as a first round of performance fallback routines via a Performance Manager. However we still have some work to do, particularly for older machines. Additionally, with the latest version of Unity we are using has some serious stability issues and memory leaks that we are working closely with them to resolve. Please be patient with us as we work through these issues. With each release, we will be doing further optimizations and adding more fallbacks to improve performance. Game Loop: Release 30 is a further iteration on our game loop, but is still missing some key components. Expect this to expand with each subsequent release, but it won’t be truly complete until we hit final wipe in July. Visual Quality: Efforts to improve visual quality are ongoing. We will continue to iterate on these until we have highly competitive visuals. Pledge Rewards: Pledge Rewards that have been built and have tech to support them are in the game; all other rewards are awaiting either content creation or tech support. You can find an updated list of these items in known issues. Persistence: As part of development, we will need to periodically wipe data including characters, property, etc. There will be only one more wipe in July before everything goes persistent with Release 32. So consider everything gained during early access temporary. Here are links to instructions and known issues. Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with, and we are proud to be on this journey with you. Sincerely, Starr Long aka Darkstarr Executive Producer View the full article

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with a wonderful story from Ulf Berht. It is entitled Prologue (Ulf Berht’s Bio) It is the first chapter of a longer story, so stay tuned for more! Background music by Smartsound Three summers I have endured this second exile. three winters since I was ripped yet again from all things familiar. My childhood was cruel, torn as I was from family and friends as our boat foundered in the swirling, rocky rapids of the River Volga. The Brigands on the bank had forced us to risk the river. I watched as one by one my family was swallowed by the torrent. Many times since, I have wished that my mother had not lashed me to some planks before she slipped beneath. After these small men with round faces had gathered what they could of our trade goods, I was bundled into a wheeled cage stuffed with other human wretches. I survived the long trip, as others did not, because of my value. A blonde child was worth much in the slave markets of Constantinople. Like many of my folk, I was big for my age and was expected to grow into a man as large as any of the Vikings in service to the Byzantine Emperor. I was eventually sold into a clan that specialized in metal work. I was treated well, taught to read Greek and Latin, and became privy to the family secrets of iron and steel. In my 23rd year, a plague decimated my Master’s clan. On his death bed and with no remaining family, my Master granted me my freedom and his remaining stock. The Emperor taxed most of it, but enough was left for me to be well off. I was no longer a barbarian from the North. I was literate, well-travelled, and determined to return closer to home. Denmark was now my chosen destination, but fickle winds forced my passage onto the southern shores of Britain, near where the River Tamar flows out to the sea. Monks from a nearby abbey arrived before the wreckers did, so most of my stock survived the beaching. I was injured, but my Greek and Latin lessened any suspicions about my intentions and heritage. The same monks aided my recuperation, so I was soon about. I was taken in with the beauty of the land and became content to settle. An abbey is always in need of a blacksmith and my reputation grew from there. To incur the wrath of beings that care not about human suffering is a punishment beyond comprehension. I committed no heinous crime, I transgressed no moral lore nor the divine teachings of any prophet. I sought only to ply an honest trade and practice an art painfully won. I curse the day I crossed paths with the enigma known as Merlin. His gold was pure and the offered purse was heavy, so I took it up without hesitation. “Ply your trade,” he said. “Craft me a sword better than any you have forged before. It must be fit for a king, for that is its destiny. Spare no coin, avoid no sweat, and fear not for loss of trade; no expense will be too great.” My past Master had, on occasion, sent me to Sri Lanka to observe native craftsmen making the ore cakes necessary for Damascus Steel. I remember watching the monsoon winds drive gigantic bellows and marvelling as the heat turned rain into steam a man’s height above the furnace. In the inferno of this furnace, the alchemy of magnetic lodestone, found only in this island’s mines, combined with the finest ironwood charcoal to produce a steel superior to all others. Barely 10 Roman pounds of these ingots survived my travels and the best of these I committed to Merlin. My two strongest apprentices and I, with heat and hammers beat the glowing bricks into strips as thin as parchment, folded them together and beat them again and again. The last step I alone undertook: two days in a secret chamber that was encased in many layers of peat. The first day was a test of mortal endurance, keeping the heat in the room as hot as I could withstand, gently quenching the blade with my own sweat. The second day was not much better as I allowed the chamber to slowly cool. I should have known things were more than they seemed. I needed a day to recover, so I took a stroll along the river bank and stopped to feed some elegant white swans. Without a sound, she was standing beside me. Layers of the most delicate fabric covered her entirely, yet almost on their own seem to flutter and flow around her. Shapes and shadows followed her form and enticed the most unseemly feelings within me. Her eyes were a blue that I had not seen since voyaging on the Mediterranean sea. “Ulf,” she said, “my name is Ninianne.” I am consort to Merlin. He has asked that you take this ruby and attach it to the pommel of the sword. He also asks that you make the hilt out of bronze.” My wits were addled by her beauty. I held out my hand and into it she placed a ruby the size of a hen’s egg. I started to stammer about the impossibility of separating sword and hilt when the ruby slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. I bent over to pick it up but when I stood up she was gone, and one swan was gliding silently away. As I made my way home, I resolved to return the ruby to Merlin and to explain the folly of separating blade and hilt. I was suspicious about the nature of this request, but the image of her curves and shadows and flowing gauze lingers to this day. Within a month the sword was finished, the days of grinding and polishing were done, the edge was keen, and the blade’s balance was perfect. A piece of silk fluttering to the ground could be sliced in mid air. Under the most ferocious of thrusts, the blade merely bent and sprang back into shape. I was confident that no sword known to man could best this blade. With pride, I polished the carefully embossed letters +ULFBERHT+ in the runnel. Light played light on the swirling damask patterns. I was not surprised the next morning when I saw a grayish white stallion hitched outside my house. Merlin was leaning against a fencepost, smoking from a long stemmed pipe. “I cannot take the sword until the next dark moon. Meet me before midnight at the ring of stones east of here and you will get your final payment.” “It is not my habit to be abroad at night, let alone during a dark moon.” “Fear not. No harm will come to you this night. Symril will come for you. He knows the way and can outrun anything with legs. Some say he can even fly. You, the craftsman, must present me with the sword within the ring of stones if I am to impart the sword with an everlasting edge.” “As you wish,” I said. “I must return this ruby, for it cannot be part of any sword I make.” A flicker of consternation crossed his face as I produced the gem. He did not reach for the stone. Instead, Merlin stepped back. “How did this come into your possession? I made no request for such an adornment.” Upon hearing of my riverbank meeting, his face darkened with anger. “Ninianne is more of an apprentice than consort and is prone to take advantage of my feelings for her. It is my intention that she be eventually entrusted with the blade’s safekeeping. She is to have it until the king comes of age.” He was silent for a while, then continued. “She seeks to have power and influence over the sword and to meddle in affairs beyond her comprehension. This must not happen. The sword must not get into her possession before my tasks are complete. Give your word that this will not take place.” “Of course,” I agreed. “I will keep it in a place known only to me and inaccessible to others.” He mounted Symril. “In light of what you say, there are additional preparations for me to undertake. Three days hence, at sunset, Symril will come for you. Bring the sword, ride as swiftly as you can to the ring of stones, and all will be well.” He was out of sight before I realized my hand still clutched the ruby. I quickly ran inside and placed the sword and the stone in the peat covered chamber, locked its door, and concealed the entrance. Until my nocturnal appointment, I avoided approaching any body of water larger than the bucket in my well and, except for the necessities of life, remained indoors. Nonetheless, the fates always conspire to thwart the goals of men. During the night of the second day, I had a dream that Ninianne came to me. As she approached my bed, her gossamer raiments drifted away as she offered herself to me. I refused her advances and her eyes blazed with fury. Suddenly I was holding her at bay with the newly crafted sword. I was transfixed as she reached out and clutched the sword. Blood flowed down the blade but, like water on a sponge, just soaked into the blade and was gone. I awoke with a start. Cold sweat ran down my spine. As I ran to the entrance, I saw that it was still completely hidden. Fearing a ploy, I did not open the door. For the remainder of that sleepless night, I sat staring into my fire. After sunup I searched, without success, for any sign of an intruder around the house and grounds. Only then did I venture into the secret chamber. All seemed undisturbed until I saw bloodstains on the floor. My knees weakened with fear. Was it my imagination that the swirling patterns on the blade seemed darker? Was it the just the light? What do I tell Merlin? At sunset Symril walked up to my house fully saddled. I gathered up sword and stone, mounted up, and we galloped off into the dusk. Being astride a horse that needed no guidance was an experience I have no wish to repeat. My only thoughts were a prayer that Merlin’s reassuring words held true. It was full dark when we arrived, but the circle was visible a long way off. Each stone had upon it several candles, which in turn softly illuminated the surrounding mist. Both Merlin and Ninianne were standing near the center gesturing extravagantly and speaking loudly. “It is I who must bestow the sword on Arthur,” I clearly heard Merlin exclaim. “He must draw it from a stone. You have no influence or rights in this matter.” “No! No! No!” Was Ninianne’s reply. “The prophecy requires the Lady of the Lake to rise from the water and give it to him. And I do have some sway. It is my blood the blade first drew. Is that not correct, Ulf Berht?” I entered the circle and lay the sword on a convenient stone. “As the craftsman who made this and still its owner, do I not have any say?” I asked. To this day I have the clearest of memories of the following events. Merlin, you turned to face me. Your mouth opened in surprise as your right arm rose, palm down with knuckles facing me, the universal sign of dismissal. Ninianne’s arm was up, palm towards me, giving the universal sign to halt. Total darkness enveloped me. I remember falling for both an eternity and for an instant. Without feeling any bump or stagger, I was standing within an unlit ring of stones, dawn’s light casting its golden hue all about me. Several sheep grazed in lush green meadows. I must be dead and this is heaven, I thought. But there are no angels nor virgins nor Valkari about. Everything was different. The light, the air, the color of the distant sea, were of no realm to which I’d been. I was somewhere else. The post Prologue – by Ulf Berht – narrated by Asclepius appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Join us Wednesday, June 1st at 3:00 PM Central (20:00 GMT) for our monthly Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about Release 30 and looking ahead to Release 31, as well as starting to talk about the impeding R32! In an exciting twist to the normal flow of the livestream, the new community manager, Mathew “Berek” Anderson, is set to spice things up by not only taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance right here in the comments section, but will be on the livestream in the office with Starr and Chris!* We will be giving out some really awesome prizes during the livestream. All you have to do to qualify for one is to come hang out with us in the IRC chatroom during the broadcast. Be sure to join us throughout the livestream for multiple chances to win cool Shroud of the Avatar swag! Watch here at 3pm CST on Wednesday, June 1st: *Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to this release’s specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief. Only one post submission allowed! If you have multiple questions (please keep it to 5 or less), place them into that one post. This will allow us to get to as many players as possible. Thank you! View the full article

Here is another awesome song by our Soul grabbing star Apollox Evanheart! Sweet Tendencies by Apollox Evanheart She said she likes the way That I make her feel She had a broken heart And I was the heal She was an wreak But not that way anymore She likes the way I make her feel I was something she could adore Many emotions we can come together We can share this laughter And spend time forever We can make this feel More then alright Come over my place And you can spend the night So much I am a softy I’m a big teddy bear So you don’t have to get off me I want you to have the best time You ever did Forget your past Your ex boyfriend was the bitch I am the best thing That happened to you But honestly and truthfully You complete me too Lets forget about those bad times Lets save up your energy We have a whole life To make new memories Damn lil momma I see your smile Forget about my own past Stare at you for awhile Forget about the x I already found my treasure I’m lost in your touches Buried in your pleasure Leave out the emotion And just have some fun Forget about your toys Lets just use our tongues I didn’t mean to be naughty I meant that as a whisper If I use my tongue You’ll find me a good kisser I’m just trying to figure out What’s Next We can go to my place And I can show you my flex I respect you For everything you are But you and I want the same thing And that’s to go hard This ale has me A little tipsy But we should start the night off With a strip tease I want you to know My feelings for you are real You seem like my Wonder women And I’m your man of steele The post Sweet Tendencies Written/Rapped by Apollox Evanheart appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Hello everyone! Here is the news! New Female Avatar Kiln Cistern (a work in progress) Final Duke Tour & Round-table New Community Manager: Berek Spring Telethon Rewards Shroud of the Avatar Wax Cylinder Soundtrack Volumes 2 & 3 Ornate Iron Wall Light 3-Pack 68 Day Countdown to Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 1 Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back The post Echoes From the Caverns 05-20-16 appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: New Female Avatar Kiln Cistern (a work in progress) Final Duke Tour & Round-table New Community Manager: Berek Spring Telethon Rewards Shroud of the Avatar Wax Cylinder Soundtrack Volumes 2 & 3 Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back New Female Avatar [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Kevin “Uglyfist” Wells] Hello again everyone. First, I want to give many thanks to the community for the flattering and constructive feedback from my last post about the male avatar update. It was a great experience and totally made the work feel worth it with all the positive feedback. It’s player character polish debut time again, and I’m very excited to say that the female avatar has been updated. Much like the male avatar update, I started from scratch and built and integrated the character over a two-release period. With this update, the idea was to take what we had, and without completely changing the aesthetic, remake the art in a way that improves the quality but doesn’t completely change the look and feel with which players are already so familiar. Basically, the goal was to keep the female avatar looking as she was before, but with more polish and bit of a push toward an athletic look. Also, as with the male avatar update, I have to give thanks to Matt Schmitz and Fletcher Kinnear for helping me get this new character working well with animations and all the many equippables. I hope you guys love it and I can’t wait to hear back from everybody. Kiln Cistern (a work in progress) NOTE: Kiln Cistern is scheduled to go live in R31 [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Dan “PlagueofLocust” Brennan] Kiln’s water supply is in jeopardy! Something foul is going on within the Kiln Cistern. It falls to you to navigate its system of locked doors and flooded hallways to reach its deepest chamber. Rise to the challenge and solve the problem before the good citizens of Kiln run out of precious water. Final Duke Tour & Roundtable This past Friday, May 13th, marked the final time that Dukes and Lords of the Manor could claim their Studio Tour and Roundtable rewards. On that day, sixteen Dukes, Duchesses, Lords, and Ladies descended upon Portalarium to tour our humble quarters to see where the magic happens. Lord British himself led the tour and lauded our attendees with tales of the misadventures of the earliest days of game development. The tour wound its way through the offices where various team members showed works in progress and gave attendees insights into how they did their jobs. After the tour, Richard “Lord British” Garriott, Starr “Darkstarr” Long, and Chris “Atos” Spears led the attendees in a series of Roundtable discussions about various aspects of the game including story, crafting, player towns, and combat. New Community Manager: Berek We are incredibly excited to welcome our new community manager Mathew “Berek” Anderson to the team! He’s an old school Ultima Online player, an ice cream lover, and an original Shroud backer. Firelotus introduced him to the community this Monday with this forum post: I have wonderful news for all of you, Avatars! As we approach Final Wipe, and ultimately launch, we want to be sure that the Community continues to grow and evolve into all that it can be. To do that, we are bringing in a new community manager who will be dedicated to you, our amazing Community! Our team has a lot planned for the upcoming milestones, especially R32, and having a Community Manager in the office and focused on Community is a big part of it. Please show your support by welcoming Mathew “Berek” Anderson to the community as Senior Community Manager for Shroud of the Avatar! He has been a dedicated fan of the game since the beginning. Berek is here for you, will support your creativity and passion as I have done, and is always ready to answer your questions, and… most importantly, to listen to what you have to say. He will be active in the forums, in game, and on all of our social media channels, so feel free to reach out to him. We have found an amazing person to take on my mantle, so I am confident you are in the best hands! I am thrilled that Mathew is joining the team, as there is so much that we have wanted to do to enhance our work with the community, and with him at the helm, we will now have that opportunity! Mathew comes to us as a local Texan, so we didn’t have too far to look. Previously, he’s worked on several MMORPG projects, and I’ve also heard a few rumors that he has one of the largest rune libraries in Ultima Online. No, it’s not Goodman’s, but it is on the Atlantic shard. All of us at Portalarium are looking forward to working with him on some pretty exciting opportunities we have coming up for you in the months ahead, so stay tuned on that front. And I know that right about now, some of you are wondering what is happening to FireLotus… Another important part of the next few milestones will be finishing up the story and breathing life into Novia, and that is where my focus will be moving forward. So, do not feel saddened! The Bard in me rejoices that I will be able to immerse myself in story and lore! I will still be here with you, though in more of a support role for all things community. And I will even have more time for Dev-led Events and RP! Welcome to Novia, Berek! Huzzah! FireLotus Royal Bard Berek then followed up by introducing himself: Thanks Gina! Greetings and salutations community! I’m excited and proud to be the new community manager for Shroud of the Avatar. When I had the opportunity join Portalarium and work with such an amazing community, I had to make the move. I believe that a great game is made most successful by what I call the Community Glue. The amazing Portalarium team combined with a positive, friendly, and respectful community are the ingredients for that glue. When it comes to Shroud of the Avatar, I’m all in – watching every Hangout of the Avatar, NBNN update, participating here in the forums, and of course checking out all of the community activities in the game itself. There’s always something to look forward to and amazing to look back on every day in this community. I wish I previously had more time to play and get to know all of you, but that’s ok, because now we have that chance . Hopefully this is all great to hear, but you probably still want to know who the heck I am… The story begins in a highly contested land called Felucca, where the rule of law is in the hands of the individual. This was the first time I explored an MMORPG world, and was nearly my last. I was minding my own business, simply fishing alongside a creek, when a thief came up to attack me. Little did he know that I was once lord of a nearby kingdom and quite able to handle a petty thief. As the thief struggled with my hand bag, I managed to grab my short sword, hitting him on the head with the blunt edge. Stunned, but not deterred, the thief pulled a large dagger out from his back scabbard, taking a jab at my torso. This was no thief, but an assassin! As the assassin attempted to recover from a poor strike, I swung quickly upward, slicing through his outstretched wrist and severing his hand. While the assassin screamed in rage, an old man on horseback came up along the nearby trail. He quickly stunned my would-be assassin with a lightning strike spell, allowing me to secure the assassin. The old man and I then headed to the nearby town of Minoc to turn the assassin into jail, and post a town hall notice that the local roads were to be watched carefully over the next few days. After that incident, I was forever known by my new friend and the town’s people as Berek, Illustrious Lord and Skilled Fisherman! On the less dangerous but no less adventurous side of my career, my community management experience started at various MMORPG networks like Stratics.com. I was also a guide in the EverQuest guide program, as well as getting my house decorating priorities in order in Ultima Online. A few years ago, I swam across the ocean to China to teach English for a year, before returning and continuing my work at studios like Portalarium. Most importantly for you, I am not so much a ‘manager’, but your guide and supporter, a supporter for your shared quest to build a great community for Shroud of the Avatar. I’ve seen many faces interested in the game since the Kickstarter, so I’m keen in working with all of you to make this community a success. There’s a lot of exciting game content coming up, so let’s work together to make it a fun experience for all avatars! For now, some fun facts about myself: Favorite all-time board game is Settlers of Catan (Explorers & Pirates specifically) Shamefully lost every competitive LARP event I’ve been a part of Favorite films include Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, 2001, Goonies, Labyrinth, Neverending Story I’m a techy, so I love randomly rearranging and upgrading parts in my computers First person to guess my favorite dessert gets a SotA t-shirt . For all other mischievous shenanigans, you can visit my website at: http://www.mathewanderson.com, or just ask me here. See you in New Britannia! Mathew “Berek” Anderson Senior Community Manager Shroud of the Avatar The thread took many fun twists and turns from there but by far our favorite was when community member, enderandrew, described what he imagined the interview process must have been like (and got it fairly accurate): Starr: I see you worked with Stratics and your resume looks good. Joseph: Hey, I’m back in the office. Do you like fart jokes and whiskey? Berek: What? Lum: You may also be required to sing and dance to David Bowie. Berek: What kind of community are you running here? Richard: What is your stance on cannibalism and killing kids in games? Berek: Did you just say what I think you said? Chris: Where are we going to put him? The Dippy Bird is using our last desk. Everyone: We just got another $2,500 in pledges. Everyone do a shot! Berek: I thought you only did that during telethons. Starr: The secret to cramming in tons of content and features with a small team and never missing a release is to maintain the Ballmer Peak. Now, do you know how to correctly pronounce Corpions? Berek: Are you talking about scorpions? Chris: He’ll have to work on that. Lum: You’re forgetting the important questions. Does he own birds? Berek: You lost me at Ballmer Peak. And in case you are worried that he won’t be able to keep up with our shenanigans here’s a pic of Berek as Deadpool wearing a Pikachu beating a Pikachu with a sword: Spring Telethon Rewards As mentioned in Update #175, our Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon was a huge success! We achieved all the Stretch Goal Rewards and even had to create new ones! We were so grateful by the incredible outpouring of support from our community that we accelerated development of the rewards and they will be available in Release 30! Starting with Release 30, Spring Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards will be rewarded to any backers that pledged a minimum of $5 from the start of the Spring telethon, until Midnight May 2 (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). Here’s a sneak peek at the Flower Crown, Butterfly pet, and Dragonfly pet: Shroud of the Avatar Wax Cylinder Soundtrack Volumes 2 & 3 *Phonograph in image not included with soundtrack bundles Forty more of your favorite Shroud of the Avatar songs are available now in the Add-On Store! Soundtrack Volumes 2 and 3 include the following wax cylinders: Soundtrack Volume 2 “Banks and Arts” by Santa Clause “Build and Fortify” by Kailef “Combat and Adventure” by Kailef “Combat and Control” by Kailef “Courage” by Holt Ironfell “Court of Souls” by Kailef “Deep and Dark” by Kailef “Dungeon Exploration” by Richard Daskas “Elven Pride” by Dougyfresh “Evil” by Steven Goldman “Fall of Pride” by Aftermath_FIN “Hail Novia” by Aftermath_FIN “Hard Road Ahead” by Richard Daskas “Long Roads to Nowhere” by Kailef “Mysterious Cavern” by Santa Clause “Pride and Profits” by Kailef “Satyr Enslaver” by Santa Clause “Smelly Sewers” by Santa Clause “Travesty of Justice” by Dougyfresh “Work and Play” by Ome Soundtrack Volume 3 “Bayous and Underbrush” by Richard Daskas “Caverns of Doom” by Santa Clause “Combat and Ruins” by Kailef “Dark Alien Magical Warping” by SirWombat “Davy Jones Aint Got No Bones” by Santa Clause “Deep Dungeon” by Jenna “Elven Environments” by Dougyfresh “Elven Sadness” by Dougyfresh “Falsehood” by Holt Ironfell “Fire and Brimstone” by Peter Boiko “Hail Novia (Live Vocals)” by Aftermath_FIN “Hills Exploration” by Richard Daskas “Muck and Stink” by Richard Daskas “Old Mines” by Kailef “River Styx” by Kailef “Shackled Fawn” by Santa Clause “The Garden of Sorrow” by Quetzalcoatl “Valor and Cowardice” by Santa Clause “Volga Sea Shanty” by Richard Daskas “Yo Ho Hum I Really Need Some Rum” by Richard Daskas You will need a phonograph placed on a property in-game to play these wax cylinders. These bundles are automatically included with Player Owned Towns, so town owners will need to visit a banker next time they log in to the game to claim them. Ornate Iron Wall Light 3-Pack These ornate iron wall lights provide decorative lighting for any room or exterior wall. Available now in the Add-On Store! Community Resources – Players Helping Players The official SotA Player Created Resources Forum is the place to find 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. Here are a few samples: Hospitallers Hospitallers are volunteer players that help new players (or veteran players) that are seeking guidance, or just friendly conversation (in-game or out). While in-game, new (or veteran) players can signal to other players they would like help, or newcomer guidance, by pressing Keypad “-” and setting their title to “Outlander“. Helping players can display their “Hospitaller” title to signal they are available to help other players. SotAHelp.org SotAHelp.org is a player support site run by a team of volunteers, or Hospitallers, dedicated to improving the new player experience within Shroud of the Avatar. Can’t find a Hospitaller in-game? Then go to SotaHelp.Org where you can ask questions offline or schedule an in-game meetup. Multiple languages supported. Join us for our weekly in-game meetings (Sundays at 11am CT, TeamSpeak 3 Server: Pax et Veritas, 43.245.163.15:10099, Discord Chat Channel). Avatars’ Circle Avatars’ Circle is one of the first Shroud of the Avatar resource sites created by by the SotA community, not only providing links to other popular SotA resource sites, but also home to the first SotA community events calendar! SotA Wiki A premier source of information for all of New Britannia! This site is being actively updated, so if there isn’t something you need, let them know! Avatars’ Radio Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers. Check out their daily program of amazing DJs. SotAMap.com This amazing map allows you to pan the camera out for a global view of the map of New Britannia, or incrementally zoom in until you make out the finest details of the Overworld map of Novia and The Hidden Vale. And more of the town maps are being added every month! New Britannia News Network (NBNN) 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! Role-Players of the Avatar (RPOTA) Role-Players of the Avatar is a social environment where you will find a creative outlet for story writing and adventure creation. We are a community which feeds your desire to be someone else… a crazed barbarian, a cunning scoundrel, maybe a quirky wizard or perhaps a mysterious assassin. Crafting Resources SotACrafter.com: This is an amazing site that simply gets RIGHT to the point. Need a recipe? Simply use the drop-down menu and voila! Instant recipes to peruse. SotACraft.com: This is a one-stop-shop for crafting recipes and instructions. Beautifully laid out with images for each recipe, sorted by category! In-game Community Events Our amazing community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Special thanks to community member SpookyJenny (aka Jenny Phoenixfyre in-game) for her help in compiling the schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar: Recurring Events RPOTA Monthly $170 Writing Contest Here ye! Here ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers and Videographers! RPOTA is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill or camera! (details) The Unreliable Travel Guide The Unreliable Travel Guide, created at the SotA Writing Round Table, is not an event, but a collection of hilarious short stories published by two drunken layabouts who have nothing better to do than try to derive a dishonest income from newly arrived avatars. (details) Avatars Radio (Daily Programming) Welcome New Britannians to Avatars Radio – Radio of the Avatars. Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers. Check out their daily program of amazing DJs: http://avatarsradio.info/schedule.php NBNN Lunch with Laz & Jack (Weekdays, 12pm CDT) Join NBNN every weekday for Lunch With Laz & Jack. They will be covering the daily goings on in SOTA. Calendar updates, Relevant issues happening in the days news. Come chat with us about upcoming events and general information. http://nbnn.info Order of Vengeance Guild Meeting (Mondays, 9pm CDT) Held at the Guild Hall in Vengeance PaxLair Town Manager Hour (Tuesdays, 2:00pm CDT) Join PaxLair’s Town Manager, Sean Silverfoot, to ask questions about PaxLair, being a Citizen, holding a lot and any other questions concerning PaxLair or any of it’s boroughs: Dragons Watch, Tenakill, Lockbrier, Island of Wonders, Knowhere, Sea Nymph Grotto & Serentiy Isle. (map) EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl (Tuesdays & Saturdays, 7pm CDT) Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday (for advanced players) and Saturdays (for newer, less experienced players) to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point for Tuesdays is in Owls Head (map) at the center of town near the trainer (Zenie is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master), and for Saturdays it is in Soltown (map; Shady Death is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master) (details) EVL Virtue League PVP Tournament (Wednesdays, 7pm CDT) Looking to break into the PVP scene but don’t want to be placed against established god-like players? We have you covered with two divisions, one for the newer, less experienced player, and one for the cream of the crop who have something to prove! (Chaos Caverns underground at Virtue Oasis on the Hidden Vale; details) Stryker Sparhawk’s Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CDT) Stryker will travel to one of the local Novia taverns for an hour to open a bar tab for drinks in hopes of sharing stories, news, critique of the arts, music, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Teleport to Stryker Sparhawk (details) Friday, May 20 7pm CDT Phoenix Republic PVE Nights (also on Thursday nights at 7pm) Join the Phoenix Republic as we send our weekly foray into the control points, dungeons and other of the most dangerous locales. Each week we will depart to a different PVE locale to help train our combatants. Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Malakas for more info! 7pm CDT Vengeance Madness PVP This is an Open PvP event where everyone fights it out in a royal rumble to see who the ultimate death dealer is! An hour of PvP madness that you cannot miss. The person who ends up with the most kills will be the champion! This is an opportunity to test skills, templates, items, and strategy, but most of all to have fun! An hour full of madness you cannot miss out on! Whether you are a usual PvP’er or not… Anyone is welcome to come out and join us. Winners may win entries into the BMC-Grid Iron. (City of Vengeance; teleport to Bambino LudoVate; map). 7:30pm CDT Friday Night Astronomy Interested in New Britannia Astronomy? Just enjoy gazing at the stars? Join us every week as we explore the night sky above New Britannia. (Player Town of Caer Dracwych, map; teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; details) Saturday, May 21 7:00am CDT Wake Up New, Britannia!!! With Woftam and Selene Woftam and Selene Noctua broadcast on AvatarsRadio from the Wake Up New Britannia Studio in Owlshead (right behind the crafting pavillion). Includes Interviews with the Community, Contests for in-game Gold, What’s new for the week in New Britannia, and your Best Bets for SotA weekend events! (details) 9:00am CDT PaxLair Working Hours Come to PaxLair and see what’s happening! For two hours (more or less) we work together on projects, create ideas and have fun together. It’s sort of a weekly time to gather and do things together. Everyone in Novia is welcome! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield or Sean Silverfoot) 9:00am CDT (and 1:00pm CDT) 2nd Annual Soldier’s Memorial Ball The 2nd Annual Soldier’s Memorial Ball will be hosted this year at Caer Dracwych (map) and featuring the sound of Avatar’s Radio (details). 11:00am CDT Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service High Priestess of Chaos, Amber Raine, and the Dean of the Novian Academy, Kazyn Phoenixfyre, welcome you to the Church of the Dark Star. A shared project, built upon equality, where all are welcome. Services range from what is Chaos and Order to how they affect different aspects of our life. The path you choose is yours. (Alternating locaions; details) 6:00pm CDT Port Phoenix: Social Nights Come out and join the republic in one of many potential events (chosen new each week). Each week we get together for everything from fishing, to music, to gustball to PVE duneoneering and adventuring. (Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre for details) 7:00pm CDT EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl Do you crave adventure and don’t want to battle alone? EVL has your back with our fun packed PVE nights hosted weekly! An EVL dungeon guide will assist newer less experienced players in their pursuit of adventure and glory! It meets in Soltown (map) and your teleportation avatar and guide for the evening will be Shady Death. 8:00pm CDT Overthrow Vengeance PVP Event Come overthrow Vengeance! If there’s no fighting it’s because the PKers didn’t show… if there is only death it’s because the virtuous didn’t show to protect those of us who are still weak and unable to protect ourselves (Vengeance, map; details) Sunday, May 22 8:30am CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield; teamSpeak: 43.245.163.15:10099) 11:00am CDT Hospitaller Weekly Voice Meeting Everyone is welcome to our player community’s weekly Hospitaller meeting. It is open to anyone and everyone, not just Hospitallers. We talk about many things and work hard to find ways to help new players. This meeting is one hour long and we have additional sidebars after the meeting. (Soltown, map; Discord Chat Channel, SotAHelp.org) 2:30pm CDT Gustball Training Want to learn how to play Gustball? Need some tips on how to improve your deck or hone your skills on the field! Join Coach Sheamus McGuinness of EVLs for a 30 minute Gustball lesson and practice session just before the big game at 3pm (Owl’s head, map; or teleport to Sheamus McGuinness) 3:00pm CDT Gustball The game of Gustball is a great community event, not dissimilar from soccer or football, where Avatars of all levels & skill can compete in a fun, friendly game that uses the Gust skill (1st level Air Magic spell) to blow a Gustball into your opponents goal. (/whisper or teleport to Sand, Sheamus McGuinness, or Bambino Ludovate, details) 4:00pm CDT EVL The Gauntlet THE GAUNTLET is a combination of American Gladiators & American Ninja Warrior. This timed obstacle course is run by a single Avatar and the fastest time is the overall winner! The EVL Gladiators will do their very best to slow you down using a variety of magic spells along the course. A free event suitable for all levels of Avatars. Competitors can look forward to TOP PRIZES every month for the winner and runner up. Held in the underground town of Chaos Caverns, connected to Virtue Oasis (map; teleport to Sheamus McGuinness or EVL; details) 5:00pm CDT BMC Grid Iron Feast and Registration Register to compete in the BMC Gridiron and mingle with other participants and spectators before the big fight! (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 5:30pm CDT BMC Gladiator’s Grid-Iron The BMC is proud to present the nastiest, the foulest, the most feared arena in all of New Britannia! The Grid-Iron is equipped with a pit-style arena, locker rooms, a VIP round-table, betting & vendor booths, and all the blood-sport you can handle. (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 7:00pm CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield) 8:00pm CDT Fishing with Winfield Come sit with Winfield on a log or rock to hear some fish tales or tell your own. Chat about anything from the moons to the earth worms. Spend a relaxing day in nature near a stream or lake — bring insect repellent or a sword. (some fishing spot or pond, teleport to Winfield; details) Be sure and check out the Release 29 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here. Upcoming Events 2016.05.26 – Release 30 2016.06.01 – The Hearth of Britannia: Legends of the Hearth III 2016.06.30 – Release 31 2016.07.27 – Summer Telethon Part 1 + Pledge Homes / POT Expirations (Final Wipe at Midnight) 2016.07.28 – Release 32: Lot Selections 2016.08.22 – Summer Telethon Part 2 + Final Pledge Expirations Episode 1 (Pledge Expirations at Midnight) 2016.08.25 – Release 33 2016.08.26 – Syndcon 2016 2016.09.02 – DragonCon 2016 2016.09.21 – Austin Games Conference 2016.09.29 – Release 34 Backer Shipping Addresses In preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards later this year, we have added Shipping Address fields to your Account Profile page. To enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image: For country and regional tax assessment purposes, our tax accountants have requested that we start collecting a buyer’s physical/shipping address for all purchases, whether digital or physical. We’ve tried to streamline that process as much as possible, such that once you’ve entered a physical address we will pre-populate the address fields with your default address. Recommended Projects to Back Avalon Lords: Dawn Rises Avalon Lords: Dawn Rises is a Medieval Real-Time Strategy game combining classic RTS elements with modern fast-paced, epic scale single and multiplayer battles across beautifully rendered 3D maps. It is being built by some of our Shroud community members Indie, Reiken, Knightmare_X, and ZioRed. They are currently in Early Access on Steam and could use your support. Avalon Lords: Dawn Rises features three different multiplayer game modes played out within a beautifully sculpted 3-dimensional environment. In Conflict Mode you will need to gather resources, construct buildings and recruit soldiers in order to defeat your foes. Combat Mode puts you straight into the action; you can recruit your forces in the Army Builder and deploy them in battle without the need for gathering or building. Finally, join your faction allies in Empire Mode to help conquer locations across the land. The story begins in the Plains of Spero, where five great City States rule over the land. Tensions have risen to boiling point, and several powerful City Lords wish to take control of the region and name themselves king. Peaceful negotiations have descended into to all-out war, plunging the region into chaos. Lords fight against each other to gain power and land – each one hoping to claim the throne. You start as a minor general in the City of Avon, one of Spero’s five City States. Lord Avon has sent you out to form a new city in a strategically desirable part of the realm and defeat anyone seeking to claim those lands for themselves. Along the way you will meet a rising leader who seeks to unite the warring Lords under one order – the Order of Dawn. View the full article

Hello everyone! Here is the news! **** UPDATE: Summer 2016 Expirations **** The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) The Making of Brittany Fields Elad’s Lighthouse Revamped Headgear The Bear, the Bare, and the Maiden, Faire (a Community Event) Balloon PoT Connections Silver Serpent Pendant Available in a Variety of Metals Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back The post Echoes From the Caverns 05-13-16 appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: **** UPDATE: Summer 2016 Expirations **** The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) The Making of Brittany Fields Elad’s Lighthouse Revamped Headgear The Bear, the Bare, and the Maiden, Faire (a Community Event) Balloon PoT Connections Silver Serpent Pendant Available in a Variety of Metals Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back **** UPDATE: Summer 2016 Expirations **** In order to give our backers the opportunity to upgrade their pledges once they’ve experienced the game post-wipe (see Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone), we have decided to split the Summer 2016 Expiration Event into Two Parts! Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 1 At Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27, 2016, we are expiring the homes and basements from the Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2 pledges. We are also expiring new Player Owned Towns (upgrades of existing POTs will continue to be available). All other rewards (including tax free property deeds) that are currently available in the remaining pledges will continue to be available. The final wipe of all game data will also occur at Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27th. To commemorate this momentous milestone, we are holding a 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 1, starting at 12:00 pm CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the Final Wipe at Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC). Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 2 At Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC) on August 22, 2016, we are expiring ALL remaining pledges, including: Adventurer, Founder, Royal Artisan, Explorer, Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2. To commemorate the final expiration of all remaining pledges, we are holding a 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 2, starting at 12:00 pm CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the Final Pledge Expirations at Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC). The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) This is the continuing update on the progress on Artifice, scheduled to go live in Release 31. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Scottie Jones] Imagine that we have gazed upon the dream-like Halls of Artifice as would a mystic peering at visions through an enchanted sphere of crystal. As is the nature of such magic, and the often magical places and events such sorcery reveals, the tableau is anything but clear and absolute. Events of the past, and those that have yet to transpire, are sometimes elusive and dim; obscured by the mists of time… Scenes of the present, while clear and full of vibrant life, are fleeting and frenetic; seldom arrayed in ways that give an absolute understanding, even to the most discerning soothsayer’s eye… So it is with the secrets I may reveal concerning the terrible and wonderful inner workings of Artifice… Let us, therefore, look at the final (somewhat lascivious, and vaguely terrifying) chambers of Artifice;…the Halls of Sadistic Pleasure… I say final, not because of any particular order in which you might encounter them while delving there, but final because…at long last…my seer’s crystal grows dark for this place… The visuals have mostly all been revealed, but the nature and tasks that await you are stilled mired in the secrecy that will allow you to enjoy their discovery… And so, due to the dubious nature of this last set of chambers I’ll reveal,…we shall take a peep…through a shadowed peephole….. ^_^ After sliding open the viewing panel upon these doors and sneaking a glimpse inside, the urge to enter will be overwhelming. In this chamber, the distant sighs and laughter of the Hall of Youth and Vigor have been replaced by similar but more sinister sounds. The smell and smoky haze of incense fills this chamber, as does the dim light that flows down from the round iron grating set into the ceiling above. Rich red veils of muslin cascade toward the floor from decorative stonework, lending a degree of privacy to upraised viewing areas adorned with overstuffed couches. But the eyes of any observers here will be rooted to the scene unfolding at the chamber’s center. Who is it that will lay stretched across the “breaking wheel”? And by who’s hand will they feel the delicious sting of the lash? All will eventually be revealed… Is that pain, or is it truly pleasure, you hear in the rasping cries coming from the recipient upon the wheel? Perhaps you will be invited to join them in their forbidden ecstasies… Will you engage yourself here as you have in the other “paradises” offered freely in Artifice? Whatever your mind may be concerning such delights,…a door bound in dark iron waits on the far end of the chamber. Open it, and you will descend further into this mire of conflicting sensations… Another chamber, and another delightful tableau… Chains now constrain the movement of cages, and enticing fires burn, crackle, and spark from braziers, containing tools and toys for the games ahead. Is it your imagination, or are the trappings of this place becoming more worn and threadbare? No matter…who cares for mere decoration, when such wickedly delicious sights as those seen here excite the imagination! But wait! Have we gone too far?!?! Who is meant to sit in that cage? Was that a ball and a tiny stool at its center? Hooks, chains, and spears offer only mute answers to your concern… Descending deeper still, a terrible chamber opens before you, and the remains of many “participants” can be seen all around you… To the left, a prison cage bars your way, its floor laced in clotted gore. And beyond it, yet another door that leads deeper still. Huddled within that prison, tear-filled eyes gaze out from terror-filled, desperate faces. At the chamber’s center; someone greets you with a lever to pull, and a choice… Surely you’ll make the right one… Ah well,…it is here that the crystal’s visions are obscured by mists and become truly dark… Any remaining mysteries of Artifice are yours, and yours alone, to discover… Farewell…. Scottie ^_^ The Making of Brittany Fields This is the continuing update on progress on Brittany Fields, a neighborhood of Brittany. Brittany Fields is scheduled to go live in Release 30. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar] BRITTANY FIELDS: HOUSING LAYOUT A short walk away from Brittany Central, Brittany Fields offers the peace and tranquility you need to wind down after a long day, come, stay, buy a lot and come to understand Brittany’s hospitality. Here is an overview of the layout of all the lots. Brittany Fields is located to the Southwest of Brittany Central. Pastures and open fields give way to dense city streets as you approach the Brittany Central gates. Brittany Fields centers its economy on agriculture and farming. Numerous streams and ponds dot the fertile landscape. Orchards line Brittany Fields to the Southwest, an area I like to call the Brittany Orchards. Old Man’s Oak , an iconic ancient tree pierces the landscape amidst player housing in the foreground. Esteben Zaldivar Level Designer Elad’s Lighthouse Elad is rumored to have worked for Lord British at one time as his shipwright and lighthouse builder but has since retired to live a life of semi-seclusion in the lighthouse in Spindrift Bay, which he built himself. His reclusive retirement was short-lived, however because what was once a sleepy little village around the massive lighthouse has since been grown into a rather large settlement of Outlanders. This town went live in Release 29, but was just using our standard lighthouse. In Release 30 you will be able to see the amazing custom model Bob Cooksey built and that Keith Quinn placed. Revamped Headgear As part of our rework of the Avatars, we are steadily progressing through many of the clothing and armor items to improve their visual quality. We periodically update the progress of this effort. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “Skullmuncher34” Kinnear] Some reworked pieces of headgear! Heads by fletcherkinnear Balloon PoT Connections [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Keith “Sannio” Quinn] We are entering a new age of wonder, my friends! The days will soon be behind us that force anyone to switch conveyances when traveling between island Player-Owned Towns (POTs) and mountain or snowy mountain POTs. Instead, people will travel in style…by balloon! With the next major update, new balloon teleporters will replace any wagons on mountain and snowy mountain POTs that send players to islands, and replace any boats on island POTs that send players to mountains or snow mountains. (Please note that these balloons will *only* be used when interconnecting an island directly with a landlocked location, and will not replace any other wagon or boat.) ========= Keith Quinn Level Designer The Bear, the Bare, and the Maiden, Faire (a Community Event) [From a Release 29 Events Forum Post] The Bear, the Bare, and the Maiden, Faire will be held in Bearskin Grotto, nestled within the underbelly of Diamond Fields. Bearskin Grotto is a vast cavern that bears the name of a powerful creature that once called it home. Hopefully this will be the first successful event of the Nomadic Merchants Association as well as training for us all for what is to come (the wipe, the groveling, the nakedness). The name of the event is an homage to Game of Thrones, since many Shroud players are also fans of GoT. The BEAR: Wear a Bear Head Mask (which will be provided if you need one) The BARE: Wear just your underwear or your spectacular Emperors New Clothes Regalia The MAIDEN: Wear a dress or bodice (basic items will be provided if you need them and boys can of course wear these too) The FAIRE: This is the inaugural weekend of a weekly hosting event of the Nomadic Merchants Association. Each week traveling merchants will sell their wares in different POTs around the land. For this event I will be able to sponsor at least 3 row houses for merchants who wish to kick this thing off. You can find more information about the Nomadic Merchants Association idea here. The Faire will also include two contests: Groveling and The Balloon Jump Groveling Contest: Whenever new games launch (or whenever there is a wipe) many players instantly turn into beggars. Even though no one has any money yet, players still run around asking for 60,000 gold! So I thought it would be fun for us to have a contest to see who is the best at Grovelling! Contestants will take the stage and have 3 minutes to do whatever they can do (skills, voice, emotes, dance routines, etc.) to convince the judges they are worthy of receiving whatever it is they are asking for. How you win is in how well you beg for this item. Balloon Jump: This is the original event first seen in R25. While often imitated and emulated, this is the real deal with the original rules. A hot air balloon will be placed near a structure and atop the structure a rug will be placed with a center target. The jump height will not be deadly. Contestants take turns jumping from the balloon. Closest to the target wins! [Read more details here] Silver Serpent Pendant Available in a Variety of Metals Gem Treasure Designs is now making their Silver Serpent Pendant available in a variety of metals, including sterling silver (.925), 14k gold plate, stainless steel, bronze, brass, and aluminum, as well as matte and polished finishes. Hail Avatar! From the time of legends comes a symbol of Order and Virtue – Lord British’s Silver Serpent™ pendant. This Silver Serpent™ pendant is a 100% replica, using the exact measurements and personally approved by Richard Garriott. This replica has a bail to enable the purchaser to suspend the pendant onto any chain type and length they desire. By adding a bail it makes the pendant more versatile. From Shroud of the Avatar, “Few remember the great earth snake, from whence Lord British took on this symbol. Now all those who would fight by his side, wear it, so they might know each other and recognize their mutual devotion to the lands of New Britannia!” Used under license from Portalarium. Community Resources – Players Helping Players The official SotA Player Created Resources Forum is the place to find 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. Here are a few samples: Hospitallers Hospitallers are volunteer players that help new players (or veteran players) that are seeking guidance, or just friendly conversation (in-game or out). While in-game, new (or veteran) players can signal to other players they would like help, or newcomer guidance, by pressing Keypad “-” and setting their title to “Outlander“. Helping players can display their “Hospitaller” title to signal they are available to help other players. SotAHelp.org SotAHelp.org is a player support site run by a team of volunteers, or Hospitallers, dedicated to improving the new player experience within Shroud of the Avatar. Can’t find a Hospitaller in-game? Then go to SotaHelp.Org where you can ask questions offline or schedule an in-game meetup. Multiple languages supported. Join us for our weekly in-game meetings (Sundays at 11am CT, TeamSpeak 3 Server: Pax et Veritas, 43.245.163.15:10099, Discord Chat Channel). Avatars’ Circle Avatars’ Circle is one of the first Shroud of the Avatar resource sites created by by the SotA community, not only providing links to other popular SotA resource sites, but also home to the first SotA community events calendar! SotA Wiki A premier source of information for all of New Britannia! This site is being actively updated, so if there isn’t something you need, let them know! Avatars’ Radio Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers. Check out their daily program of amazing DJs. SotAMap.com This amazing map allows you to pan the camera out for a global view of the map of New Britannia, or incrementally zoom in until you make out the finest details of the Overworld map of Novia and The Hidden Vale. And more of the town maps are being added every month! New Britannia News Network (NBNN) 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! Role-Players of the Avatar (RPOTA) Role-Players of the Avatar is a social environment where you will find a creative outlet for story writing and adventure creation. We are a community which feeds your desire to be someone else… a crazed barbarian, a cunning scoundrel, maybe a quirky wizard or perhaps a mysterious assassin. Crafting Resources SotACrafter.com: This is an amazing site that simply gets RIGHT to the point. Need a recipe? Simply use the drop-down menu and voila! Instant recipes to peruse. SotACraft.com: This is a one-stop-shop for crafting recipes and instructions. Beautifully laid out with images for each recipe, sorted by category! In-game Community Events Our amazing community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Special thanks to community member SpookyJenny (aka Jenny Phoenixfyre in-game) for her help in compiling the schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar: Recurring Events RPOTA Monthly $170 Writing Contest Here ye! Here ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers and Videographers! RPOTA is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill or camera! (details) The Unreliable Travel Guide The Unreliable Travel Guide, created at the SotA Writing Round Table, is not an event, but a collection of hilarious short stories published by two drunken layabouts who have nothing better to do than try to derive a dishonest income from newly arrived avatars. (details) Avatars Radio (Daily Programming) Welcome New Britannians to Avatars Radio – Radio of the Avatars. Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers. Check out their daily program of amazing DJs: http://avatarsradio.info/schedule.php NBNN Lunch with Laz & Jack (Weekdays, 12pm CDT) Join NBNN every weekday for Lunch With Laz & Jack. They will be covering the daily goings on in SOTA. Calendar updates, Relevant issues happening in the days news. Come chat with us about upcoming events and general information. http://nbnn.info “The Tavern Respite” RP Event (Mondays, 8pm CDT) The tavern door opens before you, and the scent of pipe and stew waft outwards with a wall of warmth from the hearth. Join in with the patrons of the Bear Tavern as they share tales of their adventures amid endless mugs of ale, legs of mutton, and merriment unbounded.The first Monday of each month, the event returns to Bear Tavern, where it all began. If no locations are scheduled, the event will take place at Fire Lotus Tavern, by default. (teleport to Elgarion De’Khali; details)! Order of Vengeance Guild Meeting (Mondays, 9pm CDT) Held at the Guild Hall in Vengeance Challenge Dungeon Run (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am & 7pm CDT) This is a self-host event that meets at the Braemar Cemetery (map). Join whoever can make it for a dungeon run, adventure or something along those lines. Come prepared for combat. Learn how to set up your combat system if you need help. PaxLair Town Manager Hour (Tuesdays, 2:00pm CDT) Join PaxLair’s Town Manager, Sean Silverfoot, to ask questions about PaxLair, being a Citizen, holding a lot and any other questions concerning PaxLair or any of it’s boroughs: Dragons Watch, Tenakill, Lockbrier, Island of Wonders, Knowhere, Sea Nymph Grotto & Serentiy Isle. (map) EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl (Tuesdays & Saturdays, 7pm CDT) Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday (for advanced players) and Saturdays (for newer, less experienced players) to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point for Tuesdays is in Owls Head (map) at the center of town near the trainer (Zenie is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master), and for Saturdays it is in Soltown (map; Shady Death is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master) (details) EVL Virtue League PVP Tournament (Wednesdays, 7pm CDT) Looking to break into the PVP scene but don’t want to be placed against established god-like players? We have you covered with two divisions, one for the newer, less experienced player, and one for the cream of the crop who have something to prove! (Chaos Caverns underground at Virtue Oasis on the Hidden Vale; details) Stryker Sparhawk’s Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CDT) Stryker will travel to one of the local Novia taverns for an hour to open a bar tab for drinks in hopes of sharing stories, news, critique of the arts, music, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Teleport to Stryker Sparhawk (details) Phoenix Republic PVE Nights (Thursdays & Fridays, 7pm CDT) Join the Phoenix Republic as we send our weekly foray into the control points, dungeons and other of the most dangerous locales. Each week we will depart to a different PVE locale to help train our combatants. Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Malakas for more info! Novian Academy – Role Play Courses (Fridays, 4pm CDT) Luka Melehan is hosting RP classes and practice sessions. (teleport to Luka Melehan) Shardfall Madness (Fridays, 6pm CDT) A PvP event. Contact Wind Silvermoon for details. Astronomy Event (Fridays, 7:30pm CDT) Interested in New Britannia Astronomy? Just enjoy gazing at the stars? Join us every week as we explore the night sky above New Britannia. (Player Town of Caer Dracwych, teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; details) Friday, May 13 7pm CDT Phoenix Republic PVE Nights Join the Phoenix Republic as we send our weekly foray into the control points, dungeons and other of the most dangerous locales. Each week we will depart to a different PVE locale to help train our combatants. Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Malakas for more info! 7pm CDT Vengeance Madness PVP This is an Open PvP event where everyone fights it out in a royal rumble to see who the ultimate death dealer is! An hour of PvP madness that you cannot miss. The person who ends up with the most kills will be the champion! This is an opportunity to test skills, templates, items, and strategy, but most of all to have fun! An hour full of madness you cannot miss out on! Whether you are a usual PvP’er or not… Anyone is welcome to come out and join us. Winners may win entries into the BMC-Grid Iron. (City of Vengeance; teleport to Bambino LudoVate; map). 7:30pm CDT Friday Night Astronomy For anyone interested in Astronomy in New Britannia or just like looking up at the stars and hanging out. I host an astronomy course every Friday night at 7:30pm CST to 8:30pm CST. Whether it’s a crowd or just one person I will be happy to be your host at Caer Dracwych. Teleport to Bowen Bloodgood. (Caer Dracwych, map) Saturday, May 14 7:00am CDT Wake Up New, Britannia!!! With Woftam and Selene Woftam and Selene Noctua broadcast on AvatarsRadio from the Wake Up New Britannia Studio in Owlshead (right behind the crafting pavillion). Includes Interviews with the Community, Contests for in-game Gold, What’s new for the week in New Britannia, and your Best Bets for SotA weekend events! (details) 9:00am CDT PaxLair Working Hours Come to PaxLair and see what’s happening! For two hours (more or less) we work together on projects, create ideas and have fun together. It’s sort of a weekly time to gather and do things together. Everyone in Novia is welcome! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield or Sean Silverfoot) 11:00am CDT Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service High Priestess of Chaos, Amber Raine, and the Dean of the Novian Academy, Kazyn Phoenixfyre, welcome you to the Church of the Dark Star. A shared project, built upon equality, where all are welcome. Services range from what is Chaos and Order to how they affect different aspects of our life. The path you choose is yours. (Alternating locaions; details) 1:00pm CDT The Bear, the Bare, and the Maiden, Faire This is a costume themed event so you must be a bear, bare or a maiden, and we will have a faire. Held in Bearskin Grotto, nestled within the underbelly of Diamond Fields (Overworld access through Port Phoenix). Hopefully, this will be the first successful event of the Nomadic Merchants Association as well as training for us all for what is to come (the wipe, the groveling, the nakedness). (Bearskin Grotto and Diamond Fields are accessible through Port Phoenix; map; details) 6:00pm CDT Port Phoenix: Social Nights Come out and join the republic in one of many potential events (chosen new each week). Each week we get together for everything from fishing, to music, to gustball to PVE duneoneering and adventuring. (Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre for details) 7:00pm CDT EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl Do you crave adventure and don’t want to battle alone? EVL has your back with our fun packed PVE nights hosted weekly! An EVL dungeon guide will assist newer less experienced players in their pursuit of adventure and glory! It meets in Soltown (map) and your teleportation avatar and guide for the evening will be Shady Death. 8:00pm CDT Auction of the Avatars – Serenite Come get the rares that no one wants to sell without the highest level of exposure and the items someone wants to move fast at the lowest prices. This auction has the appealing factor of quantity and variety. Expect to be shopping for the better part of 2 hours and have everything from lot deeds to crafted armor up for sale. The auction itself will last only an hour but we encourage our merchants who submitted items to the auction to hang out after and attempt to make sales on their own. (Serenite open air auction hall; map; details) Sunday, May 15 8:30am CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield; teamSpeak: 43.245.163.15:10099) 11:00am CDT Hospitaller Weekly Voice Meeting Everyone is welcome to our player community’s weekly Hospitaller meeting. It is open to anyone and everyone, not just Hospitallers. We talk about many things and work hard to find ways to help new players. This meeting is one hour long and we have additional sidebars after the meeting. (Soltown; Discord Chat Channel, SotAHelp.org) 2:30pm CDT Gustball Training Want to learn how to play Gustball? Need some tips on how to improve your deck or hone your skills on the field! Join Coach Sheamus McGuinness of EVLs for a 30 minute Gustball lesson and practice session just before the big game at 3pm (Owl’s head, map; or teleport to Sheamus McGuinness) 3:00pm CDT Gustball The game of Gustball is a great community event, not dissimilar from soccer or football, where Avatars of all levels & skill can compete in a fun, friendly game that uses the Gust skill (1st level Air Magic spell) to blow a Gustball into your opponents goal. (/whisper or teleport to Sand, Sheamus McGuinness, or Bambino Ludovate, details) 5:00pm CDT BMC Grid Iron Feast and Registration Register to compete in the BMC Gridiron and mingle with other participants and spectators before the big fight! (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 5:30pm CDT BMC Gladiator’s Grid-Iron The BMC is proud to present the nastiest, the foulest, the most feared arena in all of New Britannia! The Grid-Iron is equipped with a pit-style arena, locker rooms, a VIP round-table, betting & vendor booths, and all the blood-sport you can handle. (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 7:00pm CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield) 8:00pm CDT Fishing with Winfield Come sit with Winfield on a log or rock to hear some fish tales or tell your own. Chat about anything from the moons to the earth worms. Spend a relaxing day in nature near a stream or lake — bring insect repellent or a sword. (some fishing spot or pond, teleport to Winfield; details) Be sure and check out the Release 29 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here. Upcoming Events 2016.05.26 – Release 30 2016.06.01 – The Hearth of Britannia: Legends of the Hearth III 2016.06.30 – Release 31 2016.07.27 – Summer Telethon Part 1 + Pledge Homes / POT Expirations (Final Wipe at Midnight) 2016.07.28 – Release 32: Lot Selections 2016.08.22 – Summer Telethon Part 2 + Final Pledge Expirations Episode 1 (Pledge Expirations at Midnight) 2016.08.25 – Release 33 2016.08.26 – Syndcon 2016 2016.09.02 – DragonCon 2016 2016.09.21 – Austin Games Conference 2016.09.29 – Release 34 Backer Shipping Addresses In preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards later this year, we have added Shipping Address fields to your Account Profile page. To enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image: For country and regional tax assessment purposes, our tax accountants have requested that we start collecting a buyer’s physical/shipping address for all purchases, whether digital or physical. We’ve tried to streamline that process as much as possible, such that once you’ve entered a physical address we will pre-populate the address fields with your default address. Recommended Projects to Back Crowfall In this Throne War Simulator, characters are persistent but the campaign worlds are not, thanks to voxel technology which enables fully-destructible settings. A seamless blend of an MMO with a large-scale strategy game, players are immortal champions, traveling between realms to fight in an eternal War of the Gods. View the full article

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with a wonderful story from Lord Tachys al`Fahn, entitled Ripped from the Web Although this is not an Ultima or Shroud related story, I thought was so well written and compelling it deserved to be brought to the community. Background music by Smartsound. Runner had always been the best hunter in the clan. He always caught his prey, and they were invariably the largest beasts brought back to the meeting-place by any one hunter. This did nothing for him in regards to standing, however… he was ever the outcast, and if he were completely honest with himself, that was the way he preferred it. Even tonight as he gathered with the others to bring in the meat needed by the clan, Runner knew he would soon be silently coursing through the forest alone. Whether it was from envy at his prowess, or some unseen signal they responded to, he knew not, but the result was always the same. They would head off together to find and bring down their prey, and Runner would drag home his singular, and very nearly equivalent, kill on his own. Sure, he still earned the grudging respect of the others, but it was one tinged with uneasiness and fear. There were whispers of something darker, that he was touched by gods, and not for the better. “Let them whisper”, he thought. “The results will be the same.” And so it went that under the bloody moon, the hunters surged silently forth into the night, catching prey-spoor on the night breezes. Runner caught the mix mid-stride, holding it in while he sorted through the traces mentally. He knew which one the others would follow, the strength of the musk indicating it was large and virile, yet not the strongest specimen present. Strong, but not enough to present the challenge Runner craved. Another loping stride, another lungful of air rich with scents, and he found the challenge he sought. This scent was from the male that would vie for control soon, young and strong enough to pose a challenge to run down, and a threat if cornered. It was then the hunters sprang upon the herd, scattering the hapless animals to the winds to separate them from the intended prey. Runner helped spring the trap, of course, but that was the end of his involvement with the group: his prey had bolted with the rest of the herd. While his clan mates herded the older and weaker animal off to the eventual slaughter, Runner took off in pursuit of his own quarry. Through brush and brambles, down established trails and off, the animal led him a merry chase. It tried every trick in its repertoire, but to no avail, as Runner was every bit as experienced as the creature was wily. Then it tried one last trick that few contemplated, and fewer still dared. It crossed the Black River. He saw it from his hilltop vantage point, peering out from the edge of the woods a mere stone’s fall away from the cursed concourse of emptiness. It had marked the southern-most border of his clan’s holding for time out of memory with a thick black line of evil and emptiness. Some darker rumors held that it was a haunted thing, as nothing living was ever seen within a hundred long strides of its undulating banks. Desperate indeed must his prey be, then, to have braved its crossing. Well, Runner had never come back unladen, and would not start now. Nor would he return with lesser prey, even could he find it now that the herd had been scattered. His chosen prey was close, and weak unto death, he knew. His decision made long before he ever stepped out of the woods, Runner dashed down the hillside, certain of both safety and success. Certain he was, until a wailing cry split the night, and the eyes of a river beast suddenly appeared from nowhere, their unnerving corona ripping the certainty, and the courage, from his breast. Before Runner could react, the thing was on him, screaming and rending and tearing at him, transforming his world into light and pain before the darkness swallowed him once more. _____________________________ Runner opened his eyes to a blanket of darkness. He sampled the air, only to find nothing. He tried again, and this time it registered that he was getting so much less than the mere absence of a few scents… he could smell nothing. Confused, he stood, and began to explore this darkness, expecting to be able to find an edge to it. “Maybe I am simply inside of something,” he thought, “and just need to find my way back to the clan.” He walked in a few experimental circuits, trying desperately to find some indication that he could go back to where he had been before the river beast attacked. He could detect nothing. Not the slightest of flickering stars. No scents to tell him about the things he could not see. No wind or breeze blew by him. Not even the faintest echo of sound from his movements. Nothing. In a panic now, desperate to find his way back, he ran straight out in the direction he thought would take him home. As fast as his legs would take him and heedless of any dangers he might stumble across, he charged through the unnatural night. All that mattered was finding the others, finding home. The darkness did not lift or change in the slightest. He changed direction and ran further, his legs pumping so hard they should have been burning from the exertion. Between the panic and running, the strain on his heart and lungs should have had him near collapse. Nothing. Despite the knowledge that his legs should have carried him hundreds, perhaps thousands, of strides from where he began, it felt as if he had not moved a single inch. The panic deepened into a yawning chasm within him then, threatening to swallow him whole. He could not get back, he could not even figure out where he was… That was when the river beasts returned. As before they appeared without warning, their terrible eyes rooting him to the spot as the weird, rumbling scream ripping through his soul. Then they tore through him with black curved claws and flashing, rending silver teeth. And as suddenly as each appeared, they vanished. Unlike the last time, these encounters did not render him unconscious, and though the attacks were frightening and debilitating, they somehow did not… hurt. Confusing as this was, he did not have time to ponder it, as more beasts appeared. After a few attacks, he found he could dodge some if he tried, but not all. It was as if they were not really even trying to strike at him, but rather he were simply in the way. The problem he faced now was each one left him feeling somehow less than he was before, as if each beast took the smallest part of him away with it. Soon, he could not even manage to evade the beasts, and the continued strikes left him too weak to even move in this strange nightmare world. It was when he felt all but completely shredded and dissipated, that a different beast came to him. This one did not come screaming out of the darkness, eyes shining with the cold, indifferent glare of the others. It’s gaze beamed down on him with purpose and intent, the cold white glare softened somewhat by a warm, pulsing yellow light. Something about this warmed Runner, like waking to the first tentative rays of dawn. He struggled weakly to rise, to face this new encounter with the strength and determination he had faced nearly every other challenge in his life, but he could not. Sharp popping noises heralded the appearance of several brilliant points of shimmering red fire, the purpose of which puzzled Runner, but not for long. Another of this creature’s vicious brethren appeared, and had it continued along its path Runner would have been struck once again. Instead, the river- beast encountered the wall of shimmering fire and veered to the side, screaming past both Runner and this new beast. Continuing to regard Runner with that strangely soothing gaze, the beast reached forth with a pair of odd appendages, and for the first time, he could see something in this place besides darkness and the beasts. As the appendages came closer and grasped his limp and nearly lifeless form, Runner saw the first glimmerings of dawn crest the horizon beyond the beast. Brilliant rays of sunshine blinded him for a moment, and when his vision cleared, he could see the lush green grass covering rolling hills, and felt the stirrings of a warm summer breeze upon his face. He felt himself being lifted, and carried over to the edge of the grass that lay near the beast. Then the arms gently placed him down so that his body touched the grass… Energy surged forth through his limbs, cutting through the fog and pulling the scattered remnants of his being together. Runner was so caught up in this new upwelling of life and renewal that he found himself several dozen strides across the pasture before he stopped to look back. There, at the edge of the grassland, stood the beast. Covered in shining, golden scales, it sat atop great feet with circular bone-white protrusions and black curved claws that clutched at the ground. While Runner had bolted directly off one of its flanks, it had not moved to pursue him, but instead fixed its bright white gaze directly ahead. The warm, pulsing glow he had seen emanated from two strange horns atop the beast’s head. The darkness lay just beyond the creature but was receding with every passing moment. The beast spat out a sharp bark, and then roared to life, surging away from the grassland to disappear from sight. As it did so, the cold, frightening darkness disappeared, and with it Runner knew the river beasts would never again roam this land. No longer worried about the lost prey, the Black River, or any of what had happened, Runner turned to face the dawning sun. On the wind, he heard the call of clansmen that he never thought to see again, calling him to the hunt. This was more than just better, it was right… it was home. ___________________________________________________ A call had come in saying that something huge had been hit, and lay blocking the road. Dispatch, choosing the closest officer, gave the call to John to come out and clear it. When he had arrived on the scene, he parked the truck some distance back from the animal, and with a series of hollow, hissing pops, set out the flares. He had scarcely finished placing the last one when he spotted the headlights of an oncoming car crest the hill some distance down the road. After waiting a few minutes to ensure the incoming driver steered clear, John turned to survey the job before him, and could scarcely believe his eyes. There, in the middle of the road, was the biggest damned wolf he had ever seen. “To think I had believed it was a deer,” he muttered, still somewhat awestruck. A low whistle of amazement escaped his lips as he surveyed the poor beast. The coat, despite the blood, was a beautiful black and silver-white pattern reminiscent of a Damascus steel blade, with thick black patches at the well-muscled shoulders and hips. The overall effect of the markings conveyed a sense of speed, as if the wolf were in motion even as it lay still at his feet. Knowing he could not lift an animal this size on his own, he brought over a pallet jack from the back of the truck and began to shove it under the body. The whimper of pain almost made John wish he were wearing something more absorbent than simple undergarments. The damned thing was still alive! When he had control of himself, he examined the wolf more closely. Multiple compound fractures all over the animal’s body spoke volumes of the animal’s inability to harm him, even if it might want to do so. The blood in its coat and on the road, along with the weak and very labored breathing, told him this poor creature didn’t have long at all. Wanting nothing more than to put the poor thing to rest, he shoved straps under the body just behind the forelegs and another set just in front of the hindquarters and secured them around the body. That done, he very carefully pulled it onto the pallet jack’s forks, lifted it and pulled it to the edge of the grass at the side of the road. Once there, he managed to deposit the magnificent beast on the ground with a minimum of pain, if the few faint whimpers were any indication. It may have been a figment of his imagination, but the wolf’s breathing seemed to ease when he put it in the grass, and the paws seemed to fidget as if the wolf were running in a dream. He sat with it for a little while, watching and waiting, paying silent witness to this creature’s passing. As he watched the beast breathe its last, he wiped at tears he had not realized he’d shed. He gazed at the peacefully resting beast one last time, then turned and walked away. Having mounted the truck and taken his seat, he gave the old truck some gas. With a slam of the door, John drove off into the night, knowing he would never see its like, not if he lived to see his hundredth birthday. http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Ripped_from_the_Web_by_Tachys_al_Fahn_Narrated_by_Asclepius.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post Ripped from the Web – by Lord Tachys al`Fahn – narrated by Asclepius appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Hello everyone! Here is the news! The Making of Valhold (Castle Interior) The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) The Making of Brittany Fields Merchant Outfit Revamp + Fortified Cloth Gloves & Boots The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon Results Shroud In The News: Richard Garriott and Personal Rapid Transport Summer 2016 Expirations New Kobold Furniture, Pavers, Streelamps, and Gazebo Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Echoes05-06-16.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post Echoes From the Caverns 05-06-16 appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar: The Making of Valhold (Castle Interior) The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) The Making of Brittany Fields Merchant Outfit Revamp + Fortified Cloth Gloves & Boots The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon Results Shroud In The News: Richard Garriott and Personal Rapid Transport Summer 2016 Expirations New Kobold Furniture, Pavers, Streelamps, and Gazebo In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back The Making of Valhold (Castle Interior) This is the continuing update on the progress on Valhold. Valhold is scheduled to go live in Release 30. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Richard “RrMatey” Matey] Hey guys, I have returned to Valhold after creating the Crypt of the Avatar scene. So the last thing that needs to be completed for Valhold is the interior of the palace. This section of the game is a solo instance and will change depending on the story points of the game. So here are some screenshots of the interior. The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) This is the continuing update on the progress on Artifice, scheduled to go live in Release 31. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Scottie Jones] And so we continue our journey deeper into bowels of Artifice… Passing beyond the golden doorway that leads from the crumbling throne room causes you to appear in a narrow and oppressively-hot natural passage that issues directly into a noisy chamber blazing with fiery light. The hammering of metal and the constant sound of steam accost you as your skin seems to slowly bake in the furnace-like heat. As you peer out and down into the large chamber beyond, you are met with a sight both impressive and terrible. From all sides what appears to be molten stone or metal flows in deadly streams from the mouths of carved wyverns as it cascades down angled troughs toward pools of bubbling slag below. Suspended above, large bowls full of human bones wait to be tossed into repositories full of bones, ash, and shining nuggets of ore that lay between the channels of flowing magma. Movement can be seen below as some huge, brawny being can be glimpsed beyond the enormous pipes, toiling at some terrible task. As you pick your way carefully down the narrow stone steps, you slowly begin to realize that this is where all the lost souls of Artifice eventually come to “rest”. You have descended from the apparent heavens that lured you above as they eventually transformed into the hell that greets you now… The cascading streams of lava seem to actually be composed of a nightmarish molten mixture of all the things you see before you; the ore, the grey ash, and the bones of the dead… What could this place possibly be? And why would it rest at the very heart of Artifice’s glory? Though the mysterious blacksmith and all the terrible weapons he is forging will eventually be seen here, for now you must be content with moving forward into yet another chamber, found deeper still in this foreboding place. Choosing the larger central path, a staircase can be seen dipping down into the cooler shadows, and yet another golden door glimmers down the hall. Passing thankfully beyond this infernal place, you appear in a corridor that leads into what must be the largest library you have ever seen! Descending from the middle gallery level and down into the lower halls, hundreds of bookcases can be seen at every turn. If what you see can be believed, you are standing in the legendary Lyceum of Novia! This is the fabled repository of all the world’s knowledge, and it is said that every tome ever written by any hand can be found here… How can the treasures gathered above possibly compare to the apparently infinite wealth of lore arrayed here? One could spend a lifetime perusing the works shelved in this place, and still never read them all…or so it seems. In every direction the halls stretch on and on, and yet you appear to be alone. Should you seek an egress? No skeletons adorn this place, at least… And yet,…what is that distant sound? Is there another soul wandering these stacks? It seems to be footsteps you hear upon the wooden parquet…but then…they resolve into something you begin to recognize… Is that the echoing clip-clop of hooves upon the floor? Hopefully you’ve found this intriguing… Scottie ^_^ The Making of Brittany Fields This is the continuing update on progress on Brittany Fields, a neighborhood of Brittany. Brittany Fields is scheduled to go live in Release 30. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar] SNEAK PEEK: BRITTANY FIELDS So you didn’t get the lot you always wanted in Brittany (Central)? Fret not Avatar, as we have started work on the first of four neighborhood areas that will surround Central Brittany. The first of which will be called Brittany Fields and will be located to the Southwest of Central Brittany. It is an agricultural/pastoral area filled with fertile crops and little streams/gullies crisscrossing its length. From here we can appreciate a view of Brittany Castle off in the distance. A short walk away from Central Brittany, Brittany Fields offers a peaceful wind-down from the hustle and bustle of the city. Plenty of player housing lots awaits in Brittany Fields. Start planning your visit to Brittany Fields today! Esteben Zaldivar Level Designer Merchant Outfit Revamp + Fortified Cloth Gloves & Boots As part of our rework of the Avatars we are steadily progressing through many of the clothing and armor items to improve their visual quality. We periodically update the progress of this effort. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “Skullmuncher34” Kinnear] New updated Merchant Robes! Merchant Textures by fletcherkinnear on Sketchfab New Gloves and Boots for the Fortified Cloth Armor! Cloth Outfit by fletcherkinnear on Sketchfab The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon Results Our Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon was a huge success! We achieved all the Stretch Goal Rewards and even had to create new ones! A heartfelt thank you, from the entire Dev Team, to all of you, our backers, that have contributed to the development funding of Shroud of the Avatar! Monday’s Telethon was yet another example of your amazing support and contributions! Our final numbers as of Midnight, May 2nd were a staggering: ** $67,500 ** As promised, Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards will be rewarded to any backers that pledged a minimum of $5 from the start of the telethon, until Midnight May 2 (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). These rewards will take us several releases to create so please be patient as we work on getting them to you as soon as we can. The Spring Festival Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards are: Achieved! $10,000 – /Flowers Emote (rains flower petals) may appear as early as R30 Achieved! $25,000 – Flower Crown (increases length of /flowers emote) Achieved! $50,000 – Giant Butterfly Pet Achieved! $60,000 – Giant Dragonfly Pet Here are the links to the videos of the telethon where as promised, we did shots, sang, or danced for every $2500 raised. We also showed our solidarity for the pain players experienced with the new targeting system by having Michael “Hutch” Hutchison draw reticles on our foreheads. Later, Hutch drew a Flower Crown on Starr’s head when we reached that goal, and Starr later drew the Butterfly and Dragonfly on his head and face when those goals were reached. We also spent plenty of time answering the questions players posed while diving deep on Combat, Crafting, Housing, Story, and PVP. And of course, the PVP event descended into pure chaos (who knew?), with the players managing to to kill Lord British multiple times and Darkstarr just once. Atos remained undefeated. Shroud In The News: Richard Garriott and Personal Rapid Transport Richard Garriott spoke this week at the Austin Forum and the local Austin news about Personal Rapid Transport. The interview was filmed here at our Portalarium offices and you might recognize the Shroud of the Avatar banners behind him! Here’s an excerpt from the article based on the interview: “If I could really take some time off to get involved in civic projects right now, transportation would be a good one to solve,” he said. So what he’s proposing is called Personal Rapid Transit. “Imagine a golf cart that is enclosed. It has air conditioning, it runs on batteries and it’s computer-controlled,” Garriott said. Built on elevated guideways throughout the city, the way it works is pretty simple. “All you do is tell [it] the destination. You say ‘I’m going to 5th and Congress.’ The doors open, you sit down, it’s got room for up to 6 people and a wheelchair and a bicycle. The only button on the inside basically says ‘go,'” Garriott said. Then, after paying a fare similar to a public bus, the pod takes off. “There’s no intersections, there’s no stop lights. It waits for a gap, it accelerates into that gap and from that moment on you’re going full speed to and only to the destination for your family,” Garriott said. Final 87 Days for Summer 2016 Pledge Expirations! As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone this summer, we are permanently expiring ALL remaining pledges and new Player Owned Towns during the Summer 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, at 10:30 AM CST, August 1, 2016. These final expiring pledges include: Adventurer, Founder, Royal Artisan, Explorer, Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2. New Kobold Furniture, Pavers, Streelamps, and Gazebo Ten new items have been included in the Add-On Store, all of them available now in Release 29! In-game Community Events Our amazing community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Special thanks to community member SpookyJenny (aka Jenny Phoenixfyre in-game) for her help in compiling the schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar: Recurring Events RPOTA Monthly $170 Writing Contest Here ye! Here ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers and Videographers! RPOTA is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill or camera! (details) The Unreliable Travel Guide The Unreliable Travel Guide, created at the SotA Writing Round Table, is not an event, but a collection of hilarious short stories published by two drunken layabouts who have nothing better to do than try to derive a dishonest income from newly arrived avatars. (details) Avatars Radio (Daily Programming) Welcome New Britannians to Avatars Radio – Radio of the Avatars. Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers. Check out their daily program of amazing DJs: http://avatarsradio.info/schedule.php NBNN Lunch with Laz & Jack (Weekdays, 12pm CDT) Join NBNN every weekday for Lunch With Laz & Jack. They will be covering the daily goings on in SOTA. Calendar updates, Relevant issues happening in the days news. Come chat with us about upcoming events and general information. http://nbnn.info “The Tavern Respite” RP Event (Mondays, 8pm CDT) The tavern door opens before you, and the scent of pipe and stew waft outwards with a wall of warmth from the hearth. Join in with the patrons of the Bear Tavern as they share tales of their adventures amid endless mugs of ale, legs of mutton, and merriment unbounded.The first Monday of each month, the event returns to Bear Tavern, where it all began. If no locations are scheduled, the event will take place at Fire Lotus Tavern, by default. (teleport to Elgarion De’Khali; details)! Order of Vengeance Guild Meeting (Mondays, 9pm CDT) Held at the Guild Hall in Vengeance Challenge Dungeon Run (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am & 7pm CDT) This is a self-host event that meets at the Braemar Cemetery (map). Join whoever can make it for a dungeon run, adventure or something along those lines. Come prepared for combat. Learn how to set up your combat system if you need help. PaxLair Town Manager Hour (Tuesdays, 2:00pm CDT) Join PaxLair’s Town Manager, Sean Silverfoot, to ask questions about PaxLair, being a Citizen, holding a lot and any other questions concerning PaxLair or any of it’s boroughs: Dragons Watch, Tenakill, Lockbrier, Island of Wonders, Knowhere, Sea Nymph Grotto & Serentiy Isle. (map) EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl (Tuesdays & Saturdays, 7pm CDT) Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday (for advanced players) and Saturdays (for newer, less experienced players) to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point for Tuesdays is in Owls Head (map) at the center of town near the trainer (Zenie is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master), and for Saturdays it is in Soltown (map; Shady Death is your teleportation Avatar and dungeon master) (details) EVL Virtue League PVP Tournament (Wednesdays, 7pm CDT) Looking to break into the PVP scene but don’t want to be placed against established god-like players? We have you covered with two divisions, one for the newer, less experienced player, and one for the cream of the crop who have something to prove! (The Underworld at Aschfahl Festung; details) Stryker Sparhawk’s Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CDT) Stryker will travel to one of the local Novia taverns for an hour to open a bar tab for drinks in hopes of sharing stories, news, critique of the arts, music, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Teleport to Stryker Sparhawk (details) Phoenix Republic PVE Nights (Thursdays & Fridays, 7pm CDT) Join the Phoenix Republic as we send our weekly foray into the control points, dungeons and other of the most dangerous locales. Each week we will depart to a different PVE locale to help train our combatants. Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Malakas for more info! Novian Academy – Role Play Courses (Fridays, 4pm CDT) Luka Melehan is hosting RP classes and practice sessions. (teleport to Luka Melehan) Shardfall Madness (Fridays, 6pm CDT) A PvP event. Contact Wind Silvermoon for details. Astronomy Event (Fridays, 7:30pm CDT) Interested in New Britannia Astronomy? Just enjoy gazing at the stars? Join us every week as we explore the night sky above New Britannia. (Player Town of Caer Dracwych, teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; details) Friday, May 6 7pm CDT Phoenix Republic PVE Nights Join the Phoenix Republic as we send our weekly foray into the control points, dungeons and other of the most dangerous locales. Each week we will depart to a different PVE locale to help train our combatants. Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Malakas for more info! 7pm CDT Vengeance Madness PVP This is an Open PvP event where everyone fights it out in a royal rumble to see who the ultimate death dealer is! An hour of PvP madness that you cannot miss. The person who ends up with the most kills will be the champion! This is an opportunity to test skills, templates, items, and strategy, but most of all to have fun! An hour full of madness you cannot miss out on! Whether you are a usual PvP’er or not… Anyone is welcome to come out and join us. Winners may win entries into the BMC-Grid Iron. (City of Vengeance; teleport to Bambino LudoVate; map). 7:30pm CDT Friday Night Astronomy For anyone interested in Astronomy in New Britannia or just like looking up at the stars and hanging out. I host an astronomy course every Friday night at 7:30pm CST to 8:30pm CST. Whether it’s a crowd or just one person I will be happy to be your host at Caer Dracwych. Teleport to Bowen Bloodgood. (Caer Dracwych, map) Saturday, May 7 7:00am CDT Wake Up New, Britannia!!! With Woftam and Selene Woftam and Selene Noctua broadcast on AvatarsRadio from the Wake Up New Britannia Studio in Owlshead (right behind the crafting pavillion). Includes Interviews with the Community, Contests for in-game Gold, What’s new for the week in New Britannia, and your Best Bets for SotA weekend events! (details) 9:00am CDT PaxLair Working Hours Come to PaxLair and see what’s happening! For two hours (more or less) we work together on projects, create ideas and have fun together. It’s sort of a weekly time to gather and do things together. Everyone in Novia is welcome! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield or Sean Silverfoot) 11:00am CDT Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service High Priestess of Chaos, Amber Raine, and the Dean of the Novian Academy, Kazyn Phoenixfyre, welcome you to the Church of the Dark Star. A shared project, built upon equality, where all are welcome. Services range from what is Chaos and Order to how they affect different aspects of our life. The path you choose is yours. (Alternating locaions; details) 6:00pm CDT Port Phoenix: Social Nights Come out and join the republic in one of many potential events (chosen new each week). Each week we get together for everything from fishing, to music, to gustball to PVE duneoneering and adventuring. (Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre for details) 7:00pm CDT EVL Monster Mash Dungeon Crawl Do you crave adventure and don’t want to battle alone? EVL has your back with our fun packed PVE nights hosted weekly! An EVL dungeon guide will assist newer less experienced players in their pursuit of adventure and glory! It meets in Soltown (map) and your teleportation avatar and guide for the evening will be Shady Death. 7:00pm CDT Phoenix Republic Founders Ball @ Cinco De Bayou Come Join Kazyn and Jenny Phoenixfyre celebrating the founding of Port Phoenix, the Phoenixfyre’s wedding Anniversary and the founding of the alliance with the Phoenix Republic Founders Ball! This dance celebrates many things that makes the republic alliance great while also celebrating and thanking all the people who helped us become what we are! This also marks the first Annual Cinco de Bayou Festival – a multi-day festival that will be held from this day forth to commemorate our founding! Musical Entertainment will be provided by DJ Celith of Avatars Radio so don’t miss out – this party is going to be a big one! (Location: Port Phoenix Capital Building; map) 8:00pm CDT Overthrow Vengeance (PVP) The longest running Player vs Player tournament in Shroud of the Avatar. Sunday, May 8 8:30am CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield; teamSpeak: 43.245.163.15:10099) 11:00am CDT Hospitaller Weekly Voice Meeting Everyone is welcome to our player community’s weekly Hospitaller meeting. It is open to anyone and everyone, not just Hospitallers. We talk about many things and work hard to find ways to help new players. This meeting is one hour long and we have additional sidebars after the meeting. (Soltown; Discord Chat Channel) 2:30pm CDT Gustball Training Want to learn how to play Gustball? Need some tips on how to improve your deck or hone your skills on the field! Join Coach Sheamus McGuinness of EVLs for a 30 minute Gustball lesson and practice session just before the big game at 3pm (Owl’s head, map; or teleport to Sheamus McGuinness) 3:00pm CDT Gustball The game of Gustball is a great community event, not dissimilar from soccer or football, where Avatars of all levels & skill can compete in a fun, friendly game that uses the Gust skill (1st level Air Magic spell) to blow a Gustball into your opponents goal. (/whisper or teleport to Sand, Sheamus McGuinness, or Bambino Ludovate, details) 5:00pm CDT BMC Grid Iron Feast and Registration Register to compete in the BMC Gridiron and mingle with other participants and spectators before the big fight! (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 5:30pm CDT BMC Gladiator’s Grid-Iron The BMC is proud to present the nastiest, the foulest, the most feared arena in all of New Britannia! The Grid-Iron is equipped with a pit-style arena, locker rooms, a VIP round-table, betting & vendor booths, and all the blood-sport you can handle. (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, map; see forum post for details) 7:00pm CDT PaxLair Meeting Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, map; or teleport to Winfield) 8:00pm CDT Fishing with Winfield Come sit with Winfield on a log or rock to hear some fish tales or tell your own. Chat about anything from the moons to the earth worms. Spend a relaxing day in nature near a stream or lake — bring insect repellent or a sword. (some fishing spot or pond, teleport to Winfield; details) Be sure and check out the Release 29 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here. Upcoming Events 2016.05.13 – Final Duke Roundtable and Portalarium Office Tour 2016.05.26 – Release 30 2016.06.01 – The Hearth of Britannia: Legends of the Hearth III 2016.06.30 – Release 31 2016.07.28 – Release 32: Final Wipe and Lot Selections 2016.08.01 – Final Pledge Expirations Episode 1 2016.08.25 – Release 33 2016.08.26 – Syndcon 2016 2016.09.02 – DragonCon 2016 2016.09.21 – Austin Games Conference 2016.09.29 – Release 34 Backer Shipping Addresses In preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards later this year, we have added Shipping Address fields to your Account Profile page. To enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image: For country and regional tax assessment purposes, our tax accountants have requested that we start collecting a buyer’s physical/shipping address for all purchases, whether digital or physical. We’ve tried to streamline that process as much as possible, such that once you’ve entered a physical address we will pre-populate the address fields with your default address. Recommended Projects to Back Underworld: Ascendant Far more than a dungeon crawl, Underworld Ascendant is a next-generation sequel to the legendary fantasy RPG’s Ultima Underworld & Ultima Underworld 2. It not only modernizes the series’ visuals and user interface to take full advantage of the today’s powerful PC’s, it innovates in bold new ways. View the full article