Jack T. Lamplighter

Hello everyone! Here is the news for April 29, 2016. A huge news release, with so much happening in Release 29! Hope you’re enjoying all the new (and radically different) stuff! Dual with the Devs During The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon! Final 3 Days for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations! Play Release 29 Now! Brittany Video Walk-through Crypt of the Avatar Meet the Companions (Offline Feature) New Player Run Towns: Coastal and Interior Forests Shroud In The News: R29 and Richard Garriott at PAX East 2016 Finn Staber at the Unity Roadshow Final Weekend for The Emperors’ and Empresses’ New Clothes New Furniture, Trees, In-Door Plants, and Torture Devices In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Echoes0429.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post Echoes from the Caverns 04-29-2016 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: Dual with the Devs During The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon! Final 3 Days for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations! Play Release 29 Now! Brittany Video Walk-through Crypt of the Avatar Meet the Companions (Offline Feature) New Player Run Towns: Coastal and Interior Forests Shroud In The News: R29 and Richard Garriott at PAX East 2016 Finn Staber at the Unity Roadshow Final Weekend for The Emperors’ and Empresses’ New Clothes New Furniture, Trees, In-Door Plants, and Torture Devices In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon! For the final day of the 15% Bonus and Spring Expiration Event we are holding a 10 hour Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon, from 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM Central Time (5:00 PM UTC to 03:00 AM UTC) on Monday, May 2nd. We decided to extend our Spring 2016 Bonus and Pledge Expirations from 10:30 AM until the end of the telethon at 10:00 PM CT. The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon will include a PVP Dual with the Devs, deep dives, lots of prize giveaways* (like coins, t-shirts, store credits, even pledges!), and even some surprises, so you don’t want to miss a moment of it! Warning: Telethon is Rated PG-13 for Alcoholic Content (might get upgraded to Rated-R depending on rate of pledges) Drinking / Dancing / Singing Rules: For every $2500 spent (new money only) Chris, Richard, and Starr (and other Devs that choose to participate) have a choice of 1 of the following: 1 Shot/Sip 1 dance (audience suggestions considered) 1 verse of a song (audience suggestions considered) As a special bonus, we are offering Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards to any backer that pledges 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). The Spring Festival Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards are: $10,000 – /flowers emote (rains flower petals) $25,000 – Flower Crown (increases length of /flowers emote) $50,000 – Giant Butterfly Pet Here is the current schedule of events (times and content subject to change): 12:00 pm CDT: R29 Post Mortem 2:00 pm CDT: Story, NPCs, & Companions 3:30 pm CDT: Player Housing and Player Owned Towns 4:30 pm CDT: Crafting, Food, Agriculture & Economy 6:00 pm CDT: Combat, Resistances, Targeting 7:30 pm CDT: PVP 8:30 pm CDT: Players vs. Devs PVP Deathmatch Brawl in Chaos Caverns (connected to Virtue Oasis, map) 10:00 pm CDT: Goodbyes and Thank Yous with everyone still standing! * There will be some really awesome prizes awarded during the telethon, but you have to be present in the IRC chatroom to qualify for each drawing. You can post questions you want answered on the post or in IRC during the telethon. Final 3 Days for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations! As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone this summer, we are permanently expiring almost half of all pledges during the Spring 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, at 10:30 AM 10:00 PM CT, May 2, 2016. The remaining ten pledges, as well as new Player Owned Towns, will be expired during the Summer 2016 Expiration Event. The pledges expiring IN JUST 3 DAYS include: Immortal Adventurer, Virtual Collector, Collector, Citizen, Knight, Lord, and Baron. If you were thinking of purchasing (or upgrading) a pledge before they expire, or purchasing an add-on item, player owned town, service voucher, or Make A Difference item, then now’s a great time to do it! Thru 10:30 AM 10:00 PM CT, May 2, 2016 we’ll add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit! ** New Monthly Payment Plans Have Been Extended An Extra Month (from June to July)! ** [More Spring 2016 Bonus & Expiration details…] Play Release 29 Now! Release 29 successfully launched yesterday, April 28, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes! Lots of new content to explore, including: Over 40 New scenes including Brittany, Crypt of the Avatar, Spindrift Passage, Paladis Passage, and more Love Storyline First Playable New Targeting Interface Enchantments and Tool Engraving for Alchemists POT Only Lot Deeds New Player Run Towns Lot Selection Sequence Test Performance Optimizations …and much more Check out the Release 29 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 28! 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 28 Player Instructions Release 28 Known Issues Brittany Video Walk-Through For his continuing Making of Brittany Dev+ forum thread Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldiva did a video walk-through of Brittany (central) where he describes the various sections of the central area of the capital of Novia. This part of Brittany went live yesterday in Release 29. The other neighborhoods of Brittany including Brittany Estates, Brittany Fields, Brittany Alleys, and Brittany Wharf will start appearing in the game starting in Release 30. Meet the Companions (Offline Feature) From a forum post by Scott “Lum the Mad” Jennings Our plan for Episode 1 is to have three companions that can meet and travel with the Avatar on his/her journey. You may remember that we have three paths of prophecy that the Avatar follows as well, and this is not a coincidence. The first companion we’ll meet is Conrad Dupre, Knight of Norgard. Conrad’s lineage is that of a soldier’s soldier. He has fought under the banner of Valhold for his entire life, from his childhood as a squire to a dissolute noble to the years of struggle against the Kobolds (a race which he both respects and despises). In addition to his mastery of swords, shields, and heavy armor, he has a veteran’s knowledge of Life magic, as well – not a great deal, but enough to keep himself and those around him fighting when others would fall. Most who know him respect him, for he has little tolerance for cowardice or fear. But if he has any failing he also has little of a knight’s respect for those under his care. Norgard is at war, and he will brook no weakness in its time of greatest peril. Conrad knows much of the martial arts, but unlike his impeccably forged sword Silverthorn, the heart of his courage still requires tempering. Avatars will meet him early on in their journey through the Path of Courage, in the fortified garrison of Resolute. The second companion that we’ll meet today 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 situtation 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. Finally, we meet Ariel Rosehaven. One of Novia’s most learned scholars, Ariel has been walking the path of Truth longer than many have been alive. Not one for being kept in the confines of a library, she will think nothing of taking up her quarterstaff and a bindle filled with a few of her beloved books and going to test in the field what others are content to merely argue about from safe confines. She has studied alongside Kobold technicians and Elven lorespeakers (racism being one of the many things that will cause her to ‘lecture’) and her knowledge of magic is second to few. When she heard that an outlander had been seen at the site of an elven massacre, she, of course, had to meet this person and take their measure. What happens next is hard to predict. Many have underestimated the unassuming older woman in a cloak and quarterstaff, and learned that the truth is not always what it seems. “NEVER ask a lady her age, or her past. Or anything else she is likely to tell you.” The Avatar will meet Ariel Rosehaven in Aerie. It simply is not up for discussion. We plan to discuss these in more detail during the telethon Monday, so get your questions ready Crypt of the Avatar The ancient Crypt of the Avatar, as found by Aren and Syenna in “Blade of the Avatar,” is open for exploration by those who have fought their way through the halls of Necropolis. Much can be learned here of the danger facing Ardoris and Novia… This scene went live with Release 29 yesterday and Richard “RrMatey” Matey provided us some screenshots of the scene. New Player Run Towns: Coastal and Interior Forests For Release 29 we added 10 new Player Run Towns to Novia. These towns are not owned by any players nor do they contain any story elements. However they do include a small core of services and NPCs including a crafting pavilion with assorted crafting stations, various shopkeepers, a bank, and a tavern. They also include over a 100 player lots of all sizes. Coastal Forest: The Coastal Forest PRT is based of the Forest 01 Player Owned Town Template (aka PAXLair) and has multiple water features including a waterfall, river, lake, and a small island off the coast. Interior Forest: The Interior Forest PRT is based on the Forest 02 PoT template (which is in turn a forested variation of the Grassland template) and is forested plain with river running through it. Shroud in the News: R29 and Richard Garriott at PAX East 2016 It has been a busy week for Shroud in the news with lots of coverage, mostly from Richard’s presence at PAX East. MMORPG.com: Release 29 – The Great Divide: Red Thomas wrote another interesting article for MMORPG, this time focusing on how we handle big changes with our community like the POT only Lot Deeds. Here’s an excerpt from Red’s article titled Column: Release 29 – The Great Divide? It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of this project, but there are definitely some months that make for more entertaining articles than others. I really kind of expected this one and the next couple to be relatively slow as several members of the dev team switch to working on some of the underpinning that turns a cool project into a sustainable game. Obviously, the majority of the team is still working on content for the game, so there’s always going to be new stuff to talk about. All the major systems are pretty much in the game by this point, though. Iterations on existing systems and mechanics should be just a matter of fleshing things out, adding complexity, and making things more intuitive and new-player-friendly. Well, you might think that… This month’s update is going to be a little different than most. I’ll go over a few of the things you can expect from the 29th release for Shroud of the Avatar, which frankly deserves a lot more time than I’ll have to give it. Then we’ll take a look at one really major change that has me a little on edge, and finally get into some drama. Man, I hate drama, so you know it’s something worth talking about if I’m willing to endure it for the sake of an article. PAX East 2016 Indie MMO Panel: Jenesee Grey of City State Games, Dallas Dickinson of QC Games, Brad McQuaid of Visionary Realms and Richard Garriott were all part of an MMORPG.com organized panel that discussed the challenges of making MMO’s, the pros and cons of working for a large publisher, and the industry in general after striking out on their own. Chris Neal over at MMOGames.com covered the panel briefly here. Massively OP Richard Garriott interview: Eliot Lefebre interviewed Richard Garriott about “launch” at PAX East and how much traditional terminology is challenging to use with our new development model. Here’s an excerpt from the article titled Richard Garriott Discusses Shroud of the Avatar’s “Launch” and Future: It might seem as if Shroud of the Avatar has been in early access for a very long time, probably because it has. Technically, it’s still in an early access state. But according to Richard Garriott, whom I spoke to at this year’s PAX East, a great deal of that has to do with the fact that our traditional terms for test phases have little to no meaning any longer. The game is on Release 28, its servers have been up aside from scheduled maintenance for more than a year, there have been no unexpected patches of downtime. In every way, it’s ready for something closer to release. So this year is the year of its “release,” but it’s also not really that big of a change. In July, the final character wipe will take place, freeing players from any concern of lost data and marking the de facto launch of the MMO side of the game. By December, the first episode of the game’s story content will be fully released. At that point, the game is out and it’s launched, so if you want to mark your calendars accordingly, it’s 2016 as the year of the launch. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the game will be finished; again, there’s the issue of our traditional terminology not working very well in light of the changes to how games are developed and tested. The game state is being controlled in part by the need for marketing, using early test terminology so that players don’t expect something the game won’t deliver. A marketing push will accompany the full story launch, but it’s still not quite the same as a launch, and much of that comes down to the nature of software terminology as we understand it. Gamers Nexus: Why Big Publishers Struggle with MMOs plus Richard on VR: Gamers Nexus spoke with Richard on MMO development and publishing, the challenges faced by teams, the “WoW” cloning effect, and how his Shroud of the Avatar is different. They also took time to discuss Richard’s intrigue with virtual reality and VR headsets. Finn Staber at the Unity Roadshow Carl Callewaert from Unity Technologies and Finn Staber from Portalarium spoke at the Unity Multiplayer + VR Roadshow in Austin at the Microsoft office. They covered the many new amazing Unity features announced at GDC, including Muliplayer, Progressive Lightmap Baking, VR support for Vive + Oculus, and HoloLens development. You can see the slides from their presentation here. Avatars Radio Presents: The “Traditional” Firelotus Release 29 Party!!! [From a Release 29 Events Forum Post] Avatars it is that time again. Time to celebrate the rebirth of the land we live in Take a break from trying to regain your strength and pick up a pint of the Fire Water. The amazing Community Lead and Avatars Radio DJ FireLotus, will be celebrating the coming of a new release in a style only she can! Join FireLotus and our amazing host POT of Virtue Oasis (EVL) With the BIGGEST Party of R29! TIME: Friday, April 29th, 2016 2pm – 4pm NBT Location of Party: Virtue Oasis, Hidden Vale, NB (see location at SotAMap.com) Final Weekend for The Emperors’ and Empresses’ New Clothes This incredibly extravagant line of new clothing pieces are only available for 3 more days in the Add On Store. These are highly detailed recreations of actual items worn by historical Novian figures. Each piece is guaranteed to be an exact replica and is made from only the finest of materials. You will be sure to impress anyone who sees you wearing these fine garments. Better hurry before they disappear forever! New Furniture, Trees, In-Door Plants, and Torture Devices Over two dozen new items in Release 29 that are available now in the Add-On Store. Now’s a great time pick up some of these items and get an additional 15% Bonus thru 10:00 PM CT, Monday, May 2! 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 MashDungeon Crawl (Tuesdays, 7pm CDT) Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point is in Owls Head at the center of town near the trainer (map) 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, April 29 2pm CDT Avatar’s Radio Presents: The Traditional FireLotus Release 29 Dance Party!!! Avatars it is that time again. Time to celebrate the rebirth of the land we live in. Join FireLotus and our amazing host, EVL, at the POT of Virtue Oasis (details) 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, April 30 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) 12:00pm CDT Welcome Quest 29 Welcome Quest showcases many of the Player-owned and Player-ran towns in New Britannia. Come for unique events in each town. We rotate towns between each Welcome Quest. To join in just “/zone Greagoir” and you will be transported to the event. Starting city can be different every time. (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) Sunday, May 1 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: https://discordapp.com/channels/158859164490137601/158859164490137601) 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 2016.05.02 – The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon! 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 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 BrightLocker BrightLocker, the first crowd publishing platform for games, launched Wednesday. Brightlocker was founded by fellow ex-Originites, Mark Rizzo and Ruben Cortez, members of the original Ultima Online Network Ops team from back in the day. Starr Long commented “BrightLocker is a logical evolution of what we have been seeing happen in game development and I’ve been happy to offer some advice along the way. I definitely recommend participating in this historic moment in co-development.” Log in now and use their game submission wizard to enter your idea into the next voting round. From there, discuss your idea and encourage votes from the community – top ideas will move on to the finals for a chance to be developed into an actual game. If you win, you’d get your name in the game credits and a share of all the revenue. You can also cast your vote on other game ideas and help pick the next game they professionally develop. And of course for bragging rights you can earn rewards, achievements and digital currency along the way. Check them out and sign up here: www.brightlocker.com View the full article

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with a wonderful story from Duke Vallas, entitled The History of Beran’s Reach: Beran & The Dragon Background music by Smartsound While the present circumstances of Beran’s Reach are well-known within the realms of New Britannia, the origins of the Metropolis are not so clear. Indeed, despite an exhaustive search of every library and scribe-hold from coast to coast there seems to be little which sheds light on the matter. It is perhaps surprising that the authority on the topic, though I use authority in the loosest of terms, is that of the tavern bards that ply the regions. Indeed, despite a slew of inaccuracies and inconsistencies that I firmly blame on continued efforts to outdo their peers, the tale of Beran divulges the story in interesting detail. As with many such accounts of old, this one begins with a Dragon. In a time long since past a beast was ravaging the coast, leaving nothing but death and destruction in its wake. One by one the coastal settlements burned and their people devoured, their defenses unable to withstand the assault. One day, the dragon came across a sleepy settlement, barely a score of ramshackle houses huddled together against the winter chill of the wilds beyond. Seemingly unimpressed, the dragon decided to have some sport with the inhabitants, challenging its champions in single combat. The terms were simple, if he were bested then the villagers would be spared, if not then their lives would be forfeit. Three villagers volunteered to make a stand. The first was an ageing Paladin, long in years and past his prime. The second was a fool, quick in wit yet slow in reasoning. The third was the village blacksmith by the name of Beran, a brute of monstrous size and foul of reputation. Despite their bravery both the Paladin and the fool met a grisly end to both tooth and claw, but the blacksmith, who knew that victory on such terms was impossible, took a gamble on an alternative. Standing before the great beast clad in smithing clothes and brandishing a great forge hammer, Beran proposed a challenge more worthy of such a ‘noble adversary’, a game of wits where the smith would be hunted atop a nearby rocky hilltop. The dragon, vain as any of its kin accepted this proposal, confident that it would provide a worthy distraction before the inevitable victory. It is at this point that many tales differ. Some bards tell of a game of cat and mouse amongst the deep crags and jagged rocks. Others speak of the hunt taking place in a dense and ancient wood which one grew there. Others even tell of these exploits taking place below ground, amid the lightless depths of the caverns and subterranean tunnels that are rumored to run deep into the mountains. In any case, it is clear that before long the dragon was growing increasingly impatient. After three days and nights of fruitless searching, this impatience had grown into a deep and unrelenting rage. It’s patience faltering, the dragon called out to the smith to show himself and settle the challenge lest its wrath be turned on the village once more. The dragon drew itself to its full height, its head held high and wings unfurled in an effort to demonstrate its might. Perhaps the moment that he had been waiting for, the smith left his hiding position and threw his hammer with such force that the hammer struck the surprised creature to the head with a thunderclap, killing it instantly. As the beast fell, the fires within created an inferno that enveloped the hilltop almost instantly, raising a firestorm that burned intensely for a night and a day. Once the fires had subsided, no sign of the smith remained only the skeletal remains of the dragon that had been felled. Within it, a carpet of glittering gold and jewels that were the remnants of the dragon’s horde. It is here that the story is commonly brought to a close. It is widely speculated that the village mentioned was the long-lost village of Porth Mae, rumoured to be at the base of the hill that later became the foundations for Beran’s Reach herself. Of the smith, there is more speculation. Some believe that Beran was consumed in the flames. Others believe that he survived the inferno, taking a sizeable portion of the treasure to start a new life. Other more fanciful tales claim that Beran wasn’t a man at all, but an ancient spirit intent on bringing balance to the land and undoing the evil that was sweeping it. Regardless, the story of the service rendered by the smith in defense of their home is one that has never been forgotten. http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Beran_and_the_Dragon_by_Duke_Vallas_Narrated_by_Asclepius.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post Beran and the Dragon – by Duke Vallas – Narrated by Asclepius appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Another GEM by our star Apoollox! Tragedy by Apollox Evanheart Music prod by illwillbeatz Tragedy has struck Now were all F* Waiting for that moment That I can get that rush Waiting for that moment That I am no longer touched My inner demons Speak to me Feel like I’m in the clutch Chorus Back up I’m coming off my pedestal Just set a goal to dominate The execution is critical They said I wouldn’t amount to much Hi im the Lawmen, Jury and judge They say I’m no good They say I’m ill hearted Well I’m here to clean the trash And you just brought all this garbage Thought you could make yourself well known Well I think its time to take your ass back home I hear the dinner bell I’m getting kind of hungry I’m eatting up this competition Sorry to put it bluntly Let me put your mind at ease I’m a f* cure And you’re the disease A plague of men A scum of this nation If I was god Id be embarrassed of my creation I know your trying to fit in I think I understand But I got my Choas in order And you didn’t have your sh* planned Ladies and Gentlemen Apollox Evanheart now sentences you to a public execution You son of a Bi* I’m sorry if you thought I would be polite I’m a cannibal An Animal An executioner of my time A long list of enemies Have kept me on my grind Your blood on my hand I wont lose sleep at night Chorus Back up I’m coming off my pedestal Just set a goal to dominate The execution is critical They said I wouldn’t amount to much Hi I’m the Lawmen, Jury and judge I find it funny how things evolve How I can run the streets Then rule them all How one day I climb And the very next you crawl But watch your back Not always safe behind stonewall http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Tragedy_Writte_Rapped_by_Apollox_Evanheart.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rssThe post Tragedy-Written/Rapped by Apollox Evanheart appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

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 29 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, April 28, at 10:30 AM US Central Daylight Time (15:30 UTC). One of the main square’s called Quinn’s Peak in Brittany As we move ever closer to Final Wipe and Lot Selection, we are rapidly expanding the content and feature set of Shroud of the Avatar. We are also critically appraising our feature set and making sure each and every feature is as it should be for those critical events of Release 32. With those thoughts in mind, we looked at a few key aspects of the game related to housing, crafting, and targeting and made some important changes in Release 29. These changes were not easy, nor were they without controversy, but we believe they are changes that need to be made for the long term health of the project. The biggest and most obvious change is to targeting which now uses a reticle in the center of the screen and makes interaction modal. Hitting the TAB key or invoking any interface window will cause the game to play almost exactly as before but this is still a VERY big change. For a while now, we have tried to avoid making our game modal. To date, we have solved that by requiring mouselook by holding down the right mouse button. This means that you can always have a cursor but it makes targeting hard, especially for ranged combat, and means you have to constantly hold down a mouse button (which players complain hurts them after playing for long times). Additionally, most modern 3D games use free mouselook and use a modal interface to bring up a cursor for interactions, inventory, etc. So with R29, we decided to make the plunge and moved our game to be Reticle Targeting based and Modal. Please note that you do NOT have to keep the reticle on directly top of the target to hit it. Once you have a target identified you just need to have them in your forward arc and in range to hit them. You do NOT need to have the reticle always on top of the target. We are NOT a shooter. We know that many of you have concerns about this change, and rest assured we are listening. We fully intend to support the play style our loyal backers have become accustomed to while expanding the abilities of the game. We are aware of and looking at solutions for those of you with physical challenges we have not yet solved and those of you who want more mouse-centric options. Please be patient while we work through this which may take more than one release. The next big change was related to land and housing. Since the addition of Player-Owned Towns (POTs), the amount of “potential” available land has greatly increased and therefore a potential demand for more lot deeds has been created. However that land is only potential, not guaranteed, until the owner puts down lot markers and unlocks the lots. So we still have to be very careful in how we add deeds to the game to make sure those who purchase deeds have a place to use them. So we are adding POT-Only Lot Deeds. As normal Lot Deeds sell out in-game (and in the Add-On Store), Portalarium will sell limited quantities of POT-only Lot Deeds in the game (and in the Add-On Store). These deeds can only be used inside Player-Owned Towns. These will only be sold in the lot sizes that sell out, and will be sold for the exact same price as normal lot deeds. NOTE: At this time that means we have only introduced Village sized POT-only Lot Deeds (but only in the Add-On Store since lots are not currently being limited in-game). As with everything with the game, we will carefully monitor the situation and if there is ever a significant shortage of lot deeds and a surplus of land we will release more as needed. Finally we looked at Crafting, specifically using crafting stations in List Mode, and came to the conclusion that we could add Recipes to the Station interface and therefore remove the need to have the Recipe Book displayed while crafting in List Mode. This should let player explore the new expansions to Alchemy with Tool Engraving and Enchantments much more easily. Of course, in addition to the above we added a lot of other things including almost 40 more scenes including the Crypt of the Avatar and the central part of the sprawling capital of Novia; Brittany. The Love Storyline is now playable from start to finish, and many more NPCs have unique stories to tell you. We are testing out Lot Selection Sequencing for the first time in 30 minute windows, and to support that, we added and expanded the number of available housing lots a thousandfold by adding new POTs, new Player-Run Towns (PRTs), and expanding the size of some NPC towns by replacing their source scenes. 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 are the R29 deliverables. 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 29, April 28, 2016 Full Wipe: Once again, we are going to make some fundamental changes to item and quest architecture that require us to do a full wipe for Release 29. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please note that if you have been waiting to convert your purchases to store credits, this is your chance to do so as long as you do not claim your rewards in the bank. as long as you do NOT log into the game once R29 goes live (which automatically claims the items and prevents conversion). NOTE: This is the last wipe before the final wipe in July. Full Wipe (except Social): We wiped all player data including inventory and housing. Social information (friends and guilds) will remain intact. If you have Add On Store items you wish to convert to credit, then you can do so on the Shroud of the Avatar website multiple times this week. Remember to do it before you claim your rewards in the bank (Live or QA) since that will make all add on store items “claimed in game.” Also please note that if you upgraded a property owning pledge since the last wipe, you ended up with extra lot deeds which will have now been wiped (lot deeds do not stack). Your current deed amount will match your purchases when R29 goes live. Please note that because we are wiping offers multiple times this week you will end up with multiple sets of rewards. Here are the days/times when we will wipe offer data to allow conversion to store credit: Monday April 25 11:00 AM CST (this was announced on forums) Wednesday April 27 7:00 PM CST Thursday April 28 9:00 AM CST Experience bonus: As with past releases, players will get an experience bonus based on their achievements in the previous release cycle, which has been a quadruple bonus. However, to prepare people for the final wipe and normal experience gains, we have reduced this to a double bonus. This means until you reach the same level of experience you had in past releases, you will earn base experience + 100% extra experience! Story: New scenes will appear in the regions of North Paladis, Midmaer, and Verdantis, including the city of Central Brittany which will appear in the game for the first time. At this point, the Love storyline will be playable from beginning to end and we will begin final polish on that storyline. Love Story-line First-Playable: With the addition of the Crypt of the Avatar beneath Midras, the Path of Love is playable from start to finish. Progress on polish and improvements will continue to make this and the other two paths bug-free, compelling, and fun. Brittany (Central): The capital of Novia! Center of Commerce! Home of Arabella! This will be surrounded by 4 other housing neighborhoods as well as the Brittany Graveyard. Please note that story elements have not yet been added for central Brittany, and all NPCs remain generic for now. Many Developer-tier backers have expressed an interest in having their pledge reward of a named NPC being found in Brittany and this will take place during the story pass in a future release. Crypt of the Avatar (beneath Midras Ruins): The ancient Crypt of the Avatar, as found by Aren and Syenna in “Blade of the Avatar,” is open for exploration by those who have fought their way through the halls of Necropolis. Much can be learned here of the danger facing Ardoris and Novia… NOTE: This is a single-player instance. Underground Network To date, we have added underground areas (dungeons, sewers, mines, etc) as mostly stand-alone scenes, seemingly filled with random resources and randomly connecting to other underground scenes. As of this release, the randomness begins to go away as we start embracing a “grand underground plan.” The core elements of the plan include: Travel Within Underground Sectors: All shared, general-purpose underground areas will be grouped in “small” sectors. Many underground areas within a sector will connect to other areas within the same sector. Travel across these connections is free and uninhibited. Travel Across Underground Sectors: Connection passages between sectors are rare and always behind a locked door. Each door can only be opened by a key obtained from a single “key bearer” located somewhere else in the scene. Note that these keys are currently reusable, but they will eventually become single-use objects. Cross-Sector Connection Passages: Connection passages will be underground scenes all their own. Although moderately sized, each will have a bounty of resources. Smarter Resources: Distribution of harvestable resources is important, and resources that are common in some regions will be rare in others. This is true for both surface and underground areas. Spindrift Passage and Paladis Passage: As part of the Underground Network plan (above), two cross-sector connection passages are being added to the game: Spindrift Passage and Paladis Passage. More such passages will be added in future releases. The Rise: Another change related to the Underground Network is that the Rise has moved to its permanent home under the Forsaken Vale in Verdantis. Its temporary connections to the western Novia underground scenes have been replaced with access points in Superstition Canyon, North Varisalla Foothills, Verdantis Mines, and Resolute Sewers. Verdantis Westend (Town) Harvest (Town) Point West (Town) South Naryad Pinelands Crooked Shank Verdantis Mines Verdantis Foothills Upper Tears South Fetid Swamp North Fetid Swamp North Paladis Grannus Colossus Kas Ruins (PVP) Hallowed Plains Upper Fortus Libris Ruins (PVP) Serpent’s Spine Mines Serpent’s Spine Foothills South Boundless Forest Ulfheim East Sanctus Forest West Sanctus Forest Midmaer Elad’s Lighthouse (Town) South Majestic Forest North Majestic Forest North Midmaer Way South Midmaer Way Shaminian Hills. Spectral Peaks Scene Polish: Skrekk: The city of Skrekk now has inhabitants that can be spoken to as they go about their day, though some may sound strangely similar. Please note that actual quest content for Skrekk and more unique dialogue will be introduced alongside Valhold in a future release. Savrenoc Timberland & Deep Savrenoc Timberland: Added additional points of interest to these scenes. Ardoris: Added Gondolas, removed ferries to Kingsport (which are now available in Brittany). Added unique conversations for all Ardoris guards. Thanks to the community, all Ardoris NPCs now have unique conversations. Kingsport: Redirected ferries from Ardoris to Brittany. Added unique conversations for many Kingsport NPCs thanks to the community. Brittany Graveyard: Added Mourners, Oracle Watchers, and wildlife to the scene. Moved POT transfer wagons to Brittany. Lunar Rifts: Upgraded the visuals of the rift and the transition effects. Interactive/World Items: Continued passes through various scenes making sure all items can be interacted with and/or picked up that look like they should be (food, weapons, tools, etc.) and once looted that they can either be used for decoration and/or salvaged for crafting materials. Spider Webs: Propagated more interactive spider webs (sticky!) to more scenes. Shardfalls and Ruins: Increased Player limits to 128. Underground Resources: resources have shifted a bit as we improve where resources can be found throughout the game, including in the Underground Network. (see “Underground Network” above). Source Scene Changes: We changed the source scene for the following towns to be the same as the PRTs (see below) in order to provide more lots to players: Fortus End (coastal) Northwood (inland) Elad’s Lighthouse (coastal) Brookside (inland) Spite (coastal) Eastmarch (coastal) Graff Island (coastal) Broochash (coastal) Xenos (coastal) Storms Reach (coastal) Point West (coastal) Harvest (coastal) Estgard (coastal) Goti (inland) Noreach (coastal) Celestis (coastal) Lot Selection Sequence: The lot selection sequence process will be implemented and tested by players. Pacing for these initial tests will be very accelerated with lot selection windows being mere minutes versus a full 24 hours. Lot Selection Sequence: The Lot Deed UI has been modified to show your Lot Selection Group(s) and an error message will appear if you try to claim before the start time of your group. Please note that for this test of the sequence, the windows are spaced apart by 30 minutes instead of 24 hours. Also, the start times displayed on the account pages are for the Final Lot Selection, not this test run. Here are the times for the test run of the Lot Selection Sequence: 1 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 11:00 CDT’ 2 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 11:30 CDT’ 3 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 12:00 CDT’ 4 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 12:30 CDT’ 5 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 13:00 CDT’ 6 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 13:30 CDT’ 7 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 14:00 CDT’, 8 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 14:30 CDT’ 9 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 15:00 CDT’ 10 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 15:30 CDT’ 11 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 16:00 CDT’ 12 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 16:30 CDT’ 13 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 17:00 CDT’ 14 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 17:30 CDT’ 15 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 18:00 CDT’ 16 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 18:30 CDT’ 17 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 19:00 CDT’ 18 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 19:30 CDT’ 19 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 20:00 CDT’ 20 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 20:30 CDT’ 21 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 21:00 CDT’ 22 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 21:30 CDT’ 23 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 22:00 CDT’ 24 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 22:30 CDT’ 25 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 23:00 CDT’ 26 => ‘Apr 28, 2016 23:30 CDT’ 27 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 00:00 CDT’ 28 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 00:30 CDT’ 29 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 01:00 CDT’ 30 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 01:30 CDT’ 31 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 02:00 CDT’ 32 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 02:30 CDT’ 33 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 03:00 CDT’ 34 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 03:30 CDT’ 35 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 04:00 CDT’ 36 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 04:30 CDT’ 37 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 05:00 CDT’ 38 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 05:30 CDT 39 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 06:00 CDT’ 40 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 06:30 CDT’ 41 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 07:00 CDT’ 42 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 07:30 CDT’ 43 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 08:00 CDT’ 44 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 08:30 CDT’ 45 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 09:00 CDT’ 46 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 09:30 CDT’ 47 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 10:00 CDT’ 48 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 10:30 CDT’ 49 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 11:00 CDT’ 50 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 11:30 CDT’ 51 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 12:00 CDT’ 52 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 12:30 CDT’ 53 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 13:00 CDT’ 54 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 13:30 CDT’ 55 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 14:00 CDT’ 56 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 14:30 CDT’ 57 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 15:00 CDT’ 58 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 15:30 CDT’ 59 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 16:00 CDT’ 60 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 16:30 CDT’ 61 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 17:00 CDT’ 62 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 17:30 CDT’ 63 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 18:00 CDT’ 64 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 18:30 CDT’ 65 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 19:00 CDT’ 66 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 19:30 CDT’ 67 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 20:00 CDT’ 68 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 20:30 CDT’ 69 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 21:00 CDT’ 70 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 21:30 CDT’ 71 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 22:00 CDT’ 72 => ‘Apr 29, 2016 22:30 CDT’ 73 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 00:00 CDT’ 74 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 00:30 CDT’ 75 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 01:00 CDT’ 76 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 01:30 CDT’ 77 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 02:00 CDT’ 78 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 02:30 CDT’ 79 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 03:00 CDT’ 80 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 03:30 CDT’ 81 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 04:00 CDT’ 82 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 04:30 CDT’ 83 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 05:00 CDT’ 84 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 05:30 CDT’ 85 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 06:00 CDT’ 86 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 06:30 CDT’ 87 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 07:00 CDT’ 88 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 07:30 CDT’ 89 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 08:00 CDT’ 90 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 08:30 CDT’ 91 => ‘Apr 30, 2016 09:00 CDT’ Player Towns: Player-Owned Towns that have locked submission forms will appear in the game, and more Player-Run Town scenes with small NPC cores with basic functions (banks, shops, trainers) will appear across Novia. New variations on the town templates may also appear. POT-Only Lot Deeds: Since the addition of POTs, the amount of “potential” available land has greatly increased and therefore a potential demand for more lot deeds has been created. However that land is only potential, not guaranteed, until the owner puts down lot markers and unlocks the lots. So we still have to be very careful in how we add deeds to the game to make sure those who purchase deeds have a place to use them. So we are adding POT-Only Lot Deeds. As normal Lot Deeds sell out in-game (and in the Add-On Store) Portalarium will sell limited quantities of POT-only Lot Deeds in the game (and in the Add-On Store). These deeds can only be used inside Player-Owned Towns. These will only be sold in the lot sizes that sell out and will be sold for the exact same price as normal lot deeds. NOTE: At this time that means we have only introduced Village sized POT-only Lot Deeds (but only in the Add-On Store since lots are not currently being limited in-game). As with everything with the game, we will carefully monitor the situation and if there is ever a significant shortage of lot deeds and a surplus of land we will release more as needed. Coastal Forest PRTs: One of the first of our new style of PRTs is in the game and can be found along the coastlines of Novia and the Hidden Vale. This PRT template is based on the Forest 01 POT template (aka PAXLair). New PRTs include: Brekken Bay (coastal forest in North Paladis, north of Brittany) Coral Cove (PvP-enabled coastal forest in Midmaer, south of Blackblade Pass) Endurance (coastal forest in western Longfall) Taenby Landing (coastal forest in Quel) Interior Forest PRTs: Another style of PRT, this one based on a forested variation of the Grasslands PoT template, can be found scattered around Novia. Axwich (inland forest in South Paladis, south of Sanctus Spine) Bakkevoll (inland forest in north Verdantis, southwest of Dysborg Dorwald (inland forest in central Midmaer) Fons Vita (inland forest in central Elysium) Neufeld (inland forest in central Drachvald) New Holtrot (inland forest in North Paladis, south of the Paladis Shardfall) New Dynamic PoTs: For PoTs that used the new Lock & Submit procedure, we processed all new requests since R28 and any existing requests. This included requests that required a wipe like biome changes and ownership transfers. Aelasar’s Forest: Nested connection changed to within Brittany. Arx Draconis Aerie: Ownership changed. Renamed (formerly Ranger’s Repose). Converted to Mountains. Interconnections (with Port Arx Draconis and Arx Draconis Lowlands). Changed location. Upgraded to Hamlet. Avanish Hope: Converted to Forest 1a. Ayrshire: Converted to Mountains. Badger Hollow: Changed location. Converted to Forest. Bastion’s Point: Converted to Forest 1a. Beran’s Reach: Changed location. Converted to Mountains. Bladewyke: Changed location. Converted to Underground. Brickbay: Converted to Island. Brickport: Converted to Grasslands. Interconnection (with Harvest). Bricksands: Converted to Desert 1a. Bricksium: Converted to Swamp 1a. Bricktown: Converted to Forest 2. Brickvald: Ownership changed. Converted to Snowy Mountains 1. Brickvale: New addition (nested in Braemar). Caer Dracwych: Converted to Forest 1a. Carmel: Nested connection changed to within Brittany. Chaos Caverns: Renamed (formerly Unter Kampf). Cornerstone: Converted to Grasslands. Cottage Grove: Converted to Forest 2. Dead Horse: Converted to Desert 1a. Diamond Fields: Interconnection (with Sparrowfall). Dragonhame: Converted to Mountains. Drakenhof: Converted to Swamp 1a. Elementum: Converted to Swamp. En Nox: Ownership changed. Converted to Island. Renamed (formerly Salvation). Changed location. Interconnections (with Jade Valley, Jade Caverns, Port Phoenix, The Drowned Mountains, Sparrowfall). Eodon: Renamed (formerly Hawaii). Converted to Grasslands. Evergreen Farm: Nested connection changed to within Brittany. Falling Waters Fortress: Converted to Swamp 1a. Forlorn Peak: Renamed (formerly Obsidian Sepulcher). Converted to Mountains. Upgraded to Crossroads Village. Glenraas: Converted to Forest 1a. Gravewater Shores: Converted to Swamp. Green Acres: Converted to Forest 2. Changed location. Highland Keep of Clan MacDaddy: Converted to Mountains. Honor Hold: Converted to Mountains. Jamestown: Nested connection changed to within Brittany. Converted to Mountains. Jaxton: Converted to Mountains. Jeffrey Point: Nested connection changed to within Brittany. Kahli: Converted to Mountains. Knight’s Bastion: Renamed (formerly Dragon’s End). Converted to Snowy Mountains 1a. Location changed. Lacedaemon: Nested connection changed to within Brittany. Lea Lochry: Renamed (formerly Thalyscira). Converted to Grasslands. Changed location. Upgraded to Village. Lux Sanctuary: Converted to Mountains. Olde Haven: Converted to Forest 1a. Perfectus Mori: Converted to Grasslands. Relocated (minor). Port Arx Draconis: Interconnections (with Arx Draconis Lowlands and Arx Draconis Aerie). Recluse: Ownership changed. Converted to Grasslands. Renamed (formerly FrostSpire). Changed location. Reed’s Glen: Converted to Forest 2. Relocated (minor). Refugees Haven: Converted to Forest 1a. Reverie: Renamed (formerly Concord Haven). Converted to Mountains. Changed location to mainland. Rockslyde Shores: Converted to Grasslands. Ruins of Old Raven’s Head: Renamed (formerly Raven’s Head South). Sanguine Stand: Converted to Forest 1a. Serpent’s Den: Converted to Mountains. Changed location. Serpent’s Watch: Converted to Mountains. Siken: Converted to Swamp 1a. Sparrowfall: Converted to Forest 2. Interconnection (with Diamond Fields). Stinging Tree Hollow: Converted to Forest 2. Stormsong Vale: Converted to Forest 1a. Thapae Mizellmist: Renamed (formerly Mizell Thapae). Converted to Forest 2. The Barrowlands: Converted to Snowy Mountains 1a. The Highlands: Converted to Grasslands. Trysull: Converted to Forest 1a. Vale St. Julie: Converted to Forest 1a. Virtue Oasis: Renamed (formerly Aschfahl Festung). Converted to Grasslands. White Hart on Abundis: Converted to Mountains. White Hart: Converted to Snowy Mountains 1a. Wightwick: Converted to Forest 1a. Wolves Den: Converted to Forest 2. Performance: Major efforts will be done to optimize performance. This will include frame rate improvements, load time improvements, and memory footprint improvements. We will also begin officially supporting Windows 10. LODs Circle of Stones Rustic Player Homes Row Houses Crafting Pavilion Kobold Homes Guard Tower Adobe Homes Barn Windmill Village Tower Town Tower Round Tower Stone Keep Lord of the Manor Home Lord Houseboat Stone 2-Story Keep with Corner Turret Village Home Elven Home Edelmann Cabana Low Poly Collision: Kobold Homes Kobold Tower Sewers Obsidian Architecture Oracle Confirmatory Stone Bridges Creatures Tamed Pet Persistence: Tamed Pets now persist between scenes and no longer have to be re-summoned. Animating Pets/Servants on Player Lots: We fixed a bug that was causing pets and servants to not animate when left alone on player lots. Mage NPCs now use Ranged AI: Magic wielding NPCs now use the same set of behaviors as archers so they try to maintain ranged distance and won’t just stand there taking hits from melee weapons. Gustballs can be dismissed: We fixed a bug where there was no way to get rid of a gustball once summoned. Crafting List Mode for Recipes: Crafting Stations in List Mode now include a section of the interface that lists all the recipes for that station. That means you no longer need to have the Recipe Book open when using a Crafting Station. We also added searching to each list view and a category dropdown to the recipes list for further filtering. Tool Engraving (Modifiers): Alchemists can now create engraving kits that can be used to add properties to tools to increase their effectiveness. Engraving kits are crafted and then dropped onto the tool similar to a repair kit or dye. Only one engraving can be active at a time and you are able to replace the current engraving if you wish. Tool names will now display the effect in the name similar to weapons with effects on them. The effect of the engraving will vary depending on what kind of tool you use it on. Enchantments: This new Alchemical process uses gold to add properties to arms and armor up to 3 times per item. If success happens, a list of modifiers will be presented to the Alchemist and they manually choose the effect they wish to apply. Also, Enchanted items will display a + symbol for each enchantment applied in the name at the end.. example: Iron Longsword ++ or Copper Dagger of Lunaism +++. This helps identify modified items at a glance. Each attempt at enchantment has a chance to destroy the item, and the destruction chance increases with each subsequent attempt. If the item is destroyed, then it will be converted into scraps similar to salvaging. Critical Success: Criticals can no longer be triggered by batch crafting. Only manually crafted items get the benefit of a chance to be a critical success. Additionally, equipables are no longer the only items that benefit from critical successes. ALL items can receive criticals now (decorations, food, components, etc.). Criticals are now specifically tied to receiving increased experience from crafting. The “upgrade” aspect of it has been replaced by Alchemy’s new Enchantment system New Carpentry Recipes: Small Plain Longboat Large Writing Desk Small Writing Desk New Alchemy Recipes: Enchantment Tool Engraving Kit – Gold Tool Engraving Kit – Heavy Iron Tool Engraving Kit – Silver Tool Engraving Kit – True Bronze Cure Plague Potion Cure Poison Potion New Reticle Targeting/Free Mouselook Mode: For a while now, we have tried to avoid making our game modal. To date, we have solved that by requiring mouselook by holding down the right mouse button. This means that you can always have a cursor but it makes targeting hard, especially for ranged combat, and means you have to constantly hold down a mouse button (which players complain hurts them after playing for long times). Additionally most modern 3D games use free mouselook and use a modal interface to bring up a cursor for interactions, inventory, etc. So with R29, we decided to make the plunge and moved our game to be Reticle Targeting based. Please note that you do NOT have to keep the reticle on directly top of the target to hit it. Once you have a target identified you just need to have them in your forward arc and in range to hit them. You do NOT need to have the reticle always on top of the target. We are NOT a shooter. We are continuing to iterate on this new method and we are fully aware it is not quite there yet. We are aware of and looking at solutions for those of you with physical challenges we have not yet solved and those of you who want more mouse-centric options. Please be patient while we work through this which may take more than one release. Interaction is now based on aiming a dynamic reticle at the center of the screen. White reticle indicates nothing selected. Blue Circle reticle indicates a friendly NPC Red X reticle indicates a hostile target in-combat. Green Circle reticle indicates a lootable object. There are now two modes of interaction: default Targeting Mode and Interaction Mode (cursor). Use TAB to manually toggle between the two interaction modes. Bringing up any UI window (ex. inventory) automatically brings up a cursor. Targeting mode is the default state for combat. Entering combat mode will automatically put you in Targeting mode. Housing/Deco system still relies on Interaction/Cursor mode. World Items can still be looted via aim and click, but click-drag looting can only happen in Cursor mode. Interactive world items (books, candles) can be looted by using ALT-click. Combat: As usual we made various tweaks and changes to combat to improve balance and playability. Normalized Focus and Health Regen: These now regenerate at roughly the same rate (they were wildly different previously). Lighting VFX Polish: We improved these to be bigger and more impressive. Stun Scaling Refactor: In previous releases, the duration of stun effects scaled with the skill level. Now other effects and stun chance will still scale but duration no longer scales. Fall Damage Refactor: In previous releases fall damage was calculated as a percentage of total hit points. This made it so someone with 50 hit points and someone with 500 hit points would both survive a 9 meter fall and die on a 10 meter fall. This has now been changed so it caps at around 30 points of damage per meter. Fizzle Refactor: Over the past 5 releases we added multiple ways to decrease fizzle chance but never normalized the values of spells to match. The result was players were able to cast pretty much any spell with little to no fizzle chance in full plate mail. The numbers have been adjusted to make it more challenging for players in heavy armor to cast higher tier spells in some schools. Attunement: Attunement has been refactored. Instead of an attunement skill that is leveled independent of the skill tree, attunement is now based on the average level of all active skills in that tree. Additionally, we have removed the dichotomously opposing negative effects of leveling attunement (e.g. level Life will no longer negatives impact Death attunement and vice versa). An Attunement overview is now visible via the attunement icon in the Adventure Skills UI, and the level per tree is visible next to its icon when selected. Could either be listed under Combat, User Interface, or have its own section. Splintering Strike: Now scales with skill level. Armor Set Bonuses: Before, wearing a full set of one category of armor was adding to the armor number but not actually doing anything. This has now been fixed. In future releases, we hope to shift light armors types to have bonuses other than just armor value. Newly Blockable Attacks: The following skills can now be blocked by a shield and dodged: All bow attacks Death Ray Death Touch Obsidian Arrow (still pierces armor, just not shields) Searing Ray Torpid Torment: The base duration for this skill has been decreased slightly but duration now scales with skill level. Pet Root Effects: Now follow the same rules as player cast root effects and have their durations decreased by the target’s strength. Ankh Resurrection Timer: When a player dies, they will have to wait at least 30 seconds to resurrect using an Ankh. Upon reviving at an Ankh, they will gain a 15 minute duration debuff that adds an extra 15 seconds to that timer. This debuff stacks up to 2 minutes total wait. This delay and debuff are not applied to players who are revived using the resurrect spell or resurrected in any other way besides an Ankh. User Interface: We made various iterative improvements to the interface to improve playability. Drag Skills from Hotbar: You can now move locked skills and spells directly to and from locked slots on your combat hotbar without having to use the deck building UI. Players still need to open the deck building interface in order to assign skills to a non-locked slot and change which skills are in their deck to be drawn from. Title Display for Custom Books: Player made books once again list and display by the Book Title, not author. Manually Track Skill: In R28, we added the function that as a skill advanced, it would automatically appear on screen. The option to track a skill is in the right-click context menu for skills in the skill tree interface. Claim Rewards at Bank: Now, rewards are not marked as claimed until you claim them inside the game at the bank. Previously they would be marked claimed as soon as you logged in. NOTE: Rewards are still not available in Offline mode. Ongoing Tooltip Polish: Numerous tooltips have been updated to more accurately reflect their behavior. Mouse Sensitivity Control: Sliders have been added to the game options to allow the separate tuning of the mouse on the horizontal and vertical components. With the new camera changes this was added to help more finely tune the experience and help minimize the risk of motion sickness. Control Points Perks: We now have the ability to link the unlocking of items like doors and containers to the state of a Control Point. So as players successfully take and defend a Control Point, we can grant access to previously inaccessible content. For R29, we are testing this new feature in Vertas Pass—for each wave of enemies that players face, a new door somewhere in the the village will unlock and give access to a treasure chest, but when the control point is lost, all doors re-lock. Character: Behind the scenes, we are working on a revamp of the Female Avatar, but there are still many other changes players will see live in R29. Inverse Kinematics: We integrated “Final IK” so feet will now align to slopes and items at varying heights. Male Avatar Wearables Polish: We did visual overhauls on the following sets of armor: Epic Plate (Chest, Gloves, Boots Epic Cloth (Chest, Gloves, Boots) Fortified Cloth (Chest and Legs) Male Polish: Rework Male Run: We had some issues with the new run causing the shoulders to be too hunched over which we corrected. Hand Size: We scaled down the male avatar hands so they wouldn’t be quite so gigantic. Missing Royal Founder’s Weapons: The two missing Royal Founder weapons (Cutlass & Two-Handed Axe) have been added to the game. Blessings of the Obsidians: Collect the incredibly rare Crowns of the Obsidians so that the Obsidian Alchemists in Ardoris, Owl’s Head, and Soltown will sell you potions that grant powerful blessings. Potion of Capacity: +25% carrying capacity for 7 Earth days. Potion of Conservation: -25% Reagent use for 7 Earth days. Potion of Preservation: -25% armor, weapon, shield damage for 7 Earth days. Potion of Stamina: -50% Focus drain on double tap sprinting for 7 Earth days.    Potion of Precision: +15% Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills for 7 Earth days. Potion of Expedience: +40% Swift Gathering to all gathering skills for 7 Earth days. Potion of Reclamation: +25 Salvage and Repair to all Production skills for 7 Earth days. Social: Outlander Title: In Release 28. we added the titles of Hospitaller and Outlander to the game to support the newly formed Hospitaller player group that helps new players. The Outlander title now defaults to “on” so Hospitallers can more easily identify new players. Two-Way Friends: The Friends system now requires confirmation from both parties and is no longer a simple one way follow system. We have managed to preserve the existing list of friends players had accumulated and migrated them to the new system. Player Note: Players can now write a short (128 characters) note about each player. Right-click on a player and select the View/Edit Note option from the context menu. The note is also displayed in the tooltip for players in social lists. /noevil emotes: The classic /nosee, /nohear, /nospeak emotes are now free to all players as starting emotes. NOTE: We actually added these ninja style in R28 but failed to note them. Archived Previous Release Sub-Forums: At the request of community members, we have made all the bug and feedback forums from previous releases visible as archived sub-forums so players can use them as reference. Player Housing: We were able to add a lot of new houses and decorations to the game through a combination of reviving old content (old Knight’s Keep), repurposing existing content (guard tower), and taking advantage of new content coming online for new scenes (fancy Artifice furniture and techy Kobold items). New Homes: Stone 2-Story Keep with Corner Turret Village Home (aka the original Knight’s Keep) Wood & Stone 2-Story Guard Tower Village Home (aka the Guard Tower) Decorations: Gondola Small Longboat Small Plain Longboat (crafted) Potted Plants and Trees (11) Juniper Trees Sculpted Juniper Trees Marble Inlaid Pavers Vintage Red & Blue Velvet Furniture Sets (Sofa, Chairs, Ottomans) Kobold Ornate Four Poster Twin Bed Kobold Red Leather Chair Kobold Red Leather Bench Kobold Tiled Dining Tables Kobold Ornate Steam Radiator Kobold Spiked Streetlamp Kobold Rotunda Gazebo Wizard’s Inlaid Leather Round Dining Table Ornate Wooden Four Poster Canopy Bed Hand Painted Dark Maple Coffee Table Vintage Cordovan Curved Dresser Wizard’s Inlaid Leather Buffet Wheel of Pain Ornate Wooden 2 Tier Oval Display Table Ornate Wooden Display Table Large Writing Desk (crafted) Small Writing Desk (crafted) Audio: More creatures and environments were updated with new or improved sound effects. Imp Lich Rabbit Kobold Troll Corpion Wisp Tesla Towers Wishing Well Elves Chest Mimic So, now that it is clear what you can expect, we should also be as clear about what you should NOT expect: Performance: We have only done rudimentary optimizations, and we do not yet have a full suite of performance fallbacks (LODs, etc.). This means the game will be quite slow on older machines, and due to memory usage, and might be unstable in certain conditions (like densely decorated areas). With each release, we will be doing further optimizations and adding to our fallbacks to improve performance. Crafting: The crafting system is in the game as a framework, but is still missing some key components like a full suite of Refining/Production Skills and breadth/depth of recipes. Game Loop: Release 29 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

We have decided to hold a 10 hour Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon from 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM Central Time (5:00 PM UTC to 03:00 AM UTC) on May 2nd, and to extend our Spring 2016 Bonus and Pledge Expirations from 10:30 AM until the end of the telethon at 10:00 PM CT. As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone in July, we are permanently expiring almost half of all pledges during the Spring 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, at 10:30 AM 10:00 PM Central Time (5:00 PM UTC to 03:00 AM UTC), May 2, 2016. If you were thinking of purchasing (or upgrading) a pledge before they expire, or purchasing an add-on item, player owned town, service voucher, or Make A Difference item, then now’s a great time to do it! Thru 10:30 AM 10:00 PM CT, May 2, 2016 we’ll add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit! (Read more…) The Spring Festival of the Avatar Telethon will include deep dives, lots of prize giveaways* (like coins, t-shirts, store credits, even pledges!), and even some surprises, so you don’t want to miss a moment of it! Warning: Telethon is Rated PG-13 for Alcoholic Content (might get upgraded to Rated-R depending on rate of pledges) Drinking / Dancing / Singing Rules: For every $2500 spent (new money only) Chris, Richard, and Starr (and other Devs that choose to participate) have a choice of 1 of the following: 1 Shot/Sip 1 dance (audience suggestions considered) 1 verse of a song (audience suggestions considered) * There will be some really awesome prizes awarded during the telethon, but you have to be present in the IRC chatroom to qualify for each drawing. ** This post will be opened for questions as soon as it is updated to include the segment schedules. Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to each segment 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. View the full article

Hello everyone! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar! We have a special guest this week: Sir Stile Teckel Male Cloth Armor Revamps Reconnecting with Underground Scenes The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) Final Lord of the Manor Dinner and Tour Richard Garriott in “Streets by VICE: Austin (6th St.)” Leostorm’s Church of the Darkstarr New Home Decorations 10 Day Countdown for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations! In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Echoes04-22-16.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post Echoes From the Caverns 04-22-16 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: Male Cloth Armor Revamps Reconnecting with Underground Scenes The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress) Final Lord of the Manor Dinner and Tour Richard Garriott in “Streets by VICE: Austin (6th St.)” Leostorm’s Church of the Darkstarr New Home Decorations 10 Day Countdown for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations! In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back Male Cloth Armor Revamps 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] Hey everybody! More revamps! This time I worked on cloth outfits. Here is the Epic Cloth Chest Piece, Gauntlets, Leggings, and Boots: Epic Cloth by fletcherkinnear on Sketchfab Here is the Fortified Cloth Chest Piece and Leggings: Cloth Outfit by fletcherkinnear on Sketchfab Reconnecting with Underground Scenes [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Keith “Sannio” Quinn] Hi, all! Every so often, Shroud of the Avatar adds a new underground area to visit: dungeon, sewer, mine, etc. They’ve mostly been stand-alone scenes, seemingly filled with random resources and randomly connecting to other underground scenes. As of this release, the randomness begins to go away as we start embracing a “grand underground plan.” Below are the core elements of the plan: Travel Within Underground Sectors: All shared, general-purpose underground areas will be grouped in “small” sectors. Many underground areas within a sector will connect other areas within the same sector. Travel across these connections is free and uninhibited. Travel Across Underground Sectors: Connection passages between sectors are rare and always behind a locked door. Each door can only be opened by a key obtained from a single “key bearer” somewhere else in the scene. (Currently, these keys are reusable but, eventually, they will be single-use objects. Cross-Sector Connection Passages: Connection passages will be underground scenes all their own. Although moderately sized, each will have a bounty of resources. Smarter Resources: Distribution of harvestable resources is important, and what is common in some regions will be rare in others. This is true for both surface and underground areas. Here are some changes related to our underground areas coming with of Release 29: Two cross-sector connection passages are being added to the game: Spindrift Passage and Paladis Passage. More such passages will be added in future releases. The Rise has moved to its permanent home under the Forsaken Vale in Verdantis. Its temporary connections to the western Novia underground scenes have been replaced with access points in Superstition Canyon, North Varisalla Foothills, Verdantis Mines, and Resolute Sewers. Underground resources have shifted a bit as we improve where resources can be found. Spindrift Passage (shown below) tracks underneath the vast Spindrift Bay. Paladis Passage (shown below) lies just below the surface of the Paladis Plains. Keith Quinn Level Designer Shroud of the Avatar 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] Wait! What is this?!?!? Having delved even further into Artifice, and sampled several other (somewhat more heinous) paradises (and the denizens that seem to enjoy them), proceeding through yet another golden doorway has caused you to materialize within a cobweb-covered dungeon corridor filled with the strewn bones of seemingly hundreds of poor, lost souls. The architecture here is confusingly reminiscent of so many of the ancient stone passageways that litter the underworld of the realms of Novia, and as you begin to wander through them you realize that every turn and twist feels like the last, and yet seems to lead to more and more such paths, winding away in every direction like some labyrinthine hell. The only lights here, except perhaps your own, are torches emitting pale blue flames and the ever-present profusion of even more golden doorways that now seem to taunt you, taking you to places you may not wish to go… As if to add to the confusion, tarnished mirrors that provide little in the way of reflection hang forlornly on the walls at every turn, and soon you begin to realize how so many could have come to die here,…alone,…in the perpetual twilight of this haunted place… Just as it seems this torture might never end, you suddenly find yourself back again in a place of relative comfort and refinement. What was that terrible maze,…someone’s twisted paradise? Surely not! Why would such a thing exist in the glorious Halls of Artifice? Perhaps it was just a fevered waking nightmare after all… Merely the result of too much euphoria in so little time. But what does time mean in a place such as Artifice? Along the periphery of the comfortable chamber before you, chairs are arrayed around small tables, a few books rest on small shelves, and here and there a few bowls of fruit tempt the observer to come, sit, and rest. At the room’s center, beneath a recessed ceiling lit by an ornate chandelier, is a desk littered with books, scrolls, and an inkwell. Beyond the desk another set of bronze doors lay closed before you, but no locks seem to bar your way. Here you will be greeted by a functionary of this mystic place, and an apparent servant of he who occupies the royal hall beyond those waiting doors. As you enter the lavish throne room beyond, you immediately realize something is wrong. Debris from the ceiling above litters the floor, several of the great columns which support that ceiling have fallen to ruin, and cobwebs formed by years of neglect cover almost every surface, creating the look of aged veils that drape the stained glass windows like ghastly shrouds. At the far end of the hall, a figure sits on a regal throne, ancient rot having left nothing behind of him except his very bones. This grand hall was meant to house hundreds of members of this apparent monarch’s court, and yet he sits alone, contemplating the crown that lays on a footstool before him, his empty sockets gazing out at you as you approach. Regardless of anything else that might transpire in this chamber, you could wonder if this is what becomes of someone’s personal paradise when life has passed you by. Here this once mighty ruler sits, ruminating on the culmination of his reign, and the meaning of such power, for all time,…while the remains of his grand accomplishment rots and crumbles around him. Behind him, at the top of a small flight of stairs, yet another set of doors await, and beyond them, yet another golden portal beckons,…always beckons,…as you travel deeper and deeper into this place of eternal desires fulfilled… Ah yes,…glorious Artifice… Why would you EVER want to leave… I hope this finds you well… Scottie ^_^ Richard Garriott in “Streets by VICE: Austin (6th St.)” Richard Garriott has a brief segment in this VICE video about Austin where he talks about how Origin’s first artists were actually rock and roll poster artists from the Armadillo World Headquarters (and Shroud even gets shown!). Richard’s segment is at 6:40. Final Lord of the Manor Dinner and Tour On Friday April 15 we had the final Lord of the Manor dinner and tour of Britannia Manor in New York. Lord and Lady British (aka Richard and Laeticia Garriott de Cayeuex) along with Regent Darkstarr (aka Starr Long) hosted 8 Lords of the Manor along with 2 of their guests for a night of feasting, revelry and of course touring through the assorted curiosities and marvels that Lord and Lady British have collected. Those marvels include meteorites, automatons, suits of armor, swords, space suits, fossils, vampire hunting kits, mummified hands, Fiji mermaids, quack medical devices from the Victorian age, and the list goes on! Here’s the group amassed before dinner, including Prince Ronan and Princess Kinga. Lord British describing the discovery of the unmarked area beneath the street during renovations that is now the “dungeon” aka wine cellar. The group poses in front of the “History of the Universe” display cabinet. “Sit in the throne”, they said. “No one will stab you” they said. Lord British describes some of the many ancient weapons and armor in his arsenal. Delightful conversation and delicious food over dinner in the Hall of Automatons. Leostorm’s Church of the Dark Star The original Church of Chaos existed in Ultima Online on the Catskills shard, “Serving to bring awareness to the greatness of Blackthorn and what he had to offer us”. From a post by community member Amber Raine: September 28th 2014, the Church of the Dark Star (a church founded on the principles of Chaos) opened its doors to the Avatars of Shroud of the Avatar, in Valemark (at this time the township of PaxLair had taken residence here). The topics discussed within the walls each Saturday have covered various topics that would help enlighten Avatars no matter what side of the rift they found themselves currently on. In each topic High Priestess of Chaos Amber Raine would deliver a connection between how the founding father of this path set out upon them and how our current lives can benefit from such. Topics ranging from putting your past behind you to looking into the future. From change being a positive to keeping the hope that all things are possible no matter what they are. The Church of the Dark Star has been there to help guide and support our fellow Avatars. November 2014, Kazyn Phoenixfyre joined the church and our focus became that of “Equality”. This was a pivotal point in the life of the church. As we began to focus on all paths, Chaos, Order, Balance. Wether you followed a virtuous path or a more questionable one. All were welcome and all were spoken and appreciated. When we can all come together in one place, even for an hour a week, it is proof that anything and everything is possible. Today, almost a year and a half later. The church now sees buildings flourishing in a multitude of different Player Owned Towns in its name. From PaxLair (where the main base shall always be) to Berans Reach (and 8 other towns in between). The most recent Church of the Dark Star was created by Leostorm in Port Phoenix and is made entirely of Stone Building Blocks. It took almost two and a half months to complete! From Leostorm’s post: As some may know I had previously built a church for @Amber Raine and @WrathPhoenix to host their weekly service at. Well Ive finaly finished my second just in time before wipe. In total It took around 25k granite to craft the blocks needed and 5 add on store sets. Id like to thank everyone that helped support and donate granite to the cause. It was a lot of work to get it all to match up but was fun and worth it in the end, I learned a lot in process in which the next one I can make even bigger! anyway pics~ New Home Decorations We’ve added a set of Vintage Red Velvet furniture as well as several new potted plants and trees to the Add-On Store. Check out these samples: 10 Day Countdown for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations! As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone this summer, we are permanently expiring almost half of all pledges during the Spring 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, at 10:30 AM CT, May 2, 2016. The remaining ten pledges, as well as new Player Owned Towns, will be expired during the Summer 2016 Expiration Event. The pledges expiring May 2 include: Immortal Adventurer, Virtual Collector, Collector, Citizen, Knight, Lord, and Baron. If you were thinking of purchasing (or upgrading) a pledge before they expire, or purchasing an add-on item, player owned town, service voucher, or Make A Difference item, then now’s a great time to do it! Thru 10:30 AM CT, May 2, 2016 we’ll add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit! [More Spring 2016 Bonus & Expiration details…] 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 April is Adopt a Greyhound Month!!! – Screenshot Contest In the US, April is National Adopt a Greyhound Month! With many racetracks closing due to changes in gambling legislation, this year there are even more retired racers looking for homes. To raise awareness for these former professional athletes and amazing pets, community member SeleneNoctua is sponsoring a Greyhound screenshot contest! (details) 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 MashDungeon Crawl (Tuesdays, 7pm CDT) Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point is in Owls Head at the center of town near the trainer (map) 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, April 22 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) 10:00pm CDT Longfalls’ R28 End Of The World Party (Falling For Doc) From the People that brought you: r25 End Of The World Party (Doc’s Cotton Pickin Party). Teleport to Sand, Roper Docholiday, Minerva, or Night Fury. Run down the road and party is on the left! (details) Saturday, April 23 6:00am 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) 2:00pm CDT Beran League Construction – Harvest & Craft A weekly craft & harvest event for the purpose of supporting all towns, guilds and player run establishments within the Beran League! All harvested materials, crafted items and decorative items purchased will be collected and sorted in a specially designated warehouse. Town owners, guild leaders and proprietors of the Beran League (and those designated by them) will have access. (Meet at the Bear Tavern in Beran’s Reach, map; or teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; details) 4:00pm CDT Bear Tavern 3rd Anniversary Party! The Bear Tavern is very excited to be celebrating our 3rd anniversary as a guild in April! Please join us for some ale, happy conversation, dancing, and general merriment! From the Beran’s Reach entrance follow the left lighted path into town towards the moon tower. As you enter the town center the Tavern will be on your right with ivy fences. More information when available here. (Location: Beran’s Reach at The Bear Tavern or Teleport to Vallas Tellen) 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) 9:00pm CDT Podcasts and Poetry from TheCaverns.net Join Avatars Radio and TheCaverns.net as we share wonderful community poetry, stories and music! We have great talent in our community. Join us as we celebrate these wonderful artists! (details) Sunday, April 24 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: https://discordapp.com/channels/158859164490137601/158859164490137601) 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) 5:30pm CDT EVL Team vs. Team Tournament EVL is putting the call out to any and all PvP’rs. Form a team of 3 and sign up for our first ever Team vs. Team tournament. The event will be held in The Underworld (same location as The Virtue League) at 5pm, March the 27th. Zone point for the night is Jar Laxle. We will be pitting teams of 3 vs. 3 against one another. The winning team will get a $10 add-on store credit for EACH member of the team. Get out there and get your teams formed, practice and prepare, we will have healers on hand for those that don’t make it to the end. If you have any questions or want to sign up before the day of the battle just send a whisper to Jar Laxle. (The Underworld at Aschfahl Festung) 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 28 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here. Upcoming Events 2016.04.28 – Release 29 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 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 The Bard’s Tale IV From the creators of Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera comes The Bard’s Tale IV. Thirty years ago, The Bard’s Tale put Brian Fargo and Interplay on the map and launched a storied career crafting some of the most beloved cRPGs in gaming history. Today, we return to Skara Brae for the long-awaited dungeon-crawling sequel to the Bard’s Tale trilogy — the games that helped define the genre. The Bards Talke IV it is a single-player, party-based cRPG with dynamic phase-based combat, challenging puzzles and riddles, and a game set to beautiful Gaelic music, where the Bard’s songs and melodies affect gameplay. View the full article

Isn't PaxLair City just PaxLair? What is the difference?!?

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with a thrilling story from Cianna, entitled They Call her Lady Warrior Joining me in this podcast I’d like to welcome Solstar as Sir Kenton, and littelgeeklost as Cianna. Background music by Smartsound She stood in the darkness of a tavern corner, watching the man at the bar, a knight, revelling in drunken stupor with his men. She looked again, searching her memory. It was him. She was sure of it. She approached the bar. “Good sir, I need a word with you.” The man slowly turned from his drink to look at her, a young woman in an old and tattered cloak, a hat worn low upon her brow. He smiled at the cat calls coming from his men. He looked her over, head to foot, slowly, lingeringly, enjoying every moment of her discomfiture. His men laughed. “And what can I do for you, miss,” he said, winking. “I haven’t much time, but I’m at your disposal, nonetheless.” The cat calls got louder. It was all she could do to keep her temper in check. But it would not do to ruin her moment, not when it had been so long in coming. “I must speak with you in private, sir. It’s a…a personal matter.” She forced herself to look him in the eyes, bringing a small smile to her lips. “Please. It’s important.” With his men jeering and laughing, the knight stood, bowing to her with mock courtesy. “After you, milady.” She turned, and led the way from the tavern, hearing him stumble behind her, but not stopping to help. He would follow. They always did. She led him across the road to the stables and heard him chuckle when he realized where they were going. “Good thinking. There will be a bed of soft hay in there for our merry-making, to be sure.” She stepped into the dim light of the stable, then turned to watch him enter the building. He closed the door behind him, still leering. She removed the hat she was wearing so that her eyes were no longer shrouded. “Hello, Sir Kenton.” The knight peered at her in the darkness, confusion written on his face. “How do you know my name? Do I know you?” “You worked for my father some years back,” she said, an icy tone creeping into her voice. “When he was married to my mother, the Lady Valandra.” He took a step closer but stopped when she withdrew a blade that had been hidden in her cloak. He searched her face. “My God, it’s Cianna, isn’t it? I thought you were dead. You should have died along with your….” “Mother.” She finished the sentence for him. “You only got half of your dirty work done, Kenton. My mother died. I survived.” In spite of her blade, he was unafraid. “Well, well. The brat still lives. Your father will be so disappointed when I inform him.” “You won’t have the chance, I’m afraid. That’s an honor I prefer to reserve for myself.” “Look, I have to get back to my men. You have something to say to me, little girl, get on with it. I’m an important man and I don’t have time for the likes of you, you half-bred daughter of a whore.” He turned as if to leave but, faster than lightning, she struck him with the hilt of her weapon. He fell to the ground, gasping for breath. “Don’t you dare speak of my mother like that, you miserable cur,” she said. “You shall pay a forfeit for her death: your life for hers. It’s fitting, and one of many debts I plan to collect.” He sneered at her words, then stopped as her blade came to rest just above his heart. “Go on, then,” he taunted her. “Do it. Let’s see what you’re made of, little girl.” She didn’t move. “You’re nothing like your father, are you. You’re weak and undisciplined, just like your mother. Foolish woman. She was married to the most powerful elf in the kingdom, barring the High King himself, and she threw it all away for love.” He spat the word out. “My father is an evil man,” she said, “and he’s hurt too many people that I love. Once, I merely hoped to avoid him for the rest of my life. Now, I wish to see him pay a price for all he’s done. To me, to my mother, to everyone I’ve ever loved. And the penance starts with you.” Still she made no move. “You’re a fool, not a warrior,” he laughed. “You’ve got the weak heart of a woman. Your words are brave, but not your will.” “Beneath this bravado beats the heart of a woman, yes. Sometimes I wish it were not so,” she said, sighing. At her words, the knight looked up quickly, sensing victory. “You can’t do it, can you.” He rose to his knees, her blade still hovering over his heart. “Put that away, stupid girl. You know you’re going to let me live.” She looked away for a moment, as if lost in thought, then turned back to the figure before her. “No,” she said, driving her sword home. “I’m not.” She looked down at the body bleeding out before her. “Never mistake compassion for cowardice,” she whispered. Wiping her blade clean, she mentally checked a name off the list she kept in her head. Then, with a sad smile on her face, she slipped into the cover of night, and was gone. http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/They_Call_Her_Lady_Warrior_by_Cianna.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post They Call Her Lady Warrior – by Cianna – narrated by Asclepius, Solstar, and littlegeeklost appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article

Hello everyone! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar! Making of Central Brittany Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 28 Postmortem Richard Garriott at Cartoons on the Bay (Venice, Italy) Richard Garriott at the Explorer’s Club New (Old) Player Homes New Boat Decorations Lot Deed Sale and Player Owned Town Lot Deeds SeleneNoctua’s Video Walkthrough of Skrekk The Gallery of Horrors Longfall’s R28 End of the World Party 17 Day Countdown for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Echoes04-15-16.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post Echoes From the Caverns 04-15-16 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: Making of Central Brittany Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 28 Postmortem Richard Garriott at Cartoons on the Bay (Venice, Italy) Richard Garriott at the Explorer’s Club New (Old) Player Homes New Boat Decorations Lot Deed Sale and Player Owned Town Lot Deeds SeleneNoctua’s Video Walkthrough of Skrekk The Gallery of Horrors Longfall’s R28 End of the World Party 17 Day Countdown for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations Community Resources – Players Helping Players In-game Community Events Upcoming Events Backer Shipping Addresses Recommended Projects to Back The Making of Brittany This the continuing update on progress on Brittany. Central Brittany is scheduled to go live in Release 29. [From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar] CITY OF BRITTANY LAYOUT Hey guys, SorcerousSteve here to give you an update on the City of Brittany! As Brittany approaches its final stages, I have compiled a map with all the current player lot locations and interesting locations you will find in the city. In designing Brittany I wanted every section of the city to feel unique, below you’ll see names of neighborhoods and streets that not only give an identity to the different sectors but I hope will help you guys, the players in establishing your homes and identifying with specific areas. Looking West from Portside: Rollo’s Parade: Quinn’s Peak: At the fork of Old Holtrop Road and Cotton Road: Zaldivar Square: Hope you enjoyed this glimpse of Brittany! Esteben Zaldivar Level Designer Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 28 Postmortem We had a great Hangout of the Avatar this week, with Richard, Starr, Chris, Lum, and Gina chatting about Release 28 and providing a sneak peek at Release 29. FireLotus fielded lots of questions and feedback live in the chat-room and from the original post! We gave out lots of prizes including store credits, ISS mission patches from Richard’s trip to space, a Shroud of the Avatar T-shirt, and more! For every $1000 pledged during the Hangout Chris did shots while Starr either sang or danced. Did we mention that Starr is tone deaf? You have been warned. Here is the video in case you missed it live: Richard Garriott at Cartoons on the Bay (Venice, Italy) Richard Garriott received one of two Pulcinella Special Awards for Lifetime Achievement at the 20th annual Cartoons on the Bay animation and multi-media festival where he also served on the international jury. From their webpage: Richard Garriott de Cayeux, in art Lord British. Born in 1961 in Cambridge to American parents, he grew up in Texas. Had he not been in space on 12 October 2008, following in the footsteps of his father, a professional astronaut, he would be no less famous. Richard Garriott is, in fact, the first game developer to have created a genuine role playing game with his seminal Akalabeth: World of Doom (1979). It was soon followed by the creation that would mark his eternal fortune, giving life to an endless saga of huge success:Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (1980). The undisputed king of RPGs, with his masterpiece Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (1985), Richard Garriott makes another miracle in 1997, when with Ultima Online he creates the first MMORPG, or “massively multiplayer online role playing game,” according to the definition that he coined. It is an online interconnected world in which players all over the planet can live a parallel life, interacting and fighting. This intuition has changed forever the way people play and understand the online experience. Richard Garriott, who will be a member of the international jury at Cartoons On the Bay 2016, will also receive a much-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, holding a special master class. Richard, ever gracious, had this to say about receiving the award: “I received a “Special Award for Contributions to Computer Gaming”, specifically for the many advances brought to gaming through games I have helped lead. I was very grateful to be there and receive this award, but also noted from the stage: “I have had the good fortune to be in this industry for many years and so have had many opportunities to help advance the state of the art, but it is important to thank the teams who built Ultiima, Ultima Online & Tabula Rasa that I have worked with in making these games, many of whom I still work with after decades in this business. It is often really others on the team, who have made these advances and deserve credit for this award.” While at the festival Richard was featured on Rai.tv in multiple segments. The first segment with Richard starts at 8:40. The second segment starts at 17:39. Richard Garriott at the Explorer’s Club Richard Garriott was recently featured on the Tumble Science Podcast for Kids where they interviewed him at the famed Explorer’s Club in New York City, New York. Richard describes his own explorations that include meteorite hunting, and even teaches you how to hunt for meteorites yourself! New (Old) Player Homes Several community members suggested that we turn the Wood & Stone Guard Tower used in various towns, like Kingsport (and in Player Owned Towns) into a Player Home. So we did! In the process, we added an interior floor and some windows for that floor. The Wood & Stone Guard Tower Village Home can be found in the Add On Store. We also had some community requests to reintroduce the original Knight’s Keep from the Knight’s pledge that was replaced with a new model. This venerable old structure has been re-introduced to the game and can be found in the Add On Store. New Boat Decorations When we created the Gondola and Gondolier system for Ardoris to facilitate quick transportation across one of our largest cities, we used one of our default boats but we always wanted a custom gondola. In fact, gondolas were present in the earliest concept sketches of Ardoris. For Release 29, we created these Gondolas and placed them in Ardoris. In the process we used that asset to create three new home decorations. This Small Plain Longboat can be crafted in the game: The Gondola (as seen in Ardoris) and Small Longboat are both available in the Add On Store. Lot Deed Sale and Player Owned Town Lot Deeds We are excited to announce that, based on community feedback, we are adding a new type of Lot Deed to the game: Player Owned Town Lot Deeds. To launch the program, we are adding 1000 POT Village Lot Deeds to the Add On Store and reducing the prices of all Lot Deeds to their original sale price. Furthermore, we are removing 350 Row Lot Deeds from the Add On Store and reserving them for future in-game purchase, to increase the number of in-game Lot Deeds purchasable for in-game gold. The reasoning and details about how this all works is as follows. Land in New Britannia is a limited commodity, thus, Lot Deed availability is tied to land availability (as has been consistently stated since the Kickstarter). This is to prevent the unpleasant experience of purchasing a Lot Deed yet being unable to find any land to claim. In order to do that, we are going to carefully control how lot deeds are introduced into the game. There are three ways Lot Deeds can be purchased: Pledges: Certain pledges come with lot deeds and these lot deeds also are tax free. Note that these pledges and the tax free Lot Deeds that come with them, are all expiring during the May and July 2016 Expiration Events. Add-On Store: These have defined quantities of which Village have sold out. These lot deeds are taxed at the same rate as in-game Lot Deeds In-Game with gold: This number will be 30% of the total of the above two numbers and will not exceed the amount of available land in the game. Currently these are purchased directly from in-game merchants but starting with Release 33 there will be a new distribution method that will insure a more fair distribution method. Since the addition of POTs, the amount of “potential” available land has greatly increased and therefore a potential demand for more lot deeds has been created. However that land is only potential, not guaranteed, until the owner puts down lot markers and unlocks the lots. So we still have to be very careful in how we add deeds to the game to make sure those who purchase deeds have a place to use them. So we are adding the following: POT Lot Deeds: As normal Lot Deeds sell out in-game (and in the Add On Store) Portalarium will sell limited quantities of PoT only Lot Deeds in the game (and in the Add On Store). These deeds can only be used inside Player Owned Towns. These will only be sold in the lot sizes that sell out and will be sold for the exact same price as normal lot deeds. NOTE: At this time that means we would only introduce Village sized PoT only Lot Deeds (but only in the Add On Store since lots are not currently being limited in-game). As with everything with the game, we will carefully monitor the situation and if there is ever a significant shortage of lot deeds and a surplus of land we will release more as needed. SeleneNoctua’s Video Walk-through of Skrekk Community member SeleneNoctua visited Skrekk in Release 28 and recorded her experience in this amazing video walkthrough where she speculates on the fate of the Kobold denizens. You can find the video in her forum post here. The Gallery of Horrors Community member Eriador’s Gallery of Horrors continues to amaze visitors by pushing the very limits of what decoration system is capable of doing. The Dragon, Skeleton and Title image below can only be viewed by climbing into a tower and takes up multiple keep sized lots!!! Here is a map of the Hidden Vale laid out in miniature! Don’t take our word for it! As you can see below a veritable cavalcade of players are showering praise upon the Gallery! Hurry up and see it before the wipe in Release 29 and it all gets replaced with the next Gallery of Horrors! Longfalls’ R28 End Of The World Party (Falling For Doc) From the People that brought you: r25 End Of The World Party (Doc’s Cotton Pickin Party). Momento Mori & Sandillox Ent Now Bring You: Longfalls’ r28 End Of The World Party (Falling For Doc) *~*Spectro Mori*~* 10:00pm CDT April 22nd….. Tune in for Weekly Updates! Music Broadcasted On Avatars Radio w/ Dj Apollox Evanheart Teleport to Sand, Roper Docholiday, Minerva, or Night Fury. Run down the road and party is on the left! Special Sponsor: 17 Day Countdown for 15% Bonus & Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations! As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone this summer, we are permanently expiring almost half of all pledges during the Spring 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, at 10:30 AM CT, May 2, 2016. The remaining ten pledges, as well as new Player Owned Towns, will be expired during the Summer 2016 Expiration Event. The pledges expiring May 2 include: Immortal Adventurer, Virtual Collector, Collector, Citizen, Knight, Lord, and Baron. If you were thinking of purchasing (or upgrading) a pledge before they expire, or purchasing an add-on item, player owned town, service voucher, or Make A Difference item, then now’s a great time to do it! Thru 10:30 AM CT, May 2, 2016 we’ll add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit! [More Spring 2016 Bonus & Expiration details…] 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 make themselves available, both in-game and out, to help new players (or veteran players) that are seeking guidance, or just friendly conversation. To facilitate new players and helping players to find each other in-game, all players are granted access to the titles “Outlander” (to designate player seeking help) and “Hospitaller” (to designate players providing help). While in-game, helping players can display their “Hospitaller” title to signal they are available to provide specific help or newcomer recommendations. 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”. The Hospitallers are hosting an in-game event at 2:00pm CT, Saturday, April 16th at the town of Wolves Den (see map) to introduce new players to the Hospitaller program (see forum post): SotAHelp.org SotAHelp.org is a player support site run by a team of dedicated volunteers, or Hospitallers, who devote much of their in and out-of-game time towards improving the new player experience within Shroud of the Avatar. If you have difficulty locating a Hospitaller in-game, then SotaHelp.Org, can help. You can ask questions offline (I Have a Question), schedule an in-game meetup (Help Me In-Game), browse the FAQ section and player resource area, contact us on Facebook, or email us at seekinghelp@sotahelp.org. SotAHelp.org also helps breach the language barrier. Simply click into the detail view on the SotAHelp.org home page of any Hospitaller to see what languages they speak. Let us know if you can’t find your language and we’ll help you find a Hospitaller that speaks your language! Interested in joining the Hospitaller team? If so, then contact a Hospitaller about joining, or head over to the SotAHelp.org website and register as a Hospitaller, or join us for our weekly in-game meetings (Sundays at 11am CT, TeamSpeak 3 Server: Pax et Veritas, 43.245.163.15:10099). 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 SotAwiki is another of the early Shroud of the Avatar resource sites. 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! They’ll be sure to include more information about desired topics as they strive to provide a complete and robust Wiki for Shroud of the Avatar! Avatars’ Radio 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. Created by the Shroud of the Avatar community, for the Shroud of the Avatar community, Avatars Radio is dedicated to serving the needs of our community while playing some of the best crowd-sourced music the community has to offer! SotAMap.com We continue to be blown away by the ongoing mapping efforts of the world of New Britannia at SotAMap.com! This amazing map allows you to pan the camera out for a global view of the map, 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. There are no limits here as to what character you can explore since we allow for any role-player or role-playing guild to join us from Shroud of the Avatar. 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 April is Adopt a Greyhound Month!!! – Screenshot Contest In the US, April is National Adopt a Greyhound Month! With many racetracks closing due to changes in gambling legislation, this year there are even more retired racers looking for homes. To raise awareness for these former professional athletes and amazing pets, community member SeleneNoctua is sponsoring a Greyhound screenshot contest! (details) 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 MashDungeon Crawl (Tuesdays, 7pm CDT) Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point is in Owls Head at the center of town near the trainer (map) 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, April 15 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, April 16 6:00am 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) 2:00pm CDT Hospitaller Monthly Meeting – Players Helping Players Have you seen people running around, sporting the title Hospitaller and wondered “What’s that about?” Well, this is your chance to find out! Everyone is invited, come ask questions and find out what we’re all about. If you’re a new player needing a bit of help, this is your time! You will have our undivided attention. You can also find out how to become a Hospitaller. (Wolves Den, map; details) 2:00pm CDT Beran League Construction – Harvest & Craft A weekly craft & harvest event for the purpose of supporting all towns, guilds and player run establishments within the Beran League! All harvested materials, crafted items and decorative items purchased will be collected and sorted in a specially designated warehouse. Town owners, guild leaders and proprietors of the Beran League (and those designated by them) will have access. (Meet at the Bear Tavern in Beran’s Reach, map; or teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; 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) 8:00pm CDT Vengeance PVP FFA or Brackets Tournament Meet in Vengeance and we’ll plan a location for a PVP FFA or Brackets tournament (PoT of Vengeance) 9:00pm CDT Podcasts and Poetry from TheCaverns.net Join Avatars Radio and TheCaverns.net as we share wonderful community poetry, stories and music! We have great talent in our community. Join us as we celebrate these wonderful artists! (details) Sunday, April 17 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) 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 basically 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 of a $20 store credit! Runner up prizes will include a Ferocious Red Spider and more top gear. The EVL Gladiators will do their very best to slow you down using a variety of magic spells along the course. Join us in Novia at 4pm NBT (CST) in the Underworld PVP town of Unter Kampf (same location as the Virtue League PVP Tournament). Registration & Practice is open from 4:00 to 4:30 so make sure to get there on time so you can check out the course and get signed up! Complete Rules will be handed out upon registration and everyone is encouraged to come along and root for their favorite Runner or their favorite Gladiator! (The Underworld at Aschfahl Festung; map. Teleport point for the Gauntlet are avatars EVL, Sheamus McGuinness, & Jade; 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 28 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here. Upcoming Events 2016.04.22 – PAX East 2016.04.28 – Release 29 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 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 Descent: Underground Eric “Wingman” Peterson and team are bringing back six-degrees-of-freedom combat by blasting 90’s action game favorite, Descent, into the 21st Century with current-generation gaming technology. Descent: Underground is more than a graphics upgrade. Get ready for multiple types of customizable ships! Prepare for upgradable weapons and sensors with richly-detailed tech trees. Brace yourself for destructible voxel maps with new power-ups and mod tools to make your own maps and more! View the full article

Heartthrob by Apollox Evanheart Music by Omnibeats I’m the gift That you never knew you needed Sex appeal with a splash of conceited Stare at me to long Think you’ve cheated Blizzard outside I just got it heated Drooling at the mouth I can understand Got a boy at Home But you need yourself man You got your toys for delight But what you really need is a Novian Knight I’ll try to be sensitive Im there for your needs Always eager and willing to please There’s the moment Its time for me to Seize Grab your hips, dip and squeeze Let me take your hand Show you what I mean This might be a fantasy But its not a dream Damn she grindin real slow She got me actin like ive never seen this sh* before She got this place lit on fire Make a Playa Knight want to suddenly retire She Whispered naughty things She seemed wild A Devilish Look But a Angel when she smiled She had me captivated Had me mesmerized I’m The Knight but felt like she compromised The night seemed long And the music was bumping The music got aggressive And our bodies kept rubbing Filthy Stag was crowded Party was getting lit Best time of my life That’s Safe to admit A generous Knight I paid for all drinks I caught her off guard She didn’t know what to think She whispered in my ear I want to see if its possible That we can go somewhere Where cloths are optional Wow she had me surprise Wasn’t sure if she wanted the Man or the Knight I guess I didn’t really care what it seemed I suddenly wanted Strawberries and the whip cream I took her back to my place So we could be fulfilled Kick back Avatars Radio and Chill A night a bliss A marathon a passion First night met Filled with compassion A fire within A bed set ablaze Stay in the morning Ill make breakfast the next day I’m the Knight of Wizards Rest I’m Apollox E You just managed To sweep me off my feet A heartthrob You just made me skip a beat A Cold Body You just Turned up the heat http://thecaverns.net/Podcasts/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Apollox-E-Heartthrob.mp3?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss The post Heartthrob-Written/Rapped by Apollox Evanheart appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns. View the full article