Jack T. Lamplighter
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Posts posted by Jack T. Lamplighter
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From last week’s Update of the Avatar #214:
The Rhun Ruins are one of the six ruined cities found in Novia that date back to the period in Novian history in which the Obsidian Order rose to power. (As described in the Sword of Midras prequel novel by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott). The exact history of some of these cities has been lost to time, but it is rumored that some of them may have been abandoned even before the rise of the Obsidians. Rhun was a city devoted to Compassion but has since been overrun with the undead. It is located in the Drachvald region in the northeast of Novia.
Rhun started as a clone of the Dysborg Ruins, but is getting completely rebuilt this release to have a unique layout and visuals. We are expressly focusing on being sure the map has interesting setups for PVP conflict, with plenty of space for hiding, escaping, ambushing, and skirmishing.
[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]Hey guys! SorcerousSteve here to give you an update on progress on Rhun Ruins!
This week I began further detail work on areas of the map, alongside adding more traps and making sure there are plenty of corridors, alleys, destroyed buildings and overall environmental clutter to provide an engaging PVP experience.
More interactive hazards and traps have been added to the Maze area, such as this pressure plate which under the right (or wrong) hands can turn the center area into an inferno!
Areas like the one below, nicknamed “The Killing Fields” by Lord British, are filled with plenty of deer blinds and perfect places for archers to stand guard and attack. In building this map, I was inspired a lot by the architecture found in the city Minas Tirith, such as this sloping city street that features multi-story buildings alongside jagged cliffs.
These huge gaping holes in the ground are remnants of what was left behind when obsidian shards ripped those floating islands off the ground.
The corruption brought along by Obsidian shards causes alien life to fill some of the ruined areas .
Watch last week’s livestream with Esteben giving the community a video tour of Rhun Ruins!
See ya next time!
Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer -
Here are the questions that we did not have time to get to. I tried my best to answer these but some we just don't have details yet to provide. I will try my best to follow up but please understand I probably won't have time to do any follow ups to these.
Phil Scott: At this time it appears that the inventory of a NPC vendor is the same for all vendors of a type. Is this going to change?
I assume you mean that all Blacksmiths in a given city stock the...
R38 Post Mortem Missed Questions -
Hello everyone! Here is the news of the week:
- City Kobolds and Kobold Chests
- Patterns: Gear and Decoration Reshaping
- The Making of Upper Fortus
- The Making of Rhun Ruins
- The Crawl to K’rul
- R38 Postmortem Recap
- Origin PC Steam Key Bundle
- Alienware Steam Key Giveaway: Lowered to Level 4
- R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
- Boss Battle of the Avatar – Screenshot Contest
- Community Livestream – Exploring Blood Bay
- Community Spotlight: Saint Haley – Player Owned Town
- Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund [Update: Telethon with Dev Crafted Gear Auction]
- Upcoming Events
- Community Resources – Players Helping Players
- Recommended Projects to Back
The post Echoes From the Caverns 02-10-17 appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns.
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Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
- City Kobolds and Kobold Chests
- Patterns: Gear and Decoration Reshaping
- The Making of Upper Fortus
- The Making of Rhun Ruins
- The Crawl to K’rul
- R38 Postmortem Recap
- Kobold Weekend Flash Sale
- Origin PC Steam Key Bundle
- Alienware Steam Key Giveaway: Lowered to Level 4
- R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
- Boss Battle of the Avatar – Screenshot Contest
- Community Livestream – Exploring Blood Bay
- Community Spotlight: Saint Haley – Player Owned Town
- Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund [Update: Telethon with Dev Crafted Gear Auction]
- Upcoming Events
- Community Resources – Players Helping Players
- Recommended Projects to Back
City Kobolds and Kobold Chests
In Release 39, we began work on what we are calling our City Kobolds. These are the Kobolds that live in Skrekk and other places like K’rul. They are much more advanced than anyone else in Novia and the source of almost all of the technology that you see in the game, including clockwork creatures and aether vibration amplifiers. City Kobolds use advanced armor and weaponry including chainswords, electric axes, gas guns, electric blunderbusses, grenades, etc.
In some cases, City Kobolds are friendly to players (depending on story elements) and there are rumors of City Kobold Merchants who sell rare Kobold technology to players. The other Kobolds players have interacted with until now have been what we call Village Kobolds, and will remain what players encounter in outdoor zones and small Kobold habitations. In Release 39, you will be able to find our first round of City Kobolds in K’rul. In Release 40 we will be updating Skrekk with City Kobold, including a new unique visual for King Kobarr.
Below you can see a post from our very own Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear, including some Sketchfab posts, one of which is a Sketchfab Staff Pick!
Speaking of Kobolds, we did an audit on the contents of all our bundles and realized that the Kobold bundles were the only bundles that did not have chests! So we are fixing this in Release 39! Kobold 2-Story Row House Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Bundle now has a Kobold Metal Chest in it and the Kobold Village Home Tax Free Player Owned Town Lot Bundle now has an Ornate Kobold Metal Chest in it (see pictures below).
In celebration of our new City Kobolds and the addition of the Kobold chests to the Kobold bundles, we are having a 20% off weekend flash sale on all things Kobold! This sale includes Kobold Bundles, all Kobold decorations, the Darkstarr Blood Reliquaries (in the Make A Difference store), the Airship Homes, and anything else that uses Kobold technology like the phonographs (see Kobold Weekend Flash Sale section below for a complete list).
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear and Matt “matpsch” Schmitz]
Greetings all!
So as some of you know, we’re starting to flesh-out the Kobolds in our game. Giving them their own unique gear indicative to their culture and technology. We just now got done modeling the Brawler and Gunner types. In the next release, they will be equipped with chainswords and electric blunderbusses respectively. In addition, we are also working on touching up the sounds and voices they will make — which are gnarly to say the least…
Take a gander and stay tuned for Release 39!
Here’s a brief glimpse of how you might see Kobolds interacting as in-game NPCs…
Patterns: Gear and Decoration Reshaping
[From a forum post by Starr “Darkstarr” Long]
Greetings Avatars,
In Release 39, we are going to be launching our system for reshaping items in the game that we call “Patterns”. This system will allow players to change the visual appearance of many items in the game while preserving the functionality and data associated with that item. In the case of a weapon, that means that it will still retain all of its stats including damage per second, durability, enchantments, etc. even though it looks different. Patterns will work on gear and decorations.
For R39, we are focusing on Patterns for gear (armor and weapons). Patterns are used to reshape existing pieces of gear in much the same way you would enchant that gear at a crafting station. You take a weapon or a piece of armor to the appropriate station (ex. Longbow to a carpentry station) and then use a pattern to reshape that item into something visually different. Patterns can be obtained through purchase and from inside the game.
Purchased: This includes items from pledges, add-on store, and bundles.
- Patterns in Pattern Packs: These patterns are consumed when used, so can only be used exactly once. They come in packs of 6 or more.
- Eternal Patterns inside Gear: When you buy a suit of armor or a functional weapon (add on store, pledge, bundle, etc) this gear has starter level stats, is non-lootable, is indestructible, and cannot be enchanted/masterworked. If you want to use the item in crafting it can be salvaged for an “Eternal Pattern”. When you do this salvage you have a 100% chance to get the Eternal Pattern from the gear. Please note that this forfeits all of its protections from destruction and PVP loot-ability. That eternal pattern can be used just like a regular pattern with the critical difference that it can be recovered by salvaging the item that it was applied to. This allows anyone who purchased gear or got gear from pledges to make exactly 1 item at a time from their gear if they choose. This also preserves the rarity of those items while allowing them to be used in the crafting system.
In-Game: These are patterns gained from loot in the game. Note that these will be visually distinct from the purchased patterns.
- Patterns inside Gear: These are gained from salvaging gear found on enemies in the game. These will be the primary source of patterns inside the game. We intend to have at least as many of these in-game patterns as there are of the purchased variety, if not more. There will be varying degrees of rarity for these patterns. For instance, katana patterns might be fairly easy to gain by salvaging katanas from bandits along the Perennial Coast, but the pattern for the Dastardly Vile Sword that Nefario the Obsidian Cabalist wields in the Town sieges might be almost impossible to get. Note that your chance to get a pattern from salvaging in-game items will depend on your salvage skill and the level of the item.
- Other Patterns: We are also considering having some patterns found directly as loot or available for purchase in game for gold from merchants, but this will be an exception.
Crafting: There will be a series of recipes similar to enchantments (with wildcards) with no skill requirement, such that anyone can use these patterns at a crafting station to remake their gear. Everyone will automatically have these recipes in their recipe book as well. The recipes will be based on item type and crafting station type. Reshaping will be restricted to the item type so that you can only reshape a 2-handed sword using a 2-handed sword pattern (i.e. you can’t make a 2-handed sword look like a dagger). Please note that Patterns do NOT replace any recipes nor do these allow you to make any items from scratch. These only allow you to modify existing crafted items.
Example recipes
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Reshape 2-Handed Sword: (Blacksmithing)
- Katana Pattern
- Any 2-Handed Sword
- Chunk of Coal (2)
- Smithing Hammer
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Reshape Leather Chest Armor: (Tailoring)
- Elven Elder Chest Armor Pattern
- Any Leather Chest Armor
- Wax (3)
- Tailoring Scissors
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Reshape Longbow: (Carpentry)
- Ornate Elven Longbow Pattern
- Any Longbow
- Wax (3)
- Carpentry Hammer
To celebrate the launch of the Patterns system, we are releasing our first pattern the Ornate Flamberge for a limited time! Our very own Fletcher “Skullmuncher” Kinnear designed this beautiful sword and it will only be available through the end of the Spring Telethon. Flamberge Pattern Packs, as well as the weapon itself (with the eternal pattern inside), are available for purchase in the Add-On store.
The Making of Upper Fortus
The Fortus River runs south-to-north through a large canyon in the North Paladis region near the Sanctus Spine Control Point. Kobolds have established a mining facility here using steam to soften the terrain. Bandits have a camp nearby and have been raiding the shipments of ore and therefore, the Kobolds have been ramping up their defenses of the mining facility. Expect strong resistance when trying to raid the Kobold mining camp; and the bandits are not going to be too friendly either!
This scene started as a clone of North Varisalla Foothills but is being completely rebuilt for a live date hopefully in Release 39.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]
I have a few updated screenshots to share. Enjoy!
The Canyon (notice the updates to the mushrooms, including materials and vines)
The Kobold Village
The Bridge
Path to the Human Settlement
The Fortus River
The Canyon
The Making of Rhun Ruins
The Rhun Ruins are one of the six ruined cities found in Novia that date back to the period in Novian history in which the Obsidian Order rose to power. (As described in the Sword of Midras prequel novel by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott). The exact history of some of these cities has been lost to time, but it is rumored that some of them may have been abandoned even before the rise of the Obsidians. Rhun was a city devoted to Compassion but has since been overrun with the undead. It is located in the Drachvald region in the northeast of Novia.
Rhun started as a clone of the Dysborg Ruins, but is getting completely rebuilt this release to have a unique layout and visuals. We are expressly focusing on being sure the map has interesting setups for PVP conflict, with plenty of space for hiding, escaping, ambushing, and skirmishing.
[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]
Hey guys! SorcerousSteve here to give you an update on progress on Rhun Ruins!
This week I began further detail work on areas of the map, alongside adding more traps and making sure there are plenty of corridors, alleys, destroyed buildings and overall environmental clutter to provide an engaging PVP experience.
More interactive hazards and traps have been added to the Maze area, such as this pressure plate which under the right (or wrong) hands can turn the center area into an inferno!
Areas like the one below, nicknamed “The Killing Fields” by Lord British, are filled with plenty of deer blinds and perfect places for archers to stand guard and attack. In building this map, I was inspired a lot by the architecture found in the city Minas Tirith, such as this sloping city street that features multi-story buildings alongside jagged cliffs.
These huge gaping holes in the ground are remnants of what was left behind when obsidian shards ripped those floating islands off the ground.
The corruption brought along by Obsidian shards causes alien life to fill some of the ruined areas .
See ya next time!
Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer
The Making of K’rawl
The undeground Kobold lab called K’rul is connected to the Kobold capital city of Skrekk through a long shipping tunnel called K’rawl that includes moving mine carts! Our goal is to have a first iteration of this dungeon live in the game for Release 39.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski]
Some early shots of the mine cart connection area between K’RUL and Skrek:
More to come soon!
Hangout of the Avatar – Postmortem 38 Recap
Our Release 38 Postmortem was this past Tuesday and it was great! We announced the new Patterns system (see above) and gave out some more details about K’rul (and the K’rawl which connects it to Skrekk). The community of course had a TON of questions (14 pages between the web post and Discord!) and we answered as many as we could in the 2 hours we had. As always we gave away lots of in-game prizes including:
- Ornate Flamberge
- Ornate Flamberge Pattern Pack
- Small Longboat Water Decoration
- Gondola Water Decoration
- Ardoris Guard Armor
- 2017 Valentine Cards
- Silver Clockwork Armor
- Store Credit
- COTOs
- and more!
We also ran a 24 hour 20% sale on all Water items and all Gear to celebrate the new water decoration system that we launched in R38 and the new Patterns system that is launching in R39! If you missed the sale don’t worry! We plan on doing more sales like this during Release weekends and there is the upcoming Spring Telethon which will have all sorts of flash sales!
We got through about 4 of the 14 pages of questions during the broadcast, so Starr “Darkstarr” Long got on the forums afterwards and answered the remaining 10 pages of questions that were missed (with some assistance from various team members) here.
Here’s the video for those who missed the postmortem:
Kobold Weekend Flash Sale
In celebration of our new City Kobolds and the addition of the Kobold chests to the Kobold bundles we are having a 20% off weekend flash sale on all things Kobold! This sale includes Kobold Bundles, all Kobold decorations, the Darkstarr Blood Reliquaries (in the Make A Difference store), the Airship Homes, and anything else that uses Kobold technology like the phonographs.
Here is a complete list of all the Kobold items you will find on sale this weekend:
Make A Difference Store
Darkstarr Blood Reliquary Bundle #4
Darkstarr Blood Reliquary Bundle #5Kobold Bundle Store
Kobold Starter Bundle
Kobold Wings Bundle
Kobold Clockwork Pet Bundle
Kobold Tool Bundle
Kobold Tool & Potion Bundle
Kobold 2-Story Row Tax Free Bundle
Kobold 3-Story Row Tax Free Bundle
Kobold 4-Story Row Tax Free Bundle
Kobold Village Tax Free Bundle
Kobold Village Keep Tax Free Bundle
Kobold Town Tax Free Bundle
Kobold City Tax Free BundleKobold Homes
Kobold 2-Story with Rooftop Deck Village Home
Kobold Dwelling Village Home
Kobold Dual Spire Village Home
Kobold 3-Story with Right Alcove Row House
Kobold 3-Story with Left Alcove Row House
Kobold 3-Story Tower Village Home
Kobold 4-Story Great Hall City Home
Kobold 3-Story with Open Deck Town Home
Airship City HomeKobold Outdoor Decorations
Stone Kobold Statue
Kobold Corkscrew Wind Power Generator
Kobold Wind Power Generator
Kobold Rotunda Gazebo
Kobold Spiked Streetlamp 6-Pack
Hot Air Balloon
Kobold Radiant Energy Coil
Kobold Radiant Energy CapacitorKobold Home Decorations
Kobold Ornate Four Poster Twin Bed
Kobold Ornate Steam Radiator
Kobold Tiled Long Dining Table
Kobold Tiled Square Dining Table
Kobold Red Velvet with Nailheads Bench
Kobold Red Velvet with Nailheads Chair
TeletypeWearables
Kobold Clockwork Wings
Leather Clockwork Wings
Aeronaut Wearable Pack
Aeronaut Hot Air Balloon Pack
Ornate Black Leather Aeronaut Helmet
Black & Chrome Ornate Aeronaut Outfit
Brown Steampunk GogglesWearables (Specials Tab)
Black Clockwork Armor
Silver Clockwork Armor
Steel Clockwork ArmorCross Promotions
Star Citizen Aeronaut Helmet Starter Bundle
Star Citizen Airship City HomeMusic
Cordovan Ornate Street OrganUmber Ornate Accordion
Ornate Bagpipes
Ornate Metal Phonograph
Ornate Automated 16-Cylinder Phonograph
Automated 8-Cylinder Phonograph
Aether Vibration Amplifier ConsolePets
Brass Clockwork Cat
Silver Clockwork Dog
Brass Clockwork Raven
Silver Clockwork Monkey
Silver Mini AutomatonPets (Specials Tab)
Blackened Metal Baby Clockwork Dragon
Silver Baby Clockwork DragonMiscellaneous
Remote Bank Access Device
Origin PC Steam Key Bundle
As we announced in Update #210, we have started a new partnership with Origin PC. We, of course, love the name of their company. We also found out that their community manager and one of their founders are huge Ultima Online fans! Our very own Richard Garriott uses Origin PCs for his desktop and laptop computers, so this partnership is a mutual admiration party. In Richard’s own words:
“I have been a hard core PC developer and gamer since the beginning, including when I was making some of my earliest games for Origin Systems. Origin games, like Ultima and Wing Commander, always pushed the envelope on what gaming machines were capable of. And to develop them, I knew I needed the best gaming hardware available. The same holds true for my current game, Shroud of the Avatar; a spiritual successor to Ultima which is in now in development at Portalarium.
So, about a year ago, I went looking for the best game system available to me, and I bought my first Origin PC. I was incredibly impressed! Everything from the ordering process through the delivery was top notch, and performance is that of a clearly superior machine. I was indeed so impressed, I now use Origin computers for both my home and office desktops and, of course, have an Origin laptop for when I travel. I could not be happier with these machines, and the great service at Origin PC!”
Our latest promotion with Origin PC is their “Share the Love” February bundle where, when you purchase select desktops or any 10-Series laptop, you get an Early Access Steam Key for Shroud of the Avatar (and other goodies). If you have friends who have been wanting to try Shroud and are looking for a great new computer, send them to the promotion here.
Alienware Steam Key Giveaway: Lowered to Level 4
If Alienware’s powerful gaming rigs are your preferred hardware, we have teamed up with Alienware Arena to give away Shroud of the Avatar Early Access Steam keys to Alienware Arena members.This week they have opened the promotion up to Level 4+ members (it was previously only available to Level 6+ members). You can learn more by clicking here.
R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
For Release 38, the Offline Mode save game format is changing to support new and upcoming gameplay features.
Here’s what you need to do in order to preserve your Offline Mode save games and characters:
- Patch your game client to Release 38.
- Load each saved game and then re-save. This will convert your save file into the latest format.
If you do not convert your saved games during Release 38, your saved games (from releases prior to R38) may not load in releases after Release 38. In other words, we cannot guarantee the ability to load pre-R38 saves after R38.
Our sincere apologies if this change causes any disruption in your gameplay. We always make every attempt to avoid having to make these kinds of requirements of our players when we make changes like this. After very careful consideration, we’ve deemed this change, and the accompanying requirement, as necessary. Please note that this change will not affect the online game or characters in any way.
As a reminder, Release 38 starts on January 26 and runs through February 22.
Please let us know if you have any questions on this update!
Boss Battle of the Avatar Screenshot Contest
Be ready with your sword and shield, or destructive magical powers, Avatars! Whatever deathly mechanics suit your fancy, you will need them today. We are kicking off Boss Battle of the Avatar, a screenshot contest that pits the nasty of the nasty creatures throughout New Britannia against the finest combat and screenshot taking skills players can muster.
All you have to do is fight (to the death if necessary) any recognized boss or mini-boss, capturing screenshots of the deathly scene unfolding. Examples are below. You can be alone or with as many others that are needed to take down the creature. As we receive submissions, they will be announced on Twitter and Facebook with eventually a gallery of all submissions on Facebook.
BOSS EXAMPLES
- Clockwork Dragon
- Dragon
- Daemon
- Ghost Corpion
- Phoenix
- Troll
- Lich bosses from the Town Sieges
- or one of the new named mini-bosses that now appear in the final wave of Control Points!
Community of the Avatar Livestream – Exploring Blood Bay
We explore the new Blood Bay scene in this latest Community of the Avatar Livestream! Blood Bay is a mixed scene with many new features, dangers, and dragons… watch on YouTube here:
Follow the game on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shroudofavatar for news of the next livestream!
Community Spotlight: Saint Haley – Player Owned Town
This latest Player Owned Town spotlight has Berek exploring the seaside port of Saint Haley! Neighboring Aerie, entrance to the town is as convenient as using the provided transport.When I stepped out of the boat that brought me here, the first thing I noticed was the breeze coming from the sea. The lack of other noises besides the soft crashing of waves along the shoreline, and the sound of the seagulls high in the air, instantly calmed myself from the rough boat ride. I also noticed the glow of the obsidian lights and the towering Oracle statutes off to my right.
I walked up the slope and found myself at a massive walled fortress. It was clearly an ancient Obsidian outpost with its dark walls and pointed spires.
Doug’s (Iron Maiden) Chemo Relief Fund [Update: Telethon and Dev Crafted Gear Auction]
Thexedor Markhamm has an update on the campaign and some exciting announcements!
Hail Avatars,
As many of you know, we have been running a GofundMe campaign for our fellow Avatar, Doug (Iron Maiden), who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Our campaign has run for 21 days and we’ve raised an amazing $17,000 toward our goal of helping Iron Maiden pay for the various chemotherapy treatments he needs. Thanks to all of YOU, we are nearing our goal and reaching the end of the GoFundMe donation drive. I wanted to let everybody know of a couple exciting events we have planned as we near the grand finale of our fundraising efforts on February 10th, 2017 @ 10PM CST/NBT.
The Iron Maiden Chemo Relief Fund In-Game Telethon
When: February 10th, 2017 (8-10pm) NBT/CST
Where: Dawn’s Keep (just S. of Central Brittany)
Guest of Honor: Iron Maiden
We’ll be hosting a massive in-game telethon/party event as we countdown the end of our GoFundMe effort. We invite all supporters to join us in game. This event will include a gustball tourney, a meet and greet with Iron Maiden, and an amazing fireworks finale. Also, several ‘carnival’ type events for you to participate in to help us raise funds and awareness for colon cancer. And of course, there will be prizes. Oh yes, many many prizes (like 3 Lord British-crafted war hammers
).For a full schedule of events and sponsors, please visit this thread.
To learn more about the BIG COTO GIVEAWAY, please visit this thread.
Hope to see everybody there (wearing blue and purple and, of course, your IMCRF cloaks!).
The Darkstarr & Lord British Collection Charity Auction
When: Now – February 10th (auctions ending during the telethon)Where: Shroud Markeptlace
The Lord of Chaos and the Sovereign of Virtue have been so kind to spend some time at the crafting tables to donate amazing weapons and armor for this charity auction. You can bid to win extremely rare and powerful relics crafted by both Darkstarr and Lord British. All proceeds (minus PayPal fees) of these auctions will be donated to the Iron Maiden Chemo Relief Fund on behalf of Starr Long and Richard Garriott. Please don’t miss your opportunity to wield and and wear supreme equipment crafted by the most famous (and infamous) Avatars in New Britannia.
GoFundMe Donation & Reward Deadline
When: February 10th, 2017 (10pm) NBT/CST
If you have not yet donated to the Iron Maiden Chemo Relief Fund, there’s still time! We will be accepting donations until the end of our in-game telethon. All donations of $25 or more made during this window will qualify for rewards (like the IMCFR Cloak – which is AWESOME) and the COTO giveaway. Please note, I will be distributing your cloaks in-game after I have verified your donation. Simply friend Thexedor Markhamm (in-game) and I will meet you to present your beautiful cloak.
In closing, I’d like to personally say THANK YOU for everybody who has donated and supported this effort. I had faith the community would come together when I began this initiative, and BOY WAS I RIGHT. We’ve proven that good works through gaming is possible and – together – we’ve made real magic happen.
Best Regards,
Thexedor Markhamm
Original announcement from community member Thexedor Markhamm. For more information or to make a donation, visit the GoFundMe campaign or the community forum conversation.
Avatars who pledge $25 or more to the GoFundMe campaign will receive an exclusive, rare, cloak in-game. The cloak is one of our community even Clasped Gauntlet cloaks custom-colored in blue, purple and silver, and carries the unique name: Iron Maiden’s Chemo Relief Fund.
Last Chance Exclusives
Better Hurry! The following Add-On Store items are expiring during the Spring Telethon
Upcoming Events
Feb 23, 2017 – Release 39
Feb 25, 2017 – Ultima Dragons 25th Anniversary Event
Feb 28, 2017 – GDC Community Management Summit: Care and Feeding of Wild Fansites
Mar 9, 2017 – Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017
Mar 17, 2017 – SXSW Gaming: Is Video Game Early Access Too Early?
Mar 30, 2017 – Release 40
Apr 27, 2017 – Release 41
May 25, 2017 – Release 42
June 29, 2017 – Release 43Visit the official Community Calendar to see the great lineup of activities our amazing community has planned for this weekend! And be sure to check out this month’s Release Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events.
Community Resources – Players Helping Players
The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.
Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.
Recommended Projects to Back
“I don’t want to build a game.
I want to build a universe.”From the mind of Chris Roberts, acclaimed creator of Wing Commander and Freelancer, comes STAR CITIZEN, a living, breathing science fiction universe with unparalleled immersion… and you’re invited to follow every step of development!
More than a space combat sim, more than a first person shooter and more than an MMO: Star Citizen is the First Person Universe that will allow for unlimited gameplay.
New Weekend Flash Sale for Star Citizen Promotional Packages
We’ve included our Star Citizen Limited Edition packages in our Weekend Flash Sale so hurry and get yours while they’re available!
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.A reminder to be sure that support@portalarium.com is unblocked from your e-mail account!
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Greetings Avatars,
In Release 39 we are going to be launching our system for reshaping items in the game that we call “Patterns”. This system will allow players to change the visual appearance of many items in the game while preserving the functionality and data associated with that item. In the case of a weapon, that means that it will still retain all of its stats including damage per second, durability, enchantments, etc. even though it looks different. Patterns will work on gear and...
Patterns: Gear and Decoration Reshaping -
Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the next instalment of this wonderful story from Andartianna. It is entitled
Harvest of the Shattered Moon
Background music by SmartsoundChapter 3, “Parting, Path, and Pass.”
Zazeriz said farewell to Snip-snip and headed east past the Sawtooth Thicket and the South Quell woods. After two day’s travel, Zazeriz stopped for a night in Honor Hold. The hold was pleasant enough, but regardless of how good or bad the location was, Zazeriz had violent dreams. An evil undead something or other terrorized Zazeriz in her sleep.Zazeriz had many bad dreams over the millennia, but lately they had been the same thing. Years ago she had been drawn into the Tower of the Shuttered Eye. Whatever evil force condemned all the souls that entered there was wrathful at Zazeriz for managing to escape. The talisman could not be a coincidence. The dark forces of the tower were trying to get Zazeriz to return; but before she jumped back into the tower, she wanted to make sure that Boniface had indeed been kidnapped to draw her there. Perhaps this was not a sinister plan, but a conflict between merchants which could be solved with money.
Zazeriz was not invincible. She often seemed that way because her life attunement was very high and her skill at healing unmatched. She had no great love of the art of damaging things, having patched up so many sick and injured patients over the years. She did, however, enjoy travelling and exploring. Being immortal had the benefit of allowing voyages endlessly. Zazeriz also had no lack of gold, which made her travels more enjoyable.
Zazeriz dashed across Brightbone Pass, bypassing the annoying skeletal mages and archers that lurked the passes. She had spent many hours healing in Brightbone Pass. Many of her companions over the years sought the rich yields of metals and herbs in the pass. They had all survived, thanks to Zazeriz’ healing abilities. With Brightbone Pass behind her, Zazeriz quickly made her way through the West Perennial Trail. There were many little towns on the road to Ardoris, but none that Zazeriz had time to stop in.
Chapter 4, “Ask, Answer, and Advice.”
Within a half day, Zazeriz made the outskirts of Ardoris. As she entered the city, lines of wagons waited to carry people out to the various towns nearby. She quickly crossed the large bridge that marked the entrance to Ardoris. She glanced at the various fishermen below the bridge. Zazeriz went to the town cryer, checking in when she entered the city. She asked him where Ardoris Imports was located, and he indicated that it was along the docks. Zazeriz asked the town cryer if he happened to know the owner’s name. He said she was called Simone Von Eglinger.Zazeriz went to the docks nearby and staked out a place to watch Ardoris Imports for a while. The guard barracks being close by made it harder to endlessly watch the shop. Zazeriz kept switching her location and then finally decided to go to the Tavern of the South Wind. Zazeriz paid Draulius, the tavernkeep, to rent out his rooms upstairs. What Zazeriz actually wanted was access to the balcony above the Ardoris Imports. From this vantage point, Zazeriz could keep watch on all the comings and goings into the shop.
After six hours of watching Ardoris Imports, Zazeriz came to the conclusion that Simone Von Eglinger did not run a very good business. No customers came anywhere near her store throughout the entire day. She was sure it was time to confront Simone Von Eglinger and ask her about her involvement in the disappearance of Boniface. Zazeriz walked into the back door and found no one present in the main shop. However, upon entering, Zazeriz could hear someone crying upstairs. Zazeriz followed the sound of the cries and found the second floor empty except for supplies for the shop. On the third floor, Zazeriz found a large desk with books scattered across it and piles of books lying disheveled around the room. There was still no sign of Simone until Zazeriz opened a small closet in the back. There she found Simone Von Eglinger sobbing in a corner.
Upon opening the closet door, Simone Von Eglinger looked up from her tear soaked hands and said, “I’m sorry, but my shop is closed today. Whatever you are here for, I can’t help you with.”
“I’m afraid this cannot wait. I found this talisman of the Tower of the Shuttered Eye left where my friend Boniface was last seen. I have been told that you were the last person to have quarreled with her.” Zazeriz said.
At this question, Simone Von Eglinger burst out crying. Streams of tears poured down her face. “I am so sorry. I had no choice. The spirits from the Tower of the Shuttered Eye told me they would kill me if I did not give the talisman to Boniface.” Simone Von Eglinger said.
“However did you get mixed up with the necromancers of the Tower of the Shuttered Eye?” Zazeriz asked.
“I went the region to get better maps of what is there. You see, I am a cartographer and new and exotic locations sell really well as maps. My store has not been doing well, so I thought I could make a quick profit by drawing the Tower of the Shuttered Eye. I was captured by skeletons upon entering the area. They took me inside where a malevolent voice told me that if I wanted to live, I would have to take the talisman to Boniface in Etceter. During the harvest season, I was to make sure that a healer named Zazeriz was in the locale. After I verified that you were the person mentioned, I made a fabricated story about wanting to buy beer from Boniface. I paid for the beer with gold in a pouch. I hid the talisman in the pouch so that Boniface would receive it. She must not have seen it until later the next morning as I still had the painful tattoo of three headed snake in a circle on my shoulder.” Simone Von Eglinger said through continued sobs.
“A tattoo you say? Was the tattoo something like this?” Zazeriz said, pulling a square piece of dried skin from a pouch on her side.
“Did you kill someone to get that? I could find no way to rub it off.” Simone Von Eglinger said in a horified gasp as she looked at the dried skin.
“This is a piece of my skin. I cut the tattoo off my shoulder and ended the Tower of the Shuttered Eye’s hold over me. I assume your tattoo vanished after you complete the task of delivering the talisman to Boniface.” Zazeriz said.
“Yes. The tattoo and the pain associated with it left me in the morning. I have been scared to death that it would return and kill me.” Simone Von Eglinger said.
“I would advise you never to venture close to the Tower of the Shuttered Eye again, as next time you may not be so lucky. I have received the information I needed and advise you to live a better life. Be happy with the small joys and do not seek wealth for the sake of wealth.” Zazeriz said.
Chapter 5, “Undead, Unknown, and Unprepared.”
Zazeriz left Ardoris Imports and headed back to the center of town. As soon as she got to the town bank, Zazeriz began checking what supplies she had available in Ardoris. Zazeriz had enough reagents and supplies needed to heal an army; and an army she would need. Zazeriz walked outside the bank and peered up into the star studded night sky. She began to concentrate very hard. Zazeriz sent out her call to all the members of Organized Chaos, the guild of which Zazeriz was member of. Immediately, responses came back to Zazeriz. The members of Organized Chaos would come to Zazeriz’ defense. A defense Zazeriz was sure to need as she attempted to rescued Boniface from the Tower of the Shuttered Eye.Once several members of Organized Chaos had teleported into Ardoris, Zazeriz began relaying the details of the past few days in person. She knew that the Tower of the Shuttered Eye was overrun with undead, having seen it in person some years ago. While Zazeriz could blast through many of the undead with Banish Undead, She would find Boniface much easier and faster with friends helping her to search through the many side chambers of the Tower of the Shuttered Eye. After a considerable amount of minutes explaining to her present companions the details of her latest travels, Zazeriz’ Guild Master Blight Mister teleported to Ardoris to assist.
“Who did you upset this time.” Blight Mister said walking up after appearing silently behind Zazeriz.
“I’ll have you know the fighting in Jacob’s bar in Resolute was not my fault. I simply told Jacob he should not talk to a woman in such a rude manner.” Zazeriz replied after rolling her eyes at Blight Mister.“If by told you mean punched him in the face then yes you simply told him.” Blight Mister said
“I’m sure if Iron Marshall had heard the way Jacob propositioned Iron Maiden he would have also punched him. I do not take kindly to such public obscenity. However to answer your original question I have upset the restless spirits that dwell in the corrupted bones within the Tower of the Shuttered Eye. If you remember I showed you the tattoo I cut off my shoulder. The spirits of the Tower of the Shuttered Eye thought to make me do their bidding through the magic imbued into the tattoo. I did not regard this as something I would do so I lied to them by telling them I would bring them a bonesteel dagger. I then escaped their possessed tower, cut the tattoo off, and have not gone back since. It seems they did not accept my refusal of service so they sent the hapless Simone Von Eglinger who stumbled on their tower to give a recall imbued talisman to my friend Boniface which would force me to return to their tower with the bonesteel dagger.” Zazeriz said finishing her last sentence slightly winded.
“Wait you found the bonesteel dagger they were looking for?” Blight Mister asked looking puzzled.
“Yes I came across it when I was healing people at the Blood River Massacre.” Zazeriz replied nonchalantly.
“Did you happen to find out why the spirits within the Tower of the Shuttered Eye might want it?” Mister Blight asked.
“The bonesteel dagger was sold to the attackers at the Blood River Massacre by the Satyr in Etceter. I followed the clues to figure out where is was made and who might have purchased it. The bonesteel was forged by a man called Boreas who is said to dwell in a place called the Artifice. We have not traveled there yet but as you may recall I have requested we investigate the place.” Zazeriz replied.
“Alright so we know where the bonesteel dagger comes from but not it’s details. Do you think there might be a connection to the Tower of the Shuttered Eye?” Mister Blight asked.
“Dark forces are working behind the scenes everywhere. It is entirely possible the malevolent spirits in the Tower of the Shuttered Eye want to hide or control the bonesteel dagger for some reason.” Zazeriz said.
“Well that certainly settles it.” Blight Mister said in a voice that attempted to convey authority. “We will Head toward the Tower of the Shuttered Eye, rescue Boniface, and put an end to any spirits that might try to stop use. We will likely need a short amount of time to prepare. I am out of arrows again.”
“ I have six thousand arrows in my inventory for you already. I will give you half of them now and carry the rest for when you need them. This will also allow you to pick up gold and items which I have little use for. I do however need a bit of time. I want to check in with Parker the master Life skill trainer in Ardoris and see if he has any new insights on healing.” Zazeriz said.
“Alright I will wait here in the square for the rest of our guildmates to arrive after I sell all this junk. I’m carrying so much weight with the arrows you gave me I can hardly walk.” Mister Blight said.
“I’m sure someone will be along who can carry you to the vendor if needed.” Zazeriz said in jest then turned around and headed to visit Parker.
The post Harvest of the Shattered Moon 2 – by Andartianna – narrated by Asclepius appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns.
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This latest Player Owned Town spotlight has Berek exploring the seaside port of Saint Haley! Neighboring Aerie, entrance to the town is as convenient as using the provided transport.When I stepped out of the boat that brought me here, the first thing I noticed was the breeze coming from the sea. The lack of other noises besides the soft crashing of waves along the shoreline, and the sound of the seagulls high in the air, instantly calmed myself from the rough boat ride. I also noticed the glow of the obsidian lights and the towering Oracle statutes off to my right.
I walked up the slope and found myself at a massive walled fortress. It was clearly an ancient Obsidian outpost with its dark walls and pointed spires.
As I approached the iron gatehouse, I was greeted by the captain of the guard. He shared his tale of Saint Haley, and then provided access to the town. The Captain of the Guard did warn me to be cautious where I walked. The flight line, including the walkway they were now on, is still actively patrolled and guarded by the iron hounds of the 42nd sqd.While browsing the shops along the main walkway, Governor / Duke Richard VonHaley spotted me:
Hello and welcome to Saint Haley, Master Berek! May I show you around?
Yes, please do! What can you tell me about the area?
The ‘Island of Saint Haley’ has always been connected with the sea and shrouded by fog that allowed this outpost to stay untouched. Originally a home for the Obsidian Order, it developed into an military air base when the outlanders arrived. The outlanders came on a night of the rare solar solace.
Since the squadron’s arrival, most of the previous danger’s creeping onto the land and from the sea all came to an halt. Because of the quietness that has settled over the town, more crafters come here from surrounding areas, and an active guild has made the outer beaches their home.
At this time we have some new spots for settlers, but the town is growing fast!
There is a core set of buildings left of the old village, where you see row home, well tended homes of families living here since the first days. The current administration has strict laws in place. Those who break these ancient edicts will feel the hand of justice, as you can see with the town’s wheels of pain. The gallows and iron cages nearby allow reflection on oneself while under judgment.
Aside form the occasional lawbreaker, the Grand Duchy acts as the local vendor to the Governor / Duke Richard VonHaley. The Grand Duchy displays a great selection of some of the most fine wares produced in our town.
If you look north, you see the newer flight line and another set of vendors. Many of these row homes are currently unoccupied, ready for people wanting to join the community. By the way, please forgive “Maximus Aurelius” the Captain of Guard being a bit grumpy lately, he misses the days of old filled with adventure and glory :).
Down the hill to the docks, where you came from, we see the more posh area. Judgements Path is its name. You can see the lights lighting the path to the Oracle temple marked by the old ruins that occurred at the time when the “Thunder Ships” arrival.
Who are the residents of Saint Haley?
We support our local businesses with a public crafting house with expect founder tables run, and provide the public town vendor as a central service. We offer a Gustball field as well and a worship location for the oracle.
Saint Haley is is primarily full of dedicated crafters, farmers and adventurers in a blended community, especially unique given the history of the town. We also host the Grandmasters in BOTH Adventuring (Ranged and Blade) and Crafting (Armor, Leather, Cloth, and Mining).
What makes Saint Haley unique?
We are gifted with a convenient location along Longfall Coast, directly north of our large neighbor Aerie. The lovely sea climate alone that surrounds the town just takes your breath away. What makes a town truly special and a place to call home though, is the people. Residents take great pride in our history and lore. Saint Haley’s governor is a member of the Britannia Mining Company (BMC), and many other residents represent various guilds.
In addition, we have our living history of the Obsidian life and an active military flight line with the two 42nd airships. There is even a public viewing spot with the balloon on the flight line, ready to show off our town to any guests visiting! You should check it out after our little tour here.
The only by-laws is that the integrity of the Obsidian Order housing must be maintained. This means only Obsidian homes are allowed with the exception of the airships. However, outside the town walls any home can be established. We also have a The Tower of Judgement – which has a PVP basement for those that wish to settle business the old fashioned way…
What is the future of Saint Haley?
Given its convenient location and the pleasant atmosphere at sea, we hope to encounter many new travelers wishing to settle here. A current project in the works is to develop some fun and competitive crafting events like a local merchant’s faire, or regional folk and shanty music festivals. These events will surely draw more visitors from towns like Aerie!
If you are interested in becoming part of the Saint Haley community, contact Richard VonHaley (Search for Saint Haley in the game, or Richard VonHaley in the forums)!
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The Rhun Ruins are one of the six ruined cities found in Novia that date back to the period in Novian history in which the Obsidian Order rose to power. (As described in the Sword of Midras prequel novel by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott). The exact history of some of these cities has been lost to time, but it is rumored that some of them may have been abandoned even before the rise of the Obsidians. Rhun was a city devoted to Compassion but has since been overrun with the undead. It is located in the Drachvald region in the northeast of Novia.
Rhun started as a clone of the Dysborg Ruins, but is getting completely rebuilt this release to have a unique layout and visuals. We are expressly focusing on being sure the map has interesting setups for PVP conflict, with plenty of space for hiding, escaping, ambushing, and skirmishing.
[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]
Hey guys! SorcerousSteve here with a sneak peek of the Rhun Ruins! Currently a work in progress, the Rhun Ruins are located on the eastern coast of Drachvald. Once a City of Compassion, its fascination with Obsidian became so high that it brought about its own demise.
Utilizing our new moving platform tech, we have designed a floating island that circulates the map. The obsidian shards (which are of great concentration in this area of the world) have torn up pieces of earth, as they refuse to be chained down.
Right before meeting the ocean the terrain drops off and forms the jagged coast line, it is on these ocean side cliffs that the Rhun Ruins are located. 
As a PVP area, Rhun will have 5 zones dedicated to different play styles. One of those is this maze; its circular design culminating in a central arena. All along the way we will be implementing some of the new traps that have become available to us including spikes, fire traps, and pressure plates.
You can see some of our new traps in action below. So be careful when making a wrong turn or you might walk straight into a spout of fire!
Stay tuned for the next update on the Rhun Ruins.
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Hello everyone! Here is the news of the week:
- The Making of Upper Fortus
- The Making of Rhun Ruins
- The Making of K’rul
- In the News: Richard Garriott: the man, the myth, the mischief
- R38 Postmortem on Feb. 7th at 3pm CT
- Boss Battle of the Avatar Screenshot Contest
- Origin PC Steam Key Bundle
- Alienware Steam Key Giveaway
- R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
- Community Livestream – A Crafting Hub for Developers
- Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund [Update: Telethon with Dev Crafted Gear Auction]
- New Stuff: Pristine Gothic Mansion Water Home and Water Decorations
- Upcoming Events
- Community Resources – Players Helping Players
- Recommended Projects to Back
The post Echoes From the Caverns 02-03-17 appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns.
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Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
- The Making of Upper Fortus
- The Making of Rhun Ruins
- The Making of K’rul
- In the News: Richard Garriott: the man, the myth, the mischief
- R38 Postmortem on Feb. 7th at 3pm CT
- Boss Battle of the Avatar Screenshot Contest
- Origin PC Steam Key Bundle
- Alienware Steam Key Giveaway
- R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
- Community Livestream – A Crafting Hub for Developers
- Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund [Update: Telethon with Dev Crafted Gear Auction]
- New Stuff: Pristine Gothic Mansion Water Home and Water Decorations
- Upcoming Events
- Community Resources – Players Helping Players
- Recommended Projects to Back
The Making of Upper Fortus
The Fortus River runs south-to-north through a large canyon in the North Paladis region near the Sanctus Spine Control Point. Kobolds have established a mining facility here using steam to soften the terrain. Bandits have a camp nearby and have been raiding the shipments of ore and therefore, the Kobolds have been ramping up their defenses of the mining facility. Expect strong resistance when trying to raid the Kobold mining camp; and the bandits are not going to be too friendly either!
This scene started as a clone of North Varisalla Foothills but is being completely rebuilt for a live date hopefully in Release 40.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]
I have a few screenshots of progress being made on Upper Fortus.
The Southern Canyon/ Upper Fortus Falls
The Bandit Camp
The Kobold Mining Facility
The Northern Canyon
The map is almost complete in terms of propping in general, though both towns are still in their earlier stages. You can expect more pipes, more steam, and more vines to add to the atmosphere. Ill post another update in the future as the map comes closer to being finished. As always, feel free to leave feedback!
The Making of Rhun Ruins
The Rhun Ruins are one of the six ruined cities found in Novia that date back to the period in Novian history in which the Obsidian Order rose to power. (As described in the Sword of Midras prequel novel by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott). The exact history of some of these cities has been lost to time, but it is rumored that some of them may have been abandoned even before the rise of the Obsidians. Rhun was a city devoted to Compassion but has since been overrun with the undead. It is located in the Drachvald region in the northeast of Novia.
Rhun started as a clone of the Dysborg Ruins, but is getting completely rebuilt this release to have a unique layout and visuals. We are expressly focusing on being sure the map has interesting setups for PVP conflict, with plenty of space for hiding, escaping, ambushing, and skirmishing.
[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]
Hey guys! SorcerousSteve here with a sneak peek of the Rhun Ruins! Currently a work in progress, the Rhun Ruins are located on the eastern coast of Drachvald. Once a City of Compassion, its fascination with Obsidian became so high that it brought about its own demise.
Utilizing our new moving platform tech, we have designed a floating island that circulates the map. The obsidian shards (which are of great concentration in this area of the world) have torn up pieces of earth, as they refuse to be chained down.
Right before meeting the ocean the terrain drops off and forms the jagged coast line, it is on these ocean side cliffs that the Rhun Ruins are located.
As a PVP area, Rhun will have 5 zones dedicated to different play styles. One of those is this maze; its circular design culminating in a central arena. All along the way we will be implementing some of the new traps that have become available to us including spikes, fire traps, and pressure plates.
You can see some of our new traps in action below. So be careful when making a wrong turn or you might walk straight into a spout of fire!
Stay tuned for the next update on the Rhun Ruins.
Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer
The Making of K’rul
Underneath Blood Bay, far from the prying eyes of the Oracle, top Kobold researchers work in the Kobold Research Underground Laboratories; aka K’rul. In this vast underground facility, Kobolds work to harness Obisidian shards, build ever larger and more dangerous automatons, and craft mysterious weapons. K’rul will be filled with top tier Kobolds and automatons to battle, as well as dangerous technological traps and puzzles.
UPDATE: K’rul was originally planned to be an Open PVP zone, but with the upcoming dungeon called The Fall, Blood Bay, the Shardfalls (plus all the Ruins maps), we felt we had a good enough PVP scene balance for now. This means that K’rul is now going to be a PVE scene even though it is located in Blood Bay. Rumor has it there is a secret tunnel connecting it to Skrekk…
Our goal is to have a first iteration of this dungeon live in the game for Release 39.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski]
City Area
Arena
Underbelly of platform room
In the News: Richard Garriott: the man, the myth, the mischief
Colin Campbell over at Polygon interviewed Richard about his book Explore Create and also touched briefly on Shroud of the Avatar in a new article entitled: Richard Garriott: the man, the myth, the mischief
Early in his autobiography, Richard Garriott characterizes himself as a storyteller, a lover of yarns. After reading his new book, stuffed with tales of derring-do, I interview him via Skype. True to form, he answers almost all my questions with anecdotes, occasionally waving props into the mini-cam. He’s as practiced as a Toastmaster Grand Wizard.
I’m familiar with some of the stories he tells because I’ve just read them in his book. Others have only a glancing relationship with the actual question asked. But no matter, he’s an entertaining old cove. Among video gaming’s elite auteurs — the multi-millionaire club of game design innovators — he’s probably the one you’d most readily invite to a dinner party.
You’re probably thinking of Garriott as that fella who wrote the Ultima games and then bought a ticket to space. But his stock of reminiscences go far beyond merely helping to shape video games and visiting the International Space Station for a fun fortnight. He’s explored the Titanic. Hiked the Antarctic. Built amazing ghost houses.
Hangout of the Avatar – Postmortem 38 This Coming Tuesday!
Join us Tuesday, February 7th at 3:00 PM Central (21:00 UTC) on Twitch for our monthly Hangout of the Avatar! The team will be chatting about Release 38 and answering your questions from over the holiday break.
As always, we will be giving out rare Lord British artifacts of immense power and glory. For a chance to win an artifact, or to speak your voice on the latest game changes, be in Discord chat during the livestream. There will be multiple chances to win throughout the broadcast!
Once you get a chance to check out the release, post your questions in the comments section of the Postmortem post (click here). Only one post submission allowed, and keep questions to 3 or less. This will allow us to get to as many individual players’ questions as possible.
Follow @ShroudofAvatar to keep updated on the latest SotA livestreams and game news!
Boss Battle of the Avatar Screenshot Contest
Be ready with your sword and shield, or destructive magical powers, Avatars! Whatever deathly mechanics suit your fancy, you will need them today. We are kicking off Boss Battle of the Avatar, a screenshot contest that pits the nasty of the nasty creatures throughout New Britannia against the finest combat and screenshot taking skills players can muster.
All you have to do is fight (to the death if necessary) any recognized boss or mini-boss, capturing screenshots of the deathly scene unfolding. Examples are below. You can be alone or with as many others that are needed to take down the creature. As we receive submissions, they will be announced on Twitter and Facebook with eventually a gallery of all submissions on Facebook.
BOSS EXAMPLES
- Clockwork Dragon
- Dragon
- Daemon
- Ghost Corpion
- Phoenix
- Troll
- Lich bosses from the Town Sieges
- or one of the new named mini-bosses that now appear in the final wave of Control Points!
Origin PC Steam Key Bundle
As we announced in Update #210, we have started a new partnership with Origin PC. We, of course, love the name of their company. We also found out that their community manager and one of their founders are huge Ultima Online fans! Our very own Richard Garriott uses Origin PCs for his desktop and laptop computers, so this partnership is a mutual admiration party. In Richard’s own words:
“I have been a hard core PC developer and gamer since the beginning, including when I was making some of my earliest games for Origin Systems. Origin games, like Ultima and Wing Commander, always pushed the envelope on what gaming machines were capable of. And to develop them, I knew I needed the best gaming hardware available. The same holds true for my current game, Shroud of the Avatar; a spiritual successor to Ultima which is in now in development at Portalarium.
So, about a year ago, I went looking for the best game system available to me, and I bought my first Origin PC. I was incredibly impressed! Everything from the ordering process through the delivery was top notch, and performance is that of a clearly superior machine. I was indeed so impressed, I now use Origin computers for both my home and office desktops and, of course, have an Origin laptop for when I travel. I could not be happier with these machines, and the great service at Origin PC!”
Our latest promotion with Origin PC is their “Share the Love” February bundle where, when you purchase select desktops or any 10-Series laptop, you get an Early Access Steam Key for Shroud of the Avatar (and other goodies). If you have friends who have been wanting to try Shroud and are looking for a great new computer, send them to the promotion here.
Alienware Steam Key Giveaway
If Alienware’s powerful gaming rigs are your preferred hardware, we have teamed up with Alienware Arena to give away Shroud of the Avatar Early Access Steam keys to Alienware Arena members.Right now the promotion is limited to Level 6+ Members only, but if they do not claim all the keys, it will open up to lower level members later this month. You can learn more by clicking here.
R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
For Release 38, the Offline Mode save game format is changing to support new and upcoming gameplay features.
Here’s what you need to do in order to preserve your Offline Mode save games and characters:
- Patch your game client to Release 38.
- Load each saved game and then re-save. This will convert your save file into the latest format.
If you do not convert your saved games during Release 38, your saved games (from releases prior to R38) may not load in releases after Release 38. In other words, we cannot guarantee the ability to load pre-R38 saves after R38.
Our sincere apologies if this change causes any disruption in your gameplay. We always make every attempt to avoid having to make these kinds of requirements of our players when we make changes like this. After very careful consideration, we’ve deemed this change, and the accompanying requirement, as necessary. Please note that this change will not affect the online game or characters in any way.
As a reminder, Release 38 starts on January 26 and runs through February 22.
Please let us know if you have any questions on this update!
Community of the Avatar Livestream – A Crafting Hub for Developers
Follow the game on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shroudofavatar for news of the next livestream!
Doug’s (Iron Maiden) Chemo Relief Fund [Update: Telethon and Dev Crafted Gear Auction]
Thexedor Markhamm has an update on the campaign and some exciting announcements!
Hail Avatars,
As many of you know, we have been running a GofundMe campaign for our fellow Avatar, Doug (Iron Maiden), who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Our campaign has run for 21 days and we’ve raised an amazing $17,000 toward our goal of helping Iron Maiden pay for the various chemotherapy treatments he needs. Thanks to all of YOU, we are nearing our goal and reaching the end of the GoFundMe donation drive. I wanted to let everybody know of a couple exciting events we have planned as we near the grand finale of our fundraising efforts on February 10th, 2017 @ 10PM CST/NBT.
The Iron Maiden Chemo Relief Fund In-Game Telethon
When: February 10th, 2017 (8-10pm) NBT/CST
Where: Dawn’s Keep (just S. of Central Brittany)
Guest of Honor: Iron Maiden
We’ll be hosting a massive in-game telethon/party event as we countdown the end of our GoFundMe effort. We invite all supporters to join us in game. This event will include a gustball tourney, a meet and greet with Iron Maiden, and an amazing fireworks finale. Also, several ‘carnival’ type events for you to participate in to help us raise funds and awareness for colon cancer. And of course, there will be prizes. Oh yes, many many prizes (like 3 Lord British-crafted war hammers
).For a full schedule of events and sponsors, please visit this thread.
To learn more about the BIG COTO GIVEAWAY, please visit this thread.
Hope to see everybody there (wearing blue and purple and, of course, your IMCRF cloaks!).
The Darkstarr & Lord British Collection Charity Auction
When: Now – February 10th (auctions ending during the telethon)Where: Shroud Markeptlace
The Lord of Chaos and the Sovereign of Virtue have been so kind to spend some time at the crafting tables to donate amazing weapons and armor for this charity auction. You can bid to win extremely rare and powerful relics crafted by both Darkstarr and Lord British. All proceeds (minus PayPal fees) of these auctions will be donated to the Iron Maiden Chemo Relief Fund on behalf of Starr Long and Richard Garriott. Please don’t miss your opportunity to wield and and wear supreme equipment crafted by the most famous (and infamous) Avatars in New Britannia.
GoFundMe Donation & Reward Deadline
When: February 10th, 2017 (10pm) NBT/CST
If you have not yet donated to the Iron Maiden Chemo Relief Fund, there’s still time! We will be accepting donations until the end of our in-game telethon. All donations of $25 or more made during this window will qualify for rewards (like the IMCFR Cloak – which is AWESOME) and the COTO giveaway. Please note, I will be distributing your cloaks in-game after I have verified your donation. Simply friend Thexedor Markhamm (in-game) and I will meet you to present your beautiful cloak.
In closing, I’d like to personally say THANK YOU for everybody who has donated and supported this effort. I had faith the community would come together when I began this initiative, and BOY WAS I RIGHT. We’ve proven that good works through gaming is possible and – together – we’ve made real magic happen.
Best Regards,
Thexedor Markhamm
Original announcement from community member Thexedor Markhamm. For more information or to make a donation, visit the GoFundMe campaign or the community forum conversation.
Avatars who pledge $25 or more to the GoFundMe campaign will receive an exclusive, rare, cloak in-game. The cloak is one of our community even Clasped Gauntlet cloaks custom-colored in blue, purple and silver, and carries the unique name: Iron Maiden’s Chemo Relief Fund.
New Stuff: Water Decorations
As mentioned in the Release 38 instructions, we now have the ability to place decorations on the water on water player lots and water in Player Owned Towns. We have added the first set of water decorations to the game as of the last couple of patches to R38, which consists of four boats. The first can be crafted in the game and is the Plain Longboat:
The other three (Longboat, Small Longboat, and Gondola) can be found in the Add-On Store along with the newest water home, the Pristine Gothic Mansion Town Water Home:
Better Hurry! The following Add-On Store items are expiring during the Spring Telethon
Upcoming Events
Feb 7, 2017 – Release 38 Postmortem
Feb 23, 2017 – Release 39
Feb 25, 2017 – Ultima Dragons 25th Anniversary Event
Feb 28, 2017 – GDC Community Management Summit: Care and Feeding of Wild Fansites
Mar 9, 2017 – Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017
Mar 17, 2017 – SXSW Gaming: Is Video Game Early Access Too Early?
Mar 30, 2017 – Release 40
Apr 27, 2017 – Release 41
May 25, 2017 – Release 42
June 29, 2017 – Release 43Visit the official Community Calendar to see the great lineup of activities our amazing community has planned for this weekend! And be sure to check out this month’s Release Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events.
Events of the Week
Grand Opening of Vyrin & Womby’s New Ardoris Bookstore – Feb 4th 1-3PM CT
Womby & Vyrin are pleased to announce the opening of our fourth bookstore! Please join us for an open house marking the occasion: Saturday, February 4, 1-3 PM NBT in Ardoris. This event is a casual meet-and-greet for authors, bibliophiles, and friends. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about writing and publishing. Our vendor in Ardoris will be selling new books from six different authors, our biggest release of new content to date! A full description is available here.
Festival – Grand Opening Party – Sat Feb 4th 5PM CT
The Town of Festival invites YOU to attend its Grand Opening this Saturday, February 4th, at 5pm CST! There will be: Free Hats, Fireworks, Fun in the Central Park (lots of jumping fun), Hedge Maze, Warm Cookies, Lots of Interesting People (doing very interesting things…), and More! We hope to see you there! Feel free to dress for a party, dress for fun! :). Details in the main forums. – Engineer and Tila Tenderfoot
Community Resources – Players Helping Players
The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.
Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.
Recommended Projects to Back
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.
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.A reminder to be sure that support@portalarium.com is unblocked from your e-mail account!
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There was a problem with Patch 551 that blocked players from entering some scenes with player lots (ex. Dawn's Keep) so we rolled it back for users who had not already patch and we are working on a fix ASAP.
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Join us this Friday at 4pm CT for another Community of the Avatar livestream!
A special guest, Keith Quinn (World Builder/Level Designer on the team), will be taking us on a tour of the very dangerous scene of Blood Bay! If we don’t immediately fall prey to the dragon rumored to be lurking somewhere in the mountains, we may get a chance to show off some new screenshots of K’rul, an upcoming Blood Bay dungeon set to go live in Release 39.
The fun begins live on Twitch tomorrow!
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![[IMG]](http://d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/contest_boss_fight.jpg)
This thread is for submissions and direct responses to submissions to the Boss Battle of the Avatar Screenshot Contest ONLY. Please post questions in the Announcement Thread.
No go slay those bosses, Avatars! -
![[IMG]](http:////d2sx9mrt4zumaq.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/contest_boss_fight.jpg)
Be ready with your sword and shield, or destructive magical powers, Avatars! Whatever deathly mechanics suit your fancy, you will need them today. We are kicking off Boss Battle of the Avatar, a screenshot contest that pits the nasty of the nasty creatures throughout New Britannia against the finest combat and screenshot taking skills players can muster.
All you have to do is fight (to the...
Boss Battle of the Avatar - Screenshot Contest -
From last week’s Update of the Avatar #212:
Underneath Blood Bay, far from the prying eyes of the Oracle, top Kobold researchers work in the Kobold Research Underground Laboratories; aka K’rul. In this vast underground facility, Kobolds work to harness Obisidian shards, build ever larger and more dangerous automatons, and craft mysterious weapons. Like Blood Bay, K’rul is an Open PVP zone but it also has a lot of PVE opportunities with top tier Kobolds and automatons to battle with, as well as dangerous technological traps and puzzles to contend with.
Our goal is to have a first iteration of this dungeon live in the game for Release 39.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski]
K’RUL progress screenshots
This is the main Kobold city area, utilizing a lot of @Scottie‘s Kobold buildings and deco
Clockwork Dragon Boss Room
Thanks for following the progress if K’Rul! -
This will be the Sixth Lot Deed Raffle. For this raffle, we dropped the numbers lower to better match current demand and pace remaining stock.
There will be no free raffle tickets with this Raffle. Tickets can be purchased with in game gold. As with the previous raffle, each person can only win a single deed of each type (maximum of one place anywhere and one POT). The drawing and winners will be announced at the start of the next release cycle.
There are two raffles, one for each lot...
Tickets for Release 38 Lot Deed Raffle -
Join us Tuesday, February 7th at 3:00 PM Central (21:00 UTC) on Twitch for our monthly Hangout of the Avatar! The team will be chatting about Release 38 and answering your questions from over the holiday break.
As always, we will be giving out rare Lord British artifacts of immense power and glory. For a chance to win an artifact, or to speak your voice on the latest game changes, be in Discord chat during the livestream. There will be multiple chances to win throughout the broadcast!
Once you get a chance to check out the release, post your questions in the comments section below. Only one post submission allowed, and keep questions to 3 or less. This will allow us to get to as many individual players’ questions as possible.
Questions and feedback related to this release’s specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief :).
Follow @ShroudofAvatar to keep updated on the latest SotA livestreams and game news!
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Hello everyone! Hope you are enjoying R38!! Here is the news of the week:
- Play Release 38 Now!
- Release 38 Addendum
- The Making of K’rul
- Perennial Coast Improvements (Solania Polish)
- Wealthy Merchant Outfit
- Valentine’s 2017 Gift Boxes and Card
- R37 Lot Deed Raffle Winners
- R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
- Community Livestream – Exploring Canyon Siege
- Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund
- New Stuff: Pirate Ships, Dragon Pets, Shogun Bundles, and more…
- Upcoming Events
- Community Resources – Players Helping Players
- Recommended Projects to Back
The post Echoes From the Caverns 01-27-17 appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns.
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Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
- Play Release 38 Now!
- Release 38 Addendum
- The Making of K’rul
- Perennial Coast Improvements (Solania Polish)
- Wealthy Merchant Outfit
- Valentine’s 2017 Gift Boxes and Card
- R37 Lot Deed Raffle Winners
- R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
- Community Livestream – Exploring Canyon Siege
- Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund
- New Stuff: Pirate Ships, Dragon Pets, Shogun Bundles, and more…
- Upcoming Events
- Community Resources – Players Helping Players
- Recommended Projects to Back
Play Release 38 Now!
Release 38 successfully launched yesterday, January 26, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:
- New Blood Bay PVP scene
- New NPC Conversation Interface
- Path of Courage Polish
- Perennial Coast Polish
- Xenos Rebuild
- Brookside Rebuild
- Vauban Pass Rebuild
- Solania Polish
- Over 15 New Potions
- Rare Magical Artifacts
- Grandmaster Crafting and Enchanting expansions
- New Traps
- Canyon Siege Map
- Clockwork Dragons
- New Combat AI including Steath and Preferential Targeting
- R37 Lot Deed Raffle Winners
…and much more
Check out the Release 38 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 38!
If you have not backed the game, you will need to register and login at www.shroudoftheavatar.com, select the “Get Early Access!” button in the right side-bar, and purchase one of our game access bundles. Game Early Access is also available on Steam Early Access.
Release 38 Player Instructions
Release 38 Known Issue
Release 38 Addendum
[From a forum post by Starr “Darkstarr” Long]
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Fizzle changes: Several bugs had been reported with fizzle over the past few releases and we fixed all of them for this release. The result is that some players saw improvements in fizzle rates, but most saw their fizzle rates get worse. The worst case will be people wielding 2-handed weapons while wearing heavy armor and trying to cast Air, Death, or Fire magic. Those cases might have seen their fizzle rates go up by as much as 25%.
- Some bonuses were being applied before armor multipliers and others after. We consolidated the math so all gear bonuses and held items bonuses are applied before the armor multiplier for spells.
- We fixed the long lingering bug that made 2-handed weapons give a 15% bonus of dual wielding or using a shield. 2-handed weapons are already more powerful than 1-handed and this just didn’t feel like a fair advantage for them.
- While we were adjusting the logic, we moved open hand fizzle bonus from 15% to 10%. Wands still grant 15% bonus and staves now grant 30% bonus. We expect to add other handheld focus items in the future that will also give bonuses.
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Targeting Changes: A long standing issue with auto attacking was addressed; the “feature” that players affectionately called “Bowdar”. In previously releases, if you had auto attack enabled and there was any valid target, you attacked. Due to Novian bunnies being added to the endangered list, we decided to change how this works.
- With auto attack enabled, players will attack any valid target continuously but only if the target has agro’d on the player OR if the target has been manually selected through clicking or the select target key (defaults to ‘g’). This means to attack bunnies, hidden skeletons, or other players (stealthed or otherwise) with auto attack, you must now manually select them.
- In build 544 and earlier, the toggle between free and auto attack is on the game options menu.
- Starting in Build 545, all attack mode options will be removed from the menu and instead, the toggle auto attack key (defaults to ‘t’) will switch between free attack and auto attack.
- Elemental attack changes: Going forward, elemental attacks will do some melee damage in addition to their native elemental type. This was to relieve an exploit where players were using same type summoned Elementals to distract wild Elementals so they could then mine areas without any danger.
- Pickpocket: This skill can no longer be used during combat. This was being used, along with a set of other skills, in a series of exploits.
The Making of K’rul
Underneath Blood Bay, far from the prying eyes of the Oracle, top Kobold researchers work in the Kobold Research Underground Laboratories; aka K’rul. In this vast underground facility, Kobolds work to harness Obisidian shards, build ever larger and more dangerous automatons, and craft mysterious weapons. Like Blood Bay, K’rul is an Open PVP zone but it also has a lot of PVE opportunities with top tier Kobolds and automatons to battle with, as well as dangerous technological traps and puzzles to contend with.
Our goal is to have a first iteration of this dungeon live in the game for Release 39.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski]
K’RUL progress screenshots
This is the main Kobold city area, utilizing a lot of @Scottie‘s Kobold buildings and deco
Clockwork Dragon Boss Room
Thanks for following the progress if K’Rul!
Perennial Coast Improvements (Solania Polish)
The small town of Solania is located in the Perennial Coast region in the southeast of Novia. Solania is located on a high point in the Celestial Swamp that lines the southern shore of Celestial Lake, so getting there can be quite dangerous. In Release 38, we went through the Perennial Coast and updated the flora and architecture to match the new Asian influence we first showed in Ardoris in Release 37. For Solania, we have updated all of the NPC buildings with new rooflines (blue tiles) and wall textures, put in a new perimeter wall, updated the foliage, and added in various other details. As with all polish and un-clone passes we make on maps, we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage.
Right before R38 went live, Michael “Hutch” Hutchison created a new set of Shogun themed castle walls and put them in Solania. In R39, we plan on turning these into a player decoration kit.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]
Michael Hutchison has added some new walls to Solania for us. Check them out below.
Wealthy Merchant Outfit
As part of the recent work on the Perennial Coast, we decided to take our existing wealthy merchant outfit (the one with the potions hanging off his belt) and make that the Perennial Coast merchant (it already had a nice, vaguely Asian flair to it). That left us, however, without a wealthy merchant outfit for other in-game locations, so we tasked our character art team to come up with a replacement.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear]
A sneak peek of the outfit design:
Valentine’s 2017 Gift Boxes and Card
Just in time for Valentine’s day, our very own Scott “Scottie” Jones has made another set of rare Valentine’s day collectibles.
[A Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones]
Hello folks! As an expansion upon the idea of “themed” gift-boxes (and other such holiday-based gifts), I’d been tasked with creating some fun versions for Valentine’s Day which will be coming up soon! As with the earlier versions, I wanted to make sure they were just the right mixture of “vintage” with a tad bit of “modern” thrown into them, so I assembled some wrapping paper themes after scouring the net for inspiration that I could draw from… Pink and red hearts of course were an absolute must, with some beautiful floral patterns thrown in for good measure!
I was trying to figure out a good way to display these for this quick little update that would be fun, and to compete (at least a little) with the scene I threw together to show off the Yule gift boxes, and finally realized the best way to present Valentine’s Day gifts would be to lay them all out on a fluffy fur rug by a warm, romantic fire… All it lacks is a glass of wine and some seductive music! On the left you can see the large version displaying a hearts-within-hearts theme ,with heart-shaped fern-like filigree! On the right is the medium version with a vintage design I uncovered showing ornate lockets and the floating brass keys to your heart! And lastly the small version in the middle is festooned with little hearts made of pink rose clusters… Hearts and love for EVERYONE!!! ^_^
In addition, you all may remember the vintage-style Valentine Card I presented last year… So for this year’s offering, I went back to the same antique sources and was able to continue that theme for 2017! I really like that these can be laid out on flat surfaces in your home or lot as decorations, either as a surprise gift for others to find, or as a memento token of affection from a paramour displayed in your home for all to see! Like the 2016 Valentine Card version (seen alongside the new one below), this 2017 version will be a limited item available for a short time only!
Hopefully you’ll all enjoy using these to show your heart-felt appreciation for your friends and loved ones this season!
Enjoy!
Scottie ^_^
R37 Lot Deed Raffle Winners
The latest Lot Deed Raffle was drawn with 85 lot deeds awarded to lucky winners. There were two raffles, one for each lot type:
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Place Anywhere Deeds: 10 Total
- Row: 5
- Village: 3
- Town: 1
- City: 1
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Player Owned Town Deeds: 75 Total
- Row: 40
- Village: 20
- Town: 10
- City: 5
Raffle tickets grant the holder a chance to win deeds of any size (Row, Village, Town, or City). Raffles will be held monthly (total deed numbers will vary each month). Place-Anywhere Deed raffle tickets are more expensive but will have fewer deeds in each raffle than POT raffle tickets, which are more affordable and will have many more deeds in each raffle. This means your chances to win a POT deed are much greater.
This is the latest raffle where we limited winners to one deed per raffle type. Click here for a complete list of the winners for this release’s raffle. Winners can claim their deed(s) simply by logging into the game and claiming rewards at any bank. A reminder that you may have received multiple deeds to claim if you received tickets for a guild or other group.
If you wish to review all of your account rewards outside of the game, you can do so by going to the Account menu on the main website and then selecting the ‘Special Rewards’ tab in the page menu.
Click here for a list of the winners.
R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
For Release 38, the Offline Mode save game format is changing to support new and upcoming gameplay features.
Here’s what you need to do in order to preserve your Offline Mode save games and characters:
- Patch your game client to Release 38.
- Load each saved game and then re-save. This will convert your save file into the latest format.
If you do not convert your saved games during Release 38, your saved games (from releases prior to R38) may not load in releases after Release 38. In other words, we cannot guarantee the ability to load pre-R38 saves after R38.
Our sincere apologies if this change causes any disruption in your gameplay. We always make every attempt to avoid having to make these kinds of requirements of our players when we make changes like this. After very careful consideration, we’ve deemed this change, and the accompanying requirement, as necessary. Please note that this change will not affect the online game or characters in any way.
As a reminder, Release 38 starts on January 26 and runs through February 22.
Please let us know if you have any questions on this update!
Community of the Avatar Livestream – Exploring Canyon Siege
Chris Wolf (aka Seawolf) was eager to jump on the livestream and show off the progress he’s been making on Canyon Siege, North Drachvald Spur, and other scenes making their way into R38 and R39! We also gave way some Shogun items, and talked about highlights in R38. Have a look:
Follow the game on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shroudofavatar for news of the next livestream!
Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund
Announcement from community member Thexedor Markhamm:
Hail Avatars,
As many of you may be aware, one of our community members is in need of our help. Doug (IronMaiden) recently discovered he has stage 4 colon cancer. He has been a long-time backer and supporter of Shroud of the Avatar. He has 7 accounts (ranging from LOTM to Edelmann), multiple add-on store purchases, and several player bought items and lot deeds.
He is heavily invested (as you can imagine), but now needs to cash out to relieve the overwhelming medical bills required to continue his chemo treatments. Doug originally sought a single investor to buy all accounts, but due to the size and value of Doug’s investment, it has proven difficult.
After we have helped Doug (first priority), we will be hosting a private, commission-free auction for people who contribute $100 dollars or more to make available Doug’s highly valuable and rare holdings. This auction will be held on Shroud Marketplace (a third-party SoTA auction site).
All proceeds from the GoFundMe and the charity auction will go to IronMaiden up to $25K (per Doug’s request). Any additional funds will be put in a charity fund for other Avatars who are in critical need (also per Doug’s request). He would like to pay this effort forward.
Avatars who pledge $25 or more to the GoFundMe campaign will receive an exclusive, rare, cloak in-game. This cloak will be custom-colored (TBD), and carry the unique name: IronMaiden’s Chemo Relief Fund. The style will be based on the ever-popular community events cloak:
For more information or to make a donation, visit the GoFundMe campaign or the community forum conversation.
New Stuff: Pirate Ships, Dragon Pets, Shogun Bundles, and More…
Check out the awesome new stuff we’ve added to the Add-On Store and Shogun Bundle Store:
Better Hurry! Last Weekend For These Rare 2016 Winter Holiday Items!
Upcoming Events
Feb 23, 2017 – Release 39
Feb 25, 2017 – Ultima Dragons 25th Anniversary Event
Feb 28, 2017 – GDC Community Management Summit: Care and Feeding of Wild Fansites
Mar 9, 2017 – Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017
Mar 17, 2017 – SXSW Gaming: Is Video Game Early Access Too Early?
Mar 30, 2017 – Release 40
Apr 27, 2017 – Release 41
May 25, 2017 – Release 42
June 29, 2017 – Release 43Visit the official Community Calendar to see the great lineup of activities our amazing community has planned for this weekend! And be sure to check out this month’s Release Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events.
Event of the Week: R38 Welcome Quest – January 28, 12pm (Noon) CT
By Royal Warrant, we present to you the Welcome Quest! You are invited to join the Welcome Quest in Release 38. It will be held on Saturday, January 28, 2017 starting at 12pm (noon) central time/new britannian time and lasting an hour.
The Welcome Quest is a quest for all people to see many towns and establishments. It is created as a way for people to visit many player-ran locations. It involves each town and establishment to give the quest person some information and then instructions to go to the next location (a town or establishment) to do something. The path may be sequential from place to place or in parallel to multiple places at the same time. The goal is for towns and establishments to showcase their places, educate the people, and work with other player-ran towns/establishments.
You can teleport to: Duke Greagoir.
Community Resources – Players Helping Players
The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.
Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.
Recommended Projects to Back
We want to give you advance notice that our friends over at inXile are prepping to launch a crowdfunding campaign for Wasteland 3, a party-based role-playing game with complex story reactivity and strategic combat! The game features a deep and engaging story utilizing a newly-revamped dialog tree system from the celebrated writers of Torment: Tides of Numenera!
By including vehicles, environmental dangers, and a revamped, more fluid action system, inXile is evolving on Wasteland 2’s deep tactical turn-based combat and unique encounter design. Play by yourself or with a friend in story-driven synchronous or asynchronous multiplayer. Choices open up (or close off) mission opportunities, areas to explore, story arcs, and lots of other content.
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.A reminder to be sure that support@portalarium.com is unblocked from your e-mail account!
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Greetings Avatars,
We do everything we can to make sure our Release instructions are complete and comprehensive but sometimes some critical details do not make the list of changes. This is not fair to our players because it introduces surprises to your play styles. We are working hard to improve our process so this does happen going forward.
The following items are changes that are live in Release 38 that we failed to include in our R38 post.- Fizzle changes:...
Release 38 Addendum: Combat Changes -
The latest Lot Deed Raffle was drawn with 85 lot deeds awarded to the following lucky winners. There were two raffles, one for each lot type:
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Place Anywhere Deeds: 10 Total
- Row: 5
- Village: 3
- Town: 1
- City: 1
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Player Owned Town Deeds: 75 Total
- Row: 40
- Village: 20
- Town: 10
- City: 5
Release 37 Lot Deed Raffle Winners -
Place Anywhere Deeds: 10 Total
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It is being applied to the item but only as the potential maximum durability, not the current maximum. This means you will not see the full maximum durability unless you repair the item with a crown. Obviously this is not how we intended this to work.
We are working on fix and we intend to have this addressed before the weekend. Thank you for your patience. -
The latest Lot Deed Raffle was drawn with 85 lot deeds awarded to the following lucky winners. There were two raffles, one for each lot type:
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Place Anywhere Deeds: 10 Total
- Row: 5
- Village: 3
- Town: 1
- City: 1
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Player Owned Town Deeds: 75 Total
- Row: 40
- Village: 20
- Town: 10
- City: 5
Raffle tickets grant the holder a chance to win deeds of any size (Row, Village, Town, or City). Raffles will be held monthly (total deed numbers will vary each month). Place-Anywhere Deed raffle tickets are more expensive but will have fewer deeds in each raffle than POT raffle tickets, which are more affordable and will have many more deeds in each raffle. This means your chances to win a POT deed are much greater.
This is another raffle where we limited winners to one deed per raffle type. Visit the forums to read more about this recent change.
Below is a complete list of the winners for this release’s raffle. Winners can claim their deed(s) simply by logging into the game and claiming rewards at any bank. A reminder that you may have received multiple deeds to claim if you received tickets for a guild or other group.
If you wish to review all of your account rewards outside of the game, you can do so by going to the Account menu on the main website and then selecting the ‘Special Rewards’ tab in the page menu.
Listed below are the winners:
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Place Anywhere Deeds: 10 Total
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Our hosting provider has suffered a major connection failure. They are working to correct the problem as soon as possible.
SOTA NewsCommunity of the Avatar – Crawling To K’rul
in Portalarium News Feed
Posted · Report reply
Join us this Friday at 4pm CT for another Community of the Avatar livestream!
Keith “Sannio” Quinn (World Builder/Level Designer on the team) will be back on the livestream, but this time with his partner-in-crime, Dan “PlagueOfLocust” Brennan! They will both be taking us on a tour of K’rul, an upcoming Blood Bay linked PvE dungeon set to go live in Release 39, as well as a secret connecting tunnel called K’rawl.
Ask your K’rul specific questions (up to 3 in one post) in the Comments section below for both Keith and Dan! During the livestream, also join us on Discord chat to win prizes and ask any other questions you have.
The fun begins live on Twitch this Friday!
View the full article