Jack T. Lamplighter

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Greetings Avatars,

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues.

Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 38 access for all Early Access backers begins this Thursday, January 26, at...

Release 38 Instructions

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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the first instalment of a wonderful story from Andartianna. It is entitled
Harvest of the Shattered Moon
Background music by Smartsound

Chapter 1, “Beer, Banter, and, Bonfires”
Here upon this hellish fury, death and darkness, hatreds worry. He the demon of the night, evil desires, wicked frights. Tearing apart a human chest devouring its tasteful flesh. Rejoicing in its wicked deed and loving what it is like to feed.

Zazeriz thumped her head hard on the bed’s headboard waking herself up from a nightmare. So hard in fact she could hear the footsteps of Boniface coming to her room. A delicate knock rapped on the door to the room and a beautiful alto voice came through the wall.

“Is everything alright in there?” Boniface asked.

“I am alright my friend. I see that it is almost 5 am and time to start working on the current batch of beer. I will dress and meet you downstairs in a moment.” Zazeriz said through a slight yawn.

“Are you still having the nightmares about that place far away?” Boniface asked.

“I am indeed as always. It is no matter. The dreams will likely haunt me for eternity in one lifetime or another. Do not worry. I will come out shortly and you can help me forget in the work.” Zazeriz replied.

Boniface trilled and Zazeriz could hear her footsteps walking down the stairs. Zazeriz began changing into a pair of her traveling clothes. Today she would wear a dark blue clothing set. It was one of her favorites when working with Boniface. Zazeriz had managed to imbue it with a Shield of Air, which was very helpful in repelling the water and other materials used to make beer. There were no mirrors in Boniface’s rooms above the Bilge and Barnacle Tavern, so Zazeriz reached into her pouch and took out a travel mirror she had with her. She looked at her reflection. The mirror showed the same face that had always looked back at her: dark hair, skin, and bright green eyes. Zazeriz never aged, which was a gift from her home planet.

Zazeriz put the small mirror back into her pouch and headed down into the tavern where Boniface was waiting. The tavern was usually a very lively place at night, but at just before 5am it was empty save for Boniface who was seated at the long table in the center of the tavern. Zazeriz moved to take a seat across from Boniface. The table was filled with various herbs and supplies needed to make beer as well as some food Boniface had placed before them to eat for breakfast. Hot steam was rising from the porridge set out in front of Zazeriz.

Zazeriz began to eat the porridge. She found that, while it was warm, it was rather tasteless for her liking so she reached into her pouch for a health potion and poured its contents into the bowl.

“You always like your porridge so sweet. I don’t know how you can eat it that way.” Boniface said.

“Well it’s not as if my teeth will rot out, so I can have it as sweet as I desire.” Zazeriz said.

“Indeed you are blessed with an incredible rate of rejuvenation. Speaking of which, have you saved your focus to cast Soothing Rain all day?” Boniface asked.

“Saving? You jest Boniface. You know I can cast the spell all day when I am not defending.” Zazeriz said.

“Very good. If you are done eating we can go around the back and start working.” Boniface said.

“Yes, I think I have had my fill. Let us get to work.” Zazeriz said.

Zazeriz followed Boniface around the back of the tavern. In the early sunlight, the visibility was still low so Boniface had set up her brewing vat near the lamp post behind the tavern. Boniface’s beer was renowned across the world. She had spent many years perfecting her beer’s quality and taste. The secret ingredient that made her beer better than anyone else’s was the reason Zazeriz traveled to Etceter each year. Boniface used the water from Zazeriz casting Soothing Rain to mix the beer. The water from the Soothing Rain helped make Boniface’s beer taste better, refresh the drinkers, and allow them to drink more, which made for great sales.

Zazeriz began whirling her hands casting up large puffy white clouds above the brewing vats Boniface had set out. Spells after spells after spells for hours on end, Zazeriz filled one vat after another and Boniface mixed the herbs and boiled the hops. Soon the aroma of beer wafted all around Etceter. The first batches of this year’s beer had cooled by the time the sun was setting.

Boniface had hired Felicia, the local beggar, to help cart loads of beer up to a giant bonfire on a hill overlooking the wharf. Here at the bonfire, the entire town gathered to celebrate the end of the harvest season. Even the sometimes grim Ezb Krohon, the village blacksmith, was drinking and smiling. The night quickly passed with singing and dancing and plenty of beer. Zazeriz lay down on the edge of the encampment and gazed up at the moon in all its’ fractured glory. She could hear the singing in the background, which ever so slowly lulled her into sleep.

Chapter 2, “Morning, Mourning, and Master?”
In the morning when the solar energy starting beating down on Zazeriz face, she slowly opened her eyes and stretched out her arms to wake herself up. She sat up and looked around the now extinguished bonfire. Some of the villagers were still curled up next to their flasks of beer. Zazeriz scanned the area to see where Boniface had ended up. After a moment of not finding her, she stood up and headed back to the Bilge and Barnacle Tavern. Surely Boniface had returned home and she could wish her a good year.

As Zazeriz climbed down the steep hillside towards the tavern, she marvelled how lucky she was that the beer had no negative effects on her body. The rest of the townsfolk would likely have a fairly strong hangover from the liquor. As she neared the tavern, she noticed the front door was partially open. It was very early in the morning, which made it fairly unlikely that Boniface had left the door open for customers. Perhaps she had been so drunk she forgot to close it properly when she had entered.

Zazeriz entered the Bilge and Barnacle and a very frightened faun came running to her. Streams of tears were coming down her face. “Snip-snip, whatever is the matter? Where is Boniface?” Zazeriz asked.

“Mistress Zazeriz, I found the tavern unlocked and no trace of Master Boniface within. I know that the bonfire was a good time, but Master Boniface had promised to meet me here early to help with a problem. I did not see her when I woke up on the hill, so I walked throughout the town looking for where she had gone. That is when I found this fractured moon talisman left in the tavern and no other trace of Master Boniface.” Snip-snip said.

Zazeriz took the talisman from Snip-snip and looked it over for a minute. A novice understanding of the world would make people think that the talisman was a picture of the fractured moon. Zazeriz, however, knew differently. It was a fractured talisman of the Shuttered Eye. A cult of necromancers had inhabited a tower in the far southwest corner of the continent. Upon Zazeriz’ many years of travelling, she had stumbled across the Tower of the Shuttered Eye while trudging through swamplands of the West Veiled swamp.

“Snip-snip, has Boniface had any new customers from Ardoris or Soltown recently entering the shop?” Zazeriz asked.

“Yes, Mistress. Master Boniface sold some of her last barrels of last year’s beer to a merchant from Ardoris. The woman said she had an import business in Ardoris and would like to have regular shipments sent to her. Master Boniface sold her a few barrels, but refused to sign any contracts for a larger supply. I asked Master Boniface why she had not sold the woman more goods and she told me that not knowing the person she could not designate future shipments for her.” Snip-snip said.

“Do you happen to know the woman’s name?” Zazeriz asked.

“I did not hear her say her name to Master Boniface, but I did overhear that she owned Ardoris Imports.” Snip-snip said.

“Thank you for the information, Snip-snip. You will need to take care of the tavern while Master Boniface is away. I will send word to you if I find her. I’m going to look in Ardoris for clues about her disappearance.” Zazeriz said.

“Thank you Mistress Zazeriz, I will take care of the Bilge and Barnacle as if it were my own. Please hurry and find Master Boniface. She is a good person and I would hate anything bad to happen to her.” Snip-snip said.

The post Harvest of the Shattered Moon 1 – by Andartianna – narrated by Asclepius appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns.

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[From a forum post by Starr “Darkstarr” Long]

Greetings Avatars,

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues.

Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 38 access for all Early Access backers begins this Thursday, January 26, at 10:30 AM US Central Standard Time (15:30 UTC).

Release 38 is one of our larger releases because some of the work was started before the holiday break and some of the content has been worked on for several releases (Xenos, Blood Bay, Scaled Crafting).

Scenes and Story: We made huge strides forward on multiple scenes throughout the game, including rebuilds of Brookside, Xenos, Vauban Pass, Solania, and multiple Perennial Coast scenes. We also added the new Canyon Siege scene to the Town Siege rotation and added the new PVP scene of Blood Bay to Spindrift Bay. Additionally, we began polishing the Path of Courage with special attention to Highvale. On top of all that, we did a massive cleanup pass in almost every scene in the game to fix bugs. Finally, to better help tell the story in all these scenes, we rebuilt the NPC conversation interface.

More Interactions: We changed the way that keys and locks worked in order to introduce the concept of breaking keys. We also began adding traps to existing scenes. Two types appear in Brittany Sewers and a third in Ardoris Sewers in R38. Finally, we created moving platforms and you can jump on the Blood Bay airship patrol to experience the first example of this new feature.

Scaling Crafting and New Recipes: Equipment improvements gained from Enchanting and Masterworking now scale with your skill level as well as the number of previous improvements. This greatly improves the rewards gained in exchange for the risk taken, and provides better incentives for specialization in crafting. We also added over 20 new recipes; mostly new combat potions. Additionally, we greatly improved the power of Bone Armor and Obsidian Gear.

Rare Loot: High level enemies now have a chance to drop a variety of new rare items, including 17 new combat potions and magical artifacts! The potions include stronger health and focus potions, potions that speed regeneration rates, and potions that grant increased stats. The magical artifacts are unique non-craftable items that, when worn, give the wearer unique benefits but also have some interesting downsides…

Yet again, I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to our Dev+ backers who tested all of the items below on the QA server and uncovered lots of bugs. More importantly, they caught some major balance issues before they got to the live servers. They also provided editorial feedback on this post. They are a big reason that this post actually matches what is in the game, and that it is easy to read.

While we are getting closer to launch, we are still in a constant state of change. We do not yet have all of the in-game systems needed to inform players about these changes, and to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely mostly on this message, and the linked instructions and known issues, to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports because some players elect not to read this valuable information.

By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. Be sure to check out a couple of the event calendars run by our community members (via in-game book or these player-run websites: Avatars Radio and Events of the Avatars). You can get the latest official events on the Main Website.

Without further ado, here is a list of what you can expect to see in Release 38.

Key:

• Plain Text: The original plan for the Release deliverables. We intentionally preserve the original text so that our backers can compare plan versus actuals.
• Italics: Extra notes and new deliverables.
• Strikethrough: These are items that did not make the release (but are still planned).

RELEASE 38, January 26, 2017

• Story: The Path of Love will get some final polish passes including the propagation of the Asian influenced assets we created for Ardoris across all of the Perennial Coast, as well as adding Brookside and Graff Island to the plot. Brookside will be getting uncloned during this process. We will be polishing the other starting scenes for the other two paths: Blood River and Highvale. We will begin polish on the entire Path of Courage. Vauban Pass will be uncloned, thereby making all the Control Points unique scenes. Finally, the all-new polished version of Xenos will be going live, in all its Greco-Roman influenced splendor, and the volcanic PvP violence of Blood Bay will debut.
  • Perennial Coast Improvements (Architecture/Flora): In Release 38, we are moving through all the scenes along the Perennial Coast and updating the flora and architecture to match the new Asian influence we first showed in Ardoris during Release 37. This includes replacing all the exit arches, adding in more bamboo (along with other flora), adding or swapping out Asian architectural elements, along with other details. The only scene we are not touching in R38 is Celestis, which is getting its own specific un-cloning task in a future release.
  • Perennial Coast Improvements (Character): All NPCs along the Perennial Coast are now using custom regional Asian influenced outfits including the Guards, Citizens, Farmers, Merchants, and Nobility. Additionally all Guards along the Perennial Coast are now equipped with Katanas. This, of course, includes Ardoris itself.
  • Solania: 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. Like the other Perennial Coast scenes, Solania got a polish pass to incorporate the Asian influence. This included updating all of the NPC buildings with new rooflines (blue tiles) and wall textures, putting in a new perimeter Shogun style wall, updating the foliage, and adding 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.
  • Brookside: Brookside is located in the Drachvald region in the northeast of Novia directly south of Spite. It is the hometown of Samael and was overrun by the Undead armies of Anapa not long ago. Starting with Release 38, players will encounter this town when following their quests along the Path of Love. Brookside started as a cloned scene using one of our PRT/POT templates based off of the Forest 02 POT template (a forested variation of the Grasslands POT template). In Release 38, it is was rebuilt with new flora, new atmospheric settings like permanent fog, a graveyard, and other unique features for the plot including Samael’s farm. Note that when we un-clone these scenes, we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage.
  • Highvale Polish: Various changes were made to this starting scene on the Path of Courage. The scene in general has been given a level of polish with the addition of many more difficulty-appropriate monsters in previously unused areas, fixing of outstanding bugs, fixing pathing errors, etc., so that it is comparable to the other two tutorial areas. A new optional quest has been added to the tutorial as well—visit the central keep to begin.
  • Courage Path Polish: Various changes were made to the Path of Courage. In addition to other bugs addressed with quests in Resolute and post-tutorial Highvale, players who were unable to progress the Path of Courage due to a certain uncommunicative NPC within Valhold Keep will find the path open to them now.
  • Vauban Pass: Vauban Pass is one of the numerous Control Points that limits travel between regions in Novia. It is located between the Grunvald and Drachvald regions and is controlled by the Undead armies of Anapa. Vauban Pass started as a clone of Sanctus Spine but now has been completely rebuilt for Release 38; making all the Control Points unique scenes.
  • Xenos: Right before we went persistent, we uncloned Xenos and made some modifications to it for specific plot points. However, we were not satisfied with the level of polish, so we chose to do a major rebuild of this scene to bring it up to the quality it needed to be at. Xenos is on the island of Elysium, southwest of Novia, and is a critical juncture on the Path of Truth. The modifications focused on bringing out the Greco-Roman character of the region as well as highlighting the various aspects of the Lottery of Artifice—including pilgrim encampments, an ancient caravanserai, and the temple of Boreas. We also greatly expanded the aqueduct system, rebuilt the dock area, and added a Lagoon of Pleasures.
  • Blood Bay: Blood Bay is a tropical island that was smashed by shards of the moons during the Cataclysm. These shards triggered a massive volcanic event that is still happening today. Toxic minerals in the lava have stained the water red, giving the island its distinctive name. Obsidian Shards in the area make the Protection of the Oracle impossible, making the entire island an Open PvP zone where Outlanders slaughter each other at will. Due to the incredibly unstable nature of the island, only the most desperate and dangerous individuals dare live there: Pirates, Brigands, Thieves, etc. In response, some others who follow a more virtuous path have taken it upon themselves also reside here to keep a watchful eye on the miscreants of the island. Both groups have formed their own settlements on the highest cliffs opposite the volcano above the bay. These two settlements represent opposite ends of the spectrum of virtue and are known as Scoundrel’s Hold and Judge’s Watch, respectively. In future releases if your virtue is high, the townspeople of Judge’s Watch will interact with you, but if your virtue is low, they will refuse to have any business with you. The opposite will be true for Scoundrel’s Hold, where they will only interact with you if your virtue is low. For R38, the NPCs work just like other towns and the virtue mechanic does not yet factor in. Outside the towns, the island is filled with dangerous beasts and a landscape just as dangerous, filled with quicksand (slows you down), fields of poison gas, magic-boosting shards, magic nullifying shards, fields of confusion, and other hazards. This map is a testing ground for many of these new systems, features and ideas that we will then propagate out to other maps over the next several releases. Player housing is not yet available in Blood Bay but should be available in the next few releases.
  • Canyon Siege: We created another scene for use in the Town Sieges. This scene is a bridge across a canyon for use in towns near mountainous areas.
  • Control Points: Mages in control points now have spells that manipulate player position (much like the Daemon). Additionally, during the final wave there is a small chance a boss-level NPC will show up, of a type appropriate for the NPCs of that control point. Those bosses are:
    • Arachnairn Deathbringer: A massive spider whose poisonous bite is almost guaranteed to kill you.
    • LuRK: A Kobold scout from K’rul who is a master of magic.
    • Skelrin Nayer: An ancient lich lord who is kin to the lich in The Rise.
    • Namron Hathcock: An elite member of the Ebon Dawn archers who is VERY deadly with a bow.
  • Non-Hostile Overworld Encounters: Roving Encounters on the Overworld now have the ability to be flagged as Non-Hostile. We can use this flag for prey animals like Deer or domestic animals like Sheep as well as wandering merchants (when we add that encounter). This means that these particular encounters will no longer attack you on sight (we are very sorry if you enjoyed being chased by aggressive deer).
  • Aerie Lighthouse: This landmark had previously been empty but is now fully decorated.
  • Deep Ravenswood: We added some Points of Interest to this scene, moved around some creature spawns to better match these new points of interest and randomized some of the spawns to introduce more variability in the scene (while maintaining the overall challenge). We also added a boss level spider so watch out!
  • Brittany Castle: Previously the various parts of the castle and grounds were not in alignment, but this has now been corrected. Now the main castle entrances are aligned perfectly all the way from the main gate through the bell tower to the entrance. Additionally we made sure the staircase on the first floor and the tiles were aligned to the front door. Finally, on the second floor we properly aligned the throne room main staircase with the throne.
  • Sky Bug Fixes: We fixed several issues with the sky including a mysterious black box and jittery planetary movement at certain times of the day. We also increased the resolution of the stars a bit.
  • Scene Bug Fixes: We went through tons of scenes in the game, fixing major and minor bugs including stuck spots, floating assets, missing assets, missing sfx, bad NPC patrols, missing labels (Overworld), inaccessible ore nodes, missing collision, missing/misplaced Rez Ankhs, falling through the world, etc.
    • Ardoris
    • Battle of Highvale
    • Battle of Highvale (return)
    • Brittany Alleys
    • Brittany Wharfs
    • Central Brittany
    • Crag Foothills
    • Desolate Hills
    • Grasslands 01 POT Template
    • East Perennial Trail
    • East Vauban Foothills
    • Eastreach Gap
    • Elysian Plains
    • Elysium Mines
    • Estgard
    • Etceter
    • Etceter Crag Mines
    • Forest Siege
    • Graff Island
    • Harvest
    • Holtrot
    • Nightshade Pass
    • North Fetid Swamp
    • North Brightbone Woods
    • North Naryad Pinelands
    • Northern Grunvald Barrens
    • Owl’s Head
    • Owl’s Nest
    • Paladis Shardfall
    • Plains Roads Encounter
    • Resolute
    • Resolute Sewers
    • Restless Woods
    • Ruined Keep
    • Sequanna Colossus
    • Serpent’s Spine Foothills
    • Shuttered Eye
    • Solace Bridge
    • Soltown
    • Soltown Catacombs
    • South Fetid Swamp
    • Southern Grunvald Barrens
    • Spectral Mines
    • Spectral Peaks
    • Spite
    • Superstition Canyon
    • The Epitaph
    • Twins Foothills
    • Underground 01 POT Template
    • Valhold
    • Vauban Pass
    • Vertas Pass
    • West Perennial Trail
  • Graff Island Plot Changes Delayed: We chose to only spend time on the first half of the Muriel’s grave side-plot which is in Brookside. We will add the second half which takes place on Graff Island in Q2.
  • Blood River Polish Delayed: Since our current focus is on the Path of Courage we chose to keep our efforts on Highvale since Blood River is on the Path of Truth.
• Traps and Locks: We are going to greatly enhance the interactivity of our dungeons and other play spaces with more traps including flame jets, pressure plates, and arrow shooters. We are also refactoring our key, lock, and door system to make it easier for our developers to add locked doors and keys to their maps.
  • Traps and Puzzles: We have implemented a set of new traps and puzzles for the game. Release 38 will include Pressure Plates (these can open doors as well as trigger traps), Flame Jets, Arrow Shooters, and updated versions of the old Spike Traps. We will begin propagating these throughout the game over the next several releases. In R38, you can find Arrow Shooters and Flame Jets in the Brittany Sewers.
  • Keys & Locks: As you adventure throughout Novia and the Hidden Vale, you’ll find that many keys now have a chance to break on each use. Keys may have a good chance to break (such as the keys for the locked passages that interconnect underground scenes and the cages found in wilderness scenes throughout Novia), while others break about half the time (such as the key for the Kiln Cistern Alchemist’s Workshop), and some will never break (such as special keys required for quests). When a key breaks, a message will appear in your chat window telling you so: “Your key <name of key> broke during use.” If you try to unlock a lock, for which you have several keys, only one key will potentially break.​ (In other words, not all keys of that type will break, only one at a time.) If there is ever a situation where more than one key type can be used to open a lock, the system will use a key that never breaks when one is available, otherwise it will use a key that has the greatest chance to break.
  • Moving Platforms: We now have the ability to move players on platforms for things like elevators, mine carts, etc. Our first example is an airship patrol of Blood Bay. We will be adding many more examples in upcoming releases.
• New NPC Conversation Interface: We will be doing a polish and refactor pass of the NPC Conversation System to make it both more immersive and easier to use.
  • New NPC Conversation Interface: We have updated the conversation window used for interacting with NPCs to make it both more immersive and easier to use. For immersion, we are hiding almost all of the other interface elements, including all other chat and the hotbar. We are also placing the chat in the very middle of the screen where you are looking at the NPC in order to keep you focused on the interaction. We have also tried to keep the interface itself as minimal as possible, with very few borders and as much transparency in the elements as we can. For ease of use, we are placing all the keywords in a toolbar at the bottom of the window. This toolbar will include every keyword you have uncovered with the NPC, including keywords relating to quests you are currently on and keywords learned from past conversations with that NPC. This saves you from having to scroll back to find keywords you might not remember. Players who preferred the older text-based conversation interface will find that still works as well, and in some cases will discover hidden secrets. 
  • Camera and Character Placement: As part of this new feature, we added the ability to define where the avatar stands and where the camera is located when you enter a conversation. For now, this only works if we know exactly where the NPC is going to be standing, so we are only using it for the conversations with the Oracle. But in the future, we hope to be able to use this tech to prevent awkward camera placement.
• Chat Windows: Chat tabs will be able to be pulled off and placed within the game window as separate chat windows.
  • Chat Windows Delayed: We chose to spend time doing more iterations on the new NPC chat interface instead of working on the separable chat windows.
• Crafting: Enchanting and Masterworking level will now have much greater influence on the outcomes of item creation. The higher your skill level, the greater the power of the effect added to the item and the greater number of choices you will have. At Grandmaster level, you will even have the chance to sometimes add maximum durability back to the item. Additionally, the power of the effect is directly proportional to how many levels of masterworking/enchanting have been applied, to better balance risk versus reward. We also hope to greatly increase the number of possible Enchantment and Masterwork effects.
  • Scaling Masterworking and Enchanting: The higher your skill level in Masterworking and Enchanting the higher the power of the effect you add.
  • Proportional Masterworking and Enchanting: The power of the effect added is now directly proportional to how many levels of masterworking/enchanting have been applied to better balance risk versus reward. So the power of the first effect added is much weaker than the sixth effect added.
  • Weapons and Armor Enchanting Skills: There are now two specialization skills in Enchanting: Weapons and Armor. You will need to level these up in order to gain access to higher level enchantments (aka Major Enchants). The addition of these is to further our efforts to rewards specialization in crafting.
  • Grandmaster Masterworking Maximum Durability: If you are a Grandmaster at Masterworking, you have a chance to add Maximum Durability back to the item you are working on instead of adding an effect.
  • Grandmaster Enchanting Durability Hardening: Grandmaster Enchanters now have the ability to add an enchantment that hardens weapons and armor against durability reduction.
  • Attunement and Resistance Enchantments: There are now attunement (weapons) and resistance (chest armor) available to enchanters where the effects are tied to the gem used.
  • Food Buffs in Combat: Buffs and bonuses from food now work during combat as well as out of combat.
  • Bucket Helm Fixed: This can now be Masterworked and Enchanted.
  • Ornate Aeronaut Helmet: Fixed name from Ornate Aviator Cap and Goggles.
  • Bone Armor: Bone Armor has been greatly increased in power. As a reminder, Bone Armor is classified as Light Armor but offers a level of protection similar to Plate while still being very light in weight and low in Fizzle. For R38, we increased the Damage Avoidance, increased Durability, and added some Damage Resistance.
  • Obsidian Armor and Weapons: Obsidian Armor and Weapons have been greatly increased in power as well. Both weapons and armor have had their maximum durability raised to match other gear and had their weight reduced. Armor also had its Fizzle chance reduced greatly and Damage Resistance was increased. As a reminder, Obsidian Armor comes with a damage reflection bonus and Obsidian weapons have a high critical damage chance.
  • Crafted Homes: We added glass to all house recipes that have windows or some kind of glass component.
  • Torches Burn Out: Handheld torches now have a durability that slowly goes down as they are used, eventually burning out. This is coupled with a new recipe to make a torch.
  • Over 20 New Recipes: See Combat section for description of Potion effects
    • Torch
    • Welcome Torch
    • Perennial Coast Farmer Outfit (including hat)
    • Perennial Coast Peasant Outfit
    • Circlet
    • Fancy Circlet
    • Shogun 1 Room Bungalow
    • Shogun Wall Dividers
    • Lesser Healing Potion
    • Greater Healing Potion
    • Maximum Healing Potion
    • Lesser Focus Potion
    • Greater Focus Potion
    • Maximum Focus Potion
    • Restoration Potion
    • Potion of Acumen
    • Potion of Deftness
    • Potion of Might
    • Health Regeneration Potion
    • Focus Regeneration Potion
    • Essence of the Wolf Potion
    • Potion of Cat’s Grace
    • Potion of Elemental Resistance
    • Potion of Magic Resistance
  • Merchant Regional Diversification and Cleanup: We did a major pass through all the merchants in the game to ensure that the merchants matched the shop they were placed in, had different  inventories in each city and region to reward exploration, added merchants that were missing, and fixed any broken merchants. Here is a comprehensive list of all the changes:
    • Overall:
      • Weapon/Combat/Armor Merchants: Now have Smithing recipes since smiths have been removed from many scenes.
      • Farmer Market Stall Merchants: Many of the Farmer Market Stall merchants have been reworked to have regional raw food ingredients along with their seeds (if available). For instance, if the farmer sells apples she also sells apple seeds now. Each merchant now has about 15-17 things for sale. 
    • City by City:
      • Aerie: Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on MarketStall Textiles (was generic Tailoring) and Swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Ardoris: Added Blacksmith merchant to Weapon & Armor Shop. Added Decorations merchant to Bank. Fixed Deed merchant that was broken.
        
      • Bramble: Removed Spice merchant (was generic Cooking). Swapped out Blacksmith with Carpenter since few scenes have Carpenter. Swapped Alchemy merchant with MarketStall Reagent merchant since there is no building.
      • Broochash, Celestis, Eastmarch, Graff Island, Noreach, Point West, Storms Reach : Swapped Blacksmith merchant with Combat Shop merchant to sync with building sign and swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Etceter: Added Waitress merchant bundles to waitresses and swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Fortus End: Added Combat merchant to Combat Shop and swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Goti: Swapped Alchemy merchant with Market Stall Reagent merchant since there is no building.
      • Harvest: Swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Jaanaford: Removed Spice merchant (was generic Cooking) and swapped Alchemy merchant with Market Stall Reagent merchant since there is no building.
      • Mud: Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Fishing Shop (was Market Stall Fish) and removed generic recipe merchant. Swapped Blacksmith merchant with Combat Shop merchant to sync with building sign and swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Northwood: Added Combat merchant to Combat Shop and swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Owlshead: Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Market Stall Baker (was generic Cooking).
      • Port Graff: Moved Alchemy merchant inside of Alchemy Shop. Removed one of two generic cooking merchants that were in close proximity to each other. Removed two of three generic Blacksmith merchants that were in close proximity to each other.
      • Resolute: Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Combat merchant (was deprecated weapon bundle). Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Market Stall Baker (was generic Cooking). Swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Solania: Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Fishing Shop (was Market Stall Fish). Removed generic recipe merchant. Swapped Blacksmith merchant with Combat Shop merchant to sync with building sign and swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Spite: Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Combat merchant (was deprecated weapon bundle). Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Market Stall Butcher (was generic Cooking). Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Market Stall Farmer (was generic Cooking). Swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Valhold: Removed Butchery merchant standing in the middle of nowhere.
      • Vertas: Fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Market Stall Baker (was generic Cooking) and fixed incorrect merchant inventory on Market Stall Farmer (was generic Cooking). Set NPC Respenta to be an Armor merchant instead of Blacksmithing per his conversations. 
      • West End: Removed generic recipe merchant and swapped Alchemy merchant with Magic Shop merchant to sync with building sign.
      • Yew: Removed Spice merchant (was generic Cooking) and swapped Alchemy merchant with Market Stall Reagent merchant since there is no building.
  • More Choices at Grandmaster Delayed: While we were able to add more effects this release, we feel we do not yet have enough to make more choices at Grandmaster meaningful enough; so we chose to delay work on this feature.
• Character: Clockwork Dragons will make their appearance in the game in several versions, including the Summer Telethon pet and a full-size behemoth! Citizens of Ardoris and the Perennial Coast will now be adorned in Asian-influenced clothing, and we will also be updating the Guards in all Perennial Coast scenes with the Ardoris City Guard outfits. Work on other Telethon reward items will also continue, including Clockwork Armor, Ice Wings, and Ice Bagpipes. Finally, rumors of an as-yet-unnamed and unseen stealthy clockwork beast loose in the Kobold areas have been shocking to hear.
  • New Avatar Movement Animations: We recently purchased some animation reference material to help us improve some of our animations. Using those references we have replaced the walk, run, and sprint animations for the male and female avatars with much more polished and lifelike animations.
  • New Creatures
    • Clockwork Dragon: Kobold scientists at the K’rul (Kobold Research Underground Lab) unleashed these gigantic mechanical terrors on Novia to invoke panic among humans. Their program appears to be succeeding… You can find one in Blood Bay, if you dare.
    • Shock Monkey: Shock Monkeys are another mechanical nightmare from K’rul, developed for covert missions. These mechanical monkeys are a terrible version of their cute organ grinder cousins, with sharp claws and teeth plus a shocking electrical attack. They also have stealth abilities that allow them to completely disappear from view. They are rumored to have been found in Skrekk, Blood Bay, Sanctus Spine, and a few other location in Novia.
    • Wild Grey Squirrel: Grey Squirrels (who have much less pointy teeth than shock monkeys) can now be seen throughout Novia in cities and adventure scenes.
  • New Pets:
    • Baby Copper Clockwork Dragon Pet (Telethon): Haven’t you always wanted a cute little reminder of the screams and smells of an entire village being burned to the ground by a giant mechanical horror? Well, if you were part of the Summer Telethon Part 2, you get your wish!
    • Baby Silver and Baby Blackened Metal Clockwork Dragon Pets: What? The monstrosity that incinerated all that you knew and loved wasn’t copper colored? You wanted something in Silver or Blackened Metal to better remember them by? Well, we have what you need with these two color variations of the telethon version that can be purchased from the Add-On Store.
    • White & Black Squirrels: Squirrels are nature’s way of reminding you that you didn’t really prepare well for the winter and you are surely going to perish; but don’t think about that! Instead think about how darned cute these little tree rodents are! These color variants can be purchased from the Add-On Store.
    • Mandarin Duck: There is a long running joke/history of ducks with Ultimas, so we have known for a long time that we had to have ducks in Shroud as well. For our Shogun bundles, we knew we needed animals from Asia and we wanted a bird, so when we found the male Mandarin duck, we knew that we had the perfect match! Expect more ducks in future releases.
    • Pallas Cat: Another Asian native we were excited to add to our game! He’s so fluffy!
    • Shiba Inu Dog: What? We can have one of the cutest dogs there is that also fits our Shogun theme and is an Asian native? We win!
  • New Emotes:
    • /readpaper, /writepaper, /readbook, and /writebook: These emotes have been added to the standard emotes all characters automatically receive. In a future release these will also be triggered automatically when players read or write.
  • New NPC/Player Outfits:
    • Perennial Coast Farmer Outfit: Since the Perennial Coast is at the southern end of Novia working the fields can get quite hot. This can be crafted in-game.
    • Perennial Coast Peasant: Laborers and other commoners wear this sensible clothing when working along the Perennial Coast. This can be crafted in-game.
    • Ornate Kimono: Layers of silk with lovely geometric patterns adorn this ornate kimono favored by the nobility of Ardoris and the Perennial Coast. It can be found in the Shogun Bundles or purchased from the Add-On Store.
    • Ornate Floral Kimono: Beautiful floral patterns cover this ornate kimono worn by nobility of Ardoris and the Perennial Coast. It can be found in the Shogun Bundles or purchased from the Add-On Store.
    • Katana: This curved blade is wielded by the guards all along the Perennial Coast (and some bandits).
    • Ornate Katana: This ornate blade has a dragon head on the pommel and can be found in the Shogun Bundles.
    • Copper Clockwork Armor (Telethon): Kobold tinkerers are always seeking ways to improve everything, and now they have made their own version of a Plate Armor that has clockwork assisted movement to offset the weight. Unfortunately, the gears themselves also weigh a lot, so it turns out the benefit is nullified. However, Outlanders who saw the armor loved the look and asked the Kobold tinkers to keep making it; if only for the looks. The helmet has a built-in Aether Vibration Device so you can tune into your favorite radio stations. This version is a telethon reward for the Summer Telethon Part 2.
    • Silver, Black, Steel Clockwork Armor Variants: If Copper doesn’t go with your eyes, then you have three other colors to choose from in the Add On Store! Like the telethon version, the helmets in each of these have a built-in Aether Vibration Device so you can tune into your favorite radio stations.
    • Frozen Bagpipes (Telethon): Some Outlanders were jealous of the Flaming Bagpipes they saw some of their brethren sporting so they yet again convinced some Kobold tinkers to “improve” their bagpipes. This time, they upgraded them to shoot snow! This is one of the Fall into Winter Telethon rewards (note was originally called Ice Bagpipes).
    • Ice Wings (Telethon): Wearing these wings reminds you of how cold your heart really is and how you should have really written your mom that letter. This is one of the Fall into Winter Telethon rewards.
    • Round Wide Brimmed Hat: If you wanted the hat but not the mask from the Plague Doctor Mask, then now you have your chance in the Add-On Store.
    • Bug Sprayer (Testing Incentive Program): Bug Sprayer equippable with /bugspray emote that makes a green cloud.
    • Ornate Circlet: This elaborately carved circle of metal will be sure to make anyone look regal and is available in the Add On Store.
    • Fancy Circlet and Circlet: These regal bands of metal worn on the head can be crafted in-game.
    • Iron Maiden’s Chemo Relief Fund Cloak: In support of the Go Fund Me campaign for community member Iron Maiden’s chemotherapy, we created this customized Clasped Gauntlets cloak in Blue, Purple, and Silver for everyone who contributes $25 or more to the fund.
    • Portalarium Holiday Party January 2017 Cloak: In support of the community funded 2017 Portalarium Holiday Party, we created this customized Clasped Gauntlets cloak in Green and Red for everyone who donated to the party.
  • Bug Fixes:
    • Bouncing Sitting Avatars: We fixed the bug where other players would appear to be bouncing when sitting.
    • Teleport Effect: Fixed a bug where this was playing every time an avatar appeared in a scene instead of only after using a Lunar Rift.
    • Folding Avatars: Fixed a bug that was causing characters to fold in half (legs would fold upwards while body stayed upright).
    • Fortified Cloth Boots Bug: Fixed issue where these boots were not accepting secondary dye color.
    • Portable Aether Vibration Amplifier Light Bug: The headphones now light up when played again.
    • Fancy Merchant Boots: These were appearing as shoes while the boot shafts were actually connected to the pants. This has now been fixed.
    • Elven Mage Robes: Fixed parts that were not being properly affected by dye and/or were showing up as incorrect color.
    • Elder Elven Archer Gloves: Now properly set as Light Armor.
    • Epic Cloth Chest: Removed pouches from straps on back to prevent sorting issues with cloaks, wings, etc. Also made this more form fitting for female characters.
    • Epic Cloth Gloves: Now properly displaying dye.
    • Flechier Tapestry Outfit: Fixed issue where it was not dyeing properly.
    • Obsidian Cloak: Fixed issue where the cloak was not properly scaling to various armors causing it to float.
  • Dye Remover: You can now purchase packs of dye remover from the Add-On Store that will restore clothing to its original default colors.
  • Underwear Removal: Added tech so that clothing items can be flagged to replace the underwear. This lets us create good looking items that are skimpier than the default underwear (firedancer outfit, bodice, etc.).
  • New NPC Non-Combat Behaviors:
    • Emotes/Dance: We now have the ability to add emote commands to pets. The first example is the dance command for the Clockwork Monkey. If you right click on your Monkey, you can now choose “Dance” as one of your commands. We plan to expand this to include tricks for pets and expressions for Companions. This tech also opened the door for increased behaviors for all NPCs.
    • Jabbering Bertha Conversation: Equipped items can now talk. The first example of this is the Jabbering Bertha item from the Add-On Store which is a cross promotional item with Underworld Ascendant.
• Player Towns & Player Housing: We will continue to expand our housing with a focus on water based housing and houses in our Shogun line. We will also be adding a water decoration surface layer, so players will be able to add decorations to the water around their water homes. Additionally, we will be doing some expansions to the Player-Owned Town toolset including the ability to clear foliage and view lot boundaries at all times. Finally, updates to Dynamic Player-Owned Towns that have locked submission forms will appear in the game.
  • Interior Light Limits: Interior Light Limits are now based on Lot Size only, not number of floors.
  • Remote Bank Access Device: Not everything coming from K’rul is terrifying like the Clockwork Dragon. You can now purchase a Kobold invention from the Add-On Store that allows you to teleport your goods back and forth from your local bank to your home. It is a placeable decoration that anyone with lot permissions can access. Access permissions can be set up on the device just like any other placeable decoration.
  • Backpack and Bag Decorations: Backpacks and Bags can now be placed as decorations and used as containers in your home and on your lot.
  • Container Limits: Containers (Chests, Wardrobes, Backpacks, etc.) now have item limits. Furniture (Chests, Wardrobes, Sarcophagi, etc.) can hold up to 300 items. Bags (Backpacks, Bags, Gift Boxes, Stockings) can hold up to 150 items. Note that a stack of items counts as a single item when calculating limits, no matter how many items are in the stack. If you have a container that is currently over these limits, you will NOT lose anything; you just will not be able to add any more items to that container until it goes below the limits (much like how the Bank works). We needed to add these limits for optimization purposes because having no limits was causing significant server side performance issues, not only for the individual opening the container, but also for all other players sharing that scene since opening a container would add the items to the scene.​
  • Bags inside Bags: Nesting empty bags inside other bags in your inventory is no longer allowed. Existing nested bag structures in player inventories will be flattened to be only one level deep. If you had bag within a bag in your personal inventory or bank, it will be now be accessible directly from the main inventory or bank inventory UI. Empty bags that were inside chests on lots have been moved to local bank storage for the owner of the lot. This change was made in order to improve performance dealing with inventory and to make the rules governing containers simpler and uniform.
  • Inventory Management: We have made a few improvements to the usability of inventory management. Firstly, when multi-selecting items in a list, the number of selected items is now displayed. Secondly, when drag-and-dropping multiple items, the number of items being moved is now displayed next to the mouse cursor.
  • Containers in Banks: Containers in your bank can now be opened directly from the bank UI. Items inside containers are no longer visible unless you open the container.
  • Deco Books and Letters: All books and letters you come across, whether related to quests or just for flavor, can now be placed as decorations, and are readable while placed.
  • Taxes and Claiming: When claiming a lot, you will immediately owe 1 day of rent if you claim with a taxable lot deed. Note that you will not have to pay immediately, but the debt is incurred instantly. This change was to close a loophole where players could claim and unclaim a lot in 23 hours and not have to pay taxes.
  • Weight Limit Removed in Banks: There is no longer a weight limit for items stored in banks. Limits are now only based on item numbers (reminder stacks count as a single item).
  • Water Homes:
    • Water Surface Decoration Layer: Items flagged for placement on water can now be placed as water decorations. While we do not yet have any that qualify, we plan to add several beginning in R39 (starting with obvious items like the Longboat and Gondola).
    • Pirate Galleon City Water Home: Yarr! Strike fear into those land lubbers with this fearsome galleon that has two stories of cabins on the rear deck, an additional cabin on the foredeck, and two levels below decks. She sports three jolly rogers from her three masts! You can purchase this fine vessel in the Add-On Store.
    • Dry Docked Pirate Galleon City Home: This is a dry docked version of the Pirate Galleon that can be placed on a regular land lot. No water lot required! You can purchase this fine vessel in the Add On Store.
    • Water Home Crown Merchant: This merchant sells all the Water Homes and Water themed items for Gold Crowns and can be found in the Brittany Wharves. When the water decorations become available they will also be found on this merchant.
  • Shogun Homes and Decorations:
    • Shogun Row Houses: These variations of the Blue Tile Roof row houses use similar materials to the other homes in the Shogun line of homes and can be found in the Shogun Bundles and on the Shogun Crown Merchant.
    • Shogun 3-Story Town Home: This towering home offers the signature features of the Shogun line of homes, including carved wooden window frames, paper walls, and blue-tiled roof, and can be found in the Shogun Bundles and on the Shogun Crown Merchant.
    • Shogun 5-Story City Home: The largest of our Shogun line of homes offers the signature features of the Shogun line, including carved wooden window frames, paper walls, and blue-tiled roof, and can be found in the Shogun Bundles and on the Shogun Crown Merchant.
    • Shogun 1 Room Bungalow: This cute little one room home leaves plenty of room on a village lot for a garden and features the signature features of the Shogun line of homes, including carved wooden window frames, paper walls, and blue-tiled roof. This home can be crafted in-game.
    • Tansu Chest: A distinctive shogun themed container that can be found in the Shogun Bundles.
    • Ornate Tansu Chest: An ornate version of the distinctive shogun themed container that can be found in the Shogun Bundles.
    • Bamboo Trees: These come in the same size assortments as our other trees in 1, 2, 3, and 4 stories as well as a potted version. These can all be purchased in the Add On Store and on the Shogun Crown Merchant.
    • Foo Dog Statue: This decorative statue of a Foo Dog can be placed in or around your home or in your garden and can be found in the Shogun Bundles and on the Shogun Crown Merchant.
    • Large and Giant Foo Dog Statues: These larger versions of the Foo Dog statue can be placed in or around your home or in your garden and can be purchased in the Add On Store and on the Shogun Crown Merchant.
    • Shogun Room Dividers: These simple wood and paper room dividers are perfect for breaking up the open plan of the Shogun homes and can be crafted in-game.
    • Ornate Shogun Room Dividers: These ornate wood and paper room dividers are perfect for breaking up the open plan of the Shogun homes and can be purchased in the Add On Store and on the Shogun Crown Merchant.
    • Shogun Crown Merchant: Located in Ardoris, this merchant sells many of the items from the Shogun Bundles for Gold Crowns.
  • 2017 Valentine Items:
    • 2017 Valentine Gift Boxes: Continuing in our line of gift boxes, these are themed for Valentine’s Day with hearts and bright pink colors. You can purchase these in the Add On Store.
    • 2017 Valentine Card: These are player writable notes that look like hearts. These are newly shaped for 2017 and can be purchased in the Add On Store.
  • Other Misc Items:
    • 5-Story Stone Row Home Basement: Until now, there was only one style of basement available to Row Home owners… but now they have a choice with the new Stone style. You can purchase this new basement style in the Add On Store.
    • Ornate Iron and Glass Wall Light: A new wall light made of iron and glass. You can purchase these in the Add On Store.
    • Diagonal Muntin Wall Light: This wall light features diagonal muntins for a unique look. You can purchase these in the Add On Store.
    • Chained Obsidian Shard: This unique item can only be placed in an Open PvP area (PVP POT, player lot in a PVP PRT, or PVP Basement). You can purchase these in the Add On Store.
  • Bug fixes:
    • Growth Rate Fixes: Fixed various issues where agriculture growth rate modifiers were either not working properly inside homes or not updating properly when planters were moved inside homes. We also fixed issues related to incorrect growth rate modifiers under overhangs (like in the Wizard Tower).
    • Upscale Stables: In order to fix technical errors with the Upscale Stables decoration from the Mounts Stretch Goal, which were causing bugs like not clearing trees, we needed to correct the offset of the structure relative to the pivot point of the decoration. Doing this will re-position the stables anywhere players have put it in the world, while other decorations they might have placed inside or nearby will be unchanged. In order to fix this, players will have to remove all their decorations, re-position the stables back where they want it, and then redecorate. Also, last release we fixed various issues (that we forgot to mention) including fixing broken doors, making the lights interactive and actually produce light (and making them look better overall), as well as a host of minor polish issues.
  • R37 Lot Deed Raffle Tickets: The drawings for our Fifth Lot Deed Raffle will be held on January 26, 2017 and winners will be announced shortly thereafter. Deeds will be delivered in Release 38.
    • Place Anywhere Deeds (10):
      • Row: 5
      • Village: 3
      • Town: 1
      • City: 1
    • Player Owned Town Deeds (75):
      • Row: 40
      • Village: 20
      • Town: 10
      • City: 5
  • R38 Lot Deed Raffle Tickets: This will be the Sixth Lot Deed Raffle. For this raffle, we again dropped the numbers lower to better match current demand and pace remaining stock. As always, Raffle tickets can be purchased with in game gold. As with R37, 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 in R39.
    • Place Anywhere Deeds (10):
      • Row: 5
      • Village: 3
      • Town: 1
      • City: 1
    • Player Owned Town Deeds (40):
      • Row: 20
      • Village: 12
      • Town: 6
      • City: 2
  • POT Tools Delayed: Some advance work to prepare for Magic Movers and Home Rental caused us to have to delay work on POT Tools.
  • New and Updated Dynamic POTs:
    • Ahnen Hain: Upgraded to Village.
    • Baubbleshire: Upgraded to Village.
    • Bay Lunaire: Upgraded to Town.
    • Bladewyke: Changed location. Interconnections (added Etceter, removed Taenby Landing).
    • Caelestis Canton: Removed PvP flag.
    • Cape Havoc: Interconnection (with Blood Bay).
    • Copper Lake: Renamed (formerly Grimmstone Fields). Converted to Mountains 01. Ownership changed. Changed location.
    • Elementum: Changed location. Interconnection (with Storms Reach).
    • Festival: Renamed (formerly Arx Draconis Embassy). Converted to Snowy Mountains 01. Ownership changed. Nested interconnection changed to within Owl’s Head.
    • Hatter’s Estates: Renamed (formerly The Hatter’s Estates). Changed location.
    • Heartwood: Renamed (formerly Malhelkyth). Converted to Forest 01b. Ownership changed. Interconnection (nested interconnection changed to within Oceania).
    • Hy-Brasil: Converted to Island 01a. Interconnections (with Etceter and Taenby Landing).
    • Insulam de Nocte: Upgraded to Town.
    • Irenholde: Upgraded to Village.
    • Isle of Mists: Renamed (formerly Jamestown). Converted to Island 01. Ownership changed. Rotated to “Right”. Nested interconnection changed to within Serenite.
    • Jade Valley: Upgraded to City. Rotated to “180”. Changed location (minor).
    • Lamplight: New addition (nested in Port Phoenix).
    • Nido dell’Aquila: Upgraded to Village.
    • Oracle Oasis: Renamed (formerly Forsaken Forest). Converted to Desert 01b. Ownership changed. Removed PvP flag. Interconnections (nested interconnection changed to within Soltown, removed Harvest).
    • Port Phoenix: Rotated to “180”.
    • Tenakill: Converted to Grasslands 01a.
    • Twilight Sparkle: Upgraded to Village.
    • Wisteria Lane: Converted to Grasslands 01a.
• Combat: We will expand the number of decks players can build and save. We will also be adding more combos, more skills, and more spells. We will also begin a major polish pass on all the visual effects related to combat.
  • Locked Deck Starting Default: When placing a glyph in an empty slot, the default is now set to Locked. This is to improve the new players experience, since they usually find dealt decks confusing at first.​
  • Critical Heal Color: Critical Heals now show up in a different color like the critical hits do in the combat log and the combat floating numbers.
  • New NPC Combat Behaviors:
    • Preferential Targeting: We now have the ability to set preferences on creatures for which kinds of targets they prefer. Starting with Slimes who prefer metallic targets (players wearing metal armor) and Flesh Flayers who prefer fleshier targets (players wearing cloth and leather).
    • Stealth: Creatures now have the ability to go into stealth mode like players. The first creature to take advantage of this ability is the Shock Monkey (see above).
    • Attack While Rooted: NPCs will now continue to attack while rooted (just like players).
  • Bug Fixes / Balance Changes:
    • Pickpocketing Breaks Mesmerize: Having your pocket picked now breaks the mesmerize effect.
    • Resist Crowd Control Stack Fix: Stacking for this was broken. This has now been fixed.
    • Stealth Visual Bugs: Fixed various bugs with equipment not displaying properly when stealthed.
    • Death Field: Death Field now becomes more effective the closer a player is to death like other Death Magic spells.
    • Aetheric Feedback: Fixed a bug where the regeneration buff for this spell would stop abruptly anytime another spell was cast.
    • Night Step: This can now only be used on a location the player could have normally walked to.
    • Soothing Rain and Healing Grace: These spells can now be dismissed.
    • Enlightenment: Fixed issue where the tooltip was not matching the  intelligence bonus actually being given by this buff.
    • Moon Worship: This is now properly applying dexterity bonus at night.
    • Bludgeon Knockback and Knockdown in PVP: Fixed a bug that was preventing these skills from properly working in PVP.
    • Earthquake in PVP: Fixed a bug where this spell would get applied multiple times with just a single cast making it insanely overpowered. It now just gets applied a single time from a single cast as it should.
    • Earth Elementals: Summoned Earth Elementals can now damage and be damaged by wild Earth Elementals.
    • Linux Mouse Look Fix: Fixed issue where opening any window with a keyboard shortcut while holding down right mouse button caused avatar to rotate.
    • Typos: Fixed lots of typos in spell and skill descriptions.
      • Corpse Explosion
      • Spellbinder
      • Lightning
      • Discharge
      • Chain Lightning
      • Aetheric Feedback
    • Healing and Focus Potions: These have been tuned to be much more effective. Note that the Lesser versions are now the equivalent effectiveness of what the original potions were.
  • New Potions: All of the following potions are craftable in-game.
    • Lesser, Greater, and Maximum Healing Potions: Health potions now come in 3 additional strengths beyond the standard Health Potion. One weaker version (Lesser), and two stronger versions (Greater & Maximum).
    • Lesser, Greater, and Maximum Focus Potions: Focus Potions now come in 3 additional strengths beyond the standard Focus Potion. One weaker version (Lesser), and two stronger versions (Greater & Maximum).
    • Restoration Potion: Fully restores Health and Focus.
    • Potion of Acumen: Increases Intelligence.
    • Potion of Deftness: Increases Dexterity.
    • Potion of Might: Increases Strength.
    • Health Regeneration Potion: Increases Health Regeneration Rate.
    • Focus Regeneration Potion: Increases Focus Regeneration Rate.
    • Essence of the Wolf Potion: Increases run speed.
    • Potion of Cat’s Grace: Boosts Safe Fall skill.
    • Potion of Elemental Resistance: boosts resistances to all elemental schools of magic.
    • Potion of Magic Resistance: Boosts resistances to all non-elemental schools of magic.
  • Rare Loot: Players can now find rare Artifacts (non-craftable magical items) as loot on high level creatures they fight. They can also find recipes starting with the new potions we created this release (more recipes will follow).
    • Potion Recipes: The recipes for the new potions can be found as loot.
    • Ring of Brittle Brawn: Reduces hit points by 40% but adds significant (20-50) strength.
    • Ring of the Frogkin: When worn you are able to jump slightly higher. However your skin turns green.
    • Torch of Jerik: This large iron basket torch can be wielded as a mace.
    • Belt of the Ox: Cuts your move speed in half but quadruples carrying capacity.
    • Ring of Luck: Gives a small wishing well bonus.
    • Slipshod Shooter’s Sash: This belt gives a bonus to your Rapidfire skill, gives a small bonus to Rapidfire power, but decreases your Ammo Scavenger.  So you can shoot more arrows but you lose more arrows…
    • Lavalliere of the Lagomorph: This necklace of the rabbit greatly decreases your strength but increases your movement and attack speed.
    • And perhaps others….
  • Increased Decks Delayed: Work on the new NPC conversation UI, prep for Magic Movers, and various inventory changes delayed work on increasing decks.
  • More Combos/Skills/Spells Delayed: We chose to work on the new potions, fixing existing skills, and the new Artifacts instead of adding new combos, skills, and spells.
  • VFX Polish Delayed: We spent most of the release cataloguing and reviewing our current VFX and building a plan to improve them which did not leave us much time to do the actual improvement.
• Audio: The main focus of audio for Release 38 was creatures, but we also did some bug fixing as well.
  • Bug Fixes:
    • Bow Sounds: These should now be heard properly.
    • Viking Village Home: Back door should now have audio.
    • Street Organ: Added missing octave ranges.
    • Fountains & Kobold Wind Generators: Now properly tied to volume controls.
    • Sharps & Flats for Instruments: Fixed an issue where some instruments were not playing sharps or flats.
    • Unlinked Volume SFX: Fixed various sounds there were not linked to volume controls.
  • Roving Encounters: These now have audio attached to them including footsteps, alert cries and attack yells.
  • Creature Audio: We updated the following creatures with new sounds and/or polished existing sounds. This pass ensured that every creature on this list had sounds for all game states. (idles, footsteps, combat, death, etc.)
    • All Elementals
    • Automaton
    • Barrel Mimic
    • Catapult
    • Chaos Daemon
    • Chest Mimic
    • Clockwork Monkey
    • Corpion
    • Coyote
    • Duck
    • Faun
    • Ghost
    • Horse
    • Imp
    • Lich
    • Owl
    • Satyr
    • Skeleton
    • Slime
    • Stag
    • Wisp
    • Wolf
    • Zombie

So, now that it is clear what you can expect, we should also be as clear about what you should NOT expect:

• Stability: Stability should be similar to Release 37 (after all the patches). However, there still seems to be the one remaining major issue with Unity and AMD A8 integrated graphics chipsets used in laptops that make the game unplayable (this affects other games using Unity as well). Unity is aware of the problem and working on a fix but we do not have an ETA from them on this.
• Performance: We plan to make steady improvements each release until the game is running smoothly on minimum spec machines in big cities. However we did not make time in Release 38 for any significant performance improvements so performance remains unchanged since last release.
• Game Loop: Release 38 is a further iteration on our game loop, but is still missing a few key components and balance. Expect this to expand with each subsequent release.
• Visual Quality: Efforts to improve visual quality are ongoing. We will continue to iterate on these until we have highly competitive visuals.
• Pledge Rewards: Pledge Rewards that have been built and have tech to support them are in the game; all other rewards are awaiting either content creation or tech support. You can find an updated list of these items in known issues.

Here are links to instructions and known issues. Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with, and we are proud to be on this journey with you.

Sincerely,
Starr Long
aka Darkstarr
Executive Producer

 

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View the full article

From last week’s Update of the Avatar #211:

North Drachvald Spur is located in the Sirens mountains in the Drachvald region in the northeastern section of Novia. It started as a clone of the Whiteguard Foothills and is getting rebuilt to go live as a new scene in Release 39.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]

Hey folks, today I will be sharing some screenshots from the uncloning of North Drachvald Spur. The area is home to a group of bandits who have been ambushing supply convoys using rock slides. The area will also feature the remnants of an abandoned mine, and a mysterious watchtower.

The terrain has also been reshaped to feature a ridge line of mountains to the east, which are present in the overworld map. The biome has been swapped for one inspired by the mountains of the pacific northwest United States.

Inspiration (Mt Rainier Washington)

The New Road

The Old Road

The Waterfall

Broken Ridge Pass

The (mostly) Abandoned Mining Settlement

The Bandit’s Camp

The Watchtower

Here is a short video of my work on the scene:

Let me know what you think!

~Chris Wolf
Level Designer

View the full article

Greetings Avatars!

A significant upcoming change for Release 38 will be the refactor of containers within containers.

Once R38 goes Live, nesting empty bags inside other bags in your inventory will no longer be allowed. Existing nested bag structures in player inventories will be flattened to be only one level deep. If you had a bag within a bag in your personal inventory or bank, it will be now be accessible directly from the main inventory or bank inventory UI. This change was made in...

Containers Within Containers Notice for Release 38

View the full article

From last week’s Update of the Avatar #211:

Right before we went persistent, we uncloned Xenos and made some modifications to it for specific plot points. However, we were not satisfied with the level of polish, so we are revisiting this scene and doing a polish pass this release. We hope to have this pass complete by Release 38. Xenos is on the island of Elysium, southwest of Novia, and is a critical juncture on the Path of Truth. This is the third update we have posted so far on this map.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones]

And here we are folks,…the final post for Xenos before it goes live in the next build! We’re working feverishly on this (as you can tell by the hour of this post), and hope that you’ll enjoy what we have to offer…

Everything I had yearned to include in the scene has now been placed somewhere on the map, and at this point all that is left for me to do is proliferate them to all the various places they may go, and finish some final touch-up details on the landscape painting and foliage placement as decoration across the map… You’ll see examples of pretty much everything in the images of this last and largest post… We’ll begin and end near the city center, where you can see the festive area of the Forum. Beyond it you can catch a peek at the newest addition to replace a building that I had been struggling to figure out how to handle… Instead I used a suggestion from the Mad Hatter pertaining to a wonderful asset available on the Unity Store, which ended up perfectly fitting the theme of the scene, and tied in wonderfully to elements of the fiction pertaining to the mysterious Titan Boreus.We’ll see that building up close at the end of the post, but for now, let’s make use of the handy gondolas that I’ve placed at various locations throughout the scene… Initially, each will have two boats; one which will allow you to visit another gondola dock around the bay, and the second which will return to the one you just came from. Eventually, however, our plan is to have a single boat there which will take you to any of the locations on that scene map by merely choosing one from an entire list! Grand convenience!

On the way to catch the gondola, you’ll notice that merchants have finally arrived to set up their wares in market stalls that line the busy docks. Colorful awnings and goods of all kinds entice those who have newly arrived to the city from far, foreign shores! And speaking of merchants, the caravanserai has now been stocked with them as well, and offers a comfortable environment in which to sit and socialize while enjoying a sweet pastry or delicious fruit from the local orchards.

As far as orchards go, not far from the caravanserai and the tent city near the edge of Xenos can now be seen rich farmlands and tilled fields full of crops ready for harvest by the local plebeians. Nearby are fenced-in paddocks and grassy acres where cows and sheep wander placidly grazing. The great Elysian Plains stretch away toward the distant horizon. One can even find a shrine to a forgotten harvest goddess nestled in the middle of a wheat field on the way toward Hatter’s Hill, evidence of the pantheistic ancient days before the Fall, thousands of years before the path of Virtues was established.

Much like the steep road leading up to the Elysian Heights neighborhood across the bay, the cobbled road to Hatter’s Hill district is adorned by pillars topped with burning braziers to light the way in the shadows of the steep cliffs. Statues of long-dead legionnaires known as the Tagma Guard, warriors in service to the ancient royalty of Elysium before the Fall, watch over travelers as they climb the hill to the top. A brief respite on the way may be in order near a fountain fed by the same artesian wells that supply the Eastern Aqueduct with fresh water that services the Elysian Meadows neighborhood below.Atop the Hill itself are a variety of interest points, much like the distant Elysian Heights and the West Bay area. Water features such as the old fountain seen above, small bathing ponds, and public wading pools are fairly numerous, many of which are decorated with statuary from the old kingdom. And of course, a variety of ruins of ancient Xenos can be discovered throughout the area, especially at the city’s outskirts. The plateau of Hatter’s Hill itself was once the seat of power for Xenos, established long before the Fall by twin brothers according to legend (one of whom betrayed the other to assume the throne as sole monarch, it is said), and whose massive statues still stand on either side of the great Elysium Gulf, which leads to the Bay of Storms. When the moon was shattered and fell from the sky, though no shards struck Elysium, the shores of Xenos were battered by vast waves and shaken by terrible earthquakes. The palaces of Xenos’ ancient rulers were toppled in the cataclysm’s fury, and what is left of them can still be found on the Hill to this day, long since looted and choked with shrubs and overgrowth.Last but not least we return to the City Center district to see evidence of some of Xenos’ newest architecture, the gleaming Hall of Boreus, erected well over a century ago during his stay here after the end of the Obsidian Empire, and housing (now that he has apparently vanished) an enormous statue carved in his likeness. Trimmed in beaten sheets of gold, and carved by the same masons who erected the graceful arches and pillars of the Lagoon of Pleasure (as well as several other features found throughout the city), this splendid shrine to the Titan of Truth stands as the perfect centerpiece to this thriving city of luck and pleasure. Perhaps a visit to this shrine will enhance the luck of those seeking their fortunes at the fabled Lottery.

Here is a short video of my work on the scene:

I truly hope you have enjoyed this final tour of my work on Xenos before it goes live! As always, it has been an absolute pleasure sharing my progress with you… Wish me luck as I perform the final polishing touches!

Yours truly…

Scottie ^_^

View the full article

Hello everyone! Asclepius is off this week for some precious family time. I’ll do my best not ramble Here is the news of the week:

 

• Release 38 Character Work
• The Making of North Drachvald Spur
• Xenos Polish
• The Making of K’rul
• Moving Platforms – Blood Bay Air Patrol
• Richard Garriot Receives NY Game Critics Legend Award
• R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
• Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund
• Upcoming Events
• Community Spotlight: Fallin’ Green
• Community Resources – Players Helping Players
• Recommended Projects to Back

The post Echoes From the Caverns 01-20-17 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:

• Release 38 Character Work
• The Making of North Drachvald Spur
• Xenos Polish
• The Making of K’rul
• Moving Platforms – Blood Bay Air Patrol
• Richard Garriot Receives NY Game Critics Legend Award
• R38 Offline Data Format Change – Character Preservation Notice
• Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund
• Upcoming Events
• Community Spotlight: Fallin’ Green
• Community Resources – Players Helping Players
• Recommended Projects to Back

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Release 38 Character Work

Release 38 character work has been split between Perennial Coast outfits for the citizenry, telethon rewards, and Shogun Bundle items. Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear posted some of his work to Sketchfab and the Silver variant of the Clockwork Armor was recognized as a Staff Pick!

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear]

Hello and greetings all! Fletcher here, aka Skullmuncher34

I’ve been working on a TON of new content for R38 and I wanted to give you guys a preview.

I’ve spent some time catching up on Telethon content with Ice Bagpipes, Ice Wings, and Clockwork Armor.

[A really cool feature of the Clockwork Armor is the helmet has a built-in Aether Vibration Device so you can tune into your favorite radio stations! The following Copper Clockwork Armor is a telethon reward for the Summer Telethon Part 2 – Editor]

[The following Steel, Silver, and Black variants of the Clockwork Armor will be available for R38 in the Add-On Store – Editor]

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The Making of North Drachvald Spur

North Drachvald Spur is located in the Sirens mountains in the Drachvald region in the northeastern section of Novia. It started as a clone of the Whiteguard Foothills and is getting rebuilt to go live as a new scene in Release 39.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]

Hey folks, today I will be sharing some screenshots from the uncloning of North Drachvald Spur. The area is home to a group of bandits who have been ambushing supply convoys using rock slides. The area will also feature the remnants of an abandoned mine, and a mysterious watchtower.

The terrain has also been reshaped to feature a ridge line of mountains to the east, which are present in the overworld map. The biome has been swapped for one inspired by the mountains of the pacific northwest United States.

Inspiration (Mt Rainier Washington)

The New Road

The Old Road

The Waterfall

Broken Ridge Pass

The (mostly) Abandoned Mining Settlement

The Bandit’s Camp

The Watchtower

Here is a short video of my work on the scene:

Let me know what you think!

~Chris Wolf
Level Designer

---

Xenos Polish

Right before we went persistent, we uncloned Xenos and made some modifications to it for specific plot points. However, we were not satisfied with the level of polish, so we are revisiting this scene and doing a polish pass this release. We hope to have this pass complete by Release 38. Xenos is on the island of Elysium, southwest of Novia, and is a critical juncture on the Path of Truth. This is the third update we have posted so far on this map.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones]

And here we are folks,…the final post for Xenos before it goes live in the next build! We’re working feverishly on this (as you can tell by the hour of this post), and hope that you’ll enjoy what we have to offer…

Everything I had yearned to include in the scene has now been placed somewhere on the map, and at this point all that is left for me to do is proliferate them to all the various places they may go, and finish some final touch-up details on the landscape painting and foliage placement as decoration across the map… You’ll see examples of pretty much everything in the images of this last and largest post… We’ll begin and end near the city center, where you can see the festive area of the Forum. Beyond it you can catch a peek at the newest addition to replace a building that I had been struggling to figure out how to handle… Instead I used a suggestion from the Mad Hatter pertaining to a wonderful asset available on the Unity Store, which ended up perfectly fitting the theme of the scene, and tied in wonderfully to elements of the fiction pertaining to the mysterious Titan Boreus.We’ll see that building up close at the end of the post, but for now, let’s make use of the handy gondolas that I’ve placed at various locations throughout the scene… Initially, each will have two boats; one which will allow you to visit another gondola dock around the bay, and the second which will return to the one you just came from. Eventually, however, our plan is to have a single boat there which will take you to any of the locations on that scene map by merely choosing one from an entire list! Grand convenience!On the way to catch the gondola, you’ll notice that merchants have finally arrived to set up their wares in market stalls that line the busy docks. Colorful awnings and goods of all kinds entice those who have newly arrived to the city from far, foreign shores! And speaking of merchants, the caravanserai has now been stocked with them as well, and offers a comfortable environment in which to sit and socialize while enjoying a sweet pastry or delicious fruit from the local orchards.

As far as orchards go, not far from the caravanserai and the tent city near the edge of Xenos can now be seen rich farmlands and tilled fields full of crops ready for harvest by the local plebeians. Nearby are fenced-in paddocks and grassy acres where cows and sheep wander placidly grazing. The great Elysian Plains stretch away toward the distant horizon. One can even find a shrine to a forgotten harvest goddess nestled in the middle of a wheat field on the way toward Hatter’s Hill, evidence of the pantheistic ancient days before the Fall, thousands of years before the path of Virtues was established.

Much like the steep road leading up to the Elysian Heights neighborhood across the bay, the cobbled road to Hatter’s Hill district is adorned by pillars topped with burning braziers to light the way in the shadows of the steep cliffs. Statues of long-dead legionnaires known as the Tagma Guard, warriors in service to the ancient royalty of Elysium before the Fall, watch over travelers as they climb the hill to the top. A brief respite on the way may be in order near a fountain fed by the same artesian wells that supply the Eastern Aqueduct with fresh water that services the Elysian Meadows neighborhood below.Atop the Hill itself are a variety of interest points, much like the distant Elysian Heights and the West Bay area. Water features such as the old fountain seen above, small bathing ponds, and public wading pools are fairly numerous, many of which are decorated with statuary from the old kingdom. And of course, a variety of ruins of ancient Xenos can be discovered throughout the area, especially at the city’s outskirts. The plateau of Hatter’s Hill itself was once the seat of power for Xenos, established long before the Fall by twin brothers according to legend (one of whom betrayed the other to assume the throne as sole monarch, it is said), and whose massive statues still stand on either side of the great Elysium Gulf, which leads to the Bay of Storms. When the moon was shattered and fell from the sky, though no shards struck Elysium, the shores of Xenos were battered by vast waves and shaken by terrible earthquakes. The palaces of Xenos’ ancient rulers were toppled in the cataclysm’s fury, and what is left of them can still be found on the Hill to this day, long since looted and choked with shrubs and overgrowth.Last but not least we return to the City Center district to see evidence of some of Xenos’ newest architecture, the gleaming Hall of Boreus, erected well over a century ago during his stay here after the end of the Obsidian Empire, and housing (now that he has apparently vanished) an enormous statue carved in his likeness. Trimmed in beaten sheets of gold, and carved by the same masons who erected the graceful arches and pillars of the Lagoon of Pleasure (as well as several other features found throughout the city), this splendid shrine to the Titan of Truth stands as the perfect centerpiece to this thriving city of luck and pleasure. Perhaps a visit to this shrine will enhance the luck of those seeking their fortunes at the fabled Lottery.

Here is a short video of my work on the scene:

I truly hope you have enjoyed this final tour of my work on Xenos before it goes live! As always, it has been an absolute pleasure sharing my progress with you… Wish me luck as I perform the final polishing touches!

Yours truly…

Scottie ^_^

---

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 oppportunities 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]

(Kobold Research Underground Laboratory)

Here’s sneak peak shots of the Kobold dungeon located beneath the mountain in Blood Bay. W.I.P.

@Scottie made this nice Kobold kitchen/dining area and I incorporated it into KRUL.

Nothing bad at all happens when you step on these pressure plates.

Here is a short video of my work on the scene:

More to come soon, thanks for checking out the thread!

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Moving Platforms – Blood Bay Air Patrol

As part of our work on traps in Release 38, we created the tech for moving platforms. This means we now have the ability to move players on platforms for things like elevators, mine carts, etc. Our first example is an airship patrol of Blood Bay. We will be adding many more examples in upcoming releases. 

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Richard Garriot Receives NY Game Critics Legend Award

This Thursday evening the The New York Videogame Critics Circle awarded Richard Garriott the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the annual New York Game Awards. They had this to say in their announcement:

Here’s one of the greatest reasons to attend the New York Game Awards on 1/19! The New York Videogame Critics Circle is proud to announce that the Andrew Yoon Legend Award will go to Ultima creator and astronaut Richard Garriott.

Richard Garriott will appear onstage at the New York Game Awards to receive his award from many of our nearly 40 writers. In addition, he’ll take time to speak to one of the teens we mentor from the Bronx’s DreamYard Prep School. The New York Videogame Critics Circle will also debut a short documentary about the winner’s historic accomplishments.

Richard Garriott is one of the early pioneers of games, a creator who began during a more innocent time when games were distributed in plastic bags. (Actually, he was one of the first to use boxes for games.) Also known as Lord British, Garriott’s landmark Ultima series changed the videogame industry forever. It was he who created the word ‘avatar’ and he who originated the massively multiplayer online role playing game. Arguably, without Lord British, we’d never have seen the likes of EverQuest and World of Warcraft.

Later, inspired by his astronaut father, Garriott docked with the International Space Station in 2008 and spent over a week on this historic flight. “Explore/Create (My Life in Pursuit of New Frontiers, Hidden Worlds and the Creative Spark” is Richard Garriott’s new book. It will be released days before his New York Game Awards appearance.

The Andrew Yoon Legend Award is dedicated to the memory of Andrew Yoon, one of the co-founders of the New York Videogame Critics Circle. Andrew was a keen writer/journalist and later became an inspired game maker. He left us too soon.

The event was broadcast live on The New York Videogame Critics Circle Twitch channel where you can view the entire award show. You can view Richard’s segment here (or by clicking on his picture below).

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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:

1. Patch your game client to Release 38.
2. 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!

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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.

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Upcoming Events

Jan 26, 2017 – Release 38
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 43

Visit 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: SotA Gustball Pre-Season Tournament – January 21, 4:30pm CT

Introducing SotAGustball.com! The purpose of SotAGustball.com is to have a centralized place where all the team and league info can be found, support player events, and further the great game of Gustball! We plan to host 3 month long Gustball Leagues where teams will compete twice a month for 3 months and the team with the best record will win fortune & glory (as well as Addon Store credit)! It’s Warm Up Time! Join us for a Pre-Season 3v3 Gustball Tournament where the best Team will walk away with Addon Store Credit & 30,000 gold! All levels & skill are encouraged to play.

Pre-Register your 3 person team to guarantee a spot at: www.SotAGustball.com/tournament. Location: Oasis Field in Virtue Oasis (SW Corner of Hidden Vale). Prize: Addon Store Credit & 30,000 gold for the Tournament winner.

You can teleport to: Sheamus McGuinness.

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Community Spotlight: Fallin’ Green – Player Owned Town

This latest Player Owned Town spotlight has Berek exploring the crossroads village of Fallin’ Green. Being a neighbour of Ardoris, the city of Love in the South, it is easy to find and access. Just enter Ardoris proper and use the conveniently provided transport to Fallin’ Green!

When I stepped out of the wagon that brought me here, the first thing I noticed was the cool breeze of the sea. With the murmuring of the waves and the noise of the sea gulls in my ears, I walked towards what was prominently the town center. Here, I passed a cute holiday snowman family hiding under a tree.

As I approached, I was greeted by a village vendor. He presented me the Tale of Fallin’ Green, and a selection of wares from the local crafters; at a very exclusive special discount offer of course.

While browsing the store, Govenor Tarin Merrywhistle spotted me from across the room.

“Hello and welcome to Fallin’ Green, Master Berek! May I show you around after you are done shopping here?” Govenor Tarin said.

“Why yes, please! What can you tell me about this amazing town?”

“The ‘Green has always been connected with the sea. Originally inhabited by fishermen, it developed into a well-known shipyard. That was the growing period, when many a tall ship had been build here, and when all the homes for the workers coming for the docks had been built. So many trees were felled during that period, the “Fallin’ Green” became our name.

[Read More…]

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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.

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Recommended Projects to Back

Argle Bargle

Argle Bargle /ärɡəl ˈbärɡəl/ noun – copious but meaningless talk or writing; nonsense.

Argle Bargle is a riotously funny, deceptively simple card game where players take turns building ridiculous insults out of words and phrases to humiliate and defeat their friends. The core game is appropriate for ages 14 and up. It is easy to learn and play, and appeals to the party gamer and the tactician alike. Games last 15 to 30 minutes each and can be played with up to 8 players.

“Lord British and our team of Portaloons love Argle Bargle. Furthermore, we would like to point out that “Your team couldn’t win a fight with a stinky clown!”
(“Six point insult, boom!”)”
Richard “Lord British” Garriott
Gamer, Adventurer, Pioneer

 

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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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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with a great story from Womby, entitled
The Blessing
Background music by Smartsound

 

David was understandably nervous. Not so much because he was most likely going to die (he had accepted that), but because the desires of his entire region now rested on his shoulders. A series of gruelling clashes had determined that he was the greatest warrior in the entire Perennial Coast. Now the time had come to test his mettle against combatants from all the other regions in New Britannia.

The contestants slowly made their way into the cave that led to the Marshalling Room. Evenly spaced around the edge of the room were a number of cage doors. Although firmly shut, that did not prevent the blood curdling sound of deep throated snarls and growls escaping from the cages and echoing throughout the chamber. In the centre of the room were two platforms. If two combatants could each simultaneously hold one of the platforms for ten seconds then they would both be transported to the Supplicant Room. At that point the cage doors would all open, and those left behind would be torn to shreds by immensely powerful beasts.

Once inside the Marshalling Room each contestant sought a position that they hoped might give them some advantage. A loud thump signalled the closing of the entrance door, and simultaneously David felt the tickle of rushing air as he instinctively twisted to one side to avoid an arrow. Glancing towards the source of the projectile he saw an archer impaled on a halberd. Fierce hand to hand battles had broken out at each of the two platforms, and it was clear that no contestant was going to be able to hold either of the platforms until most were either dead or incapacitated.

Taking advantage of the confusion, David cast an invisibility spell and stood behind a large tank in plate armour who was too busy casting heals on himself to notice David.

Finally the number of uninjured fighters had dwindled to five, which quickly became four as the tank suddenly body slammed the occupant of the nearest platform and took his place. The other platform was held by a mage who was using chain lightning to hold back challengers. Still invisible, David quietly stepped behind the tank and slit his throat, at the same time propping him up so that he seemed alive. Now there were three able combatants, but the mage had run out of reagents. The one uninjured survivor who had not managed to secure a platform saw his chance and threw himself at the mage, decapitating him with a well placed swing of his two handed sword.

As the swordsman stepped on the platform he turned and glared at the tank for ten long seconds, after which the cage doors burst open and scores of hungry beasts rushed towards the dead and dying. David was spared seeing the result as both he and the swordsman were transported to opposite ends of the Supplicant Room.

“Brave warriors, you have been found worthy, but know that only one can receive my blessing, and that I require in return a human life. One of you must die.”

The message from the deity was clear. Still invisible, David let the dead tank crumple to the floor.

“Aha!” cried the swordsman. “You see that? I claim your blessing, as is my right!”

“I fear you are mistaken.” replied the deity, as the swordsman felt David’s blade plunge into his back.

Finally, with the invisibility spell wearing off, David spoke up. “It appears I am the only survivor. I therefore, on behalf of the Perennial Coast, claim what is rightfully ours.”

The deity chuckled as she replied “Indeed you are. With a wave of this spoon I hereby grant you the right to select next week’s play list for Avatars Radio.”

“Woohoo!” replied David. “No more Disco and Country and Western.”

“You’re welcome!” replied the deity.

The post The Blessing – by Womby – narrated by Asclepius appeared first on Echoes from the Caverns.

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This latest Player Owned Town spotlight has Berek exploring the crossroads village of Fallin’ Green. Being a neighbour of Ardoris, the city of Love in the South, it is easy to find and access. Just enter Ardoris proper and use the conveniently provided transport to Fallin’ Green!

When I stepped out of the wagon that brought me here, the first thing I noticed was the cool breeze of the sea. With the murmuring of the waves and the noise of the sea gulls in my ears, I walked towards what was prominently the town center. Here, I passed a cute holiday snowman family hiding under a tree.

As I approached, I was greeted by a village vendor. He presented me the Tale of Fallin’ Green, and a selection of wares from the local crafters; at a very exclusive special discount offer of course.

While browsing the store, Govenor Tarin Merrywhistle spotted me from across the room.

“Hello and welcome to Fallin’ Green, Master Berek! May I show you around after you are done shopping here?” Govenor Tarin said.

“Why yes, please! What can you tell me about this amazing town?”

“The ‘Green has always been connected with the sea. Originally inhabited by fishermen, it developed into a well-known shipyard. That was the growing period, when many a tall ship had been build here, and when all the homes for the workers coming for the docks had been built. So many trees were felled during that period, the “Fallin’ Green” became our name.

With the downturn of the recent years, and danger creeping not only over land but also on the seas, all growth came to an halt. You won’t find any ship buildings here now. Fortunately, the crafters stayed and support each other, so we have weathered the storm. Even if several of the old inhabitants have wandered off or fled to Ardoris permanently, we do have the opportunity for new residents in now open housing spots.”

“The history of Fallin’ Green left its traces. At the center of a small park is our protector Sequanna, and the old town. The park had been nicknamed Love’n’Bell – obviously with the statue and the bell tower. This is the core of the old village, where you will see small, well tended homes of families living here since the first days of the village. The farmers and the windmill guarantee, together with the fishermen, the surviving of the residents. Also, there is the administration, and the village vendor that you already spoke to. The vendor proudly displays a nice selection of the wares produced in our town.

If you look north, you see the newer market area with the smaller row homes that had been built for the dock workers. Many of these are empty, ready for anyone wanting to join the community. By the way, do please forgive Ivannoe the bartender for being a bit grumpy. He misses the days of old…”

“Across the bridge we see the more posh area. Crown Beach is its name, and further on Lamp Island. On the island, a chapter of the venerable Brotherhood of the LAMP has set anchor. The chapter administrator is Sir Alar Griffonbourg. They chose the shoreline to embark onto their mysterious quests throughout New Britannia. Members are easily recognized by their greeting – ‘Shine!'”

“Above the beach, at Bird’s Crest, towers Merrywhistle Keep. It is the home of the Dukes of the Mended Flute, my family. The source of our name is a bit shrouded, but family tales tell of some fearful horror creature that my great granddad fought with nothing more than wielding the family flute. Well, I do have my doubts of the tale, but that is a discussion for another time. Ehem…”

“It is sad the ship builders have moved on, but the town remains strong. Who still resides here?”

“We are crafters and adventurers, given the history of the ‘Green. There are also farmers, such as Crom Fury the miller, as well as Yaneke’s Rug Stop. And of course the old tavern, known since long as the Knotted Log Inn, run by the family of Tripp Swindle. Just to name a few. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the Whacky Note Manufacture run again by my own family, producing some of the finest instruments for aspiring musicians.”

“What makes Fallin’ Green a place to come back to again?”

“We are gifted with a convenient location at the central Perennial Coast, and proximity to our large neighbor Ardoris. And the sea climate here in the south is lovely. But what makes a town special, makes it truly a place to call home, is always the people and their guilds, like Beran League.

In addition, we all love to gather around Love’n’Bell for recreation, and a public viewing spot with the balloon at the shore, ready to show off our town to any guests visiting like yourself.

We support our local businesses with a crafting house run by Tiffani SaintOnge, and provide a public town vendor for all to access. The service lot will soon be expanded for community functions as well. Many other towns across New Britannia have started to take notice of what we are doing here, and want to use the easy access to Ardoris that the town provides as a nice suburban trading hub.”

“What is the future of this quaint seaside town?”

“Given its convenient location and the pleasant newly refreshed atmosphere we’ve now built, we hope to acquire many new settlers. We are currently thinking about organizing several crafting events to celebrate a couple of recent arrives like are expert crafters. Possibilities include a local merchant’s faire, though my favorite idea is a series of regional folk and shanty music festivals.

For the public service area we are currently standing in, where the Christmas display still shines proudly, will all be expanded. Expansion work will probably include a small stage for plays, and booths for more trading opportunities.

To note for anyone interested in moving into Fallin’ Green, the lighthouse could use a bit of renovation to function well again, and also a tenant if possible to maintain it afterward…”

If you are interested in becoming part of Fallin’ Green, housing is listed at SotaMap.com, and listed in the community forums. You can also contact Tarin Merrywhistle in the game or on the forums for more history about the town!

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Greetings Avatars,

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.

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!

Thanks,
Berek

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Greetings Avatars,

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....

R38 Offline Data Format Change - Character Preservation Notice

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From last week’s Update of the Avatar #210:

Brookside is located in the Drachvald region in the northwest of Novia directly south of Spite. It is the hometown of Samael and was overrun by the Undead armies of Anapa not long ago. Players will encounter this town when following their quests along the Path of Love.

Brookside started as a cloned scene using one of our PRT / POT templates based off of the Forest 02 POT template (a forested variation of the Grasslands POT template). In Release 38, it is being rebuilt with new flora, new atmospheric settings like permanent fog, a graveyard, and other unique features. Note that when we un-clone these scenes, we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage.

This week instead of screenshots Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar created a short video that shows a little bit of what it takes to build a map like Brookside. In the video, SorcerousSteve is working on Brookside Manor. He writes:

“The town of Brookside has a history of being overrun by the undead, it is a dark foggy town nested in pine forest filled with wary town folks and decrepit buildings. This abandoned manor, once a luxurious estate, now lies in ruins just north of Brookside, a remnant of the undead overrun. The locals are careful not to get too close…”

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Hello everyone! Here is the news of the week:

 

• New NPC Conversation Window
• The Making of Brookside
• Important Update to Keys and Locks in Release 38
• Richard Garriott Explore Create book signing at Austin Book People
• Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017 (and Expirations)
• Origin PC Steam Key Promotion
• New Shogun Bundles and Expiring Item Sales
• Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund
• Upcoming Events
• Community Spotlight: Chateau du Lys
• Community Resources – Players Helping Players
• Recommended Projects to Back

The post Echoes From the Caverns 01-13-17 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:

• New NPC Conversation Window
• The Making of Brookside
• Important Update to Keys and Locks in Release 38
• Richard Garriott Explore Create book signing at Austin Book People
• Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017 (and Expirations)
• Origin PC Steam Key Promotion
• New Shogun Bundles and Expiring Item Sales
• Doug’s (IronMaiden) Chemo Relief Fund
• Upcoming Events
• Community Spotlight: Chateau du Lys
• Community Resources – Players Helping Players
• Recommended Projects to Back

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New NPC Conversation Window

In Release 38, we are updating the conversation window used for interacting with NPCs to make it both more immersive and easier to use. For immersion, we are hiding almost all of the other interface elements, including all other chat and the hotbar. We are also placing the chat in the very middle of the screen where you are looking at the NPC in order to keep you focused on the interaction. We have also tried to keep the interface itself to as minimal as possible with very few borders and as much transparency in the elements as we can.

For ease of use, we are placing all the keywords in a toolbar at the bottom of the window. This toolbar will include every keyword you can use with the NPC including keywords relating to quests you are currently on and keywords learned from past conversations with that NPC. This saves you from having to scroll back to find keywords you might not remember. There will also be some hidden keywords to discover though, so exploration will still be rewarded. Above you can see the work in progress as of today.

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The Making of Brookside

Brookside is located in the Drachvald region in the northwest of Novia directly south of Spite. It is the hometown of Samael and was overrun by the Undead armies of Anapa not long ago. Players will encounter this town when following their quests along the Path of Love.

Brookside started as a cloned scene using one of our PRT / POT templates based off of the Forest 02 POT template (a forested variation of the Grasslands POT template). In Release 38, it is being rebuilt with new flora, new atmospheric settings like permanent fog, a graveyard, and other unique features. Note that when we un-clone these scenes, we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage.

This week instead of screenshots Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar created a short video that shows a little bit of what it takes to build a map like Brookside. In the video, SorcerousSteve is working on Brookside Manor. He writes:

“The town of Brookside has a history of being overrun by the undead, it is a dark foggy town nested in pine forest filled with wary town folks and decrepit buildings. This abandoned manor, once a luxurious estate, now lies in ruins just north of Brookside, a remnant of the undead overrun. The locals are careful not to get too close…”

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Important Update to Keys and Locks in Release 38

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Keith “Sannio” Quinn]

As you adventure throughout Novia and the Hidden Vale, you’ll find that many keys now have a chance to break on each use.

Keys may have a good chance to break (such as the keys for the locked passages that interconnect underground scenes and the cages found in wilderness scenes throughout Novia), while others break about half the time (such as the key for the Kiln Cistern Alchemist’s Workshop), and some will never break (such as special keys required for quests).

When a key breaks, a message will appear in your chat window telling you so: “Your key (<name of key>) broke during use.”

If you use a lock for which you have several of the same key, only one key will break. (In other words, not all keys of that type will break, only one at a time.)

If there is ever a situation where more than one key type can be used to open a lock, the system will use a key that never breaks when one is available, otherwise it will use a key that has the greatest chance to break. (Note that we don’t have this situation in the game yet, but an example would be “Prison Cell A” opened by either “Key for Prison Cell A” or “Warden’s Key.”)

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Richard Garriott Explore Create book signing at Austin Book People

Richard Garriott’s new book Explore Create is out now and it has been garnering a lot of press attention with everyone from Rolling Stone to The Austin American Statesman providing coverage. The Austin American Statesman had this to say:

Richard Garriott, who for many years has loomed large in the Austin video-game design scene, has had an incredible amount of adventure in his life and success in digital entertainment. He was a teen indie game designer before co-founding Origin Systems, one of Austin’s most successful video-game companies.

Origin Systems, which was eventually bought by Electronic Arts, ushered in a golden age of computer gaming with franchises such as “Ultima” and “Wing Commander,” games still fondly remembered, played and highly ranked in lists of the top digital games of all time.

But perhaps less known to gamers and casual observers of Garriott is that he’s never stopped exploring the world and what’s outside of it. The son of astronaut Owen Garriott, Richard has visited the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, been outside Earth’s atmosphere as a guest to the International Space Station and hunted for meteorites in Antarctica.

Rolling Stone had this to say:

Richard Garriott is kind of a big deal in the world of games. Back in 1981 he created Ultima, a role-playing game that spawned a series that is still considered a touchstone for developers and players. Right now he’s at work on a spiritual successor to the Ultima games, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, but in his spare time he’s also visited the International Space Station, performed the first zero-G wedding and turned his home Britannia Manor into a haunted house and museum.
Garriott’s memoir, titled Explore/Create: My Life in Pursuit of New Frontiers, Hidden Worlds, and the Creative Spark, covers his career creating games, his interest in space travel, visits to the Titanic and Antarctica as well as offering readers insights that might apply to their more earthbound lives.

Richard will be at Book People here in Austin to sign his book and discuss it at 3:00 PM CST this Sunday January 15.

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Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017 (and Expirations)

Avatars! Join us on Twitch and get ready to shrug off the winter blues and welcome back fun in the sun. Today, we’re announcing the Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017!

At Midnight CST, March 9, 2017 (6:00 UTC, March 10, 2017), we are expiring the following content:

• Viking Village Home
• Wizard Tower Village Home
• Tower Village Home
• Windmill Village Home
• Druid Town Home
• Tower Town Home
• Brown Nomad Hat
• Red Fez Hat
• Brown Chaperon Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Bonnet
• Sigil Cloaks 3 Pack
• Lord British Cloak

Help us to achieve the following goals during this next event!

As a special bonus, we are offering Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards to any backer that pledges a minimum of $5 from the start of the telethon, until Midnight (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). The Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017 Funding Stretch Goal Rewards are:

• $10,000: /flowerleap emote (leap into the air and throw flowers)
• $25,000: Butterfly Mask
• $35,000: Stained Glass Hand Lantern
• $50,000: Floral Pattern Stained Glass Oil Table Lamp (3 Pack)
• $65,000: White Flowered Topiary Creature Statues (3 Pack)
• and more to be revealed if we hit these goals…

Did you see what was unlocked in the last telethon? This one might be even bigger!

Cheer on the Devs!

For every $2,500 donated, all developers on camera have to either dance, sing, or drink a shot of alcohol.

Additionally, we will be spinning the Wheel of Fortune! The wheel will have 14 items at any given time, but dozens of sales ultimately will happen! 

As the wheel is spun, what is selected will be replaced by something else. A detailed list of wheel items will be coming soon. Items already selected will be removed for a time (some may not come back onto the wheel for the rest of the telethon). Keep in mind that some of these may never come up, so cross your fingers for your preferred item!

Telethon Schedule**

• 12:00 PM: Welcome to the Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017!
• 12:30 PM: R39 Postmortem Q&A and review

** Return here for the detailed schedule that will run until midnight and will include Deep Dives into various parts of the game, Community Spotlights, and more!

Win These Great Prizes!

• Viking Village Home
• Wizard Tower Village Home
• Tower Village Home
• Windmill Village Home
• Druid Town Home
• Tower Town Home
• Brown Nomad Hat
• Red Fez Hat
• Brown Chaperon Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Bonnet
• Sigil Cloaks 3 Pack
• Lord British Cloak
• Store Credit ($10)
• Plus more prizes from the Add On Store
• And several items courtesy of RelicsbyRild.com

Keep an eye on @ShroudofAvatar for updates before, during, and after the telethon. See you on the livestream chat at Noon this coming March 9th!

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Origin PC Steam Key Promotion

We are excited to announce our new partnership with Origin PC and are kicking it off with a giveaway of 20 Steam Keys! 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.

ORIGIN PC delivers the best gaming experience period, but what does that mean? It means the best parts and technology the computer gaming industry has to offer. It means world class support from day one and ORIGIN PC’s support never ends. It means having a team of people who understand the art of elite system building and maintenance, standing by to assist you when you need it. It means never having to feel you made the wrong choice.

To enter the contest, you can follow Origin’s or Shroud’s social accounts (Twitter, Twitch) or visit one of our sites (Facebook or Website). You can find more detail on the contest page.

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More Shogun Bundles and Expiring Item Sales 

We’ve added two more Shogun Bundles to the Bundle Store this week, the Shogun Village and Shogun Village Keep Bundles:

Last Chance Exclusives

As announced in the Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017 post, we are expiring several homes and hats from the Add-On Store! For those of you that would like to acquire those items before they disappear, we’ve put several of them on sale, and also created these Value Packs to reduce the price even more!

Last Chance Village Home 4-Pack

This pack includes the Viking Village Home, Wizard Tower Village Home, Tower Village Home, and Windmill Village Home:

Last Chance Town Home 2-Pack

This pack includes the Druid Town Home and Tower Town Home:

Last Chance Hat 5-Pack

This pack includes the following dyeable hats: Brown Nomad Hat, Red Fez Hat, Brown Chaperon Hat, Brown Pilgrim Hat, and Brown Pilgrim Bonnet.

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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.

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Upcoming Events

Jan 26, 2017 – Release 38
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 43

Visit 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: Astronomy Night! Sundays at 3:30pm CT

From community member Bowen Bloodgood:

Astronomy Night is back! For those who wish to know more about our night sky, related lore or just gazing at the stars. Astronomy Night is a one hour ‘class’ on New Britannia astronomy. The event will be at Caer Dracwych this Sunday, Jan 15th at 3:30 NBT (CST).

Those attending the first events will get a free astrolabe! (While supplies last) Special thanks go to @Mac2 for helping to make this possible. Also thanks to @Bow Vale who generously offered to help out. I might still take you up on that offer ;).

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Community Spotlight: Chateau du Lys

This week’s Player Owned Town spotlight features Chateau du Lys, brought you by your wood elf druid, Berek! A magnificent and thriving metropolis led by Duke Dariuss, Chateau du Lys is located on a spacious island near Kingsport in the Hidden Vale.

Chateau du Lys is a safe haven for people who like to be next to important cities such as Kingsport or Owl’s Head, and at the same time, to live in a peaceful, natural, beautiful environment. The town is based mainly on French culture and that reflects into their merchant NPC names and also by the PoT name itself. Many of the members are bilingual and love to share and learn with people from different cultures. It’s an amazing experience to live.

The island is also the home and headquarters of the guild Gardiens du Lys. It is connected to BattleDale PoT, which is accessible by boat from the main port. Chateau du Lys is a unique place in the Hidden Vale for people who like a variety of activities and locations to meet their needs.

Right from the entrance of the island, you can notice the natural beauty that nature in New Britannia can offer you. From the main port, you can see the warmth and welcoming path ahead, waiting for you to explore its mysteries. This is where I came in and began to explore the town around me.

[Read More…]

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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.

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Recommended Projects to Back

Unknown Realm: The Siege Perilous

Unknown Realm: The Siege Perilous is a new 8-bit fantasy role-playing game for PC and C64 inspired by the classic RPGs of the 80’s.

Why is it that anytime you ask an RPG fan what their favorite game is, they will almost inevitably name a game that was made 30 years ago? You know the games we’re talking about, games like Ultima, Legacy of the Ancients, Wasteland, SSI “Gold Box” titles, or some other game from the “Golden Age” of RPGs. Despite the high-end graphics and advances of modern RPGs, they still somehow fail to live up to the enjoyment found in these fan favorites of the past.

Let’s face it: those low-fidelity RPGs had something special. They had the perfect mix of presentation and gameplay that allowed your imagination to run free. Sadly, for some reason, game companies decided to stop making single player RPGs like this and thus abandoned a generation of RPG fans…until now.

We here at Stirring Dragon Games think it’s a shame no one is willing to make classic RPGs like this any more, and we’re just crazy enough to do something about it!

Unknown Realm: The Siege Perilous is a new single player medieval fantasy role-playing game that will take you back to the glory days of 80’s gaming.

Together with your help, we can bring back a taste of the Golden Age! Not just for the fans who almost flunked out of high school playing these games long ago, but for new generations of gamers who never got the opportunity to experience what makes this genre of RPGs so special.

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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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Avatars! Join us on Twitch and get ready to shrug off the winter blues and welcome back fun in the sun. Today, we’re announcing the Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017!

At Midnight CST, March 9, 2017 (6:00 UTC, March 10, 2017), we are expiring the following content:

• Viking Village Home
• Wizard Tower Village Home
• Tower Village Home
• Windmill Village Home
• Druid Town Home
• Tower Town Home
• Brown Nomad Hat
• Red Fez Hat
• Brown Chaperon Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Bonnet
• Sigil Cloaks 3 Pack
• Lord British Cloak

Help us to achieve the following goals during this next event!

As a special bonus, we are offering Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards to any backer that pledges a minimum of $5 from the start of the telethon, until Midnight (Spending Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). The Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017 Funding Stretch Goal Rewards are:

• $10,000: /flowerleap emote (leap into the air and throw flowers)
• $25,000: Butterfly Mask
• $35,000: Stained Glass Hand Lantern
• $50,000: Floral Pattern Stained Glass Oil Table Lamp (3 Pack)
• $65,000: White Flowered Topiary Creature Statues (3 Pack)
• and more to be revealed if we hit these goals…

Did you see what was unlocked in the last telethon? This one might be even bigger!

Cheer on the Devs!

For every $2,500 donated, all developers on camera have to either dance, sing, or drink a shot of alcohol.

Additionally, we will be spinning the Wheel of Fortune! The wheel will have 14 items at any given time, but dozens of sales ultimately will happen! 

As the wheel is spun, what is selected will be replaced by something else. A detailed list of wheel items will be coming soon. Items already selected will be removed for a time (some may not come back onto the wheel for the rest of the telethon). Keep in mind that some of these may never come up, so cross your fingers for your preferred item!

Telethon Schedule**

• 12:00 PM: Welcome to the Spring Telethon of the Avatar 2017!
• 12:30 PM: R39 Postmortem Q&A and review

** Return here for the detailed schedule that will run until midnight and will include Deep Dives into various parts of the game, Community Spotlights, and more!

Win These Great Prizes!

• Viking Village Home
• Wizard Tower Village Home
• Tower Village Home
• Windmill Village Home
• Druid Town Home
• Tower Town Home
• Brown Nomad Hat
• Red Fez Hat
• Brown Chaperon Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Hat
• Brown Pilgrim Bonnet
• Sigil Cloaks 3 Pack
• Lord British Cloak
• Store Credit ($10)
• Plus more prizes from the Add On Store
• And several items courtesy of RelicsbyRild.com

We will be giving prizes away on an hourly basis with many being given away multiple times. If you wish to win prizes during the Telethon event, be in Discord chat! We will be active on Twitch and YouTube chats as well, but they will not be our portal for prize giveaways.

*Watch The Telethon on Twitch and the final recording will be archived on YouTube! after the event as well. Please be aware that if we have any connection problems, YouTube will be the first service to be dropped from the stream.

*There will be some really awesome prizes awarded during the telethon, but you have to be present in the Discord chatroom to qualify for each drawing. Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to each segment will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief. Only 3 Questions per person!

Keep an eye on @ShroudofAvatar for updates before, during, and after the telethon. See you on the livestream chat at Noon this coming March 9th!

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Warning: Telethon is Rated PG-13 for Alcoholic Content
(might get upgraded to Rated-R depending on rate of pledges)

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This week’s Player Owned Town spotlight features Chateau du Lys, brought you by your wood elf druid, Berek! A magnificent and thriving metropolis led by Duke Dariuss, Chateau du Lys is located on a spacious island near Kingsport in the Hidden Vale.

Chateau du Lys is a safe haven for people who like to be next to important cities such as Kingsport or Owl’s Head, and at the same time, to live in a peaceful, natural, beautiful environment. The town is based mainly on French culture and that reflects into their merchant NPC names and also by the PoT name itself. Many of the members are bilingual and love to share and learn with people from different cultures. It’s an amazing experience to live.

The island is also the home and headquarters of the guild Gardiens du Lys. It is connected to BattleDale PoT, which is accessible by boat from the main port. Chateau du Lys is a unique place in the Hidden Vale for people who like a variety of activities and locations to meet their needs.

Right from the entrance of the island, you can notice the natural beauty that nature in New Britannia can offer you. From the main port, you can see the warmth and welcoming path ahead, waiting for you to explore its mysteries. This is where I came in and began to explore the town around me.

The streets were filled with a bustling market that day with many traders to meet all your needs. Right up the hill from the main island’s port, you are greeted by the big bell tower which is the entrance to our downtown, crafting vendors, and a second market area. There are a total of 15 active NPC buildings contain shops and services here!

It is in this square that I met Duke Dariuss OfChateauDuLys, a short and kindful man who is really involved into his community. He has a very generous heart and is always willing to help his citizens, and loyal subjects, become outstanding members of this Metropolis. He also acts as the Governor of the island and is the leader of Gardiens du Lys guild.

Quartier Général des Gardiens du Lys (Gardien du Lys) – Dariuss of Chateau Du Lys’s Manor

As I walked along side Duke Dariuss, he described how the activities of the day flowed from one area of the town to the next. During the warmth of the next day the town can look entirely different. The merchants return from their lodgings to begin trading at the communal crafting area.

“All of this is located right by the docks!” Dariuss explained. “It’s important that we can load the goods we produce on to the merchant ships as soon as they arrive. Delays cost money after all, and we can’t have that.”

As we settled in for the evening, I asked Dariuss…

“It’s a beautiful town! You clearly take great pride in its appearance. What can you tell me about Chateau du Lys?”

Chateau du Lys is a safe haven on a Metropolis size island and open to everyone. We value Justice, Equality, Respect and Share. Anyone who adheres to these values are welcome to come. We are a very friendly and generous community and we’d like everyone to have a place to establish themselves and become citizens. We are of course open to PVP combats, we even have an area for that purpose at our guild HQ’s basement. Chateau du Lys is a place where everyone can be part of the decisions no matter their ranks or skills, everyone has a word to say and we are always listening.

There are also many activities we organize especially during the weekend, our citizens are hanging around and having fun and form groups so we can become stronger and at the same time combine our strength.

Square du Clocher (Bell’s Square)

“Who is welcome to reside in Chateau du Lys?”

Anyone who wants to be in a respectful, peaceful but active community and willing to help and share with the community. People who want to be part of our adventure and help us develop the PoT and experience fun by doing so :). We want to shape our metropolis in the image of its citizens. We have bilingual speaking people (French and English) so anyone is welcome despite the PoT’s French name. There is still plenty of space available for lots, just ask me

“What are the unique areas of Chateau du Lys?”

Chateau du Lys has many unique areas to fulfill any citizen’s needs or just to add more atmosphere to the PoT. We have lots of NPC shops from crafting and housing to weapons and armor. When you first enter the bell tower entrance, you are greeted by the main avenue which is our “downtown” area. Many of our most glorious homes are located in this area.

L’Avenue Principale (The Main Avenue)

La Maison Hantée (The Haunted House)

Manoir de Cylia Veca (Cylia Veca’s Manor)

Manoir de Terrence Phillip (Terrence Phillip’s Manor)

At the end of the main avenue is where our second market area is located. Many stalls are installed along the road with many merchants to fulfill all your needs. In the end, there are two market districts on each side for easy access to nearby residents or visitors.

Marché du Lys (Lys Merchant’s Square)

Here is our crafting pavilion which has all expert stations for all crafting professions to meet our crafter’s needs.

Place de l’Artisan (Artisan’s Place)

We also have a giant dragon statue which overlooks all who travel in or out the island and protect our citizens in case of attack. There are rumors that it can transform into a real dragon! The balloon is also a nice place to hang out and have a nice view of the island.

Dragon du Lys (Lys’s Dragon)

This is our cemetery, but beware, it’s haunted during the night. Its evil magic corrupted the vegetation nearby, please be cautious! At your own risk and peril and all of that :).

Cimetière Place de l’Oracle (The Oracle’s Place Cemetery)

This is our main port. This is where visitors and citizens get to the island, and where you came in on earlier. There are lots of ships coming and going all day and night. Chateau du Lys is a very big mercantile hub in the Hidden Vale!

Port des Gardiens du Lys (Gardiens du Lys’s Port)

Le Temple de l’Oracle (The Oracle’s Temple)

Chateau du Lys’s citizens are really tied to each other, always there to answer as many questions possible and to offer their help to people in need. We have citizens from many different time zones, so there’a almost always someone to play or discuss with.

What is the future of Chateau du Lys?

We plan to expand even further into making our town the largest mercantile hub and thriving community in the Hidden Vale! We are located in a very strategic part of the island too, so anyone from anywhere can visit or set up their houses on our island.

We will also adjust our PoT’s design to accommodate as much possible the needs of our current and future citizens. There are many lots available and others to be placed as we expand so if anyone has a spare deed, send me a message or come see us and we’ll find the best place for you

If interested in becoming part of the Chateau du Lys community, please message Duke Dariuss of ChateauDuLys in the community forums to show your interest. You can also send a message to our Officers in-game:

– Bjorn Dyonisys
– Cylia Veca
– Lordx Bacon
– Seth Aeva
– Terrence Philip
– Valor Bastagio

“Ensemble nous sommes et resterons à jamais liés pour l’Honneur et la Gloire. Car c’est dans l’unité que nous puisons notre force.”…

“Together we are and will stay forever, for honor and glory! In unity we stand, stronger than ever.”

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Do you have a Player Owned Town, guild, or other type of group that makes available great things for the community? Let us know! We would like to include your establishment in an upcoming spotlight. Just send Berek a brief proposal of what you have to share!

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Hello everyone! Happy New Year!:

 

• The Making of the Canyon Siege Encounter
• The Making of Brookside
• Perennial Coast Improvements (cont)
• Xenos Polish
• The Making of Blood Bay
• Pre-order Richard Garriott’s memoir Explore/Create to receive $20 off Shroud of the Avatar
• MMOGames: Shroud Wins Best Crowdfunded Online Game of 2016
• MMORPG: Shroud nominated for The Most Wanted MMO of 2017
• New Shogun Bundles
• Upcoming Events
• Community Spotlight: Styx – Player Owned Town
• Community Holiday Party at Portalarium!
• Community Resources – Players Helping Players
• Recommended Projects to Back

The post Echoes From the Caverns 01-06-17 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 the Canyon Siege Encounter
• The Making of Brookside
• Perennial Coast Improvements (cont)
• Xenos Polish
• The Making of Blood Bay
• Pre-order Richard Garriott’s memoir Explore/Create to receive $20 off Shroud of the Avatar
• MMOGames: Shroud Wins Best Crowdfunded Online Game of 2016
• MMORPG: Shroud nominated for The Most Wanted MMO of 2017
• New Shogun Bundles
• Upcoming Events
• Community Spotlight: Styx – Player Owned Town
• Community Holiday Party at Portalarium!
• Community Resources – Players Helping Players
• Recommended Projects to Back

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The Making of the Canyon Siege Encounter

Periodically, NPC towns come under siege by the Obsidian Cabalists. The timing, duration, and location of these sieges is driven by Celestial Mechanics. When you attempt to enter a town under siege, you will first enter the Town Siege scene where the enemy has made camp outside the town and is fighting the town defenders. You can choose to join the battle and end the siege early or work your way around the perimeter, perhaps encountering only some scouting parties. The first iteration of this feature (and one map) went live in Release 37. In Release 38, we are adding another map based on bridge spanning a canyon.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]

Hey folks, today I’m going to share what I’ve been working on this week. These are some screenshots of the upcoming Canyon Bridge Siege Map. In this scenario, enemies have seized a deteriorated bridge which was previously under construction, and have set up a war camp from which they can lay siege to a nearby town.

The Bridge

The Enemy Camp

The Foreman’s Shed

The River

As always, feedback is welcomed.

~Chris Wolf
Level Designer

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The Making of Brookside

Brookside is located in the Drachvald region in the northwest of Novia directly south of Spite. It is the hometown of Samael and was overrun by the Undead armies of Anapa not long ago. Players will encounter this town when following their quests along the Path of Love. Brookside started as a cloned scene using one of our PRT / POT templates based off of the Forest 02 POT template (a forested variation of the Grasslands POT template). In Release 38, it is being rebuilt with new flora, new atmospheric settings like permanent fog, a graveyard, and other unique features. Note that when we un-clone these scenes, we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage.

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

Hey guys! SorcerousSteve here once again to give you an update on the town of Brookside!

An abandoned manor, once a luxurious estate, now lies in ruins; a remnant of the undead overrun.

Wretched Man’s Bog
A foul smelling, dank, wet bog located to the North of Brookside.

Abandoned buildings litter the outskirts of Brookside, past signs of the undead overrun. Meanwhile, wheat fields and wind turbines show signs of a town rebuilding and struggling to move forward.

For those of you wishing to live in a spooky foggy atmosphere, where the fear of the undead overrun looms close, the town of Brookside is the perfect place for you!

Brookside Town Center, covered in fog.

Stay tuned for Brookside… coming this R38!

Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer

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Perennial Coast Improvements (cont)

In Release 38, we are moving through all the scenes along the Perennial Coast and updating the flora and architecture to match the new Asian influence we first showed in Ardoris during Release 37. This includes replacing all the exit arches, adding in more bamboo (along with other flora), adding or swapping out Asian architectural elements, along with other details. The only scene we are not touching in R38 is Celestis, which is getting its own specific un-cloning task in a future release.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]

Here are a few addition screenshots of some of the adventure zones in The Perennial Coast.

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Xenos Polish

Right before we went persistent, we uncloned Xenos and made some modifications to it for specific plot points. However, we were not satisfied with the level of polish, so we are revisiting this scene and doing a polish pass this release. We hope to have this pass complete by Release 38. Xenos is on the island of Elysium, southwest of Novia, and is a critical juncture on the Path of Truth. This is the third update we have posted so far on this map.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones]

Hello again!

That holiday break made it seem like it’s been forever since I last posted. Let’s take a look at some recent Xenos progress, shall we?

As we enter into the central city neighborhoods from West Bay road, you can already see how my “urban renewal” project is shaping up. Though surrounded by housing lots ahead and to the right, there’s still plenty of room for decorative foliage, tall junipers, and statuary to demarcate areas of interest such as this crossroads, which spills out onto the newly developed west dock-side shoreline. This city has been a port-of-call for well over two thousand years or so, since long before the Fall of the shattered moon, and remnants of the grand stone docks built in antiquity are still in heavy use, as you will note! My goal for all such areas was to conjure both the grit and the beauty of the ancient populated Greco-Roman shores of our Earth’s Aegean Sea. The water we are currently using certainly helps create that illusion. As you’ll notice, here and there where it seemed appropriate, I’ve dotted various areas with some of the new decorative pieces we’ve purchased and adapted for this region. I’m sure you’ll see them migrate to other parts of the world as well!

I’ve also begun to give a bit of love to the Elysian Heights neighborhood area on the hill overlooking downtown. The Overlook Point with its grand colonnade now has a new fountain feature, and the yards bordering the nearby housing lots have been manicured a bit to show that the city builders have an eye for the fine aesthetics they believe will please the elite who choose to make their homes there. Here too the older ruins, while being cleaned up of rubble and debris, have been allowed to remain, accenting the gracefully tall trees and colorful flowering plants. Statues from several ages of Xenos’ culture gaze down upon its joyful residents and visitors alike, and one can always expect to find a beautiful old rotunda or small formal garden tucked away here and there.

Heading back down to the area of the Forum of the Lottery again, you’ll note a few improvements here as well! The somewhat barren area beyond the main gate has now been fully fleshed out with winding pathways, a variety of flora, and various objects of art. These paths lead directly into the central part of the downtown district and through the Forum’s seating area itself, which has seen a few additions as well to help drive home the opulent and festive nature of the proceedings held there, and for which hopeful visitors have traveled so far to see.

The hour is late, and it’s time for me to journey home for the night, so I’ll leave you with this last evening’s image of night-time as it settles over the west road leading down from the Heights and toward the Elysian Plains. There will be, perhaps one more set of these previews before the final details are done, and the whole scene is ready to go into the update! Hopefully you will be pleased when this city transforms before your very eyes!

Farewell for now,…and good night, my friends!

Scottie ^_^

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The Making of Blood Bay (cont.)

Blood Bay is going to be an Open PVP area with two NPC towns, player housing, adventuring areas, and entrances to underground adventure areas. It is going to be a testing ground for several systems that will, in turn, propagate to other parts of the game if successful. We hope to have a first iteration of this map live in Release 38. We showed the scene during the Telethon and talked more about how we hope to have certain systems working. This is the third update we have posted so far on this map.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski]

Blood Bay update! I added a couple dungeon entrances, worked on the volcano VFX (lava flow rivers are still works in process, so they are not shown), and some other miscellaneous Points of Interest.

Kobold Dungeon Entrance

The Fall Dungeon Entrance

‘Virtuous’ side of town. Nothing like a good drink while you watch a filthy pirate hang.

Updated Volcano plume

Zeppelin Dock

Thanks for following the thread! I know there’s a lot of questions about how housing works exactly. When there’s a definitive answer I’m free to share — I promise I will!

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Pre-order Richard Garriott’s memoir Explore/Create to receive $20 off Shroud of the Avatar

The publisher of Richard Garriott’s memoir is running a promotion with Shroud of the Avatar here. When you pre-order legendary gamer Richard Garriott’s memoir, Explore/Create, you’ll receive $20.00 off his new RPG Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues!

A lifelong adventurer and member of the Explorers Club, Richard “Lord British” Garriott has used his extensive gaming fortune to finance thrilling expeditions. He has plumbed the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to see the remains of the Titanic, hunted for meteorites in Antarctica, and in 2008 became one of the first private citizens to be launched into space.

Combining the two guiding tenets of his life, exploration and creation, Richard now invites us on the great adventure that is his life and introduces us to the wondrous and magical in the world around us, including our own backyards.

Pre-order your copy of Explore/Create here.

Submit your proof of purchase before Explore/Create is on sale January 10 to be eligible to receive a $20 coupon off your purchase of the Shroud of the Avatar game from www.shroudoftheavatar.com.

OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS 18 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER ONLY

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MMOGames: Shroud Wins Best Crowdfunded Online Game of 2016

Shroud of the Avatar won the Best Crowfunded Online Games of 2016!

Many online games these days go down the crowdfunding route with the likes of Kickstarter and IndieGoGo. While we do sometimes hear horror stories of how the devs took the money and ran, thankfully, these instances are rare and we have plenty of games from the crowdfunded sector to look forward to! But which is the best crowdfunded online game of 2016?

These are the games that show continuous progress towards being a complete game, that we see enter into public testing phases and moving forward, and maintain communities of passionate fans. Their crowdfunding campaigns don’t necessarily have to have occurred this year, so long as they have been crowdfunded.

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MMORPG: Shroud nominated for The Most Wanted MMO of 2017

Shroud of the Avatar has been nominated as one of the MMOs most wanted in 2017 over at MMORPG.com. You have until Tuesday January 10th to vote:

A New Year brings new hope and new hype. And that means it’s time to set our sights on the games of 2017 and for us to ask you all to vote for your most wanted MMO of the next 12 months.

We’ve taken the games we expect to come out in some form (even Early Access) this year and we’ve compiled them all into a poll where you and your peers will decide what 2017’s most anticipated MMO should be. If the game’s not included, it’s because we don’t think it stands a chance at launching or hitting early access this calendar year (maybe next year, Star Citizen).

Voting for this category will be open until next Tuesday, January 10th at 12pm ET.

So take stock of the list, think about your choice, and cast a vote. The future of the MMO genre depends on it… OK, maybe just our pageview count.

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New Shogun Bundles

We’ve started adding the new Shogun Bundles to the Bundle Store this week. Here’s what we have so far:

You can also find the new Shogun Wall Lights in the Add-On Store:

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Upcoming Events

Jan 26, 2017 – Release 38
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 17, 2017 – SXSW Gaming: Is Video Game Early Access Too Early?
Mar 30, 2017 – Release 40
April 2017 – Spring Telethon
Apr 27, 2017 – Release 41
May 25, 2017 – Release 42
June 29, 2017 – Release 43

Visit 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:

Hear ye! Hear ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers, Videographers and Musicians! RPOTA.COM is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill, camera, piano or lute! Simply have your creations submitted by midnight of the last day of every month to be eligible for that month’s contest! See Elgarion for (details)

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Community Spotlight: Styx – Player Owned Town

This latest Player Owned Town spotlight explores the Crossroads Village of Styx. Styx is a small island located off of the shores of Elysium, and is a short boat ride from the bustling city of Xenos.

Styx has only a short history as small but vibrant farming community, delivering much needed supplies to the resource heavy southern isle. It offers respite to travel weary adventurers and exhausted miners.

With the late Duke Kharon’s passing, his merchant son Kastagir returned from sea to assess his newly acquired estate and title. It had been many years since he had called this land home, and the island felt almost unknown to him upon his return.

Kastagir Kharon, the town Governor, waved from the city wall as I disembarked the mainland ferry. The journey was short, but the sea was choppy due to the storm and I was glad to be on dry land.

“Hello! Welcome to Styx!” Kastagir exclaimed as he shook me by the hand. “Come, you must be soaked? I have arranged food and board at the Ferryman Inn. We can see the sights in the morning when the weather has cleared. It’s going to be a fine day tomorrow!”

It was almost pitch black when I first arrived during the storm. I could barely make out the path beneath my feet, and a handful of faint silhouetted buildings as I was led to the inn. Sure enough, morning came and the storm lifted. We met back at the main gate and began the tour.

[Read More…]

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Community Holiday Party at Portalarium!

Hear ye, hear ye! Let it be known far and wide that a Grand Holiday Party will be held at the Portalarium Studios and in Shroud of the Avatar on:

Wednesday, January 11, 2016
5:00 PM to 10:00 PM Central Standard Time (US)
(2300 UTC to 0400 UTC)The Grand Holiday Party is completely planned, hosted, and paid for by the player community! The Portalarium team thanks you so much here – this means a GREAT deal to them, and they are very excited to be celebrating with you during this event!

To attend either on-site at Portalarium, or celebrate with us online, please RSVP!

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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.

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Recommended Projects to Back

Don’t Just Back Crowfall… Invest!

Why just back Crowfall for rewards, when you can invest in the company — and potentially see a financial return!

ArtCraft Entertainment (creators of Crowfall) and Indiegogo.com are partnering to offer this unique crowdfunding investment opportunity.

Check out the offering at: https://equity.indiegogo.com/offerings/artcraft-entertainment/

Crowfall is ArtCraft’s flagship title. It is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), a persistent virtual world that can be shared by hundreds of thousands (or millions) of online players. It is unique in that it has been designed as a “Throne War Simulator,” offering gamers a very different in-game experience compared to traditional MMO titles. Crowfall combines the persistence of an MMO with the ability for players to change the virtual world, allowing teams to win (or lose), as in a strategy game. Thousands of players are vying for control of a virtual throne, where the only options are to win or to die.

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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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This latest Player Owned Town spotlight explores the Crossroads Village of Styx. Styx is a small island located off of the shores of Elysium, and is a short boat ride from the bustling city of Xenos.

Styx has only a short history as small but vibrant farming community, delivering much needed supplies to the resource heavy southern isle. It offers respite to travel weary adventurers and exhausted miners.

With the late Duke Kharon’s passing, his merchant son Kastagir returned from sea to assess his newly acquired estate and title. It had been many years since he had called this land home, and the island felt almost unknown to him upon his return.

Kastagir Kharon, the town Governor, waved from the city wall as I disembarked the mainland ferry. The journey was short, but the sea was choppy due to the storm and I was glad to be on dry land.

“Hello! Welcome to Styx!” Kastagir exclaimed as he shook me by the hand. “Come, you must be soaked? I have arranged food and board at the Ferryman Inn. We can see the sights in the morning when the weather has cleared. It’s going to be a fine day tomorrow!”

It was almost pitch black when I first arrived during the storm. I could barely make out the path beneath my feet, and a handful of faint silhouetted buildings as I was led to the inn. Sure enough, morning came and the storm lifted. We met back at the main gate and began the tour.

During the warmth of the next day the town looked entirely different. The merchants returned from their lodgings to begin trading at the communal crafting area. “It’s located right by the docks!” Kastagir explained. “It’s important that we can load the goods we produce on to the merchant ships as soon as they arrive. Delays cost money after all, and we can’t have that.”

“It’s a beautiful town” I proclaimed, “You clearly take great pride in its appearance. Is there anything special you’d like to tell me about it?”

“I’m glad you asked!” he grinned. “Styx is a hostel town, designed for new and existing Avatars who don’t have a place to call home yet. Having a home to secure your hard earned loot and grow crops is important. Farming for a little extra coin can make Britannia a much less daunting place!”

“Interesting! I’m sure there is a catch? How often does it rain?” I gested as I asked.

“No catch!” he said. “Avatars new and old are welcome to pick a property and stay for as long as they require one. For free of course. I only ask that they use it, else it will be freed up for someone else more needing.”

“You mentioned farming as we first talked about the town. I love farming! What do you offer here for goods?”

“Styx has a very large communal farm that is open to all residents. It operates on a “fair use” policy. If it’s not being used, then you’re free to use it. There are plenty of crops grown all across the town, though my personal favorite are the radishes.”

“Come!” he said. “The view from the top is quite lovely!” True enough, a short trek to the top of the windmill was rewarded with some outstanding views of the town.

“Impressive! What can you tell me about the residents of Styx? Who is welcome here?”

“The last count I had was about a half a dozen boarders. The very nature of what I’m offering here means that the residents are generally transient. New Avatars stay for a short period until they find guilds, or have raised enough funds to afford a place of their own.”

“At the peak, we were offering homes to at least a dozen Avatars. Those times were busy!” he continued as he gazed off toward the farms. “Who’s welcome? Well anyone really. As long as they truly need a place to stay… well, except pirates of course. Those untrustworthy skallywags!”.

“Indeed! The hustle and bustle of cities can be hectic at times, but it tends to be safe from pirates you speak about. What does Styx offer instead?”

“I think Elysium, the isle that Styx resides upon, is entirely charming from one end to the other. It’s a beautiful area of the world and offers amazing mining and adventuring opportunities. Styx is in a great location, with Xenos, The Artifice, and Elysium Mines only a stone’s throw away. Just have to watch out for those pirates… skallywags they are!”

Your residents look to have a bright future in Styx, pirates notwithstanding. What’s your hope for the town as the area becomes a major hub of trade?

“Styx is in a good place right now. It’s one of a handful of villages offering free community housing to players. As New Britannia itself matures, I look forward to adding even more residencies, decorations, and delights to our town! If interested in becoming part of the Styx community, please find me in the town, or message me in the community forums.”

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Do you have a Player Owned Town, guild, or other type of group that makes available great things for the community? Let us know! We would like to include your establishment in an upcoming spotlight. Just send Berek a brief proposal of what you have to share!

View the full article

The last several weeks have seen Brookside scene development come to life. See below what level designer, Esteben Zaldivar, included in last week’s Update of the Avatar #208!

Brookside is located in the Drachvald region in the northwest of Novia directly south of Spite. It is the hometown of Samael and was overrun by the Undead armies of Anapa not long ago. Players will encounter this town when following their quests along the Path of Love. Brookside started as a cloned scene using one of our PRT / POT templates based off of the Forest 02 POT template (a forested variation of the Grasslands POT template). In Release 38 it is being rebuilt with new flora, new atmospheric settings like permanent fog, a graveyard, and other unique features. Note that when we un-clone these scenes, we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage.

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

Hey guys, SorcerousSteve here once again to give you the latest scoop on my most recent map!

The town of Brookside is a village located in Drachvald between Spite and Rhun. It is the site where Samael lost his family. The village has a history of being overrun by the undead, it is a dark foggy town nestled in pine forest filled with wary town folks and decrepit buildings.

Inspiration shot after chatting with Art Lead Michael Hutchison.

I took a lot of inspiration for this scene from New England towns, “Sleepy Hollow”.
A church tower and graveyard just south of Brookside.

A steeple can be seen amidst the fog as you approach the town NPC Center.

Ruined buildings on the outskirts of town are a reminder of the undead overrun.

Deadman’s Pond

Samael’s Farm, the place where the graves of his wife Muriel and sons Michael and Tobin were laid to rest.

See you next time!

Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer

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Just before the holidays we released a major content patch that included new homes that can be placed on water lots, new wearables and houses from our upcoming Shogun Bundles, and new emotes players can learn in the  game. Have a look below at what was added!

• Shogun Wearables: These outfits were originally developed for the city of Ardoris and will be featured in the upcoming Shogun bundles. You can purchase these in the Add On Store and when molds launch in Q1 you will even be able to craft limited numbers after purchase.
  • Ardoris Guard Armor: This samurai inspired armor consists of 5 pieces including chest, helmet, gauntlets, boots, and legs.
  • Ardoris Shogun Armor: Shogun Siranto who co-rules Ardoris from the Palace of the Mountain wears a version of this armor that players can now also wear. It comes in 4 pieces including chest, helmet, gloves, boots and legs.
  • Ardoris Priestess Robes: Priestess Khasi who co-rules Ardoris from the Palace of Winds wears these elegant robes and elaborate headpiece that players can also now wear. It consists of two pieces including robes and a headpiece.

• Housing: In Release 37 we added POT Water Lot Deeds and we are now starting to add water versions of some of our existing homes. Over time we will continue to add more water versions of existing homes as well as create entirely original water based homes like Pirate Galleons, Water Mills, etc. The first few water homes went live this week and several more will go live in Release 38. We are also going to be introducing a new line of homes inspired by our work on Ardoris and the Perennial Coast. These will be part of the new Shogun Bundles that will go live in Q1. The first two homes and a new decoration went live this week and more will follow in Release 38. All of the following homes and decorations are available in the Add On Store except the Elven Globe home which is on the Elven Crown Merchant only.
  • Elven 3-Story with Dual Cabanas Town Water Home: This water based variation of the Elven Town home is a series of wooden platforms over the water that consists of 3-stories, and 8-rooms. This unique design includes 2 stand-alone, 1-room cabana’s on the rear, and an open air raised platform comprising the whole first floor.
  • Rustic 3-Story Village Water Home: This water based variation of the Rustic 3-Story Village home, is a spacious, 4-room home, including a side deck just perfect for fishing!
  • Obsidian Tower Village Water Home: This water based variation of the Obsidian Tower Village home is four stories tall with ample living space, including rooms on the first three floors, a roof-top deck, and wrap around balcony on the upper floor!
  • Obsidian Tower Town Water Home: This water based variation of the Obsidian Tower Town home is five stories tall with ample living space, including rooms on the first four floors, a roof-top deck, and wrap around balcony on the upper floor!
  • Viking Village Water Home: This water based variation of our very first Viking Village home is a two-story dwelling, with a single large room downstairs and a wrap-around loft on the second floor.
  • Shogun Lighthouse Village Water Home: The lighthouse that guides ships into the harbor of Ardoris has been converted into a village sized player home for water lots. This 3-story water home provides single rooms on the first two floors and a roof-top balcony encircling the beacon.
    
  • Shogun 1-Room Village Home: Carved wooden window frames, paper walls, blue-tiled roof are all the hallmarks of our Shogun line of homes. This cozy one room Village home is the first in the Shogun line.
  • Shogun 3-Story Keep: This towering 3-story home features an open plan with wrap around balconies on the second and third floors. It features the signature features of the Shogun line of homes including carved wooden window frames, paper walls, and blue-tiled roof.
  • Shogun Street Lamps: These lamps were originally built to light pathways in Ardoris but can now be used by players to light their homes and towns.
  • Obsidian Floor Lamp: For the Obsidian bundles we took the Obsidian lamp used in the Obsidian dungeon kit and made a streetlamp scaled size version of it. This is a smaller version that can be used in homes as a floor lamp.
  • Elven 2-Story Globe Home (COTO Exclusive): This Gold Crown exclusive is a 2-Story variation of the Elven Globe Home. With the addition of the second floor you have almost double the amount of square footage that has the greenhouse growth bonus. You can purchase this home from the Elven Crown merchant in Vertas.
• Emotes: All of these emotes can be learned in the game from NPCs.
  • /shiver and /warmhands: To celebrate the coldness of the winter months we created these two emotes. You can learn them from Drog in Brightbone Pass.
  • /burp: For those who wish for a more reserved release of gas than /belch you can learn how to relieve yourself in a more refined way from Karl Rognoff in Braemar when you ask him about beer.
  • /golfclap: When your appreciation needs to be more circumspect than a hearty clapping of hands then you need /golfclap. Aaron Denbo in Etceter teaches this when you ask him about Artifice.
  • /batontwirl, /batonthrow and recipe for baton: Darcy of Paxlair in Ardoris will teach you how to throw and twirl a baton if you ask her about troubador. In order to use these emotes you will need a baton which can be crafted.
• Replenishing 250-Piece Mystery Fireworks Box: Celebrate the the holidays with a bang with this Add On Store 250-piece Replenishing Mystery Fireworks box that regenerates periodically. Includes a random assortment of white, red, green, blue, and yellow rockets as well as red, yellow, white, blue, and red/white/blue ground missile packs.
  

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Going forward we are not going to allow any macros or botting of any kind. This includes attended (player sitting at computer) and unattended (player not sitting at computer). Any violation of this policy will result in a suspension of access to the game. Repeat violations will result in a permanent ban.

Previously we had stated a toleration for attended (player sitting at the computer) macros but this has begun to be abused too much for us to tolerate going forward.

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Happy New Year forum community! Another major round of forum updates went through over the holiday period.

You should see some new style changes, and of course several back-end improvements in performance and security. If you notice anything amiss, let us know in the follow thread (please read the last few messages on what's been discussed with this latest update):

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/the-official-forum-bug-list.1202/

Thanks!

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