Avatar’s Update #310: Play 61 Now, Q1 Schedule, 50% Weekend Sale & Caroling Livestream Today!

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Release 61 successfully launched yesterday, December 13 , with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

  • Fishing Phase 2:
    • Lava Fishing
    • Lava Fish
    • Fishing Skills
    • Rare Fishing Recipes
  • Krampus
  • Teleport to Scene Scrolls
  • Ornate Vile Longbow
  • Tabula Rasa Character Respec
  • More Player Dungeon Rooms & Hallways
  • R58 Livestream Items
  • R61 QA Testing Incentive Winners
  • More Bug Fixes
  • …and much more!

Check out the Release 61 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content.

If you have not downloaded the game yet, go to www.shroudoftheavatar.com and click the “Play Now” button. The game is also available on Steam.

Release 61 Player Instructions

Release 61 Known Issues

Here are what some players are saying about the release so far:

Synergy Blaize: Thank you to the Team for providing a very interesting release to tide us over the Holidays! Kudos to you all!!!

Tila Tenderfoot: I’m mostly excited about the little black dress. :)And the new swamp, and Krampus, and lava fishing. Awesome release!

Janek the Just: Amazing, to accomplish so much in so little time! I hope everyone at Portalarium is able to take a well-deserved rest through the holidays! Enjoy it, you’ve earned it!

Yolo SoLive: yay! thank you! looking forward to the fishing enhancements!

Perashim: Ooooh, that’s a long list of bugs fixed! What a way to end the year with an excellent release!

Majoria: Thanks so much. All that is included in this release is just awesome for such a short amount of time. 

Yavrashu: The update looks like great fun. I look forward to experiencing it!

gtesser: What a great release! And I can finally cook the dozens of rare fish I have not mounted.

Caree Death: Release is looking fab, especially with so little time to work on it. Great job guys, as always. :)

Caroling Livestream Today

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday December 14 at 4 PM CT on Twitch!

This week we are going to go caroling through the game! Travis “Vas Corp Por” Koleski and Sarah “Serafina” Dworken will use our amazing in-game music system to serenade players in their homes.

This is the first Friday to earn the Release 61 Dark Winter stretch goals (in honor of Krampus) by making a purchase or by participating in the Rewards program! As a reminder we will be having massive sales (up to 50% off!) all weekend to help us hit those stretch goals.

  • ACHIEVED $10K: Black Ice Wings
  • $25K: Black Ice Building Blocks Set
  • $35K: Haunted Snowman Mask
  • $50K: Black Ice Bow & Black Ice Sword
  • $65K: Haunted Snow Family
  • $75K: Black Ice Staff & Black Ice Wand
  • $85K: Haunted Yule Tree Set
  • $95K: Icy Dungeon Encounter Room with Fishing Spot
  • $105K: Dark Leather & Fur Yule Outfit

As usual we will be giving out prizes at 4:15 and 4:45! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store or log into the game and type “Its Cold Outside” in the chat window (no purchase necessary).

Watch on Twitch this Friday at 4 PM CDT!

Q1 2019 Schedule Update

Starr_avatar

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

Greetings Avatars,

2018 was a fantastic year for Shroud of the Avatar! We moved out of Early Access in March and Collector’s Boxes shipped in Q3! We made serious progress on improvements to quality of life and fixed huge numbers of bugs! In the final quarter of 2018 alone we added Player Made Dungeons, Fishing Phase 2, Pumpkin Head, and Krampus! Q1 of 2019 is going to kick us off with a bang! Envy Angel (another seasonal boss), more expansions to the Player Made Dungeons, Back Slot Item Stats, Fertilizer for Agriculture, Episode 2 kickoff, Baby Dragons and more polish!

2019 will of course culminate with Episode 2 which will have a new story, new lands, a revamp of the Quest and Journal system, a Theater System, Treasure Hunting with treasure maps that show up as loot, Item Affinity, Taming system expansions, Customizable NPCs, and expanded permissions for containers and doors!

As we have stated previously, we intend to publish quarterly schedule updates detailing our monthly releases and those monthly releases will continue just as before, on the last Thursday of each month. Even though the goals outlined in these schedules are likely to change somewhat as we react to feedback, we feel it is important to periodically provide you with an updated roadmap.

Our priority continues to be to deliver new content to our players regularly, so that you can give us feedback that will help us iteratively improve Shroud of the Avatar. This collaborative process continues to benefit the game, and often results in sweeping changes such as the recent balance passes to combat. As you have seen in previous releases, the flexibility inherent to this process means that we sometimes push things out, but we also often pull new things in.

Q1 Top 10 Priorities: As mentioned previously we keep a running list of our Top 10 priorities at all times that we use when building our schedule and prioritizing where to allocate our team’s resources. We often refer to it when making decisions about the project. While it has a VERY strong influence on what we work on at any given time, it does not mean that we only work on something that is on the list. It just means that if someone can assist with something that will help address an item on the list, then we will make sure they do that first before working on anything else. Sometimes team members cannot assist with anything on our top priorities, so they work on other tasks such as visual polish, combat balance, or content that helps us raise funds. Q1 will focus on lots of polish including systems, user interface, bug fixing, loot, performance, as well as continued improvements to quality of life. We will also expand the Agriculture and Player Made Dungeon systems, add another seasonal boss, and prepare for Episode 2 development.

  1. Quality of Life: Midway through Q3 2018 we shifted focus to general improvements to quality of life by starting to remove slowdowns and annoyances in gameplay. We will continue this effort in Q1 2019.
  2. Systems Polish: Polishing and improving existing systems will continue to be a major focus of Q1. This will take priority over new systems.
  3. Bug Fixing: We will continue to focus more on fixing bugs versus new content and new features.
  4. Performance: While the game is much more playable now we feel there is still more to be gained so in Q1 we will continue making code and content changes to improve performance.
  5. User Interface Polish: In Q4, we polished various UI elements and we will continue to do so during Q1.
  6. Seasonal Content: Content to support Spring events (Valentines and Easter) will be created.
  7. Improved Reward Cycle: Q1 will continue our focus on systemic and game-wide upgrades to the quality and quantity of loot.
  8. Agriculture & Player Made Dungeons: Some of the work we did with Fishing Phase 2 will now allow us to expand the Agriculture system with Fertilizer. We will also continue to add new features and content to the Player Made Dungeons feature.
  9. Shipping Phase 2: Collector’s Boxes will start shipping to those who did not get theirs in the first round.
  10. Episode 2 Kickoff: We will prepare for the commencement of Episode 2 development in Q2.

As always, all dates, durations, and deliverables are subject to change as we adjust our designs based on direct feedback from you, our players.

RELEASE 62, January 31, 2019

  • Performance: Performance work will mainly focus on improving frame rate and reducing hitching during gameplay. Work will also continue to be done on load time reduction on the few outstanding scenes that are not meeting our 15-second load time target.
  • Bug Fixing: Time will be allocated to a general sweep through all systems, features, and content to reduce overall bug counts.
  • Combat: After a millennium of being unable to produce offspring dragons are finally reproducing! Baby Dragons have been sighted in various remote locations across Novia. Don’t be fooled by their size though! They are still dangerous beasts, even when young! We will also do some balance work on pet balance including summons and tamed creatures.
  • Crafting & Economy: Back slot items (cloaks, wings, backpacks, etc.) will now be able to have stats, enchantments, and masterworks associated with them.
  • Player Towns & Player Housing: Updates to Dynamic Player-Owned Towns (POTs) that have locked submission forms will appear in the game.
  • Livestream and Seasonal Content: We will add recent livestream stretch goal items and 2019 Valentine items.

RELEASE 63, February 28, 2019

  • Story: You may have heard of Cupid… but have you heard of the Envy Angel?
  • Performance: Performance work will mainly focus on improving frame rate and reducing hitching during gameplay. Work will also continue to be done on load time reduction on the few outstanding scenes that are not meeting our 15 second load time target.
  • Bug Fixing: Time will be allocated to a general sweep through all systems, features, and content to reduce overall bug counts.
  • Combat: A new polearm type will become available: Pronged weapons! This includes Tridents and Pitchforks.
  • Crafting & Economy: Fertilizer will now be able to be used in Agriculture to affect the outcome.
  • Player Towns & Player Housing: Updates to Dynamic Player-Owned Towns (POTs) that have locked submission forms will appear in the game.

RELEASE 64, March 28, 2019

  • Story: The first lands associated with Episode 2 will begin to appear!
  • Performance: Performance work will mainly focus on improving frame rate and reducing hitching during gameplay. Work will also continue to be done on load time reduction on the few outstanding scenes that are not meeting our 15-second load time target.
  • Bug Fixing: Time will be allocated to a general sweep through all systems, features, and content to reduce overall bug counts.
  • Crafting & Economy: Upon achieving Grandmaster in a crafting school you will now unlock a set of new exclusive effects for Masterworking and Enchanting.
  • Player Made Dungeons: More features and content will be added to the Player Made Dungeon System including the ability to place creatures to fight in your dungeon!
  • Player Towns & Player Housing: Updates to Dynamic Player-Owned Towns (POTs) that have locked submission forms will appear in the game.
  • Livestream and Seasonal Content: We will add recent livestream stretch goal items and 2019 Easter items.

We continue to be incredibly thankful for the support we receive from this amazing community. While the financial support you provide makes all of this possible, it pales in comparison with the faith you have in us, the feedback you provide us, and the content you are making for everyone to enjoy. We are humbly grateful, and we are always excited to see you each month in New Britannia!

And remember Q1 is just a warmup for the rest of 2019 which will be an amazing year for Shroud of the Avatar players! We have much more planned including Crafting Specializations (choose your effect when Masterworking and Enchanting), more expansions to the fishing system, and more boss improvements. 2019 will of course culminate with Episode 2 which will have a new story, new lands, a revamp of the Quest and Journal system, a Theater System, Treasure Hunting with treasure maps that show up as loot, Item Affinity, Taming system expansions, Customizable NPCs, and expanded permissions for containers and doors!

Sincerely,
Starr Long
Executive Producer
Shroud of the Avatar

Release 61 Livestream Dec 21 (Dark Winter)

The Release 61 Livestream is set for Friday December 21! All Avatars from around the world are welcome to join us in the livestream activities. We will be doing deep dives, answering questions, having sales, handing out prizes, and tracking towards stretch goals. To celebrate the appearance of Krampus our theme is Dark Winter!

LIVESTREAM SCHEDULE (Central Time Zone)

Monthly livestreams are on Twitch and include answers to your gameplay questions, world building tours, prize giveaways, sales on items, and more! Here is the schedule:

  • 3PM: Introductions
  • 3:30PM: Deep Dive 1: Krampus
  • 4:00PM: Deep Dive 2: Lava Fishing & Lava Fishing Contest
  • 5PM: Ending Announcements

LAVA FISHING CONTEST:

During the Lava Fishing Deep Dive we are going to have a Lava Fishing contest! To participate in the contest go to the Oracle Colossus and start fishing at 4 PM. The best trophy fish (longest) caught by 4:45 PM will win a prize! NOTE: We will be verifying location and time!

STRETCH GOALS (Dark Winter)

As a special bonus, we are offering funding rewards to any player that makes a minimum purchase of $5 from Friday December 21 through Monday December 24. To celebrate the appearance of Krampus our theme is Dark Winter!

All purchases during the weekend will count towards the stretch goals, not just the four hours of the livestream! Also participation in the Rewards Program counts towards our stretch goal totals!

  • ACHIEVED $10K: Black Ice Wings
  • ACHIEVED $25K: Black Ice Building Blocks Set
  • ACHIEVED $35K: Haunted Snowman Mask
  • $50K: Black Ice Bow & Black Ice Sword
  • $65K: Haunted Snow Family
  • $75K: Black Ice Staff & Black Ice Wand
  • $85K: Haunted Yule Tree Set
  • $95K: Icy Dungeon Encounter Room with Fishing Spot
  • $105K: Dark Leather & Fur Yule Outfit

*Please keep in mind that stretch goal rewards take time to develop and will most likely not be available until Release 64 at the earliest. We will keep you updated!

WEEKEND OF SALES:

We will be having a weekend of sales! Items in the following categories will be on sale at approx. 50% off. As noted above, all purchases during this time will count towards the stretch goals!

WIN THESE GREAT PRIZES!

We will be giving prizes away on an hourly basis with many being given away multiple times. Enter for a chance to win a prize by either logging into the game and typing “It’s cold outside” into chat OR by purchasing any item from our store during the livestream!

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS

We will be answering questions throughout the livestream, so submit them in the comments section of the original post or on Discord chat during the event.

Watch @ShroudofAvatar updates throughout the day of the livestream. See you on Twitch!

Elven, Obsidian, & Shogun Expirations FINAL WEEK!

To celebrate our first holiday season since launching the Elven, Obsidian and Shogun Bundles are expiring at 11:59 PM CT next Friday December 21, 2018! As a limited time bonus we have added Episode 2 access to these bundles! We will also be expiring several of the items that are included in those bundles including pets, weapons, decorations and homes. We are also discounting these items, some as much as 30%! For City level bundles this means a $1000 discount!

NOTE: This is a final expiration. Upgrades will not be allowed after these bundles expire.


50% Items All Weekend (through Monday Dec 17)! 

To celebrate the first weekend of our final release of our launch year we are putting most items* in the store on sale for 50% off, our deepest discounts ever, all weekend, through the Release Dance Party on Monday December 17th! We are also going to track the R61 Dark Winter Stretch Goals all weekend (versus just the traditional Friday noon to midnight)!

And as a reminder we are still having our first sale on Gold Crowns of the Obsidians ever! Some packages are discounted as much as 20% every weekend through December 21, 2018!

*Note that this sale does not include the already discounted and expiring Bundles and associated items.

Winter 2018 Items Appear

With winter almost upon us the Winter 2018 items have appeared! These winter holiday items are only available until February 1, 2019 and then they are gone forever so get them while they are ice cold! This year we added functionality to the Menorahs where they now light the correct number of candles per day during Hanukkah (note this is retroactive for all Menorahs).

Winter Recurring Items Return!

Winter is coming and with it winter recurring items have returned for a limited time, including the Ice Nightmare mask and Ornate Sleigh! Get these rare items while they are cold because they will go away again until next winter on February 1, 2019.

Automatic Redemption of Rewards Release 62

As part of our continuing improvements to Quality of Life in Shroud of the Avatar we are going to remove the extra step required when receiving purchased items inside the game. You will no longer have to click on a “Redeem Rewards” button. Instead we will automatically send the items to your rewards interface when you next login to the game. If you are currently logged in then they will appear as soon as the purchase transaction completes. We are also going to provide an onscreen notice for when rewards are delivered to your Rewards Interface. This improvement will go live with Release 62 on January 31, 2019.

Upgrading Bundles with Crowns (ends 12/21) FINAL WEEK

As many of you know we are expiring all of our bundles before the end of the year. Viking and Kobold bundles expire today (November 30). Elven, Obsidian, and Shogun bundles expire on December 21. In Release 59 we added the contents of the bundles to crown vendors as single purchases, however they do not have any upgrade functionality. Based on numerous requests from those of you who have been saving up your crowns we are going to offer an alternative path for upgrading bundles using crowns. For a limited time (offer ends December 21, 2018) you can purchase a service voucher to use crowns to upgrade your bundle!

If you wish to upgrade your bundle with crowns please email us at support@portalarium.com BEFORE purchasing the voucher. In the request please list the name of the bundle you wish to upgrade, and the bundle you wish to upgrade it to (e.g., Elven 2-Story Row Tax Free Bundle to Elven Village Tax Free Bundle). We will then determine how many crowns you need for the upgrade and notify you of that amount so you can decide before proceeding. Only then will you purchase the voucher and we will then remove the crowns from your inventory. Requests received after the expiration date (November 30 for Viking and Kobold, December 21 for Elven, Shogun, and Obsidian) will not be honored.

Please note that we will be using the non-sale exchange rates that are currently on the store for this transaction.

Shroud of the Avatar Boxed Editions $40 off Holiday Sale!

For those of you who missed the opportunity to purchase the Collector’s Boxed Edition of Shroud of the Avatar during the Kickstarter (expired on January 4, 2016) can now purchase the retail Boxed Edition from Amazon. Additionally for a limited time we are also offering a signed version of the retail Boxed Edition (see above) for purchase directly from our website! To celebrate the holidays these two versions are on sale for $40 off their regular price until December 21, 2018 ($49 on Amazon, $99 for signed)!

NEW! Each signed box will also be numbered, making them even more unique, with only 200 of these special numbered boxes available!

These editions include:

Physical Goods:

  • Game Box signed by Lord British* (signed edition only)
  • Game Manual
  • DVD in case
  • Runic Translation Card
  • Ankh Trinket
  • Cloth Map
  • Our Epic Origins

Digital Items:

  • Digital Download of Shroud of the Avatar, Episode 1 (Full Game Access)
  • 30 Bank Slots to store your gear
  • 1 Gold Crown
  • Pick 1 Obsidian Potion
  • Digital Download of Shroud of the Avatar, Episode 2 (Full Game Access when released)
  • Exclusive Title: Visionary
  • Exclusive Emote (exact emote to be created at a future date)
  • NEW: Unique Item (to be created at a a future date)

Player Dungeon Tour Livestream (YouTube)

The Player Dungeon Tour Livestream last week was amazing! Our players have assembled some really amazing dungeons! We gave out tons of prizes and we hit two more of the Cornucopia of Dragons, Dungeons and Roleplay stretchgoals on the final Friday to hit them, including hitting the Dungeon Room right before midnight!

  • ACHIEVED $10K: Dragon Mask Set (multiple color variants) with smoke VFX
  • ACHIEVED $25K: Aether Axe, Aether 1H Spear, Aether 2H Bludgeon
  • ACHIEVED $35K: Construction Decorations (Crane, Pulley, etc)
  • ACHIEVED $50K: Torture Set: Torture Chair, Torture Table, Rack
  • ACHIEVED $65K: Traveller Wagon
  • ACHIEVED $75K: Dragon Sword & Dragon Polearm
  • ACHIEVED $85K: Unique Dungeon Encounter Room with Fishing Spot
  • $95K: Celestial Themed Wizard Robes

In case you missed the fun times here is the stream on YouTube:


Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive rare stretch-goal items from our monthly livestreams! This program automatically enrolls you in the monthly livestreams (counts as the $5 minimum purchase) along with other perks.

For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

  • 9 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
  • Automatic Participation in the Monthly Livestream Stretchgoals (counts as the $5 minimum purchase)
  • Exclusive Title every 3 months
    • 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
    • 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
    • 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
    • 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
  • Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months
  • Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
    • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
    • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
    • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
    • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
    • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
    • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills

Upcoming Events Calendar

Dec 14, 2018 – Community Livestream – Caroling
Dec 17, 2018 – Release 61 Dance Party
Dec 21, 2018 – Release 61 Livestream
Jan 31, 2019 – Release 62
Feb 1, 2019 – Release 62 Livestream
Feb 28, 2019 – Release 63
Mar 8 – 17, 2019 – SXSW
Mar 18 – 22, 2019 – GDC
Mar 28, 2019 – Release 64
Apr 25, 2019 – Release 65
May 30, 2019 – Release 66
June 27, 2019 – Release 67
July 25, 2019 – Release 68
Aug 29, 2019 – Release 69

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.

Community Event: Release 61 Dance Party

[Forum post by Alleine Dragonfyre]

Release 61 Dance Party and Stress Test with DJ @DarkStarr ​

Community Event: Obsidian Trials “No-Risk PVP” event!

[Forum post by Chrystoph Reis]

When: 12/14/2018 5pm to 8pm EST (6pm to 9pm NBT)

Why: To have fun hunting me down and PRIZES… of course! Come one and come all PVE and inexperienced PVP players.

Rules:

  1. Work together, sabotage your friends, but be the one to land that killing blow on me!
  2. At least 10 people must participate!
  3. High-end PVPers…. boooo go away!
  4. I will fight back, BUT I’ll be wearing all NPC gear only!

Prizes:

Most kills against me: your choice of 30 Cotos OR a prize provided by Atos himself!

OR

2nd Most kills against me:
Your choice of the two prizes NOT chosen from above

3rd most kills against me:
The prize NOT chosen from above

Other prizes:
Most kills overall: 15 Cotos or ???
2nd most kills overall: 9 Cotos or ???

3nd most kills overall: 3 Cotos ​

No kills: /roll 1000 for a chance to win

AND random prizes will be given away during the event!

Any prizes donated that were not used will either be:

  • A) Returned to sender
  • B) Used in a similar event the following week.

Community Event: Advent Calendar 2018

[Forum post by Sindariya]

More updates:

Dec 5th

Leeroy has also a cheeky side. You can’t get mad at him, when he is like this.

Dec 6th

Okay who of you told Leeroy about the filled boots on Nikolaus day? When I woke up today, he had pulled all boots out of my wardrobe and is now eagerly waiting that those will be filled with sweets or in his case with fish. Someone needs to send me fish or I will have o fish all day to get one fish for each boot.

Update: I was lucky and got a big fish and now Leeroy is happy too.

Dec 7th

If you think Leeroy has only cute sides you are totally wrong. He can be frightening if he wants.

Dec 8th

Sometimes I wish I could read his mind. Sometimes he has an expression on his face which makes me wonder if he ponders about the problems of the world or is he plotting something to make me angry.

Dec 9th

Happy second advent. Here something cute for today.

Dec 10th

That Leeroy is a bit chaotic should not wonder anyone, since he is always with me. Sometimes I get the feeling he should be more confused or worried about himself when he gets in weird situations. But he stays all cool while floating up in the air. I only asked myself, how do I catch a bear without killing myself?

Dec 11th

Leeroy can also be careful when he notice something suspicious. Not that it keeps him away, he loves to explore. But we left the node where it was. Not that we open a hole in the world by mining it.

Dec 12th

Leeroy can be really funny. Especially when he imitate humans. I couldn’t see the face of those ghosts but I could feel their irritation, it was so funny.

Community Event: 4Bait – Fishing event May 555

[Forum post by Net]

Where:
  • Fishing: Anywhere in Novia (and Hidden Vale)
  • Prize awarding: TBA
When:
  • Fishing: May 555 (for fishing)
  • Sending fish:  2018-12-19 20:00 UTC (19th Dec 2pm CST, NBT; 19th Dec 21:00 CET)
  • Prize selection and awarding of winners: 2018-12-23 20:00 UTC (23rd Dec 2pm CST, NBT; 23rd Dec 21:00 CET)
Prizes:
  • If more than 5 people enter – 555 gold × 5
  • If more than 15 people enter – 1 COTO × 15
  • If more than 25 people enter – 4B cask
  • If more than 35 people enter – TBA
  • If more than 45 people enter – TBA
  • If more than 55 people enter – TBA
Rules:
  • You can send up to 5 fish (sending one fish is okay, but you will stand better chance with 5).
  • Fish cannot be mounted.
  • Each fish has to be a different species.
  • Each fish has to be from a different scene.
  • Fish tooltip must say it was caught on May 555.
  • Send fish to Net via ingame post (I will appreciate if you send the fish in container with your name, but you do not have to)
  • All fish will be returned after the event (I hope to return them before the end of 2018, but it depends on how many people will enter).
Scoring:
  • Fresh water fish:
    • Brook Trout – 1 point
    • Peacock Bass – 1 point
    • Spotted Bass – 1 point
    • Black Trout – 1 point
    • Oscar Sunfish – 1 point
    • Pacu – 2 points
    • King Salmon – 5 points
    • Pike – 50 points
  • Fetid water fish:
    • Sharptooth Catfish – 1 point
    • Goliath Catfish – 20 points
    • Gar – 50 points
    • Sturgeon – 150 points
  • Salt water fish:
    • Mahi Mahi – 1 point
    • Amberjack Mackerel – 1 point
    • Bluefin Tuna – 10 points
    • Marlin – 25 points
    • Swordfish – 40 points
    • Sailfish – 50 points
    • Tiger Shark – 100 points
    • Tarpon – 150 points
  • Lava fish – 5 points
    • TBD – possible point adjustment (the rarer lava fish might get more points)
  • Small fish – value of catch is multiplied by 2.
  • Large fish – value of the fish is multiplied by 3.
  • Fish caught in one of the scenes below – value of the fish is multiplied by 5.
  • Fish caught in all three scenes below – extra 55 points (applied only once per avatar).
Bonus Locations:
  • Bonus points will be awarded to those who catch fish in any or all of the following scenes:
 
  • Prizes will be drawn randomly using in-game /roll command during the public event on Dec 23rd; the more points you get the higher chances of winning. (Example: Player A  gets 5 points, Player B gets 3 points, Player C gets 12 points. I will roll 20 and player A will win if the result is 1-5, Player B wins if the result is 6-8, and player C will win if the result is 9-20).

Results:

TBA

Notes:

This is my first fishing event and proof of concept for a much bigger event in the future. The goal is to see how many people are interested in fishing events, whether I can process the results in reasonable time, and if I can use in-game system to award winners based on chance (augmented by their score) rather then selecting arbitrarily the winner. There may be changes to the rules and/or times as needed.

Community Event: Daily Yule-Market at Dracheninsel

[Forum post by Flientje Vantmeeden]

Dear Avatars,

2018 is getting old and older,

and outside it’s getting cold and colder!

So let be undead, monster, critter –

it’s time for friends and Yule-Glitter!

Adventurer, put your weapons down,

be peaceful like a little faun!

We all are awaiting you,

at the Yule-market

in our cozy town!

Every day from Dec. 1 rst to Dec. 23rd we will meet at 20:00 h CET at our Yulemarket on the beautiful island “Dracheninsel”

Our Yule-Fairy Hospitia is going to open the daily package from the Advent Calendar, so be there and roll the dice for little shiny things!

Edit: Original link: https://www.newbritannia.info/Forum…ägliches-winterspektakulum-ab-20-00-uhr.1586/

Community Event: Grinch’s December Pacu Fishing Adventure

[Forum post by Weins201]

Grumpie Weinie’s Pacu December Pacu Fishing Challenge;

For all those fishers out there is a Pacu that changes its location to random POTs each day at Midnight Server Time (CST) Today it was Formosa and Blackstone Gate. Blackstone gate was Nested and the Name I had to look up in SOTA Wiki ;-) Ohh and Blackstone Gate was PvP ;-)

In celebration of this new type of fish and mechanic I am holding a Pacu fishing Tournament.

This will be a Winner / Loser (smallest) take all for each day. Fishers will have to send me 1 COTO and the fish caught from either the daily POTs. I will compile all the entries and reward the Largest and Smallest fish for each day. Prizes are 75% / 25% Soo if 4 people enter – 3 cotos to Largest and 1 to smallest. 12 = 8 / 4. I will deliver cotos as soon as winner is determined, on the third day after.

(( if you have a trust issue msg me we can work something out, but I really am not worried about the COTOs just the Community Participation))

Now you have to ask a Town Crier “fish” or “fishing” and they will tell you where the fish are being caught for that day. It changes each night at Midnight CST. Travel to one (or both) of those locations and when you catch a Pacu and wish to enter it all you have to do is Mail me in game. Send 1 Coto and the fish(s) you wish to enter. Today I had to say “catch” – White Heart and Diamond Fields (28 Nov)

Mail is required as the Time stamp will be used to break a Tie, Earliest entry will win. Sooooo if you Catch a Large or Small I would go as fast as you can and mail me your entry. It appears that Pacu have a range of normal from .7 – .8 Length. The large is .9 and 1 (( from Titanforges Tourney) and Small .6 (( At the moment .7 is the smallest found and it is Normal, so assuming a small is .6 :-( ))

Now if you catch a Fish early in the Day say a Large .9 length send it in as soon as possible and if you catch any more you wish to enter later on just mail the fish in you already sent me a Coto Earlier on. 1 Coto to enter each day you want to participate as all paid in make the reward possible ;-)

I know this timing could benefit those in Time zones that leave this “Daytime” for them an advantage but I do not have a way to offset this.

Now I will take entries on the day of thru the day after. so on the 1st starting day (1 Dec) you can enter fish caught that day (sent 1 dec) or sent on the day after, ((the 2nd )) (any more days out will be ignored / returned) (Please use Subject for which day you are entering for) ( I will be able to figure it out but just makes it a little easier)

You can also come just hand them to me if you find me online. I will start a group each day while I am playing you can Teleport to deliver to me directly. Deliveries will get time stamped from Logs from the time of trade.

On the 3rd I will place the Winner/Loser fish (trophy if it is mounted or want it mounted) in the Fishing Hall I have thrown up near the entrance to my Island. I will also place a chest for each day and place all other fish in there until returned)

I have already created a Excel Spread sheet which I will update here
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YiAeynrjswQtVZ2YJIWh1-itOxrhybnctGKanALlwyI/edit?usp=sharing

Now these “Hot” Pacu POTs rotate each day so I will entertain additions from the POT owner for that day. I.E. if this ends up in my town I will open it up to Largest Fish from Each Fresh Water Category with Winner / Loser winning Cotos 8 / 2 If this does drop into GHH you will not need to spend more to enter other than the 1 Coto for Pacu, all other fish can just be dropped off I will place a chest if this happens. I wll of course place this chest on that day. If POT owners want to also add I can work and place a hest for that POT and we can work out prizes throughout the day. If the POT owner does initiate his own daily contest please add it to this post and let me know ASAP you can also as a POT owner just drop a box in a location at your town to have fish dropped off ;-)

Path from Brittany Area to Grumpie Hermits Hide-a-Way

From Main Entrance to Hall and there is a Mailbox near behind the banker.

I will place a Fishing Vendor in the Town Entrance area also.

Summary Daily 1 Coto entry Winner / Loser take all for catching a Pacu from one (both) of the “Hot” fishing POTs each day.

Entries must be mailed (hand delivered) to me on the day or Day after only for Time stamp to break ties.

I will pay out 75%/ 25% to the Winner / Loser (smallest) each day on the 3rd days after. 1st rewarded on the 3rd . . . . .

All Pacu will be returned after the tournament.

((( if you wish to add me as a friend for this please send me a message with request while I am in game )))

If there are any questions or concerns please post them here I will work on any issues as fast as I can.

Port if you can add Time to the trophy Data that would be AWSOME ;-)

Ok good luck to all – ;-)

The Hall is set up – after each days winning is determined I will Display the winner / loser and place all other entrants in the box for viewing.


Community Event: 3rd Annual Holiday Party for All!

[Forum post by Datendrache]

Every year we (a group of fun-loving, Holiday Merriment seeking, multi-guild, jolly Avatars) come together to throw a Holiday event filled with gift giving, music, dancing and excitement! This year, we’re planning to put together the most incredible Holiday Party we can!

Avatar’s Radio Beat of Novia, Secret Santa Gift Exchange and Door Prizes:

Who: Hosted by DJ Alliene Dragonfyre
When: December 21st, 8:00pm NBT/Central
Where: Player Owned Town of Festival at the Festival Keep

Friday Fight Night

Who: Hosted by Alphaine Nine
When: December 21st: 5:00pm NBT/Central (subject to change)
Where: Festival PvP Arena
Note: Special “Holiday Prizes” will be given out to winners, including a 125-Point Dungeon Entrance and a Commission-Free Vendor. More prizes will be announced, and this is in addition to the FFN prize pool.

Secret Santa Gift Exchange

If you wish you participate, here are the rules:

1) Either deliver in person or mail your gift to in-game character ‘Engineer‘ with a note or titleindicating its for Secret Santa.
2) All people who give a gift will receive a random gift that another player contributed.
3) If you are at the Party, it will be delivered to you directly. If you are unable to attend, it will be mailed to you.
4) If you provide more than one gift, the gifts will be distributed to attendees, people standing on the streets, new players, or other lucky avatars. You won’t receive more than one gift, but you are certainly generous!
5) Please keep the value of the gifts below 10K gp if at all possible.

Door Prizes

Door prizes will be given out to players in attendance!

Fireworks Bags

Bags of Fireworks will be given out to players throughout the night! Let’s Light it Up!!!!

And more!

Please check back in on this page for new announcements, we have more things being planned while we work out the details. :)

Community Event: Novia Market R60 Grandmaster Bundles

[Forum post by ldykllr]

NoMa Grandmastery Bundles (R60)

Every month we are offering four professional-grade bundles:

  1. Adventurer’s Bundle – some of the highest grade gear available in the land, ready to take a novice adventurer to the journeyman level! This month we are featuring armor from Robyn Hood (@ldykllr )!
  2. Crafter’s Bundle – Are you an aspiring crafter? This month we are offering a MEGA Bundle with all the mats to get you started in all 5 crafting skills (Cooking, Tailoring, Blacksmithing, Carpentry, Alchemy)!
  3. Music Bundle – For all our music lovers out there! This bundle has all the instruments you could ever want, courtesy of @Kron Caledon with a special selection of music selected by @Lace !
  4. Consumable Bundle – A great selection of food and potions to help you on your adventures throughout Novia, courtesy of @Zeetocht !

These bundles will be raffled on December 28th (2 weeks after R61 release – extended due to short release schedule). Tickets are on sale now and priced especially for beginners at 500gp each bundle.

No matter how many tickets a character purchases, they will only get a single chance at winning that bundle – so purchase only one ticket per bundle!

We are hosting the ticket vendors and a display table of what each bundle entails at Market Square, at the south end of NoMa (if you check in with the town crier, it is the only City lot in town and under Governor Robyn Hood’s name). As you wander past all of our merchants, please do some window shopping and take a look at what all of our residents have to offer!

(Screenshots below to help you find your way).

Cheers,
Ben & Robyn

Screenshots

Location of the Market Square in Novia Market


Community Event: Novia Market 1st Annual Yuletide Giveaway

Announcing the 1st Annual Novia Market Yuletide Giveaway!

  • When: December 1st, midnight NBT – December 31st, midnight NBT
  • Where: Novia Market, located just south of Britanny along the road
  • What it is: For the ENTIRE month of December, ANY purchase made at an eligible vendor (see map below) will enter you into a prize drawing! 1 entry per purchase at an eligible vendor PER day (example: 15 participating vendors, if you purchase an item from each = 15 entries for the day).

The PRIZES include:

  • 1 MILLION in GOLD prizes (and not just small amounts – 2 x 250k is up for grabs!)
  • Furniture (including sets!)!!!!!
  • Gold COTO’s
  • Artifacts
  • Rares — (Dragon Eggs, Aether Weapons, Bunny prints, Homes, etc)
  • Resources and rare crafting mats!
  • Pets!
  • GM crafted items!
  • …and much, much more! (I would list everything, but there is so much!)

Prizes will be drawn LIVE on New Years Day at 1900 NBT at Market Square on the South End of Novia Market (the same place where we have our Grandmastery Bundle Raffle tickets every month – look for the City lot under “Robyn Hood”)

Additional vendors may be added to the map, so check back before shopping!

Map of eligible vendors:

Community Event: Jade Dragons 4th annual New Years Eve Party

[Forum post by Mal Hari]

Please come join us for our 4th Annual New Years Eve Party.
With Avatar Radio and DJ Amber Okhan.

We look forward to seeing everyone. :)

Community Event: Ark Angels Christmas and Gift Giving

[Forum post by Umuri]

What: Gift Giving and Christmas festivities (ALL ATTENDANTS GET GIFTS)

Where: Holtrot (ForestVillage02/Holtrot) Loc: (-139.2, 25.7, 16.2)

When: Friday, Dec 21st, 2018 6:00 pm cst to 11:00 pm cst

Backstory:

Once upon a time, almost two  decades ago, before the worlds were torn apart, there was an old guild named the Ark Angels.

It was run by Tigg and Shooter Teagan.

It’s charter was:

“Ark Angels, a bright light in the dark times of obsidian.

Kindness, Hospitality, Generosity, and Friendship, those are our strengths.

The Ark Angels Light shall never die, as it is the oldest of Obsidian.”

We’d help everyone, red or blue, new or old, in any endeavor short of cold murder, for who were we to judge the world, just trying to make it the best. Time went on, people came and went, some were lost in ways they could never return from, but the guild still lives in the hearts of those it touched, whether for or against.

Every year, the guild would hold a player christmas event.  It was the highlight of our year, and would burn most of the guild wealth from the year in gifts for all, no matter how many showed up, known or unknown, established or alt.   Even as the light dimmed, it was still an event I held, even when it got down to just a few, and was what drove most of my hunting just to make sure santa had enough gifts for everyone every year. Enemies and friends alike were gifted, and many memories were shared.

Traditionally this was manned all day christmas day, however I will be unable to do so this year, so it will be a tad early.

Anyway, enough ancient history from an old man.

My name was Duo Maxwell(I did mention this was many years ago), I am the last Ark Angel.

I’d like to share that event with you all this year.

Come one, come all.

Come visit a Santa, of sorts, and get a gift.

This year in Holtrot, on the evening of Friday Dec 21st, from 6pm cst until 11pm, I will be opening my house to all that come for a festival celebration.

No matter if you are known or not, alt or not, new or not.

There is no requirement to stay for the festivities.

Community Event: Midvinterblot at Helheim in Kahli

[Forum post by Helvig Ingvildsdottir]

Save the date (more detailed info coming).

On December 20 at 6pm NBT we will be hosting a Midvinterblot, a sacrifice to the norse gods, followed by a yule party in Helheim, a district of the POT Kahli. Details will be posted soon. This is going to be a very RP-heavy event, and surely lots of fun.

Meretz: Win a Replenishing Fireworks Mega Set

Win the Replenishing Fireworks Mega Set & earn free SotA in-game items daily!

Whether you move a little or a lot, as a Meretz user you rack up valuable Meretz Points (MPs). The more MPs you have, the more stuff you can buy!

Think: in-game SotA goodies, Sweepstakes entries, Relics by Rild giveaways, and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away the Replenishing Fireworks Mega Set – valued at $119! You can also enter to win a Relics By Rild $50 Gift Card and other cool prizes. AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes.

What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY!

Project to Support: Underworld Ascendant 

Looking for different dungeons to explore?

Our friends at OtherSide Entertainment just launched Underworld Ascendant on Steam! The team includes people who created games like Thief, System Shock and the Underworld series. It’s a first-person dungeon Action-RPG where there’s no one right way to play. Mix and match a variety of different skills to sneak, fight or use magic to survive this large and highly-interactive dungeon full of traps, monsters and challenges. Play now to receive bonus items and a 15% discount: Purchase on Steam!

And as a reminder our worlds are tied together with similar world origins and portals between! You can even purchase cross promotional items but you must be quick as they are expiring soon!

Project to Support – Avatars Radio

Avatars Radio is a community run and community funded radio station founded by community member Amber Raine. They air plays, music, sermons, speeches, and they organize the monthly release dance parties. You can listen to Avatars Radio on their website or through one of the Aether Amplifiers inside Shroud of the Avatar. Consider helping this community endeavor by supporting their Patreon!

“This station was created with the love of our community and fellow citizens in Lord British – Richard Garriott’s new world of Shroud of the Avatar. Our dream desire is to serve and share (simply by airing) communities work through the moon towers. We have an open welcoming of all submissions from our community. Talented musicians (be it instrumental, vocal, or mixer), poets, designers of station identifications and other sound bytes, or perhaps you have the face and voice for radio and would like to try your turn behind the desk as a DJ? This station shall always welcome the creative works of the community weighed over that of earthly!”

Project to Support: Lore Finder

Discover forbidden lore which warps your body and reality itself. The more you know, the worse it gets.

Become K.C. Morgan, paranormal investigator, and search a New England mansion for your missing father. Battle the forces of corruption infesting the mansion armed only with your wits and an old .38 revolver, and gather scrolls of forbidden lore. But the more you discover, the more warped and twisted the world – and you – become.

Uncover the story of Lore Finder, a 2D metroidvania and a modern queer reimagining of the cosmic horror genre. Coming to a PC near you on Steam.

Try the demo right now in your browser, or download the PC Windows version. Support the Kickstarter from Enniko who helped develop the musical instrument system for Shroud of the Avatar!

Resources – Players Helping Players

SotA_NewPlayerWelcome_Forum

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.