Avatar’s Update #323: Spring Equinox Items, Row Homes 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

Spring Equinox Items

Scott “Scottie” Jones has been busily creating all sorts of Spring goodies for our Avatars! The Confection Eggs and Confection Bunnies will be new loot on the Arch Lapin! A lot of this work was making placeable decorations for food items so some of these new items will tie to existing items like cupcakes for the Lord British Birthday Cakes or a placeable and dyeable Cake Slice to go with the existing Cake Slice Recipe. The whole dyeable cake will be available in the crown shop as a decoration for those looking to save on decoration limits (versus placing individual slices). Some of the new confections and dyeable cupcake will be part of the Spring Equinox Replenishing Platter which will be available on the Crown Shop. The new dyeable eggs will also go on the Crown Shop but there will be an in-game recipe for a plain dyeable egg as well. The Confection Platter will be available on the in-game decorations merchant for gold while the Confection Stand will be available in the Crown Shop. For more details on Scottie’s process read below:

[A Forum Post by Scott “Scottie” Jones]

Hello all! Scottie here again!

Here’s another post to share what I’ve been working on over the last week and a half!

Well, it’s Spring again, and WOW has this year been flying by …. It’s already mid-March!!!

And whether you call it Easter, or Ostara, or Eostre, or even just the Spring Equinox, it’s time for me to make stuff related to some kind of Springtime Festival! That means cool stuff that I am hoping will be made available to you in some way as decorations in Shroud of the Avatar! Of course, I say “hoping” because, as a standard disclaimer; I just make the art, and have no real say in how it gets sold or distributed in the game once it leaves my hot little hands… Any of these items (or sets of items) may get offered as Livestream goals, or sold for CotOs in the store, or produced in the game when performing recipes, etcetera… It’s going to be up to those in charge to determine that… And, of course, sometimes it’s not always possible to incorporate some of the stuff I make in exactly the way I imagine (I don’t decide when things get released, how they get packaged up and offered or sold in the CotO store in-game, added as some recipe, or whatever)… However, what I WILL do here is show you everything I’ve made for this season, give you a little insight as to what inspired me to do so, and then describe the suggestions I’m offering to the “decision-makers” who will be determining how all this stuff gets incorporated!

So let’s begin!

BAM!!!!

Guess what all this is! (ignore that Yule Garland and the weird framed picture in back, those are merely the detritus of my “house full o’ test crap”…)

YES! That’s right, this is every single potential deco object I produced/threw together within the last week and a half! All smashed together on an “insect table” (because it was the first table I found to give myself)… So ignore the furniture, too, and I’ll go through all this stuff bit-by-bit!

Let’s start with the thing I was actually ASKED to make; this years Replenishing Egg Basket! Based on the ones we’ve had years past, this new one is remarkable in that the basket is square, flares out from base to rim (no off-color jokes please), and is decorated in lovely pink fabric! It may be simple, but sure is pretty! Look at all of those eggs!

Now, for the rest of the stuff, I could have focused on things like flowers and bonnets or what-not (which I know folks have mentioned wanting more of from time-to-time), but those are less my “forté”… Because I’ve recently had the chance to speak to various groups and folks in-game, and heard various things mentioned over and over (stuff about the cupcakes that come from the LB birthday cakes, stuff about the cake slices, stuff about wanting more deco food and other such treats), …AND… because I was once a pastry chef myself,…I decided to get inspiration from my inner sweet-tooth, and the fond memories I have of crazy-good baked treats and confection during this time-of-year in my youth! All religious stuff aside, THESE are the kinds of things my mom loved producing around this season… You’ll be able to use these to decorate kitchen tables at home, plates of desserts at parties, and of course fill the shelves of your shops (especially if someone wanted to make a bakery)!

Let’s take a look at the first grouping of things; a dye-able cake, dye-able cake slice, and a dye-able cupcake! They may look all “Plain Jane” (no offense to any Janes out there… ^_^) with their generic cream color and off-white interior, but as you can see from the original image up top, they get really snazzy when you start playing with dyes! On the upper left is a whole cake that can be placed as a deco (to save on the deco-limit), but if you don’t mind using up deco slots, you can also take the single slices, arrange them point to point, rotate with “Ctrl” + “Q”, and easily make it look like the “partially served” cake you see on the upper right! I’ve carefully created the collision shape on the slices so that they fit together nicely… And, as you can see, the stand-alone dye-able cupcake will also accept awesome colors.

Depending on how the folks in charge want to handle these things, the Cake Slice could, potentially, be used to replace what you get when you make the recipe for “Piece of White Cake”, which currently creates merely an icon in your inventory of a plain slice of cake on a plate. If they choose to hook it fully up with the recipe I mentioned, not only would you be able to eat the product as you can now (I believe), but you could also decorate with it and dye it nicely…

Speaking of cupcakes, having found out that the Lord British Birthday Cakes give cupcakes and fireworks from time to time, and having been told that the cupcakes are merely inventory icons of a singular plain white cupcake with an ankh on top, and having heard that folks are really wanting those cupcakes to be deco items, I’ve created four sets of individual cupcakes that actually look like they would have been made to match the particular color scheme of the LB Birthday Cake for that year!

Depending on how the folks in charge want to handle these, they could either have each cake “give out” the one with the ankh decoration appropriate to the color of cake producing it, give out one of any of the four appropriate color sets randomly, or even give out the dye-able cupcake from any of the cakes, and let the player dye it the appropriate color (or any color they wish) themselves!

With all that stuff created, I moved on to something I wanted to add personally… I LOVE the whole feeling of being a kid in a candy shop, and nothing pleases me more than seeing a decorative spread of various different confections like little jewels on a plate… And so, I figured that you fine folks might enjoy a similar set of things to display as a decoration… Here we have a golden plate full of confections; the Spring Equinox Confections Platter!

Of course, this is nothing more that mere “eye candy” (see what I did there)… I’m assuming you won’t be able to eat all this as a single bit of food in-game… I’m assuming it’ll just be a deco object for now… However, if those in charge of this kind of stuff decide to take another pass at what eating things like slices of cake and cupcakes actually do for you in-game, perhaps being able to eat other sugary treats would be fun for players too! As such, I decided to create all the different components of this dish as separate “servings” (except the jelly beans, maybe I can make a jar of those later as a separate deco) that seem like a reasonable amount to eat at once, would be fun to decorate with, could have separate recipes for them, and if crafted individually and brought together as their own finished items in the right amounts, could be used to actually “craft” the entire plate of treats you see on the platter above! Allow me to introduce them and describe what they are supposed to be (hopefully to help aid in the process of getting these turned into recipes)…

On the upper left we have a serving of “Confection Eggs”! Imagine eggshells blown hollow and decorated, washed, and filled with some tasty, sugary, nutty, walnut-butter nougat! On our world we would use milk chocolate, but on Novia chocolate hasn’t made an appearance yet, so the ingredients above might suffice.

On the upper middle is a serving of four delicious “Thumbprint Cookies”, made with pastry dough and filled with some pecan-based, sugary confection paste, and topped with a nut!

To the right of those we see another fine serving of four, traditional Novian “Elderberry Creamcheese Sugardrops”, made with sugar powdered to a fine dust, the juice of freshly-picked elderberries, and delicious cream cheese blended all together into an icing that hardens quickly once piped onto wax-paper.

On the far lower left we have a serving of three “Confection Bunnies”, their sweet faces made from that same fine confectioner’s sugar, honey, and walnut meal, and perhaps a hint of brown, blue, and pink dye.

Lastly, in the lower middle, you can see a serving of light and fruity “Petit Fours”, These could be crafted from light and fluffy cake sheets with layers of pulverized grape and apple pulp mixed with honey, and covered in a sugary fondant dyed with hints of pink, yellow, and green!

Now, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t provide our decorators, bakers, and generous hosts with a few objects upon which to display such colorful goods… And so, for you pleasure, I have created a paper-doily covered, fine wooden confection platter and elevated confection stand! I’m assuming these could be either bought in the CotO store, or perhaps their recipe could be purchased and then these wonderful little display pieces could be crafted! Either way, here they are, and of course you can see items displayed on them in my original image at the top! ^_^

Last, but certainly not least, was something I threw in at the very last minute because I had heard numerous people shout out to me that they were eager to one day be able to host delightful egg-hunts on their properties, or in their towns… Well now, with the deco limit being raised in at least some areas, it seemed like the appropriate time… Here, for your enjoyment, is a set of six dye-able eggs for the season, hopefully soon to be available either as something to craft from a recipe you buy, or obtained through the in-game store…along with all the necessary dyes. I have given them a little bit of base color just to get folks started, but each egg can be dyed two different colors! (we may end up making them plain white later, but I added the colors for now so you can clearly see the patterns)…

Of course, they’re never really meant to be seen so close up. In the game they will be fairly tiny, delicate-looking little things. But once they are dyed in some garish colors, they should pop out nicely for those who seek them carefully, once their hiding places have been discovered. It’ll be amazing to see folks getting together to all dye eggs in preparation for a big egg-hunting event!

Anyway, I must now draw this post to a close… I’ve gotten myself hungry with all of this! Hopefully you enjoyed the peak at things to come, and will have a blast decorating with all of this stuff eventually!
Take care, and happy Springtime!

Scottie ^_^

Row Homes Livestream Today

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is today: Friday March 15 at 4 PM CT on Twitch!

This week we are going to show off Row Homes! All players who complete the quest line in any of the Outskirts starting areas receive a row lot deed. In honor of this we are going to show off an assortment of Row Homes that are available including Storefronts, Greenhouses, and themed homes. We will also show off how they can be decorated.

You can earn Release 63 Darkstarr stretch goals by making a purchase or by participating in the Rewards program!

ACHIEVED! $15K: Darkstarr Wand
ACHIEVED! $30K: Darkstarr Throne (Reverse Colors)
$45K: Darkstarr 1h Sword
$60K: Darkstarr Clock Tower (Reverse Colors)
$75K: Darkstarr Coronated Leather Helm and Darkstarr Longbow
$90K: Darkstarr Dungeon Room with Clock
$105K: Darkstarr Trident and Darkstarr 2h Axe
$125K: Darkstarr Black Leather Armor

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 “Happy birthday Darkstarr” in the chat window (no purchase necessary).

Watch on Twitch this Friday at 4 PM CDT

Are You a Livestreamer?

Get this exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Livestreamer Program!

Darkstarr Recurring Items

It is the Regent Darkstarr’s (aka Starr Long) birthday on March 12th! In honor of his birthday the recurring rare Darkstarr items are in the Crown shop for a limited time! They will only be available this year until May 3rd and then you will have to wait for another full year before they become available again!

Here’s a list of those recurring items:

Darkstarr Fur Collared CloakLord British vs Darkstarr Battle BannerDarkstarr Shield & Darkstarr Shield Pattern Pack Darkstarr Basement Entrance Eternal Pattern

Lord of the Isle Episode 2 Bundles

As one of the biggest and earliest supporters of Episode 2 you will be granted the largest lot deed in the land (Castle), the title Lord (or Lady) of the Isle, a tour of the Portalarium Offices, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold!

Complete List of Rewards:

UPDATED: Lord of the Isle Place Anywhere Castle Lot Deed: Tax Free Forever (when placed in a POT) and Tax Free for 1 Year (when placed outside of a POT). Placeable on water as well as land!
Title: Lord of the Isle or Lady of the Isle
NEW: Unique Lord of the Isle Home (to be revealed later)
UPDATED: PLUS Choice of any 1 House currently available in the store
Castle Basement currently available in the store of your choice
Castle Wall Set currently available in the store of your choice (with enough for Castle Lot)
NEW: Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (to be revealed later)
1400 Crowns
999 Bank Slots
Pick 12 Prosperity Tools
2 Unique in-game items (to be revealed later)
Early Access to Episode 2
Episode 1 Box and map signed by the team
1 hour one on one with Chris for design discussion (via video-conference)
One real silver ring crafted personally by Lord British: Numbered 1 – 8
In-game version of the Lord British ring: Numbered 1 – 8 (including a place-able decoration version)
Tour of Portalarium Offices
Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, & Atos at a location TBD in Austin or NYC.

NOTE: Digital items that are currently available will begin delivery as soon as Release 62 (Jan 31). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD.

NOTE: Travel costs NOT covered by Portalarium for Tour & Dinner.

Release 63 Livestream (YouTube)

Last week’s Release 63 Livestream was a blast! We again demonstrated the first iteration of Player Made Dungeon Encounters (fuller iteration going live in R64), gave out tons of prizes, answered some questions, and had our second Saltwater Fishing Contest!

Fishing Contest Winners:

Runners Up (2): Ornate Fishing Pavers
- Belladonna Rose: Sailfish 2.8
- Catherine Rose: Sailfish 2.8
3rd Prize: Ornate Post & Rope Water Fence Set (digital)
- Anpu: Small Marlin 3.1
2nd Prize: Viking Village Water Home (digital)
- Tialessa Marlin 3.2
1st Prize: Player Owned Town Village Water Lot Property Deed (digital)
- Gruhne Marlin 3.4

We also made a ton of progress on the Darkstarr stretch goals!

ACHIEVED! $15K: Darkstarr Wand
ACHIEVED! $30K: Darkstarr Throne (Reverse Colors)
$45K: Darkstarr 1h Sword
$60K: Darkstarr Clock Tower (Reverse Colors)
$75K: Darkstarr Coronated Leather Helm and Darkstarr Longbow
$90K: Darkstarr Dungeon Room with Clock
$105K: Darkstarr Trident and Darkstarr 2h Axe
$125K: Darkstarr Black Leather Armor

In case you missed the fun times here is the stream on YouTube (in all it’s “British Bunch” glory):

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:

900 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

Mar 28, 2019 – Release 64
Apr 5, 2019 – Release 64 Livestream (Dark Spring)
Apr 6, 2019 – Release 64 Dance Party
Apr 25, 2019 – Release 65
May 3, 2019 – Release 65 Livestream
May 30, 2019 – Release 66
June 7, 2019 – Release 66 Livestream
June 27, 2019 – Release 67
July 25, 2019 – Release 68
Aug 29, 2019 – Release 69

Community Event:

Meretz: Win a Circle of Stones Dungeon Entrance

Win a Circle of Stones Dungeon Entrance & 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 Circle of Stones Rift Dungeon Entrance Plus 125 Point Dungeon – valued at $100! 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 – Avatars Radio

Avatars Radio is a community run and community funded radio station founded by community member Amber Okhan (formerly 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!”

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.