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 68 On QA (Live next Thur)

An early version of Release 68 is on the QA server. Release 68 is full of new content and fixes, some of which is now on the QA server for early testing. An early version of the Release 68 Instructions is also available for review. We could really use everyone’s help to test all of this amazing content before it goes live next Thursday June 27!

New Brittany Graveyard Quest
Mannequins
Persistent State for Lights
Free Camera Mode for POT Stewards
More Top Tier Tameable Creatures in Scenes
Fishing Trophy Length Display Increase
Consumable Leaderboards
Player Lot Permissions Restructure
New User Experience Polish
Release 64 Livestream Items: Dark Spring
R68 Rewards Program Items: Lord British Theme!
Performance Improvements
More Bug Fixes
and more!

Please join us in testing on the QA server (instructions are posted each release in the bug forums) so we can make each release the best it can be. By helping us test prior to the release we can insure there are less bugs, more stability, and more balance.

Participating qualifies you for the Testing Incentives Program! We will reward you for your efforts because we do understand that time spent on QA is time lost on advancing your character on live. Each release we will randomly reward the following rewards (one prize per player):

500 Gold Crowns (4 prizes)
Ant Farm (4 prizes)
Antennae (4 prizes)
Bug Cloak (4 prizes)
Set of Bug Paintings (4 prizes)
Bug Sprayer with emote (1 prize)
Insect Leg Table (1 prize)
Corpion Chair (1 prize)

In order to qualify you must meet the following requirements:

Install the QA version of the game
Login and play on QA for at least 4 hours per release
Report at least 1 bug in the QA section of the forums
Note that players will only be submitted for the lottery once per QA cycle. Continued bug reporting will not count toward additional submissions into the lottery.

Thanks Avatars!

Tech Talk Livestream Today!

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is today, Friday July 19, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! This week Chris “Atos” Spears is going to give a talk about the technology side of Shroud of the Avatar including the ongoing performance optimizations, the migration to the latest version of Unity, the rework of the map system, and more!

Last Week for Release 67 Rewards Program Exclusive Items (Heroes!)

This month’s exclusive items for the Rewards Program are hero themed! Just be part of the Rewards Program during Release 67 to receive these exclusive rewards.

NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each month’s exclusive rewards.

Dragonfly Wings
Round Striped Shield with Star
Golden Jeweled Gauntlet

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 Lord British” 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!

7/19 Crown Shop Updates

Greetings Avatars,

The Crown Shop has some great updates this week including a new Steel Chest and several new buildings including a new Greenhouse. Also the Vault features several flame themed items in celebration of the start of summer including the Flame Scimitar and the Flame Trap Decoration! Additionally one of our very first tower homes, the creatively named Tower Town Home, is available for a limited time.

Ornate Steel Chest: Secure additional belongings safely with this Ornate Steel Storage Chest. Won’t rust if rain gets on it, so works just as well outdoors on a lot if you choose to place it there.
Fancy Storage Shed: Keep your garden neat and tidy with the Fancy Storage Shed.
Large Fancy Pavilion: Host a large garden party under your Large Fancy Pavilion.
Small Fancy Pavilion: Host a small garden party under your Small Fancy Pavilion.
Angled Roof Greenhouse: Work on your green thumb with the Angled Roof Greenhouse. This building is perfect for placing against the side of your home or other buildings.
The Vault: A new set of Vault items are now available until Thursday, August 1 at 10:30 AM Central Time. At that time,the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc.
- ? Hat
- ! Hat
- Metal and Leather Kilt
- Flame Shaped Shield
- Flame Shaped Scimitar
- Large Tiki Heads with Flames
- Flame Trap Decorations (non-harmful)
- Adobe 2-Story with Patio & Balcony Village Home
- Tower Town Home (digital)

Lord British’s Birthday Make a Difference and Episode 2 Stretch Goal Stores 50% Price Drop!

To celebrate Lord British’s birthday on July 4 we have reduced the prices on every item in the Make a Difference and Episode 2 Stretch Goal Store by 50%! Check out the stores for all the amazing items including the Reaper Sapling Pet, Water.org Glowing Mug, Pink Dual Wax Cylinder Phonograph with Emotes, Barn Two-Story Village Home and more!

Episode 2 Stretch Goal Store

Nature Charity

Safe Water and Sanitation Charity

Breast Cancer Charity

Autism Awareness Charity

Movember

Children & Family Charities

July Login Reward: Lord British Cake Slices with Unique Buff

We are excited to announce the the July login reward! To celebrate Lord British’s birthday on July Fourth every player who logs in during the month of July will receive a set of 8 Lord British Cake Slices that when consumed convey a unique buff (two hours of increased focus and health regeneration plus a 100% speed learning buff)!

To receive the rewards simply login to the game before the end of July and check your rewards tab!

Last Week for Release 67 Reward Program Exclusive Items: Heroes!

Players really loved our hero themed stretchgoals from Release 65 so we decided to make the Rewards Program items for Release 67 be some of the items we did not reach during Release 65. Reward Program members will receive them immediately upon logging in during Release 67!

Dragonfly Wings
Round Striped Shield with Star
Golden Jeweled Gauntlet

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Gold Crowns, AND receive exclusive monthly reward items!

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

900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month)
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
- 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
- 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
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

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 67 & Various Other Livestreams (YouTube)

The Deckbuilding livestream was incredibly informative! Here is the livestream from our YouTube channel in case you missed it:

Atos and others have also been livestreaming most days and you can check those out on our YouTube channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Note that if you subscribe to the channel you will be notified when he goes live. Here are a few highlights:

Upcoming Events Calendar

Be sure to check out the Forums Recurring Events section for other events!

July 25, 2019 – Release 68
July 26, 2019 – Release 68 Livestream
Aug 29, 2019 – Release 69
Aug 29 – Sept 2 – Dragon Con
Sept 26 – Release 70
Oct 10 – 13 – SOTA International Convention
Oct 31 – Release 71
Nov 14 – Release 72
Dec 12 – Release 73

Meretz: Win a Turreted City Home

Win a Turreted City Home & 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 a Turreted City Home! 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!

Community Event: 2019 Summer Fashion Show Contest!

[Forum Post by queenbee]

You are invited to participate or attend the
2019 Summer Fashion Show Contest
Thursday, July 25, 2019
5:30 pm Central Time
Located in Bee Striker’s Dungeon Party Room
(Justice Hold, nested in Crossroads)
Hosted by Taikee Vetrae and Bee Striker

Official Streamer: Taikee Vetrae
Judges: Lace Delamorte, Phamyns, Flair Minamoto
Narrator: Killermantime

There are three categories:
Male (must be a male character)
Female (must be a female character)
Fairy (must wear wings)

Prizes: There are first and second prices for all three categories:
First Prize:
100,000 gold coins
1,000 Gold Crowns of the Obsidian
1 Prosperity Tool

Second Prize:
75,000 gold coins
500 Gold Crowns of the Obsidian

Additional prizes donated by various players will also be included.

Judging: Participants will be judged in three areas:
Outfit (What you are wearing)
Catwalk (How well you walk the stage)
Description (How creative you are in describing your outfit. This is what will be read while you catwalk the stage.)

Rules:
One outfit per category (no outfit changes)
Descriptions must be Rated G (no questionable content)

Descriptions for each outfit must be submitted to Bee Striker by Tuesday, July 23, 2019 with the following information:
Full in game character name
Which category you want to participate in (Male, Female, and/or Fairy)
Full description of your outfit.

Please send questions to Taikee Vetrae or Bee Striker.
Thank you and have fun!

Community Event: Lily’s Summer High Tea in the Garden

[Forum Post by Lily Byrd]

July Tea is not in Jade Valley at my cottage, it’s going to be in Elementium.

I am visiting friends at the Suvorov Castle and decided to have a tea party here instead.

Tea will be earlier than usual too and we made lots of lovely cakes to share!! See you all there

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.