Release 68 Instructions

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

Avatars,

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked Player Guide and Known Issues. 

Release 68 of Shroud of the Avatar goes live this Thursday, July 25, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (15:30 UTC). Release 68 includes lots of exciting updates including Crafting Masteries, a new quest in New Brittany Graveyard, Mannequins, more Top Tier Tameable Creatures, extended display for Fishing Trophies, Combat Balance, and more!

As mentioned in the Release 67 post we have been transitioning our development to a continuous integration model of development where we are pushing content out weekly, sometimes even daily. This of course disrupts the concept of a regular monthly update and is why you will see many items below with tags like “This was patched into Release 67.” This also means we will no longer be releasing a Quarterly Schedule Update because our schedule is so flexible that it no longer makes sense to present that forecast when so many things are changing on a constant basis.

I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to the players who tested the items listed below on our QA server. They found many bugs and also provided editorial feedback on this post so that it is easy to read and actually matches what is in the game.

Before offering feedback and/or reporting a bug, we kindly ask that you read this whole message and the linked Player Guide and Known Issues to get up to date on the current game state. To keep up to date, please check out the Patch Notes.

By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and effort can be focused on new “unanswered” questions and addressing critical issues that impact 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 also working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. Be sure to check the schedule for player-run events (via the player-run websites: NBNN Community Calendar & Avatars Circle). You can also 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 68.

RELEASE 68, July 25, 2019

• Story and Scenes: 
  • Brittany Graveyard: Owen the ghost does not get to chat with real people very much these days. Go pay him a visit at Brittany Graveyard and maybe you’ll learn about his recipe for the Dual Wax Cylinder Phonograph! Note that the quest for his recipe has two possible paths depending on your current Virtue status!
  • Tartarus: Our newest high level dungeon went into live testing in Release 66 with an unofficial release (no actual entrance) and then an entrance from The Rise dungeon was added in Release 67. This dungeon has received bug fixes and polish for R68 but has not yet been expanded beyond the scope of the original R67 release. NOTE: Due to some internal miscommunication we did not add it to the Release 67 Instructions.
  • Graff Gem Mines: We replaced the Satyrs here with Kobolds to better match the thematic area and story.
  • Fortus End: We have added Fast Travel signposts to this town.
  • Caverns of Skrekk: The guards outside the castle are more likely to stay in their guard positions.
  • Battle of Solace Bridge: We updated the trainer to not require a skill to open the gate which now auto-opens when the player is properly flagged. We also added visual effects to the gate.
  • Solace Bridge Outskirts: We added special camera angles when talking to Marden to make the conversation look better.
• Combat: 
  • Experience Attenuation: For Release 68 we are doubling the soft cap on experience attenuation from 1 million to 2 million experience an hour. The primary reason we are doing this is so we can identify the problem areas and skills and identify fixes so we remove attenuation altogether in a later release.
  • Pet Healing: Pet healing now scales with pet level and it is now balanced better against regular healing when used on players. This skill has also had its range increased to be similar to the range of other ranged healing skills.
  • Ring of Fire: The focus cost for Ring of Fire and the cool down timer have each been increased by roughly 25%.
  • Meteor Shower: The focus cost for Meteor shower and the cool down timer have each been increased by roughly 25%.
  • Focus Cost: The focus cost curve for all skills has increased at high levels. Previously the multiplier was SkillLevel/40. For R68 it will be SkilllLevel/40^1.1. At level 80, 100, and 120 they will see a 7%, 9%, and 11% increase in focus cost over R67.
  • Top Tier Tameable Creatures: In Release 66 we began adding Top Tier tameable creatures similar to the Obsidian Destroyer (which at the time was the most powerful tameable monster). We also made a pass on the visuals of these creatures making sure these were set correctly and synced with loot drops. This is preparing for moving animal heads over to use decoration scaling similar to fish trophies. In Release 68 we completed adding them all to the game in various scenes.
    • South Drachvald Spur: Red Ferocious Spider and Red spiders
    • North Drachvald Spur: Ferocious Arctic Wolf
    • Necropolis Barrens: Ferocious Brown Arachnid and Brown Arachnid
    • Brightbone Pass: Polar Destroyer
    • Random Alpine Encounter: Ferocious Arctic Wolf
    • Random Desert Encounter: Large Darkstarr Corpion, Darkstarr Destroyer, Ferocious Desert Wolf, Ferocious Obsidian Wolf, and Lupine Destroyer
    • Random Forest Road Encounter: Ferocious Timber Wolf, Ferocious Obsidian Wolf, and Lupine Destroyer
• Crafting and Economy:
  • Crafting Masteries: Alchemy Mastery, Blacksmithing Mastery, Carpentry Mastery, and Tailoring Mastery are now available upon achieving 100 skill level in parent Enchantment or Masterwork skills. Mastery skills unlock the ability for  “Refresh Effects” (aka reroll) to appear when Enchanting and Masterworking. Higher levels of Mastery influence how often Refresh Effects appears. NOTE: We do not yet display the chance for Refresh Effects to appear but we will have this display functioning soon.
  • Display Selection Power: During Masterwork and Enchantment selection we now display the power that the effect would contribute to the item. This will help communicate power and rarity of the selections available. Examples:
    • Lesser Dexterity (+1)
    • Dexterity (+2)
  • Weighted Effects Selection: Masterwork and Enchantment effects now have rarity weights that represent the chance that they will show up for selection (versus just being a completely random list). NOTE: Look for more Rare Enchants and Masterworks to appear in the future now that we have this in place!
  • Fishing Trophy Length Display: We now display an extra decimal place in the length field for Fish Trophies. This should greatly assist with granularity during fishing contests in deciding who wins what.
  • Consumable Leaderboards: Leaderboards have been expanded to now include consumables information. Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!
  • Pathfinding to Resources: We have removed automatic pathfinding to resource nodes when harvesting, gathering, mining, skinning, etc. when you are close enough and facing the right direction. This removed the cases where the automatic pathfinding would fail and avatars would get caught in a pathing loop.
  • Heritage Items: Heritage Items are high value items offered at a discounted price, and provide the best bang for your buck in the Crown Shop.  These items cannot be lost to ransom or traded with other players, and they can be freely stored in your bank without penalty or restriction.  Look for items marked with the Heritage crest in the Crown Shop!
  • Updated Artifacts: The following legacy artifacts have been updated to the new tiered system:
    • Belt of the Brutal Butcher
    • Belt of the Ox
    • Belt of the Patient Harvester
    • Ring of Cat’s Grace
    • Ring of the Cuttlekin
    • Ring of the Deep Woods
    • Ring of the Frogkin
    • Ring of the Gambler
    • Pax Ring
    • Spider Silk Belt
    • Xen Penetrator
    • Spiderleg Staff
• Player Towns and Player Housing:
  • Free Camera Mode for POT Stewards: Free camera mode (/slew) is now available for POT Stewards in addition to Governors!
  • Mannequins: Players can now display clothing and armor on mannequins! There are male and female mannequins in a variety of poses available in the Crown Shop. There is also a recipe for a craftable version.
  • Persistent State for Lights: In Release 67 we added the ability to set the default state of the doors on player homes (open or closed). We have now expanded this to lights. Lights now have a right-click option to set their default state.  A light can be set to default to On or Off.  NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Player Lot Permissions Restructure: Decorations and lot permissions have been restructured.
    • Tenant is now a lot access level (just below Kindred) instead of a play mode.  A player with tenant access can move decorations on a lot, place decorations, and take decorations that they placed.  Stacking constraints have been removed for tenants.  Tenants may place vendors, and participate in agriculture.
    • Players with Kindred or higher access may move items on a lot – even those placed by other players.
    • The property manager UI no longer treats tenant items specially. Only the lot owner may use the property manager UI.
    • The player placing a decoration on a lot shares ownership of the item with the other players who have access to the lot. Previously, decorations placed on a lot became the property of the lot owner.
    • “Send to the bank” now sends decorations to the bank of the player who placed the item. Previously all lot contents went to the bank of the lot owner.
    • Moving items on a lot no longer changes permission settings.
    • Decorations can now be flagged to allow “move-only” access to players with public access. (Non-banned players can move the item, but not take it.)
  • Combat Paintings: Six new paintings depicting various scenes of combat have been added to the Crown Shop.
  • Cannons and Cannonballs: These are the perfect decoration for the new Keep-and Castle-sized Pirate Galleons! NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Classic Player Vendor: At the request of players, we have made the visuals for the Crown Merchant available as a Player Vendor! NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Gold & Silver Telescopes: These silver and gold versions of the small telescope decoration are perfect for discreetly spying on your neighbors! What? No officer that’s not what I said! NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Flesh Flayer Decorations: These shardfall plants are deadly but these decorations are not! The decorations have idle animations like their deadlier cousins but these do not bite. They are available in multiple sizes. NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • 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. NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Fancy Storage Shed: Keep your garden neat and tidy with the Fancy Storage Shed. NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Large Fancy Pavilion: Host a large garden party under your Large Fancy Pavilion. NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Small Fancy Pavilion: Host a small garden party under your Small Fancy Pavilion. NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • 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. NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Library and Dog Room Dungeon Rooms: These will now have an elf spawned version available. Old rooms can be converted and new ones will start dropping.
• New and Updated Dynamic POTs: 
  • Britt Mart: Upgraded to Metropolis.
  • Crossroads Estates: Added new Metropolis (southeast of Brittany).
  • Elementum: Changed to Town.
  • Isle of Jala’s Song: Added new Holdfast (nested in Britt Mart).
• Release 64 Livestream Items: The Dark Spring Livestream items are complete! Login and check your Rewards button.
  • Dark Thorn 1 Handed Sword
  • Dark Thorn Wand
  • Dark Leaf Spear
  • Flower Hairpiece
  • Flower Bed
• Release 68 Rewards Program Items: Reminder to receive these exclusive rewards all you need to do is join the Rewards Program during Release 68 and login to the game during Release 68.
  • Lord British Round Shield
  • Lord British Leather Helm
  • Lord British Silver Serpent Spear
• Character: 
  • Disco Potion: Drinking this potion temporarily puts an amazing set of visual effects beneath your feet and above your head. Perfect for dance parties! NOTE: This was patched into Release 67.
  • Wedgie Siamese Cat: This is a new breed of the Siamese cat that is available for the first time!

Thank you so much for reading all the way here to the end!

The rest of 2019 will continue to be an amazing year for Shroud of the Avatar players! Grandmaster Craftsman only effects, more loot improvements, more expansions to the fishing system, better boss fights and more.

Join us for 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 a reminder, here are links to Player 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