Avatar’s Update #393: New Lava Fish Preview! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings us a preview of new Lava Fish which are soon to arrive to molten hot pools of magma near you! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Lava Fish Preview!

Anglers of New Britannia! Gather your gemmed lures and lava fishing poles, for new lava fish will soon be added to molten hot magma pools near you! Pictured above is the elusive Coelacanth, but we have four new varieties of lava fish inbound. These new fish will be available to all lava anglers in Novia, Hidden Vale, and Mistrendur:

  • Coelacanth
  • Trilobite
  • Ichthyosaurus
  • Plesiosaurus

Albeit Mistrendur will receive new lava fishing locations as Episode 2 content is revealed, new or improved lava fishing locations are also coming to Episode 1 locations:

  • Blackblade Passage
  • Bunker C
  • Etceter Crag Mines
  • K’rawl
  • K’rul
  • NW Blackblade Mountains
  • Quel Passage
  • Sunless Barrens
  • Verdantis Mines

The new lava fish and improved lava fishing locations are just some of the many new features to arrive in Shroud of the Avatar this year. Stay tuned as we reveal more of the models for the new lava fish in the near future!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, August 7th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “wishing I was fishing” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

New Store Additions: Leather Flame Armor Set, 6 Building Block 110-Packs & More!

For those wanting a more rustic version of the Virtue Flame Armor Set, the Leather Flame Armor Set is now available! Strike fear into the hearts of your enemies whilst wearing these dauntingly wicked leather armor pieces!

Seven new building block sets have been added to your arsenal of construction materials! These new blocks come in the same 110-packs and size variants as the previous block sets. The new AND old sets can now be placed as Player-Owned Town decoration. All block sets can now scale from .5 to 1.3!

New Block Letters and Numbers Sets have arrived! These sets have primary and secondary dye layers and can scale from .5 to 2.0!

Additional items recently added to the store are the new Player-Owned Town Property Markers Set and the Player-Owned Town Wagons, Boats, Balloons Hatches and Signposts!

  • Leather Flame Armor Set
  • White Marble Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Black Marble Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Polished Granite Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Fallow Granite Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Polished Wood Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Iron Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Block Letters Set A-Z (Dyable, 5 Punctuation Types Included)
  • Block Numbers Set 0-9 (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Property Markers Set
  • Player-Owned Town Wagon (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Boat (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Balloon (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Hatch (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Signpost (Dyable)

Also, we’re scouring the realm for items that have long been missing from the store. Many items are being loaded into the Vault and will rotate in periodically which are announced each week as they go live, but here’s a small number of additional items becoming permanently available on the Crown Store:

  • Jester Staff
  • Jester Wand
  • Construction Crane
  • Construction Scaffolding
  • Construction Planks
  • Construction Stone Cart
  • Construction Ropes
  • Construction Barricade

New Vault Round!

The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, August 13th at 1PM CT. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc.

  • Brindle Greyhound Decoration Pet
  • Druid Town Home
  • Elven Four-Story City Home
  • Viking Brynhildr Shield Pattern Pack
  • Aether Sword
  • Ladies’ Admiral Outfit
  • Black Ice Wings
  • Oracle Eye Mirror
  • Spike Trap

August Login Reward: Potted Giant Sunflower!

Gardening time, Avatars! Now, with this wondrous Potted Giant Sunflower, players can enhance their gardens even further! Simply log in during the month of August, and this potted sunflower will become available in the Rewards Window.

Release 80 Reward Program Login Reward Items: Lord British & Flame Items!

Avatars! Rewards Program login reward items for Release 80 are Lord British and flame themed! Reward Program members must login during Release 80 to receive these login items:

  • Lord British Plate Gauntlets
  • Flame Trident
  • Flame Cloak

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

  • 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month
  • Monthly Login 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

Double EXP Continues!

Head out into the lands of New Britannia and charge headlong into the dangers therein, Avatars! For the near future, Shroud of the Avatar players will receive double experience points (EXP) for their endeavors in Adventure and Crafting! Please take advantage of the extra experience points! Stay home, stay safe and explore New Britannia!

Are You a Livestreamer?

Soon, the Streaming Reward Program will be returning. As the details are getting reworked, we’ll reveal more information. Traditional streaming rewards included an exclusive in-game Streamer Camera for being a veteran of our Streaming Program! Expect the camera reward to return! More goodies will come to your way as the program fully develops. Thank you for streaming Shroud of the Avatar!

Recent Shroud of the Avatar Livestreams

Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on our TWO Twitch Channels: twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar and twitch.tv/communityoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow and get the latest information right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel (complete with “Mojito the dog” cam). Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!!




Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over at our other social media venues:

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 Lord British’s property, and dinner with the game leaders including Lord British himself! Only 24 of these unique bundles will be sold!

Complete List of Rewards:

  • 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
  • Unique Lord of the Isle Home (pictured above)
  • NEW – Town Size Upgrade (if a town is not owned by the LOTI supporter, they may gift this size upgrade to another town owner. Maximum possible town sizes will be taken into account, but the Megalopolis size just became available!)
  • Choice of 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)
  • Unique Lord of the Isle Dungeon Room (To be revealed later)
  • 140,000 Crowns
  • 1000 Bank Slots
  • Pick 12 Prosperity Tools
  • Lord of the Isle Crown (In-Game Wearable Item)
  • Unique In-Game Emote (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 Lord British’s property
  • Fine dinner and drinks with Lord British, Darkstarr, and 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, 2019). Other items will be delivered at a future date TBD.

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

Upcoming Events Calendar

Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums:

2020 Events
Aug 27 – Release 81
Sep 24 – Release 82
Oct 29 – Release 83

Meretz: Win a Topiary Keep Dragon Statue (No Trade)

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 and tons more. With Meretz, we launch several sweepstakes every month. This month, we’re giving away a Topiary Keep Dragon Statue (No Trade) to two lucky winners! AND, use your MPs every day for in-game items like potions and emotes.

What’re you waiting for? Download Meretz TODAY!

Community Event: Catnip Games Weekly Fishing Tourney

For the Anglers of New Britannia, a weekly developer run fishing event has arrived! These weekly tournaments start at Noon CT every Friday and will last until Noon CT the next Friday. Players may register towns to be put into a registry list which will dictate most of the venues available for the fishing competition. Every week, the venues shift to the next 3 towns from the registry. Also each week, a new spotlighted PvE and PvP scene cycle into the contest. Each category (POT, PvP, PvE) features different prizes and goals. All fish must be caught within the timeframe of the contest. Here are some of the details:

Largest Fetid Water Fish (Town):

  • Prizes: Player-Owned Town Row Lot Deed, Large Gold Fishing Trophy
  • Rules: Must be caught from one of these towns

Largest Fish (PvP):​

  • Prizes: 2 Chained Obsidian Shard 3-Packs, Large Silver Fishing Trophy
  • Rules: Must be caught in Rhun Ruins

Largest Lava Fish:

  • Prizes: Fishing Rod of Prosperity, Large Bronze Fishing Trophy
  • Rules: Must be caught in Bunker C (Near the ore nodes at -19.058, -16.081, 179.324)

Consolation Prizes:

  • Prizes: Silver Fishing Trophy
  • Rules: Everyone who submitted an entry that did not win an above prize

Spinoff/Crossover Events:

  • Rajazel: If a winning fish comes from Rajazel, @simon1974 will donate an extra 1000 COTOs to that winner! See Simon’s forum post for more information.

Prizes provided by the Community Manager will be available for attendees, but governors, guild leaders and players are welcome to sweeten the pot by providing additional prizes based on objective criteria entirely of their own design. In fact, please consider planning events to overlap the duration and chosen weekly locations of the Fishing developer events. Please post these events in the in-game events forums and the Community Manager will promote accordingly. Expect a constant stream of weekly events, each to feature new locations and new objectives. Head on over to the Fishing Event Forum Thread for more information. Happy adventures, Avatars!

Community Event: 2nd Annual Team Fishing Contest

Anglers! The Second Annual Team Fishing Contest is nearly upon us! Phamyns and crew are planning a team fishing contest! During the week of the contest, the Official Catnip Games Fishing Tourney will be suspended to encourage maximum participation in this annual event. Many prizes will be available! Once players determine their 2-Person team, please contact @Phamyns on the forums or via in-game mail with your team name!

When: August 28th Noon CT to September 4th Noon CT

For more information about the contest, please read the main forum thread on the official forums.

Community Event: Black Rose Chronicles 10

Attention Avatars! The Shroud of the Avatar community is INCREDIBLY creative, and many community members have composed short stories, poems, and other creative works. Asclepius, along with a number of other narrators have had the privilege of rendering them into audio form. There is a huge vault of podcasts on the Caverns site with well over 200 amazing creative contributions.

Recent efforts from Asclepius have brought yet another fine piece of orated fan fiction into the library. Please take some time to listen to a story by Belladonna Rose which was masterfully orated by Asclepius, part 10 of the Black Rose Chronicles!

For more information about these reoccurring broadcasts on Avatar’s/Virtue Radio, please contact Asclepius on his forum post about this topic.

Community Event: Show Your Stats, Win Your Stacks Raffle

Titania Xylia and friends have created a raffle related to your play time in-game! For each hour your character appears in the stats, whether it is one kill, death or receipt in-game. You will receive a raffle ticket. Eventually, your raffle entries will be reported on your character’s page on their API site, so expect this feature shortly! Once raffle entries are showing on the character pages, search for your character’s name using the search bar just under the banner at shroudoftheavatar.net to determine your number of raffle entries.

To participate, all you have to do is share your stats in the API. To share your stats, simply right-click your health bar at the top-left corner of your in-game screen, the select “Show name in public stats.” Prizes will be mailed in-game the during first week of September! Raffle prizes are chosen randomly. Players can only win once in a raffle.

For more information about the raffle rules or prizes, please visit Titania Xylia’s forum thread on the official forums.

Community Event: Mythical Dance Party in Sparrowfall

Mythical Music Radio Presents the Mythical Dance Party! Also listen in on Mythical Music Radio with your Aether Vibration Devices!

Location: Sparrowfall (Near Xenos)
Host: DJ DarkStarr a.k.a. Starr Long
When: Saturday, August 15th, 1:00 – 3:00 PM CT

Listen || Website || Attend In-Game Location

Join us along the riverwalk in Sparrowfall as we dance to the music of DJ Darkstarr! Sparrowfall is located in Elysium not far from Xenos next to Port Phoenix and Silver Hold. Once you enter the city, turn left and follow the riverwalk just a short distance from the docks. Come out and sport some awesome dance moves, trade emotes and recipes, chat with friends, launch off fireworks and simply have a lot of fun! For more information about the party, please stop by the forum thread on the official forums.

Community Event: Release 80 Dance Party in Knightmare Falls

By Royal Warrant, Virtue/Avatars Radio presents the Release 80 Dance Party & Stress Test

Location: Knightmare Falls
When: Saturday, August 15th, 3:30PM – 5:30PM CT

For more information, check out the main forum post on the official forums. If you’d like to learn how YOUR town can become a site for upcoming Release Dance Parties, find out here!

Project to Support – Jar Wars


While you are delving into Virtual Reality (VR), be sure to check out this exciting and hilarious new game, Jar Wars! Our very own Darkstarr has been busy on some side projects, one of which is Jar Wars, a slapstick multiplayer game made just for VR enthusiasts. Battle your friends with wacky weapons and intriguing gadgets for total domination of the Moon! Available for free on Steam!

Project to Support – Dragon Fight

Darkstarr has also been hard at work with the team for Dragon Fight VR which recently went live on Steam! Dragon Fight VR is an internal experiment to capture the “essence” of a dragon fight, the classic penultimate experience of every fantasy story. We wanted to create a short visceral, realistic experience stripped of user interface, lobbies, scores, levels, and other visual intrusions that might distract. There were some key elements of fighting a dragon that we wanted to capture and we felt VR was uniquely qualified to convey:

  • Face to face with a large scale hostile creature trying to kill you
  • Using a sword and a shield
  • Fire!
  • Nowhere to run!

This started out as an internal experiment to learn some things about VR’s capabilities, be reductionist in our designs, etc. We felt that the experiment was successful enough to release as a free experience to share. Enjoy! Available for free on Steam!

Project to Support – Crowfall

Be part of shaping the next great MMO by becoming a Crowfall Backer! Crowfall is the first and only online Throne War game. You can win. Join intense PvP battles that demand strategy, survival and a fierce competitive spirit. Reap the spoils of war as an Eternal Champion!

Claim virtual territory on behalf of your guild or faction. Capture mines, mills, and quarries to secure resources, build castles, and besiege your neighbors. Scavenge artifacts and relics from the Dying Worlds and install them in your temples to grant blessings to your vassals. Capture lost spirits to do your bidding — or bind them into your weapons to infuse them with sorcerous power!

Project to Support – Avatar Express

[Forum post by Vladamir Begemot]

I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site.

If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening.

You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no committment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like.

Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immidiate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game.

It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts!

So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us!

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.