Avatar’s Update #395: New Player-Owned Town Signpost Functionality! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings details new functionality for the recently created Player-Owned Town Signposts! 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 Player-Owned Town Signpost Functionality!

Governors and stewards! Even more teleporter love is coming your way! Soon, players will be able to experience additional functionality for the Player-Owned Town (POT) Signposts that were recently added to the store. Functionality for these signposts includes a lot of amazing customization options already, but another feature has just been added:

  • NEW! Town Spawn Locations: In an upcoming patch, any player attempting to enter a POT with Player-Owned Town Signposts placed will see those destinations amongst the list of spawn options. This is a fantastic way for players to immediately travel to the parts of the town that’s been marked with signposts. Governors and stewards can mark favorite locations such as shops, theaters, fishing areas, Oracle Confirmatories, banks — the list goes on! No limit has currently been placed on the amount of custom signposts a town can utilize. Please keep in mind, changes to your signpost locations, names, or amounts will appear instantly for people already inside of your town, but visitors arriving to your town from other locations will not see these spawn locations as options until approximately a day after a signpost was added or changed.
  • Custom Names: Signposts can be named while in your inventory. Right click the signpost, use the rename option, then place the signpost as a decoration in your town. Once placed, any signpost in the town will feature that newly placed signpost as a destination option.
  • Custom Colors: Signposts can be dyed with primary and secondary dyes! What better way to make that signpost more noticeable than to use vibrant colors!
  • Decoration Surface: The signposts base allows for decorations, so if players want to place books, notes, lights, or other decorations at the base, go for it!

This new signpost functionality is just one example of the wondrous things coming to town governors, stewards, and residents this year! Be on the lookout for more exciting changes on the horizon. Release 81 will be packed with game updates, so stay tuned for next week’s announcement on Thursday, August 27th!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, August 21st 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 Vault Round!

  • Vintage Blue Velvet with Nailheads Furniture Set
  • Oracle Cloak
  • Aether Two-Handed Mace
  • Tansu Chest
  • Ornate Elven Longbow Pattern Pack
  • Ornate Elven Wardrobe
  • Shogun Four-Story Town Home
  • Viking Brynhildr Shield
  • Elven Mage Outfit

Latest 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:

  • Glowing Jewel Cube 3-Packs (Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Yellow)
  • Display Camera

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 Saltwater 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 Verdantis Shardfall

Largest Lava Fish:

  • Prizes: Fishing Rod of Prosperity, Large Bronze Fishing Trophy
  • Rules: Must be caught in Spectral Mines

Consolation Prizes:

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

Spinoff/Crossover Events:

  • Arlia: Lots of additional prize options for anglers in Alria as well as Lava and PvP zone fishing from @Zeek Latreck — check it out!

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: Lord British Mac & Cheese Recipe Revealed

Our very own Lord British posted his ever so famous Mac & Cheese recipe on the official forums recently! Get your pen and paper out, because if you want the cheesiest Mac & Cheese ever? You’re gonna have to write this down. Let’s see what is in his family recipe:

OK: True story… I am a HUGE Macaroni & Cheese fan… specifically a KRAFT Macaroni and Cheese fan. However, I have my own special recipe… which IS, I said IS the best Macaroni & Cheese recipe. Now I’m not saying there are not some other wonderful variations out there. I too can greatly appreciate periodic additions of things like bread crumbs baked on top, or lobster pieces, and even occasionally some truffle… BUT, for basic everyday consumption, my recipe is the Lord British Certified Recipe, I hope you all try sometime.

Before I get to the recipe, I would like to share a bit about the depth of my love for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. My passion for KM&C began long before college, but it became a staple there and has lasted to this day. Years ago, Kraft offered “The Cheesiest” T-Shirts to those that saved up about 20 box tops, and sent in something like $20. I thought “well, this is certainly the T-shirt for me”, so I started saving box tops. After Some months, I had saved a few hundred, and thought “Now I will get a FEW T-shirts!” I sent in my money and box tops, but got a letter back, expressing that they were sorry, but the promotion had ended. Saddened, but not defeated, I decided to keep saving box tops until the promotion returned… It has never returned…

However, after years and years, a new promotion caught my eye. If you sent in something like 20 box tops and $20, they would print a CUSTOM box of macaroni with the picture of “your child” on it. By now, I had saved up LITERALLY THOUSANDS of box tops. So, I packed up THOUSANDS of box tops and a large check, for my hundreds of custom boxes of macaroni and cheese.

In a few days… a got a phone call from Kraft. They wanted to know who I was, and why I had been saving this vast amount of box tops etc. They were as excited as I was. They happily printed me cases of personalized Lord British “The Cheesiest” Kraft Macaroni & Cheese boxes. I gave them out as gifts to family and friends that year… A few may be in circulation as an extra rare collectible.

BTW… I still collect box tops… have hundreds if not thousands poked away in zip lock bags… still waiting for the T-shirt promotion to return.

Now… ON TO THE RECIPE!

First, ignore the instructions on the box. You will not need milk or butter… but you WILL require Kraft Cheese Whiz!

Of course, begin by adding HOT water to a pot and putting it on to boil. Add some salt. The reason you started with HOT water, is so you can add the macaroni before it comes to a real boil. If your water is hot enough from the tap, the water and mac will come to a boil quickly, and you just saved an extra few minutes.

Don’t over cook the mac. Pour off (discard) the water with a pot side strainer, as imaged above, as soon as its just al dente. Pour off just what comes easily. the dampness that remains will both help make the powder mix well, but will also be absorbed by the mac soon enough.

Add the provided cheese powder.

The MOST IMPORTANT STEP, is how much Cheese Whiz to add. Too little, and you can hardly taste it. Too much and your just eating lumpy Cheese Whiz. The right amount for 1 traditional box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is 1 well rounded dollop of Cheese Whiz. See illustration above. It is neigh but perfect.

Now mix all together. Wait a minute and mix again, as it all absorbs. Then serve to yourself and your adoring fans, In this case, pictured above, Prince Ronin, who like his sister Princess Kinga, greatly enjoys this special recipe, and often request it. A request, I am always happy to oblige.

Of course, I keep the box top.

Thank you Lord British! If anyone would like to thank our liege for sharing, please be sure to chime in on the forum post where this extra cheesy recipe was revealed.

Community Event: Drizz D’s Birthday Fishing Contest

We’re celebrating the birthday of @Ciinen (Drizzet Dragonfyre) by doing one of his favorite in-game past times, FISHING! Come have some fun with us!

Where: Immortal City
When: Saturday, August 22nd, 2PM to 8PM CT
Fishing Categories:
Freshwater – 2PM to 4PM CT
Fetid Water – 4PM to 6PM CT
Saltwater – 6PM to 8PM CT

Prize-Winning Requirements: Turn in your one largest fish from each water category when the water is changed. The combined length will be added together form all three water types and the person with the most combined length will be the winner! For more information about contest rules and prizes, please see the original forum thread posted by Alleine Dragonfyre on the official forums.

Community Event: Ëlf Lore – the Fate of the True Elves

Attention Avatars! A WORLD PREMIERE is about to be shared! Gabriel Nightshadow has crafted another epic audio play, and it has been brought to life by the New Britannia Theater Troupe! This radio play has been 1.5 years in the making, and a lot of love and sweat has gone into it, from all our cast members.

When: Mondays 7PM CT (5 Segments)
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/alleinedragonfyre
Radio: https://zcu.io/jXP8

It will be broadcast on Virtue Radio as part of the regular Podcasts and Poetry segment each Monday. It is an epic piece, so for easy listening it has been broken into 5 bite-size chunks. Join us for an amazing adventure over the next 5 weeks! Players can also tune into Virtue Radio using your in-game Aether Vibration Amplifiers! This announcement was posted by Asclepius on the player maintained Shroud of the Avatar Facebook Group.

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: 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.

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.