Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 122 goes live January 25th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 122 (R122), we offer a chance to put your best foot forward and a hope that no one heard it.

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 Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

See and Don’t Be Seen in Sneak Scene

Barkeeps in port towns across New Britannia have made their basements available to all sorts of nefarious people who value the ability to come and go without notice. They might have a key, if you ask, to access a place where specialists in skulking hone their craft. Drunken whispers have overshared that those frequenting this ‘sneak scene’ will claim avoiding combat is more important than direct confrontation. Some people might suggest this place is neutral ground, with both assassins and spies putting aside their differences in order to make use of these elaborate training facilities. It might, perhaps, be wise to do any such training before partaking of the barkeeps’ wares, not after.

Find these training grounds under taverns in:

Blood Bay
Broochash
Celestis
Goti
Etceter
Fortus End
Kingsport

Strut Your Stuff in Mount Midir

Are you the best-dressed Outlander on New Britannia? Catnip Games will be hosting a Shroud of the Avatar fashion event. Show off your best outfit and maybe go home with a trophy! No matter what the outfit is: battle gear, evening wear, seasonal style, or just relaxing, flaunt your best, cleverest custom outfit. There will be three members of the Catnip Games team judging players’ outfits as they demonstrate their style and ingenuity.

The stage is set! Join us in Mount Midir on February 24th at 2pm CT for this very stylish event!

More information will be posted in the forums with signup directions and details.

Our Community Made a Difference in 2023

The Shroud of the Avatar ‘Make a Difference’ Store is a curated inventory of in-game items for sale in our Charity Store. 20% of the purchase price of those items is donated to the charity designated in the listing. With especially strong demand for water-themed and pink items, 2023 finishes with a total of $478 in contributions to:

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Breast Cancer Research Foundation
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
Doctors Without Borders
Leonardo’s Children’s Museum
Movember
The Nature Conservancy
Water.org
The World Wildlife Fund

Thank you for supporting Shroud of the Avatar and the various charities!

Release 122 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 122 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R122 is a content month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R123 in the new year. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 122!

Crafting, Decoration, Gear, & Inventory Item Changes:

Low-level human mages who cast with walking sticks will now drop them as loot instead of lesser staves. These can be salvaged for a pattern for those who prefer to display fewer skulls.
Created tabletop trophies for fashion and related contests.

Created the R1 10th Anniversary cloak.
Moved the various reveal map recipes from unclassified to the alchemy miscellaneous category of the recipe book.
Moved a few stray dungeon piece recipes from unclassified into the dungeon category of smelting in the recipe book.
Moved all versions of Xen Bow construction recipes from unclassified into the weapons category of carpentry in the recipe book.
Removed two obsolete loading screen tips and updated the text in another.
Disabled autostart for decorative flame trap VFX to fix Windows clients seeing frozen fire when the deco is placed.
Added detail to the descriptions of the R101 and R102 Sub Reward Bundles.
Made an icon for pumpkin pie slice.

User Interface, Store Information, Inky, & Lua Changes:

Added cat claws, withered baby flesh flayers, and the various baits to the vendor buy order list.
Adjusted Spooky Blue Flame Urn 2-Pack store listing to actually deliver 2 urns.

World and Quest Changes:

Hometown: Added annex scenes called “Hometown – Basements” and “Hometown – Legacy Homes” for house and decoration overflow.
Most housing merchants now offer a one-time teleport to Hometown to help players review a large amount of example homes.
Housing Merchants: Standardized their titles to be “Housing Merchant” for all.
Random Encounters: Altruist Pilgrims now have improved responses for Port Harmony, may give a prayer card as part of that response, and will give correct directions to the Altruist Monk in Port Harmony. SOTA-71839
Siege Encounters: Updated the manner in which scouts ask for arcane catalysts to help avoid confusion on how many is being asked for.
North Paladis: Added the tabletop snow family recipes to deco recipe merchants. SOTA-71833
Broken Echoes Silver Mine: Fixed a typo in one of Teris the foreman’s “hello” responses.
Broochash: Updated Albreda’s response for key/keys. SOTA-71824
Eastreach Gap: Adjusted control point tornados’ paths. SOTA-71831
Highiron: Updated this scene’s template so certain trees no longer overhang into some lot areas. SOTA-71823
Sneak Scene: Updated logic for limiting Sneak Scene Key acquisition to hourly. Enlarged first warehouse room to remove the chance that Sentries will see you before starting the training exercise. Fixed a logic issue that allowed the second room to open its exit door without requiring all of its chests to be looted first. SOTA-71866
Tutorial Encounter: Added extra logic to help archive the “Unlock Gate” task after completion. SOTA-71867
Vertas Pass: Added a tornado at the control point that activates when it achieves the repeating wave. SOTA-71832

Player-Owned Town Changes:

Meadowbrook: Renamed from Le Port-Marly and upgraded to Crossroads Village.
Shirehall: Added new Holdfast northeast of Kiln.
Crossroads Alleys: Changed size from Metropolis to Municipality.
Crossroads Estates: Changed size from Metropolis to City.
Duanor: Upgraded from City to Metropolis.
Fidra: Upgraded from Holdfast to Hamlet.
Lained: Upgraded to Village.
Wolves Den: Upgraded to Town.

Latest News and Q&A January Livestream

The post-release Community Livestream is Friday, January 26th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Stephen “Ravalox” Reinen and other members of the development team for a 1-hour community livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “cold winter, warm heart” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website Add-On Store.

Please submit questions using in-game universal chat by typing “askadev” before your question. We’ll do our best to answer these questions live on the stream. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4PM CT!

Members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team stream on twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar — be sure to get the channel on follow for notifications so you can join us right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel. Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!!

Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over on
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/shroudoftheavatarofficial and on Discord at https://discord.gg/shroudoftheavatar.

Sales and Bonus Events

Until end-of-day February 5th:

Crown Store sales will be 30% off.
Crowns of the Obsidians will be 20% off.

Release 122 Subscriber Login Rewards

Decorating on a sugar high, no way that will end badly! The Rewards Program login items for Release 122 are a Heart-Themed Tiramisu Cake, a Heart-Themed Cookie Plate, and a set of three Sigil Plaques!

Subscribers to the Rewards Program must log in during Release 122 to receive these special login items.

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 (about 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
- 21 Months: Keeper of the Bond
- 24 Months: Keeper of the Promise
- 27 Months: Keeper of the Covenant
- 30 Months: Keeper of Countless Devotions
- 33 Months: Keeper of Thirty-Three Corpions
- 36 Months: Keeper of Thirty-Six Serpents
- 39 Months: Keeper of Thirty-Nine Tulips
- 42 Months: Keeper of Forty-Two Roses
- 45 Months: Keeper of Forty-Five Lilies
- 48 Months: Keeper of Forty-Eight Daisies
- 51 Months: Keeper of Fifty-One Staves
- 54 Months: Keeper of Fifty-Four Daggers
- 57 Months: Keeper of Fifty-Seven Arrows
- 60 Months: Keeper of Sixty Swords
- 63 Months: Keeper of Sixty-Three Coins
- 66 Months: Keeper of Sixty-Six Gems
- 69 Months: Keeper of Sixty-Nine Jewels
- 72 Months: Keeper of Seventy-Two Goblets
- 75 Months: Keeper of Seventy-Five Rings
- 78 Months: Keeper of Seventy-Eight Amulets
Pick any Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
Pick any three of these 7 Obsidian Potions every month:
- 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
- Potion of Stamina: Decreases focus use from sprinting
While subscribed to the rewards program, players also receive these special bonuses:
- Obsidian Potions are significantly more powerful!
- 24 Additional Deck Slots!

February Login Reward

Tempt a beloved or bait a trap: each account that logs in during the month of February will receive a one-time gift of a Square Heart-Themed Box of Chocolates.

Crown Store Updates

New in the crown store for today’s release:

Tray of Tantalizing Treats
Heart-Themed Rectangle Valentine’s Day 2024 Gift Box 3-Pack
Heart-Themed Round Valentine’s Day 2024 Gift Box 3-Pack
Rose-Themed Square Valentine’s Day 2024 Gift Box 3-Pack
Ravalox Darkshire Painting

…and an existing home being made re-available:

Red Barn Two-Story (Village Home)

…for February 1st:

Square Heart-Themed Box of Chocolates

…and for February 9th:

Heart-Themed Tiramisu Cake
Heart-Themed Cookie Plate
Sigil Plaque 3-Pack

The Valentine’s Day store items will be available from Friday January 26th through Monday March 4th:

List of Valentine’s Day items:

2016 Cupid Ensemble
2016 Cupid Heart Cloak
2016 Valentine Hearts Cloak
Blank Valentine’s Day 2016 Card 5-Pack
Blank Valentine’s Day 2017 Card 5-Pack
Blank Valentine’s Day 2019 Card 5-Pack
Breathe Hearts Emote
Double Smoke Heart Emote
Heart Hot Tub
Heart Top Hat
Heart-Shaped Footstool
Heart-Shaped Spear
Smoke Heart Emote
Triple Smoke Heart Emote
Valentine’s Day Gift Boxes 2017 3-Pack
Valentine’s Day Gift Boxes 2018 3-Pack
Valentine’s Day Gift Boxes 2019 3-Pack

Although there are not currently enough items to make a whole new category for them, a few St. Patrick’s Day items can be found in other categories (Wearables and Outdoor Decorations) from Monday February 12th through Monday May 6th:

List of St. Patrick’s Day items:

Garden Leprechaun
Leprechaun Bowler Hat 2-Pack
Leprechaun Hat
Pot o’ Gold

To celebrate his birthday, the Darkstarr Rares store items will be available from Friday February 26th through Monday May 27th:

List of Darkstarr items:

Darkstarr Basement Entrance Eternal Pattern
Darkstarr Chaos Throne
Darkstarr Chaos Throne (Reverse Colors)
Darkstarr Clock Tower
Darkstarr Clock Tower (Reverse Colors)
Darkstarr Fur Collared Cloak
Darkstarr Pavers
Darkstarr Shield
Darkstarr Shield Pattern Pack
Lord British vs Darkstarr Battle Banner
Mosh Emote

Bug Brigade & Testing Directives!

The Bug Brigade was established to improve how the community and the development team work together to improve the game. Since the Brigade’s inception, the program has gone through a number of changes and was eventually placed on hold. The stability of the game is as important to the development team as it is to the players, therefore the program was revamped and was relaunched.

The Brigade has been up and running and the volunteers (Alley Oop, Echondas, Flair Minamoto, and Justyn) are in a good rhythm for verifying and submitting bugs to the developers. If you have reported a bug that has not yet been addressed, please be patient while the backlog is being worked. The Brigade is working diligently to clean up the backlog of bug reports posted by players on the forums.

Every month, a considerable amount of development time will be spent working many of the verified bugs which have been submitted to the team by the Bug Brigade. This focused effort on bug fixes would not be possible without the recent efforts of the Bug Brigade. Please take the time to thank these bug hunting aficionados when you encounter them in your travels!

In turn, the development team would like to express a big thank you to the Bug Hunters! These community members are doing a fantastic job bringing so many bug reports to the team, and they’re doing it in a way which makes the process smooth and efficient. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Much improvement has been noticed by the development team and we’re so very excited to see the program’s continued success!

The development team would also like to thank all of those who take time to participate in QA Testing Directives. Thanks to your hard work and dedication, many issues and bugs can be identified and fixed prior to content going to the Live Server! Keep up the great work! For those that wish to participate in future bug hunting endeavors, please check the forums regularly for upcoming QA Testing Directives.

Don’t forget, the Bug Brigade is open to all players in good standing and bug rewards are SWEET! They will be awarded on a monthly progression basis with only minimal requirements to qualify. The available rewards to receive in progression via qualifying participation are as follows:

Antennae Head Gear and Forum Title 1: “Bug Hunter”
Single Ant Cloak
Lady Bug Backpack
Bug Painting A and In-Game Title 2: “Associate of Aphids”
Ant Farm
Insect Leg Table
Many Ants Cloak and In-Game Title 3: “Bachelor of Beetles”
Bug Painting B
Bug Sprayer and /bugspray Emote
Bug Painting C and In-Game Title 4: “Master of Moths”
Butterfly Chair
Corpion Chair (Pictured Below)
Yellow Fireflies VFX and In-Game Title 5: “Doctor of Dragonflies”
Hacked Oracle Flyer
Giant Butterfly Pet (Blue)
Butterfly Mask
Dragonfly pet
Fairy Wings
Monarch Butterfly Pet
Dragonfly Wings
Hacked Oracle Crawler
Blue Butterfly VFX
Orange Fireflies VFX
Orange Butterfly VFX
Autumn Fairy Wings
Green Fireflies VFX
Landing Flies 3-pack
Blue Fireflies
Mounted Ladybug Specimen
Mounted Rhinoceros Beetle Specimen
Mounted Firebug Specimen
Mounted Diving Bug Specimen
Mounted Asian Ladybug Specimen
Swallowtail Butterfly Pet
Mounted Potato Beetle
Silver Bug Sprayer
Mounted Dung Beetle Specimen
Mounted Hissing Cockroach Specimen
Mounted Maybug Specimen
Mounted Stag Beetle Specimen
Mounted Flower Beetle Specimen

If you’ve come to think of Shroud of the Avatar as your home, sign up and help make New Britannia a better place to live! To learn more about joining the Bug Brigade, please read the announcement thread by Ravalox in the main Bug/Feedback forums.

Streaming Program

Streamers of Shroud of the Avatar can participate in a program to showcase the game and be rewarded for their efforts. Any Streamer who wishes to be included in the Streaming Program can contact Laney via in-game mail with their Character Name and Twitch Channel information. If you have already signed up for the program in the past, fear not: you’re on the list and you don’t need to reapply.

Streaming Rewards Program participants must adhere to our Terms of Service (TOS) and Community Rules while Streaming Shroud of the Avatar.

Streaming Rewards Program participants must stream at least 10 hours of Shroud of the Avatar ACTIVE game play to remain in the program with reward accrual.

Streamers will receive a one-time digital reward of in-game items after meeting the program’s requirements: Streamer’s Cloak, Streamer’s Camera, and the LIVESTREAMING title.

Rules:

To qualify for Streaming Rewards, each streamer must continue to meet the minimum requirements for 60 days after application.
To accrue additional rewards, Streamers must stream SotA a minimum of 10 hours per month, tallied on the 1^st day of each month, to remain in the program.

Monthly Streaming Bundles:

On the 1st of each month, qualifying streamers will be eligible to receive 50 Streaming Bundles. Bundles will be sent out to Streamers via in-game mail.

A few things you need to know:

Streaming Bundles are intended to be given away to stream viewers, not consumed by the streamer.
Streamers are not allowed to put paywalls in place for the Streaming Bundles. (For example, giving away Streaming Bundles once the stream reaches a certain number of bits, subscriptions, or donations).

Other Items of Note:

Streamers in the program will be included in the SotAbot StreamPop function, appearing in the player-streaming channel in Discord.
An optional fan graphics kit is available to the participating streamers as well as all players of Shroud of the Avatar, which includes graphics, overlays and other material.
Streamers must be actively playing the game during their streams. Being away from the keyboard (AFK) for short periods is acceptable. If Twitch indicates the streamer is playing SotA but they are streaming other content or a timeout/login screen, they risk being removed from the program.

Upcoming Release Dates

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. The upcoming 2023/2024 Release Schedule is as follows:

This Release 122 – January 25 (Content)
Release 123 – February 29 (Quality of Life)
Release 124 – March 28 (Quality of Life)
Release 125 – April 25 (Content)
Release 126 – May 30 (Quality of Life)
Release 127 – June 27 (Quality of Life)

Community Events & Resources

Greetings event holders and event attendees! So many fun and exciting events are available in the upcoming weeks. Be sure to get out there and participate, make some new friends, perhaps make some great emote, recipe, or gear trades, or get some adventuring and role-playing into your mix! Here are spotlighted events or updated community resources that we’ve noticed popping up lately on the official forums.

Recurring Events:

Lightbringer Isle Auction: This newly-resumed auction will be held by Hemnu Lightbringer every Wednesday at 2000 EST / 1900 CST / 0100 BST / 2400 UTC.
The Nebula Time Trials are intended as a fun competition amongst players, but also a way for players to compare builds, playstyles, learn from one another and just generally have fun together. Each trial will consist of a challenge along the lines of “kill this mob” or “complete this quest” and while prizes will be awarded based on completion time, everyone who enters will receive something. Check this main post for links to the individual trials as they occur.
Monthly Release Fishing Contests: This will be a rotating, multi-location contest sponsored and organised by Rajazel, The Town Museum and its Governor Diablotine.
Trash to Treasure Dropped Items Turn-In: Introducing Trash to Treasure 2.0! Some unscrupulous fella has been flooding all of New Britannia with junk: Headdresses, Wings, Backpacks, assorted miscellany of every sort. It’s time to clean this trash up and so a bounty has been placed on all gear crafted by Coswald Dirthmire that is turned in each contest period!
Mad Splatter Tea Party: One Sunday of each month, Lily Byrd hosts a tea party in her back garden at her home in Jade Valley. There are drinks and eats, there is sometimes music, there are often party games with prizes, and sometimes they just sit and talk about life in Novia. All are welcome to join but this is a role playing event tea party: please come as your avatar!

Community Calendars:

Avatars-Virtue Radio Calendar: Just when are all those talented DJ’s and streamers broadcasting? Don’t just guess, check out there very helpful calendar! Never again will you wonder when’s the best time to tune in!
NBNN Calendar: This calendar provides a great schedule for NBNN and WRFB programing as well as many other community events. If you’re a fan of the Laz & Jack show or even if you’re hoping to catch them in action for the first time, this is the calendar for you!

Community Event Resources: Here are some fantastic resources for tracking down community events or posting your own events. Become involved! Create! Explore! Make friends! But most of all, have fun!

One-Time Community Events Forum: Sometimes events happen only a single time, so you’ll not want to miss out on these events as they occur. Check out the forums routinely to spot these!
Recurring Community Events Forum: Some events occur on weekly or monthly schedules which are a great way to routinely meet up with friends and to make new ones. Be sure to check this forum frequently for new events or time changes to existing ones.
Player Event Trophies and Special Item Requests: Would you like to request a special trophy or renamed item for a player event you’ve created? Head on over to this thread to see what’s available and to obtain more information about request procedures.
Player Radio Station Forum: If you want to check out the latest and greatest from our in-game radio stations, go to the radio stations forum! If you’re a DJ, be sure to advertise your time slot and venue in this forum.
Player Livestreams & Videos Forum: If you’re searching for a Shroud Streamer to watch, head on over to the streamer forum! If you are a live streamer for Shroud of the Avatar, be sure to advertise your Shroud stream by posting in this forum.
Town Directory Forum: Want to find a town to live in or get your town listed in the directory, head over to the forums and check it out!
Guild Directory Forum: Looking for a guild or want to get yours posted in the guild directory? Head on over to the forums and check it out!
Fire Lotus Tavern: This wondrous role-playing and story writing forum is the spot to be if you love fan fiction and role-play.
Community Resources: Looking for links to community and official resources for Shroud of the Avatar? Well look no further. On this page you’ll find links to a plethora of helpful resources created by the dev team or the community.

So many options to stay tuned-in with fellow community members. Please take advantage of all these wonderful options. Happy adventures, Avatars!

Project to Support: Avatar Relics

Community member Shawn Butts has opened a Shroud of the Avatar merchandise store with Catnip Games’ approval. Visit for pins, mugs, shirts, posters, and more here.

Project to Support: Shard RPG

Shard Studios invites you to enter the fantastic world Dárdünah, the vast shard of a shattered realm, as presented in the colorful pages of the SHARD RPG! Many years in the making, this system allows players to choose from a wide variety of animal people who are the main cast of the many adventures this otherworldly setting offers. Skyships glide through shimmering clouds past majestic crystal peaks. Giant insects prowl alien jungles or lurk in the sparkling emerald seas. Warriors with blades of diamond and amber duel across crimson sands. And mystics chant in shadowy chambers as their spirits wander abroad.

Intro Sheet: For a quick glimpse into the world of Dárdünah, be sure to download the intro pdf! It’s packed with great information and features beautiful artwork, not unlike the artwork found throughout the many pages of this gaming system’s gorgeously designed manuals.
Core System Manuals: It’s easier than ever to delve into Dárdünah, World of the False Dawn, with the Basic Compendium and the Magic and Martial Arts books! They contain everything you need to begin your adventures, and include instructions for the ritual magic and martial arts combat systems. These manuals also include 90 new Animal Templates upon which to base your character!
Other Shard RPG Products: So many more manuals and gaming materials are available! Everything an avid tabletop role-player and game master needs to delve into the world of Dárdünah!

So if you’re ready to experience a gaming world like no other, check out what Shard Studios has created for tabletop role-players on the Shard RPG official website! You’ll most certainly be immersed and amazed by the offerings of the Shard RPG!

Project to Support: Embers Adrift!

Help support one of our team members’ other projects, Embers Adrift! Check out their official trailer here.

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 commitment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like.

Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immediate 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

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.

Play Release 122!

See and Don’t Be Seen in Sneak Scene

Strut Your Stuff in Mount Midir

Our Community Made a Difference in 2023

Release 122 Patch Notes

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