Update of the Avatar #141 – 2015.09.04: Blood River Massacre, Fishing, Musical Instruments, Telethon Stretch Goals, Fall Reward Expirations, and More!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

• New Single-Player Scene: Blood River Massacre
• Fishing in Release 22 (Finally!)
• Musical Instruments
• Thou Art Invited to Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 21 Postmortem
• $52,500 Raised During End of Summer Telethon
• 59 Day Countdown for Fall Reward & Sale Expirations
• Auto-Canceling Monthly Layaway Payment Plans
• In-game Community Weekend Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Games to Back

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New Single-Player Scene: Blood River Massacre

Wars often begin through misunderstanding. The Vertas Elves, descendants of the warrior elves crafted by the Obsidians 200 years ago, seek now only to live in peace. But the men who border them remember the wrath the elves unleashed on their people, and do not soon forget. In this new single-player scene — the opening of the Path of Truth — the avatar discovers the aftermath of what will soon become known as the Blood River Massacre. Can a war between two races be averted?

As you can see from the following images, level designer Esteben “Steve” Zaldivar captured the sense of the bloody, smokey aftermath of the massacre:

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Fishing in Release 22 (Finally!)

I cannot wait for players to start fishing in Release 22! Our goal with fishing is to give players that same feeling they had fishing in Ultima Online. For R22, we are working on getting the basic functionality working in game that we can build upon in later releases. In R22, Fishing will work in any area where the water is deep enough to swim. For now, all water is the same (no salt vs. freshwater) and shallow water (swamps) cannot be fished in, but water types and associated fish types will get added in later releases.

To fish, you need bait in your inventory and your fishing pole equipped (each cast uses 1 bait). You then use your “Cast” ability to send the bait/hook/bobber to a selected target in the water (similar to how we target spells like Fireball). As soon as you cast your line, a timer starts and while that timer runs you have a chance to catch a fish (or maybe a boot!). If the timer runs out before you catch anything you have to recast. In R22 there will be three fish types and at least one cooking recipe for each (as well as Butchery recipes to clean and filet the fish).

Long term, we have tons of features we will be adding to fishing. Seasonality and time of day differences (dusk/dawn best times) will become important when you fish. Location will start to matter, as well as when we add different water types and associated fish types (catfish in the swamp), as well as hot spots where visible schools of fish increase your fishing chances. We also plan to factor in timing and reflexes so that watching your bobber and using your “Reel” skill will factor into your fish catching.

Competitive fishing and bragging rights will come into play when we add Trophy data to the fish you catch (which will record the size of each fish caught), and when we begin to add rare and elusive fish to be caught and mounted for display.

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Musical Instruments

Rick “Chaox” Holtrop is pretty pumped about musical instruments making it into Release 22. Here’s what he had to say:

One of the most exciting features coming in Release 22 (most especially for a roleplayer like myself) are Musical Instruments that all backers will be able to play in the game.

Many of us here have long enjoyed the musical instruments available to players in games like “Lord of the Rings Online”. For that game in particular, the ability to not only play freeform but also play music from predefined files was a giant step forward in the ability to become a true bard.

In “Shroud of the Avatar”, when a player has an instrument that can be carried, they will equip that instrument into their character paperdoll to define that instrument as ‘selected’. They may then at any time type “/play” to have their avatar pull the instrument out and be at the ready for freeform playing of the instrument. Using simple keypresses along the number row (1-8) and just two modifier keys (SHIFT and ALT), the player will have access to a full two octaves of notes, sharps and flats included. As a matter of course, all instruments will sound like the instrument they represent (a horn sounds like a horn, a cowbell sounds like a cowbell, and so forth).

Players can also type “/play ” to automatically play a song that they have loaded onto their local machine. There is a directory within the installation of the game where players can put files to make that happen. These files are generally known as ABC files, but we are also supporting the MML file type. Special thanks to community member, Eniko, who developed the ABC and MML code library that we are using in SotA. Eniko made the code library free (MIT licensed) to give back to the community. There’s more information about her code library on her forum post here. Eniko is also a game developer and has a game called MidBoss that is soon to be available on Steam [check out the details below in Recommended Games to Back].

Possibly one of the most exciting features within the entire Musical Instruments system is the ability for a group of players to have synchronous group play. Avatars can join a party of like-minded friends, choose the song from their machine’s loaded files to be synchronized to the group, and then the party leader will begin the playing for all members. In the game “Lord of the Rings Online” this was done to great effect – we hope to have some great performances in our world that can match that high bar.

While we plan to have many instruments available for players, as we launch Release 22 we plan to have two ready for everyone – the lute and the piano. This will allow us to begin proving out both types of instruments; equipped and stationary. It is within those two types that we will add much more over the coming releases leading up to launch. (We have quite the list of planned instruments, and we hope to see many of these in-game: drums, flutes, cellos, harmonicas, bagpipes, vuvuzelas, triangles, and more!)

I hope you’re as excited about this new system as I am! We’ve known this was coming since our Kickstarter times, and recently our Senior Programmer Justin “OneAndOnly” Gilbert began to give it his all. His hard work with the community to make this happen in a timely and precise manner was integral in bringing this game system to life. And speaking of community, Holt Ironfell and the Bards of Poet’s Circle plan to adapt some of their music that has been licensed for Shroud of the Avatar to ABC or MML format for bundling with the game!

I’ve been chomping at the bit to run around our world and play some of my favourite old RPG music for those who want to sit with me for a few moments and enjoy. I’ll see you at my local Circle of Stones in-game soon!

Rick “Chaox” Holtrop

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Thou Art Invited to Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 21 Postmortem

Please join us Thursday, September 10th at 3:00 PM Central (20:00 GMT) for our next Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about Release 21 and giving you a sneak peek at Release 22. And, of course, FireLotus will be taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance in the OP comments section.*

We will be giving out some really awesome prizes during the 90 minute extended Hangout, and all you have to do to qualify for one is to come hang out with us in the IRC chatroom during the broadcast.  As always, the link to the hangout will be posted in the OP directly before the hangout begins.

*Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to Release 21 specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief.

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$52,500 Raised During End of Summer Telethon

August 31st marked the end of our Summer Bonus promotion and first Pledge Expiration event! To commemorate, we held a 12-Hour End-of-Summer Telethon that included hourly prizes as well as three Big Prizes – Patron, Ancestor, and Lord Pledges! Congratulations to the Big Prize winners:

• Acred – Patron Pledge
• xog – Ancestor Pledge
• SeleneNoctua – Lord Pledge

As a special bonus, at the beginning of the telethon we announced Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards to any backer that pledged a minimum of $5 from 10am thru Midnight CST August 31, 2015. We are happy to say that all three of the Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards were achieved:

• Achieved!  $10,000 – Gossamer Cloak
• Achieved!  $25,000 – Lord British emote & Darklamp
• Achieved!  $50,000 – Nightmare “Mount” (flaming black coconuts that leave a trail of smoke plus black horse head mask with red flaming eyes)

Lot of great material was discussed during the telethon. In case you missed it, here are the videos:

Warning: Telethon video is Rated PG-13 for Alcoholic Content

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Geoff Mellon got busy on the Darklamp telethon reward, and provided this work-in-progress image:

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59 Day Countdown for Fall Reward & Sale Expirations

As we approach the last quarter of 2015, and major milestones such as Alpha and Beta are looming ever closer on the horizon, we are announcing the Fall Reward Expiration Event that occurs at Midnight CST, November 2, 2015. This event includes the following reward expirations:

• Future Episodes of Shroud of the Avatar
  • Episodes 2 & 3 (Royal Artisan pledge)
  • Episodes 4 & 5 (Explorer & Explorer – All Digital pledges)
• Additional Character Slots
  • Second Character Slot (Virtual Collector pledge)
  • Third Character Slot (Ancestor pledge)
• Waterfront Homes & Lots
  • Waterfront Cabana (Citizen pledge)
  • Waterfront German-Style Cabana (Edelmann & Edelmann – All Digital pledges)
  • Waterfront Lighthouse (Knight pledge)
  • Waterfront Houseboat (Lord pledge)
  • Waterfront Galleon (Baron 3 pledge)
  • Waterfront Castle (Duke pledge)
  • Waterfront Castle with Keeps (Lord of the Manor 2 pledge)

The expiration of the Waterfront homes and lots will work exactly the same as the cutoffs did in the End of Summer Expirations, meaning all pledges at or above Citizen level prior to November 2, 2015 will continue to receive the waterfront reward for their pledge as they upgrade. For example, if you are Citizen with a waterfront cabana and you upgrade to a Knight, you will receive the waterfront lighthouse reward.

Please know that these expirations DO NOT affect any backers that already have these pledge rewards. If you already got ’em, then you get to keep ’em! These expirations only affect new backers, or existing backers that have not upgraded to the specified pledge tiers before the expiration date.

[NOTE: Payment plans started toward a pledge tier with expiring rewards (or higher) prior to Midnight CST, November 2, 2015 will not be affected by these expirations]

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Add-On Store Sale Expirations

In addition to the pledge reward expirations, the sale will end on November 2nd for the following Add-On Store items and they will revert to their regular prices (as displayed in the item description):

• Battle Banner
• Tower Village Home
• Tower Town Home
• Druid Town Home
• Airship City Home
• Row Lot Property Deeds
• Village Lot Property Deeds
• Town Lot Property Deeds
• City Lot Property Deeds

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Auto-Canceling Monthly Layaway Payment Plans

We have finally developed the ability to automatically cancel monthly layaway payment plans, no longer requiring you to cancel them manually. Starting this Monday, September 7, 2015, any payment plans that reach their desired pledge level will be canceled automatically. You are still able to cancel your plan manually at anytime by going to your Account page.

There are several payment plans that have exceeded their designated pledge level that have not been manually canceled by their account holder. The backers of these payment plans will have until September 30th to contact our customer service department at support@portalarium.com to let us know that they would like for the payment plan to continue, or they will be automatically canceled on September 30, 2015.

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In-game Weekend Community Events

Our amazing community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Special thanks to community member Justyn (Clan of the Wolf) for her help in compiling the latest schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar:

Recurring Events

• Release 20 Deco Contest – Shops & Markets
  • This event has been extended! Get your entries in by September 21st, and judging will begin on September 25th. Your entry should be some kind of shop/bazaar/market/black market/trading post/harbor. Having a Vendor isn’t requirement. There will be prizes! Click here to enter the contest.
• The R21 Unreliable Travel Guide
  • The Unreliable Travel Guide, created at the SotA Writing Round Table, is not an event, but a a collection of hilarious short stories published by two drunken layabouts who have nothing better to do than try to derive a dishonest income from newly arrived avatars. (details)
• Avatars Radio (Daily Programming)
  • Welcome New Britannians to Avatars Radio – Radio of the Avatars. Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers.  Check out their daily program of amazing DJs:  http://avatarsradio.info/schedule.php
• NBNN Lunch with Lazarus (Daily, 12pm CST)
  • Join Lazarus every weekday for the daily goings on in SOTA. Calendar updates, relevant issues happening in the days news, chat about upcoming events and general information. Feel free to call in or join us in team speak and tell us WHAT YOU THINK. http://www.twitch.tv/nbnnnews
• Daily War Time PVP Event (Daily, 6pm CST – 11pm CST)
  • Invitation to all guilds, PK hunters, PVP’rs or players interested in PVP training to come to Chaos Crossroads (Located at the crossroads outside of Kingsport on the road to Owl’s Head). PVP Event rules: None! Use whatever spells you want, kill in mobs or solo, group with new allies and defend your territory, lure newbies into the town and wack them! (details)
• Daily Breakfast Club – 12am CST (London UK); 6am CST (Central US); 3pm CST (Sydney Australia)
  • Breakfast Clubs offer a time when people from around different time zones can gather. (Wody’s Pub, Paxlair)
• Gladiator Wars (Mondays, 7pm CST)
  • A call to all fighters PVE and PVP! Would you like to participate in the “Gladiator Wars” PvP Tournaments? Registration starts at 6pm CST. (details)
• “The Tavern Respite” RP Event (Mondays, 8pm CST)
  • The tavern door opens before you, and the scent of pipe and stew waft outwards with a wall of warmth from the hearth. Join in with the patrons of the Bear Tavern as they share tales of their adventures amid endless mugs of ale, legs of mutton, and merriment unbounded (details)!
• Challenge Dungeon Run (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 7pm CST)
  • This is a self-host event, meet at the Braemar Cemetery and organize into groups to take on the infamous Chillblain’s Compendium of Pain & Suffering!
• PaxLair Working Hours – Host Sean Silverfoot (Tuesdays, 2pm)
  • PaxLair town and community “working hours” are for anyone interested in PaxLair. We will be in New Britannia doing things as a town when many people can work together. Sean Silverfoot hosts this working period. / zone Sean Silverfoot
• Novian Academy – New Citizen Help Hours (Tuesdays, 6pm CST)
  • /zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre of Novian Academy in Soltown as they provide guidance to those new to the world of New Britannia.
• Phoenix Republic Weekly Correspondents Dinner (Wednesdayas, 7pm CST)
  • Join the Phoenix Republic and all of our friends and allies in a weekly dinner and working hour (Port Phoenix Capital Building)
• Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CST)
  • Otherwise known as “Spend Stryker’s Gold” – Stryker will open a bar tab at one of the local Novia taverns for an hour or so for drinks, stories, news, critique of the arts, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Zone /Stryker Sparhawk or watch this thread for locations each week!
• Storytime with royalsexy (Thursdays, 7am CST)
  • Join royalsexy in Radio City for stories and chats. /zone royalsexy or hike aaaaalll the way to Radio City to join in. Also live on Avatars Radio http://avatarsradio.info
• Phoenix Republic – Military Drills – Control Points (Thursdays & Fridays, 7pm CST)
  • Join the Phoenix Republic as we send our weekly foray into the control points, dungeons and other of the most dangerous locales. Each week we will depart to a different PVE locale to help train our combatants. Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre for more info!
• Vengeance Madness (Fridays, 7pm CST)
  • This is an Open PvP event where everyone fights it out in a royal rumble to see who the ultimate death dealer is! (City of Vengeance; /zone Bambino LudoVate)
• Astronomy Event (Fridays, 8pm CST)
  • Interested in New Britannia Astronomy? Just enjoy gazing at the stars? Join us every week as we explore the night sky above New Britannia. (Player Town of Caer Dracwych; details)

Saturday, September 5

• 9:00am CST PaxLair Working Hours
  • PaxLair town and community “working hours” are for anyone interested in PaxLair. (/zone Winfield)
• 11:00am CST Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service
  • Join Lady Amber Raine, High Priestess of the Church of the Dark Star along with Kazyn Phoenixfyre of the Church of the Sun, as they bring another thought provoking service. (PaxLair; details)
• 12:00pm CST The Shape of Things to Come Competition II
  • Players will divide into teams and try to form a shape which is called out by a leader. The pattern can be simple or complex, and points are awarded to the team that forms it most quickly. (Player Town of Neath; or /zone Vyrin, Womby or Sophi; details)
• 7:00pm CST Port Phoenix: Gustball Challenge Matches
  • Come on out to Port Phoenix to join the republic in a series of 1v1 and 2v2 Gustball matches! Each match is played first to four points wins! (Port Phoenix, Firehawk Field, or /zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre)
• 8:00pm CST Vengeance 1v1 Tournament
  • The longest running Player vs Player tournament in Shroud of the Avatar. (City of Vengeance)

Sunday, September 6

• 6:30am CST Explore Novia with royalsexy (PaxLair Moon Tower, /zone royalsexy)
• 8:30am CST PaxLair Meeting
  • Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions! (PaxLair, /zone Winfield)
• 11:00am CST Phoenix Republic Town Hall/Working Hours
  • A Gathering of members of the Phoenix Republic to cover important topic areas of the month. (Republic Town Hall, Port Phoenix, /zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Jack Knyfe)
• 3:30pm CST Gustball
  • Two teams are pitted against each other in a sporting event not dissimilar from soccer, football, and basketball. The object of the game is to Gust a Gustball around the field and into your opponent’s goal (/zone Bambino Ludovate, details)
• 5:00pm CST BMC Grid Iron Feast and Registration
  • Register to compete in the BMC Gridiron and mingle with other participants and spectators before the big fight! (Blackrock Point on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, details)
• 5:30pm CST BMC Gladiator’s Grid-Iron
  • The BMC is proud to present the nastiest, the foulest, the most feared arena in all of New Britannia! The Grid-Iron is equipped with a pit-style arena, locker rooms, a VIP round-table, betting & vendor booths, and all the blood-sport you can handle. (Blackrock Point on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, details)
• 7:00pm CST PaxLair Meeting
  • Come see what PaxLair is up to in Novia and other town areas! Many people also attend from towns and guilds for a bit of a weekly wrap-up and what’s happening. Good discussions!  (PaxLair, /zone Winfield)
• 8:00pm CST Fishing with Winfield (in Avenguard)
  • Come sit with Winfield on a log or rock to hear some fish tales or tell your own. Chat about anything from the moons to the earth worms. Spend a relaxing day in nature near a stream or lake — bring insect repellent or a sword.  (Avenguard at Roper DocHoliday Island Farm, /zone Winfield)

Be sure and check out the Release 21 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here.

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Player Quest: A Letter From 4B

[A Release 21 Events Forum post by Marces]

I just met some members of 4B and talked with them about celebrating their first anniversary of their guild. They gave me a letter and I hoped it would be an invitation for a big party. But it doesn’t sound like that. I figured out that it starts with “After one year …” but struggle now with the rest. Could you guys help me?

This is a player written quest to celebrate the first anniversary of the New Britannia’s Builders of Bemusing Bewilderments (4B) and our future home: Islands of Wonders.

This quest starts in the forum and will combine ingame actions and communication over the forum. You start here with the letter and follow the instructions ingame. Each next step will be connected over a riddle, with the solution opening up a new area.

Like every other quest, there is a reward you can achieve. Till the end of the first weekend of R22 you can solve the quest and get your name in the pool, from which we will draw several winners. There is no extra prize for the first that solves it. So take your time with the quest and solve it in your own pace.

Read more…

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Upcoming Events

2015.09.04 – SotA at Dragon Con
2015.09.24 – Release 22
2015.10.29 – Release 23

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Recommended Games to Back

Outer Wilds

Independent Games Festival 2015 Grand Prize Winner, Outer Wilds is a space exploration game where you uncover the mysteries of a solar system stuck in a time loop. Blast off into a fully physically simulated cosmos and seamlessly journey from planet to planet in search of the answers hidden in the unknown.

Equal parts Myst, Kerbal Space Program, and Majora’s Mask, Outer Wilds puts you in the cockpit of a fledgling space program searching for the secrets of a wild, constantly changing solar system. Strap on your hiking boots, check your oxygen levels, and get ready to venture into space.

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MidBoss

MidBoss is a video game about possessing your defeated enemies in order to become stronger. You play the weakest of the dungeon denizens, an imp with no ability other than possessing other creatures. Your goal is to defeat and possess increasingly stronger creatures, unlocking their abilities for yourself and becoming stronger as you go along, and eventually defeat and become the dungeon’s ultimate endboss.

Steam keys will be distributed to those who buy the game on itch.io when MidBoss debutes on Steam with version 1.0.