Update of the Avatar #145 – 2015.10.02: 15% Black Friday Bonus, New Single Player Scene, Fortress at Hilt, Combat Chat, Jack-O-Lanterns, Grim Reaper, and More!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Get Your 15% Black Friday Bonus Starting Now!
• New Single Player Scene: Highvale Village Battle
• The Fortress at Hilt in Nightshade Pass – Part 2
• Invitation To Combat/Skills/Spells Video Chat
• Invitation to Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 22 Postmortem
• Release 23 Grand Tour Quest Reward: Plague Doctor Mask
• Jack-o-Lantern 6-Pack
• Grim Reaper Statue
• Spider Web 6-Pack
• New Lute and Piano
• 31 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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Get Your 15% Black Friday Bonus Starting Now!

Last year we extended our Black Friday Promotion to give you 8 weeks to take advantage of our Black Friday 15% Bonus, and we’re doing it again this year! This is especially helpful for backers that intend to pledge or upgrade prior to the Fall Reward & Sale Expiration Event ! Here are the details:

For all new purchases (including pledges, pledge upgrades, add-on items, player owned towns, player owned town upgrades, stretch goal items, and Make a Difference items) between 12:00 am CST October 2, 2015 and 12:00 am CST December 1, 2015, we will add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit! You can use your Store Credit toward additional purchases (which includes pledges, pledge upgrades, add-on items, player owned towns, and player owned town upgrades).

[NOTE: The 15% bonus is calculated every day at 1:00 pm CST for any purchases within the previous 24 hours and added to your Store Credit account; Any monthly payments paid during the promotion period also receive the 15% bonus; Store Credit cannot be applied toward the purchase of stretch goal or make a difference items]

You can use the 15% Bonus to save on your next purchase! For example, if you have the $45 Adventurer pledge and really want to upgrade to the $90 Royal Artisan pledge, you would normally pay the extra $45 for the upgrade. But using the 15% bonus you can immediately save $5. To do so, you would first purchase $40 worth of Store Credit Gift Coupons (via PayPal, Amazon, Bitcoin, or credit card; excluding existing Store Credit) then use the “Convert to Credits” option on your account page to transform the Store Credit Gift Coupons into Store Credit. Within 24 hours an additional $6 bonus ($40 x 15%) would be applied to your Store Credit account, bringing it up to $46. You would then use $45 of your Store Credit to upgrade to the $90 Royal Artisan pledge.

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New Single Player Scene: Highvale Village Battle

Esteben “Steve” Zaldivar (level designer) is working on a new single player scene for R23 called Highvale Village Battle.

The Highvale Village is a fortified garrison located just south of Resolute, nestled between mountainous peaks and surrounded by wooded pine. Tensions have been on the rise as recent expansions by the Paladins of Resolute into the northern ends of the Forsaken Vale have not gone unnoticed by the Verdantis Elves. In a retaliatory raid, the Verdantis Elves mounted an all-out siege on the garrison in defense, with both sides suffering heavy casualties.

In this new single-player scene, the avatar will step foot on the recent battle grounds of the aftermath of the attack. When the smoke clears, and the dust settles, who will lay claim to the village of Highvale?

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The Fortress at Hilt in Nightshade Pass – Part 2

[Continuation of A Dev+ Forum Post by Scottie Jones]

OK! Here we have a bit more progress in “Phase II” of the Hilt outdoor map… Now that I’ve sculpted the terrain and painted it generally to my tastes, I’ve moved on to hand-placement and painting of grass, trees, bushes, rocks, and huge boulders,…which is what this world-building phase is all about! Once again, I’ll start off with an image seen from the view of someone entering through the pass from the west, and gazing down into the natural bowl of the valley itself. You can see the lush vegetation near and far now filling what was once bare terrain, as lower-altitude deciduous trees, ferns and grasses give way to hardier conifers and higher-altitude shrubs… Boulders and rock-faces protrude from steeper angles and merge with the terrain with the help of attendant flora and smaller stones.

Looking back the way we came you can start to appreciate the amount of added flora necessary to create the feeling I generally associate with my trips to Colorado and to the mountains around where I once lived in the southern Ozarks. If you compare this image to some of the earlier screenshots of the same bleak slopes, you’ll get a sense of the kind of time it takes to get a scene like this looking right (thanks to Hutch for being generous with his pro-tips on flora placement).

Approaching the lower entrance of the fortress walls, and the first of the switchback ramps leading upward, you can see one of the waterfalls now in place draining from the cascade winding its way down through the fortress walls from the upper slopes. Tucked away in the shadowed recesses of the cleft to its left, just beyond a gnarled old tree, are some crumbling ruins of a tower built long after the sturdier, more ancient ruins of the fortress itself.

As I work my way through the building process of this map, my goal is to create a number of “beautiful corners” and other scenic areas for players to discover as they travel. In this next image we get an even closer view of that same cleft at the base of Hilt, as I make my way up the first switch-back ramp and into the fortress proper… The bridge you see is one of the few places travelers could have forded the deep, cold stream flowing into the lake, putting them easily in range of attack from the terraced walls above.

There’s still a ways to go with this map, and since it’s my first “from scratch” outdoor scene made in Unity for the game, I’m sure I’ll be taking a bit more time than I’d like. But honestly, it’s a learning process, and one that will greatly benefit any future outdoor maps put on my plate….

Enjoy the progress for now… More to come later!

Scottie ^_^

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Invitation To Combat/Skills/Spells Video Chat

[From a public form post by Chris Spears]

Tuesday, October 6th at 4PM Central time.

There is really just too much stuff to talk about in our usual monthly postmortem video chat. Time for me to do a long overdue video chat where I answer your combat/skill/spell questions. Since I have the attention span of a hamster, I’m only going to answer questions posted in this thread or on the post I’ll make on the front page. I too easily get lost when I try to answer live chat stuff and then I just end up looking like an idiot.

Ask me about skills, use based math, chaos magic, balance, PVP, or whatever you want. Don’t ask me about crafting stuff as I expect we’ll have a big talk on that next release! I’ll do at least 60 minutes but longer if there are still questions that need answering!

See you next week and I’m looking forward to your questions! Post them here!

– Chris “Dippy Dragon” Spears

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Invitation to Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 22 Postmortem

Drop your fishing pole, put up your lute, and please join us Thursday, October 8th at 3:00 PM Central (20:00 GMT) for our next Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about the highlights of Release 22 and giving everyone a sneak peek at what to expect for Release 23. And, of course, FireLotus will be taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance right here 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 provided in the OP directly before the hangout begins.

*Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to Release 22 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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Release 23 Grand Tour Quest Reward: Plague Doctor Mask

Just as we’ve been doing since Release 10, we’re including a Grand Tour Quest in R23 designed to guide you through all the new content. By completing the R23 Grand Tour Quest you will be rewarded with a Plague Doctor Mask. This reward can only be unlocked during Release 23 (did someone say rares?), so be sure to log in to R23 starting October 29 and talk to all the Tour Guides!

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Dyeable Brown Plague Doctor Mask

And for those that love to accessorize, the dyeable Brown Plague Doctor Mask is now available in the Add-On Store!

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Jack-o-Lantern 6-Pack

Just in time for Halloween is this 6-pack of spooky, glowing Jack-o-Lanterns, available in the Add-On Store until November 30, 2015.

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Grim Reaper Statue

Decorate your yard or home with this special Halloween Edition Grim Reaper Statue, available in the Add-On Store until November 30, 2015.

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Spider Web 6-Pack

Dress up your basement, cemetery, or even your front room (if you are so inclined) with this set of spider web wall and floor decorations. Includes three different sizes each of the wall and floor spider webs. Available now in the Add-On Store.

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New Lute and Piano

We received some strong community feedback on the forums when we released the Craftable Lute and Craftable Piano last week, regarding the impact such items could have on the player economy for in-game crafters. Here is what Starr Long had to say in that forum thread:

We have considered all the feedback and we have been convinced that having identical items that are craftable and for sale could have an adverse effect to the player economy. So we are immediately removing these items from the store. We will be replacing them with color/texture variations that are unique to the add on store by hopefully this Friday.

Those of you who purchased them will be able to keep them because we do not want to take anything away from anyone just because of a design change. If you prefer the new unique versions you can melt down your items in R23.

And just as promised, here are the revised lute and piano that are unique to the Add-On Store. These instruments can be played freeform using simple key presses along the number row (1-8), with two modifier keys (SHIFT and ALT) providing the player access to a full two octaves of notes, sharps and flats included. You can also use this instrument to play ABC/MML music files stored in the Songs directory. With Synchronized Play, members of a party can play synchronized songs together!

Cordovan Lute

Umber Upright Piano

 

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31 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 2,3,4 & 5 of Shroud of the Avatar
• Additional Character Slots 2 & 3
• Waterfront Homes & Lots (including Cabana, German Cabana, Lighthouse, Houseboat, Galleon, Castle, and Castle with Keeps)

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 Deed (SOLD OUT), Town Lot Property Deeds, and City Lot Property Deeds

[More Fall Reward Expiration details…]

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Auto-Canceling Monthly Layaway Payment Plans

We implemented the ability to automatically cancel monthly layaway payment plans, no longer requiring you to cancel them manually. Starting 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 October 15th 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 October 15, 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 SpookyJenny (aka Jenny Phoenixfyre in-game) 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

• The R22 Unreliable Travel Guide
  • The Unreliable Travel Guide, created at the SotA Writing Round Table, is not an event, but 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 (Weekdays, 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, 8pm CST – 9pm 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)
• “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 (The Bear Tavern in PaxLair; /zone Elgarion De’Khali; 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 Open Mic Night (Wednesdays, 7pm CST)
  • Join the Phoenix Republic as we explore a weekly series of shared creativity, stories, songs and music. We will have entertainment and dining, dancing and socializing with our friends. Those who wish to share in their creativity can take to the stage and show off their newest creative endeavor!
• 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
• Gladiator Wars (Thursdays, 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. (Finchfield; /zone Pestilence; details)
• Phoenix Republic PVE Nights (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 or Malakas for more info!
• Novian Academy – Role Play Courses (Fridays, 7pm CST)
  • Luka Melehan is hosting RP classes and practice sessions. (/zone Luka Melehan)
• Shardfall Madness (Fridays, 6pm CST)
  • A PvP event. Contact Wind Silvermoon for details.
• 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, October 3

• 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 Bear Tavern – Pre-Welcome Quest Tavern Event
  • Being heldt at The Bear Tavern in PaxLair.
• 1:00pm CST Welcome Quest R22
  • The Welcome Quest showcases many of the Player-owned and Player-ran towns in New Britannia. Starting point is The Bear Tavern in PaxLair, then to the new town of Wizards Rest, and then to the Duchy of Dara Brae. Come for unique events in each town.  (Starts at the Bear Tavern in PaxLair or /zone Dara Brae; details)
• 3:00pm CST 4B R22 Capture the Flag 1v1
  • Winner gets 50k Gold! (Estercove; /zone Net; details)
• 7:00pm CST Port Phoenix Social Nights
  • Come out and join the Republic in one of many potential events (chosen new each week). Each week we get together for everything from fishing, to music, to gustball, to PVE duneoneering and adventuring. (Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre for more details!)
• 8:00pm CST Vengeance 1v1 Tournament
  • The longest running Player vs Player tournament in Shroud of the Avatar. (City of Vengeance)

Sunday, October 4

• 6:30am CST Explore Novia with royalsexy (Dancing Rock, Owl’s Head Entrance, /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 Weekly Teamspeak Meeting
  • A Gathering of members of the Phoenix Republic to cover important topic areas of the month. It is here that the republic shall discuss new event types, ideas on new laws and other concerns effecting the Phoenix Republic. (Republic Town Hall, Port Phoenix, teamspeak at ts3.portphoenix.com)
• 1:00pm CST Serenite Shopping Extravaganza
  • Serenite Shopping Extravaganza at the Selfridge Mall. Crafters will be available for special orders.
• 3:00pm 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.  (some fishing spot or pond, /zone Winfield)

Be sure and check out the Release 22 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here.

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Upcoming Events

2015.10.15 – Intel® Buzz Workshop
2015.10.29 – Release 23
2015.11.19 – Release 24
2015.12.17 – Release 25
2016.01.28 – Release 26
2016.02.25 – Release 27
2016.03.17 – SXSW Gaming

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Crowfall

In this Throne War Simulator, characters are persistent but the campaign worlds are not, thanks to voxel technology which enables fully-destructible settings. A seamless blend of an MMO with a large-scale strategy game, players are immortal champions, traveling between realms to fight in an eternal War of the Gods.