Update of the Avatar #165 – 2016.02.26: Countach Breast Cancer Charity, Play R27 Now!, Player Housing Update, Final Weekend for Stretch Goal Items, and More!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Shooter Jennings’ Countach Breast Cancer Make a Difference Charity
• Countach World Premier Party Recap
• Play Release 27 Now!
• Avatars Radio Presents: The FireLotus Release 27 Party!
• R27 Patch Notes
• Player Housing Update: Player Owned Towns, Player Run Towns, and Water Lots
• RizeUp Gaming Seattle Children’s Hospital Charity Drive
• Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 27 Postmortem Invite
• NBNN Interview with Starr Long
• Kilts and Canes
• Final Weekend to get Your Stretch Goal Store Items
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

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Shooter Jennings’ Countach Breast Cancer Make a Difference Charity

We’re excited to announce that we are partnering with outlaw country musician Shooter Jennings, son of country music icons Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, and his label, Black Country Rock, to raise money through Shroud of the Avatar’s Make a Difference Store, using Shooter’s newest album: Countach! Fifty percent of the net purchase price* of the Countach Make a Difference items will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Countach Breast Cancer Make a Difference items include:

• Countach Wax Cylinders: Six songs from the new album, plus an exclusive bonus track, “The Death of Lord British,” all on exclusive Countach Pink wax cylinders
• Countach Album Cover Art: The incredible album art as a framed painting that you can place on your walls
• Countach Pink Dye 12-Pack: This exclusive hot pink dye is sure to catch attention
• Countach Phonograph: This exclusive version of the ornate metal phonograph has pink and purple highlights

By purchasing the Shooter Jennings Countach Breast Cancer Charity items, you are helping to make a difference in the lives of those with breast cancer and their loved ones. The proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), an organization that works to achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime by providing critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research to over 240 researchers across 13 countries and 5 continents, as well as increasing public awareness about good breast health. BCRF is the highest rated breast cancer organization in the U.S. with an A+ rating from Charity Watch and 4 our of 4 stars from Charity Navigator, with 91 cents out of every dollar committed to tacking this disease.

There are many, many members of our community whose lives have been touched in some way by breast cancer. Portalarium COO Dallas Snell’s mother recently died from the ravages of breast cancer, as did SotA Executive Producer Starr Long’s mother. Shooter Jennings’ wife, Misty, is one of the fortunate breast cancer survivors! Many of the SotA community members shared their own personal experiences with breast cancer on a public forum post where the community discussed how best to use the proceeds from Shooter’s extremely generous contribution of his Countach album material for this charity drive.

If you would like to help make a difference in the lives of those affected by breast cancer, then please check out the Shooter Jennings Countach Breast Cancer Charity items in the Shroud of the Avatar Make a Difference Store!

(NOTE: * Portalarium will donate 50% of the net purchase price of these Make a Difference items to the designated charity on a bi-annual basis. Net purchase price is determined by subtracting any transaction service fees and/or platform service fees from the full purchase price paid by the customer)

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Countach World Premier Party Recap

Shooter Jennings Avatar during his Countach Album Release Party in SotA

Shooter Jennings’ in-game World Premier party on Monday, February 22, for his new album, Countach, was a rousing success! The party started with an overflowing crowd at The Bear Tavern in the player owned town of Beran’s Reach:

After Shooter’s new album had been heard from start to finish, he mysteriously disappeared from the party at The Bear Tavern, and a quest was afoot to learn what had happened to him! In true Shooter Jennings “outlaw” style, the quest soon led to the PvP town of Vengeance, a place where all players can openly attack each other!

A protected area (of sorts) had been constructed in Vengeance for the participants to gather and continue the World Premier party. This outdoor courtyard (constructed by Athanil), had only one entrance that was heavily protected by many of Vengeance’s most powerful fighters:

And finally, Shooter was found safe in the bowels of the adjoining Obsidian Tower, where an elaborate party area had been constructed, consisting of the biggest tower of radios in SotA, spacious dance floor, replete with circular dance platforms:

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Play Release 27 Now!

Release 27 successfully launched yesterday, February 26, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes! Lots of new content to explore, including:

• Several New scenes including Artifice, Paladis Shardfall (PVP), Opalis Ruins (PVP), etc.
• New Template Variations for Player Owned Towns
• 24 New Player Owned Towns
• 16 New Recipes, including Recall Scroll, Teleport scroll, Walking Cane, Kilt, etc.
• Fast Travel: Bind & Recall plus Teleport to Friend
• Shooter Jennings’ Countach Breast Cancer Make A Difference Items
• Performance Imrovements
• Language Translation Progress
• …and more!

Check out the Release 27 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content.

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We need all your help with testing the new patches, putting more stress on our multiplayer servers, and testing the new game content, so please join us in playing Release 27!

If you have not backed the game yet, you will need to register and login at www.shroudoftheavatar.com, select the “Pledge or Send Gift!” button in the right side-bar, and purchase a pledge at the $45 Adventurer level or above. The basic Adventurer level pledge is also available on Steam Early Access.

Release 27 Player Instructions

Release 27 Known Issues

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Avatars Radio Presents: The FireLotus Release 27 Party!

This month’s traditional FireLotus Release Party was held in Bastion’s Point’s Party Pavilion at Sacrifice Hall! Food, drinks, and merriment were in ample supply (and even a purple llama)! The new “Magic Dance” emote (a tribute to David Bowie) was a party favorite! Here are a few screenshots:

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R27 Patch Notes

Thanks to all our community members that jumped right into this Release and started reporting bugs. We’ve already fixed quite a few of them and pushed out several patches. Click here for the most up-to-date Patch Notes.

February 26, 2016  

Build Number 385 5:30 PM

Changes:

• The skills trainer in Soltown now trains adventurer skills up to Tier 3.
• Some super minor nerfs to healing.  Healing touch cast time moves from1 second to 1.25 and both Healing touch and healing ray drop by 1 point max heal
• Fixed issues where players were stuck on loading screen
• Brookside no longer has Kiln’s innkeeper.
• Stealth visual effects no longer break when player uses a stealth invoking skill twice
• Doubled the number of POT Decoration Limits
• Wolf and Dog sound effects no longer trigger constantly and volume adjusted
• Skeletons in starting scenes should now be much easier
• Discoverable locations should now be showing on compass again
• Added Discoverable locations to Novia and Hidden Vale Overworld (Cities, Shardfalls, Dungeons, Control Points). Should make it much easier to navigate.
• Fixed issue where images on the columns of the lunar rift were sorting improperly with the visual effects
• Fixed issue causing severe hitching in towns with lots of player lots.
• Changed salvage and repair timer to be a quarter of a second instead of three seconds
• Fixed more exceptions and error messages
• Enemy sound effects should now be properly tied to SFX volume slider

Known Issues:

• We do not yet officially support Windows 10. If you have upgraded to Windows 10 you may experience instability
• Lighting and fog levels are still being tuned to work with the new weather system, expect anomalies
• Death and Resurrection do not work properly in the team arena
• Water lots in Dynamic Player Owned Towns can currently only be placed along shorelines, not on docks
• If you upgrade from a property owning pledge between data wipes you will receive extra lot deeds.
• If your video drivers are out of date characters will appear as if they are covered in triangles.
• Some cities are experiencing performance spikes
• Some pledge, add on, and stretch goal items have not yet been built and/or do not yet have tech support.
• The update to Unity 5 caused a host of general texture and lighting related issues, and not all of these have been resolved.
• Distant tree billboards may have a white outline that is especially noticeable at night, and some trees may shimmer with white at night.
• Skin tone will sometimes not match properly on different parts of the body
• ALT key can no longer be bound. This was necessary to re-enable quick self cast with ALT

[Complete Patch Notes…]

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Player Housing Update: Player Owned Towns, Player Run Towns, and Water Lots

[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Greetings Avatars,

The recent post about Final Wipe & Lot Selection raised a lot of questions about Player Housing and this update will cover 3 of those topics: Player Owned Towns, Player Run Towns, and Water Lots.

SECTION 1: PLAYER OWNED TOWNS:

I wish to thank all of the town owners for your generous support of the game and the community. I also want to thank you for your incredible patience as we have gone on this crazy quest to push player driven content as far as we can (given our constraints). As we have mentioned previously, we were completely surprised at the popularity of Player Owned Towns (PoTs). We anticipated selling 20–30 and ended up selling 10 times that number.

This success made us reconsider our original strategy of building each town as a custom static map based on templates. We call this type of town a “Custom Static” town. While we still plan to honor that commitment, we have also been steadily investing time in a different direction that would allow Player Owned Towns to be fully dynamic and customizable by player owners. We call this kind of town a “Dynamic” town. Town owners now have the choice between these two options on the town submission form.

An unforeseen consequence of this success (and our rapid introduction of over 300 towns into the game) is the overhead related to change requests. More than 50% of the time we spend on Player Owned Towns each release is devoted to changes of name, location, template, connections, etc. We do not believe this is the optimal use of the pledge dollars and this is not a cost we had factored into the original price.

Therefore, effective immediately, we are changing how we handle change requests and the sequence of when we add PoTs to the game. Previously, we would integrate them as soon as basic information was entered into the form. From now on the owner must first “lock” the submission form, then and only then, will we implement the submission. When “locked” no more changes can be made to the submission form, unless unlocked (see below).”Note that this also means that changes to the form cannot be made until the form is unlocked. We are in the process of adding a new button named “Submit & Lock” and expect it to be ready by R28. The submission form can only be unlocked either by upgrading to a larger size or by purchasing a service voucher (larger change requests may require additional service voucher purchases).

It is worth noting that currently most change requests can only be accommodated when we wipe, so it will be up to 90 days before you will see any changes go live after requesting them. After the final wipe, we will have tech in place that allows us to make changes without wipes, of course. Also, note that transferring ownership of a town will not unlock the submission form. Please note that NO forms will be locked until the owner locks it. This means that if you are waiting to see more templates or more tools come online then DON’T lock your form (but also understand that no interim changes will be made).

As part of this we are making improvements to the submission form by adding descriptions and screenshots of the various templates. We have also made it so that if you select Dynamic we turn off all the sections that are irrelevant (NPC Buildings, Lot Selection, etc.)

Custom Static vs. Dynamic PoTs: The following outlines how the two town types differ and describes the cost/benefit analysis of each as well as the process and schedule.

Custom Static:

• Benefits:
  • These scenes have the potential to look more unique, even though they are built off existing templates. For example you could request that we completely wall off your town even though it is on multiple elevation, something that can’t be done currently with walls in dynamic towns.
  • Once in game, owners have very little work to do other than unlocking lots.
• Process:
  • Owner fills out the PoT submission form completely, including proposed layouts and customization requests.
  • Owner locks form via “Lock & Submit”.
  • Portalarium consults with player about the submissions.
  • Portalarium builds a custom scene using the selected template and modifies it based on player submissions beginning sometime after final wipe.
• Costs:
  • Scene is completely static, it cannot be modified by the player once it is in the game.
  • PoT Decorations cannot be placed in Static Towns.
  • Any desired changes after implementation will require purchasing at least one service voucher, including conversion to Dynamic. The only exception is upgrading to a bigger town size.
  • Building of these will not recommence until August 2016 and will be delivered on a monthly basis.
  • Build order will be based first on PoT size and second on PoT purchase date.
  • Change requests to existing Static towns (including size upgrades) will not be fulfilled until all Static towns are complete (except for conversion to Dynamic which may be sooner)
  • All towns currently in game will remain dynamic until we are able to get to converting them to Static. This means when the town transitions from Dynamic to Static at later date all residents will need to reclaim and redecorate. Advice for owners would be to constrain population to residents who understand this.

Dynamic:

• Benefits:
  • Owners can modify just about anything at any time:
    • Lot Locations / Orientations
    • Lot Sizes
    • NPC Buildings
    • NPCs
    • Scene Music
    • PoT decorations (walls, pavers, trees, etc.)
  • PoT will enter the game possibly as soon as the next build after the submission form is locked with just basic information of: name, template, and location chosen
• Process:
  • Owner fills out form with name, template, location, connection(s) and add on store building selections (if eligible). NOTE: All other fields are irrelevant.
  • Owner locks form via “Submit & Lock”
  • Portalarium implements Dynamic Town within 90 days of submission (but often as soon as the next month’s release).
  • NOTE: If your town is already in game and you are eligible, right after you Lock your form for the first time you will receive your selection of Add-On Store Buildings. (See details below).
• Costs:
  • Towns are non-modified versions of the templates.
  • Nothing will be modified on the template by Portalarium. For example this means that all PoT connections happen from the same place using the same visuals (boats, wagons, manholes, etc.) in each template and cannot be modified.
  • Unlocking the form to make changes will require a service voucher.

Pre- versus Post-Wipe: Below, you will find a comprehensive list of all items we hope to have online before the final wipe, as well as any items we plan to support after the wipe. Anything not listed below is not currently being considered for Episode 1. For instance, Owner customization of PoT connections is not something we plan to support for Episode 1.

Pre-Wipe Features & Content: The following is a list of all content that we plan is planned for implementation before or for Release 32 in July.

• Templates: 14 Templates based on 5 Unique Layouts/Terrain Sculpts that cover all 8 biomes (current count is 12 Templates, 4 Layouts, 7 biomes).
• Town Permissions: Ability to designate various levels of delegates to help run the town (working in game now).
• Lot Permissions: Ability to flag lots as open or designate for specific players (working in game now).
• Add-On Store Buildings: PoTs purchased prior to January 4, 2016 receive a selection of certain Add-On Store buildings. These will be delivered to the owner after their submission form is locked and the PoT is present in game. Goal is to have this functioning no later than Release 29 (April). Please note that for Episode 1 there are only two City sized homes: Twin Spires Manor and Adobe 2-story Keep. Due to an earlier error in communication qualifying PoT owners, village size and above, who do *not* choose the Twin Spire Manor, may opt to choose a smaller house and qualify for a free Adobe 2-story Keep. For example, the owner of a Metropolis can earn up to 4 additional Adobe 2-story Keeps.
• Giant Pavers: In game craft-able and add on store versions to better facilitate roads.
• Dynamic Towns: All PoTs with locked submission forms by Release 30 (May 26) will be present in game for Release 32 on July 28.
• Dynamic Town Tools: These are the tools owners can use to modify their towns:
  • Lot Marker Placement: Working in game now.
  • NPC Building Placement: Working in game now.
  • POT Decoration Placement: Working in game now but current placed decoration limits (including lights) will be doubled (at least).
  • Scene Music Selection: This will be done via an ingame wax cylinder jukebox. Hope to have this working in R28 or R29.
  • NPC Placement: Working in game now.
  • NPC Renaming: Working in game now

Post-Wipe Features & Content: The following items will come online in the monthly releases AFTER Release 32.

• Blessings: Certain structures placed in PoTs, like Titan Statues, will convey blessings to players who visit that town. The duration and/or strength of the blessing is tied directly to the occupancy of the town. We do not yet have any other details about how blessings will work, but do not fear being locked into any one structure/blessing because Dynamic Town owners can change any of their decorations and buildings at any time (note that there may be a timing constraint to how quickly and how often you can change your blessing).
• Dynamic Overworld Visuals: The number of buildings will indicate size and occupancy levels of the town. Smoke from chimneys and/or lights in windows will indicate if players are currently online in that town. Particles will indicate the presence of a blessing and possibly indicate which exact blessing.
• Templates: 20 Templates with at least 10 Unique Layouts/Terrain Sculpts.
• Town Public Gardens: The ability for any player or town dweller to plant in a public garden area will come online shortly after Public Gardens come online in the rest of the game.
• NPC Behaviors: We hope to support behaviors beyond simple conversations and merchant function for NPCs. For instance we hope to allow POT NPC Guards to act like all other NPC guards where they will eventually patrol player towns and they might notice stealing or combat and fine players for infractions.
• Dynamic Town Tools:
  • Highlight Flat Areas: this will allow owners to see nearby flat areas to ease placement
  • Snap/Align to Adjacent Lot: This function allows town owners to snap lots together, especially helpful when placing row lots (note we hope to provide this function for walls/fences too).
  • Entry/Exit Point Locations: Owners will be able to select from a list of possible locations. Note that this will NOT be the ability to place an entry point location anywhere.
  • PoT Connection Locations: Owners will be able to select from a list of possible locations. Note that this will NOT be the ability to place a connection anywhere.
  • Town Crier Locations: Owners will be able to select from a list of possible locations. Note that this will NOT be the ability to place a town crier anywhere.
  • POT Decorations/Structure Lockdown: Anyone who has accidentally grabbed a guard tower from underneath themselves will appreciate the ability to lock structures and decorations.
  • NPC Visual Variety: We hope to provide a wider visual range of NPCs (clothing, facial features, equipment, hair, etc.) so they are not all so identical.
  • Lawn Mower: An object that lets players remove trees and foliage from areas without requiring object or lot placement.

SECTION 2: PLAYER RUN TOWNS:

Player Run Towns (also known as Mixed Settlements): These are towns not owned by players, not named on the cloth map, and not part of any story.

• To facilitate the number of lots needed for all players we are going to increase the number of these settlements in Novia and Hidden Vale
• These will be loosely based on the Player Owned Town templates so we can have a variety of biomes.
• They will now also include an NPC core that includes some basic amenities (like bank, basic trainer, crafting stations, crafting supplies, and general goods shopkeeper)
• Increased variety of lot sizes, especially for larger lots

SECTION 3: WATER LOTS:
The recent announcements about lot selection raised some questions about water lots that have been confusing to everyone. Please note that all of these lots expired with the Fall 2015 Expiration event.

Water Lots: These are waterfront lots that can be placed along shorelines, piers, and docks. These are limited to Village, Town and City lots.

• Water lots can only be claimed with Founder Deeds (pledge rewards for Founders and Royal Founders) starting with the Citizen pledge
• Can be found in almost any town that has open water (lake, river, ocean, canals, etc.)
• Currently can be placed in Dynamic Player Owned Towns along natural shorelines but currently does not work with manmade areas like docks and piers but we hope to have this fixed post Final Wipe.

Island Lots: These are lots not attached to shore directly (like the regular water lots above). They come with a Keep or Castle sized plot of land.

• Island lots can only be claimed with Founder Deeds (pledge rewards for Founders and Royal Founders) starting with the Duke pledge
• These can be found in towns with very large open water areas (ocean mainly)
• Please note that these are actual pieces of land in the water (i.e. islands) so players will place land homes on them, not water homes on them.
• There are currently none of these in the game. We just recently fixed some technical issues that were blocking us implementing them and we plan to have them start appearing as soon as Release 29.

Water Homes: These houses can be placed on Water lots only.

• Village Size:
  • Waterfront Cabana (Citizen)
  • Waterfront German-Style Cabana (Edelmann & Edelmann – All Digital)
  • Waterfront Lighthouse (Knight)
• Town Size:
  • Waterfront Houseboat (Lord)
• City Size:
  • Frigate (Baron 1)
  • Galleon (Baron 2 & 3)
  • Waterfront Castle (Duke)

Island Lots: There are no specific homes associated with these. Any land based home can be placed on them. As mentioned above these are not in game yet.

• Duke Island (Duke)
• Lord of the Manor Island (Lord of the Manor 1 & 2)

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RizeUp Gaming Seattle Children’s Hospital Charity Drive

RizeUp Gaming Seattle Children’s Hospital Charity Drive began last weekend at 9pm PST, February 21 and ends this Sunday 11pm PST, February 28. Show your support by visiting http://www.twitch.tv/rizeupgaming.

About Seattle Children’s…

HOPE.  CARE.   CURE.

These three simple words capture what we are here to do. That’s because at Seattle Children’s, compassionate care, breakthrough research and generous donors come together every day for children who need us.

We are united by a compelling mission: to prevent, treat and eliminate pediatric disease.

Together, we deliver superior patient care, advance new discoveries and treatments through pediatric research and serve as the pediatric and adolescent academic medical center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho – the largest region of any children’s hospital in the country. In 2015, U.S. News & World Report ranked Seattle Children’s No. 1 on the West Coast – and No. 6 in the country overall – placing us among the nation’s top children’s hospitals.

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Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 27 Postmortem Invite

Grab your purple llama and join us Thursday, March 3rd at 3:00 PM Central (20:00 GMT) for our monthly Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about Release 27 and looking ahead to Release 28!  And as usual, FireLotus will be taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance in the original post comments section.*

We will be giving out some really awesome prizes during the 2 hour 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 added to the original post before the hangout begins.

*Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to Release 27 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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Join Us For An Interview With Starr Long
Fri. March 4th At 2:00 pm CST/NBT

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Kilts and Canes

We introduced walking canes and kilts to the game with Release 27, with both in-game and Add-On Store Versions!

This walking cane is craftable in game:

This Dragon Handle Maplewood Cane is available now in the Add-On Store:

Here is the in-game craftable kilt:

This ornate kilt (shown here with the Dragon Handle cane) with enhanced buckle and engraved sporran (kilt purse) is available now in the Add-On Store:

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Final Weekend To Get Your Stretch Goal Store Items

This is your last chance to get the unique and rare Stretch Goal Store items as they will expire at 10:30 am CST, February 29, 2016. This includes such favorites as: Greenhouse, Black Foal, Baby Llama, Elven Home and Armor, Functional Sypglass, Longboat, Admiral’s Outfits, and more! So you better hurry over to the Stretch Goal Store and grab these rare items while they are still available!

Get Yours Now at the Stretch Goal Store…

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Backer Shipping Addresses

In preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards later this year, we have added Shipping Address fields to your Account Profile page. To enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image:

For country and regional tax assessment purposes, our tax accountants have requested that we start collecting a buyer’s physical/shipping address for all purchases, whether digital or physical. We’ve tried to streamline that process as much as possible, such that once you’ve entered a physical address we will pre-populate the address fields with your default address.

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In-game 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 schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar:

Recurring Events

• RizeUp Gaming Seattle Children’s Hospital Charity Drive
  • RizeUp Gaming Seattle Children’s Hospital Charity Drive started at 9pm PST, February 21 and runs through 11pm PST, February 28. Show your support by visiting http://www.twitch.tv/rizeupgaming.
• RPOTA Monthly $170 Writing Contest
  • Here ye! Here ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers and Videographers! RPOTA is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill or camera! (details)
• The 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 Laz & Jack (Weekdays, 12pm CST)
  • Join NBNN every weekday for Lunch With Laz & Jack. They will be covering the daily goings on in SOTA. Calendar updates, Relevant issues happening in the days news. Come chat with us about upcoming events and general information. http://nbnn.info
• EVL R27 Hat Quest (Mondays, 7pm CST)
  • Every Virtue is Lasting [EVL] would like to tip their hats to the developers for providing the community with a cool hat for the last seventeen releases, and have decided to carry on the tradition and run the R27 Hat Quest every Monday at 7pm NBT (CST). Everyone who successfully completes the Hat Quest by touring several of the new zones will receive a legendary bucket helm as a reward (Soltown Tavern, /zone Gnick Gnack; 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 (The Bear Tavern; /zone Elgarion De’Khali; details)!
• Order of Vengeance Guild Meeting (Mondays, 9pm CST)
  • Held at the Guild Hall in Vengeance
• Challenge Dungeon Run (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am & 7pm CST)
  • This is a self-host event that meets at the Braemar Cemetery. Join whoever can make it for a dungeon run, adventure or something along those lines. Come prepared for combat. Learn how to set up your combat system if you need help.
• PaxLair Town Manager Hour (Tuesdays, 2:00pm CST)
  • Join PaxLair’s Town Manager, Sean Silverfoot, to ask questions about PaxLair, being a Citizen, holding a lot and any other questions concerning PaxLair or any of it’s boroughs (Dragons Watch, Tenakill, Lockbrier, Island of Wonders, Knowhere, Sea Nymph Grotto & Serentiy Isle)
• Novian Academy – New Citizen Outreach (Tuesdays, 6pm CST)
  • /zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre of Novian Academy in Soltown as they provide guidance to those new to the world of New Britannia.
• EVL Dungeon Crawl (Tuesdays, 7pm CST)
  • Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point is in Owls Head at the center of town near the trainer.
• Wednesday Knights (Wednesdays, 6pm CST)
  • This will be mainly an impromptu event but on occasion I may plan on doing something ‘knightly’. All will be welcome. Some possibilities include RP, boss hunts, gathering materials & crafting, hat quests, hanging out or whatever people feel up for. (Caer Dracwych; /zone Bowen Bloodgood; details)
• EVL Virtue League PVP Tournament (Wednesdays, 7pm CST)
  • Looking to break into the PVP scene but don’t want to be placed against established god-like players? We have you covered with two divisions, one for the newer, less experienced player, and one for the cream of the crop who have something to prove! (The Underworld at Aschfahl Festung; details)
• Stryker Sparhawk’s Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CST)
  • Stryker will travel to one of the local Novia taverns for an hour to open a bar tab for drinks in hopes of sharing stories, news, critique of the arts, music, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Zone /Stryker Sparhawk (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!
• Thursday Night Throwdown (TNT) a PVP Event (Thursdays, 10pm CST)
  • PvP fight night – Come Watch or Participate. Team and individual fights. This is a no pressure event. This is for fun and for people to try their hand at PVP. The group matches allow newer players a chance get a taste of battle. Jam out as Apollox Evanheart plays the hardest music on Avatars Radio from ringside. (Obsidian Caverns; details)
• Novian Academy – Role Play Courses (Fridays, 4pm 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, 7:30pm 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, /zone Bowen Bloodgood; details)

Saturday, February 27

• 6:00am CST Wake Up New, Britannia!!! With Woftam and Selene
  • Woftam and Selene Noctua broadcast on AvatarsRadio from the Wake Up New Britannia Studio in Owlshead (right behind the crafting pavillion). Includes Interviews with the Community, Contests for in-game Gold, What’s new for the week in New Britannia, and your Best Bets for SotA weekend events! (details)
• 9:00am CST PaxLair Working Hours
  • Come to PaxLair and see what’s happening! For two hours (more or less) we work together on projects, create ideas and have fun together. It’s sort of a weekly time to gather and do things together. Everyone in Novia is welcome! (PaxLair, /zone Winfield or Sean Silverfoot)
• 11:00am CST Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service
  • High Priestess of Chaos, Amber Raine, and the Dean of the Novian Academy, Kazyn Phoenixfyre, welcome you to the Church of the Dark Star. A shared project, built upon equality, where all are welcome. Services range from what is Chaos and Order to how they affect different aspects of our life. The path you choose is yours. (PaxLair)
• 12:00pm CST Welcome Quest R27
  • Welcome Quest showcases many of the Player-owned and Player-ran towns in New Britannia. Come for unique events in each town. We rotate towns between each Welcome Quest. To join in just “/zone Greagoir” and you will be transported to the event.Traveling by the overland map, go to the west side of Spindrift Bay on the NE side of Novia. We are visiting Beran’s Reach! They have brewed a special ale just for this visit. (details)
• 2:00pm CST Beran League Construction – Harvest & Craft
  • A weekly craft & harvest event for the purpose of supporting all towns, guilds and player run establishments within the Beran League! All harvested materials, crafted items and decorative items purchased will be collected and sorted in a specially designated warehouse. Town owners, guild leaders and proprietors of the Beran League (and those designated by them) will have access. (Meet at the Bear Tavern in High Rock or /zone Bowen Bloodgood; details)
• 6:00pm 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 details)

Sunday, February 28

• 5:30am CST Explore Novia! with royalsexy
  • Starting at the entrance to Owl’s Head, come explore the wide world of Novia – for people on our side of the clock!
• 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; teamSpeak: 43.245.163.15:10099)
• 2:30pm CST Gustball Training
  • Want to learn how to play Gustball? Need some tips on how to improve your deck or hone your skills on the field! Join Coach Sheamus McGuinness of EVLs for a 30 minute Gustball lesson and practice session just before the big game at 3pm (/zone Sheamus McGuinness)
• 3:00pm CST Gustball
  • The game of Gustball is a great community event, not dissimilar from soccer or football, where Avatars of all levels & skill can compete in a fun, friendly game that uses the Gust skill (1st level Air Magic spell) to blow a Gustball into your opponents goal. (/whisper or /zone Sand, Sheamus McGuinness, or 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 Cove 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 Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, details)
• 6:00pm CST EVL Fashion & Crafting Show
  • EVL welcomes you to our first Fashion & Crafting Show, where everyone is invited to dress in their finest attire and walk down the runway. We will have a grand prize for both the best dressed guy & girl. Three surprise judges will score each contestant and the highest scores will be rewarded. After the show we offer a crafting event for you too look at fine goods, ask question, buy items, & learn how to craft something yourself. Please come and join us for an evening of fun in Cottage Grove. (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
  • 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; details)

Be sure and check out the Release 27 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here.

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Upcoming Events

2016.03.16 – GDC 2016
2016.03.17 – SXSW Gaming
2016.03.31 – Release 28
2016.04.15 – Final Lord of the Manor Britannia Manor Visit & Dinner
2016.04.22 – PAX East
2016.04.28 – Release 29
2016.05.13 – Final Duke Roundtable and Portalarium Office Tour
2016.05.26 – Release 30
2016.05.01 – The Hearth of Britannia: Legends of the Hearth III
2016.06.30 – Release 31
2016.07.28 – Release 32

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