Update of the Avatar #170 – 2016.04.01: Crafting Polish, Q2 2016 Schedule, Play R28 Now, and More!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Play Release 28 Now
• Q2-2016 Schedule Update
• Crafting Interface Polish
• Making of Valhold
• Making of Britanny
• News & Videos
• Avatars Radio Presents: DJ FireLotus’ Release 28 Party!
• Gallery of Horrors Grand Opening Tour
• The New Britannia Theatre Troupe Presents: Where is Shooter Jennings?
• Automated Phonographs
• Kobold Homes
• Giant Pavers
• Emperor’s New Clothes
• 31 Day Countdown to Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

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Play Release 28 Now!

Thanks to community member Ancev for providing this amazing in-game image

Release 28 successfully launched yesterday, March 31, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes! Lots of new content to explore, including:

• Over 40 New scenes including Malice, The Caverns of Skrekk, The Rise, Midras Ruins (PVP), Xenos, etc
• Wisps that guide players to resources
• Crafting Interface Polish and Bulk Crafting
• Craftable Obsidian Weapons and Armor
• New Male Avatar
• Sheet Music
• Kobold Homes
• New Player Owned Town Mountain Template
• Performance Optimizations
• …and much more

Check out the Release 28 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content.

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 28!
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 28 Player Instructions

Release 28 Known Issues

 

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Q2-2016 Schedule Update

[A forum post by Starr Long]

Greetings Avatars,

As we have stated previously, our goal is to once-per-quarter post an updated schedule for our monthly releases. Even though these goals will likely change somewhat as we react to feedback, we feel it is important to provide you an updated roadmap periodically.

Our goal continues to be to deliver our backers content each and every month so that we can get feedback and use it to iterate improvements. This continues to benefit the game, with sweeping changes like the switch over to use-based advancement. Meeting that monthly goal is our highest priority, but we require flexibility in our deliverables in order to meet that goal. As you have seen in previous releases, sometimes we push things out, but we also often pull new things in.

The second quarter of 2016 is focused on getting Shroud of the Avatar to persistence for Release 32 in July as outlined in my Final Wipe and Lot Selection Post, which in addition to discussing Final Wipe an Lot Selection also discusses which items will be in by July and which will come online afterwards. As we get closer to July, each release will focus more and more on polish and balance versus new content.

As always, all dates, durations, and deliverables are subject to change as we adjust our designs based on direct feedback from you, our backers.

RELEASE 29, April 28, 2016

• Full Wipe: Once again, we are going to make some fundamental changes to item and quest architecture that require us to do a full wipe for Release 29. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please note that if you have been waiting to convert your purchases to store credits, this is your chance to do so as long as you do NOT log into the game once R29 goes live (which automatically claims the items and prevents conversion). NOTE: This is the last wipe before the final wipe in July.
• Story: New scenes will appear in the regions of North Paladis, Midmaer, and Verdantis, including the city of Central Brittany which will appear in the game for the first time. At this point, the Love storyline will be playable from beginning to end and we will begin final polish on that storyline.
• Lot Selection Sequence: The lot selection sequence process implemented and tested by players. Pacing for these initial tests will be very accelerated with lot selection windows being mere minutes versus a full 24 hours.
• Player Towns: Player Owned Towns that have locked submission forms will appear in the game, and more Player Run Town scenes with small NPC cores with basic functions (banks, shops, trainers) will appear across Novia. New variations on the town templates may also appear.
• Performance: Major efforts will be done to optimize performance.  This will include frame rate improvements, load time improvements, and memory footprint improvements. We will also begin officially supporting Windows 10.

RELEASE 30, May 26, 2016:

• Story: The town of Valhold on the island of Norguard will appear in game and we will begin a final polish on the Novia overworld.
• Multiplayer Economic Balance: A pass will be made through creature loot bundles, merchant pricing, property taxes, public vendor fees, harvesting rates, agriculture growth, crafting recipe ingredient amounts, and other factors to begin establishing an equilibrium for the multiplayer economy
• Multiplayer Combat Balance: A pass will be made through combat skills, creature stats, player stats, advancement rates, zone difficulties, and other values to establish an equilibrium for multiplayer combat.
• Single Player Offline: The first Single Player Offline specific features will become available to players in the form of Save Games and Companions.
• User Interface Polish: Various aspects of the user interface will be refactored and upgraded for visuals and usability
• Player Towns: Player Owned Towns that have locked submission forms will appear in the game, and more Player Run Town scenes with small NPC cores with basic functions (banks, shops, trainers) will appear across Novia. New variations on the town templates may also appear.
• Performance: Major efforts will be done to optimize performance.  This will include frame rate improvements, load time improvements, and memory footprint improvements. We will also be adding DX11/12 support for Windows and OpenGLCore for Linux and OSX.

RELEASE 31, June 30, 2016

• Story: The dungeon of Artifice on the island of Elysium will welcome pilgrims for the first time, and the Courage storyline will be playable from beginning to end for the first time.
• New User Experience Polish: Final polish passes will be done on the Tutorials, hints, and starting scenes.
• New Female Avatar: A complete overhaul of the female avatar, including a completely new sculpt and skin texture.
• Service Hardening: We will begin a series of passes through the client, authentication, and server to harden the service for security and customer service. Special attention will be paid to the Patcher.
• Single Player Offline Combat Balance: A pass will be made through the game to adjust combat balance for play in offline mode with companions.
• Player Towns: Player Owned Towns that have locked submission forms will appear in the game, and more Player Run Town scenes with small NPC cores with basic functions (banks, shops, trainers) will appear across Novia. New variations on the town templates may also appear.
• Performance: Major efforts will be done to optimize performance.  This will include frame rate improvements, load time improvements, and memory footprint improvements.

We continue to be incredibly thankful for the support we receive from this amazing community. While the funding you provide makes all of this possible, it pales in comparison with the faith you have in us, the feedback you provide us, and the content you are making for everyone to enjoy. We are humbly grateful, and we cannot wait to see you again in New Britannia!

Before I go, I wanted to include an excerpt from my original post about our Early Release Schedule that is important to set the framework for our ongoing schedule:

As a crowd funded and crowd sourced project, we feel it is incredibly important that we provide our backers with information and access well before game studios would normally do so in a traditional development model. Traditionally, the players are given information and access only after the development team has already decided exactly how things will be done, and at times, even after it has already been implemented. By the time the public normally has access to the product, there is usually no time to meaningfully react to the public feedback.

Shroud of the Avatar is different than the traditional model, as we intend to offer our backers extremely early access to information and even the game itself. With that said, we also want to be very careful that we only provide access to portions of the game when they are ready for a wider range of feedback. If we can play it internally and we know it is not ready, then there is nothing to be gained by having a wider audience come to the same conclusion. In fact, it could be quite damaging to do so.

Our strategy over the next few months is to provide you with focused and iterative releases of content. Your feedback during these releases will be critical to making the final product the best it can be, and we appreciate that you are all so willing to devote your time to helping us. With each release, we will have specific tests we will ask you all to make. As we get closer, we will send instructions on how to download, install, report bugs, etc. After each release we will review the results and reevaluate the plan including the duration of availability of each release. Please note that game data will be wiped periodically during early access.

It is important to note that all dates, durations, and deliverables are subject to change.

Sincerely,

Starr Long
Executive Producer
Shroud of the Avatar

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Crafting Interface Polish

For Release 28, we worked on major polish passes to the Recipe Book and Crafting Station interfaces. We did an overhaul to the Recipe Book to improve readability and usability. For better readability, we increased the font size, darkened the text color, and made more readable the color of non-available ingredients. For navigation, we added sub-categories to each crafting school (ex. Swords under Smithing) that can be used for navigating back and forth.

In R28, we added Bulk Crafting and Bulk Salvage. While adding that functionality to the UI of the Crafting Stations, we also added a new window to deliver information including success chance, critical chance, and if the placed items represent an unlearned recipe (which should greatly assist with experimental learning of recipes).

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Making of Valhold

This is the continuing update on the progress on Valhold. Valhold is scheduled to go live in Release 30.

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Richard “RrMatey” Matey]

Hey guys just wanted to give you an update on the Valhold scene.. Everything is going smoothly, need to populate the inside of these areas and then wrap it up and move onto the castle interior. Take a peek at some of these shots.

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The Making of Brittany

This the continuing update on progress on Brittany. Central Brittany is scheduled to go live in Release 29.

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

Hey guys! SorcerousSteve once again here to give you an update on the City of Brittany!
For the past week I have been focusing on designing the interior of the Brittany Castle before circling around to finishing off other sections of the city.

Here is a first look at the inside of Brittany Castle!

Brittany Castle is six stories tall, yet its multi-level design makes it seem like a lot more. Everything from royal chambers, lavish dining rooms, and a majestic throne room will all be found here for the royalty of Brittany to enjoy.

Looking North on the Royal Causeway (the road that links the castle to the port) to Brittany Castle:Brittany Castle’s Lower Courtyard, here we can catch a glimpse of the Amphitheater and the Oracle Temple. The green walkways offer a recluse for the rich and wealthy to talk about the news of the day:1st Floor – Brittany Castle’s Main Hall.2nd Floor – Throne Room. The Throne is still in the works and will be located in the opposite angle.5th and 6th Floor – Bed Chambers. Lavish bedrooms fill the upper floors overlooking the city below.4th Floor – Library and Gallery. As with all castles, Brittany Castle has a long history. Rumors abound of secret doors and passageways within its walls, *hint hint, a certain bookcase might reveal a secret.3rd Floor – Dining Room. Where Brittany’s Royalty drink the finest mead and gorge the most exquisite meals.Stay tuned for more and of course start planning your visit to Brittany today!

Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer

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News & Videos

Richard on Games and Space: Richard Garriott recently gave an inspiring talk on March 16 at the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, MO entitled From the Beginnings of Computer Games to Private Space Flight. Richard talked about his long career and his many passions

Starr on Shroud’s Uniqueness: Starr Long was interviewed by community member Phydra on March 26, where they talked about some of the various unique features and experiences in Shroud of the Avatar.

Red Thomas on Shroud’s Development Pace: From a column by Red Thomas on MMORPG.com:

Column: Release 28 – Hard Work-Work:

Yeah, I missed last month’s update, but I do have an excuse. I was floating around in the Caribbean on my annual cruise with Jonathan Coulton and about 1200 other hardcore nerds. Interestingly, I find there’s a lot of parallels between the folks on that cruise and the sort of people you find in Lord British games, and I think for some similar reasons.
In both cases, pools of people are drawn together to appreciate a form of art, and in both cases the supporting teams enable that crowd to define a lot of their own direction. The JoCo Cruise ends up supporting a ton of shadow events that have nothing to do with the headline entertainers, though you often find them participating. In the same way, Shroud of the Avatar players dramatically out-pace the developers in the creation of their own events and tend to have devs quietly participating along with the fan-base.

Another parallel is the team that supports the cruise and the one that supports Shroud both work incredibly hard to create an optimal experience for their communities. After my trip to Austin, it was pretty clear that hard work would be a running theme in this month’s look at the project. I often take opportunities to try and show how amazing the community around Shroud of the Avatar is, but I may not spend as much time focusing on the insane amount of work this small team of developers is able to accomplish in very short blocks of time. READ MORE…

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Avatars Radio Presents: DJ FireLotus’ Release 28 Party!

Join FireLotus and Avatars Radio this Friday, April 1st, for an AMAZING dance party you would have to be a FOOL to miss! The festivities kick off at 2 PM NBT (CDT) in the player owned town of Serpent’s Watch, located in Northern Midmaer, tucked between the Serpent’s Spine Mountain Range and Lake Equitas (map).

Apologies Avatars!  Due to some technical difficulties, we decided to reschedual the R28 Dance Party for next Friday, April 8th.  Same time, same station!  Can’t wait to see you there in your Finest New Clothes!!!

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If you missed Eriador Moonstone’s Gallery of Horrors in a previous Release, then we recommend you schedule time to check out his latest Gallery in Release 28. You won’t be disappointed! The Grand Opening Tour is 11am CDT, Sunday, April 3rd, located in the player owned town, Island of Wonders (map, or teleport to Eriador Moonstone; see forum post for details).

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[From a Release 28 Events Forum post by Amber Raine]

The New Britannia Theatre Troupe
Presents..

Where is Shooter Jennings?

A party was to be had. The room was already decorated with brightest of pinks and blues and fantasy creatures from all across the ages.
Even the luck dragon was in attendance. But…

Where is the guest of honor? Where… is Shooter Jennings?​

We, the New Britannia Theatre Troupe, invite you to join us at The Bear Tavern (in Beran’s Reach; map), on April 3rd 2016 at 9am CDT, for the listening party of this fantastic quest/play.

Written by Gabriel Nightshadow, with help from Elgarion
Directed and Produced by Asclepius
Cast and performed by a large mass of Avatars from all across Novia

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Automated Phonographs

Last week we introduced you to the Broadcast Automated Phonographs for Player Owned Town Owners. As promised this week we are introducing Automated Phonographs for home owners. Unlike normal phonographs which can only play one wax cylinder at a time, these wonderful devices (available in the Add On Store) allow you to store multiple wax cylinders in them and play them as a random playlist.

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Kobold Homes

A wonderful side effect of our work in getting Skrekk built was the generation of several new player home and deco assets in the Kobold style ranging from cozy village homes to a gargantuan Great Hall. These metal clad beauties can be found in the Add On Store.

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Giant Pavers

At the request of our community, we have created giant versions of all the pavers. These are 4 times as big as the large pavers, which makes them great for covering large areas such as town squares or roadways. This is also a great way to economically stay within your decoration limits. The Rough Stone and Rough Wood versions can be crafted in game and the other versions can be purchased in the Add On Store.

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The Emperors’ and Empresses’ New Clothes

We are proud to announce an incredibly extravagant line of new clothing pieces, available now in the Add On Store. These are highly detailed recreations of actual items worn by historical Novian figures. Each piece is guaranteed to be an exact replica and is made from only the finest of materials. You will be sure to impress anyone who sees you wearing these fine garments. Here, our new male avatar models the entire ensemble of cloak, tunic, boots, trousers, crown, and gloves.

Here’s a sample from the Add On Store describing one of Novian’s illustrious historical figures and his famous crown:

Emperor Corwin’s New Royal Crown: If you are the lord of all you survey, it only stands to reason that your rulership deserves recognition. Truly fit for a king, this crown will give you the respect you truly deserve, through its understated and yet classically forged gold, silver and obsidian metalwork. Precisely as shown in the accompanying picture, this crown has large filigree scattered throughout and brilliant diamonds, rubies, and sapphires accenting the filigree. When you wear this crown, people will be taken aback, unable to comment at the sheer nobility of presence that you project. Truly, this crown leaves all who see it so taken aback that it is difficult to find any who are confident enough to comment on its beauty.

Corwin, the third ruler of Norgard’s Avalonian dynasty in the First Era, was a wise and noble ruler, who never asked if he was worthy of rule, merely assumed as such through his own knowledge, nobility, and self-assurance. We hope that this crown communicates such a degree of self-assurance to those who serve you as well.

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31 Day Countdown to Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations!

As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone this summer, we are permanently expiring almost half pledges during the Spring 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, which will occur at 10:30 AM CDT, May 2, 2016 (following the next wipe for Release 29). The remaining pledges, as well as new Player Owned Towns, will be expired during the Summer 2016 Expiration Event.

Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations

The following pledges will no longer be available for purchase or upgrade after May 2, 2016:

• Immortal Adventurer
• Virtual Collector
• Collector
• ** Navigator [originally expired August 31, 2015 for backers below Patron level]
• ** Developer [originally expired August 31, 2015 for backers below Patron level]
• Citizen
• Knight
• Lord
• Baron 1/2/3

[More Spring 2016 Expiration details…]

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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

• 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 CDT)
  • 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
• “The Tavern Respite” RP Event (Mondays, 8pm CDT)
  • 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 first Monday of each month, the event returns to Bear Tavern, where it all began. If no locations are scheduled, the event will take place at Fire Lotus Tavern, by default. (teleport to Elgarion De’Khali; details)!
• Order of Vengeance Guild Meeting (Mondays, 9pm CDT)
  • Held at the Guild Hall in Vengeance
• Challenge Dungeon Run (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am & 7pm CDT)
  • This is a self-host event that meets at the Braemar Cemetery (map). 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 CDT)
  • 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. (map)
• EVL Monster MashDungeon Crawl (Tuesdays, 7pm CDT)
  • 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 (map)
• EVL Virtue League PVP Tournament (Wednesdays, 7pm CDT)
  • 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 CDT)
  • 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. Teleport to Stryker Sparhawk (details)
• Phoenix Republic PVE Nights (Thursdays & Fridays, 7pm CDT)
  • 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, 4pm CDT)
  • Luka Melehan is hosting RP classes and practice sessions. (teleport to Luka Melehan)
• Shardfall Madness (Fridays, 6pm CDT)
  • A PvP event. Contact Wind Silvermoon for details.
• Vengeance Madness (Fridays, 7pm CDT)
  • 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; teleport to Bambino LudoVate)
• Astronomy Event (Fridays, 7:30pm CDT)
  • 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, teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; details)

Friday, April 1

• 2pm CDT Avatars Radio Presents: DJ FireLotus’ Release 28 Party!
  • Join FireLotus and Avatars Radio this Friday, April 1st for an AMAZING dance party you would have to be a FOOL to miss! The festivities kick off at 2 PM NBT in Serpent’s Watch (map; see forum post for details).

Saturday, April 2

• 6:00am CDT 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 CDT 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, map; or teleport to Winfield or Sean Silverfoot)
• 11:00am CDT 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 CDT Welcome Quest 28 – A Diamond in the Rough
  • 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, and this month we are visiting Diamond Fields. Traveling by the overland map, go to the Island of Elysium and Enter into Port Phoenix, run down to the docks and take a boat to Diamond Fields (map), or teleport to Greagoir. (details)
• 3:00pm CDT 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 Beran’s Reach, map; or teleport to Bowen Bloodgood; details)
• 4:00pm CDT First Elysian Regional Leadership Council
  • A meeting of the first ever Elysian Leadership council. This meeting will take place in Jade Valley (map) at 4PM NBT and will cover all the foundational topics of the Elysian Leadership structure and regional governance. Issues and important topics to include meeting regularity, establishment of regional cabinet positions and leadership roles, establishment of voting ballot process and voter requirements as well as a wide array of topics central to Elysian citizens at large. More info
• 6:00pm CDT 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)
• 8:00pm CDT 1v1 PVP Tournament in Vengeance
  • The longest running Player vs Player tournament in Shroud of the Avatar. Located in the Player Owned Town of Vengeance (map)
• 9:00pm CDT Podcasts and Poetry from TheCaverns.net
  • Join Avatars Radio and TheCaverns.net as we share wonderful community poetry, stories and music! We have great talent in our community. Join us as we celebrate these wonderful artists! (details)

Sunday, April 3

• 8:30am CDT 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, map; or teleport to Winfield; teamSpeak: 43.245.163.15:10099)
• 9:00am CDT The New Britannia Theatre Troupe Presents: Where is Shooter Jennings?
  • The Bear Tavern is proud to host the listening party for the New Britannia Theater Troupe audio play, Shadow Quest, which will be broadcast on Avatars Radio. Find out what really happened after Shooter Jennings disappeared during the launch party for his latest album, Countach. To join in-game, teleport to Gabriel Nightshadow
• 11:00am CDT Gallery of Horrors Grand Opening Tour
  • Visit our Gallery of Horrors Grand Opening Tour, a tradition since Release 5! This time with new, innovative techniques! Located in the player owned town, Island of Wonders (map, or teleport to Eriador Moonstone; details).
• 2:30pm CDT 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 (Owl’s head, map; or teleport to Sheamus McGuinness)
• 3:00pm CDT 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 teleport to Sand, Sheamus McGuinness, or Bambino Ludovate, details)
• 5:00pm CDT Monster Mash World Boss Hunt
  • EVL invites you to spend a day killing all of the SOTA world bosses out there. Polish your armor, sharpen your swords, and get ready to do some killing. We will take on trolls, dragons, and phoenix’s. Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there. Starts in Owlshead (map).
• 5:00pm CDT 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, map; see forum post for details)
• 5:30pm CDT 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, map; see forum post for details)
• 7:00pm CDT 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, map; or teleport to Winfield)
• 8:00pm CDT 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, teleport to Winfield; details)

Be sure and check out the Release 28 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here.

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Upcoming Events

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
2016.06.01 – The Hearth of Britannia: Legends of the Hearth III
2016.06.30 – Release 31
2016.07.28 – Release 32

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Recommended Projects to Back

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.