Updates

Play Release 129!

August 28, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 129 goes live August 29th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 129 (R129), we offer a party and some pest control.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Optional Subscription Updates

Shroud of the Avatar is a free-to-play game. We have ensured that the game can be played without the need to spend money apart from purchasing any expansions, such as Episode 2.

To help fund the development of the game, we have an in-game currency that can be purchased on our website which can be used to purchase non-pay-to-win items in the game’s Crown Shop. The income from direct currency sales is not sufficient to pay the Dev team and operating costs and continue game development. The bulk of the game’s income is provided by players who opt to participate in the optional subscription.

The current subscription model is not enough to keep up with increasing costs due to inflation and our small player base. To help us increase income to allow for continued development and to resume marketing, we have added two additional tiers to the subscription model.

We have completed testing and incorporating player feedback into the new three-tier format. The new subscription options will be activated on Thursday August 29th once Release 129 has been deployed.

All of the tiers will continue to have the normal bonuses and benefits: three (generally) monthly login rewards, a new title every quarter, a twelve-pack of dyes every six months, and additional deck slots as well as the below:

Tier 1	$9 (plus tax)	900 COTOs and 3 Obsidian potions monthly
Tier 2	$18 (plus tax)	2000 COTOs and 6 Obsidian potions monthly
Tier 3	$27 (plus tax)	3500 COTOs and 9 Obsidian potions monthly

Billing cycle begins on the day you start your initial subscription. Subscription cycles last for a period of one calendar month. Your subscription will automatically renew every month and your payment method will be charged at the standard price for your chosen subscription. You may cancel your plan at any time from your account page. Your status as subscribed will remain throughout the paid period. Subscription status and payment history are available on your account page in the subscriptions tab. Initial rewards will be available for redemption once payment has cleared. Subsequent rewards will be available once recurring payment has cleared.

To upgrade, downgrade, and/or update your payment method for an existing subscription, you must cancel the existing subscription and then initiate a new one. All of your earned rewards and your title level will be preserved if you cancel and sign back up later. The billing cycle will not change from your initial subscription billing date as long as you re-initiate a subscription within one month of a cancellation (that is, while you’re still in the subscription period).

Bug Brigade’s 4th Anniversary Party

Please join us for a party celebrating the 4th anniversary of the new Bug Brigade, hosted by the Bug Moderators Ravalox, Alley Oop, Echondas, Flair Minamoto, and Justyn! The party will start Saturday September 21st at 2PM NBT on the Bug Brigade’s Houseboat at its location in Brekken Bay off Hunters’ Island, indicated in the image on the right. We will have a live DJ spinning tunes while the party-goers dance, play party games, and more! You never know what might happen!

Release 129 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 129 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R129 is a polish month. Content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R130 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 129!

Play Release 128!

July 24, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 128 goes live July 25th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 128 (R128), we offer reading, writing, and renegades.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Disharmony in Cantabrigia

Port Harmony’s Minister of the Hearth has made a concerted effort to lead the city as a cohesive whole but there are always a few people who are not in tune.

The Minister of Coins is missing and presumed dead. There are camps of renegades in the hills above town, likely from the larger group holed up in the Outlaws’ Run, making the edges of the town unsafe for citizen and visitor alike. There’s been sabotage to the city’s cistern. Attacks on the merchant caravans attempting to establish trade with Grusk and Vikland are increasing. All this has been tied to rumors of a leader called the Mallard. This seems like too much effort just for petty criminals; is there some greater goal than a bit of coin behind it all?

Despite requests, Peregrine, said to be the “one true Avatar,” has made no moves to address this growing dissonance. Will you talk to Minister Webb about the renegades and find out what must be done? When you know, will you do it?

Subscription and Website Updates

Tassilo has completed the tech for the multi-tier subscription model we have been talking about for so long. Tassilo and I are in the process of completing final tests as well as refining the wording and graphics. We expect to have this live sometime this month.

The optional subscription will now come in three tiers. All of the tiers will continue to have the normal bonuses and benefits: three (generally) monthly login rewards, three Obsidian Potions, a new title every quarter, a twelve-pack of dyes every six months, and additional deck slots as well as the below:

Tier 1	$9 (plus tax)	900 COTOs monthly
Tier 2	$18 (plus tax)	2000 COTOs monthly
Tier 3	$27 (plus tax)	3500 COTOs monthly

To upgrade, downgrade, and/or update your payment method for an existing subscription, you must cancel the existing subscription and then initiate a new one. All of your earned rewards and title level will be preserved if you cancel and sign back up later. The billing cycle will not change from your initial subscription billing date when you re-initiate a subscription within one month of a cancellation (that is, while you’re still in the subscription period).

We are also updating the website. Since the main landing page is static and old information, we have changed it so anyone going to shroudoftheavatar.com while not logged in will now go to the “All Updates” page instead of the old initial landing page with the promo video on it. The old page will find a home somewhere on our site in some form.

We are also making changes to re-home the Community TOS, Streaming Program, Art Submission, and many other policies on the main website instead of using dev-posted forum threads. There will still be links in the forum to find the appropriate webpages.

The policy updates and other website changes will be ongoing. We will post an announcement in the forums as each change is made.

– Ravalox

Release 128 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 128 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R128 is a content month. Content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R129 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 128!

Play Release 127!

June 26, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 127 goes live June 27th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 127 (R127), we offer large friends and sharp edges.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Titles of the New Britannian Empire

We have created a new physical certificate for those awarded the Order of the New Britannian Empire (ONBE) and Chaotic of New Britannian Empire (CNBE) honors going forward. The certificates will replace the Medals sent out in the past as medal supplies are exhausted.

We have completed an audit of the ONBE and CNBE awards given out over the last ten years and corrected some errors in the list currently posted on the player-run SotAwiki. The updated list will be posted on the Wiki soon. Part of this audit and clean-up also allows us to finally deliver in-game ONBE and CNBE medals to the members of these two prestigious groups.

Since the medals are not visible in game (we have no solid visual for the necklace slot), we have also created an in-game plaque displaying a version of the ONBE or CNBE award certificate. The in-game medals and plaques will be GM-named for the specific awarded player and delivered sometime during R127 via in-game mail.

Lord British Birthday Livestream

Come one, come all! We will be having a special livestream on the 12th of July at 4 PM CT in honor of Lord British’s 63rd birthday. Lord British and other special guests will join us for some stories, updates, and monster mayhem in addition to our normal updates! The livestream is scheduled to last for four hours and will include details on recent releases, some information of what’s coming up, and (of course) SotA Q&A!

We have created a special Lord British item that is only available by purchasing a 10K COTO pack on the website through July 12th. This Brutal Battle-Axe shows the scars and blood of battle when equipped and magically becomes pristine when placed as a decoration. The battle-axe also has some special properties when wielded, so all should beware who go up against someone with this weapon!

These will be delivered soon after the eligibility period ends on July 12th.

This battle-axe will not be offered for sale at any other time, ever. This is the third item in our ultra-rare series, with more to come!

Release 127 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 127 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R127 is a polish month. Content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R128 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 127!

Play Release 126!

May 29, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 126 goes live May 30th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 126 (R126), we offer many-legged portraits, human and otherwise.

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Britannian Film Stars

Way back in 2018, while Travian Games and Portalarium were still involved in the production of Shroud of the Avatar, a series of short promotional videos were created and published as part of the marketing campaign. One of those videos was called “Player Town Party” and was set in Darkshire Hills cast entirely by players, 28 in all.

Much effort was put into preparing and executing the event. Cerus of Travian Games worked with Ravalox to coordinate and record the event. There was crafting, dueling, and dancing; a group of players even formed a band and performed during the recording to show off the instrument synchronization feature.

At the end of the video the cast can be seen having an artist capture the event on canvas. Though the canvas was lost soon after the artist completed the work, it has been found and, with the help of Caravaggios Wolf, the canvas has been restored and made available to the folks at the Crown Mercantile shop and warehouse to be added into their extensive Crown Store catalog.

The cast members will be receiving the title of “Film Star” along with their own copy of the painting. If you see one of New Britannia’s Stars during your travels, don’t be shy about asking for an autograph!

The video can be seen here:

More New Bug Brigade Rewards

The Bug Brigade has gained four new rewards for distribution in future months: a pair of portrait-oriented insect paintings to intersperse with the three existing landscape ones and a pair of butterfly chairs in new colors to complement the original one. We’ve also made choose-one bags of existing rewards for those who’ve already received all the scheduled items in various categories. The official reward schedule in the forum post will be updated to include these soon.

Play Release 125!

April 24, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 125 goes live April 25th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 125 (R125), we offer days with frog and troll.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Scottie Recreates His Elegant Wooden Lion Chair

[From a Forum Post by Scott Jones]

Salutations!

I’d meant to post this a bit earlier, but alas life seems to get in the way (honestly, I’ve had my nose pressed onto FAR TOO many different grindstones, and it’s been difficult juggling everything)! But I’ve been wanting to create THIS particular item for quite some time! Back in the days when a lot of local player events were going on in Austin, I was honored to host quite a number of our players at my own humble home! As a result, they were able to get a gander at some of the interesting artifacts that fill my house, and especially some of my favorite relics of furniture, costumery, and other decorations that I’ve always enjoyed taking to SCA encampments and wearing when attending medieval and renaissance fairs both near and far! One type of furniture I have always treasured (and which is often commented upon by guests) is my late medieval-styled, lion-headed, wooden folding chair …of which I was lucky enough to acquire three!

Mine are not true historical artifacts, but instead the result of some really good work (I believe coming out of India, at the time) which was being sold at a place called Pier 1 Imports long, long ago, back in the late 80’s, when I first joined the SCA! You can still find chairs like this being sold from time to time, but CERTAINLY not at the insanely low prices I got mine for when Pier 1 decided they were done carrying them, and sold them all of for the stultifying price of $15 EACH!!!!! The design is based on one of the MANY different styles of these chairs, such as the Sedia Savonarola, which was a late medieval folding chair that originated in Northern Italy and became popular during the 15th and 16th century! Certainly go check out such chairs online to see the plethora of styles that existed!

Read of my work and see the result in my forum post.

Anyway, when all was said and done I was really happy with the outcome, and I’m hoping you enjoyed my little creative journey I took making something for you fine folks that I’ve been wanting to make for quite a while! As always, I’m not exactly sure how the “powers that be” will be making it available to you all, but I do know that it should be coming your way fairly soon! Thanks again for your interest in my endeavors!

Scottie ^_^

Release 125 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 125 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R125 is a content month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R126 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 125!

Play Release 124!

March 27, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 124 goes live March 28th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 124 (R124), we offer many traditional spring signs of life but also a reminder of death.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Join the Annual Easter Egg Hunt!

We will be holding our annual Egg Hunt event in game! Join Laney and other Devs for any of the one-hour event windows on Saturday, March 30th in Mount Midir:

We have scheduled the event windows in such a way as to allow Avatars from all over the world to participate.

Good luck!

Scottie’s Work on the New 2024 DarkStarr Metronome

[From a Forum Post by Scott Jones]

Greetings and Salutations folks!

It’s been a bit since I’ve had the chance to reach out and post about stuff I’m working on! And there are a few things I’m working on that I need to wait for a bit before I can reveal the coolness! But lucky for me I just finished something that, though not incredibly elaborate of a task, is delicious enough to present! Of course, this post is just about me and my workflow, as well as my creative thoughts about the task, so I can’t really conjecture about when this will become available or how folks will be able get one into their hot little hands,…but I WILL be showing you some blow-by-blow images reflecting the steps I took to essentially give the old, original DarkStarr Metronome a new and updated look to revel in the classic style of DarkStarr’s glory as our resident Lord of Chaos (and Gothic Fashionista :D).

The inspiration, of course, is the fact that Starr recently celebrated another trip around the sun in our real world, and we thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to honor him in the game with a thoughtful re-working of his old, somewhat brown/bronze-ish Metronome into a more sharp and stylish color-scheme with an extra bit of decorative “flourish” thrown in?” I, for one, always recognized the early, original version as something worth revisiting for the sake of a visual update, at least texture-wise. Here you can see it below!

I really don’t recall the mind-set, at the time, which guided the original artist towards that particular color-scheme, but it certainly always had that “copper and bronze steampunk” sort of aesthetic appeal. Its original motto inscribed at its base, “AS TIME PASSES DEATH APPROACHES”, added a wonderfully sinister edge to the already macabre design and somewhat rusty appearance of its inner workings and gear/scythe combination that gets exposed as part of its “tick-tock” timing mechanism within. Fun stuff! But how to re-visit and offer something a bit different while still maintaining and respecting the initial design?

Read of my work and see the result in my forum post.

Take care for now, folks, and I’ll be back soon to post a little something about some other stuff I’m working on! I hope to make it a habit once again!

Yours truly,
Scottie ^_^

Release 124 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 124 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R124 is a polish month. Content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R125 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 124!

Play Release 123!

February 28, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 123 goes live February 29th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 123 (R123), we offer a little space and a lot of water.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Build a Bazaar With the New Market Lots!

Sometimes you want just small space with no home for an open-air shop. A nice tent, a few stalls… portable and low-maintenence! Our new Market Lots are 10 by 8 meters: the same frontage and just a smidge over half the depth of a Row Lot.

Here is a sample market showing a variety of possible uses:

After a few internal adjustments to some that almost fit, all but the largest tents will fit on a Market Lot, as well as all the craftable stalls and awnings, albeit with some player resizing needed for the larger ones.

Tent (Craftable)
Welcome Tent
Small Canvas Tent (Craftable)
Medium Canvas Tent
Small Elven Tent (Craftable)
Medium Elven Tent
Small Knight’s tent
Large Knight’s Tent
Great Knight’s Tent
Triangle Kobold Tent (Craftable)
Small Kobold Tent (Craftable)
Medium Kobold Tent
Virtue Oktoberfest Tent
Wide Market Tent
Blue Stall Awning (Craftable)
Green Stall Awning (Craftable)
Red Stall Awning (Craftable)
Barn Stall (Craftable)
Tall Barn Stall (Craftable)
Thin Barn Stall (Craftable)

…as well as a miscellany of sheds, gazebos, pavilions, wells, and outhouses. Some decorated lot examples are below:

Expand for more pictures:

Market Lot decoration limits are:

Exterior Objects: 100
Exterior Lights: 4
Containers: 20
NPCs: 1
Basements and Dungeons: None!

A 10-pack of Market Lot Property Markers is available for Governors and Stewards in the Crown Store.

As one may always claim a lot with any deed that size or above, and as these lots will be created only by placing Property Markers in Player-Owned Towns, all existing deeds can claim these as they are the new smallest size. However, taxed deeds for Market Lots can be purchased in the Crown Store and upgraded to tax free for Crowns of the Obsidians:

Deed, Market (POT, Taxed): 1,100 COTOs
Deed, Market (POT, Tax Free): 2,100 COTOs

We hope you find this new lot size useful and inspiring!

Live Free on the Sea: POT Tax Free Water Deeds

Village, Town, City, Keep, and Castle POT Tax Free Water Deeds are now available through upgrade of existing non-Founder deeds with Crowns of the Obsidians. You don’t have to be a pirate to hoodwink the tax man, though it helps!

The upgrade values for these new deeds are:

Deed, Village (POT, Tax Free, Water)	5,500 COTOs
Deed, Town (POT, Tax Free, Water)	11,000 COTOs
Deed, City (POT, Tax Free, Water)	22,000 COTOs
Deed, Keep (POT, Tax Free, Water)	44,000 COTOs
Deed, Castle (POT, Tax Free, Water)	88,000 COTOs

Note that the only Water Keep and Castle Lots currently available in Player Owned Towns are the baked-in ones; placeable Property Markers for these sizes are soon to be created but, unlike the baked-in ones, will not be toggle-able to an island for land home placement.

Release 123 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 123 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R123 is a polish month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R124 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 123!

Play Release 122!

January 24, 2024

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

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

News Announcements

Community Updates

See and Don’t Be Seen in Sneak Scene

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

Find these training grounds under taverns in:

Blood Bay
Broochash
Celestis
Goti
Etceter
Fortus End
Kingsport

Strut Your Stuff in Mount Midir

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

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

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

Play Release 121!

December 13, 2023

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 121 goes live December 14th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 121 (R121), we offer frigid and feathered little ankle-biters.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Mysterious Portal Appears in Novia

There have been reports of a portal that has started to appear at random locations all over Novia. We have sent Wladziu, our Senior Field Investigator, to explore and report on what this phenomenon is. Word is that the portals have been seen in every region of Novia, but only in one location at a time. The portal does not seem very stable and we suspect it will not be accessible for long. If any courageous adventurers happen upon this portal, please look for signs of our dear Wladziu and the team; we have not heard back from them since they set out to investigate.

Sneak Scene Preview

In some taverns, rumors are shared of a place where specialists in stealth hone their craft. Drunken whispers have overshared that those frequenting this “sneak scene” will claim avoiding combat is more important than direct confrontation. Some people might suggest this place is neutral ground, with both assassins and spies putting aside their differences in order to make use of these elaborate training facilities, but you didn’t hear it from me!

Release 121 Patch Notes

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 121 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R121 is a polish month. Content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R122 in the new year. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 121!

Play Release 120!

November 15, 2023

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 120 goes live November 16th at 10:30 AM CST.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 120 (R120), we offer bronze and golden threats.

News Announcements

Community Updates

Ten Years of Monthly Releases

We are fast approaching the ten-year anniversary of Release One. December of 2013 marked the appearance of The Chicken Room, the first scene players were able to access while the game was in early development. Last Spring on April Fools’ Day, we resurrected the room for that one day, playing a trick on anyone who logged in during that 24-hour period by redirecting their login choice (no matter what they selected) to go to an updated version of the room. We added a secret door that led down to a door which took the player to wherever they had originally chosen upon login. There were Easter eggs to find, some literal and some not: some came away from the experience with a new pet chicken while others had chicken for dinner that night.

Next release, we are planning an extended livestream to celebrate the ten years of monthly updates. We hope to have some guests on the stream to share memories and regale us with stories and lore in addition to the usual release update information, special sales, and contests! Word is that the chicken room may make an appearance as well! No, we aren’t going to redirect players into the scene (this time.)

We look forward to everyone joining us on December 15th for this very special livestream!