Category Archives: Update of the Avatar

Update of the Avatar #219 – 2017.03.17: Making of Kas Ruins, Spring Telethon Recording, Decorations Flash Sale, World Water Day, and more!

March 17, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

The Making of Kas Ruins

The Kas Ruins are one of the six ruined cities found in Novia that date back to the period in Novian history in which the Obsidian Order rose to power. (As described in the Sword of Midras prequel novel by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott). The exact history of some of these cities has been lost to time, but it is rumored that some of them may have been abandoned even before the rise of the Obsidians. Kas is the site of the ruins of an ancient Paladin fort high atop a mountainside. At the foot of the mountain is an abandoned village with a small graveyard. The entire area has become overrun by the undead.

Kas started as a clone of the Opalis Ruins, but is getting completely rebuilt this release to have a unique layout and visuals. Like all the other Ruins and Shardfalls, this is an Open PVP area so we are expressly focusing on being sure the map has interesting setups for PVP conflict, with plenty of space for hiding, escaping, ambushing, and skirmishing. Our goal is to have Kas Ruins go live in Release 41 or 42. Read more…

Update of the Avatar #218 – 2017.03.10: City Kobold Weapons, Obsidian Cabalist Wearables, Making of New Scenes, Bigger Bundles, Music Weekend Flash Sale, Rare Map Bundle, and more!

March 10, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

City Kobold Weapons

In Release 39, we began work on what we are calling our City Kobolds. These are the Kobolds that live in Skrekk and other places like K’rul. They are much more advanced than anyone else in Novia and the source of almost all of the technology that you see in the game, including clockwork creatures and aether vibration amplifiers. City Kobolds use advanced armor and weaponry including chainswords, electric axes, gas guns, electric blunderbusses, grenades, etc.

In Release 39 we introduced few new weapons for the City Kobolds including an Electric Blunderbuss and a Chainsword. The Chainsword can be looted from the Kobolds and wielded. It can even be salvaged for patterns. In Release 40 we will be introducing a handful of new bludgeon weapons for these Kobolds as well that players can loot from them and wield or try to salvage for patterns. In future releases players will also be able to loot the ranged weapons and use them as well. We are also adding the Ornate Chainsword to the Add On Store.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear]

New Kobold Weapons! The Kobold Arsenal is getting an upgrade as well. Here are some new items which include both one-handed and two-handed Electric Axes as well as a Steam-Powered Hammer!

1-Handed Electric Axe

Update of the Avatar #217 – 2017.03.03: The Obsidian Cabalists, Free Trial Test, Spring Telethon Next Week, King Korabar, Underground Vaults, Patterns Weekend Flash Sale, and More!

March 3, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

The Obsidian Cabalists (SPOILERS)

The Obsidian Cabalists are ancient sorcerers of the Obsidian Order who have prolonged their lives through twisted use of magic. These horrible entities worship the eight anti-virtues and seek to fulfill the Dire Prophecies by laying siege to the towns of Novia. Starting with Release 40 they will be found in Town Sieges wielding unique vile artifacts that players who are able to defeat them may be able to loot. Those artifacts include unique hoods and weapons for each cabalist as well as the robes. Below is the list of the Cabalists and their (current) powers. Please note that these powers may change during implementation. Read more…

Update of the Avatar #216 – 2017.02.24: Play R39 Now, New Scenes, Weapon Polish, Weekend Homes Flash Sale, Lot Raffle Winners, Telethon, and More!

February 24, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Play Release 39 Now!

Release 39 successfully launched yesterday, February 23, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

Update of the Avatar #215 – 2017.02.17: Clockwork Attack!, Town Blessings, Weekend Flash Sale, Rhun Ruins and K’rawl, Crafter’s Competition, and More!

February 17, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Clockwork Attack!

The City Kobolds defend their territories fiercely, and part of their defenses are an army of Clockwork beasts. Players have already seen some of these in previous releases including the Shock Monkey and Clockwork Dragon. In R39, the Clockwork menagerie expands to include Attack and size variants of some of our existing Clockwork beasts. The Clockwork Attack Dogs and Cats (who are mountain lion sized) are used by Kobold guard patrols to knockdown and tear up trespassers. The Clockwork Attack Ravens have confusion fields that make fighting them especially challenging. We will also introduce giant versions of the Shock Monkey that have stomp and throw attacks as well as a scaled down version of the Clockwork Dragon that works for interior spaces. Finally, there will be giant versions of the Oracle Flyers and Oracle Crawlers that shock and stun players who try to fight them.

In celebration of these new nasty clockwork beasts, all clockwork pets are on sale this weekend for 20% (see below for details).

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Kevin “UglyFist” Wells]

Hey everybody!

So, we’ve made some baddies out of our clockwork pets. These are definitely not pets. We’ve made them bigger, badder, and way deadly. These clockwork creatures are designed to take as much blood from you as they can with their razor sharp claws, teeth, spikes, and a bad attitude. The idea was to make them dark and stealthy. The models may be updated a bit here and there before I call them finished – but as they are, they are already bad news.

Check these guys out… Read more…

Update of the Avatar #214 – 2017.02.10: City Kobolds, Item Reshaping, Upper Fortus, Rhun Ruins, K’rul Crawl, Kobold Flash Sale, Alienware Steam Giveaway, and More!

February 10, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

City Kobolds and Kobold Chests

In some cases, City Kobolds are friendly to players (depending on story elements) and there are rumors of City Kobold Merchants who sell rare Kobold technology to players. The other Kobolds players have interacted with until now have been what we call Village Kobolds, and will remain what players encounter in outdoor zones and small Kobold habitations. In Release 39, you will be able to find our first round of City Kobolds in K’rul. In Release 40 we will be updating Skrekk with City Kobold, including a new unique visual for King Kobarr.

Update of the Avatar #213 – 2017.02.03: The Making of Upper Fortus, Rhun Ruins, & K’rul, R38 Postmortem, IronMaiden’s Chemo Relief Telethon, Water Decorations, and More!

February 3, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

The Making of Upper Fortus

The Fortus River runs south-to-north through a large canyon in the North Paladis region near the Sanctus Spine Control Point. Kobolds have established a mining facility here using steam to soften the terrain. Bandits have a camp nearby and have been raiding the shipments of ore and therefore, the Kobolds have been ramping up their defenses of the mining facility. Expect strong resistance when trying to raid the Kobold mining camp; and the bandits are not going to be too friendly either!

This scene started as a clone of North Varisalla Foothills but is being completely rebuilt for a live date hopefully in Release 40.

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Chris “Sea Wolf” Wolf]

I have a few screenshots of progress being made on Upper Fortus.

The Southern Canyon/ Upper Fortus Falls

Update of the Avatar #212 – 2017.01.27: Play Release 38 Now!, Valentine’s Goodies, Making of K’rul, R37 Deed Raffle Winners, Perennial Polish, and More!

January 27, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Play Release 38 Now!

Release 38 successfully launched yesterday, January 26, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

Update of the Avatar #211 – 2017.01.20: R38 Character Work, North Drachvald Spur, Xenos Polish, K’rul, Offline Character Preservation, LB’s Game Critic Legend Award, and More!

January 20, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

Release 38 Character Work

Release 38 character work has been split between Perennial Coast outfits for the citizenry, telethon rewards, and Shogun Bundle items. Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear posted some of his work to Sketchfab and the Silver variant of the Clockwork Armor was recognized as a Staff Pick!

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Fletcher “SkullMuncher34” Kinnear]

Hello and greetings all! Fletcher here, aka Skullmuncher34

I’ve been working on a TON of new content for R38 and I wanted to give you guys a preview.

I’ve spent some time catching up on Telethon content with Ice Bagpipes, Ice Wings, and Clockwork Armor.

[A really cool feature of the Clockwork Armor is the helmet has a built-in Aether Vibration Device so you can tune into your favorite radio stations! The following Copper Clockwork Armor is a telethon reward for the Summer Telethon Part 2 – Editor]

Update of the Avatar #210 – 2017.01.13: IronMaiden’s Chemo Relief Fund, New NPC Conversation Mode, Keys & Locks Update, Spring Telethon, Origin PC Steam Promo, and More!

January 13, 2017

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

New NPC Conversation Window

In Release 38, we are updating the conversation window used for interacting with NPCs to make it both more immersive and easier to use. For immersion, we are hiding almost all of the other interface elements, including all other chat and the hotbar. We are also placing the chat in the very middle of the screen where you are looking at the NPC in order to keep you focused on the interaction. We have also tried to keep the interface itself to as minimal as possible with very few borders and as much transparency in the elements as we can.