Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations
• Kobold Themed Areas
• SotAMap.com
• Recap’s Second Album: “Pronoia”
• Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 27 Postmortem
• NBNN News: Lazarus Interviews Starr Long
• The Gallery of Wonderful Horrors Wants You!
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

0 Day Countdown to Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations!

As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone this summer, we are expiring seven of the seventeen remaining pledges during the Spring 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, which will occur at 10:30 AM CST, May 2, 2016 (following the next wipe for Release 29). The remaining ten 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

The Spring 2016 expirations DO NOT affect any backers that are already entitled to these rewards as listed in the pledge description at the time you pledged or upgraded. These expirations only affect new backers, or existing backers that have not upgraded to the specified pledge tiers before the expiration date.

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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

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:

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[A SotA Public Forum post by Starr Long]

Greetings Avatars,

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked instructions and known issues.

Thank you for being a loyal backer and follower of Shroud of the Avatar. Release 27 access for all backers at First Responder level and above begins this Thursday, February 25, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (16:30 UTC).

Release 27 is the first release where our pivot to focus on Final Wipe is becoming very visible. It can be seen in the rapid expansion of scenes, filling out entire regions, albeit with scene clones (that we will later make unique). It is also the beginning of major polish passes and rework of the starting scenes to make them more playable and more directed. It is also visible in the new creature behaviors of play, resource guarding, Oracle scanning, Escort Quests, and NPCs talking to each other.

Even though this was a short release at only four weeks (which means just three weeks of development) and we had a LOT of R26 patches, we still managed to add a bunch of new content to the game. Additionally, behind the scenes, we continue to optimize performance and improve our data tracking/reporting (heatmaps are the latest addition). We have also begun a complete overhaul of our avatars, including mesh, texture, skin, hair, clothing, and animations. We hope to reveal those changes next release when we plan to have the new male avatar in the game.

Yet again, I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to our Dev+ backers who tested all of the items below on the QA server and uncovered lots of bugs. They also provided editorial feedback on this post, so they are a big reason that this post actually matches what is in the game, and that it is easy to read.

While we are getting closer to launch, we are still in a constant state of change, and we do not yet have in-game systems to inform players of these changes, or to share ways to help them to explore new content and systems. This means we rely entirely on this message, and the linked instructions and known issues to convey the current game state. We regularly have to answer questions or filter bug reports because some players elect not to read this valuable information. By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and efforts can be redirected to focus on new “unanswered” questions, and addressing critical issues impacting each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post, and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. So, be sure to check out a couple of the Community Events Calendars run by our community members (via in-game book or the player run websites Avatars Circle Community Events and Events of the Avatars calendar).

Without further ado, here are the R27 deliverables.

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Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• The Making of Shores of Malice – Part 2
• Shooter Jennings’ In-Game Worldwide Premier of New Album “Countach”
• The Making of Skrekk – Part 2
• Release 27 QA Build Available for Dev+ Backers
• Public Cache Chests Now POTable
• RizeUp Gaming Seattle Children’s Hospital Charity Drive
• Final VIP Roundtable, Studio Tour, LotM Visit & Dinner
• Story in Scene
• Sandillox Ent Presents BINGO Bango!
• Release 26 All Player Towns Gathering
• The Gauntlet [EVL]
• Round Elven Greenhouse
• 10 Day Countdown for Stretch Goal Store Expiration
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• This Week In the News
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

The Making of Shores of Malice – Part 2

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

Hey guys, SorcerousSteve chiming in with an update on Malice, now focusing on the interior Dungeon and its surrounding chambers, including the Well of Sorrows!

Malice is populated by the vengeful dead, an army being raised to sweep down over the lands of the living and avenge Anapa and the injustices done to him and the dead of the Drachvald.

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Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Happy Birthday Avatars Radio!
• The Making of Skrekk
• The Halls of Artifice (A Work In Progress)
• Valentine Scavenger Hunt & After Event Party
• The New Britannia Breast Cancer Awareness Biathlon
• Happy Valentine’s Day!
• 17 Day Countdown for Stretch Goal Store Expiration
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

Happy Birthday Avatars Radio!

We’d like to wish a heartfelt “Happy Birthday” to Avatars Radio! Founded by Amber Raine, Avatars Radio is the first, and oldest, Shroud of the Avatar radio station, dating all the way back to SotA Release #1!

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Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• The Making of Shores of Malice
• The Entrance to Artifice
• Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 26 Postmortem
• New Greenhouses
• New Player Owned Town Templates
• In-game Community Events
• This Week In the News
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

The Making of Shores of Malice

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

Hey guys, once again its SorcerousSteve here with my latest map: The Shores of Malice entrance to the Malice Dungeon (final love quest location)!

The Shores of Malice are located on the banks of Stormwater Lake on the northern section of Drachvald bounded by the treacherous peaks of The Sirens.

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Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Play Release 26 Now!
• The FireLotus Release 26 Party!
• R26 Patch Notes
• SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Final Wipe and Lot Selection
• Shooter Jennings’ In-Game Worldwide Premier of New Album “Countach”
• The Entrance to Artifice
• Valentine Goodies
• New Player Homes
• Checkers Anyone?
• The Giant Yew Tree
• In-game Community Events
• This Week In the News
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

Play Release 26 Now!

Release 26 successfully launched yesterday, January 28, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, logging in, and checking out the new changes! Lots of new content to explore, including:

• Full Wipe to allow for fundamental changes to several systems, including crafting and quests
• New Summon Chaos Daemon Spell, plus polished/balanced dozens of existing spells & skills
• New Consider System to show level difference between player and enemy
• Points of Interest polish added to 16 existing scenes
• 5 New scenes including Resolute, Aerie, North Varisalla Foothils, Sanctus Spine, and Dysborg Ruins (PVP zone)
• New Valentine’s Day and Lunar New Year items
• New Grasslands Biome Template for Player Owned Towns
• 21 New Player Owned Towns
• New Crafting System that allows for material modifiers, gear naming, components, etc.
• Agriculture System Balance/Polish
• Performance Imrovements
• Language Translation Progress
• …and more!

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