Greetings and Good Evening Fellow Avatars!

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

• The Mad Hermit’s Lay of the Land Video
• SotA at PAX South Next Week
• Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 13 Postmortem
• Duke Pledge Reward: Upgraded Basement
• Benefactor Knight & Knight Marshal Stonework Refinements
• Flesh Flayer
• Geothermal Steam Catchers
• Boreas, The Titan of Truth
• The Avatars Chronicles I – Return of the Avatar: Special Developer Edition
• In-game Community Weekend Events
• Upcoming Events

The Mad Hermit’s Lay of the Land Video

Need a high-level overview of where the various cities, towns and villages are in Shroud of the Avatar? Jump in the Mad Hermit’s hot air balloon as he surveys the land from high-up above! Although most of SotA’s Pre-Alpha content is confined to the “Hidden Vale” at this point, boats and Lunar Rifts allow access to some of the cities and points of interest that exist on the Island of Novia (where the core part of the story will eventually take place).

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU1T-WR51Tw?feature=oembed]

SotA at PAX South Next Week

SotA will be at PAX South next weekend, January 23-25. We will be in the Texas Indie Game Lounge presented by Microsoft (booth 1343) at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.

They are demonstrating SotA all weekend, January 23 thru 25. PAX Attendees can sign up for free access to Release 14. There will also be daily prize drawings including: Plantronics headsets, Alienware mouse, t-shirts, and more!

Additionally, Starr Long and Richard Garriott will be on hand to demonstrate the game and do press interviews on Friday January 23rd, and Scott “Lum the Mad” Jennings will be on the panel “Confessions of a Troll: Human Nature Online” at 7:30 PM, Saturday, January 24th.

Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 13 Postmortem

The community had a great Hangout of the Avatar this week, with Richard, Starr, and Chris chatting about Release 13; recounting their favorite moments while they also looked ahead to Release 14. And as usual, we spent a fair amount of time answering questions from the original post comments as well as live from the chat room. Check it out here if you missed it

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V90NyEre83A?feature=oembed]

Duke Pledge Reward: Upgraded Basement

In keeping with the Duke’s lot size increase from City Lot to Keep Lot, Portalarium upgraded the Duke’s Basement pledge reward from a 3-story City lot size to a 2-story Keep lot size (the equivalent of 4 City lot sized basements)!

Benefactor Knight & Knight Marshal Stonework Refinements

When the dev team introduced the Benefactor Knight and Benefactor Knight Marshal homes they intentionally made the stonework a bit warped to reflect the large structures “settling” in their foundations. However, due to some received feedback from some Knights and Knight Marshals changes have been made to look a bit more upscale by straightening the warped stonework. Personally, I don’t like them, but majority rules…  Below are some before and after shots illustrating Bob Cooksey’s stonework refinements:

BEFORE (Benefactor Knight on left; Benefactor Knight Marshal on right):

AFTER:

Flesh Flayer

Much in the world has changed since the moons collided and shards of the fragmented moons fell upon the earth. If the immediate destruction, fall of civilization and disruption of magic wasn’t enough… the shard fall locations are rife with strange powers that drive creatures crazy and mutate plants and animals alike to odd and malicious forms.

One such terror found near these polluted areas is the Flesh Flayer! When dormant, they are quite innocuous looking giant plants but once aroused by the smell of flesh, the Flesh Flayer will squirm about seeking that which it desires. Once the desired meal is located, the Flayer will rend the flesh from the bones of any creatures that wander too near. Sadly, it is rumored that even keeping your distance from an aroused Flesh Flayer is difficult because they are able to attack even from afar. My recommendation is to avoid them altogether!

Below is the original concept art for the Flesh Flayer from Stephen Daniele (labelled “Maneater”), as well as the in-game version.

Geothermal Steam Catchers

“Kobolds were the first to harness the powers of wind, water, and volcanism to generate and transmit aetheric energies. However, these mechanisms are now becoming more common in large human settlements. Windmills, waterwheels, and steam catchers are often used to turn aetheric generators to power a wide range of newfangled equipment such as moon towers, aethereal amplifiers, energy fences and even some new types of weapons. Uses for this new aethereal energy seem unbounded, yet finding new sources of mechanical power is always of utmost importance.” – Lord British

This scene shows several Steam Catchers that capture the heat and steam from volcanic activity and use it to spin fans or funnel the steam directly into a boiler. The fan based steam catchers use the spinning fans to turn generators, while the boiler based catchers use the steam directly to build pressure and then route the steam to appliances like radiators to keep houses warm.

Boreas, The Titan of Truth

“After the moons collided and civilization fell, three great and powerful leaders rose to become the Titans of Truth, Love, and Courage; the surviving principles of the times before the fall. Great are they, and great are the monuments built to them. While the Titans themselves may no longer exist, we are still inspired by colossal statues in their likeness which are occasionally found throughout New Britannia.”           – Lord British

The below image shows Stephen Daniele’s original concept art for Boreas (leftmost image) and the in-game WIP version by Andy Cortez. Look for the Titan of Truth in-game in an upcoming Release.

The Avatars Chronicles I – Return of the Avatar: Special Developer Edition

The New Britannia Theatre Troupe along with AvatarsRadio.com and TheCaverns.net are proud to present a theatrical voice presentation of astronomical proportions. The long awaited sequel to Once Upon A Time Lord; The Avatars Chronicles I – Return of the Avatar: Special Developer Edition. Coming to an Aether Vibration Amplifier near you Saturday January 17th 2015, 11am Central Time.

“…Set on another New Britannia, in a parallel universe this saga chronicles the adventures of an unlikely group of heroes who have banded together to save their realm from dark forces which threaten its very existence…“

30 amazing voice actors from our very own community. Four of the communities favorite developers: Richard Garriot, Starr Long, FireLotus and Stephen Daniele. Hundreds of hours of work. All come together to bring the community one of the most epic sized productions to be entered into the history books.

We invite you to join us all, this Saturday, January 17th, in the Church of the Dark Star in PaxLair, Valemark in the Hidden Vale and on Avatars Radio for a fantastic listening party! Be one among your friends to be able to say “we were there when this happened!”.

The Avatars Chronicles I – Return of the Avatar: Special Developer Edition. The heroes look forward to seeing you there.

Sir Stile Teckle is also holding a contest during this event for great prizes. You will need to be listening in order to win! Among these prizes are dice from great community groups such as: The New Britannia Theatre Troupe, TheCaverns.net and the Round Table. Grand Prize will be randomly drawn from a list of entrants who answer all questions correctly. This grand prize will be: One Foil Print Shield of the Avatar signed by Lord British.

Be sure to be listening to Avatars Radio and keeping a watch on TheCaverns.net and The Shroud of the Avatar Forums for further information, contest rules and the questions to be answered to enter into the grand prize drawing.

In-game Weekend Community Events

Our amazing community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. If you missed out on these player events during the previous Releases, we highly recommend you check some of them out this weekend. Here is the latest schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar (http://avatarscircle.com/community-events/):

Saturday, January 17
9:00am CST – PaxLair Working Hours – Host Winfield (Valemark)
11:00am CST – New Britannia Theater Troupe Presents: Avatars Chronicles I – Special Developer Edition Listening party (at Church of the Dark Star, PaxLair, Valemark)
1:00pm CST – Beginner’s class – Making money with crafting! (Port Phoenix Fairgrounds, Kingsport, or “/zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre”)

Sunday, January 18
5:30am CST – Explore Novia with royalsexy (Owl’s Head entrance)
12:00pm CST – The cake is not lie – Basement maze run #2 (“/zone Net”)
1:00pm CST – Bürgertreffen in Drachenfels (Ravensend; “/zone Albert” to join; meeting will be in German)
2:00pm CST – All Reporters Gathering (Paxlair, Valemark, or “/zone Winfield”)
7:00pm CST – PaxLair Meeting – cancelled due to PaxLair Anniversary events in Old Britannia
8:00pm CST – New Britannia Press Meeting (via Avatars Circle Teamspeak)

Upcoming Events2015.01.29 – SotA at PAX South
2015.01.29 – Release 14
2015.02.26 – Starr Long delivers Keynote at ICPHSO’s 2015 Annual Meeting and Training Symposium
2015.02.26 – Release 15
2015.03.13 – SotA at SXSW Interactive
2015.03.26 – Release 16
2015.04.03 – Duke & LotM VIP Design Roundtable w/Lord British and Portalarium Studio Tour (it was such a big hit last year that we are again inviting our guests to attend Portalarium’s Family Easter Celebration in Castleton (Richard’s lakefront property on beautiful Lake Austin)