Shroud of the Avatar – Update of the Avatar #130

Good Evening and Greetings Friends and Fellow Avatars!

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

Port Phoenix and the Player Owned Town Swamp Template
Order of Vengeance Tournaments
The SotA Writing Round Table Unreliable Travel Guide: R18 Edition
World Builder/Level Designer and VFX Artist Job Openings
In-game Community Weekend Events

Port Phoenix and the Player Owned Town Swamp Template

Michael Hutchison has completed our third Player Owned Town template, the swamp biome. Port Phoenix was selected as the first swamp-based Player Owned Town to help test the template. This template can now be selected and viewed in the Player Owned Town Submission form. Here is the template and a few scene images, which you will be able to see live in Port Phoenix in Release 19 next week, June 25th:

Order of Vengeance Tournaments

Located at the northern end of the Grunvald Desert, the PvP town of Vengeance was introduced in R18 as the second Player Owned Town in New Britannia. Vengeance has hosted numerous PvP community events almost every night since they launched! Here are examples of some of their exciting events:

Moon Tower Power

Team 1 and Team 2 will be told when to start via whisper and they will rush the moon tower. Team 1 is attempting to keep the tower powered ON… Team 2 is attempting to shut it OFF. After 15 minutes the teams will switch sides and purpose. Each time the judge will be attempting to keep an eye on the power and hopefully not get killed too many times. In the event he is killed there will be a pause to the event timer that will NOT be announced. The judge will call out when the time is up and suggests you do what you can to keep fighting for the tower until you see the text “TIME’S UP!” spammed in front of the moon tower.

Seige the Keep

Prior to the event starting a Kindred or Trustee member of the Keep will spend up to 120 seconds moving up to three obstacles to create choke points in the keep.

Team 1 and Team 2 will be told when to start via whisper. Team 1 is attempting to guard and protect the Keep… Team 2 is attempting to siege the keep and open the Darkstarr Metronome. After 10 minutes the teams will switch sides and purpose. Each time the judge will be attempting to keep an eye on the Metronome and hopefully not be killed too many times. In the event he is killed there will be a pause to the event. The judge will call out when the time is up OR when the siege is successful and who opened the Metronome.

In order to win the Metronome must be open for at least ten seconds. That means a guard placed on the roof from Team 1 can defend the flag from being captured by closing it and killing the attacker. In the event the attacker kills the guard before reinforcements arrive the chance of defending the keep is greatly reduced.

The SotA Writing Round Table Unreliable Travel Guide: R18 Edition

As posted in the Release 18 Events Forum:

The Unreliable Travel Guide is published by two drunken layabouts who have nothing better to do than try to derive a dishonest income from newly arrived avatars.

To do this they have created a travel guide which consists of nothing more than tall tales about random local landmarks. They sell copies of this to unsuspecting avatars.

Once again they have discovered, through extensive use of such research tools as alcohol and imagination, several exciting locations to visit in R18. These locations probably do exist, but have unique descriptions that are highly unlikely to be true. Enjoy!

Dear Readers: Sorry this edition is reaching you late. You will see we had some trouble at North Brightbone Lake, story below.

(This series is created at the SotA Writing Round Table. You can add your own unique tall tales for the entertainment and probable confusion of others…Or simply take advantage of our peer review process to polish any SotA related fiction.)

With the introduction of Zombies and Player Written Books in Release 19, it seems fitting to share the following stories from the Unreliable Travel Guide. Enjoy!

$10 for $10 Summer Bonus

To help everyone get their summer off to a great start, we’re having a $10 for $10 Summer Bonus Promotion! If you make any single purchase of $10 or more on the SotA website between 3pm CDT June 11 and 10 am CDT June 27 we will make a one-time deposit of an extra $10 into your Store Credit! Happy Summer!

[NOTE: The $10 for $10 offer can be exercised only once during the promotion period.
$10 Store Credit should show up in your account within 24 hours of a qualifying purchase]

World Builder/Level Designer and VFX Artist Job Openings

Portalarium currently have openings for junior-level to senior-level World Builder/Level Designers for Shroud of the Avatar. Qualifications for the “ideal candidate” are:

Minimum 2 years industry experience for junior-level (preferably on a shipped game)
Unity3D proficiency
Scripting ability
Experience building, texturing, and decorating natural, terrain based exterior environments
An artistic eye for detail, with strong scene compositional skills

We also have an opening for VFX artist with the following “ideal” qualifications:

Minimum 3 years experience as VFX artist for games
Unity3D proficiency
FX scripting and ability to create custom FX shaders
Artistic and technical particle effect skills

If you’d like to join the Portalarium Tribe working on the ground-breaking Shroud of the Avatar, please submit your resume to jobs@portalarium.com. Provide links to your work (if possible), including actual game play, videos footage, and document form (images, maps, and event descriptions).

In-game Weekend Community Events

Our community has another lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Check out the latest schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar:

Recurring Events

Player Town: Vengeance – Quests!
- A Runic Scroll was found in Vengeance describing a quest for one and all (details).
The R18 Unreliable Travel Guide
- The Unreliable Travel Guide is not an event, but a 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. (Created at the SotA Writing Round Table)
“The Tavern Respite” RP Event (Mondays, 8pm CST)
- 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 (details)!
Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CST)
- Otherwise known as “Spend Stryker’s Gold” – Stryker will open a bar tab at one of the local Novia taverns for an hour or so for drinks, stories, news, critique of the arts, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Zone /Stryker Sparhawk or watch this thread for locations each week!
Novian Academy: The Philosophy of Order (Fridays, 5:00pm CST)
- Join Kazyn Phoenixfyre on a weekly discussion on the philosophy of Order and their interconnection to the virtues (PaxLair, /zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre)
Vengeance Tournaments
- These tournaments will insure there is a PVP event EVERY NIGHT in Shroud of the Avatar (details)
R17-R18 Deco Contest – PUB CRAWL!
- The theme for this contest is some kind of drinking establishment! Prizes to the top three winners! (details)
Daily Breakfast Club – 12am CST (London UK); 6am CST (Central US); 3pm CST (Sydney Australia)
- Breakfast Clubs offer a time when people from around different time zones can gather. (Wody’s Pub, Paxlair)
Shardfall Madness PVP – Everyone fights it out in a royal rumble (Fridays, 6pm CST; Verdantis Shardfall, Novia or /zone harry underworld; details)
Phoenix Republic Open Mic Night (Thursdays, 7pm CST)
- Come hang out in Wody’s Bar. Have a story or a song, Maybe want to do some stand up? Every Thursday the audience will vote on the winner of the weekly prize (PaxLair, Wody’s Bar, /zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Jack Knyfe)
Beach Party by BMC (Fridays at 9pm CST)
- Come join the BMC for dancing and fun at the Beach (/zone River Beauchamp or Wind Silverrmoon)
Challenge Dungeon Run (Fridays at 7pm CST)
- This is a self-host event, meet at the Braemar Cemetery and organize into groups to take on the infamous Chillblain’s Compendium of Pain & Suffering!

Saturday, June 20

9:00am CST PaxLair Working Hours
- PaxLair town and community “working hours” are for anyone interested in PaxLair. (/zone Winfield)
10:00am CST Bear Tavern – War of 5 Armies
- War has broken out on the island of Brave Coast. Pick a side and join the fray! Prizes! (Meet in Kingsport on the dock with the boat to Brave Coast; details)
11:00am CST Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service
- Join Lady Amber Raine, High Priestess of the Church of the Dark Star along with Kazyn Phoenixfyre of the Church of the Sun, as they bring another thought provoking service. (PaxLair; details)
12:00am CST BMC Craft Faire
- Come and learn the finer arts from the master craftsmen of the BMC! Participants will receive material kits for one of two weapons, which will be used for a hands-on demo! (Owl’s Head)
2:00pm CST Port Phoenix Storytelling Event
- Join Kazyn Phoenixfyre and others as we gather around and share stories, poems, songs and other verses. (/zone kazyn phoenixfyre)
5:00pm CST By Royal Warrant: Vengeance Tournament!
- Join Order of Vengeance as they host a player vs player tournament! This will be either a 1v1, 3v3, or FFA tournament. The winner always gets a prize! (/zone Violation to join)

Sunday, June 21

6:30am CST Explore Novia with royalsexy (PaxLair Moon Tower, /zone royalsexy)
10:00am CST Phoenix Republic Town Hall/Working Hours
- A Gathering of members of the Phoenix Republic to cover important topic areas of the month. (PaxLair, /zone Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Jack Knyfe)
12:00am CST Novian Academy: Roleplay Courses by Luka Melehan
- Join Luka Melehan as she teaches an ongoing course on Roleplay! In this course, you can learn how to get accustomed to roleplaying in New Britannia and participate in future roleplay events. (PaxLair, /zone Luka Melahan, details)
3:00pm CST Litha (Midsummer) Ball
- Wind Silvermoon and the BMC hosts a Ball welcoming in summer. Prizes will be given away! (PaxLair)
3:00pm CST Gustball
- Two teams are pitted against each other by using Gust to a “gustball” (aka avatar) around the field and into your opponent’s goal. (PaxLair, /zone The Ball, details)
5:00pm CST BMC Grid Iron Feast and Registration
- Register to compete in the BMC Gridiron and mingle with other participants and spectators before the big fight! (details)
5:30pm CST 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. (details)
7:00pm CST 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, /zone Winfield)
8:00pm CST 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 lake or pond, /zone Winfield)