Shroud of the Avatar – Update of the Avatar #195
Greetings Fellow Avatars!
Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
More Estgard Polish
Estgard is on the island of Norgard and is part of the Path of Courage. It is a cloned scene using one of our PRT / POT templates based off of the Forest 01 base template (aka PaxLair). In Release 33, the devs did an initial rebuild (aka “un-cloning”) of that scene where we added a plot specific perimeter wall and a handful of other visual changes to have it more closely match the Viking like style of the island of Norgard.
In Release 34, they are polishing that rebuild to bring it up to our visual standards. When they start focusing on the Courage Path in a future release, it will also get an NPC polish pass. In Update 192, SorcerousSteve gave you a preview of these changes and this week he is giving you another update on the upcoming improvements.
[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]
REVISITING ESTGARD
Hey guys, SorcerousSteve here to give you an update on Estgard, hot of the press as we head into Release 34!
Cenote Undine
Dive into the clear crystalline waters of the Cenotes of Estgard and learn about the secrets they hold. This large sinkhole more than 100 feet deep lies nestled in the forest just south of Estgard.
Pitch darkness can be seen where the bottom of this giant sinkhole drops down into the abyss.
Live among Viking/Norse inspired architecture.
Falls of Strymon
Runestone formations litter the landscape.
A gorge located just outside of the Estgard walls among the forested cliff terrain.
See you next time!
In August of 2015, during Release 20, the dev teams responded to many requests from community members to be able to view a home in-game before they purchase it (either from the Add-On Store, Stretch Goal Store, or through a pledge upgrade) by building Hometown for the first time. Using the Island template, Starr “Darkstarr” Long built the town of Hometown on an island just off the southeast corner of Novia, near the starting town of Soltown.
Over many releases, Hometown morphed several times; changing biomes and becoming a community effort. Starting shortly after persistence in Release 32, the devs decided to take this back over as a developer effort versus a volunteer community effort. This was supposedly not an easy decision for them, but there was some negative perception around having players have access to the houses and decorations for “free”. So, rather than create “unnecessary drama”, they have just decided to take this back on as a dev effort.
Darkstarr has been placing the first sets of lots and houses on Live, and various team members will be claiming and decorating them as their own over the next several releases. Hometown is located off the southeastern coast of Novia, near Soltown (see map).
The dock area where you arrive includes links to all the other templates currently available so you can view those to see how they are all laid out. There is a large perimeter wall built with the White Stone Castle Walls that encircles the main flat area on the main island. All the houses in that enclosed area are available in the Add-On Store (ala carte or in in Bundles) or in-game (crafted or bought from NPC merchants). Everything outside of that perimeter wall is expired content.
The center of town near the main entrance is where you can find all of the various row houses. Directly behind them is Viking Avenue, which features all the Viking Bundle Homes. To the right is Kobold Quarter, which features the Kobold Bundle homes. And beyond that is what will become the Obsidian Section; featuring the Obsidian Bundle homes. To the left is the Elven area. The rest of the interior area is devoted to the various other home types and is roughly grouped by style (Adobe, Rustic, Shingle Roof, etc.). 
