Balandar

All items in the Stretch Goal Store will expire at 10:30 am CST, February 29, 2016. This includes such favorites as: Greenhouse, Black Foal, Baby Llama, Elven Home and Armor, Functional Sypglass, Longboat, Admiral’s Outfits, and more! So you better hurry over to the Stretch Goal Store and grab these rare items while they are still available! Stretch Goal Store…

Doddz! Wow, welcome back! We are all enjoying SoTA. How are you doing? Playing any games? P.S. Hopefully you see this reply. I'm not sure if your email is correct on your account (as I was getting bounce backs). Let me know if it's correct and I can update your account. Look forward to seeing you in game!

Quite a few updates for PoTs and PRTs, and water lots. See the forum post here, or the original text below. Greetings Avatars, The recent post about Final Wipe & Lot Selection raised a lot of questions about Player Housing and this update will cover 3 of those topics: Player Owned Towns, Player Run Towns, and Water Lots. SECTION 1: PLAYER OWNED TOWNS: I wish to thank all of the town owners for your generous support of the game and the community. I also want to thank you for your incredible patience as we have gone on this crazy quest to push player driven content as far as we can (given our constraints). As we have mentioned previously, we were completely surprised at the popularity of Player Owned Towns (PoTs). We anticipated selling 20–30 and ended up selling 10 times that number. This success made us reconsider our original strategy of building each town as a custom static map based on templates. We call this type of town a “Custom Static” town. While we still plan to honor that commitment, we have also been steadily investing time in a different direction that would allow Player Owned Towns to be fully dynamic and customizable by player owners. We call this kind of town a “Dynamic” town. Town owners now have the choice between these two options on the town submission form. An unforeseen consequence of this success (and our rapid introduction of over 300 towns into the game) is the overhead related to change requests. More than 50% of the time we spend on Player Owned Towns each release is devoted to changes of name, location, template, connections, etc. We do not believe this is the optimal use of the pledge dollars and this is not a cost we had factored into the original price. Therefore, effective immediately, we are changing how we handle change requests and the sequence of when we add PoTs to the game. Previously, we would integrate them as soon as basic information was entered into the form. From now on the owner must first “lock” the submission form, then and only then, will we implement the submission. When "locked" no more changes can be made to the submission form, unless unlocked (see below)."Note that this also means that changes to the form cannot be made until the form is unlocked. We are in the process of adding a new button named "Submit & Lock" and expect it to be ready by R28. The submission form can only be unlocked either by upgrading to a larger size or by purchasing a service voucher (larger change requests may require additional service voucher purchases). It is worth noting that currently most change requests can only be accommodated when we wipe, so it will be up to 90 days before you will see any changes go live after requesting them. After the final wipe, we will have tech in place that allows us to make changes without wipes, of course. Also, note that transferring ownership of a town will not unlock the submission form. Please note that NO forms will be locked until the owner locks it. This means that if you are waiting to see more templates or more tools come online then DON'T lock your form (but also understand that no interim changes will be made). Custom Static vs. Dynamic PoTs: The following outlines how the two town types differ and describes the cost/benefit analysis of each as well as the process and schedule. Custom Static: Benefits: These scenes have the potential to look more unique, even though they are built off existing templates. For example you could request that we completely wall off your town even though it is on multiple elevation, something that can't be done currently with walls in dynamic towns. Once in game, owners have very little work to do other than unlocking lots. Process: Owner fills out the PoT submission form completely, including proposed layouts and customization requests. Owner locks form via “Lock & Submit”. Portalarium consults with player about the submissions. Portalarium builds a custom scene using the selected template and modifies it based on player submissions beginning sometime after final wipe. Costs: Scene is completely static, it cannot be modified by the player once it is in the game. PoT Decorations cannot be placed in Static Towns. Any desired changes after implementation will require purchasing at least one service voucher, including conversion to Dynamic. The only exception is upgrading to a bigger town size. Building of these will not recommence until August 2016 and will be delivered on a monthly basis. Build order will be based first on PoT size and second on PoT purchase date. Change requests to existing Static towns (including size upgrades) will not be fulfilled until all Static towns are complete (except for conversion to Dynamic which may be sooner) All towns currently in game will remain dynamic until we are able to get to converting them to Static. This means when the town transitions from Dynamic to Static at later date all residents will need to reclaim and redecorate. Advice for owners would be to constrain population to residents who understand this. Dynamic: Benefits: Owners can modify just about anything at any time: Lot Locations / Orientations Lot Sizes NPC Buildings NPCs Scene Music PoT decorations (walls, pavers, trees, etc.) PoT will enter the game possibly as soon as the next build after the submission form is locked with just basic information of: name, template, and location chosen Process: Owner fills out form with name, template, location, connection(s) and add on store building selections (if eligible). NOTE: All other fields are irrelevant. Owner locks form via “Submit & Lock” Portalarium implements Dynamic Town within 90 days of submission (but often as soon as the next month’s release). NOTE: If your town is already in game and you are eligible, right after you Lock your form for the first time you will receive your selection of Add-On Store Buildings. (See details below). Costs: Towns are non-modified versions of the templates. Nothing will be modified on the template by Portalarium. For example this means that all PoT connections happen from the same place using the same visuals (boats, wagons, manholes, etc.) in each template and cannot be modified. Unlocking the form to make changes will require a service voucher. Pre- versus Post-Wipe: Below, you will find a comprehensive list of all items we hope to have online before the final wipe, as well as any items we plan to support after the wipe. Anything not listed below is not currently being considered for Episode 1. For instance, Owner customization of PoT connections is not something we plan to support for Episode 1. Pre-Wipe Features & Content: The following is a list of all content that we plan is planned for implementation before or for Release 32 in July. Templates: 14 Templates based on 5 Unique Layouts/Terrain Sculpts that cover all 8 biomes (current count is 12 Templates, 4 Layouts, 7 biomes). Town Permissions: Ability to designate various levels of delegates to help run the town (working in game now). Lot Permissions: Ability to flag lots as open or designate for specific players (working in game now). Add-On Store Buildings: PoTs purchased prior to January 4, 2016 receive a selection of certain Add-On Store buildings. These will be delivered to the owner after their submission form is locked and the PoT is present in game. Goal is to have this functioning no later than Release 29 (April). Please note that for Episode 1 there are only two City sized homes: Twin Spires Manor and Adobe 2-story Keep. Due to an earlier error in communication qualifying PoT owners, village size and above, who do *not* choose the Twin Spire Manor, may opt to choose a smaller house and qualify for a free Adobe 2-story Keep. For example, the owner of a Metropolis can earn up to 4 additional Adobe 2-story Keeps. Giant Pavers: In game craft-able and add on store versions to better facilitate roads. Dynamic Towns: All PoTs with locked submission forms by Release 30 (May 26) will be present in game for Release 32 on July 28. Dynamic Town Tools: These are the tools owners can use to modify their towns: Lot Marker Placement: Working in game now. NPC Building Placement: Working in game now. POT Decoration Placement: Working in game now but current placed decoration limits (including lights) will be doubled (at least). Scene Music Selection: This will be done via an ingame wax cylinder jukebox. Hope to have this working in R28 or R29. NPC Placement: Working in game now. NPC Renaming: Working in game now Post-Wipe Features & Content: The following items will come online in the monthly releases AFTER Release 32. Blessings: Certain structures placed in PoTs, like Titan Statues, will convey blessings to players who visit that town. The duration and/or strength of the blessing is tied directly to the occupancy of the town. We do not yet have any other details about how blessings will work, but do not fear being locked into any one structure/blessing because Dynamic Town owners can change any of their decorations and buildings at any time (note that there may be a timing constraint to how quickly and how often you can change your blessing). Dynamic Overworld Visuals: The number of buildings will indicate size and occupancy levels of the town. Smoke from chimneys and/or lights in windows will indicate if players are currently online in that town. Particles will indicate the presence of a blessing and possibly indicate which exact blessing. Templates: 20 Templates with at least 10 Unique Layouts/Terrain Sculpts. Town Public Gardens: The ability for any player or town dweller to plant in a public garden area will come online shortly after Public Gardens come online in the rest of the game. NPC Behaviors: We hope to support behaviors beyond simple conversations and merchant function for NPCs. For instance we hope to allow POT NPC Guards to act like all other NPC guards where they will eventually patrol player towns and they might notice stealing or combat and fine players for infractions. Dynamic Town Tools: Highlight Flat Areas: this will allow owners to see nearby flat areas to ease placement Snap/Align to Adjacent Lot: This function allows town owners to snap lots together, especially helpful when placing row lots (note we hope to provide this function for walls/fences too). Entry/Exit Point Locations: Owners will be able to select from a list of possible locations. Note that this will NOT be the ability to place an entry point location anywhere. PoT Connection Locations: Owners will be able to select from a list of possible locations. Note that this will NOT be the ability to place a connection anywhere. Town Crier Locations: Owners will be able to select from a list of possible locations. Note that this will NOT be the ability to place a town crier anywhere. POT Decorations/Structure Lockdown: Anyone who has accidentally grabbed a guard tower from underneath themselves will appreciate the ability to lock structures and decorations. NPC Visual Variety: We hope to provide a wider visual range of NPCs (clothing, facial features, equipment, hair, etc.) so they are not all so identical. Lawn Mower: An object that lets players remove trees and foliage from areas without requiring object or lot placement. SECTION 2: PLAYER RUN TOWNS: Player Run Towns (also known as Mixed Settlements): These are towns not owned by players, not named on the cloth map, and not part of any story. To facilitate the number of lots needed for all players we are going to increase the number of these settlements in Novia and Hidden Vale These will be loosely based on the Player Owned Town templates so we can have a variety of biomes. They will now also include an NPC core that includes some basic amenities (like bank, basic trainer, crafting stations, crafting supplies, and general goods shopkeeper) Increased variety of lot sizes, especially for larger lots SECTION 3: WATER LOTS: The recent announcements about lot selection raised some questions about water lots that have been confusing to everyone. Please note that all of these lots expired with the Fall 2015 Expiration event. Water Lots: These are waterfront lots that can be placed along shorelines, piers, and docks. These are limited to Village, Town and City lots. Water lots can only be claimed with Founder Deeds (pledge rewards for Founders and Royal Founders) starting with the Citizen pledge Can be found in almost any town that has open water (lake, river, ocean, canals, etc.) Currently can be placed in Dynamic Player Owned Towns along natural shorelines but currently does not work with manmade areas like docks and piers but we hope to have this fixed post Final Wipe. Island Lots: These are lots not attached to shore directly (like the regular water lots above). They come with a Keep or Castle sized plot of land. Island lots can only be claimed with Founder Deeds (pledge rewards for Founders and Royal Founders) starting with the Duke pledge These can be found in towns with very large open water areas (ocean mainly) Please note that these are actual pieces of land in the water (i.e. islands) so players will place land homes on them, not water homes on them. There are currently none of these in the game. We just recently fixed some technical issues that were blocking us implementing them and we plan to have them start appearing as soon as Release 29. Water Homes: These houses can be placed on Water lots only. Village Size: Waterfront Cabana (Citizen) Waterfront German-Style Cabana (Edelmann & Edelmann – All Digital) Waterfront Lighthouse (Knight) Town Size: Waterfront Houseboat (Lord) City Size: Frigate (Baron 1) Galleon (Baron 2 & 3) Waterfront Castle (Duke) Island Lots: There are no specific homes associated with these. Any land based home can be placed on them. As mentioned above these are not in game yet. Duke Island (Duke) Lord of the Manor Island (Lord of the Manor 1 & 2) From <https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/player-housing-update-player-owned-towns-player-run-towns-and-water-lots.46411/>

MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Portalarium will donate 50% of its share* of the purchase price of this item to the designated charity SoTA has several items from the Countach Album by Shooter Jennings. You can purchase all as a package for $50 or separate here. This is with new money only, you cannot use store credit or turn them into store credit.

Original Forum Post Official Post: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=56740 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. Key: Plain Text: The original plan for the Release deliverables. We intentionally preserve the original text so that our backers can compare plan versus actuals. Italics: Extra notes and new deliverables Strikethrough: These are items that did not make the release RELEASE 27, February 25, 2016: Story: More polish passes will be made on existing maps for balance and story support. We will also continue to expand the story with new scenes, including the town of Xenos and the entrance to the dungeon of Artifice. Scenes in the Vale will start to get polish passes to bring them up to current dynamic spawning standards. Xenos Delayed: Starting with Release 27 we shifted the focus of implementation order to be region by region. We will circle back to Elysium (region where Xenos is located) next release. Hidden Vale Polish Delayed: Hidden Vale is not part of the plot so it is currently lower priority for spawning (although we did update the sky in all those scenes, see below). Escort Quests: NPCs can now move between locations and/or follow the player based on quest flags. First example of this can be seen in the Highvale starting scene. Artifice: As most travelers and pilgrims to Xenos know—across the rolling plains of the island Elysium, several day's journey beyond the River Fall, and perched in a crook of the craggy northern arm of the aptly-named Rumor Peaks—lay the mysterious and legendary destination known as Artifice. Though there are a variety of tales that claim to know the truth behind why it was created, and by whom, the only rumors that draw hopeful visitors from across the world to gather with needy abandon in the halls of Xenos are the stories told of the dreams and wishes that can come true for those lucky enough to win the lottery granting permission to enter Artifice's secluded depths. The Halls of Artifice below will appear in a later release. Paladis Shardfall (PVP): The newest shardfall to be added can be found in the North Paladis region. Opalis Ruins (PVP): This ruined city can be found in South Paladis. Drachvald Towns: We made a major push to fill out the Drachvald region (northeast corner of Novia) in R27 including adding 6 new NPC Towns. For now, these towns are clones of other existing towns with mostly generic NPCs alongside story-specific NPCs. Post-July, we will circle back and make these scenes unique. Broochash Eastmarch Port Graff Graff Island Brookside: This scene includes a small vignette with a familiar companion. Spite: This scene includes an introduction to the dungeon of Malice, although the dungeon is not yet accessible. Visiting the Keg and Egg Tavern will allow you to meet some unique travellers to this town on the edge of death. Drachvald Adventure Scenes: In addition to adding NPC Towns to Drachvald, we also created 6 adventure scenes (of multiple levels of difficulty) to facilitate character advancement and resource gathering in the region. These adventure scenes are temporarily clones of existing scenes. Post-July, we will circle back and make these scenes unique. Rhun Ruins (PVP) South Drachvald Spur North Drachvald Spur West Vauban Foothills East Vauban Foothills The Sirens Foothills North Hulenhot South Hulenholt South Paladis: This centrally located region has been filled with one new town and 10 adventure scenes of multiple levels of difficulty to facilitate character advancement and resource gathering in the region. Similar to above these are clones of existing scenes. Post-July we will circle back and make these unique scenes. Storms Reach (town) Superstition Canyon (Control Point) Northwest Blackblade Mountains (connected to Blackblade Pass) South Hinterlands North Hinterlands Far Hinterlands North Shattered Hills South Shattered Hills Blackblade Foothills Middle Downs South Broken Road Blackblade Pass: Extended entry and exit sections of the caverns, and converted to dynamic enemy and resource spawning. Hidden Vale: All scenes in Hidden Vale are now using the new sky and weather. Hilt Fortress: The Obsidian Forge is now functioning but beware; for not only does it drain the user’s life and focus, but it also draws the attention of ever increasing waves of enemies (much like a Control Point). Note: the material Obsidian is not yet part of the crafting system. Epitaph: Updated and polished spawning, doors, interactives, etc. Necropolis: The first of several planned fixes to Necropolis have gone in this release, including improved/streamlined conversations with the inhabitants (who are much more difficult to understand by themselves now; unless you have some familiarity with long-unused languages). Further improvements are planned in future releases to this important part of the Path of Love questline. Starting Scenes / Tutorials: We have begun a major push through the starting scenes to improve, streamline, and polish. We will devote time in each release to steadily improving the beginning of the game. We have also added the ability to start each of the three questlines independent of which questline you start with. Highvale: Key to leave the area is now obtained from the knight you talk to when arriving. The knight no longer appears dead and now automatically talks to you on arrival. Edvard now gives you items and guidance needed to resume Path of Love quest in Soltown. Notes from elves and defending Knights of Norgard can now be found on corpses, shedding some light on what has happened. The healer found in the ruined village can now be led to the knight to offer him aid (first example of Escort Quest). Outside of the village is a bit more dangerous, with wolves and the occasional bear, but resources can be found as well. Any character can now enter Highvale Village and start the Path of Courage quest, even if that character started elsewhere with a different storyline path; the first time you enter the scene you will enter the single-player version (minus the initial tutorial). Isle of Storms: Arabella now talks to you automatically on arrival. Additionally, hints appear when you die explaining what happened and what to do next. Blood River: Any character can now enter this scene and start the Path of Truth, even if that character started elsewhere with a different storyline path; the first time you enter the scene you will enter the single-player version (minus the initial tutorial). Solace Bridge: Any character can now enter these scenes and start the Path of Love, even if that character started elsewhere with a different storyline path; the first time you enter the scene you will enter the single-player version (minus the initial tutorial). Ardoris: Changes to NPC dialog and journal entries have been made to make the journey through this city's quest line clearer for new players. Player Owned Towns: We will add another town template and towns will begin to receive blessings based on buildings placed and population density. Music chosen in the PoT submission form will begin to be heard. Blessings Delayed: As mentioned in the Final Wipe / Lot Selection post this feature has been delayed until after Final Wipe. Music Selection Delayed: We are going to move this to in game functionality for dynamic towns in a future release. Pavers and City Walls Clear Foliage: Placing Pavers or City Walls now clears trees and grass. Template Polish: Terrain flattened in various areas of Desert 01 template Public Cache Chests: These can now be placed in PoTs with limits based on town size. Holdfast allows placement of 1, Hamlet allows 2, etc. New Template Variations: We have introduced 5 variations of existing templates including: 01a (Cobblestone Free): Forest 01, Desert 01, Swamp 01, and Snowy Mountains 01 now all have variations that have no cobblestones pre-placed. These are designated as 01a in the form since they are identical to the original template in all other aspects. Forest 02 (Forested Plain): This is a fully forested variation based on the Grasslands template. New Dynamic PoTs: We added 24 new dynamic PoTs (listed below). We also upgraded sizes on several PoTs and added requested interconnections (these are not listed below) Astoria Ayrshire (nested in Owl's Head). Bearskin Grotto (nested in Port Phoenix) Brickbay (nested in Jaanaford). Bricksands (nested in Desolis). Bricksium (nested in Aerie). Bricktown (nested in Soltown). Brickvald (nested in Port Graff). Caden Ben (nested in Aerie). Dragonhame (nested in Oceania). Gensfield Glacebourg (nested in Admont). Isle of Apples Magincia (nested in Oceania). Mizell Thapae (nested in Resolute). Nowheresville Olde Haven (nested in Owl's Head). Painted Caves (nested in Oceania). Papua (nested in Oceania). Shadow's Rest Siren Song Bayou (nested in Port Phoenix). Storm's End (nested in The Stormlands). The Gloaming Grotto The Stormlands Roving Encounters: Roving encounters (patrolling creatures) will now appear on the overworld map and can be engaged (pulling you into a scene) or avoided if you wish to sneak past. Roving Encounters Delayed: As mentioned in the Final Wipe / Lot Selection post this feature has been delayed until after Final Wipe. Crafting: The crafting system will expand with recipes for alcohol and teleportation. Additionally certain recipes can now be taught to other players. More resources will begin appearing in the game as well. Alcohol and Recipe Teaching Delayed: As mentioned in the Final Wipe / Lot Selection post these features have been delayed until after Final Wipe. Equipped Tool: Players can now equip a preferred primary tool for each crafting skill in the skill tree interface. Tools can also be equipped and are displayed in the crafting table Interface. To make this seamless for new characters, we now start players with basic versions of all tools. Note that secondary tools used at crafting stations will continue to operate as before. Agriculture: Plant Growing Inside (plus Roofs & Balconies): Budding gardeners can once again grow plants inside player houses, as well as on roofs, balconies, and in basements. Note that growth inside is 90% slower than growth outside. For example, a plant that takes 1 day to grow outside might take over a week to grow inside. Plant Removal: Plants can now be removed from planters. Pledge Reward Reagent Plants: No longer need to be replanted and always provide at least one reagent per day. Skills Removed: Agriculture will differ from other crafting because it will focus more on the process and not skill advancement. Therefore, there are no Agriculture skills, and gathering skills no longer affect agriculture results. Citrine and Onyx: These gems are now correctly appearing in crystal ore nodes at various locations in the game. Prosperity Tools: These now increase the player’s base Meticulous Collection chances when gathering. Crafting Timers: Crafting items now takes time based on difficulty of the recipe. This is a first step at increasing the interactivity of events and eventually bulk crafting/salvage/repair. New Recipes: We added several new recipes to the game including the consumables for the new fast travel mechanics (see Fast Travel below). Recall Scroll Teleport Scroll Castle Walls Walking Cane Kilt Butter Cheese Wedge Crackling (Moved to be component, not final product) Flour Jar of Nut Butter Pie Dough Plate Of Sugar Cookies Plate Of White Cake Plate Of Brace Of Lapine Plate Of Darkstarr Fried Oysters (fixed issues) Plate Of Darkstarr Smoked Duck (fixed issues) Job System: Public and player vendors will now take Job Orders. These jobs describe what players wish to purchase and how much they will pay for them. Purchase Orders: We actually implemented this (albeit named Purchase Orders) in R26. Interactive Use Logging: Players will be able to view a log that tracks which players used any containers on a player’s lot or Player Owned Town location. Log of Usage: Right clicking on containers on players’ lots will show a list of everyone who has used that object. This log is also visible on the lot sign. Combat: Balance passes will be made across most parts of combat including PVP. Animal Charm: Now usable out of combat. Animation Speed: Did a pass through most weapons to make the animations work better with the overall increase in combat speed that we introduced in R26. Blink: The cooldown timer has been increased by 2 seconds and the focus cost upped by 2. Buff Dismissal: Buffs with multiple effects no longer require multiple dismissals Caltrops: Can now be used from the non-combat bar and will now properly trigger combat Chaotic Feedback and Shield of Air: These two buffs were truly causing chaotic feedback when used concurrently! These have been changed so one now overwrites the other. Chaotic Step: Should now be functioning once again! Damage: Melee damage has been reduced by 3.3% for all hits and the max damage done by a critical has been reduced by 15%. Magic damage remains unchanged but magic criticals have had their max hit reduced by 15%. Healing Burst: Healing burst will now require reagents. Interactions with Bow: You can now properly open doors, gates, etc. instead of shooting them when you have a bow equipped. Light: The light spell will now cast a larger, brighter light. Shield your eyes! Offhand Defense: This now gives an “always on” parry bonus instead of adding damage resistance. The benefit of time will be approximately the same amount of damage but applied differently. Parry: In our ongoing effort to make different weapon types more meaningful, all weapons now have a parry effectiveness that is not tied to the weapon damage. Daggers and small blades are now more effective than many larger weapons in stopping damage in a parry. Large, hafted weapon and bows are now less efficient at parrying than before. Additionally, offhand weapons now add to the amount stopped when parrying so now that offhand dagger won’t just be for looks! Plague: Plague damage now increases over time, so getting cured quickly is now much more important. Reveal Hidden: Reagent use was dropped to be in line with other tier 3 spells. Ring of Fire: Ring of Fire was updated to the new math used for most combat skills. Root: Root spells will now have their duration shortened based on the target’s strength. For players, this will mean that their roots are one to three seconds shorter but for many large monsters, this will likely make the roots only last few seconds. For extremely powerful creatures, like trolls, dragons, and daemons, the root be broken immediately. Shield Skills: We worked hard to finish out the Shield Skill Tree with new skills and expanded functionality to existing skills. Dig In: Area of effect shield buff that increases damage resistance in a radius around the caster but only if caster remains immobile. The effect increases multiplicatively as additional users cast the buff nearby. Testudo: Shield buff that increases damage resistance in a radius around the caster but slows the caster down. The effect increases multiplicatively as additional users cast the buff nearby. Redirection: Innate Shield skill that increases chance to force a glancing blow if the player has a shield equipped. Bolster Balance: Innate Shield skill that increases knockdown, knockback, and stun resistance. Strength of Earth: Base boost dropped from 10 to 5 + skill level/10. This was to move it to be in line with the other stat buffs. Tooltips: Filled in missing information for the following skills: Silent Movement Animal Charm Camouflage Engage Opponent Juxtapose Light Mind Wipe Shadow Form Vanish Mind Lock Untrain: A skill set to Untrain will quickly lose experience. Some of the lost experience is put back into their experience pool. Note that only skills above level 20 can be set to Untrain. Weapon Proficiency: In previous releases, not having any skill with a weapon would perform the math as if the player had a 40 skill. This has been corrected. Having no skill will now treat the player as if they have a 1 skill. Performance and Polish: Major efforts will be done to optimize performance and polish gameplay. We will also increase the breadth of metrics and logging. Weather: The visual effects associated with weather are now linked to quality settings. This should greatly improve performance for those running "Fastest" on lower end computers. Heatmaps: We now are able to visualize data internally for scenes using heatmaps. We will use these to help track everything from resource yields to player death “hot spots.” Here’s an example showing a traffic pattern through Novia. Configurable Saturation: Players can now tune the color saturation to their liking. Slider all the way to the left is zero saturation and completely grey scale. Saturation slider one quarter of the way to the right is the default saturation level you are used to. With the slider at the halfway mark, it is closer to Ultima 9 and all the way to the right is approaching the Wizard of Oz. Map-Specific Performance Improvements: Hilt, Desolis Underground, and Novia all received some map-specific performance work. Cloaks: Cloak logic has been updated to make them much less costly in high player count situations. Game Mode Display: Players now have the option to display in-game what game mode they are currently playing (Single Player, Friends, Open). Lighting: The overall brightness of all scenes was increased slightly and the maximum brightness value has been increased on the Brightness slider in options. Additionally, some of the specific weather cases had their brightness tuned and we have increased the radius of player equipped and cast lights. Fast Travel: Fast travel has had a major overhaul and is now integrated into the player economy with crafted elements. The previous zoning methods allowed unencumbered instant travel across the map at will. These completely defeated the regional economies we are working hard to create, as well as allowing players to circumvent content like control points. Finally, features like “Zone to Lot” gave a completely disproportionate advantage to players owning multiple properties. The below changes will curb abuse, level the playing field, and help reinforce the regional economies. We realize this will be painful for some of you, but these changes are needed for the long term health of the game economy. /stuck: The ability to rescue yourself from inaccessible areas now has some constraints applied to it in order to curb its misuse as an escape route. There is now a casting timer and a cooldown so it cannot be instantly performed and then repeated instantly. We are also now properly logging the use of this feature so we can automatically track trouble spots in scenes and trap exploits. Additionally, this feature now does a pathfinding check around you and moves you to a random nearby valid location instead of the map exit point. Bind & Recall: Players now have the option to bind to a single point in the game to which they can return to at any time by using a consumable Recall scroll (crafted via Alchemy). There are two options for binding; Town Criers or your property marker/sign. There is a casting timer and a cooldown for Recall. Note that this replaces the “Zone to Lot” functionality. New players will receive 12 Recall scrolls. For R27 only, we are also giving every character 20 Recall scrolls. Teleport (to Friend): This replaces /zone and functions very similarly. You select someone from your friends list and then use a consumable Teleport scroll (crafted via Alchemy) to teleport to entrance of the scene they are in. There is a casting timer and a cooldown for this action. Note that in a future release, Friends will move to a two way confirmation (like Facebook). New players will receive 12 Teleport scrolls. For R27 only, we are also giving every character 20 Teleport scrolls. Creatures: Elemental Loot: Elementals now leave a lootable corpse (with loot!). Oracle Bugs: Now have a scanning behavior when near things that the Oracle finds interesting. Dragon: We did a pass to polish animations and visual effects. Troll: We polished visual effects. Undead: The undead are now immune to poisons. Play Behaviors: Creatures now have the ability to display play behaviors. In R27, you can see Wolves periodically chase and mock fight each other. We will slowly expand this over time to other creatures. Resource Guarding Behaviors: Some creatures are attracted to resource nodes and will attempt to guard them. In future releases, we may expand this to be creature- and resource-specific. (For example: Fire Elementals would always guard sulphur nodes). Avatars: Walking Canes: Elegant avatars about town wouldn’t be caught dead without one of these accessories held in the left hand. There is a recipe to craft one in the game, and a fancier version will be available in the Add-On Store. Kilts: Freedom (from pants)! These plaid, non-pants can be crafted in game and a fancier version will be available in the Add-On Store. Blend Shapes: When creating a character, the sliders that modify face shape now average the underlying blend shapes instead of adding the modifications on top of each other. This should minimize some of the weird deformations that were being created. It will also unlock our ability to allow for more extreme settings without breaking the face. Nameplate Information: The full information (color, title, guild) is also now displayed in upper left corner of screen. Baron/Baroness Founder Title: These pledge titles now accurately display in gold. Lord British Cloak: The mysterious effect on this cloak is now not so mysterious. A player wearing the cloak has their health appear at full health until they are nearing death. Unfortunately, Lord British has a strange power that attracts random falling objects, and this cloak also has that effect. Water Cloak: This cloak that supports Water.org now extends the duration of the /rain emote and increases the loot chance in wishing wells (see below). Dyes: You can now dye clothing in bag mode. Emotes: We added a few new emotes to the game. /dance5: This is an energetic dance for when the music moves you. It can be found by talking to the music merchant Shandala Truesong in Aerie or from other players who have learned it. /panic: This is a "What? What's happening?" gesture of surprise. It can be found by talking to Willem, the bar patron in Resolute or from other players who have learned it. /pray: This is a sign of quiet meditation. It can be learned from Damai, the Mother of Peace, in Khasi's Castle in Ardoris or from other players who have learned it. Player Housing Greenhouses: We added three new greenhouses to the game: Rusted Iron Small Greenhouse (Add-On Store), Rusted Iron Large (in game), and Round Elven Greenhouse (Add-On Store). Simplified Collision: This improves performance and stops the camera from hitting things like roof beams inside. Duke Benefactor Duke Founder Lord of the Manor Keep Lord of the Manor Twin Spires Manor Addressed Geometry and texture bugs Citizen Waterfront Cabana Baron Benefactor Duke Founder Lord of the Manor Keep Window Transparency issues Leaky Roofs: We have made some improvements to the interaction between rain and buildings to fix the leaky roofs. Please note that at lower quality settings and/or in scenes with a very high density of objects rain may still get inside. Built in Lights: We added these to the Lord of the Manor Keep and Lord of the Manor Home. Ardoris Water Lots: These were positioned too far from piers making the docks, stairs, etc. of water homes sort incorrectly. City Arena Basement: Added secret bricks to open doors in cells that were trapping players. Sojourner Tales Magical Printing Press and Book: Backers who backed Sojourner Tales will receive this magical printing press with the Sojourner symbol on it. Using the press makes a book copy with the Sojourner Tales symbol on the cover. Recap (aka Space Bards) Gypsy Dance: The infamous Gypsy Dance from “The Return of Lord British” music video by the Recap (Space Bards) is now in game (currently titled /dance4) and available to everyone who has pledged to Shroud of the Avatar (cutoff for eligibility will be when we expire all pledges in July). Next release we will be providing ABC versions of select songs from Neon Milk and “The Return of Lord British” on a special neon green wax cylinder to backers who backed both Neon Milk and Shroud of the Avatar (more details next release). Countach Make a Difference: We are proud to announce that we are partnering with Shooter Jennings, and his label Black Country Rock, to raise money through our Make a Difference Store using Shooter’s newest album: Countach (featuring our very own Lord British). The following items are now available for purchase and 50% of the proceeds will be donated to a Cancer charity (details later): Countach Wax Cylinders: 6 songs from the new album plus an exclusive bonus track “The Death of Lord British” all on exclusive Countach Pink wax cylinders. Countach Album Cover Art: The incredible album art is now available as a framed painting that you can place on your walls. Countach Pink Dye: This exclusive hot pink dye is sure to catch attention. Countach Phonograph: This exclusive version of the ornate metal phonograph has pink and purple highlights Wishing Wells: Throwing coins in a well can sometimes result in receiving a random gift. As mentioned above, wearing the Water cloak improves your chances. This works on the placeable decoration as well as any wells seen in the game. Economy: Loot Throttling: We now have the ability to set thresholds, maximum limits, and time constraints to loot to aid in battling exploits. Drag/Drop Trading: Dragging an item on top of another player will now initiate a secure trade. Crowns of the Obsidians: These very rare coins left over from the age of the Obsidians can be found occasionally on higher level creatures. In later releases, they can be redeemed with trainers, the oracle, and other locations for blessings. Bulk Reagents: Reagents can now be purchased in bulk. New Sound Effects: Another huge pass through the game upgrading and adding new sounds. Slimes Breakable Rock Walls Electrical Junction Boxes Water Wheels Water Fountains Gears Obsidian Forge Death Sounds Death Ambience Curtains Candles Torches Braziers Dead Bodies Skeleton Bodies Elf Dead Bodies Wolves Soltown Sewers Blood River Solace Bridge Highvale Purify Spell Zombies Elves So, now that it is clear what you can expect, we should also be as clear about what you should NOT expect: Performance: We have only done rudimentary optimizations, and we do not yet have a full suite of performance fallbacks (LODs, etc.). This means the game will be quite slow on older machines, and due to memory usage, and might be unstable in certain conditions (like densely decorated areas). With each release, we will be doing further optimizations and adding to our fallbacks to improve performance. Crafting: The crafting system is in the game as a framework, but is still missing some key components like a full suite of Refining/Production Skills and breadth/depth of recipes. Game Loop: Release 27 is a further iteration on our game loop, but is still missing some key components. Expect this to expand with each subsequent release, but it won’t be truly complete until we hit final wipe in July. Visual Quality: Efforts to improve visual quality are ongoing. We will continue to iterate on these until we have highly competitive visuals. Pledge Rewards: Pledge Rewards that have been built and have tech to support them are in the game; all other rewards are awaiting either content creation or tech support. You can find an updated list of these items in known issues. Persistence: As part of development, we will need to periodically wipe data including characters, property, etc. As we near official launch the frequency should decrease, but there will definitely be a wipe right before launch. So consider everything gained during early access temporary. Here are links to instructions and known issues. Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with, and we are proud to be on this journey with you. Sincerely, Starr Long aka Darkstarr Executive Producer