August 31 marks the end of our Summer Bonus promotion and to commemorate the event, we are holding a 12-Hour End-of-Summer Telethon, from 10am CST to 10pm CST, August 31, 2015! We are giving away hourly prizes during the telethon, as well as three Big Prizes, including a Patron, Ancestor, and Lord Pledge!

$52,500: Current Telethon Funds Raised
(in $2500/shot increments)

As a special bonus, we are offering Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards to any backer that pledges a minimum of $5 during the telethon until Midnight August 31, 2015 (Store Credit to make $5 minimum purchase does not apply). The Telethon Funding Stretch Goal Rewards are:

• Achieved!  $10,000 – Gossamer Cloak
• Achieved!  $25,000 – Lord British emote & Darklamp
• Achieved!  $50,000 – Nightmare “Mount” (flaming black coconuts that leave a trail of smoke plus black horse head mask with red flaming eyes)

Warning: Telethon video is Rated PG-13 for Alcoholic Content
(might get upgraded to Rated-R depending on rate of pledges)

Here is the full schedule of events:

• 10:00 am CST: Welcome! – Meet the Devs / Office Tour – Who: Starr, Richard, Chris, Dallas – Prizes: Patron Pledge, Store Credit
• 11:00 am CST: Gustball: Devs vs. Players – Host: Lazarus – Prizes: SotA Coin, Store Credit
• 12:00 pm CST: Deep Dive 1: Story – Who: Tracy, Richard, Lum, Gina – Host: Lumpdizzle – Prizes: SotA Coin, Store Credit
• 1:00 pm CST: Community 1: Guilds – Who: Gina, BMC, Phoenix Republic, Beran League, Syndicate, Tantulus, etc. +Ken & Joaquin – Host: Amber Raine – Prizes: Poster, Store Credit
• 2:00 pm CST: Deep Dive 2: Player Property / Player Owned Towns – Who: Ken, Hutch, Starr, Rick, Mathew N., Bob, Andy – Host: Duke violation – Prizes: SotA Coin, Store Credit
• 3:00 pm CST: Dev Tabletop board game play session – Who: Rick, Ken, Joaquin – Prizes: SotA Coin, Store Credit
• 4:00 pm CST: Deep Dive 3: Crafting / Economy – Who: Jeff, B, Chris, Starr, Richard – Host: HogwinHD
  Prizes: Ancestor Pledge, Store Credit
• 5:00 pm CST: Community 2: Streamers and Charity – Who: Gina, Wrath, Dallas – Host: Eclipse Maiden – Prizes: SotA Coin, Store Credit
• 6:00 pm CST: Deep Dive 4: Combat / Creatures – Who: B, Chris, Geoff, Bren, Erik, Starr – Host: TBD – Prizes: Poster, Store Credit
• 7:00 pm CST: Deep Dive 5: PVP, Guild Warfare – Who: B, Chris, Starr – Host: Jack Frost – Prizes: SotA Coin, Store Credit
• 8:00 pm CST: PVP Fights in game: Devs vs. Players – Host: Beetlebear / Ambushed – Prizes: SotA Coin, Store Credit
• 9:00 pm CST: Community 3: Music / Radio / Theatre – Who: Gina, Holt, Amber, Shooter, Stile, Starr, Richard, Chris – Host: Legendary Neurotoxin/ Lolinia – Prizes: Poster, Store Credit
• 10:00 pm CST: Goodbyes and Thank Yous – Who: Starr, Richard, Chris, Gina, Dallas – Prizes: Lord Pledge, Store Credit

And, yes, there will be shots. However, we learned our lesson in the last Hangout of the Avatar, and in order to delay the possible appearance of Drunk[insert dev name here], we’ve modified the drinking rules such that participating Dev Team members will take 1 Shot/Sip for every $2500 raised during the telethon!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Thou hast been invited to the Release 17 Postmortem!

Please join us Thursday, May 14th at 3:00 PM Central (20:00 GMT) for our next Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris (and some very special guests!) will be chatting about Release 17 and looking ahead to Release 18. And, of course, FireLotus will be taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance right here in the comments section.*

Many thanks to Themo Lock for the screenshot. Did someone say that attendance is clothing optional?

We will be giving some really awesome prizes during the 90 minute extended Hangout, and all you have to do to qualify for one is to come hang out with us in the IRC chatroom during the broadcast. As always, the link to the hangout will be posted here directly before the hangout begins.

*Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to Release 17 specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief.