Update of the Avatar #166 – 2016.03.04: Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations, Kobold Themed Areas, SotAMap.com, Recap’s “Pronoia” Album, R27 Postmortem, and More!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations
• Kobold Themed Areas
• SotAMap.com
• Recap’s Second Album: “Pronoia”
• Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 27 Postmortem
• NBNN News: Lazarus Interviews Starr Long
• The Gallery of Wonderful Horrors Wants You!
• Backer Shipping Addresses
• In-game Community Events
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Projects to Back

---

0 Day Countdown to Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations!

As we march toward the Final Wipe and Lot Selection milestone this summer, we are expiring seven of the seventeen remaining pledges during the Spring 2016 Pledge Expiration Event, which will occur at 10:30 AM CST, May 2, 2016 (following the next wipe for Release 29). The remaining ten pledges, as well as new Player Owned Towns, will be expired during the Summer 2016 Expiration Event.

Spring 2016 Pledge Expirations

The following pledges will no longer be available for purchase or upgrade after May 2, 2016:

• Immortal Adventurer
• Virtual Collector
• Collector
• ** Navigator [originally expired August 31, 2015 for backers below Patron level]
• ** Developer [originally expired August 31, 2015 for backers below Patron level]
• Citizen
• Knight
• Lord
• Baron 1/2/3

The Spring 2016 expirations DO NOT affect any backers that are already entitled to these rewards as listed in the pledge description at the time you pledged or upgraded. These expirations only affect new backers, or existing backers that have not upgraded to the specified pledge tiers before the expiration date.

(NOTE:  At this stage of development, receiving an item in-game does not automatically mean that you are entitled to that item long-term. A “bug” in the item delivery system could result in an item being awarded incorrectly. Or, sometimes a user is granted in-game rewards they are not entitled to when they upgrade in-between data wipes. For example, property deed rewards do not stack as you upgrade, as stated in the pledge descriptions. But as you upgrade your pledge you are temporarily allowed to keep previously owned property deeds in-game and receive the additional property deed from the upgrade. We then delete those older property deeds at the next data wipe).

(NOTE: Any payment plans started for one of the expiring pledges, or higher, prior to 10:30 am CST, May 2, 2016 will not be affected by these expirations)

The following is a list of the rewards contained in those pledges that are permanently expiring (definitions of “Benefactor,” “Founder,” and “Royal Founder” can be found here):

• Immortal Adventurer
  • 17 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Benefactor Cloak
    • Star Citizen Vanduul Polearm: Benefactor Edition
    • Immortality Fruit
    • Early Skill Access
    • Ankh of Virtue Necklace (Digital)
    • “The Story of Mondain in the World of Sosaria” (Digital)
    • Akallabeth D&D Campaign (Digital)
    • Exclusive “Adventurer” Title
    • 30 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • Founder Cloak
    • Royal Elderberry
    • Last Name Early
    • Star Citizen Vanduul Polearm: Founder Edition
    • Exclusive “Immortal Adventurer” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Flex
    • 40 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • 50 Bank Slots
• Virtual Collector
  • 16 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Puzzle Box
    • Non-Combat Pet
    • Runic Translation Print (Digital)
    • PDF Artbook (Digital)
    • Soundtrack (Digital)
    • Iolo’s Lute
    • Exclusive “Archivist” Title
    • 60 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • Indestructible Artisan’s Tool
    • Starter Founder Armor
    • Framed Cover Art (digital)
    • Exclusive “Royal Archivist” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Chicken Taunt
    • 110 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • Royal Founder Starter Armor
    • 200 Bank Slots
• Collector
  • 6 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Exclusive “Curator” Title
    • 80 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • Exclusive “Royal Curator” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Face Slap
    • 130 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • 230 Bank Slots
• ** Navigator
  • 12 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Novia Map Atlas
    • Tax Free Row Deed
    • * 3-Story Row House
    • * 1-Story Row Basement
    • Phonograph
    • Exclusive “Navigator” Title
    • 110 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • Exclusive “Royal Navigator” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Tai Chi
    • 170 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • 270 Bank Slots
• ** Developer
  • 15 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • [Note: Dev+ Forum Access will not be expired. Backers who already have the Developer Pledge tier or higher will continue to enjoy Dev+ Forum access. With the Expiration of the Developer and Citizen Pledge Tiers, Dev+ Forum Access will be added to the Edelmann Pledge Tier]
    • Tax Free Row Deed
    • * 4-Story Row House
    • * 2-Story Row Basement
    • Design Documents
    • Unity Asset Pack
    • Tinkerer Certificate House Decoration
    • Wireless Device
    • Exclusive “Tinkerer” Title
    • 120 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • Name in Credits
    • Design an NPC
    • Exclusive “Royal Tinkerer” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Shadow Boxing
    • 190 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • 290 Bank Slots
• Citizen
  • 19 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Tax Free Village Deed
    • Vendor
    • * Exclusive Benefactor Citizen Home
    • * 1-Story Village Basement
    • Wind Power Decoration
    • Piano
    • Reagent Plant
    • Benefactor Plaque
    • Exclusive “Citizen” Title
    • 140 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • * Exclusive Founder Citizen Home
    • * Waterfront Cabana
    • Exclusive Pet
    • Founder Plaque
    • Exclusive “Noble Citizen” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Jig Dance
    • 220 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • Royal Founder Plaque
    • 320 Bank Slots
• Knight
  • 22 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Tax Free Village Deed
    • Vendor
    • * Exclusive Benefactor Knight Home
    • * 2-Story Village Basement
    • Benefactor Knight’s Round Table
    • Sword of Ba’Heer
    • Additional Reagent Plant
    • Knight’s Cloak
    • Benefactor Plaque
    • Exclusive “Sir/Dame” and “Knight” Title
    • 170 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • * Exclusive Founder Knight Home
    • * Waterfront Lighthouse
    • House Servant
    • Founder Expert Crafting Station
    • Founder Knight’s Round Table
    • Founder Plaque
    • Exclusive “Sir/Dame” and “Knight Commander” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Throat Cut
    • 250 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • Royal Founder Plaque
    • 380 Bank Slots
• Lord
  • 28 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Tax Free Town Deed
    • Tax Free Row Deed
    • Vendor
    • * Exclusive Benefactor Lord’s Home
    • * 3-Story Town Basement
    • * 5-Story Row Basement
    • Lord’s Cloak
    • Noble’s Magical Discourse Orb
    • All Three Reagent Plants
    • Royal Sceptre
    • Royal Orb
    • Benefactor Lord Throne
    • Benefactor Plaque
    • Five Indestructible Benefactor Artisan’s Tools
    • Four Benefactor Expert Crafting Stations
    • Exclusive “Baron” Title
    • 200 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • * Exclusive Founder Lord Home
    • * Waterfront Houseboat
    • Servant
    • Five Indestructible Founder Artisan’s Tools
    • Two Founder Expert Crafting Stations
    • Founder Lord Throne
    • House Pet: Lynx
    • Founder Plaque
    • Exclusive “High Baron” and “Lord” Title
    • Teacheable Emote: Take Oath
    • 320 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • Royal Founder Plaque
    • 450 Bank Slots
• Baron 1/2/3
  • 25 Rewards Expiring
  • Benefactor Rewards
    • Tax Free City Deed
    • Tax Free Village Deed
    • Baron’s Cloak
    • Talking Mirror
    • Vendor
    • * Exclusive Benefactor Baron Home
    • * 2-Story City Basement
    • Benefactor Baron’s Bed
    • Benefactor Plaque
    • Exclusive “Viscount” Title
    • 400 Bank Slots
  • Founder Rewards
    • Founder Baron Crown
    • * Exclusive Founder Baron Home
    • * Waterfront Frigate (Baron 1)
    • * Waterfront Galleon (Baron 2/3)
    • Servant
    • Founder Baron’s Bed
    • Baron’s Imp
    • Founder Plaque
    • Exclusive “Earl” and “Baron” Title
    • Teachable Emote: Knighting (Baron 1)
    • Teachable Emote: Royal Salutation (Baron 2/3)
    • 500 Bank Slots
  • Royal Founder Rewards
    • Royal Founder Plaque
    • 600 Bank Slots

* This item will no longer be included in the home and basement stacking that was available to pledges that were at Ancestor or above by the Summer 2015 Expiration Event on August 31, 2015.

** All the Navigator and Developer rewards that are still available to backers that were at Patron or Ancestor tier by the Summer 2015 Expiration Event on August 31, 2015 will no longer be available if those Patrons or Ancestors upgrade their pledge after May 2, 2016. If you already have the Navigator and/or Developer rewards you will keep them if you continue to upgrade your pledge.

---

Kobold Themed Areas

[A Dev+ Forum Post by Scottie Jones]

Since several of our world-builders are starting to touch upon areas where kobolds dwell (including the major Skrekk scene, by Richard Matey), I’ve been asked to take a momentary break to throw together some ideas and solutions for building out zones with a rich kobold “theme” to them… In order to do this I’ve started with taking some of the spaces already created by Richard on the Skrekk map, bringing them into an underground test map of mine, conveniently switching out some materials, creating new materials, adding some cool existing elements created by Bob Cooksey, pulling in elements we use for our various energy gadgets, revamping others already made in an earlier pass, and even building a few new ones! The result is an underground set of areas with a completely new “feel” to them, which we intend to use as a way of defining the look and feel of all kobold areas in the game…

The first area is a great suspended stone walkway, assembled by Richard Matey using a variety of pieces. This section on my example map passes through a large, long cavern filled with the giant glowing mushrooms that the kobolds cultivate for decorative lighting as well as food. I’ve placed dark water below to see how that feels, although Richard chose to leave his open on his map, suspended above a stony crevice.

Just beyond this is a passage carved by kobold miners, and supported with smaller version of the palisades Bob Cooksey designed for the kobold areas. We decided that kobolds lace their underground passages with mine-cart tracks to allow them to easily transport goods from one area to the other.

Down the right passage of that intersection is a small chamber I built to showcase the idea of underground kobold hydroponics! Kobolds delight in supplementing their diets with fresh-grown fungi harvested from fertile cave planters such as these, which bask in the lambent glow of crystals charged by aetheric capacitor globes. In this chamber they also pump out water from a natural cave spring to feed their steam-driven technology throughout their cavern home… These visuals contain more evidence of my scavenging of other juicy resources created by Bob for the kobold architecture he’s working on, such as the make-shift fence elements, and the inverted dome in the ceiling. These types of elements, seen again and again, help define the “language” of the visuals associated with the kobolds.

If we go back to the intersection and continue down the path away from the suspended walkway, we’ll come upon another type of chamber, this time made from more of my typical dungeon pieces used to create rooms. With some simple material switch-outs, the addition of Bob Cooksey’s cool kobold fences and lamps, and the steam/sewer pipes I made, this room suddenly feels significantly different from our standard dungeon fare.

To the left you can see a distillation device Bob made, showcased inside his rendition of a kobold gazebo which I placed as an inset into the wall to create an indoor upraised platform and metal canopy (to keep water from the steam-pipes from dripping on the delicate machinery, of course! ^_^). Above, on the ceiling and in the wall, huge fans help circulate the air in these tunnels and chambers to keep it fresh. Here, again, we see evidence of the hydroponics which allow the ornamental glowing fungi to flourish. Kobolds aren’t as uncivilized as they may first appear!

In another corner of the chamber is more evidence of kobold technology, both clockwork and aetheric. A primary drive assembly for the fans on this end of the room is dimly illuminated by one of the gas-light wall-sconces, and just beyond that is an aetheric energy coil with two attendant, freshly-charged, portable aetheric capacitors.

And now, as I delve deeper into the ideas for the expanded Kobold set vision, I take a pass at mocking up an area of their inner kingdom. What you saw before were merely side passages and smaller chambers used for various functions as they dug deep into their surrounding environment. At the core of their territory can be found vast caverns which they have chosen as the sites for their towns and cities. Above their warren-like avenues, filled with pedestrians and merchants, many citizens dwell in balcony and rooftop homes, or operate taverns and other public meeting places. Beneath these are the passages and chambers that service the rabble below.

These areas you see are merely me throwing together ideas to help the other world-builders gain inspiration when creating their areas… I haven’t actually been assigned any Kobold-based zones to build… These things from this post are all located in one of my test maps that I use to build collective sets of props such as these, and to test the ideas for themed areas I’ve been asked to help out with (and of course to look at items I’ve built in an environment that mimics underground map settings). None of this is on an actual game-map that will ever get spawned with NPCs or populated with objects other than what is built into the pieces that other world-builders can use to copy and paste into their own maps, which is what Richard Matey is doing with all of this stuff… If he takes this stuff I’ve made “as is” and then lays them out in his actual game map, then eventually you will see all the stuff you’re missing when you encounter them on his map…

As an aside, it’s important to point out, that even on the real game maps I build as an artist I only lay out the terrain, architecture, and sometimes generic backdrop props… It takes a Designer/World-builder with the expanded experience necessary to take the map from my hands and populate it with all the NPCs and interactive items the map should have… This is their area of expertise, and comes later, after my exclusively “art expertise-related” tasks are complete… My responsibilities are creative inspiration, environment art creation and visual polish, and whatever setup for basic functionality I can handle,… and the rest of the actual deep functionality and NPC implementation are in the capable hands of our Design team… At a deeper level still, our Programming team of experienced coders handles not only the front end of the base code that integrates the engine and off-the-shelf tech we use with all the in-house custom stuff they write just for us, but they also handle hooking up the tech that makes all the stuff done by the artists and the designers work together on the back end, once our tasks are done… All of this seemingly crazy, frenetic activity is carefully managed by our Team Leads (who head up the Art, Design, and Programming teams), who in turn collaborate with our Producers and other upper management who make sure our schedules match up, and the right people are set to the right tasks… It’s all very complex and amazing, and it requires all our varied skill sets to make this whole thing happen as smoothly as it does…

As part of the process of designing the look and functionality of these areas, I’ve also been tasked to make some Kobold-specific furniture! Since Kobolds are kinda’ short, the furniture needed to have a “squat and stumpy” sort of feel to it, while still having lots of the rugged-yet-decorative iron-work details (like I created for the crafting-station forge)… Here’s a scene containing all seven pieces of furniture I created, placed inside one of Bob’s Kobold houses.

Enjoy!

Scottie ^_^

---

SotAMap.com

We continue to be blown away by the amazing work that community member Jakub White has done mapping the world of New Britannia at SotAMap.com! This amazing map allows you to pan the camera out for a global view of the map, or incrementally zoom in until you make out the finest details of the Overworld map of Novia and The Hidden Vale. The following image shows a closeup of the southeast quadrant of Novia, where you can see the starting town of Soltown as well as the Player Owned Town of Hometown. Hometown is a sort of “Parade of Homes” that is decorated by members of the community to showcase every home in every pledge tier that has home rewards, as well as the homes in the Add-On Store:

Jakub is developing tools to allow the owners of Player Owned Towns to provide detailed maps of their towns, fully integrated into SotAMap.com. Here is a SotAMap.com map of the current version of Hometown in Release 27, utilizing the new Grasslands template:

Zooming into the bottom of the Hometown map, you can see the incredible level of detail possible with SotAMap.com:

Jakub generously provides SotAMap.com free of charge (thank you Jakub!!!). If you find it as useful as we do you might want to help Jakub out by donating toward the cost of map development and server maintenance:

---

Recap’s Second Album: “Pronoia”

Our buds the Space Bards are at it again! They just launched a Kickstarter campaign for their second album, “Pronoia”, and surpassed their $5,000 funding goal in just 2 days! Way to go, guys!

We’re back!

It’s been over 2 years since our last album, “Neon Milk”, was successfully kickstarted, and we officially became “Recap”. In the time since, we’ve grown in countless ways both as artists and as people.

We’re incredibly excited to have the opportunity to show you just how far we’ve come, and want to thank each and every one of you for your love and support as we went through all the growing pains of bringing this unique band to life.

We’re Kickstarting our next rap-powered electric rock album, “Pronoia” – A puzzle box that pieces together the dual-nature of everyday life! Please check it out and back us if you like what you hear!

---

[From Recap’s latest Kickstarter Update email]

Excuse us while we pick up the pieces of our minds that have blown into the other room. o_O

We can’t believe we’re saying this, but our glorious backers have 100% funded the next Recap album in ONLY TWO DAYS.

Wow.

This is beyond epic. A thank you is not nearly enough. We are blessed with the most amazing fans of any band on the planet, and nobody could convince us otherwise.

So what now?

Stretch goals of course! Amazing, tantalizing stretch goals that take this project to the next level, and piles on the free goodies for you guys.

But, here’s the deal… you all funded this album TOO DAMN FAST!

Seriously, like… we haven’t even heard back from our prospects to confirm and add up the numbers. As soon as we do, we’ll toss up that fancy stretch goal list. Who knows, at this rate we might have to check some of them off before we even post it!

For now, we just wanted to share the amazing news, celebrate, and thank you all for believing in our music.

<3 Recap

---

Hangout of the Avatar ~ Release 27 Postmortem

We had a great Hangout of the Avatar this week, with Richard, Starr, Lum, and Gina chatting about Release 27 and providing a sneak peek at Release 28. FireLotus fielded lots of questions and feedback live in the chat-room and from the original post!

Starr announced the Devs would take a shot for every $100 raised during the 90 minute hangout. Obviously, we didn’t think that through carefully enough, because our extremely generous community became even more generous, and contributed $3,800 during the hangover…I mean, hangout. Here are the videos in case you missed it live:

---

NBNN News: Lazarus Interviews Starr Long

For those of you who missed it!

---

The Gallery of Wonderful Horrors Wants You!

Some of you may recall Eriador’s amazing Gallery of Wonderful Horrors that he constructed during Release 22 in October 2015. Not only was Eriador’s “dark art gallery” and museum visually stunning, but it also contained detailed stories and puzzles. Here are a few images from that event:

Eriador is constructing a new Gallery of Wonderful Horrors during this Release and is looking for volunteers to help with materials. Check out his Release 27 Events Forum post for more details…

---

Backer Shipping Addresses

In preparation for shipping backers’ physical pledge rewards later this year, we have added Shipping Address fields to your Account Profile page. To enter your shipping address, log in to the SotA website, select “Account” in top right corner, then select “Edit Profile” located in top left corner, beneath your Avatar image:

For country and regional tax assessment purposes, our tax accountants have requested that we start collecting a buyer’s physical/shipping address for all purchases, whether digital or physical. We’ve tried to streamline that process as much as possible, such that once you’ve entered a physical address we will pre-populate the address fields with your default address.

---

In-game Community Events

Our amazing community has another great lineup of in-game events planned for this weekend. Special thanks to community member SpookyJenny (aka Jenny Phoenixfyre in-game) for her help in compiling the schedule of player events from the Avatar’s Circle Community Events calendar and the Events of the Avatars community calendar:

Recurring Events

• RPOTA Monthly $170 Writing Contest
  • Here ye! Here ye! Biographers, Historians, Diplomats, Journalists, Story Writers, Quest Designers and Videographers! RPOTA is in dire need of your amazing talents! Role-Players of the Avatar is hosting a monthly contest to award those most famous with their quill or camera! (details)
• The Unreliable Travel Guide
  • The Unreliable Travel Guide, created at the SotA Writing Round Table, is not an event, but 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. (details)
• Avatars Radio (Daily Programming)
  • Welcome New Britannians to Avatars Radio – Radio of the Avatars. Rocking your socks off from the town of Radio City with the Terrestrial and New Britannian bards together under one roof through the power of the Moon Towers.  Check out their daily program of amazing DJs:  http://avatarsradio.info/schedule.php
• NBNN Lunch with Laz & Jack (Weekdays, 12pm CST)
  • Join NBNN every weekday for Lunch With Laz & Jack. They will be covering the daily goings on in SOTA. Calendar updates, Relevant issues happening in the days news. Come chat with us about upcoming events and general information. http://nbnn.info
• EVL R27 Hat Quest (Mondays, 7pm CST)
  • Every Virtue is Lasting [EVL] would like to tip their hats to the developers for providing the community with a cool hat for the last seventeen releases, and have decided to carry on the tradition and run the R27 Hat Quest every Monday at 7pm NBT (CST). Everyone who successfully completes the Hat Quest by touring several of the new zones will receive a legendary bucket helm as a reward (Soltown Tavern, /zone Gnick Gnack; details)
• “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 (The Bear Tavern; /zone Elgarion De’Khali; details)!
• Order of Vengeance Guild Meeting (Mondays, 9pm CST)
  • Held at the Guild Hall in Vengeance
• Challenge Dungeon Run (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am & 7pm CST)
  • This is a self-host event that meets at the Braemar Cemetery. Join whoever can make it for a dungeon run, adventure or something along those lines. Come prepared for combat. Learn how to set up your combat system if you need help.
• PaxLair Town Manager Hour (Tuesdays, 2:00pm CST)
  • Join PaxLair’s Town Manager, Sean Silverfoot, to ask questions about PaxLair, being a Citizen, holding a lot and any other questions concerning PaxLair or any of it’s boroughs (Dragons Watch, Tenakill, Lockbrier, Island of Wonders, Knowhere, Sea Nymph Grotto & Serentiy Isle)
• EVL Dungeon Crawl (Tuesdays, 7pm CST)
  • Every Virtue is Lasting will be holding a dungeon crawl every Tuesday to provide fun and experience for our members and guests. All are welcome! The meeting point is in Owls Head at the center of town near the trainer.
• Wednesday Knights (Wednesdays, 7pm CST)
  • This will be mainly an impromptu event but on occasion I may plan on doing something ‘knightly’. All will be welcome. Some possibilities include RP, boss hunts, gathering materials & crafting, hat quests, hanging out or whatever people feel up for. (Caer Dracwych; /zone Bowen Bloodgood; details)
• EVL Virtue League PVP Tournament (Wednesdays, 7pm CST)
  • Looking to break into the PVP scene but don’t want to be placed against established god-like players? We have you covered with two divisions, one for the newer, less experienced player, and one for the cream of the crop who have something to prove! (The Underworld at Aschfahl Festung; details)
• Stryker Sparhawk’s Happy Hour Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 8pm CST)
  • Stryker will travel to one of the local Novia taverns for an hour to open a bar tab for drinks in hopes of sharing stories, news, critique of the arts, music, dancing, and otherwise unplanned mayhem. Zone /Stryker Sparhawk (details)
• Phoenix Republic PVE Nights (Thursdays & Fridays, 7pm CST)
  • Join the Phoenix Republic as we send our weekly foray into the control points, dungeons and other of the most dangerous locales. Each week we will depart to a different PVE locale to help train our combatants. Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre or Malakas for more info!
• Thursday Night Throwdown (TNT) a PVP Event (Thursdays, 10pm CST)
  • PvP fight night – Come Watch or Participate. Team and individual fights. This is a no pressure event. This is for fun and for people to try their hand at PVP. The group matches allow newer players a chance get a taste of battle. Jam out as Apollox Evanheart plays the hardest music on Avatars Radio from ringside. (Obsidian Caverns; details)
• Novian Academy – Role Play Courses (Fridays, 4pm CST)
  • Luka Melehan is hosting RP classes and practice sessions. (/zone Luka Melehan)
• Shardfall Madness (Fridays, 6pm CST)
  • A PvP event. Contact Wind Silvermoon for details.
• Vengeance Madness (Fridays, 7pm CST)
  • This is an Open PvP event where everyone fights it out in a royal rumble to see who the ultimate death dealer is! (City of Vengeance; /zone Bambino LudoVate)
• Astronomy Event (Fridays, 7:30pm CST)
  • Interested in New Britannia Astronomy? Just enjoy gazing at the stars? Join us every week as we explore the night sky above New Britannia. (Player Town of Caer Dracwych, /zone Bowen Bloodgood; details)

Saturday, March 5

• 6:00am CST Wake Up New, Britannia!!! With Woftam and Selene
  • Woftam and Selene Noctua broadcast on AvatarsRadio from the Wake Up New Britannia Studio in Owlshead (right behind the crafting pavillion). Includes Interviews with the Community, Contests for in-game Gold, What’s new for the week in New Britannia, and your Best Bets for SotA weekend events! (details)
• 9:00am CST PaxLair Working Hours
  • Come to PaxLair and see what’s happening! For two hours (more or less) we work together on projects, create ideas and have fun together. It’s sort of a weekly time to gather and do things together. Everyone in Novia is welcome! (PaxLair, /zone Winfield or Sean Silverfoot)
• 11:00am CST Church of the Dark Star – Saturday Service
  • High Priestess of Chaos, Amber Raine, and the Dean of the Novian Academy, Kazyn Phoenixfyre, welcome you to the Church of the Dark Star. A shared project, built upon equality, where all are welcome. Services range from what is Chaos and Order to how they affect different aspects of our life. The path you choose is yours. (PaxLair)
• 2:00pm CST Beran League Construction – Harvest & Craft
  • A weekly craft & harvest event for the purpose of supporting all towns, guilds and player run establishments within the Beran League! All harvested materials, crafted items and decorative items purchased will be collected and sorted in a specially designated warehouse. Town owners, guild leaders and proprietors of the Beran League (and those designated by them) will have access. (Meet at the Bear Tavern in High Rock or /zone Bowen Bloodgood; details)
• 6:00pm CST Port Phoenix: Social Nights
  • Come out and join the republic in one of many potential events (chosen new each week). Each week we get together for everything from fishing, to music, to gustball to PVE duneoneering and adventuring. (Contact Kazyn Phoenixfyre for details)
• 8:00pm CST 1v1 PVP Tournament
  • The longest running Player vs Player tournament in Shroud of the Avatar. (Town of Vengeance)

Sunday, March 6

• 5:30am CST Explore Novia! with royalsexy
  • Starting at the entrance to Owl’s Head, come explore the wide world of Novia – for people on our side of the clock!
• 8:30am 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; teamSpeak: 43.245.163.15:10099)
• 2:30pm CST Gustball Training
  • Want to learn how to play Gustball? Need some tips on how to improve your deck or hone your skills on the field! Join Coach Sheamus McGuinness of EVLs for a 30 minute Gustball lesson and practice session just before the big game at 3pm (/zone Sheamus McGuinness)
• 3:00pm CST Gustball
  • The game of Gustball is a great community event, not dissimilar from soccer or football, where Avatars of all levels & skill can compete in a fun, friendly game that uses the Gust skill (1st level Air Magic spell) to blow a Gustball into your opponents goal. (/whisper or /zone Sand, Sheamus McGuinness, or Bambino Ludovate, 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! (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, 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. (Blackrock Cove on Novia near Etceter Crag Mines, details)
• 6:00pm CST EVL Bucket Helm Hat Quest & Challenge
  • For March we will be giving away the newest head gear to make it’s way into our beloved game, the Bucket Helm! It will be run as a traditional hat quest, where you have to find different “NPCs” to talk to. The final one will reward you with your Bucket Helm. (/zone Gnick Gnack or Brickbat)
• 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 fishing spot or pond, /zone Winfield; details)

Be sure and check out the Release 27 Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events that may not be included here.

---

Upcoming Events

2016.03.16 – GDC 2016
2016.03.17 – SXSW Gaming
2016.03.31 – Release 28
2016.04.15 – Final Lord of the Manor Britannia Manor Visit & Dinner
2016.04.22 – PAX East
2016.04.28 – Release 29
2016.05.13 – Final Duke Roundtable and Portalarium Office Tour
2016.05.26 – Release 30
2016.06.01 – The Hearth of Britannia: Legends of the Hearth III
2016.06.30 – Release 31
2016.07.28 – Release 32

---

Recommended Projects to Back

Descent: Underground

Eric “Wingman” Peterson and team are bringing back six-degrees-of-freedom combat by blasting 90’s action game favorite, Descent, into the 21st Century with current-generation gaming technology. Descent: Underground is more than a graphics upgrade. Get ready for multiple types of customizable ships! Prepare for upgradable weapons and sensors with richly-detailed tech trees. Brace yourself for destructible voxel maps with new power-ups and mod tools to make your own maps and more!