Update of the Avatar #190 – 2016.08.19: Final 3 Days for 15% Bonus & All Pledge Expirations!, Monday Telethon, NPC Submissions, Land Rush Update, and More!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

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

• Final 3 Days for 15% Bonus & All Pledge Expirations!
• Summer Telethon of the Avatar Part 2
• NPC Submissions Requested for Spite!
• Port Graff Revisited (Part 2)
• Shroud In the News
• Land Rush Update
• Star Citizen Cross Promotion Update
• Upcoming Events
• Richard Garriott at Dragon Con
• Dawn of New Britannia Community Trailer Contest
• Community Resources – Players Helping Players
• Job Openings (4)
• Recommended Projects to Back

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Final 3 Days for 15% Bonus & All Pledge Expirations!

As we march toward the conclusion of the Great Land Rush, we are preparing for Part 2 of our Summer 2016 Expiration Event and the end of the 15% Summer Bonus Promotion!

Summer 2016 Expiration Event, Part 2

• At Midnight CDT on August 22 (5:00 UTC August 23), 2016, we are expiring ALL remaining pledges, including: Adventurer, Founder, Royal Artisan, Explorer, Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2. To commemorate the final expiration of all remaining pledges, we are holding a 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 2, starting at 12:00 pm CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the Final Pledge Expirations at Midnight CDT August 22 (5:00 UTC August 23).

Get Your 15% Summer Bonus!

If you were thinking of purchasing (or upgrading) a pledge or Player Owned Town before they expire, then now’s a great time to do it! For all new purchases (including pledges, pledge upgrades, add-on items, player owned towns and upgrades, Make a Difference items, and service vouchers) between 12:00 am CDT June 24, 2016 and Midnight CDT August 22 (5:00 UTC August 23) , 2016, we’ll add an additional 15% bonus to your Store Credit!

BETTER HURRY, ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT!

[Read more…]

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Summer Telethon of the Avatar Part 2

Avatars! Are you ready to continue celebrating with us the biggest event to hit New Britannia since the great cataclysm?

At Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC) on August 22, 2016, we are expiring ALL remaining pledges, including: Adventurer, Founder, Royal Artisan, Explorer, Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2. To commemorate the final expiration of all remaining pledges, we are holding the 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 2, starting at 12:00 pm CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the Final Pledge Expirations at Midnight CDT (5:00 UTC).

You can pre-post your questions in the telethon article’s comments section, or post questions during the telethon in Discord chat.*

What exciting events can you expect throughout the day? An array of fun activities and engaging content, many of which you can directly participate in with us in-game! We will also be giving away a ton of fabulous prizes*, and if the following stretch goals are met, we will be adding amazing new content into the game.

Did you see what was unlocked during last month’s telethon? Let’s make it happen again in Part 2!

Help us to achieve the following goals during the telethon!

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

• $10,000: /airplane emote
• $25,000: ? and ! Hats
• $35,000: Aeronaut Outfit
• $50,000: Accordion musical instrument
• $65,000: Mini Automaton Pet
• $80,000: Baby Clockwork Dragon Pet
• + More if we go beyond!

Cheer on the Devs!

For every $2,500 donated, all developers on camera have to either dance, sing, or drink a shot of alcohol.

Additionally, we will be spinning the Wheel of Fortune & Doom! (we borrowed this idea from our friends over at Crowfall). The wheel will have 14 items at any given time, but dozens of total prizes ultimately will be given away! This includes developers that, if selected, have to either dance, sing, or drink a shot of alcohol.

As the wheel is spun, what is selected will be replaced by something in the list below. Items already selected will be removed for a time (some may not come back onto the wheel for the rest of the telethon. Keep in mind that some of these may never come up, so cross your fingers for your preferred item!

Wheel of Doom Items: (NOTE: not a complete list and list subject to change)

• Blood Reliquaries 10% off for 1 hour
• All Lot Deeds 25% off for 30 min
• Viking Houses 20% off for 1 hour
• Juggles 20% for 1 hour
• Elven Elder Armor 10% off for 1 hour
• Pets 20% off for 1 hour
• Hot Air Balloon & Airship 25% off for 1 hour
• Stone Statues (incl Dragons!) 15% off for 30 min
• Obsidian Homes 20% off for 30 min
• Pipes 30% off for 1 hour
• Wearable Bundles 20% off for 1 hour 
• Prosperity Tools 10% off for 1 hour
• Wings 20% for 1 hour
• /breathefires 20% for 1 hour
• Star Citizen Items 10% for 1 hour
• Kobold City 5% off for 30 min
• Viking City 5% off for 30 min
• Kobold Town 10% for 1 hour
• Viking Town 10% for 1 hour
• Viking Village Keep 10% for 1 hour
• Kobold Village Keep 10% for 1 hour
• Viking Village 10% for 1 hour
• Kobold Village 10% for 1 hour
• Kobold Row 10% for 1 hour
• Viking Row 10% for 1 hour

We also have these exciting prizes to give away throughout the telethon!*

• Store Credits
• Town Lot Property Deeds
• Obsidian Tower Village Home
• Star Citizen Aeronaut Helmet Starter Bundle
• Cloaks, Juggle, Musical Instruments, Pets, Prosperity Tool, Kobold, and other bundles
• Rare Lord British relics
• Special Challenge Coins
• Shroud of the Avatar t-shirts
• Sword of Midras audiobook AND hardcover copies!
• More Razer Gear

Here is a peek at what to watch out for as the telethon progress:

Schedule (All times and content subject to change)

• Noon: Welcome to the Summer Telethon!
• 12:30 PM: Community Trailer Contest winners announced!
• 1:00 PM: R32 Postmortem Q&A continues
• 2:00 PM: Studio Tour – Dev Rampage!
• 3:00 PM: Community Hour 1 – Getting Involved
• 4:00 PM: Story & NPCs Deep Dive
• 5:00 PM: Spite and Port Graff: Uncloning Process
• 6:00 PM: Player Housing Deep Dive
• 7:00 PM: Community Hour 2 – Contributors
• 8:00 PM: Crafting Deep Dive
• 9:00 PM: Combat Deep Dive
• 10:00 PM: Adventure Tour and AMA

Watch The Telethon on YouTube!

New Twitch Channel Now Live!

You will also be able to watch the telethon on Twitch.tv/Shroudoftheavatar! If you wish to win prizes during the Telethon event, be sure to still be in Discord chat!

Watch live video from shroudoftheavatar on www.twitch.tv

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

See you on the livestream chat at Noon this coming August 22nd!

* There will be some really awesome prizes awarded during the telethon, but you have to be present in the Discord chatroom to qualify for each drawing. Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to each segment 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. Only 3 Questions per person!

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NPC Submissions Requested for Spite!

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Scott “Lum” Jennings]

Thank you for your continuing support of Shroud of the Avatar! This month, we’re seeking entries for inhabitants of the village of Spite!

Spite is a village full of forboding, across Stormwater Lake from the dungeon of Malice. Yet despite that, many good folk still do carve out a living among the cliffs of the Sirens. More info on Spite has been posted by SorcerousSteve who led up the reworking of Spite here.

First, some brief notes:

• Spite is the first of our “uncloning” scenes, where we go back post-final wipe and fill out unique content for each village and city. Thus, the NPCs are already in the game, but we can change appearance (to a degree, as seen below), gender, etc. to suit your request. If you want to pick a specific NPC (for example, one near your own house) we will do our best to accomodate you but may not be able to.
• NPC visual customization, as you may have noticed, is still at a very early stage in development. Right now for the backers who want to be added to Spite, we cannot offer any visual customization options beyond our standard gallery of NPC models. If you would like to have input over the visual customization of your NPC, you can wait for further releases when we can offer this. We will also allow a one-time visual re-customization once customization has been added if you would like to add your NPC now.
• Response to this will be on a first-come first-served basis for each call for responses. If your NPC doesn’t appear in Spite, feel free to respond again in future posts. We have quite a few towns and cities to populate!
• We are allowing people who have already submitted NPCs to submit their ideas for Spite as well if they like, but people who have not yet submitted an NPC will take priority over those who have.
• When responding, please list a first and second choice for profession.
• NPCs for Spite must be human. No undead, please.

Still with us? Great! Here’s what we need this month:

• 9 guards
• 1 innkeeper
• 1 waiter/waitress
• 2 fish merchants
• 2 farming supplies merchant
• 3 food/cooking supplies merchants
• 1 crafting merchant
• 1 housing decorations merchant
• 1 housing deeds merchant
• 3 blacksmiths
• 1 mage supplies merchant
• 1 alchemy supplies merchant
• 8 citizens (currently called “travellers” but can be residents that are not merchants)
• 1 combat trainer
• 1 crafting trainer
• 1 banker
• 1 town crier
• 1 public vendor
• 4 children

If you’d like to have your namesake be a resident or visitor of Spite, please respond via private message on this forum to me (Lum) using the following format:

• NPC name:
• NPC gender:
• NPC profession (first choice):
• NPC profession (second choice):
• NPC background (optional): A paragraph on whom your NPC is, how they would respond to nosy outlanders poking about their business, what brings them to Spite (or keeps them there), or anything else you’d like to add. We reserve the right to edit and/or reject any background that does not fit the lore and setting of the game.

Please specify in your submission that this NPC is for Spite.

We will respond if: your NPC is used; if it is rejected for whatever reason (such as an inappropriate name); if a supplied background is inappropriate, or if your NPC missed the cutoff for this release.

Thanks for your support, and see you in Spite!

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Port Graff Revisited (Part 2)

Port Graff is a cloned scene based on Kingsport. It is getting rebuilt this release and will go live with Release 33. Note that when we un-clone these scenes we do NOT change lot placements. We only make cosmetic changes of building styles, terrain, and foliage. In the case of Port Graff, it is getting a plot specific additions related to the gem trade between the Graff Gem Mines and Graff Island along with a host of other visual changes. This is continued from last week’s post.

[From a Dev+ Forum Post by Esteben “SorcerousSteve” Zaldivar]

UPDATE ON PORT GRAFF

Hey guys, SorcerousSteve here to give you the latest on Port Graff coming to you this R33!

Port Graff is located on the western coast of Drachvald and is a crucial link in the gem trade from the Graff Gem Mines to Graff Island.

Gems ready to be loaded and shipped to Graff Island.

Blue Gem Creek, this fast flowing creek located in north Port Graff gushes down the rocky hillside and gets its name from the blue gems found along its rocky banks.

Graff Island can be spotted offshore from Port Graff.

Southern Entrance to Port Graff

See you next time!

Esteben Zaldivar
Level Designer

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Shroud In the News

Richard Garriott was at GDC Europe / GamesCom this week to talk to press about Final Wipe and the Landrush. He walked the press through the new user experience and showed off various areas of the game. For many of the writers, this was their first exposure to Shroud of the Avatar. The following are some of the first to come out, along with some other bits of news.

Polygon: Shroud of the Avatar nears a ‘real life’ launch with stricter guidelines: Megan Farokhmanesh wrote an article focusing on our switch to stronger policies regarding hacking as we have moved to persistence.

“We’re only halfway through the month, and it’s already the biggest month we’ve ever had since the start of the game from a contributions and support standpoint,” Garriott said. That comes with some stricter standards, especially in the case of hackers. Garriott said that in the early days of development, some players reached out to Portalarium with a strange request: Do you mind if I make a bot? “We’re going like, ‘Well, of course we eventually think that a bot will be our enemy, but why not?'” he said. “Because that will let us both explore what can be done and as long as you agree that the bot our friend will make is not malicious, it helps us understand the vulnerabilities of the system. We’ve actually worked with some of the people who do find hack-y ways to cheat early on, and now we’ve sort of switched modes into OK, now we’re changing into real life.” In other words, the bans have begun.

Massively OverPowered: Stepping Into Shroud of the Avatar & Second Day in Shroud of the Avatar: Massively OP’s MJ Guthrie had not seen Shroud of the Avatar since playing it at E3 2 years ago during Release 15. You can watch her stream her return to the game in Release 32 and listen to her lively narration.

It has been a long, long time since MassivelyOP’s MJ dived into Shroud of the Avatar. Part of the reason was she wanted to go ahead and wait until the game launched. Well, now it has — in a way. SOTA has sorta launched, since there are no more wipes incoming. That means MJ is heading in to see how things have developed. Tune in live at 4:00 p.m. to check things out in…

MassivelyOP’s MJ is in trouble now. She finally went back into Shroud of the Avatar, and now it appears that she is hooked. She knew this was likely to happen (which is why she resisted returning for so long!). Last time, MJ left off having just transported to New Britannia itself. That means there are plenty of folks to talk to and get to know around town. What crazy things will be said? Join us live at 9:00 p.m. as MJ dives in for her second day of adventures and chats it up with the locals.

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Land Rush Update

This is it folks! Just a few more days through this next week and the current lot selection process will be over! As of this update, we have nearly 2,000 lots that have been claimed with hundreds more yet available as the upcoming tiers open up this weekend.

Brittany Fields continues to dominate in popularity, though there are a few lots available if you wish to call this area home! There are also several lots still left in Ardoris, Brookside, Noreach, Brittany Alleys, and many other cities and towns across New Brittania. Don’t miss your chance to lock in a lot location of your avatar’s dreams!

Here is the lot selection schedule for the rest of the groups:

NAVIGATOR- Groups 73-81:

• Royal Founder – Group 73: August 18 at 19:00 CDT (August 19 at 00:00 UTC)
• Royal Founder – Group 74: August 19 at 00:00 CDT (05:00 UTC)
• Royal Founder – Group 75: August 19 at 05:00 CDT (10:00 UTC)
• Founder – Group 76: August 19 at 10:00 CDT (15:00 UTC)
• Founder – Group 77: August 19 at 15:00 CDT (20:00 UTC)
• Founder – Group 78: August 19 at 20:00 CDT (August 20 at 01:00 UTC)
• Benefactor – Group 79: August 20 at 01:00 CDT (06:00 UTC)
• Benefactor – Group 80: August 20 at 06:00 CDT (11:00 UTC)
• Benefactor – Group 81: August 20 at 11:00 CDT (16:00 UTC)

ANCESTOR – Groups 82-90:

• Royal Founder – Group 82: August 21 at 11:00 CDT (16:00 UTC)
• Royal Founder – Group 83: August 21 at 16:00 CDT (21:00 UTC)
• Royal Founder – Group 84: August 21 at 21:00 CDT (August 22 at 02:00 UTC)
• Founder – Group 85: August 22 at 02:00 CDT (07:00 UTC)
• Founder – Group 86: August 22 at 07:00 CDT (12:00 UTC)
• Founder – Group 87: August 22 at 12:00 CDT (17:00 UTC)
• Benefactor – Group 88: August 22 at 17:00 CDT (22:00 UTC)
• Benefactor – Group 89: August 22 at 22:00 CDT (August 23 at 03:00 UTC)
• Benefactor – Group 90: August 23 at 03:00 CDT (08:00 UTC)

FINAL GROUP!

• Secondary Lots – Group 91: August 24 at 03:00 CDT (08:00 UTC)

After all group times have passed, anyone will have a chance to place a lot. Lot selection details and all the group times are listed in the Lot Selection announcement on the main website.

To get daily lot selection updates, follow the game on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shroudofavatar, or keep the above Lot Selection announcement bookmarked for easy access!

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Star Citizen Cross Promotion Update

As mentioned in Update of the Avatar #188, Cloud Imperium Games and Portalarium are doing a cross promotion with two limited edition items in Shroud of the Avatar that also grant access to items in CiG’s Star Citizen! These have been selling fast and there are currently now only 129 of the Aeronaut Helmets left and only 110 of the Airships left!

Star Citizen Aeronaut Helmet Starter Bundle (Limited Edition of 250, 121 Sold): The Cloud Imperium Sky Navy equips its daring Aeronauts with these helmets that include the latest in Kobold Aether Vibration technology allowing the user to tune into radio stations. Purchase of this Starter Package grants Early Game Access to Shroud of the Avatar, 50 Bank Slots AND the Star Citizen Mustang Alpha starter pack (Coupon Code redeemable on Star Citizen website).

Star Citizen Mustang Alpha Starship

Star Citizen Airship Home (Limited Edition of 150, 40 Sold): The Cloud Imperium Sky Navy has recently decommissioned 150 of their armor clad airships and lucky Outlanders can purchase them to use as homes on their City Lots. These float above a city lot, providing ample living area while preserving almost 100% of yard space! You will need a City or larger Property to place this home in-game. Purchase of this home ALSO includes the Star Citizen Cutlass Black Starship from Drake Interplanetary (Coupon Code redeemable on Star Citizen website).

Star Citizen Cutlass Black Starship

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Upcoming Events

2016.08.22 – Summer Telethon Part 2 + Final Pledge Expirations Episode 1 (Expirations at Midnight)
2016.08.25 – Release 33
2016.09.02 – DragonCon 2016
2016.09.21 – Austin Games Conference
2016.09.29 – Release 34
2016.10.27 – Release 35
2016.11.04 – SotACon
2016.11.17 – Release 36
2016.12.15 – Release 37

Richard “Lord British” Garriott at Dragon Con!

Richard Garriott will be attending Dragon Con from Friday to Sunday this coming September 2-4, 2016! He will be available at certain times for autographs, as well as on a number of exciting panels you won’t want to miss.

Some of the events and panels Richard will be on:

• Commercial Space Is Busting Out Everywhere!
• Shroud of the Avatar – Q&A
• Craft Your Own Automation
• Stuff Podcast – LIVE!
• New Britannia Round Table
• Celebrity Gaming with Pathfinder!
• A Hour With Lord British
• Mars in 10 Years! Can Elon Get It Done?

Get Richard’s complete schedule here!

Community Activities

Visit the official Community Calendar to see the great lineup of activities our amazing community has planned for this weekend! And be sure to check out this month’s Release Events thread in the SotA forums for additional events.

Event of the Week – Alpenglow Biergarten – Grand Opening Event

Ulrich and Hannah Alpenglow would like to invite you to visit the Alpenglow Biergarten in Resolute! Come visit the official opening of the Alpenglow Biergarten from 2-3 PM on Tuesday August 23. Food and drinks will be on hand! Browse the wares and raw material goods that will begin to be stocked.

At 2:30 PM, stop by and play “Find it First”. This is a take on a classic game show Let’s Make a Deal; Ulrich will ask if anyone at the Biergarten has an item in their backpack (for example, I could ask “who has a Dragon Bone Throne”? Note: I would not probably pick such a heavy item!). The items can be just about anything from common ingredients, loot drops to quest items and the like; about the only thing I would not pick from are pledge items.

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Dawn of New Britannia Community Trailer Contest

Just a few days left to design an amazing community trailer! This is your chance to show that Shroud of the Avatar is the game, and community, new players will want to experience next. The ‘Dawn of New Britannia Community Trailer Contest’ is underway!

You have until August 21, 2016 (11:59 PM CDT) to design a video trailer for all of New Britannians to see and admire. Glamorous city districts, creative player-owned towns, luxurious housing, intense combat, majestic outdoor areas, and so much more is available to proudly show off. There’s a nearly infinite potential in creating a trailer that makes even the most hardy New Britannia cry out in joy, and to want to share the video with others.

• Grand Prize: $1,000 Store Credit, SotA signed t-shirt, Sword of Midras book, SotA COTOs coin, and a specially signed congratulations letter from Richard Garriott.
• 2nd Place: $500 Store Credit, SotA signed t-shirt, Sword of Midras book, SotA COTOs coin
• 3rd Place: $250 Store Credit, SotA signed t-shirt, Sword of Midras book, SotA COTOs coin

[Read more…]

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Community Resources – Players Helping Players

• The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.

Understanding the Deck System by TheBalance

Community member TheBalance creates a great starter guide on understanding the deck system in the game! What does 5/5/18 stand for? What is the difference between locked and unlocked bar slots? What are glyphs? What is a deck system anyway? Find out in this guide!

Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.

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Job Openings (4)

World Builder/Level Designers  (2)

We currently have an opening for 2 junior-level to senior-level World Builder/Level Designers with artistic skills for Shroud of the Avatar to build out scenes (these positions are less focused on game play elements). Qualifications for “ideal candidates” are:

• Minimum 2 years industry experience for junior-level (preferably on a shipped game)
• Minimum 5 years industry experience for senior-level (minimum of at least 1 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
• BONUS: Ability to model and texture in 3D art tools

Quality Assurance

We currently have an opening for an entry-level Quality Assurance agent for Shroud of the Avatar. Qualifications for the “ideal candidate” are:

• Avid game player
• Experience with RPGs and MMOs
• Willingness to also do Customer Service tasks as needed
• Desire to expand into other areas of game development long term
• BONUS: Experience with Quality Assurance

Programmer

We currently have an opening for a Programmer for Shroud of the Avatar. Qualifications for the “ideal candidate” are:

• Minimum 2 years industry experience
• Strong C#/C++ skills
• Database development experience
• Awesome debugging skills
• Windows programming experience
• Network programming experience
• Extensive Multi-threaded programming experience
• Ability to work in unstructured, non-hierarchical environment
• Strong software architecture skills
• BONUS SKILLS (any one or more of these):
  • Minimum 5 years industry experience (minimum of at least 1 shipped game)
  • Unity development experience
  • Mac development
  • Avid game player
  • Web development experience (C#, PHP, ASP.NET, XML/web services, JavaScript)
  • UNIX experience
  • MMO game development experience

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).

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Recommended Projects to Back

Star Citizen

“I don’t want to build a game.
I want to build a universe.”

From the mind of Chris Roberts, acclaimed creator of Wing Commander and Freelancer, comes STAR CITIZEN, a living, breathing science fiction universe with unparalleled immersion… and you’re invited to follow every step of development!

More than a space combat sim, more than a first person shooter and more than an MMO: Star Citizen is the First Person Universe that will allow for unlimited gameplay.

 

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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.

A reminder to be sure that support@portalarium.com is unblocked from your e-mail account!

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