Release 108

RELEASE 108, November 17, 2022
Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 108 goes live November 17th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 108 (R108), we offer a way to get rid of premium items you don’t want and a better way to dance in celebration after.

For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Player Guide and Known Issues for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes.

Place Emotes in the Hotbar!
The noncombat hotbar filled with color-coded emote icons

Emotes can now be placed in the non-combat hotbar. An icon has been created for each of 278 emotes and, if the player has tooltips enabled, each emote’s name will appear when hovering over the icon. Each has color-coded curtains to help differentiate similar ones by group:


 * Red – Story/Main game/Seasonal/Quest
 * Yellow – Telethon/Crown Purchase
 * Blue – Pledge
 * Countach Pink – Make a Difference
 * Green – Meretz
 * Grey – Obsidian Trials
 * Gold – Seedinvest
 * Purple – Unique/Limited-time
 * Iridescent Pink – Ultra-special
 * A dedicated (optional) emote bar is on the way in a future release.

Discard Unwanted Items Into Garbage Bins!
Almost all items, including ones normally restricted from deletion, can be removed from the game using this new item. NOTE: Quest Items cannot be deleted, even this way.

To use the garbage bin, drag the item to be deleted onto the bin. Only one item at a time may be deleted and there is a confirmation pop-up box for each.

These are publicly available: they have been added to many NPC scenes (listed in detail in the patch notes below).

If you wish to purchase your own from the Crown Store, it can be placed on either a player lot or on POT land (POT placement requires Steward or Governor access).

Release 108 Patch Notes
Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 108 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R108 is a polish month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R109 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 108!

Crafting, Decoration, & Inventory Item Changes:

 * All wax cylinders should now be tradeable and so should function in multiple-cylinder phonographs as expected.
 * Streamer bundle loot tables have been adjusted.
 * Two identical bowls have been split into “Large Pewter Bowl” and a new “Large Dark Pewter Bowl.” The new variant has been added to shelves in locations in Skrekk and K’rul. A third duplicate, unused, has been removed. SOTA-66198

Combat & Skill Changes:

 * The effect of bard specialization on frenzy has been halved. Bard spec was giving the same effect as taming spec, which was much more than intended. SOTA-70414
 * Players will now be dismounted if the mount is moved out of their inventory. Mounts are now required to be in inventory and unlocked to be used.

User Interface, Store Information, & Lua Changes:

 * Crown-purchased mounts are now blocked from being sold to merchants.
 * No-trade items can now be placed in the bank even if the bank is full. SOTA-70901
 * Added a more detailed starting-player-specific logout feedback form and removed the general one.
 * Adjust the store description for the Rift Dungeon Entrance. SOTA-70889
 * Fixed a null exception with the lua function StopFX when changing scenes.

World and Quest Changes:

 * Added new garbage bins near the town criers in Aerie, Ardoris, Blood Bay, Brittany Alleys, Brittany Wharfs, Broochash, Castle Atos, Central *Brittany, Etceter, Graff Island, Grusk, Kingsport, Owl’s Head, Resolute, and Soltown.
 * Seasonal Monsters: Pumpkin Head is now dormant and Krampus has returned to East Sanctus Forest and some Snowy Mountain Road Encounters. (Now using the “timed events” spawn option.) SOTA-69911
 * Updated the appearance of bandit elves and Obsidian Eye elves, adding variety (colors, gender) and consistency (assigned some colors to roles, which alternate per tier). Corrected gender label and sound references for female elves. Deleted unused prefabs.
 * Quest items used as world objects will only be able to be picked up when the player is on the quest and meets the quest requirements. SOTA-70856
 * Turned off GPU instancing for a tree curtain used in many scenes to hopefully fix their too-dark appearance. SOTA-69629
 * Hidden Vale: Improved the path grid, especially to help pets walk across a certain land bridge. SOTA-70897
 * Novia: Moved a random encounter east of Brittany away from the water’s edge. SOTA-70888
 * Added a signpost teleporter at the permanent large island that is now Hunters’ Island in Aldwater, Brekken Bay, Endurance, Forewind, Port Titan, and Taenby Landing. Added a compass POI for the island to Brekken Bay only (for now).
 * Aerie: Added basic loot to Skull Clippers that can appear in this scene. Renamed the prefabs in the project for consistency. SOTA-70894
 * Aerie: Corrected a journal entry from James Cook to clarify that East Longfall Wetlands is east of Aerie. SOTA-70855
 * Aerie: Fixed a typo in the “job” response for Ruby Walsh. SOTA-70900
 * Ardoris: Updated the logic which Damai and Pintar use when talking about how their rulers have instructed the avatar. SOTA-70852
 * Blood River Outskirts: Ailith in the vigilante camp no longer has clothing similar to the Aerie Rangers and has improved responses. Made data adjustments to her fellow vigilante guards. SOTA-70853
 * Blood River Outskirts: Fixed typos in the “Mention Naturamans to Gus” journal entry. SOTA-70880
 * Blood River Outskirts: Replaced some covered wagons with uncovered ones. Removed an unnecessary teleporter wagon. Integrated Obsidian color variants of elves.
 * Braemar: Fixed an issue with Flynn Gilson’s logic to block the “Mention ‘Shipments’ to Abbott” task when you already have the “Mention ‘Shipment’ to Anton” task. SOTA-70881
 * Braemar: Reduced the excessive amount of smoke coming from the tavern chimney. SOTA-68978
 * Braemar: Updated the in-game map icon used by the town crier. SOTA-70882
 * Brittany Fields: Removed or moved reeds, bushes, and trees that were overlapping into lots and couldn’t be cleared by decoration placement. SOTA-69472
 * Brittany Wharfs: Added anti-theft protection to numerous objects around the scene. SOTA-70926
 * Castle Atos: Replaced “exit to Novia” triggers in the back half of the scene with collision. Added a “back alley” connecting the kitchen with the dining hall. SOTA-70885, SOTA-70886
 * East Vauban Foothills: Added treasure near the Blessing of Invigoration that restocks when the blessing is activated. SOTA-70877
 * The Epitaph: Added an extra restriction to block players from acquiring a shard of the Vermillion Lens after Episode 1 is complete. SOTA-70923
 * The Fall: In the room with two liches, slowed their respawn rate to better follow our standards and added a chance for a higher-tier lich to spawn. Added flame traps in the halls above.
 * The Fall: Added an extra room nearby where another pair of liches can alternately spawn.
 * Grusk: Added a new story for Vishpop.
 * Highvale Outskirts: After accepting Hyla’s quest, the avatar no longer says they found her father’s note unless they actually did. SOTA-70836
 * Highvale Outskirts: Moved a dead body so it wouldn’t be obviously visible from the elevator platform. Replaced the monastery gate with a non-breakable one. Fixed typos in some non-guard responses. Updated the “monastery” response for some guards to not assume they are at the bottom of the elevator. SOTA-70928, SOTA-70927, SOTA-70922, SOTA-70921
 * Hills Encounter: Updated the unicorn scenario to account for a rare case where no unicorn appears. SOTA-70925
 * Lost Whiteguard Silver Mine: NPCs can now walk through the shallow water. Added more ladders to connect the floor to the raised platforms. SOTA-70895
 * Lost Whiteguard Silver Mine: Reduced the awareness radii for wave battle enemies that spawn behind the locked door at the end of the cave system. SOTA-70898
 * Owl’s Head: Added a “Return to Previous Location” wagon teleporter. SOTA-70878
 * Owl’s Head: Changed some props to be protected by anti-theft detection. SOTA-70863
 * Owl’s Head: Fixed data issues in some of Emily the Crafting Goods Merchant’s responses and added a missing word to her “outlander” response. SOTA-70857
 * Owl’s Head: Improved how Kendra Trueshot learns the avatar’s name the first time she hears it. SOTA-70858
 * Snowy Tundra Encounter: Aether dragons no longer appear in this scene. SOTA-70873
 * Solace Bridge Outskirts: Fixed the placement of an inaccessible ore node. SOTA-70890
 * Spindelskog: Added fireflies to help see the wildflower required for a Tanglemire quest.
 * Spindelskog: Fixed a typo in the “Despise Monolith” compass marker name.
 * Ulfheim: Fixed a typo in the “Despise Monolith” compass marker name.
 * Ulfheim: Moved the ‘positive truth’ monolith away from where the wyvern and reaper spawns. SOTA-70884
 * Vikland: Avatars should no longer be able to trigger buried treasure chests by walking over the buried location.
 * Vikland: Fixed a typo in the “Despise Monolith” compass marker name. SOTA-70790
 * Vikland: Fixed descriptions in “buried treasure” instructions. Moved the compass marker for the “witch and kobold” statue to the correct position.
 * Vikland: Fixed the logic that should archive the “Deliver Amulet to Raider” task when giving the amulet to Liva the raider. SOTA-70851
 * Vikland: Lengthened reset time for “buried treasure” chests to over 4 minutes. Improved how avatars can climb up the central hill to the “witch-and-zombie” statue. Added butterflies/fireflies to some locations. SOTA-70883
 * Vikland: Fixed a bad section of the path grid. SOTA-70924
 * Westend: Fixed missing collision under two stairs. Added extra blockers to keep avatars from swimming under most of the main town platform. SOTA-70896
 * Whiteguard Foothills: Fixed a misnamed compass marker discovery at a small campsite. SOTA-70891
 * Added a map for the Breach.

Player-Owned Town Changes:
Serpent’s Hold: Corrected the exit target for when players leave this town into Novia. SOTA-70854

Player Dungeon Changes:

 * Removed deco surfaces from the spawning versions of player dungeon rooms.
 * Disabled the PvP experience multiplier in player dungeons.
 * Added Dungeon Cards for the various foyers.

Sales and Bonus Events

 * Double XP will be enabled Thanksgiving weekend, for November 23rd through November 28th.
 * Crown store sale category items will be 30% off for all of R108.
 * Ravalox has other sales to announce in the Friday the 18th stream.

Release 108 Subscriber Login Rewards
Not to be put up before Thanksgiving! The Rewards Program login items for Release 108 are 2022 variants of a Tabletop Yule Tree, a Snow Globe, and Medium and Large Yule Stockings.

Subscribers to the Rewards Program must log in during Release 108 to receive these special login items.
 * Tabletop Yule Tree 2022
 * Snow Globe 2022
 * Medium Yule Stocking 2022 and Large Yule Stocking 2022

December Login Reward
Each account that logs in during the month of December will receive a one-time gift of a 2022-variant Yule Tree and a Small Yule Stocking.
 * Yule Tree 2022
 * Small Yule Stocking 2022

Crown Store Updates
New in the crown store for November 17th:
 * Garbage Bin
 * Large Yule Tree 2022
 * Giant Yule Tree 2022

…for December 1st:
 * Yule Tree 2022

…and for December 2nd: The Fall Holidays store items are available until Monday December 12th:
 * Tabletop Yule Tree 2022
 * Snow Globe 2022
 * Yule Stockings 2022 3-Pack

List of Fall Holidays items:
The Winter Holidays store items are available until Wednesday February 8th:

Upcoming Release Dates
Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums. The upcoming 2022 Release Schedule is as follows:
 * This Release 108 – November 17 (Polish)
 * Release 109 – December 15 (Polish)
 * Release 110 – January 26 (Content)
 * Release 111 – February 23 (Polish)
 * Release 112 – March 30 (Polish)
 * Release 113 – April 27 (Content)

Additional Information

 * Release 108 Instructions
 * Release 108 Known Issues
 * Quick Reference Card