Avatars! Are you ready to participate in the biggest event to hit Novia since the great cataclysm?

Like no other world-ending event in the history of gaming, the first part of The Summer Telethon of the Avatar event is nearly upon us! For 12 hours, starting at Noon (12 PM CDT) until Midnight on July 27th, we will be celebrating the lead up to the Final Player Data Wipe; where persistence officially begins in our game and housing lot selection begins in earnest.

As always, we will be answering your questions during the telethon. You can pre-post your questions right here in the comments section or post them live in Discord during the Telethon.*

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! 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.

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:

Achieved! $10,000: /fan emote (player fans themself with a small folding fan)

Achieved! $25,000: Aeronaut Helmet

Achieved! $35,000: Hacked Oracle Crawler Pet

Achieved! $50,000: Clockwork Wings (goes in cloak slot, does not grant powers of flight)

Clockwork Wings (goes in cloak slot, does not grant powers of flight) Achieved! $65,000: Hacked Oracle Flyer Pet

Hacked Oracle Flyer Pet Achieved! $80,000: Tiny Airship Pet

Tiny Airship Pet Achieved! $100,000: One Man Band Steampunk Wearable: Works with our ABC music system

One Man Band Steampunk Wearable: Works with our ABC music system Achieved! $130,000: Organ Grinder Instrument (Works with our ABC music system) & Clockwork Monkey Pet

Organ Grinder Instrument (Works with our ABC music system) & Clockwork Monkey Pet $150,000: Baby Clockwork Dragon Pet

** $145,000 **

Current Telethon Funds Raised

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 permanently removed. Keep in mind that some of these may never come up, so cross your fingers for your preferred item!

Wheel of Doom Items (placement on wheel will be random):

Dev On Camera Flash Sales Chris Spears Blood Reliquaries 10% off for 1 hour Dallas Snell All Lot Deeds 25% off for 30 min Finn Staber Viking Houses 20% off for 1 hour Joaquin del Canto POTs 5% off for 30 min Matt Schmitz Elven Elder Armor 10% off for 1 hour Rhys Romero Pets 20% off for 1 hour Richard Garriott Hot Air Balloon & Airship 25% off for 1 hour Rick Holtrop Stone Statues (incl Dragons!) 15% off for 30 min Sarah Dworken Obsidian Homes 20% off for 30 min Scott Jennings Pipes 30% off for 1 hour Starr Long Wearable Bundles 20% off for 1 hour (incl Kobold Masks, Sigil Cloaks, Satin Bodice, Viking) Prosperity Tools 10% off for 1 hour

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

Store Credits

Viking Bundles (Viking Row 2 Story and Viking Village)

Kobold Bundles (Kobold Row 2 Story and Kobold Village)

Pledges (Ancestor and Edelmann)

Lord British relics

Challenge Coins

Shroud of the Avatar t-shirts

Sword of Midras audiobook AND hardcover copies!

Razer Gear

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

Schedule (All times and content subject to change)

Noon: Welcome to the Summer Telethon!

1:30 PM: Brittany Tour with Sorcerous Steve.

2:30 PM: Tour of Portalarium.

3:00 PM: New User Experience & Hospitallers.

4:00 PM: Crafting, Enchanting, Masterworks Discussion.

5:00 PM: Combat Discussion.

6:00 PM: The Story and Characters of SotA.

7:00 PM: Player Housing Discussion with Darkstarr.

8:00 PM: Crowns of the Obsidian, smoking pipes, and Artifice with Scottie and Sir Frank.

9:00 PM: AMA live chat question time with team.

10 PM-Midnight: Royal Tour with Lord British and Darkstarr Locations: Brittany Central, Aerie, Resolute, Ardoris, Owlshead, Desolis, Spite, and a selection of Player Owned Towns (final list soon).

Midnight: Final Player Data Wipe! Servers will be offline until 9:30am CDT on July 28th.

Watch The Telethon on YouTube!

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

Warning: Telethon is Rated PG-13 for Alcoholic Content

(might get upgraded to Rated-R depending on rate of pledges)

Expirations and Final Player Data Wipe

While Final Player Data Wipe is NOT “Launch” of our game, we are super happy to be at such an important milestone with our community of backers. We couldn’t have built the game nearly this far in its development without the support and feedback of everyone playing. There’s a lot more to go yet, but we’re about to cross a major hurdle this summer, and can’t wait to cross it with you!

At 11:59 PM CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27th, we are expiring the homes and basements from the Ancestor, Edelmann, Knight Marshal, Lord Marshal, Duke, and Lord of the Manor 2 pledges. We are also expiring new Player Owned Towns (upgrades of existing POTs will continue to be available). All other rewards (including tax free property deeds) that are currently available in the remaining pledges will continue to be available.

The final player data wipe will also occur at 11:59 PM CDT (5:00 UTC) on July 27th. To celebrate this momentous milestone, we are holding a 12-hour Summer Telethon Part 1, starting at 12:00 PM (Noon) CDT (17:00 UTC) and running right up to the final player data wipe start.

Servers will be brought offline after 11:59 PM CDT on July 27th until 10:30 AM CDT the next morning on July 28th. This gives us enough time to ensure servers are properly cleared and ready for the beginning of Release 32 and the exciting opportunity to make your mark in Novia!

See you on the livestream chat at Noon this coming July 27th!

Had fun attending our telethon event? Stay tuned…

After July’s telethon, we will also be holding a second event on August 22nd. At 11:59 PM 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.

* 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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