There's a constant rumble of conversation in the studio. Whether it's designers plotting requirements for the next feature, or engineers collaborating with artists, there's always creativity floating about the office between Soulbound Studios developers. It's an energizing feeling, and the team is pushing forward towards our goals each and every day.

Internally, we're working on finalizing the last details of the next set of quests, and it's time to share just a little bit of information. We're taking the time to plan and chart our course to do things right. As you read in the State of Elyria, we are planning to work on the VoxElyria client (formerly known as ElyriaMUD) in the coming months. Here's a look at some of the things we're discussing in the studio right now:

World Maneuverability: We learned some lessons and got player feedback during PAX West, and we are using these learnings to fix up some things to make server responsiveness even better.

Existentialism: How do we integrate the tribes, player customization, and the persistent world-state of characters in VoxElyria?

ElyriaChat: A requirement for VoxElyria and beyond, we are checking out some possible out-of-the-box solutions but will probably build our own, fully-customizable, XMPP-based system that can span the gap between in-and-out-of-game communication.

We'll save the nitty gritty for the upcoming adventure kickoff. Until then, let's continue our new tradition with another community journal because there's a lot going on!

Today, we're going to show off a community interview video we filmed at PAX West, we want to schedule a play date with you; Serp's going to introduce us to an association in Elyria, tell us about a new moderator, and announce a new ambassador! Let's get right to it.

Voices of the Community

We had community members from around the country visit our booth at PAX West. The players in our community are integral to Chronicles of Elyria and the game experience, and we wanted the world to get to know our community members the way we do. So, we interviewed people from a few kingdoms, and well, I'll let the video speak for itself. Check it out below.

Meet the Chronicles of Elyria Community: Blackheart and Vornair

Want to Play a Game?

When we launch into the alpha phase for Chronicles of Elyria, we want to make it a habit of playing the game with the community. And while we're targeting 2018 to focus on development of Alpha 1 and getting players into VoxElyria, we're getting kind of antsy and we want to play games with you right now!

On Thursday, October 26 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET / 11 PM GMT, we'll be playing Town of Salem on our Twitch channel! Town of Salem is a game that challenges players on their ability to convincingly lie as well as detect when other players are lying. If you'd like to play with other Soulbound Studios developers, fill out the form here.

Meet an Association

Each month we spotlight an organization from our community. Sometimes it will be a kingdom, other times a guild or association. We have many creative members who are building amazing groups in Elyria, and this is one way we can make sure you know about them.

Today we wanted to provide some details about the Jormungandr Explorers Guild, hailing from the Selene server in the EU region.

Association name: Jormungandr Explorers Guild

When founded: On a hot winters morning on the 26th of January, 2017.

Leadership: Nesla Drekaor

Goals/Purpose: We aim to train new members, and provide the necessary tools, to explore the world and develop their skills. Once established within the guild, exploration parties can be formed, and the discovery of some of the most wondrous places can begin. By exploring the world we aspire to get a record on the history, find valuable items, or places of interest. Even finding the lost tribes of Elyria is something we won't back down from.

Mantra/Motto/Values: "Finders keepers"

Server/Region: EU

Discord link: https://discordapp.com/invite/4s2XXYR

Forum thread

Association Fun Fact: The guild almost had a different name: The Flying Dutchman. But, we wouldn't be flying without ships. So now, we link up hands and become a giant snake to encircle the world. Perhaps a Flying Dutchman division in due time.

Meet a Moderator

Soulbound volunteer Moderators help keep the peace, assist players whenever possible, and are bastions of knowledge about the Chronicles of Elyria community.

To get to know them better, we decided to give you a little more insight into who some of our wonderful and mysterious moderators are.

Serp: How do you prefer to be addressed?

Mel: "Melizenn, (and you may also see me as Miss Understand on our chat platform)"

Serp: How about something interesting in your life or your first pet?

Mel: I can do both, as my first pet was memorable. It was a black cat, named Ulysse. My parents were students and found him in a dumpster. The cat was one year older than me, and he was always looking over me. When I was young, I pestered him many times, and he never forgave me :P He lived an incredibly long life to 21, and sadly I dreamt of his death a month before that horrible day. I had told my family then, and they didn't believe me. A month later they told me to stop having dreams :)

Serp: Where do you live now?

Mel: Currently I reside somewhere between the UK and Russia. I will let you figure out what that means ;)

Serp: Ice Cream or Yogurt?

Mel: Yogurt - Plain unsweetened Greek

Serp: Favorite color?

Mel: I can't choose only one - I really like contrast in art, I enjoy using white, black and red. As far as what I like to wear, I like purple and gold.

Serp: Tea or coffee?

Mel: Tea - White & Black, green depends on the day. Rooibos is one of my favs.

Serp: Do you have a favorite author?

Mel: Yes, Iain M. Banks, who sadly just passed away.

How about some Q&A?

Serp: What do you like most about being a mod?

Mel: I love contributing to the community. I am someone who thrives on order, and it feels good to help bring order to the occasional chaos. Communities gain momentum over time and it feels great to be able to participate during the growth of this amazing place we call Elyria.

Serp: How about least?

Mel: Sometimes we have mini-emergencies that pop up, a player being rowdy for example. I tend to take it too seriously, alarms blaring and all. I don't like that I get too involved in those situations, because I think it is more helpful to take a step back and not react in urgency but with reflexion.

Serp: Lastly, if you could speak to the whole CoE community, what would you say?

Mel: You have a choice of what to take seriously as a member of this community. I believe it is both a prerogative and something you have to think about. If you choose to get really serious about drama or disputes, or even the dance, and forget to be serious about the community as whole, I think it hurts us. I chose to be a mod because I take the community seriously and want to help others do the same.

Serp: Thanks again Mel for agreeing to do this, see you around!

Mel: My pleasure.

"As seen through a keyhole, this is the cursed fairy Melusine, half-snake half-woman. She is from an early medieval folktale. My handle is a variance of her name."

Meet an Ambassador

DarioZ is the only Ambassador to be nominated twice, and we're pleased to announce he was confirmed as our newest Ambassador! When he isn't running his Italian Wiki, he is very often contributing to the EU, Italian and global CoE community.

He has been an Elyrian since April 2016 and we're very excited to recognize him as an Ambassador.

What's Next?

That will do it for this month's community journal. Be on the lookout for the next adventure kickoff blog, as we start to dive into more features mentioned above.

Until next time...