G'day Elyria!
We have a good amount of content to cover from August, so let's dive right in!
A plague event has taken over the community this month, but plenty else occurred as well! Read on to learn more:
We consistently review surname reservations on a daily basis. Each month we like to share a few from the past period that caught our eye.
Omnomnivore
Harddick
Geographicus
Most surprising reservation that is actually a real surname: Thorfinnsson
Ver'qoy
Glaçifroid
Aleanraheal
Orðskviðir
Note: You'll see there are only a few surname examples from August. Apparently most of you have lost your cleverness, grew tired of getting caught and declined, or you are simply maturing quite nicely. I wonder which of these is the truth? :thinking:
Each month we'll spotlight one or two of our favorite memes that were shared via the forums or Discord.
Bombastus helped us understand this event with this comical entry. Read more about him later in this CJ in the Meet an Ambassador section!
As the Searing Plague event raged on, Athorias was nice enough to demonstrate how some felt about the potential outcome with this gem:
Keep sharing everyone, especially if you'd like your meme to be displayed in this journal!
Our volunteer moderators are not only bastions of peace in our community; they are a helpful hand whenever you need assistance. They are very knowledgeable about CoE and provide valuable feedback that helps keep our community amazing.
Each month we provide a little insight into who they are and what makes them tick.
Rhaegys is our subject this month, formerly an ambassador and long-time community member, let's find out more:
"Me trying my CoE wardrobe... (actually trying some medieval clothes at the Medieval Combat World Championship last year in Barcelona)"
Q: You are based in Europe, what can you share about growing up?
A: "I can't exactly answer that because, and this will come to a surprise to many, I was born and grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. But at least I can tell you how it was to grow up there. Buenos Aires is a huge city and as a kid you usually don't leave the few blocks around your home. I was lucky that I lived in a nice and quiet neighborhood so when I was old enough to be trusted to be out of the house on my own I could go an play with my friends. So I really had a quiet uneventful childhood. But it were different times, that would not happen now, certainly not in Buenos Aires sadly."
Q: Have you always been into gaming?
A: "Oh yes! The first gaming console I ever had was when I was around 10/11 y.o. I can't remember exactly the date. But it was a console called Colecovision. Then moved to a Talent MSX that was half a console half a computer that you could make your own programs in Basic (that was when I started to learn coding on my own), then moved to PC, etc. so since then I've been always playing something. But it wasn't only computer games, I enjoy table-top RP games and board games as well."
Q: What was your first videogame experience you can recall?
A: "The are a couple I remember from the Coleco. But the one that I really had fond memories was a game based on the Smurfs, the game wasn't that great, nor that it was bad. It was the typical side scroll, dodging obstacles and the like but it was the only game that my Grandmother would ever played! And she was good at it! She wouldn't play any other thing but that game, I don't know why she loved it. But I still remember playing it with her, it was kind of awesome for 11 year old kid me."
Q: You were an Ambassador before becoming a mod, how would you contrast the 2 roles since you’ve occupied both?
A: "There are very different in their purpose, being an ambassador is for once a recognition of your hard work in the community but that means that you know the game and people listen when you explain something about it. While being a moderator is not so much as knowledge of the game, though I think people expect that we do that as well, but more about keeping the peace in the community and help it to be a good place for everyone. I enjoyed being an ambassador but for me personally my work as a moderator is more fulfilling."
Q: You’re a coder and are responsible for some cool projects like the ChamberBot. Is it more of a hobby of yours or an extension of your current career?
A: "It's the other way around my career is an extension of my hobby. I've been coding since I was 14/15 and then I decided to make it the way to earn my living. It's being 20+ years and I still code as a hobbyist and professionally and loving it. I have done a lot of projects for CoE, both for my Kingdom and for the Community and I will continue doing them within my possibilities."
Q: Favorite language to code in?
A: "Currently I enjoy both C# and Javascript (sometimes as Typescript). Even if they are both very different as they are based on different paradigms of programming. For all my CoE related projects I've been using Javascript and professionally I use them both."
Q: What do you like about being a mod?
A: "One of the things I like is that I have a much more visibility of what's going on in the community both the good and the bad. When you see the good things your faith in humanity goes up a bit, when you see the bad things you sometimes don't have enough hands to facepalm but we are there to mitigate the effects in the community and that makes it all worth."
Q: Dislike about it?
A: "The feeling that sometimes I have to be careful when I say something so people don't confuse what I speak as a moderator and when I'm giving my personal opinion about a subject."
Q: Dancing or Singing?
A: "Oh my! Neither? I'm terrible at both things. But if I have to choose, singing (thankfully nobody hears me when I do)."
Q: How do you compare real Spanish food with what us Americans consider Spanish cuisine?
A: "Haha. I didn't exactly know what you guys think Spanish cuisine is, so I did some research and asked a few Americans. Basically most people confuse Spanish cuisine with Mexican cuisine, but nothing can be that different! Each region of Spain has their own identity and you can see that reflected in their cuisine as well so the Spanish cuisine is very diverse. There are a few dishes though that stand out, Paella is one of them (a dish whose main ingredient is rice and then can have seafood, or chicken and/or rabbit), cured ham, potato omelette, gazpacho, etc. There is a lot of seafood which it's normally considered that most of the country is surrounded by the Mediterranean sea or the Atlantic ocean. And there is also a way of eating called "Tapas" which are small dish of different types you mix and eat."
Q: You’ve been a part of this community for a long time now, can you tell us a little about how that came to be?
A: "Yup, it's been a loong time. I found CoE through its art. I was looking into a site where artists post their work and I found that famous image of a mage raining fire on a city, the comment from the author was "Concept art for the new game Chronicles of Elyria" so I had to go and search for it. The rest is history."
Q: If you could say one thing to the entire community, what would it be?
A: "We are in the middle of the Searing Plague event and it's being amazing how the community got involved in either side of the conflict. Keep it up guys! These are the kind of things we are going to be doing in CoE!"
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and help us learn more about you Rhaegys!
Speaking of mods, I am really excited to welcome our newest member of the official Chronicles of Elyria moderator team, and our only current member from the OCE region, Saebelorn!!
Please join me in congratulating him, helping him feel welcome, and showing our appreciation for volunteering his time to help out our community. Way to go Sae, very happy you are on the team <3!
Each month we spotlight an organization from our community.
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.
This month we hear from Rheika, as she tells us about Helgrim Enterprises, one of Vornair's largest.
Official Org Name: Helgrim Enterprises
Server: NA-East (Luna)
Kingdom Affiliation: Vornair
How we formed: "Early on, Helgrim was founded in early 2016 by a couple of friends to create a small trading business of maybe twenty members. It grew, it attracted a couple of...characters, the organization had ups and downs, but somehow it kept growing. I joined early on as the twenty-first member. We now have about one hundred members registered, about thirty are moderate to highly active. Many of our members have stayed from the very beginning, even before I joined. The growth and vision of Helgrim is very much the result of our great mix of dedicated, involved, and hard-working players who believe in Helgrim as a team."
Leadership: "The Council leads Helgrim. That includes myself and the Division Heads, who are voted in by the Council and the Divisions themselves. "
Organization Purpose: "Helgrim Enterprises is a trading and merchant business, but also serves as a network of support for a variety of professions. Our five Divisions are designed to fulfill some kind of need along the supply and demand chain: Crafting, Legal, Wholesale, Seekers, and Security. Chronicles of Elyria will dramatically incentivize players to specialize in professions, but each profession will need to rely on other professions. For example, a blacksmith would need to rely on a miner to harvest ore, transport it to him, a builder to set up his workshop, a woodworker to design the hilt or handle, possibly a jeweler to inlay jewels if it is designed for nobility, a trader to transport the blacksmith’s products to other markets if need be, and assistance in getting the best exposure and customers for his craft. An amazing blacksmith could also be sufficient in all these other jobs, but most likely, the time and energy needed to master each of the skills and tasks needed for that process is entirely inefficient use of the blacksmith’s time. A blacksmith could also hire help from other players, but one would hope that he builds good relationships and trust with those players before entrusting them with his products. Enter Helgrim, where we can connect players to services and skilled players who are not strangers, but members of our sub-community of Vornair who are held to high standards. This concept applies to crafters as well as traders who need to rely on combat-oriented players for security as well as scribes to write effective contracts, or gatherers who need to rely on trusted explorers to navigate and identify resource locations. While we are a for-profit organization, the profits ultimately go back into developing more guild buildings and resources for members, and overall improvement of the organization’s effectiveness in serving members to reach their highest potential. Why? Because quality comes with teamwork."
Motto: "The Pro Standard”
Fun Fact: "90% of memes in Vornair most likely come from us. If this whole trading company thing doesn’t work out, Plan B is Helgrim, the Meme Machine."
Discord: Here
Forum Thread: Here
This month we learn about the kingdom of Riftwood of the NA-W (Angelica) server. Big thanks to King Aerbax and associates for answering our questions!
(Flag of Riftwood)
Official Kingdom name: The Kingdom of Riftwood
Server: NA-W (Angelica)
Leader: King Aerbax
Kingdom Colors: Purple, Black, and Gold
Kingdom Crest: (Not provided, but Aerbax was nice enough to include his personal crest for you to enjoy below)
Goals of the Kingdom: "Exploration, Research, and Technology. As a Kingdom, we will have large investments into research in medical sciences and various technologies"
Fun fact: "We have a pretty large community of active and former Military. Many of our members are either currently on Active duty or Reserves, or have served in the Military."
Link to recruitment thread: Here
Link to Discord: Here
Lastly, I'd like to include something special to the end of this Kingdom Interview for veterans. There is a unique Discord they help sponsor but I won't hyperlink the URL to be fair (Find it at https://discord.gg/RQ8ZyQr)
Here's what he mentioned: "The server is dedicated to active and veteran military of Elyria - vets tend to flock to one another and I was surprised to see how many of us there are in my community alone. My community member that created the channel is Sylvae, discord handle is daintyharpy."
Keep your submissions coming! Submit them here.
We'll need lots more of your creations throughout the remainder of 2018, so whatever you come up with that is CoE-related, we want to see it!
Remember, If your submission wasn't featured this month, we may still use it in the future.
Tanis Annicchiarico submitted this poem, here's what he had to say about it: "It's the first of a multi-part epic poem that will tell the story of the plague in an immersive manner (as it is written from the perspective of my character's ancestor, a Sage)."
"Sit down weary traveler, teary eyed battler, and allow me to weave you a story
Tangled in mystery, oh what a sight to see, the blight that had found its quarry
A fragment of our chronicle, the suffering canonical, with the cries we’re hearing vague
How could we hope to survive, the culling turned genocide, that beast called Searing Plague?"
"Once upon a gifted life, nevermore than standard strife, lived the land of Elyria
The people were kind, and many would find, that there was little to no deliria
But then one night, like a bird taking flight, a dark form had descended
Though the beast is but a simile, it took no oracle training to see, that our happy times had ended"
"It started with coughing, which was met with scoffing, at the severity of the maladies
The fevers trickled in, and the doctors would all grin, for the money overshadowed their fallacies
The hairlines were receding, but soon then came the bleeding, from eyes and ears and mouth
The doctors all scrambled, the theorists rambled, but by then it had all gone south"
"Searing Plague t'was named, after that for which it's famed, wracking victims with pain so searing
The sages rightly knew, while the herbalists began to brew, and the soldiers all rose endearing
Morticians had detected, so the corpsetakers collected, and the nurses prepped their doctors
But the plague had its agents, their foul mixed reagents, and for our deaths they’d be the proctors"
"I wish I could say, we had all saved the day, and the plague was soon abolished
But still yet it ravages, turning lovers to savages, though its presence is wholly admonished
Though the fight is far from a finish, our strength will not diminish, and our work will not be undone
But keep an eye out for me, for one day I pray you’ll see, I’ve come back to tell of how we won"
Elsy submitted a new art piece, and described it as follows: "A skilled Hrothi merchant and artisan shows off her lux fabrics to the mayor of Saint Rothgards (Flawliss), a town in Thearyn. The market crowd thins as evening approaches and the shops prepare to close up for the night. Commissioned by Maulvorn."
Nienie submitted this recognizable piece of art and told us "Leffits are adorable creatures.". We completely agree with you!
Additionally, Nienie posted this lovely GIF to Discord recently and I felt compelled to share it, I'm sure Pteroguin and Morbis will appreciate it!
Remember, if you'd like a chance to get your community content featured in these Community Journals, send your submissions here.
To help you get to know our team better, we try and interview one developer each month, or as often as is possible.
This month, we picked Vye as our developer to learn more about, let's do so!
(We're sure many of you will appreciate this high resolution version of her avatar - image credit to Chaotickite)
Kitlandria: "Here I am, and I’m not sure how I got here -- interviewing Lady Vye, the Spider Queen, Knower of Things, Creator of Languages, Secret Ruler of Elyria, and of course… Trickster Master and Keeper of Cake Bombs. Thank you for being willing to answer these questions and allow the community to get to know you better. I’m going to do my best to keep my usual flusteredness from peeking through."
"There is no question you’re amazing, but… What is it like being such a central and essential part of building Chronicles of Elyria?"
Vye: "Stressful at times, since I feel a strong responsibility to the team and the fans, which frequently aren’t compatible. For example, I’m pretty sure we could spend 24/7 in Discord and it wouldn’t be enough, and certainly wouldn’t help progress the project! It’s good that I’m a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, because I can pitch-in in many areas to share the load. I’ve written a lot of lore, designed several mechanics, produced some code, made prototypes, and designed UI/UX. About the only thing I haven’t done is art creation, unless you count assembling the screenshot template for assets we share. And that’s on top of my capacity as a producer. Despite being a critical contributor for the studio, it’s the kind of environment I thrive in."
Kit: "What Chronicles of Elyria tribe most resonates with your personality/spirit? Crosses her fingers that you say Dras."
Vye: "I bet the answer to that question could reveal a lot about a person!"
Kit: "You’re a sly one, Vye. So, when you’re playing a challenging video game, do you ever yell at the screen when something doesn’t go your way or have a conversation with the characters/enemies?"
Vye: "When something doesn’t go my way?" scoffs
"Like most people, I’m stone-faced and silent when I am alone. If I’ve got an audience for an RPG, I’ll point out logical fallacies and continuity issues to the characters in a cutscene, same as for movies or shows. During more arcade-style games, I just get in the zone and it doesn’t matter if anyone is in the room."
Kit: "What’s been your crowning achievement as a gamer?"
Vye: "I’ll give a digital and analogue answer because my favorite achievement is from table-top, but I think you’d all prefer if the answer were about a video game. My crowning achievement from table-top is when I somehow managed to mentor myself in real-life through the wisdom of the character I was playing in a campaign. It happened over time - not just one session - but one day I realized that I was applying myself in new ways professionally and evaluating situations differently than before, in ways that I’d struggled with previously. Like any standard hero’s journey, the “answer was in me all along.” Today, I’m a better person because of...me. :P"
"My crowning achievement in a video game, however, comes from EverQuest. On the Torvonnilous server, I was in a guild called the Midnight Council. Though the server was not PVP, nor a Roleplay server (it was established long before they made those servers), the Midnight Council was an “evil” roleplaying guild. Evil meaning that we were comprised of Dark Elves, Trolls, Ogres, and the occasional Half-Elf or Human that was evil aligned. Our initiation rites included proving that you were welcome in Neriak and murdering a “lighty” NPC under witness from an officer, but that part is less important."
"While most guilds were raiding planes and fighting the gods, we warred upon our enemies’ cities. We’d go to Kelethin or Felwithe or Rivervale and raid it like any other zone, with the exception of critical gameplay NPCs like the banker or special quest NPCs (we weren’t monsters). Despite predating mostly upon nameless guards and chattel, I’ve never seen such intense and immediate reactions from players that came upon us murdering their kind. If we could have switched to a PVP server, we would have but that ship had sailed, so we did the next best thing: we’d accept any and all duel requests. Of course we’d heal our champion, so they’d always lose and then accuse us being cheaters...which was the point! We were evil and evil doesn’t play fair!"
"What I love about it is that the folks who encountered us probably hadn’t been in their “home city” for months and had no intention to roleplay but their tribal instincts kicked in and they couldn’t _not_ roleplay, instinctively defending the “honor” of their pretend hometown in a pretend world with a pretend person. There was no forsoothery - which isn’t a requirement for roleplay in the slightest - just pure and honest in-character reactions. Beautiful!"
"This is the kind of experience I’m looking forward to many more people having in Chronicles of Elyria. Unintentional roleplay. Not focusing on builds or loot or following to-do list quests, but being wrapped up in a narrative that affects Earth-you deeply and that you will remember the rest of your Earth-life. That, to me, is better than any reward a game designer can think up."
Kit: "I know you have been working on a novel that is a young-adult, high-adventure, steampunk-sci-fi-fantasy novel. Are you still working on that, and are you seriously still interested in getting test readers? If so, how do I sign up?"
Vye: "I finished it, actually, and am now looking for a publisher. I’ll definitely let you know when it’s out though! :)"
Kit: Snaps fingers. "Missed opportunity! On a similar note, what has been your favorite creative endeavor/project of all time? Were there any other close runners up?"
Vye: "The aforementioned novel, actually, with other works of fiction being runners-up. My relationship with my writing has been complicated. As a youth, I wrote plenty of short stories and poems to cope with the challenges of growing up and express my ideas, but I assumed that they were pretty standard for my age."
"As I got older, I wrote less often but much more sophisticatedly and much wordier. In fact, each story I work on is longer than the last one and, at the rate I’m going, it’s only a matter of time before I put Madeleine de Scudéry to shame."
"At one point, I considered going into editing because I sincerely enjoy words and grammar and narrative and improving ideas but, when faced with the reality of a Liberal Arts degree or a Computer Science degree dictating my future careers, I went with the forward-looking path. I didn’t consider going into writing because I believed about myself that I was no good at creating things, only improving existing things. I’d tell my friends that the spark of the fire wasn’t something I could create, but I could stoke it into a bonfire. Now that I’m a little older and wiser, I can see that I was afraid to care about something I could fail at. I tend to be risk averse, and this was very much that. So I didn’t even think about being a writer, but an editor would give me a connection to writing without the risk."
"Meh."
"Anyway, I left that path and focused on games but never truly abandoned it. Then, a few years ago I decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month. I can’t really recall why. I wasn’t doing it with friends or to prove something to myself. I think I just wanted better hobbies."
"The month before NaNoWriMo, I sketched out the world and characters and technology and whatnot for a little story idea I’d come up with months earlier. By the time November 1st arrived, I was ready to write! And I did, nailing the 50,000 word requirement of the challenge and estimating that I’d need another 20,000 before the story was finished. I finished it in the months that followed and sat down to edit it before asking my friends to test read it."
"Though I hadn’t started with the intent to publish it, the story just seemed too good to not share. Yet that wasn’t the reason I finished it, just the reason I edited it. I finished it because I finally let myself think of myself as an author and it was extremely self-actualizing. I started having book idea after book idea, positively emitting sparks: something I thought I was no good at. I have a list of more book ideas now than I could ever write in my life, so I sure hope we get immortality figured out in my natural lifetime."
"On that first novel, I’ve had two sets of test readers and added a new first act from the first round of feedback. It’s ready to publish, but I’ve already been rewarded by discovering something about myself that seriously enriched my life. I’ve started two new series since then, as well; one of which I am considering as a web series."
"How’s that?"
Kit: "Your creativity is clearly boundless (and quite inspiring to me). One of the things that instantly made you my favorite person at Soulbound Studios was your languages project as it so closely resonates with something I did in my settlement. What inspired the languages of Elyria, and how have you felt about the progress of that project?"
Vye: "If you made it through the wall of text that was my previous answer, you’ll understand what a compliment that is to me! ^_^"
"As far as inspiration for the languages, as an undertaking, I looked around the studio and realized that I was the one with the most interest. Necessity, more than anything, drove it. Caspian had already designed the need for languages, gameplay-wise, and the manner in which they’d be handled by the game engine, so I can’t take credit for that part. All I did was develop the actual languages by defining their alphabets and words, and developing their personalities or aesthetics."
"It was not trivial and I spent a lot of my free time working on them because I liked doing it. I wouldn’t consider myself a conlanger yet, but it’s certainly broadened my appreciation for language in general. In another life, I probably should have got a Linguistic degree, but I just hadn’t realized my interest back when I was considering university."
"I feel good about the progress of the project. I haven’t developed the languages yet for three of the discoverable tribes or for forest cant (which will possibly be its own beast) but I’ve got the process for creating them down so it’s just a matter of putting in the hours when it comes time. I should probably jot down what is in my head when it comes to naming things since, undoubtedly, designers and others will need to create new terminology."
"I hope the languages enrich the gameplay experience as they are meant to."
Kit: "I certainly believe they will! A little birdy told me you were responsible for the Searing Plague event concept. Do you have plans to do more design type efforts in the future for the studio?"
Vye: "Oh yes, and the plague was not the first! If you recall from a previous answer, I pitch in all over and that frequently finds me up to my elbows in lore."
Kit: "What, if anything, has the Searing Plague event taught you about the Chronicles of Elyria community and/or about the capabilities and vision of Soulbound Studios?"
Vye: "It’s taught me that we are absolutely on the right track with the design of CoE. We’re not the first to attempt an MMO with dynamic content and realism, nor will we be the last, but I think we’ll be the ones who had the right formula for it to work the way classic RPG players continue to hope it will."
Kit: "Do you see your role within Soulbound Studios changing or developing in any way moving forward?"
Vye: "Certainly. Our current production needs are low, but design needs are high so I’m getting to put on my world-building hat pretty extensively right now. As we move into phases with other needs, I’ll end up where I’m needed most."
Kit: "Many people refer to me as the “RP Guru” - even more roll their eyes at me because I’m “overly enthusiastic” about roleplaying. Your answer to my question about crowning achievements seemed to indicate you have a favorable opinion on roleplaying in games. Could you expand on how you feel about roleplaying and what you hope Chronicles of Elyria will bring to people like me?"
Vye: "I see roleplaying as playing a role in a narrative. Narratives mustn't be limited to fiction or fantasy; they can merely be the “story of you” in any number of settings. Roles needn’t be theatrical or fantastic; they can be as simple as the person you are to a particular group of friends or your professional façade."
"Shakespeare wrote, “All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…”
"This resonates with my views on roleplaying. We do it every day when we decide what to dress like (our costume), what job we work (our class), or we choose who to be (our character). The tragedy in real-life is that we frequently feel like we didn’t get to choose our character but that is a lie we tell ourselves. Through games and stories, it’s safe to play a role other than the ones we wear in daily life and I know that CoE will allow players to escape themselves this way. And why not? It’s fun! No flowery speech is required to roleplay, and I suspect people’s instincts will draw most players into their characters and the world of Elyria naturally. They, too, will leap into action when their pretend kin are threatened, and that’s when they’ve entered the Realm of Roleplaying - not meta - whether they meant to or not!"
Kit: "Do you think there might ever be some kind of event or promotion that could be geared towards RPers?"
Vye: "Like every single event we’ve done? Yes. Those, and those to come!"
Kit: "You’re right. Roleplayers are pretty crafty and can use just about anything to enhance RP. On another note, sometimes, Caspian comes in and drops shinies or leaks in the Official Discord Common Room. In the past, you’ve been known to out-shiney or out-leak Caspian (perhaps just to troll him ;) ). Any shinies or leaks you might have today?"
Vye: "Only Caspian leaks things, and I certainly don’t intend to start! I share shiny tidbits that are ready for sharing or the occasional, deliberate tease. We have very different roles, in that regard."
"Here’s a piece of trivia though: I conspired to keep the purebread horse alive and well, despite numerous bug reports that had to be quietly swept under the rug."
Kit: "Whew. I survived and am even more in awe than before! I was a little faint the entire time, but I made it. :) Anything else you’d like to say for the benefit of our Elyrian readers?"
Vye: "I think the journey is more important than the destination and, so far, the journey with the community has been very rewarding. My heartfelt gratitude to all the folks who come and play with us, be it Chronicles of Elyria, Forums of Elyria, Discords of Elyria, Conquest of Elyria, Spreadsheets of Elyria, Statistics of Elyria, et cetera!"
Special thanks to Kitlandria for taking the time to conduct and write this interview, and to our very own Spider Queen for participating!
It was a quiet month on Reddit, aside from the Searing Plague event discussions. Hellmoon, Mickdude, and ImbuedGreen continue ensuring things are safe and interesting on this discussion platform.
If you have any questions about our Reddit community feel free to contact me, or any of our COM MODs listed above.
The Chronicles of Elyria community is a busy one, and has been for a long time now. So active that there are many live shows hosted each month. To help you be aware and attend these enlightening and often revealing events, we've summarized those we know occur consistently each month. If you host a show on CoE and want to be included here, please contact us at [email protected].
The communities newest show, Oceanus FM Is "a collaborative broadcasting effort hosted by Alleykat and featuring the Kings of Aequitas, Lor Voskara and Tylsia as regular co-hosts. The channel was created to provide an Oceanic timezone livestream and video series, to talk about issues relevant to the Oceanus server of *Chronicles of Elyria."*
"Oceanus FM does not follow a strict broadcast schedule due to shift work. Watch for announcements!"
Cremoria News Network [CNN] "is a weekly CoE talk show brought to you by the Duchy of Cremoria. They do deep dives on CoE mechanics, interviews, and community news. Tune in every Sunday at 6pm Eastern / 3pm Pacific for this classy and sassy stream."
Vendor Trash "is two guys with a laundry list of gaming street cred dating back to the 80’s. It was first a failed dumpster diving blog, then they failed at motivational speaking, and then finally found their calling talking about Chronicles of Elyria. They are excited the game they've always dreamed of is finally being made. After many episodes they are still going strong, come join their throbbing obsession."
Find past episodes on iTunes or your favorite podcast app.
Tavern Talk "airs every other week at 7pm CST/CDT with Jax and Gora. They talk about all manner of things Chronicles of Elyria. From deep dives of developer design journals to in-depth character profiles of prominent and notable players to hosting occasional guests on the show, we bring the Dance of Dynasties to you live!"
Show schedule is the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturday of the month at 5pm PDT / 7pm CDT/ 8pm EDT
TheoryForge. "This veteran team of streamers began a new show on Friday, May 10th, focusing on Chronicles of Elyria. The current hosts have all purchased packs with Alpha I access, and are excited to become more active members of the community. We are drawn to CoE because of its unique mechanics, and the migration of the Revival community."
Follow them at the link below, they are live every other Friday at 9pm EDT, 6pm PDT.
The BBC "(Bordweall Broadcasting Company) livestream deep dives into the latest developments from Soulbound Studios. Watch and discover what has them so excited about CoE, then join them and their guests in the CoE Discord voice after party and find out why they believe CoE is going to define a whole new genre in online gaming!"
They stream live every other Thursday at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific. Watch the CoE forums for their announcements!
The Town Crier "is a live informational show/podcast featuring Morbis (Duke of Vornair), Adam (King of Vornair) and Mickdude (Count from Alésia). The topic is typically the latest goings on with the game or in the CoE community, theorycrafting about things Caspian says, or watching them blunder around with recurring technical difficulties with all the grace of a three legged giraffe. Super entertainment!"
You can catch them live every Wednesday at 3pm (PT)/6pm (ET)/10 pm (UTC).
We love running contests, promotions, and events for our players, but it turns out our players love running them as well!
To aid you in keeping track of all of the different contests and events at any given time, we've summarized them into one directory and stickied it in our General Discussion forum.
Currently the biggest event is The Searing Plague, if you aren't familiar you may want to take a look at what the entire community is talking about!
Each month we'll get to know one of our esteemed Ambassadors a la the "Meet a Mod" section, as well as let you know the status of current nominations and votes!
This month our moderator Elbereth interviewed Bombastus, a very colorful and charming member of the Ambassadors. Let’s see what he had to say about being in that role.
Q: Starting with something basic! Where does your nickname come from?
A: "The name is originally from the full name of the 15th/16th century Swiss philosopher Paracelsus aka Philippus Aureolus Theophrastsus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He was a physician, alchemist, astrologer and all around goofball. He inspired the modern word 'bombastic' by using verbose, excessively flowery, over-the-top theatrical speech and writing for everything."
"This is a double reference, though--as I am a big fan of the manga/anime "Fullmetal Alchemist" and in that series the most terse, emotionless, untheatrical character is given the name "Theophrastus Bombastus von Hoenheim." The irony of that juxtaposition amuses me to no end."
"Oh, and the visual style of my character for CoE is a nod to the most bombastic character in Fullmetal Alchemist: Alex Armstrong."
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: "Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, California, Texas, Maryland and the Republic of Korea."
Q: Would you like to share a nice memory from your childhood?
A: "I remember when I got my first Nintendo Entertainment System we must have played it nonstop for the rest of the day. We had just three games at first: Super Mario and Duck Hunt (of course), and Dragon Warrior. That last was my first experience with the genre of medieval fantasy. The depth of the world and the story (such as it was) drew me in deep. My dad shooed us off to bed, saying we had played enough and we shouldn't exhaust ourselves. All I could think about was exploring more of the world of Dragon Warrior, and I didn't want to leave."
"The next morning I rushed down to play. On the save screen, I noticed a new character with more than three times the level of my own. Dad had stayed up all night and on into the morning playing Dragon Warrior."
Q: You're known as a talented illustrator amongst our community. When did you start and what motivated you?
A: "I've been drawing since I could hold a crayon. I had a quick grasp of art fundamentals from an early age, and that foundation helped encourage me to keep at it. Pretty much every blank piece of paper I've ever been given has a doodle on it somewhere, and I've kept most all of it. I have a file cabinet full of notebooks and sketchbooks and loose drawings from school. And it's a good thing, too-- I've often felt overwhelmed by the art skills of professionals compared to my own work. I would wonder if it was possible for me to grow beyond my hack efforts. Looking back at what I was drawing 5, 10, 20 years ago has a powerful reinforcing effect on my motivation. I've learned that the only person to whom I should be comparing my artistic skill is the me of the past."
Q: Could you share your favorite creation? What about your favorite CoE related creation?
A: I'd love to. My current project is a weekly webtoon about wacky zoo animals (read the full series here):
And my favorite CoE related creation is this page from my Elyrian graphic tale Debts Owed
Q: It's known that several artists seek their inspiration in music. What do you usually listen to while creating?
A: "I have a huge range of tastes when it comes to music. I tend to veer far off the beaten Pop path (though I do indulge on occasion). But, depending on my mood, I usually like to hype up or chill."
"On the hype side, most recently I've been listening to Rhymesayers, which is an excellent rap label based out of Minnesota. Atmosphere, Sa-Roc, Brother Ali, Aesop Rock, deM atlaS, Grieves... so many incredibly talented and diverse rappers, I definitely suggest checking them out even if you think you don't like rap."
"For chill, I've been listening to a bunch of hippy funk jam bands. Wookiefoot, Nahko and Medicine For the People, Trevor Hall, Roster McCabe, Useful Jenkins... I could go on, but you should give them all a listen."
Q: Moving to a different topic: For how long have you been enjoying videogames and how did you start?
A: "Well, I already mentioned my early Nintendo experience, but my videogame roots reach back to the precursor of the Atari game system--the Atari ST home computer. It was very much like the old Apple ii, with no internal memory and a screen that displayed gigantic pixels in three shades of green. I played a Solar System space flight sim on it that was mostly educational and way over my six-year-old head, and a sort of maze adventure game called Pathfinder or something like that. It's been over 30 years since then, and I still play every chance I get. It's a lifetime hobby."
Q: What's your favorite current game to play? Why? A: "Currently I've been trying to fill the yearnings that CoE has awakened in me. So, games like Crusader Kings II for the global political side of things, No Man's Sky for the exploration and survival, Mount and Blade for skill-based combat, and Tyranny for the deep story and permanent, impactful choices."
Q: How did you discover CoE?
A: "I saw an ad for the Kickstarter on Facebook and spent the next several hours reading every article on the website. I was an instant fan."
Q: What are you planning to do in game?
A: "I will start as the Duke of Zylphania in Vornair (Luna)--I want to really dive into the role and help create a fertile ground for people to explore and immerse themselves in Elyria. I also plan to get into a number of scientific fields in the spirit of my namesake (either as a practitioner or patron): astrology, alchemy and physical medicine."
Q: What do you like the most about CoE?
A: "Everything. Or, maybe its everythingness?"
"There's so much stuff in CoE. The depth and breadth of experience in a gigantic, dynamic world is very compelling. The scope of this project has never been successfully matched in gaming history. It's exciting to watch it develop."
Q: What would you improve about it?
A: "That's a hard question to answer, at least before I get my hands on something playable. I don't have any critique about the concepts as proposed. I'm certain I'll have tons of feedback eventually, but for now I'm incredibly impressed by the thoughtful effort the team has put into the details they have shown thus far. Every dev journal makes me increasingly confident that this game will revolutionize the online gaming industry."
Q: What do you like about being an ambassador?
A: "Besides green being my favorite color? I really enjoy tapping into a new community member's excitement and wonder as they begin to discover CoE. It's quite the vicarious thrill. And it's nice to be on hand to help people navigate the conceptual space Elyria occupies. It's difficult keeping track of the evolution of ideas as they bounce around our collective heads, and the ambassador team does a fantastic job keeping things generally pinned in place."
Q: Least about it?
A: "I am not sure there's anything I don't enjoy about being an ambassador. I was doing what an ambassador does long before the program existed--it's just a natural extension of my usual interactions with the community."
Q: If there was one thing you could say to the community, what would it be?
A: "Dream big, but temper your expectations. CoE is a sketch becoming a drawing that will provide the foundation for a vast painting of incredible beauty. It's easy to imagine at this early stage what that painting might look like when it is finished, but the end product will always surprise even the artist. We have a rare opportunity to observe a masterpiece in process. Enjoy watching it unfold. Savor the antici-"
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We appreciate you helping the community learn more about you, thank you Bombassador, and thanks Elby for doing the interview!
There were no new Ambassador nominations this month, but if you notice someone amazing in our community, feel free to nominate them!!
This program continues progressing. Currently we are finalizing our evaluations of our first round of candidates.
After several rounds of reviews, investigations and research, I'm pleased to show you our current status of our 1st round of candidates:
Please note: If you applied to become a SME and are a farmer, chemist, linguist, smith, or tailor - you should have heard from us by now. If you haven't, please contact me directly.
To our first round of SMEs, thanks a ton for your patience, we'll be finishing up this initial onboarding process with you shortly.
Additionally, we are planning to launch round 2 of our SME application requests centering on different professions, so keep a lookout for that notice.
We are still and will continue to accept SME applications, if you want to learn more about this program or are interested in applying, check out the announcement here.
September is gearing up to be full of excitement and more astrology! Here's a sneak peek at what is coming in the near future:
Stay laser-focused on our forums & Discord server so you don't miss out any late-breaking news and info about CoE!
Until next time,
More to come...
