Salutations and fair tidings!

A lot happened in June, in this Journal we take a look back at what was new or interesting this month.

A look back:

Plenty happened in June, let's take a look at what transpired in the last 30 days:

• We shared the first of our tribal items with this Janoan shield, and there was quite a lot of discussion about it in the reveal thread. Click on the link to see what all the fuss was about!
• The origin of the Sedecim was announced, along with a shiny new lore story from the perspective of a young unblooded Janoa who learned all about what it was like to participate in this exciting event!
• Early Sedecim traditions included a fair and livestock shows, so some of these goodies were available in the store for a limited time!
• We held a live public Q&A on our Twitch channel. The topic was based on the Personal Destiny System and, since it had been a while since we had discussed it & the community had a lot of great questions, we turned it into our first ever live DJ. In case you missed it, view the replay on our YouTube channel here.
• The next Friday Shiny was revealed with this deadly-looking weapon favored by our swamp-dwelling tribe, the Dras. Feast your eyes on this beauty and let us know what your thoughts are!
• Our honorable lead designer Snipehunter provided an official update on the completion of the studio's Adventure 0.3.0. Read about in game chat and how we are bringing more and more life to Elyria with each update!
• Though the Mydarri at Launch milestone was not reached during the Kickstarterversary, our secret hope was that you would reach at least the halfway point and, as an unofficial prize, earn a bit more info about these mysterious islanders. As a result, this story from the Akashic records surfaced...Learn the first bits of information about the mysterious Mydarri in this tale of Elyria; "The Stowaway".
• This Glaive of the Waerd made its debut as a Friday Shiny, and many a community member had feedback about it!
• The last shield we shared generated healthy debate, now the stalwart Hrothic shield is displayed for your viewing pleasure. As always we're eager for your thoughts, is it everything you expected and more?

Surname reservations:

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.

Favorite declines:

Arkhkronakh
Planeswalker
Ov' Thuug
Dingusbury
Craftalot
Palmtop Hiroo
Paranoid
Medieval

Most attempted: Variations of L'estrange

Standouts:

Gaeleath
Thorduul
Nyt'Tairo
Bikyongere
Vraetti
Daventria

Popular Memes

Each month we spotlight one or two of our favorite memes that were shared via the forums or Discord.

This month, after the push to achieve milestone rewards during the final hours of our Kickstarterversary, Sir Stumps shared these sentiments:

Additionally, our community love updates about Chronicles of Elyria. They love them so much, they get a little anxious, as Araborn Telcontar shared:

Want your meme to get noticed? Share it in our official Discord server in the #coe-memes channel and it just may happen!

Please note the pin in that channel and be sure to follow all rules when posting

Meet a Mod

This month, we interview a veteran of the Mod team, Super Moderator Noslim!

Q: You are known as Noslim where did that come from?
A: "My RL name is Wilson, flip WILSON over counter clockwise and you get NOSLIM (pronounced Nos-Lim)"

Q: I understand you served in our nation’s military, anything you’d like to share? (Thank you for your service!)
A: "My wife and I both served as U.S. Marines. She, in 12 years, has been all over the world with deployments to Iraq, Korea and many other places… I never left the country. (Thank you for your support!)"

Q: Is there another person in CoE that you knew from your time enlisted?
A: "Many, but most notably would be Adam Burrfoot (Monarch of Vornair on NA-E). At the time I was senior to him and in CoE he’s now a King and “I’m just a Count” in Bordweall, Shieldwall Strong!"

Q: You were also a law enforcement officer, were you not? A: "I was! I was a Deputy Sheriff for 5 years before joining the Marine Corps and I was a Federal law enforcement officer for 4 years after my enlistment. Now I’m doing IT work (like I did in the military) for a very large hospital organization."

Q: Do you feel that and your military training helps you be a better Super Moderator?
A: "My military training has helped me to be better at everything in life. Don’t make excuses… just get it done. Follow through. Do what you say you’re going to do and be a leader to all those around you needing one. So yeah it relates to being a SuperMod."

Q: Pets? What can you share about them?
A: "We have a Yorkie (came with the wife, package deal) that keeps sneaking out the front door and runs all over the neighborhood. If you find him, he answers to Kodi, please don’t bring him back."

Q: What is Noslim afraid of? (If anything?)
A: "One of my girls breaking my heart."

Q: Many of us that know you say if we’re ever in a firefight, we’d want you watching our six. Who would you want watching yours?
A: "My six is already clear, I just came from there."

Q: Strangest/funniest thing a child of yours ever said to you?
A: "My son and it’s not what he says it’s everything he says with the confidence of a lion and the voice of a 3 yr. old."

Me: "Greyson, you’re the coolest boy in the whole world!"
Son: "I know me is."

Q: What do you like about being a Super Mod?
A: "Knowing that people trust that I will be there to help in anyway that I can. I’ve been doing this long enough that most know I’m always around. I may not be the first person they go to, but I believe most see me as fair and reliable and that’s good enough for me."

Q: Least about it?
A: "How quickly things change and how (although it’s different people from one week to the next) someone is always trying to push boundaries and cause problems for our community."

Q: What game are you playing right now?
A: "Recently Bless, then Realm Royale, last few days I’ve been playing Netflix mostly."

Q: Anything you’d like to share with the community?
A: "Someone shared a link the other day of when I became a SuperMod almost a year ago… I replied:"

"Thanks for the reminder of how people used to say nice things about me ;)"

"And.. how many of us have literally been doing this for years now.. people are getting impatient now, but good things are coming! Thank you all for the awesome stuff you do everyday and if you ever need anything, I'm always here!"

Thanks Noslim, we appreciate you taking the time to help us get to know you a little better!

Meet an Organization

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.

Mountains Mixture Alchemy Guild - Oceania (OCE)

Official Organization Name: Mountain's Mixture

Server location: OCE - Oceanus

Kingdom Affiliation: Kingdom of Aequitas

When and how was it founded?

Accounts from an early Authoriton: "After the re-branding of the Leharar (now known as the Sedecim) common menn and womenn began to observe the cultivation of great Guild's that would stand the test of time. Naturally, the Hrothi of Aequitas greatly admired this social evolution as it was seen as a way to inspire the population into virtuous work that will continue to exist long after they leave their lives. And so began the construction of a great public Guild that would study the sciences of Elyria and beyond. An Alchemy Guild that was granted the gift of a mountain's blessing... dubbed "Mountain's Mixtures".

"To the pleasant surprise of the Authoritons we have had applicants from all sorts... Brudvir hunters... Hrothi traders... Neran crafters... Even a Kypiq alchemist who now shares the title of Authoriton with me. This melting pot of thought, belief and skill has been a centerpiece of Mountain's Mixture, as well as one of our greatest joys."

Who leads the organization?

Sagan currently holds the title of Guild Leader. He says: "However, the Guild is a merger of meritocracy and diplomacy. Leadership often changes depending on the research and production being undertaken at the time. The stability of the Guild is closely monitored by Authoritons who are each experts in particular fields. The Guild is meant for public use and the authority structure reflects that."

What are the goals or purpose of the group?

• First and foremost is helping people rapidly grow their skill in Alchemy, no matter what their play-style might be.
• The second is to allow each member the means to generate their own personal wealth.
• The third and final goal of this Guild is to create an Offline Player Character friendly environment so that people will full time jobs or study can come home knowing they've still been progressing.

Is there a group mantra/motto/value proposition?

The Candlelight Chant

The stars at night,
Grant us light,
So destiny may cause no fright,
Giving we the blind sight,
Whether you be wrong or right.

A chant to remind us of the significance of the stars. The final line is designed to have many meanings, which varies based on who observes it.

Can you share a fun fact about the organization?

"It was made in one night, to convince hesitant people (especially the Aussies!) that creating a thorough Guild post and reaching out to people isn't only awesome fun but very possible. Thanks to the positive energy and awesome leadership of the OCE Kingdom Aequitas I was able to theory craft some of the details that are seen in my thread. Go on guys, use some of that hype energy to breathe life into Elyria even now."

Discord server link: here

Forum thread: here

Thank you Sagan for helping the community get to know more about you all!

Meet a Kingdom

This month we meet a Kingdom from the European server, thanks to King Ereshkigal for his support!

Official name of Kingdom: Tryggr ~ Meaning; trusty, faithful, true & safe
Server: Selene (EU)
Leader: King Ereshkigal/ Queen Irkalla Ashen
Kingdom Colors: Red & Black
Kingdom Crest:

Goals of Kingdom:

"The Kingdom of tryggr is mostly pvp oriented coalition of Various tribes that puts its community first. Before biome, before tribe.It’s a community of people that wants to have fun gaming together. Most of our people are into the Viking theme but it doesn’t mean we won’t accept other cultures as long as they are willing and able to fight for Tryggr one way or another.
But there is more to Tryggr then a bunch of rowdy vikings looking to pvp. You just need to glance at the list of crafting guilds to know that. Most of our guild leaders are not high ranking nobles in game. They are simply people that have a passion for a certain aspect of the game. Each one having earned their place on merit. After all, money spent does not a leader make. Our main goal is to become a strong independent kingdom whose inhabitants are more then just casual neighbors then more like a Wolf pack or your fellow Brothers and Sisters who you can trust and have faith in, just like our kingdom motto suggests. We are aiming for Brudvir or The Waerd but we won’t promise a particular tribe or biome because Tryggr like everyone else just can’t guarantee where or who we’ll end up with but we’ll try our best."

Fun Fact: "Tryggr has become more the just an online community. We’ve actually met up in real life. To see how that turned out. Have a look here:"

Link to recruitment thread: Here

Link to Discord: Here

To learn more about them or to visit their site, click on the recruitment post above.

Community Spotlight

If you'd like a chance to get your community content featured, send your submissions 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.

Here's a sampling of community made projects that were submitted to us for your consideration:

Here's a lovely song and video made by Aubriella the Bard:

Check out her YouTube channel for more CoE-inspired music!

Fyradeen submitted this drawing and told us that I made last year after being inspired by the game's soul mate mechanics.

"Two souls, many lives
Kindred spirits never die
Identical in every way
Destiny us holds the same."

Our very own Hellmoon submitted this piece, described by her as "Fanart depicting my interpretation of the Sedicim Festival flower that signifies peace & victory."

We think it is quite lovely, how about you?

Dreamar submitted and wrote us about her unique creation: "A lovely sea dragon, taking a casual swim. Possibly mischievous and hoping to find food or limbs dangling in the water."

Full disclosure: This artist was kind enough to allow yours truly to use part of this image as my current avatar on Discord, thanks Dreamar!

A big thank you to everyone who submitted art and/or had it shared, we love all of it!

And remember, keep submitting your content no matter what it is, we want more and love to share it with the rest of the community!

Reddit community

We've been covering our Subreddit community for a couple of months in this journal, so we figured it was time to introduce those who help ensure our Subreddit runs so smoothly.

Introducing, our Subreddit COM MODs! (A COM MOD on Reddit is also known as a Community Moderator, folks who do not work for the studio and are not employed. This is important at Reddit and we do our best to comply with the culture that exists there.)

Hellmoon - A longtime member of CoE, and official moderator, Wiki Admin, and co-leader of the Trials of Karcion team, she is no stranger to helping this community! When she isn't on her computer participating, moderating, creating beautiful digital art, and running contests and events in the best community ever, she's playing various games, learning to paint, and gardening! See her massive trove of art here.

Mickdude - Everyone's third-favorite regular on the Town Crier, and Count in Alésia, he brings a different kind of support and moderation to our Subreddit. When he isn't writing tantalizing and provocative articles of fiction in our forums, he's he's Playing Crusader Kings II, reading historical biographies, or, of course, playing Discords of Elyria. To read some of Mick's work, look here.

ImbuedGreen - Only recently added to the team for a trial period, our newest COM MOD comes with a lot of CoE knowledge and Reddit cred. He's the author of the now-famous Subreddit long list of DJs. When he isn't lurking in online communities helping the masses, he likes to stimulate his imagination with intellectual conversation, creative endeavors, and a healthy dose of visionary curiosity. He has an affinity for people, technology, and learning (and is currently attempting to learn Python), and enjoys working out, eating pasta, reading fantasy/historical fiction novels, and playing board games.

To take part and see what all the fuss is about, head over to the CoE Subreddit today and join in on the conversation!

Community shows

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].

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. Excited the game they've always dreamed of is finally being made. Eight episodes strong and still going, come join their throbbing obsession.

Find past episodes on itunes or your favorite podcast app.

Their Channel

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

Their Channel

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.

Their Channel

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!

Their Channel

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).

Their Channel

Community contests & events!

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.

Ambassadors

A new section for the Community Journal, 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!

Meet an Ambassador

For our premiere "Meet an Ambassador" column, we're interviewing one of the wisest and oldest (not in age) community members I know, Victoria Rachel!

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us and help us get to know you better!

Q: You've been in this community since before July of 2015, that makes you one of the most senior community members. Tell us about how you first came to CoE?
A: "I decided that I really wanted a new MMO to play after bouncing between a few different ones, only ever lasting a few months. So for the first time ever I went to MMORPG.com, it was the same day the first article on Chronicles of Elyria was posted there. Fate! You haven't been able to get rid of me since."

Q: Have you always been a gamer?
A: "Yes, but not to the same extent as others. I grew up ignorant of the wonderful variety of games that are available. So basically I just spent years playing Crash Bandicoot and Sims! When I got to university I was shown World of Warcraft and loved it, so rather late into MMOs."

Q: Can you tell us a little about where you grew up/your life?
A: "I am British and grew up in the Shires. My life is pretty darn boring to be honest, but lovely to live. Happy home life growing up with my fabulous mother and spiffing brother. Decided at age eight I wanted to be a civil engineer. Became civil engineer. Started my own family with utterly super husband and now our gorgeous son. Played some games in between!"

Q: I understand you are a mum, anything you'd like to share?
A: "I was not a Mum when I started following the game, but I am now! One thing that was awesome when my son was brand new was even though I was up in the night a lot, the CoE Discord always had people up too. Great way to stop myself falling asleep while feeding."

Q: Many don't know this, but you were one of the first moderators for CoE, what was that like?
A: "I was indeed, and I was very clear before accepting that I had not been a moderator before so I wasn't sure how good I would be. Answer = Rubbish! I just got anxious about saying anything so stopped contributing and just hid from the community. Not very helpful. Luckily I was allowed to step down and go back to just being a happy normal member of the CoE family. It does leave me in awe of the job our lovely moderators do though, it is terrifyingly hard."

Q: I've heard a rumor that you prefer to be called Victoria, but many just abbreviate and call you VR. Is the rumor accurate or do you have any comments?
A: "I am actually more than happy with Victoria or VR. However, I am baffled again and again by the people who choose to call me Rachel. Why? What was wrong with the first half of my name? And now I have mentioned it you lot are all going to call me that from now on aren't you?"

Q: What part of CoE is your favorite, if you can name one. Or what do you plan to do in game yourself?
A: "Farming! I love the concept of farming so much. Textile crops are my aim; I hope to produce the finest textiles to sell on to tailors to create their master pieces. It is wonderful to have a game give you a chance to be right at the start of that crafting process."

Q: As one of the very first Ambassadors, tell me how you feel about the program and/or what the role represents?
A: "I am not sure if you have noticed but Chronicles of Elyria is an incredibly deep game. There is just so much going on here. For me the ambassadors are like your CoE search engine. We can point you in the right direction for more information on topics you are interested in and we try and answer any questions you might have. There are no stupid questions with us, you can just let it all out."

Q: What games are you playing while you wait for CoE?
A: "I have actually gone back to World of Warcraft now. But in preparation for my role in CoE I have been playing a lot of farming/dating games, which is a shockingly large genre."

Q: Do you have any favorite non-gaming hobbies?
A: "My main hobby currently is my son. He is just the most fascinating thing in the world. He literally learns something new every day and getting to be a part of that is absolutely brilliant fun."

Q: Is there an area of Chronicles of Elyria that you feel is your specialty or something you both know a lot of facts about as well as are passionate in discussing?
A: "I utterly love the lore. Lore is life. So anything about the story of the world, the religions or the tribes is something I will have read over and over. Information about the religions in particular is something I can not get enough of. However, on the flip side save your questions about nobility for one of the other ambassadors!"

Q: Cats or Dogs?
A: "Cats."

Q: If you could say something to the entire community (and you essentially are), what would it be?
A: "You are more important to me than you will ever realize. Thank you all so much for being the wonderfully inspiring creative and beautiful people you are."

Really great to learn more about you Victoria, thanks for your time!

Ambassador update

This month a prominent community member lovingly referred to as the "CoE Database" was nominated, voted on, and approved!

Therefore, please welcome our newest Community Ambassador:

Protey!

It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Congratulations Protey and thank you for all your walls of text! (heart)

Keep submitting your recommendations on who you feel would make a great Community Ambassador. Find the details on what it entails and how to nominate someone today!

Note: If you were nominated but didn't move forward into the voting process, do not be dismayed. This simply means you have some improvements to make before you are considered. Some of our existing Ambassadors didn't make it in on their first try, so never give up, keep learning & growing and you'll be nominated again! If you have any questions about any of the Ambassador program details, you can ask a mod, or contact Serp!

Subject Matter Experts

This program launched last month, with 5 types of experts requested during the first round of applications being accepted.

As we announced last month, we received 13 submissions for areas we are currently seeking experts on. Progress on the project is as follows:

• All properly submitted applications (and accompanying data) is organized in a secure manner so the designers can review them and provide their feedback.
  
  • Note: We take your data privacy very seriously, and store this info only in a single secure location. If a SME exits the program, our copies of this data will be deleted.
• SME candidates are currently under review and will be contacted directly to work with our development team and designers. We are so excited to start gaining insights from our SMEs, we're almost there!

If you are interested in sharing, it is never too late. We will be accepting SME applications indefinitely, so please feel free to send your paperwork in!

To learn more or to apply with your knowledge, click here.

What’s next?

It's never a dull moment here at Soulbound Studios, as this lengthy and interesting Community Journal displays!

To keep you in the know about what is coming up next, we've summarized some future events for you here:

• Caspian is working on the Adventure 0.4.0 release, stay tuned for this exciting information on the contents of Soulbound's future endeavors.
• There's also a World Generation DJ coming soon, providing exciting details into the process and methodology of building our procedurally-generated worlds.
• Map Voting is on the horizon, and once we have firmed up the official launch date we'll share with you how this highly anticipated feature will be utilized by our community to determine the map of their starting continent!

Stay tuned to our forums & Discord server so you don't miss out any late-breaking news and info about CoE!

Until next time,

More to come...