Nicely done. Keep up the good work.
"Stupid questions make more sense than stupid mistakes."
Greetings Elyrians!
What an incredible Kickstarter-versary celebration! Not only did you achieve all of the milestone rewards we came up with, you also earned several thank-you gifts as well! We’re unbelievably grateful for your continued support and we have plenty to report on that happened in October. Let’s get started!
The final shiny of the month is a story from during the time known as Queen's Gaze. Every 52 years, a comet appears in the sky, dominating the view for the course of a year. An omen to many faiths, it symbolizes a time when life and death are in equilibrium and the veil between the spirit realm and Elyria is drawn away.
That’s a wrap of all major announcements and new details released in October. We hope it was useful for you!
Many years ago Noslim created and maintained an informational post about our game and we stickied it as it was so helpful. Thank you for that!
Recently, we updated this sticky, made it official, and expanded it quite a bit. We recommend you bookmark it and use it to share the years of important links & information about Chronicles of Elyria to anyone who might be asking. Any suggestions you have to make it better just let us know!
It includes links to the newly created Shiny Compendium, Lore and stories lists, and other collections we’ve created over time.
Special shout out to SirApetus, Focii, and the whole mod team for their assistance in putting it all together!
A new feature added recently by Discord gives server communities more perks to spruce things up!
You can learn about the benefits the varied levels of Server Boosts provided at the link above, and since you can only choose 1 or 2 servers to dedicate your love towards (depending on your Nitro benefits), we'd like to thank the following members whose boosts helped us gain or maintain our perks in October! (Note: Boost verified on October 30th, 2019 - the number in parenthesis indicates how many times you’ve appeared consecutively on this list.)
We consistently review surname reservations on a weekly basis. Each month, we like to share a few from the past period that caught our eye.
As domain names have taken priority this month, this list is smaller than usual.
Random declined surnames:
Most attempted surname: Words associated with moon(s)
Random standouts:
We consistently review domain name submissions now that D&SS is underway. Here are some examples of ones that were declined and a few of our favorites.
Random declined domain names:
Most attempted name: Roma
Random notable domain names:
As names are still being reviewed, you should expect more next month! We hope you enjoyed this sampling of names we found worth sharing.
Thank you for your continued patience and support as we continue vetting thousands of names that have been submitted. We are beyond the halfway point now, with over 2500 approved and a lot less than that to still go through. Thanks for your ongoing patience!
Regarding Surnames: They are a bit delayed as we deal with the large amount of domain names, but they’re not forgotten! Hang in there as we will get to your surname as soon as we can!
Each month, we'll spotlight a few random memes that were shared via the forums or Discord.
Sanguinesh Blackwind shared some of his thoughts about the 2019 Kickstarter-versary:
Mayor Spenraw Rothian shared these feelings related to Domain & Settlement Selection:
And finally, Hawarth Hugiz is recognized a 3rd month in a row. They shared this positive emotion over Ombwah joining our team:
If you'd like to see your meme highlighted, share it with us in our Discord or forums, and it may show up here one day!
A new column in the Community Journal, this section will highlight and provide answers to interesting questions submitted to us by the community.
Thank you to everyone who has submitted a question for this column. Unfortunately, the questions that have been asked aren't ones we are able to answer at this time. Please continue to submit your questions and we'll bring this column back next month.
As a special treat, it is a holiday here in the U.S. and some members of the studio celebrated Halloween by dressing up.
Let's see if you can guess who everyone is!
We hope all of you who celebrate have a safe and Happy Halloween and Samhain!
If you would like to submit a question for the Ask a Dev column in hopes it will get answered in a future Community Journal, use this form.
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 Chronicles of Elyria 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.
This month we meet Recurve, let’s learn more about her!
Q1: Tell us a little about you! Where are you from and how does the culture of that place impact your life?
A1: ”I am from the Netherlands, however I live in Switzerland now for a few years. The Swiss are very proud and clean so their parks are always nicely kept and open for anyone who wants to have a good time with their friends, this is something I really learned to appreciate from the Swiss in regards of keeping your surroundings clean as you can walk barefoot through the park if you want.”
Q2: So, you are an Audio Engineer? What do you typically do for work?
A2: ”I'm working as a corporate event technician, this is mostly not really challenging for a sound engineer, however sometimes I’m the T-Rex time enforcer on our own local meetings (pic reference). The fun jobs are mixing bands (front of house) and being a stage tech for bands on festivals.”
Q3: What is the most common misconception you face about your job?
A3: ”That we’re light engineers or dj’s, especially with the more compact equipment nowadays. I get people who ask 'can I request a song for the break?'”
Q4: What is your most memorable/significant gaming experience?
A4: ”I’ve met some really amazing friends through gaming, some go back 8 years. The most memorable to me is how gaming can bring people together.”
Q5: You wake up, shipwrecked, on one of the Adventure Islands. All of your basic needs are taken care of (food and water). What two items would you want to have with you?
A5: ”Very good question... in the Elyrian theme, a longbow and big fighting knife, to create basic weapons like spears or prepare food. In a IRL setting on adventure islands, I would want a tent and my leatherman, haha I dislike insects hence the tent…”
Q6: In the past month, we’ve been a part of the Kickstarter-versary and managed to meet all sorts of awesome stretch goals. What was your favorite stretch goal and why?
A6: ”Definitely the Hunter’s Cloak. (I think that was the name), since my friends and I have a Rangers Association. This really made me excited to go out, even as a countess, explore and go on some adventures with friends.”
Q7: What rare recipe from the KSV would you be most excited to have in real life?
A7: ”I wish I could bring the pillow, to work especially for some power naps.”
Q8: How would you approach life differently if you lived in Elyria vs. here on Earth?
A8: ” would definitely change my main job to be something more adventurous perhaps as a bard, traveling the kingdoms of Elyria.”
Q9: Are you a Hunter or a Gatherer?
A9: ”Hunter, no doubt. I absolutely love the Ranger’s Apprentice book series.”
Q10: If you were an Elyrian rather than a human, what tribe would you most likely be (not by choice, but by culture/personality/features/etc)?
A10: ”Neran I think. The whole master of none but wide knowledge of many things is something I really like. Also the Vitori Knights, I’ve always had a big interest in the Knights Templars.”
Q11: What Chronicles of Elyria projected mechanic can you most not live without?
A11: ”Offline Player Script, because I really like the idea that you don’t leave when you log off. Life continues.”
Q12: What do you like about being a Moderator?
A12: ”I really enjoy helping people with questions but also keeping the space where they can share their enthusiasm and positivity but also feedback, a good place without toxicity or grieving or similar negativity.”
Q13: Anything you dislike or would change about the Moderator program?
A13: ”I would love to see us in voice chat with each other more :) all of the team are great people <3”
Q14: If you could say anything to the entire community, what would it be?
A14: ”Don’t forget that playing games is also for fun, if you’re not happy where you are, perhaps it’s time to find a new place which does make you happy. There are a lot of people in the community already, I can imagine it’ll grow a lot.”
Thank you Recurve for taking the time to help us learn more about you!
As you may already know, our volunteer Moderators and Super Moderators spend countless, often tedious hours supporting and helping the community to ensure peace and happiness across all of our platforms.
In October, the team enjoyed the community being calmer than it has been recently. They spent time helping me complete some outstanding projects we’ve been noodling on for months, such as the new sticky info post in General Discussion, our, other compendium lists, and continued testing of our new Soulbot v3 ;)
If you want to talk to a Moderator, you can find them in the forums with a Moderator title, or in our official Discord server in purple (Moderator) and gold (Super Moderator).
If you have an interest in becoming a Moderator for our team, please, don't call us, we'll call you! There is no application process; we constantly seek out capable, kind, considerate, helpful, and supportive individuals who have a reputation in the community of being upstanding players who are honest and have integrity. If that sounds like you, and you are present in our community, keep up the efforts! We'll find you!
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 help bring them to your attention.
Today, we introduce you to the Valetudinarium, founded by Gardener Lachasis Liath.
Official Organization name: Valetudinarium
Server: Oceanus (OCE)
Kingdom affiliation: Caprakan
How did you form? "I wanted to focus on healing and helping the poor in game, so it developed from there. There wasn't any organisations in the kingdom and I thought id take it up.”
Tell us about the leadership: "The leader is basically whoever has the most medical knowledge."
Organization purpose: "The aim is to keep the kingdom advancing with medical knowledge and technology and also helping the less fortunate. So there is no room for big egos in this organisation. Basically, to appeal to any who would like to help others out, Dras focus on life as part of the Two-fold queen. Any tribe is welcome as long as they follow the "First No Harm" motto. "
Motto/Slogan: "First do no harm “primum non nocere”"
Fun Fact: "The artwork for the logo of the Organisation was done by a fellow Caprakan member Coyotl."
Discord: Here
Recruitment thread: Here
Thanks Gardener Lachasis Liath for sharing these details about your organization!
Over the course of the last almost 2 years, we’ve interviewed every kingdom across all four servers in a rotating fashion each month. Un-fortuna-tely, there is a finite amount of kingdoms, and we’ve spotlighted each one in different Community Journals.
The very last holdout, the elusive and mysterious kingdom of Fortuna, had previously given me the impression they’d participate...eventually. Alas, after many attempts, we were unable to get their interview completed as this column’s final task.
So with that, this column will come to a close. It is possible for it to return after some strange happenstance - such as us hearing back from Fortuna, or another kingdom sprouting up from nowhere.
Thank you for reading these interviews, I hope you found them as informative and interesting as I did conducting them. In the future we’ll find other interesting content to fill the void that this column’s end will create.
To be considered for this spotlight, submit your content here.
Thank you for continuing to send us your wonderful creations!
Important: Continue to share your creations. We need more of them. Please utilize the link above so we can show off your efforts to all Elyrians!
Remember, even if your submission wasn't featured this month, we may still use it in the future.
Desi Doll sent us this incredible piece titled simply “Kypiq, by Desi Doll”.
The caption reads: "A cute little Kypiq, befriending a dragonfly"
Community member Sparrow submitted this note alongside her excellent work - "I colored your concept art of the Janoan architecture."
Athorias shared his latest and stated “In this monthly showcase I will be representing the Capital City of Dâhl Gorreth!”
Hellmoon shared with us this drawing she titled “My representation of a Soul"
As a bonus 5th community spotlight this month, I wanted to share with you what I felt was a stunning composition by a true artist among us. Please enjoy this beautiful piece by a fellow CoE member who wishes to remain anonymous.
More submissions are always needed!
If you have art, songs, poems, or any creation that relates to Chronicles of Elyria you'd be willing to share in a future CJ, find the link at the top of this section, submit, and maybe you will be spotlighted!
Thank you to all of those who submitted your fan pieces!
To help you get to know our team better, we try and interview one developer each month, or as often as is possible.
In October we get the distinct pleasure of introducing and interviewing a legend in the industry, welcome one of the most narrative designers around, Ombwah! He joined the studio recently as a Senior Designer.
Q1: Tell us a little about where you grew up, what was it like? Did where you were born vary greatly from where you grew up? Anything you care to share?
A1: ”I grew up moving up and down the West Coast, though I spent most of my teen years in Southern California. I bounced around in college and landed in art school in Colorado. Sometime after that I entered the games industry out there, and since then I’ve lived and worked in the San Francisco bay area, moved back to Colorado, and now here I am in the Pacific Northwest – it’s been an interesting change of scenery! I was missing the ocean out in Colorado, and I sure won’t be missing the snow they’re getting this winter.”
Q2: What was your first video game experience and did it get you hooked or did something else?
A2: ”I discovered gaming in general early. My older brother brought D&D home when I was in second grade. My father was an electronics engineer in the late ‘70s and was deeply immersed in the techsplosion of the time. Robots like the Hero and the Topo were on display at the weekend tech fairs he would take us kids to, lasers were very hip. He built a descrambler for the cable-TV system of the time (hint, there were no cables,) no doubt setting my psyche up for phone phreak shenanigans a decade later. Pizza or the movie theater trips always included a coin-op arcade, and when Dad had to work on the weekends, I got stuck in a lab on a test machine or a lab PC because “those guys always have some games on their machines.” I could usually find a copy of Rogue on those terminals, and sometimes even cooler things like Ultima or Castle Wolfenstein.”
”Sometime around then my father got a job working on an early home video gaming console called the Vectrex, and I was just about the right age to be a full-time tester. My older brother and I got an Intellivision for xmas around that time also, and that was a game changer. The thing about the Intellivision was that it could play D&D with me and I didn’t even need to get any other people involved. At that age, getting “big kids” to get together to play D&D with me was nearly impossible, but with this thing I could play whenever I wanted! That was the gateway through which I would never return. The Imagic AD&D titles alone would have kept me playing, but there were worlds apart on each of those little rainbow-labelled cartridges.”
”By the time my older brother got his Apple II clone, I was already way into video games. He embraced the Golden Age of Piracy, and by the end of that era I doubt there was a game published for that platform that I hadn’t played at least a cracked version of. The pivotal title though, would be Broderbund’s Lode Runner. Lode Runner contained a level editor, which was rare for the time. However, there was only room on the floppy for one custom level. That is unless you entered “format” into the console, which I did. That cleared every single level from the disk and left only the editor, and a blank canvas. My brother was pretty upset. When he found out that I had nuked his Lode Runner he restricted me from playing anything else until I had rebuilt 20 or so levels for him, to his satisfaction. I was something like 10. This was my first game design task, and since that summer I have come to feel that there are few media that can provide the experiences or convey narratives in quite so compelling a fashion as games, so I’ve stuck with it ever since!”
Q3: D&D or Pathfinder and why?
A3: ”I’m personally pretty platform agnostic when it comes to my tabletop role-playing. I started playing RPG’s with D&D in 1982, and at the time TSR and Avalon Hill were pretty much the only games in town as far as I was concerned. Tabletop gaming at conventions then exposed me to all sorts of TTRPGs from Teenagers from Outer Space, to Paranoia, Cyberpunk, Rifts, and Vampire: The Masquerade, and over the years I’ve amalgamated most of my favorite elements of each into the homebrew systems I end up employing with friends.”
”For me, tabletop roleplaying is about the collaborative storytelling more than just the mechanics. I might even say that the mechanics are there to enable and inform the story, but the story that is generated is the real point. As a game master running a tabletop campaign, if the mechanics start getting in the way of the story, I might even find ways to fudge that to keep the narrative that the characters are spinning at the fore.”
”So, while there are certainly subtle differences between tabletop roleplaying systems that can switch up the feel, this question reminds me of a conversation we had in the office just the other day about our favorite tabletop systems wherein we decided that some games are more or less conducive to free roleplay, and I tend to like the ones where players have the most agency. At the end of the day though, if this is a way to ask me if I like fantasy roleplay, the answer is ‘Heck yes!’”
Q4: You are known as an amazing storyteller. In your opinion, what is your most memorable experience in the industry where your narrative skills were best utilized?
A4: ”Just to start out, I think my storytelling ability finds its deepest roots in my history of tabletop gaming, especially in gamemastering rpg tournaments with eight players at a table. Then, over the years while I’ve gone on to set the flagstones for some pretty big worlds, it’s been some of the smaller ones that have utilized my narrative skills to their utmost.”
”I always enjoy watching communities react to the stories that I tell. Games like Auto Assault, Rift, and Revival gave me great opportunities to spin up whole worlds that had never been seen before then, and then watch how those worlds were taken on by others. On the Dragons & Titans project a partner and I were contracted to write a complete novel based in the world, and that was a huge narrative undertaking that was very satisfying to complete and give to the community.”
”In all of that writing, though, it has been rare that I am given an opportunity to create real decision points in gaming narratives. Storylines are most often linear, especially in those theme park MMOs I’ve described. For that reason, working on games like Brooktown High or Ashes of Oahu was refreshing, in that it these present choice-based branching narratives that let the players choose how they deal with the situations that they are presented with. That sort of agency is my holy grail of roleplaying, so those projects were rewarding, still they were only single player experiences.”
”When it comes to just pure storytelling, I probably most enjoyed the monthly Revival development stories that I took part in. During Revival’s production we would often write fictions that were meant to present how a player would encounter or interface with a particular game mechanic. Rather than presenting just a dry technical description, though, we instead provided the community with a vivid, in-character narrative that illustrated the feature in the context of a player’s intended in game experience. These were great because aside from writing a cool story, we also got to build out the world lore a little more with each one, and show the players what sorts of play experiences they might have. This was wonderful for spinning up community speculation and discussion, which was a really powerful way to show what exactly we were trying to build with that project and build lasting investment in the world.”
Q5: Favorite project overall and why?
A5: ”Choosing favorites is always hard. There are so many elements of different teams and the games we’ve made that I have loved over the years. That said, my favorite projects have been those that have tried to push the envelope of their given genre. Auto Assault brought action-shooter gameplay, instancing, and destructible environments to the previously static (and dare I even say sedate?) mmo genre, Rift began to question the standard idea of class, and toyed with community events, and Revival and CoE have set out to upend the mmo paradigm so completely that the community has started throwing around new acronyms to describe what we’re building.”
”That element right there, the innovation of the whole genre? That is my favorite project”.
Q6: What made you interested in Chronicles of Elyria?
A6: ”Elyria is a big world with a lot of charm of its own, but most compelling to me is the impact that players are expected to have on so many aspects of the day to day operations of the world itself. The core design ideals that set CoE apart from other virtual worlds reflect my own passionate ideals about online roleplaying. I have been trying to bring player agency to the fore in the roleplaying genre since my very first forays into MMO design and the vision behind CoE puts players at the center in an unprecedented fashion. Instead of alone-together styled independent individual player progress, player interdependence with each other and with the world are the focus. Some here have even eschewed the traditional MMO moniker for another, more descriptive acronym, and I do like cats…”
Q7: Were there any parallels between Revival and CoE that you noticed right away?
A7: ”Indeed there are! While the worlds themselves are quite different, and there are mechanical variances, there remains a core idea that the world is evolving, and that the focus is primarily on the interactions between player characters. Revival was also based on the idea that the world we were building could be seen as a destination that players would look forward to living in, rather than a formulaic sequence of statistical challenges, and this ideal is present here as well.”
”Last, as I mentioned in the previous question, I do like cats, and I’ve seen a term around here that I’m familiar with from my time on Revival. Multiplayer Evolving Online World sums up what we were trying to do with Revival and CoE quite nicely, I think. I admit that I’m quite pleased with its adoption. (Adopt a MEOW today!)”
Q8: Why is long hair important?
A8: ”Is long hair important? (looks in the mirror) Ah, right.”
”So, I have had long hair since around 7th grade. At some point I decided that I was going to a new school, and it was time to redefine myself. All of the heroes from my favorite books had long hair, Vikings wore long hair, elves all had long hair, native American warriors… long hair. All the book covers showed that the “cool guys” grew their hair out, and so did all of the rock stars. Since you gotta dress for the life you want, I grew my hair out.”
”OK, ok, I also thought that I had big ears, but elves look ok with their ears... Fun story: One time I was on the phone in the kitchen and apropos of nothing my stepmother called across the room “Hey if you want to get your ears pinned back, we’ll pay for that for you.” I’m sure she meant well, but my immediate response was actually “Oh yeah? Can I get them pointed?” She said no. ☹ Ah well.”
Q9: Do you have a favorite (launch) tribe and if so, which is it and why?
A9: ”I like Hrothi, Waerd, and Kypiq the most. Hrothi appeal to me because they keep the lore, and they keep it in the vaults. I like to write about lorekeepers and the sorts of circumstances they can find themselves a part of, and the delvings are a fun place to imagine. I have an idea for these people that will have to sleep beneath the land for now, but one day might see the light of an adventuresome lamp.”
”The Waerd present a really interesting way to play with community and to grow as a tribal unit. The inherent ideas of unity and sharing will no doubt create a dynamic that hasn’t really been celebrated outside of guild play. I’m genuinely interested to see how the Waerd community plays with and among the other tribes.”
”Finally there’s the Kypiq. Look, I am a career dungeon master, I know that kid that always wants to play as a caricature of Tasselhoff Burrfoot -- I still sometimes wake in sweat from a Bupu fever dream… I know. BUT, we can end that legacy together, we can make short-statured tribes cool again! Kypiq are clever and quick, and that’s cool by itself, but there’s something about these treehouse building, zipline riding, vegetarians that retains all the fun of the clever little person archetype without the inherent goofiness or casual criminality that so commonly come with them.”
Q10: Which mechanic specifically has you most excited about CoE?
A10: ”I’ve already made it pretty clear that I’m very interested in watching how players interact with the world and with each other. A live economy based in producers, consumers, and the acts of player and NPC agents all whirring (or not) together is also an exciting thing to think about. However if we’re looking to single out one mechanic in particular, I think it would be aging, and inevitable final death. That death is something you would want to avoid as a player is already pretty remarkable, most MMOs have fled from any sort of death penalties other than a bit of lost time. Here, though, not only is death something to avoid for convenience's sake, it’s also something that has real impact on your play experience and can even mean that characters actual demise in the world! This is exciting by itself, but what that does to the community of actors is even more interesting to me.”
”The choices thus generated with regard to heirs, or whole new iterations of that soul in the world, who they present as (in game persona) vs. who they are IRL (account holders) creates a compelling long-term game of masks and personalities behind the faces of Elyria. Like a big ensemble cast, playing various parts as the story unfolds. I’m interested to see how it plays out.”
Q11: What do you feel is the strongest trait that you bring to this dev team as a Senior Designer?
A11: ”It’s hard for me to put a finger on a single strongest trait. I think I write pretty well, and I’m sure to apply that to my work here, but I hope to have greater impact than just my words.”
”Over my career, I’ve ended up with my hands on many diverse and varied game projects that land kind of all over the map in terms of theme and platform. In addition to those things, I have worked on a number of multiplayer roleplaying experiences. These have taken the form of MMOs, live action experiences, and tabletop games, and each lends its own perspective toward the type of character to character, and character to world interactions that we want to see happening in Elyria.”
”Last, the idea of a MEOW has been precious to me since before the WWW gave us the ease of interconnection that makes the idea viable. How to apply the many ideas that I have picked up over my career to the realization of an evolving virtual world has been a preoccupation of mine, and I’m very excited to see how I can synergize my experience, my passion, and the massive potential simmering here in the studio and in the community.”
Q12: Cats or Dogs and why?
A12: ”I like dogs and cats both, but for different reasons. Both can be buddies, but they each have a different general neediness that manifests in different ways. Your good boy doggo, in my experience wants nothing more than to sit right at your side and be nearby their person. Doggos often want to play with you, and are mostly goofballs in comparison to cats. Dogs are a little higher maintenance in their need for attention.”
”Cats are a bit more aloof, and while they will demand affection when they so desire, that isn’t an all the time thing for most. Cats want to play alone, or with prey. They love you on their time and leave you (mostly) to your own devices until next they require your ministrations.”
Q13: If you could say anything to the entire community, what would it be?
A13: ”Hello! Thank you for making me feel so welcome. It is an honor to have this opportunity to help to realize this world along with all of you. I am so excited to get started.”
Thanks so much Ombwah for helping us get to know you a little better! We too can’t wait to see you get started and what you’ll do here at Soulbound Studios, welcome again!
Chronicles of Elyria has a Reddit community, lovingly managed by Hellmoon, Mickdude, ImbuedGreen, and SirApetus.
Don’t forget to share your memes with us. Despite getting tons via our Discord server, our subreddit would love to see them too, so feel free to share there as well!
We continue to be amazed by our community members, even those on other sites such as Reddit. Thank you for all of your help to spread the word about Chronicles of Elyria!
If you are interested in joining our subReddit, find it here
Recently our policy has changed in terms of who has access to share their events with the community in our official Discord.
If you are a content creator and would like to be able to:
You will need the “Content Creator” role in our server.
If you are interested in gaining this role, please email us at [email protected] with the words “Content creator request” in your subject line. We will send you back the info you need to get setup.
Thank you to all of our content creators that have already quickly moved through the process to become official. We appreciate you!
The Chronicles of Elyria community is a busy one and has been for a long time now. It’s so active that there are many live shows hosted each month. To help you be aware of them, 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].
As a recent change, if your channel hasn't added any new content in the last 90 day period, we'll remove it from this list. If you feel your show was removed accidentally, please contact us or reach out to Serpentius.
Our content creators now have their very own thread & you can preview their content without ever leaving our site!
Check out the new Community Shows directory now.
To easily find it in the future, it is also linked in the new Read First sticky we discussed earlier.
We love running contests, promotions, and events for our players — but it turns out our players love running them as well!
To help you keep 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.
There are a ton of talented artists in our community, many who share their creations in our forums and on our Discord server. Recently, some of those artists (including our super awesome Hellmoon) have created an official Chronicles of Elyria group over at the ultimate web destination for all art: Deviant Art.
Explore the creations, add your own or just support the creativity of our members in the CoE Deviant Art group!
Ever-creative Super Moderator Hellmoon participated with many other community members in Inktober 2019, a celebration of art. See all of the fun artwork shared in this thread!
Each month we'll get to know one of our esteemed Ambassadors, as well as let you know the status of current nominations and votes!
October we learned more about our European Ambassador DarioZ. Let’s get to the interview!
Q1: Where were you born and raised if you don’t mind sharing with everyone?
A1: "I was born in Torino, one of Italy's main cities in the north. Just to say some things about it; in Torino (and surroundings) have their origins Lavazza coffee, Martini, Olivetti, FIAT (acronym for Italian Car Factory from Torino), and as far as Italy is concerned here had their origins chocolate, aviation, cinema. Also here is the first Italian parliament also, Torino was the first capitol of the country before Florence and Rome! I was raised in a nearby town among the hills called Pino, that takes its name from the pine trees that abound here. It's a really small and mainly agricultural town just on top of the hill along the main hill crossing right south of Torino. It was a really great and calm place to be raised as it's on higher ground and doesn't suffer Torino's pollution. Still you find yourself only few bus stops from it's downtown. You can imagine it like a small Hobbiton, even the people there is quite like-minded hehe"
Q2: Is this the same place as you are living now? If different, what is the most shocking difference between where you are now and where you grew up?
A2: "Yes, I still live in Pino even if I'm not bound to this place and considering I have many options for my future."
Q3: Have you ever been into board games? If yes, which one is your favorite to play?
A3: "Yes sure, I love them! My favourite is EvE Conquest (from the homonymous MMO) because it has many intricacies and a huge complexity, that you would obviously expect knowing EvE Online. Also victory can be achieved in many different and independent ways, features that allow you to put in action secret strategies and deceits. For instance, pushing for the maximum productivity of military units for sure gives huge efficiency, but forbids you from changing your productivity strategy for a really long time and this can be a great issue as you can't relocate the energies used for production! Now I've started to play the just arrived Crusader Kings board game, it's quite promising, who knows maybe my next favorite!"
Q4: If you could make one wish for planet Earth, what would it be?
A4: "Really a tough question! And wide... so it has to be a wide answer I suppose. I'm quite on a John Hammond perspective, "Nature will find a way", so basically the planet knows pretty well how to behave and react to any event. I'd wish that one of the most common species living on it may find enough wisdom to put in place a way to co-exist in order to preserve the abundance that the planet offers. The planet itself will still be here in billions of years in the future maybe, whether in our company or not, it's our choice!"
Q5: What video game are you playing now? What do you like most about it?
A5: "Ultima Online. I love the customizing you can put into it. It's the heart and key to it's long lasting success. Also the 2D isometric graphic (not using the 3D client!) makes every single player use his/her imagination, instead of getting a precise hi-def imagining of how is the world, the characters, etc... The unofficial shard I play on is called The Miracle ( http://themiraclegdr.com/ ) that has just turned 18 years old. There are even some parents that started playing on it many years ago when they were young, now playing together with their grown children! Also the most notable feature of the shard is that people have total power on laws, kingdoms and story."
Q6: Which of the recent Kickstarter-versary milestones are you most excited about? (Please don’t say cannibalism)
A6: "I'll not say then! :P"
Q7: I understand you’ve spent a good amount of time supporting our Wiki team, thank you for that! Why do you do it?
A7: "I speak English decently and still I know that as the years pass, many people in Italy still don't know it as well as I do. If you add to this that I deeply trust the CoE project and want it to succeed, it comes natural to me putting effort into guiding people not as good with the language. Also it helps me to keep up to date with features and many of the games intricacies! Before the CoE wiki project I made an heroic attempt to translate (almost single-handedly) The Elder Scrolls Online ( https://www.nexusmods.com/elderscrollsonline/mods/58 ). I started with the help of CervantESO (Spanish) and RuESO RTussian) add-on managers, translated several thousands of sentences (can't recall the number of single words) and got the help of many good willed people. Still the ESO team speed into changing or tweaking, even old and maybe already translated, content was too high for our possibilities. So the add-on is discontinued now (for the Wiki's good! hehe)"
Q8: What does the Z stand for in your name, any story you can share?”
A8: "It has no particular meaning, still a story to be told! It came the first time as an intuition during my adolescence. Every single thing or name gets better or cooler with a Z or X at its end. I found also that it was a simple way to get an almost always free handle for any site I registered to, and better to pronounce in spite of my first surname letter appended. At that time I got it from the anime Dragonball... Z! It's funny because is quite common that people ask when they hear my common handle and/or email address, but there's the story ready for it!"
Q9: What chore do you have to do currently IRL that you like the least?
A9: "I recently became single again, from being a full time dad with 2 kids (But I swear it was not my fault!). So I got back to having to handle all the house keeping routines on my own! Funny, thrilling, but sometimes really booooring! Also I'm not seeing any actual growth in my workplace. Yet the pay is good so I keep working there, even if it isn't satisfying anymore. I have been looking around a bit myself lately! And on Ultima Online I'm a faction leader... so I have to organize and help all my guildmates. Looks like wherever I go I end up leading something, that's an absolutely great side-effect of being dependable, but it gets tiring at times."
Q10: What are your goals in game, what will be the focus of your Duchy?
A10: "During Kickstarter I wanted to stop with Astronomer... "no wait Baron!" "Ok Count but not a single pledge over this!" I promised... After that we were two Dario named guys, the other is from Bologna, with Count packs and we discussed about giving to the Italian Community one Duchy. Then I hosted Raziel for a pizza during the layaway time frame and ended to be the one Dario with the Duchy. I look to enjoy it while creating an enjoyable environment for all the people involved, focusing on the Italian community. My Duchy is in a very interesting position, on the whole with my fellow Italian counts, we are still trying to evaluate all the implications. One thing is for sure tho, we are all thrilled by the opportunities and all the features of the Duchy itself. It hosts many tribes, interesting biome and promises to be awesome as a trading route!"
Q11: What do you like about being a Community Ambassador?
A11: "I love to be helpful in my life as you may have understood by now. So being an Ambassador puts me on that very path and humbles me in being the main voice of the Italian community, and maybe I'll not be the only one in future, who knows! It's also a way to be even more involved in the process of CoE "gamification" (is it even a word? Don't care, I love it) and that's very important to me."
Q12: Anything you dislike or would change about the program?
A12: "So far I find the program fine for its purpose and I feel to fit nicely in it. For instance I don't really see myself as a Mod at present, it requires a really deep commitment, balance (so far so good) and sometimes... leash! (That's one of my weak points... I feel like I'm too gentle sometimes) but who knows!"
Q13: Do you have any pets? If yes, tell us about them. If no, what would be your perfect pet and why?
A13: "I have had several cats and a few dogs, but no pets at the moment. I used to love cats above all but this year I learnt to deeply love dogs too, simply understanding they are two different worlds you can't compare. I think I'd like ferrets, one friend of mine has three. Or maybe owls that, unlike diurnal birds of prey, are active when you get back home and sleep when you're at work! The best may be a burrowing owl that being small can make flying exercises even inside an apartment, without need to go outside every day!"
Q14: If you could say anything to the entire community, what would it be?
A14: "I can't say I've been in touch with many game communities, still I feel that CoE's has a great environment and great people taking part in its forging on a daily basis. Usually people tend to make their voice heard most when there's something they dislike or is wrong. Many people on the internet then tend to use the complaints and whining as bait for attention. I think that what this community may succeed to do is to give voice to the positive. If there are things that you like, even mildly, don't have fear to voice them! We have all together to shout out loud what we like to help the Devs knowing towards where to drive their efforts most. We have all to give voice to what we are excited for to support them and let the hidden beauty of this community emerge. Try to push yourself and each other to understanding before "using the leash". It's not wrong to do sometimes, just think well before potentially hurting someone on the other side of the net. Be positive!"
Awesome! Thank you so much DarioZ for talking to us and helping us get to know you better!
If you want to learn more about the current Ambassador program, or know someone you would like to nominate, click on the link!
Thanks for your support, as always.
The Subject Matter Expert program allows players in the community to lend their expertise to the studio to help make Elyria the best it can be!
SMEs are interacting more and more with the designers lately as game development moves ahead. We’re hopeful to bring on more SMEs with different expertise in the near future. Keep your eyes on this space for that news!
Find our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in orange in our official Discord server, and identified as "Subject Expert" in the forums.
Learn more about the SME program here
Please note: We have removed a few bullets from the above list that have been included previously. They aren't cancelled, but they aren't close enough on the calendar to be listed here.
Hope you all have a fantastic November!
Until next time,
More to come...
"Stupid questions make more sense than stupid mistakes."
Nice. My town got on the notable list!
Can't wait to see how the Dutch Auction shakes up the political landscape.
Count Einzbern of Aichhalt.
Kingdom of Ashland.
Duchy of Sanctaphandri.
Seated in Darmindatch.
Welcome Ombwah! Two Manor owner from Revival here. Happy to see you join Snipe on the Elyria team,!
Count of Sigil's Light, oathed to Duke Damius Kymerion and the Duchy of Thorne
Awesome to hear that Ombwah is on the team now, welcome!
Have to say WOW. Totally loved the music track. Not had a lot of free time lately but was well worth stopping by to hear that :)
It has the vibe of middle earth and hobbiton and more. Game menu material? :)
I really enjoyed this CJ, guys! It was particularly varied and in-depth too. And Welcome Ombwah indeed! Well done SbS!
Physician, Alchemist & Herbalist to the Duchy of Anor, Al-Khezam - Selene (EU) Server
So many community journals. I think its about time for a new production update / state of elyra-article!
Life is too short to play bad games.
Welcome!
My dream is to make my settlement long outlive me Why not join me in being part of it? Send me a message
9B7323 friend code
Ombwah looks like a rejected member of Areosmith... Sorry dude
So.. When does Open Beta beginn? Like.. The year's nearly over.
