Design Notes

July 30, 2012

This Friday: Evil War Finale

Dage vs Nulgath: Final Showdown!

Ultimate showdown of ultimate EVIL! In the third and final installment of this Summer's Dage vs Nulgath War, we will finally see WHO has the greater army, WHO controls the Underworld, and WHO is the greater Commander of Evil! ... And YOU will decide who wins!

This Friday we'll release a new cutscene introducing the final push to annihilate your opponents, a brand-new area of the Underworld (ish) map to battle in, 2 new monsters, 2 new farming quests, and enough epic reward gear to fill an abattoir! (Look for previews of the new war gear in this week's future Design Notes!)

The decision all comes down to you and your fellow soldiers - Undead Legion, Nulgath Nation... who will YOU fight for?

Changes to the Legion Entry Requirements!

So many recruits have flooded Dage with requests to join the Legion, he has decided to gain entry into his dark, Undead Legion of warriors! Here are the new requirements:

• Undead Warrior Armor - 1200 ACs from the Suggestion Shop in Yulgar's Inn

Dage the Evil is removing the 200 PvP Combat Trophy requirement! Undead Legion, with this requirement removed, new warriors will flood into the Legion... exactly as Dage planned! (What do you expect from someone whose title is "the Evil"?)

Wednesday: Lorelympics Limited Time Shop!

Competition, striving for a goal, and having their athletic achievements recognized brings out the best in many people. That's why we're opening a Limited Time Shop (LTS) with a Lorelympics theme! Grab your color-custom Track Suit Armor, Gymnastics gear, and a whole host of sports-themed weaponry! We're also introducing the member-only Bronze, Silver, and Gold PvP Medals!

Dark Caster Class in Progress!

Players who currently own the Dark Caster Armor will soon be able to gain access to the Dark Caster Class! Dage is working on new art right now while Cysero and Yorumi design the skills! We will release previews of the art, a skill writeup, and the Class itself as soon as they're ready*!

Note: Players who do not have the Dark Caster Armor will not be able to obtain the Dark Caster Class. Owning the Dark Caster X armor does not count for the Dark Caster Class.

* As soon as it's ready-o'clock! **
** This picture is never not the answer to "When will X come?"

Epic Duel's Infernal Infiltration War is On!

BUGS! Battles! And beating up the robotic insects trying to take you down? Sounds like the perfect thing for any warriors, mage, Legionnaire, or Exiles! In Epic Duel's Infernal Infiltration war, Administrator 7 and his Legion are racing to head off The Lawman's Exiles as both sides race to take possession of the Delta Vault!

In the last leg of the war, bikes will slam into blades, Mages massacre Cyber Hunters, and Bounty Hunters on BOTH sides fight dirtier than they ever have! What's in the Delta Vault? ... No one knows! But if the other side wants it so bad, then so do you!

Epic Duel Mechachillid Armor in Battleon this Friday!

Roggark, one of the MechaChillid warriors, is coming to Battleon this Friday to recruit seeking aid for his Queen's army of robotic insect warriors. He's got a shiny Mechachillid Armor and Helm to offer any who wish to learn more!

What Raggork doesn't know is that AQW heroes HATE bugs! Take his armor, learn the deadly details about the war he has to share, then head to Delta V to take his buggy brethren down!

More Yorumi Fixes!

Yorumi spent the weekend monitoring the fixes he rolled to the servers on Friday. He's found some very elegant fixes to a few pretty large problems, but he's not done just yet! He's got a list of functions to clean up and other miscellaneous bits and bytes of code to create.

* You know what goes great while watching two armies battle for the supremacy of their overlord? Peas. Green peas, black-eyed peas, Black-Eyed Peas (Pump It!)... it's too bad that no matter what kind of veggie we offer, neither Dage nor Nulgath can be ap-peas-ed.

July 27, 2012

Countdown to Chaos!

It’s time for Chaos!

Return to The Span in AQWorlds this weekend to visit a city of half-remembered faces and monsters that seem familiar, but aren’t. The golems there tell stories of a mysterious Master and hint at the dark plans he has for you. But just how dark ARE they?

Adventure through simulations of AdventureQuest, DragonFable, and MechQuest as the clock counts down to the Chaos Lord’s big reveal!

Sage Armor and Sage Eyewrap with Nemesis Mace

More War Rewards!

The war of Evil vs Evil is not yet won! Warriors, rally to your commanders - they have rewards to offer you! Accept, and you will be compelled to battle for them for the rest of eternity!

Legion, this week Dage offers you:

• The Rage of Evil (Rares Shop)
• Brutal Wolf Blade (Legion Shop)
• Brutal Bone Daggers (War Merge Shop)

Archfiend followers, Nulgath has these rewards for you:

• Mortality of Revontheus (AC Shop)
• Neofiend Blades of Revontheus (Diamond Shop)
• Neofiend Helm of Revontheus (War Merge Shop)

Last Weekend to get the FlameStop Blade!

Visit your local GameStop store by July 31st, 2012 and purchase an Artix Upgrade card to unlock the exclusive FlameStop Blade! For a detailed walkthrough of how to obtain your FlameStop Blade, take a look at this post!

Yorumi's on a Roll - More PTR Fixes!

This Friday, Yorumi is rolling out more fixes! They should address the issue of some of the random disconnects as well as a potentially significant portion of the lag in general. /cheer Yorumi on as he monitors the servers this weekend to track how efficacious* his patches are!

Coming Soon!

• The finale of the Dage vs Nulgath war!
• Olympics 2012 Celebration Shop!
• The Span release, Part III: Dragon of Time!
• SkyGuard release: The Beast?!

July 25, 2012

AQWorlds Mega Bug Fix

Yorumi good, NaN-bug bad!

Thanks to all of the amazing testers on the AQWorlds' PTR server, Yorumi was able to find "THE CRAZY NaN BUG." I would like to share the nitty gritty details of this bug... but first, from your Twitter and Facebook messages, I realized that many players do not know what is actually happening behind the scenes on the PTR (aka Public Test Realm).  And why it restarts so much.

Really tricky bugs like the Crazy NaN Bug do not appear on our normal staff-only test servers. In order to cause them we need to do two things: 1) Have tons of players on.  2) Create a special version of the game server which watches for specific things and then writes the errors somewhere we can investigate.

So, everytime you have seen the server restart, you are playing on a new version of the game server which is doing massive bug-hunting and testing. Because of this... by process of elimination.... we found the Great GrandDaddy of all AQWorlds problems: THE CRAZY NaN Bug.

If you played our older games you may have hit a monster for "NaN" damage. What is NaN? (Not to be confused with the delicious bread at Indian Restaurants) NaN stands for "Not a Number." It is what happens when you ask Flash what 1 + "a" equals. That is not a variable, that is actually the letter "a."

It  breaks the computer's brain. In human terms it is sort of like asking someone what the color blue smells like. But how could this be a problem for us? We have gotten really good at protecting our games from NaN problems... REALLY GOOD.

I mean we use a function EVERYWHERE that makes sure that nothing isNaN. That was not a typo, the function is actually called isNaN(). Say "isNaN" in a silly cat voice in your head... it is sorta cute. Remember the NaN Cat from the AQWorlds Meme release? Anyway... despite all of our isNaN checks, every once in a while some NaNs were still getting through and generating hordes of mysterious and unexpainable errors on the server. 

After two days of non-stop banging heads against desk, Yorumi finally figured it out. isNaN, as cute as it is, does not work in ONE very specific situation. To demonstrate, let's feed isNaN some things that are Not a Number and see what happens:

Is Not a Number?

isNaN("a") = True

isNaN("chicken") = True
isNaN("I like dinosaurs that shoot lasers out of their eyes") = True

isNaN() = True

isNaN("") = False!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

WHAT!? How is nothing a valid number? This was flat out illogical & baffling! So there it is... because the isNaN function fails under that one specific condition, there are mabye thousands of tiny rare bugs that occassionally happen in AQWorlds, generating thousands of errors. Once we found the problem it was super easy to fix.

Yorumi changed every instance of isNaN in the game to also look for empty "" values. This fix might actually speed up literally every part of the game server.... the PTR server is currently running the fix. Help us continue the tests!

July 24, 2012

More Chaos, Servers, Fixes

This is the week of MORE in AQWorlds!

It's only Tuesday and we already know this is going to be a VERY full week! A lot of work is going into a lot of projects - fixing the lag, getting two new servers for AQW, more chaos, more war items, and more work on future releases!

More Fixes: Attacking the Lag on PTR!

Yorumi has been pushing all weekend, yesterday, and today as we work on getting the servers in shape. We're going to punch lag in its code! Over the past few days, he has worked on inventory load times, login lag (if you see all of the characters in Battleon drawing quickly, that is the reduction of login lag), fixing the friends list, and logging, tracking, and tracing the causes of AQW's lag.

He's spent so much time staring at a wall of scrolling code, we are pretty sure he's devloped the ability to look into the mAEtrix. /Cheer him on!

More Chaos: A new update in The Span!

The Span: A town full of people you don't know, but almost remember. Monsters you are fighting for the first time, but whose attacks seem so familiar. Streets you've never walked in a town that feels like a place you once called home.

This is but one hall in the Library of Time. You will not see them all.

Return to The Span this week to begin the storyline which will teach you much about Time, Drakath... and your Destiny! Meet a stranger you already know. He will send you on the journey of a lifetime - many lifetimes. His lessons begins this week inside the Library of Time, but what you learn will help you prevent the end of Lore!

More War Items: The battle continues!

Dage, Nulgath, and their minions are hard at work crafting gear to drive you towards their goals! This week, we will update each of their war shops with a new item. The rewards keep coming as war rages on in the Underworld!

More AQW Servers: Yorumi and Zazul!

While we're rebuilding our server code to be better, stronger, and faster... we thought we'd add in two more! With more servers, you'll have more room to adventure with your /party and find new /friends!

This week we're working on getting those added to the game. It takes a lot to add a new server. We need the server itself, an IP for it, software licensing, a good deal of new code, and then there's attaching it to the game itself. We are trying to get them to launch this week, but won't release them until they are ready.

More Better Things in the Future: Looking Ahead!

Every week we push on that weekend's release, but there is SO much going on in the background. From making new ads to producing rewards for HeroMart, creating new website graphics (like login screens and homepage banners) to going back and cleaning up old bugs/areas of the game... there is ALWAYS more to do!

Like Cysero's current project: completely re-doing the tutorial area for AQWorlds. We're going to clean it up and make it a LOT easier for new players to learn how the game is played. All of the original intro content will be available, and the intro cutscene isn't changing, but future AQW players will have a much brighter, much cleaner first adventure through Lore!

July 24, 2012

GameStop?!

We are in...

When we first started building our Flash based game I was asked, "Do you ever think you will have your games in GameStop?" I shook my head no and said, "No, our games are not the type of thing you will ever see in a store like Gamestop." Update: I was wrong. O_O

I am pretty sure it is against the rules to take photos in a store, but when we went to the GameStop on Saturday and saw the AQ display... we snuck a photo using my phone! This is SO AWESOME! I posted this photo on FaceBook. Less than 2 hours later, other players started sending me and posting photos of them posing next to the sign. (NOTE: The way advertising is SUPPOSED to work... is you pass by an ad and you notice it. But our awesome players did the opposite and were actually GOING to GameStop to take a photo with the display and send us a picture. You guys are even crazier than we are!) One thing I did notice was our cards were located on a different side of the spinny thing than the display poster. You will notice in the picture above, the cards are right above the display. This is because I *coughs* manually fixed it. Reminds me of all the times I used to go to bookstore and look for Piro's MegaTokyo books and moved and arranged them all to be face forward so they were the first thing people saw. (Ironic Historical fact: Back in 2003, my friend who is now the manager of the local GameStop, recommended that we put an ad for AdventureQuest on Piro's web comic, MegaTokyo. It was the very first ad we ever put on the internet.) Sometimes the stores need a little help :-)

Only 1 Week Left!

By request of the store, there is a special promotion, which will end on the last day of this month, where you can get the FlameStop blade if you use a GameStop card to upgrade or get AdventureCoins in AQWorlds. While these are currently only available in U.S. locations, we are hoping it does well enough to expand to other countries! Until then, we are going to create a special offer for those of you who cannot visit these stores.

July 22, 2012

Nulgath Nation Wins!

This battle goes to Nulgath!

Congratulations, Nulgath Nation! You have won this skirmish in the name of your Commander, the Archfiend Nulgath! And, as promised, the Archfiend has placed a VERY enticing reward in his Diamond shop for you!

His loyal General, Revontheus, REALLY knocked himself out making all of these items. Not only did he make the Neofiend Wings of Revontheus, but ALSO the Wings of Revontheus. The Neofiend Wings of Revontheus are in Nulgath's Diamond shop.* The Wings of Revontheus drop from the Undead Legend.

And talk to Klunk in /evilwarnul to watch the Legion vs Nation cutscene!

* The Neofiend Wings of Revontheus cost 6 Diamonds. 1 Diamond for each of Nulgath's all-seeing eyes.

Coming this week - PTR and Chaos!

Probably both at once!

The member-only Lag-Fix PTR server (the Public Test Realm server) opens tomorrow! All members are invited to join us as we rip the engine apart, tear holes in broken code, and rebuild it better, stronger, and FASTER!

Expect things to break, the server to go up or down and back up again with minimal notice, and at the end... a shiny NEW achievement badge AND a nifty thank-you item as a sign of our appreciation. Also the knowledge that you've worked to help make AQWorlds a much better game for all your fellow players.

This Friday, we'll visit the Library of Time in TheSpan! Learn the REAL reason you are there... and what the Chaos Lord has in mind for you!

July 21, 2012

War Challenge + Reward

A gift from Dage the Evil!

To thank his Undead Legion for all of their undying devotion to his cause, Dage the Evil has placed the Undead Legacy Helm in the Undead Legion shop in Shadowfall! The helm costs 0 gold and 0 Legion Tokens! Show your loyalty to Dage by adding #DagesLegion to all of your war-related tweets!

To open this shop, you'll need to complete the "Hail to the King" quest, which you can get by talking to Dage in Shadowfall.

Note: The Undead Legacy Helm that was available to non-Legion members is now the Legion Wannabe helm and has different art. If you WANT to be a Wannabe, you can pick the helm up in Dage's Rares shop for 0 gold now. If you ARE a member of the Legion, you can pick up the REAL Undead Legacy helm in Shadowfall for 0 gold.

A reward from Nulgath!

Nulgath Nation, pay heed! Nulgath offers you the Neofiend Wings of Revontheus if you can reach 100% on this week's war meter before the Undead Legion. If you accomplish this, they will be placed in the Diamond shop when 100% is reached!

Show your loyalty to Nulgath by adding #NulgathNation to all of your war-related tweets!
Are you up for the challenge?!

Note: The Revontheus armor is a miniboss drop for this week's war. It was released early, and will not drop again until the war miniboss is unlocked!

July 20, 2012

Dage vs Nulgath War Part II

Undead Legion vs Nulgath Legion!

Evil vs Evil! Which side has the stronger Commander? Dage the Evil and Nulgath clash in the second week of their war for the Underworld! With all new gear, monsters, and quests, you've got a lot of fighting to do and loot to get! A mid-war action-packed battle cutscene will blast onto your screen when the war meter hits 100%!

Nulgath Grants his Nation New Gear!

Nulgath, your Nation lives to serve! They are ready to fight for you, die for you, but most importantly... WIN for you! #NulgathNation, show your Commander just how loyal you really are! Slay Dage the Pretender's Undead Legion to earn his approval and his incredible rewards!

Dage Offers his Legion New Rewards!

Undead Legion, arise! Your Commander calls; your task is to vanquish Nulgath's Nation before they overwhelm the UnderWorld! He has crafted new rewards to entice you to his side... especially YOU, mercenaries! The Legion Mercenary Armor Set is a work of beauty, and nothing is too beautiful to be Evil!

Omega Treasure Chest Update!

Grab your Treasure Chests and talk to Twilly in Battleon! If you've got the keys to open them, you'll have a chance to get Solrac's awesome Omega Corsair Set!

Epic Gear in the Sponzard Shop!

Keep a lookout for the SponZard button located in BattleOn. Clicking the button will bring you to a video ad and upon completion, you will receive a random exclusive in-game rare item, such as the Hero of Sponsor armor, sword, helm and many more. You are able to view these ads up to 10 times a day, with a pool of items as rewards.

New Pet of the Month!

You know who loves lunch? Heroes! You know why Heroes love lunch? Because battling on an empty stomach turns every fight into a grave situation! Head to Aria's Pet Shop to pick up your own Pet Gravelyn's Lunchbox! (Yep. Lunchbox Pet. We did that.)

Member-Only PTR Lag-Fix Server Opens Monday!

This week we pushed Yorumi to his coding limits... until he broke through a binary brickwall and punched Programming in its semi-colon! We began introducing lag fixes onto ALL servers with tonight's release, but there is much more left to do. So...

First: We disabled the tradeskills for the weekend. You will not be able to train Alchemy or Fishing on any server until we re-enable them. This allows us to see if tradeskills - which required some significant modifications to the game's engine - caused any of the lag increase. Second...

Members: We need your help! On Monday we will open a Lag-Fix PTR server so that we can push Yorumi's test-fixes to the limit. The server will be full of PTR perils - going up and down randomly, things breaking, things working... who knows?! YOU will, if you can come help us test!

Those who help with the lag-fix testing will receive: an all-new PTR badge (the first one is not returning, this badge will be brand-new) and shiny item-goodies! (What item would YOU like to see as a reward?)

Have a great night, everyone!

July 19, 2012

Frag the Lag

Some Behind-The-Scenes Info About What Yorumi is Working On.

First, let's define the 2 kinds of lag.

1) Frame Rate Lag: This is what MOST Aqw players call lag, but it isn't actually lag at all. It's low frame rate. Technically it feels like you're lagging behind so you call it that, and since you do, we do. This is caused by a few factors...

• Flash does NOT use your graphics card or chip to process for 2D stuff such as AQW and just about everything else out there. It ONLY uses your CPU to process graphics.
  
  
• Animations. Anything that moves takes more processing power, this is why your frame-rate might drop when you're fighting, especially using an animated weapon.
  
  
• Gradients and Alphas. I'm lumping thee together because they are both essentially color effects. Gradients are smooth color transitions. Alpha refers to how see-through an object is.

In short, if you are fighting with all of your friends, using flashy powers, animated weapons, pets, and armors with a bunch of gradients and alphas on them on a computer with a fairly weak or out dated processor on high quality while running several CPU intensive programs in the background... you probably won't enjoy it much since you'll be playing a slideshow rather than a video game.

2) Sever Lag: This is REAL lag. It's caused by poor communication between your computer and AQW server. It causes a LOT of issues like delay in chat, delay in opening shops or buying stuff, delay in deleting items, delay in movement, disconnections, and the mother of all issues, the super-lag that hits when the servers restart.

It also has a lot of causes such as how fast our servers are (which are the best we can afford), how fast YOUR internet is, your connection health, physical distance from the server (if our servers are in Florida and you're playing from the moon... it will cause you some lag) , how many people are playing on a server and how the game itself deals with the constant stream of data being pulled off it and thrown onto it.

This server restart lag is especially bad on Friday when our traffic is highest and everyone is trying to get back online and play the new release as fast as they can. It's like being in a crowd outside a stadium with a load of people. You are all wearing everything you own all at once and you are all trying to push through the same double doors to get inside. people get stuck and the more people trying to crowd through the more it slows things down.

This Week and next Yorumi is working to completely re-write a lot of how the game loads to fix as many of these issues as possible. There might be some HILARIOUS bugs that pop up, and it will take Yorumi a while to get everything rewritten (it's a very large project) but here's what to expect once it's all done...

THINGS THAT WILL PROBABLY IMPROVE:

• Log-in lag should be significantly reduced. You might be a flame for all of 2 seconds, depending.
• Shop Lag should be significantly reduced. Shops should open right up and you should have no issues buying or selling items just as fast as you like.
• Monster drops will not suddenly hit you in a massive stack, like the game has been saving them up for you.
• Chat lag should be significantly reduced
• Movement lag should be significantly reduced which might be of interest to you PvPers. 
• Battles should run significantly more smoothly.
• The changes will give us increased ability to fight botters.

THINGS THAT MIGHT IMPROVE:

• Monsters MIGHT stop spawning at different rates on different servers.
• The Being-Stuck-As-A-Flame issue caused by Flash's most recent update MIGHT become a lot less frequent. 
• Disconnections MIGHT become significantly less frequent.

THINGS THAT WON'T CHANGE:

• The changes will NOT allow us to increase your inventory space. 
• The changes will NOT make trade possible.
• The changes will NOT make name changes possible.
• The changes will NOT effect your frame rate in any way. If you suffer from Frame Rate Lag then you will still need a stronger CPU to see any improvement. 

My favorite part of the changes is the fact that Server Restart lag should (if all goes according to plan) be a thing of the past. You will still be trying to cram through a single set of double doors with fifteen to twenty thousand other people, BUT instead of weearing everything that you own, everything you own will already be inside waiting for you, which will speed things up QUITE  a bit.

Some people are wondering over twitter why the entire AQW team isn't helping Yorumi with these changes. That's because only he has the skills to make these changes. Dage is an artist, Alina is a writer, I don't even know WHAT I do here but it's not high-level engine and server changes. Asking J6 or Aranx to make these changes is like asking your television to fry you an egg.

The Mods aren't even on the development team. They don't do any coding. They don't do any art or animations or writing or database work. The Moderators don't create any part of the game... they MODERATE it. Their ONLY job is to help moderate the game and keep it safe and fun for you...so, while very useful and helpful in-game, no programming help there.

The rest of the team is doing what we always do. We are working as hard as we can on getting a fun release together for you to play either this Friday or sometime in the future.

Why aren't other programmers helping Yorumi with the changes, you ask? Actually, some of them are. Captain Rhubarb, Rolith and EpicDuel's Titan have all pitched in ideas to help fix these issues, but they can only a help little since they are all skilled coders BUT don't really know their way around the AQW engine and database like Yorumi does. 

It's like walking around your house with your eyes closed. You can probably do that without breaking your nose. But it's a little different when you go over to a friend's house. Your friend still has a kitchen, some chairs, a bathroom or two... but the layout is totally different. You'd have to move much more slowly and you'd STILL hit your shins on stuff and trip over their cat.

So Yorumi is plunging head-long into the AQW engine and making sweeping changes that will almost certainly make the game a LOT better for all of us. Good Luck, Yorumi. You're really earning that lightsaber now.

July 18, 2012

For the ArchFiend...

Disloyalty is NOT an option!

Screams of blood and rage drown out the groans of the dying… and the last, lingering sighs of those who are dying again.

A wash of grey overlays the sky, clouding the vision of an unknown warrior as he lay on shards of broken steel.

Glaring light obscures his sight, and the cold black Underworld begins to brighten into the cold white of unwelcome oblivion.

Ignoring the pain, he turns his head to the side, sees his commander standing tall.

He shudders. Darkness falls.

---

 Nulgath stares over the head of his messenger minion and nods, accepting the final sacrifice of another soldier, gathering another soul, for his cause. He smiles, running his tongue over his teeth, tasting the last remnants of pain lingering in the air. He turns his attention back to the runner’s long-winded, breathless tale.

He growls.

"Less talk, more message.  Now."

Cringing, the messenger ducks away from the blow Nulgath’s tone promises. He hunches over, hurrying on before the blade can fall.

“The pretender’s Legion advances faster than anticipated, Master! We must fall back, the Lieutenant says.”

Nulgath hisses; the messenger’s knees buckle. With visible effort, he prevents himself from falling. Six toxic-orange eyes bore into his soul. Gasping, terrified, he feels his sense of self being exposed, shredded, and then knotted together stronger than he could have ever imagined.

He shudders, straightens his spine and pulls his shoulders back. He raises his eyes to meet those of his Commander. Nulgath stares down, scrutinizing his feverishly-devoted expression.

“And what do YOU recommend we do? If you were to give the orders?”

Nulgath stretches out his hand, not breaking eye contact. In his fist, an un-blooded blade appears. The newly-elevated soldier grasps it eagerly.

Nulgath turns to stare across the battlefield at the phalanxes of undead marching steadily towards his warriors.

He can sense the scene playing out behind him, feel the agony as the blade pierces traitorous flesh. Nulgath grins as a new, stronger soldier takes the place of one who did not deserve to serve.

“Those who will not fight, do not live.”

In the icy air, a stream of blood runs down the new Lieutenant’s stained sword-edge, freezing as it falls. Hitting the ground, the drops shatter into razor-edged reminders of cowardice’s cost.

July 17, 2012

Fixes, Fighting, Fiction

All Coming This Week in AQWorlds!

Today (it's still Monday if you haven't slept yet, right?) was a really busy day! Every Monday is, but this one more than most. Along with the usual meetings, discussions about release work, and sharing out tasks, we had a few key points we needed to pin down before the team could really get in gear for the week's work.

First up, BIG (soon to be) fixes!

We mentioned recently that one of the latest Flash Player updates has caused the lag increase to skyrocket. We refuse to accept the limitations imposed on us by an outside company, so we're doing everything we can do create our own work-around... even if that means recoding an important part of the engine.

Yorumi is handing over the weekly map-coding work to Dumoose so that he can concentrate on getting this issue dealt with as fast and as thoroughly as possible. We aren't sitting on this problem; it is the TOP priority for the entire AQW team. (And AE's other programmers want to know how to fix issues like this to prevent or reduce them in their games. /cheer for teamwork!)

This afternoon, Yorumi met with Captain Rhubarb, Titan, and Rolith (after speaking with Zhoom previously) about this issue. That's a LOT of programming power focused on fixing this lag issue. We don't have a solution yet, but we DO have promising avenues of investigation.

We will keep you updated as we have more solid answers!

Second, normal-sized fixes!

We also worked on getting the last of the issues from the Friday the 13th/War release fixed. That is a large part of what Yorumi does on Mondays, and while working on the lag issue, he also looked into the War Glaive error, the bugged riddle minigame from Friday the 13th, and some other things.

Fight Against Evil... with Evil!

Part 2 of the Dave* vs Nulgath war releases this Friday! Get ready for more gear, more quests, and more areas of the Underworld to explore! All of the shops will get new items - ACs, Legion/Diamond merge shops, and the regular war merge shops!

Klunk should now be dropping the Facebasher Mace +13 for all loyal Legion followers and any mercenary brave enough to fight with them!

Two MORE minibosses will release with this Friday's war. Will YOUR side be the first to unlock theirs? Remember, the Legion won the first skirmish in the war, but that doesn't mean the Nulgath Nation are out of the game. Rally together and fight for your commander!

Note: Nulgath will not release the second installment of his cinematic war cutscenes. As intricate as they are, they take much longer than a week to produce. He will continue working on that as he has time and will release it as soon as it's polished.

In the meantime, Samba will create an action-packed cutscene that will put you right in the middle of the battle!

* Leaving my original typo in because I make it SO often! /redpenrage

Nulgath Waits... and Watches!

The week before last I wrote a story Design Notes that focused on Dage the Evil. Nulgath appeared briefly, as that lent dramatic tension to the scene. But this week I think it's time we take a closer look at what is happening in the ArchFiend's command tent. Get ready to watch the story unfold from an entirely new perspective. What you learn may very well save your sanity... or your soul.

Coming Soon in AQWorlds!

• Part II in the ChronoSpan Chaos zone
• Dage vs Nulgath War finale
• More SkyGuard

July 13, 2012

Friday the 13th DOUBLE release!!

Never Say Never When It's Friday the 13th

The unluckiest day of the year is here for the LAST time! It's the third Friday the 13th event of 2012 and both Voltaire and his undead teddy bear, Deady, have returned to help you save the day. During the last Friday the 13th event,* Sleezter Bunny inavded Lore with an army of Bunny Clones but failed miserably. THIS weekend, his master, the Beast Maker, is taking matters into his own hands!

Check out the Never Say Neverworld Event Page!

Your world is packed with plenty of monsters the Beast Maker wants... and the parts that make them up! Once he brings Lore under his control, all the creatures you love to slay will be his to use (and re-use) until they fall to pieces!

/join Neverhub to begin the Friday the 13th event storyline, watch the cutscenes, and browse the Event Rares Shop! Many rewards also drop off the boss and monsters! Members can /join neverworldb to battle through a member-only high EXP farming zone with exclusive quest rewards!

* To replay ALL the Friday the 13th events, /join voltairetown!

• Members can permanently access the replay map
• Non-members can access the map for the week before and during future Friday the 13th events
• None of the rare items from previous Friday the 13th events have returned

Dage vs Nulgath: NEW War Items!

To turn the tide of battle in the war to determine who is the greater Evil, your two favorite commanders have created even more legendary weapons! Each side has NEW items in each shop! And /join evilwar to view the opening cinematic for the Dage vs Nulgath war!

Dage's followers gain access to:

New Dage AC Rare Items:

• The Scythe of Emptiness
• Glowing War Glaive
• Bow of Concealment
• BladeMaster's Sword

New Legion Token Items*:

• Monster BladeMaster Armor
• BladeMaster Helm
• BladeMaster's Side Swords
• BladeMaster's Sword and Sheath

* Require Essence of Blade Master item

New Dage War Merge Items:

• The Scythe of Lost Hope

Nulgath's followers gain access to:

New Nulgath AC Rare Items:

• Void of Revontheus
• Katana of Revontheus
• Salvation Blade of Nulgath
• Hood of Shadows

Void of Revontheus, Sheathed Katana Cape, and Salvation Blade of Nulgath!

New Nulgath Diamond Items*:

• Vampire of Nulgath
• Warp Pack Cape
• Blood Void Helm
• Sheathed Katana

* Require Essence of Klunk item

New Nulgath War Merge Items:

• Redemption Blade of Nulgath

Death Bunee Nitro Toys at HeroMart on Friday!

Just when you thought the coast was clear… the Bunnypocalypse strikes again! And this time around, these adorably demented Death Bunees Glow in the Dark. It’s like real-life magic in the palm of your hand! Or in the box.

Really depends on how safe you feel with a wild Death Bunee watching over you. In addition to a lifetime of creepy stares, your Bunee comes with a special code that unlocks a Death Bunny Nitro pet in AdventureQuest Worlds!

Death Bunee Necro, Death Bunee Nitro, and Death Bunee Glizoryn!

The Death Nitro Bunee Toys are on sale at HeroMart RIGHT NOW!

July 12, 2012

Do Ya Feel LUK-y?

The final Friday the 13th event starts tomorrow!

Join us for the creepiest, most luckless event yet.... and the LAST Friday the 13th event of 2012! Featuring Voltaire, Deady, the Beast Maker, and the most inept minion ever, Sleezter, you're going to want to buff your LUK stat this weekend beause the fate of Lore is in your hands! (Hope you've got a rabbit's foot nearby!)

This weekend you'll venture into the Neverworld, a vast domain making up part of the Shadow Realm. Encounter adhorrible (adorable + horrible), mutant creations hand-made in the  Beast Maker's Lab-rary and try to sway them to your side... otherwise ALL of Lore's monsters will become part of the his mutant-menagerie!

The (un)Luckiest Event Rares EVER!

The Neverworld is filled with ghastly, ghoulish rejects from the Beast Maker's experiments.

To help you blend in with the crowd and convince these unnatural enemies that you're just like they are, we've got a giant shop of horrors FULL of the gruesomest gear in the Shadow Realm!

We'll have an AC Event Rare shop as well as monster and quests drops! /Equip your sharpest blades because the shadows are dark and full of terrors!

The War for Evil Escalates!

Yesterday I posted previews of what #DagesLegion can expect; tonight it's time for the #NulgathNation to see what is in store for them when Dage and Nulgath update their war shops with all-new gear!

Void and Katana of Revontheus

Nulgath and Dage know their followers fight better, harder, faster, and eviller when they have epic rewards waiting. 

Hood of Shadows

To keep their minions on the front lines, they are stocking all of their shops with darker and even deadlier designs!

Sheathed Katana Cape

We've got MUCH more in store for you in tomorrow's release! Until then, /dodge black cats, /stepdance around ladders, and /use your mirrors without breaking them!

July 11, 2012

Friday the 13th Part III

The Beast Maker is Coming!

Never say Neverworld or you might end up trapped there, subject to the mercy of the Beast Maker! Obsessed with crafting new, ever-more-monstrous creatures, this denizen of the Shadow Realm has run out of new resources to frankenstein together, so he's turned his attention to Lore!

To save the day, you'll need the help of your favorite Goth Gypsy Pirate Musician, Voltaire, and his undead teddy bear, Deady. Take control of the Neverworld AND the adhorrible mutants the Beast Maker's left behind. If you don't, we're doomed without a shadow (realm) of a doubt!

(Un)Lucky (and Creepy) Event Rares!

The Beast Maker is a creature-crafter beyond compare, and he's got the creepiest gear imaginable lying around the Neverworld!

Beware armor sets that go Bump In The Night!

Battle through this shadowy land and pick up these epically unsettling armors, weapons, and other gear as souvenirs of the most gruesome Friday the 13th event yet!

The Darkiphant is a nightmarish creation. Made from gorillaphants and unknown parts.

We've got many more event rewards coming this Friday, so keep an eye on the Design Notes for extra-awesome sneak peeks tomorrow! 

Death Bunee Nitro Toys at HeroMart on Friday!

Just when you thought the coast was clear… the Bunnypocalypse strikes again! And this time around, these adorably demented Death Bunees Glow in the Dark. It’s like real-life magic in the palm of your hand! Or in the box.

Really depends on how safe you feel with a wild Death Bunee watching over you. In addition to a lifetime of creepy stares, your Bunee comes with a special code that unlocks a Death Bunny Nitro pet in AdventureQuest Worlds!

Death Bunee Necro, Death Bunee Nitro, and Death Bunee Glizoryn!

HeroMart will begin selling 100 each of the glow-in-the-dark Death Bunee toys this Friday! (That's only 300 total!)

NEW items for the Dage vs Nulgath War! 

#DagesLegion won the first skirmish in the war to determine who is the greater Evil, and to reward his loyal minions, he's made MORE rewards to release this Friday! Check out these bad bows and beautiful blades!


Never fear, #NulgathNation! Although Dage's Legion won the first skirmish of the war for the Underworld, all is not lost! You can still win this war, and we've got TWO war releases left for you to fight in! To provide you with incentive, Nulgath's shops will also get awesome new rewards fit for the followers of the Archfiend! Previews of those will come later this week! 

23 hours left on Galanoth Helm Auction!

Help a Bountyhunter out! There are only 23 hours left for you to bid on this real-life rare version of Galanoth's Dragonslayer helm! Hand-made by J6 help him pay the bounty on his upcoming, intergalactically-epic wedding, there are only 3 of these helms in existence, and only ONE will be sold!

It measures 21 inches long, 14 inches wide, and 12 inches tall (including horns). It will fit large-sized heads, so if you're as sturdy as Galanoth and looking to take up a blade and become a Dragonslayer, this is the helm to get! The winner of the auction will ALSO get the never-before-released Lair house in AQWorlds if they own a valid account!

July 09, 2012

Friday the 13th, Part III

Never Say Never(world)!

Friday the 13th swiftly approaches, bringing with it bad luck, a badly-planned invasion, and REALLY badly-crafted creatures! That can only mean one thing... the Beast Maker returns! If you've played through the last Friday the 13th event (in April), then you're familiar with Sleezter Bunny and its master, the Beast Maker.*

Monster concept art #1 by Dage

This weekend he launches an all-out offensive against Lore; the goal - total domination and complete control over ALL the monsters! A Beast Maker's got to have beastly resources, right? Otherwise he'd be like an artist without paint.

Monster concept art #2 by Dage

With Sleezter's help (NOT the best choice...), the Beast Maker is going to plunder and pillage his way through Lore and its monsters - from frogdrake to frost elemental - are the loot! You'll need to find a way to stop him, and that means plunging headfirst down the rabbit hole...

Monster concept art #3 by Dage

into the Shadow Realm, slashing and stabbing your way to the heart of the Neverworld!

This is the third and LAST Friday the 13th event of 2012! As always there will be the epic event shops, the new Voltaire Top Hat helm, the Vorutanian Key Blade, and...

We are introducing a zone (shaped like Voltaire's Top Hat, of course) which will let you re-play all of the past Voltaire events! The plan right now is to have the zone open to members all year round and to free players during the 2 weeks of future Friday the 13th events!

• Journey to the Neverworld to battle mutant creatures
• Epically dark new gear! (Including a NEW Voltaire Top Hat!)
• Event Rare shops
• A high-level, member-only area
• A NEW hub map will let you unlock all of the previous Friday the 13th events

* Hint: He was guy with the glowing red eyes at the end of Part II's final cutscene.

Dage vs Nulgath War Fixes!

There were some problems with last week's war, but we've addressed those issues.

• Dage's farming quests require you to complete the "Hail to the King" quest from Shadowfall.
• Nulgath's farming quests require you to have the Unidentified 13 item in your inventory.
• Both Nulgath and Dage farming quests have had the turn-in requirements increased.
• Both Nulgath and Dage quests now have a 1% chance to drop an item upon completion.
• Each side is now fighting the CORRECT miniboss.

Remember: winning a battle does not mean you've won the war. The #NulgathNation has every chance to wrest the war win away from #DagesLegion... IF the Legion falters. But that won't happen... will it?

Both Dage and Nulgath's war shops will get NEW items this Friday, as well!

July 06, 2012

Dage vs. Nulgath: War Begins

Who Is The Greater Evil?

The time has come.

Dage, once an apprentice of Nulgath, has marshaled his forces and begun his march against his former master. But who is the true master? Is Dage The Evil really as clever as he thinks he is? Has he truly used Nulgath's own contracts to gain power and escaped the consequences only to become an even greater evil than his former master? Maybe he is just an overconfident fool who will pay the ultimate price for lashing out against a patient teacher who was simply biding his time while his student became full of himself?

This war will decide the fate of both of these creatures of evil.

In this war, there are SIX total shops, and as the war progresses, all of the shops will gain more items.

• Dage's AC RARES
• Nulgath's AC RARES
• Dage's Legion Token Shop
• Nulgath's Diamond Shop
• Dage's War Merge Shop
• Nulgath's War Merge Shop

The AC RARES shop each have items for their own side. This week Nulgath has released less than Dage but a little but he has released a VERY expensive RARE Armor that is sure to go down in history.There are rumors that Dage is hard at work crafting an armor set or two to rival the Deathfiend of Nulgath but those are only rumors.

The Legion Token and Diamond Shops also contain special items for each side but these are ONLY for the devout followers of Dage, Nulgath or both. All of these items will also be going rare so, to make them a little easier to get the two evil masters have agreed to allow you to farm for Legion Tokens and Diamonds inside the war.

UPDATE: Due to an oversight and dramatic imbalance, the quests have been removed. If a more balanced solution is found, they may be re-added with some new requirements next week.

Members get special quests with larger pay-outs to help you farm for Legion Tokens or Diamonds more quickly.

Finally, there are the War Merge Shops. These shops will NOT be going Rare, neither will the war so you will be able to earn the items in these shops whenever you like.

Right now Nulgath is working on the first of several animated shorts which I hope we will be able to put up here on this design notes post a little later tonight. If not, we will get it up as soon as we can.

We want to know who you are fighting for so here are some Twitter Links:

• Let Nulgath know that you're a member of the #NulgathNation and ready to crush the weak!
• Let Dage know that #DagesLegion will never rest until they win, even after death!
• Let Me know if you're an #AQWMercenary and plan on playing both sides of the field!

New Treasure Chest Update!

After a VERY long time we have finally been able to update the Magic Treasure Chests that drop from every monster in the game! In addition to the already amazing items that come out of the Treasure Chests we have three new sets coming as individual pieces.

First is The Mischief Set...

The colored bits are color custom so you can express your inner-trickster. We also have the Brave Golden Set...

and finally is the Shadow of Death set, complete with helm and weapon!

Remember that Members can go to Twilly for 2 FREE Treasure Chest Magic Keys per month, but if you run out you can always buy more from him.

REMINDER!

Don't forget that if you are running low on AdventureCoins, you can also purchase more or complete the sponsored offers in AEXtras to get FREE ACs!

We also have the Golden Plate One Year Membership Promotion still going on. It appears that almost everyone who wants to take advantage of this offer, has already done it so it won't be around for too much longer. If you're waiting until the last minute... now is the time!

July 05, 2012

Dage Vs Nulgath Tomorrow

The First Confrontation Begins!

The time has come for you to pledge your allegiance to one of these nefarious scions of Evil; help them finish the conflict Dage’s quest for independence began. Follow Dage and help secure his domination or support Nulgath to aid him in teaching unfaithful subordinates that loyalty is not an option!

Each side will unlock 3 minibosses over the course of the war!

In the battle for control of the Underworld - and to determine which of these two dark commanders is the supreme Evil - Dage and Nulgath need YOUR help to turn the tide of battle in their favor!

For those who do not favor either leader, they both understand the mind of a mercenary warrior. Battle and be rewarded by the gear they've set aside for your kind. They know that when you see what they have to offer, you may just reconsider your loyalties.

Details of the Dage vs Nulgath War!

You are about to enter into a free-for-all battle zone. The darkness in the Underworld is oppressive and thick. Do not think to find friends there; even those who pledge to watch your back may be tempted by the rewards available.

Know what you will face before stepping onto the battlefield:

• Dage the Evil's Undead Legion Vs Nulgath the Archfiend's followers
• The 3-part war will release over the next 6 weeks. (One week of war, one week of something new, repeat)
• The war will unlock new maps, mini-bosses, and rewards as the meter climbs higher
• The goal for this week is to reach 30% and the first miniboss
• Each side will have War Token, Loyalty (side-specific), and AC shops
• Each side will have 2 extra-high reward quests, one member-only, one free-player
• The member quest will give triple the usual rewards (3 Diamonds/Legion tokens). The free player will give double the usual rewards (2 Diamonds/Legion Tokens).
• The war farming quests and AC items will go rare. The map, War Merge items, Legion/Diamond items, and cutscenes you unlock during the war will remain for everyone to see.

Nulgath Rewards Loyal Followers with Epic Gear!

The evolution of a fiendish creature pledged to Evil, Nulgath’s lust for power rages as he searches for the defector who severed his chains. NO one deserts Nulgath without suffering repercussions; those who try may THINK they've escaped, but time and power are against them. Hope is but an illusion when faced with a vengeful creature determined to take - and keep - what is his.

It was by watching Nulgath that Dage learned the secret to keeping greedy souls by his side - give them gear they cannot live without, then keep them questing to obtain the best pieces. With each quest, each reward, his followers accept from Nulgath, they are bound ever tighter to his dark, deceptive power.

Ice Void of Nulgath Armor will be remade in AQWorlds' style

Dage Offers Loyal Minions Riches Beyond Compare!

Born through betrayal, Dage the Evil has become one of Lore's most feared necromancers. After learning the rudiments of undeath magic on his own, he signed Nulgath's contract, swearing allegiance and promising loyalty. But when he became strong enough, he shattered the bonds he'd forged and broke away, choosing instead to form his own Legion of followers.

To sway them away from Nulgath and bind their souls, Dage began crafting incredible armors and weapons to buy their loyalty. But will mere metal, chains, and skulls keep his minions loyal? Take a look at Dage's shops tomorrow and decide for yourself!

The Undead Infantry set comes to the Underworld tomorrow!

Dage and Nulgath AC Shops Coming Tomorrow!

Along with the items you'll be able to earn by amassing stacks of war tokens, Legion tokens, or Diamonds of Nulgath, you'll also be able to buy incredible gear for Adventure Coins!

Sanguine and Ragnarok Blades available from Dage's General!

For those of you just joining AQWorlds, welcome to your first war! AC war shops offer an alternative way to purchase awesome war rewards instead of farming for them, like other rewards require. If you don't have time to battle for hours or don't feel like allying with either Nulgath or Dage, then this shop will have rare gear to battle on with (or save in your bank as war mementos. Remember all AC items get free storage in your bank)!

We'll have previews of Nulgath's AC items tomorrow and a Nulgath story Design Notes post.

Treasure Chest Update Tomorrow!

Aranx and Solrac have combined forces to bring you the shiniest Treasure Chest update in quite a while! Twilly's chest is packed full of the Brave-st, most gilded gear out there! /Equip these new items and your opponents will know what it is to fear the Shadow of Death!

I hope you've kept your chests and have your keys in hand!

Coming to the Treasure Chest in tomorrow's release:

• Kind of Brave Armor
• Kind of Brave Locks
• The Shadow of Death Armor
• The Shadow of Death Mask
• Axe of Absolute Death
• Bow of Bravery
• Golden Guardian Armor

Boku and Allopass Available as Payment Option Again!

For the last few weeks, we've received many requests to bring back the Boku and Allopass payment method for international users. We've got good news for you guys: they're back and ready for action! Thanks for being patient while we analyzed how to provide the best payment method for our players overseas, and MANY thank yous for wanting to help support AE! We couldn't make the game without you!

Full Moon Shop Leaves Tomorrow Night!

This news is going to make many of you HOWL with disappointment, but full moons only last so long. And, true to life, our Full Moon shop leave with tomorrow night's release. If you want to frighten your opponents with a wolfish grin before they turn tail and /run, then get your gear before the Dage vs Nulgath war begins.

Freedom Shop Leaves on Monday!

Freedom is something we should fight for all year 'round, but the Freedom SHOP is only available until Monday! If you'd like to get libertastically awesome equips, then your time ends in a few days!

J6's Galanoth Helmet Up for Auction!

Handmade and signed by J6, this real-life replica of Galanoth's Helm was created to help him pay for his wedding this September! It measures 21 inches long, 14 inches wide, and 12 inches tall (including horns). It will fit large-sized heads, so if you're as sturdy as Galanoth and looking to take up a blade and become a Dragonslayer, this is the helm to get!

Dragons (and everyone else) will run from you in fear when you /equip this helm!

For details on how the helm was constructed, head to J6's ebay auction! Only 3 of these helms are in existence, so it's one of the rarest pieces of AE-related merchandise you can buy. The winner of the auction will ALSO get the never-before-released Lair house in AQWorlds if they own a valid account!

July 04, 2012

As the shadows fall...

The Undead Legion Rises!

In the frigid darkness of the Underworld, poisonous whispers hiss on the wind. The hisses turn to rumbling, rumbles to growls, until the unintelligible voices begin to scream. The winds cry, keening with their calls. These are the sounds of the undead, the ones forgotten and left to the darkness. Alone.

A ghostly blue light begins to shine, highlighting the twisted halls and cavernous chambers which pit this desolate realm like jagged, angry lesions. As the glow grows brighter, unseen eyes watch the Undead rise.

Staggering to their feet, they shake the dust off of bones which have lain motionless for centuries. Compelled to move, urgency fills empty chambers where once their hearts beat; an unknown force pulls at their broken feet.

Lurching and swaying and crawling, they make their way to the place where they know HE will appear. Their Master. The Evil. Dage is waiting.

Across Lore, tens of thousands of the Undead Legion muster to his call. Though still alive, they are bound as tightly as the new Undead Dage has recruited. They all belong to him, body and soul, and they will ALL fight and die - or die again - at Dage's command. Those who survive the war will reap the rewards and many riches Dage has to offer.

He knows that Nulgath, the Archfiend, is readying his followers to take the field against him. He laughs to himself, relishing imagined images of the utter defeat the Fiend's pitiful warriors will suffer at the hands of his highly-trained, loyal Legion members.

There can be only ONE supremely Evil being in the Underworld, and Dage has grown very tired of his temporary home in Shadowfall. The souls he'll steal from Nulgath's fallen army will only increase his power. No bad bonus, that.

He has decided. Nulgath will fall and Dage's reign will begin. He knows this war is his to win.

Leagues away, a lone figure stands listening to the report his trembling minion has brought. As the puling pawn begins to turn, shaking with relief at having delivered the pretender's message, he freezes in place. His mind and body shatter into shards of failure. As the pieces hit the floor, Nulgath slowly smiles.

July 03, 2012

Load/Lag/Helm Issue Update

Update: Changes Added to Help Fix Issues

Zhoom and Yorumi worked all day investigating the Flash Player issue which released for FireFox users after Adobe's latest update. This shouldl reduce some of the problems Firefox users are experiencing.

We will keep working on our end while we wait for Adobe to fix Flash Player. To be certain you can play without these new errors, we reccomend playing on Internet Explorer or Chrome.

Latest Flash Player Update Causes Errors

Since last week, we've received a large number of reports about characters not loading, AQWorlds lag spiking on all servers, and helm definition not resolving. Cysero, Yorumi, and I spent the morning running around on all the servers, talking to players and comparing what they had equipped and whether they displayed to other players.

One of the hardest bugs to fix is one that doesn't happen 100% of the time to 100% of the people. Characters and servers breaking for me and other players were fine for Cysero and Yorumi. We realized after hours of logging in and out, comparing character pages and item IDs, that:

The issues are based on what version of Flash Player your client (your computer's version of the game) is running.

Your computer's version of Flash Player is based on what internet browser you are using. The latest version, 11.3.300.262, is the one with problems. We are not experiencing the issues on Internet Explorer or Chrome.

How to find your Flash Player version

Go to http://www.aq.com/play-now/ and right-click on the login screen window. You will see a dropdown menu with your version of Flash Player listed:

This is the latest version of Flash Player.

What you can do to prevent these issues 

For now, the simplest way to enjoy playing AQWorlds without experiencing a large number of these Flash Player-based issues is to use Internet Explorer or Chrome for your internet browser. 

What WE are doing to address these issues 

Correcting these problems is our highest priority right now! We've got Yorumi on the case AND pulled in Zhoom, the CodeRanger, to trouble-shoot with his Bow of Bug-Slaying +257.

We will do everything we can to correct these Flash Player/AQW interaction problems. Artix says we aren't allowed to go home until we know more information/have a fix, so /cheer Zhoom and Yorumi on!

July 02, 2012

Dage vs Nulgath War

The Ultimate in Evil vs Evil Conflict Begins Friday!

Evil and Good have clashed for eons, one side rising while the other falls. But when Evil turns against itself - when two immensely powerful scions of the Darkness face off - the Underworld becomes a battlefield and the prize will be... ALL the souls!

This Friday we begin Part 1 of the Dage vs Nulgath war! Declare your allegiance and join your fellow heroes to fight for the most diabolical commander Lore has ever seen... whoever that might be!

WHO am I fighting for? And why?

If you have been unfortunate to wander Nulgath's malevolent realm and quested for his powerful rewards, then you know exactly what he is. If you have journeyed to Shadowfall and navigated the halls of Gravelyn's fortress to join the Undead Legion, you've met Dage the Evil.

But that does not tell you who they ARE. Read on to learn more about the diabolical leaders you've bound yourselves to... and if you haven't yet, then now is the perfect time to decide which has your loyalty!

As the shadows fall, the Undead rise!

Dage the Evil
Dark Lord of the Undead Legion

Once a power-mad necromancer, Dage signed Nulgath's contracts and rode the fast lane to even more strength. Eventually the time came for Dage, like so many others before him, to fulfill his contract and pay Nulgath for his power, but he had used his new knowledge to bind a portion of his soul to an armor of his own construction.

This remnant lives on and retains all the knowledge and strength of his previous life. Now Dage the Evil rivals Nulgath himself in evil power.

The prize: power. The price: eternal obedience.

Nulgath
Abyss General
Through the ages, Nulgath has taken many forms and been known by many names. Recently however, it was revealed that each of his previous forms were merely larval stages of the diabolic evolution into his current, malevolent form.

Now Nulgath serves no master, only his own ceaseless lust for power and hunger for the souls he captures through his contracts. Since Dage the Evil's rise to power, it remains to be seen which of these creatures is truly the greatest evil.

What are you fighting for?

You've got a right to be angry... because someone is trying to overthrow your commander! Dage and Nulgath are in a battle to take over the Underworld and take down each other! While Gravelyn is busy consolidating her forces to move against Chaos, now is the only time Dage and Nulgath can face off without drawing her notice... and distracting the Evil heroes who would be working for her.

In the fight to control the Legions of heroes who choose to fight for Evil, the battle will be won through strength, through dedication, and through numbers. Join with your friends to support the Evil you know is strongest!

The Legion is fierce and full of horrors!

Dage the Evil's BladeMaster is a furiously fast fighter. Do not face him without max potions - HP, dodge, strength, every little drop will help when this Evil brute starts hacking and slashing at your face!

Do not taunt the Evil BladeMaster!

Later this week we'll preview one or more of the monsters Nulgath has created, so keep an eye on the Design Notes!

Forum Question: Who has bought YOUR loyalty?

Do you answer to Dage the Evil? Or do you serve Nulgath the ArchFiend? In the coming weeks, you'll have many opportunities to make that choice VERY obvious. You'll be battling the creatures of the Undead Legion, Nulgath's horrid creations, and gaining incredible rewards!

For those who plan on staying neutral, or those who choose to fight only for themselves, then this war will be an opportunity to take home a huge haul - if you are strong enough to take it from those who have sworn allegiance!

Freedom Day and Full Moon Shops on Tuesday!

This weekend, our Canadian players celebrated their independence day and on Wednesday, it's the US's turn! In celebration, we're opening the Freedom Day shop full of maple-y gear and striped accessories! The fireworks start tomorrow!

Howl much do you want this gear? Let the world know!

Embrace the dark, don't miss the Full Moon shop! Filled with moon- and werewolf-themed gear, this shop will call to any densizens of the night who might be roaming!

Dual Chainsaws of Doomstruction!

Doomwood Art Contest winners! You've already gotten your Artix Points, and tomorrow you'll get your Dual-wield Chainsaws of Doomstruction!

Artix Upgrade Cards at GameStop!

Check out this step-by-step walkthrough on how to get your very own fiery FlameStop Blade during July by purchasing an upgrade card from GameStop!

July 01, 2012

Artix Cards at GameStop

Get Ready to Game On!

If you live in the United States and you've got a GameStop location nearby, head over and pick up an Artix Upgrade Card to unlock the fiery FlameStop Blade and Artix Points*. Use those to purchase AQWorlds membership or Adventure Coins!

* You must redeem the card during the month of July to unlock the FlameStop Blade with your Artix Points.

How to Get Your FlameStop Blade!

1. Purchase an Artix Gamecard at GameStop.
   
   
2. Redeem your code by logging in to your Master Account and head here: Redeem Code page.
   
   
3. Enter prize code to get points.
   
   
   
4. Select your AQWorlds game account, choose your character.
   
   
   
5. Go to the AE tab in your Book of Lore.
                   The Book of Lore on your task bar.
   
                 The AE tab inside your Book of Lore.
   
   
6. Scroll down to the bottom, click on the FlameStop achievement.
   
   
7. The FlameStop shop will appear on the page to your right.