Design Notes

August 31, 2010

Mudluks & DragonCon

The Mudluk Village

I'm pleased to say that we are already testing this week's release and it's only Tuesday. Since we are headed to con EARLY on Thursday, we have all been busting our respective humps trying to get this week's release ship shape and ready to launch on Friday. Of course we are learing EARLY on Thursday morning and I wanted to have all Wednesday to test the Mudluk Village, so we are pretty much done with the release ALREADY.

My goal was to have a quality (mind you, not-rushed, fully tested and fun) release ready to go by tonight and somehow we have succedded. I have to say, even i'm impressed with our work. This is one of the most fun and well rounded releases we've had in a while.

We have a beautiful new map, a new fun boss monster, a killer cutscene, lots of great monster drops, secret AC shop, new rep items, a great new NPC, new area music (Skyline's first try in-game song!), and a wicked puzzle that will require a pencil and some paper to get through.

Unless your friends decide to go all lamezorz and tell you the solution.

Personally, I'd make you work for it.

We even had a little time left over so we made a new Social Item (like the Marshmallow On A Stick from the Friday the 13th Event) to share with your friends. It's the FREE Color Custom Sorcerer's Apprentice Hat. Keep an eye on Twitter and other social networking sites for your free hat! You have my personal guarentee that it will never return once it is removed so keep your eyes peeled.

Peeled eyes. Gross.

We will be releasing the hat later today probably but the Mudluk release isn't coming out until Friday, as usual. It's fun cramming into Artix's hotel room and releasing from Dragoncon!

Cysero's Con Survival Guide! (revised 2010 edition)

Last year, in honor of Beleen's first con, I posted my con survival guide. She managed to live through it so I've decided to repost my helpful guide here!

WHAT TO BRING

• A Large Bag. You're going to to be carrying a LOT of stuff around with you and picking up a lot of stuff as you con so a large bag is necessary.

• A Towel. Your hotel room will probably come equipped with these but I always preffer to bring a large, beach-sized towel with me wherever I go. Hitchikers listed most of the uses, but for a more practical example: I have fallen asleep in the hallways of more than one convention hotel and it's always nice to have a towel for a blanket or pillow.
  Note: Cysero also wore a white bathrobe to our last panel - use your best judgement with all advice.

• Energy Bars. Meals come unpredictably during con and staying alive can be hard. You never know when you'll be stuck at a table-top gaming session that lasts 14 hours straight... and if you leave the brutal GM will just kill you.

• Bottle Of Water. See above.

• Extra Strength Energy Shots (Optional). You know, those little bottles of energy booster that they sell everywhere. These things are not great for you, but caffine and sugar have no effect on MY metabolism and you might be built the same way. Con goes day and night, all weekend long. And it's a holiday weekend. I consider them a necessity during Con.

• Cash (Well Hidden). As you explore the convention you WILL encounter some stuff you NEED to own. Swords, pithy shirts, novels, Lou Ferigno selling autographs... and there is a 50% chance that the thing you want to buy, you can't buy with plastic.. If you plan on falling asleep in a hall somewhere, be sure that your cash is in your sock or in the secret pocket in your boxers... you don't want to wake up broke.

• A Mobile Computing Device. Most modern cell phones will do, but you might not get a signal in the underground mazes that connect the convention hotels. Having a wireless card in a small laptop is priceless. A smartphone attached to a 3G network will do (con-tested my iPhone last year, worked like a dream). You might or might not Tweet. You might or might not need to check your facebook but your FRIENDS will NEED to contact you about something that you HAVE TO SEE RIGHT NOW!

• A Friend. The buddy system is always a good idea. That's why I bring Alces. He's part Dr. Gonzo, part Chief Medical Officer and part Tech Support. He is all best friend and has been for more than half of my life.

• A Camera. Fully charged. Memory card empty. NEEDS a flash. Your cell won't do for this. Too many dark corners with Halo Spartans hiding in them.

• A Zorbak Plushy. It's the ultimate ice-breaker. "Can I get a picture of you holding this guy, please?" "Sure... what is he?"

• Good Walking Shoes. Trust me.

• Glow Sticks or a Dance Party App. Last year Alces and I accidentally found ourselves in a mobile rave. One guy was wearing the sound system and power supply on his back and his two friends were each wearing giant speakers converted into backpacks. The party never stopped moving. Alces and I took a chance, caught a cab, went to an all night market and bought $44 worth of glowsticks to give to share with our fellow mobile partiers. We were gone about 4 minutes, but when we returned to the street corner, they had moved on. We spent the next hour followig the sound of those booming speakers until we caught up. If on'y we'd had the glow sticks on us!

That should be, more or less, everything that you need to pack. Other options include: clean clothes, costumes, things you want autographed, video camera, portable game systems (some lines are long), a map of the con (some of us like getting lost), a pair of scissors (for a lock of Kevin Sorbo's hair while he's passed out in a fountain somewhere), a sketchbook (for ideas), a steampunk R2 unit, Sonic Screwdriver, or grappling hook... just cause.

It's going to be a heck of a party (and I get to bring my shiny new wife and son. It'll be their first REAL CON!). It's a Artix Entertainment Underground lab tradition and it's one that we love. Last year we got to meet a few of our most hardcore fans and we hope to see a lot more of you there this year!

August 30, 2010

Teleporting the Team

... the low tech way!

As you know, we normally have 5 days to do all of the art, animation, writing, coding that we barely finish in time. But there are only 3 days this week! Monday... Tuesday... Wednesday.... and the next day would be called "We are on our way to DragonCon day!" There are over 35 of us going to DragonCon this year. Always striving to be on the front edge of technology, we are going to travel to DragonCon using teleportation. It is easy... everyone shows up at the lab at 6:30am. We start the teleporter*. The energy stream transfers their body data**. Poof***! We arrive at DragonCon****!

* Thyton knocks everyone unconcious with a wiffle bat
** We load them onto the chartered a bus. But it only holds 20 people. No worries, the AE team are set in the database as stackable items.
*** To prevent poofing we will make frequent stops at well maintained rest areas.
**** Or possibly Mexico... remember in 20 sided dice role playing games a roll of a 1 is ALWAYS a failure. And our driver will be required to make frequent perception and cartography skill checks.

It is tradition for Zorbak to take pictures with people in the best costumes at DragonCon. You can see photos from previous years at the Zorbak goes to Con site. Also, you can read the summary from DragonCon 2008 which features some stories and pictures of the team. If you are going to be at DragonCon this year, please tweet http://Twitter.com/ArtixKrieger/ to let me know! Even if you are not attending, you can follow me on twitter and I will post stories and pictures of things as they are happening.

This week: Mudluk Village

Before there was even a tower in Arcangrove... there were the Mudluks. An ancient, friendly yet shy race of amphibious creatures they use magic in every part of their daily lives. Once you have made a friend of a Mudluk, you have a friend for life.

This week's release will still be on Friday... wish the team extra luck in getting everything ready in time (They are going to need it!)

Forum Question: The fella above is named Paddylump The Spellhunter. What would good names for other Mudluk's be? What would your Mudluk name be?

August 27, 2010

The Cloister Release is Live!

And the next Lord of Chaos is revealed! …kinda!

I *could* tell you all about the Next Lord of Chaos. But… nawww… it’ll be much more fun seeing it for yourself! And a lot more fun keeping such a massive secret to myself! Wahhaha! >:D

Who’s That Chaos Lord?

Oh… that’s just mean. Okay, here’s a hint: You know Rayst, right? The creepy red-eyed mage at the Tower of Magic? Yeah, him. Go talk with Rayst and ask him Where You Should Go. He has sensed something amiss in the Tower’s Observatory and of course he wants YOU for the job. Maybe something interesting will happen up there…  

Rayst knows Where You Should Go!

The Cloister

After investigating the flux of magic in the Observatory (or, um, whatever it turns out to be), continue your journey to the sacred Mother Tree of Arcangrove: The Cloister. Once a safe haven to the Druids, The Cloister is now overrun with nutty little Acornents, Karasu, and the dreaded Wendigo. 

Ewa the Treekeeper needs your help restoring the balance to the Mother Tree in one of Lore’s most beautifully intricate maps. Srsly, this map is huge. Druids must have teamed up with J6 a long time ago to forge this awesome magical place. You’re probably ganna get lost. I know I did. And I have the cheat-sheet in front of me.

Anyway! I know you are really going to enjoy this new place. The AQW Team really put a lot of work into this release. The music Warlic made for this zone fits perfectly in… almost as if it were magic… Hmmm, coincidence? Not a chance. When you hear these tunes, you too will realize that it was fate (and maybe some caffeine) that brought these two together.   

Along your travels, you may find some pretty unique items, including:

• Bladed Cypress Tendril
• Wendigo Armor
• Cypress Blade
• Diamonds of Time Staff
• Claws of the Weald
• Wendigo Morph (helm)

Are there more to be found? Mayhaps. You are just going to have to play through the release to find out =D

Target Sale Ends This Saturday!

Wanna save 15% on your AdventureQuest Worlds Upgrade? Hurry up and head on over to the closet Target Store to get you AQW Membership for only $19.95 $16.96! This awesome sale ends Saturday, August 28^th (that’s tomorrow!) and no one knows if—or when—another sale like this will ever respawn! This Target deal is going Perma-RARE!! ^___^

We really hope you guys have fun playing through our release. DragonCon is next week so the entire Team is busily preparing things for crazy awesome 3-Hour Panel! If you happen to be in Atlanta, Georgia at 1pm on Saturday, September 4^th, head on over to The Sheraton Hotel – The Savannah Room and come meet all of us! For more details, follow this magical hyperlink! 

Battle On!  

August 26, 2010

Kimberly and ArcAttack

Shocking music video... literally!

Our friend, former-chaos lord, and Friday the 13th brain slime fighter, and One-Eyed Doll lead singer,  Kimberly,  made a guest appearence with ArcAttack on the last episode of TV's America's Got Talent. ArcAttack is a very cool band because they use two tesla coils to zap metal creating music. Here is a link to a video of it on youtube that Raviteja sent us through Twitter. Note, the episode and the voting is over, so please do not call in. The first time we met Kimberly ArcAttack was shooting lightning at her just like this (You may remember from that one DragonCon Post)... All I have to say is -- Brains. Daaa naaa naa naa naa naaa naaaa Battle On

The Chaos Lord of Arcangrove?

On the topic of Chaos Lords... this week... something truley maddening will appear in AdventureQuest Worlds. This is so unthinkable... and improbable... and dangerous.... that I would like to once again remind you that AQWorlds is not like other games. The story is growing under your feet. Being created from scratch by the team and your suggestions at the beginning of each week and released on Friday. Unlike other games it is possible for a Chaos Lord to actually win this game if we were to fail.... ANYTHING can happen! This week, you will also discover that ANYTHING can BECOME a Chaos Lord...

August 24, 2010

Expect More Play

and Pay Less at Target!

So I was shopping for my Back-to-School supplies at my favorite Target store today… and lookie what I found!

WOOAAAH! AdventureQuest Worlds Upgrade cards ON SALE for only 16.96?!!? Am I reading that correctly? …Is this some sort of trick? Has the massive amounts of pink text damaged my eyes beyond repair?!

Actually, it is a proven fact that the color ‘pink’ cannot cause blindness. THUS! This is not a typo, nor is it a trap, and Target Stores nationwide really are having this awesome 15% Off Sale going on right now!

From now until Saturday, August 28, you can get your AdventureQuest Worlds Upgrade card—a $19.95 value—for only $16.96 at a Target store near you! That’s where I found this sweet deal, and that’s where I took that sweet picture up there ^____^

And just remember: Expect More when you’re a Member… and Pay Less for your Upgrade at any Target store nationwide! Thanks for helping support the team! You guys and gals rule =D     

August 24, 2010

DragonCon is almost here!

What is DragonCon?

DragonCon is a fantasy/sci-fi/anime/lots-of-stuff convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Over 35,000 people attend... it is like a weekend long costume party with games, concerts, art gallerys, famous people, informational panels, indie movie premieres, and more. That is why the entire team here at Artix Entertainment attends each year. It is a chance to recharge our creative batteries, shop, meet players from the games, shop, and more stuff... like shopping.  There are a lot of vendors at DragonCon with imported board games, costumes, and weird/cool stuff... it is really inspiring to check it all out.

The Friendly Team from Artix Entertainment will be there!

There are so many of us going that we chartered a bus! This year we are running a 3-hour panel on our games.  If you have been to any of our panels you know what to expect... quiz questions with deadly thrown prizes, random videos, moglin punting, and s special sneak peak at things we have been working on! One-Eyed Doll and Voltaire might stop by... Maybe they will sing a song or two if we ask real nice. It would be nice if we could do some sort of live thing in-game from the panel? (Which would be quite a feat considering we will not have internet) Then later that evening co-hosting a party with Sony Online Entertainment and Comcast. We have had a fun time there each year and hope for a chance to meet you. Please note, DragonCon is geared towards older audiences... we would recommend it for ages 15 and up.

AQWorlds Panel (3 hours of gaming madness)
When: Saturday, Sept 4th, 2010
Where: The Sheraton Hotel - The Savannah Room
Time: 1pm to 3:30pm... unless we fall asleep

Gaming Party
When: Saturday: Sept 4th, 2010
Where: The Sheraton Hotel - The Capitol Ballroom
Time: 10pm to 3:30am (Although... we will probably grab everyone and flee to Voltaire's concert which is scheduled that same night.)

We hope for the chance to meet everyone who is attending. If you are unable to attend, do not worry -- we will bring back lots of ideas for the next AQWorld's releases for you!

August 21, 2010

Arcangrove Disconnect

The Fix Is In

When I woke up this morning I saw 2 pages of bug reports about the same bug. People were crashing in Arcangrove. It was really frustrating because nobody could complete Reens' Daily potion tasks, or pretty much anything else.

Zhoom and I got to work and now we are fairly certain we fixed the issue.

Sorry to everyone who got DC'd during their fight and lost their progress, and thanks to the brave room of adventurers who helped me test the fix. The entire room made it through all 3 dailies without anyone crashing once.

Thanks also to everyone who went to the Release Bug forum and reported the bug. Without your very helpful reports and eye for detail it would have taken MUCH longer to fix it.

Have fun in Arcangrove!

Pay special attention to the Cysero entry in the Encyclopedia Arcana. Beacuse it's about me. Cysero.

Remember, if you think you've found a bug, the best way to let us know is on the Release Bugs forum thread!

Update

There is another bug causing disconnections in other parts of the game. We're working to resolve this one now.

August 20, 2010

MAGI of Arcangrove

Arcangrove Tower  is OPEN!

Visit our lovely tower! Feast on one or more of Blakk's magical pets! Spend your hard earned gold on some of Master Druid Moonwrath's Arcangrove items! Spend quality time with your friends earning Arcangrove reputation to earn the right to weild or wear some of the awesome, uncommon reputation items! Read a raondom entry from the Encyclopedia Arcana! Play with our broken teleporter pad! Experiment with Reens' one-time-use potions and scrolls!

This is only the first portion of the town that will be expanding even further next week, as we begin exploring the magical and mysterous Arcangrove!

Player Suggestion Shop UPGRADE!

We are also adding a few more items to the ever expanding Player Suggestion shop in Yulgar's Inn. This shop is FILLED with amazing items pulled from our Player Suggestion Forums, designed by players just like you and brought to life bu our amazing artists!

This expansion brings you 2 brand new culor custom armors, one matching helm and a pair of REALLY HUGE daggers!

We always read that forum and look at the buckets if creativity pouring out of you guys. If you haven't checked out the thread, you really should. You can get lost in there just spending HOURS going over the pages and pages of fantastic creations. Maybe you'll want to add something? We're always expanding the shop so maybe next time it will be YOUR item that becomes a part of AQ Worlds!

Dage The Evil

One such player going by Dage The Evil is currently helping out the art team. His armor is still in the Player Suggestion shop but now we've hidden him somewhere in the game and added some of the most difficult quests in the game to him, but the rewards are worth the effort. If you can find him, you might be able to upgrade his original armor design to something far more sinister!

Happy hunting!

Friday the 13th George Lowe Event!

Due to the populatiry of this event we have extended the event rares shop and ability to get the Friday the 13th achievement badge for a few more days. They will be removed mid-week next week so if you haven't gotten the chance to check out the Event Rares or get your badge, now would be the ideal time.

The badge will come back Next Friday the 13th but the rares will be leaving forever. This is your ONLY chance to get them!

Dragoncon

One and a half weeks left until DRAGONCON 2010! As you are probably aware, every year the crew from AE's secret Underground Lab (us) pack up our things and head northwards, neither toward nor away from the setting sun, to the fabled Lost City of Atlanta. Georgia.

There we take part in the east coast's (maybe the world's) largest Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention. It's ALWAYS a fun time for geeking out, failing to sleep and meeting new friends (in fact, it's where we met Stratos, back when I was head of DragonFable). This year we've got a 3 hour panel in a much larger room than last year and we'd love to fill every seat with one or more humans. Our panels are filled with fun stuff, behind the scenes stuff, contests, free swag, moglin punting, a free rare non-member pet and we'll sign anything you put in front of us whether you want us to or not.

I signed a baby last year.

Voltaire, Kimberly and Geroge Lowe are all going to be at con and MIGHT show up for our little panel!

Satuday 1 PM
Sheraton Hotel, Savannah Room

We're also co-hosting a MMO party Saturday night!

I know that some of you are going but if you happen to live in the greater Atlanta area, happen to be going there around the beginnig of September, or have a little time off coming up and some extra money for the con ticket you should come out! We'd love to hang and you won't be disappointed.

To misquote Captain James Tiberius Kirk... "COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"

August 19, 2010

The Mages of Arcangrove

Journey to the tower of magic this Friday 

The magical forest of Arcangrove is home to time-travel faeries, mystic creatures, and most notably... the legendary Tower of Magic. You would be challenged to find a famous mage who has not spent time researching their art in the Magic Tower's Library -- Warlic, Cysero, Xarymandias, Mercuria and even Xan to name a few. Now it is your turn to walk through the stone, bark and star halls of the tower towards your destiny. Do not miss an opportunity to read the many books and visit the many trainers and shops there. If you are a magic user, this will become a place to frequent often our world expands. A place where magic users shall learn, evolve and be tested. It has been a long time since Drakath and his Chaos Lords last threatened the world... the sages shudder to dream what wicked plot now unfolds. Join us in Friday's release as the pathway to Arcanegrove opens at long last!

Players of DragonFable and the original AdventureQuest will be surprised to discover many famliar sights including Reen's Potion shop and a recreation of the original AdventureQuest's Mana Scepter! Also for DragonFable fans... here is one of the secret projects that has been taking shape in my workshop --  Necronic Blade of Doom

Auto Account Bans for Hackers/Cheaters

This is an important notice. To create a fair and safe environment for all players, the game has started automatically perma-banning accounts of players who hack or cheat. Over 100 accounts have been banned in the last hour. Once an account is banned for cheating it will not be recoverable and all items will be lost. To all players who this is relavent to -- I beg you not to use any hacks or cheats... even ones that promise that your account will not be banned. The system will be continually adapting, unexpectantly banning accounts using new hacks as they are attempted. Also, as you may already know our lawyers have begun taking legal action against several hacking sites, their respective owners and the authors of hacks found there. My sincere plea to these individuals in the past has been either ignored or their promises to us had been broken. After the creation of several malicious tools to use against our game we were forced into taking this very serious course of action. Dispite being in foriegn countries, they were easily located and we are working with their local authorities. This story is still very much in progress -- but please know it is one that weighs very heavily on my heart. I love all of the players of our games and will continue to protect their accounts at any cost. With this post, and another extra backup of all accounts, I wish you fun and happiness in your in-game adventures... and a great time during the start of the Arcangrove Saga tomorrow. Battle on!

August 16, 2010

You survived my Pink Army…

…now try to survive my DN post!

Friday the 13^th has passed… but the PINK nightmare is still a reality! Don’t believe me? …uhhh have you seen the length of this post? Well you soon will if you haven’t already scrolled down a bit…

Alright, let’s get right to it. Last Friday… if you missed it by some horrendously unlucky reason… we shared the BIGGEST, BESTEST, and CRAZIEST event to date with over 34,000 of our closest friends! That’s right; since the dawning of AQWorlds, we have NEVER had a higher turnout of players! Thanks for helping make history with us!

With so much awesome going on in game… we had a crazy thing happen over here at the Lab. This was where the “bad luck” of Friday the 13th came into play (hehee, get it, cuz it’s a game that we all play…uhh…). We have had our servers crash before while hosting these crazy Events… but ummmm last Friday, we sorta brought down the ENTIRE gaming network. Ahaha, WHOOPS! If you were online around 8pm EST on Friday, then you might have noticed not only AQW going offline… but also DragonFable, MechQuest, EpicDuel, and the original AQ.

Needless to say… that was pretty epic.

A few minutes later, we got all the serves up and running again, and the entire Lab was filled with /cheers of over-caffeinated joy for managing to release this Event without any other mishaps.

…or so we thought.

Achievements & J6’s Invisible Items that are no longer invisible

Friday the 13^th Achievement Badges have been given to those of you who have traveled to Ranger Lowe’s campsite. If you have been around for previous Friday the 13th Events, then your badge is already on your Character Page. Friday the 13th Achievement Badge can be obtained until this Friday, August 20th, so if you don’t have yours yet… get it before it’s too late… or wait until another Friday the 13^th rolls back around!  

The Stubborn Achievement was supposed to be set to “100 times”, not 10… and from here on out, the achievement has been changed accordingly. So if you were one of the few to get the badge after only 10 times… Gratz! And if you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about… ask a fellow “stubborn” player!

And for some strange reason… the 5 RARE weapons that J6 made somehow vanished from the AC Event Shop. We have no idea where they went to, but it is confirmed that they are now back in the shop, ready for purchase. Speaking of items… the Rare Friday the 13^th Items will be taken out this upcoming Friday, so make sure you get all the Rares you can while you still can!

Spoiler Alert!

Since this post isn’t nearly long enough, let’s get into some juicy details in this week’s upcoming release!  We are finally ready to journey to the magical realm of Arcangrove. Arcangrove has always been a powerful place, home to ancient magi who built their renowned tower on its land. The Arcangrove Tower has become the center for all magical research and study in all the lands surrounding Battleon.

But as of late… something has gone horribly amiss with the magical energies. What started as a small quiver in their power has become an outright earthquake. The magi are losing their handle on the forces of nature and the power of magic itself. Unless something is done soon… it could mean the end of all magic on Lore. (Lim pipes in with: SCIENCE!)

Things to possibly watch out for while making your journey through Arcangrove:

• Seed Spitters—big, bad carnivorous plants that attack with a barrage of bullet seeds
• Gorillaphant—half gorilla half elephant hybrid, first discovered in DragonFable
• Magical Pet companions
• Battlemage Armor (idk if I was supposed to keep that secret?)
• An assortment of Staves and Swords embedded with magic energies  
• And Chaos Lord… oh no no no wait, I’m not giving THAT sort of info out just yet >:D

Since it is Monday, I can’t surprise you with any spoiler pics. Why? Well the week only just begun, and even though our artists are super amazing… no one can work that fast, not even with a +20 agility boost.   

OH but wait, there’s more! Due to popular request, the Player Suggestion Shop will be receiving a bunch of new items suggested by you and your fellow adventurers. We have so many great, talented artists out there that it was hard to narrow down our selection.

If your item gets selected and put in game… congratulations! But if not, then don’t give up! There are so many amazing ideas out there and we just don’t have the willpower to make them all. So keep on tryin’ and maybe one day you’ll see your beloved masterpiece in game!

My DerpFish made it in, after all. LOL!

So is that it? Probably not. But once Artix sees this post of mine… can you say Chainsaw Eyes, maybe? YIKES!

August 14, 2010

J6 Items Added

Sorry About That

Hi guys, sorry, the J6 weapons were added to the Event Rare shop as promised YESTERDAY! Don't know how they escaped! Derp!

We've been getting a LOT of great feedback on the event. We're really glad that you weren't terrified by the completely random odyessy that became this Friday the 13th Event.

Kimberly was so impressed by you guys during her Live Event that she wrote and recorded the song Battle On which you can hear in her area of the event. She has also said that if you donate $5 for any full One-Eyed Doll album, you get the Battle On song as a bonus! Check it out here.

Thanks for playing and we hope you keep enjoying the event. Have you found all the secrets yet?

August 13, 2010

Today is Friday the 13th!

The Special Event is happening now!

Brace yourself for the biggest and WIERDEST event in the history of our game. The event is now live and available for all players. A bonus zone has been added for members featuring out-takes from the voice recording with George Lowe. There are 6 maps, a gazillion cutscenes, and tons of items, rares and quests... we hope you have as much fun playing it as we had creating it for you!

New Record!

34,742 Players on AdventureQuest Worlds. Screenshot or it did not happen!

Having Problems?

Are you are unable to access the event... or is a map not loading? It is likely you have a half-download file stuck in your browser. Try completely closing your browser. Then after opening it, clear your temporary internet files (in the options.) Then play!

August 12, 2010

The Event Starts Tomorrow...

Crunch Time!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow at 6pm SUGT (Secret Underground Lab Time... which also happens to be EST if you happen to be up there... on the surface.) the Friday the 13th special event will begin! Well, that is the plan. We are desperately behind schedule, overwhelmed with bugs... and low on caffeine. With only one day left to build all of the remaining monsters, cutscenes, item shops and quests.... *gulps* hmmm. You know, we should make a documentary about one of these releases for you. It would be titled "Crazy guys and cute girls looking very panicked while staring intently at their computers... which are crashing... and then a zombie apocalypse broke out and they had to change the release to save the world from DOOOOM.... and there was cake." If this is your first time joining us for a major event... hold on to your helms. Tomorrow is going to be unpredictable. I will post a live play-by-play on the homepage for you. You will know what is happening (going wrong) every 15 minutes or so leading up to the start of the event. It is customary to watch in horror as everything we do falls apart minutes before the release in front of an audience of 30,000 players. Superstitious or not.... the problem with this release is it is actually happening on Friday the 13th!

Forum Topic: Feel free to wish Beleen, Miko, Miltonius, J6, Cysero, Llussion and the rest of the AQWorlds team good lu...... er.... wait. You can use any creative way you can think of (even making up your own words), but whatever you do, do not use the word "Luck"!  I will start. "AQWorlds team - may the cake be with you.... always!"

August 10, 2010

Behind the Scenes

Working on Friday the 13th!

Superstitious heroes around the world insist that Friday the 13th is the most unlucky day of the year. Unluckier than breaking mirrors, walking under a ladder, or crossing the path of a black cat. Considering we have never experienced a Friday the 13th without crashing all the AdventureQuest Worlds servers... and bringing down the rest of our gaming network along with it... you might be surprised at how incredibly excited we are for the one coming this Friday! ...but if you have joined us for our previous super unlucky events, you know exactly why. This year we have only one and..... OMG!!!!!!! Beleen just tricked me into eating her pink table gum*! My mouth...! My mouth is burning... burning from the evil power of her PINK gum.... I am melting.... melting......**

Voice Acting 101

This special event has more voice acting than anything we have ever done before. George Lowe (best known for his role as Space Ghost) will be narrating our spooky anything goes tales. Kimberly from One-Eyed Doll and Voltaire have speaking parts too. Without spoiling any surprises.... Warlic is in the music room with 6 members of the team. All I can hear is them chanting "ONE OF US.... ONE OF US..... ONE OF US....." Strange noises have been coming from in there all day. On a positive note we feel this is more professional than that time we recorded the audio for the TV commercial in my bathroom.

Creating Spooky Stories.... with only 3 days left

Meanwhile, Miltonius, J6, Llussion, and the rest of the AQWorlds team has been working on the maps, cutscenes and quests for Friday's event. I am being dead serious when saying... we have never done something this big before. There are AT LEAST 4 new whole maps... and one of them is a puzzle map (more thinking, less combat) The one thing in this release that I am most excited about... is a replica of a place from Warlic and my favorite scary movie of all time. J6 built an AQWorlds in-game version of this cabin from floor plans.... as far as spoofing (or tipping our hats to things that have inspired us)... this is going to be tops. Hint: I am looking forward to wearing my Ebil Dread Paladin armor to this one.

Forum Question: What was your favorite AQWorlds event so far? All events are fair game including holiday events (like Mogloween, Frostvale, St Patty's Day, Heroes Heart, etc) and wierd events (like Talk like a Pirate Day, Mulligan day, April Fools, Wars, etc) I really enjoyed the 1st year anniversary with the Golden Onslaught. An army of over a million undead players sieging a fortress of Knights... classic.

* Table Gum. noun. A container of gum which sits in the middle of the DragonFable war-room. The team freshens their breath with it after lunch.... but whoever takes the last piece of gum has to go buy all new gum to refill it. The DragonFable team has a reputation of luring outsiders into eating the last piece of gum. This has caused touching the container table gum to be quite feared in the secret underground lab. Especially since a new rule has been added that... if you shake it, and there is one piece, it counts. Yes, this is all in our official  company handbook... right next to the line which says Cysero has to finish all sushi when dining with a group of 5 or more.

** It is believed that Artix has an allergy to the color pink. Beleen uses this to tease him... endlessly.

August 10, 2010

A Best Buy

at Best Buy!

OMGOMGOMG Friday the 13^th is coming up in a few days! And TRUST me—it’s so intense that it’s going to rock Cysero’s socks off. C’mon now; George Lowe is ganna be there. AND Voltaire. AAAND Kimberly from One-Eyed Doll. You know it’s going to be the best Friday the 13^th Event ever. And if you didn’t already know… now you do!

I have been sworn to secrecy about this Event. Artix specifically told me to NOT say anything about what’s in store. But... as long as you don’t say anything… I won’t….. so *cough cough* Members are ganna be able to access exclusive content *cough cough cough* from special items to a super-hard monster battle and hilarious outtakes from George Lowe himself!      

So if you’re a Member already… GRATZ! You’re ganna experience something unlike ANYTHING else we have ever done in game. But if you haven’t yet Upgraded… now is a great time to! Best Buy stores nationwide are here to help you out for this Event! Yup. That’s what I heard, at least ^____^

From now until August 21^st, a Best Buy store near you is offering Artix Entertainment Upgrade Cards at a 10% discount. And as if that isn’t a sweet enough deal, let’s throw in the awesome Best Scythe weapon! This weapon is ONLY given to players who Upgrade their account using an AE GameCard purchased from Best Buy.

Get your Best Scythe today… and your AdventureQuest Worlds’ Upgrade for only $19.95 $17.95!

It’s about to get sentimental!

All of us here at Artix Entertainment want to truly thank everyone who helps support our games =D Without your kindness, none of this would ever be possible. Ever! It is because of our dedicated Members that we get to release new content every week and are able to host special Events. We are truly honored that you love our games enough to support them, the Team, and Artix’s growing optometrist bill from the massive amounts of pink that destroy his retinas. Wahaha >:D

I have the best job in the world. And the best players to back it up with. Thank you, everyone, and I cannot WAIT for Friday the 13^th!

August 09, 2010

Your Password

Dos and Don'ts For a Secure Password

Some of you have probably heard that a new hacking program has been released, and as usual it's claiming to be able to get past our defenses. Also, as usual, it's almost all talk.

I would explain exactly how it tried to brute force hack your password, and exactly why that won't work (unless you have a terrible password) but it strikes me as a bad idea to tell everybody exactly how our servers defenses work.

Zhoom has reassured us all that your accounts are safe unless you have a password that is easy to guess. So the best way to protect your account, is to change your password to something at least 8 letters long with both letters and numbers (as every good password should be)

If you want to add another layer of security to your account RIGHT NOW, head to the Master Account site and link your AQW account to your Battleon Master Account.

Unfortunately this hacker is managing to get some of our player's accounts, and we are locking them as he gets them, but he's only able to get the ones with very weak passwords. To quote Artix "our laywers and coders are on the case" trying to keep AQW safe and fun for you to play.

Now let's talk about your password...

A secure password is the safest way to guarentee that nobody will ever log into your account except you.

1. The FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT rules is to never tell anyone your password. AE staff will never ask for it. We dont need it. It says that as soon as you log in, every time you log in but we can't stress this enough.
   
   
2. Your password should never be your Character name. For example if yout character's name is BigFace123, your password should not also be BigFace123.
3. Your password should never be "password" or "secret".
4. Your password should never be "123456789", "987654321", "11111" or any string of numbers, even if the string of numbers is all mixed up and out of order, but ESPECIALLY not a string of numbers in order.
   
   
5. Your password should never be "aaaaa", "asdfghjkl", "qwerty", "abcdefg" or any really obvious string of letters.
   
   
6. Your password should never be your real name. Eventually you'll fight with a real-life friend and they will sell all your gear as revenge.
7. Your password should ALWAYS be as long as possible. I believe that AQW has a 25 character limit and I use all 25. That would literally take centuries to brute force hack, if we didn't stop a brute force attempt after several failed attempts.
8. Your password should ALWAYS have letters AND numbers in it and use punctuation if possible (which AQW passwords do allow), but avoid really obvious passwords like "AQW111"

A very long, very safe password is the best way to avoid ever getting hacked. For example, you KNOW hackers would love to get their hands on my account. You know they try to often, usually every day. I am here to tell you that NOBODY has EVER gotten into my AQW account. My first password was "7goforburnonmymark321mark!" and my current password is even better than that. I make a habit of changing them regularly.

Phrases like "go for burn on my mark" are still fairly predictable, so using random words that nobody would link to you is best. None of my passwords have ever had the words Sock or Yogurt in them.

If you think it would be a good idea you can go to manage, then click the CHANGE PASSWORD link on the side menu and change your password to a stronger one RIGHT NOW.

Oh and Beleen even made this super long picture that shows step-by-step instructions on how to create your NEW Password. I highly suggest checking it out. And no, it’s not in .derp format. CLICK HERE to see How To Change Your Password.

There Will Be Bludrut

Got a lot of complaints that Bludrut wasn't dropping enough Trophies this weekend. Minimal is in the file and raising the winning drop rate from 2-4 trophies to 2-10 trophies, depending on how hard you win.

Some people were complaining that the weapons are IMPOSSIBLE to get, which is, of course, false. They are just very very very hard to get. We wanted to add some inscentive for the people who like hard to acquire items. If it's too hard for you to get, don't get it.Still, raising the trophies should help those of you hardened and expert PvPers attain those juicy rewards before 2011.

A few people complained that the General was impossible to kill. After running a several PvP matches with you on several of my toons this weekend I can say that is PROBABLY because those folks didn't read Dumoose HOW TO for the map. You must kill the Brwalers AND the Restorers or the general will be very very hard to defeat. Once they are down, the entire team needs to focus on getting the general down because he is still the general and still pretty tough.

Friday The 13th is COMING!

This is it, this is what we have been spending most of our content development time on for the past few weeks. It is an event unlike anything we have ever released! Are you ready?

No, you're not.

August 06, 2010

PvP For Everyone!

The Release is Live!

Finally the time has come to PvP it up with your friends... regardless if they are Members or not! Bludrut Brawl lets you pwn ANYONE. Even Mods. I hear Cysero is online right now. Go get him >:D

Join a battleground by talking to Dumoose in Battleon. You can’t miss him—he’s sporting the all new PvP Armor Set and OMGOMGOMG a HUGE sword! All of that—and so much more—can be obtained by collecting Combat Trophies and turning them in as PvP Rewards. There are 19 new PvP awards to please every adventurer.

The Steel Afterlife Helm and Basic War Sword are some pre-requirements to obtain bigger and better PvP awards! DerpFish, sadly, is not necessary.

So many new items but unfortunately… you cannot see the item before turning in the Trophies. LAME, we know. We’re actually working on something that should allow you to view “quest rewards” before slaving over something that you may or may not like. We hope to get that finished shortly.

In the meantime… I have gathered pictures of ALL the items available as PvP awards ^___^ The items names are listed in the order that they appear in the pix below.

Conquorer of Shadow and Warden of Light PvP Armors and Helms! (Female versions look nearly identical)

Steel Afterlife, The Armet of the Afterlife, Bearded Armet of the Afterlife, and Bearded Helm of Glory.

Helm of Ultimate Victory, Helms of Glory (Girl and Boy), Ultimate Victory Armet

Behemoth Blade of Shadow, Behemoth Blade of Light, Venomous Nightshade, Infamous Revenge, Legendary Retribution, and Devine Retribution

Wow… that’s a lot of items. And a lot of pictures. I hope this helps out when choosing what PvP Rewards you wanna farm for!

Limited Time DerpFish!

August is National Catfish Month! So I took it upon myself and made a very special… um… pet?... for you. It’s the DerpFish! He…she…it will only be available during this month (probably) so if you wanna Herpadurpadurrp, then durrpahurpaderrrp over to Aria’s Pet Shop in Battleon Town!

J6 Live Draw Items are Gone

So long, epic weapons! We will miss you. And whoever was lucky enough to get them… congratz! Sadly, I missed the whole thing while I was on vacation (pfft, some vacation huh?), but I was told that it was an amazing experience and that we will be doing another Live Draw event sometime soon. Oh and this time… I won’t miss it for the AQWorld!

So now that you've finsihed this lengthy post... give your eyes a rest as you PvP in Bludrut Brawl! Team up with your best buds as you fight for glory, fame, and (most importantly) that epic PvP gear.

Battle on!

August 06, 2010

Win an iPad Thingy...

SuperRewards, the company that provides the 3rd party offers for AdventureCoins in AEXtras, is doing a iPad giveaway promotion. One lucky player of our games is going to win an iPad*. Yes, they set aside one just for our games so we are guaranteed to have a winner. All you have to do is complete any offer between now (August 6th) and September 6th, 2010. The more offers you complete, the higher your chance to win.

You must be over 13 to access the offers.... as always, be careful! Always read the small print. Especially because the good offers are being used up fast during the promotion leaving those ultra shady ones**. I would not ask you to do something I have not done myself, so after carefully researching each one, I did two offers this morning. The ones that ask you to watch a video are by far the safest. Although they require a facebook account. Second safest would be the surveys that do not require you to enter a phone number (stay clear of any that ask you for your cell phone number and have the words "monthly fee" anywhere in the text) On a wierd note, I am totally going to use this if I ever switch car insurance companies or get Direct TV. So again, be safe and good luck -- hope you win.
Official link to the iPad Promotion

 * Which is funny... since the iPad does not support flash, so you cannot play our games on it.... maybe it will make a nice paper wieght? -- Oh wow! Wait, scratch that, I have just been informed on Twitter that there is an app called Cloud Browse which lets you play AE games on the iPad!
** What? They have non-shady offers?

August 06, 2010

New Voltaire Album!

Spooky Songs for Creepy Kids

My favorite musician Voltaire is releasing a new CD! By popular demand from his fans who have kids... this one is for everyone! (As you likely know,  his other CDs were not exactly ideal for the family outing to Grandma's.) This album features the songs 'Brains' and 'Land of the Dead' from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (fun show, I really like it) - the resung songs from the AQWorlds events - and even Voltaire's song that he wrote to help his son get to sleep... - Goodnight Demonslayer. (That one is Artix's favorite.)

The CD will likely hit store shelves by Halloween... and we are really exicted because all of the art was created from our AQWorlds special events with him! He is currently taking pre-orders.

List of Songs on the CD

1) Land of the Dead (Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)
2) Brains (Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)
3) Vampire Club (Twilight version)
4) Cannibal Buffet (Resung Version)
5) Day of the Dead (AQ Worlds version)
6) Tempest (AQ Worlds version)
7) This Ship’s Going Down (AQ Worlds version)
8) To the Bottom of the Sea (AQ Worlds version)
9) The Beast of Pirate’s Bay (AQ Worlds version)
10) Crusade (Resung version)
11) Goodnight Demonslayer (Original version)

August 05, 2010

Goings On

Bludrut Brawl Changes

We've learned a lot from the PvP Testing Period which lasted WAY longer than it should have. Sorry. If you were one of the PTR PvP testers, you will notice that we have added a room where you can rest to the BB map (You used to rest IN the boss room... made the matches go on for a LONG time).

You will also be able to get new item rewards from Dumoose, our PvP Battle Master. Some of which will only be availible until we chance the PvP map again, and some will be permenant additions to the PvP. One of the upgradable weapons will be upgraded versions of the Vampiric Nightshade which, rumor has it, Edvard is currently in possession of. New upgraded versions of the weapon will be available only through PvP.

BB is STILL one of the best PvP maps we've designed to date, but we're always looking for new ideas. If you've got an idea for a PvP map, let us know on the forums!

Friday The 13th Is Coming For You

Preparation and even more preparations are going into this event. It has the largest amount of voice acting that we've ever had, blowing the One-Eyed Doll event out of the water in that area. This this is shaping up to be more like a playable horror/50's sci-fi/B movie than an AQW Event.

New in-game items, AC, Member and non-member drops, music never before heard in-game from Volatire and One-Eyed Doll. Voice acting by Volatire, Kimberly, AE Staff members and GEORGE FREAKIN LOWE! I don't think that's his real middle name.

Join us, won't you?

Preparations for the LONG CON!

Only 28 more days until DragonCon! This year we have a 3 hour panel (which Artix and I will probably fill most of with our ceaseless babbling... I will also make Beleen babble some). As usual there will be Q&A, Trivia, Free Candy and other AE related swag, an AE costume contest, and other things like those things I just said.

There will, as always, be a free item that anyone who goes to the panel or finds us walking around the con gets just for saying 'HI', and as usual, we will ask those of you who attend what you would like as your free in-game item. Then we will tell you 'No', when you ask for a free class or enhancement that can kill anything in one hit, then we will ask for other more reasonable but still pretty cool ideas.

I really mean it when I say this: I hope to see you there.

It would be cool if I could meet every single AQW player in one place at one time. We'd rock the house.

Last year it was my pleasure to sit down with have lunch with Sunumbrella on the first day we met her. If I could I'd buy lunch for all of you and we'd all sit down and have a fun chat about AQW, life and everything in between.

She came all the way from New Zealand so you've got no excuse! I even bought her a shirt. Be there!

August 04, 2010

Super Awesome Crazy Day

Greetings friends! I must say... this has been the busiest few weeks of my life. (If I told you how long it took me to get to this part of the post due to people flooding into the warroom with emergencies you would seriously be laughing. It has been at least 30 minutes.) But this is what happens when so many exciting things are in the works! Some our happening right now.... like EpicDuel's Gamma release that just went live! (Way to go Titan!) In AQWorlds we have PvP coming this Friday, and then our biggest Friday the 13th event ever coming the following week!!!!!! It is either going to be the most epic thing we have ever created.... or we are not going to make it in time.... wish us luck!

Dage's Custom Armor & Arcangrove

As you may already know, J6 has taken on an apprentice named Dage. He is a young and skilled artist who has recently been crafting some amazing armors and items you have seen in our releases. A mini-riot broke out in Battleon today when players found out that Dage had given his best friend in game a set of his personal armor. (Updated the last sentence, verified.) Now, at first thought you might think... well, he made it right? So why should he not be able to give it to whomever he wants? Good question. The answer is... that is makes our fellow adventurers feel bad because there is no equal opportunity for them to get or earn the item in any way. Or put simply... it does not feel fair. So, you will be very relieved to know that Dage's armor will be available in the upcoming magical Acangrove Saga or alternatively on his Birthday. This was planned before this became an issue. In the past many mods have chosen to make their custom pets and armors available to players. Beleen gave you her Chinchilla and I have given you both my armor and my trusty side kick, Daimyo (OMG... did we miss his birthday this year?). Also... we accidently sold Ai No Miko's armor as a Kimono during the Yokai Zone (she will never let me live that down... but accidents do happen.) In the meantime, Dage has a special item coming up for you in the Friday the 13th release that you should be looking forward to!

3 packages from a far....

We have now received three unexpected packages at the Secret Underground Lab.... one is from Japan! Opening now.... 

August 04, 2010

PvP FTW!

my 1st DN post all by myself, hehe

Hi everyone! Did ya miss me? …did you even know I was AFK? Well now that I’m back, I see that the DNs are lacking in pink. Let's fix that now =D

Ok so it’s Wednesday. EpicDuel just released their Gamma update and so far… nothing has broke! Gratz, guys! And since Titan and Nightwraith seem to have perfected PvP in a MMO, we’re doing our own Player vs Player update thingymajig this Friday!

Geesh. About time too. We promised new PvP updates awhile ago… but we never promised a timeframe. See what we did there? Clever, we know!

On Friday, the Darkovia PvP map will be closed to make way for Bludrut Brawl! The grand reopening of this PTR-favorite battleground will be available for ALL PLAYERS! Yup, that’s right; Members and Non-members will finally be able to duke it out in 14 frames of 2D fury!

Dumoose will NO LONGER be selling the Werepyre Slayer Set come Friday. So if you don’t already have them all… now’s your last chance before they go Rare.

• Werepyre Slayer Armor: 70 Combat Trophies 

• Werepyre Slayer Helm: 40 Combat Trophies

• Werepyre Slayer Wings: 15 Combat Trophies

• Werepyre Slayer Sword: 25 Combat Trophies

Miltonius is hard at work making a new Bludrut Brawl Set along with some awesome new PvP Awards. I wish I could show you a preview of what to expect… but he’s not yet finished. Unless you want me to draw you something, but that would probably end up looking worse than the DerpFish.

Available now in Aria’s Pet Shop!

…did you know that I drew the DerpFish in pen? Oh yeah. Try drawing a catfish in permanent ink and let me know how it turns out >O________o<  DERRPA HURRRRRRRRRP!

Ahhhhhhhh. It’s good to be back. I have missed you all so much <3

August 02, 2010

Being A Concise And Much Anticipated Recounting Of Orbs, Fish, PvP and Friday the 13th

Of Orbs...

If you happen to own one of Miltoious' Orb Pets, you probably noticed that last week we took the quests out of the orbs. We did this mostly to keep their rarity for you. We have added code that allows ONLY YOU the orb's master, to access the quest that will allow you to transform your rare non-ac version of the Void of Miltonius into one of the other non-AC armors once again.

We might have to change a few more things like this to actually protect those rares as rares in other pets that came from the zone. As he warned you when he began this long, strange journey... Expect changes and don't cry when they come.

If your orb doesn't give you the quest, close your game window, empty your cache and relog-in to AQW.

Of Fish...

If you were following Beleen's Twitter or My Twitter, you probably know about this already but we've got a new Pet O' The Month in Aria's Pet Shop. It's Beleen's Stupid Derp-Fish!

Someone pointed out that it has (once again) been more than enough time to add a new Pet O' The Month and Beleen discovered that it's "Catfish Month" so she took 12 seconds and drew this...

Bear in mind that Beleen is NOT one of AE's artists.

There was suddenly a mass call for Beleen's Catfish to be made into the Pet O' The Month, which I immediatly shot down. I mean, look at it. It's got a eye on it's forehead. However, as the requests piled up, and the more I looked at this stupid thing, the more I loved the idea of getting it into game.

So I spent about 7 minutes of my time, translating this monstrosity into a pet for Aria's pet shop, staying as faithful to the original design as possible.

If you are a member you can pick up this amazing Pet O' The Month from Aria for a limited time (but probably more than a month). So yeah... have fun with that thing.

Of PvP...

This Friday we are closing the Darkovia PvP map and Re-opening Bludrut Brawl for ALL players (members and non-members alike will have access to the map)! It was one of the favorite maps from PTR PvP testing and we're happy to open it. Dumoose will ALSO be offering ALL NEW PvP Rewards!

Of Friday The 13th...

Artix, I and a handful of the other staff here in the secret underground lab were VERY excited to be on the phone with voice actor George Lowe as we ran through and recorded his lines for the Friday the 13th super insane-o event coming two weeks from now. Voltaire recorded his yesterday. Kimberly should be recording hers any day now. J6 is working on backgrounds and the George Lowe NPC while Milton crafts monsters and begins working on some of the longest, and best Cutscenes in this game. Skyline and Dage are both working on Friday the 13th items and PvP rewards and Beleen.... she's drawing derp-fish.

Ballyhoo Says Thanks!

Since we placed Ballyhoo in Battleon, allowed her to give you up to 5,000 FREE GOLD per day and DOUBLED her chance to drop ACs from watching her ads, she has been getting a few more visitors and feels much less lonely. She's always happy to see you, so be sure to stop by and get your free gold and ACs every day!