Design Notes
September 30, 2010
BREAKING NEWS!
Jonathan Coulton to make guest apperance!
We just JUST gotten confirmation... that in addition to musical guest hosts Paul & Storm...
......we will also be getting a cameo appearance by Jonathan Coulton!!!
The 10.10.10 AQWorld's birthday weekend long event just keeps getting better! To all of you other JOCO fans out there.... let us share this fan-boy/girl moment together. *Deep Breath* Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Voice Acting
With only a week and 1 day remaining until the huge event.... Warlic is conducting the voice acting recording for the event. *Gulps* Even I have a speaking part this time! (A little one... at the very end... hoping the villian of the event prevents anyone from getting that far and hearing it....) Remember, like the last event your character has lines and YOU have to say them. It is only fair, we spoke our lines! :-) In other news, I have NO idea how Miltonius is going to get all of these crazy cutscenes in time... please send him some encouragement!
Shaman Class to be released this Friday
A new class, Shaman is being released this week with the next and very impotant chapter of the Arcangrove saga. Full class skills will be posted for you tomorrow during the release.
September 29, 2010
Tacos and Birthdays
Next Monday is Taco Day...
Dage the Evil (I am so going to turn him good by the end of this.. just watch) created some Taco-licious destructo-tacos for you. Taco Admiral? If we ask nicely maybe he will make us some Taco-chucks!
Coming this week
Doing a big release this week with an 80% chance of the Shaman class being released, and then Taco Day, and then the CRAZY 10/10/10 AQWorld's birthday with musical guests Paul & Storm next week.... well, please wish Cysero, J6, Miltonius & Beleen luck -- they are going into overdrive! Meanwhile, Warlic is in the music room creating creepy haunted music... it is LOUD! The entire lab sounds like a haunted house. (I guess you could say it is like Phantom of the Warlic in there)
September 29, 2010
Bad Badges
Just A Quick Update!
Some of you have noticed that, like last year, the 2nd Upholder Badge on the character page is there, but greyed out. It will go full color on Nov 3rd.
The rest of you have noticed that there are people who have never purchased a membership who have the grey badge and many of you who are members well into the next year don't have them.
For example, my AQW membership doesn't expire until 2020, but I don't have the badge on my CP.
Zhoom and Ai No Miko are working on this and expect to have it displaying properly as soon as they can.
Update: 13:26
Looks like the got it fixed! Badges should be displaying properly now! :)
Shaman Is Coming!
Minimal has finished an early version of the Arcangrove Class, Shaman! Dumoose, Stratos and I will start testing and balancing today (YAY! We get to play with fun new powers!). Shaman Class will be a NON-MEMBER class, but will require RANK 10 ARCANGROVE REP.
You'll have more of a chance to earn more Arcangrove reputation this Friday when we release the next area of Arcangrove, the very volcanic Mount Mafic.
You'll also get the change to grab some of Dage's new volcanic themed weapons!
They're Hawt
Happy Birthday To All Of Us!
If you want to know how to beocme a 2nd Upholder, get the 2nd Upholder Achievement Badge and the once-in-a-lifetime Onyx Star Sword, READ MY LAST DESIGN NOTES POST!
Even if you can't become a 2nd Upholder, you're ALL invited to the AQw Birthday Event featuring the musical talents of the band Paul and Storm! It's going to be a BIG deal, and not an adventure that you can afford to miss.
See you there!
September 27, 2010
2nd Upholders
What is an Upholder?
Like last year, we are offering you the chance to become an Upholder (The same way that the Founders got their chance at the birth of the game and the way 1st Upholders got their chance last year at this time)
What Does A 2nd Upholder Get?!
That's easy! When you become a 2nd Upholder you get a Onyx Starsword (it's non-member, so you can swing that sword forever), an achievement badge on your character page and some CRAZY bragging rights.
Those of you who have been playing for a while know that Founders already get bragging rights. They can say "I was supporting the game before you even heard of it!" and they have the fancy Platinum Dragon pet and character page achievement badge to prove it!
I'm sure you've also seen somebody with last year's 1st Upholder Golden Star Sword and said to yourself... "DANG! WHY did I have to miss out on that?!"
This is YOUR chance to grab some of the spotlight for yourself (even if you're already a Founder or a 1st Upholder or BOTH!)
Sounds Great! How Do I become a 2nd Upholder?!
It couldn't be simpler. Become a member!
- If you are ALREADY a member and your membership expires ON or AFTER November 3rd, 2010, then you're are ALREADY a 2nd Upholder. Gratz.
- If you help support AQW by buying ANY membership ANY TIME during the month of October (from now to November 2nd) then you become a 2nd Upholder!
Last year, we were able to offer this to everyone who bought ACs too, but we are unable to do that again this year. Last year there were some terrible cases of people using their phones or their parent's phones to buy ACs using SMS payments, or using their parent's credit cards when they weren't allowed. It caused a lot of trouble for us with the SMS companies and the credit card companies so we had to cut that option out entirely. Sorry, but a few bad apples can spoil the fun for everyone.
The good news is that you can still use SMS to buy memberships and get 2nd Upholder with no problems, you can also upgrade to Member status using Battleon Points, using one of our Battleon Upgrade Cards, or using any of our other payment methods!
I Think My Membership Already Makes Me A Second Upholder. How Can I Check?
Also, easy. Just click the Manage Account link on the left.
As soon as you sign in you'll see when your membership expires. Here's mine:
Cool! When Do I Get My Super Sweet 2nd Upholder Sword and Badge?
It will magically appear in your backpack on Weds, November 3rd. If your backpack is FULL, don't worry... the Onyx Star Sword will make a temporary spot for itself. Once you remove something from your backpack it will fill in the real slot and your inventory will return to its proper size.
Anything Else I Should Know?
Yup!
We appreciate every single upgrade that you guys pay for. Without you there is no way that we could possibly keep the game running but our Founders will always hold a special place in our hearts for believing in us and supporting the game before we even had a game to support. Once again you Founders will recieve an upgraded version of your Platinum Dragon pet... the Onyx Armored Platinum Dragon (non-member).
We will never forget the support that our Founders have shows us over the years. If you missed out of being a Founder in AQw, you MIGHT want to consider saving up to become a founder in our NEW SUPERHERO MMO!
The 2nd Upholder Onyx Star Sword and the Founder Onyx Armored Platinum Dragon pet are both going to have a price of 0 ACs so you will be able to store them for free in your bank! We will also be retrofitting the Golden Starsword, Armored Platinum Dragon and original flavor Platinum Dragon pet so they will be able to be stored for free too!
I Love AQW! It's The Best Game EVER!
Thank you, AQW Player! What a nice thing to say! But seriously... thank YOU for playing. We LOVE making the game for you guys and thanks to the support of Founders 2 years year ago, 1st Upholders last year, 2nd Upholders next month and everyone in between we get to keep making it better and better every week!
It doesn't matter if you were here from the first day or THIS is YOUR first day... we're so happy that you could be with us to celebrate our second birthday, and we hope that you will stick around for many more birthdays and keep adventuring with us.
Thanks!
September 24, 2010
The Ruins Of Great Gilead
A Magic City Frozen In Time
This week in Arcangrove, Rayst sends you to the Ruins of Great Gilead for the third piece of the Supreme Arcane Staff. This was once a great city teeming with magic users, but they began to rely on their magic use so heavily that it eventually causes as horrid, magical catastophe.
Since that time the ruins have been a ghost town, too heavily steeped in raw magic to rebuild upon. You will find pieces of tower flowting in their places, fountains spewing fire intead of water, elemental spirits gurading the lost souls of Great Gilead... and a bunch of really amazing gear!
While you are there you will meet Umbra the Shaman who communes with the spirits of the devestated city (not ghosts, but the spirits of the city itself). Complete his tasks and you will find yourself facing a magical gate. It's a fairly simple locking mechanism... if you read the instructions.
Through the runegate you will face a Mana Elemental... a pure expression of raw, untamed magic. Unlike Ledgermayne, this beast is a mindless form filled with rage and more goodies (if you hit him hard enough, he drops some really nice stuff that you can't get anywhere else!)
This week also brings you some new music from Warlic (featuring the vocal talents of Alina!). This zone has been FANTASTIC for music, and we hope that you're enjoying it as much as we are. It really sets the mood for the area that you are adventuring in.
A Gun... THAT SHOOTS?
Sort of. If you are a member, you know about the Upgrade Shop in Battleon. We were feeling like this needed a little attention so Skyline has made the SG3000. It's a pretty slick looking gun but the best part about it is that it has a FIRING ANIMATION built into it. Simply click this new, awesome firearm and watch it discharge round after round.
As of yet, you still can't actually SHOOT monsters with guns or bows but it's a step in the right direction!
If you look around we added a few more items to other shops aroudn the game but I like surprises so have fun finding them.
Pirate Items GONE!
You will notice that Quibble has gone and taken his items with him. He will be back next Talk Like A Pirate Day (Actually, he'll be back much sooner than that) with all new stuff. This year's stuff was a big hit and all we can say is that we're glad that you like it!
On the question of Rarity: People often ask about the rarity ratings. I'm leaving the scale up to you guys to discover. Eventually you'll be able to look through the AQW wiki and tell just by looking at the number of items with a certain rarity how rare they are.
We will probably be adding "Quibble" as a rarity, meaning... it may return to game, or it may be a permenant rare item.
For those of you who found J6's little addition, that has was also removed earlier this week. it may be back next year.... it may not be.
Forum Question
AQW has been alive for nearly 2 years now, and thanks to you all (special thanks to the members and bigtime AC buyers who have kept the game running all this time) it looks like we'll be here for quite a while. My question to you is this... What is your favorite AQW memory? An event? A cutscene? getting that super duper rare drop minutes before it went rare? Hanging out with your friends? Maybe you have a memory from Alpha that you want to share. Let us know on the forums.
September 23, 2010
October Pet O' The Month?
Hey AQW Members...
A new month is coming up and I'd like to know what you'd like for your (increaslingly innaccurately named) Pet O' The Month (or... every few months... sometimes a month and a half).
Let us know on the forums.
Quibble is leaving!
And he won't be back for a while. Get the good stuff while you can. Might be your ONLY chance.
The Ruins of Great Gilead
Tomorrow's release continues the Arcangrove storyline in the ruins of the once great city of Gilead. Skyline, Dage and Miltonius have made some pretty great drops from this area and at least one new weapons has been added to the Reputation shop.
We have a LOT of stuff coming and I need on work on all of it (releases out the yin yang all ther way into 2011!) so I'll catch you guys on the flippy flops.
September 23, 2010
Rares Arrrrr Goin’ Rare, Matey!
Quibble leaves Tomorrow, along with his 33 Rare Item Collection
Is it just me, or has this past week just flown by? Who gave Time a +15 Agility Buff? (and why haven’t I gotten a buff like that in real life? I need to have a word with the Time Travel Faeries… and the coffee maker…)
Since Friday is a day away, I should let you all know that Quibble is leaving tomorrow! Yes, the 15 Arcangrove-inspired items in his shop will vanish come sundown Friday along with those 16 awesome Talk Like A Pirate Day armors, captain hats, bandanas, and back items (+2 House Items!). So if you haven’t already plundered Quibble’s shop, now is your last chance!
Sure, you can wait another 361 days for the next TLAPD, but no one can say if those Rare items in Quibble’s shop will ever resurface. So your best bet is to do some last-minute AdventureCoin shopping in order to get your hands on the savviest loot in all the seven seas! And remember, you can store as many AC items you want in your bank for free and forever! Yaaaaar, it be true!
You can also earn AdventureCoins through 3rd Party Offers, ya know! And if you haven’t already (or just forgot about it), downloading the AQW Battle Bar allows you to earn ACs for each valid search you type in! I use mine every day. Not just for searching, the Battle Bar provides instant access to the Design Notes, Home Page, and Character Page! It’s pretty convenient AND earns me AdventureCoins! Sweet.
Arcangrove Part 4: The Ruins of Great Gilead
Finally you get a sneak-peek at what we have planned out for this week’s release! You are going to want to make sure that you have completed all the quests in Arcangrove, The Cloister, Mudluk Village, and The Natatorium so that you can journey to the magical city of the Great Gilead.
The Great Gilead was once thriving city of great magical achievement, but due to a terrible magical accident, it lies in ruins, deserted for more than a thousand years. It is now a place of study and quiet meditation for the spirit speaking Shamans. You must seek out Master Shaman Umbra in the Ruins if you hope to obtain the next piece of the Supreme Arcane Staff: the Wrap of Gilead.
Just a few Great Gilead weapons
You and your friends will embark on quests that will enlighten you on the Four Elementals of Lore: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Only when you have a deep understanding of these elements will you be able to confront the Guardian of the Gilead Wrap. Oh, and there will be an all-new puzzle that needs solving before you can take out the Great Gilead’s Boss!
I cannot wait for tomorrow! Which is going to come much sooner rather than later with that new agility buff applied to it. Someone give Time a speeding ticket, will ya? Thx!
September 21, 2010
3 Months of AWESOMESAUCE!
Live-Events, Anniversarys, and Holidays OH MY!
Greetings and salutations friends. It is nearly October... and on the crazy date of 10/10/10 AQWorld's celebrates it's second Birthday... and you are invited to the party as the guest of honor! But nothing here ever goes as planned. Last year, the world was flipped on its head as millions of players BECAME UNDEAD and sieged Liongfang's castle to save the AE Team.... this year, things will be even CRAZIER as all new musical guests will be arriving and *Cysero covers Artix's mouth to stop him from talking* "Sorry guys. You know he can't keep a secret."
Artix: What? I can so keep a secret!
Cysero: No you can't
Artix: Yes I can!
Cysero: No you can't
Artix: Yes I can!
Cysero: Alright, what's a secret you're keeping?
Artix: I have not told a single soul that in my spare time I made an AdventureQuest card game and that Toys R Us found out about it and is actually coming down to meet with us about it! It is really fun. It is a single deck game, a little like Munchin, so you only need one deck for you and your friends to play. It plays super fast for 2 to 4 players. Matches that are 2 vs 2 are my favorite because there are so many fun loopholes in the rules to mess up your opponents big attacks in unpredictable ways!
Cysero: My point exactly.
3 Months of Holiday Special Events!
The final three months of the year are always THE BEST. Mid October, In AQWorlds (and in our other games too!) the haunted holiday of Mogloween begins! The town of Mystcroft will appear with old quests and many new ones. This year we have housing, so we should decorate our houses for Mogloween and have house-to-house trick or treating! Then (assuming you are able to defeat the current Chaos Lord... and he does not win and take over the world) a brand new saga will begin. Steampunk zone? Maybe Doomwood? In November it is time for the Harvest Festival... and we can try to survive Oishii's cooking! Then, the snow will start falling in December as Frostval approaches -- there will be snow, presents, ice dragons, and Mmmmmm hot moglinberry juice! Then.... it is time for the New Years Party! It all starts with the big birthday bash on 10/10/10 -- which is one event you will NOT want to miss!
Forum Question: What is your favorite Holiday Special Event in AQWorlds?
September 17, 2010
Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Yo ho ho ho, a pirate’s day for we!
Avast me hearties! It be Friday yet again, but this be no ordinary release! Not only we be expandin’ Arcangrove, but it also be Talk Like A Pirate Day! YAAAAAAAAAAAR!
Actually, TLAPD doesn’t start until Sunday September 19th… but we didn’t want to wait that long to celebrate. Can you blame us? So right now, in Quibble’s Shop, ye can get 15 ALL NEW Talk Like a Pirate Day Items and a new Sunken Ship House! Now that’s a lot of booty… YAR HAR HARRR! No one knows if these items will EVER return, so make sure ye and ye crew of scallywags get them while you still can.
Arcangrove Expanded: The Natatorium
Dive to the bottom of the Arcangrove Loch and enter the realm of The Natatorium. Normally a place of peaceful meeting between various merfolk, The Nataorium is now overrun…or I guess over-swam?… with Angler Fish and Armored Merdraconians thanks to Chaos Lord Ledgermayne.
After asking Rayst in Arcangrove where you should go next, seek out Nisse the Mermaid Sage in The Natatorium. J6 did an AMAZING job—as usual—with crafting yet another beautiful map while Warlic whipped up some new aquatic tunes. But don’t be fooled by the map’s pretty frames! You are ganna need more brain than brawn if you hope unlock the gate to the Boss guarding the next piece of the Supreme Arcane Staff: the Runes of Riparian!
Your hard work will not go unrewarded. Along with offering you lochloads of gold, exp, and rep for every completed Quest, the monsters in The Natatorium are loaded with amazing swords and tridents. Swim its depths to discover:
- Reverse Merperson Armor
- Defender of the Reef Blade
- Fish Tail Cape
- Natatorium Scimitar
- Anaerobic Trident (a Rotting Naval Commander’s dream!)
- Lotic Blade
- and the Riparian Trident!
Well me hearties, me guesses that this be the end of thee design notes fer today! I tried to keep ‘em short ‘n sweet so that your eyes could properly heal themselves before loggin’ in to tonight’s release. So gogogogogo enjoy the release, mateys!
Yar har har har!
September 16, 2010
Tomorrow and Tomorrow...
Talk Like A Pirate All Day Tomorrow (er Sunday)!
So tomorrow is Talk Like A Pirate Day (actually I think it's Sunday but we are adding the items tomorrow) and once again Quibble has special items with which to party down.
These items will NOT replace the current items in his shop but merely expand his shop. None of last year's items are returning in their original form but nearly all of last year's favs have been altered for this year's theme (being Ice Pirates and Undead Curses). You will also see a few BRAND NEW weapons and a new seasonal rare house.
I say it's a seasonal rare but it may never return. You can never tell with Quibble. None of last year's items are coming back this year but with the time travel fairies still supplying Quibble, you might never know... you may see them in the game in the far distant future!
I've decided to give you a list of ALL of the items to which you may look forward.
- Icy Naval Commander Armor
- Cursed Pirate Captain Armor
- Red/Blue/White/Black Cursed Bandanas
- Icy Swab's hat
- Icy Captain's hat
- Icy Undead Parrot (on your shoulder)
- Cursed Captain's Hat
- Cursed Captain's Elegant hat
- Icy Spirit Rapier
- Scimitar Of The Seventh Sea
- Pitare Flintlock Pistol
- Sunken Pirate Ship House
There might be a few more items before the sun goes down but those are FOR SURE! And just like last year they are ALL AdventureCoin items so no need to worry about storage space!
(remember, you can store AC items for FREE in your bank, just hit the AC tab while you're there!)
The Natatorium
The next part of the Arcangrove Saga takes place at the bottom of the Arcangrove Loch in a place called the Natatorium. As Beleen mentioned earlier, it is normally a place of peaceful meeting between various merpeople but has come under Ledgermayne's control. It looks like it might be trying to keep you from completing the Supreme Arcane Staff but I think you'll find that help comes from some unexpected sources.
This area features a new and interesting puzzle concieved and executed by the increasingly wicked Llussion. It involves standing on buttons, shifting sub-lake currents and moving statues. Good luck. You will need to solve this new puzzle before you face this week's Boss (courtesy of Miltonius), and the Guardian of the Runes of Riparian.
You will also find a Lochload of new items direct from the hands of Dage, and a new (pretty hilarious) Reverse Merperson armor for all players from J6.
That's right. Fish on top, dude on the bottom. I'm standing next to Nisse the Mermaid Sage and sporting two of the TLPD items for this year, the Scimitar of the Seventh Sea and the Icy Captain's Hat. I'm a hot mess.
Obrigado Shop & Sorcerer's Apprentice Hat
Earlier I said that the Obridago shop was leaving earlier this week, and it obviously didn't. We decided to remove the Obrigado Brasil shop and the FREE color custom Sorcerer's Apprentice Hat at the same time, when we restart tomorrow.
The Obrigado items might not be back until next year and the hat will NEVER be back so make sure you get them of you want them!
September 14, 2010
Tuesday PINK Alert!
TLAPD, Arcangrove expanding, and Calendar Project Spoilers below!
Avast me hearties! The day be Tues, and tis be the hour to plunder AQW’s secrets makin’ landfall this Friday.
For starters (in case you haven’t already guessed): Talk Like a Pirate Day! YAAAAAAAR! I know you’re excited. TRUST ME —we are all excited! Last year, TLAPD was a huge hit both in game and here at the Lab. Arrrrrrrtix and I dressed up as pirates IRL as thousands of our friends equipped their costumes in game. I know I’m dressing up again. Maybe I’ll bring a pie with me. So I can be a pierate ^___^
Quibble Coinbiter will offer brand-new TLAPD swag for you and your hearties on Friday. All the original loot from last year, including the house, are not coming back this year. They are Quibble items so they might come back someday… but that day isn’t Friday.
You like our new booty?
Here is just a sneaky-peaky at a *few* new TLAPD items. A lot of female players complained that last year's female version of the Pirate Captain showed too much skin. Cysero took that very literally. This year's Cursed Pirate Captain has no skin whatsoever!
You’re ganna want to stock-up on some AdventureCoins if you wanna showoff the best TLAPD booty. Remember, you can store an unlimited amount of AC items in your bank for free and forever! It’s like the best way to build that rare item collection of yours =D
The Natatorium
Pirates are natural born swimmers. …I think? Well I hope. The newest zone of Arcangrove will send you underwater to the home of freshwater merpeople: The Natatorium! The Natatorium is an ancient meeting place for various forms of merpeople, which has recently come under attack by Ledgermayne's forces.
Undersea Under siege
You will meet Nisse, the Mermaid Sage, and help her take out vicious Angler Fish, Armored Merpeople, and a new wicked boss that everyone here at the Lab is dying to see! I don’t want to spoil that last part… not yet, at least… so you will just have to wait patiently like the rest of us! Until we see it for ourselves. And then maybe we’ll share =D
Calendar Announcement(s)!
Have you heard anything about the Artix Entertainment 2011 Wall Calendar?! Um well now you have! We are actually making an actual calendar featuring the female NPCS from AE, beautifully set against backgrounds reflecting each month’s theme! Check it out.
Ai No Miko posing for March!
Mido, our newest graphic design artist, is hard at work on the calendar. He is EVEN designing a new rendition of Beleen… and I cannot WAIT to see myself in a whole new art style!
Significant dates (aka the most awesome ones) from AE's history and the games (big events, beta and alpha dates, AE holidays, etc) are marked on this calendar so that you'll know just when to make time to play the Mogloween event, or to check out Frostval or Hero's Heart Day! …or TLAPD!
You can get the calendar from HeroMart once Mido finishes it. And also when HeroMart is online... Heh… OH AND! And there will also be an in-game item that comes with the calendars, unlocking something not-yet-decided in every game! Any ideas?
So let’s make this DN post even longer by listing the following month/NPC pairs! YAY!
January: Fae *
February: Beleen
March: Ai No Miko
April: Geopetal
May: Jemini
June: Faith
July: Nythera
August: Reens
September: Alina
October: Safiria
November: Oishii
December: Aisha
Your fellow player by the name of ChainSword is even making a fan-made calendar that will be included on the Portal site once it's done! ChainSword and his friends have already gathered all the information they need and have moved on to the art-gathering stage.
They would really like to showcase fan-made art in the calendar, and for that they need YOUR help! They've got themes for each of the months, but would also like to see any free-themed AE-based art for possible inclusion in the calendar. If you'd like to submit your talented work (or to read the guidelines for submission) please give this underlined hyperlink a click!
We could never do ANYTHING like this without your time, effort, and support. New ideas like this are amazing, and for that we have you to thank! So head on over to the forums and see what masterpieces have been made and come up with some of your own!
If these design notes are any indication of the crazy week ahead…. we are going to need more coffee.
* Wait… who is Fae? Am I missing something here?
September 10, 2010
Quibble Arrives!
New AC Rares!
The traveling sales moglin, Quibble Coinbiter, has returned to Battleon with an all new assortment of rare items (most of which he is willing to part with in exchange for AdventureCoins) which are magically themed, in honor of the new magical Arcangrove area.
In an AQWorlds first, Quibble will be staying in Battleon for a little longer than usual and next week he will be ADDING special items in honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day (including the all new Icy Naval Commander armor!).
New Arcangrove Dailies!
A lot of you have been asking for new rep dialy quests to help you earn Arcangrove reputation a little faster and we have answered your call. Speak to Ewa in The Cloister and Paddylump in the Mudluk Village to take on their new reputation daily quests!
Remember, we are only halfway through the Arcangrove saga, with lot of areas (and lots of new rep items... and maybe even a class) to come!
Dage The Evil...er
Dage The Evil (of one AQW's amazingly talented artists and J6's personal minion) has further expanded his shop and added new quests to obtain some of the blackest, most wicked armor and weapons availible in game!
If this sounds like it might echo the darkness in your own soul, speak to Dage and see what he can arrange. If you need help finding him, be sure to ask some of your fellow players.
Coming Next!
Now that we have fully recovered from DragonCon (except for Llussion who had to go to the doctor today and hasn't been in all week) we will be continuing the Arcangrove Saga, as well as beginning plans for AQW's third birthday in October.
Just letting you guys know, we WILL be offering 2nd Upholder status (much like we offered 1st Upholder a year ago, and Founder a year before that) with a special badge, rare item, bragging rights and all the benefits that come with being a 2nd Upholder!
September 08, 2010
DragonCon 2010!
The AE Team is home with tons of Pictures and Stories
We are back from the biggest and craziest fantasy/sci-fi/anime/pop-culture convention of the year. Over 30,000 people attended DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia this year... most in costumes... we had the time of our lives. We got to meet players of the games for the first time as well as see many familiar faces. Please note is is officially against the rules of the AE team to post photos of ourselves.... (note: we are very very bad at following rules) Read on!
Jemini from the MechQuest team as Jedi Barbie
The Battle Bus and Truckstop Payphone Madness
We crammed 36 members of the AE team into three vehicles on the way up. (Somehow we came back with 39...) At the first rest stop the noise our phones make when we get a new twitter message went off... Cysero had posted the phone number to the payphone we were standing next to and we started taking calls from players who wanted to say hi! We took calls from nearly 20 players during our pitstops!!!
Artix prepares to demonstrate the very dangerous-to-Paladins jumping jack technique
The AQWorld's Panel
"What is the difference between regular panels and Artix panels? ... well, I am pretty sure other companies do not show their home movies and chuck candy and weird DVDs at fans who answer trivia."
Our panel at DragonCon.... the wierd videos seen can never be unseen!
The players passed around the 25lb replica of the Blinding Light of Destiny
The official word from the DragonCon staff was that thanks to all of you who attended we were the #2 panel in the entire gaming track! I wore the Paladin armor that Nythera's friend crafted for me.... because, and please know I have never dressed up in cosplay before so I was quite nervous. Especially since the armor was finished literally 1 minute before I went to the panel. When I walked in, everyone started clapping.... I nearly shed a tear. But instead I showed everyone the top secret way to get an AQW Paladin to hurt themselves.... make them do jumping jacks with those upward swiveling shoulder pads!
Player's got to see the man behind the voice of EpicDuel's epic updates as Titan talked about the PvP game. Titan from EpicDuel. Cysero was... as usual... hysterical!. I have no idea how he makes us all laugh so much.... and the prizes he gave out were so weird! ...including a tutorial DVD on "how to draw pistols like a real cowboy movie star" and what has to be the worst kung fu movie... dubbed... but not in english... with a half-finished paint by number image tiger on the cover.... and the most popular item of all -- a banana signed by the AE Team.
We took questions, showed clips from movies that you will see soon as live action game and.... of course... punted Twilly. The winner of the 2010 Punt Twilly contest took home Guitar Hero for the Wii (thanks to xFinity.) Oh, and we got two very unusual gifts. Cysero was given a GIANT sock made of socks... which secretly contained a little baby green sock. One player's mother baked us 3 pies that said 'Battle On' on them!!! (We also got some super cool chain bracelets!)
Players baked and brought us Battle On Pies!? Beleen and Safiria (pictured) were prepared to throw them if we ran out of candy.
This year's in-game convention attendance item was chosen by everyone who attended the panel... a Steampunk Dragon. It has been added to the game and placed on the characters of those who signed up for it at at the panel. If you like the style of this SteamPunk pet.... read on because we are thinking of an entire zone of SteamPunk stuff that everyone can help us make! As requested by the players, the steampunk dragon explodes if you sit long enough.
DragonCon Panel SteamPunk Dragon
The only thing that could have possibly made the panel better is if you were all with us too... and maybe a live action game to go along with those videos. Next year let's work on getting both of those things!
ROLITH PROPOSED TO ALINA!
THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE WEEKEND! During the 1st night of the convention.... DragonFable programmer Rolith proposed to DragonFable writer Alina! He chose the special spot where they had first spent time talking and getting to know each other at DragonCon 2 years ago. The proposal first happened in game in a AWESOME and funny cutscene completely unbeknownst to Alina. Players waiting anxiously to hear the result. You can still play the cutscene and see what happened by logging into DragonFable and then reading the design notes.
The Big New Game Announcement
The big news at our official panel was the announcement of a new MMO which is scheduled to start Alpha in November. Members of AQworlds will be invited to play in the alpha (Update: After reading your forum posts we are meeting on this to figure out how we can accomidate all players who have made this possible on the very limited-space testing server.) to help test our new game engine and be the first to fly around wearing your undershorts on the wrong side -- that is right... it is time for a Super Hero game!
The Artix Entertainment Party
Later that night after the panel we co-sponsored a party with Sony Online Entertainment and xFinity (formerly Comcast? ... they change their name more often than Nebula asks for new bows.) There were a shocking number of people attending with dancing, light-saber limbo...
Lightsaber Limbo
...and.... *apologetic sigh* well for this next one I would like to give a select number of our players my apology.
Party Disaster #1: Artix Apologies
I would like to sincerely apologize to all of you who I invited, but were not able to enter due to the age restriction. Originally we were the sole sponsors of the party and it was an all ages party. Somehow, along the way this changed and we were not notified. When we found out they were carding people at the door I was really upset -- especially since I invited so many of you personally. I spent most of the party in the hall so I could talk with players who could not get in, but I know many of you had already left before then. I am truly sorry and will make it up to you. Next year we will be throwing a party on our own and you and everyone reading this post are officially invited as guests of honor.
Party Disaster #2: Artix wipes out on stage... then loses voice... in style
This was the first time we had ever done something like this -- we were very unprepared. Now, I always speak to you very personally sharing the good times, bad times... and then there are stories like this one. The other companies at the party all had giant banners, marketing materials on the tables, a live web video feed and a bearded dwarf lady in full armor (who had some killer dance moves for the record) We.... um.... did not know we were supposed to bring anything, LOL! When our Dwarven co-sponsor got up on stage and gave out tons and tons of free stuff... we gulped. Then when they gave out tons of MORE free stuff... we... gulped again. we were informed that it was our turn to go up in front of the 500+ person crowd and I was to say a few words on behalf of our company. *Panic* Now, that was a tough act to follow... even if we had brought anything! It is sort of like finding out you were supposed to give a speech in front of the class... right after the super smart guy who always made you look bad in front of the cute girl you had a crush on had just given their speech. (Was that a bit too personal? I wonder what Tim Kibiki is doing now. Anyway!) So it is my belief that there are only two options in a situation like this. 1.) You can swallow hard, walk up on stage, and politely thank everyone for coming and hope no one notices. Or 2.).... (and my choice).... you run up onto the stage full throttle, grab the mic while yelling BAAAAAAAATTTTTTLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE....... (like Kimberly from One Eyed Doll during that live event) and then flipping wipe out onto the stage as hard as physically possible. I tumbled and hit the stage so hard that the audio equipment jumped. Every one in the room suddenly turned to the stage as the room went dead silent. I stayed motionless the obligatory 2 seconds then sprung back like a spring on my shoulders and did a martial arts kip-ups, jumping back to my feet and yelled into the mic.... OOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!! The room laughed and cheered. With a surge of confidence I thanked the crowd and ad-libbed, "We are WAAAAY to poor to have brought you free stuff... ", and over the room's laughter I continued, "HOWEVER... if you walk over and talk to the lovely Safiria standing *points* over there she will here she will give you a free item in our hit MMO AQWorlds!" Then Cysero said a few words and I took the mic and shouted "PARTY ON!" as we walked off the stage. In the crowd... a bunch of people said, "Hey... isn't he supposed to say Battle On?" So I grabbed the mic and screamed Battle On so loud that people in the buildings OTHER party heard me.
Voltaire's Concert
Later... that night.... or into the wee hours of the morning... We saw Voltaire's perform in front of 4,000+ of his fans. Sporting a newly grown beard (very odd!) he sang songs from his two new albums "Spooky Songs for Creepy Kids" which features cover art from the event and the AQW live event versions of the songs.. AND... (and this is not made up)... songs from his *blinks* new Country album "Hate Lives in a Small Town" Very strange! They are available for pre-order on his voltaire website.
Cysero & Alces Battle Robots
For those of you following C's Twitter they and their friend entered their robot "Binky the WarBear" into the robotics competition. With 2 wins and 2 losses, Binky did a mighty fine job! But the underdog robo-win of the event went to a 6th Grader who's mechanical monster beat everyone including even the favored to win MIT Robotics student's machine in the final match
Our favorite match was Nuclear Kitten 5.1 vs Wedgie!
Celebrities & Thanks!
There were a ton of celebrities at DragonCon... for example, Stan Lee's room was right next to mine. We got to see Kaylee from Firefly, Data/Riker/Counselor Troi from Star Trek, and even Buck Rogers! (This way was easier than calling them by their real names and then explaining who they were) George Lowe was there -- and surprisingly hard to get past the line to talk to! .. and no DragonCon would be compete without sitting uncomfortably in the elevator with Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) and not saying a word. But the people we were most excited to see at the con was the staff and players who came to see us. DragonCon is the only time we get to see far away staff like Westwind, Aelthai, Pae, Vivi, Kamui, Stratos, Razer, Koi, and Maegwyn. Also, Sunumbrella once again returned all the way from New Zealand to see us.... and all of the other familiar faces that joined us this year. Thank you for coming and making this the biggest and most memorable time ever!
Zorbak... erm... Twilly goes to Con!
Each year, Zorbak has run around with his camera taking pictures with people in the best and craziest costumes! However, this was Twilly's last year at DragonCon (There are less than 100 of him left at Jinx and is about to go perma rare as the new Twilly 2011 is being released next year.) So we photographed Twilly trying to heal and cure all of the zombies, monsters and other cosplayers! These photos will show up on the Zorbak goes to Con website later this week!
SteamPunk... the next big thing!
Imagine an alternate reality where steam became the source of all energy in the world. Set in a Victorian themed world full of romance and adventure with steam powered vehicles, crazy goggles, and clockwork mechanical madness... this is SteamPunk. (Did you ever see the movie Wild Wild West with Will Smith?) It is growing in popularity faster than that time we put tribbles in our server room. People were dressed up as steam punk super heroes, and there was even a steam punk Ash from Army of Darkness! All of the old anime stalls seemed to be converted to SteamPunk stalls selling weird retro-steam-nerf-weapons and victorian hats, and... half the AE team came back wearing steam punk goggles. We want to do a SteamPunk zone in AQWorlds. Instead of doing the same ol' same ol' we want to do something really crazy. I was thinking a Clockwork Necromancer with an army of steam-augmented undead (but you guys know me...) Do you have any ideas? Have you ever heard of this genre before? What would you like to see in the next AQworld's major storyline? (...and do you think we could get away with some Doctor Who references?)
Forum Question: Steam Punk Storyline!? COME BRAINSTORM ON THE FORUMS!
September 07, 2010
Obrigado Brasil!
Brazilian Independence Day
I've really got to hand it to Brazil, they know how to pull our strings. Lots of people have asked to have things put in the game, everything from adding their personal armors to adding flags for their country, but we have never seen such an amazingly polite, calm and organized movement from so many of our players.
You may not know this but Brazil is in one of the top 5 countires that play AQW. We have so many Brazilian plyers that I've considered trying to learn Portuguese (the official language of Brazil) just so I could talk to them in their own language!
I'm not sure which players started it but we have gotten phone calls, letters, tweets, and every other communication possible asking that we recognize Brazil in the game.
I don't want to give you the wrong idea. This wasn't spam. We weren't being harrassed (like the Green Star Sword fiasco). These were simple polite requests coming from literally thousands of individual Brazilian AQW players.
Today is Brazilian Independence day and we decided to say obridago Brasil (Thanks, Brazil!) By adding the Obrigado Brasil shop to Battleon with a sword, set of daggers and horned helm inspired by the national colors and standard of that country.
Thanks for being polite, calm, and reasonable about the request to honor your great country. Above all, thank you for supporting AQW!
This shop will only last until next MONDAY so get these items while you can.
Dragoncon is over. WE SURVIVED!
We returned from con yesterday with more stories, adventures and swag than we know what to do with. Allow me to say thanks to all the wonderful players who made it out to see us from all over the USA and the world! We hope you had a good time, cause we did.
As you know we give away a free non-member pet to everyone who finds us at con and attends our panel. This year we took suggestions from the panel itself for the ultra rare Dragoncon pet and the concept that won was an exploding Streampunk Dragon. J6 is working on that right now and we should be hand delivering them today or tomorrow.
During the drive up and drive back, I stole an idea from Weird Al's Twitter. Everytime we stopped for gas, to eat, bathroom breaks, or just to stretch our legs, Artix and I found a pay phone and tweeted the number out so we could talk to those of you who noticed.
We had SO much fun talking to our friends who managed to call in the 10 minute windows that we were able to talk. It made the 8 hour trek up and down a lot more bearable for us. Thanks!
We hope to do that again next year!
We're all still recovering from over stimulation and lack of sleep so it might take us a few days to tell all of our stories and get this year's Zorbak (And Twilly this year) Goes To Con pics up.
Message From Quibble Coinbiter
Quibble asked me to tell you guys that he will be stopping back in Battleon THIS FRIDAY with a host of new magic themed items and rares, to help you make your way through the new Arcangrove zone.
September 03, 2010
I herd U liek Mudluks!
Tonight’s Release is Live!
I gatta give a “gratz” to the Team first. We all survived our lengthy 8 hour trip to DragonCon and have just launched this week’s release! We really hope you enjoy it, whether you are at home playing through tonight’s release or mooching a wifi connection over here at DragonCon! ^__^
The Team has already met a bunch of our fellow players here at Con! We are sooo excited to meet you all—much more excited than you can possibly imagine! If you are here at Con, or are planning on coming out tomorrow, we will be hosting our awesome 3-hour panel at
The Sheraton Hotel - The Savannah Room; Atlanta Georgia
on this Saturday, September 4th at 1pm to 3:30pm... or until they kick us out
A new free NON-MEMBER pet will be awarded to everyone who graces our panel with a smiling face! You can also get your hands on AE swag from the ChickenCow T-Shirts to signed MechQuest Artbooks and the NPCS Critical Hits cd, all available this Saturday! We cannot wait to see you there!
Sooooo what’s goin on tonight? Check it out.
The swampy path to Mudluk Village has finally opened! Talk to Rayst in at the Tower of Magic to begin your journey to the magical Arcangrove swamp. Paddylump, the Mudluk Spellhunter, has a bunch of new quests lined up for you… but they require more brain than brawn!
A beautiful new map, a new fun boss monster, a killer cutscene, lots of great monster drops, a secret AC shop, new Rep items, new area music, and a wicked puzzle await!
Secret Armor... Shhh don't let Cysero know!
Rayst at the Tower of Magic knows where you need to go next. Paddylump the Mudluk Spellhunter is eagerly awaiting your arrival in order to help in Arcangrove’s plight. Bunches of new items await the intrepid adventurer in the swamp, including:
- Scythe of Slough
- Light Bug Visor
- Mudluk’s Tadpolearm (heh, get it… tadpole-arm…tad-polearm…)
- Dark Tribe Skull Axe
- And many more… including a SECRET Armor and Helm set!
More items have been added to Rayst’s Arcangrove Rep shop. With enough reputation, you can be the proud owner of:
- Mystic Tribal Axe
- Light Bug Advanced Helm
- Mystic Tribal Sword
- Mystic Tribal Dagger
On behalf of the entire Team, we really hope you enjoy this release. Despite us being 460 miles away from our Secret Lab… we are still keeping true to our promise of releasing every Friday! None of this could be possible without out you (and a stable internet connection)… so thank you!!
Enjoy the release my friends, and Battle On!
September 02, 2010
Rolith Proposed!!!!
Both in-game and in real life at DragonCon
DragonFable programmer Rolith shocked the community today with a very personal, romantic, and tear-inducing post on the DragonFable design notes. Log into DragonFable and click on the button "Rolith says *Gulp*" to see.... him propose to the love of his life (fellow DragonFable developer Alina) in front of you, in-game! Meanwhile, at DragonCon the real-life version of this cutscene is taking place!
Rolith's Design Notes Post
Play DragonFable to see the cutscene
Read Alina's response to Rolith's question!
... this is an amazing moment that makes me so happy to be a part of our community.
September 02, 2010
Road To DragonCon
I'm sitting in the Exit 5 Cracker Barrel just over the Gorgian border with the AE Lab Crew. We stopped to have a bite to eat and I wanted to see if the new Design Notes system worked on my phone. If you can see this, it does.
September 01, 2010
Dragoncon Panel Info
When & Where is AE?!
I know that most of you aren't going to be able to make it to Dragoncon, but it's the fastest way to reach those of you who are going.
Safiria wants to make sure that you know where we are going to be and when:
AE/AQW Panel
Saturday Sept. 4, 2010
1pm to 3:30 pm
Sheraton Hotel
Savannah Room
We will be wandering all around con, of course, from Thursday night until Monday morning. I'll be carrying Zorbak with me as much as I can. Please, say "Hi". We are WAY more excited to run into you than you are to run into us.
Mudluk Village
Thought I'd post a little teaser pic of the village.
You'll get to see a LOT more Friday!
AQ3D
BattleGems
BioBeasts
Dragons
Undead Assault