Design Notes

November 30, 2010

A Truck-Load of Pun

Incoming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ooooh! The truck transporting the 1st shipment of Battle On 2011 Calendars just arrived! As the driver, "Buddy", lowered the pallete off the back of the big rig's trailer a swarm of service robots poured out of the Secret Underground Lab's loading dock carrying the boxes to the unpacking plant. Do not worry, they were armed with twin G4-R anti-sneevil lasers*. Florida has a notoriously large sneevil infestation problem. You really need to watch your boxes closely. Faith carefully inspected each box then nodded her head for us to proceed. Within minutes we ripped through the cardboard containers like a pack of highly caffinated velociraptors. Freed from their boxy prison, the shiny Calendars immediately got the codes that unlock the Chronomancer class (and other in-game collector's items) placed within them. As you read this... we are packing your pre-orders and preparing to mail them out! There are a lot of them. It is really intimidating. Probably going to take until Friday for physically pack and ship them all. The only thing scarier than seeing that mountain of boxes** on the truck and knowing they were all already sold.... is knowing that a second bigger batch is on its way and most of them are already sold too O_O So for those of you who have been waiting on the first batch -- heads up, your calendar is on its way soon!

* Hind-sight being 20/20 we should have went with the Bazooka upgrade. You can never be too careful.
** I called it, Mount Boxula

House Call

Last week I was very ill and stuck in bed staring at the spackle on the ceiling***. This gave me some time to think. We are long overdue for an upgrade to our houses. You need the ability to lock your house, let friends-only in, kick players from your house, and to get objects for your house that let you do creative, crazy and terrible things to other players. Examples: A group teleporter so you can launch quests from your house; a mirror ball that makes everyone dance at the house owner's command; and trap doors that send players to alternate dimensions.... maybe with some cool monsters in there. Maybe have the option to make your house into a PvP zone? We are also long overdue to add CASTLES as obtainable homes in the game. On a semi-related subject I would like to add the ability to access shops, your bank, and other features to house objects and pets. Actualy, I would like the ability to add multiplayer minigames to these objects so you can play things like paper-rock-scissors or trivia while hanging out with your friends. Do you have any ideas for cool items? Let us know on the forums! Also, tomorrow -- Beleen is going to start this year's cookie contest!

*** In the spackle I found Skeletor's face, a pair of really uncomfortable looking wool pants, and a spider. Except... it really was a spider. I named him Webster. In fever inspired dreams Webster and I would go on missions and save babies from burning buildings and beat up bad guys using our combined super powers. Of course, with all of his might he was earily lured to the darkside and became the... omg, am I really telling you this?

November 16, 2010

Pink Power!

The best paladin repellant? Pink Shurikens, of course!

So I got a txt from Cysero yesterday that a present had arrived for me at the Lab. I was in class at that moment (studiously learning, not tweeting or anything like that) so I had to wait an excruciating 20 HOURS to come back to work and tear open the package sent by Gianna_Glow!

Double Triple Quadruple Pink Ninja Stars, omg!

AAAAHMAAAAAZZZIIINNNG! Ginna_Glow hand-crafted these beautifully pink shurikens and I just HAD to share them with you! I wonder how she guessed my favorite color?

Thank you, thank you sooo much Ginna_Glow!

And the story gets even better! Artix came back to the Lab a few moments ago and was greeted by a barrage of pink shuriken fury. And um… heh…. he is currently missing in action.

If you have seen this paladin, please direct him back to the Secret Underground Lab. I promise I won’t use them against you, Artix! We have a release to plan!

Speaking of a new release…

Captain Stratos of King Alteon's SkyGuard has just reported that Galdius and his Draconian Sky Pirates are growing more bold with each passing day. King Alteon has dispatched the SkyGuard to patrol the skies near Battleon and any strange airship activity should be reported to the nearest city guard.

We wish Captain Stratos the best of luck while Cysero, J6, Dage, Skyline, Reens, and the rest of the AQW Team prepare an all-new Rare AC Shop scheduled for Friday’s release. All of the items in this shop will be Rare so make sure you get the items while you can. It is 100% confirmed that the items in this shop will never be offered again.

And they’re sooo rare that WE haven’t even seen them yet. And we’re the ones making the game. Talk about intense.  

(I wonder if any will be pink…?)

Also!

Maybe you have heard, or maybe you haven’t: J6 released a batch of his secret Birthday Items last Friday! These items will be taken out this afternoon (in a couple of hours) so if you wanna get your hands on some super secret J6-exclusive B-day items, head to the Hyperium (if you can find it) and wish that bounty hunter a belated happy birthday!

Once J6 takes out his birthday items, you will no longer be able to get them. I don’t know if he is going to re-release them on his next birthday or not, so if you want a little keepsake of J6’s birthday, I suggest you head to the Hyperium right away.

In addition to all of that…

The 2011 Year of the Moglin AE Calendars sold out completly during pre-orders! WOW, that was fast—so fast that the AE Team didn’t even get copies themselves.

Not to worry! We didn’t want to leave you guys and gals out either. These calendars are in such high demand that we printed out ANOTHER THOUSAND CALENDARS and we ARE taking pre-orders at HeroMart right now!

Head over to HeroMart and Pre-Order your 2011 Year of the Moglin Calendar!

This calendar has some of the best art (if not the absolute best) that I have ever seen. I think you’d agree with me too. And not to mention… the Calendar comes with a special promo code that unlocks the Chronomancer Class in AdventureQuest Worlds and in DragonFable, the Chronomancer Armor in AdventureQuest, and the Chronos Mech in MechQuest!

Yup. The Cape and the Class are entirely animated too. You can read more about the calendar and the Chronomancer Class skills in a previous DN post by Cy.  

The first batch of pre-ordered calendars should be arriving at the Lab next week. The estimated time of arrival for the 2^nd batch of pre-ordered calendars (the ones that are now up on HeroMart) is approx 5 weeks. YAAAY—just in time for Frostval!

Hmm… what new stuff do you wanna see this Frostval, anyway?

So I hope that has answered a bunch of questions for ya ^____^  See you later gators and crocodiles and gila monsters and frogzards and every reptilian in between!

Yeah, I know I’m just a tad bit weird =p

November 11, 2010

Calendar Pre-Orders!

HeroMart Is Taking Pre-Orders!

Artix would have mentioned this but he ran out of time before the plane left.

Have you ever seen a paladin clinging onto the tail rudder of a 747 as it flies away? Funny, funny stuff.

Anyway, today the AE Year of the Moglin 2011 Calander went on PRE-sale at HeroMart.

We are NOT SOLD OUT, even though it might say that we are. Actually, the calendars haven't arrived from the printer yet.

Each calendar comes with a Battleon Code Card inside it which unlocks the Chronomancer Class (and Achievement Badge) in AQW, as well as the Chronomancer Armor in AQ classic, the Chronomancer Class in DragonFable and the Chronos Mech in MechQuest!

It also comes with great features like: Pictures of some of AE's favorite NPCs and the power to tell you, without fail, the date.

When the calendars arrive at the underground lab on November 22nd and we will be shipping them out soon after. It should arrive JUST in time for the holidays (makes a great gift).

We have only printed 1000 calendars in this first run and we're not sure when or even if we will have a second printing so if you want one of these I HIGHLY suggest pre-ordering.

liek NAO.

Uncoming Funzorz!

We've got a lot of stuff we're working on here at the lab, including the next Chaos Zone, our annual Cornycopia holiday festival, Frostval and the Frostval Cookie & Cake contest, and a fun AE Holiday Drawing (no purchase necessary. I think i HAVE to say that)!

Oh yeah, and our super powered MMO, coming soon!

November 08, 2010

Chronomancer and The Dragon's Secret!

HeroMart Items, New and Coming Soon!

Heromart is online and ready to deliver Artix Entertainment swag to your door!

As long as you live in one of the 41 countries (the list is still growing!) to which we are able to deliver.

The first ever AE NOVEL, The Dragon's Secret is now on sale!

It comes with a special weapon in AQW, a pet in DF, a weapon in MQ and a LOT of stuff in AQ classic!

The AE 2011 Year of the Moglin Calendar will go on PRE-SALE on HeroMart this Thursday, but probably won't be delivered until later November. We did have a few on hand at ShadoCon this weekend so you might even see a few people walking around with the class that comes as a bonus with the calendar!

The calendar comes with the non-member Chronomancer Class in AQW! It also comes with the Chronomancer Class in DF, Chronomancer Armor in AQ classic, and Chronos Mech on MQ!

Here is a brief write up of the class, courtesy of Beleen.

As celestial manipulators, Chronomancers alter the flow of time with supernatural divinations and otherworldly expertise. Rather than counting every second in every day, Chronomancers make every second in every day count. Only those with a divine understanding of time may call themselves such.

Chronomancers regain mana when they attack while under the effects of Temporal Rift, a Rank 1 ability. Although the Chronomancer excels under many different Enhancements, the Hybrid Enhancement is often the most common choice.

• Temporal Strike: Rank 1
  5 mana, 2 second cooldown
  Deals light damage to the target and applied Temporal Rift to the caster, a stacking effect (up to 4) that other abilities rely on.

• Rift Inversion: Rank 2
  20 mana, 12 second cooldown
  Heals you for an amount based on the damage you’ve recently taken while under the effects of Temporal Rift (up to 40% of your HP) and consumes Temporal Rift. Applies Inverted Matrix, boosting haste but preventing Temporal Rift from being applied for 6 seconds.

• Rift Collapse: Rank 3
  30 mana, 6 second cooldown
  Deals damage based on the damage you’ve recently dealt while under the effects of Temporal Rift. Consumes Temporal Rift stacks.

• Fall Back: Rank 4
  Passive Ability
  Dodge Chance increased by 15%

• Spring Forward: Rank 4
  Passive Ability
  Critical strike chance, Hit chance, and Haste increased by 5%

• Riftburn: Rank 5
  50 mana, 16 second cooldown
  Places a DoT effect on the target, based on the number of Temporal Rift stacks you have, and consumes those stacks. The DoT deals more damage with more stacks, and gets stronger over time.

One For The Cheaters

Some of you might have already seen some people running around in Chronomancer Class. Most likely, they were cheaters beacuse only 7 players have actually purchased the calendar from our merch booth at ShadoCon.

We missed a key element in our hack-protection for the shops that are unlocked when you buy the calendar or novel. The issue was quickly fixed but we have a long list of people who decided to use a cheat program to open the shops for the calendar and novel this weekend.

It's one thing to open a shop without doing the quests, it's another to cheat your way into a shop that should only be availible to players who paid real money for the merch and in-game bonus items. That's called theft. You're cheating at the game, you're cheating AE and, worst of all, you're cheating your fellow players.

As punishment, ALL of those accounts have had those items removed, they will be banned for 3 days and every single one off those cheaters will have all of their Character Page Achievements removed and replaced with one single Cheater Badge.

In addition, those players will not be able to display any future achievments on their character pages.

There is a way out of it... pay for what you did. If any of you cheaters would like your character pages returned to normal you may purchase a membership upgrade that is 3 months or longer. Your account will have a note attached to it and if we have any further issues with that account it will be dealt with more severly. 

Remember that you brought this on yourselves by cheating and... enjoy.

This Weeked! Ledgermayne for ALL & Hollowsoul Expanded!

it's time for ALL players to show Chaos Lord Ledgermayne what's up! This Friday the Arcangrove Finale opens for all players, and we'll be adding a few new member and non-member drops to the Chaos Lord!

Non-members, you will probably want to pick the member's brains to find the best method for bringing this being of living magic to its knees! It's waiting for YOU!

The member-only Hollowsoul Castle will be getting an expansion. The Duke Ellington is once again seeking help from the best of the best to quell the endless castle's endless hunger for fresh souls!

In the expansion you will find some new secrets and a merge shop where you will be offered the chance to upgrade some of the older Hollowsoul items!

Mogloween will also be leaving this Friday as the town of Mystcroft pull back into the mists and vanishing for another year. Be sure to grab all the Seasonal Rares that you want before they disappear!

ShadoCon

This weekend was the first year for ShadoCon, Tampa Bay's anime, gaming and comic convention. Since it's right down the road from the underground-lab's surface, and since One-Eyed Doll was going to be in attendance we decided that we should at least have a merch booth set up.

We brought a laptop so people could just sign-up for an AQW account right then and there! We were able to meet a few new people who play the game and meet back up with old friends who are crazy enough to attend every con we attend. It was awesome!

We were also able to hang out with Kimberly and Junior from One-Eyed Doll. They arrived on Friday, exhausted from driving all the way from Atlanta where they had a show the night before. Due to some scheduling confusion they were a little late for their meet and greet, so I volunteered to sit at their table and pretend to be them until they arrived.

Wearing the "I'M THE END OF THE LINE" sign confused most people. That pleased me.

They had a ShadoConcert on Saturday night, which melted some serious face, and a fun suite party directly afterward where serious AQW fans and serious OED fans got to hang out together. My friend Alces took some footage with his phone. If I can get my hands on it, i might post it later.

Once again, thanks to everyone who came out to visit us. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's always super swoop to get to meet and hang out with our players in real life. Thanks for coming out, supporting AQW, buying some CDs, shirts, calendars, and novels and showing some love for Kimberly and Junior. :)