January 13, 2012

Friday the 13th is LIVE!

This Volcanic Event ERUPTING!

Log in now to play the (un)luckiest release of the year! Voltaire, Deady, our special mystery guest, and the town of Little Etherstorm are waiting! In the hub town (/join firehouse), you'll have access to:

• The full storyline
• The member-only storyline
• Event Rares shop
• Member-only Merge Shop
• Event Rare House Item Shop
• All 7 cutscenes
• And the BOSS BATTLE!

Check out the Event Page for more information on Voltaire and Andrew!

Stop and drop because we just ROLLED this fiery release live! /Join firehouse and get ready to (volcanic) rock! And don't forget to check out the Event Page with all sorts of awesome info about Voltaire and our mystery guest!

The Unluckiest Robot: A Backstory

So, the story of how Amira was born begins in the far-off land of New York, dead-center in Voltaire's head (a demenses populated with crazy ideas, epic songs, and little goth gremlins). His songs, "Riding down the side an of erupting volcano while drinking from a chalice filled with the laughter of small children" and "Mechanical Girl" inspired tonight's inredibly pyroclastic event.

And when Voltaire was linked to Andrew Huang's "Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows" video on YouTube, an event collaboration perfect for AQW's first 2012 Friday the 13th was born! Which brings us to...

Robot vs Unicorns!!!

How did 3 VERY different songs turn into ONE wild event? Artix told me we were going to use Voltaire's "Black Unicorn" song and one other in the event, and said he wanted to another from YouTube. And HEY, it was ALSO about unicorns! He asked, "So... you can fit these all into one story, right?" Never one to back down from a challenge, I said - "Of course!" Little did I know...

This is exactly what it looks like.

Giant Robot. Erupting Volcano. Black Unicorn. Cool. Great. But then I went to YouTube and... PINK FLUFFY UNICORNS?! What?! Those are VERY diverse elements, and trying to fit them all into one cohesive story was going to be interesting. But like I said, neither I nor the rest of the AQW team ever back down from a release-battle!

In one week we wrote, produced art, and animated:

• 7 pages of story
• 7 cutscenes
• 19 quests, including a member-only chain
• 9 new characters
• 4 new monsters
• 4 new, self-contained maps
• FORTY-FIVE armors, weapons, helms, pets!!!
  (including the Darkside class, helm, pet, and Paymentez Shop update)
• 1 achievement badge - Commander of Unicorns - obtained by helping Voltaire
• 1 site skin, 1 promo poster, 1 event page and 2 banners

That's a pretty big volcanic mountain to climb in one week, and it took the entire AQWorlds team plus the incredible contributions of Yergen, Jemini, Ichidori, Cereboz and Mido!We hope you guys enjoyed the event, because we had a BLAST putting it together!

Some of us even learned something about "in media res!"* 

We Want To Thank

Voltaire for the EPIC inspiration we continue to get from his amazing music, and to welcome Andrew Huang, aka Pink Fluffy Unicorn Guy**, to our Artix Entertainment family! They both donated their time, effort, and voices to bring you this event filled with mechanical mayhem, violent volcanic action, and... and... and UNICORNS!

Friday the 13 Hits Hard

This week hasn't been the luckiest for the AQW team or Artix Entertainment as a whole. Many of us are suffering from the Lab Plague. And when we've got the biggest event of the year (so far!) to put out. But fevers, coughs, and sneezes are NO MATCH when falling to them would mean failing YOU!

Have a GREAT weekend, enjoy the event, and watch out for black cats (much more dangerous than Black Unicorns), falling ladders, and broken mirrors!

* In Media Res is when a story starts in the middle of the tale and takes you through time to experience different events and characters. It helps build tension and suspense, and also keeps you guessing! To prevent mild confusion, we've added a chronometer to show you where you are during your Hero's Friday the 13th adventure.

** Jemini, who drew the art for the Unicorn Crooner writes:
SO excited....I...CANNOT...EVEN! Sentences not forming! *INSERT RABID FAN GIRL SQUEE'S* Pink Fluffy Unicorns.....Dancing on Rainbows.....maybe the GREATEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME! It's better than coffee, maybe even Christmas. If you could only see my face right now!
I dunno what else to say without exploding except...
...
...
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PINK FLUFFY UNICORNS!!!!!