Design Notes

March 21, 2012

Magic Lesson #3

The nexus next to us

Exploring a world's backstory - its history, lore, and all of the little details which flesh out a land - makes a game richer and allows you to immerse yourself in your character. We don't always have enough time to do that in AQW, which is why I'm so excited about getting to share some of these details with you!

With that said, let the next magic lesson* begin!

Nexuses as Portals:

Nexuses, formed where two or more ley lines cross, do not only act as reservoirs of magic on Lore; they can also be portals to the para-elemental plane of magic. On rare occasions, mages can directly transport themselves to the plane through the manipulation of these portals.

Two of the 4 member-only
Embero Spell** armor rewards!

You may have encountered one of these portals in-game already. If you're a mage and you haven't, then you haven't been paying close enough attention to the pull of your focus stone.*** Legend has it that if a mages looks inside themself and follows the pull of their stone, they will be led towards the nearest nexus. In that respect, it is both focus stone and lodestone.

Event AC rares: Nexus Rift Blade and
Fade Tome and Staff Armaments!

While ley lines are fine for everyday magical needs, if the spell you are attempting requires massive amounts of magic, it would be wise to situate yourself near a nexus. The availability of extra power could mean the difference between life and death. IF you're strong enough to channel it all!

Mana Thief Armor - available in the Event AC Rares shop!

* All magic lessons will be placed in Arcangrove's magical tome after the event is over.
** The Embero Spell transforms a Hero into the form of the creature they most resemble inside!
*** More on focus stones tomorrow!

Misery-loving Magical Monsters

There are many monsters in the world of Sarah Prineas' The Magic Thief, but I was most intrigued by the idea of the misery eels. A monster that is attracted to pain and suffering has so much potential, and allows for so many opportunities to completely upset and overturn expectations!

Cysero teaches a baby misery eel the joys of playtime!****

In the event, Cysero studies the misery eels and, as you can see above, one young eel decides to study HIM in turn!

*** Everybody needs a biscuit to wind a piece of string around.

Action Figures On the Way!

We are SO excited about introducing the first-ever Artix Entertainment action figures! They are coming soon and we don't have an exact date for their Heromart and Toys R Us releases yet, but we could not wait to show you how AWESOME they are!

Artix and Sepulchure action figures!

There will ALSO be a limited number of variant figures in Black versions of the armor. Pay attention to these, because DoomWood: Part 2 "Reforging the Blinding Light of Destiny" is starting soon. They will exclusively be available at HeroMart for our craziest players.

Have a great night and don't forget to check out the event page for The Magic Thief: Chaos in Your Veins!

March 20, 2012

Magic Lesson #2

The more you know...

The more you can EXPLODE! (With your magic.) As The Magic Thief event draws closer, the AQW team is hard at work creating, crafting, and concocting all the components necessary to make this the most magically-massive guest author event ever!

To inspire all you mage and wizard-wannabe's out there, we're giving a lesson a day about the nature of Magic on Lore*! Up next is...

Drawing from Ley Lines and Nexuses:

The largest nexus is the core of the planet; it contains the most pure magic available, and is centered where the Verix overlaps the Horix. There is no mage strong enough to tap into this nexus, except perhaps Warlic or Cysero, and they will neither confirm or deny their ability to utilize it. Normal nexuses and ley lines can be tapped into and drawn from safely, in controlled amounts.

Artist rendition of the normally-invisible ley lines which criss-cross Lore.

As yet, no regular mage has been known to draw directly from the Core. Doing so would be like tapping a person’s heart to draw blood: the pressure of the flow of blood/magic escaping would be overwhelming.

The magician would be flooded with pure magic, overcome in a deluge of power which would burn through their physical, mental, and magical veins. Their stores of mana – magical will and stamina – would be destroyed.  They would be “burnt out” and lose the ability to perform magic... and their lives.

The Infinity Orb, one of Friday's rewards!

Severing another mage's connection to the ley lines IS possible, but dangerous. The potential for lashback - which would negatively affect the severing mage - is enormous. Most choose not to risk it.

* All magic lessons will be placed in Arcangrove's magical tome after the event is over.

Mid-Week Member Release Delayed!

Cysero's swamped with work, but that work isn't the mid-week member-only release. They will resume in the near future. In the meantime, why not send Cysero some ideas for where you'd like to see the next expansion take place? There are so many possibilities; pick your favorites and let him know!

Look fly like a J6 with HeroMart's newest t-shirt!

Head to Heromart, Artix Entertainment's real-life loot store and snag your very own J6-style shirt! These fly off the shelves faster than the speed of light, so if you want to look like a bounty hunter* as you battle through life, this is the shirt for you!

And any bounty hunter worth their guns wants to score the critical fashion hit they'll get when they equip the epic promotional rewards that come with purchase - the J6 Helmet and the J6 Cowboy Armor!

Send J6 to outerspace... he's almost there!

AQWorlds' lead artist, J6, is astronomically talented! So who better to be Artix Entertainment's ambassador to the galaxy? He has a chance to win a contest to go on the ultimate quest - into space! And YOU can help send him up there, where he belongs!

As of this writing, J6 has 24,949 votes! Keep it up and soon we may have an AQW artist who has seen the stars firsthand! Thank you ALL for helping him work to achieve his dream!