February 27, 2012

Another Busy Week

It Never Ends!

We've got a LOT planned for this week but before I get into what's coming this week let's go over some old business...

Fishing Badge

The King Fisher Character Page Badge is now up on your character pages.

Of course, you must be a King Fisher with maxed out Fishing Rep to obtain this permanent pendant professing your piscatorial prowess.

Grenadier Buff

The Members who have Rank 10 Skyguard Reputation (and a few who weren't rank 10, actually) got to preview the Member Only Grenadier Class this weekend. The overall impressions were that it's a lot of fun and an interesting class build but they had problems with mana regen and felt that it was a touch under-powered, especially considering that it was the first Member Only class is a long time.

So this week we will be BUFFING Skyguard Grenadier. Here's what we are doing...

• Increasing DPS overall.
• Decreasing the mana cost for Flashbang, Sleeping Gas and Reactive Grenade by 5 mana each.
• Flashbang's base debuff will be changed to CRIT reduction instead of HIT reduction.
• Rank 4 Passive Adrenaline Rush will be changed to 8% Damage Reduction instead of 10% Dodge.

In testing Stratos was able to solo Ledgemayne and I was able to solo both Ledgermayne and Wolfwing with the fully ranked class so this class is no slouch already if you know how to use it and how to manage your mana, but this should make it REALLY nice.

By the time you read this the changes will already be in effect.

Don't forget that Itzachi, the class dealer in Battleon, will be selling this Member Only class for 2000 ACs starting this Friday if you would rather take the shortcut rather than ranking all the way to 10.

Leap Day Is Coming!

Every 4 years the calendar racks up a full day of time that was left over from all the other days. The solution to this problem is adding a day every 4th year. This is why we have a February 29th this Wednesday and Feb is normally a 28 day month.

We've decided that we want to help you leap forward too.

Starting some time on Wednesday, Feb 29th, we will be adding a Leap Day NPC to Battleon who will give you 4 simple quests. Each quest will reward you with a one-time free hour long BOOST for your XP, GOLD, REPUTATION or CLASS RANK.

You will have 24 hours from the time that we release this to get the Leap Day Boosts and then they will be gone. Plan ahead and remember that this only happens once every 4 years!

I CAN HAS AUSTRALIA DAY?!

This weekend I got to hang out with the winner of this round of the I CAN HAS MOD contest, HERZER HERRING!

She is from Australia and her wish is that we add an Australia Day NPC to the game who would sell Australian Themed Items!

As per her wish, Mick "Crocodile" Dundoo will be coming to Battleon this Friday selling a number of AUS themed items and house items which were almost entirely suggest by Herzer Herring.

As for the Golden Cheezburger, this one will work a little differently. She wished that it be changed into an rare Australian Themed HOUSE, based on the iconic Sydney Opera House! In order to get your house you will need to talk to Mick Dundoo and trade the Cheezburer in for the house.

You MUST have a Golden Cheezburger Deluxe to get this rare house and once Mick Dundoo leaves, you will never be able to get the house again!

There will also be other items like dual Bowie Knives (that's not two knives, mate... THIS is two knives!), a Rugby Uniform Armor in AUS Olympic colors of Green and Gold, A green and gold "Boomer"ang weapon, A Cricket Bat with the AUS flag on it,  Kangaroo and Barry the Platypus pets and some cool house items like an AUS flag for your wall and A Croc skin rug!

ALL OF THE ITEMS IN THE SHOPS WILL BE FOR EVERYONE! NON-MEMBERS and MEMBERS!

I mentioned the rare house over Twitter this weekend and it was met with an amazing amount of complaining. I was really surprised and a little hurt to see so many people griping about getting a completely free house based on the wish of a fellow player who did not want any recognition for herself (she didn't even want to be the NPC when I offered) but only a little recognition for the country she loves and calls her home. Thanks to everyone who saw this gift for what it is and accepted it with an excited smile.

After brainstorming item ideas for the shop we farmed Skyguard for a while and I showed her some of the cool mod powers she could use while she was a mod, like going to secret mod only maps and even going back in time to closed events (While we were time traveling I let her pick up Alpha Pirate for herself as well as some other rares from past areas).

She is a heck of a player, a loyal AQW Member & Supporter and a lot of fun to hang out with. Herzer Herring, it was a true pleasure getting to hang out with you. Thanks!

We will probably only do ONE MORE ROUND of I CAN HAS MOD and we will let you know as soon as that starts!

Etherstorm Goes Out With A Bang!

The Eterstorm Saga is closing starting with this weekend's war. The outcome of the entire area will be decided by the outcome of the war. You will be able to fight on the side of Good, Evil or even Desoloth.

This weekend we will ALSO be releasing the Elemental Dracomaner Class for Etherstorm Rank 10. There will be an AC version in Itzachi as well but after this class we will probably start doing what we did with Grenadier and letting the Rank 10 people have it a week before anyone else so they can get a head start on mastering the class.

We will be posting a skill breakdown and some images of the class later on this week.

Dage The Evil's Deathday Party!

Dage's birthday is March 2nd! There was a typo (not mine) in the 2012 AE calendar that said March 22'nd but it's actually this Friday!

He has decided to craft some custom items for his birthday!

Here is a full list of the birthday items. They are ALL ACs, and he priced them a little higher than average but hey, he's evil, whatcha gonna do?

1. Paragon Mini Pet: 2000 acs
2. Legion Vampire Armor: 1000 acs
3. Legion Vampire Helm: 100 acs
4. Vampire Bat Cape: 200 acs
5. Legion Vampire Scythe: 500 acs
6. Dark Caster Hair: 100 acs
7. Dage’s DeathKnight: 800 acs

The pet is NON-MEMBER and it is also NOT a Battle Pet but does grant the person who owns the pet access to special quests and special additional Dage Rewards.