Design Notes

July 29, 2011

Coming Tonight!

Evolved Shaman, UndeadSlayer, Vordred Boss Fight

As I write this post, it is 1:30am EST in the morning. Samba and Nulgath are still animating the insane number of cutscenes coming in tonight's Vordred Boss Fight. (We appreciate what you are doing so much! Go guys go!) This is going to be unlike the end of any other zone so far... and it is REALLY difficult not to talk about it until you had a chance to play it. Ghost even wrote a new song for it!

But we can show you a preview! (Bad Artix, bad! - Alina)

We also have two classes being released. The one I am most excited about is Undead Slayer. It is a decent class against normal monsters... and AN UNIMAGINABLE WRECKING BALL OF DESTRUCTION against undead monsters. It also has a heal. Cysero does not like it because there is no real strategy to the class. On the other hand, I love it because it is exactly the way I enjoy playing. (That and I one shotted Noxus with a 15K Spirit Dragon Lance)

I have not seen Evolved Shaman yet, but it looks interesting too. Dage is working on the art for both of these classes. He had to prepare for a severe weather up North - but he said he should have them tomorrow morning.

Also, it is possible to get the 2nd piece of the Blinding Light of Destiny in tonights release... if you can get the Ultra-Good ending. Good luck everyone... tonight we BATTLE VORDRED!

Card Game MOD PACKS!

Toys"R"Us was really surprised that a small indie game company like us would have so many people to visit their stores for our card game. Thank you for making us look so good! (We were wondering if anyone remembered that I promised to write the DoomWood saga as a thank you to all the players who did.)

The AQWorlds CardGame has been an ongoing success and Toys"R"Us asked if we would create something to keep the card game fresh and lively with the holiday season coming up. We thought about it hard... because we promised that this was not one of those games where you had to buy endless foil wrapped mystery packs at some change of getting rares cards. We were not making that up!

So we came up with something completely new - a MOD PACK. Imagine if you took all the best cards you were hunting for from booster and expansion packs and put them all into a single pack which was a one-time purchase (just like the original game). We built two of them: DoomWood and ChaosLord. Each pack comes with a lot of awesome new themed cards ... including some rule twisting special cards. Simply mix them into your deck and make the game even more fun.

Both the DoomWood and ChaosLord mod packs are a one-time only purchase and will come with bonus in-game items which will be announced closer to the release date... which should be in October!

Twitter/Forum Question: What was your favorite area, cutscene or fight in the DoomWood Saga?

July 26, 2011

12 Page Script!?

The biggest script ever for a non-Special Event Release

A normal weekly release script is 1.5 pages... often double spaced. THIS WEEK's script is 12 pages... single spaced! (11 cutscenes, 4 boss-type fights, and 5 single-item reward shops.) Thank you to everyone who tweeted ideas to help with the script yesterday! Your creativity and passion for the AQWorlds never ceases to amaze... and inspired me to write more than anyone could imagine.  My favorite part of the game-making progress is when we have fun thinking up crazy things together. (What other game studio does that!?) For the record, a room full of network TV writers will throw around hundreds of ideas and use only one. That is what we did together last night. With a twist... I wanted to make this ending a surprise for you. So when I asked you to think of something unexpected, I was also making sure no one could guess what I was writing for you. (As usual, some of you are just too clever... and a lot of rewriting took place.) Also, as promised... it pretty serious (90%). So here are some out takes that WILL NOT be in the script for you to enjoy... 

Vordred: ARTIX, I AM YOUR FATHER!
Artix: Really?
Vordred: NO.

Vordred: I NEED MORE SKULLS!
Vordred: ... MORE SKULLS!!!!
You: Did'ya ever consider hitting a costume store after Halloween? You can get some really good discounts.
Vordred: YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!
You: Does the 90% off savings apply to insolence?

You: Vordred... prepare for the FINAL BATTLE!
Vordred: WAIT... I NEED TO USE THE LITTLE UNDEADSLAYERS ROOM!
Vordred: AND IT IS *REALLY* HARD TO GET OUT OF THIS SKULL ARMOR...
Vordred: ... REALLY HARD.
Vordred: NOXUS PUT THE SKULL SHAPED ZIPPER ON THE BACK.
Vordred: LOOK AT MY ARMS... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO MOVE THEM?
Vordred: I CAN BARELY OPERATE A FORK!  HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REACH BACK THERE?
You: Alright... Artix, this is NOT going in the script.
Artix: Awwwww....  Alright. We are keeping this 99% super serious!
Artix: Well... 90%

P.S. The winner of the Matromy contest will be posted on the homepage tomorrow. We are just waiting for verification! Also check in tomorrow... for a post on how our animators and programmers are doing! Samba & Nulgath are in the hot seat his week.... good luck guys!

July 05, 2011

Epic War in DoomWood!

...but attacking SHADOWFALL?

Darkness! Doom! The bones of MILLIONS OF UNDEAD!!! All of this and more are almost in Noxus and Vordred's grasp... IF they succeed in conquering Shadowfall! It is an epic battle for both Light AND Dark this week; only YOU will be able to save Gravelyn's home and undead army - and you'd better, if you want to have any hope of saving Lore.

Noxus and Vordred are on their way to Gravelyn's throne room and you've got a ways to travel from DoomWood to Shadowfall. So grab your most terrifying weapons, equip your highest enhancements, and prepare to /unsheath on a moment's notice because THIS FRIDAY the war for ShadowFall BEGINS!

War rares galore AND a Player Suggestion shop update will have you stuffing your backpack with new loot until it's so heavy you'll need to train your STR in order to carry it!

Paladin/DoomKnight Revamp 2.0 Begins!

Last week we launched the introduction of the re-vamped DoomKnight and Paladin classes. Many of you were really happy with the changes, but enough of you wanted to see MORE! So we're going back to the coding board and seeing how we can fine-tune, rework, and SUPERCHARGE those improvements!

Revamp 2.0 begins this week; we'll keep you posted on details as we work out and change up the numbers!

Chaos Shaper - Shaping up Nicely!

Chaos will recreate you into a completely new form, but not if YOU master it first! This LUCK-based class will have you causing pure havok on the battlefield; your enemies won't know what hit them, only that they're down for the count and seeing stars! (Or skulls, if they're undead.)

Male Chaos Shaper class

Because this is a preview, and because we love teasing you with information, here are the NAMES of the skills:

• Twist Time
• Chaos Fog
• Chaotic Touch
• Death Grip
• Two un-named passives which will deal crit and damage

Yorumi is in a coding frenzy getting the code right. Cysero's given him a list of twisted skills to confound, confuse, and concuss your enemies until they won't be able to STAND against you, let alone attack you!

We're making good progress on the class and hope to have it done soon. We'll keep you posted!

Things we are working on RIGHT NOW!

We had a meeting this morning to go over plans for AQWorlds. They were divided into 3 parts: Immediate, Current, and Future plans.

Projects we are working on for this week:

Shadowfall war: this week's release, with rare items galore and a nifty Suggest Shop update.
Color palette fix: this will NOT get fixed this week, but Yorumi is working with Zhoom on it.
Doomwood being added to the map: on Friday you'll be able to walk to Doomwood!

Projects we are making progress on:

New Tutorial coming:
To make the new player experience the BEST it can be, we're introducing a tutorial! Written by Cysero, this walkthrough of gameplay basics should make getting in-game, gearing up, and getting your BATTLE ON much faster and more fun!

Battle On Battle Cards EXPANSION PACKS!!!
If you enjoyed the card game, you'll LOVE these two expansion packs featuring ALL NEW cards!

PaladinSlayer Pack:
This will feature a doom-filled deck of darkness and destruction! The featured card-game class will be... PaladinSlayer! (NOT the same as UndeadSlayer, which is an in-game class which will come in Doomwood!) You'll get cards like "...On a Bonemuncher!" and "Vordred's Sword"!*

Chaos Pack:
Chaos consumes ALL! And with this chaotic card-deck you'll be able to completely chaorrupt your friends! The featured card-game class will be... Chaos Lord! (NOT the same as an in-game Chaos Lord class. That doesn't exist.) You'll get cards like "Yokai Dexterity" and "Chaorrupted"!**

We do not know what the in-game items attached to these will be. But we will think of some! We're working hard on the expansions, but do not yet have a confirmed release date.  We will keep you updated on when that will be!

* Card names are subject to change. These are just examples.
** These are examples too, and will change if we can come up with something more AWESOME!

Forum question: What cards would YOU like to see in the Paladinslayer and Chaos card decks? Let us know and your favorite weapons, pets, armors, counters and traps might end up in the expansion pack!

July 04, 2011

Happy Freedom Weekend!

Friends, Fun, and Fireworks

Celebrate, Heroes! Friday was Canada Day and today is Independence Day for residents of the United States. To help you express your jubilation, we've got the Freedom Shop in Battleon stocked with rockin' rocket weps, crazy cannon pets, and this year's special items: the Liberty Blades!

So raise those sparklers high, wear your Maple Leaf capes with pride, and have fun on this last day of Freedom Weekend! This is best time to spend with family and friends, sharing laughs and stories at cookouts, shooting off fireworks (stay safe!) and preparing to BATTLE ON as we get ready for the next installment of the DoomWood storyline!

We haven't seen Vordred in a while, and that is VERY ominous! What could he be planning? What nefarious schemes have Noxus and Sally been plotting? Get ready for another chilling chapter as Vordred makes his move to become the Champion of Darkness!

More details tomorrow once we're all back at the Secret Underground Lab! Until then... Happy Fourth of July, everybody! I'm off to help Rolith with the cookout, and hopefully I'll have some fantastic fireworks pictures for you tomorrow on Twitter.

July 01, 2011

Dracolich tonight!

Deep within the Temple of DoomWood

(SPOILER ALERT: If you are not caught up in the DoomWood Saga do not read!)
Last we left off in the DoomWood Saga, Artix (Hey, that is me!) escaped from the prison of LightGuard Keep (Which *coughs* you put me in without telling me why.) to find and battle the PaladinSlayer Vordred. Meanwhile, you went to the Necropolis and discovered that Noxus, who had been defeated back in DragonFable, has been brought BACK as a Lich (A lich is a very powerful undead wizard -- remember, Noxus was actually alive in DragonFable) by the new Necromantress, Sally (Wearing her terrifying pink Necromancer robes). With three major villians focused on turning our world into a barren undead wasteland... things are looking pretty grim. We are not sure why we are supposed to keep Artix (Still me! So wierd talking about myself in the 3rd person) away from Vordred... other than Vordred is an evil PaladinSlayer who will apparently gain unbelievable powers of darkness if he slays Artix personally.

Considering that Vordred, the PaladinSlayer is immune to all light based attacks, we all believed that he was certain to effortlessly slay Artix if he found him... but now we think there may be another reason we need to keep Artix away from him.  In a very confusing twist, Vordred identified that Artix's Axe (The blinding light of destiny) was in fact, NOT light-magic based and mentioned something about Artix not being able to cast light based spells on his own. Then we watched in horror as Vordred corrupted the Blinding Light of Destiny into his new personal weapon...  (Did I mention things looked Grim?) Tonight you will brave an old school dungeon crawl to the bottom of the Temple of DoomWood, defeat a Dracolich (there are rumors that two are down there) and learn a secret that no human was supposed to ever know! (If you are not human, then I guess it is ok for you to know it.)

Also happening!

• 4th of July and Canada Day Shops open!
• Paladin & DoomKnight Classes are getting BUFFED in tonight's release with new or updated skills and AWESOME passive Rank 10 bonuses (See the post below)
• Temple of DoomWood & the Dracolich (rumors are there are two down there) & cutscenes
• EpicDuel just had it's Delta Release
• HeroSmash just release part 2 of the Trails of Death (Best releases by far! I love it)
• DragonFable is drawing near to the epic conclusion of their storyline... I do not want to ruin it for you, but a VERY important character was just slain by Sepulchure and the players are FURIOUS! (It is getting REALLY good)
• We hit 100,000 Likes on FaceBook and Randor the red made a special Wallpaper with 100,00 thumbs (one to represent each of you) at www.ArtixWallpapers.com

May 31, 2011

Zorbak, the Ebil Blue Moglin!

Visit Zorbak's House in DoomWood!

This weekend, the DoomWood story continues. Artix has discovered that there is a new undead threat in DoomWood and is racing to join you in smashing wave after wave of crunchy undead soldiers... and you HAVE to stop him.

If you don't understand WHY you should be keeping Artix from doing battle what he does best then you should go play last week's chapter of DoomWood right now!

A lot of people have been asking about Vordred the Paladin Slayer. They haven't figured out a way to defeat him.

People have said that if you have 3 Palis or a Pali and 3 healers or if you turn the sound off then you can defeat him. Those folks are either mistaken or they are yanking your chain on purpose.

Vordred CANNOT BE DEFEATED!

You may ask, "Then why add him into the game if he can't be defeated?. Because Artix, Alina and I did not want you to take our words for it. It's one thing to say "Oh, this bad guy is an undefeatable evil. Watch out. OOOOoooOOOOooOOOOoo!" but when you get your rear handed to you over and over again by a guy who is more skulls than anything else, it's something else entirey. Vordred cannot be defeated by any known method on Lore.

This weekend you will journey deeper into DoomWood past the undead Chopping Maul (get it?) to the home of the one and only ebil, blue moglin... Zorbak.

The first time you entered the DoonWood Necropolis (in DragonFable) you couldn't have done it without Zorbak's... uh..."help". Maybe he has some information on Vordred and whomever created him to defeat the Paladin Order.

Oh Yeah...

We are also finally raising the level cap to 40 this weekend!

Quibble Coinbiter's DoomWood Shop!

Once again, Quibble Coinbiter is heading back to Battleon this weekend to set up shop.

He's fully restocked with a bunch of DoomWood, undead and other themed (never-before-seen, slightly used) rares and items. As usual, MOST (or possibly ALL) of his items will be AC items so now is the time to renew your supply if you are running low.

Normally Quibble's arrivals seem to line up with the arrival of a new Chaos Lord or Chaos Beast... but on rare occassions, like this Friday, he's just in the neighborhood and has the goods to sell.

LAST DAY TO GET HEROSMASH FOUNDER!

Tonight at 11:59 PM EST is the last chance you will EVER HAVE to become a HeroSmash Founder!

Remember that once the clock strikes midnight here on (or in this case, several stories below) the east coast of the United States... you will never again have the chance to become a HeroSmash Founder. Do not miss this oppritunity.

Or if you do miss out, Please don't ask me over Twitter if it will be coming back. Cause it won't.

THE NPC's CD Is Back In Stock!

Faith has just told me that after nearly 2 month, we finally have more of the NPC's Critical Hits CD featuring music from a lot of our games is back in stock!

The CD comes with special musical themed items in AQW, AQ Classic, DF, MQ, ED and WarpForce! If you want one of these, head to HEROMART and grab one before they are gone!

...

Again!

NEXT WEEK... (as in NOT this week)... NECROMANCER CLASS RETURNS!

It was one of the favorite parts of the PTR experience for most of those who helped us test. The Necromancer!

NEXT WEEK, it will be returning to AQW with a whole new set of powers... the Tower of Necromancy.Here's the bet part... it will be usable by ANYONE. That's right, Necromancer is for both Members and Non-Members!

We've decided to try an few interesting things with this class. First off it will be a PET class. That means that you will be able to summon a base skeleton pet who will do your fighting for you. You will cast necromantic spells on your pet to deal more damage to your opponent, return mana to you or even steal your foe's lifeforce.

This means that we will also be (eventually, not next week) adding a new type of Item to AQW, Battle Pets. Pet classes like Necromancer (and future pet classes) will be able to equip these pets to attack for them, and use their skills to help their companions or undead slaves fight. Equippable Battle Pets might even have special skills that only that pet can use.

As they are Pets, almost all Battle Pets will be MEMBER ONLY, however the base pet that comes with the class will be usable by anyone. Next week, however, you should be able to summon the Basic Skeleton to fight for you using Necromancer.

Something else that we are trying... 2 different ways to get the Necromancer Class.

The first way will require a LOT of hard work. You will need to reach DoomWood Reputation Rank 10 to get one of the items that you require to obtain this class... THEN you will have to battle your way through the Tower of Necromancy. If you survive the trials you will be awarded the class.

The second way to obtain the class is buying it with ACs. No muss, no fuss, no rank, no nearly-impossible tasks to compplete... just slip the Tower Necromancers their asking price and POOF... the class is yours.

We've never done an AC class before, and I didn't think we ever would due to some complications in the AQW engine but our amazing coding team has broken down that barrier and it has become possible. We know that a LOT of people would rather pay ACS and save the time and effort so we are giving them that option.

Other than the AC/NON-AC nature of the classes they will not be different in any way. In fact, you can even get both if you want to but you will need to rank each class up seperately.

NOTE: All of this could change at any moment. It's currently in production so we could encounter some game crashing bug that sets us back a week or more, and we don't know the AC price for the AC version of the class yet.

Sadly, if you DID test the class in PTR you will NOT be able to keep the ranks that you earned there.

The only reason I'm telling you guys about this is that it's pretty exciting and Yorumi has not encountered any massive roadblocks so far. Fingers crossed!

Keep in mind that DoomWood will ALSO have another MEMBER-ONLY class coming as the zone progresses. Keep reading the Design Notes for more details on that!