Design Notes

December 28, 2012

Save the Sun for New Year's

A New Dawn for a New Year!

Save the sun, Hero, or tomorrow will never come! When a Werepyre petitions the Nocturan Creed, guardians of the night, to ensure he will never be harmed by the light again, you will need to work with the Lumina Votari to protect the sun and save the world! Journey across Lore to ensure that a new dawn - and a New Year - will begin!

The Lumina Votari and the Nocturan Creed have long worked side-by-side in a shaky harmony. But when the Lumina Adepts receive word that the Nocturan Creed plans to blanket Lore in darkness so that a young vampire and a young werepyre can flee Darkovia together, they know the only one who can help them is YOU! 

The Dark Sun Armor and Darker Crescent Armors in New Year Shop!

The Last Limited Quantity Shop!

Talk to Khuddar Khamundi in Battleon (he's the shady-looking Black Market dealer) for your last chance to get all of the gear in the Limited Quantity Shop. This is the last LQS we ever plan on releasing and will be available in-game for around 1 more week, but after that, it will NEVER return!

Apocalyptic Warrior sets!

You can still get the Apolcalyptic Warrior armors, the Prismatic SnowStalker Armor, the Zard Rider Armor, Apocalyptic Bunker House and more... but not for long! 

Post-Apocalyptic Bunker House!

In the future, we'll be doing more Limited Time Shops instead of the Limited Quantity Shops, so you rare hunters will still have a chance to get the exclusive gear you want! 

Sword of the Legion Quests are Live!

If you were held on to the Sword of the Legion Dage released in this past Summer's Evil War, then head to Shadowfall and accept the Sword of the Legion quests!*

Undead Champion Prime Armor Awaits!

We've made Dage's items accessible through quests he will give you in Shadowfall... IF you have the Sword of the Legion. We promised to unlock more goodies, and now you've got them! To acquire each of these items, you will  need much dedication and MANY victories in battle! Good luck!

The Sword of the Legion was only available during the Dage vs Nulgath War this Summer, but if you like what you see, keep an eye out for future Legion items!

* We originally thought a merge shop would work, but that functionality doesn't exist right now.

Verification Shop Revamps Delayed

Unfortunately, the verification shop armors need to be delayed for another week. In the holiday rush, we had a miscommunication, but Dage will be working on the new Guardian, DragonLord, and StarLord armors next week! We apologize for that; we know many of you were looking forward to them. To make up for that, each shop will get a new weapon as well as the armor!

Calendar Class Quest Rewards are Live!

If you have either the Chronomancer, ChronoCorruptor, or TimeKiller Classes from purchasing a HeroMart calendar and you saved your Pre-Gift item from Yorumi's quests in /snowyvale, you now have a VERY shiny armor in your inventory! Enjoy!

The capes are available in the New Year's Shop in Battleon!

Make sure to join us on January 1st as the New Year Countdown ball drops in the /newyear map... Evey hour, on the hour! (It's a timey-wimey countdown ball!)

December 27, 2012

Winter Wrap-Up!

The Year Ends But The Fun Continues!

Even though the new years starts early next week, tomorrow is when we are releasing our seasonal New Year's Event, complete with countdown clock and festive New Year Globe!

Alina has whipped up an expansion to the event where you have to help a pair of shunned creatures of the night find a new home and save the world from eternal darkness. As usual, our artists have outdone themselves making rewards that will blow your mind and leave you a drooling heap, flopping mindlessly into the near year like a pudding rolling down the stairs!

We have also just made a small adjustment to the Battlefield map. You can now replay the Quetzal Quests (or Questzals as I call them) as many times as you like, in case you missed some of the great seasonal rares that drop off of the quests. 

If you have already completed the Questzals, just /join Battlefiend and his the Replay Quests button. If you have NOT yet completed the Questzals then you're making a big mistake. People will be talking about this Frostval event for years to come and you will want to say "I was there when they released that. I saved the world in 2012."

Time Marches On

We have been doing a LOT in recent weeks to completely restructure the game, the way the database calls happen and re-arranging and even adding new threads for more efficient data flow. We still have a LOT of work to do in the weeks to come but rest assured that we are on the frontlines of the War On Lag. 

The Limited Quantity Shops have been a lot of fun for our collectiors who like to know that they have one of only 9,000 items of that kind in the game but after trying new ways of handling it every time, we've come to the conclusion that (unless we make some REALLY dramatic changes) we just can't keep them up. The currently availible LQS will be the last one. 

As soon as next year begins, we are planning on kicking off the new Chaos Story Zone.... Thunderforge. In this area you will learn a lot more about Chaos and those who wield it for their own gains and the next of Drakath's Lords of Chaos has a farmiliar face. 

Happy Holidays

This season is a time for giving but that means more than just presents. Sometimes it means just giving a little bit of your time to the people who wish we all had more time to spend together. We loved making the Frostval event for you but we also loved taking a few days off and spending them with out friends and families. We hope that no matter where you are, who you are or what you believe... you got to take a bit of the Frostval Spirit with you into the real world and share it with the people that you care about. 

Heres to you having a great holiday season and an even better new year! 

...or else.

December 26, 2012

Friday is Lore's New Year

Save the Sun or the New Year will Never Come!

When the Nocturan Creed, guardians of the night, learn that a young werepyre and the vampire he loves must flee their homes and need sanctuary, they work to ensure that the sun will not harm them, no matter where in Lore they run. But HOW they plan to do that could threaten the survival of everything you know...

Aku of the Nocturan Creed and Etain of the Lumina Votari

Because the Lumina Votari, protectors of the day, have received word that the Creed plans to plunge the world into permanent darkness. Battle through Darkovia and other lands to unravel the truth and ensure that the sun will rise on New Year’s morning!

The Dark Sun Armor will be available from Etain this Friday!

The Last Limited Quantity Shop!

Talk to Khuddar Khamundi in Battleon (he's the shady-looking Black Market dealer) for your last chance to get all of the gear in the Limited Quantity Shop. This is the last LQS we ever plan on releasing and will be available in-game for around 1 more week, but after that, it will NEVER return!

Apocalyptic Warrior sets!

You can still get the Apolcalyptic Warrior armors, the Prismatic SnowStalker Armor, the Zard Rider Armor, Apocalyptic Bunker House and more... but not for long! 

Post-Apocalyptic Bunker House!

In the future, we'll be doing more Limited Time Shops instead of the Limited Quantity Shops, so you rare hunters will still have a chance to get the exclusive gear you want! 

Sword of the Legion Shop Arrives Friday!

If you were held on to the Sword of the Legion Dage released in this past Summer's Evil War, then you've got a dark gift coming this Friday! Talk to Dage in Shadowfall to open the sword's shop! 

Undead Champion Prime Armor Awaits!

The items he sells will require the following:

• UndeadChampionPrime: Sword of the Legion, 200 Legion Tokens, 0 gold
• Quintenii's Legion DrowBlade: Sword of the Legion, 100 Legion Tokens,  100,000 gold,  LvL 30
• Quintenii's Skull Daggers: Sword of the Legion, 100 Legion Tokens,   100,000 gold,  LvL 30
• Hawk Blackwell's Legion Axe: Sword of the Legion, 150 Legion Tokens,   100,000 gold,    LvL 30

To acquire each of these items, you will  need much dedication and MANY victories in battle! Good luck!

New Base Class Art on the Horizon!

Dage is working feverishly from the SouthWestern Secret Lab Annex on the Base Class and Verification Shop art re-vamps! The new Verification Shop art will launch this week, but until he's got a preview of that ready, take a look at how epic the new base classes will look!

These will go live NEXT week!*

You will be able to get these new looks without creating a character; they'll be sold in Battleon. And if you liked the blue version of the Healer Class art instead of the red, never fear, you'll be able to get THAT, too!

And as we mentioned last week, we will ALSO be restructuring Battleon itself. Let us know on the forums and Twitter what you'd like to see in the new town!

* We haven't forgotten about the reward version of Chronomancer Chaos Lord Iadoa's armor! That will come in early January, once Dage finishes these revamps he's working on.

Thank You for Being Awesome in 2012!

We hope you're having a fantastic holiday with your family and friends! Thank you for battling alongside us throughout 2012,and for supporting us with through purchasing Memberships and AdventureCoins! We hope you'll be there with us as we work to make 2013 the most explosive year in AQWorlds' history!

December 25, 2012

Happy Holidays

Oh behalf of all of us here at Artix Entertainment, we wish you a warm, safe and fun time this holiday season. We have had so many great memories this year... and one more is yet to come. Join us for our New Year's release this Friday!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who upgraded to Member or purchased AdventureCoins to support our weekly releases. We are very grateful to you for the opportunity to keep making the game better each week.

December 24, 2012

Merry Frostval 2012

We hope you have a wonderful holiday!

The holidays are a time to share with family and friends, relaxing, making memories, and enjoying each other's company. The AE team is on vacation today and tomorrow to enjoy those times, and to prepare ourselves for the year to come. 

We wish you the merriest Frostval and hope you'll join us this Friday for our New Year's release, when we work to ensure that the sun rises on Lore's New Year! Until then, eat, drink, be merry, and spend time with those you love, and who love you! We call you all the friends we've never met, and we can't wait to battle with you through all of the adventures we have planned for 2013!

December 22, 2012

Broken Prophecy LQS is Live

Log in now to get this rare gear!

The world will be here for a long time to come... but this gear won't! Because you defeated Kezeroth in yesterday's 12-21-12 Frostval event, we are here to launch the last Limited Quantity Shop of 2012! This time around, Khuddar has epically-awesome post-apocalyptic AND Frostval armors and items! Quantities are limited, so make your deals with Khuddar quick!

Apocalyptic Warrior Sets

If you haven't been with us for a Limited Quantity Shop before, here's what's going to happen:

This Saturday, December 22nd, at 2PM we will open up a Limited Quantity Shop in Battleon. The items listed below will all be in the shop with the stated prices and quantities. Once that item is sold out, it is never coming back. Ever.

If you see something you like, then you're going to want to make sure you're awake and have the gold or ACs on hand to buy your chosen equips!

Here's a handy online time zone converter to make logging in at just the right moment a little easier!

Apocalyptic Warlord Set

Apocalyptic Warlord – 700 AC – 4,500 quantity
Apocalyptic DeathBringer –  700 AC – 4,000 quantity
Apocalyptic Conquerer – 700 AC – 3,500 quantity
Apocalyptic Plunderer – 700 AC – 3,000 quantity
ShadowSnow Warrior – 650 AC – 2,500 quantity
Prismatic SnowStalker – 600 AC – 2,000 quantity

Apocalyptic Plunderer Set *

Apocalyptic Warlord Helm – 85 AC – 4,500 quantity
Apocalyptic Warlord Full Helm – 85 AC – 4,500 quantity
Apocalyptic DeathBringer Helm – 85 AC – 4,000 quantity
Apocalyptic Conqueror’s Mask – 65 AC – 3,500 quantity
Apocalyptic Conqueror’s Hood – 65 AC –  3,000 quantity
Apocalyptic Plunderer’s Mask – 75 AC –  3,000 quantity
ShadowSnow Helm –  65 AC – 2,500 quantity
Horned Krampus Witch Helm – 75 AC – 2,000 quantity
Horned Krampus Helm – 75 AC – 2,000 quantity
Prismatic Furred Hood – 65 AC – 2,000 quantity
Prismatic Furred Locks – 65 AC – 2,000 quantity 

* Stealing the food from heroes' mouths, Apocalyptic Plunderers makes sure there is little for no one but themselves.

Post-Apocalyptic Bunker House

Prismatic Furred Cape – 85 AC – 2,000 quantity
Silent Knight Blade – 200 AC – 3,500 quantity

Bunker House Merge Item – 1,500 AC  – 2,000 quantity **

** Talk to Khuddar in Battleon to merge your Post-Apocalpytic Bunker House Item into the full Post-Apocalyptic Bunker House!

Apocalyptic DeathBringer Set

Ice Warrior Armor – 33,500 gold – member – 8,500 quantity 
Licorice Twist  Armor – 23,500 gold – member – 6,000  quantity
Jolly SnowStalker Armor – 26,000 gold – member – 8,000 quantity

Licorice Fascinator Helm – 13,000 gold – member – 6,000 quantity
Licorice FlopHat – 13,000 gold – member – 6,000 quantity
Festive Furred Hood – 10,000 gold – member – 6,000 quantity
Jolly SnowStalker Hood – 10,000 gold – member – 6,000 quantity 

12-21-12 Alpacalypse Survivor ***

Short Holly Cloak – 15,000 gold – member – 6,000 quantity
Long Holly Cloak – 17,500 gold – member – 7,500 quantity
Jolly Furred Cape –  20,000 gold – member – 6,000 quantity
Furred Cape –  20,000 gold – member – 6,000 quantity

Alpacalypse Survivor Pet – 35,000 gold – member – 9,000 quantity

*** Not to be confused with Alpaca Lips Survivor. That's MUCH messier!

Licorice Twist Armor

Sassafras Armor – 45,000 gold – non-member –  20,000 quantity
Sassafras Mask – 25,000 gold – non-member – 20,000 quantity
Royal Frost Scepter – 32,500 gold – non-member – 30,000 quantity

A Few Words of Gratitude for the Holidays

Before I fly home for the holidays to spend time with family, I just want to thank you on behalf of the AQWorlds team for supporting this game and the rest of our Artix Entertainment family. Without you, we couldn't do what we love to do. As I look around the other people at the Lab, and talk to you guys on Twitter, the forums, Facebook, and in-game, I realize that there's nowhere else I'd rather be and nothing else I'd rather be doing each day. I get to do that thanks to all of you.

Happy holidays to all, and Battle On! 

December 21, 2012

The End Of All Things

The Beast Quetzal is Free.

Last week, you saw the fate of Elim, the last hero to try and face Kezeroth The World Ender. You ventured to the very bottom of FrostDeep Dungeon and recovered the Sword of Hope... and you saw the beginning of the end. 

Now Quetzal is free, flying across the face of Lore and freezing everything in its path. It is up to you and your friends to weaken The Beast enough to use the Sword of Hope on it and put a stop to kezeroth's devastation. 

This features battles unlike anything you have ever seen in AQW before. You will be providing a very necessary lifeline to your army as they try to weaken The Beast Quetzal. Keep in mind that it is a monster powerful enough to devour worlds so IT WILL TAKE TIME to even weaken it. 

It will take courage and strength and above all a tireless spirit! 

If you have these qualities and manage to bring the beast Quetzal down, then you will still have Kezeroth to face. He is AMAZINGLY powerful and you WILL NEED FRIENDS to defeat him. 

As Promised, Kezeroth The World Ender's Armor Set (Armor, Helm and Cape) is a Member drop from Kezeroth himself (and Ultra Kezeroth), but ANYONE can BUY Kez's set from Athon's Frostval Shop for ACs. You will also find a number of random holiday rare drops from each of the Quetzal quests for all players. 

Happy Frostval!

Limited Qty Shop AND MORE!

Don't forget that we have the last LQS of the year coming tomorrow at 2:00 PM Server Time (Check your Options for the server time). You can check out a list of the new LQS Items coming tomorrow in Alina's Design Notes Post.  

Later this month we also have Dage's Sword Of The Legion shop, The revamps to the Verification Shop armors and our New Year's Eve Release! The world did not end today so we will still be updating the game through the end of the year and beyond! 

Thanks for being a part of our holiday event and Happy Frostval!

Today is Just Another Day

December 20, 2012

Tomorrow is Just Another Day

December 21, 2012

It's all over the news. Tomorrow is the end of the world as predicted by... well, by the fruitcakes of the world. 

Some say it has to do with the Mayan calendar. Some say it has to do with our alignment to the galactic ecliptic. Some say it has to do with aliens. Some say it has to do with a secret hidden planet populated by giants and angels that is going to brush up against ours. But happily, one thing upon which they can all agree is that tomorrow, December 21st, 2012 at 11:11 AM Server Time (EST) (CORRECTION: it was 11:11 AM GMT, which was 6:11 AM Server time) is going to be the end of the world...

...again.

And once again, "they" are wrong. Tomorrow is going to be just another day, like any other. I'm sure some crazy people are going to do some crazy stuff but crazy people fo crazy stuff every other day too. That's why I've been counting down to "Just Another Day" at the bottom of nearly all of my Design Notes posts since the very beginning of this year. 

Seriously, you can go back and check.

Called it.

I expected some people and some media outlets would get all worked up about this and so I've been spending all year trying to send out this tiny, reassuring message to you guys. Let's take a look at some of the other doomsday prophecies that fizzled out:

1919 CE: Albert Porta, meteorologist at the University of Michigan, predicts that during the third week of December 1919, an alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune could focus enough of a gravity line to cause a huge solar flare and make the sun EXPLODE. Wrong. 

1921 CE: In 1910 Pulitzer Prize-winner Henry Adams works out a model of human civilization based on the dissipation of energy and states quite clearly that human civilization would wipe itself out in 1921. Wrong. 

1982 CE: Back in 1974 astronomer John Gribbin and author Stephen Plagemann, in their book The Jupiter Effect, claimed that the alignment of seven planets in 1982 would cause the magnetic poles to shift, slow earth's rotation messing with gravity, cause earthquakes and tidal waves and basiclly everything that happened in the movie "2012". As it turns out the tide was 0.04 millimeters higher than average on that day in 1982. Nice try but Wrong. 

Just in the past few decades we've seen the Heaven's gate cult try and catch a ride on a UFO trailing behind the Hale-Bopp comet to try and escape the end of the world. The Y2K bug was supposed to send planes tumbling from the sky and send us back into the dark ages but failed to do anything more than make a lot of programmers half-blind from sifting through millions of lines of code. Either this year or maybe last year there was ANOTHER failed prediction of the biblical rapture (there have been THOUSANDS of these starting as far back as 200 CE) and, as always, bunkers and bunkers full of your standard tin-foil-hat-wearing individuals holding signs letting us all know that "The End Is Near". 

Nobody knows the future. Not even me. I could be wrong. But I go by the numbers and there is NO reason to believe that tomorrow will be anything other than a lovely Friday in December. Here at the Lab we are working furiously, just like always, to get Part 2 of the End Of All Things ready for you to play because we may believe that earth will be here tomorrow but saving Lore is up to you. 

Kezeroth has a point. All things DO end. But unless we do it ourselves, I believe that the earth will finally be destroyed when it gets consumed by the sun after it goes through it's change into a red giant. That will be a few BILLION years from now and by then I expect that we will have spread out through the galaxy (or further), colonizing other, fresher star systems.

If one of your friends or one of your family members is nervous or scared about the world ending tomorrow, just remind them of all the failed doomsday predictions and try to get them to laugh it off with you. Your courage will give them hope and hope is what tomorrow is built on. 

1 day until Just Another Day

December 19, 2012

New Look for AQWorlds

All-New Art for a New Year!

Prepare yourselves, because AQWorlds is getting a new look... and it's starting with our base class art! Over the last few weeks, we've mentioned the re-design of AQW's in-game interface and character creation screen, we're working on its website appearance, and the re-design of our base classes is almost done!

We leveled up our art skills!

But What About the Old Art?

If you love the current art for the base classes (the ones you choose while creating characters), never fear! We will be changing all of the base class art in-game to the new versions automatically, but if you can't do without your original gear (OGear?), you'll be able to buy it back for gold!

The Class skills themselves will not change, but the quality of the new art will reflect how far AQW has come since 2008! Especially when we finish re-designing the town of Battleon, the first map you join when you log in!

Battleon Re-design... WHAT?!

We're going all-out to make AQW look as good in its starting town as it does in the newer zones... and that means Battleon needs a makeover! Artix sketched out his plan for the town, Cysero and I reviewed it today, and we REALLY want to release this in early 2013! 

This time, the pencil is mightier than the sword!

With NPC all-new quests that will send you exploring across Lore, dynamic shops, exclusive member-only content, a library, forge, and more... Battleon will be THE place to be for all Heroes in 2013!

Sketch On!

With all of the changes we're planning, AQW is going to become even MORE awesomely fun than it already is!
But ... 

We Face a HUGE Battle, and We've Got to Win!

Because this Friday at sundown, we face the Beast Quetzal AND Kezeroth in our 12-21-12 event, and we won't be able to do ANY of these plans if Lore is destroyed! 

The Beast Quetzal is awake... and waiting!

We need you and all your friends to log in and defeat Kezeroth during our End of All Things Frostval event! Slay the Beast Quetzal to thwart the World Ender's plot and make sure that there will be a Lore to battle in next year... and for many years to come!

December 19, 2012

All Fun and Reindeer Games!

Spreading Holiday Cheer to Special Needs Kids

Frostval came early to a group of Special Needs Kids at my former High School this morning!

If you’ve been following my Twitter, you already know that I was working on a special project for some amazing people. Last night, I worked into the wee hours of the morning crafting 55 hand-made balloon reindeers.

Talk about A LOT of hard work! But you know what? TOTALLY worth it! All of the children LOVED my balloons—and the adults did, too!

All the warm fuzzies inside is worth more than anything else. And that’s the true meaning of Frostval: spreading unconditional holiday cheer to everyone, everywhere, no matter how young or old!

Merry Frostval my friends! =D

***UPDATE!!***

Wowie! You and your friends have left AMAZING comments, and all of your kind words have truly touched our hearts. To show our thanks, the AQWorlds team is giving you free in-game Reindeer Balloons!

Everybody can get their very own floating Reindeer Balloon back-item (cape) from Beleen’s birthday shop in Battleon. Members get an extra-special surprise with a Reindeer Balloon Pet! And the best part is: they sell for 0 AdventureCoins, so they can be stored in your bank for FREE and FOREVER! Yippie!!!

Since I cannot deliver Reindeer Balloons to you in-person, I can certainly give you them in-game! Just speak to me in Battleon to get your free Reindeer Balloons!

Merry Frostval boys and girls! You are the reason that this holiday season is so joyful and merry!

December 18, 2012

2013 is Almost Here

Defeat Kezeroth for a New Year of Releases!

Sharpen your blades, hone your daggers, and polish your staves, because the battle against Kezeroth the World Ender and the Beast Quetzal draws closer! We must band together to fight, and we will NOT let our world end! We can't, because we've got a whole YEAR of epic releases coming in 2013!

We MUST win to begin 2013!

Here's SOME of what we're planning to release in AQWorlds next year:

• Aid the Lumina Votari in defeating the Nocturan Creed to ensure the sun rises for the New Year!
• The next Chaos Lord is gathering a lion’s share of Lore's free agents!
  The 11th Chaos zone begins in January!
• More tradeskills: spell-scribing and blacksmithing are still in development!
  
• Some of the locations you'll visit in 2013: Vileforge Cavern, Hawkstone Peak, Amberheart Falls (massive dungeon crawl!), the Battle Coliseum, and more!
• Guilds Phase 2 - customizable Guild Halls/Towns!
• A version of Drakath's Portal where you can see which of the Chaos Runes you've unlocked!
• Chaos Lords 12 and 13 have yet to reveal themselves... but you will learn their identities soon!
• Drakath waits before the Chaos Gate! Are YOU prepared for the final confrontation?

The Lumina Votari await you, Hero!

December 17, 2012

Kezeroth's Icy Apocalypse

12 Days of Holi-Daily Quests!

Log in Friday and every day after until January 1st, complete all 12 Holi-Daily Quests, and you'll unlock a New Year's shop with two all-new armors! Each day, you'll get 1 more merge item (the quest will reward either member or non-member merge items) until you have all 12 and can create your new gear!

The member-only version of the armor will be color-custom! The merge items AND reward armors will be 0ACs so you can store them for free... forever!

Beleen's Birthday/Quibble Shops NEW Update!

Get your gear before it's gone! Quibble Coinbiter's holiday gear will leave in early January. Beleen's birthday shop will move to her NPC in Frostvale so that you have a little while longer to stock up on your favorite festively-pink gear!

December 16, 2012

Changes Made to Quests

A Few More Ways to Make AQWorlds Work Better!

Since Friday night, changes have been made to a number of the quests in-game (including many of Nulgath's farming quests) to optimize how they interact with the servers. These changes are not designed to increase the quests' difficulty. Each altered quest has had 1 monster drop added to it.

Many of the Nulgath quests have had one of the following items added to them: Nulgath Rune 1-9. Each Nulgath Rune has a 100% chance to drop from its monster. None of the other items required for the quests were altered.*

You will find the difficulty has not increased. Much.

For the quests which have had Nulgath Runes added to them, you can find the monsters dropping them in either /nulgath, /tercessuinotlim, or /evilwarnul.

The Oblivion Blade of Nulgath (Rare) and the Oblivion Blade of Nulgath each now require you to possess the correct pet in order to do the quests. The change made in September introduced a hole which allowed anyone to do them.

* For the "Nulgath" quest, 5 Charged Mana Energies - each at 100% - were added to the Mana Elemental. The regular Mana Energy drop from the Mana Golem has had its' drop rate lowered back to normal (it was raised during the Dage/Nulgath war).

The Undead Legion is many and strong.

A few of Dage's Legion quests have also had an item added to them. Slay the Dreadfiend of Nulgath to find the Darkness Core Dage requires.

Random Disconnect Bug Solution

We've had many people reporting that they are getting randomly disconnected while questing recently. It appears to be caused by accepting to many item drops at the same time, too quickly. While we investigate a permanent solution to this issue, please accept or deny your item drops as they come in to avoid the abrupt disconnects.

This Friday: Just Another Day?

No way! This week's release is the conclusion to the End of All Things storyline began last Wednesday on 12-12-12... and it takes place on 12-21-12 - the end of the world! We WILL NOT let our world end, but we're going to need EVERYONE to help save it!

With this blade, YOU will help us save Lore!

Make sure you have the Sword of Hope from the bottom of FrostDeep dungeon, because you will not be able to start this Friday's release without it!

New Chronomancer, Chronocorruptor, TimeKiller, and member quests will also be added this Friday!

December 14, 2012

Release is Frozen in Time

And Yorumi is Running OUT of Time!

Grab your sharpest blade and hurry to /snowyvale; Yorumi and Eienyuki have arrived and are putting out a call to Chronomancers, Chronocorruptors, TimeKillers and every member in AQWorlds! Yorumi and her companion-blade have quests which require your assistance. Complete their quests this week and return next Friday to finish what you've started!*

Band together to save Lore from Quetzal next Friday!

To unlock Yorumi's quests, you must have one of the Calendar Classes from HeroMart or an upgraded character. Unique rewards are attached to each quest and are ONLY available by completing them!

• Chronomancer Class (2011 Calendar) -
  Guardians of Time quest
• Chronocorruptor Class (2012 Calendar) -
  Chronocorruptors on Ice quest
• TimeKiller Class (2013 Calendar) -
  Death of Time quest
• Upgraded character -
  You Are a Unique Snowflake quest

Ice Claw Armor and Helm from "Unique Snowflake" quest

* The main part of this week's release went live on Wednesday. Take a look at Cysero's Design Notes to see everything that happened on 12-12-12! After playing tonight's release, make sure to join us on 12-21-12 to stop Kezeroth and the Beast Quetzal from bringing about the end of the world!

Quibble Coinbiter's Shop has New Gear!

Time is of the essence where Quibble Coinbiter's shop is concerned! His frigid Frostval items from the past, present, and future won't be here long... but there ARE new items this week !

Shadow of Frostval and Missile-Toe Mech!

Check out our Design Notes from earlier this month to see some of the other gear he's released and learn just who he is!

Scrooged Armor, Frozen Knight, Snow Golem Battle Pet!

Many of you have been asking where all the other gear you've seen previewed is. Never fear! We've got a lot left to come in December! Hang on to your holiday helms, because the gifts are just going to keep flowing!

A Message from Beleen on her Birthday!

Yippie! Today’s my birthday! Thank you so much for your awesome birthday wishes! In return, I’ve taken your favorite items and colored them PINK. Sweet glorious pink! You can even become a Pinkomancer like meeeeee—but hurry, cuz all these items are RARE and will never come back. Pink on! =D  

The Pinkomancer Class has new art AND a pink skeleton Battle Pet, but has all of the same skills as the Necromancer Class. (To see the skills writeup for Necromancer Class, head here!)

Check out these super-Beleeny** skill names!

• Pink Power!
• Summon BFF
• Tickled Pink
• Pinkalicious Purge
• Pink Empowerment
• Incurable Pink Eye
• Artix's Weakness***

** Yeah, it's an adjective now.
*** The one thing you should NOT do is send pictures of yourself in the Pinkomancer Class to Artix's Twitter. (Or tell him I told you to. Don't do that, either.) We can't have an undead Paladin!***
**** Artix is allergic to pink!!!!!! 

PS: Don't miss your chance to get the ultra-rare non-member Halfling's PvP Medal +900 in honor of the Hobbit movie!  It's only available for the next TWO days! Click the Sponzard button in the lower right-hand corner of your game window and watch Ballyhoo's ad for a chance to claim it! More info in Cysero's Design Notes!

December 14, 2012

The A-PINK-olypse!

Thunder Buddies for Life... right?

"A storm of Beleen's Pink colored doom is rolling in tonight. As our heroes are tasked with stopping the end of the world by defeating Kezeroth at www.AQ.com, I am immobilized by the terror of of Beleen's Pink Birthday Release.... am I alone in my fear of her fabled pink madness? Do I have a Thunder Buddy to weather tonight's storm with?" - Artix

Xyo's Fan Video "Beleen's Pink Madness"

If you have not seen this before, this is a fan video made by the amazing animator Xyo. The way they did the voices caught us off guard so much that we sprayed our monitors with our drinks. Most players know I have a rare and deadly allergy to the color pink. Simply touching the color pink could actually cause my hand to catch on fire and explode. (These statements have not been evalutated by the FDA.) Beleen, who loves the color pink... often tests the limits of my ability to endure pink.

December 13, 2012

2 Day Rare SponZard Item!

The Halfling's PvP Medal +900!

The SponZard Button strikes again! In honor of the release of the new Hobbit movie, our sponsors have authorized us to release a new NON-MEMBER PvP Amulet... the Halfling's PvP Medal +900. 

As the name implies, this non-member PvP amulet will give anyone who wears it an extra 900 HP inside any PvP game or dueling arena. This is also the first PvP amulet to cost 0 ACs which will allow for free storage. 

Here's the catch, it's only available for the next 2 days! 

The item is a random reward from the SponZard button which appears from time to time in the LOWER RIGHT corner of Battleon. Just watch an ad and claim your reward and if you're lucky then it will be this rare PvP Amulet! 

As we've mentioned, it only appears at random intervals so if it shows up for YOU make sure to click it. Remember that this item will only be available for 2 DAYS so don't miss your chance! 

The End Of All Things, Part 1!

In case you haven't been able to log on since last night, be sure to log in and play through the first part of this year's two part Frostval release, The End Of All Things. 

It was a late release ast night but as soon as the servers opened our Twitter and the AQW forums exploded with excited messages about how cool this release is. High marks on the story, cutscenes, items, and even the reduced lag... but most of the praise came for the new villian, Kezeroth The World Ender. 

If you haven't played through this release yet, log in and see what everyone is talking about! 

PERSONAL NOTE: This was an insane release. 2 huge maps, 3 unbelievable cutscenes, a handful of really amazing items, and a couple of new features like mini-cutscenes to give some character to the dungeon crawl all between Monday and Wednesday. That's about ten days worth of production crammed into three and we bled to make it happen by 12-12-12 (Server time). 

I don't get to write for AQW much anymore so when I get the chance I really want to give you guys something to remember. It was a real win for me to see pages and pages of people having their minds blown by this release. The outpouring of support from the community was really something to behold and I'm just so glad that it went over so well and that so many of you enjoyed it. Your feedback is always appreciated, but it's great (and exceptionally rare) when it's almost all positive. 

You'd think that the team could take the win and maybe a well deserved rest but no. We were back here bright and early working, trying to make sure that Part 2 lives up to Part 1, and getting things ready for tomorrow. 

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for a new round of Quibble Frostval Rares (Including our first Frostval BattlePet for Members), Beleen's Insane Pinkomancer Birthday Shop (all items pinked by Beleen), The Big Red Member Gift Bag, Tinsel's Present Quests and special side quests in the 12-12-12 event for Chronomancers, Chronocorruptors, TimeKillers and Members! 

7 days until Just Another Day

December 12, 2012

12-12-12 Has Arrived!

The End OF All Things - Part 1

12-12-12 has finally arrived, and with it, the beginning of the end. Kezeroth The World Ender is about to be awoken!

This is the first part of AQW's 2 part special Frostval Event. ANYONE can participate in this event without having completed the previous years events (but it is recommended thast you do). The second part will be on Friday December 21st (AKA Just Another Day) assuming that the world doesn't end (It won't).

As usual, the event NPC (Athon the Crhonomancer) has a Seasonal Rare Shop that you can unlock by completing the event but if you make it to the bottom of FrostDeep Dungeon, you will also be able to claim the Sword of Hope! 

This item is FREE for ALL PLAYERS and you WILL need it complete Part 2, but you will also find a few more options. Members will be able to transform their Sword of Hope into Kezeroth's massive warhammer and level 50 Members will be able to claim BOTH of Kezeroth's amazing warhammers! 

This special release has taken an unbelievable amount of effort on the part of the AQW team to complete by Wednesday (even of it's a late one). Every single contributing staff member has pulled at LEAST one all-nighter this week to get this out today. 

So What Happens Friday? 

A LOT MORE STUFF!

On Friday, out Chronomancers, Chornocorruptors, TimeKillers and Members will get special side-quests added to this release with exclusive rewards for each of these sub-sets of people. Quibble will be receiving a TON of new Frostval Items including a new rare bank Pet for 2012! The Big Red Bag of Member Presents and Tinsel with her non-member present quests will also be arriving on Friday not to mention it's Beleen's Super-Pink Birthday (with a super-pink birthday shop!)

That is a LOT of stuff in one week, but it's Frostval and that puts everyone in a giving mood! :)

Good luck facing Kezeroth, hero. You'll need it. 

8 days until Just Another Day

December 12, 2012

Epic Plans For AQW

Behind the Scenes, We've Got a Lot Going On!

Every week is FULL of furious typing, crazy-fast coding, and lots of  coffee because we have got a SUPER-long to do list! But since we are so busy every day, a lot of what we work on that ISN'T for release just doesn't make it into the Design Notes. We want you guys to know as much as possible about what's going on, so let's fix that!

A New Look for AQWorlds in Progress!

Between solving a large portion of the lag issues and working on Guild Halls AND dynamic quests,* Yorumi has been working with Artix and Kraken on a new character creation screen (Artix totally spoiled this news on Twitter!) and new in-game interface for AQW. We try to get as many of the bugs OUT of AQW before you get to play it, and here's a great example of why we test!

* Triggering different quests at different times in different zones!

It's never good to lose your head in battle!

The homepage is also getting a makeover. We're starting slowly by changing the homepage posts to make them more dynamic and informative. There is so much content in AQWorlds that sometimes it's hard to remember what's out there!

Coming soon, you'll see featured locations, classes, items and more on the homepage! And if you scroll down, you'll already see the Featured Guilds section we introduced. Get YOUR Guild featured on AQ.com by following the directions here!

The Adventurers were our first Featured Guild!

Better Bug Smashing!

Koi  (the AQW Bugs forum moderator), Reens, and I met last week to discuss changes to the Bugs forum. We want to make it easy for you to report your AQW issues there, because it is a lot easier for us to keep track of bugs when they're posted on our forum instead of on Twitter.* 

One thing we really want to do in the as-soon-as-possible future is get an in-game bugs reporting system ready. That would help us collect vital information  (like what version of Flash Player you are using). The goal for the AQW Bugs team is to fix ALL (or as close as we can get) of the bugs in the game - big and small!

* Because of how many tweets we get every day, it is very easy to lose important ones.

Planning Releases for 2013: What would YOU like?

Because of how insane it is to do what we do - release a new expansion to the game each week - we need to be very flexible with the game's release schedule. You never know when a team member will get sick or a planet-wide catastrophe strike. But having an outline in hand lets us plan what the team should work on ahead of time.

We've got our list of releases, but YOU are the heroes who will battle through them! Since we make the game for and WITH you, we want to know what YOU'd like to see in AQWorlds this year? 

What do WE have planned for 2013?

How about Chaos Lords 11, 12, and 13?! 2012 was so busy, we didn't get to face nearly as many Chaos Beasts as we wanted to, so we're going to have to launch an all-hero attack on Drakath and find out what's behind his Chaos Portal! ARE YOU READY?!

12-12-12 Event Releases at Sundown! 

12-12-12 is a deadly date! 26,000 years ago, Kezeroth the World Ender tried to free the Beast Quetzal from his prison in a giant ice comet, but failed. Tonight, Quetzal's comet is finally close enough once more for Kezeroth to sense it, and to end what he began so long ago. If he succeeds, he will use Quetzal's power to encase the world in ice... ending all life on Lore for good!** Grab your sharpest weapons, Heroes, because we're NOT going to let the world end!***

We're ALL going to need bigger blades for this boss fight!

** I wish our Loremasters had deciphered those scrolls LAST week!
***  Since I've been dealing with a lot of this background work, Cysero has taken on the entire 12-12-12/12-21-12 combo event! After watching the first mind-blowing cutscene, I am 100% sure this is one of AQW's most EPIC cutscenes EVER! 

December 10, 2012

Server and Game Fixes

Big Day for Big Lag-Squashing!

After a weekend marathon of:

lag-attacking, code-crunching
server-stabilizing, database-optimizing 
and dangerous levels of coffee-consumption...

we have released new fixes to the individual parts of our system that keep AQWorlds running! Yorumi, Zhoom, Captain Rhubarb, and the rest of the programmers who pulled together this weekend are excited to see a visible improvement as we monitor lag... and we hope YOU are experiencing a noticeable improvement in game stability, too!

Guil Kashin's Chaotic Server Hamster has been de-chaorrupted!

So... What'd We Do to Fix Things?

Between the server and database needing optimization and exploits available to players using third-party programs, AQWorlds was under a too-heavy load!

The investigations leading to today's fixes began a long time ago, but the hard work and dedication of our programmers (and the testing help you gave us!) all resulted in the latest round of fixes!

We changed some very integral ways the server and database talk to each other, making sure that the game never sends more messages to the database than the game can handle. When the flood of information coming into the database got too heavy, the database could not keep up. Requests (like monster respawns, quest completes, etc) would get dropped and never go through.

Combine database and server fixes to destroy hansengomulia's FrankenLag Monster!

We also patched some exploits that allowed players using third-party programs to spam the game with junk data to cheat, which can cause lag. And to top it all off, Captain Rhubarb's continued investigations into the failed login issues so many players have been having paid off! He has adjusted the login monitoring code to prevent most of those issues, and has plans to improve it even further!

These fixes should improve login speed and reduce chat and combat lag. We are investigating reports of random disconnects, and hope to discover a reason for that with your help! We need as much information as possible when you make bug reports: class equipped, monster being battled, quest you're on, server, Flash/Browser version, etc

What Comes Next?

In terms of lag fixes and game improvements? We will keep working to improve AQWorlds' speed and function as new browser and Flash Player versions affect it in random, Chaotic ways. But Yorumi's focus is going to return to the biggest project on the horizon: Guild Halls!

And don't miss our 12-12-12 event! See Artix's Design Notes post for an EPIC pic of a mysterious villain! When ancient evils rise, Lore falls... unless YOU can save it! Check back tomorrow when Cysero tells you more about what releases on Wednesday!

This Friday, we've got a Quibble update AND Beleen's Birthday shop coming!

December 10, 2012

Kezeroth

The Loremasters report their findings

After scouring tome after ancient tome, the Loremasters (a secretive group of historians who study the legends and lore of our world) have discovered something dreaful and grim. One word... "Kezeroth." It is an ancient name, and translated into our language it would be read as "The World Ender." The Loremasters say they found some scrolls that seem to be related and could tell us more, but it will take them time to decipher them. I hope they figure it out fast... 12-12-12 is THIS WEDNESDAY!

Gear up friends, it is time. Time to STOP the end of the world!

December 08, 2012

Lag Fix Weekend

All Coder Hands on Deck!

We are always working hard to improve AQWorlds, but this weekend, we woke some of AE's top programming talent together VERY early, broke open the energy drinks, and merged their collective coding skills * as we reviewed AQW's servers, databases, and network issues.

We are going to fix this lag if it kills us... and then we'll just keep at it, because undead don't need to sleep!

* We have over 30 YEARS of programming experience powering Team Zhoom-Rhubarb-Rolith-Titan-Yorumi! #TeamZRRTY! (Pronounced Zerty, like thirty.)

Cast a Net, Catch a Fishing Bug!

One of the most visible changes you will see directly is how we've altered the Fishing Tradeskill.** Instead of buying stacks of bait from the shop and then immediately using it to fish, you'll need to slay frogzards in Greenguardwest to get them as drops.

** Talk to Faith in /greenguardwest to begin!

Other Fixes Being Tested/Investigated!

All servers have been restarted with some backend fixes to how the game's servers interact with its database. The more efficient that is, the less lag there should be. We've also patched some holes in various quests and items which allowed third party programs to cheat the system. We will continue these improvements over the course of next week, and each week after until the lag is as gone as we can make it.

Skadiiee's sketch of the Lag Monster (MUST be defeated!)***

New issues may crop up as new versions of Flash Player and different Browsers updates are released, but with you all giving us feedback as bugs are found, we'll work together to make AQW run as smoothly as possible!

*** Fun Bonus Activity: If you could draw the Lag Monster, what would it look like? Let me see your sketches on Twitter!

12-12-12: NOT Just Another Day!

Make sure to log in this Wednesday, because 12-12-12 is NOT just another day... it is the beginning of the end! An ancient evil is rumored to rise on that day, and we're going to need everyone's help to save our world from destruction!

December 07, 2012

Frostval Quibble Returns

Your Enemies will Fear this Epicly Icy Gear!

Quibble Coinbiter has arrived in Battleon with a bag full of wintery gear! This traveling sales moglin’s chest is filled with never-before-seen-slightly-used icy items inspired by Frostval! Don't miss the Glacial Destroyer and Glacial Summoner sets!

Glacial Destroyer Wings and Glacial Destroyer Halo

Glacial Destroyer and Glacial Winged Helm

Glacial Destroyer Pike, Staff of Glacial Destruction, Glacial Great Sword

Time for a Double Chaos Battle!

/Join TheSpan and crash into the Chaos Beast battle! Tidal waves of power bring Kathool straight to you! Victory underwater propels you into the heart of Space and Time to confront Iadoa, the Chronomancer Chaos Lord! Though his goal was to teach you how to fulfill your destiny, he is now the greatest threat to Lore!*

* Trivia: like The Master in Doctor Who, Iadoa's name is an acronym. It means "I Am the Destroyer of All"... but in The Span, he is trying to HELP you! Why the misleading name? Mysterious!**
** Sounds like there's a backstory there, and it might just involve Doctor When!

December 07, 2012

Double Chaos Boss Fight

Can you defeat Kathool?

The time shattering finale of the Span Saga has begun. This adventure that has taken us scross time, space, and our other games. Now, is the final showdown with the Chaos Beast Kathoo AND Iadoa* who is the 10th Lord of Chaos. This is pretty huge because this release will give all of you who love the story your first clue at what is really happening when these Chaos Beasts are defeated. Also, if this is Chaos Lord #10, we only have three left before we reach Drakath. Wait, make that four -- the twins, Ying & Yang, have not been defeated yet either. As a player wisely noted to me on Twitter "How come there are so much empty space left on the map if we only have 3 Chaos Lords left?" Many players are relived and excited to know that it indicates this game has a loooong future ahead of it. If you survive the battle with Chaos Beast Kathool that is... Good luck heroes!

* Who comes up with these names!? "Iadoa" is pronounced: "Eye - Ahh - Doh - Ahh"

BONUS! Challenge Fight for Members

Kathoo is a powerful monster with his own AI. But for the ULTIMATE challenge,  Members can battle a max level version of him... the most powerful monster in the game yet. Defeating him in this mode is worth ultimate bragging rights... and a badge!

December 04, 2012

Quibble Coinbiter Returns

Quibble Returns to Battleon This Friday!

Past, present, and future Frostval items freeze the insides of Quibble Coinbiter's pack... and YOUR inventory! AQWorlds' very own time-traveling sales moglin arrives in Battleon this Friday, December  7th, but he won't be there long, so you'll want to dig through his chest of never-before-seen-slightly-used items and rares while you can!

Glacial Destroyer 

The epicly-chilly appearance of these equips won't leave you out in the cold because, though most of his items will cost AdventureCoins, we will include gear for both members and non-members! Each of Quibble's newest items were inspired by gear from the original AdventureQuest, DragonFable, and MechQuest!

Not exactly sure who Quibble Coinbiter is, or how he gets all that gear? Neither are we! But here's what he said last time I asked:

How do I get never-before-seen used items? Well, that's a trade secret. But just between us, I have a deal with a time travel fairy who brings me these things… even though they have not been built yet! They might show up later in the game or might be Rares that are never seen again!

Ice Beastmaster Armor

This gear and more will come when Quibble's shop arrives on Friday! And don't miss NEXT Friday's Quibble update... and the Beleen's Birthday-slash-Graduation Celebration shop! 

December 04, 2012

Draw a Hand Turkey Contest

Gobble On, Hand-Turkey Winners!

Thanksgiving is a time for friends, family, and FOOD! But for this year's Harvest contest, we wanted to do something different, special... and AEsome! 

WE had so much fun drawing hand-turkeys* on the window-walls of the AQW room that we wanted you all to have a chance to gobble up the spotlight! Check out all the deliciously epic entries on the forum thread until we can put the winners' contest page up!

* How do you draw a hand turkey? Just trace your hand, add feathers and a wattle (that's the dangly red part under the beak) and you're good to go!

Congratulations to All Our Winners!

These entries are good enough to eat! If only we weren't so sleepy from all the trytophan! This was the most deliciously-difficult contest to judge yet!

Grand Prize Winner 
Boyoyo

Ready for the Weekend! 
albert0808

This Turkey Sure Doesn't Run Off of Stuffing 
bruextian

Turkey's 2nd Greatest Fear Besides the Oven 
Darkrai0596

Most Insane (and Ancient) 
doomcalibar12

A Hard Day's Work 
Exidonius Jr

Twig's Harvest Dweam 
Kienkai

Dinner to aVoid
Lupus the Wolf

Made Zhimaira Rock Out Award
Mr Sleepy

This Turkey is Ready for Battle
Neoreaper13

Gobble On!
Odin Fatalis

Dinner Time!
Optional Geek

The Legion Would be Proud 
Fyre Winged

Derpiest Award 
Reki

It's Alive... Again!
trizzzcentrino

DRAWING Hand Turkeys is for the Birds!
(Stop Motion Animation Video Above-and-beyond Award)
ACW0 

Zhimaira will hand out contest prizes to all of the winners on Thursday! Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who entered!