Design Notes

July 11, 2014

Battle Gems PVP!

BATTLE GEMS PVP IS LIVE! 

Actually, it's been live for almost a fullday, but we haven't said much about it because we wanted to make sure there were no terribly bad game killing bugs before we sounded the war horns and drew a lot of attention to it. It was a quiet launch. 

Of course there were a few bugs (There are always a few bugs) but noting too serious and we've already got most of those solved and ready to publish to the live versions of the game in the next update today or tomorrow. 

As always, if YOU encounter any bugs, they go here: http://www.artix.com/bugs

They do not go on Twitter or Facebook or in the comments of the Artix.com version of this post... they go here: http://www.artix.com/bugs

Just so we're entirely clear, ALL bugs for this or any other AE game go here: http://www.artix.com/bugs

... here: http://www.artix.com/bugs

And now we're moving on. 

BATTLE GEMS PVP! What's the deal with that?

Here's the deal.

•  Create your own cool (or silly) PVP name! 
• Battle anyone within your level range (plus or minus a few levels)
• Collect PvP trophies for winning that raise you higher in the World and Friend Leaderboards!
• Climb through the PvP Titles until you reach Arena Grand Master
• New PvP Titles unlock the ability to buy new PvP Gear in the PvP Shop!
• They cost A LOT!
• But we now allow you to BUY GOLD! 
• Random board mechanics make each battle different. You might get...
  • Slime Gems
  • Stone Gems
  • Crit Gems
  • Cages
  • Lava
  • Or in rare cases ALL OF THE ABOVE! (We call that the Devil Board)

WAIT, DID YOU SAY "BUY GOLD"?!

I did indeed say that, imaginary player who asks me this stuff! There are three gold packages to pick from but the obvious winner is the 50 MILLION GOLD PACKAGE. That should keep you set for a while and allow you to buy almost all of the PvP rewards (If you have the intestinal fortitude to unlock them). 

Plus it comes with in-game bonuses where the other packages only come with gold (which is still nice).

the 50,000,000 GOLD package gives you a GOLD NAME (in Battle Gems PvP) and the MAKE IT RAIN skill will be added to your skill list. It's like a big gold fireball that explodes into a shower of gold coins when it hits the target. Fun? Yeah, fun.

Apple based players can get the game here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/battle-gems-adventurequest/id694721552

Android based players can get the game here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.battleon.aqbattlegems

And, of course, you can always play it on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/games/?fbs=100&app_id=217802018249672

Have fun!

OR ELSE!  

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

May 20, 2011

1v1 PvP FINALLY!

The Fall of Aeris Battlespire.

True to form we are beginning the Doomwood Zone as brutally as possible... with one on one Player versus Player combat in the Doomwood Arena.

Once King Alteon declared that no blood would be spilled between heroes either on the land or in the seas of his realm... but there are always loopholes. Soon arose the Aeris Battlespire. A massive floating citadel (which was neither on the land or sea) with battle arenas sprouting from its massive arms like ripe fruit.

It quickly became a proving ground for the worlds greatest fighters who would step into the arena for honor and glory and fight tooth and nail for the title of arena champion and all of the rich rewards that came with the title.

When Sepulchure finally stepped out of the darkness and cast his evil shadow across Lore, much of King Alteon's lands came under attack. Sepulchure might have even destroyed the good King if not for Drakath chosing that exact moment to unleash his chaotic influence on the world (what is more chaotic than introducing a new threat at the very moment when two evenly matched foes are facing each other?).

During that long and deadly war Aeris Battlespire chose to side with Good against Evil and they attempted to lay siege to Sepulchure's flying dracolich castle. The battle was short and brutal and Aeris Battlespire fell to the ground in flames.

Since the ruins fell into the cursed lands of Doomwood, not even the most evil of Lore's great heroes has dared set out in search of them. Noone ever heard from the once great arena again... until today.

Are you ready to pit your skills against the greatest fighters in all of AQWorlds?

How 1v1 PvP Works

There are two ways to fight a 1v1 PvP battle.

1) 1v1 Strangers: Use the button in Battleon to travel to the Doomwood Arena. Once there speak with Dumoose, the PvP Master. One of his buttons reads "1v1 Strangers". This will eventually out you in que for a 1v1 battle against a random foe who has also qued up. Our matchmaking system looks for the best possible match for your level and tosses you into a random Doomwood Battle Arena. The fight is over when one of you is defeated. 

2) 1v1 Friends: Right now, the only way to battle a specific friend (or foe) is to use the /JOIN function. Just arrange to face your opponent in either doomarenaa-, doomarenab-, doomarenac- or doomarenad- then type in a room number higher than 1000.

Example: Hey Alina, battle me! /join doomarenac-4132

You will both be sent to doomarenac in the 4132 instance of the map. Be sure to pick a very random number OVER 1000. Chances are arena 1111 and 1234 will already be taken. Use your head.

How Do I Get 1v1 PvP Gear?

Speak to Dumoose to view all of the special PvP gear set up just for 1v1 players. You will need to earn 1v1 PvP Trophies to buy the gear (all designed by Dage).

Dumoose has a daily quest. Accept his quest and gather TEN 1v1 victories. After TEN wins, return to Dumoose and turn in the quest for a PvP Trophy. Come back tomorrow for another trophy, etc. Save up trophies for the item that you want!

Things To Remember:

1) Keep Your Honor. If you're about to lose to someone and you log out (regequit), it doesn't cost them anything. They can get another win from someone else in 1-3 minutes. All it does is make you look like a fool who has no honor and can't take defeat with grace.

2) Keep Your Cool. Nobody LIKES to lose but some people know understand that someone HAS to lose in PvP and there is a 50/50 chance that it will be you. If you get defeated, don't get angry. Equip one of Reens' potions and get even. If someone is yelling nonsense at you, be the better person. Just click on their name and use the IGNORE function. If they are WAY out of line, report them THEN ignore them.

3) Keep Your Forum Login Handy: If you notice a bug (in PvP or anywhere else for that matter), REPORT IT ON THE BUGS THREAD! Please remember that posting bugs on Facebook or Twitter doesn't do anything. we NEEEEED Bug Reports on the forums to fix bugs.

Player Suggestions Galore!

Mennace and Dage went overboard on the Player Suggestions this week. With help from some of the other artists. Visit the Player Suggestion Shop in Yulgar's Inn to view the latest and greatest art suggestions from players like you! Here are some examples:

Here is the Demonic Nemesis set from player Ninjudo.

Or mayne you like the Death's hand set from _Aegis_

Or maybe the Gothika armor suggested by Laken is more your style! These are not the only items going in today either. Be sure to check them out!

Friday The 13th Rares Still Here!

The Friday the 13th event is still alive and going strong. If you missed out on it last week you still have a chance to get some of the great Voltaire and Deady items and drops from the Friday the 13th Event!

Remember that almost all of the items will be rare once the event closes. I say ALMOST because Voltaire has requested that we upgrade the Vorutanian Key Blade itself from a basic rare to an ARTIFACT. This means that it will someday return to the game at random times (probably when Voltaire visits again) but unlike a seasonal rare you will never know when it will return. It may be years before we see it again.

For those of you who have not checked it out you, you can actually BUY the Vorutanian Key Blade that Voltaire himself wears around his neck in real life!

That is some COOL real-life swag. Check out the links at the bottom of the Friday the 13th Events Page to find out how to get one for yourself!

HeroSmash Founder Is Coming To A Close!

If you're not a Founder in HeroSmash yet, TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

SO many people ask us EVERY DAY how to become Founders in AQW. We tell them you need a time machine because ONCE YOU MISS IT, YOU MISS OUT FOREVER!

DO NOT be one of those sad souls. You still have until the end of this month to become a HeroSmash Founder but the end of the month will be here before you know it!

Also, all of you aspiring film-makers out there, don't forget that we are STILL looking for new Player based NPCs to add to HeroSmash.

Here's a tip: Eventually a lot of the really, really, REALLY GOOD movie makers on YouTube will find out that they can actually get themselves inside a video game which hundreds of thousands of people see every week and say to themselves, "Hey, I could get into this video game!".

You want to get in on this before that happens, because when that happens then our standards will go WAY up. You guys have already submitted a lot of great stuff but some of those folks on YouTube are crescent fresh.

Reminder!

AEXtras is still a great way to get FREE ADVENTURECOINS and even FREE ARTIX POINTS, and with new Inventory, Bank slots and Premiere Event rares to buy there's never been a better time!

 Just CLICK HERE to get started!

Or, You can jump onto your Master Account and start earning free Artix Points using AExtras and use those Points to get stuff in ANY of our games!

May 16, 2011

1v1 PVP comes to DoomWood

Wood-n't you know, your opponents are Doom-ed!

Power up, Heroes, because the BATTLE will begin this Friday! Epic 1v1 PVP action in the all-new DoomWood arena will see you fighting for gold, for honor, and for the chance to deal massive damage to your opponents! Do YOU have what it takes to dominate the Arena and receive wicked challenge-rewards? Find out this weekend!

The DoomWood Arena is a lead-in to the upcoming release of the zone's twisted tale- written by Artix. Think you're familiar with the Necropolis and the forces of Light and Darkness from their DragonFable days? Get ready to be schooled.

Player Suggestion Shop Shines

Are you an artist or idea-crafter? Do you just KNOW that your design for a weapon is amazing, and that everyone in Lore should be able to wield it? Then you need to post your suggestions in the AQW Suggestions forum!

This week we'll be updating the Player Suggestion shop with brand new gear, goodies, and equips dreamed up and designed by you and your fellow players! If you haven't shared an idea with us yet, now's the time to get sharin'!

Two Weeks Left to Unlock the Vorutanian Key

Wield the most Owerful-Pay weapon in the Orld-Way, the Vorutanian Key blade! How to get it, you ask? Easy!

• Method 1: Log in now to smash your way through steampunk cowboys and undead aliens in the ultimate battle to save Lore and capture the Key!

• Method 2: Voltaire is selling hand-made copies of the Vorutanian Keyblade as necklaces along with CDs of the music from the event! Check them out on our Event page!

You'd better hurry, because the event will only be around for another 2 weeks! After that, all those epic in-game rares are gone for good,* and we won't have another Friday the 13th event until January of 2012!

* Except the Keyblade necklaces, those will still be on sale through Voltaire.

And if you enjoyed the music from the event (we sure did!), then why not check out the rest of the songs on Voltaire's CD? "Hate Lives in a Small Town" features a WILD world of kickin' country-folk music like:

1 Hate Lives in a Small Town

2 All Women Are Crazy

3 Stubborn As a Mule

4 You Married a Fool

5 When You're Dead

6 Churchyard

7 Fear and Anguish

8 Normal For a Man

9 On the Road

ALSO AVAILABLE from Voltaire

Deady "Big in Japan" and "Urkor Malravenus" vinyl dolls! You saw them in our Friday the 13th event. Now these out-of-this-world vinyl figures are back ready to take action; all YOU need to bring is your imagination!

For us, it's going to be a week full of high-powered planning, rapid-fire arting, and clearing up the last of this weekend's undead invasion (they came with video cameras and stage-lighting, Artix? WEIRD!)! For YOU, though... We're giving you a week to prepare to meet your Doom(wood) in the Arena this Friday! Time to get (stat) training!

August 06, 2010

PvP For Everyone!

The Release is Live!

Finally the time has come to PvP it up with your friends... regardless if they are Members or not! Bludrut Brawl lets you pwn ANYONE. Even Mods. I hear Cysero is online right now. Go get him >:D

Join a battleground by talking to Dumoose in Battleon. You can’t miss him—he’s sporting the all new PvP Armor Set and OMGOMGOMG a HUGE sword! All of that—and so much more—can be obtained by collecting Combat Trophies and turning them in as PvP Rewards. There are 19 new PvP awards to please every adventurer.

The Steel Afterlife Helm and Basic War Sword are some pre-requirements to obtain bigger and better PvP awards! DerpFish, sadly, is not necessary.

So many new items but unfortunately… you cannot see the item before turning in the Trophies. LAME, we know. We’re actually working on something that should allow you to view “quest rewards” before slaving over something that you may or may not like. We hope to get that finished shortly.

In the meantime… I have gathered pictures of ALL the items available as PvP awards ^___^ The items names are listed in the order that they appear in the pix below.

Conquorer of Shadow and Warden of Light PvP Armors and Helms! (Female versions look nearly identical)

Steel Afterlife, The Armet of the Afterlife, Bearded Armet of the Afterlife, and Bearded Helm of Glory.

Helm of Ultimate Victory, Helms of Glory (Girl and Boy), Ultimate Victory Armet

Behemoth Blade of Shadow, Behemoth Blade of Light, Venomous Nightshade, Infamous Revenge, Legendary Retribution, and Devine Retribution

Wow… that’s a lot of items. And a lot of pictures. I hope this helps out when choosing what PvP Rewards you wanna farm for!

Limited Time DerpFish!

August is National Catfish Month! So I took it upon myself and made a very special… um… pet?... for you. It’s the DerpFish! He…she…it will only be available during this month (probably) so if you wanna Herpadurpadurrp, then durrpahurpaderrrp over to Aria’s Pet Shop in Battleon Town!

J6 Live Draw Items are Gone

So long, epic weapons! We will miss you. And whoever was lucky enough to get them… congratz! Sadly, I missed the whole thing while I was on vacation (pfft, some vacation huh?), but I was told that it was an amazing experience and that we will be doing another Live Draw event sometime soon. Oh and this time… I won’t miss it for the AQWorld!

So now that you've finsihed this lengthy post... give your eyes a rest as you PvP in Bludrut Brawl! Team up with your best buds as you fight for glory, fame, and (most importantly) that epic PvP gear.

Battle on!

August 02, 2010

Being A Concise And Much Anticipated Recounting Of Orbs, Fish, PvP and Friday the 13th

Of Orbs...

If you happen to own one of Miltoious' Orb Pets, you probably noticed that last week we took the quests out of the orbs. We did this mostly to keep their rarity for you. We have added code that allows ONLY YOU the orb's master, to access the quest that will allow you to transform your rare non-ac version of the Void of Miltonius into one of the other non-AC armors once again.

We might have to change a few more things like this to actually protect those rares as rares in other pets that came from the zone. As he warned you when he began this long, strange journey... Expect changes and don't cry when they come.

If your orb doesn't give you the quest, close your game window, empty your cache and relog-in to AQW.

Of Fish...

If you were following Beleen's Twitter or My Twitter, you probably know about this already but we've got a new Pet O' The Month in Aria's Pet Shop. It's Beleen's Stupid Derp-Fish!

Someone pointed out that it has (once again) been more than enough time to add a new Pet O' The Month and Beleen discovered that it's "Catfish Month" so she took 12 seconds and drew this...

Bear in mind that Beleen is NOT one of AE's artists.

There was suddenly a mass call for Beleen's Catfish to be made into the Pet O' The Month, which I immediatly shot down. I mean, look at it. It's got a eye on it's forehead. However, as the requests piled up, and the more I looked at this stupid thing, the more I loved the idea of getting it into game.

So I spent about 7 minutes of my time, translating this monstrosity into a pet for Aria's pet shop, staying as faithful to the original design as possible.

If you are a member you can pick up this amazing Pet O' The Month from Aria for a limited time (but probably more than a month). So yeah... have fun with that thing.

Of PvP...

This Friday we are closing the Darkovia PvP map and Re-opening Bludrut Brawl for ALL players (members and non-members alike will have access to the map)! It was one of the favorite maps from PTR PvP testing and we're happy to open it. Dumoose will ALSO be offering ALL NEW PvP Rewards!

Of Friday The 13th...

Artix, I and a handful of the other staff here in the secret underground lab were VERY excited to be on the phone with voice actor George Lowe as we ran through and recorded his lines for the Friday the 13th super insane-o event coming two weeks from now. Voltaire recorded his yesterday. Kimberly should be recording hers any day now. J6 is working on backgrounds and the George Lowe NPC while Milton crafts monsters and begins working on some of the longest, and best Cutscenes in this game. Skyline and Dage are both working on Friday the 13th items and PvP rewards and Beleen.... she's drawing derp-fish.

Ballyhoo Says Thanks!

Since we placed Ballyhoo in Battleon, allowed her to give you up to 5,000 FREE GOLD per day and DOUBLED her chance to drop ACs from watching her ads, she has been getting a few more visitors and feels much less lonely. She's always happy to see you, so be sure to stop by and get your free gold and ACs every day!