Design Notes

October 21, 2011

The Collector, Part II

The They Might Be Giants / AQW 3rd Birthday Event Continues!

The second part to our special birthday event (featuring the music and amazingly distorted voice talents of John and John from They Might be Giants) continues tonight!

This week we are adding three new areas (including the member only dino-caves), tons of new quests, cutscenes, monsters, monster drops, new house items, new AC Rare items as promised, and a new Achievement! If you played through the entire event then you already know that we left you, young Drakath, John F. and John L. hurtling through time and space.

You could use a little practice controlling the Collector's Vigilette.

NEW CLASS: Vindicator Of They!

Also, as promised we have released a new class especially crafted for the They Might Be Giants event... The Vindicator Of They!

Here are a few fun facts about this new class: Every skill (other than Auto Attack) references a They Might Be Giants song or line of lyrics. Three of the skills have new battle effect graphics that were designed JUST for this class setting it apart from every other class in AQW & finally, we only have the rights to the event for 1 year so this class WILL go rare when the rest of the event leaves.

You can earn this item from the Token daily quests in the event (Members can earn tokens twice as fast!), the use the tokens to purchase the class, helm, sword and cape from the Token Shop.

If you would spend ACs to have the class RIGHT NOW, you can buy the AC version of the class from the Johns in the Collection map or from Itzachi in Battleon, but remember that you can only buy the CLASS with ACs. If you want the rest of the set then you'll have to do those dailies.

To help you rank up the class a little faster Itzachi will also be selling CLASS POINT BOOSTS for ACs and since we're tossing that in we might as well include the REPUTATION BOOSTS also. Once you equip and use these Boosts, you will double the rate that they increase for a while.

If you're interested in reading more about the new class, you can read the SKILL BREAKDOWN that I posted yesterday.

Higher Level Adventurer Enhancements!

A lot of you have reached higher levels faster that we gave you credit for. Due to server issues we had not planned to release any of the higher level Enh until next week, but we don't want to leave you in the cold so we will be releasing level 41-45 Adventurer Enh. You can find those in the ENHANCEMENTS BUTTON in Battleon.

ATTENTION TREASURE HUNTERS!

We have added some Mogloween costume armors to the Treasure Chests today. A total of 6 new spooky items! Good luck!

Special Thanks To Everyone!

AQW has only one Birthday a year and every time we try and out-do ourselves and I think we really kicked it round the moon this time. I'd like to thank the entire AQW team for putting in extra effort, coming in on days off, staying late and generally owning face on this event.

I'd like to thank They Might Be Giants for not only allowing us to bring them into AdventureQuest Worlds but also for all of their creative input when creating the event that lead from a few rough ideas to a full event with insane voice acting, evil doppelgangers, time traveling aliens and one of our very favorite bands ever. These guys had their own stuff going on... tours, shows and their own lives... but were never too busy to make or take a call to work on the event. It was really, truly great working with them. In real life they are funny, fun, down-to-earth, creative and passionate about what they do (which is a little bit of everything).

Real life story: We were about to get last week's event up for testing and I was on the phone with John F. asking him when would be a good time for the guys to run through the event so they could see what we were doing to them. After tossing around some times, I mentioned that it was my Birthday. John F said "Oh man! Well, we break for Birthdays," and shifted his entire schedule around so we could test the next morning just so I could go to dinner with my wife that night.

Finally, I want to thank you guys. If you consider the hundreds of thousands of players who have taken part in the event so far, this has been the BIGGEST BIRTHDAY PARTY any of us have ever been invited to. I've said it before but here it is again... you are the game. Without players, especially fantastic ones like you guys, a game is nothing more than a bunch of code that nobody ever sees. Thanks each and every one of you for helping to make this our biggest and best birthday yet!

NEXT WEEK: MOGLOWEEN 2011

As promised, next week we will be releasing the brand new 2011 chapter of the Mogloween Storyline with a bunch of new surprises, monsters, seasonal rares and (If Zhoom is right) The ability to go to other players houses and Trick or Treat!

3RD UPHOLDER!

October is AQWorlds' anniversary month! And THAT means that anyone who upgrades (as long as your upgrade expires ON or AFTER November 4th, 2011) will become a 3rd Upholder! That'll get you a sweet character page achievement and the EPIC Platinum Star Sword!(The Star Sword will not be released until November 4th.)

October 20, 2011

Vindicator Of They Class

PART 2 Of the They Might be Giants / AQW Birthday Event!

We have a lot of surprises waiting for you in the conclusion of The Collector like a new achievement, a new member only area and challenge fight, a bunch of new drops and even new items added to the AC Rares shop but nothing is more highly anticipated than the release of the They Might Be Giants theme class, the Vindicator of They!

Here are a few fun facts about this new class: Every skill (other than Auto Attack) references a They Might Be Giants song or line of lyrics. Three of the skills have new battle effects graphics that were designed JUST for this class setting it apart from every other class in AQW & finally, we only have the rights to the event for 1 year so this class WILL go rare when the rest of the event leaves.

Now let's get into the wrought armor and taker it for a test drive.

VINDICATOR OF THEY SKILL SET

This class was designed to be a single target or solo class. It will work best in groups like every other class, but it can handle a fight on its own and it likes it that way.

It's an armored caster class so I used INT Enhancements but you might want to try HYBRID or HEALER and see how those work for you. If you encounter any issues with this class, it will be managing your Mana... at least until you hit Rank 10. :)

Now let's go over the skills.

AUTO ATTACK

2 second cooldown.

A basic attack, taught to all adventurers.

As I mentioned above, mana is the issue at the heart of this class. The good news is that it receives mana for every hit delivered and every hit taken so stay in close and go crazy.  

SUPER TASTER

15 mana, 5 second cooldown.

Summons a Super Taster to bite your foe, causing a DoT and slowing your enemy for 6 seconds.

This is your first and least expensive skill. Once you get your healing attack it's hard to remember to use this one but you MUST NOT FORGET IT. The Damage Over Time is one of the most powerful in the game and the haste debuff is something you never want to be without.

I JUST WANT YOUR HALF

20 mana, 3 second cooldown.

Take a small amount of you foe's life force and heal yourself for a small amount.

Notice that the cooldown is only 3 seconds on this one? That will cause you to want to spam it but don't fall for it. You will eat your mana and be left with nothing in no-time. It is the wise warrior who knows when to apply a self-heal.

WE WANT A ROCK

20 mana, 10 second cooldown.

Petrify your opponent for 4 seconds but applies a DoT to you.

Use this skill at your own risk. The ability to turn most monsters into stone is a nice one to have, especially when you want to deal out the last few seconds of damage in peace but the price may not be worth paying. It's not that big of a deal since you can heal the DoT away but again, it is a question of how you want to spend your mana.

I'VE GOT A FANG  / HOT CHA

Rank 4 Passive

Increase Damage Output by 20%

Increase Haste by 20%

Special passives here. Ranking up the class unlocks the ability to attack faster than ever before while dishing out 20% more damage. In case you've never read one of these skill break-downs before 20%/20% are HUGE buffs to the class.

MASS OF INCANDESCENT GAS

30 mana, 10 second cooldown.

Create a tiny SUN causing massive damage. Applies a DoT and reduces the damage the enemy does for 10 seconds.

Ok, let's go over this one slowly. First, while the mana cost is high, the cooldown is only 10 seconds so it is possible to use it very often. Second, it deals a massive blow to your enemy. Third, it ALSO lays a DoT (Damage Over Time) on them leeching them for even more damage. Fourth and finally, it ALSO debuffs the enemy reducing the amount of damage they can do for TEN full seconds.

Frankly, this skill is like winning the lottery, falling in love and learning you can fly all in the same day.

CAN'T KEEP JOHNNY DOWN

Rank 10 Passive

Randomly, on hit, fully refills your mana.

After playing with this class for a while we decided to add a Rank 10 passive to it to help with Mana flow. The reward for getting your Vindicator Of They all the way to rank 10 is that your mana will completely refill itself from time to time.

There is something else you should know about this skill. Since it's a utility skill instead of an attack we've coded it to happen about TEN TIMES MORE OFTEN than the other rank 10 passive you've seen.

WHERE DO I GET IT?!

As usual Itzachi in Battleon will be offering the class for 2000 ACs for those who feel that they can't wait, but for the patient there will be an EARNED version of the class that you will be able to get from John and John in the Collection map. As you can see in the images above, there is also a matching Helm, Sword and Cloak that you will ONLY be able to earn. You can earn these items by collecting Tokens of Vindication from daily quests in the map.

Since Members have a daily set aside JUST for them they will be able to earn all of these items in HALF the time and if you Upgrade this month you will also be able to call yourself a 3rd Upholder!

Itzachi will also be offering a Class Rank Boost for ACs in her shop to help you get to rank 10 double quick.

3RD UPHOLDER!

October is AQWorlds' anniversary month! And THAT means that anyone who upgrades (as long as your upgrade expires ON or AFTER November 4th, 2011) will become a 3rd Upholder! That'll get you a sweet character page achievement and the EPIC Platinum Star Sword!(The Star Sword will not be released until November 4th.) 

NEXT WEEK: MOGLOWEEN 2011

As promised, next week we will be releasing the brand new 2011 chapter of the Mogloween Storyline with a bunch of new surprises, monsters, seasonal rares and (If Zhoom is right) The ability to go to other players houses and Trick or Treat!

October 17, 2011

They Might Be Giants Finale!

This Friday, the EPIC conclusion to the TMBG event!

Space, Time, and Portals! What could go wrong? EVERYTHING! I hope you've packed your towels, you hoopy froods, because you're going on an adventure WAY back into the past and FAR into the future this Friday!

"OW." - John F.

The dinos in this time period will make you really saur, so grab the nearest club or leg bone and attack back! After rockin' the dino-age, strap on your highest-tech gear, because you're going to be BLASTED through Time and Space into...

An otherworldy, alien futurescape! The Shadow-eyes are watching, always watching, never blinking. If you can evade them AND battle the alien guards, then MAYBE you'll reach your objective before The Collector. It's up to YOU to get everyone home and in one piece... but NOT as a piece of the Collection!

And don't miss the ALL-NEW even AWESOMER items that will be released this week! (Including 2-3 new houses, armors, weapons, and more!)

Vindicator Of They Class!

The Vindicator of They Class is coming THIS FRIDAY! If you haven't read about this Class yet, take a look at the Design Notes I posted here! With a look at all the crazy skills we've made for the class and the news that there will be TWO new skill animations, this is a Class you won't want to miss, because before long, it'll be as RARE as anything The Collector has!

But YOU can get it for 90 Tokens of Vindication OR giving Itzachi in BattleOn 2,000 ACs. Are YOU the Hero meant to vindicate They Might Be Giants?

Treasure (Chest) These Hard-To-Get Items!

This week we'll be updating the Treasure Chest with another awesome set of items and an armor! We don't know what to make yet, though, so why not let us know what YOU want? Post your ideas in the Design Notes thread or tell us on Twitter!

We Need Your Screenshots!

Beleen is working on a new page for aq.com and she needs your help! Can you post your most epic screenshots of any of the special events from the last three years? (Pink screenshots not necessary!) Post all your awesome shots here!

Which monsters are the most EPIC?

We have ANOTHER special project we're working on - this time with Yergen's help! We need to know which monsters you think are the scariest, most awesome, craziest, grossest, whichever you feel are the monsters that best represent AQWorlds, please post them here!

Mogloween is Coming!

This Mogloween is going to be... DELICIOUSLY* frightening! Insanity, death, and... CYSERO?! How does THAT make sense? And what could THIS art possibly be for?!

It's cherry pie filling, honest!

We're working on Mogloween even as we drive home the last pieces of the They Might Be Giants event, so get ready for a week of epic awesomeness followed by a week of terrifying insanity! It's all coming up in AQWorlds before the end of this October!

* That is a hint.