5 years in the making... The DragonFable story was crafted by both the team and players. Sepulchure, Drakath, Xan, the Elemental Orbs, the Dragons, the Myserterious Necromancer... now, it is time! Join us this Friday (tomorrow) as we brace for the epic conclusion of DragonFable! This has never happened before in the history of our gaming organization. Be a part of history as the unthinkable happens.
... remember friends; every end, is a new beginning. Join us on the forums and at DragonCon 2011 as we join players in brainstorming and discussing about what will happen DragonFable next! If you upgrade in DragonFable you will also unlock the DragonFable shop in the Guardian Tower in AQWorlds. Read Geo's official DragonFable design notes post.
I went to the Apple store* at the mall not too long ago. As usual, the store was jam packed with people playing with the iphones, ipads and Apple computers. What caught me completely off guard was a table full of boys using the computers to play DragonFable! There are no words to properly explain the feeling that lifted my heart. As an indie game maker... there is no greater happiness achievable. Overcome with excitement, I said, "DRAGONFABLE!? AWESOME!" The boys were so engrossed in their battles that they did not even turn around. Their characters were pretty far along in the storyline. I watched them play for a few moments and as I was leaving the store, I used my phone to tweet what just happened on Twitter. You guys had a lot of awesome ideas of what I should have done** instead of just leaving with a smile from ear to ear... but, by the time I got your messages... I was already long gone. To whomever those boys were, thank you for one of the best memories ever!
* If the DoomWood Mall had one of these... it would be the Rotten Apple Store. "Half a worm in every mega-bite!" ** Favorite was "Get on the computer next to them and just log in and play. See if they looked at my character."
Forum/Twitter Question: Have you ever played one of our games somewhere interesting? If so... where? (Oh, remember NOT to check save user/pass when using a public machine. I was at a hotel in Canada once and saw someone had entered their AQ user/pass and saved it O_O!)
The final battle with Vordred is coming this Friday... and as of the time I posted this at 7:30pm EST on Monday night... I am still writing the finale. (Only 4 days left!? Plenty of time O_O) Aside from the terrifying looming deadline of Friday this release is both very exciting and a little sad. Because DoomWood has been, according to the playerbase at large, one of, if not the most, popular storylines in AQWorlds thus far. Each week topped the previous. We broke almost every rule in the game during the course of DoomWood... which brings us to the point of this post -- why should we adhere to the rules with the Boss fight? Inspired heavily by the recent Sepulchure vs Drakath boss fight in DragonFable, this week's saga ending duel will be different from the things you have seen before. More coming tomorrow. Oh, and while you wait for tomorrow's post, can you give me a hand writing the finale?
Forums/Twitter Question: What unpredictable things would you like to see happen during the finale?
Tonight in AdventureQuest Worlds, the DoomWood Saga begins! This brand new saga takes place 5 years after the events that took place in DragonFable. (You can play the entire story in www.DragonFable.com now.) If you have not already seen the video below... it was created as a trailer for the original DoomWood story. In the in-game version you are fighting along side Artix during this part. It is ultimately revealed that the purple robed Necromantress is actually Vayle -- a childhood friend of Artix, who had became fused with the Darkness Orb. The glowing Spirit Shard in her hand contained the soul of her brother... who she believed could be brought back to life if she followed the orders of her master, the Evil Necromancer, Noxus. Ultimately she abandoned the undead lords of the necropolis and went on her own path... to try to find a way to use Necromancy for good. However, due to what happened to her Spirit Orb in this video, she swore vengence.
This weekend is Mother's day! (Do something special to show how much your love her!) Next weekend... it will be FRIDAY THE 13TH!!! This is the ONLY Friday the 13th of the year, so we... are going all out! Prepare for a completely insane special event and... oh yes.... as predicted on this card from the AQWorlds Card Game...
...the return of VOLTAIRE and his super-cuddly and evil teddy bear friend, DEADY! But this brand-new Friday the 13th event will feature more than just all-new music, areas, monsters and items... you will get a glimpse of Deady's true form. Dunn dunn dunnnn!
The History of Friday the 13th
Amongst the superstitious, Friday the 13th is a super-unlucky day... ranking up there with breaking mirrors, walking under a ladder, or having a black cat walk across your path. Did you know there is even a fear of Friday the 13th, scientifically called Paraskevidekatriaphobia? Many players have asked me what is the legend and lore behind this day. (And more specifically... how come we do our largest, most complicated releases on what is supposed to be the unluckiest day of the year?)
In real-life history, on Friday the 13th, October 1307, the Knights Templar were completely wiped out by order of King Philip IV. (Sort of like how the Jedi were wiped out in Episode III by the Emperor's order 66.) Other notable reasons involve the combined unluckiness of both the number 13 (Note: Drakath has 13 Lords of Chaos) and day Friday itself (There is probably a good Rebecca Black joke to make here.) In the past 30 years, Friday the 13th was most-popularized by the scary movie series of the same name. This series was also responsible for making hockey masks an icon of spookiness!
In DragonFable, we were running our second undead invasion and it happened to take place on Friday the 13th. Players were surprised and laughing when they found that all 1 million undead were wearing hockey masks. It was our first major in-game parody of a movie. Players were used to fighting a large wave of undead monsters, so it was pretty funny when they eventually got the joke wave consisting of one... lone.... skeleton. His name was Chuckles. (Funny how everything is inter-related!)
Ever since, doing funny events on Friday the 13th became a tradition that our entire community looks forward to. It can happen one to three times a year. Each time we try to top the previous event. Two years ago we did our first live event with Voltaire on Friday the 13th. An article about it even appeared in a gaming magazine about how we crashed the servers. This coming Friday the 13th promises to be the best yet... and not just in AdventureQuest Worlds. DragonFable is doing something that is going to change.... everything! Get ready, friends!
There are only three days until our Harvest Festival begins. It starts at the same time as the Thanksgiving holiday starts. Knowing that everyone would be on super crunch schedules we did the usual... an unnessasrily long staff meeting to distribute and review our new official BattleOn Employee Handbook! Yes, it is official, forged by boodthirsty vampire lawyers and legally binding. Here are a few highlights for you.
Pg 54. Section 906. Nose Pointing "The Nose Goes"
Effective Date: 11/1/2010 In the event that a trivial action must be performed by one individual in a group of equally qualified personnel, the last person to touch their index finger to their nose shall be responsible for performing the task"
Pg 53. Table Gum
Effective Date: 11/1/2010 The person who takes the last piece of gum located in the center of the DragonFable table shall be responsible for replacing it. This can be done by purchasing a new container of gum and placing it at the center of the table during the next business day.
A.) Shaking the Table Gum container to determine the quantity of gum remaining is not permissible. Therefore, if you shake, you take.
B.) Tricking non-DragonFable team members to partake from the Table Gum container is allowed and strongly encouraged.
(Yes, those are really in the handbook)
Meanwhile... J6 has just arrived at the Secret Underground Lab!
AQworlds artist J6 has just arrived here. Literally. He is standing behind me watching me type this. He says, "I need to leave!" (No worries, we immediately chained him in front of a computer and drawing tablet.) He and Cinazul had a 3 day drive from Montreal, Canada. They said the trip was like going back in time. See, it is starting to snow up there but it is crazy hot down here. So all of the leaves were gone on the trees when they started but as they got closer to Florida the trees started having leaves on them. They said it was like going through the seasons in reverse! Hmmm, I wonder if they will end up staying in the DoomKnight room.
Forum Question: Oishii is cooking again for the Harvest Festival. RUN!!!!!! Are there any "Rare Dishes" you would like to see on the menu?
Forum Question 2: Would you be interested in a pet that allowed you to access your bank? What about a shop? (You know, so you can sell stuff without returning to town?)
