Design Notes

September 22, 2017

This Weekend: Kaiju War Finale Gear

More Booty in Quibble's Shop + War Reward Drops

This weekend, Quibble Coinbiter gets even MORE piratical loot in his Talk Like a Pirate Day rares shop! All his booty will be available for AdventureCoins in-game until October 6th, 2017.

This weekend, check out Quibble's newest offerings:

Obsidian Paladin Naval Commander (inspired by fellow Hero, Chic_Wingz!) set
Kaiju Rider Quibble Bank Pet
Kaiju Pirate Captain Quibble Pet
Paladin Naval Commander accessories

Kaiju War Finale Rewards

Check Quibble's gear out, then /join kaijuwar and take on the Kaiju Corsairs to loot THEIR booty and teach them who's boss!

Battle the Kaiju Cannoneer to get their armor set
Defeat Kraylox to get his accessories
Defeat Klashex to unlock the Deep Sea Pirate set, the Mini Kaiju pet, and the crazy, silly Bandana Split helms (suggested by fellow Hero Tenzan on Twitter)

Kaiju Naval Commander Armor Delayed

Last week, we said the Kaiju Naval Commander would launch tonight, and would require the AC version of the Naval Commander Class. I apologize for the delay, guys, I know you are looking forward to it. We want to avoid item sellback abuse, and keep things fair for people who previously bought the Naval Commander Class.

We are looking at an alternative to the delay which would let us release this next week. If it does not work out, the Kaiju Naval Commander armor and top hats will become available on October 9th, after the Talk Like a Pirate Day event leaves for the year. If you have the AC variant of the Naval Commander class, you'll be able to grab it from the chest in Lolosia on that day.

Tags: Alina,

September 20, 2017

Friday: TLaPD Kaiju War Finale

Yarrrrr, Me Hearties, Ye WON the WAR!

Last week, the heroes of Lore banded together to defeat the Kaiju Corsair fleet, and now all that stands between Lolosia and safety are… Captain Kraylox and the Kaiju, Klashex! This weekend, log in and take on the captain and deadly sea-beast to win the war and unlock all-new loot. YARRRRR!

Kaiju War Details

Even though the war was won last Friday, you can still /join Kaijuwar then click the catapult to head into battle! Fight monsters and turn in quests to farm for war rewards. Then, this Friday, log in to:

Unlock two boss battles
Defeat Kraylox and Klashex to unlock the war finale cutscene
Fight both bosses for a chance to get exclusive reward drops and event rares

Tags: Alina,

September 19, 2017

AQWorlds Patch Notes

Check the list of bug fixes to see what the team has addressed

Cemaros, Reens, and the AQW bug testers team are busy squashing the bugs you submit each week to the Bug Tracker at www.Artix.com/bugs. From here on out, check back to see if the bug you reported has been addressed.

Bug fixes: September 18/19, 2017

Prismatic Kaiju Captain Locks CC on the hair at the back now fixed.
Legend version of Blue Dragon’s Parrot Cape added to Quibble’s Dragon Shop.
Red Dragon’s Parrot Cape now in it’s proper place in the Dragon King Chest shop.
Kaiju Corsairs in /kaijuwar are now tagged “human”.
Captain Rhubarb now has one “lot’s” in his apop in /kaijuwar
Death Standard staff rarity changed to Awesome.
Issue with (DOOM) Naval Commander forcing a darker shading of the face template fixed.
Weaver Knight Back Blades & Weaver Knight Back Spears rarity changed to Awesome.
“The Leery Contract” quest description changed because of previous gold cap increases.
Room numbers in /manacannon showing in the top-right corner removed.
Explorer Pistol and variants now held correctly.
All Brazilian Day pet macaws showing different head art in running animation now fixed.
OathBreaker set delagged.
Paladin Naval Commander shoulder transformation fixed.
Female Crystal Dragonborn Naval Commander’s jacket cuffs now change colors.
Crystal Dragon Wings now change colour while standing still.
Sakura Dragon’s Blaster art changed.
Dragonborn male armours all have eyebrows now (and scars added where missing).
Dragonborn Tricorns odd bit of animation removed.
Undead Pirate Dragon On Yer Back no longer hides.
Quibble’s AVAST! Quests added.
Dragon King Chest Pet Quest added in /battleon.
Various typo fixes.

Bug fixes: September 11, 2017

Dragon Phoenix Bow held upside with drawstrings towards feet instead of head.
Chaos Hunter Crossbow and Legit Chaos Blade requires stack x2 in Gustav Merge shop, but only stacks to 1
Kiss The Void had a will/may get conflict. Fixed now.

Bug fixes: September 5, 2017

Gargantuan Golem chest fixed
August upgrade art removed from Ragnar in battleon
Legend-Only Paragon of Nulgath room in /brightfortress no longer accessible to free players
Purple square in top-left corner of citadel removed
Text in Denara’s apop in /archives after completing the “Locate the Source” quest fixed
Abyssal Lighting Orbs of Nulgath typo in name fixed

Tags: Alina, Patch Notes,

September 18, 2017

This October... Vampire Lord Class

The 15th anniversary / Mogloween Class theme revealed!

For nine years, we've gotten requests to create a new, unique skill set for the rare Vampire Class. With this year's anniversary *and* Mogloween event themes revolving around vampires and Darkovia, this is the perfect time to do just that!

Next month, we will release the Vampire Lord Class for the birthday/anniversary/Friday the 13th/Mogloween* holiday event chain. Like all our birthday classes, you'll be able to get it immediately with 2000 AdventureCoins or you can choose to farm for the Class. Unlike our other birthday classes, though, the Vampire Lord will return for future Mogloween events.

Mogloween event: The Return of Vampire Queen Safiria?!

Vampire Queen Safiria is one of the most popular Artix Entertainment characters of ALL time ** and has appeared in all of Artix's major 2D games. Regrettably, she fell during the Chaos Saga finale, a casualty of a war in which the stakes (pun intended!) were unclear. I believe, as so many of you have said, that if you had known WHAT you were fighting for, the war would have turned out differently. **

The spirit of Queen Safiria still lingers on, in the shadowy realm where Vampire spirits rest uneasily, near the Void where Sepulchure's spirit was trapped. If we fight hard enough, if we are brave enough, if we are WORTHY enough... we may be able to return her to Lore. ***

If given a chance NOW... would you still fight for her?

October Event Schedule

1: 9th Upholder begins
4: Taco Day returns
6: Mogloween event hub returns
13: Friday the 13th / 15th Anniversary event in Darkovia
20: Part 2 of the Bloodfang Masquerade
27: 2017 Mogloween event

* PHEW! That is a lot of holidays to celebrate in 3 short weeks!
** Spoilers ahead. AVERT YOUR EYES if you haven't finished the Chaos Saga.
*** We should go place some Want Ads: Necromancers needed.

Tags: Alina,

September 15, 2017

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2017

Mechas, Pirates, and Kaiju Corsairs = WAR!

Every September, Pirates around Lore ship out with one goal in mind -- bringing home BIG piles of plunder! Every ship stops at home port to refuel after battle which means… Lolosia is loaded with gold.This Talk Like a Pirate Day, a fleet of fiercesome, Kaiju-loving corsairs plan to take control of Lolosia and ALL the loot! On September 15th, the Defense of Lolosia begins with Rhubarb, Lim, Cysero, the entire crew… and you!

This war is SO BIG, and there are so many farming and shop rewards (not to mention the titan-sized war boss battles) that we've split the event into two weeks.

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2017 Schedule

Friday, September 15: war begins, Quibble's Shop arrives
Tuesday, September 19: Quibble's shop gets more gear + more war farming gear
Friday, September 22: War boss + end cutscene + even MORE rewards

Kaiju War Details

/join Kaiju then click the catapult to head into battle!

Fight monsters to raise the war meter
Unlock additional war quests, monsters, and map frames as the war meter rises*
Each time you turn in one of the war quests, you'll have a chance to get one of the items in the Dark Corsair set (hint: get the war meter up to 25% for a chance to get the armor!)

* Especially when you summon the Skyguard and the Cyserrific Lim MECHA!

Quibble's Shop Returns: ARRR You Readyyyyyyyyyy?!

We know one of the most anticipated shops of the year is the Talk Like a Pirate Day Quibble shop, and this year our artists have outdone themselves! There were so many great ideas, and so many requests for colors and styles that not even a warship would be able to carry all of them! So here's what we're going to do!

Permanently unlock 120+ Dragonborn Naval Commander items

This week, find:

the Dragon King Treasure Chest: get ALL 120+ item from the DragonBorn Naval Commander Sets
the Dragonborn Naval Commanders: 12 different color versions... choose your favorite!
Paladin Naval Commanders
Kaiju Pirate Captain
the returning Naval Commander Class

NEXT week, find:

Obsidian Paladin Naval Commander
Kaiju Naval Commander (free if you have the AC version of the Naval Commander class)
More farming rewards
TWO boss battles

Dragon Chests of Many Colors

Because dragons come in many colors and species, so will the DragonBorn Naval Commander! (In reality, we received SO MANY requests for different colors, we wanted to please everyone!) Talk to Quibble to unlock color-specific Dragon Treasure chests with either the red, orange, gold, green, blue, purple, brown, black, white, crystal, shadow, or pink Dragonborn Naval Commander sets.

(Color) Draconic Treasure Chest: 2000 ACs

1 Dragonborn Naval Commander armor of your color choice
A full set of accessories (helm, cape, weapons)

To get the Blue DragonBorn Naval Commander set, talk to Quibble for the Blue Dragon Treasure Chest, etc

Dragon King Treasure Chest

If you're the one Dragon King to rule them all... we've got you covered! The Dragon King Treasure Chestcontains over 120+ items (all the gear from the 12 variant sets above, plus an exclusive bank pet and bonuses).

Dragon King Treasure Chest: 10000 ACs

9 DNC armor sets
House items (coming next week!)
Damage boosts on items
Exclusive Pirate Wyvern bank pet (coming next week!)

This is a BOATLOAD of loot, but for you collectors (and would-be dragon rulers) out there, the dragon-themed treasure will overflow!

Note: In order to prevent shop abuse, the treasure chests cannot be sold.

War Loot Headin' Yer Way

We've got chestfuls of gear coming for you this week and next! Two full sets of farming rewards were designed by your fellow players: Seth Juron and Daniel PP2!

Farm for Daniel PP2's Dark Corsair set as soon as the war begins
Unlock Seth's Oathbreaker Pirate in the 75% war reward chest (TLaPD 2017 war rare)

If the war hits 100% by next Friday, September 22nd, anyone with the AC version of the Naval Commander CLASS will automatically unlock the 2017 event rare Kaiju Naval Commander (shown in the image above and originally designed by former guest artist, Vokun) for FREE!
Fight to earn Axeros' Deepdweller Pirate gear once the boss fight is unlocked on September 22nd!

Even MORE gear will arrive next week, including the Kaiju Naval Commander, the Obsidian Paladin Naval Commander, Seth Juron's set, and the Kaiju Quibble rider Bank Pet!

Note 2: There is currently a bug with Naval Commanders using an incorrect face template. This will be corrected ASAP.

Tags: Alina,

September 13, 2017

Running a Video Game Studio During a Hurricane 101

Artix: Gather round the fire and let me tell you a story from a long, long, time ago... when hurricane Irma, the most powerful storm in history, came to destroy Artix Entertainment's Secret Lab.
Players: Um. Wasn’t that just this week?
Artix: *coughs* Yes.
Players: OMG! Is this another Storytime special design notes!?
Artix: You better grab a drink....

Running a Video Game Studio in a Hurricane 101

“No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy” - Sun Tzu
"Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson

Hurricane Irma was the most powerful storm in recorded history. We first started hearing about it over Labor Day weekend. Our video game studio, Artix Entertainment, is located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, which if you look at a map, is pretty high up off the west coast. So we felt pretty safe while watching that Kaiju of a storm sloooooowly treading its way towards us like Tonberry from Final Fantasy.

During the week, anxiety built like the bladder meter of an AFK character. Florida declared a state of emergency. Hordes of evacuees fled North like some sort of inverted version of the White Walkers from Game of Thrones. The gas stations ran out of gas. Grocery store shelves were stripped as bare as that time my friend's ex-girlfriend sold all the items off his WoW account.

We thought we were safe, but then the storm continued creeping west, poising itself for a surprise visit to the Tampa Bay area and our "Secret Underground Lab". The hurricane did not even have the courtesy even email Faith in advance (as is customary for scheduling a visit to our game studio).

We had been furiously working on releases in all our games for our upcoming Friday the 13th event in October, which will be our 15 year anniversary (At least we will not need to worry about blowing out all the candles on the cake ourselves.) Our major games have new releases every week, and if you’re reading this, you probably already know we didn’t miss any. So the following is the story of how we did it while prioritizing the safety of our team.

As CEO/Paladin, my first action was to call Fox 13 News and cancel the interview they had scheduled with us-- because we sent the entire team to work from home for the rest of the week. Second, we contacted all our in-house team members to verify that each had a hurricane plan for the coming storm. Anyone who asked for time off to take their families north were of course granted, while the rest of us figured out who was living or not living in a flood zone, so we could band together when the storm hit. This set the stage for what could have been the greatest Gaming LAN party of all time… but not by far. Keep reading!

On the last day before the hurricane, only a small skeleton crew went into the office where we coordinated the final releases of our game projects, and handed over the keys to our staff in Canada (changing our slogan temporarily to “Battle on, eh?”) We also unplugged everything to secure the lab (OMG, do we have a lot of plugs!) The scariest thing to take down was our homemade farm of cloud servers for AdventureQuest 3D, because once they went offline it would be near impossible to do any game updates or fixes. OK, that’s the boring techie stuff. Let’s move on to the actual hurricane.

The Day of the Hurricane was scheduled to reach us EVERYONE in Tampa was tense and freaked out! It didn’t matter who you talked to or where you went, you knew exactly what it felt like to be on an episode of the Walking Dead. The eerie, empty roads. The uncertainty of where and when the hurricane would land. Up to this point, the news had completely failed to call where it would land, through no fault of their own. The hurricane had some crazy RNG.

At my home, jokingly called “Castle Krieger” -- both because it looks like a castle and has a moat, and more because Zazul checked in on Facebook calling it that name and everyone’s been doing it since -- was to provide shelter for three families.

Stryche, who runs Heromart, showed up with a power drill and some plywood he managed to secure (and we’re not going to ask how). We started boarding up the castle walls, emptying the moat, and throwing all of the pool furniture into the pool. We did the inside windows and accidentally made a giant westworld logo (“doesn’t look like anything to me")

Not far away, Alina who runs AdventureQuest Worlds, went to fill up sandbags for her neighbor and found all of the locations were out. Driving home, she saw some teenagers at an abandoned construction site filling up garbage bags with sand. Alina, realizing this was a pretty good idea (even if not entirely legal) went to join them and help. Then a police car showed up! Everyone looked up trepidatiously, expecting handcuffs, when the police officer reached into his car, pulled out a giant load of sandbags, and with a nod, drove off. Normally we make fun of the government, but man did bring their A-game. In fact, everywhere you looked, you saw everyone helping each other the best they could. It was really heartwarming... until you remembered the impending doom.

Back at Castle Krieger, the sun had set. Massive gusts of wind and downpour started. The power violently flickered on and off for an hour. Of the four children staying with us, my son, who just turned 3, looked up at me and said, “What happened?” I took a small flashlight out of my pocket and said “whenever the power goes out, you say flashlight and I’ll hand this to you.” When the power comes back on, you say “all done” hand it back to me.” He bravely did exactly that. And then, at 11 PM, the power died for good (and evil). At which point, my son looked at me, determining if he should be nervous or not, and I smiled and said “do you remember all those times we ran around the house with flashlights… this is what we’ve been training for.”

We were well stocked for the storm, and my home has a generator BUT it never came on. Stryche and I went out to inspect the fuze box and tried everything we could do to fix it. I don’t remember which one of us asked, “We’re going to go out in this storm and try to fix the generator, aren’t we?” No one said anything, we just smiled. As Stryche was standing there in his raincoat and flashlight, I said, “you know, this is how every horror film starts, right?” After an hour we realized we had not put sufficient points into our Generator Repair skill tree and decided we were resigned to experience the storm by candlelight and radio, kind of like that kid in Neverending Story up in the attic. “Atreyyyyyyuuuuueeee!”

Even though the power was out, the cell towers continued to function perfectly, meaning we were in contact with all the staff, our family, and friends and -- I cannot stress this enough -- able to check on them. There was GREAT rejoicing when it was announced the hurricane had dropped down to a category 1 or less. It felt like our team had won the Superbowl (again?) The eye of the storm drifted east towards Lakeland, where AdventureQuest 3D artist Thyton lives. He and his sword and spartan shield defended his home (and probably did a better job weakening his home than the 50,000 people who joined the Facebook group to shoot at it. /facepalm. Hopefully most of them joined just to watch what happened).

Now, this is not our first hurricane, and if you’ve been through one too, the most dangerous part is not the storm itself, but what happens AFTER. There’s flooding, the sewer backs up, the roads are cut off because the trees and power lines (like when one too many creepers walked into your house in Minecraft). Then there’s the alligators. I’m not joking. They get confused and just walk everywhere.

I can’t even express the joy of opening the door and looking out at the sunlight in the morning. It was like that moment in the Matrix 3 where they jumped up over the clouds, except nobody got impaled afterwards.

I was able to get the generator back online, in addition to powering a fridge full of milk for my 1 year old daughter, I could sit at the counter on my laptop typing out the unfinished AdventureQuest 3D design notes and newsletters. AdventureQuest 3D artist Dage, built a fire to brew up some coffee and spent the day guarding the animals at his house (a zoo that includes a bearded iguana dragon and enough dogs to make a sled team). The smart thing to do immediately after a hurricane is… NOTHING. Not unless of course, you’re an official working on clearing the roads, restoring power, or in a real emergency.

While I always write in a tongue and cheek way, this was a terrible situation. We were lucky, but there are a lot of people who lost their homes, possessions, and lives. Our hearts go out to everyone who suffered loss from this Hurricane. And we celebrate the heroes who did whatever it took to keep people safe. One interesting story is my friend Hannah who saved a friend using Twitter.

4 million people across the state do not have power and Warlic, Dage, Faith, and I are a few of them. The Lab has power though. We got our video game studio back online and running. As I write this, the coders are working on the new class improvements for AdventureQuest 3D.

I was really impressed by how the team came together and helped each other and their neighbors to help each other through the storm while simultaneously getting their releases out on time. AdventureQuest Worlds had the climactic finale to their Shadow Dragon of Envy boss battle. DragonFable players returned to Swordhaven to save the Queen. The original AdventureQuest heroes began the new and improved quest for The Cure in Darkovia. Right now, HeroMart is shipping out all the latest orders and our player support team is going through the overwhelming number of messages from the last few days to help out everybody in need.

Thank you to all of you who sent us concerned messages on Twitter and Facebook-- even though the storm weakened by the time it hit us, the threat was very real and your kind words gave us a real life buff of strength. We are truly grateful for you and our amazing online community of gamers.

Join me tomorrow for some talk on the upcoming... Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Tags: Alina,

September 08, 2017

Hurricane Irma: AE Status Update

Artix Team + Lab: Safe and Secure

Hello all! Thank you (and everyone else in-game, on the forum, and on social media) who have sent us wishes of luck and good will as we prepare for Hurricane Irma's arrival. Hurricane Irma is a record-breaking, very serious storm BUT we are as safe and secure as possible.

Artix and I have checked in with the crew here in Florida -- everyone's right and tight and as prepared as can be. Not too many are evacuating/leaving, but the ones who are have good, safe places to go.The lab's secure, we've all got supplies.

We sent people home yesterday to telecommute and to conserve gas, since there are major shortages in the area. Then Artix, Rolith, and I made sure the Lab was locked up tight today.

See Artix's video of the empty-but-secure lab here!

We will get through this, and we'll do everything we can to make sure our family, friends, neighbors, and homes get through as safely as possible. If you know of anyone affected by the storm, or who has been affected by any of the recent natural disaster/emergencies and are able to help them out, be a real-life Hero and lend a hand where you can.

We are still planning to release -- AQWorlds' update will go out tonight thanks to Reens (she runs our weekly releases and lives in Canada). AQ3D's update went out yesterday.

We here are like the post office - neither rain, nor hail, nor sleet, nor snow can keep us from Battling On! (However, you may experience a delay in getting replies from Player Support if power goes out in any major way.)

Tags: Alina,

September 05, 2017

This weekend: Battle Maleth, Dragon of Envy

The 7 Deadly Dragons Saga Continues!

Maleth, Shadow Dragon of Envy, holds the legendary Dragon Crown. There’s just one problem - none of the clans accepts his rule. This weekend, log in and face Maleth as the 7 Deadly Dragons saga continues. Take the crown, bring him down, and prevent civil war between the dragon clans!

Legend of the Dragon Crown

Dragons of all elements and races know the legend of the Dragon Crown - only one worth of ruling ALL dragonkind can wear it. Most assumed it was just a myth… until now. Maleth, the Darkness Dragon of Envy, wears the crown and claims the throne.

Right now, civil war on the verge of erupting - even IF the dragons wanted a ruler (spoiler: they don't), they would not choose a selfish, deceptive creature like Maleth.

Last week, your mission to stop Maleth began with:

Gaining entrance into Maleth's castle... by any means necessary
Quelling an uprising by villagers angry at the draconic destruction
Convincing the dragon clans to support YOU instead of their own champions

This weekend, the fight to dethrone Maleth continues:

Battle suspicious guards and servants to progress through the castle
Take down 3 of Maleth's most trusted warriors as you ascend to the throne room
Face down Maleth, Shadow Dragon of Envy with Mariel at your side

New: DragonKing Warrior Set

No matter who holds the crown, we know who the REAL dragon royalty is… you! Find the DragonKing Warrior set in your Featured Gear Shop, available for AdventureCoins until October 6th, 2017!

And after watching the final Dragon of Envy cutscene, you'll be able to farm for the pieces of the Prince of Dragons armor set, the Key of Envy* and a host of other reward drops!

* If you have the Heptagonal Chest from /battleundere, you may start to hear some rustling and tap-tap-tapping coming from inside. Collect all 7 keys (one from each of the 7 Deadly Dragons) to unlock it!

Tags: Alina,

September 05, 2017

This Month: Unlock the Golden Raider Set

Upgrade with a Membership or AdventureCoins for exclusive gear!

Starting this Friday, September 1st, at 6 PM EST, buy any AdventureCoin or Membership package of $10 USD or more to unlock the exclusive Golden Raider September upgrade bonus items! Get the Golden Raider gear and the Naval Reaper set with a 12 month membership or 12000 AC package.

Naval Reaper (front) and Golden Raider (back) sets

12000 AC or 12 month membership packages: Naval Reaper + Golden Raider

Get more gear and save more of your real-world gold with our largest upgrade packages! Unlock the following gear with our 12000 AdventureCoin or 12 month membership packages:

2 armors: Naval Reaper and Golden Raider
3 helms
5 weapons
3 capes
Skull 'n Bones Chest pet
7 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory

2000 and 5000 AC or 3 and 6 month membership package: Golden Raider

1 Armor: Golden Raider
2 Helms
2 Cape
2 Weapons
5 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory

All packages will also come with the Golden Raider character page badge, so you can show all your friends who REALLY owns the seven seas! The September bonus gear goes rare September 29th (when 9th upholder begins), so get it while it is still here!

Tags: Alina,

September 01, 2017

September Event Calendar

This Month: Dragons and Pirates and Birthdays!

Our summer saga, the 7 Deadly Dragons, has got the entire team fired up for our August releases! You'll battle alongside Galanoth, head of the Order of DragonSlayers, to take down 2 more of the 7 fiercest dragons our world has ever known!