November 15, 2018

Black Friday 2018 Spoilers

We're really bad at secrets.

Late last night, a few of my Twitter followers got a sneak peek of one of this year's Black Friday Classes - the Abyssal Angel's Shadow. A lot of happiness and a lot of unhappy questions started flowing in on Twitter, in-game, and Discord. One of the most common was...

Why are you doing a Black Friday variant of a rare class?!

Thousands of new heroes start playing AQWorlds every day. They'll never be able to get most of the exact same cosmetic items that you, reading this now, have, because they are perma-rare. With cosmetic items, that's ok. You don't need those to experience the game fully. When it comes to classes (aka gameplay), though... you do.

In order to keep as many players as possible on as even a playing field as possible, we're releasing a new version of the Abyssal Angel Class. It will have the same skills, but new art, a new name, and new skill names. That way, new players (or older players who missed their chance), will have a way to obtain that same type/power of gameplay.

Though we released rare classes in the past, in hindsight, we should not have -- we've locked a huge percentage of our players away from a lot of really fun game mechanics. We're correcting that mistake in the fairest way possible -- by keeping the art and certain parts of the skills (like names/descriptions) rare.

Important Points

• Goal: to be as fair to as many people as possible -- both the ones who have the original art/skill combo and ALL the many players who came after them.*
• Rare classes will never return in exactly the same way (armor art + skills combination). 
• People who have the original Abyssal Angel class will get this version for free. (That way, our class collectors do not feel like they are being charged twice for the same set of skills.)
• The Black Friday version of the Abyssal Angel class will have the different armor art and different skill names, but will still have the same power, skills, animations, and gameplay mechanics.
• The Abyssal Angel's Shadow Class will be seasonal, and will return every Black Friday, to give future heroes a chance to get the class.

Ok, but... What ELSE are you releasing?

Good question! The final list of Black Friday and Cyber Monday gear has not been decided. It won't be until I get to the Lab Saturday morning, coffee in hand, and lock down the final list. But if you want a sneak-peek of what will definitely be released on Black Friday...

• Yo Lae's HollowBorn Evoker collection **
• Bido's Darkest Ninja set
• Dark Void Paladin Katanas
• Shadow Imp Tail
• Obsidian OmniKnight Blade
• Obsidian No Class ***
• Obsidian Pirate Mage
• Half-Off and Cyber Unarmed****
• Plus all of the seasonal Black Friday

And for Cyber Monday we'll have...

• Nakana Rei's all-new Mecha Set
• CyberCaster armor
• and more!

But what will I FIGHT?!

Next Wedneday, November 21st, all our seasonal Thanksgiving events will return, along with an all-new war, written and designed by AQW Tester and Quest Designer, Asuka! Oishii's brought the food, and the members of the Good and Evil alliance will bring the FEUD!

* If you used your Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness or Platinum Item of Donated Awesomeness to get the Abyssal Angel Class, you can write in to Player Support and choose a new item.

** This is a 5k seasonal Collection Chest, and will come with 26 items this year. Next year, we'll add even more to the chest, so if you get gear this year, you'll get next year's chest update for free. All of the items in the Hollowborn Evoker collection will also be available to buy individually.

*** You can be a stylish peasant dressed in all black and still have No Class.

**** Members, here's your chance to add to your collection of invisible Unarmed weapons.