Design Notes

November 30, 2011

Chaos Beast!

Prepare for this week's Boss Fight

Prepare your swords and spells as this week we will face the Chaos Beast of the Bloodtusk Ravine. Alina posted details on the Chaos Beast last night and will be posting the skills for the two new classes later today so be sure to check back. Also, Beleen just posted the 2011 Cookie Contest below! Meanwhile, the question overwhelming my Facebook and Twitter is about the....

Contest Winner... wait... WINNERS!?

All day yesterday, the staff hovered over the game servers like stealthed rogue archers with deadly aim waiting for the moment the winner would come online. So, naturally, the moment we shut down our computers and left the lab to drive home... BOTH WINNERS suddenly came online. O_O

Now, it should be noted that in most contests like this that are run by other organizations, you never hear what happens until after the entire contest is completely done. They just post pictures of what had happened and craft a good "marketing" story to tell. But we do things differently here at AE. We tell you everything. And we tell you as it is happening. So as of right now, here is what is happening:

The original winner emailed us back. We have not received an email from the 2nd winner. Which means it is possible that, for whatever reason, they have not gotten it, and may not know they won. Although both have indeed logged into the game within the last 24 hours. So I am going to do what I suspect you would do if you were in my plate-covered shoes. *nods* We are going to have two winners! Two wishes. Two chances for unbelievably embarrasing online stories that will haunt me for the rest of my gaming life. (Why is everyone smiling after that last comment?) So here is what will happen next....

"Fake pic" created by the player Dragon from Twitter
(Note: Dragon is not the winner nor a mod, but the image he made really made me laugh!)

Once the 1st winner makes their wish... we will announce both winners. (Which may be how the second winner finds out who they are.) I cannot say this strongly enough: Do not get rid of your golden cheezburger!

Twitter/Forum Question: Do you put your shirt or pants on first?

November 29, 2011

Chaos Beast Rises Friday!

Krellenos sets Chaos in motion!

Good. Evil. And CHAOS! All forces are in play this week as Krellenos reveals his plans for your Hero, the Alliance Leaders, and all of Lore! Oh, and did we mention he just happens to have a 20-foot tall Serpentress at his command? That lowly snake creature has morphed into a Chaorrupted Bloodtusk legend: the Gruaige Baas!

This Friday, journey under the heart of Bloodtusk Ravine through a mystical cavern system to find the Alliance Leaders, Krellenos, and the Chaos Beast itself! If you fail, not only the Alliance but all of Lore will be torn apart by fear and the certainty that their loved ones will betray them... just as Krellenos deceived his!

Your future rests on what these caves contain.

Draw upon your skills as a Hero to DEFY the destiny Krellenos Sees for you!

Horc Evader and Troll Spellsmith Classes!

Whether you prefer Melee or Magic battling, you'll find a class that will stun you! (So you better make sure to put your points in Dodge!) Tomorrow Cysero will post the skill writeups for the Horc Evader and Troll Spellsmith classes! Yesterday Artix posted a tantazling concept sketch Dage the Evil drew up for them. Below you'll find the fully-Flashed art, fully coded and ready for testing!

Both classes are available by repping up to Rank 10 (in Horc for Evader, in Troll for Spellsmith), but we're also offering AC versions of each class! Cysero and Dumoose went head to head today testing the classes' balance in PvP.

With that, I'm signing off to go email Nulgath and Samba the cutscenes they need to animate, then finish off the last of the cranberry sauce I made yesterday. (Who says it's only for Thanksgiving?!) Enjoy the previews and see you in... a few hours!

PS: Make sure you check out Cysero's post on AE's donation to Child's Play! It's all thanks to YOU guys that we were able to become Platinum sponsors! Gamers helping kids... who could grow up to be gamers. It is a beautiful cycle!

PPS: If you're up to date on the Bloodtusk storyline, why not head to Bloodtusk and check out Khasaanda? Looks like Krellenos has vanished and his sister is revealing some all-new information that should tantalize and tease with hints of events to come!

November 29, 2011

Picking a new Winner

Here we go....

Yesterday, we all waited on the end of our seats to see who this mysterious winner was. Unfortunately, the winner our random algorithym picked yesterday did not log on nor respond to the email I sent him. It is a shame, because this player was as a member, had a few refills on AdventureCoins, logged into AQWorlds over 3,000 times, and in total had 30 chances to win in this contest. However, it was also very probable that the winner could have been a brand new player with only 1 chance to win. That is how the random system works! As promised, it is noon and we are now running the process to select the next winner. Good luck everyone! (You did hold onto your Golden Cheezburger, right?)

"Zhoom... pull the lever again, please."

*The sound of a virtual lever is heard in cyberspace*

NEW WINNER SELECTED!

P.S. The reason we are not announcing the name of the winner is to prevent hacking attempts, greifing, spoofing of the winner. We can see when any player is logged into the game, and the last time you played. So we sent the new winner an email and are actively sitting, watching for the winner to log into AQWorlds. Like last time, this winner has 24 hours. The name of the winner will be announced after they make their wish. Either way, be sure to hold onto those Golden Cheezburgers!

November 28, 2011

CAN I HAS WINNER!?

Waiting to verify the Winner

We just removed the Golden Cheezburger from the shop and ran the super big crazy database query to create the list and randomly selected a winner.  I am very proud to say that this contest was conducted extremely fairly. Important: Do not remove the Golden Cheezburger from your inventory. 36,134 players have a Golden Cheezburger in their inventory and are participating in this contest. We are attempting to contact the winner now (by all means possible including email)... the wait is killing us all O_O.   The winner will be announced AFTER they make their wish... as it may have awesome, or interesting and/or unexpected results for everyone possessing a Golden Cheeseburger. Trust me, you DO NOT want to get rid of the Golden Cheezburger out of your inventory. If we are unable to contact the winner in 24 hours, we will have to select another.
See the I CAN HAS MOD Contest Page

The Golden Cheezburger's News!

The description on the item suddenly changed: "WHAT!? This item is pulsing and glowing with a strange magic energy. Something is going to happen...."

This week in AQWorlds!

Coming this Friday.... The Bloodtusk Ravine Chaos Beast and 2 new classes: Hork Evader and Troll Spell Smith. Also, we will be premiering the NEW AQWorlds TV commercial "Rawr".

Concepts for the new classes by Dage

Update: Winner Announced at Noon

Alina here to let you know that we're planning on announcing the winner tomorrow at 12PM server time! We want the winner to be the first to know how just how excited we are to hang out with them! Once THEY know, and they make their wish, then YOU guys will get to see just what's in store... for them AND for you! (Remember to KEEP your Golden Cheezburgers!)

November 25, 2011

Turkey, Terror and Triumph

Are you ready to get your Feast On?!

This year's Harvest Feast is all about being together and giving thanks! It's too bad that Drakath doesn't care about either of those things! He's sent the Twins to taint each of the three Harvest feasts you'll be attending with Chaos!

Just /join Feast to:

• Dine with Alteon and watch as his Knights take holiday hunger to a whole new level! It looks like they really DO want to serve the King... for dinner!
• You and all your friends have been invited to share the holiday feast with Yulgar, Grams, and Aria! But when the Twins lure Grams to the Chaos-side (they have Chaookies!), you'll find out that this feast is a BEAST!
• And members will get to join Artix and his parents (his parents?!) for a dead-ly delicious time in Doomwood!

With a cornycopia of quest rewards and monster drops, there'll be leftovers for any Hero who wants to fill their backpack AND stomach!

Black Friday Bonanza!

Every year in the United States, stores around the country stock their shops with steals and deals! And if YOU have gold on hand, you'll want to head to BattleOn for the Blackest Black Friday shop we've ever done!

Check out epic new equips like:

• Blackzerker Armor!
• Shade of Aww!
• The Half-fro Helm!
• Black Light of Destiny!
• J6's Black Handguns!
• And more!

Bloodtusk Chaos Beast is Coming!

If you aren't caught up on the Bloodtusk storyline, head on over to /bloodtusk Ravine! The Chaos Beast is arriving next week along with a gorgeous map and crazy-cool gear! (And once you learn what Krellenos has planned for the residents of Bloodtusk... you'll see why Drakath chose him!)

We hope you all have had an excellent Thanksgiving and Black Friday with your friends and family! (Or a super-awesome regular Thursday and Friday, if you're not in the United States.) We are so thankful for all of you who continue to play and support our games! Without you guys, we couldn't make AQWorlds or any of our other games. So, this Thanksgiving, we're thankful for YOU!

BattleOn and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

There Is So Much To Be Thankful For!

Tomorrow is the American Thanksgiving Holiday. It's a tradition that began when some of the first colonists came to this land and sat down with the natives who helped them survive the early brutal winters.

There has been a lot of time between here and there and a lot has happened, but one thing has not changed... we set aside this day each year to step back, take a look at our lives and really appreciate all that we have.To be truly grateful that we have food to eat, water to drink, people to share it with, a home to return to or even just for being alive.

Everyone celebrates differently, but usually there is a big meal with a lot of friends and family and generally some Turkey (or Tofurkey, I've done that a few times). As usual, we invite you and your famalies to share in our Harvest Festival (Oishii is doing the cooking again but Samba has arrived to help her out this year).

In today's release you will find all the previous year's maps and adventures as well as returning seasonal rare armors, weapons, pets and other items. You can visit Scott the Pilgrim over by the Parade floats and check out his seasonal merge shop.

You once again have the chance to get the seasonal Kung Food Fighter Achievement Badge by pelting your fellow players with food and Members can unlock the Turdraken Member Only Area with its own special unlockable shop and Seasonal house!

You will need to do the previous years releases to access Friday's all new content, but it couldn't hurt to stop by and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving too!

Friday, ALL NEW HARVEST ADVENTURE!

The day after Thanksgiving in the United States is called Black Friday. It's the first official day of the holiday shopping season and stores go CRAZY with sales and half-off deals for this one day only!

Lucky for you, we will be keeping OUR seasonal Black Friday Shop open for more than one day. You will be able to get all of last year's seasonal Black Friday Rares, plus a bunch of brand new items, all black, for this special day!

We will ALSO be introducing this year's special Thanksgiving Adventure where you visit some of your friends and help them give thanks, including Yulgar, his daughter Aria, his mom Grams, King Alteon and his three beautiful princess daughters and Artix's parents!

Black Friday HeroMart Sale!

Faith from HeroMart wanted me to pass this message along:

"HeroMart will be selling a bundle pack of AE merchandised worth over $100 for only $49.95 from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. The sale starts November 25th at 12:01 EST and ends November 28th at 11:59pm. The bundles will include the MQ Artbook, AQ Novel, NPC CD, ED t-shirt, HS t-shirt, and ED poster."

Quibble said that he will be staying for another week at least but probably not much more than that.

Child's Play

If you guys have been reading the Design Notes for the last few years you know that every year around this time I run around the Underground Lab and remind people that Child's Play is now up and running and to donote whatever they can.

Since 2003 Child’s Play, has remained a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in their network of over 70 hospitals worldwide. Over the years, you as a community have answered the call and come together to raise millions of dollars for it.

This is not just any charity. This is gamers and game developers from all over the world coming together to make a real difference help some people who really need it.

For the past several years, thanks to your generosity in the form of Member Upgrades and AdventureCoins, you have made it possible for Artix Entertainment to join foces with some of the biggest names in gaming by becoming a corperate sponsor of Child's Play.

This year is no exception! Thanks to you (Special thanks to all the 3rd Upholders!) we were able to help support Child's Play with another Platinum Sponsorship! This year means more to me than every before. I was able to contact All Children's Hospital right here in Tampa Bay and get them in touch with Child's Play. Now they are one of the many hospitals that will benefit from the charity and... from you. Maybe you want to get in touch with your local children's hospital and let them know about Child's Play too!

Within the next few days you will see the Artix Entertainment Logo appear in the Platinum Sponsor area on the website and every time you see it, I want each of you who have contributed to the continued growth of AQW to feel a real sense of pride knowing that you have also selflessly helped some kids who really need it.

On behalf of everyone on the AQW team, and everyone here at Artix Entertainment, I want to thank all of the AQWorlds Members,  AdventureQuest Guardians, DragonFable DragonLords, MechQuest Star Captains, Epic Duel supporters and everyone who has purchased any ACs, ZTs, DCs, and NGs...Thank you for making this possible.

You guys are the best! Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2011

Cornycopia 2011 this Friday!

Are Harvest feasts SUPPOSED to be this Chaotic?!

Family, togetherness and... battling CHAOS?! That's not how Harvest festival dinners are supposed to work! But this year, Chaos will chaorrupt each of the 3 harvest feasts to which you've been invited.* Prepare to dine with (not on!) King Alteon and the princesses, feast with Artix and his parents (how has he not slain all the zombies in Lore yet?!), and celebrate Cornycopia with Yulgar, Aria, and Grams (surely Grams will be ok, right?)!

All that's missing is... YOU!**

Too bad Drakath can't let this festival of family and thankfulness pass without making Trouble! Prepare to battle Chaorrupted Pactoganol Knights and Zombies, Bandits, and a special boss that's gone from Feast to BEAST! 

* To meet Artix's parents and join in their Harvest feasting, you'll need to be a member!
** For an awesome large-size family portrait version of our Harvest NPCs, check out this pic by @scrib_ on Twitter!

 Seasonal Rares and All-New Equips!

Cornycopia comes with epic pilgrim equips, nifty native gear, and awesomely edible-looking accessories! 

Returning from previous years are:

• Twigwam, TurkeyDrake, and Butterbomb pets
• Turdraken Scale Sword, Fallen Leaf Sword
• Pilgrim Wizard, Pilgrim Warrior, and Potato Sack Armors
• Turkey Head and Chef Helms
• And much more!

NEW Cornycopia seasonal rares:

• TurkeySlayer Armor
• Turdraken Hunter
• Native Assassin
• And more to fill a Hero's backpack... and stomach!

The Blackest Friday Shop!

Black Friday is a time for real life wicked deals and super-sales, and it's no different in AQWorlds! This Friday's holiday shop will contain all of your favorite gear sold for gold, but colored blacker than Gravelyn's heart!

On sale Friday:

• Dual Blackerris
• Black Ice Reborn
• Black Rune Edge
• Mammoth Crusher Black
• Shade of Aww
• Blackzerker Armor
• J6's Black Handguns

Happy Holiday Deals at HeroMart!

We know you love real life swag (who doesn't like getting +5 to Charisma with an Artix Logo shirt?!), and to show you how much we appreciate your support for the battle-booty we stock, we're excited to offer Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales at HeroMart!

• Sale on Black Friday, Nov. 25!
• Sale on Cyber Monday, Nov. 28!
• $102 worth of old merchandise on sale for $49!

Contest reminder!

The winners of the I Can Has Mod Contest and the AQWorlds Membership Giveaway will be announced this Monday! If you like fun and games (and if you're here, you probably do), then these contests are right up your alley! For more information, check out these links:

• The I CAN HAS MOD contest!
• The AQWorlds Membership giveaway!

Chaos Beast preview! (Comes NEXT WEEK!)

Harbingers of death and disease, Bloodtusk's Chaos Lord felt the Serpentress was the perfect symbol of his reign of Chaos! After last week's Bloodtusk release, you were left with only the knowledge that you had to make plans, to strategize. Now you know what you will face!

It is death to look into her eyes, but it is complete and total Chaorruption if you taste her venom! Be on guard next week, when Bloodtusk Ravine comes under assault from the Chaos Beast!

Tomorrow's release!

Get ready for all of your old favorite Cornycopia releases to return tomorrow night! Do you miss the Beleen Balloon? Have a hankering to taste some turdraken? ... Or just take it down?! Then make sure to log in tomorrow night for the first of the Harvest fun!

November 22, 2011

Toys"R"Us

"Dude, where's my car--ds?"

A player from the U.S. messaged me on Twitter last night saying that they went to their local Toys"R"Us and was told that they did not have our card game or mod packs. So, I googled the store at his location and called it up on the phone! Shockingly, they told me it was not in the system. O_O But I know for a fact that EVERY Toys"R"Us in the states now has our card games. So I asked them to go to the area with the Pokemon and Baseball cards. Sure enough... there were 3 card games and 11 mod packs were there. Weird! So, if you are looking for the cards, head to the baseball card isle. Some players have told me that in some stores, the game is up near the cashiers, too.

Oh... and the 2012 Calendar is now starting to appear in Toys"R"Us stores across the U.S., too. There is very limited supply... possibly only 3 to 5 per store! (It will be in the card game section, too!)

What if I live outside of the U.S.?

The card game and mod packs are available now and shipping anywhere in the world at www.HeroMart.com . (We are working on getting in international locations, but it will be a year at least - so HeroMart is your best option right now!)

November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving release x 2

I can almost smell the Tur'Draken

You know, battling food and blowing up horrifying food abominations popularized by the NFL has been a long standing tradition in AQWorlds this time of year. However, I have always felt that the Thanksgiving offering we serve you in-game needed less cheese and more epic-sauce. That is why the AQWorlds team is creating 3 ALL NEW adventures for you. And they are coming out this Friday! Alina just announced that the 3rd area is a Member area that has... wait a second. *yells into across the lab* "ALINA....? Did you really write a series of quests about my zombie parents!?" That should be... um... well, I always felt Thanksgiving needed more undead.

Wednesday Releases

All of our games will be releasing their new quests, items, and updates on Wednesday instead of Friday. AQWorlds and DragonFable will be having double releases this week. (Crazy considering the team only has 3 days to do it...  Go! Go! Go!) On wednesday night, Oishii will return in an encore of our Harvest Festival from the past three years. Be sure to bring your Pigrim armor. (Is that what Scott Pilgrim wears?)

Black Friday and the 1/2 off shops!

This Friday, is the infamous shopping day known as "Black Friday." Retail stores across the U.S. open early, and frenzied shoppers rush in like a swam of Horks to take advantage of special promotions. We have a little tradition in-game... half off weapons! Literally. *dramatic pause* (If you are new to the game, Yulgar actually releases a bunch of our popular in-game weapons that are cut in half.) Also, we will be releasing tons and tons of black armor and items.

YOU CAN HAZ MOD Contest

The first drawing will be held for the special contest next Monday. Good luck to everyone holding onto their golden cheezburgers. Hope you win! (I really do. I want to hang out with all of you!) A lot of people have noted that you get 1 wish, and are anxious to see the "Wish Menu." But, I think it will be more fun to have the winner make a wish BEFORE they see the menu. Let us call it... a test to see what their heart is really made of.

P.S. This picture on Facebook has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. But feel free to share!

November 18, 2011

The Face of Chaos

Chaos Lord Revealed!

For K'Thurr! For Arashtii! For BLOOD! Innocent Trolls and Horcs have been Chaorrupted, and the tribes are starting to fall apart from the inside. But when the Chaos Lord reveals their identity, Sokrakiis, Kagg, and all the residents of Bloodtusk see they need to join forces to protect their past... or their future will be consumed by Chaos!

Join /ancienttemple to head straight to this week's release! You'll need to be caught up in the storyline if you want to find out who the Chaos Lord is!

Quibble Coinbiter Returns!

Your favorite time-traveling salesman is back in BattleOn with a backpack FULL of Bloodtusk-themed gear! From the Horc DeathMonger and Trollish High Mage armors to the Horc Jom Dat and Mana Rune Aura, Quibble is bringing you the wickedest Ravine rares, so get them while you still can!

• Horc DeathMonger and Human DeathMonger
• Trollish High Mage and Human High Mage 
• Mystical Warrior set (member-only)
• Horc Jom Dat (free player gold)
• And so much more!

Undead Legion Update!

The UnderWorld rises! Dage the Evil's Undead Legion surges forth once more! Prepare yourselves for TWO new epically evil armors in the Undead Legion merge shop!

• Undead Assassin Armor - 200,000 gold and 100 Legion Tokens
• Legiom Judge Armor - 300,000 and 200 Legion Tokens

HeroMart - Swag for Heroes AND Villains!

Real-life swag from HeroMart will tell the world that you're a Legend of Lore! Head over to HeroMart to get epic equips to wear, the BattleOn BattleCard Game Mod Packs (additions to our chao-razy card game) to play with your friends, the 2012 AQWorlds Calendar, and much more!*

• BattleOn Battle Card DoomWood and Chaos Mod Packs! (Buy both for PaladinSlayer Class)
• 2012 AQWorlds Calendar! (Comes with the ChronoCorruptor Class)
• Artix Entertainment Logo T-Shirt (Comes with a character page achievement)
• And more swag than you can swing a sword at!

* We apologize, but Paladin Toilet Paper is still sold out.

Pet o' the Month: Harvest Dragon!

Burning leaves, chilly nights, Harvest feasts... and the Harvest Dragon pet! November is the month of the dragon and a time to be thankful, and WE are thankful that all of you keep playing and supporting AQWorlds! So head on over to Aria's Pet Shop to purchase the Harvest Dragon pet!

MystCroft leaves on Monday!

The mists around Mystcroft grow thicker, and this Monday they will consume the town entirely! For a thrilling, chilling, delicous tale of evil and demonic desserts, head to MystCroft now to get your Mogloween 2011 rares!

I Can Has Mod Contest!

Have you heard that YOU can be a (temp) mod AND hang out with one for two hours? Artix is the first mod to volunteer for the "I Can Has Mod" contest, so if you want to talk to Lore's preeminent Paladin, get a sweet custom weapon, and BATTLE ON, check out this page for contest details!

November 18, 2011

The Cloud

The fluffiest server technology EVAR!

Before tonight's brand new AQWorlds release with Trolls, Horcs, Quibble Coinbiter and one of the most wicked armors ever to be seen in the game.... I would love to tell you a little about what has been going on behind the scenes*. Specifically we are starting to use "cloud computing" for parts of our game network. Which is sorta funny.. because, from your perspective your AE games and characters already live in a "cloud" which can be accessed from anywhere you go in the world.

* Like making Sushi with a longsword? (Facebook link)

The HOURLY pushup clock

As you know we moved to Secret Underground Lab #4 a few weeks ago. There is a GIANT bell that rings and plays songs every hour (Including a tune from the Godfather and the soap opera "The Young and the Restless." - I WISH I was maiking this up.) So, Thyton decided that EVERY hour of the day, when the bell rings, we all go into the hall and do pushups, situps, and whatever crazy workout he announces* *. In fact.. it JUST went off... BRB. <pause> Back! Each day the workout has become more... um, intense. We started using weights. But some people do not have weights. So we use the heavy boxes full of the AQ Novels from HeroMart and started lifting those. How badly do you want me to post a video of this for you next week***?

** If Thyton keeps this up we will have to change our slogan to "Our game developers can beat up your game developers."
*** Not to be confused with the video of me waking up in the morning that I accidentally linked instead of Twitter a few minutes ago (Embarrassing! Fixed!)

Did I really change the name on EVERY CARD?

It is a random trivia fact that Miko & I used photoshop to create the cards that are now available in U.S. based Target and CVS stores. Some people believe crazy marketing experts create all of the stuff hanging on store shelves... nope... just us. (We do everything ourselves, even our TV commercials.) But, LOL, each time we made a new card we changed the name on it! It started with AdventureQuest, then AdventureQuest Worlds, then BattleOn Games, then Artix Entertainment. There are now 8 versions of the cards floating around out there in stores! The last version with Artix Entertainment is going to be our final one. (Seriously!) But we wanted you to know that literally all of the different cards now work with ANY and ALL of our games.  Each card will work with any game, even if the game is not listed on the card. Including AQWorlds! So, if you happen to be writing a letter to Santa or some other magical gift-delivery expert, you should probably phrase it like this: "Dear INSERT NAME HERE, I would like a pre-paid card from a store that says either AdventureQuest, AdventureQuest Worlds, BattleOn Games, Artix Entertainment or um... or is in any way usable with AE games." Be sure to say please and leave milk and cookies out. (Bear trap is optional.)

Forum/Twitter/FaceBook Question: Have you ever seen one of our cards in a store? (Bonus points if you used the card as a clever way to meet a cute girl/guy "Oh yeah.. I know the guy who made this. I message him online all the time. Hey... you know what, we should totally go slay the Red Dragon together some time.)

November 14, 2011

Chaos Lord Revealed Friday

It's not who you think!

The uneasy peace in Bloodtusk Ravine has been shattered... but it is beyond repair? Journey into ancient ruins, where Trolls and Horcs once lived peacefully, but which has been long abandoned.

The Chaos Lord is here to twist that lingering spirit of harmony, chaorrupting the spirits of fallen Horc and Troll Guardians! But they aren't the only ones who have been defiled - tragedy will strike both Horc and Troll camps this week and YOU will need to help them see past the Chaorruption in themselves if they are going to have ANY future at all!

You'll also need to battle your own sense of betrayal and injustice; the Chaos Lord's identity will have you questioning everything you know about the Trolls, Horcs, and loyalty!

Quibble Returns Friday!

Quibble Coinbiter, beloved purveyor of gear from the past, present, and future, is returning to BattleOn this Friday! What will he have in stock for his Bloodtusk appearance? Who knows! But his backpack is sure to be full of gorgeous gear for mages and wicked warrior-type equips!

Previews to come throughout the week, so be sure to keep an eye on the Design Notes and our Twitter accounts!

Legion Lovers - Rejoice!

Dage's Undead Legion merge shop will be getting an update this Friday! We're excited to see your reactions to all of the new gear going there, but be prepared - you're going to have to battle your armor plating off to get it!

You Can Has Mod!

Check out Artix's Design Notes on the "I Can Has Mod" Contest for details on winning two hours of game time with your favorite mod! Artix is up first and he'll hang out, answer questions, and help you battle any enemy you want! There's some other sweet perks, like getting a wish granted, so why not check out the details!

For every Golden Cheeseburger you own (purchased from Cleric Joy), AExtras offer you complete, or month of membership left on your account, you'll get another chance to win!

Centrovante Shop for Brazilians!

Obrigado for supporting AQWorlds through Paymentez! When you use the Paymentez method of purchasing upgrades, ACs, or Artix Points on or after 11-11-11, you'll see a button in the lower right-hand corner of BattleOn. It will open up a shop containing the Centrovante Armor! This is just our way of saying thank you for your continued support!

November 11, 2011

11-11-11 Portal OPENS!

Enter the DragonPlane

Not long ago, a large mysterious portal appeared in town. Nobody knew what it was or what would happen when it opened. You will have to verify this with your own eyes.. but it appears to be a gateway to the plane of dragons. The actions you take when you enter, will likely DEFINITELY change OUR world forever. Battle on, Hero!

And if you emerge victorious from freeing Desoloth, you will earn a character page achievement so that all your friends and fellow players will know of your success!

EPIC Gear from Beyond the Portal

Rare and wonderour treasures lie beyond the Portal, but we have a sneak peek ready to entice you, Hero! Get ready for amazing armors and incredible equips... but remember, if you want this wicked gear, you will have to BATTLE ON to get it!

Zellare Armor

By assuming the form of a fire dragon minion, you take on the fury of a dragon's fiery breath and the wisdom of the wyrm's ancient age. 

Only the wisest and strongest of Heroes are able to /equip this armor and wield this weapon... but we know YOU are up to the challenge!

Elementalist and Storm Runner Armors

Stand tall, defiant, in the face of the elements! Face down the fury of a storm of dragons ready to devour you! With courage and unshakeable confidence, these armors and items will see you through any challenge Lore can throw at you!

Azure Armor

Water is life - by turns pure, calm, and destructive. Harness the power of the flood in this Azure Armor and you will command not only the ocean, but a tidal wave of allies as you face off against the armies that wish to destroy you and all of Lore!

But that's not all we have for you tonight:

• TWO member-only BATTLE PETS drop from the dragons!
• Four Elemental Chakra weapons
• Four Elemental Septaxe weapons
• The "Wet Look" and "Hot Head" helms
• And SO MUCH more!

The AC shop will be going RARE, including the Member items (so get your gear while it is still here)!

New Feature: Auto Quality Selector

We want you to experience AQWorlds at its best, but also at a level that is best for YOU! This week we are introducing an automatic frame-rate detector which will set your game to the best quality for your computer. 

Do not worry! You will still have the option of controlling what quality you play AQW at; if you want to play on High quality, then you can set that in your Options menu.

Epic Duel Available in Portuguese!

The Epic Duel team is excited to offer much of the game in Portuguese! Log in at Epic Duel to see all of the exciting changes they've made to make the game more accessible to our Portuguese-speaking players!

HeroMart Gear! (Available to Villains, too!)

Do not forget that if you are an adventurer with a need for epic real-life equips, then HeroMart is the swag store for you! We have our 2012 AQWorlds Calendar on sale right now! (Comes with the ChronoChaorruptor Class - but hurry, supplies and time are limited!)

And our BattleOn BattleCards MOD PACKS are still at HeroMart! Pick up your DoomWood and Chaos Mod Packs while they are still in stock! Crits, Chaos, and Card-CRAZINESS in every pack! And when you buy both, you will gain access to the EPIC Paladin Slayer Class!

BIG NEWS! Today only in honor of the date, HeroMart is having an 11% off sale! Get your gear at HeroMart!

History in the Making 

Tonight is 11-11-11 and you see what happened! A whole new realm of draconic mayhem and might and some of our most awesome armors and gear! After you have battled your hardest and stowed away all the loot you earned, take a moment to think:

... What will happen on 12-12-12!?

November 10, 2011

I CAN HAS MOD?

OMG... who's idea was this?

We are running a contest where EVERY PLAYER has a chance to win time with their favorite mod/dev (Artix is up first!) See how.

See the official "CAN I HAS MOD" contest and go get your Golden CheezBurger!

November 07, 2011

The Time has Come…

to master the ChronoCorruptor Class! 

They say time flies when you’re having fun… but what happens when time becomes Chaorrupted…?

ChronoCorruptor happens—THAT’S WHAT!

Do you have what it takes to master the ChronoCorruptor Class? ChronoCorruptors corrupt the flow of time to tremendous and random effect in battle, never knowing which time (or with what powers) they will wind up with. ChronoCorruptors regain mana when they attack while under the effect of Chaos Rift.

As a ChronoCorruptor, you are able to master the following abilities:

Chaos Rift Strike

Rank 1
5 mana, 2 second cooldown
Seals light damage to the target and applies Chaos Rift to the caster, a stacking effect (up to 4) that other abilities rely on.

Split Causality

Rank 2
20 mana, 12 second cooldown
Heals you with a HoT for an amount based on the damage you’ve recently taken while under the effects of Chaos Rift (up to 40% of your HP) OR applies Time Bleed effect to the foe (DoT based on stacks of Chaos Rift). Consumes Chaos Rift stacks.

Time Collapse 

Rank 3
30 mana, 6 second cooldown
Deals damage based on the damage you’ve recently dealt while under the effects of Chaos Rift. Consumes Chaos Rift stacks.

Chaotic Movement

Rank 4
Passive Ability
Doge chance increased by 10%.

Embrace Chaos

Rank 4
Passive Ability
Damage increased by 10%.

Shiftburn

Rank 5
50 mana, 16 second cooldown
Either increases Haste, Damage and Crit for 6 seconds, OR causes one large hit for massive damage and stuns enemy for 6 seconds.

ChronoCorruptors proudly boast their Strength, Intellect, Endurance, and Dexterity stats. Enhancing your gear with a combination of Fighter, Wizard, and Thief enhancements would fare nicely for the intrepid ChronoCorruptor… although some would insist that decking yourself out in all Hybrid enhancements would produce the ultimate ChronoCorruptor …

Nulgath is even working on an optional armor upgrade for the ChronoCorruptor if you would like to warp time with a whole new look!

Now that you know how to master the ChronoCorruptor, the time has come to find out HOW to rock this brand-new class…

2012 “Year of Chaos” Calendar

It’s that time of year again! HeroMart’s shelves are packed with the 2012 Artix Entertainment Calendars—and they are ready for shipment beginning tomorrow, November 8^th at www.HeroMart.com!

Last year, The Year of the Moglin Calendars sold out completely… three times over, might I add! So this year, if you hope to get your mits on the 2012 Year of Chaos Calendar, you had better place your order starting tomorrow! There is only a limited supply of 2012 Year of Chaos Calendars, and we will NOT be doing a re-order, so this will be your only chance at obtaining the 2012 AE Calendar.

Each calendar comes with the exclusive ChronoCorruptor Class that is yours to master both in game and in real life! A one-of-a-kind code unlocks the ChronoCorruptor Class in AdventureQuest Worlds and DragonFable, in addition to the RARE ChronoCorruptor Card that can be added to your Battleon Battle Card Game deck.

Say it with me: Battle on into the Year of Chaos!

Speaking of Battle…

The Mod Packs for the Battleon Battle Card Game are on sale at HeroMart!

Unleash the crippling force of Chaos upon your foes with 13 CHAOS cards in the Chaos Mod Pack. Or perhaps you would rather bombard your opponents with devastation, destruction, and doooooooooom with 13 DOOM cards in the DoomWood Mod Pack! A special code is included in each pack of cards that unlocks the exclusive Vordred’s Sword, the Chaos Eye Pet, and half of the PaladinSlayer Class. Grab both Mod Packs to master the full PaladinSlayer Class and bring chaos and destruction to your real-life battles!

Get your Mod Packs now at HeroMart! They make a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming Holiday season, too!

Oooo ooooo ooooo! Do you know what another great stocking stuffer is?

Awwwwh yeeaaah! The Artix Points Electronic Gift Certificate! Give the gift of Artix Entertainment Points to your friend or relative or even yourself! They can use the Points to upgrade in any of the Artix Games like AQWorlds, DragonFable, MechQuest, AdventureQuest, HeroSmash, PonyVsPony, BladeHaven and EpicDuel.

After you purchase the electronic gift certificate, you will receive a unique Gift Code number that you can give to a friend or relative. They can use that code to add Artix Points to their Artix Game accounts from their Artix Master Account!

Grab an Artix Points Electronic Gift Certificate at HeroMart after you get those Mod Packs and Calendar and T-Shirts and more!

Battle on the Horizon!

The crazy date of 11-11-11 is arriving this Friday, November 11^th. An ominous—and absolutely GIGANTIC!—portal has appeared behind the Guardian Tower in Battleon. O___O

We have no idea what it is... or where it leads to… or what will happen on 11-11-11. Will it open? Will we go into it? Will someone…or something…come out of it?

While on the hunt for some answers (and coffee beans), I stumbled upon this piece of parchment lying at the gate’s threshold:

WOAH!!! What…is….this?!!?!

I have a funny feeling that come Friday, we will all find out…!

…aaaand probably later on in the week when we start giving sneak-peeks on our Twitters =p

Battle on my friends! And I hope I didn’t hurt anyone’s eyes (too much) from all the wonderful BRIGHT PINK text! <3

November 07, 2011

11-11-11 is this FRIDAY!

100 years until the next one....

A giant portal appeared in the sky behind the town of Battleon. We have no idea what it is, where it came from or what is going to happen when it opens. At the top of the portal reads 11-11-11*.  We believe this is date. More specifically, we believe this is the date the portal will open**. It just so happens that 11-11-11 is THIS FRIDAY! Special events are happening in many of our games... read below and prepare yourself for WHATEVER happens friends!

* Fun computer-y fact: 111111 in Binary = 64
** Or it could be a complete coincidence and nothing happens. THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME! O_O

Happening this week!

• 2012 Calendar with Chronocorruptor class at HeroMart (Tuesday... tomorrow!)
• HeroSmash PvP alpha test for Members (Thursday)
• AdventureQuest - Void Moglin Memet (Thursday)
• Epicduel (Friday)
  
  • 11-11-11 release
  • Nightwraith's birthday
  • Translated to Portuguese test!
• MechQuest - Black & White Planet (Friday)
• DragonFable - Special 11-11-11 parody of another game question (Friday)
• AQWorlds - 11-11-11 Portal opens!? We have no idea what is going to happen.. but that portal is BIG!

November 04, 2011

Alliance At War

Bloodtusk Fights Back!

Trolls and Horcs fighting together?! Whatever plan the Chaos Lord is plotting is definitely Chaotic, and Drakath is intrigued!

Drakath is intrigued by the Chaos Lord's plan

After all these weeks of being torn apart by suspicion, mayhem, and war, the Trolls and Horcs have joined together to battle the Good/Evil Alliance occupying their home. Can they survive working together for a day and possibly mend the Chaos-induced rift tearing them apart?

Cooperation is difficult after so much distrust

Heroes, you'll need to battle the Alliance soldiers threatening your Troll and Horc friends and confront the Leaders of the Alliance themselves! Along the way, attempt to locate hidden documents which will give you much information about the Alliance Leader's motivation... IF you can find them!

Rawg and Druuz, warriors to the hilt, are each offering a side quest with sweet rewards. And if you receive a Chaorrupted Vial drop from any of the monsters, you can merge their rewards into tainted, tentacled versions!

Reputation and AC rewards include:

• Runic Ascension
• Spined Gutter
• Troll's Bane
• Dual-Bladed Lunaris Staff
• Shamanic Lemurphant Helm
• Trollaic Zebriger Helm
• And more!

Treasure Chest Update!

Are you ready for Annihilation?! The Brutal Annihilator and Helm of Annihilation have been added to the Treasure Chest loot table this week! Made by Dage and ready see you through the bloodiest of battles, this armor is for seriously brutal warriors!

Ooooooh YEAH! Ready to BATTLE ON!

Platinum Starsword and Dragon pet!

Thank you for supporting AQWorlds, 3rd Upholders and Founders! Without your support, we could not continue to update AQW; you guys make a BIG difference! To show our thanks for either upgrading last month or when AQW first went live, we've awarded your Platinum Starsword (3rd Upholders) and Platinum Armored Platinum Dragon pet (Founders)!

A gift from us to you to say THANKS!

HeroMart: Your One-Stop AE Shop

If you've been keeping an eye on our Twitter accounts, then you know that HeroMart has got some EPIC new swag! The BattleOn BattleCard MOD PACKS and the Artix Entertainment Logo shirt are now available for purchase! Get your gear on at HeroMart!

November: Dragon Month!

This month is November, and here at Artix Entertainment, that means... DRAGONS! And since THIS year will see 11-11-11, we think you should keep an eye out for something as singular and special as that date is. Get ready to get elemental next week!

Enjoy the release! I'm in Chicago celebrating my sister's wedding, so the AQW team is going to have to cause Chaos without me... at least until next Thursday. Don't fight any enemies I wouldn't! (Which means... BATTLE EVERYTHING!)

November 04, 2011

2011 AE Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners

Wow, October flew right by us! A big THANK YOU to everyone who submitted to this years Pumpkin Carving Contest! Below, you may gaze upon a small sample the gourdmanship of your fellow players! All of our winners pumpkins will be available to view next week. :)

A big congrats to our Grand Prize winners, who will be taking home 5,000 ACs and Cysero's own Gourd of Gourdliness sword! Great work all!

by simontdk1

Grand Prize Winners - 5,000 ACs

These pumpkins knocked our striped-socks off! Amazing work!!

Ariso
iSwim
Dekomage
Rena Hikari
simontdk1
Steelfist
Zombyman

by Knight of the Dragon

Infinity+1 and Beyond - 2,500 ACs

For those pumpkins that went that extra step to be amazingly kooky and spooky!

L3r421L
Knight of the Dragon
Liryos
nicoroboto
Piraka181
snakeactneya
vampire hunter

by Arconium

Pumpkin Smashers - 1000 ACs

These carvers rocked so hard, we're surprised their pumpkins weren't squashed in the process!

Arconium
Bearist
JennyHeartNico
logan3333
masterofhisactions
Mieteor
necrocious
Pai467
Reaperpawn
smeghead5000
summ
theavenger07
valio94

by Enchanted Dawn

Pride of Mystcroft - 500 ACs

The Cauldron Sisters picked these pumpkins themselves!

Aerandir Agarwaen
Anarchy Kitty
Anybee
Bluewin
breakinggrace
C220
Cyber doom5
Dragon slayer 11497
dragonthrd678
Droidzx0
Elite_Rainbow
Enchanted Dawn
Fhwiv
mastamaker_2
melodie 10
mfm123
mikey396loko
newdiger
Red fox1999
renji 1001 Samurai
shadowace3000

by dralir

Monster Mashups - 500 ACs

These carvers thought "outside-the-pumpkin" this Mogloween!

dralir
Shocky 377

by Awesome_is_awesome

Winner's Circle - 200 ACs

Mystcroft could not be spookier without the great work of all the skilled carvers in our community!

Asclepyus
Awesome_is_awesome
Boys in
Carlos8517
dark_wing_angel
Dark Savant
Dogarefat
drean598
edward elric 13
Esqueloto
Ethan Obi
Flame9697
GM_ francis
Harrellick
KailDraven
Kuhnahamro
lava lynx
Light blade222
lord sachiel
nuke warrio r2323
Nyarlathotep
Omega dragonz
peremptor9998
rihanna11223
rockstar_warrior7
solaris of light
tennisgal147000

Again, thank you to everyone who participated! See you next Mogloween! :D

November 03, 2011

Trolls and Spitfire and WHOOOPS!

Whoops! 3rd Upholder coming... and, LOL sorry Leon25

Thank you and congratulations to everyone who is getting the 3rd Upholder badge and starsword today! Actually, you should have already received it, except Zhoom accidently wrote his database update query backwards. So instead of giving 100,000 players 1 Starsword, he accidentaly gave.... 1 player (Leon25) 100,000 Starswords. Now that is one heavy and full backpack! All 3rd upholders should have their perks after tonight's release!

Tonight's Bloodtusk Ravine release!

The main storyline continues... and things are about to get crazy. While Cysero and Alina have strictly forbid me from giving away what is about to happen next, I am allowed to tell you there will be hint at the worlds new Chaos Lord tonight. Also, the Treasure Chest is getting an update with new items by Dage.

Level 45 SpitFire Enhancement!

The Spitfire Enhancement goes into your weapon and gives a chance for every attack to hurl a fireball at your enemy. We are adding a level 45 version of it tonight to both of the Collector fights the Enhancement shop in Battleon! Thank you for your understanding as took a lot longer than expected to get it in. For lower level players we are adding a Level 1 Fire Sword (member) tonight that has spitfire built into it. It will be located in the weapons shop where you load in BattleOn and in the newbie zone. Yurami (coder) would like to add more enhancements with special effects... if you have ideas, please let us know! (Freeze? Wind - blow your opponent to the other side of the screen? % chance immunity to stun?)

MOD PACKS & Paladin Slayer Class & Artix T-shirt

Thank you so much for the great reviews and comments on the new cards! Faith has shipping lots of boxes to players all over the world (literally) from HeroMart (now located in a HUGE room here at Secrret Underground Lab #4) A lot of you told us that your local Toys"R"Us did not have them in stock yet... even though they were supposed to as of last Friday. If you U.S. based Toys"R"Us store does not have them out yet, please ask a manager to check to see if they got them but have not put them on the floor yet (this is what we keep finding.) Also if you see the packs or the full card game box hidden in the back of a rack *whispers* it would be super awesome of you to move them to the front. (I always do that at book stores for "Z is for Zombies" which is done by Johnny Atomic, the same guy that helped us make the MechQuest Artbook"
Get the ModPacks and AE shirt at HeroMart

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Everyone did an incredible job this year. The Pumpkin Carving Contest has been judged! Read Samba's post below to see this years' winning pumpkins.

Turning 13

As you know AQworlds is a game for players of all ages. Happy Birthday to AQWorlds player who turned 13 today... and sent me a Tweet on Twitter saying that even though he was 13 he still could not use chat. (Age 13 is our cut-off for chat date) Turns out we were checking the data with a ">" greater than instead of a ">=" greater than or equal to. Zhoom just fixed it... so for all of the players celebrating their 13th birthday today or soon, CHAT ON!

Mogloween & TMBG Items

This weekend is your LAST chance to get the rare and seasonal rare items from the special event shops. By player request we are extending the TMBG item shop until Monday. Be sure to get the ones you once because once they are gone... there is NO WAY to get them again!
TMBG event page

Myterious 11-11-11 Portal

We have no idea what the ominious giant portal is... or what will happen on 11-11-11. Will it open? Will we go into it? Will something... come out of it? There are no legends about this. In fact, nothing like this has ever been seen before in the history of our world. It is a complete mystery. All that we do know, is that 11-11-11 is NEXT FRIDAY!

Lots of things going on... what are you the most excited about? Let us know on the Forums, FaceBook or Twitter!

November 02, 2011

Letter to Bloodtusk Front

Status Report Required Immediately!

General Tibias,

I expected a report on your progress in the Bloodtusk Matter yesterday, and do not have it yet. This displeases me. When I sent you, in league with Commander Cynari from the Swordhaven Army, I specifically stated regular reports were required.

My scouts in your camp report that your efforts to subdue the Horcs and Trolls have failed. They are re-arming themselves as we speak! Are you aware of the strength the Horcs are able to draw on from that mountain Ore of theirs? Do you understand the power the living Arashtite Ore lends Troll magic?

And speaking of... have you been able to recover the missing Ore? The Accord of the Dark Sun is meaningless if the Trolls and Horcs do not have access to it! With that, they could turn on us; if we do not get it back before them, they certainly WILL. And, from all the reports I've gotten in this last day - and none of them from YOU - that is exactly what is about to happen.

Do not forget, Tibias. We KNOW that Chaos is in Bloodtusk Ravine. We have seen the signs, heard the whispers. It is so obvious that in these very inner halls I hear news of Chaotic goings-on in the Ravine. Even now, I am sure, the taint of Chaorruption has thoroughly soaked into the Horc and Troll communities.

It is up to YOU to settle the feud between them so that we may RIP OUT the core of Chaos that festers there.

Do not fail me. Or else.

November 01, 2011

BattleCard Mod Packs

Available NOW in stores and online!

The MOD PACKS for our crazy-awesome AQWorlds card game are officially in U.S. based Toys"R"Us stores! If you live outside the U.S. they are now available in HeroMart and ready to ship anywhere!

Each mod pack includes the complete set of either 13 Doom or Chaos cards, an exclusive item (Vordred's Sword or the Chaos Eye Pet), and half of the PaladinSlayer class. And if you combine both halves of the class, you will create... the full PaladinSlayer Class!

Many cards to choose from like:

• Heart Swap - trade health points with your opponent!
• ... On a Bonemuncer - +1 to damage
• Your Shoe's Untied - Prevent a single Block, Trap, or Counter
• And many more epic and sneaky strategy opportunities

With one MOD PACK you'll be able to buff, debuff, and Trap your opponent into hours more fun. With both of the packs, that could turn into DAYS of card-clashing, damage-dealing, block-bashing, Chaos-causing FUN!

For more information, cool pictures, and rockin' videos, check out this Information Page!