April 30, 2018

AQWorlds Patch Notes

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

Reens, Cemaros and the AQW Bug Hunter team are busy squashing the bugs you submit each week to the Bug Tracker at www.Artix.com/bugs.

Please do not send non-release bugs on Twitter.  They will get lost.  Make sure you send bug report forms!

Check back weekly to see if the bug you reported has been addressed.  Please remember that not all bugs are "easy fixes" so some reported and confirmed bugs from each week may not be on the fixed list as they will require more time or a different person to fix them.

If you would like to know how the reports go from you to fixed, check this page:
http://www.aq.com/lore/guides/BugReportFAQ

Bug fixes:

1. Green Dragon Battle(t) Pet now battlepets with animations.  Fixed the name to remove the extra T.  Fixed a derp on the wing flapping.
2. Various typos.
3. Multiple changes to map Pirates.
   
   •    Elissa Keelhaul finally convinced to reopen the Pirate Shop.
   •    Rahkam has stopped playing with the Time Travel Fairy.
   •    Kaiju chests updated. See Extras for more info on them.

Art Fixes:

1. Semiramis Cape and Omniramis Cape have had the evil pixel removed.
2. Zealith Reaver Wings no longer turn sideways when you move.
3. GrimHero Blade grip adjusted.
4. Dark Harbinger Blade & Dark Harbinger Blades now glow.
5. Flame Dragon Wings no longer turn sideways when you move.

Extras! -  Short Week!

Burning Flame Mace,  Vampirate Eternal Flame Mace, Lycan Eternal Flame Mace and Void Monk's Flame pointing downwards are not a bug.  This was intentional.

Kaiju Chests in /pirates.

Chest A gives quest for merge shop resources. You must be a Heroic Naval Commander to do the quest.
Chest B gives original Naval Commander Class and shows if you have Heroic Naval Commander.
Chest C gives original Naval Commander Class and shows if you have Legendary Naval Commander.

April 28, 2018

PTR Servers Temporarily Unavailable

Combat Fix in Progress

Recently, we have received reports that monsters are not attacking on our PTR servers. We have hidden them while Yorumi works on the fix. They will return as soon as possible.

While Yorumi works on a fix, please enjoy battling on our other servers! 

April 26, 2018

This Weekend: Omniramis WingMaster Set

Available for a Limited Time Only

The creatures of our world are wild things, but for heroes with the ability to understand them, a world of new adventures opens! This weekend, find the Omniramis WingMaster armor set in your game menu’s Featured Gear Shop until May 18th, 2018. 

Pieces of the Omniramis Wingmaster set include:

• Omniramis WingMaster armor
• WingMaster Horns and Locks
• Blade, Bow, Daggers, and Staff of Omniramis
• Wings of Omniramis
• Omniramis Companion Pet

April 26, 2018

Help Aria Master Her Power

Battle through the Book of Monsters: Reshaper Epilogue!

After Drakath, the Champion of Chaos, fell a new threat to our world rose up… the Queen of Monsters. The threat she presents changed the course of our world, and of the people who fight through it. This weekend, log in and battle alongside Aria and Fae as they work to gain control of the power Aria gained in last year’s Book of Monsters: Reshaper saga. With your help, she will become the ultimate force of Nature!

After you check out the new OmniRamis WingMaster set in our Featured Gear Shop, join the event in /guardiantree and fight to unlock all-new event gear, including: the Purified BeastMaster and Dark Druid armor sets!

All of the Tier 1 weapons drop from this weekend's event boss. Complete this weekend's event to unlock Terrane's Purification quest,  then use the rewards she gives to create both armors and to upgrade your weapons to Tier 2. 

Friday the 13th Event Rares leaves Monday, April 30th

Don't miss the Death Hunter and Slasher's Top Hat items in the Featured Gear Shop. These items will leave game permanently later this month!

April 24, 2018

"Ask Me Anything" - Artix Entertainment Edition

Questions from your fellow heroes

Earlier today, a number of unusual situations and circumstances collided, forming a pyroclastic cloud of "NO PROGRESS FOR YOU!" But the joke's on the Universe, because that just means I was freed up to do something I haven't gotten a chance to in a long time... talk directly to you guys and answer a bunch of your random questions!

So I turned this afternoon into an "Ask me Anything" day on Twitter. I asked my followers: What do you want to know about game development/life at Artix Entertainment?

AQWorlds Development Cycle Questions

How much time takes to design,discuss,create a new release?

We plan our releases 1-2 months in advance. In general, it takes 2-3 weeks to make a single week's update. Each piece of each release is like part of a puzzle, and some things need to be done before other things can begin.

At this point in AQW's lifecycle, we can no longer come in on Monday and do all the work to make that Friday's release in that single week.

How many releases in advance do you prepare? How much thought is put into each release?

A great deal of thought, effort, and coordination goes into each of the releases the AQW team builds. The majority of its weekly releases take about 2-3 weeks of time to build, so the creation of those assets is staggered.

That gives our artists and animators time to create the original art. Palette swaps for NPCs, monsters, etc allow them to focus their time on the new art needs. 

The flow we have now allows us to accommodate the expectation and scope creep that has happened over the last ten years, and enables us to produce as much as we do each week.

Our other teams have a slightly different timeline for their development, depending on the project.

Do you have a "think tank"? What's your creative process, usually?

For a typical AQW release, Memet and I sit down a month or two in advance and plot out the bones of a given story/saga. Then she gets to work writing and designing. She often goes to our contributors to get feedback on ideas or get info on Lore she may not be familiar with.

Once she has a release written and designed out, she gets it approved. Then the pieces get assigned to individual content creators. Then, once assets are made, Reens puts it all together and does the actual building and leads the testing of the update.

That is roughly how all our teams work, to one degree or another. Ideas get pitched, reviewed/approved, created, tested, and released.

How often do release drafts not get approved? Any examples of drastic changes during the process/major portions being scrapped or redone?

We always take community feedback into account when planning future story updates. If you guys aren't enjoying the direction of a story (and the Queen's Saga is the best example) then we change it. And change it again, if necessary.

Most drafts have something adjusted, though usually it is very minor. Memet typically spends 4-5 days writing, designing, and finalizing a release's design document. 

Can you take more time with updates? Maybe just once a month to give the team more time?

As much as you would like to see that, there are many other players who would not be happy with once-a-month updates. We shoot to release as much high quality content as possible within the time we have.

Server Rewrite / Future of AQW Questions

How is the server rewrite going?

It is going well! Yorumi and the testers are working on more of the bugs the community sent in, and working to make it compatible with some other projects that have not been announced yet.

Is it going to be released on steam? Are they working on new features like trading/new type of content? Will we ever get an ETA on it?

Steam - potentially! New features - planned, though some of them may be shifted to the next version of AQWorlds. An ETA has not been announced due to some exploits and issues that needed to be addressed first.

Will AQW ever go offline?

Never, if we have our way. Our current (very viable) plans include a way for everyone to continue playing AQWorlds on their PC, regardless of what happens to Flash Player on browsers.

When can we expect AQW:Mobile to be finished?

Look for more news on that when Artix makes his "Spring Break" announcement. The announcement (which does not focus on AQW:Mobile or the rewrite) has been delayed due to pretty big real life release (his 3rd baby!) as well as some technical issues on the code end.

What's next for AQW or AE itself. Let's say the next 5 years or so

Future-proofing our current games so they remain viable regardless of Flash/browser compatibility, creating mobile versions of our current games, creating NEW projects we've talked about, and some we haven't. Expanding our player community and making more of the games you love!

It is an honest, if not incredibly specific, answer. Those are our plans and unless we are forced for some reason to change them dramatically, that is what we still are looking to do, at this point in time.

Game Suggestion Questions

Why don't you do more suggestion shop updates?

We still do them, in the form of "Community artists." They are your fellow AQW heroes who have great ideas and the talent/skill to make game quality art. In the past, their ideas and designs would have been released in the suggestion shop after being recreated by team artists. 

Now, though, we work with them to put their gear directly in-game. We include their work in our weekly updates so that more of you can see and enjoy it. In other words... we've taken the suggestion shop updates we used to do and made them more visible and accessible!

You should consider of expanding the Community Artist idea to variety of stuff (ex. writing, classes) too. I would work for free!

The potential already exists! If we saw a release or class design we wanted to put in any of our games, we would contact the creator and draw up an agreement to buy the work from them.

Though we worked with contributor developers in the past, we've changed that. Now, all our former contributor devs work under contract. And the same goes for the community artists (or writers, or designers).

I feel like the AQW team don’t see the work and suggestions by others. We don’t know if you’ve seen them or read them, which is frustrating.

That's a very understandable frustration. We are currently creating a better flow for suggested art, writing, and designs, independent of the forum, Twitter, other social media. That way, even if we cannot respond to all ideas, we have a better chance of seeing everything sent in

General Artix Entertainment Questions

Any idea if there will be another staff member call in the near future?

We are pretty well-set for testers and moderators right now. If that should change in the future, we will post a contributor call! 

I was falsely reported and got a 62 hour mute. Would I still be able to be mod if I ever applied?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: We always consider those things on a case-by-case basis, ESPECIALLY if it was a false report. Our moderators are human, and can sometimes make mistakes. We try to rectify those as quickly as possible, but it sounds like your case was missed.

Who are the team leads for AQW?

AQWorlds' updates are so big at this point, that most of the team's developers have an area they concentrate on, that they take ownership and charge of.

For development:

• Memet - writing and release design 
• Reens - actual building and testing of each release. 
• J6 - art. 
• Arklen - class design and testing. 
• Ghost - animation.
• Yorumi - server/client coding.
• Sora To Hoshi is in charge of our in-game moderators. 
• Cemaros is in charge of bug reports.

And expanding upon this question, here is a look at some of the other leads at Artix Entertainment. Roles sometimes change as people shift to other projects or different focuses within a given team.

• Yergen - AQ3D Team Lead
• Cysero - AQ3D Lead Writer
• Zhoom - AQ3D Programming Lead
• Oishii - AQ3D Test Lead
• Dage - AQ3D Lead Artist
• Korin - AQ3D Lead Animator
• Sora To Hoshi - AQ3D Lead Moderator
• The Hollow - AQ Team Lead
• Tomix - DF Co-Lead, Creative
• Verlyrus - DF Co-Lead, Programming
• Captain Rhubarb - AE Business Programming Lead
• Ai No Miko - AE Web Lead
• Stryche - HeroMart Department Lead
• Nythera - Player Support Lead
• Artix Krieger - AQ3D Project Lead and Paladin
• Alina - AQW Project Lead and Sorceress

What if I made you art for free? Could you use it?

I appreciate the offer! At this time, all of the content released into our games is made under contract; we do not accept "free work." That protects us and the artist. 

Why can't you put "Random Artist X"'s work into AQWorlds?

Real world talk: We contract for all content released in AQWorlds and all our games. Like with any other company, that means we work with budgets, and have to balance out what/how much we release with the resources available.

How much does the AE team look at the forums? Compared to looking at twitter?

Depends on the team member. But even if someone is reading the threads, that doesn't necessarily mean they will also reply. We are working on creating an all-new forum attached to the Help Center.

Our current forum is very dated; the new incarnation will have a new set-up, rules, flow, etc. It should be more user-friendly and something we want to make more visible. The goal is to have a better, easier-to-use place for our devs and players to interact, where it is possible to have longer, more involved discussions.

For me, personally, I look at the forum a couple times a week. It is easier and faster to reply to tweets, but I am always aware of what our forum players think and say.

AQW Item/Content Questions

Why dont we get more full CC sets?

Often, it's the artist's preference. CC can have a negative impact on a design's integrity. And some designs lend themselves better to CC.

One thing would be epic to know - do you have any plans to turn more DF stories to AQW?

I would like to, if the occasion arises! Development has already begun on the Great Fire War (which is a blend of the AQ/DF events.)

Will the doom wheel ever return again? Maybe after the rewrite it could be put back without a bunch of trouble, or easier to fix

If it were going to return, it would not be in exactly the same way. Even if it doesn't, we are looking at bringing back the Fortune Potions in some manner, so you guys can buy things from the non-rare Merge shop.

Will you make Sepulchure's Armor non-member?

While many people would like that, there are others who would be upset. For example, if someone upgraded SOLELY to be able to continue to use the armor, making that change would be a pretty frustrating thing.

Will there be trade/an AQW marketplace?

That is an idea we've talked about for a future version of AQW.

Why can't we stack items anymore?

There was a pretty bad exploit that some people were abusing. We had to patch that, and in doing so, had to change how stack sizes work.

"Behind the Screen" Questions

What are you / do you do at AE? 

I am Artix Entertainment's Vice President of Product & Operations, Project Lead for AdventureQuest Worlds, and the Sorceress of Battleon. 

I get to work with each of the teams and their leads (like Nythera, Stryche, Hollow, Dove, and Verlyrus) to make sure their game/department, updates, and other projects are going smoothly.

What is your favorite part of working at AE?

The people and challenges. I get to work with each of Artix Entertainment's leads, teams, and projects to solve problems, find solutions, answer questions, and make the games we build for you more fun. 

From running across random cosplay ninja to fielding problems with our websites, from finalizing product schedules or brainstorming the next big summer event with our writers, I go into the lab each day not knowing what to expect but prepared for anything, and I love it. 

What was the most frustrating release to work on so far?

For me, personally, probably the Wheel of Doom's initial release. We ran into some pretty extreme midnight-hour bugs. But in general, I look at frustrating things as challenges to knock down, or turn into positives. Getting derailed by frustration is unhelpful.

What has been the biggest hurdle you overcame regarding all of the AE Games? Can be one, or a few.

Literally and physically? Moving across the country to become a full-time employee after contracting out of Chicago. That mountain was a mighty big hurdle.

But in answering the spirit of your question... it was making the decision to do this as a career. I started as a player of our games while I ran a literary magazine. But when I made the jump, I went all in.

What keeps you committed to doing what you love every day? What advice do you have for others that want to follow their hearts but are in a rough place that seems inescapable?

Every path has its roadblocks and challenges, but each path also has a destination... a goal. As long as you are still dedicated to that goal, you can use that determination to see you over the rough spots.

At the same time, it's important to take stock of where you're going and what your goals are, to see if you're still heading in the direction you want to go. If you find that the goals you set aren't what you want to do anymore... it is 100% ok to change your mind.

The most important thing -- and what I hope is the guiding principle in your journey -- is, "are you working towards a goal that will make you happy, and help you achieve what you want in life?" If the answer is "yes," then keep on fighting. You CAN do it!

Questions have been edited for clarity and length, and some combined for brevity. Some answers have been expanded upon, due to the additional room in the DNs.

April 24, 2018

Cache & Browser Issues

Hello again!  It's time for a reminder of my (least) favourite thing and an update to it as well.  Yes, that's right.  I'm here today to remind everyone to clear your cache!

You may use our handy-dandy Cache Guide for how-to instructions for the most popular browsers if needed.  This guide shows you how to clear your cache and what needs to be cleared on each browser.   You absolutely need to tick "Cached Images and Files".  You may want to tick "Browsing History".  You do not want to tick "Cookies and other site data".



Please note that many pages use cookies for little things like how often you visit and to store your log in information, or to show you special offers.  Please make sure you are NOT ticking "clear cookies" on any of the browsers as this will clear your saved passwords, and may cause other fun like offering you the bonus AC coupon again when you have already used it.

A stuffed cache is the single most common cause of the bug reports I read.  This also causes more problems than I can count.  

What kind of problems?  Glad you asked!

• The quest didn’t give me the item!
• I can’t move right!  (invisible walls, char goes where I didn’t click)    The game menu won’t load!
• Maps are taking a long time to load!
• "Map files loading ... failed!" issues.
• Loading to a black screen.
• Error 1337!  (If you’ve ever had this one, you REALLY need to clear your cache badly!)
• I can’t connect to the servers! (Okay so this is step one in a process, but it fixes it more often than not.)

Now for the update part!  

Ever since Flash version 22 and Chrome browser dropping default support for Flash, Chrome has had a progressively more difficult time dealing with Flash and thus the game.  A lot of the issues Chrome experiences can be reduced by keeping your cache clear, but it may get annoying enough that you might want to consider playing on a different browser.  Since different browsers and their versions interact different with your OS, we really can't recommend which one to try.  

April 23, 2018

AQWorlds Patch Notes

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

Reens, Cemaros and the AQW Bug Hunter team are busy squashing the bugs you submit each week to the Bug Tracker at www.Artix.com/bugs.

Check back weekly to see if the bug you reported has been addressed.  Please remember that not all bugs are "easy fixes" so some reported and confirmed bugs from each week may not be on the fixed list as they will require more time or a different person to fix them.

If you would like to know how the reports go from you to fixed, check this page:
http://www.aq.com/lore/guides/BugReportFAQ

Please don’t report non-release bugs on twitter folks!  There is a very good chance they will get lost there.  Please use the Bug Tracker!

Bug fixes:

1. Gold boost on Rainbow Starsword and Dual Rainbow Starsword fixed.
2. Removed rare items from Darkblood War Merge shop.
3. Icewind War no longer locking you out of the boss room.
4. Bulletproof Blob and Locked n' Loaded Blob fixes refixed.
5. Caladbolg (dagger) renamed to Dual Caladbolg.
6. Agaea in /artixpointe is now a Gear Vendor instead of a Weapons Vendor.
7. New Drakath Epic Armor character page badges that were showing incorrectly should all be picked up now.

Patch Notes Extras - This 'n' That

Elemental Dracomancer face on the character portrait is a dragon because your true form when using this class is a dragon.  The human is the disguise.  

Dreameater Armour female skin tone not being CC is intentional.  This is how Tana meant for it to be.  The armour itself has no ear, so if you use a helm that did not come with the set and an ear is showing, it will be your skin tone.  This is not a bug.  

Helms with extra long hair not alway showing the back part is part engine limitation and part client side graphics.  These helms use a layer that did not exist when the game models were first created.  This means there will be issues with it from time to time that we cannot correct currently.  Mostly, it causes the longer part on the hair which goes behind the player to not show up.

Character Page Models are a bit wonky because of sizing issues.  It’s the reason capes appear slightly off, and pets do not appear where they do in the game.

Fuzzy or distorted backgrounds on high resolution. This is a bit of a tradeoff.  In many of the high traffic areas or where lots of small details were needed, bmp images were used for the backgrounds to save on lag.  We do know that at some of the larger screen sizes and resolutions, they don’t look as sharp.  But the amount of lag saved still makes it worth it.

House Spaces - The new expanded cap for house spaces is in effect on both PTR and old servers, but you can only purchase above 40 on the PTRs.  If you purchase spaces on the PTRs and place items there, they will show when you go back to the old servers.  You can also place items on old servers once you have purchased the spaces on the PTRs.  This is an incentive to get people to test there. 

April 22, 2018

Coming Soon: Book of Monsters Epilogue

Find out what happens after the events in The Reshaper's Saga

It's only natural that we'd release our earth day event last week, as a lead up to the 2018 Book of Monsters’ epilogue. If you haven't played through the Book of Monsters: The Reshaper story, now's the time, because this Friday, we'll explains what happened to Aria AFTER the Reshaper’s defeat... and just how Fae the ShapeShifter can help her become what she is TRULY meant to be.

AQWorlds Main Story: Ten Years of Adventure

The AQWorlds team has released new story updates each week for almost ten years. "Story update" can mean many things, including our main story (which revolves around your adventures in Lore, and those of your favorite battle companions), holiday events, new towns, challenge battles, dungeon crawls, and more.

On Friday, April 27th, our story update will focus on the events that took place after those from Book of Monsters: The Reshaper Saga. (If you have just joined us recently, that was the 2nd of two Book of Monsters chapters in the larger main story for AdventureQuest Worlds.) 

The Queen of Monsters and the story updates her creatures appear in take place after the 13 Lords of Chaos Saga. In the time after her ascension, we've battled her corrupted titans, two of her children, and more than a few of her lower level minions. Her focus has shifted quite a few times, in keeping with her nature. (As you might expect with a creature made of pure Chaos, the Queen likes to be... unpredictable... and keep YOU on your toes.)

All of our updates in the post-Drakath Lore are set in a world where the Queen reigns. And waits. And plots. And watches from above. But though she - and her chaos - are a larger, more global-sized threat, the individual people and towns of Lore still need your help to tackle dangers closer to home. Like dragons rampaging through villages, cabals of dark villains teaming up against you, and lycans and vampires baring their fangs and threatening war.

Coming Soon: Later this year, we'll be returning to Darkovia, to continue the story we began in last October's Blood Moon Saga. The team (and Artix) have a number of other stories we also want to tell this year, like the Great Fire War annd Sepulchure's Origin Story. Hang on to your helms, because even more dark, deadly, and lore-filled battles are heading your way.

AQWorlds Main Story: The Who's and What's

If you thought, "Wait... I thought the main story was about the purple dude with the giant wings?"... you were correct, but only partially. Our main story includes more than just the Chaos and chaos-loving creatures in our title screen. (Though we have a LOT of those!) 

The Chaos Sagas include:

• 13 Lords of Chaos
• Queen of Monsters: Titans
• Queen of Monsters: Infernal Invasion
• Queen of Monsters: Book of Monsters

But our developers consider the main story of AQWorlds to be much larger - a comprehensive tale of your adventures in Lore. That is almost TEN YEARS of your epic victories, revelations about your past, your adventures on land, air, and sea. A tale that grand, and massive, covers a lot of ground, and includes the stories of many of your favorite characters, as well:

• DoomWood
• Xan's Story
• Dage's Saga
• Throne of Darkness
• 7 Deadly Dragons
• Seraphic Saga
• Blood Moon Saga

AQWorlds Main Story: The Writers + Schedule

We often get asked who writes the main story. Over the years, that's been a number of people. Artix, Cysero, me, occasionally a number of guest writers from our contributor team, and now Memet. But throughout all of those writer changes, one creative entity has remained the same... YOU.

The direction of our story releases depends on a number of factors; one of the most important is community feedback. Though we always have a general idea of where we want a given story to go, and plan out all the bones of it in advance, if you guys aren't enjoying the way a particular story is moving, the weekly releases give us the freedom to change its direction. 

A player on Twitter, emits, asked: So why do you start new stories when you have others from years ago, or place "random filler" stories?

That is a very fair question! Because we DO update on a weekly basis (which includes new maps, monsters, characters, rewards, and cutscene animations), we occasionally need more development time to prepare the next round of story updates. Because we don't want to leave you guys with nothing new to do for a week, we add in things like challenge battles (and their rewards) or other one-week events, which generally expand the lore about someone or something.

April 20, 2018

Featured Gear: Djinn Sentinel Sets

Rare Dark Sentinel + Permanent Jaan Sentinel Sets

In a realm of might and magic, you can choose to ally with the forces of Light… or Darkness. This weekend, find the Dark Sentinel armor set in your game menu’s Featured Gear Shop, available until Friday, May 4th! 

Then join the event in /djinnguard and fight to unlock all-new permanent event gear, including:

• the Jaan Sentinel armor set 
• the Djinn Warrior armor set
• the Guardian’s Blade of Light
• the Spirits of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth armors and helms

Friday the 13th Event Rares leaves Monday, April 30th

Don't miss the Death Hunter and Slasher's Top Hat items in the Featured Gear Shop. These items will leave game permanently later this month!

April 20, 2018

This Weekend: Djinn Realm Guardian Trials

Battle to Join Crulon as a Djinn Realm Guardian!

Crulon, Guardian of the Djinn Realm, is one of the last remaining defenders of his home. He would do anything to safeguard its magic and mystery. That is why he’s sought out our world’s best and brightest hero. This weekend, he invites you to face the Trials of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire. Pass, and you too will become a Guardian of the Djinn Realm!

PLUS: log in all weekend long to get a 25% Gold Boost on all servers, and get an additional 25% XP Boost on PTR servers!

Celebrate Earth Day this Weekend!

Be a hero, join the clean-up crew to save the world from the evils of pollution! Captain Lore is back this weekend and he needs your help! /Join pollution to help Captain Lore battle General Pollution, the foulest villain around, free his eco-friendly energy platform from the chaotic clutches of General Pollution! Reduce, reuse, and recycle as many elementals as you can to unlock Captain Lore's shop and gain access to the greenest gear in the game! 

He also needs your help fighting on the side of nature to keep a smog-spewing factory closed for good. Once the largest source of pollution in Lore, the long-abandoned Totengeld Factory has been consumed by nature and has become a habitat to many forms of life. 

Need help battling through the Earth Day seasonal event? Check out the event guide in the Lorepedia!

Updating the Book of Lore

We plan to update the Book of Lore later on this year, potentially bringing back some features of the previous layout while keeping the most useful parts of the current Book. Please share your thoughts and feedback on Twitter or the forum!

Poll 1, Poll 2, Forum discussion

April 16, 2018

AQWorlds Patch Notes

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

Reens, Cemaros and the AQW Bug Hunter team are busy squashing the bugs you submit each week to the Bug Tracker at www.Artix.com/bugs.

Check back weekly to see if the bug you reported has been addressed.  Please remember that not all bugs are "easy fixes" so some reported and confirmed bugs from each week may not be on the fixed list as they will require more time or a different person to fix them.

If you would like to know how the reports go from you to fixed, check this page:
http://www.aq.com/lore/guides/BugReportFAQ

Bug fixes:

1. Removed rare items from Enraged Constantin.
2. Removed the non stacking Gold boost from the Ice Treasure Chest Quest.
3. Fixed the Exp boost on Staff of the Northstar.
4. Removed the rare items from Blood Moon Vampire and Lycan Shops.
5. Bulletproof Blob and Locked n' Loaded Blob have been convinced to stop stomping your toes.
6. Elissa Keelhaul Pirate shop now recognizes all 4 variants of Pirate class.

Art Fixes:

1. Prismatic Maugs Slayer female red line on coat panel is now CC.
2. Dark Crown of Envy repositioned.
3. Cape of Envy repositioned.

Extras! -  Tell me what you want to know!

Hi again!  So most of these extras have been based on the reports we get, and why something is the way it is.  This week, I want to do something a little different.  This week, I’m asking for ideas on what types of questions you guys always had about things.

Is there something specific you always wanted to know about?  Shoot me a tweet at @Cemaros_AE with  your questions.  

I’m not going to be able to answer the questions individually as they come in, but what I will do is collect them and answer them in future Extras.  

Sound like a plan?  Excellent!  Send me those questions!

April 13, 2018

Friday the 13th Returns

Classic Horror Movie Mayhelm + Summer Camp + Shrade = AWESOME!

What is undead can never die… Not when there is always another Friday the 13th. Log in on Friday, April 13th to face an abomination straight out of your worst nightmare (or favorite horror movie)... Shrade!

• WHO: Gypsy Pirate Musician Aurelio Voltaire, the AQWorlds Team + your fellow Heroes
• WHAT: Fight to survive a night in Camp Gonnagetcha
• WHEN: Friday the 13th, April 2018
• WHERE: www.AQ.com

Uncover the Mystery Behind Shrade to Survive

Join Cysero, Memet, and our favorite Gypsy Goth Musician... and Camp Counselor (?!) Aurelio Voltaire for some seriously spooky summer camp shenanigans as we battle through Camp Gonnagetcha! Gear up to fight through the Black Knight and Dark Makai cabins, rock out to Aurelio Voltaire's wicked tracks, and hunt for clues to Shrade's TRUE identity (and to get DEADLY rewards)! 

Those of you who've played through our 3D MMO, AdventureQuest 3D, will recognize this Friday the 13th's main villain: the ambiguously-supernatural hero-hunter, Shrade.

Some of you may /shrug off the threat he poses as just another creepy internet hoax. But this urban legend is no fairy tale. Shrade exists, and this weekend, Aurelio Voltaire is going to prove to you that the threat is REAL. And that what you THINK you know about Shrade is dead wrong.

Your Luck is In: Friday the 13th Rewards

Friday the 13th may be all about bad luck, but not this weekend! We've got three all-new armor sets heading your way:

• the rare DeathHunter Set from featured Community Artist, Rare
• the Shadow Cultist, a dark and deadly seasonal set available from this weekend's boss that will make you Scream
• the BoneSaw Judge, one of the most evil sets you ever Saw,* available from the event merge shop 

* Disclaimer for the members of the Prescriptivist Grammarians Guild: yes, "you ever saw" should be "you've ever seen," but pun > proper grammar in memes, lolcat graphics, and this design notes post.

April 12, 2018

Legacy of April Fool's...

Caladboogly Blade Now Available!

On February 28th, I had a dream. Maybe it was more like a nightmare. But as the team was ramping up to build Dage's the Evil's birthday event for March 2nd, I had spent so much time staring at @DageTheEvil's Caladbolg that that night... I dreamt it started staring back. On March 1st (coincidentally only a month before April 1st) I made my dream a reality. I called it...

Anyone with the Altar of Caladbolg can complete its quest for a chance to get the 0 AC Caladboogly blade! The blade is 0 AC for free storage, and has a drop rate of 5%, so while you work towards getting your very own Caladbolg, you'll have THIS FACE to keep you company on your adventures!

April 09, 2018

Patch Notes Extras!

Lag Monsters Identification Guide

Hi again!  This week, let’s talk a little about everyone’s least favourite monsters, the Lag Monsters.  Now some of you may already know that there is actually more than one type of this monster.  For those that don’t, here’s a short guide on how to tell them apart.

Server Lag Monster:  This monster shows up when commands are sent to the server, such as saves, buying and selling.  When a lot of them happen at once, this monster attacks.  This monster can sometimes be avoided by playing on less populated servers.

Database Lag Monster:  This monster is most likely to attack when servers are restarted, such as for updates, when everyone is trying to log in at the same time. This monster usually makes brief appearances and then goes back to sleep on it’s own.

Graphics Lag Monster:  This monster is a particularly obnoxious breed as it manifests different to different people.  It generally appears around highly animated items, or lots of action on screen.  It has been found that this one can often be tamed by a decent video card, and making sure your drivers are up to date.  Can also be affected by CPU speed.

Cache Lag Monster:  This monster is a sneaky one.  It sits around and waits while you fill up your browser with all kinds of information and then just appears and wrecks your day.  It will cause everything you do to be a little bit slower, and slower, and slower.  The good news is this one can be chased away by clearing your cache.

Tab Lag Monster:  This monster appears most often when 3 or more tabs have been opened.  It’s also far more likely to put in an appearance when those tabs have streaming content on them.  It’s like a summoning ritual.  The more tabs open = the stronger it gets. And the last thing anyone wants, is a lag monster, let alone a super strong lag monster.  

Flash Tab Monster:  This is a rarer version of the Tab Lag Monster.  This one attacks when you are tabbed over, and return to the game screen.  It will either freeze your graphics and you may need to drag the tab to a separate window, or it will try to play everything you didn’t watch at the same moment. 

April 09, 2018

AQWorlds Patch Notes

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

Reens, Cemaros and the AQW Bug Hunter team are busy squashing the bugs you submit each week to the Bug Tracker at www.Artix.com/bugs.

Check back weekly to see if the bug you reported has been addressed.  Please remember that not all bugs are "easy fixes" so some reported and confirmed bugs from each week may not be on the fixed list as they will require more time or a different person to fix them.

If you would like to know how the reports go from you to fixed, check this page:
http://www.aq.com/lore/guides/BugReportFAQ

Bug fixes: April 9, 2018

1. Rare items removed from “Live at Yulgar’s Merge” shop.
2. Enchanted Djinn Pet non-battlepet no longer acting like one.  (Actual battlepet version is a quest reward from Radwan in the Djinn Palace House.)
3. Mastery of Death Gauntlet (Daily) and Time to Battle On! (Daily) quests no longer interfering with each other.
4. Elissa Keelhaul no longer trying to send you to a locked seasonal map.
5. Tibias no longer refers to King Alteon as an Empress.
6. The 3rd wolf has stopped hiding in (or as?) the wall in Greenguard West.
7. Stryche in Artixpointe is a bit less flirty now.
8. Paragon Helm House customization buttons moved from behind the house menu.

Art Fixes:

1. Belt details now show on Laken’s Personal and Laken the Seraphic Paladin male armors.
2. Skuller of Vokun coat tail no longer changes when moving.
3. Combat Helm and Masked Combat Helm shading fixed.
4. Enchanted Void Aura and Enchanted Void Dragon Capes have CC eyes again.
5. Horned Djinn Summoner Locks and Horned Djinn Summoner Locks + Scarf horns are now CC.

April 06, 2018

Return to Oaklore + Undead War

Polishing the Blades, Battles, and Bosses in Oaklore Keep

A Hero never stops training, and we never stop working to improve what we’ve built. Log in this weekend to see the first round of new improvements designed to help new heroes get the most out of the Oaklore tutorial zone. New and experienced adventurers can battle hordes of skeletons as we bring back the original Undead War!

Oaklore: New Gear, New Polish

Many of the NPCs in Oaklore have had their dialogues and functionality adjusted. This is designed to help new and inexperienced heroes better navigate through the Keep. ALL heroes can (and should!) talk to Stryche inside the Keep. Complete his quest to get the pieces of the GreenGuard Knight set. New heroes never looked so good entering Battleon for the first time! 

Why Return to Early Zones?

In the last (close to) 10 years, we've introduced over 1,000 unique zones, 3,000+ monsters, and almost more gear than a hero can count. With your help, we've had an incredible amount of amazing adventures, and have built a game we are truly proud of. But just like a Hero never stops training, WE never stop working to improve what we’ve built. Join us this weekend, as we introduce changes designed to help new and experienced heroes enjoy the town of Battleon even more! 

Return of the Undead Invasion!

Like the Horc War that returned recently, this war was never meant to go perma-rare, so we are bringing it BACK for everyone to enjoy! /Join WarUndead and talk to Artix to begin battling the army of skeletons. If you're an experienced Hero, tackle the higher level liches for a chance to get runes to enhance the gear from Artix's quests!

April 06, 2018

Now Available: Djinn Summoner

Upgrade with Select Membership or AdventureCoin Packages!

Starting this Friday at 6 PM EST, unlock the exclusive, fully color-customizable Djinn Summoner armor set when you buy any AdventureCoin or Membership package of $10 USD or more until May 4th. Get the Djinn Summoner gear and the exclusive Djinn Palace House House + Djinn House Guard items with a 12 month membership or 12000 AC package.

12000 AC or 12 month membership packages: Djinn Summoner Set + Palace House

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

• Djinn Summoner armor set (fully color customizable)
• 6 helms, 2 capes, 2 weapons, pet + battle pet
• Djinn Palace House
• Djinn Palace NPC* + 2 Djinn Guard house items
• 7 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory

The Djinn Palace House has 7 rooms (including the exterior), plus an armor/character customization room (just like Yulgar's Inn). 

To unlock your Djinn Palace House + House Item Guards, log in and /join battleontown, then head to the Curio Shop. You'll see the Djinn Guard with a house shop just for you.

The Djinn Palace NPC is built into map and has a quest for the Battle Pet and Scimitar Daggers. House Guard items can be changed from room to room.

2000 and 5000 AC or 3 and 6 month membership package: Djinn Summoner Set

• Djinn Summoner armor set (fully color customizable)
• 6 helms, 2 capes, 1 weapons, pet
• 5 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory

All packages will also come with the Djinn Summone  character page badge, so you can show all your friends who really rules the Djinn Realm! The Djinn Summoner bonus gear goes rare May 4th, 2018.

Upgrade Bonus Prizes

Back in March of 2017, we started a new upgrade incentive to show our appreciation for all the heroes supporting AdventureQuest Worlds. This year, we're doing the same... with a twist! 

Each month, we will choose FIVE winners from among the list of people who upgraded the previous month. Winners will find a note in their inventory with details on how to contact us with their prize choice. They will get to choose one thing from the following list:

1. 1 Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness ticket
2. 5 More bank, inventory, and house spaces (over the cap, if they are already maxed out)
3. A 20% boost to one weapon of their choice (that they already own)
4. 2000 AdventureCoins
5. 1 month membership

And because we know not everyone is able to upgrade every month, we will ALSO choose 1 person from the list of all the everyone who logged in within the last 30 days. They'll receive the same prizes listed above.

Prize FAQ

Where will I see the note? What will it look like?

Winners will see the note in the Miscellaneous Items tab in their inventory. It will look something like this: "January 2018 Golden Ticket"

If I already won the Ultimate Item of Donated Awesomeness, can I win the Epic one?

Yes, you sure can! (If you're that lucky, we have a couple favors to ask...)

Are there limitations to the boost I can pick?

You can only choose an item (weapon, helm, cape, armor, etc) you currently own. It cannot already have a boost on it.

Available boosts are: Gold, XP, Class Points, Rep, Racial (increased dmg to humans, dragons, etc)

Can an upgraded account win the "log in" prize?

We went back and forth on this. Short answer: no. 
Long answer: The pool of 5 winners is only drawn from people who upgraded in the previous month. If you did not, then you're elgible for the "log in" pool.

We know there are some of you who would love to buy a membership or ACs, but just can't. Real life happens (and so do bills). We want all our free players to have a chance to win awesome prizes like this, too. 

Ultimate Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness

Back in 2012, heroes who spun the Wheel of Doom had a chance to get the Ultimate Item of Donated Awesomeness. Anyone with the UIoDA could choose one item from a list of items donated by other, SUPER generous heroes. For years, you guys have been asking us to bring back the UIoDA. And now... we HAVE!

The Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness is the exact same thing... only you have a chance to get it by upgrading your account with an AdventureCoin or Membership package. (Or a smaller chance just by logging into the game!)

The list below is a sample of items donated by your fellow AQWorlds heroes. If you log in and find an Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness in your inventory, follow the instructions on it to claim your prize.

Sample list of items

Want something that's not listed above? If you get the Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness, follow the instructions on the item description and ask the team. They'll see if one is available!

Want to Donate Your Items?

Want to donate one of your rare items? Email your username and the list of items you'd like to donate to: [email protected]!

We will contact prospective donators before removing items, so be sure to send the email from an address you check regularly. Once you donate an item, you will no longer be able to buy it back from your Buy Back Shop, so be sure before you say "yes"!

April 05, 2018

2018 Spring Gear Display Contest

Show us Your Best/Favorite Spring Gear!

The first day of Spring may have been on March 20th, but better late than never! We’re going to have a Spring armor contest! 

How to Enter

All you have to do is equip your favorite Spring-themed armor set or Item on one of your ingame characters (AQ/MQ/DF/AQW/AQ3D) and send the screenshot AND a link to your character page* to us at the AE_Contests Twitter account. 

* For AQ3D characters, send a screenshot of your character in-game.

Example of a Spring Showers armor set

Example of a Spring Showers pet 

* If you don't see a full armor set that fits the theme, but you've got a pet that screams SPRING SHOWERS (like the Electric Grenwog) or a weapon that can take down a tidal wave of terrors... show us what you've got!

Prize Details

1. Winners will get 500 ArtixPoints (or the equivalent amount of secondary currency)

2. If you go Above and Beyond, make us laugh, shake our heads in disbelief or go WOW, we shall award you accordingly ;)

Contest Time Frame

The contest will range from today to Monday, April 9th at 10 AM EST. The winners will be announced via Twitter.

Contest Rules

To be considered, all entries must:

• Include your game character name and a screenshot of the character page.
• No photoshopping your character page.
• You can use any of your game characters (AQ/MQ/DF/AQW/AQ3D)
• Be posted to the AE_Contests Twitter account,
• One entry per person

Reminders

1. Please don’t spam your entry or you will be disqualified! You can only win once per person!

2. A true hero is a good sportsman -- we reserve the right to reward excellent examples of good sportsmanship or remove entries for abusive behavior towards staff or other contest participants.

Good Luck!

On behalf of the entire AE team, we are really looking forward to seeing your entries!

April 04, 2018

Server Update + Action Plan

Greetings and salutations,

During this Spring Break some of AdventureQuest Worlds and AdventureQuest 3D servers have been temporarily down. This is a result of DDoS attacks (Distributed Denial of Service) intended to disrupt the servers and interfere with your gameplay.

We are not the only game studio experiencing an increase in these attacks. Learning from how other studios are handling the same issue, we are now taking two additional actions. The first is to add a new service that will expand our existing protection to non-web based traffic. The second, and we really hope we have your support, is to take legal action on the individuals responsible for these attacks. If you have any additional information or tips, please send it to [email protected]

Thank you for your incredible understanding and patience. As heroes and Guardians of our community, we hope you join us in our firm stance to never back down to network attacks or threats. We are certainly here to stay.

Battle on!

Artix, Alina, and the AE Team

April 04, 2018

NEW 2018 Upgrade Bonus Prizes

Upgrade your account for perks... and more!

This year, in addition to the special bonus items you get when you buy a Membership or AdventureCoin package, we are introducing a new upgrade incentive to show our appreciation for all the heroes supporting AdventureQuest Worlds.

Each month, we will choose FIVE winners from among the list of people who upgraded the previous month. Winners will find a note in their inventory with details on how to contact us with their prize choice. They will get to choose one thing from the following list:

1. 1 Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness ticket
2. 5 More bank, inventory, and house spaces (over the cap, if they are already maxed out)
3. A 20% boost to one weapon of their choice (that they already own)
4. 2000 AdventureCoins
5. 1 month membership

And because we know not everyone is able to upgrade every month, we will ALSO choose 1 person from the list of all the everyone who logged in within the last 30 days. They'll receive the same prizes listed above.

Prize FAQ

Where will I see the note? What will it look like?

Winners will see the note in the Miscellaneous Items tab in their inventory. It will look something like this: "January 2018 Golden Ticket"

If I already won the Ultimate Item of Donated Awesomeness, can I win the Epic one?

Yes, you sure can! (If you're that lucky, we have a couple favors to ask...)

Are there limitations to the boost I can pick?

You can only choose an item (weapon, helm, cape, armor, etc) you currently own. It cannot already have a boost on it.

Available boosts are: Gold, XP, Class Points, Rep, Racial (increased dmg to humans, dragons, etc)

Can an upgraded account win the "log in" prize?

We went back and forth on this. Short answer: no. 
Long answer: The pool of 5 winners is only drawn from people who upgraded in the previous month. If you did not, then you're elgible for the "log in" pool.

We know there are some of you who would love to buy a membership or ACs, but just can't. Real life happens (and so do bills). We want all our free players to have a chance to win awesome prizes like this, too. 

Ultimate Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness

Back in 2012, heroes who spun the Wheel of Doom had a chance to get the Ultimate Item of Donated Awesomeness. Anyone with the UIoDA could choose one item from a list of items donated by other, SUPER generous heroes. For years, you guys have been asking us to bring back the UIoDA. And now... we HAVE!

The Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness is the exact same thing... only you have a chance to get it by upgrading your account with an AdventureCoin or Membership package. (Or a smaller chance just by logging into the game!)

The list below is a sample of items donated by your fellow AQWorlds heroes. If you log in and find an Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness in your inventory, follow the instructions on it to claim your prize.

Sample list of items

Want something that's not listed above? Just ask! If you get the Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness, follow the instructions on the item description and ask the team. They'll see if one is available!

Want to Donate Your Items?

Want to donate one of your rare items? Email your username and the list of items you'd like to donate to: [email protected]!

We will contact prospective donators before removing items, so be sure to send the email from an address you check regularly. Once you donate an item, you will no longer be able to buy it back from your Buy Back Shop, so be sure before you say "yes"!

April 03, 2018

April 2018 Event Calendar

April is a month of Undead... And Magic!

April’s here, and with it, the first Friday the 13th event of the year! Sharpen your machete and get ready to fight, because we've got a busy month of battles ahead!

April 6: Oaklore Revitalization + Undead War Returns* + Djinn Summoner Upgrade bonus

April 13: Friday the 13th: Origins of Shrade + Event Rares shop

April 20: Djinn Realm: Trial of the Guardians + Earth Day returns

April 27: Champion of Nature: Mastering the Power + Limited Time Shop

Also Coming in 2018....

• The Great Fire War arrives at www.AQ.com
• Battle as Valen as we tell the twisted tale of King Alteon, Queen Lynaria, and the knight who would be Sepulchure!
• Frostval in July
• Return to Darkovia
• Find out what is inside the 7 Deadly Dragon's Heptagonal Chest
• AQWorlds 10 Year Anniversary

* Like the Horc War that returned recently, this war was never meant to go perma-rare, so we are bringing it BACK for everyone to enjoy! (With a few higher leveled bosses for you experienced heroes to battle.)

April 02, 2018

AQWorlds Patch Notes

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

Reens, Cemaros and the AQW Bug Hunter team are busy squashing the bugs you submit each week to the Bug Tracker at www.Artix.com/bugs.

Check back weekly to see if the bug you reported has been addressed.  Please remember that not all bugs are "easy fixes" so some reported and confirmed bugs from each week may not be on the fixed list as they will require more time or a different person to fix them.

If you would like to know how the reports go from you to fixed, check this page:
http://www.aq.com/lore/guides/BugReportFAQ

Bug fixes: April 2, 2018

1. Queen Victoria in Swordhaven Castle no longer rolls her eye at you.
2. LOTS of typos.

Extras! -  Bits & Pieces

Hey again!  Yes, it was a really slow week on bugs.  That’s a good thing, isn’t it?  So time to toss out a few things that weren’t enough to make their own post up.

The Super-Fan Swag Token A was AC tagged this weekend, while the B, C and D ones were not.  This was on purpose.  The tag was placed on the A tokens for use in tracking when they are turned in.  Since only the A tokens can be turned in for rep quests, these are the only ones which need to be tracked.

And now for some real odds & ends things about common reports and why details are important.  

Weapon doesn’t fit in hand  -  This should be checked with more than one armour.  There’s a very good chance that it isn’t the weapon at fault, it’s the armour.  The reverse may be true when reporting an armour not grabbing the weapon right.

Daggers with onAttack animations  -  Only the dagger in the main hand will have an animation.  This isn’t an art issue, it’s an engine issue.  Since you are not really carrying two daggers, only the “real” one will transform.  The other one is there just for looks.

Scrolls/Potions (equipped consumables) not working  -  This is another of those wonky things that happens when you sneak new engine level content in.  Sometimes, the scrolls just refuse to cooperate until you relog after obtaining them.  We are looking into making this work better in the rewrite.  

“Backwards” swords  -  Some swords are meant to be held with the blades behind the body.  These swords will usually (but not always!) have the word “Reversed” somewhere in the name.  These are not bugs.  
Some swords are sent in with the file reversed.  This is kind of common due to how they are made.  We don’t always catch that these swords are upside down (or even backwards!) in testing for various reasons like small details, or the name of it.  These may be bugs.

April 01, 2018

Video Game Studio goes ALL IN on Nicolas Cage

A Whole New Era of The Craziest, Meme-iest Adventures is HERE

Recently, we watched a documentary about how Nicolas Cage was almost Superman. It broke our hearts, seeing that movie not happen. We intend to rectify that wrong and center our games around our National Treasure, Nicolas Cage.  

Battleon shall be renamed to City of Angels, and you shall be able to fly, which will be accessible through our new travel system, Con Air. Unless you’re undead, in which case, you’ll just be a Ghost Rider… Just don’t Drive Angry.

We realize this may be Inconceivable to those of you looking through the Looking Glass, but you have to put The Trust in us and be sure that no feature will be Left Behind. This is going to be The Best of Times.

Expect new Nicolas Cage classes, like Lord of War, The Wicker Man, MatchStick Men, WindTalkers, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which will be released in the Season of the Witch.

For you Undead fans, we’re going to be Bringing out the Dead, because the Vampire’s Kiss will now allow you to get married, and you can have your Honeymoon in Vegas. (Just be careful it’s not The Kiss of Death.)

Just like Peggy Sue Got Married after being Moonstruck while Leaving Las Vegas. You will be able to Face/Off again Amos & Andrew using Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, but you have to do it before it’s Gone in Sixty Seconds.

Next, if you have Time to Kill, you can jump Between Worlds like an Army of One to a land with Fire Birds or to The Frozen Ground.

If you’re Seeking Justice, you can unleash your Rage and Rank Up and become a Bad Lieutenant, like GI Joe‘s Snake Eyes.  

Be sure to tell Your Mom and Dad about this game update, because if they want to get you our new upgrade so you can be a part of The Cotton Club, you can just Pay the Ghost.

We realize this Change may make us an Outcast, like a Valley Girl of the videogame industry, but we are Wild at Heart and our love of Nicolas Cage will last until The Dying of The Light.

Also prepare for Special Musical Guest: Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted. (Because God knows, we didn’t know how else to fit that in here!)

NICOLAS CAGE ON!