Design Notes

September 07, 2012

Return to Mobius

The Solaris and Lunaris Clans Await!

Shoot for the stars! Light and Darkness dominate the skies in an eternal clash for supremacy... and immensely-powerful artifacts!

Solaris and Lunaris Call to You!

This weekend, return to the /Mobius map in Chiral Valley and speak to either Saa'thel or Traveon. Ally with either the Lunaris or Solaris clans and, with your help, one side may finally gain the ability to control the stars... and Lore itself!

All-new Suggestion Shop Gear is Here!

Speak with Yulgar to view our all-new Suggestion items! We take your designs and put them in-game for ALL your friends to /equip! Because we've put so many of your ideas into AQW, the Suggestion Shop is overloaded!

Reminiscence Armor and Rune Falcon blade

So we're moving all the current gear into the Legendary Suggestions Shop. You can still buy those OR take a look at all the epic gear in the NEW Suggestions Shop!

Talk to Twilly for Power Gem Solution!

We've got a POWERFUL fix to the power gem problem! Talk to Twilly in Battleon (you'll find him on top of the gem-stack) once a week to get 1 Power Gem added straight into your inventory. You MUST have a confirmed email to get a Power Gem.

Twilly's got Your Gem!

The Power Gem link will ALSO be included in the newsletter emails, but if you do not receive an email for any reason, you can talk to Twilly in-game to get your Gem. You cannot get more than 1 Gem a week, so if you get it through your newsletter, you cannot get a 2nd from Twilly.

To confirm your email and begin receiving 1 FREE Power Gem each week, go here: Account Manager!
If you see two stacks of Power Gem in your inventory, we will fix that next week.

Brasilian Independence Day!

Thanks for your continued support of AQWorlds, and congratulations on the anniversary of your Brasilian Independence Day! And to share the excitement that comes with a holiday like that, we've made the Brasilian Independence Day items available to everyone!

Aproveitem os raros épicos! There are some awesome new Brasil-themed items as well as all of the items from last year!

/Join Battleon to browse the 2012 Obrigado Shop!

• FIVE colorful Arara pets!
• A NEW armor set!*
• All the returning seasonal rares!

* One of our Brasilian mods, Colosso (formerly Daimyo), requested we put his personal set into the shop this year. Obrigado, Colosso!

DOUBLE Ballyhoo Rewards for US Players!

Now through September 16th, if you live in the United States, when you visit Ballyhoo and watch our How To Train Your Dragon ad, receive DOUBLE the usual rewards! As long as you see the HTTYD video and background skin, you'll receive 1,000 gold OR a chance to gain 7 Adventure Coins! Just /join battleontown to view Ballyhoo ads up to 10 times a day!

All good Heroes should know the basics of How to Train Your Dragon... and her new ad shows you a great resource to do that! View her ad, then open the Magic Treasure Chest for a chance to gain either 7 free AdventureCoins OR 1,000 gold!

* If you live outside the US, you can still watch Ballyhoo's regular ads for a chance to get either 500 gold or a few Adventure Coins!

Coming Soon!

• J6 the Bountyhunter is turning Builder! He wants to expand your housing selection, so what new houses would YOU like to live in?
• Samba loves animals... and making sure you're protected! This month she'll introduce the member-only "My First Battle-Pet" shop. What starter battle-pets do you want?
• We will announce the rewards of the Matomy Contest as soon as we get in touch with the winners!
• The next Span release! (Are you ready to meet the zone's first Chaos Beast?)
• Guilds Phase I are BACK on Yorumi's active To-Do List!

Have a good night, everyone, and enjoy the release!

43 days...

August 27, 2012

News You Want To Know

We've got so much to share, one DN post isn't enough!

You think we would take it EASY when we only have 3 days to build the release, but here at the Lab we look at every challenge as a new opportunity to go beyond our limits! So here's the scoop what we've got coming this Friday during our chaotic Dragon*Con release!*

• Talk to Quibble to see his latest gear, Dragon-style in honor of Con!
•  Learn the secret mission of the Sisterhood of Dishpan Hands, Lore's foremost Order of Clerics!
• Epic Water-themed rewards will be yours if you help the Clerics! 
• Get the war meter to 100% by Friday, August 31st to win Dage's Paragon Set!

* Of COURSE we're going to roll live from Dragon*Con! What better place to release than from 47 stories up, looking down at a crowd of 60,000 people?!

Quibble's not Draggin' His Heels - NEW Dragon Gear!

Dragons don't much like Quibble - they say he smells disagreeable, and they don't want him near their hoards. But he DID manage to retrieve some never-before-seen-slightly used dragon-themed items from a side-future just in time for Dragon*Con!

Talk to him this Friday to grab your own pieces of the Unleashed Dragon Set!

• Unleashed Dragon Armor
• Unleashed Dragon Mask
• Unleashed Dragon Helmet
• Rage Unleashed Polearm
• Dual Dragonfang Daggers
• Dragon Scale Cape

Don't miss Solrac's set, and keep an eye out for previews of Dage's Draconic Barbarian set, too!

Secrets of the Sisterhood: Get ready to Fight Dirty!

Watching, waiting, seeking information... The Clerics of the Sisterhood of Dishpan Hands are quiet, helpful, and inconspicuous.

If you asked, they would extoll the virtues of purity and Order, cleanliness and the life-giving power of Water. But their inconspicuous presence masks a more important mission than anyone on Lore suspects - until now!

This weekend, travel to /clerictemple and speak with Cleric Dawn. The Sisters need YOUR help to push forward on a quest vital to the safety and security of every creature on Lore! She won't tell you ALL their secrets right away, but once you've gained her trust, you'll also learn the truth!

A Tidal Wave of Epic Water Rewards!

Be prepared to travel all across Lore gathering the data and surveying the potential trouble sites the Sisters direct you tot. Help them gain the knowledge they need and you'll be rewarded with a deluge of Water-themed rewards!

• HydraCaster Armor
• Tidal Breaker Armor
• Translucent Rose Cape
• Cleric's Aura Cape
• Seaworthy Scythes and Staves
• And more!

New Ballyhoo Promotion Begins Today!

If you haven't ment Ballyhoo yet, head to /battleontown and talk to the elf with the offers! Ballyhoo is the master of Promotions and Hoopla, and she's got a new offer for you.

All good Heroes should know the basics of How to Train Your Dragon... and now Ballyhoo has a new ad viewable through September 16th which will help you learn how to do that!

View her ad, then open the Magic Treasure Chest for a chance to gain either free AdventureCoins or gold! Players in the United States can view this ad up to 10 times a day!

Get Dage's War Meter to 100% by Friday for Paragon Set!

Fans of Dage the Evil and members of his Undead Legion have waited long and worked hard to earn his Paragon armor, helm, and cape! You are so close to owning a set of unparalleled, Evil armor... you just need to raise Dage's war meter to 100% by this Friday, August 31st!

The Paragon Set prices:

• Paragon Armor - 2,000 ACs
• Paragon Helm - 125 ACs
• Paragon Cape - 85 ACs

TRUE members of the Undead Legion can purchase the Paragon Set for Legion Tokens! Dage has not decided on the prices for the Legion Token version of the armor yet, but we'll announce them as soon as he has.

The 1000 AC price for Paragon Armor mentioned in previous Design Notes was only if Dage the Evil won the war. He did not win, but was convinced to release it if the meter hits 100% by Friday. The price is now 2,000 ACs. Sorry guys, that's the way the Evil cookie crumbles!

War Rewards: What Goes Rare and When!

We've mentioned this in previous Design Notes, but we get thousands of new players each month, and new news is better than old news, even if it's the same news. The war content going rare will be removed on September 4th, after the team returns from Dragon*Con.

The war rewards - Dage's Paragon and the Legacy of Nulgath sets - will be available until September 21st! You all battled so hard to earn them, we want to give you all extra time to squeeze in that last bit of farming before they're gone.

The following war content will STAY after the war ends:

• The Underworld map
• Underworld monsters
• Monster drops
• Underworld story-related cutscenes and cinematics
• The War Merge shops
• All of the items from the Token/Diamond shops will go rare except the Evolved Blademaster and Abyssal Priest of Nulgath armors!

The following war content will GO RARE after the war ends:

• The Dage and Nulgath Rares shops
• The Legion Token/Diamond farming quests
• The quests to get Dage and Nulgath's rare weapons
• All of the items from the Token/Diamond shops will go rare except the Evolved Blademaster and Abyssal Priest of Nulgath armors! 

Target and Matomy Promotion Reminders!

Don't forget: you need to redeem the Artix Entertainment gamecard from Target stores before August 31, 2012 to unlock the Bullseye Spear! The 2,000 AC version of the spear Valencia is selling will also be removed on August 31st.

You have until September 2, 2012 to complete at least one offer through our Matomy AExtras promotion. The grand prize is a combo pack of the black Artix and Sepulchure action figures! You can also win either 3,000 or 4,500 ACs!

Click here to begin participating in AExtras offers! (Make sure you have a separate email just for doing this.)

Retcons: changing the past to aid the future

Sometimes we have ideas in mind when writing the releases that make sense to us, but don't come across clearly to you guys. That happened with last week's Gravelyn release.

We'll be going back to it and changing some of the key details to indicate that it takes place AFTER the Doomwood II zone. This should clear up some confusion (and let us keep the easter egg in Drakath's opening scene).

Power Gems Issues? Read Here!

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Here is how to get Power Gems:

• Make sure your AQWorlds Game Account has a Confirmed Email.
• Every week, check your AQWorlds Newsletter delivered to your email inbox.
• Click the special link that you will find in the Newsletters.
• If you're having issues with your email or receiving newsletters, please see this Email Help Page for more assistance!

October 28, 2011

BakeShop of Horrors!

Mogloween 2011 is here! With PIE!

Fear, loathing, and sugar craving, all in MystCroft this year! Cysero has baked a devilishly delicious dessert, but it needs one more ingredient! He needs YOU to help him find it and keep all the villagers and monsters from eating it before it's ready! (Don't forget! You'll need to play through all the previous years of Mogloween events!)

Note: Make sure your sound is ON! You'll miss the best, creepiest part of the event if sound if off.

It's nightmare fuel. Becuase food is fuel, ya'know?

But something about this pie is just not right. And when Baron Luca, MystCroft's resident Vampire Lord, finds out about the pie... there is going to be trouble! What's he got against delicious, peachy pastries? Why do they make him go berserk? You'll need to find out! (And you will. Just wait for the boss fight and his transforming blood-rage!)

Baron Luca is hungry. And so is his servant!

The madness, the horror, and the sweet, sweet fear in this Mogloween's release reminds us of The Simpson's Treehouse of Horrors Halloween Specials. So we felt it was appropriate to call this release: "Bakeshop of Horrors!" After all, when Cysero bakes, who knows WHAT will come out of the oven?!

Trick or Treating is here!

Are you ready to goin /house to /house in AQWorlds to battle monsters and claim your copious candy rewards? You'd better be, because it's time to trick or treat! After you've run through our deviliciously scary storyline, /party up with your friends, head to their /houses and take down those monsters! Then grab their tasty loot and run to the nearest Molgoween merge shop!

Trick or treat, the monsters are beat, now you've got sweet treats to eat!

Sweet Rewards for Mogloween!

Deliciously appetizing treats all for you this Mogloween, whether you shop, merge or get them as drops!

Dark Vampire Armor, Zombie Whackers, and Jack O Blade!

CandyCaster Armor/Helms with Hanging Lantern Staff, Hallowed Blade!

• Glutton Armor
• Anti-Glutton Helm
• Mennacing Set (going rare after this year!)
• Gummi Were-Bear and Lolly Armaments
• Masquerade Armor and Masks
• And much, much more!

Organ Harvester Limited Time Shop!

Hold on to your hearts! Lock down your livers! And grab ahold of your gallbladders! Because the Organ Harvester Limited Time Shop is here! This shop, made by Dage for Mogloween, will be available until the midnight between November 1st and 2nd!

A scythe for sore eyes!

New Wallpaper at Artix Wallpaper!

Delicioussssss! So sweet!

This deliciously frightening wallpaper was made by Randor the Red using art from Dage, Mennace, and J6! It is absolutely the sweetest, peachiest wallpaper we've put out in a long time! To get yours, click on the picture or go here!

TMBG Rares Leaving Soon!

AQWorlds' 3rd birthday was GIGANTIC! But sadly, the Collector enforces a very strict rares policy. The AC Event rares (but NOT the Vindicator of They Class) will be leaving November 4th! So unless you can convince him (through us) to keep them around longer, they'll be gone in 1 week!

He'll take your rares if you don't want'em!

BattleOn Battlecard Mod Packs!

The BattleOn BattleCard Mod Packs are in Toys R Us stores NOW! Head to your nearest Toys R Us emporium, battle your way through crowds of toy-crazed customers, and claim your very own Chaos and Doomwood Mods packs!

Get your very own PaladinSlayer Class when you buy both packs!

For more information, check out these Design Notes!

Ballyhoo Battles Zombies!

Head to Ballyhoo! She's got an EPICLY deadly zombie-bashing Bat of Doom geared to smack the brains out of those living dead! All you need to do is watch her ad and you'll have a chance at the reward! This offer is for EVERYONE, so if you live to take down the living dead, you'll definitely want this wicked weapon!

Other HeroMart News!

Be sure to check out HeroMart this Monday for the all-new Artix Logo shirt (on sale November 1st) and the 2012 Calendar (on sale November 7th), too!

Have an excellent Mogloween everyone! If you're trick-or-treating in the real world, stay safe and go in a group! Be prepared to claim your candy, but check it before eating (or throwing it at people). I'm going to go home and carve a pumpkin or three.

November 19, 2010

Take to the Skies!

Tonight’s Release is not for those who are afraid of heights…

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Captain Stratos of King Alteon's Skyguard has just reported that his airship is under attack! Gladius and his Draconian Sky Pirates have invaded The Phereless and the Skyguard needs your assistance!

Statos has requested that the Skyguard drop anchor in Battleon in order to recruit fearless warriors to fight off the onslaught of Sky Pirates.

So let’s back up a bit: What exactly is a Skyguard?

The Skyguard are King Alteon’s flying army. They are noble aerial warriors who patrol the skies above Swordhaven and Battleon on the constant lookout for danger. After seeing the threat of Sepulchure’s flying fortress, the Good King saw fit to create a group of knights that could combat him anywhere. The Skyguard can go anywhere and attack from anywhere—no evil is safe from them.

But now the airship, The Phereless, is under attack by Sky Pirates! Their leader, Gladius, has been reported on the ship’s deck along with a massive armored dragon outfitted with anti-air cannons.

Wow… that sounds safe. Where do I sign up to join the Skyguard?

Once everyone was evacuated from Battleon during the server shutdown, Captain Stratos dropped anchor and is taking the most valiant heroes aboard the Skyguard airship.  

But before you head on deck, it would be wise to gear up in some RARE official Skyguard loot!

• Runed Skyguard Sword
• Cobalt Skyguard Blade
• Skyguard Blade and Shield
• Skyguard Captain Hat
• Skyguard Uniform Armor
• Skyguard Halberd
• Gilded Skyguard Helm
• Elegant Skyguard Hat
• Skyguard Full Helm
• Skyguard Officer Helm
• Skyguard Commander Helm
• Formal Skyguard Cape
• Skyguard Officer’s Blade
• Skyguard Crystal Blade
• Skyguard Highblade
• Skyguard Falcon Blade

The Skyguard really know how to dress for battle! All the items in the Skyguard Outfitters Shop are RARE and will NEVER be offered again. Most of the items offered here sell for AdventureCoins, so make sure you stock up on ACs if you hope to get the best of the best loot while you still can!

Reports have flooded in that the baddies on board have some pretty impressive item drops as well. But since The Phereless is still hovering around somewhere up there… I haven’t been able to check the monsters for their drops just yet.

Ewww… ‘monster drops’ sounds a little disconcerting….

Speaking of disconcerting matters…

Port-A-Pwnzor Complete Armor Set!

Flush away evil with the Port-A-Pwnzor armor set! To celebrate World Toilet Day, Ballyhoo is offering you the chance to get the complete set of Port-A-Pwnzor Armor, Port-A-Pwnzor Helm, Port-A-Plunger Mace, and Port-A-Pwnzor Cloak!

That… actually… turned out a lot better than I thought!

Visit Ballyhoo up to 10 times a day to have a chance at getting this totally weird (and awesome) complete armor set. It will be available all this week so have fun watching those ads! And don’t forget: every time you watch a Ballyhoo Ad, you have the chance at winning gold, items, and even FREE ACs!

You can find Ballyhoo in Battleon Town Square (right next to Valencia) or by /join ballyhoo. Without the period. Because then the command won’t work!

Falconreach Idle!

It's DragonFable's very first voice-acting event! So make sure your sound and music options are checked! Starring the vocal talents of George Lowe, Cysero and Lim (voiced by their real life counterparts), Serenity (played by Alina), and Lime the moglin (voiced by the talented Nythera), Falconreach Idle is DragonFable's first parody of all those reality TV talent shows you know, love (or maybe hate) so much!

And it is ALL happening NOW!! It'll be a half-hour packed with action, puns, and a panel of judges who are VERY ready to tell you exactly what they think about your act!  So instead of grasping your remote control, you'll need to grab your mouse and double-click your way to Falconreach because YOU are going to be a STAR! 

It EVEN features Artix’s very own commercial about the highly sought after Paladin Toilet Paper! Check out DragonFable’s Release now!

Next Week: Harvest Festival!

Yup! Next Thursday is the day that we give thanks by stuffing our faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole and all that delish home holiday fixin’s. In AQWorlds, Oishii is back with her classic cooking and cornycopia-filled adventures. We will be releasing on Wednesday next week since the entire team will be in a deep hibernation come Friday morning.

There WILL BE a Black Friday Shop next week. But uh… we honestly don’t know what is going to go in it. Yet.

If you have any ideas, let us hear about them on the forums or on our twitters! We always love to hear your ideas!

Battle ON!

August 06, 2010

Win an iPad Thingy...

SuperRewards, the company that provides the 3rd party offers for AdventureCoins in AEXtras, is doing a iPad giveaway promotion. One lucky player of our games is going to win an iPad*. Yes, they set aside one just for our games so we are guaranteed to have a winner. All you have to do is complete any offer between now (August 6th) and September 6th, 2010. The more offers you complete, the higher your chance to win.

You must be over 13 to access the offers.... as always, be careful! Always read the small print. Especially because the good offers are being used up fast during the promotion leaving those ultra shady ones**. I would not ask you to do something I have not done myself, so after carefully researching each one, I did two offers this morning. The ones that ask you to watch a video are by far the safest. Although they require a facebook account. Second safest would be the surveys that do not require you to enter a phone number (stay clear of any that ask you for your cell phone number and have the words "monthly fee" anywhere in the text) On a wierd note, I am totally going to use this if I ever switch car insurance companies or get Direct TV. So again, be safe and good luck -- hope you win.
Official link to the iPad Promotion

 * Which is funny... since the iPad does not support flash, so you cannot play our games on it.... maybe it will make a nice paper wieght? -- Oh wow! Wait, scratch that, I have just been informed on Twitter that there is an app called Cloud Browse which lets you play AE games on the iPad!
** What? They have non-shady offers?