Design Notes

July 01, 2013

The 1st of July…

…is the beginning of nonstop fun all week long!

Can you believe it’s already July? Time files when you’re having fun—so /equip your favorite Wings because this week is packed with fantastic adventures in your favorite online fantasy game!

Happy Canada Day!

Here’s a tribute to our friends up north! Today is Canada Day where we celebrate the anniversary of the British North America Act, enacted in 1867. But in 2013, AQWorlds celebrates with in-game Canada Day Seasonal Rares!

Those are some nice items, eh?

Check your Game Menu to find the Freedom Day Shop this afternoon. And then get your Canada on in Battleon!

Tuesday’s Artist Showcase Shop

Tomorrow brings in a new Featured Artist to the Artist Showcase Shop! My shop is still available for another day, but when the clock strikes 4pm EST on Tuesday, all my Derp and Pink goodies will be replaced with Diozz’s epic mecha items! 

Derps, Hurps, and Cuddles available for 1 more day!

Wanna see what Diozz has in store for you? OKAY!

Mega Mecha Sketches by Diozz

Those are just previews—but if you wanna see more, head on over to Diozz’s Twitter, Follow him, and then check out his Photos! Spoiler pics will arrive tomorrow on the Design Notes =D

Freedom Rings!

Thursday is July 4^th, and if you hail from the lands of USA, you know it’s our National Independence Day! Celebrate our country’s independence with all-things American: BBQ, red white & blue, and…blowing things up with fireworks!

Red, white, and BOOM!

In the Freedom Day Shop, you can score Liberty Seasonal Rare items starting today. And be sure to take lots of screenshots with your and your friends celebrating Canada Day and Independence Day!

Friday’s Release!

• Legion Class
• Trigoras Challenge fight
  • various levels
  • the highest level version is Member Only
• New Quests in Battleon Town
  • Cysero will send you on crazy missions
• New Hairstyles created by Jemini!

xoxo Beleen =D

PS: All Undead Legion members will be able to /join underworld and talk to Dage for a FREE Legion gift! Depending on what Dage decides to make, it might be a weapon, a pet, or accessory. The item will cost 0 ACs and will require no Legion Tokens or questing to get. This is our gift to you for being loyal followers of the Undead Legion!

PPS: Some older quests were updated over the weekend to patch exploitable holes. The wiki should be all up to date by now thanks to two of our staff wiki volunteers, Hina and ingomarelementary!

January 18, 2012

SOPA & PIPA Blackout!

What The Heck is Going On?!

If you've been around to sites like Google, Wikipedia and other American-run websites today you've probably already seen some of the SOPA & PIPA Blackout.

SOPA (The Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (The Protest Intellectial Property Act) are two American bills which were created to give the US Government and the Entertainment Industry the power to stop people from distributing copyrighted material over the internet.

This is a GREAT idea! Everyone knows that Stealing is wrong and when you create something, it's yours to give away or profit from as you see fit.

Just one problem. That is NOT what SOPA and PIPA would really do. Not to over-simplify but SOPA and PIPA would basicly give the US Government the ability to block sites that the Entertaiment Industry feel are doing something wrong without any oversight, so you don't have to go to court or even get a warrant. They would do this in a way that threatens freedom of speech and even the internet itself.

If you decide to make a video of you and your friends playing AQW, use your favorite song as the soundtrack and post it on YouTube, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) could hold YOUTUBE responsible for what you posted. They could, possibly, have the entire site blocked from all search engines and cut off all forms of payment putting YouTube at risk and possibly killing one of the most amazing vehicles for free speech in the world today.

It might even put games like AQW at risk. Since there is no oversight, some of out punny knock-offs and pop-culture references would not be protected as Satire but might be regarded incorrectly as stealing someone else's ideas for our game. If SOPA or PIPA came down on AQW, they could block all forms of payment to the site and we'd have to shut down the game and possibly the company.

Those are extreme examples but only TWO examples of what might happen. SOPA and PIPA would change the way the internet works for America and, because the internet is a global community in which American is a driving force, it would also change the way the internet works for the entire world.

The worst part is that SOPA and PIPA were written by people who don't really understand how the internet works so it would kill legit sites but the hackers and pirates would keep on stealing and it wouldn't do a thing to slow them down.

We want to stop piracy, not break the internet.

We're throwing our voices in with hundreds of thousands of others world-wide and asking the US Government to hear us and make sure that these bills do not become laws. The Senate will begin voting on January 24th.