Design Notes

April 12, 2012

Interfector Deorum

The Final Golden Cheezburger Has Transformed!

As per Knave1's wish, the Final Golden Cheezburger has changed into a special armor that will tie into the mini-storyline that he wished for. The Cheezburger is now the rare Interfector Deorum Armor!

The name of the armor was changed to Interfector Deorum after some of our players didn't understand the usage of the original name, so remember... your Golden Cheezburger didn't disappear... just look in your armors for Interfector Deorum.

NEXT WEEK we will complete granting the winner's wish and add the quest line he wished for to the game as a permanant addition. It was a great wish for the last I CAN HAS MOD contest.

FRIDAY THE 13th IS TOMORROW!

Tomorrow Voltaire and Deady return for a brand new Friday the 13th special event, The Bunnypocalypse!

Join Voltaire and Deady as they face down one of Deady's least intilligent enemies... SLEEZTER BUNNY! Will you be able to sneak through Sleezter Bunny's army of clones Bunny Minions and stop him from hatching the giant DOOM EGG?! 

This event will feature an AC rare shop with Voltaire's new TOP HAT and other great items, lots bunny themed item drops for all players, new instrumental versions of Voltaire songs as well as his latest song "BUNNYPOCALYPSE"! Voltaire will be voice acting himself as well as Sleezter Bunny but can you guess which AE Team member did the voice of Deady? 

The floppy-eared fun starts tomorrow at around sundown-ish or so. Maybe.

You can read all about the event HERE!

Bring Deady Bunee and Sleezter Bunee Home!

Voltaire has released an all new line of Deady Bunny themed toys which tie directly into this AQW Special Event!

There are several versions of these new 5 inch tall vinyl toys that will be sold on HeroMart starting at 12:01 AM Server Time (EST or GMT-4) and will cost $25 USD + Shipping. We will have FOUR versions of the toys but Voltaire will have special versions.

Each version of the toy comes with a code that will unlock SIX in-game Deady themed NON-MEMBER pets.That means that it doesn't matter which of the toys you buy, each toy unlocks the same six pets. The Pets are all 0 AC for free storage and none of the pets are Battle Pets.

The six pets are...

and

And even the ones sold through Voltaire's site will have the code unlocking these pets.

Not many of these were made and judging by how fast HeroMart sold out of the last set of Deady Toys I would suggest that you try and get to HeroMart as close to 12:01 AM as possible if you want one or more of these little guys.

If you want to see more images of the toys CLICK HERE!

J6: Planetside and Earthbound

As many of you know, J6 entered a contest put on by the METRO and SXC to be one of the first private citizens to get shot into space. TENS OF THOUSANDS of you got behind the idea of sending J6 where he belongs and the results of the contest are in.

Here is a message from the man himself...

"Some of you may not know, but a few weeks ago I entered a local contest for a chance to win a quick trip to space. I signed up with high hopes but low expectations and with the stamp of approval from my coworkers I was able to put the link up in the design notes for all the players to see. I was really impressed by the overwhelming support from everyone. I quickly climbed to the top of the leaderboard and stayed ahead with a massive lead of over 30,000. Last night the contest ended and I found out that I had not won. The votes helped me reach the #1 spot but the winner was selected from the top 10 finalists. The winner seems to be someone who genuinely loves space and plans to make a career out of it, so I’m happy for her and hope she has a great time. I was only in it for the awesomeness of it all.

I live up in Canada, far away from the underground lab so sometimes it can get a bit lonely working alone. It really made me feel connected to all of you when I saw how many of you voted (without my needing to bribe anyone) and I am really grateful, especially to everyone I work with who spread the link every day to help support me. So again, huge thanks to you the players and Cysero for letting me use the design notes for my own evil plot to draw upside down going at Mach 3 up 100 kilometers in the air. Even though I lost I’ll still be doing a few space themed items in the near future so look out for those soon.

And if anyone happens to have a spaceship, I’m still looking for a way to get up there.

-J6"

We are all very sad that J6 didn't get picked by the judges but just seeing how many votes he got (the real winner only got about 2,000) really shows you what we can do as a community when we focus our collective will on a goal.

Well done, the lot of you.

March 27, 2012

Mid-Week Member Class

Become a Blood Ancient!

Vampires are a VERY old race on Lore and with society full of immortals they don't really have much need of records. If you want to learn a spell that was created 2000 years ago, just go talk to the guy who made it.

But accidents, battles and wars can claim the unlives of even the most powerful vampires. Powerful secrets of vampire lore are lost get lost in the pages of history. That is where Orlok comes in.

Orlok is Queen Safiria's Vampire Loremaster and his job is to search what records there are and use his keen intellect to rediscover lost vampire secrets. Recently he has come upon one such secret and if you help him complete his research you might become Lore's first BLOOD ANCIENT!

Tomorrow, the Mid-week will take place in the Safiria map, where you will find Orlok standing outside Safiria's castle. Complete his tasks to unlock a single farming quest which will allow you to purchase the first Mid-week CLASS, the vampire based Blood Ancient!

Blood Ancient Class, armor and helms designed by Solrac.

I will be doing another Design Notes tomorrow with the skills breakdown but I will tell you that it is warrior based, good for solo-ing and PvP and, like all Mid-Week Releases, MEMBER ONLY!

Earning the class will NOT require any reputation. All you have to do is complete the Mid-Week quests and farm for the merge items necessary to buy the class (and either or both of the helm hairstyles shown above). It will take some time to earn it but far less time than grinding a Reputation to Rank 10.

For those of you who don't have the time for the Mid-Weeks and don't want to wait until the weekend to put in the time to earn it, a 2000 AC version will be available from Itzachi (class only, no helms). The 2000 AC version will ALSO be MEMBER ONLY. This class is part of a mid-week release and mid-week releases are intended to be Member Perks. 

Both versions of Blood Ancient as well as the both helms will be tagged as AC items so you can store them all for free.

I know that I said over Twitter time and time again that we would probably never have time to do a class in a mid-week considering the time and effort that it takes to create one and the skeleton crew that contribute to the mid-weeks, but considering how many of you have asked and that everyone who asked MUST all be Members, it became a priority for me to try and make it happen.

Come back tomorrow for the Skills Breakdown!

Limited Quantity Shop Reminder

10:00 AM Server Time on Saturday.

The die has spoken. Be there or don't.

Artix and Sepulchure Collectible Action Figure Toys Coming Soon!

I know that is a mouth full but some people don't know what Action Figures are. Just calling them toys doesn't do them justice considering the quality with which they seem to be made and the fact that they are in-game swag pinatas.

You can get Artix and/or Sepulchure! Each figures comes with their own weapon. There are rare BLACK variants of each toy (which look pretty awesome.

Artix figures come with:

1. Paladin's Castle In-game House
2. Paladin High Lord Class
3. Palaldin High Lord Armor
4. Artix's Helm (Legendary item!)
5. High Lord's Battleaxe of Destiny
6. Paladin High Lord Character Page Achievement
7. FIVE original cards to modify your AQW Battle Card deck! (different from Seppy's toy's cards)

Sepulchure figures come with:

1. DoomKnight's Fortress In-game House
2. DoomKnight Overlord Class
3. DoomKnight Overlord Armor
4. Sepulchure's Helm (Legendary item!)
5. Overlord's DoomBlade
6. DoomKnight Overlord Character Page Achievement
7. FIVE original cards to modify your AQW Battle Card deck! (different from Artix toy's cards)

These will be available in Toys R Us in the United States and on HeroMart shortly after that. I'm sad to say that I STILL have no fixed release date for you, but I keep getting told "Late April, Early May".

I CAN HAS MOD - LAST ROUND DRAWING

The final I CAN HAS MOD contest is coming to a close and the drawing will be held on Friday. Then, as usual, we will contact the winner through the e-mail that the character has provided to us. Remember that if you don't check your e-mail then you can't win.

Also remember that for every month of Membership you get one extra chance to win and with the new class coming it might be the right time to Upgrade (shameless plug). You can also get one extra entry for every AEXtra that you complete on the AEXtras offers page.

See you guys tomorrow for the Mid-Week mini-release and the skills breakdown.

February 27, 2012

Another Busy Week

It Never Ends!

We've got a LOT planned for this week but before I get into what's coming this week let's go over some old business...

Fishing Badge

The King Fisher Character Page Badge is now up on your character pages.

Of course, you must be a King Fisher with maxed out Fishing Rep to obtain this permanent pendant professing your piscatorial prowess.

Grenadier Buff

The Members who have Rank 10 Skyguard Reputation (and a few who weren't rank 10, actually) got to preview the Member Only Grenadier Class this weekend. The overall impressions were that it's a lot of fun and an interesting class build but they had problems with mana regen and felt that it was a touch under-powered, especially considering that it was the first Member Only class is a long time.

So this week we will be BUFFING Skyguard Grenadier. Here's what we are doing...

• Increasing DPS overall.
• Decreasing the mana cost for Flashbang, Sleeping Gas and Reactive Grenade by 5 mana each.
• Flashbang's base debuff will be changed to CRIT reduction instead of HIT reduction.
• Rank 4 Passive Adrenaline Rush will be changed to 8% Damage Reduction instead of 10% Dodge.

In testing Stratos was able to solo Ledgemayne and I was able to solo both Ledgermayne and Wolfwing with the fully ranked class so this class is no slouch already if you know how to use it and how to manage your mana, but this should make it REALLY nice.

By the time you read this the changes will already be in effect.

Don't forget that Itzachi, the class dealer in Battleon, will be selling this Member Only class for 2000 ACs starting this Friday if you would rather take the shortcut rather than ranking all the way to 10.

Leap Day Is Coming!

Every 4 years the calendar racks up a full day of time that was left over from all the other days. The solution to this problem is adding a day every 4th year. This is why we have a February 29th this Wednesday and Feb is normally a 28 day month.

We've decided that we want to help you leap forward too.

Starting some time on Wednesday, Feb 29th, we will be adding a Leap Day NPC to Battleon who will give you 4 simple quests. Each quest will reward you with a one-time free hour long BOOST for your XP, GOLD, REPUTATION or CLASS RANK.

You will have 24 hours from the time that we release this to get the Leap Day Boosts and then they will be gone. Plan ahead and remember that this only happens once every 4 years!

I CAN HAS AUSTRALIA DAY?!

This weekend I got to hang out with the winner of this round of the I CAN HAS MOD contest, HERZER HERRING!

She is from Australia and her wish is that we add an Australia Day NPC to the game who would sell Australian Themed Items!

As per her wish, Mick "Crocodile" Dundoo will be coming to Battleon this Friday selling a number of AUS themed items and house items which were almost entirely suggest by Herzer Herring.

As for the Golden Cheezburger, this one will work a little differently. She wished that it be changed into an rare Australian Themed HOUSE, based on the iconic Sydney Opera House! In order to get your house you will need to talk to Mick Dundoo and trade the Cheezburer in for the house.

You MUST have a Golden Cheezburger Deluxe to get this rare house and once Mick Dundoo leaves, you will never be able to get the house again!

There will also be other items like dual Bowie Knives (that's not two knives, mate... THIS is two knives!), a Rugby Uniform Armor in AUS Olympic colors of Green and Gold, A green and gold "Boomer"ang weapon, A Cricket Bat with the AUS flag on it,  Kangaroo and Barry the Platypus pets and some cool house items like an AUS flag for your wall and A Croc skin rug!

ALL OF THE ITEMS IN THE SHOPS WILL BE FOR EVERYONE! NON-MEMBERS and MEMBERS!

I mentioned the rare house over Twitter this weekend and it was met with an amazing amount of complaining. I was really surprised and a little hurt to see so many people griping about getting a completely free house based on the wish of a fellow player who did not want any recognition for herself (she didn't even want to be the NPC when I offered) but only a little recognition for the country she loves and calls her home. Thanks to everyone who saw this gift for what it is and accepted it with an excited smile.

After brainstorming item ideas for the shop we farmed Skyguard for a while and I showed her some of the cool mod powers she could use while she was a mod, like going to secret mod only maps and even going back in time to closed events (While we were time traveling I let her pick up Alpha Pirate for herself as well as some other rares from past areas).

She is a heck of a player, a loyal AQW Member & Supporter and a lot of fun to hang out with. Herzer Herring, it was a true pleasure getting to hang out with you. Thanks!

We will probably only do ONE MORE ROUND of I CAN HAS MOD and we will let you know as soon as that starts!

Etherstorm Goes Out With A Bang!

The Eterstorm Saga is closing starting with this weekend's war. The outcome of the entire area will be decided by the outcome of the war. You will be able to fight on the side of Good, Evil or even Desoloth.

This weekend we will ALSO be releasing the Elemental Dracomaner Class for Etherstorm Rank 10. There will be an AC version in Itzachi as well but after this class we will probably start doing what we did with Grenadier and letting the Rank 10 people have it a week before anyone else so they can get a head start on mastering the class.

We will be posting a skill breakdown and some images of the class later on this week.

Dage The Evil's Deathday Party!

Dage's birthday is March 2nd! There was a typo (not mine) in the 2012 AE calendar that said March 22'nd but it's actually this Friday!

He has decided to craft some custom items for his birthday!

Here is a full list of the birthday items. They are ALL ACs, and he priced them a little higher than average but hey, he's evil, whatcha gonna do?

1. Paragon Mini Pet: 2000 acs
2. Legion Vampire Armor: 1000 acs
3. Legion Vampire Helm: 100 acs
4. Vampire Bat Cape: 200 acs
5. Legion Vampire Scythe: 500 acs
6. Dark Caster Hair: 100 acs
7. Dage’s DeathKnight: 800 acs

The pet is NON-MEMBER and it is also NOT a Battle Pet but does grant the person who owns the pet access to special quests and special additional Dage Rewards.

February 20, 2012

Monday Update

Apparently, No, You Can't Has Mod

Our first winner was given a full week to respond to the e-mail that we sent them and I'm sorry to say that they have missed out. I think a week is a very reasonable amount of time to give someone to respond but a lot of you want to get this show on the road and so do we.

We have sent a NEW e-mail to the NEW winner, so be sure to check the e-mail that you have attached to your account. If you, for some reason, can no longer access that e-mail then contact your e-mail provider and try to get access again.

Again, contact your E-MAIL provider. Player Support can't help you get your e-mail back. Nythera and her crew have many wonderful powers but all of them are related to AE's games and go no further into the real world.

We will be giving this new winner 3 full days to respond. Winner, if you have not responded by Thursday at NOON (server time) then we will pick again. Good luck, and hurry up! Everyone is waiting on you!

New Legion Quest Changes

Over the weekend we saw a lot of chatter about the new legion quests. TO ME it seemed pretty even, half of you were complaining that the quests were too easy and half were complaining that they were too hard. That usually indicates that we did well but Dage was unhappy with how easy these new quests seemed to be and they are his quests so he can make them as hard as he likes.

Today there will be some changes to the new quests. First, the Legion Soul Collector will be raised in price to 150 Legion Tokens. Second, each of the subsequent quests will require 50 souls instead of 25. To those of you who got it before the changes went through, well done. It takes a keen eye to appreciate a bargain when you see it.

Coming This Week!

Big MEMBER week this week. Wednesday will have another Mid-Week release for members which will add a little more story to the Bludrut map plus some nice new member rewards. Friday will see the next installment of the SKYGUARD storyline as well as the premier of the Member-Only Grenadier class!

MANY of you Members have already reached rank 10 in Skyguard and have been waiting for this class for a long time. You will all get a head start on this awesome new class as you will only be able to get it with reputation starting this Friday (Feb 24th).

Next Friday (Mar 3rd) an AC version of the class (Which will also require Membership) will show up Itzachi but by then the hard-grinding Rep hunters will already have mastered the class all the way to rank 10. I know that some of you will take issue with the class not being rep only but we are doing this because a LOT of people like taking the AC shortcut and it doesn't seem right offering the time-saving shortcut to non-members but not for Member classes. Any ways to save time and/or labor should always be available to Members.

Those of you who wish to earn it without spending a single AC will, of course, always be able to take the path of hard work. Any additional items to the set (helms, weapons etc) will also be in the Skyguard Rep shop for Rank 10 and you will ONLY be able to get them through hard work.

I will be doing a class skills breakdown a little later this week.

HeroMart Items!

In case you didn't notice, we have a new shirt in HeroMart for fans of Classic AQ!

The "I'M ON A BOAT" shirt features AQ Classic's Death on his gondola welcoming you to the underworld. It also comes with the VERY LARGE Death's Reaver scythe for your AQ Classic character!

We are running out of stock of MOD packs for the Battleon Battle Card game and we still have some  2012 Calendars but none of these items will last forever and once they are gone, we don't plan on reprinting them.

You may or may not be a calendar person but I can't tell you how much I love having my mods packs as a part of my card game.

Leaving Today!

Quibble and the Event Rare Shop for Love's Curse will be leaving a little later today! Just throwing that out there.

Forum Question...

This year is a Leap year which means that this month gets a 29th day this year (as it does every 4th year). It's a little late to do an entire event for Leap Day but what would you like to see happen on Leap Day? We might take one of your ideas and run with it.

305 days until Just Another Day

February 13, 2012

Power Week!

Loads Of Stuff Coming This Week!

This is going to be a pretty HUGE week for us so I've started calling it POWER WEEK! (in my head)

Here's a quick table of contents of this Design Notes post so you can skip to the bits that interest you.

• Fishing Trade Skill!
• Old Heroes' Heart Day Returns!
• AQW's First Carnaval Shop!
• New Dage Quests In Shadowfall!
• I CAN HAS MOD Winner Selection today!
• MEMBER PERK: Bonus Member Items for AC packages!
• MEMBER PERK: Reserve your AQ3D Character Name!
• Stuff is Leaving!

So let's get down to it!

Have A Little More Faith!

Fishing, AQW's first trade skill is coming this Friday! It will be the first of several trade skills, including but not limited to fishing, alchemy and blacksmithing and eventually you will use your trade skills to help build up your Guild Town! Fishing might also have other uses if we continue to add trade skills like Cooking!

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's go FISHING with FAITH!

You may know Faith as the head of HeroMart but what you may not know is that she is a fishing FIEND in real life! She was the perfect NPC to help you when your line gets tangled.

You will be able to unlock TONS of different fishing Ranks, special items and even get an aquarium for your house where you can display your latest catches!

You will be able to use a regular fishing pole, special member only SUPER POLE that will let you catch up to 3 fish at a time or barrels of HIGH EXPLOSIVES which will make it RAIN fish down around you (the TNT is basicly the AC shortcut since it can't miss but each barrel only costs 8 ACs each)!

As I mentioned, Fishing will become a very handy skill in the future but this Friday it will just be a nice relaxing diversion (like fishing is in real life). It will give you a chance to build up your skill ranks, unlock some of the new items that you can only get from the fishing trade skill and enjoy the music and scenery.

Have A Heart!

Now that you have played through the Love's Eternal Curse Special Event (The event is staying in the game except for the Event Rares Shop which is leaving next Monday), you may be asking yourself where Big Daddy, the Godfather of Love and his LOVE map are this year.

Never fear, Baby! The LOVE map with the Heroes' Heart Day Adventures along with the return of some of your favorite pink (and blue... and other colors) seasonal rares will be reintroduced to AQW this Friday!

Don't Be Sad, It's CARNAVAL!

Many of you already know what Carnaval (not to be confused with a carnival) is but for those of you who don't it's a HUGE celebration. It's celebrated in several countries but in Brazil it's something truly spectacular. Most of the country grinds to a halt just to have this party-to-end-all-parties that continues both day and night for an ENTIRE WEEK! There are parades, dancing, food and CRAZY costumes in every corner of the country as every city and town try and out-party each other. 

It's kind of like Dragoncon if it went on for a week and had 5 million people attending.

This Friday AQW will be joining in the festivities with our first CARNAVAL shop which will contain special items and costumes just for just for Carnaval!

New Dage The Evil Quests Coming Friday!

Now that the portal to the Underworld has been opened (in last week's event) Dage The Evil will be adding several new repeatable quests to his NPC sending you there. The quests won't be any easier but they will give you more options to collect Legion Tokens to buy items from his insane merge shop!

I CAN HAS DELUXE WINNER!?

Today is the day. A e-mail has been sent to the new I CAN HAS MOD WINNER! Winner, you have one week to check your e-mail and get back to us or we will continue down the list! Make sure that you check the e-mail that you have provided for your AQw account to see if you have won!

Of course, we won't announce the winner until we've had contact with them, but as son as we hear back from them (unless they don't want to be known) then we will let you guys know the name of the winner!

There were 233,892 people who entered the contest this time which is more than DOUBLE the number of people who entered last time. REMEMBER: HOLD ON TO YOUR CHEEZBURGER (Inventory or bank, it matters not)!

Last time the Cheezburger was wished into the Darkside Class. Who knows what it will become this time, if anything!

Good luck! There is only 1 winner and 233,891 non-winners (you guys aren't losers) so if you're a non-winner THIS time, then there is always next time!

MEMBER PERK: Bonus Member Items for AC Packages!

In our continuing effort to give the Members more in 2012, we have decided to add Member Bonus Items to the existing AC Packages starting Friday. 

The AC packages will be exactly the same as they always have been. They will cost the same and you will still get exactly the same amount of ACs with each of the three largest packages but NOW they will also unlock achievements in your Book of Lore that will open shops which will give you different Member Only Bonus Items depending on which AC Package you got.

2,000 AC Package: This package will now unlock the badge and shop that will give you the Battle Wyvern. This is a MEMBER ONLY Battle Pet!

5,000 AC Package: This package will now unlock the badge and shop that will give you the Member Only Color Custom Dreadnought Armor Set! (NOTE: this only applies to the package itself, not the bonus AC offer when you Upgrade.)

12,000 AC Package: This package will now unlock the badge and shop that will give you the MindBreaker Member Only Class! This bonus class is a balanced warrior of the mind. Special animations have been added to this psychic warrior class.

You will be able to unlock these badges and items contained within when you purchase these AC packages through our site or by using Artix points on the Portal Site. These bonuses will be permanent additions to the game and EVERYONE will unlock these badges, so if you don't can't become a member right now, these items will be waiting for you when you decide to upgrade or re-up.

Each of these items will cost 0AC for free storage.

These are NOT collective and do NOT stack. EACH Package unlocks it's own shop, but to get all of the items you will need to have bought all three of them packages.

This offer is ALSO retroactive for 6 weeks from this Friday! If you have purchased one or more of these packages in the last 6 weeks (from Friday) then you will already have these badges and items unlocked for you.

MEMBER PERK: Reserve Your AQ3D Character Name!

Our game project with the working title AQ3D is progressing and we have decided that it's time to allow Members (both present and past) to reserve their character names for this game!

If you are currently supporting or have EVER supported AQW (or any of our other games) with a Membership, you will be able to reserve your name for AQ3D!

IMPORTANT! In order to do this you need your AQW account connected to your Master Account! Like EpicDuel, HeroSmash and Pony Vs. Pony, you will log into this NEW game with your Master Account info. If your AQW account isn't connected to your Master Account then YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESERVE YOUR NAME!

If you have not yet created a Master Account, Do so by CLICKING HERE!

It's also important to note that this is NOT Alpha Testing. We are still miles and miles away from having something playable for you guys to test. This is ONLY to camp your name before someone else can get it!

We are aiming for Thursday Night but you never know what could go wrong between here and there. You will go to ARTIX.COM and we will have opened the Character Name Reservation Page!

If there is a change in schedule we will announce it here.

Read more about the AQ3D Project
On ARTIX.COM!

One Last Note...

The Punt map and Halftime Shop have left fot another year. Tomorrow Lady Azjurai will be leaving Battleon and taking all of her special wedding gear with her (presumably on her honeymoon. Gratz again Lady Az!). Lastly Quibble and Loves Curse Event Rares shop will both be leaving together next Monday!

February 06, 2012

Time Marches Ever Onward

Last Chances!

Today is February 6th. That means that the Friday the 13th House and Event Rare Shops will be going rare and that the Akiba New Year event will be leaving as well and taking with it all the great seasonal items and rares (like the non-member AC pet) with it. 

so long, PanLong!

New Beginnings!

Lady Azjurai is getting married tomorrow! If you weren't aware, Lady Az is a Mod on AQW but started out years ago as a player just like you, she was asked to help out on the forums then eventually moved to full AQW Mod and we count ourselves lucky for all the help and pre-release testing that she has been able to provide.

Finding love is a rare and wonderful thing and very often you want to share you feelings and celebrate with those who mean the most to you. In this case, she had decided that she wants to share her happy day with all of us in the AQW community.

Later tonight (or tomorrow at the very latest), you will be able to find Lady Azjurai in Battleon and she will be offering to share some items with you.

The Ruby Eternal Flame, Romantic Raccoon Helm (She has a thing for raccoons) and the Evil Toaster of Love.

I'm told that this was the first appliance that the two love-birds purchased as a couple and has given them nothing but grief since they plugged it in. It seems to actually have an evil face on it and it will burn the toast no matter what setting you put it on. Lady A and her bethrothed have many fond memories of running around their place, fanning toast smoke out of the window and laughing together.

Lady Az, we could not be more happy for you. Thanks for sharing your happy day with us and we all wish you guys the very best that life has to offer. Gratz!

I CAN HAS MOD Round 3!

It's been a while since we've mentioned it so this is just a wee reminder that the next I CAN HAS MOD winner will be selected on February 13th. To enter the drawing all you have to do is get the Golden Cheezburger Deluxe from Cleric Joy in Battleon. That gives you one chance to win.

Every months of AQW Membership left on your account on the date of the drawing and every AEXTRA that you complete will also increase your chances by one more entry.

Here is the FULL CONTEST PAGE if you have more questions.

REAL LIFE Limited Quantity Shop!

2012 is already in full swing, and pretty much everyone who wanted the ChronoCorruptor Class that comes with the 2012 AQW Calendar now has it, but I keep getting asked if this class is going rare.

Going RARE, one calendar at a time!

The short answer is that YES, it is going rare. We only have a few hundred 2012 Calendars left in HeroMart, and there are still a few floating around the US Toys R Us stores, but that's it.

We can't possibly print an infinite amount of calendars so, no matter what, there will only ever be a limited number of these classes in AQW.

Heroes Heart Day Is Coming Friday!

AQW's Valentine's Day Event, Heroes Heart Day, is coming so expect to be burried under a wave of pink hearts, thorny roses and chocolate with confusing cream centers.

This Heroes Heart Day we are going all out with special Musical Guest Mia J. Park so sadly there will be no time for a Mid-Week Release this week but you can expect this event to blow our previous Heroes Heart Day adventures out of the water. 

Special reporter Artix Von Krieger has more on the event. Back to you in the studio, Artix...

Artix?

Sorry folks, we seem to be experiencing some techincal difficulties. We'll check back in with Artix in tomorrow's Design Notes for that Special Report. See you then!

319 days until Just Another Day

January 11, 2012

Darkside Class Skill Breakdown

Let's get Crackin'!

We've begun testing the class that Vader Darkside wish for and we've reached a point where I am comfortable enough with the existing version to tell do the Skills Breakdown for you.

Before we get into it let me say that it's a REAL pain coming up with a concept, art, testing, tweaking and balancing an entirely new class from scratch in a week. Makes it about 10 times worse when we're ALSO trying to get a special event like Friday the 13th out on the same day. Vader Darkside's WISH was just so generous that it made us really want to do right by him. Darkside, I hope you are happy with what we've come up with!

A Few Facts About The Darkside Class.

Addons: When designing the class art, Dage The Evil also designed a really nice Hood and Weapon for the class. These items will be obtainable from Dage's Legion Shop for hard-to-get tokens. The Golden Cheezburger item itself will turn into the class.

Release Date: We will be releasing it this Friday the 13th! Tell your friends (So they will quit asking over Twitter and on the forums)!

Enhancement: Vader Darkside wished for a caster class so this guy does all magical damage. I highly suggest Wizard Enh, but feel free to experiment and let us know what combo you like!

DARKSIDE CLASS SKILL SET

Vader Darkside wished for a class with a lot of AOE (Area Of Effect, or Multi-hit) attacks which was not as strong as Necro but still a good solid farming class. I think that is just what we've built for him.

That means that while this class is GREAT for taking on lots of monsters at once, it's not great at bosses. It has some skills that will be useful in PvP but I wouldn't recommend this as a PvP class.

AUTO ATTACK

2 second cooldown

A basic attack taught to all adventurers.

You've all seen this before. But it's interesting to note that both you AND your pet auto attack at the same time. This doesn't give any damage increase as the average AA damage is spread out between both of you.

BLOOD BOIL

25 mana, 15 second cooldown

Summons your Battle pet or focuses your anger through your pet to DOUBLE their damage for a short time.

You know what this is if you've ever played Necro or Horc Evader. If you don't have a pet equipped (Battle Pet or even a normal pet) then it will summon the Hate Wolf to your side. If you already have the Hate Wolf or some other Battle Pet summoned, then it's a REALLY nice buff. I suggest using this after you have a few stacks of Deep Rage built up. We'll get into that in a second.

DARK POWER

15 mana, 6 second cooldown

You strike out at your foes with arcing energy, doing light damage and applying Deep Rage to all foes hit. Damage increases with stacks of Deep Rage which stacks up to 5 times.

We couldn't built a caster class for a guy named VADER DARKSIDE without adding lightening shooting from your hands! This is your go-to skill. The cooldown is rather long for a skill that applies a stacking aura but since you can hit multiple foes you can get 3 or even 4 stacks at once. Then activate Blood Boil and BOOM, big hits and bigger crits on everything in sight.

BLINDING PAIN

25 mana, 10 second cooldown

Light damage to all enemies, 25% chance to stun all enemies in range for 4 seconds and reduces enemy damage. Damage reduction increases with stacks of Deep Rage.

This is your damage mitigation spell. Use it when things are getting hairy to reduce incoming damage, do a little of your own damage on the side and possibly stun one, several or ALL of the enemies you are facing. It's not too costly and it only has a 10 second cooldown which means you should use it often if you want to be successful.

BLOOD RUSH & TERRIFYING MIGHT

Rank 4 passive

Increase Haste by 10%

Incerase Damage by 10%

Pretty basic Rank 4 passives here. Do more damage and do it faster than before. The haste buff comes in handy for the next skill.

RENEWAL SPELL

30 second cooldown

Requires at least one stack of Deep Rage. Restores some Health and Mana but reduces Haste severely for a short time. Health, Mana and Haste Reduction increase based on stacks of Deep Rage. 

This spell pretty much ensures that you never need to stop farming. Ever. Notice that it has NO mana cost. Just click it and you get Health and Mana back but you HAVE to know when to use it. If you let your life or mana get too low before you use it, the Haste Reduction will get you killed by whatever mob of monsters you have attacking you from all sides. Use it right and you are an unstopable farming machine!

LASH OUT

Rank 10 passive

You can no longer contain your rage. It explodes from you in a magical wave. All enemies in range take high damage. Consumes all stacks of Deep Rage.

Here's the cherry on top. Small % to proc this spell which devestates anyone or anything in your area.

There you have it. The first new AQW class of 2012, courtesy of fellow player Vader Darkside!

We will continue testing the class for the next two days so some of the cooldown or mana costs might change in the final version, but this a pretty solid class right now so I don't expect big changes, if any are required at all.

Friday The 13th!

Only two days (not counting today) until our next Friday the 13th special event featuring rock god and all around cool guy, Voltaire!

This story will be based on a few of the songs from his newest album. The event will become a PERMENANT ADDITION to the game but like all special events, will feature an Event Rare Shop featuring some very special items (including the latest version of Voltaire's Hat) so now might be a good time to spend some of those AdventureCoins that you got for the holidays.

This will also be a chance for our new players to unlock the Friday the 13th Character Page Badge but will also unlock a brand NEW Badge for completing the storyline!

See you there!

345 days until Just Another Day

January 03, 2012

I CAN HAS WINNAR!

The Next Winner Of The I CAN HAS MOD Contest Has Been Chosen!

Things went a little smoother this time. The winner happened to be online when we chose them so it was very easy to get in touch with them.

We spoke for a while and I explained what he was won and he seemed a little overwhelmed by the idea of the wish. He asked for a little extra time, so we'll be hanging out for a few hours this Sunday and he will make his wish then, while wearing his temporary gold name.

His wish will probably be granted the following Monday.

Since the winner was easily contacted and we didn't have to go to a second choice, there will only be ONE winner this time. Honestly there was only supposed to be one winner LAST time but the first winner got back to us after we'd given up on him e-mailed the second one. Deep down we're big softies so we let both of them win. But this time... just one winner.

He has asked that we do not reveal his name until his wish is granted which I think is a great idea. It shows a lot of forethought on his part. Imagine how many people would be trying to log into that account, asking him for favors, trying to friend him and so on. That means that he's a smart cookie and I can't wait to see what he wishes for!

I CAN tell you this... He is a NON-MEMBER from New Zealand and had several HUNDRED entries under his belt, all of which were AEXtras. He made sure that the odds were in his favor, but remember that even someone with just 1 entry could have won.

97,902 people entered this time and that means that 97,902 people have Cysero's Golden Cheezburger and like last time this item WILL turn into something (probably next Monday) so make sure to hold onto it.

We will probably (maybe) be starting the next contest late this week and THIS time the winner will get to pick who they want to hang out with!

Great, So What's Coming This Week?!

The AQW team is back in the AE Secret Underground Lab and rested up after traveling all over creation to spend the holidays with our famalies, kicking through the snow, and taking red-eye flights in order to get back here on time. That may not seem restful to you but to us that's like a holiday in paradise.

The first release of 2012 will be the Member Only Mid-Week mini-release which takes us back to Lolosia for a brand new pirate adventure.

On Friday we will continue the Desoloth storyline (The first part of which can be found in the 11-11-11 Portal) in the Etherstorm Wastes! Since most of the content in the DragonPlane is Member Only, you will NOT need to complete it to begin your adventure in Etherstorm Wastes but it will add to your enjoyment of the story if you know the backstory of what happened when Desoloth the elemental dragon was set free.

We're also working a number of other projects like next week's Friday the 13th Event with Special Guest (you GUEST it) Voltaire! We'll let you know more about THAT stuff as we make our way further and further into this shiny new year!

353 days until Just Another Day.

December 16, 2011

Song of the Frozen Heart

MERRY FROSTVAL to all!

Ice venom freezing the blood in your veins, turning your heart bitter and your soul selfish? Shards of ice erupting from your body, turning you into a chilling golem? That does NOT make for a very Merry Frostval! You'll need to find the Flame of Frostval if you're going to serve Dead Morice - an Elemental Ice Mage - the ULTIMATE burn while making sure you're friends aren't cold as corpses... forever!

But where could such a Flame be burning if all of Lore is in the icy grasp of a coldhearted Mage? In the past, of course, as yet unkindled in the heart of a powerful child! Journey with Blizzy into a time when ShadowFall still flew, Sepulchure still plotted, and Gravelyn was the EVILLEST Undead Princess of the ShadowScythe EVER! When SHE discovers what Frostval is, YOU will find the Flame you're looking for!

But growing up Undead (what?!), Gravelyn does not know much about warmth or joy, and she doesn't know ANYTHING about Frostval! What she DOES know is that she wants to help her Daddy, and YOU are going to assist her! Battle through an icy alpine forest aiding this imperiously Evil Princess until the time comes to introduce her to the magic of Frostval!

Quibble Coinbiter - Awesomely Icy Edition!

You'll get shivers down your spine when you see the excellent equips Quibble's stocking this time around! And this is just week one of his visit! Next week, there will be even MORE rockin' Frostval rares!

• Holiday Enforcer
• Iced Jester
• PermaFrost Legionaire and Sapiens
• Hyperborean Bite Gun
• Frozen Blizzard Blade
• And MUCH more! If you don't see what you're looking for THIS week, check Quibble's backpack NEXT Friday!

200 Free ACs on Friday, 20+ more bag spaces to buy!

That's right, EVERY account in AQWorlds just received 200 FREE ACs for their first Frostval gift! They're great to use if you need to buy more inventory space, or just get some sweet new equips. So if you're running out of room for your rares and gear, head on over to Valencia and level up your inventory space!

EPIC Frystland DUEL!

If you're looking for an awesome (and EPIC) duel this Frostval, why not head over to Epic Duel's Frysteland War! They've been slowly introducing players to Delta V’s Frozen Northlands- Frysteland- and its inhabitants, the Krampus. Now, you’ll recall that the Krampus have a long tradition of Beast Riding, making them uniquely able to harness the power of the corrupted Yetis threatening Legion and Exile targets alike. If only you could get them on your side!

I Can Has Mod - Cysero's Turn!

The new I CAN HAS MOD contest is now running and we will be picking a winner first thing next year on January 3rd! If you don't already have it, better go get your Cysero's Golden Cheezburger from Cleric Joy in Battleon! Don't forget that every month left on your Membership and every AEXtra that you complete gives you one more chance in the drawing! Good luck!

Bloodtusk Chaos Battle for Free Players!

Now open to ALL players, watch as Bloodtusk's Chaos Lord faces Drakath head on and tries to take him down! But Chaos IS Chaotic, so things do not go quite as planned. That's where YOU come in... you can't let a rogue Chaos Lord roam free, can you?

Have a great weekend and we hope you enjoy part 1 of this year's Frostval release! We're all going to go home and wrap presents, cook up delicious food for the Lab's Frostval party, and enjoy time with friends and family. See you Monday!

PS: The /samba emote should be visible to ALL players when you use it now. Get your Dance On! 

December 12, 2011

Song Of The Frozen Heart

Frostvall 2011: Part 1

This Friday we will be releasing PART 1 of our new Frostval adventure: Song Of The Frozen Heart, Quibble will be arriving with his first week of Frostval Items and Rares and next week he will be getting a buff, and selling even MORE great Frostval themed items!

Coming on Wednesday: We will be releasing the second mid-week member mini-adventure! This week we will be buffing the LAIR area, adding a new Dragonhunter (A fallen Dragonslayer) NPC as well as a bunch of great member-only Dragon themed items. This will be the last Mid-week release of 2011 but you can expect more in in January of 2012, the Year of Chaos!

We're happy to announce that, as of this Wednesday, you will be able to expand your backpack to a maximum of 120 Inventory Spaces! That's 20 more spaces for all your favorite gear!  Artix and Zhoom have been moving things in the game engine around and found a way to make the impossible possible.

As usual, you will be able to purchase these new inventory spaces from Valencia in Battleon or by hitting the Add Spaces button at the bottom of your backpack!

Zhoom says that this is the very limits of how far we can expand the inventory right now due to the limits of technology so this will be IT, but we make a habit of making the impossible possible around here so you never know...

Finally, Wednesday is Beleen's Birthday and she will be returning to Battleon with her OWN sack full of goodies as well as a new scavenger hunt all over Lore for some of Beleen's favorite things!

Even More Holiday Fun!

December is a VERY busy month for AQW. Later this month you can expect Part 2 of our new Frostval Event, Quibble will be getting even more new items, An Expanded New Year's event and on the 30th, back by popular demand, we're planning the last Limited Quantity Shop of 2011!

The new I CAN HAS MOD contest is now running and we will be picking a winner first thing next year on January 3rd! If you don't already have it, better go get your Cysero's Golden Cheezburger from Cleric Joy in Battleon! Don't forget that every month left on your Membership and every AEXtra that you complete gives you one more chance in the drawing! Good luck!

This year's annual AE Creative Cookie Contest is in full swing,  so bake yourself a tasty entry, take a sweet pic and drop it HERE!

AQW will hit the ground running, full steam into the Year of Chaos! We've got a LOT of great surprises, stories, toys, rare items, classes, and new gameplay expansions in store but we don't want to ruin the new year's surpises! Let's just say you ain't seen nothin' yet!

Come back to the Design Notes TOMORROW for some pretty big news that we think everyone will be excited about!

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 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 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!