Design Notes

March 11, 2011

Tonight’s Lucky Release!

Irish you the best of luck =D

The luckiest day of the year is rapidly approaching… so we are celebrating Good Luck Day all week long! Adorn yourself in green leprechaun attire and wield shamrock blades while searching for the end of the rainbow. Legend says that a pot of gold resides at the end of every rainbow… but there is only one way to find out if it is true or not!

In addition to the Rainbow map making its highly anticipated return, Lore’s most fun fair is coming back to town! Join your friends at the Shamrock Fair and play 6 of our fun-filled minigames:

• Shamrock Smash: break-out style minigame where you reflect a ball off of Luckee's shamrock shield and bounce it into the sky to destroy bricks

• Smack a Sneevil: Smack ‘n Whack pesky Sneevils ‘til they don’t come back!

• Jackpot O’ Gold: Test your strength (and your luck) with this classic carnival game!

• Hedge Maze: Can you find the secret well in the middle of this massive maze?

• Clover Fields: Watch for the last shiny clover and pick it for the highest Ticket prize!

• Rainbow Run: Play a Sneevilchaun and collect as many Gold Coins as you can!

Each game offers Golden Tickets prize giveaways. And when you have collected enough, you can get your hands on some Lucky Prizes that are sure to make your friends green with envy. And green in appearance ^____^

But wait--there's a new feature we JUST added!

You can now share your high scores with your Facebook friends! Just click the Facebook Share button and start braggin' about how lucky AND skilled you are! =D

Prizes, Prizes, and More Prizes

There are A LOT of prizes to be won in the Shamrock Fair. 45 of them, in fact! You might have to head to the bank and throw some stuff in because you don’t want to miss out on getting these rockin’ Shamrock Fair Items!

All of these items in Mog O’Rahilly’s shop are Seasonal Rares… except one. Polistar made the Cloverfield Stalker Armor just for you, and it will be going permanently Rare once the event is over. This is the only item in this shop that is selling for ACs while all the others require Golden Ticket turn-ins.

Wanna earn 2x the amount of  Golden Tickets? You can purchase a Lucky Hat from the Fair-y Faeries in front of the Shamrock Fair to double your Golden Ticket payouts! 

But Beleen! I’m running low on ACs! Well don’t worry my friends; you’re in luck! You can use our AExtras special offers system to earn FREE AdventureCoins. Just click here to check it out. By completing each offer from our sponsors, you can win free ACs and get your hands on the Lucky Hat in no time!

A new face (and armor set) in Battleon

Ragnar has made his way to Battleon with the Asgardian Armor set! AQ Classic fans will recognize the armor that the Norse warrior is wearing. Only the greatest heroes will be able to buy the Asgardian Set from Ragnar along with all the other items from the upgrade shop.

Asguardians... and pancakes!

The only way you can get all this super sweet swag is by being a Member! If you have supported us by upgrading, then you can be one of the first to show off the Asgardian Armor set. Thank you for helping keep AQW alive and running, because without you wonderful guys and gals, none of this would be possible!!

J6’s Cousin is a Mad Green Inventor?!

J6’s cousin needs some help! David is a self proclaimed Mad Green Inventor and is on the hunt to “find his true self”…ermm, whatever that means. If you are looking to do some of the oddest, weirdest, and most difficult-est quests in all of AQW, head to the Frozen Northlands and /join David!

J6's cousin is a giant, too!

This is just one of those funny ha-ha additions we do around the game. It actually took a great deal of new functionality and I gatta give a hand to Yorumi for making it possible!

On behalf of the entire AQW Team, we hope you have uber amounts of fun during this special clover-filled release. We have NO idea how we managed to conjure up this HUGE of a release in 5 days… but we did have a lot of motivation and support from players like you! And a lot of luck, too. And coffee. Mmmm.

So Irish you and your pals the best of luck =D 

January 21, 2011

Battle under Crystal Release is Live!

Well technically, it’s Undead.

The battle continues under Battleon! Two levels of BattleUnder have already been uncovered, home to some of the most vicious Undead that Lore has ever seen. The deeper the tunnels travel, the meaner (and higher level) the baddies get.

Warlic the Mage has finally figured out how to activate the Portal in the second level of BattleUnder! (Geesh, that only took him like, what, 6 months?) The only way to pass through the portal to get to the third level is by solving the door’s magic rune puzzle in the form of a minigame!

Awe… I guess the power of love won’t open the portal =(

Here’s the proper way of opening the portal: you have to trace the magical rune symbol with your mouse! Just like in BladeHaven when casting magic spells, you hold the left mouse button and carefully trace the pattern you see. Release the button when you finish tracing the pattern. If the rune glows green, you get to trace the next one! If it turns red, then the Load Balancer will crash again and will make AQWorlds unplayable.

HAHA I’m kidding, I’m kidding—if you mess up, you can just keep trying over and over again. There is no time limit, but these magical runes require a VERY accurate mouse path trace thing. Don’t give up! It took me a bunch of times before I finished the minigame and ended up in…

The Crystal Caverns!

The Crystal Caverns (also known as Battleunderc) is a beautiful change of scenery from the rocky formations of the upper Battleunder cave systems. Huge colorful crystals jut out from the walls and ceilings, allowing you to move freely all over them.

But be careful; these caverns are home to vicious Crystallized Undead and Jellyfish. Yes, jellyfish. These jellies are SO POWERFUL that they don’t even need water to survive. Woah. Be careful out there.

Yara the Pally also has a new Merge Shop loaded with 11 brand-new weapons. You will have to collect enough Undead Essences and Cavern Celestites in order to purchase her wares… and some of her items even require merging one weapon with even more items to get an upgraded version of that weapon!

And the best part: 9 out of her 11 items are NON-MEMBER =D But don’t expect getting them to be easy—you’re going to have to farm your helms off for the coolest gear! Wahahha!

Player Suggestion Shop!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! More items have been added to the Player Suggestion Shop in Yulgar’s Inn!  All of the items in this shop were inspired by our fellow players. This week’s newest additions are:

Xusha’s Curse Armor, The Infector, Flamed Aura Blade, and Keeper of Darkness Blade

Wanna submit your weapon or armor ideas, too? Head to the forums with your masterpieces because you never know if–or when–your idea will make it in game and used by thousands!

Stratos is Leveling Up next week!

Stratos, captain of the Skyguard, is leveling up IRL on Tuesday! For his birthday, he wishes to share some of his favorite personal items with you. Make sure to wish him a Happy Birthday because on Tuesday, January 25^th, you will be able to get his awesome birthday presents!  

Bank and Inventory Expansion Update

Artix, Zhoom, Minimal, and Cysero have been working sooooo hard on the Bank and Inventory space issue. It is still being worked on and we are HOPING to have it out next week, just in time for the CAD event! We are all keeping our fingers and toes crossed that everything goes according to plan!

Uh-oh… did I just jinx us? Every time we say that… things go terribly horribly wrong, the servers asplode, and mushrooms get thrown at my face. But maybe… just maybe… everything will go perfectly fine and we can all get bunches of new inventory space omgomgyesyesyesYES!!!!

Buuuut I’m ganna equip my anti-fungi protective goggles just in case ^___^  

Enjoy the release folks! Battleon in BattleUnder!

December 10, 2010

I Believe in Quibble

Deck the halls with Armors and Weapons!

You asked for him! And Quibble Coinbiter is back in Battleon just in time for Tonight’s Release! He’s brought a sleigh-full of Frostval-themed items with him too!

There’s actually A LOT more items in his shop. But there is only SOO much I can fit in a 350 pixel wide JPG, you know? It doesn’t really matter if you’ve been naughty or nice this year… Quibble’s got something for everybody. So stock up on some AdventureCoins and get shopping!

• Randolph the Red Nosed Reignzard (RARE Non-Member Pet!)
• Arctic Dragonslayer Armor Set (Completely Color Custom)
• Chaos Claws Suit Armor and Helm
• 9 Frostval Weapons
• Santa Cutie and Santa Hunk Hats
• 3 more Color Custom Frostval helms

If you have been keeping a tally… that’s a whopping 21 NEW Quibble Items! Someone’s in the Frostval spirit this year =D

Enter The Void

After you’ve stuffed your inventory with Frostval trimmings, head back to the Frozen Northlands and speak with Adak in the blinding snow forest. He’s come up with a theory on how to get you into the Void... but he’s left the saving Nythera part up to you!

I refuse to give out any spoilers as to how the storyline will play out. I already gave you hints in my last post (which was only like 12 hours ago), so if you REALLY would rather read than play through the awesome release, scroll down a bit and get your pink font fix on =3  

The NPC in the Void will enlighten you on everything you need to know about the Void. EVERYTHING. This little guy is very insightful. He even has an impressive Shop stocked with some DF-Classic Void Items and New Void Items… if you can afford his high prices.

The monsters in The Void have a nice collection of items that they drop, too. A Void Larva Pet even drops from one of the baddies… but I’ll leave that up to you to guess which monster drops it =p

The Void in AQWorlds was created entirely from DragonFable’s Void. Map, monster, and weapon art was borrowed from DF in order to recreate the epicness that is The Void with a completely new storyline twist!

Please Note: If you haven’t already played through all of the Frozen Northlands quests, including Old King Coal’s quests (which come directly after defeating Queen Aisha) and finding Nythera in the blinding snow forest, you will NEED TO do so in order to play tonight’s release!

I truly believe you guys are going to have a BLAST with this release =D

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!

October 01, 2010

Tonight’s Release is LIVE!

and far too much is going on that I am incapable of coming up with a clever, convenient subheader that would encompass everything that will be launched tonight and in the upcoming days.

Look at that. It’s October 1^st! Yaknow what that means?

Awww yeah! 2^nd Upholder! If you are already a Member and your Membership expires on or after November 3rd, 2010, then you are ALREADY a 2nd Upholder. Yaaay, congrats!

But if you help support AQW by buying ANY membership ANY TIME during the month of October (from today, October 1st to November 2nd) then you will become a 2nd Upholder! Your awesomeness will be displayed as a new badge on your Character Page, in your book of Lore, and it will unlock a super-special-uber-rare item: the Onyx Starsword! Help support your favorite MMO and in the process gain some serious bragging rights… and the epic everybody-wants-one Onyx Starsword (that is marked as an AC item, which means you can store that bad boy in your bank for FREE and FOREVER)!

So this means even if you buy a 1 Month Memebership today, you WILL become a 2nd Upholder =D

Since this blurbie is already going to be long enough, you can read more about 2^nd Upholders on Cysero’s pink-free Design Notes post!

Arcangrove Expanded: Mount Mafic

You have almost completed the Supreme Arcane Staff! Only one more piece to go… and the final part resides deep within the volcanic region of Mount Mafic.

As one of the most dangerous and powerful places on Lore, Mount Mafic is the plane between magic and natural phenomenon. Magma Golems, Scoria Serpents, Living Fires and Volcanic Maggots have thrived on the volcano since the dawn of time, protecting the FINAL piece of the Supreme Arcane Staff: the Chaos Focus Gem!

You and your buddies will have to solve the volcano’s tricky lava-bridge puzzle if you hope to obtain such a relic (and quite possibly have to fight the Boss when you get to the other side). The puzzle consists of 6 different Magic Orbs that require a distinct pattern in order to lower the bridges.

If you need help figuring it out (like I did… many times over…) the 4^th tunnel when you’re inside Mount Mafic has a floating green orb that you can click and it’ll give you much needed hints on how to solve this insane puzzle! A pencil and paper might be helpful as well ^____^

The monsters here are also loaded with an eruption of BRAND NEW items. And, clearly, since I haven’t given you enough to read already, it would be my honor to list them all for you!

• Magma Armor
• Lava Snake Pet
• Hot Head Helm
• Wings of Tephra
• Mafic Wings
• Axe of Holocene
• Dual Fumarolic Axes
• Vulcan’s Might
• Dacite Daggers
• Red Hot Flamberge
• And, of course, a Fire Extinguisher hidden in a secret place (and no, we didn’t tell Artix so there is NO CHANCE at him blabbing. Wahahha!)

Shaman Class and Spellbreaker Enhancements

Finally! A new NON-MEMBER Class! I did a great big DN post earlier this morning (actually it was really really late in the evening for me) that will enlighten you on the Shaman’s abilities and whatnot. But I didn’t have a picture of the Class since, well, we didn’t finish the art ‘til just now!

Color Customizable! Need I say more? …uh yeah!

Shammys require a Rank 10 Reputation with Arcangrove. Don’t have enough Rep? Mount Mafic offers 4 new quests that will help you reach Rank 10 Rep if you haven’t already maxed it out. You can get this new Class by speaking to Rayst, who is also offering Spellbreaker Enhancements.

This entire set of new enhancements increases your Intellect, Dexterity, Endurance, and Luck when applied to your Class, Cape, Helm, and Weapon. Since Shamans rely heavily on these four Stats, there’s a pretty good chance that you will want to invest in Spellbreaker Enhs.

But you don’t have to. Customizing your character with an array of different Enhancements is part of the fun! Play around with different Stat builds and see which one best works for you! (and then let me know about it so that I can copy you)

AQWorlds’ Second Birthday Bash—Next Week!

On the crazy date of 10/10/10, AQWorlds is turning 2 years old! Last year, the world was flipped on its head as millions of players became Undead and seized Liongfang's castle to save the AE Team… but that is all in the past. THIS YEAR, things will become even CrAzIeR as we do a weekend long special event with musical guests Paul & Storm and a special cameo appearance by Jonathan Coulton! Lore is going to flip inside-out as.... *mmfuufmfmmm* SORRY FOLKS! That part is a secret… for now… until Artix slips-up and unleashes the mightiest spoiler of all time….

Tacos Rule!

On Monday, October 4^th, we are celebrating National Taco Day! Artix was sooo excited about this, um, “holiday”, that Dage the Evil took it upon himself to make some totally taco-licious gear. So this Monday, there will be a giant Taco in Battleon selling the Tacobender Helm, Destructo-Tacos, Taco Admiral Helm (Male and Female versions), and the Tacomancer Armor, available for everyone who completes the giant Taco’s outrageous quest.

Yeah. We’re a little weird, just in case you haven’t figured that one out yet.

September 17, 2010

Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Yo ho ho ho, a pirate’s day for we!

Avast me hearties! It be Friday yet again, but this be no ordinary release! Not only we be expandin’ Arcangrove, but it also be Talk Like A Pirate Day! YAAAAAAAAAAAR!

Actually, TLAPD doesn’t start until Sunday September 19^th… but we didn’t want to wait that long to celebrate. Can you blame us? So right now, in Quibble’s Shop, ye can get 15 ALL NEW Talk Like a Pirate Day Items and a new Sunken Ship House! Now that’s a lot of booty… YAR HAR HARRR! No one knows if these items will EVER return, so make sure ye and ye crew of scallywags get them while you still can.

Arcangrove Expanded: The Natatorium

Dive to the bottom of the Arcangrove Loch and enter the realm of The Natatorium. Normally a place of peaceful meeting between various merfolk, The Nataorium is now overrun…or I guess over-swam?… with Angler Fish and Armored Merdraconians thanks to Chaos Lord Ledgermayne.

After asking Rayst in Arcangrove where you should go next, seek out Nisse the Mermaid Sage in The Natatorium.  J6 did an AMAZING job—as usual—with crafting yet another beautiful map while Warlic whipped up some new aquatic tunes. But don’t be fooled by the map’s pretty frames! You are ganna need more brain than brawn if you hope unlock the gate to the Boss guarding the next piece of the Supreme Arcane Staff: the Runes of Riparian!

Your hard work will not go unrewarded. Along with offering you lochloads of gold, exp, and rep for every completed Quest, the monsters in The Natatorium are loaded with amazing swords and tridents. Swim its depths to discover:

• Reverse Merperson Armor
• Defender of the Reef Blade
• Fish Tail Cape
• Natatorium Scimitar
• Anaerobic Trident (a Rotting Naval Commander’s dream!)
• Lotic Blade
• and the Riparian Trident!

Well me hearties, me guesses that this be the end of thee design notes fer today! I tried to keep ‘em short ‘n sweet so that your eyes could properly heal themselves before loggin’ in to tonight’s release. So gogogogogo enjoy the release, mateys!

Yar har har har!

September 03, 2010

I herd U liek Mudluks!

Tonight’s Release is Live!

I gatta give a “gratz” to the Team first. We all survived our lengthy 8 hour trip to DragonCon and have just launched this week’s release! We really hope you enjoy it, whether you are at home playing through tonight’s release or mooching a wifi connection over here at DragonCon! ^__^

The Team has already met a bunch of our fellow players here at Con! We are sooo excited to meet you all—much more excited than you can possibly imagine! If you are here at Con, or are planning on coming out tomorrow, we will be hosting our awesome 3-hour panel at

The Sheraton Hotel - The Savannah Room; Atlanta Georgia
on this Saturday, September 4^th at 1pm to 3:30pm... or until they kick us out

A new free NON-MEMBER pet will be awarded to everyone who graces our panel with a smiling face! You can also get your hands on AE swag from the ChickenCow T-Shirts to signed MechQuest Artbooks and the NPCS Critical Hits cd, all available this Saturday! We cannot wait to see you there!

Sooooo what’s goin on tonight? Check it out.

The swampy path to Mudluk Village has finally opened! Talk to Rayst in at the Tower of Magic to begin your journey to the magical Arcangrove swamp. Paddylump, the Mudluk Spellhunter, has a bunch of new quests lined up for you… but they require more brain than brawn!

A beautiful new map, a new fun boss monster, a killer cutscene, lots of great monster drops, a secret AC shop, new Rep items, new area music, and a wicked puzzle await!

Secret Armor... Shhh don't let Cysero know!

Rayst at the Tower of Magic knows where you need to go next. Paddylump the Mudluk Spellhunter is eagerly awaiting your arrival in order to help in Arcangrove’s plight. Bunches of new items await the intrepid adventurer in the swamp, including:

• Scythe of Slough
• Light Bug Visor
• Mudluk’s Tadpolearm (heh, get it… tadpole-arm…tad-polearm…)
• Dark Tribe Skull Axe
• And many more… including a SECRET Armor and Helm set!

More items have been added to Rayst’s Arcangrove Rep shop. With enough reputation, you can be the proud owner of:

• Mystic Tribal Axe
• Light Bug Advanced Helm
• Mystic Tribal Sword
• Mystic Tribal Dagger

On behalf of the entire Team, we really hope you enjoy this release. Despite us being 460 miles away from our Secret Lab… we are still keeping true to our promise of releasing every Friday! None of this could be possible without out you (and a stable internet connection)… so thank you!!

Enjoy the release my friends, and Battle On!