Design Notes

May 14, 2012

Artix & Sepulchure Action Figures

AVAILABLE FRIDAY!

This Friday, at noon, the wait is over. The collectors action figures will finally become available for purchase at www.HeroMart.com and MOST Toys"R"Us store locations in the USA will have them on shelves (in the card game isle). Players have been reporting that some stores already have them in stock! There has been some confusion about the dates -- so this post is going to tell you EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about the action figures (and a little more.) For example, both Toys"R"Us and HeroMart will have some of the rare black variants for sale.

Dates (Fully Explained)

Last Week: Some Toys"R"Us stores started getting the figures and made them for sale
This Week: Most Toys"R"Us stores will get the figures and make them for sale
This Friday at Noon EST: HeroMart.com will put the figures up for sale.
May 23rd: 100% of Toys"R"Us will have the figures available for sale

The regular figures will be $20 at HeroMart and $24.95 at Toys"R"Us (Which is about the same if you include shipping.) The rare black variants will be $50 on HeroMart (reasonable, considering the original Deady's were $60 and sold out in the first weekend.)  TRU may sell the variants for less... but the trick is finding a store that has them.

An Indie Company making their first toys!

This is, obviously, the biggest thing to happen us as an indie game company. Indie meaning... noone owns us. We do not have a parent company. No investor ever gave us a giant lump of cash. We are 100% funded by you, the players. So, most people are really shocked to find out that we designed the packaging, took our own photos, created the codes and in-game items, paid for the production of the figures out of our own pockets, and do most everything except for the actual molding and assembly (we would if we knew how, lol) here at the lab. We hope you choose to support us by getting the figures at US based Toys"R"Us stores or online at www.HeroMart.com (shipping anywhere in the world). If this is a success we will go on to create other figures... Drakath, Cysero, Galanoth, Warlic, etc.

"I do not always go to the beach...
but when I do, people point and laugh
at me for taking pictures of action figures."

Toys"R"Us - Why our figures are not in their computers (again.)

I am probably not legally allowed to tell you what you are about to read -- but this has been a source of a lot of confusion, so I am going to tell you. Please use this information to help tell others who run into this problem. Ok? I have already been getting messages from player's who contacted their local Toys"R"Us in the United States and were told something like, "Not sure what you are talking about, we are not getting these toys in." or "These are not in our system." This also happened with the Card Game, Booster Packs and the 2012 Calendar which are for sale at Toys"R"Us now. Why does this happen?

The answer: We go through the company named Beckett to put our toys in the store. they are a great company to work with. We really like them. You may know Beckett as the company who creates the Baseball cards, Yugioh Cards, Magic the Gathering and more. In every Toys"R"Us there is an area filled with all of these type card games (including ours.)  Beckett completely controls that card section of the store. They have their own people who manage the shelves... and their inventory is, in as simple of a way I can put this, tracked seperately. So, our card game, calendar and figures are located in that isle, but very likely will never show up in Toys"R"Us's computer system.  It is weird. an I apologize for the confusion -- chalk this up to us being a growing indie company. One day I hope to have our game items in EVERY Toys"R"Us in EVERY country. But for now, I asked Beckett to send an email to each store letting them know about the figures -- and where you can find them. I hope it happens and helps. But at least you know, the figures will be located in the card game area with our other items... even if their computer says otherwise. Note: Not all store locations will have the Black Variant figures. As there are so few of them... it will take some hunting!

4 days left until they go on sale...

I hope you are all looking forward to Friday - both for the release and for the figures!  

"The Lady of the Lake raised the sword... erm... axe... high above the water and threw it to the hero. But it was really heavy. And not very aerodynamic. This is probably why King Arthur used a sword."

April 30, 2012

Returning to Doomwood!

Back For More Undead Fun!

And by fun I mean torture.

For us, not you.

Once again, Artix is personally crafting this story which means that we get to do a lot of things that the engine has never done before (which means a lot of new and interesting bugs). It also means INSANE cutscenes as the story continues.

I don't know if you were here for the last Doomwood but it nearly KILLED poor Samba. We asked an inhuman amount of effort from our (at that time) rookie animator, and while this amount of work would have killed, driven insane or caused a lesser animator to walk out of the AE Undergrounjd Lab never to return... Samba somehow rose to the occasion week after week (each week getting steadily worse for her) and somehow managed to pull off the equivalent of THREE MONTHS worth of weekly release animation in just under a single month.

Now we're back and while Artix DID learn that he needs to write fewer cutscenes, he seemed to think that meant that he could just make those few longer and even more insane than the earlier ones!

Needless to say this week it's all hands on deck as we return to Doomwood with an all new story which in nicely to the introduction of our first action figures!

I'm sorry to say that also means that I will be needed in the weekly releases for a while which means no time for Mid-Weeks, BUT we will probably have more MEMBER ONLY addition content in Doomwood than we have had in any other zone. Special fights, side storylines (which is much like a mid-week in itself) special armors, weapons, pets, capes, helms and other goodies and maybe even a special class (we'll have to see on that one).

Artix & Sepulchure Toys

They are nearly here!

My sources (at least the reliable ones) tell me that they are on their way to the U.S. Toys R Us locations right now. They should arrive there a week or two before theyn reach us here and become availible on HeroMart.Com.

People often ask us why we can't get them to Toys R Us locations in other countries and that's mostly because there are different branches of the company and our relationship is so far only with the American branch of the company.

If our stuff keeps selling well in the American branch then we might be invited to start up a relationship with various other branches of Toys R Us... but that's really up to you guys.

Toys R Us gets to set their own price and we want the HeroMart price to be competative with the Toys R Us price so we have to wait and see what they set their prices at before we can set ours. If we decided early and went too high with the HJeroMart price, then we would be shooting ourselves in the foot and losing sales to Toys R Us. If we go to low, then we undercut Toys R Us and they might decide to cut ties with us which kills any future deals we might make with ANY branch.

SO... soon they will get theirs, we will find out what the decide for the price and then we will be able to tell you the HeroMart price whicl will be very close to the store price.

For the special Limited Edition BLACK version of the toys, I'm pretty sure that the price will be $50. It comes with the same in-game items as the normal versions but we made a LOT less of these and you will ONLY be able to get them from HeroMart. These are for hardcore collectors ONLY (or maybe people who want to resell them on E-bay for double price when they sell our and go rare).

More news on that as it arrises.

Limited Time DOOM Starter Package!

A lot of you seem to be taking advantage of this deal and not just for the rare DeathKnight set!

Here's the deal: Right now we are offering our normal 3 month +1000 ACs Membership package (both on our payment page AND on the Portal Site payment page so you can get it with Artix Points) except for a limited time you get an ADDITIONAL 1000 AdventureCoins AND you get the DeathKnight Set (armor, helm, cape and sword based on the traditional DragonFable design) as a bonus!

It will at LEAST be here until the end of the week but this IS a Limited Time offer and once it's gone the armor set will go Rare (Any future DeathKnight class will have new art).

Even if you're already an AQW Member, getting DOUBLE ACs and a rare armor set for the same old 3 month price is a pretty good deal!

If you have already taken advantage of this deal and can't find the set, remember to look in your BOOK OF LORE in the AE section. You will see the DeathKnight badge near the bottom and you can open the shop from there! :)

The LAST Live Draw!

This Wednesday is the final of the five AE artist run of Live Draw events. Dage The Evil is on deck and warming up his drawing hand (by hand signing 500 of his Coffee Dragon prints which sold out over the weekend on HeroMart)

About the gauntlet.... don't ask.

As usual, we have no idea what he's going to draw beforehand but knowing Dage it will be EPIC. Like a banana with a hat or something!

Remember, we go live at 4:00 PM EST (Server Time) and the shop will stay up for only about 24 hours!

Beware Fakes

A lot of you older players have heard this before but over the weekend we got to hear from a whole new wave of NEW players telling us that Alina was promising them they could become mods or offering them free Coffee Dragon prints in exchange for passwords or credit card information.

THAT IS NOT THE REAL ALINA!

No member of the AE staff will EVER ask for your password or credit card information. Neither Alina or I have personal Facebook accounts... we only have Fan Pages. Here is MINE and here is Alina's.

Fake Facebooks and Twitter accounts pop up ALL THE TIME and there are LOTS of people who think that they have found the real deal, but use your head. Be smart. Look around the internet, talk to your friends... most importantly, don't believe everything that you see on the internet.

March 28, 2012

Blood Ancient Class

Embrace Your Vampire Side

As I mentioned in yesterday's Design Notes, I have said before that I doubted that we would ever have time to create a class for the Mid-Week Mini-releases as they take a lot of resources and time and the Mid-Weeks roll out with a skeleton of 3 to 4 people, depending on the week.

BUT so many loyal AQW Members were asking for it that we decided to try and make it happen for you guys and it looks like we did. The Blood Ancient Class is the focus of this week's Mid-Week MEMBER ONLY release!

NOTE: You will need to do the Darkovia storyline quests until you reach Safiria's castle to complete this Mid-Week Release.

Unlock The Secrets Of The Blood Ancient

Orlok is Queen Safiria's Vampire Loremaster.

One of his primary functions is to uncover ancient secrets of the vampire race (yes, they are a race thanks to the transformations brought on by the vampire magi-virus). This week Orlok needs your help to uncover the secrets of an ancient ritual that was said to be able to give all the powers of a vampire to ANY creature but spare them any of the weaknesses.

And let's face it, Vampires are pretty weak. They can be hurt or killed by sunlight, crosses, wood, silver, fire, magic, beheading, holy water, and garlic... they can't cross running water, can't fix their hair in a mirror, can't even enter a house without being invited. My 2 year old son can walk into someone's house without being invited (and often does). Frankly, it's amazing that this Darwinian failure of a race has made it this far.

BUT, there are definite advantages. Immortality, being one step up on the food chain, improved strength and speed, very enviable mental powers, shape shifting powers, a certain undeniable appeal to the ladies and in some rare instances the ability to sparkle (Which I do consider a plus. Sparkles are pretty).

Imagine how powerful a creature would be with all of the strengths but none of the weaknesses...

One very clever vampire mage imagined just that and the idea of the Blood Ancient was born. Sadly the ritual was lost without ever being tested.

Now Orlok has gathered stories and rumors and followed the trail to Safiria's own castle. If you are able to complete all of his tasks, you will become the first BLOOD ANCIENT!

Now let's talk about the class.

BLOOD ANCIENT CLASS SKILL SET

This class is a warrior based soloing machine based on a vampire theme. As it is Warrior based, I suggest FIGHTER Enhancements. I haven't tried a lucky CRIT build but maybe you'll want to.

Mana should not be a problem for you which might, in itself, be a problem when you unlock the Regeneration Skill.

This class is very straightforward. It is designed to be a solo class, with good survivability and a LOT of damage potential but no AoEs at all so not the best for farming.

AUTO ATTACK

2 second cooldown

A basic attack, taught to all adventurers.

Smack and repeat.

HEMOPHILIAC

25 mana, 8 second cooldown

Does moderate damage applies the and both weakens and slows your opponent for 4 seconds.

This class starts with a very decent attack. It says Moderate damage but you'll feel strong just using this one power, plus it also slows your target AND reduces their damage. It's a little expensive but balances with the cooldown and mana regen so it's not bad.

DRAW BLOOD

25 mana, 10 second cooldown

Causes a moderate open wound on your foe. Smelling their blood increases your STRENGTH and SPEED for 6 seconds.

Once you draw blood, your new vampire senses kick in increasing your strength stat and your haste. So this skill not only does MORE base damage than the previous skill but also buffs your damage potential. An even stronger attack then the first one with the additional bonus of a very healthy buff for you.

REGENERATION

5 mana, 15 second cooldown

Steals some of your opponents life and causes you to heal over time. The less mana you have the stronger the Heal Over Time is.

Classic camp stuff going on here. a weak attack that also heals you over time. It's a pretty beefy heal and you can keep it going most of the time but here's where the mana regen comes in. The HoT (heal over time) gets STRONGER the less mana you have but it's really pretty easy to keep your mana up in this class so you have to time it against when you need the heal and when it will be the biggest heal possible. No real reason not to spam this skill as soon as it comes up, but to use it WELL takes skill.

POTENT BLOOD & ALACRITY

Rank 4 passives

Increase STR by 10%

Increase Haste by 10%

Very fitting passives here. As you master the class you get stronger and faster... like ya do, you know,  when you're a child of the night.

SOUL GRIP

30 mana, 40 second cooldown

Causes HIGH damage and stuns your opponent for 1 to 10 seconds!

Here's an interesting one. A High Damage power, which is great, but it also stuns every time. The only drawback is that it could stun for 1 second, or could stun for 10. The chances of getting a long stun are slim and the chances of a short one are great but a stun is a stun. This one is a mana pig so it's a good idea to use this before using Regen to get the most out of the heal.

ASPECT OF MIST

Rank 10 passive

Rarely, your body takes the form of a hazy fog which reduced the amount of damage that you take to nearly 0 for 10 seconds!

Some vampires can take the form of mist or fog and you are apparently one of them. Sometimes, your form will take on the aspect of mist. It will not appear different but swords and arrows will pass right through you doing little or no damage for a full 10 seconds.

The Big Picture

You can see with the solo damage abilities, self-buff, targeted debuff, self HoT and rank 10 passive which increases survivability that this class we designed to take on stronger foes with a lot more HP than most players can handle.

It will take a little farming to buy it from Orlok's Merge Shop once you complete his quests but far less than getting a reputation to Rank 10, or you can always take the easy path and buy it off Itzachi for ACs. But considering that it only takes a little patience and hard work I would save the ACs for this Saturday's LQS.

Hope you guys like it and happy Mid-Week!

Artix and Sepulchure Collectible Action Figure Toys Coming Soon!

This is more or less a repeat of what I said in Yesterday's Design Notes, but a lot more people read Skill Breakdown Design Notes so maybe more people will see this and it will answer some of your questions about the upcoming Artix and Sepulchure Toys.,

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 (normal or black variant) 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 (normal or black variant) 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".

268 days until Just Another Day

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.