AQW News on Mar 2010

Design Notes



Artix
Grenwog-adin


March 31st, 2010
Chaos Beast, Grenwog & Mods!
ON FRIDAY: The Darkovian Chaos Beast Fight

Are you ready for the Chaos Beast showdown this Friday? I think this new boss requires us to do a little Word-Math*...

Vampire + WereWolf = Werepyre
Dragon + Vampire + Werewolf = Dracowerepyre
Cyborg + Dragon + Vampire + Werewolf = GAME OVER!

* New from the makers of Word-calculus, Word-Trigonometry, and Word-Quantum-Physics-for-Bunnies
The Grenwog Returns (Seasonal Special Event)

What is a Grenwog? It is an enormous bunni-cular creature of unspeakable size, strength and stinky bright blue boxing gloves. Gear up in the 2010 Berserker Bunny Armor and questing pet -- and quest for the glory and honor of EGG filled JUSTICE!

Berserker Bunny
"Can I haz Mod pls? + more golds!"

The top two questions that players ask our friendly team are "Can I be a Mod?" and "Can I have more gold?" We have thought about this for a long time and decided that some of you do in fact deserve to be Mods and to get more gold. Therefore, we have made a very complicated and slightly risky change to the AQWorlds game engine. Based on your in-game behaviour, the game is going to automatically select, add, and remove Mods. Remember, Mods will NEVER, EVER ask for your password. We do not have any secret mods, and we ONLY do official work on our staff-characters with gold names. If our system has selected you to be a mod you will know immediately upon logging in. This change is scheduled for Friday, but could go live early.

Can I be a mod?

Remember, Mods will NEVER, EVER ask for your password, e-mail or other personal information.

Nearly there guys!
SockTR




March 30th, 2010
PTR Testing!
Calling all Members

Tonight at 5PM, server time (that's in about 45 minutes from NOW!) We need as many AQW members as we can to cram into the PTR.

This is a big test. We have a whole lot of changes and we want to see how the server and the new engine handle a a lot of people so we need all hands on deck for this one.

Let's see if we can break it!

HERE is a link if you don't know where to go: AQW Public Test Realm

Be sure to use the Report Bug button just below the game screen to let us know what breaks and what you like!

button
Feedback Pls!

This is one of the last steps in the very very long road to getting the PTR engine up on the live servers. Several of the mods, myself included, will be on at that time so see you there!
Choco-Bunny!

Remember, if you use an AE Upgrade Card any time between now and April 11th you get the non-member transforming Choco-bunny pet!
This Week!

Egg hunts and Chaos Beast battles ahead, buckle your seatbelts!

Beleen


March 29th, 2010
Drawing Contest Begins!
The Pencil is Mightier than the Sword!

Unsheathe your pencils, quills, and paper my friends; the time has come for a new drawing contest!

Our last drawing contest took place nearly a year ago (in May or June, to be exact). So I think you’re with me when I say: it’s about time to have another one! The 2010 AQW Drawing Contest has just begun on the Battleon Forums, and is open to EVERYONE who enjoys our games. Which hopefully, you are one of them, since you are currently reading this post =D

The rules are simple, but must be followed accordingly in order for your submission to be entered into the contest. The rules are posted on the Drawings Contest thread as well, so make sure you actually read them before submitting your masterpiece, lol!

* Your drawing MUST BE created by YOU.

* You may only submit ONE (1) picture to be judged.

* Your drawing MUST have your AQW Character Name written and or signed somewhere on the picture to ensure that it really was YOU who drew said masterpiece. Photoshopped names on your drawing will result in an automatic disqualification, along with pictures without any name.

* Your drawing must be “AE themed”. This means you can draw ANYTHING from AQW, MQ, AQ, WF, DF, and even ED, as long as it is affiliated with Artix Entertainment.

* You may draw on any surface using any medium you so choose. Or paint. Or sketch. Or whatever else you can think of to make a beautifully artistic masterpiece.

* Make sure to post a VALID link to your uploaded artwork, or else we can’t view it!

* And most importantly: have fun with your drawing!

This contest begins today, March 29th, and will last for one week until Monday, April 5th. Such a short time? Yes, we know, but the quicker we can get through the judging, the faster we can award prizes!

The GRAND PRIZE will be a whopping 5,000 ACs! Runner ups will receive prizes as well, up to 2,000 ACs! Prizes will ONLY be awarded to your AQW Character, so make sure you post and sign your AQW Character name so that we can award you properly if (or when!) you win =D

We cannot wait to see what artistic talent hides behind that avatar of yours. Head on over to the 2010 AQW Drawing Contest and post your drawing today! Or tomorrow. Or the next day. But definitely before Monday, April 5th! Best of luck to you all!

Contest Entry Thread (Not a dicussion thread)

Beleen


March 26th, 2010
All that glitters…
is the Vampire War Boss!

EdvardJust because the Vampires lost the battle, this doesn’t mean we will lose the WAR! Queen Safiria has summoned her most powerful Vampiric minion, Edvard. A familiar face to some, this War Boss will attack anything that crosses his path (or makes fun of his sparkling face)…. including his own kin!

How DARE he attack us fellow Vampires?! Oh, he has a reason… but you’ll have to talk to him yourself and find out. But maybe… just maybe… if you can defeat this glittering Vampire poster boy, you might be able to unite both the Lycan pack and Vampire Clan.

Need more motivation? Well here you go: he drops a bunch of wicked new items!

* Edvard's Face (Color Custom)
* Edvard's Shiny Face (Color Custom)
* Edvard's Face
* Edvard/Beulah Outfit
* Incandes Fulminatus
* Blade of Discord
* Vampiric Nightshade

You can continue to fight in the War if you want to see the Vampires make their epic comeback. If we Vamps can pull together and get the War Gauge up to 75%, then Brysin will have a Shop available for us on the battlefield! Yup, that’s right—a Vampiric House and lots of house items! But losing the War comes with a price… in this case, the items will cost ACs!

Speaking of house items… a few new Lycan items have been added to Faopaw’s War Shop on the battlefield. You guys won the war, so you should reap all of the rewards… and all of the rewards can be obtained by everyone, member and non-member alike! Congrats!
Choco-Bunny Pet Available!

Beleen & ChocoFor all you chocolate fiends out there… the wait is finally over! If you purchase an AE Upgrade Card from a Store near you and activate it anytime from now until Sunday, April 11th, then the mouth-watering-milk-chocolatey-transforming-mutant-Choco-bunny pet will be yours!

And hey, when you Upgrade and become a Member, there are a bunch of new weapons, pets, capes, helms, and maps that will become instantly available to you! And in tonight’s release, you can start off your Membership with Choco-bunny in tow by exploring the newly expanded zone of….
Twilight Expansion!

The Dreadspider Army is at it again! These creepy crawlies have dug a tunnel beyond Gressil’s nest, leading into the Darkovian Mausoleum! Strange noises can be heard within the tunnel, and Argyron the Arachnomancer believes it to be a ravage prawn-like beast known as the Cadaverous Creeper. Team up with your fellow Members and take down this Creeper! There are 9 “salvageable” parts that drop off the Cadaverous Creeper, including an Armor, a Pet, 3 helms, and multiple weapons! Can you collect them all?

Twilight Expansion
But wait, there’s more!

Geeze, you think that would be enough to complete a release… but no, we still have more to cover! Quibble Coinbiter is staying in town for a bit longer, offering you all the great treasures within his shop. Remember, his items may or may not ever be seen again, so make sure you get the gear while it’s still available! And not to mention, you can store as many AC items as you want FOR FREE in the bank!

Some of you might be wondering about Miltonius’ Secret Map, and when it will return. Well, we *thought* it would be re-released come tonight, but the exterminator never showed up and so there are a few more bugs left to squash. Once the map is bug-free, I am sure Miltonius will release his madness back into the world of Lore. We will keep you updated on our progress, no worries.
Woah, my fingers are exhausted. And I bet your eyes are burning with all of the pink-text that has been burned into them. Enough chit-chat—there is a whole release for you to be playing right now!

And now it’s time for me to introduce Chongo to Choco-bunny =D

Nearly there guys!
Sockbunny




March 25th, 2010
Choco-Bunny is Nigh!
And So Is The End Of The War!

Tonight at midnight, server time (that's 12:00 AM EST) the non-member, transforming Choco-Bunny pet arrives!


The 2 Forms Of Choco-Bunny

And all you need to get one is redeem one of our AE Upgrade Cards for anything you want (renew your membership or buy Adventure Coins!) anytime between midnight tonight and April 11th. Suddenly, POOF, the Choco-Bunny will be warmly (but not too warm or he'll become a melty mess) snuggled inside your backpack!

Remember: The Choco-Bunny will transform into the Hulking Choco-Bunny and back again with a click from his master, and ONLY his master.... and everyone around you will be able to see the transformation!

He is a non-member pet so after your membership expires you will still be able to equip the Choco-Bunny until you decide yo renew your account (which you should do anyway :) )

Also, remember that the ONLY way to get one is to use one of our AE Upgrade Cards. Upgrading or buying ACs through any other method (mail-in, paypal, Cherry Credits Card, SMS, etc) will NOT get you the pet!

Decisions, decisions!
Artix Entertainment Upgrade Cards!
The End Of the First Vampire/Lycan War

It's nearly over, and it looks like the Werewolf King and his army of Lycans will be taking the Valley of Death from Safiria and her Vampire kin.

Once the war has been won, the War Boss will open for EVERYONE, with new member and non-member drops and 2 very informative cutscenes.

We prepared 2 War Bosses at the start of the war and once the war hits 100% the War Boss will be decided the future of the Darkovia storyline will be locked into place for future generations of players.

No matter which side you fought on, you have become a permanent part of shaping AQW. You did battle for your side in AQW's FIRST Vampire/Lycan war.

Again, no matter which side you chose... you represented your faction and did battle for your side. You should be proud.

Beleen


March 23rd, 2010
War Wages On!
And We Won't Go Down Without A Fight!

Never have I seen such dedication from you and your fellow players! The timeless war between Lycan and Vampire wages on…. and in only a few passing days, you have shown the world that Lycans are truly the top-dogs.


This Is WAR!

But it’s not over yet! The Lycans’ feral instinct has kicked in, ravaging the battlegrounds and any opposing rivals that stand in their way. Rivals meaning Vampires. Of which I am a part of.

whack-a-sneevil
Transforming Choco-Bunny!

But we can still win this, my fellow Vampires! Let us join together and take down those Werewolves! Depending on which side wins this war, a mighty War Boss will appear and try to even the odds. So let’s finish this war and reap our well-earned rewards (like new items and slobber-free furniture!)
Loco for Choco-Bunny!

Who here likes chocolate? Pssh, well OF COUSE you all love chocolate! And using my recently honed mathematical skills, I have discovered that Milk Chocolate + Bunny x Transforming Mutant Rabbit of Cocoa Goodness = Amazing Rare Pet! The Choco-bunny Pet will be obtainable by activating your AE Upgrade Card starting this Friday, March 26th. This offer will be valid until Sunday, April 11th.

whack-a-sneevil
Transforming Choco-Bunny!

Wait, so I can’t just buy the bunny with gold or ACs or by becoming a Member using some online method? Nope, sorry! This pet is only available to those who get an AE Upgrade Card from a store and activate it between March 26th and April 11th. However, our gaming Cards are only available in some select countries, and we are truly sorry if there are no Upgrade Cards near your humble abode. But you can always use our Store Finder to see if there is a store near you!
Miltonius' Secret

Some of you may or may not know about Miltonius’ not-so-little secret. Last Friday, Miltonius surprised the entire AE team with one of his best kept secrets: Miltonius’ Playground. This secret map and all of the wonders inside (which I have yet to see for myself… /cry) has been temporarily taken down for some maintenance and a tune-up. So if you’re still lookin’ for his secret map… you won’t be able to find it. But this Friday, his map will be re-released with all the glory and wonder just waiting to be uncovered. And hopefully bug-free.

So, how do you find his secret map? That part, my friend, is a secret. Oh and yea, also because I don’t know either.
COMING SOON: New Drawing Contest!

Attention all you artists out there! A new contest is on its way, and if you happened to have read the above subtitle, then you already know what it’s about: Drawing! So get your pens, pencils, erasers, paper, quills, and finger paints ready… we cannot wait to see your masterpiece!

But not yet. Because the Contest isn’t up on the Forums. It soon will be… right after we finish fighting this war!

And with any contest, you know there is going to be an awesome prize. Well, prizes, since we can never seem to pick just one winner. Because you are all winners to us =D

You can take a look at some of our Past Winners HERE.

See you on the AQW Forums!

Go Lycnas
Sockolate




March 22nd, 2010
Non-Member Choco-Bunny Pet!
AE Upgrade Card Rquired!

Remember Cole? He was a non-member pet that we gave away to any player who used an AE Upgrade Card on their account. You could use it to get your firest membership, extend a current membership or just to buy ACs... and Cole was added automatically to your Backpack.

Well, we're doing that again. Introducing Choco-Bunny!

whack-a-sneevil
Transforming Choco-Bunny!

Starting this Friday (March 26th) and running for two weeks (until April 11th), when you use an AE Upgrade Card on AQW, Choho-Bunny will find his way into your backpack.

He is a NON-member pet so if you just need some ACs you can still equip him and you can keep him equipped well after your membership expires!

The BEST thing about him is the fact that he with a click from his master (and only his master) He transforms into a huge, hulking Sabertooth Choco-Bunny. Unlike the Transforming armors released last Friday, EVERYONE will be able to see him transform at your command!

Remember: to get this non-member pet you MUST use an AE Upgrade Card! Upgrading or buying ACs using any other method will not work, and you must use the AE Upgrade Card on or between this Friday, March 26th and Sunday, April 11th!

Decisions, decisions!
Artix Entertainment Upgrade Cards!

To those of you in countries that do not sell the cards, I'm sorry. The company that prints and distrubutes the cards to stores for us decide what countries they want to distribute in (printing those things cost money and we can't afford to send them to every country on Earth... just the countries with the largest number of players!) and Artix Entertainment has very little control over that.

The transforming non-member Choco-Bunny pet is only availible for a short time and will NEVER RETURN to AQW, so get it while you can!
Miltonius' Secret Playground!

I spent a LOT of this weekend fixing bugs (not uncommon). GUESS WHY!

Miltonius who is the Art Director and one of the lead artist on AQW (as if you didn't know), spoke to me last week about this idea he had for adding a secret maze that was nearly impossible to get through and when you DID get through it, he would be standing there selling some of the rarest most awesome looking and insanely over-priced items in AQW... or he might kill you for moving. It would change all the time, he said, adding that nothing... even the item prices would remain the same for very long.

I said it was a great idea, thinking it would be released later this summer after a fair amount of staff testing of the secret map and all the new items.

Miltonius, being the sneaky whatever-he-is that he is, snuck his secret map and all the secret items in under ALL OF OUR NOSES with ABSOLUTELY ZERO TESTING!

Some of the items and even the map were broken, locked, unlocked, re-released, flagged as Staff-only items, and apprently some of the items REALLY broke on the PTR.

Fun stuff.

Anyway, everything is under control (as much as it ever was) now and most of the fires are out, so if you've found Miltonius' secret maze of insanity, enjoy it. If you haven't... ask a friend!

Maybe they've heard something!
I'm Lycan It!

Actually I'm lovin' it! The Werewolves are SMASHING the Vampires in AQW's first Vampire/Lycan war.

I say first, because there WILL be others.

Some people have said that We're not playing fair. The only reason they've said this is because they are Vampires and don't like the bitter taste of defeat.

The monsters are the same on both sides in terms of difficulty and frequency of mega-medal drops. The Lycans just seem to have that fighting spirit that the Vamps lack.

Decisions, decisions!
The War Meter!

Hey Vampires... are you just going to take this? The war is far from over and you guys have plenty of time to rally your troops and go on the offensive... if you think you can take us, that is.

P.S. Artix, Beleen and several other AE Staff are fighting for the Vampires!

Beleen


March 19th, 2010
Vampire vs Werewolf WAR!
The Ultimate Rival Showdown

For centuries, Vampires and Lycans have been natural rivals, fighting over territory, power, and the last piece of cake. No one has ever had a solid answer as to which faction is stronger. This has been one of those unanswered questions that everyone wants to known. But tonight… the truth will FINALLY be revealed! The ultimate battle between Vampires and Werewolves commences!

Team up with the Vampires and take down the slobbering Lycan pack in War. Or join the vicious Werewolves and take a bite out of the Vampire clan. Whichever side you choose, remember this: your actions will determine the fate of Darkovia, and also the fate of Lore!

Vamp

No one knows how the War will turn out. What will happen if the Vampires win? Or the Lycans? This is not your average war—this is history in the making! Log in now, join your side, and prepare for an all-out assault!

Wolf

*Important Update* When we first planned out this war, we were going to implement PVP (player vs player combat), something only found on the PTR servers. However, due to time restraints, bugs, and time-travel faeries, we are unable to throw PVP into tonight’s release. However, Minimal and the entire team are working on incorporating this feature into the war. We will let you know the moment that it is put in game and made live. So in the meantime, keep on fighting and prove to the world of Lore that your faction is the strongest!
Quibble Coinbiter Returns

Your favorite traveling sales moglin has returned to Battleon, loaded with an arsenal of brand-new never-before-seen Vampiric & Lycan items! Swords, scythes, armors, and bows are available to help your chosen faction prove victorious. There are 12 new items you can arm yourself with, including:

* Transforming Lycan Armor
* Transforming Vampire Armor
* Lycan Runed Blade
* Dactyloscythe
* Lycan Compound Bow
* Vampiric Bow
* Morose Spear

Weapons

Do these items sound familiar? Well, they should, since we got all of these ideas from the Darkovia Designs, Inc thread up on the forums! Thank you all for your wonderful ideas—we could not have made such an awesome release without your help!
NEW DAILY REP QUESTS

Need more Vampiric and Lycan Reputation? Say no more—Brysin of the Vampire clan and Faopaw of the Lycan pack have a new Daily Rep Quest that offers a whopping 2500 reputation boost to your chosen faction. Each quest is pretty difficult to complete and only suited for the strongest warriors in Lore, but the rewards make them worthwhile.

Best of luck to you, Hero! On behalf of the entire AQW Team, we hope you enjoy this brutal release. On that (design) note, I will be seeing you on the battlefield. Hopefully fighting on MY SIDE. Mwahah!

Never give out your password or e-mail!
The REAL Sock!




March 18th, 2010
Facebook Security Update!
Let's Put An End To Those Fakes!

A lot of you follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and we are glad that you do! It's an easy way for us to stay in touch with the community and an easy way for us to say No to people who ask for free stuff!

Unfortunately we don't have any control over those 2 social networking sites and we're seeing a lot of fake Artix, Beleen, Rolith and Cysero's pop up on Facebook. These guys are scammers who are trying to con people into handing over their passwords.

Some of you guys are so excited that you ignore the fact that these FAKES are promising you FREE Acs, free Memberships or offering to make you Mods... all all you have to do is give them your password or e-mail. THEY ARE LYING TO YOU.

Handing over your e-mail or password is like giving a robber the keys to your house. AE (Artix Entertainment) Staff members will NEVER ask you for anything other than your character's name. That's all we need.

EVEN IN AQW, if someone asks you for your password for ANY REASON, they are trying to steal your account.

I would like to give you a few links:

* Here is ARTIX's FACEBOOK PAGE. It's got a full 5000 friends last time I checked but you can join ARTIX'S FAN PAGE if you want to! Here is his Artix's Twitter.

* Here is MY FACEBOOK PAGE. It's got a full 5000 friends too but you should join CYSERO's FAN CLUB FAN PAGE! I post the same stuff in both locations, usually. Here is my Twitter.

* Here is ROLITH's FACEBOOK PAGE. He doesn't work on AQW, he's too busy with DF and MQ, but he's fun to follow as long as you've got the real guy! Lots of tasty AE tidbits. Here is Rolith's Twitter.

* BELEEN DOES NOT HAVE A FACEBOOK! If you see a Beleen on Facebook anywhere, even if she's called Beleen AE (Especially if she's called beleen AE), she is a fake and she's trying to steal your account. She does have a Twitter!

Remember that we're pretty busy so we may not get to answer all of your e-mails but we will try.

Remember that if you need help with your account, Player Support is where you should go. Nythera and Zazul are very capable and if you can be helped, they are the people who do it (Thanks guys)!

Remember that anyone can sign up with ANY name and pretend to be ANYONE, so even if someone has AE in their name... it doesn't mean they have anything to do with Artix Entertainment.

Finally, remember that it's NEVER a good idea to give out personal information of any kind to strangers on the internet.

Protect yourselves. We don't want any of you losing your accounts or worse.

Beleen

March 17th, 2010
Happy Good Luck Day!
I hope you’re wearing green…

*PINCH!* OWW! I got cha, Lim—you’re not wearing green today! Everyone knows you love to wear your black and plaid lumberjack shirts… but today, of all days, you have to wear green. March 17th is Good Luck Day, and it’s a world wide web tradition to pinch those who are not wearing green! You have been warned =P

Beleen

Good Luck Day is currently being celebrated in Lore at the Shamrock Fair just on the outskirts of Battleon. Join your friends at the fairgrounds and play 5 of our newest minigames, including Smack a Sneevil, Rainbow Run, Clover Fields, Jackpot ‘o Gold, and the guaranteed-to-get-you-lost Hedge Maze. Each game offers Golden Tickets 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.

Prize Wall

Some of those prizes cost a lot of tickets, huh? Not to worry—we have a great solution! At the Shamrock Fair Entrance, talk to the Fair-y Faeries to purchase the Lucky Hat for a nominal fee of only 150 AdventureCoins. This hat is not only oh-so stylish, it also DOUBLES your Golden Ticket earnings! Get hundreds of Golden Tickets in NO TIME when you buy this super lucky hat.

Hat

But Beleen, I’m running low on AdventureCoins! HALP! Easy, easy… did you know you can use your Cell Phone to get 1,000 ACs for only $4.99? It’s true! First, login to the Membership Upgrade Page and then scroll all the way down until you see "Pay by cell phone SMS text message!" Just click, follow the instructions on the next page, and WHAMMO! You’ve got yourself a healthy stash of ACs—more than enough to get the Lucky Hat! You can also further support the game by Upgrading to a Member; the 3-month membership comes with a bonus 1,000 ACs, yanno =D
Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Ding! My mommy just leveled up in real life! +10,000 XP! My mommy is one of the greatest moms in the whole wide world, and so for her birthday on this incredibly lucky & special day, I wanted to do something extra-special. She’s on this so-called “diet,” so I headed to Publix and bought her this awesome calorie-free Cheesecake! Okay, okay, so it’s not calorie-free, but still, it is too delicious for anyone to pass up! YUM!

StPatty Cake

Beautiful, isn’t it? I am also taking my mom out to dinner at Grill Smith tonight and surprising her with a bunch of odd-ball presents: a pair of hedge-clippers, a big book with big pictures of big dogs in it, a lovely bouquet of flowers, and a half-used roll of left-over wrapping paper (the gift that keeps on giving).

I really hope my mom likes all the gifts I got her! I mean, come on—who wouldn’t love to unwrap a slightly-used roll of wrapping paper?! Best. Gift. Ever.

Happy Good Luck Day everyone! And happy birthday to everyone who was lucky enough to have been born today =D

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March 16th, 2010
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Artix


March 15th, 2010
Vampire vs Werewolf WAR!
Be a part of our games history….

Enjoy the Fair while you can…. because this Friday will be the ultimate showdown. You will be forced to choose sides as the forces of the Werewolves and Vampires clash in an all out assault. A decisive victory in this War will determine the boss, and change the game permanently for anyone who plays it in the future…. yes, that is right. You are about to write history. Also… Quibble Coinbiter (in Shadowslayer "Q" gear) will be visiting BattleOn. Perhaps he will share a little more with us about the recently revealed 5th Lord of Chaos!

Vampire

vs

Werewolf



Artix
Pumpkin-π-adin

Strawberry fest
πsock


March 14th, 2010
Happy Pi Day!
Have your π and eat it to...

There are many ways to celebrate Pi (π) day. Minimal is actually baking a special pie. Captain Rhubarb is teaching it to rats (presumably to make Pi.... rats.) And.... WOAH! Avgg just posted, "Did you ever realize 3.14 backwards spells pie in leet?" I wonder what the whole thing will spell!

π ≈ 3.14159265358979323846264
33832795028841971693993751058 20974944592307816406286208998 62803482534211706798214808651 32823066470938446095505822317 25359408128481117450284102701 93852110555964462294895493038 19644288109756659334461284756 48233786783165271201909145648 56692346038610454326648213393 60726024914127372458700660631 55817488152092096282925409171 53643678925903600113305305488 20466521384146951941511609...

*BIG INHALE*...
9415116094 3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548 0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912 9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798 6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132 0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872 1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235 4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960 5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859 5024459455 ... and so on in that fashion.






March 12th, 2010
Tonight’s Lucky Release!
Going Green, AQW Style

What luck! The luckiest day of the year is next Wednesday (March 17th), but seeing as to how unlucky I am*, we are celebrating Good Luck Day starting tonight! And don’t let the name fool ya’…. Just because it’s called Good Luck Day doesn’t mean it’s only 24 hours long… nope. Good Luck Day will be celebrated all week long! =D
Adorn yourself in green leprechaun attire and wield shamrock blades while searching for the end of the shot-down rainbow with the return of last year’s classic holiday map. Legend (and Artix) 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 (and Google’ing it doesn’t count).

In addition to the Rainbow map making its highly anticipated return, Lore’s first ever fair is coming to town! The Shamrock Fair is full of 5 brand-new minigames that award oodles of Golden Tickets. When you have enough of these tickets, you can turn them in for lucky Seasonal Rare Items! Be the first to get the high score in Smack a Sneevil, Jackpot O’ Gold, Clover Fields, and Rainbow Run, four of our action-packed minigames. Or take some time off and get lost in the Hedge Maze, one of the most complicated maps in all of Lore! Trust me… I had to get J6 to come rescue me while Cysero did nothing but lol.

*Artix and Cysero are still working on that BubbleWrap armor for me to wear in real life. I am always slipping, running into things, falling over, or causing myself bodily harm in some unintentional way, shape, or form.

Prizes, Prizes, and more Prizes

There are A LOT of prizes to be won in the Shamrock Fair. 16 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! (Sorry folks, they already ran out of Deep Fried Funnel Cake Swords)

* Prismatic Cat's Tail
* Simple Celtic Dagger
* Three Leaf Clover
* Lucky Hammer
* Whack O' Mallet
* Pot of Gold Pet Pet
* Bucket O' Gold
* Sword of Caledonia
* Clown Mallet
* Heavy Celtic Axe
* Box Head Pet
* Snee-Vo the Clown Pet
* William Sneevil Pet
* Shy Mog Pet
* Moglin Wallace Pet
* Mog-O'Rahilly Pet

Prizes
New Darkovian Rep Items

What do Vampires and Werewolves have in common with St. Patrick’s Day? Heh…we have no idea. BUT! We thought it would be pretty cool to use more of your suggestions and create additional weapons and armors for the Vampire & Lycan Rep Shops. Head on over to Darkovia and see if your ideas made it in game! Or you can just cheat and check out the list below:

* Chaotic Vampire Armor
* Chaotic Vamp Faceplate
* Vampire Bat Pet
* Vampiric Gladius
* Spirit Wolf Armor
* Spirit Wolf Hair
* Blade of Twilight

In the following releases, we will be adding more and more of your ideas into Darkovia. So if you want your ideas heard, make sure you post on the Darkovia Designs, Inc Thread!

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 only 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.

Irish you and your pals the best of luck =D

Reens
A Wiki-er is me!

Got an appointment
Shamsock




March 11, 2010
Wiki Wiki Wiki!
It's a Wiki Birthday!

I can't believe that a whole year has flown by this quickly! The AQWWiki turns ONE today! Over a year ago, we decided to take on the Wiki format for the AQWorlds Encyclopedia. Many people put their hearts and souls into making the wiki as you see it today: Burn, mturf, Hina, Ash and many, many others have spent hours making the Wiki a great place to use for your questions.

I use the wiki on a daily basis to get information that I need on prior releases, items and shops. It wouldn't be the same without the dedicated team and all of the players who provide them with all the information that they need! Thanks again to all the Wiki-ers out there! We couldn't have done it without you!


Happy First Birthday!

The Shamrock Fair!

Good Luck Day is almost here! Good Luck Day is only one day a year but YOU'RE IN LUCK.... the Shamrock Fair will be in town for at LEAST a week so make sure that you meet all the new NPCs, Take a stroll through the hedge maze, play all the new mini-games, and bring home LOTS of awesome Seasonal Rare Prizes!

A rogues gallery if ever I saw one
The Fairmasters!

Llussion has been tirelessly working on each of the new minigames (and a few that you already know with a tartan twist!

Miltonius has been breaking his drawing hand making new rares all week long (including pet versions of each of the Fairmasters pictured above) so you'll have LOTS of great stuff to bring home from your visit to the fair! Other than a tummy ache from all the green colored junk food!

whack-a-sneevil
Can You Beat Beleen's Score of 53?

But remember, you can only EARN these prizes by winning Golden Tickets from each of the fair games! If you're already an AQW Member, then you get a leg-up on the competition (as always). We have a SPECIAL MEMBER'S ONLY FAIR GAME that gives a lot more Golden Tickets than the other games... but you'll want to try the others anyway. They're so much fun!

Also, if you feel like you need a little extra luck, the Fair Fairies who greet you at the entrance to the fair are selling a Lucky Hat for Adventure Coins that DOUBLES the amount of tickets you win at each game!

Decisions, decisions!
What Do I Play First?!

All this, PLUS last year's event with all new tagged versions of the Season Rare drops from there, PLUS new items in the Vampire and Werewolf Rep shops!

Prepare yourselves! The AQW team intends to shamrock you like a hurricane, starting tomorrow!

If you're not there, I'm taking your pot of gold.




March 10th, 2010
Irish You the Best of Luck!
Sneak-peek at this week’s release

March 17th is a very lucky day. Not only is it the birthday to both my Mother and Sister in real life, it also symbolizes Lore’s Good Luck Day (also known as St. Patrick’s Day)! And this week’s release is ganna be all about this special green-and-gold-and-leprechaun laden holiday.


Were you around last year when we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day? No? Well hey, neither was I! Which is the exact reason why we are re-releasing last year’s Seasonal Holiday Event in the “Rainbow” map, full of Leprechauns, shot-down rainbows, fabled pots of gold, and, um, rats with lazer beams attached to their heads. All of last year’s items have gone Seasonal Rare while new 2010 versions have been created, except for the Leprechaun Class that has gone perma RARE! A 2010 Armored version of the Leprechaun Class will be available though, so you can still show your Good Luck Day Spirit without getting pinched.

But wait! There’s more…a lot more, actually. In addition to last year’s festivities, a new one is showing up—cue the Luck Day Fair! As the name suggests, the Luck Day Fair is a festival full of new NPCs and a bunch of fun new Mini-Games that award Golden Tickets. This stackable currency will allow you to trade your hard-earned tickets in for NEW 2010 Holiday Rare items, exclusive to Good Luck Day. What will these items be? What will they look like? Heh… you’re going to have to wait and find out—cuz it’s bad luck to ruin that big of a surprise!


One of our newest Mini-Games… Snuff a Sneevil!
New Darkovian Items

New Vampire and Werewolf Rep Items will also be appearing in their respected shops come Release Day. Because of how successful the Darkovia Designs, Inc thread is doing on the Forums, we just had to add more of your ideas into the game! Cysero also got an overwhelming amount of players wanting the Sanguine Armor and Faceplate to be added, so that too will become available in Brysin’s Vampire Rep Shop.

Want your idea to be put in game? Well tell us about it! Post your suggestions, ideas, and designs on the Battleon Forums and let it be heard… er, read!

Lost Night! WOOT!
Sockgroove




March 9th, 2010
The Bloodgroove and Changes!
An epic weapon and for an epic adventure

SURPRISE! We have a NEW Limited Time shop in Battleon! This will be your only chance to get the Bloodgroove!

Constantine
The Bloodgroove!

This was the long time weapon and only compantion of a barbarian warlord whose clan was wiped out during a battle between the vampires and werewolves. He spent the rest of his life avenging his clan and family and the mighty Bloodgroove served him well all those years.

The timer is ticking and once the Bloodgroove shops closes, it will leave the game FOREVER. Just so you know.
The PTR is coming soon and bringing lots of changes

We are nearing the finish line on the PTR, and when this new AQW Engine is moved to the live servers, some thigss will change. Like the new Shop interface, for example.


Yeah, I have a LOT of gold and ACs.

There will also be a new Enhancement interface that should make the 840 new enhancements a lot simpler to figure out.

Why are there 840 new Enhancements going into the game? Because we will finally have STATS. This means that you will be able to influence how you play the game, including being able to change your own character's "build".

Are you a mage who wants a lot of HP so you can take a lot of hits, or a high DODGE so you NEVER get it? Maybe you don't care if you die because you have so much INT that you have hit the DAMAGE cap!

When you play as a Doomknight, do you need more STRENGTH to deal damage as fast as possible, or more CRIT to deal damage as fast as possible? See? Options.

All of these new, different enhancements will give you different stats depending on how YOU decide to enhance them, but you'll have to play smart. The stats influence each class a little differently!

Finding the right ENH for you will be pretty easy, just go to the Class Trainers in Battleon! They will have new "Smartshops" that will show you the right ENH for your level, but don't stop there... some monsters and rare, hard to find areas might contain RARE ENH that will increase your power even further!

The build options are nearly engless which should make PVP a lot of fun!

Waitaminute! Did I say PVP? Let me check.

YES! I DID! Right up there! ^ PVP is finally coming to AQW and as many of the members who have been helping us test know, it's pretty awesome.

Not only will you get the safisfaction of being your fellow players into the dirt, you will also unlock special PVP only rewards for doing it. It's a win/win situation!

We are also adjusting the XP and REP curves making it eaiser for you to LEVEL UP, AND get reputation with the faction of your choice, but we are also making it faster and eaiser to RANK UP in your desired classes, and speeding up when you unlock new skills!

Artix and I even discussed the possibility of adding new Achievement Badges for getting classes to Rank 10.

Best of all we will be increasing the Level Cap to 30, and the PTR release will enable us to once again add new CLASSES (not just armors but classes with skills) to AQW!

It's a LOT of balancing. A lot of math. A lot of thinking. And thinking is not our strong suit. We are working out butts off for you guys, to make sure that when the PTR goes live it will be the single best release AQW has had since we brought it online! WIsh us luck.

Artix
Grateful-adin




March [[[8th]]]*, 2010
A Cat's Tale
An AQWorlds Player saves my Mother's** Cat?

True story. I love starting Monday with news like this. In addition to the crazy release that Beleen is going to tell you about shortly, I would like to share a personal story with you. That is what friends do, right?


Boca
( ... wait, or is this one Ratton? I cannot tell without their collars. They are twins.)

The team here was sad to learn earlier last week that one of my Mother's** twin Siamese cats, had gone missing. She has had Boca and Ratton for over 10 years. Needless to say, it was heart breaking. You can only imagine the awe when she called to tell us that the cat had been found and recovered... by an AQWorlds player!

To celebrate his act of kindness, we created an in-game version of Boca*** which is now available at Aria's pet shop! Thank you :-)

* Now with super "Triple Layer" anti-time-travel-fairy protection!
** It may come as a shock to some (As we saw on Twitter), but just like all of the singers, actors, teachers, and Presidents... I too seem to have a Mother! (Note: I do not have a Belly button though... how wierd is that?)
*** Because releasing an in-game version of my Mother would just be wrong ... and lead to a lot of "yer mom" jokes!

Reens
Goin' Craaaazy!




March 5th, 2010
Changes to Storyline Quests
One time only!

You may have noticed some changes in the Yokai maps today. The Storyline quests in the Yokai zone have been set to be done ONCE only. In order to gain Yokai Rep, you can use the Rep Tournament or the Yokai Daily quests from the shrines. We've upped the Gold/XP/Rep rewards for the storyline quests, and we may up them again in the future.

We will be adding new Rep Quests to the Yokai area in the coming weeks, and will also be taking a look at all the other storyline zones.

Girls Night Out? WIN!
Weresock




March 5th, 2010
Therewolf!
The Werewolf King and Lycan Rep Shop!

Welcome to Werewolf Week Friday! It's time to enter Lycan Ridge and see if you can convince the Werewolf King to join you and Shadowlsayer Z against Wolfwing... and maybe find out a few secrets about Wolfwing!

Constantine
Constantine, the Werewolf King!

In addition to the Lycan section of the Darkovia Quest Chain, we are also releasing the Lycan Rep Shop for those of you who fall on the werewolf side of the Vampire/Werewolf fence.

Werewolf Armor
Werewolf Armor, and Sanguine!

The rep shop contains:

* 2 New Armors!
* 3 New Swords!
* 2 New Pets!
* 1 New Cape!
* 3 New Helms!

Not to mention several brand new items dropping off of Sanguine and his Chaos Vampire Knight minions!

In addition: due to a large amount of player reuqests, Rep Rewards for the Vampire Rep quests have been increased and the Werewolf Rep quests match them.

Randor also kindly added a few new Darkovia wallpapers to our Wallpaper Site!

Have a great weekend guys! Awooo else.

Artix
Howl-adin




March 3rd, 2010 February 26th, 2010*
Where? Wolves?
His lycanthropic curse is worse than his bite

Below is a behind the scenes sneak peek at the newly remade Werewolf King for this week's hair raising release. (Shhh.... I snuck it from Cysero's computer for you.)

Werewolf King Redo
Werewolf King Redo
New Rare Item Guide

We could use your help creating the categories that describe rare items. It is a very tough decision. The goal is to make it really easy to tell if an item is available, how hard it is to get, or if it will be coming back again. Please let us know your thoughts... especially if you are a rare item hunter... we are getting close to decision time!
Official Item Rarity Guide Thread
THE PTR - Enhancements, XP & Gold

We added 840 new enhancements to the database. Yesterday was "check every item in the game for bugs day". Today, we are going to super boost the XP rewards from one-time-only quests (Example: Story Line Quests.) Also, we are working on a few new daily quests to help you level up when we raise the level cap to 30.
Help test on the PTR (Currently Members Only)

Forum Question: It is time for a new contest.... what kind of contest would you like?

* ... time travel faeries raiding my DNs again!

Girls Night Out? WIN!
Awoooooooo!




March 1st, 2010
It's Werewolf Week!
I'll Make This Quick

So there was a little coding hiccup with the Dire Wolf Limited Time shop (which WILL BE LEAVING tonight at midnight tonight. WE PROMISE). The pets are still going Rare when the shop leaves, so this is still your only chance to get Midnight and Full Moon, but this time the timer is telling the truth. Sorry about the confusion.

THIS WEEK: If you have spoken to Safiria and completed her quests, you will be making your way to the Wolflands to confront the Werewolf King in his land.

Keep checking back here through the week as we will be posting sneak peeks of this Friday's upcoming release!




Book face!

Social Networking Update
Staff Imposters and other oddities

Beware of people on FaceBook, Myspace, and Twitter claiming to be our staff. Never give out your password. The staff will never ask for it, and any one who does is just trying to steal your account. Especially beware of the new imposter on FaceBook claiming to be Beleen.

AQW News on Feb 2010

Design Notes



Artix
Release-adin




February 26th, 2010
Darkovia: Part 3
Safiria's Vampire Castle just released

It is Vampire week! Are you prepared to venture into the Vampire Queen's Castle? Quest and uncover the horrifying identity of the 5th Lord of Chaos! (Also, some special items are being released on Sunday... during the full moon!) Our story of Vampires, Werewolves, and Werepyres is about to fall into CHAOS....


Werewolves are attacking the Vampire castle!?

Just Released

* New Zone: Safiria's Vampire Castle
* Also: 7 new non-member weapons and helm drops
* Vampire Reputation added to the game
* New shops & items will unlock as you gain reputation!
o Vampire Knight Armor
o Count Mogula pet
o Safiria's Temper Sword
o Vampire Moglin Pet
o 6 total items (including 2 armors)
* New Cutscene! 5th Lord of Chaos Revealed
* 2 new monsters, including a mini-boss
* 7 new quests (with 2 item rewards)
* New Daily Quests for Vampire rep!
* Full Moon Shop opens on Sunday

Full Moon Shop - opens Sunday!
There is a full moon this Sunday... Full moons are notorious for causing strange, eerie things to happen throughout the night. And since we are smack-dab in the middle of Darkovia, what better time to have a special, limited time Full Moon shop! (Do not worry about the shop name, we magically secured Cysero's pants in place. ) When the moon rises, you can get your hands on the following items:

- Midnight Dire Wolf pet
- Full Moon Dire Wolf pet
- Metallic Crescent Staff

Even more adventure!
We would like to thank everyone who has been offering their suggestions, ideas, and creativity on the forums. If you are looking for a little more adventure you can...

* See ALL of our NEWEST GAME RELEASES!
* Get Darkovia Wallpapers at ArtixWallPapers.com
* If you have not already done so, please consider supporting our friendly team's weekly releases by becoming a full Member



Artix
Slayer-adin


February 24th, 2010
Which side are you on?
Vampires vs Werewolves... and Werepyres

Greetings friends! The Darkovia Designs, Inc idea thread has gotten so big it moved on to #3!!! We love reading your posts. Brainstorming wild and crazy ideas together... this is the best part of AE's games. We all know it is not possible to create every good idea*. We only have 5 days max before a release. But there is a good feeling in knowing that you are really part of the creative force behind AQWorlds. It makes the game special. It makes us unique. It also make us.... *OUCH!* Why did a member of the DF team just shoot me with a Nerf gun?

* What are you talking about? You guys have 5 whooole days (well, 4 since you actually have to release on Friday) to draw, animate, and code all of the new areas, monsters, weapons, armors, capes, helms, pets, NPCs, and cutscenes each week. That is plenty of time! (Oh, and possibly record some new music, add new functionality, and do your laundry. Oh man... we hope someone is washing Cysero's socks. He has a lot of them. P.S. Tell him, I want my left one back.)
DragonFable's BIG release of.... 1 Fish?

This has now been verified. DragonFable is scheduled to release only a single fish this friday, known as the Johnnyfish. Alll of our games have had very substantial releases every week for many years. So this has stirred controversy on the forums.... which in turn sparked a fued between the AQWorlds and DragonFable teams! I do not know what the full story is with this fish.... but on Friday, I am getting my DF fishing pole out**.

** Until then I am getting my armor of nerf bullet protection +1 out!
The PTR Update

The new interface is up on the Public Testing Realm! (Currently Members-Only) Please let us know what you think of the new backpack and shop interface -- and if enhancing items is easier for you now. As you know, enhancements now have stats on them. But on the dev server, we have a sword with a weapon proc working (chance of hitting for bonus fire damage.) We are on a tight deadline to finish the PTR and push it out to the live servers before the end of Darkovia. This is for two reasons.... #1.) We want to have full Vampire and Werewolf classes! #2.) Because, oh yes, we want to do a .... *OUCH!* I thought the entire DF team was at the beach... who keeps shooting us from that room? I think it is time to get my trusty nerf 6-shooter.....

Battle on friends!

Beleen


February 22nd, 2010
Blood Relatives
Tracing the Vampire Genealogy

Being a Vampire isn’t all that bad. Sure, you can never get a nice tan and you MUST avoid Italian places at all costs. But other than that… being a Vamp is pretty awesome!

PAsta
Don’t even think about it. It’s loaded with garlic butter!

Vampires have been around for centuries, residing in our wonderfully eerie home of Darkovia. We bow to the Queen of our Kin, Safiria, who lives in the massive castle along the moonlit sky. She takes care of her people well, and in return, we offer her our full undying services.

This week’s release is deadicated to VAMPIRES! I have been busily reading all of your great ideas that you posted on the Darkovia Designs, Inc thread up on the forums. Luckily Vampires never sleep, so I have gotten to read through just about all of them! And let me tell ya something: a whole bunch more of your ideas are being put in come this release =D
I am super excited to announce that we WILL be entering Safiria’s domain come Friday at sundown. This includes her massive Castle with many explorable rooms (such as the library, kitchen, and bedroom) and the village just outside the courtyard, teeming with delicious… um… livestock. Yes… livestock…

SafiriaANYWAY! More importantly than our livestock comes our newest faction: Vampire Reputation! Here’s your chance to build up your Rep with the Vampire clan, granting you the permission needed to obtain new Vampiric weapons, armors, helms, wings, pets, and more! You will also meet Safiria, our Queen, for some important information (and quests (and *cough* maybe even a cutscene)) regarding the vicious Lycans and Darkovia’s newest threat, the Werepyres.

Apparently Cysero—oh, excuse me, Cyserwolf—has decided to align himself with the Lycans. I, on the other BETTER hand, have chosen the way of the Vampire. C’mon… Vampires are sooo much better than smelly hairy werewolves! Cyserwolf says he wouldn’t be caught DEAD being a Vamp... to which I responded that THAT could be easily arranged… hehehee >:D

Who will you side with? The Vampires or the Lycans? You don’t have to make a decision yet… but in the near future, you just might have to…

Want your idea in this week’s upcoming release? Don’t just wish it—make it happen! Post your ideas on the Darkovia Designs, Inc thread! I’d love to hear ‘em and put ‘em in game. Brainstorm on!

Girls Night Out? WIN!
A Fish. Really?




February 22nd, 2010
It's Vampire Week!
Safiria will finally be a permanent addition to AQW!

Lots of good stuff, including Safiria and her castle, the continuation and the introduction of the Vampire Rep shop and rep quests!

And all DF is doing is... the Johnnyfish!? It kind of started as a joke but we're all working out rears off here on the AQW side of things and they're releasing... a fish. 1 fish? really?

I know they've been working really hard on all of their quests lately, especially the Archknight finale' but...Meh. Whatever. Kind of seems a little... imbalanced.

Beleen will have more info to about Vampire Week a little later.

Beleen
Teen Wolf Maybe


February 19th, 2010
Tonight's Release
Darkovia Part 2

Five days ago, I made a new thread on the Forums in regards to our newest zone—Darkovia Designs, Inc. Not even 24 hours had passed and I had to make a SECOND thread because all of you had so many great ideas! The count is currently up to 35 pages of wonderful ideas, and I am sure that number will keep growing.

And I’m happy to announce that we have implemented a bunch of your ideas into tonight’s release! Did your idea make it in game? Well… there is only one way to find out =D

Meet Shadowslayer Z, our newest former Vampire Hunter turned Shadow Slayer NPC. Standing guard at the entrance of the Darkovian Forest, Z enlightens you on the history of this eerie place, including the back-story to Vampires, Lycans, and the newest threat to Darkovia, Werepyres. Help her on some important quests to unlock the secret behind the Lich of the Stones… and to also unlock an all new Shadowslayer shop! Z is loaded with items, folks—check these out: Feb19

* Shadow Z Sword (color custom!)
* ShadowSlayer Sword (color custom!)
* ShadowSlayer Hat
* Shadow Z Hat
* Shadowslayer Armor
* Sterling Silver Shotgun
* Sterling Silver Long Bow
* Sterling Silver Crossbow
* Neophyte Shadowslayer Blade
* Gripped Stake
* Basic Wooden Stake
* Staked Steak (mmmm…. steak!)

See? Told ‘ya she had a lot! But you can only unlock this shop when you finish all her quests and successfully defeat the Arch Lich in the Darkovian Ruins (the place that looks like a mini Stonehenge). There’s even a special, amazing CUTSCENE in it for those Shadowslayers who prove victorious!
New Monsters!

When new monsters appear in the world of Lore, it’s a pretty safe bet (or unsafe, given their level) that they are carrying new weapons, helms, armors, etc. Well guess what—there are 3 new monsters, and some of them do have item drops! Fight your way through parched Blood Maggots, Dire Wolves in need of dire population control, and an Arch Lich that is one tough… brute… to kill.

If you happen to slay a mother Dire Wolf, make sure you are ready to take care of its pup. The mother Dire Wolves look just like the males, so there’s no telling which is which until OOH! a Dire Wolf pup just dropped! The Lich of the Stones also has some impressive item drops, if you can kill him… her… it… The Arch Lich drops the Lich Staff, the Decaying Blade of Agony, the Lich Crown, and an intimidating morph called (can you guess?) the Lich of the Stone Armor!
Color Custom Prismatic Draconian Set?

Having absolutely nothing in common with Vampires and Werewolves, Cysero thought this was the perfect time to release one of AQW’s best kept secrets: the Prismatic Draconian set! This color custom Armor, Helm, and Wing set is now available in Battleon for a limited time. There’s a lovely clock ticking in the Battleon sky that shows just how much time is left until the Prismatic Draconian Set is taken out! This set is only available for Members, so if you really really want this literal one-of-a-kind set, then there has never been a better time to Upgrade your account and show your support for your favorite MMORPG =D

Draconian

Oh! And don’t forget! The Chinese New Year Celebration is still going strong in Akiba, along with the Pancake Day Shop in Yulgar’s Inn! So if Shadowslayers and spooky Liches aren’t your thing, you can always party it up in festive pancake and/or year of the tiger gear!

Beleen




February 18th, 2010
New Items Mid Week?!
We just couldn’t wait until Friday

About a week ago, I came down with a super nasty case of Zombitus (aka the common cold). I was coughing and sneezing all over the Secret Lab and was promptly sent home. I spent the past 7 days locked up in my room, recovering from my sickness. (I’m all better now, thanks for asking!)

But now a new illness has spread in the Lab. One known as Mid-Week Release Syndrome!

A bunch of brand new items have just been added to the Akiba New Year’s Shop and the Pancake Day Shop in Yulgar’s Inn! Talk to White Tiger CannonPrincess Miko in the middle of Akiba to get your hands these 8 new (and very festive) items:

* Tiger Skin
* Tiger Cannon
* White Tiger Cannon
* Chinese Umbrella
* Stenciled Fan
* Deadly Fan
* Colorful Stencil Fan
* Colorful Deadly Fan

You and your friends asked for more Pancake-themed items, and we delivered! Here’s your chance to have your (pan)cake and eat it too with the addition of 2 new pets: the Oolong Bunny with a Pancake on its Head and the Chinchilla with Syrup Pet!

Syrup Pets
Play with your food!

A few of the new items released yesterday and today do require ACs in order to obtain. But hey, don’t worry—ACs are fairly easy to get by using the AExtras page (make sure you have a REAL but SECONDARY e-mail set up to avoid possible spam). Or, if you wanna help support your favorite MMO, the basic 3 month membership comes with 1000 ACs standard—which is way more than you could need for these new items!
SPOILER ALERT!

Tomorrow is the official Release Day, and I bet by now you’re dying to know more. From Cy’s previous DN post, you already know that we are traveling deeper into Darkovia. Here you will meet the new NPC, a former Vampire Slayer known as Shadowslayer X.

Assist Shadowslayer X on some very important—and very creepy—missions throughout the Darkovia forest as you encounter new monsters left and right... and up and down. If you have what it takes to heed the call of the Shadowslayer, you will find yourself the lucky new owner of some brand-new Vampire and Lycan defensive weapons. You know, Sterling Silver Shotguns, Garlic Maces, Silver Long Bows, Staked Porterhouse Steaks… that sort of thing! You never know who or what you’ll go up against in the darkest shadows of Darkovia, so it’s better to be prepared with an arsenal of various weaponry… and uh, dinner specials.

Girls Night Out? WIN!
Everything Is A Hat!




February 17th, 2010
Shadowslayer X & Pancakes!
Sorry we are running a bit late on the Chinese New Year gear.

*** Update *** The new Chinese New Years items have been released. Clear your cache and RELOAD!

Yesterday was Pancake Day in Great Britain, better known as Mardi Gras here in the States. Why did we not have a Mardi Gras shop, you ask? My answer is..."Dude, seriously... PANCAKE DAY!"

You may also be asking why we didn't release it yesterday ON Pancake Day. My answer is that we didn't get it done in time, However, for the rest of the week if you go into Yulgar, you will notice Oishii is cooking up something special for you! She might also knock you down with her flapjacks...

quib
PANCAKE PARTY!

She also has a very small shop with her pancake pan, and some very tasty headgear!

mmmm
Yummeh!

Happy Pancake... week? Shop. The shop leaves Monday.

Darkovia News!

This weekend we return to Darkovia where you will meet Shadowslayer X. She is a former Vampire Slayer who realized that a lot more than vampires hide in the shadows of Darkovia, so she became a Shadowslayer!

Do you think that you have what it takes to bump back when things go bump in the night? If you prove that you are worthy to become a Shadowslayer, X might open the gates to Safiria's Castle for you!

Skylline is also working on a huge number of new Shadowslayer weapons!

Chinese New Year Items!

We didn't forget about the shop upgrade, but we did get a little bogged down. J6 is making a LOT of new items right now that will be released later tonight and maybe even some new ones tomorrow too.

Beleen




February 15th, 2010
Darkovia Designs, Inc
Vampires & Lycans, listen up!

Hello everyone! Who is ready to continue their journey into Darkovia? *frantically waves hand* Oh I know I am… which is why I am making this post so early on in the week! We are going to explore more of Darkovia come Friday and we wanna use your ideas. I know you have some great plans… so tell us about them!

guards

I have just made a special post on the Forums called Darkovia Designs, Inc. Use this thread to post all of your wonderful Vampire and Werewolf ideas so that we can implement them into our newest zone. We are looking for anything that comes to mind regarding werewolves, vampires, Werepyres, and various other spooky things: weapon designs, armor ideas, dangerous mission plots, and monster creations, to name a few.

This thread will be available for the remainder of this zone. So there is plenty of time to come up with as many ideas as you want to—so tell us what you want to see in game and we will do our best to make it happen!

Remember, AQWorlds thrives off the ideas from you and your friends… so the more ideas you give us, the more stuff we can put in the world of Lore!

I can’t wait to see what awesomely awesome ideas you come up with. Make haste, my Vampiric & Lycan kin, for this week’s release is only a few days away =D

How Is Your Wrist?
Chibi Sock




February 13th, 2010
RARE Non-Member Pet!
Intricuding the White Chibi Tiger Non-Member Pet!

Today we introduced our first "eaisly to get" non-member pet! The White Chibi Tiger!

quib
Awwwww!

As promied, we have added the 2 Chibi Tiger pets to the Chinese New Year shop today (with more items coming on Monday), but no one expected a non-member pet to appear in the shop for only 300 ACs!

Well... surprise!

As the Year of the Tiger only rolls around once every 12 years, you can rest assured that this pet is RARE and will not be returning next year (or ever again, maybe we'll do a golden tiger in 2022).

300 ACs is fairly easy to get, using the AExtras page (make sure you have a REAL but SECONDARY e-mail set up to avoid possible spam!) and even the basic 3 month membership comes with 1000 ACs standard!

We expect to see a LOT of these little guys running around (the fact that pets generate lag is one reason that we normally limit pets to members only) but remember that we are removing this little guy from AQW FOREVER sometime on WEDS, FEB 17th! This is your ONLY chance to grab one, and every single one of the thousands of new players that join every day after the 17th will be amazingly jealous of your Rare Non-Mem White Chibi Tiger pet!

Have a Fortunate Year of the Tiger... or else!

How Is Your Wrist?
Heroes Sock Day!




February 12th, 2010
Heroes Heart Day & Chinese New Year!
A 2 For 1 Celebration!

Every year around this time Big Daddy opens the gates to the Forest of Infinite Terror to lovers and the heart Broken alike, with the simple goal of making sure that everyone finds True Love (As long as their wallets are deep enough)!

quib
Big Daddy Now In AQW!

Click the "Town Love" button in Battleon to visit Big Daddy and see if you have what it takes to become one of his Special Case Workers! If you can help the handsome prince of Munder win the affections of his beautiful princess then you will gain Access to more than 20 Special Holiday rares, including 5 new armors (counting the one that drops off of Kewpid)!

HHDArmored SnuggleBear Armor and the Heart Sabre 10!

You will also unlock the "Hero's Heart" achievement badge in your Book of Lore! (We have also added Achievement Badges for Vath, Kitsune and both of their Chaos beasts!)

This week we also begin our Chinese new year celebration in Akiba and Battleon!

akibaPrincess Miko in Akiba!

This is your first chance to get the seasonal and premenant rares that come from the year of the Tiger celebration!

Talk to the Akiba Guard in Battleon and complete all 3 of his quests in order to complete Miko's quest. Princess Miko might even reward you with one of 3 bonus Lucky Envelopes that you can turn into Obaasan for FREE BONUS GOLD! Happy Year Of The Tiger!

Items Just Released!

-The return of 8 Seasonal Valentine Rares
-14 Brand-New Heroes Hearts Day Items
-2 New Maps for the Celebrations
-An all-new cutscene, guaranteed to make you LOL (says Beleen)
-5 blooming New Years flowers for your house
-A Paper Tiger Helm for the New Year’s new look
-12 new Quests to get you in the spirit of things!
-and 2 adorable Chibi Tiger pets, just waiting to be snuggled (coming Monday with several OTHER new items!

Have a Great Heroes Heart Day everyone! Who loves ya, baby?

Beleen




February 11th, 2010
Zombitus!
And a sneak-peak at tomorrow’s release

Hey everyone! Been wondering why I’ve been all AFK for some time now? I have been turned into a Zombie!

Undead Beleen

No. Not really a zombie. I’m just really REALLY sick. But not even being this close to joining Gravelyn’s Undead Army will stop me from bringing you up-to-date spoilers on this weekend’s festivities. Especially since we have A LOT in store for ya!

First thing is first: Quibble is leaving Friday! That’s right; this is your LAST CHANCE to get those super-rare-hardly-used-never-before-seen-futuristic items from that traveling sales moglin. And once he’s packed up and leaves town come sundown… no one knows if he will ever sell those items again. So if you want to get your hands on some awesome gear… this is your last chance!

From Cysero’s previous DNs, you already kinda know what’s in store for tomorrow’s release: Heroes Hearts Day and Chinese New Year! For Heroes Hearts Day, you will be helping the CEO of Big Daddy's Candy & Cards on some very important—and very PINK—missions, such as trimming down the rebellious Love Shrubs and putting an end to Kewpid’s reign. If you can prove yourself to Big Daddy, then you just might get promoted to a “Special Case Worker” and help a charming prince tell the darling lovely princess how much he truly loves her…

Pam N Jim


For all the fans of “The Office” out there, you will definitely want to play through this special Valentine’s Day release…*hint hint!*

There will also be plenty of PINK goodies to get your hands on, too! These Seasonal Rare Items are all tagged for the year, so if you happened to miss out on the 2009 versions of them, you certainly don’t want to miss out this year. New item additions have been added as well, so make sure to stop by Big Daddy and Prince Jim to get the 2010 Heroes Hearts Day weapons, armors, pets, helms, and more!

Weapons


Chinese New Year just so happens to fall on Valentine’s Day… so now I FINALLY have a reason to bring out my fireworks and blow up chocolate sky-high! (Chocolate is my enemy… I am actually allergic to the stuff in real life). February 14th marks the Chinese New Year—the Year of the Tiger, in fact! So in order to properly celebrate, Akiba has been decorated for the 15-day long festival with lights, lanterns, and people wearing giant tiger mascot heads in the streets! There will also be new quests and new items to choose from to get you in the spirit of things.

Chinese New year

This week’s release is going to be so much fun! If I have not yet turned into a full-fledged zombie come tomorrow evening, then I will be seeing you around town! But… if I ask you for your brains, then you *might* want to head in the other direction… =D

How Is Your Wrist?
Socklattes




February 9th, 2010
For Love & Chocolate Sales!
Heroes Heart Day/Chinese New Year

Dragonfable players will recognize the chibi cherub below.

quib
Big Daddy from Dragonfable!

Big Daddy, the CEO of Big Daddy Chocolates & Cards LLC is bringing Heroes Heart Day to AQ Worlds this Friday and he's bringing back last year's Valentines Rares (tagged, including the Heart Sabre A.K.A. the Pink Starsword) plus some new holiday rare armors and items with him!

In Dragonfable he hires heroes to deliver Snugglegrams all throughout the Forest of Infinite Terror (Which he is still trying to get renamed the Forest of Lovely Hearts) but this year in AQW he is looking for some heroes with a little something special.

Do you have what it takes to become one of Big Daddy's Special Case Workers and manage one of his more... difficul... romantic challenges?

Oh, and if you want to send a Big Daddy Valentine E-Card to someone special, check out THIS PAGE!

Chinese New Year
This Year of the Tiger starts this Sunday (Feb 14th, same as Valentines Day this yer!) and Ai No Miko cordually invites you to join in the celebration on Yokai Isle!

Last Chance!
Don't forget that Quibble leave this Friday! Remember, if you're short on Adventurecoins, you can always visit Ballyhoo and watch erh ads for a chance to earn some, Or visit the AExtras page!

How Is Your Wrist?
Got 99 Problems
But A Sock Ain't One




February 8th, 2010
Leaving Soon!
Superbowl Halftime Shop and Quibble!

The Superbowl halftime shop in the Punt map was extended for 24 hours by popular demand. The Shop is closing TONIGHT at 7:00 PM Server time (EST, GMT-5)

SuperBowl
Warhorses vs. Angel Avengers

This is your LAST time to grab these limited-time rare items, and seasonal rares.

Quibble Leaving Friday!

Quibble Coinbiter will be taking his rares and moving on this Friday.

quib
Quibble is LEAVING!

This week is your last chance to grab these rares. Don't miss out!

polearms

New Pet O' The (little more than a) Month!

In honor of Chinese New Year, the new Pet O' The Month has been released TODAY in Aria's shop in Battleon!

rawr
Asian Dragon

Grab yours while they last (However long that is. We tend to forgot about poor Aria) and help us celebrate the Year of the Tiger!

This Week's Release!

This Friday we will be opening Heroes Heart Day for the first time in history, AND we will be having a Yokai New year's celebration on Yokai Aisle! More info to follow in the days ahead!

Cysero
SOCKBALL!




February 5th, 2010
Darkovia, Football and Badges!
Special Superbowl Half-time release on Sunday!

In order to explain all that is happening today I'm going to have to rbeak it down into sections. Bear with me.

The Gates of Darkovia: Chapter 1

If you are a fan of the original AdventureQuest then you already know all about Darkovia, but if you're new to Lore then I'm happy to introduce our newest Storyline zone.

Darkovia is the land of perpetual night where Vampires and Werewolves fight an endless battle for superiority. The mightly Gates to Darkovia are sealed shut and guarded by Vannier and Warclaw. Each guardian stands at the gates making sure that whoever enters Darkovia only come to help THEIR side of the struggle. It's also home to Safiria, the Vampire Queen!

guards
Vannier and Warclaw

The only way past these two guards is to do their quests and defeat the mightly Blightfang, the undead werewolf who is a threat to BOTH vampire and werewolf alike.

Defeating Blightfang is dangerous but not without it's rewards. He drops 4 brand new weapons, plus the quest to defeat MIGHT even reward you with the coveted Batwing Scythe!

gear
New Darkovia Weapon Drops

It matter not, if you are an old fan or a new one, Darkovia promises to be a fan favorite!

Beta Tester Badge /Beta Character Badge

A little while ago we were forced to remove the Beta tester badges from some of you, because we realized that you never actually logged in and helped us test. You only made your characters in beta.

We have FINALLY remedied the situation! If you created your character during Beta you will see the new Beta Character Achievement Badge both in your Book of Lore AND on your Character page!

If you created a character AND helped us beta test the game (in the time of primordial bugs, in which were found bugs big enough to eat a player whole) you have BOTH badges in your Book of Lore, and on your character page!

drgdrg
Badges!

In addition to the new badge, you can click on your Beta Tester Achievement Badge and you will find a shop which sells the Beta Berzerker Class... and it ain't cheap!

(Open your Book of Lore, click your Badges bookmark, hit the BETA tab at the bottom of the page, Click on the Beta Tester badge. You will see the shop on the other side of the book!)

If you accidentally deleted the class, lost it to a scammer or just forgot to grab it back in the day... your problems are solved! :)

Punt map, and Superbowl Half-Time shop!

One of your favourite shops from last year is coming back on SUNDAY with some new surprises!

The Superbowl is the biggest American Football game of the year where the Best of the Best of the NFL face each other on the field of combat in front of tens of millions of spectators and fans!

Halfway through the game, there is a half-time show which rivals the biggest rock concert that you've ever seen... and during half-time... we open the Half-time show in the Punt map!

In the shop you will find:

* The Angel Avengers Team armor
* The Warhorses Team armor
* Angel Avengers Helm
* Warhorses Helm
* Angel Avengers Cheerleaders Amror
* Warhorses Cheerleaders Amror
* Bladed Pom-Pom of the Avenged
* Bladed Equine Pom-Pom
* Avenged Hand (big foam hand)
* Hand of the Hoof (big foam hand)
* Moglin Ref 10
* Spiked Pigskin 10

team stuff
Beleen And I Showing Our Team Spirit in Darkovia!

The shop will only be open during half-time (unless we get a major player response asking that it be left open like last year) so we'll see you there! Let's see if we can break last year's record breaking numbers!

Oh yeah, While you're in the Punt map, give Twilly a kick. If you get a perfect punt of 100 yards, you will unlock the Moglin Punter Achievement Badge in the Book of Lore and on your Character Page! This is a permenant addition to the map and it is live right now so get kicking!

Chaos Shogun Kitsune Open For All Players!

Non-members may now do battle with Kitsune, the Lord of Chaos! We have also added the 3 tailed Chaos Fox pet as a drop to Kitsune just for members!

Kitsune2
COME FACE ME!

Have a great weekend guys! Enjoy the release!

Cysero

Randor The Red


February 4th, 2010
A SuperBowl Sized Spoiler!
Sneak Peak at this Weekend’s Release

Isn’t February the shortest month of the year? …uh huh, I thought so*. Well, with this being said, Artix, Cysero, and the entire AE Team have decided to cram more than ever into our weekly releases. Can this be done? Not sure… but there is only one way to find out! The month has only just begun, and I gatta admit, we are already holding true to this promise.

Next item on the agenda: the all-new zone, Darkovia. If you have played the original AdventureQuest, then you know all about this eerie place, home to Vampires and Werewolves! Tread lightly as you make your way through an ominous graveyard full of skeletons and various other creepy creatures. But, uh, whatever you do… don’t mess with the undead werewolf, Blightfang… You have been warned.

quib
His bark is worse than his blight...

This is only Part 1 of Darkovia. Who knows what you will find on your adventures throughout this zone… maybe something—or someone—is in cahoots with Chaos?! *hint hint wink wink nudge nudge*
Chaos Lord Kitsune

Speaking of Chaos… the Chaos Lord Kitsune showdown will become available for everyone starting Friday! Here is your chance for revenge against that awful Shogun for making you fight millions of Yokai in last week’s war! You can also get your hands on some awesome Chaos Lord gear, including the Hanzamune Blade and an all-new 3-tailed Fox pet. Why three tails? Well, why not?
/touchdown!

Come Sunday at Half-Time, the town of Battleon is celebrating Super Bowl XLIV in the only way we know how—with pigskin weapons, deadly pom-pom chakras, giant foam fingers, moglin referees, protective headgear, football armors, and cheerleader costumes. /Cheer your favorite team to victory while showing your Super Bowl spirit!

SuperBowl
Warhorses vs. Angel Avengers

You can also play the timeless** minigame of Punt Twilly, only available during this special day. Wearing your new armor, try your luck at punting that adorable moglin, Twilly, as far as you can. If you can get a perfect punt score of 100 yards, a special Achievement will be unlocked and displayed on your Character Page for all to see.

Punt Twilly

And remember, practice makes perfect (score)!

Hey guys, it’s Randor the Red. I have been pretty busy for awhile now, hard at work in my secret aboveground lab. I just finished a bunch of new AE wallpapers so that you can deck-out your desktop with. I really hope you like them—I know I do, and so does Beleen, since she just put up the MQ Safiria background.

Click here to check out all the wallpapers. Which one is your favorite? If you have a suggestion for a cool new wallpaper to add to the collection, let me know about it in the forums!

*I googled it just to make sure
**Of course it’s timeless; there is no clock!

Cysero
Groundsock




February 2nd, 2010
Groundhorc's Day!
Special 1 Day Only Event!

Happy Groundhog Day! One this day every year, Philip, the weather predicting groundhog pops his head out of his hole and peers around. If he comes out to play, then spring is here! If he sees his shadow and vanishes back into his warm, cozy burrow than we know that we are in for SIX MORE WEEKS of winter!

rewards
Groundhorc's Day Seasonal Rares!

I'm not a fan of the cold. Actually I kind of hate it. Actually I really hate it. Actually, I'd beat snow up if I could. But if there is one person who HATES winter more than I do, it's General Porcon over in the Horc Fort (you can see it on the greenguard map).

quib
General Porcon!

He has taken it upon himself to kidnap Philip in a desperate attempt to end winter. What he doesn;t understand is that if Philip doesn't get to look at his shadow then winter will NEVER end!

Talk to Twilly in Battleon and accept the Grounfhorc's Day quest to save Phillip and you will recieve at least 1 (possibly all three) of the Groundhorc's Day 1-Day-Only Seasonal Rares!


Groundhorc's Day Quest!

The clock is ticking on a Lot of things: The Limited Time Chaos Skull House will be vanishing forever this Friday, Quibble won't be in town for long, Friday is when non-members get to test their might against Chaos Shogun Kitsune, Sunday is the Superbowl halftime Shop and Punt map (with special rares to celebrate the Colts and Saints), and the first episode of the last season of Lost is on tonight!

That's a LOT of stuff!

Artix
Event-adin


February 1st, 2010
Superbowl Event & Darkovia!
Month of major massive events

Greetings friends! We have a crazy line up of non-stop releases coming your way. This weekend the Yokai Isle ChaosLord battle is opening for all players. Meanwhile, the pathway to the vampire and werewolf filled forest of Darkovia is going to open! For those of you who played the original AdventureQuest, this will be part 1 of a an epic new storyline taking place in an explorable recreation of that famous and very haunted area and is starts THIS FRIDAY. Yes, Safiria the Vampire Queen and her castle will at long last get a permanent home in AQWorlds. This weekend we also have a Super Bowl Halftime shop special event! Tomorrow, we have GroundHork's day. Then, next week is Chinese New Year, Valentines Day, President's day, and we will be launching the new stats system with "Magic Power" on the PTR! Here are some details for you...
Super Bowl Halftime shop!!!!!!!!!

We are doing it again! Join us in AQWorlds at half-time during the Super Bowl as we open a special shop full of rares in an updated version of the Punt Twilly map! Last year 17,876 players logged on and broke the servers -- BUT THIS YEAR WE ARE READY*!

* ... to crash again.
GroundHork's Day

Tomorrow is ground hogs day! It is an actual event that is celebrated here in North America. The story goes, on Feb 2nd (tomorrow), if a Groundhog emerges from his borrow and sees his shadow.... there will be 6 more weeks of Winter. So what does this have to do with Horks? Check Twilly around noon (EST) tomorrow for a special quest! Quest rewards include a GroundHork Helm and a Groundhog pet.
Chaos Lord Kitsune opens for all Players!

The final Boss Fight of Yokai Isle will open for all players on Friday. I REALLY liked the cutscenes & music at the end of the zone. Cysero's writing, Miltonius' animation and the entire teams efforts were amazing. To encourage Members to help everyone battle our toughest boss yet again this weekend, Kitsune will begin dropping an adorable 3-tailed fox pet.

Forum Question: Would you like to help with the releases? We would love to read your ideas & suggestions for this year's Chinese New Year & Valentines Day on the forums.




Book face!

Social Networking Update
Staff Imposters and other oddities

Beware of people on FaceBook, Myspace, and Twitter claiming to be our staff. Never give out your password. The staff will never ask for it, and any one who does is just trying to steal your account. Especially beware of the new imposter on FaceBook claiming to be Beleen.

AQW News on Jan 2010

Design Notes



Cysero
Kitsocke




January 29th, 2010
Kitsune is HERE!
The Time Has Come To Battle The 4th Lord Of Chaos!

Chaos Lord battles are always big weeks but we have outdone ourselves this week. 46 new items are being released, along with one of the toughest Boss fights and two of the best cutscenes in AQW history!

Zoidberg Noise
Chaos Shogun Kitsune!

Minimal and Miltonius are really the heroes this week. Miltonius went out of his way to animate 2 of the best cutscenes that we've seen so far in AQW, and Minimal took time out of his constant improvements on the PTR to hand-code this special Chaos Lord fight. One of our toughest yet. Bring friends. Trust me.

Meanwhile the art team were busy making all 46 brand new items being added to the game this week, TONS of new house items being added to Obaasan's Akiba house item ship in Akiba, 3 new Good rep weapons, 3 new Evil rep weapons (not to mention 2 new Rep dailies for both Good and Evil giving up to 8000 rep per day!), and Kitsune's drops: His Armor, Helm, Cloak, 3 versions of the Hanzamune blade and a new Chaotic Weapon just for this fight!

And don't forget that our little friend Quibble Coinbiter is back in Battleon, ready to equip you and your friends with the finest in never-before-seen, slightly-used items and rares!

quib
Quibble is BACK!

14 new itesm are waiting for you but remember that Quibble doesn't ever stick around for long, so get them while you can!

Speaking of Limited Time items, this is the last week for the Chaotic O-dokuro Skull House. Once the house is gone, it's gone forever, so if you've been waiting until the last minute... well, here it is.

Next week we start work on the next zone... and we are all very excited to finally be bringing Darkovia from AQ to AQW! We've also got Heroes Heart Day and Chinese New year (both on the same day) AND the return of the much lauded Superbowl shop and Punt map!

See you guys there! Be there or be somewhere else!

Artix
Grateful Student


Grandmaster Lazo
In loving memory of a legendary teacher

I would like to take a moment before tonight's release today to give respect and honor a great teacher who is no longer with us. Grandmaster Lazo was a humble and wise man who helped forge and popularize the most widely practiced Filipino martial art in the world. He was the co-founder Modern Arnis, Kombatan, and later founded the Luzviminda Arnis Kali combat system. Forgive me for this comparison, but how such an amazing man could have mysteriously been found living here in our swamp filled region of Florida can only be compared to Yoda living in Degobah. It was a great honor for Zhoom, Thyton, Cysero and myself to train in Arnis under Grandmaster Lazo. We will never forget his wisdom, humbleness, and the teachings of his special art. I invite you to honor his memory by reading about Grandmaster Lazo's accomplishments on this website.

j6


January 28nd, 2010
Spoiler Alert!
Sneak Peak at Friday’s Release

Are you prepared to fight the 4th Lord of Chaos?* I certainly hope so, since the closer the Yokai War gets to 100% completion, the closer you are at fighting not only O-dokuro, but Chaos Shogun Kitsune as well. The Chaos Lord will not come out of hiding until you defeat all of the Yokai on the battlefield, so if you hope to take down Kitsune on Friday… you still have a bit of a ways to go. (Last time I checked, the War was only at 69%. C’mon, heroes, hop to it!)

Kitsune

Look. Look at him. Kitsune doesn’t look that tough… does he? Well… maybe a little. Okay, yeah. Yeah he does. And as if his attire wasn’t intimidating enough… Chaos Lord Kitsune puts up a fight like none other to date. Thanks to Minimal, brand-new programming and functionality went in to making this Chaos Boss battle different from any other fight in all of Lore. Erm… what does that mean exactly? It means you’re going to have to use logic and skillful reasoning to figure out how to defeat this Chaos Lord. And since Kitsune can change from Human to Fox Spirit form at any given moment—oh the joys of being a shape-shifting Yokai—it is up to you and your friends to figure out just how to defeat the 4th Lord of Chaos! (You can ask Cysero for advice, but he will probably offer you a pancake or some Low-Fat FishWhip.)

*Remember, the 2nd Lord(s) of Chaos are the Twins, and even though we have not fought them yet, they are technically considered the “second” while Vath was the 3rd…. Kitsune is the 4th… and the 5th being …!
Quibble Coinbiter Returns!

Everyone’s favorite traveling salesmoglin is headed towards Battleon! And from what I can see (I have 200/200 vision), Quibble is LOADED with a bunch of barely-used-never-before-seen-high-quality items imported straight from the future! There are at least 15 new items stored away in his…well… store, ranging from Swords to Guns to Polearms to Maces and even Koi-on-a-Stick. You never know if or when these items will go Rare, so make sure you get the gear while the gettin's good!

Quibble Guns
Good and Evil Daily Rep Quests

Just from reading this subtitle, you already know that this blurb has something to do with… something dealing with… something. And you’re right! Four brand-new Daily Reputation Quests have been added to the Good and Evil factions—2 for King Alteon and 2 for Gravelyn. Head to your faction leader and speak with them for these new Daily Quests that will boost your aligned Reputation drastically! And, of course, if your Rep is high enough, you just may be the lucky new owner of these new weapons!

Now that you know all of our secrets… I guess there is only one thing left to do. You can either eat the FishWhip that Cysero has already set aside for you. *shudder* OR you can take the much safer route: fight in the Yokai War!
See you on the battlefield =D

Cysero
1 Month Old
Baby Sock




January 26th, 2010
The Captain Rhubarb Effect
The Tide Of The Yokai War Is Turning

As Artix reported, Captain Rhubarb has fired his mighty birthday cannons, raining cannonballs into the yokai war. The effect, however, was not what he expected...

Zoidberg Noise
Shoo! Get!

The cannon blasts did not take out any of the war waves, but it DID scare off a few of the monsters (specifically the hardest ones) and caused the remaining monsters to increase their War Medal drop rate!

Now, with the war going faster, you will get to the war boss even more quickly. I feel that I should remind you that the war boss not only drops a bunch of new member and non-member yokai themed house items, but he also drops the member-only non-chaotic version of the O-dokuro skull house!

Also, remember that the Chaotic version of the O-Dokuro house will only remain on sale until the war is over. After that... it's gone FOREVER!

New House
Limited Time Chaotic O-Dokuro Skull House!

This weekend, Members will get sneak preview showdown with Chaos Shogun Kitsune a week before non-members, but to battle the Chaos Lord, you MUST defeat the war boss first!

I'm sure that I don't need to tell you that the Kitsune will be dropping his armor, helm, cape and some other really rare item drops.

We will also be adding a HUGE number of new items to Obaasan's house item shop, a few great new items to the Good and Evil reputation shops (in Swordhaven and Shadowfall) AND some new Good and Evil rep Daily quests to help you earn them.

There is even a rumor on the wind that Quibble Coinbiter, the sales-moglin is making his way toward Battleon with an amazing assortment of never-before-seen (slightly used) items and Rare items!

Kitsune is waiting for you... and only the horde of thousands of yokai pouring out of the rift stand in your way, but you're not going to let a little thing like a war stand between you and your Destiny... are you?

Artix
War-adin


The Great Yokai War!
At 50%.... the next area will UNLOCK

As you read this, your friends are battling against the Chaos Lord's army of Yokai Monsters. At 50% a new area will unlock.


Win by Friday... and we will at long last face the Chaos Lord!
Happy Birthday Captain Rhubarb!

Today, our favorite Pirate, the scourge of the 7 C's* has leveled up! Rumor has it that the Pirate's ship is almost to the coast of Yokai Isle. He intends to light his new birthday cannon's fuse and blow out a few waves of the war to celebrate. Wish the Capt'n a happy birthday by wearing your pirate gear today. For two reasons 1) He is slightly less likely to aim at you. 2) The more people in uniform, the bigger the blast will be**!

* The 7 C's -- Curses, calamity, conspiracy, catastrophe, carnage, cannon-balling, and coding!
** Literally. We are going to add up the number of people using Pirate items/armors/pets and run an unnecessarily complex mathematical algorithm to determine how many enemy units are affected. It may wipe out a certain number of monsters, or weaken them. Yay for Captain Rhubarb's Birthday!

Forum Question: Do you have some interesting ideas ideas for the Chaos Lord battle? Let us know on the forums.

Reens
Bustin' Bugs!


January 22nd, 2010
Item Drop Fix!
They'll stay in your inventory now!

Just a quick note to let all of you know that your item drops will now stay in your inventory! Those sneaky Time Travel Fairies seem to be branching out into other areas of interest... but we've got them stopped this time!

A huge thanks to Zhoom who took the midnight call, and had a fix up in no time!

j6
Socks At War!


January 22nd, 2010
Satisfaction!
The Greatest Yokai War!

The Ultimate Showdown between Hero and the Yokai!

The time has come for WAR! Chaos Lord Kitsune has summoned the great, forbidden Chaos Beast from the Rift of Time, endangering the entire world of Lore. And to make matters even worse, the Rift is unleashing thousands of Yokai into the lands, threatening to swallow up Yokai Island!

war
CALLING ALL HEROES!

It is up to YOU and your friends to put an end to Chaos Lord Kitsune’s reign before this matter gets out-of-hand! Fight with all your strength through the waves of Yokai that flood the massive mountain made up of bones and skeleton fragments. But wait… this is no normal mountain… this is actually O-dokuro! (This Chaos Beast IS huge!) Who knows what dangers await once you—or IF you—defeat the war of Yokai… but this is the ONLY way to stop Chaos Lord Kitsune once and for all!

If you cannot stop this war in time, then… well… we don’t want to even think about what will become of Yokai Island, or the rest of Lore!


O-dokuro House x 2
We KNOW you can do this, Hero! We have full faith that you can win this war and take down the massive O-dokuro! If you are successful, then you may be one of the few to get the O-dokuro Skull House that drops from this Chaos Beast. This is an incredibly rare drop, so only the most skillful (and most lucky) warriors can obtain this 3-room skull home!

House!
Chaotic O-dokuro Skull House! ON SALE NOW!

Can’t wait to get the O-dokuro Skull House? No worries—we are also offering a super-rare, limited-time only Chaotic Skull House that is available starting tonight in Battleon! This totally awesome, chaotic tribal skull home features a spacious 3-room floor plan and comes with its very own Yokai Shop Keeper inside—the first of its kind! We call this IOD, short for Item On Demand. (I wish my house offered this feature in real life!) But act quickly… this rare house will only be available for a short time, and once it’s taken out of Battleon, it will be gone forever! Don’t miss out!

New Items!
Not even war can stop new items from being made. In fact… this week’s release is just teeming with brand-new items! Speak to Hashi Hime just outside the battlegrounds for a collection of all-new wares, including:

*

Karasu Wings (color custom to match your hair!)
*

Black Steel Tofana
*

Brutal Tofana
*

Really Large Chopsticks
*

Salmon Nigiri Hat
*

Tuna Nigiri Hat
*

Cali Roll Hat

Sushi
All New YOKAI REPUTATION ITEMS!

It is rumored that the Yokai War Boss is also jam-packed with items as well! But these aren’t regular swords and helms… they are carrying 13 never-before-seen house items! You can now decorate your home with a collection of Yokai décor:

*

Koi Trophy
*

Hanzamune Blade Replica
*

Tiger Scroll
*

Koi Fountain
*

Yokai Sandals
*

Yokai Lute
*

Dragon Scroll
*

Yokai Harp
*

Evil Umbrella Lamp
*

Small Yokai Shrine
*

Large Yokai Shrine
*

Stuffed Neko Matta
*

Stuffed Samurai Statue

Yokai Daily Rep Quests

Questgivers
>New Daily Rep Quest Givers!

In need of more Yokai Reputation? Look no further than the city of Akiba! Some of your favorite NPCs will award you handsomely if you agree to help them out on a few Daily Quests. Help Mitsu Bushi, Kunoichi, and Nekomimi out every day and watch your Yokai Reputation (and Gold and Exp) grow significantly!

This is WAR, hero… so we will be seeing you on the battlefield!

Have a fun WAR! Or else!

j6


January 22nd, 2010
Anticipation!
Preparing for Tonight’s Release

Who is ready for tonight’s release? I know I am—and since I cannot communicate telepathically (yet), I am sure you are too! We’ve really outdone ourselves this week. And I hope you’re ready for everything in store.

Where do I even begin? Cysero says the best place to start is at the beginning…

Chaos Lord Kitsune is a pretty bad guy. He’s caused us trouble since Day 1 of the Dragon Koi Tournament. But he hasn’t stopped there. He has opened the Rift in Time and has unleashed THOUSANDS of Yokai into the world of Lore. And—as if that wasn’t bad enough—he has even summoned the Forbidden Chaos Beast, O-dokuro.

So what are we supposed to do? WE FIGHT! Watch out, Mr. Kitsune; we’re bringing the WAR to you TONIGHT!

The only way to stop Kitsune is to fight through the waves of Yokai that cover the battlefield (yes, this means a new map! Yay!) Hashi Hime will be at the entrance, offering you encouraging words and some new Yokai Rep items… such as this lovely getup that Cysero is modeling.

Sushi Gear
Lookin’ good enough to eat!

These War baddies are also LOADED with brand-new never-before-seen items to decorate your humble abode with. And when I say “never-before-seen” I really mean it—no one, not even me or Cysero or Artix, has seen what they look like! But I do know one thing for sure: whether you are a Member or a Free Player, you are ganna LOVE THEM! =D

If you’re ganna have new house items… then you are ganna need a new house to put them in, right? Right!

Check this out: there will be TWO NEW houses released tonight… both modeled after O-dokuro! Who doesn’t want to live in the giant skull of the Forbidden Chaos Beast? Well… now is the chance to make your long-awaited dreams come true!

New House

You see that? That’s the Chaotic O-dokuro Skull home. How awesome is it? So awesome! This super-rare, limited-time only O-dokuro house features a spacious 3-room floor plan with a lovely scenic view of feudal Yokai Island. But the most interesting feature this home has to offer is not just its awesome curb appeal… it’s the Yokai Shop Keeper inside! This is the FIRST house EVER to feature a shop owner inside (who randomly generates a Yokai Island Shop each time you enter the house) and can be acquired in Battleon for a limited time only starting tonight… but hey, once it’s taken out, it will be gone forever. So whatever you do, don’t miss this opportunity!

Can you see why I’m so excited? I bet you are, too! Stick around for more info the closer we get to Release!!



Cysero
Limited Sock




January 21th, 2010
The End (of yokai) Is Nigh!
Every Battle Takes Us Closer!

We've got a lot of stuff in the works, right now. It's hard to know what to tell you about first. I guess I should start with tomorrow's release.

The time has almost come to do battle against Chaos Shogun Kitsune, but first thigns first... he used the Hanzamune Sword to open a rift to the Yokai world and Yokai are pouring out following behind the chaos beast O-dokuro!

Before you can face Kitsune, the Yokai army must be defeated and the rift sealed or else the world of Lore will be overrun by Yokai! This means WAR!

If you defeat the war boss, you will be able to unlock a new house in the Akiba house shop.

Skull House
O-dokuro's Skull is a HOUSE?!

And who hasn't always wanted to live and throw parties inside a giant skull?

Hashi Hime, the Bridge Maiden's Yokai Reputation shop is getting a buff with several new Yokai rep items, like the Brutal Tofana!

Brutal
BRUTAL!

...and Skyline has kindly made a set of Dai Tengu wings that will match your hair color!

And we are adding 3 brand new Yokai Reputation Daily Quests around Akiba. Each will give you a very large boost to your daily rep gain!

Non-members will be able to do battle with O-dokuro as soon as the release goes live, but it's hard to kill something that is already so very VERY dead. You may win the first battle, but you haven't won the WAR!

We;ve got a lot of other stuff that we're working on. Minimal, Artix and Dumoose (who has returned to us for a second internship!) have been working on the PTR and we are growing ever closer (as we have been for months and months) to pushing the new PTR engine to all the live servers!

Minimal and I are also brainstorming on the Kitsune battle, and I think we've come up with a few interesting tricks that will make fighting him a new and interesting challenge.

Lim and I are working on a new game concept unlike any of our other RPGs, which you already know about if you follow my Twitter.

You will ALSO see Lim, Rolith, Ai No Miko and I dressed up in Lab Coats (Man, I could use a haircut). A lot of people have been asking me "Cysero, why are you guys wearing lab coats?!" My only answer is "Why AREN'T YOU wearing one?!"

Be honest with yourself.... if you were given the chance to wear a lab coat, especially if you work in an underground lab, can you think of any excuse not to wear one?

To be totally honest, I'm not sure where the lab coats came from, but as my grandmother always used to say "When life hands you a lab coat, PUT IT ON!"

A lot of people have also mentioned that Ai No Miko is short. UNTRUE! Lim, Rolith and I are all well over six feet tall so she just looks like a pocket pal. She is, in fact, completely average sized.

See you in the war!

j6


January 19th, 2010
Limited Rare Weapons!
Cataclysm and Disaster

Ever wanted to get your hands on some super Rare, super awesome, and super limited-time items?

Well here’s your chance...and your only chance… to get the Cataclysm Staff and the Disaster Blade! These bad boys were crafted long ago by a cursed knight, and from the looks of things, this deadly duo lives up to their names quite well. The Cataclysm Staff is teeming with mystical energies while the Blade of Disaster flows with mysterious plasma. But who can handle such immense power? Well… for starters… YOU can!

But make haste, my friend—the clock is ticking away in Battleon… and once the timer reaches 0, these items will NEVER EVER be released again. So when we say these weapons are super Rare, we really really mean it. Just click on the giant button in Battleon to acquire the Cataclysm Staff or the Disaster Blade… or both! The two are priced accordingly to their elite standing… only 1337 Gold each! =D

Will you be one of the lucky few to harness such greatness?

limited



j6


January 15th, 2010
Tonight's Release!
New Chaos Beast, new Shrines, new items, new cutscenes, and so much more new!

How excited are you? Not only have you successfully survived the back-to-work or back-to-school trauma (myself included), but it is also Friday. And EVERYONE knows what Friday means. New Releases! Yeah! And with soooo much happening in tonight’s Yokai update, you’re going to want to check out everything that is going on. Hence why you are reading this post, right? =D
Kitsune’s Past, Present, and Future

Everyone knows who Chaos Lord Kitsune is. But… before he fell to the powers of Drakath, what did Kitsune used to be like? Was there ever a good-guy behind the Chaos Samurai mask? And why did he steal the legendary Hanzamune Blade from the Dragon Koi Tournament in the first place? There are so many questions concerning the Chaos Lord… and tonight, they will FINALLY be answered! You will have to find Hashi Hime, the Yokai Bridge Maiden, in order to discover the truths behind Kitsune’s past, present, and—*gulp*—future!

Kitsune
The Final Yokai Shrines

Guys, this is it. Last week, you traveled to two different Yokai Shrines. And guess what—2 more Shrines are just waiting to be discovered. Meet with Princess Miko at the Funa-yueri Shrine and help her restore peace to the beautiful riverside by making Sushi! But you’re going to want to watch out for the half snake, half woman creature named Nure Onna. Trust me, you do NOT want to be around this thing when it throws a hissssy fit. (heh, get it, it’s the sound a snake makes!)

YokaiFunayurei.gifThe fourth Shrine is in the graveyard for the lost souls on Yokai Island. Since the number 4 is considered a bad number in Akiba legend, Princess Miko will not be able to assist you. Instead, you will have to befriend a new Yokai named Neko Mata, a cat-like spirit with a forked tail. This sly feline needs you to fight Skello Kitties and the Nopperabo Ninja and Samurai who patrol the lands. But NekoMatasomething isn’t quite right with Neko Mata… granted, a talking forked-tailed cat is not normal to begin with, but something else is off… waaay off…


O-dokuro, the Forbidden Chaos Beast!

Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse… here comes a giant undead skeleton made up of skeletons called O-dokuro. By reading Artix’s earlier DN post, you already know the gist of who—er, what—O-dokuro is. But I’m here to elaborate just a bit =D

O-dokuro

Trapped in the Rift of Time, O-dokuro has been imprisoned for over 1,000 years. The only way to free this forbidden Chaos Beast from his prison is with the Legendary Hanzamune Blade, which is safely being held inside the Akiba Palace. Or… at least it was, up until Chaos Lord Kitsune stole it during the Dragon Koi Tournament. We can only hope that Kitsune doesn’t realize the true powers of the Hanzamune Blade… O-dokuro is far too strong and powerful for anyone to control—including a Chaos Lord—so defeating the Chaos Beast will be nearly impossible. Only a few select Members will be able to fight O-dokuro this week… so if you haven’t Upgraded yet, now is the best time to do so and to show your support for your favorite MMORPG! ^__^
New Rep Items

I saved the best for last: new items! Now, I know we released a bunch of items last week, but we have received a new shipment of Yokai Rep Items that are simply amazing. Incredible. Remarkable. Whatever adjective you would like to use, you will agree with me when you see these rockin’ brand new items:

* Furai Sword (completely color customizable!)
* Elegant Kimono Armor (color customizable base and trim)
* Funa-yurei Morph (Helm)
* Nure Onna (Helm)
* Yurei Ladle
* Hashi Trident
* Dark Prismatic Katana (completely color customizable)
* Light Prismatic Katana (color customizable, too)

Katanas

These items ALL require high levels of Yokai Reputation, and hopefully you’ve been helping Princess Miko out so that you too can get your hands on this awesome gear. You can find these items by visiting Hashi Hime, the Bridge Maiden, between the two final Shrines.

Bridge

OH! Silly me—how could I forget about Artix’s favorite Pepto-Paladin Armor? Hey, despite what Artix says, I DID NOT force him to wear this armor. …okay, well, maybe I nudged him just a bit…

You too can get the Pepto-Paladin Armor! Smack dab in Battleon, just click on the “Upgrade Shop” button on the right side of the screen and show your Pepto-Pride!



Artix
Slayer-adin!




Friday is Release Day!
The best way to celebrate the end of the week

Join us tonight for our monster filled release. We are nearly ready to face the Chaos Lord, but first... are you prepared to battle two new types of Yokai monsters? I long time ago, I wrote to you from Japan about the Nekomata (Or as we call it... the Doom Cat) These split tailed cats can shapeshift and even raise the dead. If one of these were to be let loose on a battlefield... it could raise enough skeletons that the skeletons might all merge and fuse together and form a O-dokuro. Wait...

Odokuro

Artix: Woah! Beleen.... is that really going to happen?
Beleen: What?
Artix: Do we really get to fight a GIANT SKELETON yokai made up of an entire battlefields worth of undead skeletons. It is like the Devastator of the undead!
Beleen: Yup
Artix: OMG!!!!!! RELEASE IT NOW! PLEEEEEAAASE!!!!!!!
Beleen: Nope! You'll have to wait with everyone else.
Artix: Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!
Beleen: J6 and Miltonius finished the art and animation. I guess you could test it if -- you wore this "pretty pretty pink Paladin armor"
Artix: ....
Beleen: Also, we have two new cutscenes tonight. This is it... the final step before the Chaos Lord showdown!

Forum Question: Should he do it?



Cysero
Child's Sock




January 11th, 2010
Making It Look Like Childs Play!
It's AMAZING How Generous Some Of Our Players Are

Remember the Signed Xan Poster?

Xan
This One!

Most of the game development team signed it and then we auctioned it off on e-bay. The high bidder bid a shocking $14,999.44 USD for it.... and that high bidder was some kid who thought he could sam us out of the poster.

I was heart broken. To think that someone would defraud Childs Play, a charity that helps sick kids in children's hospitals all over the world out of fifteen THOUSAND dollars. It was enough to make me lose hope in humanity.

THEN someone contacted us and offered to buy the Xan poster for the original high bid of $15,000.00 USD but and ALSO volunteered another generous $2,000.00 USD on top of that!!!

With help, Artix Entertainment has raised a grand total of $17,000.00 USD for Childs Play! A full 7 grand MORE than we raised for Child's Play last year!

How are we going to top this next year?

I'm going to have to autograph and sell off my organs or something.



Artix
Meet-adin




Meetings of DOOM
Plan now, so we can change our minds 100% later!

Today is officially planning day. Right now, we are meeting on the AQWorlds PTR, level cap raise, new PvP types, and the big release! ...also, we are only two weeks away from a Chaos Lord Battle!

Meanwhile, the ArchKnight storyline (The story of Ash, a boy who quests to dave a Princess so that he can become a Knight... and it goes terribly... terribly... erribly wrong.... every time.) is about to have its exciting conclusion in DragonFable.

Forum Question: What changes would you like to see on the PTR before we go live?



Beleen


January 8th, 2010
Tonight’s Release!
Journey to the Yokai Shrines

Are you ready for a New Year Revolution? I know I am! And it’s about time to put an end to Chaos Shogun Kitsune’s reign.

Yokai Island is overrun with crazed monsters known as (you guessed it) Yokai. According to real-life Asian Folklore, not all Yokai are bad. Most are pranksters. Some are lonely and looking for a friend. Others are just plain creepy who simply want to eat your liver (yes, this IS true!). But since Kitsune is a Chaos Lord, this all-around-bad-guy has vowed to turn all the Yokai against the Human race. And apparently thus far, he’s kept true to his resolution.
The time has come to show Chaos Lord Kitsune that we are not going down without a fight! Travel to the first two ancient Shrines of Yokai Island and meet with the Yokai there. Some are friendly… some are mean… but most are just plain disturbing!

Yokai

Meet Tanuki the prankster raccoon, the fiery SoulTaker, a bunch of Tsukumo-Gami, and Onibaba the Mountain Hag! I guess this kind of goes without saying: this family portrait is one that I would not like to be a part of. Even though, truth be told, I do look like Onibaba when I wake up in the mornings…!
Yokai Shrines Tour Information

Ready to start your Yokai Shrine tour? East of the Hatchiko Hotel lies a lush Bamboo Forest, home to many Yokai big and small. And guess what—this is where the First Yokai Shrine is located! Travel through the forest where you will find the legendary Jinmenju Tree, made famous for its Human-Faced Fruit. You might have to fight off a few rambunctious Tanuki and the dreaded SoulTaker in order to reach the Shrine, though.

If you survive long enough to make it through the Bamboo Forest, you will find yourself nearing the Second Yokai Shrine. You might wanna plug your nose for this zone… since it is a safe haven to forgotten, tossed-out Yokai known as Tsukumo-Gami. But keep an eye out for the fabled Mountain Hag who is rumored to be hiding somewhere in the trash… Her name is Onibaba, and as you can see from her mugshot, she is not the nicest lookin’ lady around…
New Items

Oooh, how exciting! New items always make me smile… and since we have over 15 new ones this week, my entire face is just one huge grin =D Check out all these awesome Yokai-themed items that you can get your hands on!

* YokiBo
* Twin Impaler
* Sleek Katana
* Retribution of the Fallen
* White Tiger (Pet)
* Mini Tanuki (Pet)
* Jinmenju Morph (Helm)
* Tanuki Head Morph
* Yokai Umbrella
* Yokai Lute
* Wanyudo Wheel
* Haunted Lute
* Haunted Umbrella
* Tsukomo-Gami Armor
* Tanuki Morph (Armor)
* Yokai Kimono (Armor)
* Youkono Armor
* And 2 different Fox Head Morphs

items

You can only get these super sweet items after defeating the monsters at the Yokai Shrines. Best of luck to you all!
Bill My Parents!

Woah, check this out. If you live in the US or Canada, you can now use Bill My Parents to get AQW Memberships and AC packages! This method works just like a Wish List—and you know how much fun Wish Lists are!! This feature is perfect for letting your parents, relatives, and other family members know that you want to buy something awesome like a bundle of AdventureCoins or a 12 Month AQW Membership. And if your family approves the purchase, then they can take care of the payment stuff while YOU get to test out your brand-new AQWorlds upgrade! When you go to make a purchase for a Membership or an AC package, just click on the “Bill My Parents” payment option and POOF you’re done! You can also check out Bill My Parents for more information!

On a side note… Artix hasn’t seen these Design Notes yet. And I’m pretty sure that when he does, all the glamorous PINK might make him ill. Sorry, Artix, and anyone else allergic to Pink! >.<

On another side note… I hope you enjoy this week’s release! We sure had a lot of fun making it… and I had a lot of fun bugging J6 for 5 days straight! Best Buddies, right? =D



j6


January 4th, 2010
Dangerous!
H'm see not next go to!

Happy New Year! Frostval is over, so this week will be the last week you can access the town of Frostvale. The Frozen Northlands will stay, but the all of the festive areas will disappear again on Friday bringing us back to the Yokai Isle. To get in the Yokai spirit this week, Artix suggested we do a double movie date last weekend. This probably turned into one of the funniest nights of the year for me. The first hurdle we had to get over is the fact that we live about 2400km away from each other, so driving over wasn't an option. Through the magic of laptops, webcams, wires and a few minutes of "can you hear me now?" I finally got his webcam to show up on the TV. So Artix and Trini were on their end with cake, Cinazool and I were on ours with pizza and we were ready to go. The movie Artix selected was GeGeGe No Kitaro 2. Up to now it could have been a pretty normal night, but before last weekend, I had never heard of that movie, and neither had most stores in my town. So finally I found a copy in a store that claimed had english subtitles and was sure it was going to work great. Artix and I both hit play at the same time and were ready to go. After the first two minutes, Cinzool and I looked at each other with a puzzled look and both went "whaaa?" at the same time. The subtitles were in english, but we had a really hard time trying to follow them. I don't know who translated the movie, but the subtitles sounded like a drunk yoda were reading them. We were watching this and trying to follow as he characters are saying things like "the description table noodles is to can't win". So the first half hour Cinazool and I were cracked up laughing, snorting rootbeer out of our noses watching this. Luckily for us Artix had a much better version so the evening turned into a play with him reading the male parts and Trini reading the female parts of the correct subtitles. Every few minutes we would crack up laughing again and we would swap subtitles to see how wrong ours was. Like this gem: "Did the bewitching imperial concubine see? Is a cat elder sister this, H'm?" Try to figure that one out, we still don't get it. The movie was good though, my favorite parts were when an evil creature was attacking, he would yell out "Dangerous!" I think that will be my new warcry. So we had a great night, got lots of inspiration from the movie (which i still don't understand the ending...or the middle...or the start. The credits were perfect though!) and I've been trying to convince Artix to have a movie night like this in the game for all of us to watch together.

So that was my New Years, how was yours?



Artix
Birthday-adin




...and...

Minimal
Zhoom
Miltonus

...and...

Safiria
Nythera
Zazul




Happy New Year!
The YEAR OF CHAOS is about to begin...

Friends, thank you for the best year ever! Before the highly anticipated insanity of 2010 begins, let us take a moment to look back over the year... and chuckle at all of the victories, train-wrecks and embarrassing moments that we shared together.

As you may recall, we launched AQWorlds just before the start of 2009. The game was brand new and did not even have a story yet. I was shocked when I realized how many things did not exist until this year. Thanks to your ideas, suggestions and very appreciated encouragement, the team accomplished....

211+
Weekly Releases
between our 5 games this year!!

* The storyline began!
The intro of the game where Drakath first appeared, slew Sepulchure and mortally wounded King Alteon
* Our first game-wide Wars!
We battled side by side against millions of monsters in a massively multiplayer version of the wars for the first time.
* Housing was released!
* The 1st Lord of Chaos: Escherion
In a zone inspired by the artwork of MC Escher, players battled their first Chaos Lord. Escherion is a battle mage with the power of inversion.
* The 2nd Lord of Chaos: The Twins
The Twins were originally balanced, once offering good advice and one offering bad... until Drakath intervined, and secretly replaced the good one with... well, that is a story for next year. The Twins have not been fought and currently only appear during one-time-only special events.
* The 3rd Lord of Chaos: Vath
The 3rd Chaos Lord is a Dark Elf DragonLord. Controlling a giant Dragon named Stalagbite he took control of the Dwarfhold Mountains and the mystic forge within.
* The 4th Lord of Chaos Revealed: Kitsune
Inspired by Artix's adventures to the far East, Yokai Isle features anime-spoofs and famous Japanese monsters that you may never have heard of!
* 18,000 Mages Teleported the town of Battleon
In order to move the town from the path of an on-coming meteor, all of the mages of the world united to cast a giant teleportation spell. On the first attempt, we landed above Gravelyn's evil fortress.
* AQWorld's goes widescreen!
Eveyr map in the game was resized to our new, bigger screensize.
* Voltaire Friday the 13th Event
Our first live event with a musical guest star! 32,000 players showed up for the 1st live event crushing the servers like a peanut under an elephant's foot. Then, there was a second Friday the 13th... and we did another one with hourly shows!
* Artix, Twilly & Zorbak visited Japan
* Warpforce, our 1st Expansion was released!
The team that runs the original AdventureQuest created a full spin off game taking classic AQ style game play to the stars.
* The MechQuest ArtBook
Our first artbook! Created at the lab by Johnny Atomic, Aisha and the team, it is BEAUTIFUL! (and full of Artix's bad grammar and typos). See for yourself
* NPC's got those pop-up thingies
It might not sound like a big deal, but it really added a lot to the game!
* DragonCon 2009!!!
Best convention ever! We ran a panel and players came dressed as J6, Escherion, Tek, Yulgar, Cleric Joy, and Ash! One player (Sunbrella) even flew all the way from New Zealand to come meet us! As usual Zorbak took lots of pictures! Oh, we also went to JCON this year which was a blast!
* Special Events
o SuperBowl (& Moglin Punting)
o Hero's Heart Day
o St. Patrick's Day Drakel Cannon
o Mother's Day
o Earth Day
o 40th Anniversary of landing on the Moon
o Father's Day
o Ninja Day
What!? I do not remember a Ninja day. exactly the point. Ninjas are very sneaky!
o Independance Day (US & Canadia)
o Graduation Shop
o Talk like a PIRATE Day, "ARRRRRR!!!"
o Mogloween (Cauldron Sisters, the Thriller!)
o Harvest Festival (Oishii & Turdrakens)
o Frostval (Hungry for Cookies?)
* The Save Chuckles Movement
It was an inside joke started by players that spiraled out of control, ending with a T-shirt and the world's cheesiest infomercial.... it called for the return of Sepulchure's laugh-aholic skeletal sidekick (who originated from DragonFable!)
* The PTR: Stats and PvP began
The biggest and most important project of the year finally opened giving players (and the staff) a glimpse of upcoming PvP and player stats. (PTR Server - currently , Member only)
* Forum Contests
We many fun contests on the forums this year... here are a few of the most memorable!
o House Decorating Contest
o The Ballyhoo Commercial Contest
o Pumpkin Carving Contest
o Holiday Cookie Contest
* DoomKnight Released!
Doooooooooom...... then Beleen forces us to make Pretty Pretty Pink DoomKnight armor for the girls.
* 1st TV Commecial
With footage inspired by the players, voice acting recorded in Artix's bathroom and edited on $99 off-the-shelf video software... it was shown nationally on major channels including Cartoon Network, Nickleodon, and MTV! (Older version)
* AQWorlds gets a 10+ rating by the ESRB
We also joined TrustE, which is a highly respected privacy protection program. While you and the players already know we are honest and responsible, it is nice having major organizations give us their stamp of approval!
* Golden OnSlaught
(AQWorld's 1st Birthday Party)
Twig was left alone to decorate... cake, presents and Sweetish Fish as far as the eye could see. Meanwhile, a ground of overzealous Knight's kidnapped the entire staff (It was so funny how Cysero was trapped in a chalk circle and could not cross it.) In order to save them EVERY player in the game turned undead and joined Gravelyn's army of darkness in the most bizzare rescue mission EVER. Epic win. In the end, the heroes were rescued, the knights of the Golden Onslaught joined the players and their former leader, Maxmillian Lionfang, excaped... and ran into the Chaos Lord(s) known as The Twins. You can still get wallpapers from ArtixWallpapers.com
* Interview in in Beckett's GAMER Magazine
AQWorlds appeared in a magazine for the first time (both last month, and it will again next month.)
* The AQWorld's Deady 8" Vinyl Figure
We released a collector's figure with Voltaire. ALL the units we had available to sell from the lab were sold out in a weekend.... behind the scenes we created a brand new online store called HeroMart. (If you are not a Hero, we also made VillianMart)
* EpicDuel, our 5th Game was released!
Titan & Nightwraith officially became part of Artix Entertainment and got access to hardware and talent to build EpicDuel even better.
* AQWorlds is at 14 Million Free accounts
X weapons, x friends, x armors, (Zhoom is getting the numbers for me still... he said right after the release.) and one extremely hyper, radio-active hampster powered database server.
* Master Account System goes into Alpha!
"The One Login to Rule them All!"
While still in development, it is going to allow for cross game achievements, item unlocking, friends lists, contentests for our community and more!
* Cysero had a baby!
Well, not him personally. Little Jack, the future harvester of missing left socks, was born on Dec 26th!
* Signed Charity Auction Poster for $15,000!??
When new posters were created for the secret underground lab, there was one made at a different size. Cysero suggested that instead of just hanging it on the wall, that we auction it for the Child's Play Charity. With hopes of sending $100 to $200... the team was SHOCKED when bidding closed at $14,999.42. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Child's Play Charity which helps sick kids in Children's Hospitals.

Thank you!

On behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank you and all of the other great players who made this possible. It is because of you that we were able to create AdventureQuest Worlds and put our hearts into making it better each week. Whether you made suggestions, helped us squish bugs, upgraded and became a member, clicked on ads, tested new features, or helped your fellow players on the forums -- you have made this all happen. Thank you!

Now.... are you ready for everything that is about to happen in 2010? Battle on in the New Year friends!