September 2010

Cysero
Sockbiter

September 10, 2010
Quibble Arrives!
New AC Rares!

The traveling sales moglin, Quibble Coinbiter, has returned to Battleon with an all new assortment of rare items (most of which he is willing to part with in exchange for AdventureCoins) which are magically themed, in honor of the new magical Arcangrove area.

Quibble

In an AQWorlds first, Quibble will be staying in Battleon for a little longer than usual and next week he will be ADDING special items in honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day (including the all new Icy Naval Commander armor!).
New Arcangrove Dailies!

A lot of you have been asking for new rep dialy quests to help you earn Arcangrove reputation a little faster and we have answered your call. Speak to Ewa in The Cloister and Paddylump in the Mudluk Village to take on their new reputation daily quests!

Remember, we are only halfway through the Arcangrove saga, with lot of areas (and lots of new rep items... and maybe even a class) to come!
Dage The Evil...er

Dage The Evil (of one AQW's amazingly talented artists and J6's personal minion) has further expanded his shop and added new quests to obtain some of the blackest, most wicked armor and weapons availible in game!

dage

If this sounds like it might echo the darkness in your own soul, speak to Dage and see what he can arrange. If you need help finding him, be sure to ask some of your fellow players.
Coming Next!

Now that we have fully recovered from DragonCon (except for Llussion who had to go to the doctor today and hasn't been in all week) we will be continuing the Arcangrove Saga, as well as beginning plans for AQW's third birthday in October.

Just letting you guys know, we WILL be offering 2nd Upholder status (much like we offered 1st Upholder a year ago, and Founder a year before that) with a special badge, rare item, bragging rights and all the benefits that come with being a 2nd Upholder!


Tags: Cysero Quibble 2nd Upholder Dage

Artix
Dragon-adin

September 08, 2010
DragonCon 2010!
The AE Team is home with tons of Pictures and Stories

We are back from the biggest and craziest fantasy/sci-fi/anime/pop-culture convention of the year. Over 30,000 people attended DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia this year... most in costumes... we had the time of our lives. We got to meet players of the games for the first time as well as see many familiar faces. Please note is is officially against the rules of the AE team to post photos of ourselves.... (note: we are very very bad at following rules) Read on!

Jemini as Jedi BarbiJemini from the MechQuest team as Jedi Barbie


The Battle Bus and Truckstop Payphone Madness

We crammed 36 members of the AE team into three vehicles on the way up. (Somehow we came back with 39...) At the first rest stop the noise our phones make when we get a new twitter message went off... Cysero had posted the phone number to the payphone we were standing next to and we started taking calls from players who wanted to say hi! We took calls from nearly 20 players during our pitstops!!!

AE DragonCon Panel
Artix prepares to demonstrate the very dangerous-to-Paladins jumping jack technique
The AQWorld's Panel

"What is the difference between regular panels and Artix panels? ... well, I am pretty sure other companies do not show their home movies and chuck candy and weird DVDs at fans who answer trivia."

AE Dragoncon Panel
Our panel at DragonCon.... the wierd videos seen can never be unseen!



Passing the Axe Around

The players passed around the 25lb replica of the Blinding Light of Destiny



The official word from the DragonCon staff was that thanks to all of you who attended we were the #2 panel in the entire gaming track! I wore the Paladin armor that Nythera's friend crafted for me.... because, and please know I have never dressed up in cosplay before so I was quite nervous. Especially since the armor was finished literally 1 minute before I went to the panel. When I walked in, everyone started clapping.... I nearly shed a tear. But instead I showed everyone the top secret way to get an AQW Paladin to hurt themselves.... make them do jumping jacks with those upward swiveling shoulder pads!

Artix Krieger and J6

Player's got to see the man behind the voice of EpicDuel's epic updates as Titan talked about the PvP game. Titan from EpicDuel. Cysero was... as usual... hysterical!. I have no idea how he makes us all laugh so much.... and the prizes he gave out were so weird! ...including a tutorial DVD on "how to draw pistols like a real cowboy movie star" and what has to be the worst kung fu movie... dubbed... but not in english... with a half-finished paint by number image tiger on the cover.... and the most popular item of all -- a banana signed by the AE Team.

We took questions, showed clips from movies that you will see soon as live action game and.... of course... punted Twilly. The winner of the 2010 Punt Twilly contest took home Guitar Hero for the Wii (thanks to xFinity.) Oh, and we got two very unusual gifts. Cysero was given a GIANT sock made of socks... which secretly contained a little baby green sock. One player's mother baked us 3 pies that said 'Battle On' on them!!! (We also got some super cool chain bracelets!)



We had 3 pies and a Pae at Dragoncon

Players baked and brought us Battle On Pies!? Beleen and Safiria (pictured) were prepared to throw them if we ran out of candy.


This year's in-game convention attendance item was chosen by everyone who attended the panel... a Steampunk Dragon. It has been added to the game and placed on the characters of those who signed up for it at at the panel. If you like the style of this SteamPunk pet.... read on because we are thinking of an entire zone of SteamPunk stuff that everyone can help us make! As requested by the players, the steampunk dragon explodes if you sit long enough.

Steampunk Dragon


DragonCon Panel SteamPunk Dragon

The only thing that could have possibly made the panel better is if you were all with us too... and maybe a live action game to go along with those videos. Next year let's work on getting both of those things!
ROLITH PROPOSED TO ALINA!

THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE WEEKEND! During the 1st night of the convention.... DragonFable programmer Rolith proposed to DragonFable writer Alina! He chose the special spot where they had first spent time talking and getting to know each other at DragonCon 2 years ago. The proposal first happened in game in a AWESOME and funny cutscene completely unbeknownst to Alina. Players waiting anxiously to hear the result. You can still play the cutscene and see what happened by logging into DragonFable and then reading the design notes.
The Big New Game Announcement

The big news at our official panel was the announcement of a new MMO which is scheduled to start Alpha in November. Members of AQworlds will be invited to play in the alpha, to help test our new game engine and be the first to fly around wearing your undershorts on the wrong side -- that is right... it is time for a Super Hero game!
The Artix Entertainment Party

Later that night after the panel we co-sponsored a party with Sony Online Entertainment and xFinity (formerly Comcast? ... they change their name more often than Nebula asks for new bows.) There were a shocking number of people attending with dancing, light-saber limbo...

Lightsaber limbo
Lightsaber Limbo

...and.... *apologetic sigh* well for this next one I would like to give a select number of our players my apology.

Party Disaster #1: Artix Apologies

I would like to sincerely apologize to all of you who I invited, but were not able to enter due to the age restriction. Originally we were the sole sponsors of the party and it was an all ages party. Somehow, along the way this changed and we were not notified. When we found out they were carding people at the door I was really upset -- especially since I invited so many of you personally. I spent most of the party in the hall so I could talk with players who could not get in, but I know many of you had already left before then. I am truly sorry and will make it up to you. Next year we will be throwing a party on our own and you and everyone reading this post are officially invited as guests of honor.

Party Disaster #2: Artix wipes out on stage... then loses voice... in style

This was the first time we had ever done something like this -- we were very unprepared. Now, I always speak to you very personally sharing the good times, bad times... and then there are stories like this one. The other companies at the party all had giant banners, marketing materials on the tables, a live web video feed and a bearded dwarf lady in full armor (who had some killer dance moves for the record) We.... um.... did not know we were supposed to bring anything, LOL! When our Dwarven co-sponsor got up on stage and gave out tons and tons of free stuff... we gulped. Then when they gave out tons of MORE free stuff... we... gulped again. we were informed that it was our turn to go up in front of the 500+ person crowd and I was to say a few words on behalf of our company. *Panic* Now, that was a tough act to follow... even if we had brought anything! It is sort of like finding out you were supposed to give a speech in front of the class... right after the super smart guy who always made you look bad in front of the cute girl you had a crush on had just given their speech. (Was that a bit too personal? I wonder what Tim Kibiki is doing now. Anyway!) So it is my belief that there are only two options in a situation like this. 1.) You can swallow hard, walk up on stage, and politely thank everyone for coming and hope no one notices. Or 2.).... (and my choice).... you run up onto the stage full throttle, grab the mic while yelling BAAAAAAAATTTTTTLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE....... (like Kimberly from One Eyed Doll during that live event) and then flipping wipe out onto the stage as hard as physically possible. I tumbled and hit the stage so hard that the audio equipment jumped. Every one in the room suddenly turned to the stage as the room went dead silent. I stayed motionless the obligatory 2 seconds then sprung back like a spring on my shoulders and did a martial arts kip-ups, jumping back to my feet and yelled into the mic.... OOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!! The room laughed and cheered. With a surge of confidence I thanked the crowd and ad-libbed, "We are WAAAAY to poor to have brought you free stuff... ", and over the room's laughter I continued, "HOWEVER... if you walk over and talk to the lovely Safiria standing *points* over there she will here she will give you a free item in our hit MMO AQWorlds!" Then Cysero said a few words and I took the mic and shouted "PARTY ON!" as we walked off the stage. In the crowd... a bunch of people said, "Hey... isn't he supposed to say Battle On?" So I grabbed the mic and screamed Battle On so loud that people in the buildings OTHER party heard me.
Voltaire's Concert

Later... that night.... or into the wee hours of the morning... We saw Voltaire's perform in front of 4,000+ of his fans. Sporting a newly grown beard (very odd!) he sang songs from his two new albums "Spooky Songs for Creepy Kids" which features cover art from the event and the AQW live event versions of the songs.. AND... (and this is not made up)... songs from his *blinks* new Country album "Hate Lives in a Small Town" Very strange! They are available for pre-order on his voltaire website.
Cysero & Alces Battle Robots

For those of you following C's Twitter they and their friend entered their robot "Binky the WarBear" into the robotics competition. With 2 wins and 2 losses, Binky did a mighty fine job! But the underdog robo-win of the event went to a 6th Grader who's mechanical monster beat everyone including even the favored to win MIT Robotics student's machine in the final match

Blinky McWarBear

Our favorite match was Nuclear Kitten 5.1 vs Wedgie!


Celebrities & Thanks!

There were a ton of celebrities at DragonCon... for example, Stan Lee's room was right next to mine. We got to see Kaylee from Firefly, Data/Riker/Counselor Troi from Star Trek, and even Buck Rogers! (This way was easier than calling them by their real names and then explaining who they were) George Lowe was there -- and surprisingly hard to get past the line to talk to! .. and no DragonCon would be compete without sitting uncomfortably in the elevator with Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) and not saying a word. But the people we were most excited to see at the con was the staff and players who came to see us. DragonCon is the only time we get to see far away staff like Westwind, Aelthai, Pae, Vivi, Kamui, Stratos, Razer, Koi, and Maegwyn. Also, Sunumbrella once again returned all the way from New Zealand to see us.... and all of the other familiar faces that joined us this year. Thank you for coming and making this the biggest and most memorable time ever!
Zorbak... erm... Twilly goes to Con!

Each year, Zorbak has run around with his camera taking pictures with people in the best and craziest costumes! However, this was Twilly's last year at DragonCon (There are less than 100 of him left at Jinx and is about to go perma rare as the new Twilly 2011 is being released next year.) So we photographed Twilly trying to heal and cure all of the zombies, monsters and other cosplayers! These photos will show up on the Zorbak goes to Con website later this week!

DragonCon Super Heros
SteamPunk... the next big thing!

Imagine an alternate reality where steam became the source of all energy in the world. Set in a Victorian themed world full of romance and adventure with steam powered vehicles, crazy goggles, and clockwork mechanical madness... this is SteamPunk. (Did you ever see the movie Wild Wild West with Will Smith?) It is growing in popularity faster than that time we put tribbles in our server room. People were dressed up as steam punk super heroes, and there was even a steam punk Ash from Army of Darkness! All of the old anime stalls seemed to be converted to SteamPunk stalls selling weird retro-steam-nerf-weapons and victorian hats, and... half the AE team came back wearing steam punk goggles. We want to do a SteamPunk zone in AQWorlds. Instead of doing the same ol' same ol' we want to do something really crazy. I was thinking a Clockwork Necromancer with an army of steam-augmented undead (but you guys know me...) Do you have any ideas? Have you ever heard of this genre before? What would you like to see in the next AQworld's major storyline? (...and do you think we could get away with some Doctor Who references?)

Forum Question: Steam Punk Storyline!? COME BRAINSTORM ON THE FORUMS!


Tags: Artix DragonCon

Cysero
Sockrigado

September 07, 2010
Obrigado Brasil!
Brazilian Independence Day

I've really got to hand it to Brazil, they know how to pull our strings. Lots of people have asked to have things put in the game, everything from adding their personal armors to adding flags for their country, but we have never seen such an amazingly polite, calm and organized movement from so many of our players.

You may not know this but Brazil is in one of the top 5 countires that play AQW. We have so many Brazilian plyers that I've considered trying to learn Portuguese (the official language of Brazil) just so I could talk to them in their own language!

I'm not sure which players started it but we have gotten phone calls, letters, tweets, and every other communication possible asking that we recognize Brazil in the game.

I don't want to give you the wrong idea. This wasn't spam. We weren't being harrassed (like the Green Star Sword fiasco). These were simple polite requests coming from literally thousands of individual Brazilian AQW players.

Today is Brazilian Independence day and we decided to say obridago Brasil (Thanks, Brazil!) By adding the Obrigado Brasil shop to Battleon with a sword, set of daggers and horned helm inspired by the national colors and standard of that country.

Brazil

Thanks for being polite, calm, and reasonable about the request to honor your great country. Above all, thank you for supporting AQW!

This shop will only last until next MONDAY so get these items while you can.
Dragoncon is over. WE SURVIVED!

We returned from con yesterday with more stories, adventures and swag than we know what to do with. Allow me to say thanks to all the wonderful players who made it out to see us from all over the USA and the world! We hope you had a good time, cause we did.

As you know we give away a free non-member pet to everyone who finds us at con and attends our panel. This year we took suggestions from the panel itself for the ultra rare Dragoncon pet and the concept that won was an exploding Streampunk Dragon. J6 is working on that right now and we should be hand delivering them today or tomorrow.

During the drive up and drive back, I stole an idea from Weird Al's Twitter. Everytime we stopped for gas, to eat, bathroom breaks, or just to stretch our legs, Artix and I found a pay phone and tweeted the number out so we could talk to those of you who noticed.

We had SO much fun talking to our friends who managed to call in the 10 minute windows that we were able to talk. It made the 8 hour trek up and down a lot more bearable for us. Thanks!

We hope to do that again next year!

We're all still recovering from over stimulation and lack of sleep so it might take us a few days to tell all of our stories and get this year's Zorbak (And Twilly this year) Goes To Con pics up.
Message From Quibble Coinbiter

Quibble asked me to tell you guys that he will be stopping back in Battleon THIS FRIDAY with a host of new magic themed items and rares, to help you make your way through the new Arcangrove zone.


Tags: Cysero

Beleen


September 03, 2010
I herd U liek Mudluks!
Tonight’s Release is Live!

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

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

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

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

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

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

mudluk-dconSecret Armor... Shhh don't let Cysero know!

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy the release my friends, and Battle On!


Tags: Beleen DragonCon Tonights Release Mudluk

Artix
WOAH!!!!

September 02, 2010
Rolith Proposed!!!!
Both in-game and in real life at DragonCon

DragonFable programmer Rolith shocked the community today with a very personal, romantic, and tear-inducing post on the DragonFable design notes. Log into DragonFable and click on the button "Rolith says *Gulp*" to see.... him propose to the love of his life (fellow DragonFable developer Alina) in front of you, in-game! Meanwhile, at DragonCon the real-life version of this cutscene is taking place!

Rolith's Design Notes Post
Play DragonFable to see the cutscene
Read Alina's response to Rolith's question!

... this is an amazing moment that makes me so happy to be a part of our community.


Tags: Artix

Cysero
iSock

September 02, 2010
Road To DragonCon
I'm sitting in the Exit 5 Cracker Barrel just over the Gorgian border with the AE Lab Crew. We stopped to have a bite to eat and I wanted to see if the new Design Notes system worked on my phone. If you can see this, it does.


Tags: Cysero

Cysero
Sockformation

September 01, 2010
Dragoncon Panel Info
When & Where is AE?!

I know that most of you aren't going to be able to make it to Dragoncon, but it's the fastest way to reach those of you who are going.

Safiria wants to make sure that you know where we are going to be and when:

AE/AQW Panel
Saturday Sept. 4, 2010
1pm to 3:30 pm
Sheraton Hotel
Savannah Room

We will be wandering all around con, of course, from Thursday night until Monday morning. I'll be carrying Zorbak with me as much as I can. Please, say "Hi". We are WAY more excited to run into you than you are to run into us.
Mudluk Village

Thought I'd post a little teaser pic of the village.

FroggytownYou'll get to see a LOT more Friday!