AQW Design Notes December 4th-9th 2009
AQW Design Notes December 4th-9th 2009
by Aeonarial on Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:08 am
December 9th, 2009
Snowed In
And loving it
Winter is back! This morning I woke up to find my car hidden under a few feet of snow (which is really hard to find considering that the car is white too). My office* is right next to the window, so today looking out is like watching the static snow channels. The downside is I have to go out and shovel, but if I put it off until spring, then it will all melt away anyways, right?
Good news though, the snow has also slowed down Aisha's army! I'm not sure if it really is the snow, or she's plotting some evil plot, but she has backed off. The mountains are starting to clear up and only a handful of her minions remain. Even her guard dragon is getting restless. So keep scaling that mountain, and maybe we will be able to take her down before friday! If not, then Adak and his village are doomed!**
*which consists of a laptop and two pencils on a dining room table...
**to be relocated to a smaller, warmer pacific island, which will wreak havoc on their snow cone business.
Grindstone-adin
December 8th, 2009
You can do it!
Including anything you put your mind to...
I remember when I was young and my martial arts Master Instructor told me, "Your target is not the board, but somewhere far on the other side of it." At that point in my life I actually thought Martial Arts was all about wearing fancy pajamas and seeking revenge on blocks of wood. Secretly, the other children and I were learning a valuable lesson. If you are a martial artist too, you already know this. But it a valuable story worth re-telling over and over. To a 3rd grader like I was at the time, the board is pretty intimidating. Hitting a board is not enough to break it. No, all hitting the board does is bruise your hand*. The secret to breaking the board is aiming through it. Your target is far past the board, deep on the other side. When you strike, it is following through that leads to the success of a clean break.....WOOSH-KA-KRUNCH-FFFFPT! Thus the student learns that the secret to victory is not merely aiming for the goal... .but aiming beyond it**. This is something we should all remember and carry with us... no matter what we are trying to do***.
* Or feet, elbows, knees, or head, ear, nose, eyeball... or whatever bodyparts the new age schools are using in their anti-tree techniques.
** However, do not set your target TOO far through the board or your will end up punching all the way around the world and hitting yourself in the rump. (Taking gravity into consideration).
** Including work, school, pursuing your dreams, and defending ourselves from innanimate trees.
Lots of broken boards left on the floor!
The past weeks have been amazing, crazy and indescribable. We had a new Friday the 13th event with Voltaire, the launch of the PTR, we built our 1st TV Commercial together, got our very own ESRB rating, I was interviewed for AQWorlds in Beckett's GAMER magazine, <takes in a breath> we just released the Alpha test of the Master Account System and... the Beta Test of our 5th game EpicDuel. The entire team have been running at 150% getting great releases ready for you to enjoy during the holidays. I am really proud of them and hope you are too.
Secret Behind the Scenes Story
I feel bad that I have not been able to write to you more. So, to make it up to you.... I would like to share something that was never intended to be read by players. It is from my personal journal. Written during the wee hours of the morning just after the release of the last Friday the 13th Event. I really hope you enjoy it:
Special Story for you: Diary of the Friday the 13th
Old picture... new story!
AQWorlds Engine Update Today
The servers were restarted to allow for new quest reward types. You can imagine lots of create ways we can use these two new features! (database updated too)
Random Quest Reward
User Selectable Quest Reward
Warm Winter Stockings
December 7th, 2009
Ho Ho Whoops!
Dispeling Preconceptions And Misconceptions Surrounding The Recently Decreed RARE Claw Suit And Then Moving On To Stuff Regarding The Battle On Master Account System.
If you were a Member last Frostvale then you probably remember the ClawSuit Class.
Hi, Remember Us?
We've been getting a LOT of questions about if the ClawSuit Class will return as a Seasonl Rare, like Pumpkin Lord Class. I've been telling everyone for MONTHS that it will be coming back.
Turns out I was wrong. Boy, is my face red.
The fact is that we actually CAN'T bring it back this year due to a number of technical hiccups. The game's engine has made a LOT of progress since last year, but unfortunately from time to time that means that stuff we built before will never ever work ever again.
This will come as Bad news to some of our newer members and really GREAT news to those who grabbed it last year.
However, to ease some of the sting we are able to release a... well, I'm not the kind of guy to ruin surprises.
Ok, sometimes I am. SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU WANT A PEEK INTO YOUR FROSTVAL FUTURE READ ON.
IF NOT... SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH:
However, to ease some of the sting we are able to release a Color Customizable ClawSuit Armor Season Rare for members!
This won't be released this week, but when Frostval goes live, it will be there waiting for ya.
Master Account Mastery... See I Told You That I Would Be Talking About This Later.
A lot of people have ALSO been asking me what the point of the Battle On Master Account system is. Allow me to drop some knowledge.
The Master Account System will tie all of your AE game accounts together on one page so you will be able to see all of you character pages at a glance, and access any game from 1 page.
The Master Account system will make getting lost or hacked account back MUCH eaiser. They may take your AQW character from you, but as long as no one has the password to you MASTER ACCOUNT, you will be able to get it back at the click of a button. It will also provide another, very solid layer of security to all of our games.
There will be special Achievement Badges that you will ONLY be able to get if you have a Master Account (like participate in an Artix Entertainment-wide event across multiple games, or even Minigame Badges!)
Right now, you can only Beta Test or 5th game, EpicDuel, if you have upgraded in one or more of our games AND tied Epic Duel to those accounts through your Master Account. No Master Account... No Beta Testing for you!
These are just a few I picked from a VERY long list of things that will make everyone's lives a lot eaiser and more fun.
Remember: When you start your Master Account, pick a login name that is totally unrelated to your game names (my login in nothing like Cysero), make sure you never tell anyone your password OR login name, and lastly... MAKE SURE YOU SIGN UP WITH A REAL E-MAIL THAT ONLY YOU HAVE ACCESS TO.
Quite a few people have been signing up using MY e-mail. I think it's cool that all you guys want to hand your accounts over to me to sell or delete as I like, but I really don't want to do either one of those things.
Whatever e-mail you use to sign-up with... That person will have access to your Master Account. If you use a Fake e-mail then NO ONE will have access to your master account. Even you.
Get it? Great!
Make sure you check the Design Notes every day to see what is coming THIS Friday! Forwarned is For-armed. Four Armed is really good at Ping-Pong.
Sockpic Duel
December 4th, 2009
Tonight's Release
Revenge is a dish best served cold...
Hmph. It appears as though some trouble is brewing in the Frozen Northlands, an area that has been previously inaccessible. And from what Warlic tells me, we have Queen Aisha to blame. Sounds like you need my help...again. If you forgot, or just started tuning in recently, I helped move Battleon to its current location several moons ago.
Oh, do you not know who I am? Well you should. I'm Nythera, Warlic's Apprentice. I'm a Mage too, obviously. Some have called me the Purple Mage, and that's fine with me. I like Purple.... and magic. And dragons. DragonFable at www.DragonFable.com is where it all began with me...and with Aisha.
Moving on… not everyone shares in the Frostval holiday spirit… and Aisha just so happens to be one of those few. And for whatever reason, she has declared war on the villagers who called this frozen region their home. To make matters worse, Aisha has even sent an avalanche of chilly beasties to help ensure the new Ice Age. Her Frost Golems and FrostWrym Riders are fighting on home turf, too, so already they have the upper hand… and claw.
A heavily-armored Frost Dragon is waiting for you at the mountain summit. But reaching him will be no easy task. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if you happen to reach the Dragon… alive, that is.
Item Avalanche
A new zone. A new war. A new villain and new monsters. This can only mean one thing. Hmph… do I really have to say it?
Since you’re going to be fighting in this war, you should be educated in what these chilly beasts are wielding and wearing. The more you know about the enemy—the more you know about how to defeat them. And what to loot from them. There are 15 new drops, including:
Frost Matriarch Sword
Drake Morphs (Frost & Matriarch versions)
Frostwyrm Blade
Frost Golem Armor
Golem’s Ice Sickle (2 different styles!)
Don’t forget about the Shop in the Frozen Northlands. You’ve got 10 new items to equip. If you so choose. Here’s a few:
Vivid Mountaineer Armor (color custom)
Snowsuit
Climber’s Ice Pick
Vivid Pom Pom Toque (color custom)
And before I forget, Warlic also told me to mention something about a secret hiding Moglin named Tinsel. This little furball is hiding somewhere in the Northlands. If you find Tinsel, she will give you a special present that is the 1st gift in a set of 4. Or something like that. No, I do not know where she is. You have to find her yourself.
What are you still doing reading this? Shouldn’t you be out fighting Aisha’s army? Hmph!
Items For All!
Tis the season! Well, nearly.
Frostval is coming fast and with it, that warm feeling that seems to sneak into you in the middle of the night and stay with you all season, like the smell of fresh baked moglinberry cookies lingering in a warm house well after the oven has gone cold.
So, I like the Frostval season A LOT. Sue me.
As you know, we try to make membership worth the price you pay for supporting AQW and helping keep us going but it's hard not to be a little ectra giving during this season.
So, this release and the next few to follow will have LOTS of goodies for every player, non-member and member alike. You may not get EXACTLY what you want for frostval, but very few people get EVERYTHING they want for the holidays.
You'll notice that we have included the first non-member color customizable armor (Vivid Snow Suit) and a few matching color custom hats as well, plus a bunch of other warm clothing to help you brave the cold climb up Mount Frost to face Aisha.
There are a LOT of items this release but some of them you won't get to until you battle your way up Mount Frost.
We've got:
1). 6 NEW Armors
2). 5 NEW Swords
3). 1 NEW Axe
4). 2 NEW Capes
5). 10 NEW Helms
6). 1 NEW Pet
And Members, As you work you way up the mountain, you might find a special moglin who just can't wait for Frostval to begin. Some people just like giving gifts.
Let the War for Mount Frost BEGIN!
I'll be making cocoa.
An Epic Duel!
I was only able to jump on AE's 5th Game, Epic Duel for one 2v2 Battle earlier today, but I wanted to thank Doom Paladin, for helping me defeat our awesome opponents Mancer and TruHuNtEr! GF guys! (Good Fight, not Girl Friend).
BATTLE!
That was before Titan helped me hijack my own name, I changed from CyseroAE to Cysero a few minutes ago! It's not about what you know, it's who you know.
I hope to be on a little this weekend, Maybe I can fight you?
Remember, you need to be a member in at least ONE of our games to help us Beta Test Epic Duel.
Have a great weekend!
[b]
Snowed In
And loving it
Winter is back! This morning I woke up to find my car hidden under a few feet of snow (which is really hard to find considering that the car is white too). My office* is right next to the window, so today looking out is like watching the static snow channels. The downside is I have to go out and shovel, but if I put it off until spring, then it will all melt away anyways, right?
Good news though, the snow has also slowed down Aisha's army! I'm not sure if it really is the snow, or she's plotting some evil plot, but she has backed off. The mountains are starting to clear up and only a handful of her minions remain. Even her guard dragon is getting restless. So keep scaling that mountain, and maybe we will be able to take her down before friday! If not, then Adak and his village are doomed!**
*which consists of a laptop and two pencils on a dining room table...
**to be relocated to a smaller, warmer pacific island, which will wreak havoc on their snow cone business.
Grindstone-adin
December 8th, 2009
You can do it!
Including anything you put your mind to...
I remember when I was young and my martial arts Master Instructor told me, "Your target is not the board, but somewhere far on the other side of it." At that point in my life I actually thought Martial Arts was all about wearing fancy pajamas and seeking revenge on blocks of wood. Secretly, the other children and I were learning a valuable lesson. If you are a martial artist too, you already know this. But it a valuable story worth re-telling over and over. To a 3rd grader like I was at the time, the board is pretty intimidating. Hitting a board is not enough to break it. No, all hitting the board does is bruise your hand*. The secret to breaking the board is aiming through it. Your target is far past the board, deep on the other side. When you strike, it is following through that leads to the success of a clean break.....WOOSH-KA-KRUNCH-FFFFPT! Thus the student learns that the secret to victory is not merely aiming for the goal... .but aiming beyond it**. This is something we should all remember and carry with us... no matter what we are trying to do***.
* Or feet, elbows, knees, or head, ear, nose, eyeball... or whatever bodyparts the new age schools are using in their anti-tree techniques.
** However, do not set your target TOO far through the board or your will end up punching all the way around the world and hitting yourself in the rump. (Taking gravity into consideration).
** Including work, school, pursuing your dreams, and defending ourselves from innanimate trees.
Lots of broken boards left on the floor!
The past weeks have been amazing, crazy and indescribable. We had a new Friday the 13th event with Voltaire, the launch of the PTR, we built our 1st TV Commercial together, got our very own ESRB rating, I was interviewed for AQWorlds in Beckett's GAMER magazine, <takes in a breath> we just released the Alpha test of the Master Account System and... the Beta Test of our 5th game EpicDuel. The entire team have been running at 150% getting great releases ready for you to enjoy during the holidays. I am really proud of them and hope you are too.
Secret Behind the Scenes Story
I feel bad that I have not been able to write to you more. So, to make it up to you.... I would like to share something that was never intended to be read by players. It is from my personal journal. Written during the wee hours of the morning just after the release of the last Friday the 13th Event. I really hope you enjoy it:
Special Story for you: Diary of the Friday the 13th
Old picture... new story!
AQWorlds Engine Update Today
The servers were restarted to allow for new quest reward types. You can imagine lots of create ways we can use these two new features! (database updated too)
Random Quest Reward
User Selectable Quest Reward
Warm Winter Stockings
December 7th, 2009
Ho Ho Whoops!
Dispeling Preconceptions And Misconceptions Surrounding The Recently Decreed RARE Claw Suit And Then Moving On To Stuff Regarding The Battle On Master Account System.
If you were a Member last Frostvale then you probably remember the ClawSuit Class.
Hi, Remember Us?
We've been getting a LOT of questions about if the ClawSuit Class will return as a Seasonl Rare, like Pumpkin Lord Class. I've been telling everyone for MONTHS that it will be coming back.
Turns out I was wrong. Boy, is my face red.
The fact is that we actually CAN'T bring it back this year due to a number of technical hiccups. The game's engine has made a LOT of progress since last year, but unfortunately from time to time that means that stuff we built before will never ever work ever again.
This will come as Bad news to some of our newer members and really GREAT news to those who grabbed it last year.
However, to ease some of the sting we are able to release a... well, I'm not the kind of guy to ruin surprises.
Ok, sometimes I am. SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU WANT A PEEK INTO YOUR FROSTVAL FUTURE READ ON.
IF NOT... SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH:
However, to ease some of the sting we are able to release a Color Customizable ClawSuit Armor Season Rare for members!
This won't be released this week, but when Frostval goes live, it will be there waiting for ya.
Master Account Mastery... See I Told You That I Would Be Talking About This Later.
A lot of people have ALSO been asking me what the point of the Battle On Master Account system is. Allow me to drop some knowledge.
The Master Account System will tie all of your AE game accounts together on one page so you will be able to see all of you character pages at a glance, and access any game from 1 page.
The Master Account system will make getting lost or hacked account back MUCH eaiser. They may take your AQW character from you, but as long as no one has the password to you MASTER ACCOUNT, you will be able to get it back at the click of a button. It will also provide another, very solid layer of security to all of our games.
There will be special Achievement Badges that you will ONLY be able to get if you have a Master Account (like participate in an Artix Entertainment-wide event across multiple games, or even Minigame Badges!)
Right now, you can only Beta Test or 5th game, EpicDuel, if you have upgraded in one or more of our games AND tied Epic Duel to those accounts through your Master Account. No Master Account... No Beta Testing for you!
These are just a few I picked from a VERY long list of things that will make everyone's lives a lot eaiser and more fun.
Remember: When you start your Master Account, pick a login name that is totally unrelated to your game names (my login in nothing like Cysero), make sure you never tell anyone your password OR login name, and lastly... MAKE SURE YOU SIGN UP WITH A REAL E-MAIL THAT ONLY YOU HAVE ACCESS TO.
Quite a few people have been signing up using MY e-mail. I think it's cool that all you guys want to hand your accounts over to me to sell or delete as I like, but I really don't want to do either one of those things.
Whatever e-mail you use to sign-up with... That person will have access to your Master Account. If you use a Fake e-mail then NO ONE will have access to your master account. Even you.
Get it? Great!
Make sure you check the Design Notes every day to see what is coming THIS Friday! Forwarned is For-armed. Four Armed is really good at Ping-Pong.
Sockpic Duel
December 4th, 2009
Tonight's Release
Revenge is a dish best served cold...
Hmph. It appears as though some trouble is brewing in the Frozen Northlands, an area that has been previously inaccessible. And from what Warlic tells me, we have Queen Aisha to blame. Sounds like you need my help...again. If you forgot, or just started tuning in recently, I helped move Battleon to its current location several moons ago.
Oh, do you not know who I am? Well you should. I'm Nythera, Warlic's Apprentice. I'm a Mage too, obviously. Some have called me the Purple Mage, and that's fine with me. I like Purple.... and magic. And dragons. DragonFable at www.DragonFable.com is where it all began with me...and with Aisha.
Moving on… not everyone shares in the Frostval holiday spirit… and Aisha just so happens to be one of those few. And for whatever reason, she has declared war on the villagers who called this frozen region their home. To make matters worse, Aisha has even sent an avalanche of chilly beasties to help ensure the new Ice Age. Her Frost Golems and FrostWrym Riders are fighting on home turf, too, so already they have the upper hand… and claw.
A heavily-armored Frost Dragon is waiting for you at the mountain summit. But reaching him will be no easy task. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if you happen to reach the Dragon… alive, that is.
Item Avalanche
A new zone. A new war. A new villain and new monsters. This can only mean one thing. Hmph… do I really have to say it?
Since you’re going to be fighting in this war, you should be educated in what these chilly beasts are wielding and wearing. The more you know about the enemy—the more you know about how to defeat them. And what to loot from them. There are 15 new drops, including:
Frost Matriarch Sword
Drake Morphs (Frost & Matriarch versions)
Frostwyrm Blade
Frost Golem Armor
Golem’s Ice Sickle (2 different styles!)
Don’t forget about the Shop in the Frozen Northlands. You’ve got 10 new items to equip. If you so choose. Here’s a few:
Vivid Mountaineer Armor (color custom)
Snowsuit
Climber’s Ice Pick
Vivid Pom Pom Toque (color custom)
And before I forget, Warlic also told me to mention something about a secret hiding Moglin named Tinsel. This little furball is hiding somewhere in the Northlands. If you find Tinsel, she will give you a special present that is the 1st gift in a set of 4. Or something like that. No, I do not know where she is. You have to find her yourself.
What are you still doing reading this? Shouldn’t you be out fighting Aisha’s army? Hmph!
Items For All!
Tis the season! Well, nearly.
Frostval is coming fast and with it, that warm feeling that seems to sneak into you in the middle of the night and stay with you all season, like the smell of fresh baked moglinberry cookies lingering in a warm house well after the oven has gone cold.
So, I like the Frostval season A LOT. Sue me.
As you know, we try to make membership worth the price you pay for supporting AQW and helping keep us going but it's hard not to be a little ectra giving during this season.
So, this release and the next few to follow will have LOTS of goodies for every player, non-member and member alike. You may not get EXACTLY what you want for frostval, but very few people get EVERYTHING they want for the holidays.
You'll notice that we have included the first non-member color customizable armor (Vivid Snow Suit) and a few matching color custom hats as well, plus a bunch of other warm clothing to help you brave the cold climb up Mount Frost to face Aisha.
There are a LOT of items this release but some of them you won't get to until you battle your way up Mount Frost.
We've got:
1). 6 NEW Armors
2). 5 NEW Swords
3). 1 NEW Axe
4). 2 NEW Capes
5). 10 NEW Helms
6). 1 NEW Pet
And Members, As you work you way up the mountain, you might find a special moglin who just can't wait for Frostval to begin. Some people just like giving gifts.
Let the War for Mount Frost BEGIN!
I'll be making cocoa.
An Epic Duel!
I was only able to jump on AE's 5th Game, Epic Duel for one 2v2 Battle earlier today, but I wanted to thank Doom Paladin, for helping me defeat our awesome opponents Mancer and TruHuNtEr! GF guys! (Good Fight, not Girl Friend).
BATTLE!
That was before Titan helped me hijack my own name, I changed from CyseroAE to Cysero a few minutes ago! It's not about what you know, it's who you know.
I hope to be on a little this weekend, Maybe I can fight you?
Remember, you need to be a member in at least ONE of our games to help us Beta Test Epic Duel.
Have a great weekend!
[b]
Aeonarial- Brother/Artist/Writer
- Zard:
Number of posts: 1392
User Points: 221
Age: 17
Location: Atlanta, Georgia 
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