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!
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!!!
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."
Our panel at DragonCon.... the wierd videos seen can never be unseen!
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!
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!)
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.
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
...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
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!
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!
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!
As you know, we normally have 5 days to do all of the art, animation, writing, coding that we barely finish in time. But there are only 3 days this week! Monday... Tuesday... Wednesday.... and the next day would be called "We are on our way to DragonCon day!" There are over 35 of us going to DragonCon this year. Always striving to be on the front edge of technology, we are going to travel to DragonCon using teleportation. It is easy... everyone shows up at the lab at 6:30am. We start the teleporter*. The energy stream transfers their body data**. Poof***! We arrive at DragonCon****!
* Thyton knocks everyone unconcious with a wiffle bat ** We load them onto the chartered a bus. But it only holds 20 people. No worries, the AE team are set in the database as stackable items. *** To prevent poofing we will make frequent stops at well maintained rest areas. **** Or possibly Mexico... remember in 20 sided dice role playing games a roll of a 1 is ALWAYS a failure. And our driver will be required to make frequent perception and cartography skill checks.
It is tradition for Zorbak to take pictures with people in the best costumes at DragonCon. You can see photos from previous years at the Zorbak goes to Con site. Also, you can read the summary from DragonCon 2008 which features some stories and pictures of the team. If you are going to be at DragonCon this year, please tweet http://Twitter.com/ArtixKrieger/ to let me know! Even if you are not attending, you can follow me on twitter and I will post stories and pictures of things as they are happening.
This week: Mudluk Village
Before there was even a tower in Arcangrove... there were the Mudluks. An ancient, friendly yet shy race of amphibious creatures they use magic in every part of their daily lives. Once you have made a friend of a Mudluk, you have a friend for life.
This week's release will still be on Friday... wish the team extra luck in getting everything ready in time (They are going to need it!)
Forum Question: The fella above is named Paddylump The Spellhunter. What would good names for other Mudluk's be? What would your Mudluk name be?
Our friend, former-chaos lord, and Friday the 13th brain slime fighter, and One-Eyed Doll lead singer, Kimberly, made a guest appearence with ArcAttack on the last episode of TV's America's Got Talent. ArcAttack is a very cool band because they use two tesla coils to zap metal creating music. Here is a link to a video of it on youtube that Raviteja sent us through Twitter. Note, the episode and the voting is over, so please do not call in. The first time we met Kimberly ArcAttack was shooting lightning at her just like this (You may remember from that one DragonCon Post)... All I have to say is -- Brains. Daaa naaa naa naa naa naaa naaaa Battle On
The Chaos Lord of Arcangrove?
On the topic of Chaos Lords... this week... something truley maddening will appear in AdventureQuest Worlds. This is so unthinkable... and improbable... and dangerous.... that I would like to once again remind you that AQWorlds is not like other games. The story is growing under your feet. Being created from scratch by the team and your suggestions at the beginning of each week and released on Friday. Unlike other games it is possible for a Chaos Lord to actually win this game if we were to fail.... ANYTHING can happen! This week, you will also discover that ANYTHING can BECOME a Chaos Lord...
DragonCon is a fantasy/sci-fi/anime/lots-of-stuff convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Over 35,000 people attend... it is like a weekend long costume party with games, concerts, art gallerys, famous people, informational panels, indie movie premieres, and more. That is why the entire team here at Artix Entertainment attends each year. It is a chance to recharge our creative batteries, shop, meet players from the games, shop, and more stuff... like shopping. There are a lot of vendors at DragonCon with imported board games, costumes, and weird/cool stuff... it is really inspiring to check it all out.
The Friendly Team from Artix Entertainment will be there!
There are so many of us going that we chartered a bus! This year we are running a 3-hour panel on our games. If you have been to any of our panels you know what to expect... quiz questions with deadly thrown prizes, random videos, moglin punting, and s special sneak peak at things we have been working on! One-Eyed Doll and Voltaire might stop by... Maybe they will sing a song or two if we ask real nice. It would be nice if we could do some sort of live thing in-game from the panel? (Which would be quite a feat considering we will not have internet) Then later that evening co-hosting a party with Sony Online Entertainment and Comcast. We have had a fun time there each year and hope for a chance to meet you. Please note, DragonCon is geared towards older audiences... we would recommend it for ages 15 and up.
AQWorlds Panel (3 hours of gaming madness) When: Saturday, Sept 4th, 2010 Where: The Sheraton Hotel - The Savannah Room Time: 1pm to 3:30pm... unless we fall asleep
Gaming Party When: Saturday: Sept 4th, 2010 Where: The Sheraton Hotel - The Capitol Ballroom Time: 10pm to 3:30am (Although... we will probably grab everyone and flee to Voltaire's concert which is scheduled that same night.)
We hope for the chance to meet everyone who is attending. If you are unable to attend, do not worry -- we will bring back lots of ideas for the next AQWorld's releases for you!
The magical forest of Arcangrove is home to time-travel faeries, mystic creatures, and most notably... the legendary Tower of Magic. You would be challenged to find a famous mage who has not spent time researching their art in the Magic Tower's Library -- Warlic, Cysero, Xarymandias, Mercuria and even Xan to name a few. Now it is your turn to walk through the stone, bark and star halls of the tower towards your destiny. Do not miss an opportunity to read the many books and visit the many trainers and shops there. If you are a magic user, this will become a place to frequent often our world expands. A place where magic users shall learn, evolve and be tested. It has been a long time since Drakath and his Chaos Lords last threatened the world... the sages shudder to dream what wicked plot now unfolds. Join us in Friday's release as the pathway to Arcanegrove opens at long last!
Players of DragonFable and the original AdventureQuest will be surprised to discover many famliar sights including Reen's Potion shop and a recreation of the original AdventureQuest's Mana Scepter! Also for DragonFable fans... here is one of the secret projects that has been taking shape in my workshop -- Necronic Blade of Doom
Auto Account Bans for Hackers/Cheaters
This is an important notice. To create a fair and safe environment for all players, the game has started automatically perma-banning accounts of players who hack or cheat. Over 100 accounts have been banned in the last hour. Once an account is banned for cheating it will not be recoverable and all items will be lost. To all players who this is relavent to -- I beg you not to use any hacks or cheats... even ones that promise that your account will not be banned. The system will be continually adapting, unexpectantly banning accounts using new hacks as they are attempted. Also, as you may already know our lawyers have begun taking legal action against several hacking sites, their respective owners and the authors of hacks found there. My sincere plea to these individuals in the past has been either ignored or their promises to us had been broken. After the creation of several malicious tools to use against our game we were forced into taking this very serious course of action. Dispite being in foriegn countries, they were easily located and we are working with their local authorities. This story is still very much in progress -- but please know it is one that weighs very heavily on my heart. I love all of the players of our games and will continue to protect their accounts at any cost. With this post, and another extra backup of all accounts, I wish you fun and happiness in your in-game adventures... and a great time during the start of the Arcangrove Saga tomorrow. Battle on!
Brace yourself for the biggest and WIERDEST event in the history of our game. The event is now live and available for all players. A bonus zone has been added for members featuring out-takes from the voice recording with George Lowe. There are 6 maps, a gazillion cutscenes, and tons of items, rares and quests... we hope you have as much fun playing it as we had creating it for you!
Are you are unable to access the event... or is a map not loading? It is likely you have a half-download file stuck in your browser. Try completely closing your browser. Then after opening it, clear your temporary internet files (in the options.) Then play!
Tomorrow at 6pm SUGT (Secret Underground Lab Time... which also happens to be EST if you happen to be up there... on the surface.) the Friday the 13th special event will begin! Well, that is the plan. We are desperately behind schedule, overwhelmed with bugs... and low on caffeine. With only one day left to build all of the remaining monsters, cutscenes, item shops and quests.... *gulps* hmmm. You know, we should make a documentary about one of these releases for you. It would be titled "Crazy guys and cute girls looking very panicked while staring intently at their computers... which are crashing... and then a zombie apocalypse broke out and they had to change the release to save the world from DOOOOM.... and there was cake." If this is your first time joining us for a major event... hold on to your helms. Tomorrow is going to be unpredictable. I will post a live play-by-play on the homepage for you. You will know what is happening (going wrong) every 15 minutes or so leading up to the start of the event. It is customary to watch in horror as everything we do falls apart minutes before the release in front of an audience of 30,000 players. Superstitious or not.... the problem with this release is it is actually happening on Friday the 13th!
Forum Topic: Feel free to wish Beleen, Miko, Miltonius, J6, Cysero, Llussion and the rest of the AQWorlds team good lu...... er.... wait. You can use any creative way you can think of (even making up your own words), but whatever you do, do not use the word "Luck"! I will start. "AQWorlds team - may the cake be with you.... always!"
Superstitious heroes around the world insist that Friday the 13th is the most unlucky day of the year. Unluckier than breaking mirrors, walking under a ladder, or crossing the path of a black cat. Considering we have never experienced a Friday the 13th without crashing all the AdventureQuest Worlds servers... and bringing down the rest of our gaming network along with it... you might be surprised at how incredibly excited we are for the one coming this Friday! ...but if you have joined us for our previous super unlucky events, you know exactly why. This year we have only one and..... OMG!!!!!!! Beleen just tricked me into eating her pink table gum*! My mouth...! My mouth is burning... burning from the evil power of her PINK gum.... I am melting.... melting......**
Voice Acting 101
This special event has more voice acting than anything we have ever done before. George Lowe (best known for his role as Space Ghost) will be narrating our spooky anything goes tales. Kimberly from One-Eyed Doll and Voltaire have speaking parts too. Without spoiling any surprises.... Warlic is in the music room with 6 members of the team. All I can hear is them chanting "ONE OF US.... ONE OF US..... ONE OF US....." Strange noises have been coming from in there all day. On a positive note we feel this is more professional than that time we recorded the audio for the TV commercial in my bathroom.
Creating Spooky Stories.... with only 3 days left
Meanwhile, Miltonius, J6, Llussion, and the rest of the AQWorlds team has been working on the maps, cutscenes and quests for Friday's event. I am being dead serious when saying... we have never done something this big before. There are AT LEAST 4 new whole maps... and one of them is a puzzle map (more thinking, less combat) The one thing in this release that I am most excited about... is a replica of a place from Warlic and my favorite scary movie of all time. J6 built an AQWorlds in-game version of this cabin from floor plans.... as far as spoofing (or tipping our hats to things that have inspired us)... this is going to be tops. Hint: I am looking forward to wearing my Ebil Dread Paladin armor to this one.
Forum Question: What was your favorite AQWorlds event so far? All events are fair game including holiday events (like Mogloween, Frostvale, St Patty's Day, Heroes Heart, etc) and wierd events (like Talk like a Pirate Day, Mulligan day, April Fools, Wars, etc) I really enjoyed the 1st year anniversary with the Golden Onslaught. An army of over a million undead players sieging a fortress of Knights... classic.
*Table Gum. noun. A container of gum which sits in the middle of the DragonFable war-room. The team freshens their breath with it after lunch.... but whoever takes the last piece of gum has to go buy all new gum to refill it. The DragonFable team has a reputation of luring outsiders into eating the last piece of gum. This has caused touching the container table gum to be quite feared in the secret underground lab. Especially since a new rule has been added that... if you shake it, and there is one piece, it counts. Yes, this is all in our official company handbook... right next to the line which says Cysero has to finish all sushi when dining with a group of 5 or more.
** It is believed that Artix has an allergy to the color pink. Beleen uses this to tease him... endlessly.
Greetings friends! I must say... this has been the busiest few weeks of my life. (If I told you how long it took me to get to this part of the post due to people flooding into the warroom with emergencies you would seriously be laughing. It has been at least 30 minutes.) But this is what happens when so many exciting things are in the works! Some our happening right now.... like EpicDuel's Gamma release that just went live! (Way to go Titan!) In AQWorlds we have PvP coming this Friday, and then our biggest Friday the 13th event ever coming the following week!!!!!! It is either going to be the most epic thing we have ever created.... or we are not going to make it in time.... wish us luck!
Dage's Custom Armor & Arcangrove
As you may already know, J6 has taken on an apprentice named Dage. He is a young and skilled artist who has recently been crafting some amazing armors and items you have seen in our releases. A mini-riot broke out in Battleon today when players found out that Dage had given his best friend in game a set of his personal armor. (Updated the last sentence, verified.) Now, at first thought you might think... well, he made it right? So why should he not be able to give it to whomever he wants? Good question. The answer is... that is makes our fellow adventurers feel bad because there is no equal opportunity for them to get or earn the item in any way. Or put simply... it does not feel fair. So, you will be very relieved to know that Dage's armor will be available in the upcoming magical Acangrove Saga or alternatively on his Birthday. This was planned before this became an issue. In the past many mods have chosen to make their custom pets and armors available to players. Beleen gave you her Chinchilla and I have given you both my armor and my trusty side kick, Daimyo (OMG... did we miss his birthday this year?). Also... we accidently sold Ai No Miko's armor as a Kimono during the Yokai Zone (she will never let me live that down... but accidents do happen.) In the meantime, Dage has a special item coming up for you in the Friday the 13th release that you should be looking forward to!
3 packages from a far....
We have now received three unexpected packages at the Secret Underground Lab.... one is from Japan! Opening now....
Today, we experimented by having our very first LIVE drawing session. J6 streamed a live video feed of his screen allowing players to watch him as he drew a weapon from scratch. Thank you to everyone who came to watch. We hope you enjoyed it and will definately be doing it again in the near future. Watching J6 draw is a lot of fun! (Maybe Miltonius can do one for us also?) I was on the Sir Ver server with my PMs on tallying up the votes from players to determine what he should do next (they flew past at 20 to 30 tells a second -- it was crazy) The items J6 drew during the event will be available in tomorrow's GIANT finale release.
Free version and Color Customizable Member version available for 1337g tomorrow!
Special note: We voted on everything while he was making the weapon. The winning vote for the handle color was between Red, Blue and "Chuck Norris" We all had sprayed our monitors with our drink when J6 actually pulled up a picture of Chuck Norris and picked colors directly out of his beard!
Regarding the upcoming Friday the 13th Event
... I just got off the phone with George Lowe. \trying to keep a secret... failing/ This is going to be fun!
Last weekend the team went to the Metrocon Anime convention. It was so much fun! It was the 1st time we had ever ran a booth. Meeting people without a keyboard in-beween is so strange! Thyton and Nightwraith drew sketches for people while the rest of us talked to people about what we were building and... generally just had a lot of fun! It was a huge success. (Well, unless you are good at math. for every $1 we earned, we spent $2 on anime, manga and silly hats.) We wished you all could have been there. Until Zhoom finishes his insta-teleportation machine so we can travel everywhere... I have some pictures for you... now, it is officially against our policy to post real pictures of us on the game sites. But I am going to break the rules for you... because if I cannot meet you in person, I would like to meet you here online. So if you have been wondering what Artix and the team really look like... Here you go! (Note: I immediately regret this decision!)
Nythera, Ai No Miko & Artix crashing cosplayers with their games!
We were amazed at the huge number of people who knew and had played our games. Everyone and their grandmother (literally, we met one) had played the original AdventureQuest. Meanwhile we got to meet a ton of incredibly cool AQWorlds and DragonFable players. However, it was MechQuest that shocked us all. Die hard MechQuest fans were so intense, loyal, and dedicated... and there were so many! There must be something special about delivering Pizza in a 100 ton war machine (stepping on cars may hurt your tip though.) Some players even came dressed up -- including one girl in Alpha Pirate armor! Our friends from DragonCon returned in costume as J6, Valencia, Tek, and Ash!
Cosplayers, Chickencow T-shirts and... *Whispers* Thyton is the one on the far left.
We had a giant candy bowl which we used to lure unsuspecting convention attendees to our booth. (Unrelated note: While normally a very healthy eater... I chomped down about 3 bowls worth of candy during the convention.) Many people were surprised when they found out that all of us running the booth actually built and run the games... we were not just some faceless corporation that just imported games from other Countries. You could see the passion and enthusiasm for the games when talking to the team. They are as super friendly in real life as they are in game! (Talking about which... the poor skeleton crew back at the lab really had a rough time. But we are going to make it up to you... we are making something EXTRA SPECIAL for you for Friday the 13th)
We had some new things with us including the ChickenCow Shirts and our first Music CD, The NPC's "Critical Hits". If you picked up one of the ones from the convention... check your email tomorrow. We will be sending instructions. If you were not there, do not worry -- they will be available with the premiere of the new HeroMart store which will open shortly. "Shop Smart... shop... HeroMart!" Unfortunately, we are now completely out of stock of Thermo-Nuclear Detonators for Toddlers and Herios Breakfast Cereal (Free Princess in every box -- be sure to rescue her before the expiration date!) Meanwhile, the MechQuest Artbook is still available at Jinx.
People watching 101. If you are ever out with a group of friends in a public place and want to do something funny... try this. During day two of the convention Cysero, Thyton, and a bunch of others went out to the center of the room and.... just looked up and stared with shocked expressions at a random spot on the ceiling. They did this for about 10 minutes without so much as glancing away. Meanwhile, back at the booth -- we video taped the reactions of people walking by. People react so weirdly! From flinching, running, studying it... but.. no one ever asks what they are looking at!
Once again, thank you to everyone for making this such a special and memorable experience. Now... what convention should we do next!?
Should have finished mouth full of caaaaaandy before the photo was taken
Watch J6 draw LIVE on Thursday
We are setting up a special room in AQWorlds. You will be able to go there and watch J6 draw a weapon for this week's release.... LIVE as he draws it. We are not sure how to facilitate chat, but we will think of something. We are aiming for 3pm EST this Thursday
Giant Finale & the Start of the new Zone
This week is the finale of the Giant zone! Next.. if the poll on the forums continues the way it is going, we will enter the enhanted forest of Arcangrove. How high should we raise the level cap for the next zone?
It is madness here at the lab. Cysero and the team are getting a brand new release ready for you in AQWorlds on Friday. Meanwhile, Nythera, Thyon, Miko, Faith and I are preparing to run our first ever booth at the Metrocon Convention. We created a giant 9 foot wide banner to hang behind the booth and another 9 foot wide one to go in front. We have a few never before seen things that we will be releasing at the convention... like our first music CD!
The BattleOn NPCs
Our first music album is called The NPCs - "Critical Hits". It features 32 tracks of music from ALL of our web based games... and a bonus track of Zhoom's never before heard themesong, "I don't like dem Ninjas." EbilCorp ninjas best go to Yulgar's for some ear plugs. The CD sounds amazing and there are some songs on it that I did not even know we had in game!
Target 10% off Promotion
Just a reminder - Target Stores are offering 10% off our in-store Game Cards until the end of the month. You can use any of our game cards, even the ones that just say for AdventureQuest and DragonFable, for ANY of our games. You can even stack up cards to get larger packages by using the Master Account System.
Random Act of Kindness
It does not cost anything to make someone smile. I think it is contagious when people do good deeds. Especially they do them for no reason at all. So please join me in a quest today to do an act of random kindness. Help a stranger with a problem, give someone a compliment or words of encouragement, do an unexpected chore at the house just so someone else does not need to, or even politely answer a question from someone who is frazzled. When you complete this quest... keep it a secret. The reward is a feeling deep within your heart that will have no equal.
Friday the 13th
Thank you for reminding me that we have a Friday the 13th coming up next month! I want to do something bigger and crazier than we have ever done before! Bigger than a box of herios breakfast cereal!
Forum Question: Any ideas? Maybe an un-Friday the 13th?
Alas... my favorite mug* has fallen in battle** and was thrown away before I came into the lab today. I shall never forget all of the days I have spent drinking boiling hot green tea... which I have always underestimated and burned my tongue on and then not able to taste lunch because I had that wierd burnt mouth-hurt feeling... while you would sit there next to my computer while I worked on the games, being warmed by my computer's overheated video card... I would raise my mug and toast to you.... but my hand is empty... and you are somewhere, up, there, in Heaven's Starbucks. Because... I am pretty sure... there are Starbucks everywhere. Green Tea On my old friend!
R.I.P. Best Boss Mug, July 30*** 20, 2010
* Ehem... no, I did not buy it for myself. ** ... well, maybe not in battle, but it has "fallen" *** I guess that is how time Travel Faeries show their respect? O_O
As announced in the Target stores circular (much better than a square-ular) starting today there is a special promotion! You can get any of our GameCards in Target stores at a whopping 10% discount. ( Off their end... not ours! So go for it!) Get $20 worth of upgrades for only $18! Do not forget you can finally stack up cards to get bigger packages in the BattleOn Master Account Sysem. This Target promotion ends on July 31st.
**Sorry guys, we were misinformed about the sale and it IS only 10% off, not 20% as originally stated. Sorry.**
New "BattleOn!" cards will start showing up on store shelves too! We really need to do the "BATTLEON SITE SWAP" soon...
Do not forget... Metrocon Convention is next weekend!
I will be at Tampa's largest anime convention with Nythera, Thyton, and many other members of the AE team. If you are going, please stop by, I would love to meet you! (Please save any undead Cosplayers if I forget where I am.... ok?) Thyton is going to be sketching random things to give out. We might even se up a little portable DVD player with game footage... and terrible live-action ninja martial arts movies that we have been making during the weekends at unmarked construction sites. Oh! ... and Nythera told me to remind you that we will have Chickencow T-shirts, Artbooks, and some other experimental new things with us :-) This is the first time we have ever done this -- I am a bit nervous, but it should be fun!
Over the past 8 years we have received an incredible number of your creative ideas and suggestions... but today, a new top secret project**has begun. This project may... possibly.... involve AQWorlds, an amateur film crew, a tour of the Secret Underground Lab and the usual quantity of Ninja, PIrates, Cyborgs, Vampires, and Were-servers. I was sorta wondering... did you want to be a part of this too? If so, next monday the team will be recorded looking at a special thread... this will be an anything goes... any plot... any feature... any game... even new game ideas... or even things you want the team to do in real life. Be forewarned, we might actually do/build/act some of the best (or wierdest) things in this post. Limit yourself to just posting once -- make it your best! This thread shall be known... as the CRAZIEST RELEASE IDEAS EVER thread! Take your time & have fun!
* Curse you time travel faeries!!!!!!!! **Since when has Artix actually been able to keep a secret for more than 20 seconds?
MetroCon, Tampa FL
Nythera and I are going to be running a booth this year at Metrocon -- Florida's Largest Anime Convention. If you are attending we hope you will visit the booth so we can meet you! It is happening July 23-25th at the Tampa Convention Center. Warlic is even make a special CD featuring music from the games and a special Zhoom track "I don't like dem Ninjas", because it is a well known that Zhoom, does not... like being attacked by Ninjas.... and it is really funny when we overdub him with a cowboy voice saying so.
Zhoom also does not like Hackers (Ban Warning!)
The ban hammer has been unsheathed and over 1,000 hacker accounts have been flagged (targeted) in the database for perma-ban. A new version of AQWorlds has just went live fixing the town-kill and attack-spam exploits that were reported yesterday and is now secretly identifying players who use cheat programs. Any characters found using cheats will be banned. We love all of our players... it is our goal to create a fun, safe and fair game world for us all to enjoy together.
Some say it is a tall tale. Some say he is stretching the story. But this week's release may just be the biggest release of the year! The game expands this Friday just before sundown!
Forum Question: What is the biggest monster you have ever fought?
The live event was a huge success with 31,000 players showing up to battle the Chaos Lord! Below is a recap of what happened starting Friday morning. Thank you to everyone who came! Especially everyone who stuck through the really tough parts.... we hope you had a lot of fun! Also, we would like to thank One-Eyed Doll for being so awesome! This is one event that we will never forget!
11:00pm - The re-run version of the event is available for ALL PLAYERS! Enjoy the cutscenes! 10:45pm - Server restarting for re-run mode to begin! The shops, special backstage area, and re-runnable version of the map will be available all of next week! 10:00pm - "Best Event Ever!" Thank you so much for being a part of this! The team is getting ready to restart the servers for the re-run version of the event. 9:59pm - VICTORY TO THE HEROES!!!!!!!!!!! 9:32pm - The 3 part REAL CHAOS LORD FIGHT STARTED!!!!! (in the sky!) 9:20pm - CHAOS BEAST FIGHT!!!!! 9:00pm - ..... THE BIG SURPRISE HAPPENED! (and all of the servers crashed.... everyone is relogging in) 8:45pm - The battle with Discordia begins! 8:00pm - The EVENT STARTED! 7:00pm - Only one hour until the show starts! (Is it bad that we are still coding) 6:15pm - Please join us in game in the waiting area.... 6:08pm - Servers coming up! /join Live to prepare for the event. 6:00pm - Thank you for choosing to fly AQWorlds airlines. Before we begin our flight, please pay attention to the following in-flight emergency procedures. In the event of a crash... you will find floatation devices under your browser... We will be cruising at about 764MB/s and expect mild to game destroying turbulance. 5:50pm - Servers restarting in 10 minutes! old on to your helms.... or hoods.... or.... hair? 5:45pm - Wooohooo ready to.... *BREAKS* ... one moment! 5:38pm - Preparing to roll the files to the live servers... 42 items, songs, maps, monsters, and cutscenes. 5:30pm - We just had a few very embarrasing things happen what are too long too write here now... but I assure you they were VERY embarrasing! Bonus Live event tip -- If you crash... and have problems getting back in. Try restarting your browser. 5:00pm - Cysero broke. Not the server... the real one. We are attempting to fix him now. Does anyone have any duct tape? 4:00pm - Only four more hours till showtime! *whispers* Hurry guys.... hurry! 3:40pm - Evil Sir Ver, the "other" Member-Only server is now online for the event. Apparently the server has become self aware and is publically picking fights with the original, and very whomesome Sir Ver. 3:30pm - With each tick of the clock the moment draws near. The team is working frantically to get ready in time. Will the heroes win the war in time? Will the live event happen on time? Will 20,000+ players face Discordia? Will we win? lose? crash? ..... tick... tick.... 3:00pm - The war in Mythsong wages on... but things are looking desperate for our heroes. If Chaos Lord Discordia has kidnaps all of the bands and reaches Lorestockapaloosa before us.... 2:45pm - We have so many "One-Eyed" items in this release we should rename the game to CyclopsQuest! Miko just saw one of the cutscenes. Her response was "........................" Oh yes, you are going to enjoy this! 2:30pm - Oh wow... over 5 hours till the show and there are ALREADY 17K players online! 1:00pm -Lots of rares in tonight's event - Free, Member, and AC. We bought super-bandwidth for this event so the cutscenes and audio should stream fast... even though they are HUUUUUGE. Now, the only question is can we reconfigure the servers to use it in time! ... oh, and we are adding an other Member-only server, EVIL SIR VER for the event. 12:35pm - Zhoom says something is causing the map not to load. We are loading 13 different types of monsters in the event... we might have too many! He is editing the engine now. 12:25pm - Friday Release-Pizza Delivery! The delivery boy brought in 2 GIANT dufflebags full of Pizza boxes and mentioned, "You guys are very loyal....", smiled then added, "believe it or not this is a smaller order than normal!" 12:01pm - Zhoom writes, "Artix, we have a problem." 12:00pm - Only 8 hours until the show! It is so wierd that we have not had any problems yet. 11:50am - If the war is not won... then Discordia will beat you to Lorestockapaloosa... we have no idea what will happen if that happens! There are supposed to be thousands of people at the concert already! 11:45am - I was up veeeeeeeeery late last night testing functionality with Stratos and the team. So I am sufficiently sleep deprived to be controlling all 13 servers at the same time tonight. O_O This should be interesting! 11:30am - Cysero is reporting for duty at the Lab. 11:15am - Miltonius has entered the War Room! (He "borrowed" MechQuest artist, Thyton's, wacom monitor...to build the event on.) 11:00am - Artix, Beleen, and J6 are in the warroom. With only 9 hours before showtime... the pressure is on! A live release is the most difficult thing to build and run in game. Beleen is wearing pink.... Artix moved to the far side of the table so he did not spontaniously catch on fire. Yesterday - One-Eyed Doll band members were spotted on AQWorlds Servers!
This is one event... that no one will want to miss! We will restart the servers an hour early and let everyone join the map to get ready. Then.. when the event starts.... well.... ANYTHING CAN... AND WILL... HAPPEN! This is so exciting! (62.45% chance... not including electrical storms and tornados.... that this event will crash our entire game network. It has been waaaaay to long since we enjoyed a good train wreck together. See you tonight for some REAL Chaos!)
What to do before the Event
Read the Play by Play on the homepage It is at the bottom of the first post from me)
Complete all of the Mythsong Canyon Quests Then... you will get full achievements and quest progress saves during the live event! But do not worry, if you have not completed all of the quests you will still be able to do the event.
Battle in the War! The war going on now will determine what happens tonight..... things are not looking good!
Upgrade to Become a Member Members will get to go backstage after the show for bonus quests, a special shop... and yes... our first Weapon Enhancement with a Special Effect: The One-Eyed Gem! If you enhance your weapon with this weapon it has a % chance to cause ongoing Fire Damage to monsters. The stats are balanced so it is good for all classes.
EVIL Sir Ver?! What The Floop?
Once again, Evil Sir Ver has claimed a server of his own. We are expecting a LOT of people for the One-Eyed Doll Rock Show / Chaos Lord Fight tonight so we added another server. Yay us!
ALSO: We have confirmation that there will be a "Eye Was There" Achievement Badge for anyone who finishes the event while it is still LIVE! You can ONLY get this Achievement during the show TONIGHT and it WILL show up on your character page. Be there or be somewhere else!
There will be 3 shops in the event.
First is a Pre-Show Merch Booth, as any good rock show should have. This will contain all AC items and this shop will only last one week. Next Friday... when the event becomes a permenant part of the game... THIS shop vanishes forever.
The second shop is the One-Eyed-Doll Event Shop. You will have to complete the event to unlock this shop. It contains Member and Non-Member gold items and will never leave the game.
The last shop is in the Member-Only Backstage area. In this area you will have access to the last shop full of One-Eyed Doll and Mythsong house items, Special quests with a CHANCE to recieve a new type of Enhancement as a reward (this Enh will add stats to your weapon AND has a chance to cast fireball at your enemies!), and you will be able to interview One-Eyed Doll after the show!
a HUGE 35 TOTAL items including armors, pets, weapons, color custom helms, and Enhancements with Specials... not to mention out biggest (and WAY coolest) event to date with several animated cutscenes, voice acting and the powerhouse muscial talents of One-Eyed Doll.
ALSO ALSO.... the Summer Break shop returns for one week (that's 9 MORE items!) celebrating the end of school and the beginning of summer break for kids all over the world.
I am so excited! Join us this Friday for the grand finale of the Mythsong saga in a band new live event featuring the rising star band.... One-Eyed Doll!
If you have never been to one of their concerts... brace yourself! Their beautiful and sweet lead singer, Kimberly, has a tendacy to erupt with explosive energy that would even catch our Chaos Lord opponent off guard! This crazy event is available for all players (and Members will get a VIP backstage pass for after the show.)
This Friday (tomorrow) we are beginning the week long journey to the biggest concert in the world -- Lorestockapaloosa! When we get there, next Friday (June 26th at 8pm), there will be a LIVE event! Well... that IS the plan but all of the bands in the world suddenly went missing. You only have one week to uncover who is behind this nefarious plot and save the concert*!
* In the secret language of gamers... THIS MEANS WAR!!!!!!
Beleen: ALL of the bands have gone missing? Artix: I am afraid it seems so. Beleen: What about... Artix: Yes. Beleen: And... Artix: Yes, them too. Beleen: What about your band? Artix: I am the only one left. Zhoom, Warlic and Safiria are all missing as well! Beleen: EEEEEEP! Do you think that the new Chaos Lord is behind this? Artix: Dischordia? Beleen: Yeah, that Phantom of the Concert looking guy. Artix: I have no idea... I am not caught up on the last releases yet. Beleen: WHAT!? Hurry up... you need to be up to date in the Mythsong storyline before the release tomorrow! Artix: ...
Meanwhile, in the real-world: I received a surprise call at 3am. It was the female lead singer of a band that has not dissapeared... and she offered to help!
Forum Question: Which class has the best skills for battling in a War? Is it the new Starlord class with its area of effect attacks... possibly the mage because of ranged spells... or a healing class like the Paladin because of its survivability?
They say music has the power to change the world*. Have you been following the story that is unfolding in Mythsong canyon? Do you think our hometown of Battleon is actually safe from what is about to happen there? Lorestockapalooza is the biggest musical event in the world**... and the live event with new musical special guest ????? is taking place in 2 WEEKS!!!!!! (Live Event, Friday, June 25th @ 8pm EST) Well, it SHOULD take place... we just discovered an insidious new plot that could stop the event and destroy our hometown. Check back here tomorrow to learn more! (Remember, this is AQWorlds -- ANYTHING can and will happen***)
Forums Question: It is Father's day this weekend too! Item ideas?
* If you are indirectly quoting Bill & Teds excellent adventure, we may need Beleen to smack you for us. ** Do you mean attendance or filesize? Cause those audio files can be pretty big! *** .... ya'know, as scary as that is, that's why I love this game!
How did the wedding go?
We want to know!
Ok... story time! First, I want to tell you about the "Bach-Lords" party. If there is one thing I like about Cysero and the gang -- all of our real-life adventures are surprisingly suitable for the design notes! So... all of Cysero's male friends met him at a restaurant and we told him we were going to take him to a museum. He was suspicious to say the least. We walked to the museum... and around the corner... into a dark mini-ally where we surprise captured him and put a giant black potato sack over his head. (He was still checking twitter through it so we had to use 3!) He was put in a car, driven around the block a few times and finally when the bag was removed from his head.... we were standing on the dock, all of us completely dressed in pirate-outfits with eye patches, hats, hooks and even a parrot (ok, it was actually a pterodactyl. Pre-historic parrot?!) Cysero, who did not seem surprised at all, was told that to prove his bravery for marraige that he had to perform a test. And this test... was Piracy! YAR! We gave him a skull and crossbones flag... pointed to a boat anchored out in the middle of the bay and said, "Be bringing that one back, matey! Arrrr!" So Cysero jumped into the bay and swam out to capture the boat (Yes, we had rented that boat... and oh yes, have video of this, hehe) We had an amazing time at sea. Well... I am pretty sure right here is where I am NOT supposed to mention how the whole bag + car + super heat == Cysero w/ a wee bit o' sea sickness. A good show for the folks dining at the fancy restraunt at the end of the bay. But he got his sea legs just in time to walk the plank. (LIterally, they gave him a piece of wood with a leash attached to it.) Great memories!
The wedding was also sea-side... and beautiful. Seeing the whole AE team there dressed up fancy (minus some crazy footware) was really cool! Who would have guessed we cleaned up so well. Beleen, in her long fancy dress... somehow kept bringing in unidentifiable objects from the water and having everyone guess what they were. It took the combined might of Thyton, Zazul and several others to break open a long fiberous thing which was... apparently an undead coconut. The tables at the reception were identified by pictures of different Artix Entertainment characters and 1,000 origami cranes (folded by C and Nursey) were hung all over the room. We thought of you and wished you could have been there too. At the wedding, one of C's family members asked me when he was going back to work. I gave a puzzled look and said, "What? He is not working right now?" <cracks whip> Put that cake down.. we have a live event in 2 weeks!
Starts when you login,. ends when the servers crash
First.... I would like to tell you that Beleen actually cried during the TESTING of the wedding event. Also, the battle between Zhoom, Warlic and myself over who gets to be Cysero's best man and stand with him at the alter has spiraled out of control! As you can imagine, the team is so incredibly excited about our friend's wedding -- your friend too! Morale is at an all time high! Cysero the Mad WeaponSmith and Nursey the Dwarfhold Gem are getting married -- for real! Of course... But before the ceremony can begin, Cysero needs your help on the most important QUEST of his life....
I am so happy for you bot...woah... WEDDING RARES!? Following the wedding ceremony is the reception, full of cake, embarrassing dance moves, and, most importantly, gifts! Cysero and Nursey want to share their presents with their favorite guests (pssst... that is you), so here is your only chance at getting your hands on some very... um.. unique... “Cysero-approved” Wedding Event Rare Items!
So no one can see you cry...
J6's Weapon shop in Hyperium
J6 has installed 2 new missions inside the HAL Room in the Hyperium… if you can get past his impervious security system… and figure out how to access the VR Room… and figure out where Hyperium is in the first place. If you are successful on your bounty-hunter-in-training quests, you can gain access to J6’s secret weaponry.
We have no idea what or where this is... or how to get it.
We have also received reports that the Vulture Men aboard the Zephyrus are dropping some items. If you are lucky enough, you can now equip their Hooklaws, Vulture Wings, and Vulture Hood!
New Pet of the month: World Cup style! The newest pet of the month has arrived in Aria’s Pet Shop! Head on over to Battleon Town and get your very own AQWorld Cup Ball. Best thing about this pet… you’ll never have to feed it or clean up after him. Have a ball!
Why are you reading about DragonFable's birthday party here? I made a special design notes post for you over at DragonFable.com where they have just started their crazy month of releases early! I love DragonFable!
Balloon Chickencow sez, "Eat more Baconz"
Breaking AQWorlds news! 1.) The Cysero Wedding Event starts Friday! 2.) We have recieved confirmation for an all new LIVE musical event with a special guest. It will happen this month.... <coughs> likely on the same day we battle the Chaos Lord! Stay tuned for more...
Forum Question: What is your favorite DragonFable memory?
This weekend everyone's favorite "mad weapon smith" is forging his most powerful creation ever... eternal love*. Cysero's wedding is happening in real-life AND in a special AQWorlds event! I have never seen anyone more happy and in love than Cysero.... we are so happy for him**.
Story time! I first met Cysero nearly 5 years ago when we started building DragonFable. He was by far the most unusual person I had ever met. He comes from a long line of dowsers (people who locate water sources using sticks?), he inherited half an island (in another country), is a ordained minister (via a form on the internet), and asking him how his weekend went often yields a story like "Well, we found a way to cram 12 people into a single outhouse at the renaissance fair and then spent the day jumping out and surprising people.***" As a shining example of someone who believes in living life to the fullest, his strong leadership inspires creativity and fun in the 12 members of his game dev team... and he is the tallest mage I have ever met. He is truly one of a kind! Exactly what will his wedding event be like....? <gulps> We are going to find out this Friday when the quests for the event start! This is one event that we would not miss for the world****!
* Zorbak says, "Meh... Love? Have you fools even seen what the Necrotic Blade of Doom is capable of?" ** Meanwhile the lab has been thrown into chaos as Artix, Zhoom & Warlic battle over who gets to be Cysero's "best man". *** All true.... **** Pssst... Cysero, tell Nursey to throw the garter toward Zhoom or I! (Note: At the end of some weddings the bride throws the bouquet for the unmarried girls, and the garter for the unmarried guys. Legend says who ever catches it will be married next.)
Jemini from the 
Cosplayers, Chickencow T-shirts and... *Whispers* Thyton is the one on the far left.
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