EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

April 29, 2013

BUGS FIXED:

• Botanical Buster E was incorrectly doing Physical damage
• Botanical Reaper was missing location and rarity information
• Botanical Battlesuit price was incorrectly shown in Item Finder
• Arborgeddon event bar was rounding up instead of down

Tags: RabbleFroth Patch Notes Hotfix

April 26, 2013

NEW CHANGES/FEATURES:

• The Arborgeddon Event has begun! Collect spores by winning PvP battles to cure infected citizens of Delta V, and help purify the air to combat Davaril's corrupted spores!
• Cinderella in the Biodome has a limited number of Botanical shotguns with Spreadfire on them, but you'll have to give her the spores she needs first!
• 6 new cores are available:
  • Frost Shards (Primary active) - Fires a barrage of icicles, dealing energy damage and draining your enemy's energy for several turns.
  • Aim Assist (Gun/Aux passive) - Reduces the chance for your weapon's attack to be deflected
  • Laser Sights (Gun/Aux passive) - Increases damage when your weapon's attack is deflected
  • Overshield (Armor passive) - Further reduces damage when you deflect an attack
• 6 new botanical-themed hairstyles
• 9 new botanical home items

BALANCE CHANGES:

Assimilation
Since Assimilation's effect is now unblockable, we took a little of the base power off of the skill.

• Lowered base energy steal to 3-13 from 3-15

BUGS FIXED:

• Fixed an issue with Last Active Date in the Faction manager
• Azrael promo weapons now sellable
• Botanical Battle Suit now marked as a Promo in the Item Finder
• Marauder's "Chomp" mission was missing the description
• Low level players could encounter a client hang when re-opening the What's New page

Tags: RabbleFroth Patch Notes

April 25, 2013

Hey there, EpicDuelists! It's your friendly neighborhood Cinderella here with a heaping helping of design notes! You may have noticed my conspicuous absence as of late (or not) -- and no, I'm not dead or fired. I'm winding down on my Master's degree (should be graduating at the end of the summer semester) and this has been the first time this semester I've been ahead enough on my thesis work, schoolwork, and teaching responsibilities to get a Design Notes post ready. So let's get right to it, shall we?

Arborgeddon Is Upon Us!

Longtime players will remember that Xraal's species was obliterated when they and the Bio Hazards were forced to cohabitate in the Biodome. The only ones lucky enough to survive were siblings and members of an intellectual/religious order -- the Archivists Xraal, Tamarill, Navarro, and Sekk. But there are rumors of another individual surviving -- the botany-obsessed Davarril.

Surviving in the deepest underbrush of the Biological Preserve, Davarril has been able to harness plants' rudimentary nervous systems (no, seriously -- you can take electrophysiological readings from plants) to his benefit. Using a mind-control parasite (no, seriously, there are mind-control fungi), Davarril has brought into being abominable lichens (a mutualistic relationship between a plant and a fungus) ready to wreak beautiful destruction on the human world (ok, this part we made up).

(parentheses)

But Davarril is not fighting unopposed. Xraal and I need your help in sequencing genomes, building a proteome, and doing a little R&D on a possible weapon against these disgraces of phytology... on second thought, there's a lot of sensitive equipment. Better just collect samples.

By battling other players, players can collect various spore samples which can be turned in to various Bio Dome NPCs for special prizes. The most prized spore is the Purified Spore. Xraal any I have been released an experimental antidote into the air filtration system of the Bio Dome. Some have decided to attach themselves to player weapons and armor. Collect as many as you can and release them to combat the vile spores released by Davarril and his minions.

In addition to special War Prizes and more War Missions, players will be able to choose from a variety of plant-themed hairstyles to commemorate the occasion. More intense than a rose in your hair, that's for sure!

Feed me, Seymour!

Also, we have a bountiful harvest of weapons from up and coming artist TrizZzCENTRINO for your sample collecting pleasure! Also, Charfade has been hard at work creating an alien jungle worth of botanical furniture for use in your homes!

Social Media

If you follow us on the Official EpicDuel Facebook page, you may have noticed that the option to send a message has been discontinued. Part of this has to do with the fact that it was taking an inordinate amount of my time (I am the Facebook page administrator, and the one who responds as “EpicDuel”) responding to individual messages. There was a huge issue with players coming to me to try and get around help team decisions. While I am more than happy to walk players through what they need to provide the Help Team, I am not authorized to override Help Team decisions, return “hacked” or scammed items/Varium, or change your username, password, or email address, or many other account issues. While you should never EVER give away your account username and password, sometimes we're not always vigilant about safety and fall victim to scammers. If that happens, you need to use the Account Recovery Page at portal.battleon.com.

Another issue was players begging for items, pre-leveled accounts, hacks, Varium, and prize codes. Prize codes are released at staff discretion, announced publicly, and are first-come/first-served with a finite number of times they can be redeemed. I cannot give individuals prize codes and they are not an entitlement for every player who “likes” a page or follows us on Twitter. I do realize that many players who ask me for things figure that the worst I can say is no, but when hundreds of players ask me the same question constantly, it becomes a drain emotionally and a drain on my time, especially when fans threaten to sue me, hurt me, or even kill me for not fulfilling their request. Ultimately, I'm moving away from the constant social media interaction to focus more on the creative side of EpicDuel Development.

Again if you have any account issues, the proper contact is the  Account Recovery Page at portal.battleon.com.  And no, they won't give you a prize code either.

Insect facts!

I bet you've missed these! Recently, my mom (who is a teacher) found a caterpillar in her classroom, which her students insisted on keeping as a class pet. She brought it back to me for identification, and I've managed to identify it down to family. Members of the family Noctuidae are called owlet moths   due to the eyespots on the wings of the adults of many species. The family is cosmopolitan, with species present worldwide. Noctuid caterpillars are important crop pests, including the cotton bollworm and corn armyworm are important crop pests in North America. With the increased reliance on transgenic crops, adaptation of these insects to the transgenic corn or cotton presents an issue for managers, but several management strategies are used to prevent resistance from developing to Bt corn or Bt cotton, which express toxic genes from the bacterium Bacillus thurigensis. These include crop rotation, use of multiple strains of Bt transgenic organisms, and the establishment of Bt free havens, to encourage the proliferation of non-resistant individuals.

Tags: Cinderella

April 19, 2013

NEW CHANGES/FEATURES:

• New Arborgeddon promo package available! Package includes:
  • Botanical Battle Suit: Classless armor with new Armored Roots core. This core is cast on yourself and will root you to the ground, boosting your defenses and preventing you from doing melee attacks.
  • Botanical Hazard and Dark Botanical Hazard: Physical and Energy robot with Poison Spores ability. Poison Spores deals 60% of your Robot damage as poison over 4 turns.
• The Epic Egg Hunt has ended! If you have leftover eggs, you can drop them off at any merchant.

BALANCE CHANGES:

Blocks
This change is meant to make blocks less frustrating and devastating when they occur.

• Blocks now prevent 85% of damage instead of 100%
• Blocked attacks still cannot stun or crit

Poison Effects
This change is meant to make poisons more interesting by allowing the poisoned player to cleanse the effect, and make applying the poison more tactical by applying it during Field Medic’s cooldown, or try to bait out an early heal from a player.

• Poison effects can now be removed with Field Medic

Toxic Grenade
This change brings Toxic Grenade's damage closer to that of Venom Strike, and helps compensate for the fact that poisons can now be cleansed.

• Poison damage increased to 4-13 damage per turn, from 3-12 damage per turn
• Now strikes for 70% primary weapon damage, up from a flat 5 damage.

Venom Strike
This change helps compensate for the fact that poisons can now be cleansed.

• Poison damage increased to 3-12 damage per turn, from 2-11 damage per turn
• Still strikes for 85% primary weapon damage

BUGS FIXED:

• Fixed an issue where Recruit button could show the incorrect faction name
• Curse Aura incorrectly showed "Level 1" while active in the stats page
• Fixed a bug where Plasma Cannon's crit chance was being calculated incorrectly
• World number not updating properly when switching in certain rooms
• Removed dev-related error message that could fire after battle

Tags: RabbleFroth Patch Notes

April 09, 2013

Spring is officially here and Delta V is unusually peaceful. The bunnies have their eggs...er fuel containment pods so they can formally begin work on their new spaceship and plan another daring escape. Alydriah has been expelled from Frysteland by the mysterious force known as The Endless and the Krampus people, although still under Legion rule, no longer live in fear of extermination squads. It would seem that the vicious wars of the past are all but distant memories. However, on Delta V, calm is the perfect environment for evil to thrive.

Something wicked is stirring in the Biological Preserve deep, deep within the forbidding jungles. Bio Hazards, once the top of the food chain, are being snatched up by the dozens. The Archivists have an idea of who is responsible:

Davarril

This renegade Archivists oversaw the care of the plant life in the Biological Preserve. For years, it worked to restore the flora across Delta V to undo the damage caused by Baelius' aggressive mining operations. Davarril was able to make great strides in advancing the evolution of Delta V plants, making them resistant to radiation, extreme temperatures, industrial toxins, and, most importantly, he made them smart!

Unfortunately, one particular strain was little too smart...a little too devious. This plant overwhelmed Davarril's mind set the wayward Archivist on the path of destroying all animal life on Delta V. Archivists are sworn to preserve life, but the clever plant was able to convince its host that it could preserve plantlife only by destroying all animals...or by mutating them into animal/plant hybrids!

To combat this deadly new threat, you'll need equipment specially designed for handling such situations. A new war is brewing in the Biological Preserve, and it will be up to you and your friends to stop it from spreading!

Since we need extra time for development, this event will not be going live this week, but we will keep you updated with our progress along the way!

Reporting for Duty!

Last week and earlier today, we rolled out with a brand new reporting feature. Our Mods are now able to receive and investigate reports more efficiently than ever, but we need your help to make sure we have the best possible quality for reports. We just added new Mods to our roster, but even they can't be everywhere at once!

To report someone outside of battle, click on his or her character and click the report icon. This will open a pop-up box that will ask you to select your reason for reporting and a brief description of the offense. Please provide good details in your report or we may not be able to take action. Also remember that inappropriate comments in a report are frowned upon and can get you in trouble!

To report someone in battle, click the check box next to the word "Reporting." This will turn the little bubble next to each player's name into a report icon.  

Click the report icon next to the offender's name to bring up a pop-up box. Select a reason for the report and enter a brief, but detailed description of the offense. Please refrain from reporting someone just to spite them for outperforming you in battle.

With your help, we can make EpicDuel a clean, safe, and fun environment for everyone for years to come!

Tags: Nightwraith

April 05, 2013

NEW CHANGES/FEATURES:

• Brachylagus has a new armor in his secret shop! Collect his eggs to see it!
• New Bunny Bane P and E available at Brachylagus' secret shop!
• 6 new rabbit-related hairstyles
• 4 new swords on the Endless. Find him in Frysteland.
• Frysteland event missions removed
• Mission items from the Frysteland event are now sellable
• Removed Gold Yeti Leaderboard statues

BUGS FIXED:

• Numerous language updates and fixes.

Tags: RabbleFroth Patch Notes

April 04, 2013

Nice Job Eggheads!

It seems you all have done great work collecting eggs...I mean egg-shaded fuel containment pods...for  the Lagomorphs. The bunnies are so pleased, they're adding even more to Brachylagus' secret shop! Don't have enough eggs? All you need to do is fight! Now hop to it!

The new and improved Bunny Borg v2 by Trizzzy awaits you in Brachylagus' shop! Trizzzy is really shaping up to be a phenomenal EpicDuel artist, isn't he? Quantities are limited so better get those Bunny Eggs fast!

Farewell to Frysteland

You have successfully defeated the Elite Yeti and sent Alydriah packing. Although Frysteland is free of her cruelty, the Legion still reigns supreme, with Edgar Boothe as the acting governor. Alydriah does not take defeat or betrayal lightly, but even she knows to steer clear of extra-dimensional void gods. The Endless, the spirit you summoned with the help of Rabblefroth and Edgar Boothe to defeat the Elite Yeti, remains tethered to Delta V by a Summoning Stone. But for how long? 

With the release Friday, the Frysteland storyline missions will be leaving. You will, however, still be able to train Baby Yetis and Dark Yetis up to the level of an Omega Yeti or Omega Dark Yeti through missions or purchasing the growth serums outright.

Hot Off the Presses!

Be sure to check out the latest offering from Heromart, a 72-page sketchbook featuring art from your favorite Artix Entertainment artists, including yours truly and Charfade. This labor of love is packed with never-before-seen art and fascinating insights into the creative process. Even if you've never played an AE game before (If you haven't, why are you reading this post?), this is an excellent addition to any "Art of..." book library.

As if getting an amazing book weren't enough, each purchase comes with unique weapons in AQW, DragonFable, MechQuest, Oversoul, and, of course, EpicDuel.  Pick up a copy today and receive the Nightsketch and Charsketch swords! Sketch On!

Contest Winners

The results are in and we would like to congratulate the first batch of winners of the EpicDuel Omega screenshot contest. Selecting the best of the best shots was challenging and we had to disqualify several due to improper cropping and insufficient resolutions.  We made some exceptions for especially creative or well-time screenshots. We were so impressed by the results in-fact, that we're DOUBLING the rewards for each tier and adding Varium to the top two tiers!

The following contestants will receive the Epic Photographer Achievement along with 200 Varium and 2000 Credits!

8x

AllanS

Alssx2x

AmberDawne Rayne

Aura of Destiny

ColdNightmare

CyberGod Archael

Demon Emperor

Demonic Deity

Exploding Penguin

Fortitudo

HydroMonk

Lord Coxy

Mage of Dage

Mageleopard

NightInferno

One Winged Angel

.RayMan.

...Samurai...

Shinokishi

OMFGWTFBBBQ1337HAX

Soul Prisoner.

Susuke999

The.Walking.Dead

Thorgood Maulall

Wind

xGreen Warriorx

xX Vampirul xX

The following contestants had 5-9 accepted screenshots and will receive the Mega Photographer Achievement along with 200 Varium and 5000 Credits!

Crag Hack

Doomkiller98

Dr Jekyll

Flamed Spirit

Grandma Jake

Xx SKYNET xX 

The following contestants had 10 or more accepted screenshots and will receive the Omega Photographer Achievement along with 200 Varium and 7000 Credits!

Basicball

Smackie El Frog

Congratulations to the winners and thank you everyone else for participating. If you were disqualified due to a technicality, some quick Google-fu can reveal how to take and crop a screenshot. This won't be the last screenshot contest so stay tuned for news of the next one! EpicDuel is always changing, and we need the best images possible to show the world how awesome it is!

Moderators/Testers Revealed! 

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the new Moderators and Testers into the EpicDuel fold. We received hundreds of applications, but we managed to whittle the list down to the best of the best candidates. Great thanks are due to Lycus and Cinderella and for the help with the process. If not for them, I'd still be reading applications! The following Moderators and Testers have been trained and are ready to serve you as soon as possible.

Moderators

Eventus (again!)

Auxiliator

Clutch

Sundance                                           

2046808                                               

The Joker X                                        

Testers:

Dammien                                           

TankMage                                                          

ShadeLord         

Overlord Drekon                                             

Zuwudo                                                              

Thurop Rekinvale 

Thank you again for your patience through the application and interview process. I'm  confident you'll help us make EpicDuel a safer and more bug-free experience!

Tags: Nightwraith