EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

August 28, 2012

DragonCon this Weekend!

Hey there, EpicDuelists! With Dragon*Con this weekend, we’ll be rolling a midweek release. Remember that if you visit our fan table in the Hyatt Regency Atlanta (lower level) and write down your character name for us (one per attendee, please; please don’t beg your friends to get free stuff for you) to be awarded the Dragon Slayer armor, which is also available in-game and comes with the Dragon Master achievement! For those who are brand new to EpicDuel, we will be giving out codes redeemable for a free set of starter gear! This is an exciting new feature as it can be used for more special promotions in the future. First time DragonCon attendee? Lucky for you, Cysero has posted a DCon survival guide on the AQW design notes: http://www.aq.com/gamedesignnotes/dragoncon-2012-2072 !

For those who only want the bare-bones details on for meeting us at Dragon*Con, here they are:

This year the Artix Entertainment Panel:

• The time will be Saturday at 5:30PM
• The hotel will be the Hilton Atlanta
• The room will be the "Grand Salon E"

This year's AE Pizza Party:

• The time will be Thursday at 7:30PM
• The hotel will be the Marriott Marquis Atlanta
• The location will be on the 10th Floor, in the Skyline meeting area.

We understand that many of you cannot attend Dragon*Con, but please understand that we are not affiliated in any way with the management or funding of the convention. We cannot ask them to host Dragon*Con in your hometown, and as great as it would be to travel to your city or town to meet you, it is not logistically feasible. Again, we understand that not everyone can travel to Atlanta, GA to visit us, but we do not want those who do stop by to see us to leave empty-handed.

A Char-faded Memory

We did not release the first missions for this arc because we were building a new battle feature! With this release, players will be able to team up with the Slayer to defeat Dravax itself and send his master a message he'll never forget! Your missions start with Dravax, who attempts to convince you to hand over Char without conflict. Your quest will then lead you to Mirv, who needs your help to re-enable the turrets defending the planet. Will you surrender Charfade to the Harbinger and its Master? Or will you keep her safe and save Delta V another way?  

Bombs Away!

Of course dragons do not exist, but there are insects who are pretty close to spewing fire! Bombardier beetles are a cosmopolitan tribe in the Carabidae consisting of over 500 species of beetle named for their defense mechanism. The beetle maintains two reactant chemicals (hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide) in abdominal reservoirs, and spray the foul-smelling resulting chemical at enemies. The product is not only foul, but the reaction is highly exothermic, with the spray reaching 100C (ie. Boiling) and quickly volatilizes. This system is often used by creationists as an argument for intelligent design and irreducible complexity, but the use of hydroquinone in defense is conserved in the carabids and hydrogen peroxide is a normal waste byproduct  of cellular respiration. 

Tags: Cinderella charfade MechQuest Dragon Harbinger Dravax Battle Mode DragonCon

May 17, 2011

Jug Hugs!

Thank you so much for helping us test our new battle mode! We DO read your feedback, and we’re fixing up the mode. We really needed a large-scale test of the system (as fun as it was for the four of us, we don’t represent the game at large), so thank you!  As a reward, all of the players who help test the feature by purchasing a Gold Skull Card during this week will receive the super-rare Battle Tested Achievement! Good news for rare hunters too: the Gold Skull Card is going to be marked as “RARE” and will increase your rarity score.

The Battle Tested (1600 RP) and Juggernaut (2000 RP) Achievements!

The Silver Skull Card

Since it’s not entirely fair to let Varium players have all the fun, we’re opening up Juggernaut mode to Credit players too, with the NEW Silver Skull Card. Now, for a number of Credits, ANYONE over level 20 will be able to play this unique battle mode... from the other side! MWAHAHAHA! *cough* Sorry about that.

Bug Smashing

As with ANYTHING new, there’s bound to be problems, and Titan’s been hard at work to fix them all for you! Starting with this update, you’ll be able to see your Juggernaut record on your stats page.  Addtionally, many of the glitches with creating a Juggernaut battle have been fixed.  We’ve also fixed the damage issue with low percentage hits. You may have noticed that sometimes moves like Cheap Shot, Berzerker, or Rage attacks were showing damage along the lines of 0-2-1 or other very low damage markers. Well, no longer will you hit for 0 damage!

Matching Sets

In addition, a lot of you have been complaining about the level range for Juggernaut battle. Originally, how we’d set it up was the Juggernaut’s level, subtract 9 and then add or subtract 2 to that, and that’s how you’d match other players. But, that didn’t present enough of a challenge for the Juggernaut, and serves to discourage lower-level players from playing team battles. We’re altering the matching system to increase the level of the Juggernaut underdog by 2 and increase the range by 1. So now, instead of a level 33 Juggernaut facing two players from 22-26 the Juggernaut will face two players in the 23-28 range, which should solve this problem. 

Back to the Hutch!

With this update, the Egg-zooka promotional items are going RARE!  Congratulations to all who got these awesome weapons.  Hopefully they will serve you in battle for many duels to come.  With the 'zookas coming out of the game, the new promo item for summer will be...

Boom! Headshot!

Some of our players have suggested a weapon that has a unique battle move, and we thought that idea was really cool! So, after sending those adorable bunnies back to their little hutches, we’ll be introducing the promotional Stun Cannon and Stun Blaster with a 5% chance to stun! These beasty and beautiful sidearms will be available as soon as go live with the update with purchase of the $50 varium package!

To accomodate for the greater opportunity to stun available to all players who own these guns, we have complely removed the defense reduction on stunned players (previously -15%).  Also, the stun chance on the gun will not be affected by Shadow Arts.

Tags: Achievements Juggernaut Battle Mode battle tested free stuff Cinderella

May 11, 2011

Friday the 13th is traditionally known as the most unlucky day of the year, but this year, it’s your lucky day! This week’s update is sure to please even the most finicky of Duelists, especially since many of our players are taking finals and getting ready for the summer!

Charles! No! Get out of my head, Charles!

(If you understand that reference, congratulations, you win +1 Internets.)

You asked for it, we built it! Introducing the new Juggernaut battle mode. The word Juggernaut means a large, inexorable force that crushes everything in its path, the unique battle system allows players to pit themselves against opponents 2 versus 1 style! How this works is that two lower-level players will do battle against one higher-level player. If you survive, then you’re the Juggernaut, and may proclaim yourself as such. We’ll also be implementing a new leaderboard and win record along with the battle mode.

Other Stuff!

But that’s not all! For those of you who like missions and quests, we have more stuff for you to do on the way. In addition, players will now be able to receive Varium back from selling their promotional items. That bug and several others will be fixed in the coming update.

AdventureQuest Worlds Friday the 13th Musical Event starring Voltaire and Deady

It’s that time again! At sundown on Friday, AdventureQuest Worlds will be taking you on a Wild West Adventure with Voltaire and Deady. There’s plenty for everyone- rare items, fun things to kill, and even an adorable little bear who might be more than he seems... Good luck- you’re going to need it!

Read more about Voltaire and this week's Friday the 13th event!

And remember, this Friday is the only day this year where you can get the +13 damage bonus on the "... On a Friday the 13th!" card from our first card game- AdventureQuest Worlds BattleOn BattleCards!

Tags: Cinderella Voltaire Friday the 13th Juggernaut Battle Mode Bug Fixes Missions Deady