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 | January 07, 2013 2012 Year In ReviewHi there EpicDuelists. With the year 2012 behind us, and new possibilities in front of us, I've written a brief overview of the story so far in EpicDuel!
After years of an uneasy truce between the Legion's presence in Frysteland- the cold, mountainous region to the north of Delta V's main continent -- and the Delta V native Krampus, dictatrix Alydriah Descarl made a move to conquer those that remained relatively free from the Administration's control. Led by the formidable Commander Edgar Boothe, the Legion soldiers and corrupted Yetis fought aggressively against the primitive Krampus tribe. The Krampus, led by the Shaman Aldhagrimm the Erudite and King Alaric (the Technologically Impaired), the Krampus allied themselves with Exile forces but were ultimately defeated. In the aftermath, Alydriah set herself up as Queen over Frysteland and began the work of corrupting the local wildlife, including Ylwa the Demon Rider's personal mount Maia the Frost Demon. Boothe, torn between his loyalty to the Legion and love for his heritage saved some of the Krampus from execution, including King Alaric and Boothe's grandmother Aldhagrimm. The War coincided with Hank and his wife Valestra's Juloffenblotten festivities, ruining their winter holiday.
With Alydriah distracted in Frysteland, a group of Legion loyalists who felt that Descarl had ultimately betrayed Baelius and the principles of the Legion made their first move against the despot. The Legion loyalists formed an alliance with the Exile Leader, whose base is contained within the ruins of Old Fortune City. The 12th District Administrator John Williamson III orchestrated a plot to bomb Alydriah's spire before she returned to the mainland. Williamson's son Lysander Cox (the Negawraith) disguised himself as the assassin Nightwraith and offered his services to Alydriah's brother, Administrator 11, while the Resistance -- represented by Habuki and Shadow Guard Mike -- planted bombs in the Spire. However, the plot was discovered, and Administrator 12 took full responsibility, sacrificing himself for his men and for Order. Despite his attempt to kill his executioner Administrator 11, the District 12 offices and the Administrator himself were reduced to ashes. Inspired by his father's death, the Negawraith took over both the 12th district administrative duties and the helm of the Legion Resistance.
The Bionic Battalion Saga introduced a band of superintelligent sentient rabbits -- Brachylagus, Capensis, Myxoma, Lepus, and Mr. Cottontail, who built a set of rabbit battlesuits to fight and survive outside of the Biological Preserve. The rabbits discovered that they were descended from colonists from the planet Orychtolagus and devised a plan to escape Delta V. The Bunny Escape Pod was destroyed by a mysterious force, but Brachylagus and Capensis survived the attack. Meanwhile, Lepus attempted to make friends with the fearsome Electro Hazard and was rescued by Myxoma who “reprogrammed” the creature with her poisoned hair dye. Lepus discovered the Archives under the BioDome, which serve as a safe haven for the Archivists. The Archivists belong to an Order dedicated to preserving and maintaining Delta V's history, but they have since mostly died out leaving only Xraal and his siblings Tamaril, Sekk, and Navarro.
This was EpicDuel's biggest (and darkest) storyline to date. After years of searching, John “The Lawman” St. Alban was able to enter the mysterious Delta Vault, but not without opposition. John and his allies had to face off against not only the Legion forces led by Administrator 7, Silas Auer, but also the subterranean insectoid techno-organic creatures known as Mechachillids. But this story started 20 years before the events of EpicDuel, and each of Auer's allies had their reasons to hate St. Alban. John's obsession with the contents of the Delta Vault led him to betray his partner in the Galactic Marshalls -- a young Silas Auer -- by sending the younger man's former lover Commander Valestra Acker (Hitchens) into the hands of Delta V's enemies. Valestra lost her arm during her escape, and when he confronted John about it, John shot off Silas's face. Along with Silas and Valestra, John fought against his daughter Ella and the man he blamed for seducing and corrupting her, the Nightwraith. But, in the end the Exiles and John's allies -- Ulysses and Galatea and John's younger daughter Selina -- were the first to infiltrate the Delta Vault and uncover its horrific content: by Baelius's order, Ulysses had developed a method of using a corpse to power a cyborg soldier (his wife Galatea was, in fact, one of these soldiers after having died in the Vault). He was sentenced to death, but survived his execution, losing his memory. Silas was not ready to accept his defeat, but John proved once again that he was not above underhanded tactics, threatening the child Silas had fathered with Valestra- Naomi. Silas surrendered himself to save his daughter.
In EpicDuel's crossover with MechQuest, Delta V found itself facing the greatest threat it had so far encountered. Deep in the Barrens, a mysterious creature called Dravax the Harbinger warned of an apocalyptic fate that would befall Delta V unless they surrendered the woman named Char. This was Charfade, the last survivor from the Mer'a homeworld. Dravax's Master is one familiar to players of MechQuest: a huge planet-devouring being known as the Dragonoid. Due to overwhelming support, the Citizens of Delta V banded together to save Charfade from the Dragonoid! The Slayer teamed up with players to defeat Dravax herself and gain access to Mirv's defense turret, but this only injured the Dragonoid. Though he doesn't advertise it, Mirv is a technical genius, and wrote a program that had to be directly implanted into the Dragonoid's brain. Players allied with Charfade to battle the Dragonoid Brain, replacing the coordinates of Delta V with those of the Slayer's plague-destroyed homeworld Delta IV. The Dragonoid consumed Delta IV (hopefully it was uninhabited) and Dravax was marooned on Delta V.
Artix Entertainment's 10th Anniversary Gameocide Event
During Delta V's War for Independence, when Baelius turned on his backers to declare his venture a sovereign nation, there was only one investor that allied himself with Baelius -- the unscrupulous Chairman Platinum. The Chairman returned to Delta V to check up on his investment, and was unhappy with the way Alydriah was running things. To protect Delta V and her Citizens from the Chairman and his Corporate Ninjas, Citizens found themselves depending on an unlikely champion. In her first EpicDuel appearance, lead singer, guitarist, frog aficionado and frontwoman of One-Eyed Doll Kimberly Freeman used the citizenry of Delta V as her own personal Meat Shields as she defeated the silver-tongued Chairman Platinum. Seeing that death would be too great a mercy for the Chairman, Alydriah decreed that he should remain on Delta V.
With 2013 ahead of us, there are so many possibilities open for EpicDuel's story line. Will the Dragonoid realize it ate the wrong planet? What's on the other planets in the Delta system? Are there untouched areas of Delta V? When will we see the other Fortune City districts? And what about the characters? Will Hank and Valestra's marriage survive the constant obstacles thrown at them? Will the St. Alban family ever be repaired? When do we meet Brunson's Mama? Will Shadow Guard Mike ever be allowed to just kick up his feet and watch some television? Will we incorporate more elements form the Lore-verse into EpicDuel or should we stay far, far away? What would YOU like to see in the coming year's storylines? Thank you all for being with us and your continued patience as we prepare to launch EpicDuel Omega and the latest adventures in Frysteland! I'm so honored to be creating this world for and with all of you, and working with the best team ever! I don't think I could write like this for anyone but them. Tags: Cinderella Year in Review Infernal War Frysteland War Bionic Battalion Dragonoid Gameocide EbilCorp 2012 2013 |
| September 20, 2012 Charfade TriumphantYaar and so forth Yesterday was Talk like a Pirate Day! If you haven’t already grabbed the cheevo and items from that salty wench Isla “Big Tuna” Grier.
The Dragon’s Reckoning
The Dragon’s Reckoning is coming to its epic conclusion with an epic cutscene! What will become of the Dragonoid? What about Dravax? Will Mirv finally get the praise and attention he craves? See Charfade in-game to find out!
Epic Stylist!
You may have noticed that you can now purchase hairstyles, and said hairstyles are yours forever. Changing between hairstyles or just changing your colors now only costs credits! Unfortunately, this is only relevant going forward, as we cannot figure out every hairstyle every player has ever had. But the Steve-bots are eager for you to get your hair did, so they’re offering a new, evolving Epic Stylist cheevo! Epicly stylish! Can you buy enough styles to unlock them all?
Codes...How Do They Work? If you follow any of the ED staff on Twitter, you may have noticed us posting codes periodically. What are these codes and how are they used? Currently, the codes can be redeemed for free Starter-Kit weapons, but we are expanding the system to offer a number of different prizes. Here's a step-by-step guide for redeeming these codes. Step 0: Get a Code Currently, you can get these codes by seeing us in person at a convention or by following us on Twitter!
Step 1: Find a City Guard They primarily hang out in Central Station and Fortune City. You can use the Delta V map to travel quickly between areas if you don't feel like going on foot (or by bike).
Step 2: Select the "Prize Code" option
Step 3: Enter the Code and select "Submit" These codes are currently one-time use so only the first one to redeem the code will get the prize.
Stay tuned for more developments on this exciting feature as we add features such as more prizes, more redemptions per code, and more ways to receive codes!
Something Ebil This Way Comes!
Some twenty years before the current events of EpicDuel, Baelius had a “falling out” with his investors and backers when he declared the colony on Delta V a sovereign state and declared war. But not all of his backers turned on him -- Baelius’s war was partly financed by the mysterious and influential Chairman Platinum. Word has it that the Chairman is returning to inspect his investment. Is he coming to free the people of Delta V from Baelius' vile machination or will this be a hostile takeover? Knowing the Chairman, we suspect the latter.
Terrible Tachinids If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I had a pet caterpillar named Nova. Nova was a happy caterpillar, was hand-fed the finest tomato leaves whenever he was hungry. Eventually, he was slated to pupate (that is, metamorphose into his adult form), and after wandering for a bit, he turned brown and began pupating. He was also a lucky caterpillar -- I’d noticed that he had cleared an infection by braconid parasitoids. But his luck was not to last -- a few days after pupating, I noticed that his coloration was off, and there was a weird discoloration along his ventral nerve cord. Naturally, I observed, and much to my horror eventually Nova exploded, leaving a pile of slimy grey maggots. These are the larvae of tachinid flies (likely Winthemia manduca), which lay their eggs on lepidopteran larvae (ie. caterpillars), and develop inside the caterpillar. They’ll begin to devour the caterpillar from the inside during diapause and emerge. They’ll spend a day or two as free-living maggots, and pupate for 10-24 days depending on environmental temperature. As adults, they resemble house flies, and will repeat the whole process over again. As they reduce populations of lepidopteran pests naturally, they are attractive for use in integrated pest management. However, they are not extremely host-specific, and will attack related species to the target organism- eg. an East European tachinid fly introduced in the US in areas affected by gypsy moth has caused a massive reduction in Saturniid moth numbers. Tags: Steve Cinderella styles TLAPD Pirate Dragons Dragonoid charfade Twitter Codes |
 | September 11, 2012 Final ReckoningThe votes are still rolling in, but you've made your voices loud and clear. You will defend Charfade and Delta V to the last! Although this is a noble path, it does little to discourage Dravax and the planet-destroying Dragonoid that have come seeking Char. The final hour of judgment approaches -- are you ready?
A Living Charfade Is a Happy Charfade Charfade is so pleased by your overwhelming support that she's constructing a new series of items to offer in her Limited Quantity Shop. She's also reverse engineered Dravax's technology to produce male and female class-changing variants of the Harbinger Armor (Credit and Varium only payment options like Infernal Android). You can complete the look at with a quick style change for a new Harbinger style!
Yarrrr and Such! This release will also see the return of the epic Talk Like a Pirate Day weapons. We know it's a little early (actual TLAPD is September 19), but holidays on Delta V are a bit more...fluid than other games. In any case, you'll need all the help you can get sending the Dragonoid back from whence it came. Visit BigTuna in the West Naval Yard to acquire these awesome items while you can! Also, "Yarrr!"
Pirate Cheevo! Stop by a VendBot anywhere on Delta V to pick up the TLaPD achievement for 1500 Battle Tokens! If you missed it last year, now's the perfect time to grab it before it's too late!
"Yarrr...I'm unattrictive." Tags: Titan Nightwraith charfade TLAPD Pirates Yaaaar Dragons Dragonoid Achievements Dravax |
| September 05, 2012 Charfade’s FateWelcome Home! First off, a hearty welcome back to all of our staff and players who had the opportunity to attend Dragon*Con! Practel twisted my arm and he’ll be writing a recap post later this week.
Codes and Keys If you visited us at Dragon*Con or follow us on Twitter, you may have seen some codes being posted that you could redeem for a starter pack of weapons by entering the code at any City Guard to redeem the code for starter pack items! How can you get a code? Well, we gave codes out at DragonCon, but the best way to find a code is to follow us on Twitter or Facebook! It is possible that this code redemption system could be used for other promotions in the future so stay tuned for more developments!
Decide Charfade’s Fate!
As Nightwraith announced at the panel at Dragon*Con (and you may have seen in this video by Practel) we are allowing players to decide whether to save or sacrifice Charfade. To decide this, we will be polling players in game. Visit Dravax to choose a side. After voting, you’ll be able to see how many players are with you and against you. When the poll is complete, Charfade will be sacrified or saved based entirely on YOUR votes! Also, to discourage “stuffing the ballot box”, voting will be restricted by account, IP, and level (you must be at LEAST level 5 to vote).
Lock ‘em up! The missions to obtain the Exile and Legion locker keys are going rare with this update, and eventually these keys will convert into achievements. The Blueprint scraps will be sellable if you still have some taking up space in your inventory. Tags: DragonCon Cinderella Dragonoid Dragon Draconic Keys Achievements |
| August 21, 2012 The Dragon's ReckoningDid Someone Say Dragons?
Legion and Exile forces are still recovering from a massive war within the Infernal Mines, but now a powerful force is making its way toward Delta V, ready to bring the Day of Reckoning to the planet and her people. This threat from another world will be unlike anything ever faced before, but there are ways to survive: attempt to appease the being or rally a shattered world to send the abomination reeling back to the darkest corner of the universe. I wonder which you will choose?
Make Ready The Slayer does not take kindly to off-worlders intruding on his home turf so this Friday, he's prepared to finally release his personal stash of armor to help eager duelists to repel the alien threat. Additionally, he has crafted a brand new weapon, The Dragon Buster II broadsword* which will be included with the new 5 Key promotional package. He will also be bringing back the legendary Dragon Weapons that return every year to commemorate Dragon*Con.
Draconic Mutating weapons will leave as soon as Dragon*Con concludes. The Dragon Slayer Armor will be available for 5 keys, but as a special treat, players who see us and write down their EpicDuel character name at Dragon*Con will get the armor and sword for free!** For more details, check out the Dragon*Con post below! *We were previously going to buff the original Dragon Buster sword to offer in the promotional package, but our players made it clear that they wanted a brand new item and that it was not fair to buff the old item. You reminded us of our old promise so we're honoring your request and introducing the Dragon Buster II broadsword. We will have images as soon as it's drawn! **To clarify, this offer is only valid for one EpicDuel character name per DragonCon attendee.
Bye, Bye Bio Borg!
Once the new Dragon Slayer promotion goes live, we will be removing the Bionic Battlegear and the Bio Borg from the game forever! I know it's been around for awhile, but if you were procrastinating getting it for any reason, please do so before the release on Friday!
The Barrens The desolate wasteland known colloquially as the Barrens was not always so. At one point, it was a lush wilderness, but it had the misfortune of being mineral rich and tactically advantageous, two qualities that made it irresistible to Baelius and his corporation. After most of the easily accessible resources were tapped, a battery of turrets was installed as part of a massive planetary defense grid. Thousands of weapon batteries could adjust their trajectories to his targets on the other side of the planet and utterly annihilate targets in space.
When war broke out, this battery was crucial in ending the insurrection and keeping any outside forces from entering Delta V's atmosphere. A suicide strike was ordered by resistance forces to break Baelius' chokehold over the region and divert the cannons away from the defense of Fortune City, and it partially succeeded. The makeshift fleet of freighters retrofitted with budget armaments and stolen military vessels rained from the skies over the Barrens until their secret payload could be delivered -- a massive EMP that disabled the turrets and remaining ships alike. But the General overseeing the Barrens was no fool, and turned the turrets on his own rebellious slaves to try and salvage the area. During the strike, the General was assassinated by his daughter’s personal bodyguard, but not before the turret gave its own killing blow- the blast from destroying the Uprising’s main weapon devastated the area, killing much of the area’s life, and corrupting the rest.
The Dragon's Harbinger Today, the Barrens are a haven for criminals, outcasts, and daring adventurers. The Legion has no interest in reclaiming this area as it is tapped of all resources, and the once mighty turrets rest silently, many still pointed skyward as dormant sentinels. However, a mysterious being calling itself Dravax has appeared just outside the devastated turret field heralding the coming of its master and seeking the being known as Char. It's message is simple: obey and receive mercy or resist and be destroyed. The Heartbeat of the Universe I was browsing the grocery when my communicator rang. I thought it was Eldhi, asking for some spare parts or a tomato, but my heart sank when I saw the tag. It was Alaric. Alaric was one of the few who would not assimilate into the Legion. Aegir said it was too foolish, too dangerous to live as Krampus anymore. I hated Aegir. The hand he extended was the hand of a conquerer, not a friend. But, his actions did keep the Administration from slaughtering us, but at the cost of our culture. Though, I had tried to convince Alaric that we should just sign the marriage papers in Fortune City instead of reassembling the council of elders. I thought about the card I carried, that gave a false name. My mother gave me the name Ylwa. My actions earned me the title Beast Rider. The card identifies me as Winter Page. Not the most common, not the most exotic. But it renders me invisible. Invisibility. Invisibility is safety. The beeping brought me back to reality and I saw the message. “Ylwa and Aegir. Come immediately. The Shaken. Sorry, Shaman.” Oh Alaric. He never understood autocorrect. But his message, mangled as it was, was dangerous. There had to be a reason that he would take the risk of the Legion seeing he was still alive. I paid for my groceries and fled to the mountains.
The abandoned strip mine was cold and dank, and the smell of mildew hit my nose as I entered the cavern. Aegir had beaten me to our hideout. Aegir had long ago abandoned his training as a Shaman to join the Shadow Guard, taking the name Edgar Boothe. But even so, he was seated across from his grandmother, staring into the fire. Both humming to the sound of the universe. I made my way around some of the other Krampus who had taken to living in the caves with us to find Alaric. He had long abandoned his royal finery, pawning the ceremonial armor to buy food for the Krampus orphans, and he was clad in rags. I embraced my betrothed and kissed him deeply. The concern was written plainly on his face. “What is it, my King?” “The Shaman. She’s been staring into the fire for days, just humming. The second I brought Aegir here, he joined her.” I held Alaric’s hand and we approached the mystics. They were chanting under their breath, but the chant increased in volume until they screamed the words so loudly that I prayed to the gods that my eardrums would break. I didn’t understand the language - it was an old tongue used only by Shamans. The color drained from Alaric’s face, and he ran out into the snow. I followed him. “What is it?” “You don’t know what they said?” “No. I’m not a Shaman. Why? What are they chanting?” Alaric held me and stared into my eyes. “The Devil is coming. The Dragon is here.”
Artix's Dragon*Con Update!DragonCon takes place every year in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a weekend long convention (Recommended ages 15+) with 30,000+ attendees... most in amazing costumes. I guess it is really like a weekend long costume party with celebrity guests (walk of fame), panels featuring the casts of your favorite sci-fi/fantasy/etc TV shows, video games, art galleries, table top games, concerts, shopping and... well, check out the schedule on the DragonCon website. As usual, the Artix Entertainment team will be attending in force again this year, including Titan, Nightwraith, Charfade, and Rabblefroth! We will be running a panel and a fan table!
Come see us at DragonCon
New Matomy Ad Offer on AExtras! I couldn’t phrase this better myself, so I’m going to be ripping this directly from the AQW Design Notes: From August 17th until September 2nd, Matomy is running a special AExtras offer! ONE lucky player who completes an offer will win the grand prize: a combo pack of the black Artix and Sepulchure action figures! You can also win either 3,000 or 4,500 ACs!
Click here to begin participating in AExtras offers! (Make sure you have a separate email just for doing this.) As always, the offers in AExtras are provided by third parties, and ArtixEntertainment has no control over what offers are available in your area. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause Tags: Titan Matomy Cinderella Nightwraith RabbleFroth DragonCon Dragons Draconic Weapons Items Armors Promotion AExtras Convention Panel Missions Storyline Slayer Barrens Delta V Dragonoid |
