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 | March 07, 2014 Onward to War
War is approaching. A better war. A faster war. A war that more fully captures to epic clash of Legion and Exile forces. Though this new war was not quite ready to be unveiled today, we're still hard at work and hope to have a finished feature ready to go early next week. This Design Note post will reveal some new and exciting elements from the new war system. Server Stability Before we get into the meat of the post, I'll briefly mention the absense of Legion and Doom from the server select. Today we did a small update to patch some exploits and improve server security. Due to recent erratic behavior, Legion and Doom were taken offline. We do not yet know if we will bring them back, but we do know that those servers were old and underperforming. Epic and Exile (we should probably change their names now, huh?) will soon be upgraded to faster, more modern servers to improve performance, making additional servers unnecessary for the time being.
Onward to WAR! With the new war system, we wanted to emphasize accessibility. The current war has a lot of moving parts and can be quite difficult to grasp for a novice just learning the basics of dueling. Under the new system, the active war will be represented by a global war bar. This war bar provides general information about the conflict and quick-jump buttons to the main objectives.
When the war is over, the prize button will become active for the winning alignment! We'll get to that a bit later... Some war objectives may be familiar with a few key changes -- you'll notice the Control Array now has a shield over it. It's up to the alignment on offense to bring down the shield and capture the Array, while the defenders must stop the aggressors at all costs!
To defend or attack, Legion and Exile warriors will receive PvP war drops. Defenders will receive Dread Bombs while the attackers will receive Dread Shells. These drops can be used at objectives to gain influence for yourself, your Faction, and your alignment. This is also the primary mechanism for driving the war. To discourage hoarding, you will only be able to hold a maximum of 10 of each type of war drop in your inventory. If you choose not to participate in the war, you will be able to sell the drops with no sellback.
War drops can be used at war objectives, which will be scattered throughout the active region.
Clicking a war objective brings up a menu to use your war drops. You can use your drops for free, or upgrade them to a more powerful form for Varium. The more powerful drops can also drop from PvP battles, but at a much lower rate.
The objectives will show realtime destruction as they are used and abused by warring alignments. Small notifications will appear to broadcast your feats of valor for all to see!
Each objective has a different attribute -- providing interesting tactical decisions for either side of the conflict.
Defend your objectives or see them burnt to the ground! When the war ends, the winning alignment, along with the most victorious player and Faction will be displayed prominently throughout the region!
Cores With the changes to the war system, we'll be consolidating the existing regional influence-buffing cores into a sole War Commander core. This new limited-charge core will give 10 guaranteed war drops for battle victories.
This core will be available from prominent Legion and Exile NPCs in active war regions.
More Cheevos! Since some are already very close to attaining the 10th tier of certain regional war achievements, we've decided to bump up the difficulty with 2 more tiers for each region. We're even planning a super-special acheivement for reaching tier 12 on ALL regions, including Frysteland and the Infernal Mines (coming soon)!
During the war, you'll also have a change to earn the prestigious War Hero achievement by earning the most influence in a single day!
Big Prizes! Winng a war is an incredible task, so the victors should receive equally incredible rewards! Never-before-seen weapons, armors, vehicles and amazing currency bonuses await those who triumph!
If you're the picky type, you'll have a list of 6 items to choose from when claiming your reward. The prizes will rotate between war events so the list will be ever-changing and always interesting! Expect an early release next week while we iron out the last of the bugs and polish the remaining features of our new war system! Thank you for your patience! We're confident the feature will be worth the wait!
Springtime Gear! Last but not least, remember to check out the seasonal rare Springtime gear, available at Naomi and Xraal!
Grab this awesome gear before it disappears back into the database aether for another year! |
| February 21, 2014 War Two Point OhWhen will the Dread War End?
We've heard your feedback about the Dread War and many players have made it clear they're ready for it to end. Well good news! We’ve been working hard planning exciting improvements to the current system. When we first conceived the Dread War, our goal was to implement an event that could provide perpetual engagement, but over time, a few weaknesses in the system’s design have become apparent and the war has become a bit stale. The current war is complicated, it never ends, it doesn't offer enough rewards, and there is no focal point. This post will explain how we intend to overhaul the current system, and offer up the key points of the proposed new war system. The details are subject to change so please give us your feedback so we can build the best system possible. We believe by borrowing the best ideas from previous phases and prior wars, we can craft a system that is simple to understand, extremely engaging, perpetually rewarding and really, really fun!
As you can see, our dry-erase board breeding program is progressing nicely.
A Sense of Urgency Currently, The Dread War is a global conflict without end. The lack of focus and lack of duration means there’s never any urgency. In past events like The Frysteland War and The Infernal War, there was a clear set of victory conditions. With War 2.0, we hope to recreate this sense of urgency by limiting the scope of the War to one region at a time and structuring it as a race. The War will last until a specific set of conditions are met by either alignments’ forces (we expect these regional conflicts to last roughly 1-3 weeks). When the War in a particular region ends, the environment will visually reflect the winners, and the region will remain in control of the winning alignment until it comes up for contention again in the future. Prizes will unlock for the winners, and the top participating players and factions will be made famous (in a similar fashion to the Infernal War). After a small cooldown period, the next region will activate and the war will continue. The victory conditions in each region will vary to keep the conflicts interesting.
Streamlined Gameplay To a new player, the current War system is baffling. Control points, cooldowns, and other obscure systems are extremely challenging to convey at a glance. As we develop War 2.0, we’ll be streamlining many of the old systems. Mechanics like Influence, Flag Captures and World Dominations will remain, but behave differently from the current system. The gameplay mechanic will evolve from a constant grind for control, to a more focused system where both alignments are racing toward very specific goals. Each regional War will be a race to complete the given objective and whichever alignment fills their global war bar first will win the battle and take control of the region! PvP battles will remain the main driver of conflict, however, Influence will no longer be earned at the end of battle. Instead players will earn Influence by depositing new "War Drops" on War Objectives within the region. These drops will be similar to the grenades in the Infernal War in that they will drop after winning a PvP battle. War Drops will be thematically tied to the currently contented region and can be anything from missiles to computer chips, ammo crates, bricks, cakes, plants, metal, bullets, etc. Players of all levels can obtain and use these items, maintaining a very low barrier of entry for War participation.
Showoff If you fight hard to be the greatest champion EpicDuel has ever know, you deserve a place of honor. With War 2.0 we hope to give greater exposure to exceptional players who make the greatest contribution to the war effort. Interactive leaderboards will display the leading players and Factions for each alignment. At the end of each regional War, the bravest, most dedicated soldier will be displayed prominently until the region is contested once again.
War Prizes By defining a clear beginning and end for each regional War, we can offer real rewards for the victor. At the end of each War, players on the winning alignment will gain access to exclusive prizes. To add variety to this experience, players can select a prize from a list. These prizes could be never-before-seen weapons or currency prizes like Credits and Arcade Tokens. Each region will draw a new set of prizes to choose from, and the prize pool will continue to expand as the regional wars progress. These rewards will only be available to those who participate on the winning alignment, and they will only be available until the next regional War begins. We will also be adding additional levels to each regional War achievements. If you’re at level 10 or close in any of the regions, you’ll be able to battle your way to an even higher Rating Point score! Also, the highest scoring player at the end of each day will receive a War Hero achievement. This achievement will have a tracker to record each time you qualify for this prestigious distinction.
EpicDuel Evolution War 2.0 will herald a new phase of EpicDuel development: EpicDuel Evolution. This new phase will be unlike any before it – over the last few months we have been gradually building tools and tutorials to allow EpicDuel’s future to be directed by a force more powerful that the mighty Titan himself: our Community.
Over the years we’ve attracted some amazingly talented and ambitious players. Our player base may be much smaller than AdventureQuest Worlds, but the level of talent is no less. Our intention for EpicDuel Evolution is to allow more input and direct involvement from our players to influence things like content creation and balance. If you were shy about contributing content or ideas to EpicDuel, now is a better time than ever to express because soon we’ll be offering the resources to make them a reality!
We're aiming to activate the first region on Friday, March 7, but as usual this is just an estimate and could be delayed if development demands it. Stay tuned for more details as this exciting new feature evolves! Tags: Nightwraith War Dread War Factions Legion exile Alignment Planning |
| August 16, 2013 Shields Up!
Shields Activated! Defend your hard-fought War Objectives with Shield Generators! These critical structures allow you to reinforce the influence of other structures you own in a certain region. Like Turrets, Shield Generators can only be used on another structure within the same region.
Like Turrets, Shield Generators have 3 levels of improvement depending on the amount of your Alignment's Influence.
New War Objectives! Building upon the Turret release last week, we have added Turrets and Shield Generators to all contested regions. Here's a quick look at the new Objectives and their locations. Better hurry if you want a foothold in a heavily disputed region!
Wasteland Missile Turret
Barrens Shield Generator
Central Station Cannon
Central Station Shield Generator
Overlord Shield Generator
Bio Cannon
Naval Yard Shield Generator (formerly Propaganda Tower)
New Titan Cores! Titan's birthday may be over, but he's not done giving just yet. Visit him in his frosty Frysteland lair to try three new Charge Cores!
Bacon Breath Unleashes the powerful scent of bacon on your target, dealing 114% weapon damage.
Titan Chomp Summon Titan to chomp your target for 114% weapon damage.
Bacon Rain Rains down delicious bacon, dealing 114% weapon damage to the target.
Matchmaking Rabblefroth is also making some fine adjustments to the Alignment matching. It should allow for better quality matches, especially in 2v2. Tags: Nightwraith Shields Factions War Objectives Turrets Cannons Destruction Cores Charged Titan Birthday |
| July 25, 2013 Here Come the JuggernautsSorry for the wait, but starting tomorrow, Juggernauts will be able to participate in Dread War and earn influence. This is not because we hate Juggernauts -- if anything, they represent the hardest of the hardcore EpicDuelists, able to take down two foes singlehandedly! No, this was because of a boring technical reason. Since Juggernauts could only start battle from the Slayer and Influence is only earned by fighting on a War Objective screen, Juggernauts were locked by location on a non-Objective screen. We plan to remedy this by adding a Juggernaut button to the main interface, right next to 1v1 and 2v2. This should also give the feature some much-needed exposure. I'm sure many new duelists don't even know it exists! Starting tomorrow, instead of battling from Slayer, Juggernauts (anyone owning Slayer's Silver or Gold Skull Cards) will be able to engage a Juggernaut battle from any screen! Sound good to you? I thought so!
Are you ready for Juggernauts? Alignment matching Rabblefroth is hard at work refining the Legion vs. Exile matchmaking system to heavily prioritize alignment when choosing opponents and allies for Duels. We understand that many are concerned that this change could make matches painfully slow to find and we are aware of this. Hopefully, with enough variables at our disposal we can easily fine-tune the system if matches are too slow or imbalanced. As I'm writing this, Rabblefroth is still building and testing this feature. It is of the utmost importance that it be tested thoroughly so I'm not sure yet if it will go live tomorrow. Be sure to follow our Twitter feeds for the latest updates!
More Dynamic Objective Screens To make the war feel more tactile, we've updated over 60 screens (including battle backgrounds) to show Legion or Exile content depending on the alignment controlling the War Objective. This gives us a tremendous amount of control for each screen -- we can even change the active content such as NPCs!
Administrator 11 just got busted! Influence Tracking I've seen a lot of questions on Twitter and in the forums about the specific numbers for each achievement level for the regional war achievements. Your questions can now be answered in our handy new influence tracker, accessible from the Delta V world map.
Just click this button! From this new interface you will be able to see your current level of regional achievement as well as how many more points you need to achieve the next level!
I've got a long way to go! We like this new system so much, that we are making it the start of a long-awaited revamp to the Achievement system.
Capture the Spirit! In addition to the regional war achievements, we are introducing another evolving achievement: the War Objective Capture achievement! This achievement is awarded to players who participate in the capture of a War Objective up to an hour before the Objective is officially captured. Do you have enough conquering spirit to reach the highest level?
Claim the world!
Meet the AE Team this weekend
Direct from Artix's Design Note post!
I hope to see you there! Tags: Nightwraith War Factions Alignments Matchmaking Juggernaut Influence Achievements |
| July 17, 2013 Dread DominationPrepare for Dread Domination!
Are you ready? After weeks of fighting in the Dread Plains, plans for a powerful new weapon have been captured by both sides of the War. Now, Legion and Exile forces are prepared to unleash their power upon Delta V in the form of the Dread Domination Varium Package! This package includes 4 unique weapons and is not available in game!
We've equipped the Dread Desolators (auxiliaries) with technology of unknown origin in the form of the Improbability Gate Core. This exclusive core uses technology derived from an undisclosed research facility in the Dread Plains to open holes in the fabric of the universe. These tears in reality have been weaponized to allow players to summon creatures and objects from other worlds to come to their aid and help vanquish their foes! Be warned, however, this technology is quite unstable: you never know what will come through!
War Objective Leaderboards
Can you rule them all? New leaderboards on each War Objective will display the top Influence contributors in addition to showing your own contribution. With 34 War Objectives to dominate, you have 34 chances to get your name and face out there, showing Legion and Exile forces that you’re a force to be reckoned with and that either alignment should feel honored to hold your favor. Can you dominate them all? We think it’s impossible, but we also know never to underestimate a dedicated EpicDuel player with unlimited access to energy drinks!
Alignment Switching
Where do your loyalties really lie? This week we are introducing the heavily requested feature of alignment switching. Our primary concern with this change is that it could irrevocably tip the balance of the alignments, as players with weak loyalties rush to whichever alignment has the upper hand.
Delicate negotiations. To ensure that alignment switching is treated with the gravity it deserves, we are limiting the feature to Varium only. Players will only be able to switch alignments once per month. Players currently in a Faction will need to first leave the Faction in order to switch. There is still no way for Factions to switch alignments with disbanding and recreating themselves.
Bug Squashin’ Inevitably, when new features are released, new bugs will pop up, sometimes in old features. We try to make each release as bug free and polished as possible within a week of development time, but often bugs slip by. This update will fix several issues that have arisen since the last update (for specifics check out Rabble’s patch notes leading up to the release). To track down and fix bugs as quickly as possible, we need your help. Posting bugs on Twitter, while appreciated, isn’t always helpful since reports quickly get lost in our feeds. The best way to help us fight bugs is to post them to the official EpicDuel Bugs Forum. Please be as descriptive as possible when reporting bugs, explaining exactly what you were doing when the bug occurred. Giving us those details helps us to reproduce bugs more easily. A reproducible bug is usually an easily fixable bug. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Tags: Nightwraith Factions Dread War Alignment Legion Exiles Weapons Varium Leaderboards Bugs Reports Cores Forums |
| July 03, 2013 War Shops
War Hiccup Those of you who played over the weekend may have noticed some wonkiness on the Control bars for each War Objective. This bug tipped the balance overwhelmingly in favor of the Legion. Obviously, this was not intentional and Titan spent all day Sunday repairing this bug. Unfortunately, since the scores for irreparably skewed, they all had to be reset. We apologize for any inconvenience this caused.
Independence Day Rares Return This Friday, you can celebrate freedom with the returning Independence Day rares. You can find them equipped to Naomi in Central Station. Also, the Independence Day achievement will also be available at all the VendBot Achievement shops throughout Delta V.
Thanks to some help from Trizzzcentrino, we've managed 2 new seasonal rare bikes (to be found on Naomi)! Flavoured in Legion or Exile designs, you can show alignment pride while tearing up the battlefield. These are also the first bikes to attempt a new chrome color that's not color custom (the shiny, silvery bits on the bikes). I think it creates a neat effect that's lost on most color custom parts, but we'll see how you like it.
New War Objectives
To flesh out some of the less populous regions of Delta V, we have added 7 new War Objectives! You can find the in the West Naval Yard, the Barrens Outpost, and Central Station. Can you help capture them all and dominate Delta V?
Regional War Shops
By controlling key points in each region (i.e. the Battle Arena in Fortune City, the Overlord AI in the Overlord Facility, etc...), Alignments can unlock War Shops. Since supplies are scarce during wartime, these shops only supply limited quantities of items. To allow as many players to collect these items as possible, alignments are encouraged to hold regions for as long as possible since the War Shops will restock automatically over time. These War Shops will offer distinct advantages to those who control them in the form of War Cores. These Cores come either attached to a weapon or separately.
New Cores With this release, we will be introducing new core technology: consumable cores! By equipping them to a primary weapon, these cores will confer a regional Influence bonus that will last a certain amount of battles. After the core expires, a new one will need to be purchased. We have coded them to only count victories as a “use”.
War Chests Revealed
Now it can be revealed! Each Legion and Exile War chest contains regional War Cores! That means eight free cores (one for each active region)! Players with War Chests will start out with an automatic advantage in the War with the flexibility to gain a bonus in whichever region they choose. Since this bonus is alignment neutral, players who purchased the Legion pack, but decided to fight for the Exiles (and vice versa) will not be penalized.
Consumables Gone For those who have been following EpicDuel since before Omega, you are probably aware that Consumables like Health Packs and Boosters no longer serve a purpose in battle. Rather than try to wedge consumables back into the game, we have decided to move toward consumable cores and, as of this release, we will be removing all consumables from the game. All players with consumables in their inventories will receive the appropriate amount of resale currency for the items removed. Going forward, it will be possible for us to recreate Boosters, Grenades and Bombs as cores, which ultimately has more flexibility and does require the database to store excessive items entries for each player. Initially, we thought we could simply recode all the consumables back into the game, but the game has changed dramatically both code-wise and balance-wise since Omega launched so we determined that this would be the best decision for the overall health of the game. Tags: Titan War Factions Dread War Weapons Consumables Cores Legion Exiles |
| June 07, 2013 WorldbuildingGreetings EpicDuelists! Unfortunately there is no release today, but I have emerged from the nest of dry erase boards to give you more details about the upcoming war and talk a little about the planning process. It's sometimes challenging to pick what to say and what to hold onto when certain points are still uncertain, but I shall do my best.
Before The Dread War officially begins, Delta V will be receiving a much-needed facelift. From the Barrens to the Bio Dome, Delta V will be reshaped with the most advanced satellite imaging technology (i.e. drawn better.) with the ability to zoom in on any known region. This will allow quick jumping to individual areas of interest within each region, making navigation much quicker. This quick jumping with be essential for reaching contested areas in the War. The main focus of the Dread War will be this objective, as seen in the background of the first of many areas of the Dread Plains. This apparatus is the top of a massive control array. What does it control?
The Legion or Exile forces that gain and hold control of this structure will find out. Capturing this array will not be quite so simple, however. In order to have the best chance of taking it, you will need to capture surrounding support structures: turrets, shield generators, propaganda speakers, etc... These structures will confer great benefits to those who hold them and will be essential for turning the tide of the Dread War.
How do you capture these objectives? Battle. You will need to visit the physical location of the objective and queue for battle. Battle victories will award influence, but this time the influence will apply toward the objective's capture bar. Unlike the old Flag system that allows Factions to collect, store, and dump a massive amount of Battle Tokens to secure a flag, these points can only be captured by the collective efforts of all Factions of an alignment. Top Factions will still be honored, but the emphasis will be more on the alignment vs. alignment struggle rather than Faction vs. Faction. Similar to the Infernal War, everyone will soon be required to choose an alignment. To discourage people from piling on the "winning" team, switching alignment will not be easy so we recommend deciding in advance.
Why Plan? We want to be very careful with the upcoming Faction War. We have always believed that Factions would be the driving purpose for playing EpicDuel. We've added some features to cultivate conflict among Factions, but it never felt connected. Depositing tokens or firing a cannon at an arbitrary target, while novel at first, never really captured the feeling of all-out war that we wanted to convey. Wars are exciting, but require a tremendous amount of upkeep and preparation. Our goal with the new war system is to provide ongoing entertainment and excitement for EpicDuelists of all levels and classes, Varium and non-Varium. We want to provide recognition and incentives at the personal, Faction, and alignment levels to motivate everyone to participate. These are lofty goals, but with enough planning, we can deliver a system that meets our criteria and surpasses expectations.
The boards are full and our heads or packed with ideas. Now all that remains is execution. This will be a War to remember -- Delta V will never be the same! Tags: War The Dread War Factions Control Legion exile Planning Delta V Map Nightwraith |
 | May 30, 2013 Dread War DevelopmentsHey there, EpicDuelists! It's time once again for some delicious design notes from your friendly neighborhood Cinderella.
The Dread War itself is still in development, and will likely remain so for a bit more time. Our planned rollout for the War is in mid-June, but expect rapid-fire updates as development is underway. However, I can confirm that the War will coincide with improvements to the Faction system, and will involve territorial control on a much greater scale than the current flag system. This conflict is fairly large -- the biggest players have ever faced -- and could expand beyond the Dread Plains to consume all of Delta V!
MAIL TIME! The new mail system is getting some nice improvements. You'll be able to manually choose search criteria (eg. Subject, Sender, Message) instead of searching through all three simultaneously. In addition, you'll now get a confirmation message when deleting mail, so it's at least less likely that you'll delete something important...like a message from a Delta III prince who needs your bank account information.
Balancing Act The conversion of passive skills to active skills is still underway. Since this is a massive change and we want to cover all the classes in one release, we are allowing as much time for testing as possible. This means that the changes will probably go live next week, thoroughly tested. It's very important that class balance is in a good place for the War so we are taking these upcoming changes very seriously.
The Long Arm of the Law A special message from the Lawman:
With the new and improved reporting system, there is no reason to take screenshots and send them to the AEF Lawman account. Do not send messages to the Lawman -- he's not going to answer them. Having said that, we would like to thank all those who took the time to compose reports to the Lawman under the old system. However, that system required a great deal of time investment, both from the Moderator staff and the players making the reports, and it have been made almost entirely obsolete by the new system. If you need to report a player, please use the in-game report system!
Celtic and April Fools Weapons Leaving The April Fools and Celtic weapons have hung on long enough, being as it's nearly June. If you still need a giant spoon, now's your last chance! Also, the Bunny Weapons from last year are leaving as well. However, the 2013 Bunny weapons will stick around for another week because of a bug with Brachylagus' shop that has been fixed for the new release.
Calissa and Oz Many of you were curious about Calissa, and her relationship with Oz and the Exiles. I've actually read the story suggestions. Here's my own take on their story.
Tags: Cinderella Dread War Factions Legion exile Rares Reports Lawman Oz Caden |
| June 20, 2012 Brace Yourselves: War is ComingHey there EpicDuelists. After a brief hiatus where I was working on HeroSmash, we are back with our regular helping of Design Notes. These are gonna be extra meaty today, so make sure you have a good appetite for news!
Infernal Infiltration War
Originally, we planned to release the War this Friday, but after some massive discussions involving the proposed features for the Infernal Infiltration War, including new battle types, new NPC AI, and new consumables, we determined that it will be better to release a fully tested and polished version of the War next week rather than a buggy, less spectacular version this week. However, we do plan to have a working prototype for Friday so our testers can create some awesome preview videos and demonstrate some of the War's exciting new features! This is disappointing short term news, but we are confident it will be worth the wait! During the Conflict, players should report to their alignment’s 4 officers. Each side has a General, Lieutenant, 3rd Officer, and Auxiliary Officer. The War Officers are (in order) Exile: John St. Alban (The Lawman), Ulysses, Galatea, and Selina; Legion: Silas Auer (Administrator 7), Valestra, Nightwraith, and Ella St. Alban (Cinderella). There will be NPC adjustments and improvements soon- the Lawman’s revamp is going live with the start of the war, with revamps to Ella and Valestra soon to follow.
Attack the Vault
Ok, here’s the real meat and potatoes. This war will function differently than Frysteland- we’ve learned from our mistakes and we’re ready to take on this next challenge. Basically, this is set up as a race to the finish. Instead of strictly Legion vs. Exile, both Legion and Exile players will be punching through the Vault gates. Baelius spared no expense when securing the Delta Vault so the Vault doors are protected by multiple layers of shielding to protect the them from human activity. When breached, each level of protection releases a special “something” that will be discovered when that level of defense is breached. What is the reward? That’s for you to discover!
So, how are you getting through the Vault's defenses? You’ll be using grenades, available from drops or by purchase, to inflict massive damage on the Vault doors. ALL grenades will be available as drops (no exceptions), so anyone can use any bomb on the doors. There will also be mission chains that award even more war bombs! The catch is the Vault doors fight back! How long can you last against its devastating security systems? We will be featuring the most devastating players in Infernal War leaderboards! The Mechachillids are, understandably, not happy about surface dwellers ransacking their home, so they’re sending Mechachillid soldiers out into the world to bring you down in a new battle mode. Random 1v1 or 2v2 battles have a chance to match you with a Mechachillid AI opponent or ally!
Loyalty is the Key Just a reminder that the special Alignment Shops will remain open for the duration of the conflict, and will be periodically updated with more items (though not this week). Don’t like what’s available? After the Infernal Infiltration War is won, the Legion or Exile Key will be converted into an achievement! But remember- choose your alignment wisely. Once you’ve chosen a side during wartime, there’s no turning back. You may still leave an Exile faction and rejoin another Exile faction, but there will be absolutely no turncoating during the Infernal Infiltration War.
New War Cheevos Along with a new War comes new War Ranks- the stats for each rank are the same as they were for the Frysteland War and the player with the most points for his or her alignment (in this case, the one who inflicts the most damage upon the vault) at reset will win the Infernal War Hero achievement! Yay!
U Jelly? Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are well known for their production of honey, which is formed by purifying and concentrating the nectar harvested by workers. The worker regurgitates the honey into cells in the hive several times to treat the nectar with the enzyme invertase (which breaks sucrose into its monosaccharide components glucose and fructose) and lower the water content, making it into a sticky syrup. The honey is then consumed by the colony members, including the larvae. However, this is not the only food consumed by bees. All larvae are fed initially with Royal Jelly, which is secreted from the mouthparts of workers. Royal Jelly is a high-quality nutritious food high in B vitamins and fatty acids, and female larvae that are destined to become Queens are fed Royal Jelly spiked with Royalactin. This peptide causes stimulation and maturation of the ovaries, which differentiates her from her sterile worker sisters. Tags: Cinderella Infernal Infiltration War Silas The Lawman NPCs Vault Delta exile Legion Factions Loyalty |
| December 15, 2011 Further Frysteland PreviewsHi EpicDuelists, I know that these DNs are a little later than usual, but that's because you already know most of what's coming from last Friday's DNs. However, this post should help fill in the blanks and inform you on some exciting new additions! Let’s get right down to it, shall we?
Wow, Alydriah certainly has a beautify new coat. Hey, is that made out of..AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! T_T
War Ranks Last time, Nightwraith introduced the mechanisms by which you’ll be able to crush your opponents’ side with munitions either purchased from an Armory Bot or dropped from Yetis and Krampuses during battle. When you join the war, you’ll start out as a Frysteland War Grunt, but you’ll be able to rise through the ranks to become a Frysteland War General! You’ll be able to earn a variety of achievements, including the elusive Frysteland War Hero badge (renamed from Most Wanted), or the Bombadier achievement! You can check out your personal contribution at any time by visiting your alignment's War Hero board. This will give you your own personal score so you can see how you stack up against your friends! This time more than ever, the fate of Frysteland and Delta V hang in the balance!
New Characters
You’ll be seeing some new faces in Frysteland this week, many of them being Krampuses. Aldhagrimm the Erudite, the Krampus Shaman, is your go-to for information about the War. Ahldagrimm is the oldest member of the Krampus tribe at 80 years of age. As a young woman, she was known as Ahldagrimm the Know-It-All, but following the death of her sister, she seemingly aged 20 years in one night. Ahldagrimm has lived through the rise of Baelius, the Uprising and subsequent Exile, and has buried 3 Kings- her father, sister, and nephew- along with temporarily leading the Krampus people with her brother-in-law Tryggvi the Woeful. She will assist you if you seek Wisdom and Knowledge, but if you seek only death and destruction, well, she has friends on the other side... Ylwa the Demon Rider: The Beasts corrupted by the Outsiders are still Beasts, according to Ylwa. But it takes a very special breed of BeastRider to bond with a corrupted yeti, and Ylwa is that kind of BeastRider. Since that horrid woman started doing... whatever she did... to the Beasts, they’ve been harder to train, more horrible, more like beasts. But Ylwa is never one to back down from a challenge, and she Rides a Beast the Outsiders call a “Frost Demon”, but Ylwa knows the Beast’s name is Maia, and she holds some sway over the other Hazards. Fenris the Vicious: Fenris is the large, violent, wolf-like Krampus Champion. He has slain countless enemies, and his name is feared among the Arctic Guards, as well as among the Flatlanders- the name the Krampus have given Snork’s people.
Everybody look under your seat... As a special present for all of our players, everybody is getting 10 FREE inventory spaces! You get inventory! And you get inventory! Everybody gets 10 inventory spaces! We will still be working on ways to conserve inventory space, don’t worry. But this might tide players over for a little while. For those who just can't wait to stockpile rares, we're raising the inventory cap to 120 items!
Fairy Tales The smallest insects on record are the tiny, delicate fairyflies, with some species even smaller than a single-celled Paramecium. These tiny little insects are parasitic wasps, who lay their eggs in the eggs of other insects, and have very unique nervous systems with neurons lacking nuclei to accommodate for their small size. They earn their nickname from their distinctive wings, which are fringed with tiny delicate hairs called setae. Tags: Cinderella Legion exile Factions War Achievements Yeti Krampus |
| December 06, 2011 The War for FrystelandBrace Yourselves: The Battle Begins!Hello there, EpicDuelists! Hopefully this week’s Design Notes will answer all those questions I’ve been getting since the last update. We’ve been working diligently on the big Juloffenblotten update!
The War for Frysteland We’ve been slowly introducing players to Delta V’s Frozen Northlands- Frysteland- and its inhabitants the Krampus. Now, you’ll recall that the Krampus have a long tradition of Beast Riding, making them uniquely able to harness the power of the corrupted Yetis threatening Legion and Exile targets alike. If only you could get them on your side…
Since the war requires alignment, Factions will become important for proving your loyalty. To that end, faction creation costs are getting slashed so even more players will be able to support the cause! Aldriah and her Legion forces have moved into Frysteland and seek to corrupt the Yetis to add them to their war effort as biological weapons. Only the Krampuses have stood in her way, but now they are poised to fall to this latest Legion assault. The Exiles hope to sway the last remaining Krampuses to join their cause by assisting them in pushing Alydriah out of Frysteland for good! In addition to the direct storyline quests (written by yours truly, so blame me if there are quest types you don’t like), defeating certain enemies will add points to your side’s War Leaderboard. Those loyal to the Legion will need to crush the Krampuses to demoralize them into submitting to the Legion. Exiles, seeking the loyalty of the Krampuses in their rebellion will need to defeat Yetis that have been corrupted by Legion manipulation and Alydriah's fierce Arctic Guards. There will be plenty of enemies for each level, but higher level foes will yield bigger points! Additionally, completing quests for either alignment will earn you BIG points toward your cause!
Checking your progress will be a snap, with leaderboards at both the Legion Outpost and the Krampus Village displaying the “Most Wanted” list of those players who contribute the most toward the war, and you can earn the “Most Wanted” Achievement!
Remember: your performance determines the outcome of the war! The first quests will be available at Holiday Hank or Winter Alydriah depending upon your alignment.
Frost Gear Solid
This week will also see the return of the old Frost weapons, as well as a new crop of weapons for the season. One exception will be Frostbane, which will be retired and marked as permanent rare. Congratulations to those who got it while it lasted! Remember, some of these Frost weapons will be credit-only, so all players have reason to be merry!
Insect Fact: Eggs Many things lay eggs, including most insects. For the most part, an insect mom lays her eggs shortly after mating, but other species delay egg laying, and the eggs hatch immediately after being laid. In social insects, the entire colony will care for the offspring, some of which will be the result of mating, and some the result of parthenogenesis, which is the development of an unfertilized egg into an individual. The Pacific Beetle cockroach has a range from Asia toward the Americas, and lives quite happily in Hawaii. This insect is unique in the sense that it is the only insect to display true viviparity- that is, egg laying or development does not occur, and the offspring complete larval development within the female.
-----Intercepted Transmission from Alydriah to Legion Commander Edgar Boothe-----
Tags: Cinderella Frysteland Juloffenblotten snow Winter Factions War |
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