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EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

Behind the scenes information about EpicDuel's development and releases, a real-time PVP MMO that you can play online in your web browser.

	April 27, 2011 Player Appreciation Week! What is this madness? Hey there, EpicDuelists! You might have noticed that there’s something... different about this week’s DNs. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Cinderella, EpicDuel’s lovely Warrior Princess. I’ve been a part of EpicDuel since December 2008, when Nightwraith asked me to participate in a private Alpha test (as “Belka”, my name on the EpicDuel Forums), and I was one of the first players during the public Alpha. I’ve been a forum moderator (first on the EDF and now on the AEF) since early 2009, and I’ve been an in-game moderator since the merger with ArtixEntertainment. In addition, I am the administrator for the official EpicDuel Facebook page. As the game has grown since launching in 2009, Nightwraith and Titan have become very busy, and the need has been pointed out for additional staff to take care of some of the public relations responsibilities- that’s where I come in! I am the liaison between the Developers and Players. So, you’ll be seeing a lot more of my face in the weeks to come! But that’s far enough about me. This week, it’s all about you, Players! That’s right, an update chock-full of goodies for the people who make it all possible: YOU! Spotlight on Fame First things first. A lot of our players are very excited about the Fame feature- maybe a little TOO excited. Begging for Fame has become a problem not only in-game but in the social media connected to the game. However, this was never our intention in introducing Fame- we’d anticipated that it would bring recognition to some of our best and friendliest players. In light of that, we’d like to turn the spotlight to one such player: Elf Priest Jzaanu, whose YouTube Channel features battle, weapon and armor demos, NPC strategy videos, and general videos that act as Public Service Announcements for the EpicDuel community. Jzaanu has always been friendly and helpful as long as I’ve known her in-game, and is one of our more diligent players. It would be good for some of our players who grief for fame to take a look at how classy our players can be. Mission Drops! With the success of the recent update introducing NPC drops, we’re adding drops to completed missions! Following this update, completion of certain missions will result in a reward for completing said mission! Naomi Page needs rare flowers from Xraal over in the BioDome and Valery needs your help in supplementing her gun stash. We have a LOT more missions in development as well, to give players a more important role in the evolving EpicDuel storyline (we might even release some of these super-secret missions on Friday- time permitting). Missions released this week: Flower Power!: Naomi needs your help in gathering precious Bio Orchids from Xraal in the BioDome. Restock!: Valery’s decided that the bike business just isn’t enough anymore, and is branching out into the weapons business. She needs you to get her some Imperial Blasters for a unique reward. We have a LOT more missions in development as well, to give players a more important role in the evolving EpicDuel storyline. This is truly an exciting time for EpicDuel, as we move forward from being simply a repetitive PvP game to a fully fleshed-out MMORPG. In the coming weeks and months we’ll be fleshing out the storyline more fully- Baby Steps! Founder Appreciation There’s been some concern lately that we’ve been ignoring a small but significant portion of our player base- our Founders. We are eternally grateful for everything the Founders have done for us, without them there would BE no EpicDuel, so we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. In recognition of the valuable contribution you have made to the community at large, every Founder member (that includes Elites and Founders without the armor) will receive a gift of 1,000 Varium. Which will come in handy since we’re also introducing... Varium Sellback Yes, the long requested feature is finally here! The vendors all around Delta V have upgraded their outdated returns system and have agreed to give all players selling back premium items 15% of the item’s varium price across the board. That means that, if an item originally cost you 1,000 Varium, you will recieve 150 varium back from the sale of that item. For enhanced items, 15% of the Varium enhancement price will be factored into the sellback. For those who enhanced with credits before the update, those purchased slots WILL receive a Varium sellback. However, going forward, credit ehancements will not receive sellback. Graphical Update More convenient travel options have been implemented throughout Delta V! Look for increased Teleportation Pads that will take you to the furthest reaches of the planet! Relay for Life This weekend, Titan and Nightwraith will be participating along with the rest of the AE team in the 2011 Relay for Life! I think Artix's Design Notes post summarized the situation nicely: This weekend, the Artix Entertainment team will be battling one of the most dangerous diseases on Earth by walking around in circle for 18 hours straight. That is right! We will be sponsoring our first American Cancer Society Relay for Life this Friday, April 29^th at 6pm at Sunlake High School in Land O' Lakes, Florida (Mmmmm Butter). The relay will begin at “game release-time” on Friday night, and last 18 hours with at least one member of the AE team walking the track at all times. (Yes, they are allowed to carry their computers…) Faith is setting up a tent on the track with HeroMart merchandise. 100% of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. If you live in the area, you are welcome to come down and hang out and walk with us. There will be a lot of other teams from other local companies participating too... and hopefully selling lots of hot cocoa to keep us awake all night! The AE team has donated $1,000 to the Relay for Life to help in the fight against cancer. If you would like to make a donation on behalf of the AE team, please visit the official Relay for Life Website. Oh, and because you are probably going to ask... no, sadly, that is not a picture of us. They would have taken a picture of us, but they were too scared we would break the camera :-) There’s so much more to come in the weeks ahead! And we can’t do it without you guys- thank you for being awesome. Tags: Cinderella Missions Founders Varium Sellback Players Fame

	April 01, 2011 Celebrate EpicFool's Day with a Banana and a Giant Spoon. Where's Titan?! There's Titan! Waiting in the newly-opened Bazaar to celebrate April Fool's Day with the return of the April Fool's/Spring rares! He's added a curious new item to his weird, wild inventory, the Banana Suit classless armor. This limited-quantity rare is sure to split your sides, while superbly defending them. Echo! Sure is lonely here. Not for long, I'm sure! Behold! The glory that is NannerWraith! Meanwhile... The Exiles need YOU! That's right, the new Exile Soldier in Central Station needs your help to fight back against Legion aggression. New Missions! We also introduced 4 new missions available in Central Station from the Level 3 City Guard and the Exile Soldier. They're worth a ton of Battle Tokens, so if you're in a Faction, need achievements, want to battle in the Arcade, or just like having a lot of things, you'll definitely want to complete them! Be a Rockstar! We've continued to build on the fame system implemented last week by adding a daily leaderboard, with an achievement, plus 3 more achievements that unlock at different levels! Famous: 100 Fame Celebrity: 1000 Fame Rockstar: 10,000 Fame Starter Kit! You may have also noticed a new payment interface in game. This is to make it easier for players to know what and where they can buy the super-rare and super-powerful items. I see a lot of players who get to level 10 with the default gear! To address this issue, we've taken some popular low-level items and put together a Starter Kit Varium package to help low level players on their climb to the top! At level 1, level 32 may SEEM unattainable, but like all things, with persistence and patience you can achieve anything! AdventureQuest Worlds Card Game! That's right! The AdventureQuest Worlds: The Anything-Goes Battle On Battle Card Game is nearly ready for release in store April 18th. Be sure to check out the site for the latest updates and wacky videos! I've played it already and it's actually really fun, and I don't even like card games. The rules are simple enough that I could pick it up instantly and start winning duels. I can't wait to see it on store shelves! But what else do I get with this amazing battle card game? You know, aside from a box of cards (it's a really nice box, too!). Well, you'll also unlock the exclusive CARD CLASHER CLASS in AQW! Each box includes a code that unlocks a shop full of exclusive, in-game collector’s items inside the hit MMO, AdventureQuest Worlds The code unlocks Card Clasher Class Card Clasher Weapon Card Clasher Cape ... bonus mystery item that we have not created yet but will because we do not have long before the game is in stores!!!! (Draw faster J6!) Do you like dueling? Do you like cards? Do you like free stuff? Well, what are you waiting...oh, it's not out yet. Well, you can still get excited! Who wants to get excited with me? Anyone? Tags: april fool's banana Fame Card Game Missions Titan Achievements

	March 25, 2011 Mission Possible! Be Famous! This week we decided to give everyone their 15kb of fame. With our new and improved character pages, you can search, view win records, and increase the fame of different players. You can vote for as many characters as you like, once per day. We've even added an in-game leaderboard to list the most famous, and infamous, players! Are you more famous than me? Probably. Grab Your Popcorn! To make EpicDuel more cinematic and create a more immersive experience for new players, we have implemented a short intro cutscene leading up to your first confrontation with a new and improved City Guard! The new and improved City Guard would like to assert that his lawn is not an acceptible venue. You can also click on Oz in Central Station to view the EpicDuel Trailer. It's pertinent to the story, and it's been off the site for awhile, so we decided it was time to bring it back in-game. There goes the property values! New Missions! While you're at Oz, you might want to try his latest missions, including our very first PvP mission! You'll need to win 12 challenge matches to prevail and win Oz's respect. Can you do it? We plan to add a new mission type each update until EpicDuel has a mission system to rival any other AE RPG! Server Lock! Anyone's who's played in the wee hours of the night may have seen very low player numbers on Doom or Legion. Few players means few matches, making EpicDuel especially frustrating for new players who don't know to log into more populated servers. Low population servers will now automatically lock if the number drops below a certain point, encouraging dense servers with quick matches. As an added bonus, it will make practices like dummying and piloting much more difficult. Where's Titan?! Titan and Nightwraith have been relocated to other parts of Delta V. We're starting a big renovation of Central Station to make it more streamlined and accessible. Also prettier. Much prettier. Ongoing Engine Improvement! We're still working to update the Engine to the new standard. Titan tells me it could be finished as soon as next week! Tags: Nightwraith Cutscene Character Page Fame Titan Engine Missions