EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

December 19, 2011

First of all, I want to congratulate each and every one of our players who have participated in the Frysteland War so far. The war is still going on, so be prepared for even more goodies and ways to defend your side. This conflict is far from over!

Remember, your actions WILL determine the fate of the Yetis and the Krampus people permanently. There are consequences to your actions, so fight well, EpicDuelists!

We've got a lot to do this week and not much time to do it! We plan on releasing Thursday, but depending on progress, we could release as early as Wednesday. I apologize in advance if anything in these DNs don't make it for this release, but we're aiming high and we're willing to stock up on enough caffeine to make it happen!

There Will Be Bugs

As with most new features, bugs are inevitable. We’ll be fixing a few things for this next update- the War schedule will be synchronized with the daily events from here on out, and many people were finding it more difficult to defeat the Yetis than the Krampus, so we’ll be balancing out the War NPCs. The Cryostaff and Kringlebot will both be returning to Hank, and Frostbane is being set to Permanent Rare.

New Threads

This week, we’ll also be introducing two new armors for purchase, the Frost Reaper armor for Legion players and the Beast Rider armor for Exile players. Equipping this armor increases the amount of War Points you earn for your cause by 20%. They will also offer an 11% chance to deliver a defense variant of FrostBite, which can apply to the attacker if they hit you with a normal strike while you have the armor equipped!

Moar War!

We’re adding THREE new War Ranks to bridge the large gaps between ranks, which should make ranking up a little bit easier for all players. Some of you may notice that you have a different rank that you had before, but that will be a good thing since some ranks are easier to obtain than before.  We have also readjusted the rating points that the higher-end achievements award.

We’ll also be implementing missions that will award points toward the war- remember, missions take forever to test, so if it’s a late night release don’t be too disappointed. Hope I don’t disappoint!

NPC Improvements

Since many were having trouble getting those Krampuses and Yetis to cough up War Bombs, we are increasing the drop rate for all NPCs, with the stronger NPCs offering a significantly higher chance to drop. We’re also implementing an Ice Gem drop that can be exchanged for credits, with more valuable Gems being dropped by higher level War NPCs.

We might be implementing a drop armor from War NPCs, but that depends on how much art Nightwraith and Charfade get done- you may have noticed that the areas are pretty art-heavy and Nightwraith and Charfade can only do so much with the hours in a day!

Also, the NPCs are pretty strong and silent right now, but we will be adding in the battle text soon! Maybe I’ll even take some time this week to write even more conversation into their text!

The Night Before Juloffenblotten

On Juloffenblotten Eve, the Citizens were busy

with shopping and gifting, all in a tizzy

Buying weapons and gift wrap and fruitcake- Half Price!

All the children were proving that they could be nice!

For on Juloffenblotten Eve, the old folks all tell,

comes Titanfraggr, ringing his shiny glass bell.

“You must leave out your shoes” say the grandmums and dads

“And make sure that you try to be good and not bad.

For if you are not rowdy and do as you’re told,

and keep your word as precious as gold

the man from the mountain will come down at night

with yummy lute berries to fill up your shoes tight

Also, copper wire! Such valuable stuff!

Titanfraggr knows all, and will give you enough.

But if you are wicked, deceitful and bad,

you will lose those shoes that you once had.

He’ll take your shoes, all the shoes, one by one

and give them away to a child who has none.

Instead of shoes, bad children will find

rusted old nails, and bitter orange rind.”

Children all try to earn Titanfraggr’s grace

so leave bacon and coffee to stuff in his face!

So tonight Titanfraggr on his toboggan will ride

With his robot termites by his side

And over the ground his steeds they run

By name he calls them, one by one

You can’t really hear him, so it comes out quite jumbled

so this part of the poem is usually mumbled.

But whatever their names, they pull this man

for they are the most magical landsalmon.

His eyes how they glow! His skin, abiotic!

His copper gauntlets he keeps cationic.

He is lanky and lean, with his beard so impressive

He counts all the shoes in a manner obsessive

And as the sun rises, Titanfraggr disappears

for he won’t return, ‘least not ‘til next year.

Tags: Cinderella Juloffenblotten Frysteland War drops NPCs Armor Yeti Krampus Titanfraggr

December 15, 2011

Hi 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

November 22, 2011

Preparing for Juloffenblotten

If you follow our Fearless Leader Titan on Twitter, you saw he spilled the beans on the name of EpicDuel’s Winter Celebration: Juloffenblotten! Citizens all over Delta V are preparing for the holiday filled with joy and cheer, and the Krampus traders will be trekking southward from their northern mountain homes to sell their wares to Delta V’s citizens, including the adorable baby yeti pet!

I want to clear up some confusion about the name of the celebration. I am speaking not of the origin in-world, but my creative process. The term “Juloffenblotten” is Scandinavian in origin- the word itself comes from “Julofferfest” which refers to the Yuletide celebration, and “blot” (pronounced like “bloat”) which is a Swedish word referring to a solemn and significant celebration or feast. Nightwraith and I used Scandinavian references while brainstorming the celebration- the Krampus being one example- and we wanted a name that distinguishes that EpicDuel does not take place in the AQW in-game universe. Delta V is not Lore, and her citizens do not celebrate Frostval. There was some speculation that the name was in reference to something with extremely horrific implications, and I can assure you that this is not the case.

Yuletide Celebrations!

One of the happiest times of the year, Juloffenblotten is a time for family, friendship, and gift exchanges! An element you might recognize from your own planet is the figure of a magical bearded man, who breaks into your house at night and rewards children for their good behavior with gifts.

Who is this mysterious gift-giver? It has to be Titanfraggr!

Titanfraggr, as any child raised on Delta V will tell you, rewards good children by filling their shoes with copper wire and lute berries- a very rare fruit that grows around Titan’s home. They are not tasty, but are high in nutrients. If, however, a child has been bad, Titanfraggr will replace his or her shoes with rusty bolts and bitter orange rind.

You can learn all about the legend of Titanfraggr in the poem “A Visit From Titanfraggr” which may or may not be read by George Lowe. If we can’t get George Lowe, we’ll just make Nightwraith do it. :3

Baby Yeti

I already mentioned that the Baby Yeti will be sold by Krampus traders after Wednesday's release. He will work in battle as a bot, taking up that slot in your inventory (although if I chew on Titan’s ankles enough, he MIGHT eventually be convinced that the Baby Yeti needs to follow you around in-world as well), and his special attack will be particularly effective against support builds. See, this baby Yeti is teething, and needs to chew on something to soothe his pained gums. The most convenient thing is, of course, your opponent’s bazooka.

The baby yeti will have a varium cost of 1900 Varium, with an as-of-yet undetermined credit price.

However, the baby yeti will not be the only bot offered during the Yule season, so keep watching this space for more information!

Words, Words, Words

We’ve become aware of several bugs and we’ll be rolling out fixes for these issues, such as the war kills leaderboard reading “fame” instead of “war kills”. We’ll be continuing to translate EpicDuel into Portuguese and we hope to have the game translated into Spanish shortly after Thanksgiving.

Thanks!

Our American players will be celebrating Thanksgiving shortly, and I want to wish you all the very best of days. Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, food and fun, and most of all a time to reflect upon the things we are most grateful for in our lives. In uncertain times like these, it’s important to think about the ways that we are lucky. I am thankful in no small way for my friends and coworkers here at AE, and my bosses at on EpicDuel are the best I could ever ask for! And thank you players for playing, and giving me the opportunity to make an awesome game for you. <3

Braaaiiinnnsss....

I promised you zombies, and you’re getting zombies! Insects infested by mind-control parasites!

The cordyceps are entomopathogenic funguses- that is, they live inside and off of insects. The cordyceps are a particularly interesting group of funguses due to the fact that they are able to control the behaviors of their insect host. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infects carpenter ants, and takes over the ant’s brain. The victim will climb up a blade of grass, and latch on with her mandibles- a phenomenon described as her “death grip”. There she will stay until she dies and the fruiting body of the fungus bursts out of her head.

There are other organisms that are able to control their host’s behavior. Parasitic hairworms that infect grasshoppers force the insect to commit suicide by drowning themselves, leaving the worm safe to swim from the host’s drowning body. Lancet liver flukes control ants by forcing them to climb to the top of a blade of grass until they are consumed by the fluke’s preferred host. Gypsy moth caterpillars infected by their baculovirus are compelled to climb to the tops of trees in the rain, and subsequently explode, spreading the viral particles.

Tags: Cinderella Yeti Juloffenblotten Krampus bots zombies

November 15, 2011

A Festive Look Forward

Hello there, EpicDuelists. First off, we’re not sure how much in the way of content we’ll be able to release for you this week. The first update in December is the start of a HUGE EpicDuel event, so we’re all working really really hard on it! Here’s what’s coming up soon!

Improvements, Improvements, Improvements

We’re working on continuing to improve support in-game for the Portuguese language, which will lead to a better gaming experience for our international players.

In the coming weeks, we’ll also be working for improvements in the inventory systems. With collection quests and nice drops from NPCs in the game and coming up, we’ll be integrating solutions for inventory crowding, such as stacking quest items, items that do not take up inventory space, etc. basically to make things easier on you, especially with the big Winter event! In case you were curious, the OneX6 Key will be resellable after the 11-11-11 event ends, but also keep in mind it will never be offered again.

The Krampus

Delta V’s mountain dwellers are a proud warrior people, more used to utilizing guerrilla tactics, or Beast Riding than the decisive and clean killing style of the Shadow Guard. Many of the Krampus were wiped out after Baelius decided to use mountaintop reveal mining on their homes. In an attempt to garner mercy for her people, the King Krampus Andra the Merciful went before Baelius, but her cries were met by the executioner’s blade. Following her death, the Krampus, led by Andra’s widower and infant son, took to running and hiding to escape Baelius’s devastation.

During the Rebellion many years later, some Krampus thought it wise to ally themselves with the Legion as the Guards promised safety to any Krampus who did so. Others, due to the horrors they were subjected to under the Legion joined Oz and the Uprising. Andra’s son, King Callan the Decent, took a true neutral stance until his death during the Haze of Iwona, when an Uprising faction led by Oz’s right-hand man Royce Armand devastated a Krampus village.

Since the Exile, the Krampus have mostly been ignored by Baelius’s forces- the Arctic Guard remains to threaten and control them, but are unable to bring true devastation, and under the rule of the young King Alaric the Technologically Inept they have been able to rebuild their culture- including the resurrection of the ancient art of Beast Riding. Because of their ability to control and train the wild creatures- colloquially known as “yeti”, as well as the corrupted versions you know as Hazards.

The next content update will introduce you to the first Krampus you meet, and you’ll be able to purchase some Krampus weaponry for credits! If you have some varium, you’ll be able to enter battle with your own Baby Yeti!

Who’s an adorable abomination? YOU ARE! 03

Wraith Weapon Errors

If you’ve suffered any inconvenience due to the stat error on the Elite Big 50 or Wraith Repeater, please PM one of us on the ArtixEntertainment forum so we can rectify this issue manually.

No insect facts?

You may or may not know that, in addition to my development and moderating duties, I’m a graduate student. I am turning the DNs in and leaving right for class, so expect a fact about zombie insects for the next DNs!

Tags: Krampus Winter Event Yeti Festivities Cinderella