EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

April 04, 2012

Go East, Young Nightwraith

Nightwraith here, delivering you some delectable design notes on this week's EpicDuel release. The ED crew is short-staffed at the moment, as I will be attending PAX East, the premiere gaming convention on the East coast and hopefully having more fun than a barrel full of fun while absorbing secret learnings from the game industry's best and brightest. Expect incessant tweets from me about various awesome things throughout the weekend!

Upgrades

Titan is wading knee-deep through the game code, updating it to Flash CS5.5. We've mentioned this happening awhile back, I'm sure, but the game has finally reached the point where CS3 is simply too limited to allow us to make forward process in developing EpicDuel. Titan is quickly moving system by system to get the game to publish in Flashplayer 11, which will (hopefully) mean a smoother gameplay experience for everyone and allow us to  gear up to building the new features you guys really care about. 

Hunt for Mods

As the flow of mod applications has slowed, we've been able to catch up to just about all the  potential mod candidates.  The process has stalled a bit since I will be out of the lab with questionable internet connectivity until Monday.  For those who have received interviews, congratulations on making it that far in the process, and sorry the process has been drawn out as long as it has.    

Artist Livestream

Log in today at 4pm server time to AQW to see J6 draw a brand spanking new weapon in-game livestream art event! While you watch, send him suggestions by replying to Alina's Twitter account, @alina_ae! The item will be put into an AQW shop after the event so you can wield what J6 has crafted!

Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks to see even more livestream events from AQW artists! EpicDuel will also be streaming on our Epic Livestream Channel throughout the following weeks as we ramp up for a mysterious summer event! Oooooo!

Mission

To give you guys some time to complete the Bionic Battalion Missions and slake the thirst of those eager for more, Cinderella has added several more missions to various NPCs across Delta V.  Their rewards are succulent, so seek them out, post-haste! (After the Friday update, that is!)

Hard Knocks

A few weeks ago we conducted a Livestream Q&A featuring the entire EpicDuel development staff, and the response was overwhelming.  We talked, sung, drew, and answered questions for 3 hours and still didn't get to all of your questions!  There was one question in particular that seems to strike a chord with some, and that question was concerning our college education and what recommendations we would make for aspiring game developers seeking to expand their minds.

Based on some e-mails we received from concerned players, I am afraid that we may have come off as unsupportive of higher education, but this could not be further from the truth. After all, without college, Titan and Nightwraith never would have met and there would be no EpicDuel. Nearly everyone at AE has some form of higher education, with several having attained or in the process of pursuing advanced degrees.  Many of our Moderators are also pursuing degrees.  Most positions at major game companies require at least a Bachelor's Degree.

What we were attempting to convey in our response to the questions about higher education was a reflection on our own experiences and the value we gleaned from our own respective degree programs.  In our experience, college coursework was only a part of a much broader skill set we needed to compile in order to begin work on a project like EpicDuel.  Hundreds of hours of outside training and cold experience were needed to get the game's art and code to what it is today.  To use a gaming metaphor, if life is an RPG, you will need to do a lot of grinding in addition to the main storyline quests in order to defeat the final boss easily.

The fact remains that the video game industry is very competitive, and one cannot rely on coursework alone to secure a job in the field.   There are also many for whom college is either inaccessible, or not the best learning environment.  We would not want to close the door on game design for those without financial resources or lackluster academic records.  While there are some universities that offer specific game design programs, many of these are either very expensive or so specific in their curriculum that switching majors if interests change is nearly impossible.  A good college education can be the foundation of a great career, but it is not a guarantee.

Again, it was not our intention to steer people away from higher education, and we are sorry if you interpreted our answer as such.  The Livestream event was meant to be unscripted and candid, so perhaps we could have measured our responses more carefully and made it more clear that we were speaking only from our own experiences, and not offering blanket advice for everyone in all circumstances.  Only human, and all that.  Education, like anything in life, will yield the most benefits to those who are actively engaged in its pursuit.

Tags: Nightwraith Missions pricing CS5 programming education

March 28, 2012

March Marches Away

Hi there EpicDuelists! It’s your friendly neighborhood Cinderella, here to let you know about what we’ve got on the agenda for this week.

Bunnies and April Fools

All the classic April Fools / Bunny-themed weapons and armors will be returning this update. Will Nightwraith’s BioDerp weapons (seen here: http://twitpic.com/8sj6wq) be placed in-game? I don’t know! Will there be a new bunny-type auxiliary weapon or sidearm? Maybe! Maybe we can bug Nightwraith to "Make it so!"

These items and more will be available at Naomi in Central Station or Titan in the Bazaar!

Item Stat Rebalance

If you saw our livestream on Sunday, you know that RabbleFroth is rebalancing the stat modifiers and damage of the items in the game based on price, level, and damage. Since he didn’t put details in his document to which I have access *shakes fist at the sky* I don’t yet have the details for you. Unless he posted it in the forum and I missed it. The basic idea is that a standardized formula will be applied to all weapons to determine their power to eliminate the problem of having a clear "best" item at any given level. This forumula will give items a steadier power curve for each level.

MEESHUNS!

The Bionic Battalion Saga will be continuing this week. Brachylagus and Capensis are not the only rabbits preparing themselves for battle: Myxoma will have her day as well. It’s come to her attention that little clueless Lepus is still in the Biological Preserve, and Myxoma needs your help in preparing a rescue mission for Lepus.

We may also be adding some new perma-missions, but I haven’t written any yet you’ll have to search for them! Like a treasure hunt!

Where’s Nightwraith?

You may notice that our resident murderer-for-hire with a heart of gold is missing from his normal hangout. You’ll be able to find him this week in HeroSmash, where he’s been transported due to a personal teleporter accident (that's what happens when you text and warp!). Be sure to check out his special HeroSmash gear, designed by Randor the Red, and his reaction to the world of HeroSmash.

Nightwraith will be selling his awesome armor on Friday and will remain in for one week.  Rumor has it that he may return for one day in November, but you never know. Those teleportation devices are notoriously finicky. Timey-whimey and all that.

Stay tuned to the HeroSmash Design Notes for more information!

Gently Down the Livestream

Thank you to all of our wonderful players who participated in the first EpicDuel Artists livestream where all the EpicDuel development staff were in attendance! It was really great to be able to answer some of your questions, and you gave us a lot of ideas! Hopefully, our listeners got a better insight into the development process, as well! The whole thing is still available to view on the EpicDuel Artists channel on Livestream so check it out!

In related news, give us your requests for songs we’ll be forced to sing well in advance. I think I still owe you guys, like, 5 songs. 

I Can Has Mod?

The call for Moderators is still ongoing- we’ve already made a list of some of the people we want to schedule an interview with, and we’ll be adding to that list as fast as I’m able to type it. Remember, patience is a vitrue we value when considering potential moderators, so sending e-mails asking if we've read your resume yet will affect our judgement of your application.

Tags: Cinderella Missions Item Balance Bunnies April Fools Nightwraith Moderators

March 20, 2012

Hi there Epic Duelists! I had the awesome idea of writing design notes from my phone (or rather I was bored during my office hours; if you are my student: visit meeeeeeee!) so please forgive any devious Auto Corrects. This update is going to be pretty story heavy, so those of you who like story are in for a treat (warning: contains me).


Bunny Battles

Over the past week, thanks to your assistance, Mr. Cottontail has been able to construct two rabbit Battle Suits: one for leporid Capensis and one for the Captain Brachylagus. However, the suit lacks an on board computer system; Mr. Cottontail needs the assistance of his colleague -- fan-beloved character Ulysses to program the suits. Mr. Cottontail has informed Ulysses that you will be more than happy to assist him in anything is needs.

This quest line also takes you around to other sciencey-type people all over Delta V... For Science!

Beautified

Nightwraith isn't going to just be busy with everything I'm giving him for the missions (and there is quite a bit) but several screens are also getting a facelift this week. No longer will these areas be stuck in the recesses of 2009!

Getting Buff

As you know, the Mercenary class was scheduled to receive a buff, but that didn't happen then. But this is not then, it is now! Mercenaries will be receiving a new passive skill affecting rage. I don't have all the details yet, so keep watching this space for more info!

My Fair Lady

A new (to you) face being introduced this update is Ulysses' lovely companion Galatea. After Ulysses lost his eyes in the Incident, surgeon and laser enthusiast (a diamond is a girl's best friend when it's being used to focus a plasma beam) replaced them for him free of charge. Since then, she has remained loyal to the inventor and grew to become the Apple of his cybernetic eye.

What Gall!

A gall is a fleshy outcropping of plant material, usually caused by an insect or fungal parasite, although parasitic plants such as mistletoe can cause galls on the host. Insects that cause galls form them as microhabitats, and the gall provides protection, a starchy food source and a home for the insect. Typically, gall-forming insects live in the gall as larvae and emerge as adults, although this is not necessarily the case in eusocial gall aphids. Insects that cause galls include gall wasps, gall midges, gall flies, and gall aphids. I just learned today that mites, small arachnids closely related to spiders, also form galls in black cherry.

Call for Mods

We have so many qualified applicants for the available positions! The call is still open, but just a reminder: we are not looking for developers, just mods and testers. Any applications lacking a resume/CV will not be accepted, nor will any applications submitted by those under the age of eighteen.

Tags: Cinderella balance Mercenaries Bunnies! War Missions Achievements Ulysses Mythology

February 22, 2012

Heartbreaker Saga Continues

For this round of missions, report first to NegaWraith for your orders. This will be a very dangerous endeavor for all those involved, mostly because you will be tangling with Alydriah's fearsome Alydroids! However, bringing down Alydriah’s citadel is worth the effort and the risk.

The time has come for action, Exiles. Administrator 12’s Legion Resistance has made all the necessary preparations. If you haven’t completed the Heartbreaker missions thus far, you’ll want to complete these missions prior to going forward.

This will also lead to the explosive conclusion of the Heartbreaker Saga, and its associated rewards.

From Broken to Mint

It seems like a lot of players are really enjoying the PvP drops. Have you won anything awesome this week? This week, to increase the excitement, we are adding a new class of item to the PvP drops: broken items! This may not seem like a bonus at first, but these weapons will be versions of Varium weapons, and some genius- say Ulysses- might be able to repair them to full functionality for a small Varium fee that is a % of the regular purchase price.

Founder Appreciation

With the EpicDuel anniversary coming up, we would like to give our Founders a special reward. In thanks for supporting us when we were a small project made by two young men working out of a two-bedroom apartment. Today, our staff has doubled and we work out of a small office. Movin’ on up, baby!

In appreciation of those who supported us in the early days, we are giving every Founder and Elite player a special item: the Founder Bike! Those with the Founder achievement will be able to ride in style on this exclusive hoverbike.  You can acquire this exclusive item by visiting Negawraith (who has been kind enough to stash these bikes) in Fortune City and taking the bike from his inventory.

Tags: Cinderella Heartbreaker NegaWraith Founders Broken Weapons PvP Drops Missions Bike

February 01, 2012

Hey Fellas, Have You Heard the News?

If you haven’t, that’s what the Design Notes are for! The Frysteland Arc is coming to a close- and I’ll thank all of you a billion times for making EpicDuel’s first in-game War a success! Now, though, we’re moving on to the next arc, the Heartbreaker Saga. This will be a month-long story arc, and arguably the darkest thing I have ever written for EpicDuel, so I’m excited. Are you excited?

Dream Maker

This week marks the release of another Player Suggestion Shop. Once Nightwraith has them all drawn, I’ll post the names of all the players whose dreams have come true by having a design in EpicDuel.  Nightwraith promised to draw until his hands are withered claws, so we should have a hefty amount of items for all classes.

Remember, all players whose designs are implemented in game will receive their item (regardless of price, level, or item type), as well as the EpicArtist Achievement!

Epic Artists

The results are in!  The following is a list of contributors to this suggestion shop.  This was one of the best batches yet so keep up the good work!

Despair - VectosAE
Rust Runeblade - Shasonic1
Hero's Heart Broadsword - Reki
Hero's Heart Mutating weapon - Reki
Crysaliss - Reki
Dragon's Breath - Reki
Hazard Blaster - Reki
Caterpillar Bugzooka - vypie
Dark Varium Blaster - vypie
Surgical Slicer - vypie
Toxic Chompers -vypie
Energy Steering Device- vypie
Golden Draconic Axe - Ganzdemon
Spirit Scythe - theraplawyers
Spirit Pike - theraplawyers

If your suggestion didn't make it in this time, take this as an opportunity to improve and submit new designs for future suggestions shops. It's also possible that we really liked your idea, but didn't have time to include it in this release. Eithery way, the next suggestion shop can't come soon enough!

Lost and Found!

Ever wonder what’s the best weapon for your level, or wonder where your opponent got that cool item? Just ask the Finderbot! The Finderbot is programmed with statistics on all of the items in EpicDuel, and he’s sorted them by level and type, with numerous filter options, so you’ll be able to find the gear you need much faster!

Preview Missions

I’m still writing the first missions that will introduce the Heartbreaker Arc, but I can tell you that you’ll need to start out in Old Fortune City to receive your first orders from the Exile Soldier and Exile Leader. Watch my Twitter for more info about where to go for story missions this week!

Sweet Insect Facts

Recently, honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies have been in decline worldwide. The odd syndrome (named Colony Collapse Disorder) causes the almost sudden disappearance of workers from the hive in a short amount of time- this is caused by the worker bees leaving the colony when they recognize that they are diseased.

The current hypothesis for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder is that it it is caused by several simultaneous plagues afflicting the bees, and with international bee commerce (eg. purchase of royal jelly from hives in China, import and export of hives across continents) the plague has a much higher rate of infection. A good candidate for a viral plague is the Deformed Wing Virus, which is spread by parasitic mites, Varroa destructor, who prey upon apian pupae. The pesticides used to control mite populations may increase sensitivity to DWV, but treated hives are less likely to succumb to Colony Collapse Disorder.

Tags: Cinderella Finderbot Suggestion Shop Weapons Items Heartbreaker Missions

January 18, 2012

Winter Wrap-Up

We’re coming down to the end game for the Frysteland Conflict. Again, a BIG thanks to the thousands of you who supported us during this in-game war. Remember that the War for Frysteland will remain active until January 27th, at which point the winning side will be announced and the Aftermath ensue as planned.

We do want to hold off on announcing any rewards for being on the winning side due to the issues we’ve had with “turncoats”- we want to encourage you to support your side, even if you don’t end up victorious in the end, and we will be adding incentives toward that end. Also, I know that many players wanted us to extend the Frysteland War, but we have a lot planned for the Aftermath and the next storyline! After all, if a special event lasts too long, it's no longer a special event, is it?

The Aftermath

We’re stockpiling content for a big release next week, including the missions for the Aftermath. Implementing a war event is quite challenging, so removing one and transforming the world is also an ordeal. Legion and Exile are still battling, so we still must prepare for either outcome! I have quite a bit written already, including a bunch of new missions, but your actions can completely change what happens during the Aftermath. During this period and beyond, the Frysteland NPCs will behave as normal NPCs (with the exception of the Boss NPCs).

In addition, we’ll be adding a bunch of PERMANENT Frysteland weapons for your battling pleasure!

Factions Going on a Diet!

The War for Frysteland has given us a great opportunity to reflect on our Faction/Alignment system and its role in EpicDuel's gameplay.  We have concluded that Factions are great, but almost incomprehensibly confusing.  War Points, War Flags, Influence, War Kills, Token Donations, etc are mysteries to all but the most hardcore players. We really loved the simplicity of the War event being one number that goes up with all players being able to easily view their individual contribution. Thus, one of our goals for the new year is to retool and streamline Faction scoring to better integrate all the disparate systems into each other. We'll be posting more to clarify exactly what changes we're making and how they'll effect the Legion/Exile conflict, Factions, and individual players.

You’re a Heartbreaker

We’ll be bringing back the Heartbreaker weapons in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. We’re also hard at work preparing for our next Epic storyline! I’m really REALLY excited about this one, folks. So far, we’ve started dealing with some pretty interesting issues, including the nature of the identity of one of the characters you already know and love!

Challenging!

By popular request, and to halt the issue with dummying, challenge battles will no longer count toward your win record. This will also allow people to test builds against friends for fun, or to test builds. You will not receive credits, experience, or battle tokens for challenge battles, they will just be for fun or for completing challenge missions. Random battles will still count toward your battle record, as will normal NPC fights.

Where Are the Bots?

A lot of players have been asking about the lack of credit-only bots, and the simple answer is that adding bots with the current system is extremely difficult. All the bots do not work like regular weapons -- they use custom code that is very complex and inefficient. Bots are an amazing feature and we would love to fill the game with tons of unique bots with crazy skills and attacks, so this is a frustrating situation for us as well as they players.  One of the programming team's short-term goals is to streamline the code for bots to make them easier to add. Once this happens, we can increase the quantity and quality of bots to provide both Varium and credit-only players with equal opportunities to acquire powerful bots.

Alydriah Descarl Opposes Free Expression!

In his Design Notes post, Cysero established that ArtixEntertainment is against SOPA/PIPA. These are bills introduced in the US legislature that seek to prevent online piracy, but represent a gross abuse of power by the United States Government. These bills, if passed, would give the US government the power to take down websites suspected of hosting copyrighted material without due process. For example, Twitter could be taken down because of one user using a comic book character (like, say, Batman or Deadpool). Individual web users face serious consequences as well, with performance of a copyrighted work (eg. a video of yourself covering a popular song) becoming a felony with punishments up to 5 years in federal prison. Even works that fall under Fair Use or Satire or derivative works face serious legal consequences.

This could spell doom for a company like ArtixEntertainment, because- while we do not support piracy or distribution of materials to which you do not own the copyright- our games are filled with popular culture references. Games like HeroSmash and Pony vs. Pony are just one big pop culture reference! EpicDuel is not immune- we have several references to other media (eg. the “Cake” achievement references Portal, Banana armor and Too Big! reference Don Hertzfeldt, The Lawman shares his name with a Motorhead song and is a dead ringer for Lemmy Killmister). Also, you could face legal penalties for recording yourself battling in EpicDuel, adding a song to the background, and posting it on YouTube. This is a serious issue, and I hope that, if you’re in the US, you will urge your congressperson to vote AGAINST SOPA and PIPA. You can learn more on Americancensorship.org 

If we don't defeat SOPA and PIPA, the Internet will become a much smaller, less interesting, and ultimately less useful place.

Tags: Cinderella SOPA PIPA Freedom Frysteland War bots turncoats aftermath Missions Weapons Items

November 08, 2011

A Delicious Part of Your Balanced Breakfast

We meet again, EpicDuelists. How did you like our Monday update? I hope you’re enjoying the new quests, low-level bazookas, and Guy Fawkes masks all the cool kids are wearing. And we have more stuff ready to come your way this week!

So, let’s get right on down to our milk and cereal!

You’re older than you’ve ever been, and now you’re even older...

So have you figured out what’s so special about this Friday? Besides that it’s all 11’s? Why, it’s Nightwraith’s birthday, of course! Our wonderful creative lead Nightwraith is older than he’s ever been, and he’s celebrating it with you! Some of the denizens of Delta V- the ElectroHazard, Hank, Charfade, Big Tuna and Cinderella, to be exact- have teamed up to throw our fearless creative leader a surprise party! Between mischievous squidlings running off with his presents, a backlog of orders of exactly 11 slices of cake and other misadventures, battling Nightwraith will give players an 11% chance of a dropped item, the OneX6 Key, which unlocks Nightwraith’s personal stash!

Level 34! Limited time only seasonal rares!

This release is a bit more complicated than most.  In order to access Nightwraith's personal stash, available in the new ArmoryBots across Delta V, you'll need to collect the OneX6 Key.

You can obtain this key as an 11% drop from Nightwraith if you accept the OneX6 Key mission, or purchase it from him outright.

This is just one of many ArmoryBots across Delta V in the Barrens, Fortune City, Central Station, the Biological Preserve, and the Minetower.  They all have the same inventory, but we felt it would keep screen populations down to have more options.

Portuguese Support

You may have seen that part of the delay of the last update involved incorporating support for Portuguese into EpicDuel as a step towards making our game friendlier for our International Player Community. Titan and Hudelf will be working on translation, localization, and special characters. The system they are building is especially exciting because it will make adding additional languages in the future very easy, and provide a template for localizing the other AE games! Hopefully we won’t lose visuals on our text. Again. D:

The Arctic Guard

Baelius’s presence is felt all over Delta V, including its frigid and mountainous Northern Continent. Protecting both the miners working in the dangerous conditions- including the great carnivorous Beasts as well as Delta V’s indigenous mountain people- and Baelius’s interests are the Arctic Guard, specially trained soldiers who are well prepared to deal with the frigid temperatures the Northlands offer.

The leader of the Arctic Guard is one Arctic Outpost Commander Edgar Boothe. As a young man, Boothe rapidly rose to prominence in the Shadow Guard. Perhaps because of his tactical skills, or maybe because of his handsome appearance, he quickly caught the eye of Alydriah Descarl. She assigned him a command position in the frozen Northlands- something about it just seemed... right.

Commander Boothe is one of the characters you’ll be interacting with closely during the winter event, as well as helping to shape his destiny.

Balance Adjustments

We’re still planning on readjusting the Tactical Mercenary skill tree, but due to the addition of support for Portuguese language, I’m told it is unlikely to be released this week.

I can confirm adjustments to Frenzy and Smoke Screen. Following this update, Smoke Screen will now have a Support requirement. Frenzy should be a little less powerful after this update, as the healing factor will no longer take into account the damage adjustment, which was what we intended in the first place, but it was not working correctly for some reason. The practical effect of this is that Frenzy will heal you for less than it did before.

New Identity

I'd also like to make a quick announcement that our Mod and tester formerly known as Rainaka, is now known officially as Lycus!  His green name should update by the new release!

Paper or Plastic?

Certain social wasps build their nests out of cellulose fiber that’s been wetted and crushed, then reconstituted (a material known better to you as “paper”). The families of wasp that do so are the yellowjackets and paper wasps.

 Members of the genus Polistes are the most common and recognizable type of paper wasp. The European paper wasp is often mistaken for a yellowjacket, due to the similar yellow and black coloration. However, they can be distinguished from yellowjackets due to their more slender figures and long legs which dangle distinctively during flight. Colonies are founded by a single female or a small group of often, though not exclusively, related females. The foundress lays her eggs directly into the hexagonal cells of the nest, and she and her sisters will feed the emerging larvae by regurgitating masticated caterpillar flesh. In the early summer, workers emerge and co-foundresses are often exiled to found their own nests. Males emerge from the broods during the reproductive phase of the colony, along with reproductive females, and colonial cohesion breaks down, with intercolonial aggression increasing. Over the winter, the colony huddles together in a hibernative state.

One type of paper wasp, the Mexican Honey Wasp, is one of the only insects other than bees that produce honey. These dark golden-brown and yellow wasps construct paper nests and produce honey from plant nectar in the same fashion as honeybees. This honey is the larvae’s sole food source and is also consumed by humans, although the nectar from some plants can result in the honey being toxic.

Tags: Titan 11-11-11 Nightwraith Cinderella Missions balance Portuguese Achievements Loot

November 03, 2011

Hi there EpicDuelists, I am super-excited about all of the awesome things coming your way in the week(s) ahead! I don’t even have a witty intro paragraph- let’s dive right in!

Low-Level Love

As awesome and dedicated as our players at or near the level cap are, the vast majority of our players are in the lower levels, so to give new players a more dynamic EpicDuel experience, Charfade’s made a whole arsenal of low-level bazookas for your dueling pleasure! And I’ve written a bunch of new quests- available from Exile Soldier, Habuki, Steve 2.0, Junker 2.0, and ConductorBot- that should help lower-level players get their duel on! If you’re inexperienced, you cannot pass up these sweet rewards!

High-level? We’ll have some nice stuff for you too, especially with our next minievent. Although I suppose you could do these missions as well, there’s certainly nobody stopping you. And if there was, it would be the level 3 guards.

Remember, Remember...

Bonus! Celebrate Guy Fawkes Day a day early with these festive, but sinister masks!  "Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot"

Harvest Wrap-Up

Harvest Wrap-Up, Harvest Wrap-Up! Let’s finish our Autumn cheer, ‘cause soon Winter will be here!

Harvest gear, quests, etc. will be available until 11/11/11- what’s so important about that day, you ask? Besides the fact that it’s made entirely of elevens,

I’m not sure what makes your face implode, but that’s how this is gonna work.

We’ll be working on a new, experimental feature coming soon to EpicDuel in the coming weeks. I’ll be working very closely with Nythera for this, and I’m actually not too sure how it’ll work yet, so watch this space as we hammer out the kinks!

Winter Preview

As we’re leaving the Harvest behind, we’re all ecstatic to get started working on the next big holiday.  Even in the Dead of Winter, Citizens of Delta V are still able to find reasons to celebrate, and Players will have much to celebrate, since we’ll be able to have full quest chains for this event!

We’ll also be introducing players to new people and a new (to the Players) world. During this event, you’ll be introduced to new allies (and new enemies!) and have a chance to permanently affect the planet’s balance by your actions!

If you follow Nightwraith on Twitter, you’ve been seeing some of his concepts for the new enemies you’ll be facing- the SnowHazards and Frostbiters. The SnowHazards are large and keep warm underneath their thick layers of soft, thick fur, while the Frostbiters are slender and well adapted to navigating the bitter cold ice floes. Both of these creatures were created much like the Hazards- wild creatures were corrupted by Legion scientists, and overtook the wild populations within a few generations. You’ll be called upon to challenge these horrifying Beasts soon enough.

It’s truly incredible to be making something that inspires so much creativity, and seeing the characters you imagined come to life. Nightwraith just showed me his sketches for some of the characters I’d created, and it’s a truly unbelievable and unique experience to see how he’s interpreted my words and brought them to life.

We’ve also been working on a special gift for the players for this release, but this is one we’ll keep tight under wraps!

Mod Packs and Artix Logo t-shirts available at HeroMart

Is your torso suffering from perpetual lack of coverage? Do you need a t-shirt? Maybe one that has a dragon logo on it? If so, then- by golly- you’re in luck! Artix Entertainment Logo t-shirts are now available at HeroMart. For $19.99 plus shipping, you too can look as cool as Dage the Evil!

In addition, the Artix Entertainment Trading Card Game Chaos Mod Pack and DoomWood Mod Pack are now available at both Toys-R-Us and HeroMart. When both packs are purchased, players earn the powerful Paladin Slayer class in Adventure Quest Worlds!

Child’s Play 2011

Tis the season for generosity, and yesterday marked the official launch of Child’s Play Charity’s Holiday Season. Founded by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade fame in 2003, the charity has sent close to nine million dollars in toys, games, and books to children’s hospitals worldwide. The Charity works in two ways: donors can view a hospital’s wish list on Amazon and purchase a gift for the hospital directly, or they can donate directly to the charity via PayPal. When gamers unite, they can make a huge difference, and we hope that some of our players with room in their hearts can spare a thought for a sick child. 

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Insects have limited ability to regulate their internal temperature, and have several mechanisms for surviving in low temperatures. One such mechanism utilized by insects and other arthropods is diapause- a state of dormancy characterized by the seizure of certain metabolic processes and lack of responsiveness to external stimuli. During the induction phase which occurs at a genetically predetermined stage of life, the insect is particularly sensitive to external stimuli in the form of light, temperature, or food chemicals. The Preparation phase follows the induction phase and is characterized by storage of food molecules within the insect’s body to prepare for Initiation of diapause. This is when morphological development ceases, and other physilogical changes take place to prepare the insect’s body for freezing cold. This may be accompanied by behavioral changes, such as the aggregating behavior of Monarch butterflies, who cluster together for warmth following a mass migration. The period of diapause is called the Maintenance phase, and when environmental conditions are once again favorable for growth and development.

Tags: Cinderella Child's Play Charity low level Missions Dage HeroMart merchandise bazookas

October 20, 2011

 

We are releasing two limited-time Harvest mutating weapons, the Spectral Reaper and the Harvest Reaper. These powerful weapons change class with you!  The Spectral Reaper features an energy club, energy blades, and a physical staff, while the Harvest Reaper can become physical blades, a physical club, or an energy staff.

Tags: Cinderella harvest Mutate Level Cap Missions Secrets

October 13, 2011

Boo!

Hi there, EpicDuelists! Hope I didn’t scare you! With Halloween just around the corner, we have some scary and sweet things in store for all you players! This Harvest Festival (which will involve several updates) should be full of yummy treats for players (and only a few tricks ;3 ).

First, some Treats!

If you’ve been following me on Twitter or the ArtixEntertainment forums, you know that, due to my wide creative streak, my talent for wordsmithing, or (most likely) my willingness to work a full-time job for no money (seriously, guys, you can at least subsidize my caffeine habit), I have inherited the storyline of EpicDuel. We haven’t had a designated writer for the game in quite a while, and having a writer means that things like story arcs, plot lines, and missions will be coming out at a faster rate.

My first assignment was to write a few missions for EpicDuel's Harvest Festival, and players will be able to complete several new quests, with unique attributes and special rewards!

Most of these quests have to do with the Candy Harvest. An amalgamation of harvest tradition from the colonists’ home planets, young citizens of Delta V were encouraged to wear masks and collect candy from their friends and neighbors. The giving of sweets represents the sharing of joys in life, the masks represent generosity to all, regardless of who they are to you, and prosperity. All players, including low level players, will be able to visit Steve 1.0 in Central Station to earn a unique achievement, or visit Brunson outside the Mine Tower to collect some ingredients for his Mama’s Pumpkin Pie.

There are sweet treats for our higher-level players as well! Collect some candy from several shopkeepers for Naomi Page in exchange for a handsome sum of Battle Tokens!

But not all is light and sweetness. The indigenous people of Delta V celebrate the Harvest Festival very differently- as the Harvest of Souls. Delta V’s native people believe that the souls of the dead can only enter the Afterlife one day a year. The living collect and display bones and all other things dark and distressing, along with brightly-colored flowers, rich clothes and delicious food. This juxtaposition of the frightening with the familiar is both to celebrate the lives of those who passed during the year as well as to ease the dead into the Afterlife.

The weapons dealer beneath the Mine Tower is a member of Delta V’s native people, and hides his identity behind a mask depicting the indigenous War God, Snortivit, from whom he takes the name “Snork”. In exchange for a certain amount of won battles, Snork may be convinced to part with one of his special designs, a valuable and rare weapon, exclusively available from this quest!

I’m super excited to get started on some longer story arcs, fleshing out the world’s mythos, and working with Nightwraith to bring the characters to life!

Stay tuned for more supernaturally awesome quests next week!

Tricksy Playerses...

In addition to all of those things listed above, you’ll be able to trick your friends by hiding behind one of 30 (!) new hairstyles!  There are credit only and credit + Varium styles!

Also, Hudelf has something in his bag of tricks for you- the retrain revamp is HOPEFULLY being released! I know many of the players were getting impatient, but it ended up needing a little more care.  We'll see if the EpicDuel programming team can work some miracles tomorrow!

We’ll be continuing with balance updates, including a slight revamp to the Tactical Mercenary skill tree in the coming weeks. I know many of our players were upset by the addition of requirements to the Tactical Mercenary skill tree, but when 40% of high level players are playing as one class, and defenses of the class reveal that there are only a handful of highly-specific builds that can defeat one build of the class (while being completely weak to any other build the class can put together), there’s something wrong with the class. Which class one choses should not determine the winner before the battle has even begun.

As for the revamp of Feld Medic, we determined that support and Field Medic were being abused to a point which was frustrating and painfully unfair to other builds. However, we are going to look at the speed at which the skill improves with level, and see if we need to make it improve faster.

With the new adjustments, we’ll also be reexamining the level range for Juggernaut battles for future releases.

*** Stay tuned for more Harvest releases as we move into the month of October! ***

They Might be Giants in AQW

To celebrate AQW’s third birthday, AQW is running a special event with special guests They Might be Giants! On October 14th, Join Us for a very special two-week event “The Collector”. The Collector collects special people before their greatest moments, from not only Lore but other worlds as well (maybe someone from Delta V?) Read more about it on the Event Page and the AQW Design Notes!

They Call Me Doctor Worm

Good Morning! How are you? I’m Doctor Worm!

Insects and worms are often studied together (being abundant invertebrates), so this week, we’ll be talking about Earthworms! Earthworms belong to the class Oligochaeta in phylum Annelida (round, segmented worms). Their bodies mainly consist of a tubular digestive system surrounded by a muscular outer body formed of segments. They move by means of waves of muscular contractions to shorten and lengthen the body. They are covered with tiny bristles that act as claws, allowing them to tunnel through soil- which, along with decaying plant matter, make up their diet. Worms have a variable number of “hearts” (technically aortic arches) which pump blood through their simple closed circulatory system. They do not have separate sexes, and baby worms reach adulthood within one year. Worms live for 4-8 years in the wild.

An interesting attribute about worms is their ability to regenerate lost segments, and it is theoretically possible to grow two whole worms from a worm cut in half. 

Tags: Cinderella TMBG retrain balance styles Halloween harvest Missions Achievements Weapons

May 11, 2011

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

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

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

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

Other Stuff!

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 03, 2011

Here at Delta V, we’re hard at work making everything nice and shiny for Spring! Firstly, if there’s anything EpicDuelists hate, it’s laaaaag. Well, Titan’s been combatting the lag- I’m not exactly sure how, but I assume that it has something to do with feeding the server hamsters pure caffeine.  The performance improvements will have the added bonus of stopping would-be hackers in their tracks. Meanwhile, the Biodome is getting a long-needed graphical facelift.

Welcome Cinderella!

Also improving the Biodome’s appearance is the new NPC Cinderella. A scientist studying the unique and precious remaining life on Delta V (for example, the Bio Hazards aren’t mean, they’re just hungry!), she spends most of her time in the Biological Preserve, collecting samples and conducting experiments on their brains. Best not get on her bad side, or you might be the subject of her next journal article...

Mission Drops!

Administrator 12 needs things, but he’s often too busy with bureaucratic work to get anything done. So, he’s begun farming out the work- to you! Hunt down Oz and “persuade” him to give you a key card...

Also, don’t throw away that red gem or golden bullets- they’ll be useful for future missions in which they can be exchanged for awesome rewards!

HeroMart Offer!

Coming very soon to HeroMart, it’s the brand new EpicDuel Poster designed by the talented Randor the Red! Give EpicDuel a special place in your heart (and on your wall) by purchasing it directly from HeroMart!

 Oooh... pretty.

 *

If that weren’t enough, everyone who buys an EpicDuel poster will get the Bionic Bear Bike!  This is an exclusive rare which is ONLY available with purchase of the poster.  But that's not all: we'll also be offering an in-game version on the poster for your Epic dwellings in addition to a nice fat credit bonus!

We'll be offering signed and unsigned posters for all your Epic-decor needs.  This is a limited poster run, so you would be wise to pick one up as soon as possible.

*Poster frame not included.

Coming Soon...

Mission Improvements

We’re developing few new features to make missions more fun and functional. We’ve fixed the level requirement bug for missions, and we’re introducing a new Mission Log feature. I know I get annoyed at having to constantly check back to find out I still need one more win, so the Mission Tracker will make all of our lives easier. Now you’ll be able to see:

• Which mission you’re currently completing
• Which NPC assigned said mission
• Which missions you’ve already completed

You’ll also be able to abandon a mission without going back to the NPC, or starting a new mission.

This also allows us to build a prerequisite system for missions. Simply put, we’re implementing a system where unlocking the next step of a mission requires that you’ve completed the step before it.

Tags: Cinderella posters HeroMart Bionic Bear lag Missions

April 27, 2011

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

Tags: april fool's banana Fame Card Game Missions Titan Achievements

March 25, 2011

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