EpicDuel - Free PVP MMORPG

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.
Cinderella

February 01, 2012

Heartbreaker Preview

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


Cinderella

June 01, 2011

Player Suggestion Shop

Hi there, EpicDuelists! How was your weekend? The DNs are a little bit late this week due to the Memorial Day holiday.

 

Player Suggestion Shop

Thank you to all the artists who submitted pieces to the Weapons/Items Suggestion thread in the BattleOn! Forums! We had a great time looking through all of your submitted artworks, and I want to remind you that we’ll be looking at Player Suggestions in the future as well. So, even if we didn’t pick your art this time around, don’t put those pencils down!

Again, the artists whose submissions were chosen receive the item in their inventories as well as the EpicArtist achievement. For everybody else, you’ll be able to purchase these awesome items from Naomi Page in Central Station!

WEAPONS!

The contributors are, in no particular order:

Marauder Boomstick: Order
Chainstaff: Veneeria
Imperial Warstaff: Veneeria
Oblivion Staff: Veneeria
Ancient Warstaff:Freestyle
Wraith Reavers:Veerdin Wraith
Touch of Agony: Freestyle
Circle of Pain: Veneeria
Royal War Blades:Electrik Dynomyte
Electro Axe: Dillbagel
Duty Calls: Veneeria
Junker Maul:BloodRainbow
Exile War Sword: Eternal Black Knight
Legion War Sword: Eternal Black Knight
Super Plasma Cleaver: Veneeria
Blade of Generating: Dillbagel
Kraken Reaper: Lord Giratina

Congratulations!  You earned your achievements and free weapons with your EPIC creativity!

 

Good-bye Gamma...

We’re almost ready to phase out this era of EpicDuel. We don’t have a date set, but it should be coming sometime in the early summer! What’s coming during Delta? For one thing, the Gamma Gear (ie the Gamma Bike and Gamma Bot) will be going permanently rare, as will the Gamma achievement- so grab that cheevo while you still can!

There are other evolutions coming during Delta...

Delta!

Class Evolutions

Not only is the game evolving, but so are you! We’re bringing new evolutions to our current classes in the form of three new classes, that will be available by using the Class Change feature!

 

Blood Mage: This fierce class is a brawler who’s not afraid to dish out the pain. The Blood Mage is more melee-focused than previous incarnations of the Mage, and not afraid to get their hands dirty...

 

Cyber Hunter: These bounty hunters started experimenting by infusing themselves with more technology, becoming a powerful amalgamation of flesh and metal...

 

War Master: Truly skilled warriors are able to learn from their opponents, and nowhere is this better exemplified than by the War Masters. Utilizing the brute strength, cunning, and technological prowess of their enemies, this player is truly the War Master...

 

Before we release these new classes, we will be conducting extensive testing to make sure they’re not overpowered, as balance is still (and always will be) a pertinent issue in a PvP game.

 

I’ll be able to give you more details as they become available to me. Thank you so much for being with us in our testing phase and joining us in the continued evolution of EpicDuel! 

Tags: Cinderella Suggestion Shop Gamma Delta classes evolution preview


Cinderella

May 25, 2011

Time for Pudding?

Hey EpicDuelists! It’s that time of the week again! Time for pudding? No, silly, it’s time for the EpicDuel Design Notes! Although I could go for some pudding...

 

Website Improvements

You may notice something different about the website (or not, depending on when the DNs go live). Nightwraith and Charfade have been hard at work making everything more attractive and functional. This is still the same EpicDuel you know and love (new look, same great taste...). 

 

Mission Log!

We promised it two weeks ago, but it proved to be a little more complex than initially anticipated. We’re implementing a new Mission Log. Now you’ll be able to see which NPC you should return to, your progress on the current mission, and the mission reward.  In a future release (as soon as next week) you'll be able to view all of your completed missions.

In this release, you’ll also be able to abandon a mission if you’re having trouble or decided not to complete the mission after all. Valery doesn’t need those guns THAT badly...

Mission Log

What do all those little buttons do?  The green, circular button refreshes the mission status.  This lets you know your current progress.  

The green arrow button allows you to jump to the NPC that gave you the mission at any time.  This makes those pesky errand missions much less of a pain in the legs.  

The red slashy circle behind the exclaimation point allows you to cancel the mission from anywhere, at an time.  You can also still cancel a mission my accepting another one (You can't take more than one mission at a time.  I guess citizens of Delta V can't multitask!).

 

Mission Log!

The Administrator 12 has a new mission for you in Fortune City.  This is a tough one so grab your best gear and prepare to take on the Lawman himself!  

I fought the LAW

Client List

 

Slash Commands

You may notice that the mission log button has replaced the Actions button.  This button was fine for a time, but the interface has become very conjested with all of our features.  To compromise, we made it possible to access the various actions with slash commands.  We've found it's actually much easier than picking out a button and provides more opportunities for super-secret actions in the future! /mysterious

Here is list of all the current slash commands.  Simply enter these into the chat window and press Enter to perform them. (Note: These commands do not work in battle or PM windows)

/jump 
/giggity
/wave
/bow
/point
/judo
/flex
/kick
/pushups
/fight
/die
/dance 

 

Juggernaut Improvements

Thank you for all of your concerns about the balancing for Juggernaut battles. While we’re holding off on adding a Juggernaut button to the bottom of the screen, we are changing up the balance to make it better for the Underdogs. We’re raising the Underdog range up 2 levels. Meaning that a level 33 Juggernaut will now be facing a team with the level range of 25-30. A quick way to know the levels your character could face in a Juggernaut battle is to take your level and subtract 3 and 8- that will give your Underdog level range!

 

Bug Smashing!

We’ve fixed the "CHECK POINT FAIL 6" bug that was related to skill warmups.  What on Delta V does that mean?  Have you ever been in a battle, clicked a skill, and nothing happened?  Annoying, huh?  That's CHECK POINT FAIL 6.

Another great fix is the elimination of the Admin Kick 100 and 101 errors.  These were happening when players received the "Battle Failed to Start" error while battling from a house or Faction HQ.  

Admin Kick 115 still remains elusive.  Let us know on the forums if you see it happen.

We've also fixed the daily leaderboard bug that incorrectly displays win %.

 

Looking Forward...

On a happier note, we’d anticipated a portion of this update that should make our players happy. However, the sheer volume is so large that we need a bit more time to draw all of them. “All of what?” you ask? Well, next week we’re setting up a new Player Suggestion Shop! Some of our lucky players will have their items featured in-game, and receive the Epic Artist achievement as well as their item! 

Thank you for your continued support, suggestions, and criticism!

Tags: Bug Fixes mission log Juggernaut Suggestion Shop website Cinderella

 

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