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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.
Nightwraith

July 25, 2013

Here Come the Juggernauts

Sorry for the wait, but starting tomorrow, Juggernauts will be able to participate in Dread War and earn influence. This is not because we hate Juggernauts -- if anything, they represent the hardest of the hardcore EpicDuelists, able to take down two foes singlehandedly! No, this was because of a boring technical reason. Since Juggernauts could only start battle from the Slayer and Influence is only earned by fighting on a War Objective screen, Juggernauts were locked by location on a non-Objective screen. We plan to remedy this by adding a Juggernaut button to the main interface, right next to 1v1 and 2v2. This should also give the feature some much-needed exposure. I'm sure many new duelists don't even know it exists!

Starting tomorrow, instead of battling from Slayer, Juggernauts (anyone owning Slayer's Silver or Gold Skull Cards) will be able to engage a Juggernaut battle from any screen! Sound good to you? I thought so!

Juggernaut

Are you ready for Juggernauts?


Alignment matching

Rabblefroth is hard at work refining the Legion vs. Exile matchmaking system to heavily prioritize alignment when choosing opponents and allies for Duels. We understand that many are concerned that this change could make matches painfully slow to find and we are aware of this. Hopefully, with enough variables at our disposal we can easily fine-tune the system if matches are too slow or imbalanced.

As I'm writing this, Rabblefroth is still building and testing this feature. It is of the utmost importance that it be tested thoroughly so I'm not sure yet if it will go live tomorrow. Be sure to follow our Twitter feeds for the latest updates!

 

More Dynamic Objective Screens

To make the war feel more tactile, we've updated over 60 screens (including battle backgrounds) to show Legion or Exile content depending on the alignment controlling the War Objective. This gives us a tremendous amount of control for each screen -- we can even change the active content such as NPCs!

Admin 11 Captured!

Administrator 11 just got busted!

Influence Tracking

I've seen a lot of questions on Twitter and in the forums about the specific numbers for each achievement level for the regional war achievements. Your questions can now be answered in our handy new influence tracker, accessible from the Delta V world map.

Influence Chart Button

Just click this button!

From this new interface you will be able to see your current level of regional achievement as well as how many more points you need to achieve the next level!

Influence Tracker

I've got a long way to go!

We like this new system so much, that we are making it the start of a long-awaited revamp to the Achievement system.

 

Capture the Spirit!

In addition to the regional war achievements, we are introducing another evolving achievement: the War Objective Capture achievement! This achievement is awarded to players who participate in the capture of a War Objective up to an hour before the Objective is officially captured. Do you have enough conquering spirit to reach the highest level?

Objective Captured!

Claim the world!

 

Meet the AE Team this weekend

MetroCon 2013

Direct from Artix's Design Note post!

Want to meet the team and talk about video games? The Metrocon Convention in taking place this weekend at the convention center in Tampa, FL. The Artix Entertainment team & I will be running a panel on Saturday. They gave us a 2-hour time slot. Hahaha, boy are they going to be sorry. Maybe we can have the staff fight to the death for your amusement. Or maybe we will make a game. Or maybe we can... hmmm, we will think of something. We hope you will come join us!

Artix Entertainment Panel at Metrocon this weekend

I hope to see you there!

Tags: Nightwraith War Factions Alignments Matchmaking Juggernaut Influence Achievements


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


Cinderella

May 17, 2011

Juggernaut 2.0

Jug Hugs!

Thank you so much for helping us test our new battle mode! We DO read your feedback, and we’re fixing up the mode. We really needed a large-scale test of the system (as fun as it was for the four of us, we don’t represent the game at large), so thank you!  As a reward, all of the players who help test the feature by purchasing a Gold Skull Card during this week will receive the super-rare Battle Tested Achievement! Good news for rare hunters too: the Gold Skull Card is going to be marked as “RARE” and will increase your rarity score.

 Battle Tested and Juggernaut

The Battle Tested (1600 RP) and Juggernaut (2000 RP) Achievements!

The Silver Skull Card

Since it’s not entirely fair to let Varium players have all the fun, we’re opening up Juggernaut mode to Credit players too, with the NEW Silver Skull Card. Now, for a number of Credits, ANYONE over level 20 will be able to play this unique battle mode... from the other side! MWAHAHAHA! *cough* Sorry about that.

 Silver Skull

Bug Smashing

As with ANYTHING new, there’s bound to be problems, and Titan’s been hard at work to fix them all for you! Starting with this update, you’ll be able to see your Juggernaut record on your stats page.  Addtionally, many of the glitches with creating a Juggernaut battle have been fixed.  We’ve also fixed the damage issue with low percentage hits. You may have noticed that sometimes moves like Cheap Shot, Berzerker, or Rage attacks were showing damage along the lines of 0-2-1 or other very low damage markers. Well, no longer will you hit for 0 damage!

 

Matching Sets

In addition, a lot of you have been complaining about the level range for Juggernaut battle. Originally, how we’d set it up was the Juggernaut’s level, subtract 9 and then add or subtract 2 to that, and that’s how you’d match other players. But, that didn’t present enough of a challenge for the Juggernaut, and serves to discourage lower-level players from playing team battles. We’re altering the matching system to increase the level of the Juggernaut underdog by 2 and increase the range by 1. So now, instead of a level 33 Juggernaut facing two players from 22-26 the Juggernaut will face two players in the 23-28 range, which should solve this problem. 

 

Back to the Hutch!

Bye Eggzookas!

With this update, the Egg-zooka promotional items are going RARE!  Congratulations to all who got these awesome weapons.  Hopefully they will serve you in battle for many duels to come.  With the 'zookas coming out of the game, the new promo item for summer will be...

 

Boom! Headshot!

Simply Stunning

Some of our players have suggested a weapon that has a unique battle move, and we thought that idea was really cool! So, after sending those adorable bunnies back to their little hutches, we’ll be introducing the promotional Stun Cannon and Stun Blaster with a 5% chance to stun! These beasty and beautiful sidearms will be available as soon as go live with the update with purchase of the $50 varium package!

To accomodate for the greater opportunity to stun available to all players who own these guns, we have complely removed the defense reduction on stunned players (previously -15%).  Also, the stun chance on the gun will not be affected by Shadow Arts.

Tags: Achievements Juggernaut Battle Mode battle tested free stuff Cinderella


Cinderella

May 11, 2011

I'm the Juggernaut!

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!

WHEN: Friday, May 13th @ sunset
WHO: Musical Guest Star Voltaire, the AQW Team & YOU!
WHY: "In the wild west... your foes are the unluckiest!"
WHERE:

AdventureQuest Worlds... in-game! 

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

 

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