Rolith
caught a FISH...

March 31th 2009
It's Working*!!!

That's fishing, I mean. I was up late last night working on getting the fishing mingiame working and out for testing. It's got a few small bugs left but most of them are superficial. Fishing introduces to us several big new features, the largest being that we've introduced the ability to attach experince to items. Fishing will require you purchase the Angler armor, which you will need to keep in order to save your fishing level and experince. This is the only item in game that currently uses the new system, but I bet you can see why I'm so excited by it.

Me and Cysero have been working on some changes to Falconreach. The code-side is normally been handled by me and the design by him, but Cysero, being contrary by nature, has decided to flip things around. He's been trying his hand at programming lately, and insists I get some experince laying things out in attractive manners. I guess he'd know best. Expect the tweaks to get released sometime tonight.

We're looking forward to Friday, and we'll be sure to fill you in on what's going to make it out this week besides fishing once we figgure it out ourselves.

*You know... Sorta!

Cysero
Is Sad About
Fishing.

March 27th 2009
ARCHKNIGHT!

We are Live!

First I'd like to point out that Fishing is not coming out today. Rolith lost some work on Archknight, which is today's big release so we are going to get that out next week.

We DO have a very very special treat for you guys. We are very happy to release ARCHKNIGHT in DragonFable. Archknight was the semi-game that Artix built by himself between making AQ and DF. Archknight tells the story of the young Ash Dragonblade and his adventures as he tries to become a knight. All the art has been redone but the story is as classic as ever and if you like the AE style of humor... you might not after this. The phrase "Too Much Of A Good Thing" comes to mind.

In order to play Archknight, you will have to talk to Ash in Falconreach and activate him on your character screen. You will only be able to do this if you have a Dragon Amulet or you are a Guardian in AQ who has verified their guardianship in DF.

Once you have activated Ash, just go back to the Character select screen, and choose ASH, down there at the bottom of your list!

Archknight is a completely seperate part of Dragon Fable, however, playing as Ash you can still come to visit me in my Superstor of Savings, buy DC weapons to equip and you can even buy Inventory slots!

We promised this to you a LONG time ago and thanks to Geo, Rolith and Ghost (who animated ALL of the hilarious cutscenes in Ash's adventures) we can finally say that we are living up to that promise.

This is just the beginning for Ash. This is JUST the opening quest of Archknight and we have a lot more coming for you next week!

Remember that this is for both Dragonlords AND Guardians, so if you haven't upgraded EITHER of those accounts yet... what are you waiting for? You really don't want to miss living Ash's adventures as they are released! Although, Ash will be in the game to stay... Playing this release with everyone else, AS IT IS RELEASED is a once in a lifetime oppritunity and I promise you that you don't want to miss it.

In other DF news, Zeuster is continuing to test your determination to find the origins of elemental Bacon! This week his task is a simple one... babysit some chickencow hatchlings. That's it. Just take them to visit their family and don't lose any of them along the way. Simple.... right? .... RIGHT?!

Make your way east from Falconreach and talk to Valencia to start or continue the Zeuster qyest chain which is just getting better and better.

I'm sorry that we don't have a new popsprocket quest for you this week either, but we haven't forgotten about Yix and the other outcast gnomes. We will return to the steam-punk gear-powered city soon.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy Archknight and the new Zeuster quest!

Cysero
Is A Suitor!

March 26th 2009
Mrs. Cysero

I wanted to tell you guys that fishing is coming along SWIMMINGLY, Archknight is kicking some serious Ash (to Rolith's chagrin), and the Zeuster quest has uh... it's, like... hmm... I can't think of a Chickencow pun. The Zeuster quest is doing fine.

I'm excited about the release but let's talk about something that is even MORE exciting, to me. I got engaged yesterday.

Let me set the scene for ya: Yesterday around 9:30 PM my girlfriend arrives at our apartment to find that I had spider webbed the entire apartment with red yarn!

"What's all this?" she asked, grinning.
"I made you something fun!" I answered, grinning even more."You start there where I tied it to the door handle and follow the yarn, see what you find!". This is how the mind of a video game designer works, I suppose. Everything has to be a game.

Here are some pics of my apartment all yarned up.

Yarn1
Yarn2
Yarn3

She followed the yarn until she got to the coffee table where she discovered the top portion of a letter explaining exactly what an amazing person she is, how rare and beautiful, what a great friend and why I have never been happier and could never be with anyone but her. The rest of the letter had been ripped off at the first paragraph... she kept following the yarn and found the next part of the letter inside the fridge, the next was on the shower head, the next was inside our closet and the final one was in a high cabinet above the stove.

The letter ended with "I have almost all the answers I need, but that only leaves just one question unasked..."

She turned around to see my hand raised in the air between us above both of our heads. I opened my hand and out dropped a diamond ring, tied to my ring finger by another small piece of red yarn.

I dropped to one knee and asked her if she would do me the imense honor of becoming my bride and wife, and allowing me to be her husband. She said yes, and my girlfriend became my fiance'. Funny how one questions can change so much.

It was a complete surprise to her! She's a very smart cookie and fooling her was one of the greatest acomplishments of my life. How did I pull it off, you ask? Let me tell you.

Last Saturday I told her that I had to help my mom move some boxes full of papers from her office, so I vanished for a few hours. Actually I went to the jewelry store and I picked out the ring that suited my girlfriend, and the diamond that she deserves (i'd been through a lot of interesting ring options for the last few months but I kept coming back to a perfect, brilliant diamond of rare quality... because that's her to a T. Perfect, Brilliant, Rare). I knew what I wanted when I got there, more or less... it was just a matter of finding it. When I came back to our apartment, she was suspicious... but my story was very reasonable so she put the idea of a ring in the back of her mind, thinking that she was just being overly romantic. She was trying not to get her hopes up.

Heh.

Monday Night, we went to dinner with my mom and my mom dropped a casual "Thanks for helping me with those boxes on Saturday," out there. That confirmed it for my girlfriend so she let go of the idea entirely. The trap was set.... all too easy.

I told her that I had to go in early for "Meetings with Artix" both Tuesday and Weds. In reality, Tuesday morning I was buying a billion meters of red yarn and some nice parchment for the letter. Weds morning I was picking up the finished ring.

I knew that she didn't get home until 9ish on Weds night so I left the lab early and went to her family's house. She has a large family comprised of one mother, four sisters and one brother... They all mean the world to her so I gatherd them all around and asked each one of them if I could marry her. In turn they each excitedly said yes. I stood up, clapped my hands and said "Ok then, this thing is on like Donkey Kong!" and I rushed home to set up the yarn with a few hours to spare.

I finished at around 8, tied the ring to my finger and stuffed my hands in my pockets. That hour and a half wait until she got home was the longest wait of my life. I literally looked at the clock once every 2 minutes, hoping that at least 15 minutes had passed.

Then she finally did arrive, and navigated my yarn maze like some sort of magical ferret or something. She was jumping yarn hurdles and sliding under yarn blockades exactly as deftly as Rolith wouldn't (Rolith and graceful don't get along).

After she agreed to be my wife, we called up a few friends to celebrate with us and went walking around downtown St. petersburg until about 3. After that we headed to an all night diner for some grub and kept celebrating until 7 AM.

I'm very sleepy but I've never been happier.

I would have told you guys what I was planning but she reads the DNs too so I had to keep it hush hush. Very rarely does a plan work out so perfectly.... even the paper ripped exactly the way I wanted it to. Yesterday was one of the happiest, most perfect days of my life and I'm really happy that I can share it with you guys. Thanks for being here.

I love you, Rebekah.

Rolith
has been listening...

March 25th 2009
*Grumble*!!!

The forums seem to have stumbled upon Artix's design notes the other day. Yes, we're hopefully going to get ArchKnight out for you guys this week. We've also decided that all you guardians out there shouldn't be left out of the fun, having made the original Archknight possible! If you've got a guardian-verified DF account you'll going to be able to share in Ash's adventures too

Things are going...well... Engine build 8.0.0 has been up for testing for a few hours and we're looking at fixing all the bugs as we find them. There are other features planned for this engine release, but we're not sure how many we're going to get to.

Ash's adventure gets started THIS WEEK. Can't wait to see your reaction.

There is also a lot to be said towards our fishing minigame. We've all met Mr. Guy, the world famous character stand-in, but have you met Mr. Fish-Nope. You haven't. Cysero just made him. He might show up as an ultra-rare catch though when fishing is released (hopefully) this week.

Also planned for this week is the next part of the Zeuster chain, Alac has a great release planned, but I really don't want to spoil anything, the jokes are too lulz.

ArchKnight and Fishing both have been plans since long before Beta came into existence, and are continuously at the top of our feature request lists from you guys. Adding them has been an extremely rewarding experince, and I'm very happy to get to work with Geo and Cysero to be a part of it. Thank you guys for making it possible, and see you Friday!

Note: To verify your AdventureQuest guardian account, head to this page: AQ Guardian verification

Alac
Was up early...ish

March 22th 2009
Enter the Queen, and prepare for your Doom (or Destiny)!

Wow, we did not expect the war to end so fast! Great job, guys! The Boss war glitch is fixed, and you can now see Safiria in all her dark glory as she swats Zorbak's oversized ego back down to size. She's the war boss, so once she's done dealing with Zorbak, she goes looking for... you. Good luck! The Doom and Destiny weapon upgrades are available now as the war rewards. The new art by Tomix is amazing and can be seen by upgrading to one of the Doom weapons in the Heartless series. If Light is more your style, head over to the Necropolis and see about purifying a Heartless Doom weapon into one of the Brilliant weapons now in the Destiny series.

Have a great rest of the weekend, and we'll see you Monday!

Cysero
Is Not Easily
Boared. HA!

March 20th 2009
SURPRISE! WE'RE EARLY!

How is that for a shock. We spent all of this week working on the fishing Minigame (we now have a a Mr. Fish, who I suppose is Mr. Guy's pet), Archknight (See what Rolith made at 3 AM last night? You need to click on it.) Popsprocket, Rolith's secret project (Adding Mechquest to Facebook... the whole game), The War ending, the new Zeuster quests, the weapons that drop from it, the new weapons for sale in Yulgar's shop and the new Doomies (see below).

That is a LOT to work on and as a result, we nearly killed Ghost with the work backlog. We hit a few snags with Archknight so it won't be released this week... but only because we want it to be perfecto. No new Popsprocket this week, and next week depends entirely on how fast we finish fishing (which I personally have wanted in DF for nearly as long as I've been working on the game).

The end of the war is waiting for you along with the new Doomies (and the new higher level Destiny weapons... no new art for those guys yet) so keep fighting!

This week we've got a new Zeuster quest from valencia where you get to see Yulgar kick a little tail, and you get to clear Falconreach of it's unexpected Tuskmonger infestation. This new quest drops a TON of new weapon rewards, not to mention Yulgar's shop has also had some new cool (and silly) weapons added to it, totaling more than 25 new weapons!

That's a buncha weapons.

Have a good weekend, guys!

Cysero
Knows That
Intruders
Come...
In Thru Der
Windows

March 19th 2009
DOOM

You guys have asked for a revamp of the doomies so Tomix and I (mostly Tomix) were happy to oblige.

New Doomies!

These will be the newest, highest level, MOST POWERFUL doom weapons yet and these upgraded versions will be available for you to upgrade to as soon as the war has been won!

Speaking of weapons, between weapon drops from the new Zeuster quest and new weapons being added to Yulgar's weapon shop (for gold, not DC), we have a grand total of 25 new weapons coming to DF tomorrow! This is one of the biggest weapon caches ever released into DF.

We deffinately have a new Zeuster quest for you, we deffinately DO NOT have a new Popsprocket quest for you (sorry, we hit a bit of a roadblock in production) and we MIGHT have a very special release for the DA holders (Fans of Archknight will be sitting on the edges of their seats for this one), but that really depends on fixing a lot of bugs. We want Ash's adventures to be as fun as the originals and as close to bug free as possible so we may have to postpone the first DF/Archknight release for a week. Keep your fingers crossed and we'll let you know as soon as we know for sure.

I'm sorry that I haven't been writing in the Design Notes as much as usual lately, but some things are changing in the Underground Lab. First I want to congratulate Alac for finally being brought onto the DF staff full time (it's about time) and congratulate Geo as she now has a LOT more creative control over DF. I want to let you guys know that I'm still the final word in DragonFable and I will still be giving it a lot of love. (In fact, I've been thinking about my own Cysero quest string), but Artix has gotten to the point in AQW where he needs a little help or his head will explode.

My new position is Co-Head Of Artix's Head Not Exploding.

Some of you might have noticed that I've been spending more time with you in AQW (usually in Yulgar's attic where I like to hide), talking to you, answering your questions when i can, getting your feedback on what would make the game better, telling you that I won't give you free upgrades and telling you that you can't be mods.

I just want to reassure you that I will still be writing gags and quests and making weapons when I can for DF, but A little more of my brain is being moved into AQW so if you notice things getting a bit sillier there... that's probably just me.

Wanna hear something funny?

I was checking my personal E-mail which is (My Real Name)@gmail.com and I got a letter from UPS telling me that my order from MMO Golf was on it's way to my home in Evans, GA.

Only problem is that I have no interest in golf, I've never been to that site and I don't live in Georgia. I figured there there was someone else out there with my name, so I spent a few minutes using his addresse to track him down and then I gave him a call.

He wasn't there but his mom was. It went like this:

Not My Mom: "Uh... Hello?"
ME: "Hiya, is (Guy's Name Identical To Mine) there?"
Not My Mom: "I'm sorry No, he's in the Bahamas... This is his mother. may...uh.. May I ask whose calling?"
ME: "This may sound a little weird but bear with me. My name is also (My Real Name), the same as your son."
Not My Mom: "..."
ME: "You see, I got a e-mail that was intended for him, and I just want to forward it to him so I tracked down this number to ask for his e-mail address"
Not My Mom: "Ahhhh! That expains it! I saw my son's name on the caller ID but you're not him!"
ME: "No Ma'am, I am very nuch not you son. I have my own mother who isn't you."

She was kind enough to give me her son's e-mail, to which the errant e-missive was forwarded. We talked for a bit about our family name and where her family was from and where I and my family were from. Good fun.

I concluded this: The only thing stranger than talking to someone who has your name, is talking to that guy's mom.

geopetal
/cough

March 17th 2009
The Luck of the Sneevish!

The sneevish are coming out of the woodwork today! Log in now to check out the special holiday mini-zone! It features a new random quest made by Alac as as well as a fight through gold laden sneevilchauns and a Holiday Challenge fight against the Fightin' Sneevish himself!

The wins against the Snulk will count towards the war counter as well! Whoever is in change of those vampiric ghouls is not going to be happy about Zorbak using them...

Rolith
Is Scared...

March 13th 2009
Boo!!!

The sun sets over Falconreach, and we are going live with this month’s Friday the 13th war!

Most of you already knew that one was coming... SURPRISE for those of you who didn’t.

Anyways, as a lot of you know, the Doom and Destiny weapons will be upgraded with this event, however, the upgrades themselves won’t be unlocked until the end of the war. Upgrading the doom weapon will require 13 undead essences, and Artix will be able to cleanse the even more evil weapon for the usual 10 undead slayer badges. How much more powerful can they become before they start affecting you?

The event sees several holiday-themed item shops and quests and we’ll be seeing more as the week passes. We’ll also be releasing a few mid-week next week to go along with our other holiday coming up.

Also this week, we’ve got a new quest at Aeris’ Battle Spire. Akira has been annoyingly boasting about his power to anyone that’ll listen, and to more than a few that couldn’t care. Aeris wants you to show him a thing or too... but can you?

Akira will offer you a trinket if you manage to impress him by surviving his wrath for 5 rounds. 200DC will buy you a trinket that manages to do up to 50% dmg to the enemy.

Rolith
Is SHOCKED...

March 12th 2009
When did Thursday Start?!

Today's a lot later in the week then I thought it was. I genuinly woke up this morning and thought it was Wednesday. I sat at my computer all morning and most of the afternoon thinking it was Wednesday. I worked with the idea that it was Wednesday in mind.

So... It's Thursday. Whoo!

We're going to be releasing the Friday the 13th event tomorrow evening, as the sun sets over the underground lab. Ya know, Hopefully. I'm not looking forward to being around the lab after dark on Friday the 13th with Artix so distracted by his release in AQW so lets see if we can release before 7 server time tomorrow. No promises, but we'll try..

Alac has taken the week off of the bacon chain to help with the Friday the 13th event, but will be adding a bunch of Zeuster-Chain themed items to the DC House Item shops as well as some Sneevilchaun-themed Items for next week's holiday event.. Ghost is also working on a special DC-Only trinket available after you've proven yourself to Akira, the boss in this week's challenge quest created by me, so you KNOW it's going to be hard.

Akira

We're tentatively calling the attack that the trinket unlocks a Chi Bomb, and it will randomly remove up to 50% of the enemy's health, and knock their power down a good bit. Definitely a powerful skill to add to any class if you're a Dragon Lord.

With all the DC content coming out, keep in mind if you're low you can always pick up a few using the AE Extras third party offer program, or picking them up here.

Alac
is far from bored

March 10th 2009
Ask yourself: Do you feel lucky?!

Well, do you? You definitely should, especially if you like more strategic battles, because I've heard some of the plans Rolith and Ghost have been making for the challenge he mentioned in yesterday's Design Note and man, you are going to have FUN! You might want to head over to Reens' Alchemy shop and work on maxing your potion strength a bit, because you are going to need the help.

Speaking of needing help, Zeuster won't be needing yours this week. It's a ChickenCow holiday ("The Festival of Udder Delight" is a huge celebration) and he is focused on letting his supplicants properly adore him. While he's off enjoying the fawning and compliments, I'll be preparing for the rest of the quests in the Zeuster chain. Ghost has a cutscene for next week's quest that he's working on, and I think it will keep you from being boared. Er, bored.

If you haven't guessed yet, all 12 of the Labors of Hercules will be referenced in some way, one quest per labor. That means we're almost done with the chain, but we have a ways to go yet! With Tomix and Ghost churning out fantastic cutscenes, art, and animation for it, you have a lot left to look forward to!

Friday the 13th is almost here, and you better prepare for Doooooomtastic damage, because the Doom weapons ARE getting buffed. You'll want to have a Light weapons on hand, though, because war is coming to Falconreach! It's been a while since the last Friday the 13th war, and the undead are restless.

St. Patrick's Day is also coming up! There will be at least one or two mini-quests for you to do once that holiday arrives, along with rewards for it.

The Popsprocket, PenPal, and Zeuster quest chains will all resume next week, so prepare for some funny and fantastical stories in the weeks to come! And don't forget, the start of Archknight in the next few weeks.

Rolith
Is still caughing....

March 9th 2009
We're Un-Live

This week’s going to be FUN

Cysero is off, taking a much deserved and needed vacation. He’ll be gone all week. That means there will be no continuation in the Popsprocket chain until next week.

The Underground Lab’s Undead Plague hit me over the weekend, but I’ve recovered thoroughly enough to be in the office today, but a few members of the team weren’t as lucky as I and haven’t recovered enough to be back to the lab. Geo happens to be one of them. Wish her well on the forums!

So... No Cysero... No Geo... Huh... Why do I have the urge to laugh manically all the sudden?

Of course, Alac’s also working on her stuff, but me and her are the only developers working on DF today. She’s working on Friday the 13, and perhaps another Zuster quest this week.

We were supposed to be releasing the fishing minigame this week. It was going to be my project while Geo worked on the Friday the 13th event and doom weapon upgrades. However, before Cysero left for his vacation... I sorta... perhaps forgot to get the art resources we’ve been accumulating for the past few weeks from him. Rather than trying to re-gather them and risk missing one of his or Tomix’s great catches I am going to put it off for the week when Cysero gets back.

What that does mean, is I need a DragonFable project this week, and seeing as I’m pretty much evil, I’ve decided to do something for those of you who are asking for increased challenges in the game. Togicides are fun forum challenges where you all get to work together to solve a collective puzzle, but that’s not the point of this challenge, which will pit you against a monster that will grow in power each time he is defeated in battle. How long can you go? How much power will he obtain before he can best you?

Find out, on the next release of DragonFable!

Rolith
Is Sleepy.

March 6th 2009
We're Live

This week’s release is live!

Popsprocket has two new quests. Yix has you attempting to block Sepulchure’s advance into the city, fighting perhaps one of the funniest monsters in AE history, in spite of the fact that it’s also one of the laggiest monsters in game so far too. Also in Popsprocket, we’ve got another episode in the Penpal storyline. Zapp, scorn by Snou, has found an interesting botanist that you may have met before. Since you’re the reason his last correspondence went sour, he expects you to carry his first letter for him.

We’ll also be seeing the release of the Gnomish Personal Steamtank, a extremely powerful armor full of some exceptional skills. Art was done by Tomix, and it was animated by Ghost. It’s going to go on sale inside the Weapon shop in Popsprocket right after release for a price of 1500 DCs (Previously I had said the price was for this weekend only, I was mistaken, the price will be at 1500 DCs permanently. Sorry for the mix up.)

The next quest in the Bacon quest chain is one I’ve wanted to see done since the storyline was first proposed. A lot of you have seen this coming since you first figured out the theme for the whole thing. Death’s Relm, we’re finally going to see it! And perhaps someone’s going to cash in on a favor or two. Or since he’s death? Maybe he’ll just decided to maw you a bit.

Thus ends the normal release design notes… now on to something a bit weird!

Tonight... On Behind the Developer...

Back in 2007, the world was fresh and new, the bugs were plentiful, and the schedule was tighter then even now (Which is saying something).

In the Lime Light, the Developers and NPCs took the glory and admiration in good stride. They did however, seldom mention the little people that made it possible. Little People like “The Underpaid Test Guy”

Mr. Guy got some recognition, the red blob that filled in behind the scenes, letting the Player Characters sit in their comfortable trailers, watching TO (TeleOrb) and talking on their magic mirrors. He made brief appearances on the Design Notes, as well as the forums before doing the normal talk show, fan art, and fan fiction circuit. His short lived rise to fame, though, was more than The Underpaid Test Guy could hope for in his long career of taking test hits from monsters.

Ghost, Test Guy’s father of sorts, needed a person to assure proper camera angles and perspective during the countless action scenes that litter DragonFable on any given week. Of course, this was more stress and strain then the elite NPCs and PCs could take, so it seemed another job for a faceless helper-character to fill. Mr. Guy was stuck in a California Star Trek, Star Wars, Anime, 80s Cartoons, and Flash Based Video Game convention, and couldn’t be flown in for it... So Ghost was forced to McGiver it, grabbing a helmet and the failed cloning device, he disappeared into his mountaintop lab for a afternoon and emerged with UTG. Some say he was a failed experiment.

Some say he can beat anyone still left in American Idol (How shocking... all he would have to do is NOT sign.). Some say he's the smartest person on the planet. We just call him the UTG.

UTG has no sense of pain, or time. He cannot feel lonely, or loved. But does that mean he couldn’t feel death? Well... Uh... Ghost didn’t think so. Perhaps, though, the last monster he was up against may have been a bit too much.

Rolith
Finds the underground lab creepy at night...

March 5th 2009
So this happened:

Most of you guys realize that on a typical Monday, when we arrive for the long elevator ride down to the secret underground lab (It’s bigger on the inside then on the outside) we usually aren’t exactly sure what we’ll be working on that week. Sure there are some long term projects (Dragesvard Inn, Warlic Zone revisions, Fixing the Quest Log), and some LONG LONG term projects (ArchKnight, Fishing Minigame, Mana Potions) but the typical week involves a lot of responding to demands, needs and who’s available to work on what.

That’s one of my favorite parts of working at Artix Entertainment... and least favorite at the same time. And that’s why I’m both terrified and extremely excited by the calendar which Geo has claimed her own, though indeed is full of long term and short term deadlines for yours truly (as well as the rest of DF staff). Cysero suggested getting strings and hanging it from the roof over my head so it matched literally and physically.

We now have a clear plan as to when ArchKnight will finally get into game (Mark YOUR calendars for the end of THIS month, cause you’re not going to want to miss this if you’re a Dragon Amulet holder!) as well as longer-ranging plans for how extremely busy we’ll be when you guys get out of school. That’s right, when you guys are getting to enjoy a nice long break, we gear up, apply our caffeine buffs, and make sure our laptops are in good repair for our biggest releases.

Forum question: When does your summer break start?

As for this week, as its Thursday there’s a rough idea of what’s getting released. I’ve just finished performing a nice little buff on the GPS Tank that will be released this week (1500 DCs for THIS WEEKEND ONLY, then it increases to 2000DCs). I’ll post details on the buff on the forums when I’ve finished testing them. We’ll be seeing another quest in the Pen Pal chain.

The next quest in the Bacon saga is also coming out. Zuster’s feeling the itch of benevolence again, and since the ointment didn’t work, he’s decided to just scratch it. Wonder if you’ll get out of this one alive… not that it’ll matter where you’re going.

Artix let the news slip a little early on the AQW Design Notes, but next week we will indeed be buffing the Doom weapons! How much more powerful can they get before their darkness begins to be more then the hero can take? We will be seeing a more...traditional...Friday the Thirteenth event as well. That's not saying it dosn't have a twist or two up it's sleaves though.

Cysero
Is Not A
Fan Of Price
Gouging.

March 3rd 2009
How do we do it?! VOLUME!

In response to popular demand, and the fact that that price was a little unreasonable... we've decided to cut the price of the Gnomish Personal Steamtank (or GPS for short) by 25%.

Yup. the price is going from 2000 DC down to 1500 DC. It may seem like that is still a lot but knocking 500 dragon coins off the price is actually pretty good.

It's still worth the price, but hopefully this will make it a little more affordable for most of you.

Rolith has asked me to add the missing skill to the list.

15 - Scatter Shot - 100% attack normally, 150% attack to Blinded enemies.( 0 Turn Cooldown, 0 Mana)

Tomix wanted to tease you guys with a little sneak peak of one of the upcoming enemies in the Zeuster chain. Some of you may recognize him from AQ (i'm sure you're very good friends) but he has a brand new look for DF.

Don't Fear Him

Rolith
Is humming the Doctor Who theme(Thanks Cysero)...

March 2th 2009
Sorta Normal Monday Post!!!

 So a lot of you have asked for details on the Gnomish Personal Steamtank I’ve been working on throughout the weekend.  Just for a warning, the Numbers given below are FIRST ROUND OF STAFF TESTING.  They’re subject to change.  We’ll keep you informed if we do any buffs/nerfs to them. Remember, this armor will go on sale this Friday, and will cost 2000DCs.  Looking carefully, the strategists out there will see stacking a few of these skills together will lead to some epic damage numbers, unleashing walls of destruction on your enemies.

GPS Skills:

1 - Attack –100% Ranged Attack

2 - Shield –80% Block 2 Turns
(5 Turn Cooldown / 20 Mana)

3 - Cannonball Run! –Charges into the enemy, dealing 2 hits at 75% Dmg each(150% Dmg Hit).
(3 Turn Cooldown/10 Mana) - Available after any successful attack.

4 –Stun –100% Hit, Stun for 3 rounds.
(15 Turn Cooldown/20 Mana)

5 –Fire AOE –100% Fire Dmg to all monsters.
(5 Turn Cooldown/10 Mana)

6 –Frighteningly Big Gun –100% Crit, 5% Bonus Damage
(20 Turn Cooldown/10 Mana)

7 –Nanobots –5 Turn H.O.T. 10% Health Regained a turn
(10 Turn Cooldown/30 Mana)

8 –Blind –-50% Bonus to enemy for 2 turns
(3 Turn Cooldown/10 Mana)

9 –Biohazard –5 Turn D.O.T. 10% Weapon Dmg / 5 Turn Mana H.O.T. 5% a turn.
(6 Turn Cooldown/0 Mana)

10 –Boiling Point –70% Dmg attack + Consumes Biohazard and deals rest of it’s dmg all at once.
(10 Turn Cooldown/30 Mana)

11 –Pew! Pew! –80% Dmg attack, -20 to boost -10 to bonus 3 turn debuff.
(5 Turn Cooldown/10 mana)

12 –Burn –75% Dmg and 2 turns of 10% dmg (5% bonus if Pew!Pew! debuff is active.)
(0 Turn Cooldown/5 Mana)

13 –Overdrive –3 turn 100% Crit buff.
(10 Turn Cooldown/25 Mana)

14 –Self Destruct –125% AOE Attack (10% Bonus for every DOT on target)
(20 Turn Cooldown/0 Mana) –50% health lost.

Rolith
Is REALLY into stats...

March 1th 2009
Super Special Sunday Design Notes!!! (SSSDNs for short)

Now, I'm sure a few of you are curious why I'd be posting on a Sunday. Well, as I'm finishing up the GPS(Gmonish Personal Steamtank) skills I figgured I'd take some time and fill you in on what's on my plate this week.

It's not even Monday and I've got several projects lined up on my plate. Just a note: Just because they're on my plate this week dosn't mean we'll be seeing them released.

First of all, we'll be testing the GPS mount all next week to make sure it's fully functional and well worth it's cost (2000 DC). Trust me, Ghost's animations are ROCKING and this class will have some of the best stategic skills in game if you play your turns right.

Next - Cysero, Tomix, and I have for WEEKS been working on and off again on a Fishing minigame. This will take place on the waters behind Falconreach, both Cysero and I are HUGE fans of the fishing minigames in other video games, so we both have wanted to see this happen for a long time.

The minigame in the Pipe Dreams quest has gotten a few interesting comments, and I'd really like to build it out into a full minigame, or at the very least add a few more levels and hopefully release it as a house item.

There are also plans for a large amount of work to be done on some zones. Cysero and Me both want to see lag reduction in both Falconreach and Warlic's zone. Hopefully we can make this happen. Also - We'll be changing some back end functionality to stop a lot of the glitches that happen when you start in a seperate town and return to Falconreach.

Again, these are my plans pre-Monday planning meetings. They're all subject to change as things often do, but I've been out of the loop and figgured I'd share what I'm looking at with you guys.