Cysero
Is Rolling With The Punches.

May 9th, 2008
Speedbumps

Sorry guys, We just got back online after a minor technical catastrophe at the secret undergroud lab. I won't say that it's my fault exactly... lets just say that I have quite a lot of socks, and someone left the sock cages open after feeding time, and if you've ever wondered what a sock's favorite food is... ethernet cord is a safe guess.

As a result the DF release may be slightly later than usual, but we will try our hardest to get the quests out to you in a timely manor. Bear with us.

Thanks!

Cysero
Doesn't Want The World. He Just Wants Your Half.

May 8th, 2008
Classic AE!

Wow.

*Blows the dust off the Design Notes*

I guess it's been a while since we posted anything. Sorry about that. Things have been a little nuts around here. Still working on this week's release... the next chapter of the Doomwood: Necropolis zone. You and Artix start by tossing monkey wrenches into Necromancy University's Build-A-Beast Workshop (where you will get a chance to spawn your own randomly created monstrosity!).

Geo is also working on a special quest for Valencia. Hope you're good at puzzles.

One of the reasons that things have been so crazy this week was that we were interviwewed over the phone for a weekly gaming podcast. By we I mean Artix, Galanoth, Warlic, Safiria, and myself. Some other people were in the room but decided to stay all quiet. *glares at Rolith*. It hasn't been released but as soon as it is (and I like the way we sound) I'll link you guys to it.

Some of you have noticed that Ballyhoo has returned to town. I know that 50 free gold isn't a great reward for you rich-as-anything level 40 players, but there are a lot of lower level players who think gold is too hard to come by, and who would complain about free gold? We thought we would give them a hand.

Rolith is waving his arms in the air and telling me to let you all know that the necromancer class armor will NOT be coming out this weekend.

I've got a lot more work to do on this week's quest so off I go back into my TMBG, Coulton, SweetAfton23, Regina Spektor, Katy Perry, Sabbath, Cake and Random Other Stuff work coma!

Rolith
Running a little behind.

May 4th, 2008
Hey, it's still the 3rd somewhere!

Let us just say that sometimes, things don't go as planned. As big as this week's release was, there shouldn't have been anything stopping us from getting the Lymcrest floors out to you guys Friday night. But, as a few of you saw earlier today when we thought we were ready to go, there was just something not working for us this week! Call it bad luck, or call it karma for having swiped the last outback roll last time we got sushi. But after seeing this I think most will agree it was probably a good idea for us to take the new quest offline and do some much needed bug fixing.

Thank you all for your patience. Not 100% of the bugs may be sorted out at this point, but we think we've got the big ones. Some monsters may decide they want to ignore the laws of physics and walk through an occasional wall, but who are we to stop them? We just happen to be doing exactly the same thing this week, after all!

Cysero
Is Confident No Items Will Vanish!

Rolith
Nobody Likes his style...

May 2st, 2008
The Bank Job

The release is mostly live!

For those of you who forgot, let me remind you.

THIS WEEK:
* The Falconreach Bank with 5 free item slots for DA holders, and up to 30 buyable slots! (LIVE)
* Continued DeathKnight final balance testing (still live)
* Continued Paladin class armor testing (ditto)
* 5 Brand New levels to the Lymcrest Labyrith (Not Live, yet but it will be by tomorrow morning!)
* 9 Brand New weapons in Cysero's Superstore of Savings! (LIVE and pretty!)
* A new Necropolis Side quest featuring the Doomcrawler! (UNDEAD! (live))
* 3 Brand new helms dropping from the new Doomcrawler quest! (LIVE! and all 3 helms are for any player!)

We tested our brains out to make sure there were absolutely NO cracks in the bank code. We are 100% certain that your items are safe in there! That really saying something for a game as bug prone as ours... but we wouldn't have released something THAT important without being VERY VERY VERY sure!

I spent a few hours putting my valuables in there and trying to get them to erase themselves from existance. I tried HARD. The Bank is safe as a... well, as a bank I guess.

Rolith is working on the Labyrinth floors right now, they floors work fine but he's working on a few methods to make creating them faster for us. He assures me that they will be released tonight sometime.

The 9 new weapons in my shop are some of my favorites that I've ever made, but that is one weaponsmith's opinion. They're really pretty creepy.

I will also mention that the Sandsea Inn is also live. I will ALSO also mention that there is nothing to do there but walk around and talk to people. I like people and I like talking, so I count it as part of the release.

Have a good weekend guys!

Alright, so it's offically the 3rd, but I figured I'd drop in to let you guys know that the new labyrinth floors are going to be a bit later then originally expected. Check back here sometime tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Cysero
Admits, It Was A Bad Hint

May 1st, 2008
OK, So It Is A Bank

It's some new functionality that Rolith has been working on for a while and he's pretty sure that he's got it working. Which is to say, he's pretty sure it won't take all the items that you put in the bank and vanish.

The "Inventory Issue" has been a big one in DF for as long as we can remember and having buyable bag slots really helped but it just wasn't enough. If you have a Dragon Amuelt, (Sorry free players, but inventory takes server space and the DA helps pay for the servers!) starting tomorrow, you will be able to go into the Falconreach Town Hall, speak to Aleisa and use the power of your Dragon Amulet to open your own pocket dimension with 5 FREE extra inventory slots! If that's not enough for you, you will be able to use Dragon Coins to add slots to the bank, up to 30 total slots in addition to your backpack!

One neat function of the bank is how you can use it for stackable items. If you drop a stackable item into the bank (like Defender's Medals or PvP Trophies, etc) then all future drops of that kind will automatically join the stack in the bank. How do we do it? MAGIC!

In addition to the bank we will be continuing both DeathKnight and Paladin class armor testing.

In addition to that I will be adding 9 brand new weapons to my Superstore of Savings (6 of them have a Disease element so bring lots of soap).

In addition to that we will be releasing 5 new levels of the Lymcrest Labyrinth, with some special illusionary walls so keep your eyes peeled.

In addition to that we will also be releasing an unlockable Necropolis side quest. It will be a test of will and a test of power against a new and improved Doomcrawler! You get to select from 10 levels of difficulty ranging from Simple to Impossible! How much can you take?

In addition to that, the Necropolis side quest will drop 3 brand new helms.

In addition to that we will be releasing the Oasis Inn in The Sandsea. There is nothing to do there but you can talk to some of the locals. *shrug*

But really, the big news is the DA only Bank.

Side note: There are a LOT of DF movies on Youtube. People beating me... people beating Artix... people beating us both.... people beating us on their dragons... but one of our players sent this fan video to me and all I can say is... LASER CAT! LAWL!

Cysero
Notes That The More Things Change, The More They Are, In Fact, Different.

April 29th, 2008
Classic AE!

We've been having some E-mail issues lately.

The week before last we sent out the DF mail but we accidentally sent it out from the wrong e-mail address, causing thousands of DF fans to all go "huh?" at the same time. This was not our goal but it was a nice side effect.

Last week we sent out the e-mail from the correct address, however there was another hiccough in the system and several thousand people got the mail twice... three times...in some cases, up to seventeen times. We know that you're excited for the Necropolis zone and the test armors, but you probably don't need to hear about it that many times in a row. Sorry.

This just goes to demonstrate that really, we have only the most basic idea of what we are doing here.

Sure, other gaming companies may be able to send out the right number of mails from the correct address, but how many of them have a quest where you get to push over an outhouse with someone inside it?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back to Oaklore.

This week we're working on a secret project. I can't tell you what it is. I can't even hint at it, and I LOVE hinting at things. Let's just say that it's something that you'll really like, and you can take that to the bank. We will also be working on more Necropolis area stuff (maybe we will get a quest done, maybe not). In the meantime, we've getting together 5 brand new levels to the Lymcrest Labyrinth, and I'm making 9 new weapons for my shop (including... DUN DUN DUN... some new disease element weapons!)

Rolith
Yes... It really is 10PM.

April 28th, 2008
Lets Get Mathmatical!

Let's get to the point quickly here...Paladin class came down to the wire last week, and in the hurry to get things out in time and let the dragonlords get ahold of it, we may...perhaps... have left certain skills less balanced than one would normally like.

That's where this post comes in:

On the forums I'm contiually surprised at just how much time and energy you guys put into your technical analysis of this game. So when the heavy burdon of trying to balance the new Paladin armor came across my laptop's keyboard, I thought there would be no better place for me to turn to than the players themselves for advice.

I have created an Official Thread for discussion and debate and am looking forward to seeing all of your input. Keep in mind that because of balancing concerns the numbers might not be as strong / weak as you'd like but we will definitely keep your ideas in mind as we move forward with the finalization of this class.

Note: This is NOT announcing the armor is coming out fully this week. This post is JUST about the progress being made, not giving release information.

Above and beyond that, stay tuned as the week progresses we'll fill you in on what else is happening in the secret undergound lair!

Cysero
Thinks The Hour Is Getting Late

April 25th, 2008
Last Minute Touches

UPDATE: The release is now live!

The release is still not quite ready. I just wanted to let you guys see what we go through in the last few hours before the release is complete.

Here is my warrior, Dunn.

As you can see he's wearing the pali armor. As you can also see he's about 15 cm taller than Artix, which is odd, because in his normal armor he's the exact same height. You will also notice that his big fat head is blocking the speech bubble and his neck lost all of its healthy tan.

From this example, we can draw a few conclusions. 1) paladins have much better posture than normal warriors. 2) Dunn's face isn't tan... merely dirty.

Some things that you didn't get to see in this image are the glitches that Rolith is working on in the armor's skills, all of my various spelling errors, the fact that Noxus' speech bubbles had YOUR name on them, so it just looked as if you'd gone nuts and went evil, the Gate Keeper attacking backwards, all of the last minute nerfs to the graphics that I feel the need to do to cut down on lag, duplicate speech bubbles that need to be removed, speech bubbles in which i accidenally started typing the lyrics to 'All Along The Watchtower' instead of the script, and one very special frame where artix refused to stop running in place.

And those are only a few of the things that we deal with around thios time every week. Is it any wonder that we miss a few here and there?

This is the best job ever and we all love it, but when you're on a weekly production shcedule (which VERY few other game companies can boast) Friday, right before release, is the most stress that we have ever known and ever will know.

Personally, I think I work pretty well under pressure and Friday is when I come to life. I feel like I grow extra hands. Making sure that the release gets out to you guys in relatively good shape (read as: at least playable) is part of my job and I live for it! MAN, this is fun!

Still have some wrinkles to iron out, but we're getting closer! I'll update the DN's when we're live.

UPDATE: The release is now live!

Cysero
Never Could Get The Hang Of Thursdays.

April 24th, 2008
Worth 1000 Words

Noxus says hi.

You'll get the chance to meet this master necromancer (and Dean of Necro U) this Friday as you use the "key" to open the gates of the Necropolis! Well, not really meet...

Ghost is hard at work on the Paladin class armor which we HOPE to get out for DA testing tomorrow. You'll might be getting the chance to test out the DeathKnight AND fully trained Plai armors at the same time. The Universe might just colapse in on itself, due to an overadundance of oppositely charged awesome-sauce particles. Scientists have warned us about this for years and we have always scoffed at their warnings, but now... it might be too late!

Cysero
Is Not Talking Falsely Now.

April 23th, 2008
Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Ok guys, time for one last round of DeathKnight testing! You may have noticed the large glowing button in Flaconreach, but for those of you who missed it before, we have tweaked the DeathKnight armor and have re-released the temporary, fully-trained version for testing.

You'll find that the damage is mostly unchanged from the original test but some of the higher damage powers will now kick you right in the mana bar!

Once again we'd like to thank our DA Holders for being play-testers for us and helping us balance out one of the strongest armors we've made. We plan on keeping the damage a little stronger than average because of how difficult the armor will be to obtain in the full release. You will have to have fully trained Paladin AND Necromancer abilities to unlock the DK armor. Let us know what you think on the forums!

Let's talk about music for a bit.

I don't know about you guys but I almost always have music playing while I work (or drive or clean my apartment or game etc etc). You can ask the guys. Even though I have my earphone firmly strapped to my head most of the day they can hear my music blasting my brains out at deafening levels (Don't do that. You'll go deaf). Usually I will make my own playlists from my music library or, when I am sick of my own music, I will turn to Pandora to build me a semi-random playlist that I might like. But, from time to time I will just latch onto ONE SINGLE SONG and I won't let go until it's dead.

Right now, that song is the version of Dylan's All Along The Watchtower that Bear McCreary built for season three of BSG. This song has been covered by everyone from Hendrix to Dave Matthews... from The Dead to Peral Jam... but I really feel like THIS is the definitive version. I can't stop listening to it. I listened to it all last night, took a break to sleep, played it when I woke up, and in my car, and it's pouring out of my earphones at this very moment.

What I want to know is this: Am I the only person who will take one song, make it my personal anthem for several weeks at a time, listening to it overandoverandoverandoverandoverandoverandover, or are there others of you out there?

Artix
Principal-adin

April 22nd, 2008
The Paladin Class
In development right now!
A Paladin is a champion of good who uses love, faith and courage to better the world. In the world of Lore, there are as many different types of Paladin as there are points of view... but in each of these you will find the common traits of being both lawful and good. They are tied strongly the element of Light (in some cases... you may find this stratement to prove most untrue.) and their powers and attacks are light based making them highly effective against shadow monsters, vampires, the occasional evil transdimentional doom kitten, and of course... THE UNDEAD!

Legend says that a fully trained Paladin who learns the forbidden secrets of Necromancy could... well, perhaps that is a story for another time.

FORUM QUESTION: As of the moment I am posting this... the Necromancer class has ALL of the coolest skills in the game (Can you say Zombify and Control Undead!?) The Paladin needs some awesome abilities to catch up . Any ideas? (Maybe something that charges up that you can unleash all at once?)

P.S. Cysero originally drew this armor nearly two years ago. He re-vectorized and colored it yesterday... it looks AMAZING!

geopetal
Granite

April 21th, 2008
Monster Making 101

So we had another monster making contest a week and a half ago and I wanted to bring you guys in on the creation of the abyssofmillinium's Undead Doll. We've had Thyton use abyssofmillinium's original artwork as inspiration for the monster's in-game appearence.

Right now, I'm working on getting the image vectorized. This means all the major lines in sketch need to be reproduced in Flash, with each moving piece of the doll being a different movie clip to be animated.

Once the image is vectorized, it gets sent to Oishii (or C or Thyton) to be colored and then Ghost for animation.

This promises to be a definately creepy encounter. :D Hope you guys like the finished product!

Cysero
Waits. A lot.

April 18th, 2008
Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I hope you can see now why we didn't want to rush this release. Artix and I did more talking about this zone than we've done for quite some time and I feel like the thought really shows through, PLUS I got to actually animate this week (the cutscene and the quests... not the monsters, Ghost did those).

There is a lot more where that came from, and you haven't even entered the necropolis yet. The release has met with some pretty nice reviews from some of our most faithful (and toughest) critics... like Suuichi: "This has been one of AE's better releases. The puns were admirable to say the least. Sally was a nice addition. The little moment with Artix and Vayle was very interesting...The Armadeadon, was a nice battle to be sure. Strong attacks, a fair amount of HP, great animation with Sally there too. definitely one of the best monsters to date. As for the next quest... the Sheleton did surprise me. I was so not expecting that to appear. It made me chuckle, which DF hasn't been able to make me do since the Ghosts of Frostval Past, Present, and Future. I thank you for that....All in all, this release was fantastic."

We added a few nice new belts and rings to both quests, some DA only items and some free.

We hope that you're as excited about this zone as we are, and come back next week for more undead slaying goodness! Have a great weekend... or else!

Artix
NPC-adin

April 17th! 16th*, 2008
Writing a Zone: Part 2
Monsters
In tomorrow's release you will battle a brand new boss monster. There are two ways to create monsters. Draw it from scratch (then scan, vectorize, color, animate and code) OR reassemble existing parts into a brand new creature (I like to call this frankensteining**.) This new boss monster is a little bit of both! It is easy to come up with monsters of a theme for a zone, but what is tricky is making things you find in the zone relevant to defeating them. The Paladin and Necromancer classes which are still in development will be very useful for defeating particular monsters in the zone. For example, Necromancers may have limited ability to control undead enemies... or even turn some enemies INTO undead! While Paladins have strong offensive abilities vs. undead and protection skills that will be useful for your party. Some NPCs may have unique abilities to make them unique and useful for perticular events. Thyton is currently drawing a whole slew of brand new monsters for the upcoming releases. Some of the things you will encounter in the Necropolis... you may never forget! But first... you need to find a way in there!

* The evil time travel faries strike AGAIN!
** Originally I was going to make AdventureQuest with raster graphic monsters. I would frankenstein monsters together like... for example: This beetle which I turned into this monster. Hmmm, it seems neither my spelling and grammar have not improved much from 2002!

FORUM QUESTION: I really liked the conversations about Galanoth and Fae in yesterdays post. Since we know Galanoth will be Dragon Based, what sort of monsters do you think would be good for a character like Fae who is a fun loving nature type?

Artix
NPC-adin

April 16th, 2008
Writing a Zone: Part 1
Characters & Setting
For the Necropolis Saga, we chose the unexplored side of DoomWood. We did this because Amityvale was focused on spoofing classic movie monsters and for this zone we wanted to really focus on Paladins and Necromancers. The three major characters we chose are Vayle, Noxus, and Artix. As you will see in this weeks cutscene and quest... they are tragically connected by the strings of fate. First I wrote down the backgrounds for all three characters. Then, I fleshed out the details of their current situation and pretended I was you (the player) walking into this situation. Your motivation for joining this battle is to obtain the Darkness Orb (that was the simple part.) As I have read on the forums, you are all so smart that you figured out what was likely going to happen. Normally we would try to rewrite this to surprise you.. but this time, we are going to run it just as planned, but take you deeper into the characters stories. You will get to know Artix and Vayle personally... understand why they became the people they are and if will be up to you to help them overcome their pretty serious problem. The Artix vs. the Undead video will finally go into the game, and you will be able to play it out. Surprisingly... this will not be the final boss fight. Dunnn Dunnn Dunnn....

FORUM QUESTION: What setting and characters should we use when introducing Galanoth and Fae? (Official Post)

Artix
Writadin

April 15th, 2008
Writing a Zone
Greetings and salutations! This week we will be talking about how to write a complete zone*. This is a great thing to talk about since that is what I am working on this morning** . It is the most fun, and oddly, the hardest part. This is because there are endless good options you can go with, but you only get to choose one! In this saga we will be releasing new characters, classes and a huge dungeon. Check back tomorrow as we discuss the first exciting part!

FORUM QUESTION: What is your favorite fantasy setting? (i.e. Castles, Dungeons, Elven Ruins, Magical Forests, etc?)

* Um, Artix... I thought you needed to have actually completed a zone before instructing anyone else on it.
** Technically, you are procrastinating and writing about how to write a zone instead of actually writing the zone....

Cysero
"I do not kill with my puns; he who kills with his puns has forgotten the face of his father..."

April 11th, 2008
Return to the Lymcrest Labyrinth
UPDATE: The Dungeon Expansion is live!
Hiya guys, The next 5 levels of the Lymcrest Labyrinth is coming to you in a few minutes compliments of Geo and Rolith! The next 5 floors of the dungeon are a trap filled Insectopia! In Addition to the poison gas chests, there are now floor mounted spike traps and you'll find that these monsters are a little tougher than the first 5 floors! It is still a goldmine and the same temporary weapons can be found, but you'll have to be a little more careful this time...

Doug Digg in Lymcrest

Artix wants to take a really active hand in the development of this zone (of course he does, it;s filled with undead) so he and I are working closely to make this the most fun zone yet! He and I are working on the post-war celebration in Moonridge, but you were WAY too fast for us! I really can't believe how fast you owned that war. Remind me to buff the war counter next time, if you guys are going to be like that! We're going to leave the war up for the people who missed it last weekend, but soon the war will be a PERMANANT part of the Doomwood: Necropolis zone. You will have to defeat a few waves and save moonridge as the first part of the Artix quest chain.

Artix and I back to back... two of the the last true Punslingers. Expect kookiness.

The next release we will finally meet Lady Vayle and find out a little bit about her connection to our favorite paladin. I don't want to spoil anything but you'll be getting into the origins of Artix. Trust me, it's cool stuff.

But you'll have to wait until next Friday to try and find your way into the Necropolis with Artix! Until then, have fun in the Lymcrest Labyrinth mini-release!

EDIT: Oh yeah! Monster design contest winners WILL be announced today, just later. Check back here for the announcement!

Artix
Battladin!

April 10th, 2008
Death Certificate
We have a local restaurant named Rapscallions which serves delicious seafood and WINGS! Warlic prides himself on his hot wing eating threshold.... which is why he was required to produce the following (and clearly legally binding) document before being allowed to eat wings THIS hot!

(This is a scan of the actual document we signed...
... exactly how we signed it.)

I merely licked one of the wings and my tongue is still suffering in agonizing pain. Warlic must be putting up some sort of a magical shield to withstand that Xan-like heat!

Tomorrow's & Next Week's Releases!
Congratulations on defeating the undead army so quickly! (You surpassed our expectations by over 5 days!) We are hard at work on part 2. However, we will need an extra week* to prepare the Necropolis: Part 2, which will open at a celebration in your honor in the town of Mooncrest! (... and our newest NPC will make her first appearance!) So, tomorrow, we have a special release for you that Geopetal and Rolith prepared just in case.

Come tommorow and see what is released!

* As you know we work on a weekly schedule. We start new projects on Monday and finish it in order to release for you on Friday. It is amazing that we have been doing that since AQ's release 5 years ago. Sometimes, we are working on something so important that we do not want to rush it! As you and our friends on the forums know... our best work comes out when we take the proper time to do it right! The Necropolis has the potential to be the best zone added to the game to date. Until then, we have a special "hold you over" release for tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Artix
Battladin!

Cysero
Is Made Of Spare Parts

April 4rdness, 2008
The Battle for Moonridge
The Necromantress has attacked Falconreach each and Friday the 13th. Now she is sending her new waves of undead including unspeakable mix-and-match abominations to attack the town of Moonridge! Moonridge also happens to be home to one of the largest malls in DoomWood* . This is our chance to stop her... we must defeat her army. Perhaps she would be capable of opening the door to the Necropolis.

* The undead love shopping.. and braaaaaaaains!
** Maybe we should attack undead armories

New Features and Things
Woah, there are a lot of updates this week!

• Defenders Shop
  Two new levels of Defender's Rings and Necklaces (Free and DA) have been added.
• Mouse Overs
  We added the functionality from MechQuest that allows you to roll your mouse over things to get messages in the bottom right hand side of your screen. This can currently be seen in the new Artix area.
• New Artix NPC
  So far we have spent our time on the WEST side of Doomwod. For Artix's story we will be heading to the EAST side. Expect to learn the secrets of his backstory, purify your Doom Weapons (and his!), and begin training as a Paladin. To freshen things up a bit, as you probably already saw on the homepage, Artix now has brand new NPC art!
• 5 New Helms
  In addition to Defender's medals, five new styles of helms will drop from the war waves!
• Moonridge DragonStrike
  Our second Dragonlord & Dragon minigame has been released allowing you to do bombing runs over Moonridge to help with the war. If you can beat all 10 waves you are guarenteed to get one of the Helms or some yummy Dragon Chow!
• Mix-And-Match Armor
  One of Vayles latest creations is a randomized Frankenstien which is build from the parts of 5 different monsters! Look for them in the war waves (note: The initial image of the monster and the monster you actually fight may not match)
• Weekend Rare Shop
  Two new items are now available in the Weekend Rare shop including the Invisibility cloak (Ironically, it only turns itself invisible) and the Lil' Undead Monkey on your back (He is really cute for being a.. skeleton?)
  

Coming Monday!
The winner of the first monster creation contest will have their monster added to the game! DefenderX's Doom Cola machine will be found by taking the griffon to Dr. Voltabolt. Two levels of a new pet (The Brightbulb) will be available. Everyone who has merged an item at Dr. Voltabolt's previously will have it upgraded auotmatically to a RARE version . Identical, but less rare items will replace them and will require less items to construct. (So if you want a rare one, this weekend is your last chance!)

CYSERO'S NOTE: Hi guys, we KNOW that the Spare Parts monster doesn't look the same on the map as he does in the battle. That's not a glitch or a bug... we just couldn't do it any other way. Thanks!

Artix
Doomadin

April 3rdness, 2008
The Necropolis
Hidden deep within the largest graveyard of Doomwood lies a terrible, terrible secret. A vast subterranian land of the walking dead filled with horrors and abominations that give even the most evil monsters nightmares*. Necromancers and Doom Knights are said to flock to this place for its endless supply of dark secrets. Some rumors suggest it is a university of the dark arts** where Necromancers and Doom Knights go to train and increase their dreaded power. This place is known only as... THE NECROPOLIS!

* Well, this and that Valentines event we threw *shivers* ... so much pink!
** We would love to show you the next greated undead monster. The only problem is... you have not made it yet! "Doom U" -- Get your degree online in Thaumaturgy with a minor in summoning! Enjoy special extra curricular activities including hurling waves of undead soldiers at the town of Falconreach. First year students recieve a free Necronomicon with enrollment! ... and... um... Free Undead Demos!

Our newest Saga is about to begin....
(Rumor has it an army of the undead is marching on the Moonridge!)

New Forum Contest
Necropolis Undead Monster Madness!
Create your own super fun undead monster. Mix and match any wild combination, add a story, make sketches, go wild. Must be original! We will select one grand prize winner to have their monster added to the game and they will recieve 500 Dragoncoins. Ten additional winners will recieve an honorable mention on the design notes and 400 Dragon Coins. As always, there will be additional prizes created if anyone truly goes above and beyond!
Official Contest Thread

Cysero
Won't Look Back!

April 2nd, 2008
A Tale Of Two Axes

I just wanted to share something with you.

When I started working for Artix Entertainment, the first project I was put on (other than DF which we were still developing) was Undead Assault.

I did almost all of the terrible animation in the minigame but most notably I did the art for all of the weapons in the weapon shop. Artix and I sat down and talked a lot about the battleaxe that he'd always wanted. It was made of highly piloshed gold and silver, full of holy might just waiting to be unleashed against the evil undead. This was the birth of the Artix's Battleaxe.

You may have seen a golden version of the axe if you've ever faced Artix in PvP.

This one of the first 5 weapons that I was ever actually paid real money to draw and I was VERY proud of it.

Let's jump ahead to the present day. I'm still making weapons but since those days we've finished the DF engine, left beta behind us, fully launched the game and populated the world with hundreds of quests and monsters and THOUSANDS of items!

This Friday we head back to Doomwood to fight beside Artix and attempt to save the town of Moonridge from an undead invasion, while trying to find clues to the location of the Orb of Darkness. We've made a brand vew version of the Artix NPC (who will be your main contact in the zone) and we put that axe in his hand. It looked stupid.

It appears to be made of cheese. The lines are all wobbly, the proportions are all wrong. I hate that thing. You couldn't vanquish an undead gerbil with that piece of junk. I HAD to make a new one.

I look back on the old axe and I have to really wonder what was wrong with me? Was I really that bad or are my standards just much higher now that I basicly run the game? How much better will be in another few years of this? I can't wait to look back on this axe and scream at myself for putting such a terrible graphic in the game.

It just goes to show you... something... I'm not sure what. There's a moral in here somewhere about.... I dunno... having low standards, or something. Maybe it's about not ever settling for less than the very best that you can do. That sounds good, so lets use that.

Stay on your toes, heroes. This friday will be your first glimpse at "Doomwood: The Necropolis"!

Artix
Updatadin

March 29th, 2008
The Lymcrest Labyrinth!
JUST RELEASED: A new style dungeon
How far down can you go? Explore a never-before-seen kind of dungeon that goes deep within Lymcrest's mines. Use the Gryphon and head to Lymcrest where you will meet the famous dwarven super-miner, Dough Digg.The adventure awaiting you is suitable for players of all levels and features random treasure chests, progress save, LOTS AND LOTS OF GOLD and coming monday... unlockable items! I stole one of his Strawberry Yogurts. Worth the trip from California."

Behind the Scenes
We really hope you like this new release. Cysero, Rolith, and Geo wanted to create a new, VERY DEEP and VERY EXPANDABLE dungeon with moving monsters, random treasure chests and a place to find some wierd temp items. Moving monsters is something we have seen asked for on the forums a lot -- the gang did a great job!

This brand new walk-around with moving monsters style dungeon was created by Rolith. (Side note: Rolith also coded the new Alvin and the Chimpmonks pinball game that went live in AdventureQuest's Ballyhoo earlier this week... we have been keeping him busy!) We saw that some of the temporary items (which were not supposed to go live until Monday) were causing NaN damage and one shotting monsters... you were lucky if you got one!

NaN: Stands for not a number. Litterally what happens when you try to do the following math.... 1+"A"

Shameless Dragon Plug
If you are enjoying the game and are eager to see us attempt even more mathematically impossible feats, upgrade your account and Get a Dragon Amulet. New DA-only features will become available for you in the new dungeon as it is improved next week (Not to mention you get access to ALL of the exclusive areas, features, shops, Titan Battles and more that are in DragonFable for a one-time-only fee...)

Cysero
Never Says Die!

March 28th, 2008
Lymcrest!
THE RELEASE IS NOT OUT YET. THE RELEASE IS LIVE!

How do we keep doing this to ourselves every week? I was TRYING to get this release done for Thursday and once again, 7 P.M. rolls around and we're still getting the release ready for you. At least we have a reasonable excuse this week... we've never done anything like this before.

Here's a sneak peek:

Doug Digg in Lymcrest

THE RELEASE IS NOT OUT YET.

Lymcrest isn't a fully functional town (yet), but we plan on expanding it as things go. You WILL be able to set your hometown there if you find the Lymcrest Labyrinth as fun as I do, and you will learn a LOT more about the dwarves of Lore and the town of Lymcrest by talking to Doug.

Eventually, Doug will have a shop or two that might sell the temporary weapons that you will find in the dungeon and some other miner-related goodies. We may even add an inn and a few other NPC's, but right now Doug Digg is the only person you'll be able to find in Lymcrest.

THE RELEASE IS NOT OUT YET.

It really is an entirely different game when the monsters run around and you have to dodge them. We're trying to make this a survival challange, and the balancing is delicate, but with randomly spawning treasure chests that MIGHT heal you or refill your potions you might have enough to make it trough floor 5. Then again, if you're really lucky and clever, you may just walk through all 5 floors without ever getting in a fight.

THE RELEASE IS NOT OUT YET.

The release isn't out yet but we'll let you know when it is, as SOON as it is. In the meantime here is a funny story. A friend of mine has never ever seen The Goonies. I was stunned to hear this because I really thought that she was the one person on earth who had seen every movie and TV show that I had. I consider this a crime MOST foul, so I'm making her watch it tonight. It was one of the best movies (ever made) from the 80's so to set the mood, I also promised her Tab and Pop-Rocks.

As it turns out Pop-Rocks are a very rare find in this day and age. I was driving around my town last night hopping from gas station to CVS until nearly 4 A.M. looking for this noisest of candies and no one had any... most of them didn't carry it... a few people had never heard of the stuff.

I was about to give up hope when I stopped for gas this morning and there they were, right on the counter. I fell to my knees and began to cry with relief and joy. They asked me to leave because I was froghtening the other customers.

Zhoom, as it turns out, had ALSO never heard of Pop-Rocks. I fed him some. I carefully watched his eyes bug out as he swallowed a whole Pop-Rock and listened to it burst inside his throat. I'll be laughing about that look on his face for a week.

THE RELEASE IS NOT OUT YET.

Cysero
Can Dig It

March 26th, 2008
Getting Our Hands Dirty

We asked you what you thought we should name the new dwarven NPC, and you gave us about twenty total pages of great ideas to sort through but finally we've made our choice.

Ladies and Gents, allow me to introduce Douglas Digg.

Forum member and free player Issac suggested Doug Dig (we added another G) and we fell in love. For those of you who don't remember there was once an arcade game called Dig Dug in which you played a little guy tunneling his way through the earth, inflating the monsters found hidden therein until they popped and collecting the various goodies that only miners and geologists can really appreciate. Like rocks.

This wasn't an official contest but for making us laugh until we stopped we'll be dropping 500 Dragon Coins on your level 40 warrior, Issac. Great job!

We've begun mapping out the first 5 levels of the Lymcrest Labyrinth, which will be released on Friday. We are trying to add some new functionality here which will make grabing a treasure chest a little more interesting, and these monsters will be moving around the dungeon so tread carefully brave adventurer.

Artix
Spideradin

Cysero
Won

March 25th, 2008
Spiders and Cheese!
We had two very special visitors to the secret underground lab today. The first one, a terrifying doom spider who wanted to trap us in his unescapable web and eat our brains (pictured below) and our very own Cheddar* from the forums. Meanwhile, Cysero completely changed his mind about the end of the DA War leading to the Titan battle... and in a completely unexpected event (especially with only 5% left on the war) he threw away the existing monster and dialog and created something completely NEW (starting this morning) that he absolutely felt NEEDED to be in the zone. There is a 81.57%** chance he will not complete the boss read before you win the war <gulps>

Cheddar says, "I do not know what to say... ah..... I am not really good with words. Cysero offered me a Pop Tart.... then I stole one of his Strawberry Yogurts. Worth the trip from California."

*Less likely to attempt to eat our brains. He is likely not a Zombie... but we will keep our eye on him just in case!
** Chances are getting worse for Cysero as I hit the upload button letting you know this.

Evil Man-Eating Doom Spider found in the secret underground lab and then released into the wild (onto the Verizon phone box outside where the contrast would make for better picture taking.)

Bonus Poem:
LIttle Ms. Muffet crouched on her tuffet, gathering her shell shocked wits. When down from a glider, landed an H-bomb beside her... and blew little Ms Muffet to bits. -- I do not remember the author of this poem, but I found it heartwarming and inspirational as a young child when it was read to us by a 3rd grade teacher. ***, ****

*** This explains a lot.
****Hmm, when you remove the spider reference from the poem it no longer makes sense with the picture!

HAHAHA! I win! So here's the tale:

Originally I had you DragonLords facing down a GIANT mummy dragon. That didn't sit well with me because you've already fought one of those.

Then, last night around midnight I was at The Globe with my laptop and I realized that I had not referenced Frank Herbert's DUNE series the whole time (actually I did. See if you can find it) ! What good is a desert zone without sandworms?!

So I immediately ordered a pot of hot green tea (they don't serve tea by the pot so they gave me a coffee pot full of boiling water, four tea bags and a mug), re-wrote the entire quest, and began work on The Dunelord. I had to do sketches on a napkin and since ghost was offline I had to animate him myself. I'm very happy with the way that he came out and also very satisfied that I was able to close that quest chain with a nod to one of the most important works of literature from my young life.

I was very tempted to make him impossible, but I decided to give you a 50/50 chance if you know how to work with your dragon. Enjoy the Titanfight, DragonLords... you earned it!.

Once the war has ended and the Titanfight button moves to Zhoom's zone, it will require that you finish the entire chain before fighting The Dunelord, but for today... it's open to all DragonLords.

Cysero
Is Full Of Deviled Eggs

March 24th, 2008
REALLY Special War Announcement

Just letting you guys know, I added the REALLY Special Dragon Chow to the DA War which will unlock the SandSea titan fight.

Why did I wait until now to do this? I didn't think of it until just now.

You may have noticed that the numbers jumped a bit this morning? WHY? The in-game reason is that Zhoom came in this moirning and said that he had decided to join the fight to save the people of The Sandsea. It's good to have friends!

OK! This week Rolith, Geo and I are working on a very new idea based on the maze-style dungeon from MQ.

Picture this: You go back to Lymcrest and talk to our first dwarven NPC. He gives you access to a deep underground maze style dungeon that he accidentally discovered while mining. Completeing each floor takes you one floor down, the monsters are wandering around the maze, searching for anything that could eat as food, you can find powerful temporary weapons, items (maybe even temporary classes) in trasure chests which randomly spawn. Every 5 or so floors it takes you back to the dwarven NPC, and saves your progeress so you can start back there next time. Who knows how far down it goes, what you might face along the way, what powerful temporary items you might pick up along the way?

This is the Dwarven NPC. Got an Idea for a name?
Let us know on the forums.

We decided that with the conclusion of the recent Sandsea chain, we were going to have a little fun before we start the next new chain. We want to go back and take care of a few of our numerous loose ends. Starting this week, with the release of the DoomCola Machine monster in DF (remember him? He won the Design Us A Monster contest a while ago), as well as making the RoboTog pets from Voltabolt rares, buffing them and introcuding a new weaker but far eaiser to obtain pet.

We want to know what you guys really want to see next. Noxus (Doom wood, tie-in to Artix Versus the Undead video, the Necromantress etc etc), Fae (shape-shifter and DF mascot... who hasn't really appeared in the game yet, but HAS appeared in nearly every ad), or Galanoth (Some guy with a grudge against lizards). Who would you like to see when we get back to work on building the zones around Falconreach? This is your game as much as anyones. Remember that.

Artix
Releasadin!

Cysero
Still typing VERY fast.

March 21th, 2008
We are live!!!
The Zone Finale is happening now
In your quest for the Light Orb you have battled through deserts, pyramids, aided the rebellion and crossed swords with the seemingly invincible ranger, Zhoom. Today your adventures in the the SandSea will reach its climatic conclusion. If you have not played through the zone yet, you take the griffon to the SandSea and adventure through the entire complete quest chain!

• Cutscene and Boss Fight! (Sek-Duat XV, the Evil Ruler of the SandSea)
• 24 new weapons (All created this week by Cysero)
  
• Battle with Zhoom against an army of Anubis Knights
  
• Special DA War which will unlock the zones grande finale Titan Battle!
  

If you are enjoying DragonFable, this holiday weekend is a great time to upgrade and become a DragonLord!

P.S. Geopetal is going to kill me for mentioning the Doom Burrito... you guys on the forums nearly caused Rolith and I to shoot coffee out of our noses when we read the follow up posts.

Coming next: Find out on Monday -- Same Battle thyme, same Battle channel!

Artix
Crunchadin

March 20th, 2008
Spring Break
Break? I have not broken anything... yet*!
Please view the forum post I just wrote featuring all of the games releases for this week. Spring break** has begun and the games will be going all out starting now!

* Master Myrzor says, "The future remains cloudy"
** We need Undead-or-Alive vollyball at the beach with our NPCs.

Sek-Do... WHAT!?
The crunch is on to complete the zone finale this weekend
Here at the secret underground lab, the rooms echo with the sounds of clackity-clacking keyboard keys as crunch time is underway. Cysero and Geopetal are completing the end of the SandSea zone which will premiere tomorrow -- including a DA mini-war to the Titan fight! I am really excited that Zhoom's zone is going to be complete. 24 new weapons too! If you like this, just wait until you see what is coming next week!

Forum Question: Which "known", but not yet in-game NPC would you like to see have their story revealed in DragonFable next?

A.) Fae
B.) Galanoth
C.) Vayle & Noxus
D.) You are not allowed to have all of the above in this one!
E.) Cysero for President!

Cysero
Sports his house colors with pride.

March 18th, 2008
MEGAFRIDAY Approacheth. . .

AE has a lot planned for Friday. We've got the big End of Zone release, the DA mini-war, and the Sek-Duat battle with some new item drops.

Mechquest has a lot going on so their normal Weds release will be smaller than usual to make room for the MEGAFRIDAY release. Also THESE shirts will be going on sale Friday as well.

See higher a higher quality image on the MQ design notes

It's not a great picture. Sorry, the lighting in that room was kind of weird and my phone is a great phone but not such a great camera.

These shirts are a limited run, this means that we didn't make a ton of them so they WILL sell out and only the quick and clever will possess them!

You will see me wearing my RuneHawk shirt with pride if you find me at DragonCon. (Yes, I said I was MystRaven before... but only to prove that RuneHawks play pranks too.)

Cysero
Always Wears Green

March 17th, 2008
Happy St. patty's Day!

Just a quick note to let you guys know what we have planned for this week.

There is a boss battle coming at the end of this week and you will be able to fight in it wether ye be free or wether ye own a DA. You will be facing down Sek-Duat and you won't be alone. Zhoom will be at your side the entire time.

We're also THINKING about making a mini-war type event which will unlock The Sadnsea's titan battle. The event and (of course) the titan fight will be DA only.

Today everyone is a little bit Irish and those of us who are already pretty Irish go almost entirely Irish. It seems appropriate to mention one of the greatest and most well known Irish philosophers of all time, especially since his greatest and most well known thought has ALWAYS applied to all of the Artix Entertainment games:

Murphy's Law
"Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you expect.
And if anything can go wrong,
It will, at the worst possible moment. "

True dat.

Cysero
Injured In The Line Of Duty

March 14th, 2008
Dude... look at the size of it!

Last night Artix, Galanoth, Zhoom, Rolith and I were playing Rock Band. I started on the guitar, and I was really nailing the strum bar. I ended up giving my right thumb a blood blister that is about half the size of New Jersey. It's pretty cool.

Do you have ANY idea how long it's been since I got a blister playing video games? LIKE 15 YEARS! This tells you 2 things.. .first, my game calluses are magnificent beasts. Second... I was rawking THAT hard.

So This week's release is live. If you want to see what all the fuss is about... head to The Sandsea and play the lastest quest in Sek-Duat's continued Sandsea chain. You get to fight against Zhoom! It might be pretty hard for some of our lower level players but you should be fine if you're 15 and up, or you have your potions maxed. 6 Brand new weapons drop from the quest and they look sweet if I do say so myself.

The Gold Fever war has laft the game and next Monday, the mysterious prize boxes open!

Also, by popular demand, Zhoom's custom PrideLord, Zixcy, has been added to the pet section of my Superstore of Savings. Armor makes everything better!

Most of you will have figured this out by now but I'll tell the ones who are distracted by the shiny new Zixcy... next week you battle Sek-Duat XV (and probably a titan of come sort).

Happy Weekend!

Artix
Traveladin

March 13thagon, 2008
SUPER DESIGN NOTES DAY
I missed you! So let us catch up today in an extra super long, typo and grammatical catastrophy filled post from the heart.

Escape from LA
It was pretty easy, I took a plane
I was in Los Angeles for the wedding of a good friend of Warlic and myself. It was beautiful and no one was brutally mauled by bears. Meanwhile, Warlic was in New York at a different wedding of a couple with ironically the same names. Between the two of our trips there was a lost driver's license (please send if you happen to find it), at least one towed car, a number of VERY "wrong turns" and the unexpressable satisfaction and happiness you feel when a close friend marries the love of his life. It was a great trip!

Zhoom Boss Fight (This Week!)
You may have taken down a Dragon, slain a Vampire, and stood up against a Death Knight -- but defeating Zhoom will not be so easy! He is cunning, daring and FAST! In this week's upcoming quest you will at long last get to test your skills to the max in our first ever multi-part fight! Woah, every sentance in this post ends in a !! This must be an incredibly exciting release!!! Question! How many !!!!!!!!!!!!'s do you need before you need to start using some sort of exclamation point notation! Like, for example: Groovy!x5 which would be Groovy! Groovy! Groovy! Groovy! Groovy! Hmmm, what can we call this ! notation?.... perhaps Exclamation + Notation or.... Exclation!?

This weeks battlle with Zhoom is going to be AWESOME!x10
(My e-throat hurts from this... perhaps I should place this 3rd mug of coffee... back... down.... on.... the table... and slowly.... slowly... back... away....)

Zhoom's Project
You likely do not know this, but the real life Zhoom -- in addition to coding DragonFable, MechQuest, <secret project>, drumming for the band, and training at the gym with me -- is also taking classes for his Masters in Computer Science*!x5 For his last project that he recently turned in, he pretty much wrote his own version of Google Maps in C#. It was graphical, funcational and really impressive! Compared to his fellow students work his project REALLY stood out. It was definately a A+++++++++++++ project..... which is why we were so suprised when it came back with with a 8% penalty from the TA!

What could he possibly lose 8% for you ask? The TA said is was because his code had no //comments! *gasp* (Comments are little notes that say what the code does and makes it easier for someone else to read your code) Zhoom was pretty mad. Now, I am not making this up and I certainly advise against writing letters like this to important people in charge of your grades... but LOL, Zhoom wrote the TA back and said "I work at Artix Entertainment, we do not waste time writing comments :-)"** I laughed really hard, but... um... why do I feel so guiltly suddenly?

* We are pretty sure he is one of those terminator machines sent back in time to build games until he is ready to construct Skynet.
** ...or design documents, or organizational charts, or project specification documents, or maps to the secret treasure we buried.. um... somewhere.... hmmm, wish I had a map.

Cooking on the Backburner!
Mmmmmm... it smells gooooood
When I was young, my Father taught me that "the only way to fail is to give up." Perhaps that is why I idolize characters like Goku from DragonBall Z and Luffy from One Piece -- they NEVER give up! Due to a slew of unexpected issues many of my projects got hurled onto the backburner during the last two weeks. Most visibly was the Comic which I expected to release for you last week. We have a lot of things in the works -- new T-shirts (Including MechQuest house shirts, then DragonLord shirts), a new minigame (not to mention some old ones... alas poor Punch'em Crunch'em Undead and Speak and Slay), the tv show (moving slowwwwwwwwwwwww), the art book, DragonFable Housing/Castles, MechQuest Starships & Planets, and... not to mention <secret project> So what do you do when you fall behind and things start stacking up? <thinks> Hmmm, I know! Let us make this multiple choice:

A.) Get back in there, work harder, smarter, and never give up!
B.) Call in for some help (reinforcements) and make it happen!
C.) Nominate Cysero to run for President!
D.) All of the Above
E.) All of the Above including "D.) All of the Above"

See you on the forums! Feel free to offer up help <whispers> we are going to need it!x5.

Cysero
doesn't want the world... he just wants your half.

March 12th, 2008
Zhowdowns and Giants.
This week, you will be forced into a rather compromising situation in your search for the Orb of Light.

Sek-Duat XV sends you after Zhoom.

This will be an epic battle (of course), and a great way to see which of you is the greater ranger. Unless you're not wearing the ranger armor, in which case it will be a great way to see if your (YOUR CLASS) skills are a match for Zhoom's ranger skills.

Ghost is working on the versus version of Zhoom right now and one of his attacks will summon his ranger pet (Zixy, an armored PrideLord!) to attack his enemies.

This is one fight that you're not going to want to miss.

In other news, Alces and I went to the They Might Be Giants show last night and it RULED! If you haven't had a chance to catch them live, it's a great show. Something else to add to your Do Not Miss list.

Cysero
On Time

March 7th, 2008
Ancient Monsters and Mini-Games!

The release is LIVE!

This week we have some interesting stuff for you. First, in The Sandsea, Sek-Duat XV has been contacted by one of the rebels who wants to turn TRAITOR!

What do you do? Do you bring Sek-Duat SV the traitor and betray the rebellion, or do you stand with the rebels and risk blowing your cover with the emperor of The Sandsea?

You also get to fight a new monster called the Anubis Knight. This ancient monster has the ability to shield himself AND he regens health EVERY ROUND! It will be a tough fight, good luck heroes. 50% Drop rate of a pretty cool looking helm.

Also new this week is our new Mini-Game, Fires Over Oaklore. You will new find Sir Baumbard, a retired DragonLord, right outside Oaklore Keep. He needs you to drop a few lightbombs on invading undead hordes from the back of his dragon, Glumbert. If you can beat all 20 levels of this mini-game and thin out the invading armies enough, the Pactogonal Knights will award you a Defender's Medal. This is a guarenteed drop so now ANYONE can earn Defender's Medals outside of a war!

You know what that means? It means that the Defender's Shop will be getting some new items fiarly soon. Not this week, but soon.

Fires Over Oaklore is a really pretty addictive game. J6's art and Canon's brilliant Dragonback theme music really add to the replayability! In fact, I'm gonna go nuke more slimes!

Cysero
Running For Office

March 5th, 2008
All Is Well That Ends Abruptly...

Well, friends and neighbors, the war is over. Bet you didn't see THAT coming.

Who knew that one little green hat could cause so much trouble in so many places and times? Geo did, that's who. I mean, if you're asking me I could tell you some horror stories about exploding hats... I KNOW the dangers, first-hand... but I digress.

The green sneevilchaun hat has been sent to parts unknown, and if you don't know what I'm taking about PLAY THE WAR GOING ON RIGHT NOW!

In unrelated news, my friend Kat delivered a 7 pound 14 ounce bouncing baby boy into the world yesterday. Eamon, let me be the first to say "Welcome to the world!" and offer a few pieces of sage advivce that I wish someone had given ME when I was a few hours old.

1). Fish sticks are AWESOME and don't waste any time. As soon as you're on solid foods... GO STRIGHT FOR THE FISHSTICKS!

2). Always save your recipts, 'cause as soon as you toss one you, THAT is the second that you need it.

Artix
Interviewadin

Cysero
Mournin

March 4rthithish, 2008
Cysero in the Spotlight!
Today, Cysero, your friendly neighborhood mad weapon smith is getting interviewed by Games for Windows magazine! This is HUGE! Thank goodness it is Cyser..... oh no....... we are doomed.

Forum Question: Do you have any tips for Cysero in this interview about DragonFable? Anything he should BE CERTAIN to say?

So Long Old Friend.
Sad news, guys. Gary Gygax, the father of the Role-Playing Game (best known as the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons) died today. It's fair to say that if you're reading this, he changed your life. If not for this man, you'd be playing Dragonpong. I could tell you endless tales of the fun my friends and I have had playing the game and the genre that he pioneered, but I'm sure you have plenty of stories of your own.

Bye Gary, thanks for all the fun.

Ernest Gary Gygax
July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008

Artix
Paladin

Cysero
Recovering nicely

March 3rd, 2008
High Altitude Undead Slaying!
Thank you all so much for your warm wishes and comforting words last week. It was truely appriciated. Now, we are back in action and even as you read this three seperate things are in development -- and one of them has UNDEAD in it! Cysero will be making a post shortly with a sneak peak screenshot of our newest NPC. <Chuckles> Alright, I do not know if you will find this as funny as we did... but last week when Cysero was still sick in bed I called him and he says, "I am sick of being sick. I want to stop playing all these video games and go back to work!" -- back to work, you know, where he makes and plays video games.

.... more coming in a bit!

Thank you all so much for your... oh, he covered that. Ok then.

Let's talk a bit about Sir Baumbard, the retired Dragonlord. He has finally come home to his beloved Oaklore only to find the keep under constant assualt by droves of the mindless undead!

...Artix is busy...

NO I AM NOT! LET ME AT THEM! Please? Pretty please?

...SO, Sir Baumbard has devised a cunning plan to drop magical lightbombs onto the undead swarming outside the gate. When the lightbombs explode they start a chain reaction that causes any undead within the blast radius to also explode. This is when the aging DragonLord discovered that after years and years of fighthing beside his dragon, Glumbert, that flying through the skies on his stalwart companion's back makes him a little... queasy. That's right, Sir Baumbard the Brave gets very airsick. That's where you come in hero!