Alina

Friday, December 30, 2011

Frostval Follies and Frantic Fighting!

Merry Frostval, Heroes!*

It is wonderful to see you all again, and at such a joyous time of year! But I must admit, I am sore vexed with you. WHAT have you done to ROLITH?! For months, he'd be fine day in and day out. But when a chill wind blew or a moglin crossed his path, he'd get a look in his eye. A dangerous glint. And I knew Trouble was coming. He loves those moglins as much as he does those dratted, raucous togs of his.

He didn't want Chilly to catch a cold!

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Rolith

Thursday, December 29, 2011

The PA Plague and other Unhappyness

Two weeks ago I snuck out of the underground lab a week early to get a head start on my holiday wanderings.  My brother graduated college and I was determined to be there if at all possible.  A week later Alina joined me and since than we've been bouncing between families, extended families, and one flight halfway across the country.  During these wanderings I caught what I'm calling the PA Plague, a wicked sinus infection that has left me still reeling almost a week later.  

That said, I've been hard at work on four things for you guys.  

  • A fun micro-challenge for the final quest of this week
  • An insane boss fight using a feature we haven't used since a holiday many years ago (let's see if the current engine can handle it!)
  • One is the ChronoCorruptor class you guys have been taking a look at for the last couple of days
  • And the last is this year's Frostval present, the Togslayer Armor. (Those of you who have been around for a while might know exactly how amusing that sentence was for me to type.)

Here comes the point in the design notes where the two different topics come slamming together.

While I'm having a lot of fun getting the monsters and quest ready for you guys (it still could be a late one, we'll be doing things rarely done in the game)  I don't think we'll be getting the classes out when we originally planned.  My plague has left me cloudy-headed and without much of a mind for the complicated process of designing and implementing the epic skills necessary to make these classes EXPLODE on your screens.  

Once this vile debuff wears off, rest assured we'll be releasing the class as I finish each skill so you guys can be included in it's design. That way, you will be able to provide ample feedback and input for the entire process.

It's really unfortunate that this plague had to infect me NOW, but both of these classes have amazing animations and I want to give them the time, attention and finesse they deserve, even if one of them is really, really* silly.

* Really, really, really... Really, really, really - *deep breath* REALLY, REALLY, REALLY silly.

Geopetal

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Frosty Redesign!

Dracelix has revamped a very special set of weapons for the Frostval finale boss fight this week! Check them out in all their frosty goodness!

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Rolith

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Twas the Wednesday Before Frostval

And all through the lab, coders, writers, and artists were making such a noise that it completely ruins the meter of this story, so I'm not even going to bother.

So, preparations have continued and by the look of things we're going to have the MOST secure Frostval ever!  No sign of Xan or Zadd, either. And if I so much as HEAR the term eggnog-nomicon...  the moglin-stocks are ready and waiting.  

But that's no reason to be festive.  I'm doing everything to keep the Moglins upbeat and happy.  I even alloted a half hour every day for mandatory "Silly Hat Time!"  The moglins seem hesitant to participate.

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Geopetal

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Frostvale Break In!

Rolith is being crazy overprotective in Frostvale this year. Will you be able to get inside and stop him? Or are you going to be stuck out in the cold during this year's Frostval? You'll be able to collect coal in this week's quest to upgrade your presents once they open too!

The TogTog House and organ furniture is also available in Chapter 6 of the Frostval Storybook too! Tomix and Dracelix made some really cool items to go inside of it!

Happy Birthday to Dracelix and Tomix as well! Dracelix has made a special glaive that can be bought through the News Post!

Geopetal

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Merry Frostval!

The stockings have been hung on the super-fortified boundry fence patrolled by fierce togs with care...

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Geopetal

Friday, December 16, 2011

Merry Togsmas!

Looks like someone else has taken over the protection of the frost moglins... At least that means less work for you, right?! Nothing could possibly go wrong this year with extra help to keep Frostvale safe!

Swordhaven
Our two apprentices have met their third and are now trying to impress her! Can Alex impress her with his levitating skills? Or will he end up destroying all the rare resource materials she needs for her studies? Will she even get her nose out of her book long enough to notice?

Rolith

Guess who's back, back again!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Merry Togsmas!

Hey guys!  Seems like every time I manage to find time to do design notes, I'm pointing out how long it's been since my last ones.  Not this time! ... Wait...

So what have I been up to lately?  Alexander, mostly.  Getting his character slot ready took a lot of work and unlocking it and opening the game engine up for our plans with him was a taxing job. Most of the time I have to work on DragonFable was filled with it.  

This story is so awesome! I've been excited for it for as long as we've known he was going to have it told. Hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I'm going to enjoy helping it come to life!

I've also been plotting... since before last year's Frostval had even started.  Merry Togsmas everyone! 

Geo's got a great script for this year's holiday and I'm looking forward to your reaction to this week's quest.  It's going to be a wild ride.

I've also been working on my own version of the "12 Days of Frostval" for Alina.  She's getting small presents every day throughout the holidays, each accompanied with the lines: "On the X day of Frostval for my true love, I give to you..."  :-P  We're up to day three.  I didn't write them ahead of time, so the challenge for ME is finding a way to work the number into the gift's name. So... any ideas of things I could get her?

Geopetal

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Contest Winners!

From Eric Greydawn:

Yokai Uprising Book Two  

Soldiers Journal  

It happened early this morning. A huge black panther raced into the village. It was being pursued by a large Oni. Kensai Greydawn grinned wolfishly as the Oni came in, and stepped into a battlestance. The Oni froze then started laughing. A quick slash from his nodachi into the thin air was the Kensai’s response. The Oni opened his mouth to laugh then started coughing blood. Somehow, from across a distance, Kensai Greydawns strike hit home, but I do not understand how. The Panther turned and leapt into the air taking the Oni down the rest of the way. Thorn raced across the village and stopped in front of the panther. For a moment it seemed almost as if they were conversing, then the panther turned and padded across the square and sat down in front of Kensai Greydawn. The panther seems to have attached himself to Kensai Greydawn. His name is Tsumedo.  

Congratulations to Lady_Dragonrider for providing the winning name. 

Runners Up

Axemeus for Tachi 
SeventhSword2 for Musashi 
Shaiyal for Chiyo
Asgardian Ferret for Bak Hira 
Discipline for Nakitai 

Honorable Mention:

Lady Greydawn for bringing back memories of the coolest cat to ever stride through my life.  Lester was my cat for fifteen years, and never failed to bring the laughter into our lives.  

Thank you all for your submissions.  You all have such clever ideas!  

Geopetal

Friday, December 9, 2011

Swordhaven Past

That creepy, burnt out house in Swordhaven's Residential Section holds secrets... you know it! No one in town will go near it. Rumors swirl about what happened to it and what's contained inside now. All that's left is for you to explore it and see what you find... and open a new character slot! 

With the new slot you'll be able to see Swordhaven past and learn the story of a promising young wizard's apprentice! Dracelix has also made new versions of the Legendary Magma weapons that can be found in the new Mutant Caves random quest!

It's Getting Chilly!
Check out the Frostval Storybook and play through past events! Snow is coming.... 

Geopetal

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Welcome Dracelix!

Geopetal

Friday, December 2, 2011

Lots of Random Things!

Lots and lots and lots!

Frist of all a new version of Swordhaven is up! The Guard Captain has two new random quests, with more to come next week. Fight your way through the forests and marshes around Swordhaven and collect revamped versions of weapons that dropped from the original randoms!


Ohhhh, pretty!

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