As you know, yesterday was Earth Day! To celebrate, we released the Solar Panels from last year and made higher level versions of them! I also went to see the movie African Cats in theaters which I highly recommend. It was beautiful and surprisingly very emotional.

This is also Easter weekend! So we brought back everything from yesteryears and we've added 2 new weapons to the reward shop of the Monster Egg battle so pummel that egg!

As for GEARS Games, we've realized we've gone long enough so I'm thinking of maybe sticking Wolfblade at like, 98%, and the other houses 9% lower at 89%. This shoul at least inspire Wolfblade to rush like crazy to the finish but Runehawk and Mystraven don't technically have far to go either. We were going to do it Friday but we didn't want to risk the war rewards, including some valor badge items, to be unfinished! So Monday is likely the date that this will happen.

As for Gameshow, I have no idea why it's taking so long. It's seeming quite complicated to tie everything together but it seems like for now it's mainly an issue of me needing more puzzles for 2 of the games, which one won't be hard but the other requires lots of research. Then it's cutscenes which I've begun storyboarding out so I can get the details out to other people this week. Ultimately things ARE coming together it just feels like everything is still overwelmingly unfinished.

Another note is that we're going to try and change up the format of MQ after Gameshow Planet. The overall storyline will still continue but once the Gameshow planet happens, let's just say some stuff is going to go down. There's also good news with this since we may be able to get the support to finish certain key features like, oh I don't know, swordfighting? I'm not talking my hack job of coding but probably someone like Zhoom to really help patch it up. We also MIGHT.... and I stress might because I haven't confirmed if it's even possible yet, but we MIGHT make it to where in this new section, you can officially become a Shadowscythe and fight to prevent the Loreon victory! So the format will be changing. This is what we're hoping to apply to the changes. Nothing is in stone yet, I'll be sure to update when I have more information but myself and the team are actually pretty excited for the change since it should be the easiest way to get more and more content out to you all. Another note would be that it raises the level cap like crazy. I would also like to point out that this has been brought on by Artix who would hate to see MQ do poorly so he's actually bringing a lot of input to the table and that's why we should hopefully be getting some features that seem unfinished to be polished and pretty. It sounds like big news, and it may even sound like bad news, but trust me when I say it's better and good news.

Anywho, I'm sure specials will be posted sometime if they haven't already been posted in the forums. I am off to relax over the weekend. It's a holiday weekend so you should be relaxing too. Really, it's the weekend so you should be relaxing regardless. So enjoy it! Later.

Liek Whoa! Artix Entertainment has finally done it! They have finally created an epic card game of win! You can be part of the epicness if you go to your local Toys R Us if you're in the US however if you're an international customer, head on over to HeroMart to grab yours! http://www.aq.com/cardgame/ As a bonus, players can also get a super awesome class in AQW called the CardClasher!

Read More

Most of what we worked on this week is content that will come later so it's still up to the war. We also worked on things that should be coming up soon. Such as...

The Maypril Mech. Today and yesterday I've been animating it. It's pretty ridiculous but there's no doubt it'll be powerful. Don't forget that this mech will ONLY BE AVAILABLE FOR SUNDAY, MAY 1ST from MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT EASTERN STANDARD TIME. I'll mention that it's design is based on one of the first SC mechs and it's not War Bear. I'm honestly not sure what its name is since I only know it by its file name which would give it away. I chose the mech because it looked vague enough, as in, not a falcon, or animal themed mech, etc. Also, it has feet.

The SCQM should be animated early next week so we MAY have that mech coded and out the door next week. I'll post updates about it next week.

I got backgrounds for the bigger Gameshow planet quest back from Minar this week. That will be my assignment next week. It should be a fun quest although it's not exactly a quick quest. I need to send him the storyboards for the cutscenes so he can make the BGs for those.

Jemini is working on the boss battle background.

Maegwyn, Lyris and Vivi will be plotting for the upcoming Friday the 13th event which is creepy because it's like we can suddenly plan ahead! Creepy, right?

While they work on that, Mae will be spending a lot of time on the SC Challenges while I finish up the Gameshow planet. I'm not as certain that I'll be able to release it 100% complete since that requires more George Lowe audio but one way or another, I should be able to release it and just not have the end be spoken dialogue which won't be a huge deal. That's really the worst case scenario.

It's getting later in the months than I anticipated but once we get over this hump, I feel like we'll be going at a faster pace. So lots of good stuff in the works!

Have a great weekend!

Hello hello. So great news! I got the April Fools Sound System working! You can now visit Soluna City and buy a house item that will allow you to use the April Fools sounds for as long as you wants! This item will exist throughout the weekend so grab it while you can.

The GEARS Games have slowed to a crawl. Unfortunately it hasn't been the most stable session since the XML issue keeps coming up. Until Rolith can play with the stuff and try to fix it, the issues may return but I'll let you know when that's fixed. I might also have Rhubarb restart the server that holds the game to see if that helps.

Anywho, the games have been boosted by 10% AND the total victories needed have been modified so the Games should go 23% faster. The 50% cutscene is now open with the next part (which will show up in the missions list) will appear at 75%.

We're also trying to come up with other ways to increase morale.

I have the Maypril Mech in my posession now and I will begin animating it tomorrow. It's design is based off an old SCMM but it's going to be significantly different in many ways.

Finally, we got the first half of George Lowe's voice recorded. It's hilarious and I'm going to try and get as much of the risque stuff in as I can. It's too rich to pass up.

More updates later in the week!

That's right. The 24 hour rare shop is open featuring the crazy-strong 8-bit (maybe 16-bit...) Chickencow! Vivi has written up what the specials are and here it is.

SC and NG models have improved special rates
Effects all last 3 turns

1 hit attack:
-Chance for a crit
-Chance to increase bonus by 40

2 hit attack:
-First Hit: Chance for a 1.5x HP DOT, Chance to increase Boost by 20
-Second Hit: Chance for a 1.5x EP DOT, Chance to increase Boost by 20 (stacks with the first hit)

4 hit attack:
Each hit has an increased crit chance, and a chance to decrease boost and/or bonus by 10
For SC/NG ONLY: Hits 1 and 3 may deal damage equal to the HP damage

Maegwyn would also like to point out that she fixed the issue with the DoT. So everything is working optimal and you now have 13 hours left to get this awesome item before it's gone...

FOREVAR!

Don't miss out on this.

The next 1 day rare sale will be the Maypril Fools mecha which will be Sunday May 1st. This will also be a shop that opens at midnight April 30th and closes on midnight May 1st so be on the look out for that. I'll certainly post more information along the way to remind everyone.

So happy April Fools Day. Try not to listen to too much that you see on the internet because chances are it's all a lie. Enjoy your weekend.

Now I think I'll try and get some more of those Korin Bag Head animations going.