September 28, 2007
Pirate vs. Ninjas Art Content Winners!

We had DO many grest entries into the contest that, even AFTER the winners were narrowed down by Reens, Seahawk and Alac, we had a really hard time picking first prize winners. Here they are!

The Grand Prize Winners (5,000 DC each)
Pirate Entry : CelebrenIthil
Ninja Entry : Lobstery23
Pirates vs/ Ninjas : vampirate14

We had 33 winners in all (it says 34 on the page but don't believe its lies), and all their amazing art can all be seen HERE. But we really want to say Thank You to everyone who participated. The effort that the DF comminuty as a whole put forth to even make one happen was really stunning... so, Thanks!

If you head over to Opsrey Cove right now (and you've done the Ruins of Kordana quest already), you will see that Rhubarb has a new task for you. Do you think you have what is takes to see through Agent 58's perfect disguise (*snirk*)? Do you think that your skills are a match for the fearsome Okuchi No Okami?

Yeah, probably. But still, it's REALLY fun to kick sneevils around, and this quest is ALL about the sneevil kicking.

A Fiend In Need Is a Fiend Indeed!

This is just a quick not to say that we have fixed the bug that was causing the Fiend pet do his double attack for EVERY attack. He now does his double attack half the time with a slightly different graphic effect than the normal attack. I know that having a monsteruosly overpowered pet didn't SEEM like a bug but it was and now he is working as intended.

September 27, 2007
Friday's DragonFable Release
The Hunt for the Wind Pearl
Many combatants on both sides of the Ninja vs. Pirate war are begginning to believe the rumors that the other side, does not, in fact, have the strange object they are fighting for! A special quest is about to be released which may shed some light (or wind) on the situation... The end of this war may be approaching MUCH faster than it seems! (Read: This weekend)

Art Contest!
This contest has ended and the judges are preparing to announce the winners on Friday. You can view the entires at the official contest thread.

Mogloween
The 6th Birthday of AdventureQuest is rapidly approaching... but did you ever wonder how Mogloween started? Why do Moglins turn into giant hidous monsters and make us need to wear masks? What is with all of the candy? Just wondering what you were thinking... see you on the forums!

Degrees of "Living Disabled" Monsters
According to the book Hatch's Order of Magnitude (Methodical Ranks of the Commonplace and the Incredible for Daily Reference), the author (Hatch) ranked the most living to most living disabled monsters as follows...

Interesting you say? Indeed! Normally I just used my trusty pen to markup Hatch's lists where I find missing or inaccurate orderings, but as an undead-slaying Paladin about to enter my favorite month of the year there is a fundamental problem with this list that I just could not manage to hold my tongue on. First, he is mixing corporeal (touchable) and incorporeal (untouchable -- like a ghost) supernatural creatures in the same list. Also, and I realize this is a list of "monsters", but he is mixing undead and demon type monsters which is like trying to compare apples and oranges when it comes to matters of being "alive-like". Finally the list includs Spooks, Spectres, and Vampires -- but omits creatures such as Ghouls, Mummies, Wights, DeathKnights, Liches, etc. This is where I am coming to you for help.... can you help me build a definitive complete list of undead from... sorta-undead to the undeadlyest? It should not take too long and then we can mail it to the author (So I can sleep better at night)

September 26/27, 2007
Special Midnight Post
11ish pm: DeathNote Anime!!!!
A few seconds ago I just saw a commercial on the Cartoon Network saying that they will begin airing the DeathNote anime during the A.S. block in October! I got out bed and rushed here to tell you. I am REALLY excited about this. October = Mogloween, MechQuest, DeathNote Anime... UNDEAD.... the best month ever is about to begin!

September 26, 2007
Fall Shows Its True Colors!

The colors don't actually ever change here in the Tampa Bay area, it is colorful and alive all year 'round, but fall is fall. You can just feel it.

The Autumnal Equinox has come and gone without even waving at us as it passed by*, but Baseball season is wrapping up (good luck, team that I love**) and Football season is quickly decending upon us to take it's place, like a giant black crow feasting on corpse of "America's Past-Time"*** . The squirrels are packing food for winter, the northern birds (including our friendly northern neighbors, the Canadian Snowbirds****) are arriving in flocks every day, and the rich buttery daylight of Summer is being replaced with the enlongated shadows and crisp air can only mean that Fall has arrived.

The Fall also brings the slow build up to one of AE's favorite all-around Holidays... Mogloween! Skulls have begun sprouting on all the furniture in the office. This spontanious generation of spooky articles will only increase as the day aproaches. Expect Amityvale Updates.

Speaking of updates, this Friday will bring a new Sneevil Ninja quest (yes, the Sneevil ninja are related to the shadow of the wind clan, but they have their own clan and they serve a different purpose on Sho Nuff Island). It will also hopefully bring us the end of the war! The Ninjas and Pirates are starting to spread out over the island and search for the Wind Pearl / Jewel Of The Four Winds... so expect some waves to drop off the war, as the waves of ninja and pirates abandon the war and join the search.

Finally on Friday we will announce the winners of the latest DF Art Contest. There have been so many great entries that it will take some time to pick winners but they WILL be announced and awareded on Friday so they can spend their winnings in my superstor before it vanishes on Monday.

* September 23rd at 5:51 AM EDT.
** I'd say which but I don't want to jinx them.
*** I have no problem with the American sport of Football (not soccer, which I do have problems with). I even enjoy watching it and playing the various Madden roster updates that get released every year, but lets face it... Football is no Baseball.
**** Florida, the Tampa Bay area especially, gets quite a lot of northern visitors during the snowy seasons. Who could blame them? It's paradise here. Everyone feels differently about these Snowbirds as we call them but I have always found them fun and interesting.

September 25, 2007
Goodmorning!
That was so much fun last night (Zhoom and Cap'n Rhubarb might have a different opinion) Do not forget, the DF Pirate vs Ninja Art contest ends tonight at 10pm EST.

Cysero is giggling and reading through all of the design notes from last night. Post coming soon.

::: moments later :::

So apparently something with some kind of server happened yesterday.
Artix tried to explain it, but it sounded complicated so I started thinking about rabbits and how Good and Morning are actually two seperate words.

Honestly, the guys did a great job the dangerous and possibly career-ending server switch, and I slept the whole time. When I came in this morning and checked the database, the game itself, the war counts, the forums and my BattleOn mail, nothing had changed as far as I was concerned. I compared it to waking up, tossing back the covers, brushing your teeth and looking outside only to find that a team of ninja construction workers moved my apartment to the beautiful and mysterious wilds of New Zealand in the middle of the night. I had no clue that anything was different. Props to Zhoom and Cap'n Rhubarb!

side note: I have a band-aid wrapped around the tip of my right index finger and during the weekend the K key on my keyboard went missing so my typing will be worse than usual. Sorry.

September 25, 2007
The Big Server Cluster Upgrade 2007!
12:05am BEGIN! (It was sorta semi-sharp.)
12:32am Zhoom and the Capt have already moved all the game files. Now they are doing dangerous things with your character data. What do you want to do while we wait?
12:48am The database goes, "churn, churn, churn....."
12:55am Alright... enough people have moved on that I can now share seeeeeecrets with you. First all, you must swear to absolute secrecy on this (as much as posting this publically on the DNs at least) Here is a first ever look at what the MechQuest page will look like when it goes live Oct 1st. Sneeky peek MechQuest Homepage
1:00am If you have not seen the photos from DragonCon this year yet -- head over to Zorbak goes to Con! Older cons have speach bubbles and terrible comments with typo's aplenty.
1:05am What are you up to tonight? (or morning depending on your time zone)
1:10am Zhoom says, "Backup successful.... moving data!"
1:20am Q&A
Monkeyman says, "about this server cluster, artix? can u give us an exact time instead of telling us about making coffee and how much of it ur gonna drink? thanks." Certainly!
Artix responds, "Excellent question! Zhoom says the database is 13.6 gigabytes compressed and transfering at 2.3 mb/sec. Restore time will take... hmmm... anyone want some Coffee? Actually... I am drinking Tea tonight. It is much more healthy than Coffee and depending on the type it can contain a lot more caffiene. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT TIME! As you may know, I do NOT drink, smoke, nor do drugs (nor spell very well). However, I also believe that caffine is harmful to our bodies and minds in large quantities. For caffine and chocolate specifically, moderation is the key to living a long and happy life. (Note: I have not in any way, shape, or form mastered the art of Moderation.... I am pretty sure I rolled a critical failure on this when rolling for my real-life character.)"
1:30 More Q&A
Daranion says, "go go Artix ranger. Hey Artix, its my career choice to become a developer of games and the like. Do you know if what you do as a Programmer counts towards cred at a bigger corporation? And would you consider this official beta testing or not. Like something I could put on my Resume? Or would I have to go sell my soul to Nintendo or Sony for that credit? If you answer these, you = favorite person ever! "
Artix responds, "Daranion, game development is a really popular field now and there are many schools that have been created to focus solely on it. Working on any game, including AQ/DF/MQ and even the minigames will make your resume look better for acceptance. This is how Arklen got one of the limited spots in the college program he is now in. Once you have been accepted to an accredited college with a focus on gaming you can do an internship with a company like ours for college credit. The best way to go about this would be to contact Geopetal and then send her official documentation from the school and requirements. Off record, to be completely serious about this.... I have been to a few colleges now looking at potential interns and hires and I see two types of people. 99% are people who go for gaming/art/design because they believe it is "easy". You can tell after a short talk that they want to do this sort of work, but you can also tell that they do not have the inner-fire, focus, and determination than the other 1% have.... and you can tell very easily the difference between these two categories of students. Because most of the students will do just the things the teacher assigns... the really rare ones will be doing a million things on their own PLUS the things that the teacher assigns. J6, Ghost, Miltionous, Arklen, Thyton, and Oishii are very good examples of these types of people. I say this both to share my findings, and to encourage anyone reading who may be pursuing a career in a creative field to aggressively pursue their dreams and passions knowing that the bar you are reaching for is at least three times higher than whatever any teacher tells you. (Note: I did not go to school for art nor computers... go figure!)
1:50am Wow, it took 20 minutes to write that. In completely unrelated news, Rolith just signed in and he got Halo! Zhoom says, "61% on Server, 16% on client". My question is... what happened to the other 33%?
2:00am Math time: Dear BigBen14 and Troubleshoot -- please know that our new servers are SO powerful that the data becomes... um... 110% in total size! (Note: powerful computers may not be powerful enough to run.... calculator. <hides>)
2:02am: Captain Rhubarb says, "The file is almost done FTP'ing!"
2:03am: Kudos Eefen_Beefen, kudos!
2:04am: Restoring Database: BEGIN!
2:07am: Database 101 - Real conversation...
Zhoom says, "restoring D B"
Rhubarb says, "do you have the scripts ready for re-creating the indexes?"
Zhoom says, "weird error"
Rhubarb says, "oh?
Zhoom says, "hold on"
<LOOOOOONG awkward silence>
(Note: You are experiencing this from my point of view)
2:11am While this upgrade will not fix client side lag, it will fix the "something new has been released... omg everyone is rushing in and we are all getting XML errors!" These errors are caused by high bandwidth usage and strain on the severes. You may remember these problems like these best from Wrath of Xan event and Oaklore release (and many of our Friday releases). Right now we are in our low point of the year (after 5 years we have gotten very good at noticing trends!) But right around the corner starts the crazy chain of HUGE holiday events! We intend to break some records again this holiday season and this hardware is going to make sure you are playing smooth on the fastest servers we can get while we do!
2:24pm HeavenAthame says, "Hey Artix, charging head first into a bag of pipe cleaners is good training for battling the walking forces of the dead... Did you know that <.<"
... may be a bit until the next post...
2:28pm Oddly enough I did happen to have a small collection of white bendable cleaners in my art-box pre-shaped into little undead soldiers. They did not stand up long to the lawn mower though <makes final rites motion>
2:31am Sapharo, what level is your Berserker? ... and what do you guys think of the new interactive piece on the AQ homepage?
2:35am Bigpepp asks, "hmmmmm while were killing time instead of undead . any chance for a sneek peak or hint at story line involving this upcoming wonderful holiday events?"
Cysero would turn me into a fish or un feng sui my furniture if I spilled the beans on any upcoming events... BUT... I can tell you about the TV Show Bibble-thingy. We... er.... actually I am not sure what I am leaglly allowed to say. I signed a bunch of papers and I am not sure if I can mention the shows she has worked on. Hmmm, I could post my home-made management guide for you to read if you want.
2:49 - Consider this your first look at an official A.E. internal business managment level document. We are very professional. Workflow, Delegration, and Management.
<Shakes head in shame> I cannot believe I actually posted this.
2:55 - Database has been re-indexed and they are moving on to the final part of The Big Server Cluster Update 2007! (aka you have some time to read the document)
2:56 - Cactii, this is not done yet -- but I will give 100 DC to the first person who can guess who's voice it is. (You can only name one member of the team or forums, naming multiple will disable your ability to win..) MechQuest: Tek's Mechs!
3:07 The contest begins.... but there are so few players at 3:07 am on the forums.
Nythera
Geopetal
Safiria was the correct answer! Hmm, because no one else answered yet and technically Nythera was taken before his post we will give him the win. Enzik, can you please post your DF character ID#. (Note: use this to duel him when the servers come back up!)... update, it is #163383
(Actually, there are a lot of females on the team: Oishii, Aishia, Reens, smbDoll, Geopetal, Safiria, Nythera, and the never mentioned Sasha!)
3:13am Capt and Zhoom are adjusting the zippidypointerdoodadlinkylinks. It is really technical.
3:15 They crashed the forums.
Artix: "Forums crashed?"
Rhubarb: "yes, fixing the Registraiont system"
Artix: "Is Registraiont a real word?"
Rhubarb: "it is after midnkight"
3:17am As you can see everything is going very smoothly we should be up in no time at all! Hmmm... is that Tea I smell? (Lady Caelestia would be so proud.)
3:187am Forums are back up. NikisArmy... <shakes finger> Only people who have talked to me on the phone say things like that.
3:21am
Zhoom says: " ok.. anything I am forgetting?"
Captain Rhubarb say: "The players will remind us if we do :)"
That means you guys... get ready... our part is coming up!
3:26am Izak10000 says, "can't any more!! to long....form....need....DF.....hate....undead asulut....somefing like this....can't...tach...muglin punch....have.....balyhoo....DF.... "
3:30 Well said! We just updated the homepage.... we are LIVE!

UPDATE COMPLETE!

3:37 I would like to sincerely thank you for keeping the three of us company through this upgrade. It was very kind of you and I hope that you at least got a chuckle in return. We are all very grateful to be able to work on this for you. Thank you again... and Battle on!

Official List of things to do until we are done!
1.) Play our other RPG AdventureQuest!
2.) Play our original minigames at EbilGames!
3.) Check out our upcoming game MechQuest!
4.) Visit all of our sponsor's websites <Looks right>
5.) Read the design notes... FROM THE BEGINNING!
6.a.) Get a Zorbak and/or Twilly toy sent to you.
6.b.) Head to the forums and tell us what you would like to see in the Pirate Town (Cysero is working on the new town and the end of the war all week!)
7.) Wait for me to post ridicules things about horrible mistakes that are happening now as you read this... I love server upgrades!

Hot Forum Posts
Offical Art contest Thread - Geopetal
Pirates vs Ninjas war, One Piece vs Naruto   - Troubleshoot
All Ghost Discussion! - Chronicler
(Glad to see Ghost is getting some recognition!)
Whats your funniest weapon?   - Death1

September 24 (14****), 2007
I bought some Robots
... and Cysero lost his keys and Server Upgrade!
We are doing the final part of moving DragonFable to huge and pretty expensive new server cluster tonight. For those Zhoom, Rhubarb and I will be starting at Midnight sharp. Just like the forums are super fast now -- DragonFable's Database will be BLAZING!

What: DragonFable Server Cluster Upgrade
Where: Here
When: From Midnight tonight until about.... hmm, I better start getting the coffee ready now.

29 super powerful machines, a 1 Gigabit per second connection (Say goodbye to that 100mbps limit problem.), and we are replacing that old Alteon* load balancer with an even "beastlyier" industrial strength** piece of unbelievably expensive (please do not break, please do not break) equipment. Expect terrible and horrible things to go wrong... and as always, you can expect those thing to be posted... here***!

* Ahem. Yes, we named the King after our load balancer. We felt it was appropriate as he is very... um.. balanced! Just wait until you find out how Osprey Cove was named.
** Bought used off the back of a Salamander from some cute girl with a purple moglin that kept sniffing me and talking about rare items.
*** Unless we break this page too!
**** Curse you time travel faries! <shakes fist>

Oh right, the Robots!
So, as you know we have a lot in the works for you here. Warlic is preparing the launch of MechQuest for you (October 1st OR ELSE!) and so far it looks AMAZING. So... I am sure you are asking yourself, "How are you guys designing the quests?".

Good question!

Step 1. I went to Walmart and bought these robot toys and got a couple plastic cups to use as towers and some matchbox helicopters.

(Mine is the Black Mecha... can you guess which one is Cyseros, Warlics, and Zhooms?)

Step 2. I set them up on the table and proceeded to have the following conversation with Warlic.

Artix: "You have just been sent to recon an enemy ShadowScythe landing point. <points at the forces on the table> you are equipped with a Level 1 NWB-01 Newbatron Mecha with a Recycled Laser Cannon and twin refurbished bargin bin Machine Guns. You can take one of the two following routes <point, point>

Warlic: "Very well. I will engage this tower in order to..."

Artix: "Zap Pew Pew Pew Pew BOOOM!"

Warlic: "Aaahhhh!"

Artix: "Critical hit, your left shoulder is all explody BOOOM!"

Warlic: Nuh uh.. I used my force shield and...

Cysero: "Pow Poew Kaaaaaboooom! I took out the tower!

Warlic & Artix: "Cysero, what the heck!?"

Cysero: "What? I flanked you..."

Warlic: "You are not even playing."

Zhoom: "Ooooh can I be this guy?"

Artix: !!!

Thyton: "Are you guys playing in here WITHOUT ME?"

OIshii & Aisha: "What are you guys doing? Wow, where did you get those?"

Step 3. Go back to working on DragonFable and hope someone builds a time machine between now and October 1st.

See... MechQuest is going to be GREAT! Oh, Cysero's keys... well, let us save that story for tomorrow!

Big Bang Theory
Do not forget the show is on CBS tonight at 8:30pm EST!

September 21, 2007
The War Continues!
Ninjas are ahead.... Pirates up the ante.
The island is a chaotic battlefield with Ninjas and Pirates flying through the air*, locked in mortal combat** to control the island and optain the Wind Shard.. In this week's newsletter both Rhubarb and Thyton are sending you a message... working for the Pirates has suddenly become more profitable! You can earn defender's medals*** during this event and get upgradable items from the Defender's shop in Falconreach.

* Crouching Pirate, Hidden Ninja.
** "Toasty!"
*** Sir Render in Falconreach runs an equal opportunity defense organization!

Cysero's Store of Super Savings coming today!
"One sec, yogurt break!"

Grand Opening!
There has been a big call for more superitems in game lately (yes, a LOT of people actually ASKING for more Dragon Coin items), so for all the people (DA and free player alike) who like to feel dramaticly over-powered I proudly present Cysero's Superstore of Savings. Just click the big green button in Falconreach to visit me.

You will only be able to get these rare pets, helms, capes, wings, swords, daggers, staves, and even wands for as long as the shop remains open and you can only buy them with Dragon Coins.

The Superstore of Savings, like myself, will suddenly vanish for no adequately explainable reason. You can never tell what kind items and oddities you might find in Cysero's Superstore of Savings, and the door remains open for a short time so shop while the shopping is good! Just tell the guy behind the counter (me) that Cysero sent ya!

Craziest day.... ever!
"Hey guys, aim for the injured dude with the watermelon on his head" - DomPrez, in his address to the Ninjas

Cysero's shop has opened and so many new items added! We appreciate the great feedback on the forums (especially the funny ones). The funniest of all.... Cysero initially did the link wrong on the Design Notes. Instead of pointing to the DragonCoins page, Cysero mistakenly pointed to a page which caused some players to buy HIS character DragonCoins. <chuckles> He would like to very much thank the FOUR people who bought him DragonCoins.... and Geopetal is sending you an email to let you know that Cysero moved the DragonCoins to your account by hand.

Happy Birthday Warlic!
Now that we've spring Warlic's surprise party we can all stop pretending that we didn't know it was his birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY WARLIC!

September 19, 2007
AVAST!

Avast actually means "Stop what you're doing!".

Happy Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day! If you haven't noticed yet, most of Falconreach has been bitten by the pirate bug, and they're all showing their support for the pirates of Osprey Cove (or at least the way they talk).

The pirates are losing the war by more than 50%, so Rhubarb has cracked open a few chests of pirate gold and he's offering to anyone willing to fight a little harder for the pirates side!

People may ask..."Cysero, it's not about gold, it's about PRIDE? Can you be bought so eaisly?" to which I reply... OF COURSE I CAN! If you hadn't noticed, I run a Dragon Coin shop or two, and business is business.

...

Well, that AND I was fighting for the pirates from day one and I'd keep doing it for free. YAR! Buckle me swash, Matey!

Oh yeah, the new DF Art Contest info can be found HERE. Good Luck!

September 17, 2007
Contest? What contest?

Oooooooohhhh! THAT contest! You thought that we'd forgotten, didn't ya? WELL WE DIDN'T!

Another DragonFable art contest is coming your way starting later this week so warm up your pencils, brushes, mice, legos, clay, cameras, and brains. I mean, don't PAINT with brains... that would just be... gross.

I won't say much about the contest now except this... start thinking what kind of DF themed Pirate, Ninja or Pirate versus Ninja art you could make that would blow us away. As always the winners (Yes, winners plural) will win small to large piles of Dragon Coins to spent in DragonFable... however they see fit. This will be a particularly nice prize because according to my celestial calander it is about time for Cysero's Superstore of Savings is about to re-appear on Lore.

I'm sure you've all heard the rumors but it can't possibly live up to the real thing. A magical moving store that only appears when things align themselvs just right, and then disappears just as suddenly. Walking the halls you will find beautiful weapons with specials, unusual and mysterious helms and cloaks and even a few odd pets can be found in this bizarre bazaar! My strange shop welcomes anyone but only accepts DragonCoins as payment. I will be behind the counter for the grand re-opening so stop by and say hi!

The full contest rules will be announced on Weds of this week so stay tuned!

The ninjas are winning. Where are all the pirates in the world?!

September 14, 2007
Pirates vs. Ninjas War
The best war ever has begun!
Believe it! We are about to solve the age old question once or for all* -- "which is cooler, Ninja's or Pirates?" I know which side I will be fighting for... and Cysero picked the other side. There are two potential Boss fights and a number of event-rare (Definition: Items that only drop during a specific type of event) weapon drops. Join us now in our first ever two-way DragonFable war!

Jonin Thyton says, "Let them have their initial push. Our true forces await them in the shadows."

First Mate Rhubarb says, "Attack ye' lilly livered land lubbers!"

Ballyhoo
NEW! Ballyhoo now has Ninja masks and headbands** alongside AND the pirate gear from last week. You may have noticed Ballyhoo landed a pretty big sponsor (Yay for keeping DF server cap free!) We are a little behind*** on the number of video views though -- so if you are a free player please visit Ballyhoo as often as you can this weekend. The event is in testing now and will ready for you soon!

* Answer: 42
** Shhhh.... we could not help ouselves. And yes, obviously, Cysero and I are HUGE fans.
*** Very behind.... doooooomed!

September 13, 2007
Introducing Mr. Guy!

As long as we're making introductions, you should meet this guy.

Mr. Guy started working for Artix Entertainment around the time of the first Xan war when Falconreach was destroyed, but has become a very important part of the staff. You can think of him as a stand in, kind of.

When we are laying out the cutscenes that you enjoy (or don't), Mr Guy plays the part of YOU, until you load the quest and take his place. He helps the other NPCs run through their lines and I think I can honestly say that we've all learned a lot from Mr. Guy.

I bring him up now because he's started working on MechQuest as well as DragonFable, basicly doubling his roll without any complaint what-so-ever, never missing his mark, and wearing the same serene smile that warms all who see it.

Thank you Mr. Guy. Thank you from all of us here at Artix Entertainment for your tireless effort in making DragonFable the great game that it is, and now working your magic in our next great game, MechQuest!

In the war this weekend you will be able to speak to Rhubarb and Thyton, and get your first glimpses of the ninja village. Originally I wanted to call it The Village Hidden Amongst The Potatos, but that would have to be underground and, as Sho Nuff is an Island, if you dig more than 4 feet down at any point water will start seeping in. Plus Potatos don't do well in sandy ground, so we're going with the Deadly Whisper Village. Like it? No? Think of something better and let us know of the forums.

Ghost finished the of the enemies for the Pirate/Ninja war last night, and we are growing ever closer to seeing if this new double-war functionality even works. Cross your fingers!

September 11, 2007
Who is Ballyhoo?

Ya Know what? We totally forgot to introduce you to Ballyhoo...

She is the mysterious red-eyed elf who wanders in the dark and light places between worlds, slipping in and out of time and space, and always brings back powerful and interesting treasures. The best part is that HER TREASURES ARE ALWAYS FREE! You can click the BALLYHOO BUTTON in Falconreach, Oaklore or Osprey Cove to visit her and get one of her amazing, free pirzes!

Her prizes will show up in your temporary inventory, and will return to Ballyhoo when you exit DragonFable. But next time you log in, just go back and grab the treasures again for free. We will probably tell you when she has new items, but keep checking in with Ballyhoo... you never know when her amazing prizes will be replaced by new powerful items!

Now that we're done with introductions...

Geo has just infromed me that in the 1540's and 1550's, a band of japanese pirates were attacking the chinese coastline, and several groups of Shao-Lin monks (the monks who gave birth to Kung Fu) were ordered by the government to protect the chinese mainland.

Granted, there is a world of difference between Kung-Fu and Ninjitsu but it's still pretty cool.

This weekend, a very similar story will play itself out on the island of Sho Nuff. The fighting between the pirates and ninjas has once again escalated and the endless battle on the island is heating up. A war is coming. (Which is good. Trueman will be able to level up his Guardian armor finally.)

This will be unlike any war that DragonFable has ever seen as you will be able to choose which side you wish to battle for every time you fight. Do you want to lend your power to the deadly Ninjas? Does your loyalty lie with the pirates of Osprey Cove and Rhubarb? Every wave that you defeat will bring one of these factions closer to victory.

If the Pirates win this war, the Ninjas have a surpirse waiting for you to defeat. If the Ninjas are the victor, then the Pirates have a little surprise boss of their own... but only one side can win.

You will NOT need to have the pirate armor for this war. The Ninja town and Ninja Class will NOT be released this weekend, but you will meet Thyton, leader of the Ninjas (and eventually the Ninja class trainer).

REMEMBER, Once the war is won... by one side or the other... THAT is the boss that you will fight, THAT is the war chest that you will be able to loot and THAT is the ending that YOU made happen. The choice will be in your hands!

September 10, 2007
Thank you
...for nearly making my blow coffee out my nose.
A tribute to the forums are in order today! Over the years you guys have dazzled us with your cool and funny sigs. You have helped us make key decisions in designing the games... and, um... remake them... and occasionally remake entire sections of the game (twice). The talk of the team is DragonLord Brotherbeat who actually dedicated serious effort counting the number of times we used the rock graphic in the walk around areas. Geopetal appears 393 times! And I spilled a little coffee reading IrishWonder's post*. This got me to thinking. It is time for another forum's contest! We have 24 hours to come up with one together: <checks watch> Tick.. tock... tick... tock....

Pirates and Ninjas
We were so happy to hear the great feedback about the art and story quality of the newest quest that was released on Friday! Thank you. Cysero is hard at work on what is coming next. this might be a good time to talk about all of the holidays that are coming up. Starting with Talk like a Pirate day! What do you think we should do? And.... why are pirates the only one who get a day? (If there was a Talk-like-a-ninja day... what would they say? Other than in Naruto, Ninja's do not normally talk!) See you on the forums...

MechQuest story time!
You may have heard, we lost the MechQuest game engine due to the highly feared "Wireless network development server file corruption POOOF GONE bug***". Zhoom and Warlic have just finished recreating the missing chunks since the last backup**** and we have a complete 10 chapter plot worked out. MechQuest now officially takes place 5,000 years before AQ/DF (Seriously!) and will make COMPLETE sense once you beat it. The question in front of us now is... how to release the alpha. We have never done a "level reset" in any of our games. Do you think it would be alright to let people play in an alpha and reset? Or should we do just like AQ/DF and let you keep everything from alpha? This subject is best answered on the MechQuest forums. P.S. Anything in perticular you would like as a DF perk in MQ? I know one forum member who would sure like a robo-Gorillaphant. Battle on!

* The real question here is wasthe coffee from his coffee cup or his mouth? And, um... are you saying 12:15pm counts as morning Artix?
** I knew I smelled smoke.
***Official technical name
**** Trust me, you do not want to know.

September 7, 2007
The Ruins of Kordana
Mists swirl around the mysterious ruins in the center of the Isle. In the depths of the jungle, a giant, hulking mass arises out of the undergrowth. Spires, domes, rusted walls…the structure seems to be made of …metal? It still seems like eyes are peering out at you from holes in the dusty structure, if you listen closely you can almost hear a hum, like some kind of energy magic still hangs in the air…was that a beep? What were these ruins? A city? The remains of a battle? Something more?

Cysero is putting the finishing touches on the new quest for today as I type. It features some amazing artwork done by J6, some brand new energy weapon drops and a secret room (where you can get some *really* cool stuff!) that can only be unlocked by the Cordemi Codex, a rare drop in game that first appeared amost exactly one year ago! Cysero's Orb might also have a few in his shop if you just can't wait.

Artix: Geopetal, your design notes avatar ROCKS!
Geopetal: Thanks!
Artix: Rolith says that you are the most used NPC in Lore!
Geopetal: Thanks! Really?
Artix: Hmmm, I wonder how many times you show up in game <looks to see if there is anyone insane enough to count reading this....>
Geopetal: !!!!

September 6, 2007
Small Update.
Hey all! Cysero, J and I are hard at work on the quest release for tomorrow. You’ll get to venture into the center Sho Nuff Island and find what all the fuss between the pirates and ninjas is about. You also might want to make sure you bring along any rare drop keys you might have had in your backpack….

Big Fat Hint

September 5, 2007
DRAGONCON 2007
Zorbak goes to Con UPDATED!
What are you waiting for? See the photos of Zorbak and oddly dressed completed strangers at DragonCon '07.

Story time continues!
Last Friday was the most action packed day of DragonCon. We woke up bright and early* had a huge breakfast then armed with our stack of "battle ready" business cards** went talent scouting in the art gallery, went to two concerts, took some Zorbak goes to Con photos, met with Voltiare***, attended panels, went to two floors of shopping (Thyton bought nearly $500 of swords in the first 10 minutes), watched wrestling...? (Why was there a wrestling ring at a Sci-Fi convention?), we also got the whole group together for a multi-hour long Zombie survivial RPG table top session****. Then, after attending Voltaire's concert (He had the whole Oooky Spooky band with him!) we... well, this is were things REALLY got interesting... (read Panel of the Dead below!)

* Noon
** Do you have a Nythera? Go fish.....


*** I choose you Zorbak-chu!

(Voltaire & Deady ..vs.. Artix & Zorbak)

**** New Fact Discovered! If you are a GM running any sort of game featuring undead DO NOT let Artix, Cysero, and Thyton be on the same team. The entire group of 9 players achieved an unthinkable 100% survival rate (Not even a scratch from a zombie!) When the going really got tough our cheering section arrived...

(Nythera and friends showed up to cheer on the zombie hunters)

Panel of the Dead... 3:30 am
So there we are, 3:30 in the morning still awake and roaming the halls of the convention that had severly thinned out. I said, "Hmmm, we have a nice party. But we need a raid!" So I walk up to the first person I see and say, "Are you looking for trouble?" They look shocked and then listened carefully as I explained to them, "Well, if you are then come with us! We are going to find some or create some ourselves!"And so it happened, our group marched chaotically through the bottom floors of the convention forming an increasingly larger group of random people with the sole intention of finding SOMETHING fun to do in the wee hours of the morning. Finally we hit critical mass of people (remember, NONE of these people had any idea what was going on or why they were following me and the gang) I led them to an empty room with a panel set up with mics in the front. Warlic, Cysero, Alces, Stratos and a girl who joined us sat at the panel while the others took their seats. They looked at me and asked, "So... um.. what are we doing?" I glanced around the room and saw a big white easle and thought. "PICTONARY! .... the hardest pictionary... in the world!" Alces pulled out a laptop and used a cell internet connection to Wiki random words that we could not even pronounce when we saw them. Cysero's level of smooth talking confidence was amazing -- you would have thought he talked through a mic for a living. We agressively recruited anyone unfortunate enough to walk by our hikacked room's door into our impromptu panel and eventually changed the game to "Famous People with Debilitating Disorders Charades". Random people from our audience perfectly acted out such scenes as....

• Arachnaphobic Spiderman
  "My spidersense is... AHHH SPIDERS!"
• Blind Superman
  (A girl did a flying wipe out into the chairs to do this properly)
• Dislexic James Brown
  "I geel food.. dananananaaaa..."
• Cleptomaniac Opera Winfrey
  "Everyone wins a new car <takes the keys>"
• ... and many more that (as you can imagine) shall never be said out loud again!

We were offered a pack of M&Ms and a $1 bill from the crowd to give out as rewards. THEN a guy shows up with a freshly baked box of Krispy Kreme donuts and told us "This is from <too tired to remember but it was the guy in charge of running the REAL panels> for you guys to give out as rewards or something." Our chaotic panel continued on until 5:30 am when the security guards showed up. Now, the story we have been telling everyone is that we got caught and kicked out by the guards. But the REAL story is that they had to let the cleaning crews reset the room and all the guards that showed up said was "Let's go guys" (They were basically turning a blind eye the entire night because our room was strangely safe and fun) and then the next day we found out that the DragonCon staff had then scheduled an official pictonary panel in that same room! It was 5:30 am .... so we did the only natural thing we could do. We went to a big techno/rave where at any given time there was multiple people fighting with glowing lightsabers amongst the clouds and neon lights in the ball room.

That was just the first day of DragonCon....

We are all very excited to be home with renewed energy and motivation. A shockingly large number of people actually knew who Zorbak was when we were taking photos this year (The Zorbak goes to Con 07 photos should be up by the end of the day for you to check out -- the costumes this year were amazing!) We even played a 4 hour long game of Battletech during the convention (Due to the size of the game and number of people playing 4 hours = 3 turns.... *falls over*) I saw several gaming concepts that have NEVER been done on the internet yet... I really want to do them. All in all it is good to be home. I missed you guys and missed working on the games. Now..... TIME TO GET TO WORK! <salutes with battleaxe>

September 4, 2007
DRAGONCON 2007
...seen through the crossed eyes of the =AE= Team!
DragonCon 2008 was a BLAST! Battling the undead, 5am impromptu panels*, and a horde of new Zobak photos.... I am writing what happened and preparing some pictures for you now. If you ask real nice, I will even post some pictures from DragonCon of Cysero, Zhoom, Nythera, Thyton and... *gulps* me**.... but only if you ask REALLY nice!

* If you remember last year's Deathlok panel story.
** ... vs. Voltiare with our summoned minions battling to the DEATH!

What is DragonCon?
Imagine a costume party with 40,000 people attending panels, shopping, comics, artshows, shopping, movies, concerts, shopping, meeting famous people, shopping, learning about everything from writing, buying swords, art, games, shopping, music, and <BOOM Head explodes>. It is one of the biggest Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Anime conventions of the year in Atlanta, Georgia. This was our third year attending... with us was Cysero, Zhoom, Thyton, Warlic, Safiria, Nythera, a few of our close friends and I. We did everything I had more belly laughs in the first 24 hours of DragonCon than I have had total in the last 2 years. At one point right in the middle of the convention surrounded by hundreds of strangers I was laughing so hard that I literally fell over and almost died. DragonCon was THAT good this year!

Coming Today Tomorrow!

• Storytime!
• Insane gazillion email and bug-fix catch up!
  (Safiria and Nythera are currently working at lightspeed to address any issues you may have had with your accout this weekend)
• Ballyhoo the Ballyhoo master
• Secret Staff pictures (because you asked so nicely!)
• Zorbak goes to Con Update
  (Awesome Costume Pictures!)
• MechQuest News
  (We have a plot! It is now officially 5,000 years... in the past!)
• Sneak peek at what is coming next in DragonFable!

DRAGONCON Story #1: Panel of the Dead
It was Friday night...... oops, I need to reboot. BRB*.

* Death Notebook is mad at me for being gone so long. I need to reinstall Adobe CS and a part of Windows Vista. This should not take long at all.... right? (5:00pm EST.)

Hiya, Cysero here. Artix is busy kicking the Death Notebook over and over and over, and alternately screaming at it and begging it to work, so I decided to give you guys a little update and a small story. First... here are 3 pictures. These are the ones that I already showed off on the forums:

Pic1, Pic2, and Pic3.

These are the people in Pic3 from left to right:

Stratos, the DF/AQ player who found us last year also found us this year, we spent a whole of lot of Con hanging with him. See ya next year man.
Warlic, the blue mage is sporting a orange and gray baseball T and his infamous beard. He has Powers.
Nythera, lovely In her Ring Master costume and pink wig.
MissMoney In orange and red sporting a lion themed circus costume.
Kali In the blue wig. She is the lion tamer and also the textile genius behind the creation of all 3 outfits.
To Kali's right there are 2 guys in totem pole formation, these are the Weiszz (white guy) and Nudigi (black guy). Master Photographers.
To their right is one of my two best friends on Earth, Alces.
Thyton's bald head outshines his Spartan shield.
My shaggy head poking out from behind the yellow hotel chair,
And finally Zhoom, trying his best to form a two man phalaynx with Thyton.

So here is a story I like to call, Cysero and Alces Stick It To The Man.

Within the Hyatt Hotel there is a small restaurant, that combines generally relaxed atmosphere with an innovative menu and food that (at least during DragonCon) is served around the clock to hungry Con-goers such as myself amd Alces.

It had been a hard day of walking around in bad sandles that hurt my feet, so I had dropped my shoes off in the hotel room several hours earlier. Around 2 or 3 AM, after a fantastic night of wandering around, taking in all the sights and smells of DragonCon, a powerful hunger overtook us and we decided to head to the restaurant for some INSERT MEAL TIME HERE (you lose all sense of time at Con so you only know that it is morning when people feed you breakfast foods). We were seated when suddenly I saw the BEST Master Chief that I had seen since the HALO 3 trailers. He has positioned himself outside the dining area and was surrounded by a swarm of people taking his picture. I dashed out of the restaurant, crammed myself in and held up my portable Zorbak.

"Hey Chief, can I get your picture with this guy?!" I smiled. He lowered his plasma rifle to Zorbak's head.

"Good Enough!" I said. I snapped the pic with my trusty phone and headed back to table but I was stopped at the entrance by the night manager of the eatery.

"You can't come in here without shoes on," She scowled. I could tell that she had a rough day of rowdy Con-goers and I knew that it wasn't going to get any eaiser for her as the Con continued. She was just doing her job and I didn't want to giver her a hard time so I tried the reasonable approach first.

"It's....part of my costume?" I asked. She wasn't buying it. "Ok, but my friend is right over there, can I go tell him that I have to go back to my hotel and get my shoes?", She nodded and allowed me to pass.

I headed over to the table and explained the situation to Alces. "You need shoes on so you can eat here with me?" he asked. I nodded, and In an act that reminded me once again why he is one of my best friends on the planet, he reaced down and took of his own sandles and handed them to me.

I took the shoes and headed out the side door of the restaurant and into a bathroom on the same floor of the Hyatt, just around the corner. I strapped on ther sandles (which were much more comfortable than mine) and headed back to the front door. Upon seeing the night manager again, I asked her of those shoes were accpetable and she nodded and let me pass. She was wearing an expression that I have seen a lot in my life as she tried to figure out how I had gotten to my room and back so quickly.

I sat back down with Alces wearing his shoes, and he smiled wiggling his bare toes beneath the table. We laughed, talked, and planned the agenda for when we woke up (assuming that we were going to sleep) and split one of the finest hamburgers that Atlanta has to offer.

Back!
<Checks watch which reads 11:59pm>
See, that did not take long at all. After a super speedy total reinstall of Windows Vista, Adobe Flash/Photoshop/Dreamweaver/Illistrator, Office, SQL Tools, all of the other programs I use.... and several hours of patching... then doing it again.... I am back up and running as good as new*! (Thank goodness for Cysero) So, tomorrow morning I will skip straight to the juiciest story from DragonCon! (... and post some more pictures for you to boot!)

* I thought that thing was new? ...and you are having hard drive failures already?