AdventureQuest (also referred to by its website name BattleOn or as simply AQ) is an online single-player RPG developed by Artix Entertainment in 2002. It is implemented in Flash and uses anime-style graphics, some of which are animated.
| Adventure Quest | |
|---|---|
| File:AdventureQuest-header5.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Artix Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Macromedia Flash Player |
| Release | 2002 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Each account may have up to five characters. The game allows characters to engage in turn-based combat against monsters to accumulate experience points (known as XP) , goldand gold. Characters have a combat level and six stats to train, and some have a specific class. Players may use gold to purchase weapons, armour, shields, spells, pets and miscellaneous items to aid them in combat. There are areas to explore, and special events such as holidays and wars, for players to meet new types of monsters and complete quests.
Players may play a limited version of AdventureQuest for free (free players are called Adventurers), or pay a one-time fee of US $19.95 to become a Guardian and unlock extra features. An X-Boost, which costs an additional US $5.00, if bought with Guardianship, and $9.95 for existing Guardians, grants the player 10% extra XP per battle and other benefits. Guardians may also play ArchKnight, another Artix Entertainment game set 1 year before AdventureQuest. A third Artix Entertainment game, DragonFable, is set 5 years before adventure quest began. A third spinoff is planned called MechQuest, set 5000 years IN THE PAST, with the main question driving its plot being "What could cause a highly advanced civilization to fall into medival times?". MechQuest has recently opened up for account creation so that players may immediately start to play the beta when it is released. The full game will be released by October first. All four of these games are set in Lore, whose name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the game's original title Lands Of Rising Evil, although the acronym no longer carries any notable meaning in game. As of 5 April 2007, www.battleon.com has an Alexa ranking of 1081.
History
AdventureQuest was first released to the public on 1 November 2002. Guardianship was introduced on 22 February 2003 to manage the costs of running the game. Artix Entertainment, formed in 2004, introduced a server cap in May 2004, a month before AdventureQuest reached one million users.
By June 2005, the game had 5 million users, and by December 2005, 10 million. As AdventureQuest grew, Artix Entertainment added new methods to pay for in-game content, such as X-Guardianship (in October 2005) and Z-Tokens (in June 2006), and released other games, such as DragonFable (on 26 July 2005), ArchKnight and ZardWars.
Game play
Combat
Much of AdventureQuest's game play revolves around fighting monsters. In a fight, characters and monsters take turns attacking each other to reduce each other's health (known as HP).
On its turn, a character may attack with its weapon, cast a spell, drink a potion, use items, change pets, equip a miscellaneous item or escape. Before performing any of these activities, a player may change their character's weapon, shield, and armor. Equipping weapons, shields, and armor do not take a turn. Equipping accessories does. On a monster's turn it may attack, though some monsters have special attacks, such as healing. Pack monsters and a few monsters can summon reinforcements, which doesnt take up a turn.
Status Effects
Players may inflict status effects on monsters using skills, pets, and weapons. Some guests can inflict status effects as well. Most high level bosses and unbeatable monsters are highly immune to the freezing effect.
- Freezing - A frozen monster cannot attack, and has its Fire Resistance set to 200% (even if it is normally higher). Freezing lasts for one turn. Freezing is symbolized by the word "Frozen!" beneath the monster's MP bar. A monster cannot be frozen if its Ice Resistance is less than 100%, and/or if its base element is Ice. Monsters receive a "saving throw" to resist freezing. This is equal to the monster's END * 0.25%.
0 END = 0% chance of resisting
50 END = 12.5% chance of resisting
100 END = 25% chance of resisting
200 END = 50% chance of resisting
- Paralysis - A paralysed monster cannot attack. Paralysis last for as long as the description describes (usual two turns). Paralysis is symbolized by the word "Paralyzed!" beneath the monster's MP bar. Monsters receive a "saving throw" to resist Paralysis. This is equal to the monster's END * 0.4%.
0 END = 0% chance of resisting
50 END = 20% chance of resisting
100 END = 40% chance of resisting
200 END = 80% chance of resisting
- Disarmed - A disarmed monster has all damage it does set to 0, and gains -300% B2H. Disarmament is symbolized by the word "Disarmed!" beneath the monster's MP bar.
- Controlled - While controlled, all damage a controlled monster deals is instantly healed, and the monster is damaged by the negative amount of what you were healed; this includes all MP damage dealt. During this status, monster element is converted to Void, but otherwise the attacks are unchanged (no damage or BTH boosts). Effectively, the monster attacks itself. Control is symbolized by "Controlled!" beneath the monster's MP bar.
Combat Mechanics
The most basic fights are started through random encounters (by clicking the "Battle Monsters") button, and after winning such fights, characters return to Battleon and can be fully healed by an NPC.
Several things can affect the outcome of a battle. Both characters and monsters have a "defense modifier" for each of the eight elements; a higher defense modifier means an attack of that element does more damage. There is also a defense modifier for each of the three methods of attacks: melee, ranged and magic; a lower number means greater vulnerability to that method of attack. Players can change their character's weapon, shield and armor according to the monster's defense modifiers. Also, some of the stronger bosses have defence modifiers to the ElementX/Void Element.
Six stats affect the amount of damage inflicted and taken, as well as the probability of an attack being resisted. In addition, pets and guests assist the character in doing extra damage. Strategic use of spells and items will give a character an advantage in combat. The combat system also uses luck as you attack a random number based on your weapon and stats.
Once a monster's HP drops below zero, the monster dies, and the character is awarded with experience and gold. Sometimes, they will also be rewarded with Z-Tokens. If a monster is a pack type (Junior Zard Pack, Orc Horde, etc.), sometimes they may summon reinforcements until they run out. Most pack monsters have a pre-determined amount of reinforcements, and will not die until all of them are killed. If a character's HP drops below zero, the character dies, and has to speak to the The Reaper to return to town without any penalties. The death gets saved in the game's database.
Void Damage
While there are 8 primary elements (Earth, Wind, Water, Energy, Ice, Fire, Light, and Darkness.), there is also Void, or as it was known earlier in the game, Element X. Void is essentially none of these, and thus hits all monsters (or most of them)regardless of their stats. Some weapons, when triggered, deal Void damage (such as the Dragon Blade), or in their special attacks (such as the Gauntlet of The'Galin). Void Damage is always 100% against any monster aside from a few undefeatable monsters, Void Dragons, and a few bosses. Its symbol is a question mark.
Guests and Pets
Pets are the second party member a player can have. Pets are obtained by buying them from shops, except for Cudgel, who joins you temporarily during the Drakel vs. Elf saga. Pets can cause status effects like Paralysis, can attack, and some can heal you such as the Fairy God Mother.
Guests are the third party member a player can have. Guests are obtained during quests, wars, and can be summoned using Summon Spells and class skills. Some guests can inflict status effects, and a few can even trigger against some enemies. Guests attack rates are also effected by Charisma. The player attacks first, then the guest, then the pet.
Stats
Characters have six statistics which affect their success in combat:
- Strength (STR) increases the random damage of melee and ranged attacks, and the accuracy of melee attacks.
- Dexterity (DEX) increases the random damage of melee and ranged attacks, the accuracy of all types of attacks, and the ability to block attacks.
- Intellect (INT) increases the random damage of magic attacks, the accuracy of magic attacks, and the character's maximum MP.
- Endurance (END) increases the character's maximum HP.
- Charisma (CHA) increases the damage and attack frequency of pets and guests.
- Luck (LUK) increases a character's chance of going first in a battle, finding a treasure chest, and dodging monster attacks, as well as affecting accuracy for all attack types, though it does not affect them as much as the other stats.
When characters level up, they are given 5 stat points. They may use these stat points to train their stats by paying a stat trainer and defeating them in combat.
If a player regrets training a stat, they may un-train their character's stats by doing the "Death's Domain" quest and losing to Sir Pwnsalot in combat. However, the money spent in training the stat will not be refunded and therefore will be lost forever. Once Pwnsalot is found, Guardians and X-Guardians may visit him freely in the Guardian Tower by selecting the Un-Trainer in the teleporter room.
Classes
In AdventureQuest, players may become a certain class. This is achieved by speaking to the trainer of a class. 1st tier classes and Special classes require no other class levels to begin. 2nd and 3rd tier classes require levels in other classes to begin.
Once a player does tasks for the trainer, such as defeating dragons, collecting scrolls, or protecting dragon eggs, they will be taught another skill. All classes can be leveled up to lvl 10.
With each level, a class unlocks its next skill, which can be an attack, a summon, a boost in power, and so forth. Class skills cost HP or MP to use. Class skills can only be used when wearing that class' armor. Class skills can still be used once your class is changed. At higher class levels, armors have a low chance to perform a class skill for no cost.
SubRace
In AdventureQuest, players may visit the ruler of a subrace to become part of it. Once a player has become a subrace, it can be removed using the quest "The Cure" in Darkrovia. The subraces are:
Vampire - Visit Queen Safiria in the Vampire's castle to gain this subrace. The guest is a Vampire Firebat.
Werewolf - Visit the Werewolf King in the Werewolf Lair to gain this subrace. The guest is the Brightwolf.
WerePyre - Visit Wolfwing in The Secret to gain this subrace. There is no guest, and WerePyre's power depends on your Vampire and Werewolf levels.
Each SubRace has its own armor (Vamp, Lycan, and WerePyre Form respectively), and if you are a Vampire or Werewolf, you may carry out tasks against the other race for your leader to gain levels. Each level increases the chance of using your powers in Vamp or Lycan armor. You can reach up to lvl 10 in Vampire and Werewolf.
Clans
In AdventureQuest, players may join a Clan on the island of Paxia, and participate in Clan activities such as wars and challenges.
Joining a Clan
There are 8 clans to join, and each is one of the 8 elements. The joinable clans are Geoto, Aerodu, Nautica, Dynami, Igneus, Glacius, Lucian, and Nocturu . To join, you simply enter Paxia, then click on the location of a clan's base. Then, speak to the leader, and ask to join. They will add you to their ranks. As long as there are no clan wars going on, you may join. If you are not in a clan during a clan war, you will have to wait till the war ends to join.
Monolith Island
Once you have joined a clan, if no clan wars are currently taking place, you may leave the clan by speaking with the Negatus Statue on Monolith Island, which is off the shore of Paxia. Also on Monolith Island is Paxus, who tells you about the 8 Paxian clans and how they were created.
Clan Mechanics
If you have joined a clan, you may enter their base. Every clan has its own shop which sells items of a particular element, and sometimes armor and weapons of the clan. Some items are stronger when used by a member of that clan, such as the Gong of the Wind series of Pets.
Clan Wars and Challenges
Every so often, Paxia has challenges and wars. During these wars, players will fight random battles against opposing forces on Paxia, battling things such as Airships and other clan members (Not PvP, however.), and can repair their bases to help keep ahead in the war. Eventually, the clans with the best health at the end of the war is awarded war spoils.
Challenges are given by Paxus, and happen in his personal arena which floats above Paxia. They can vary from guessing things, to winning battles, and so forth. Clans with the highest score gain prizes for this.
Shops and Equipment
There are six types of equipment which increase a character's effectiveness in combat:
- Weapons are used to deal damage with the "Attack" command. Many have triggers, which activate on monsters of a certain type, causing the weapon to either deal more damage, seek the monster's weakness, weaken a monster, or so on. Also, many weapons have special attacks which will hit harder than the normal attack. This is usually frowned upon by higher levels who wish to utilize the full power of their multi-hit armors.
- Shields affect a character's defense modifiers. Some have rewind abilities, which can heal you once.Some also have a trigger, which gives you a attack boost when you are fighting a certain type of monster.
- Armor, like shields, affect a character's defense modifier and also can give extra attacks. Some armors allow the use of class skills or subrace attacks, which get added to with each level of class/subrace.
- Spells are an alternative method of attack, can summon things, and a few can heal.
- Pets offer a bonus attack(s), or may do other things such as heal or cause status effects.
- Miscellaneous can offer defenses against any kind of attack, a temporary stat boost, or extra attack power when attacking with certain elements. Miscellaneous items must be activated before their effects happen. This might take up some MP and/or a turn. Muse type miscellaneous items unlock music. It also includes potions, which heal MP and HP. However, potions take up their own slot in the misc menu, without taking space from accessories.
AdventureQuest has many shops where players may purchase equipment using gold. Every piece of equipment has a level requirement which the character must meet to be able to buy it. If a player regrets buying any equipment, they may sell the equipment at a loss. A character may hold up to eight of each type of equipment at a time in battle, while they may purchase storage space with Z-Tokens to hold items outside of battle. Most equipment specializes in one of the eight elements (fire, ice, water, wind, earth, energy, light and darkness), but some specialize in more than one element or have no element at all.
Quests, Events and Challenges
Besides random encounters, players can embark on quests. Quests are generally more challenging than random encounters because the character has to fight several monsters, and usually is not given the opportunity to heal in between battles. Some quests entail additional challenges, such as rolling a die and continuing only if a high number is rolled.
Many quests are started by speaking to non-player characters or exploring regions on the map. Events are quests which are available for a limited period of time. There are annual events during AdventureQuest "holidays" such as Mogloween and Frostval, and one-time events, such as wars. In challenges, characters have to defeat as many monsters as possible, but unlike quests, there is no reward or storyline. Some challenges like the Water Battle Chamber and the Haunted House have bosses though.
Storylines
AdventureQuest has had a very long storyline, and they've recently intertwined to form the main plot. Here are the storylines completed thus far.
WARNING. SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT.
The Beginning
The Undead War
The game originally started with the Mysterious Necromancer launching an attack on Battleon with an army of undead. This would be the starter in a very long chain of events over a period of 5 years which would lead to the current time of the game.
The Dragon Wars - Part 1: Akriloth
Akriloth, the great dragon of the fire element perches himself atop a volcano, and sends a small army to attack Battleon. However, once the army is defeated, along with Akriloth, Akriloth tells the player that he attacked because a dragon named Drakath stole his Prime Fire Orb, the source of his power. Akriloth tells the player that if they retrieve it from Drakath, they would recieve the greatest fire weapon ever made.
The Dragon Wars - Part 2: Drakath
Drakath, using the fire orb, attempts to make all monsters of the darkness realm invincible, while the fire realm weakens as the orb is away from Akriloth. Drakath, already possessing the Prime Darkness Orb, was much stronger than Akriloth, but when the player is sent to kill Drakath, Twilly the moglin arrives with the Dragon Blade, which triggers and allows the player to slay Drakath with relative ease. The Prime Fire Orb is retrieved by the player, and the Prime Dark Orb is taken to the last remaining Guardian Tower in Battleon. The Mysterious Necromancer arrived on the scene at the last minute, and re-animated Drakath's body as a Dracolich. Drakath, in his dracolich form, is now mindless and violent, and controls a mass of undead forces which attacks the countryside. With the help of Paladin Artix Krieger, he is defeated once more, and laid to rest.
The Dragon Wars - Part 3: The Fire Dragon War
Akriloth tricks you, and swallows the Prime Fire Orb, indeed becoming the greatest fire weapon ever. He proceeds to try and take over Lore, sending his army of fire monsters to kill all mankind. To defeat him, the people required the Ice Scythe, which was in the possession of a greedy Ice Demon. Unfortunately, once the demon is defeated, he feels he is the only one who deserves the scythe, and so he smashes it on the ground before he dies.
Thankfully, Yulgar the blacksmith and owner of the Battleon Inn forged the remaining shards of the scythe into the Frozen Claymore, a giant blade of Ice. Using the claymore, Akriloth's army and him were both defeated, but with Akriloth's demise, the Prime Fire Orb exploded and the elemental forces became unbalanced. Nefaria, a fire spirit, gives the player the egg of one of Akriloth's children to keep the elemental forces in relative balance. The Mysterious Necromancer shows himself once more, now asking the player very whimsically whether or not Akriloth left a corpse, for use in his next army. When he learns that Akriloth turned to ashes, he merely walks off, supposedly collecting the ashes and calling the player a Dragonslayer.
The Great Fire War
To the Aid of Ashenvale
During peacetime after Akriloth's death, the small village of Ashenvale near Battleon is attacked by a small force of fire monsters. However, it is saved before it completely crumbles. Rumors of the leader of the forces surfaces, and his name is Drakonnan. Akriloth killed his family and his brother, driving him mad. Drakonnan collected the shards of the Prime Fire Orb, and now seeks a skewed form of revenge against mankind.
Slaying of the Fire Dragon
Another army of fire monsters is sent to attack another neighbouring village, Moonra. A great fire dragon is killed along the way, and Drakonnan apparently becomes frightened and retreats. In order to prevent him from fighting back, the forces of Battleon searched for the Flame Guardian armor to resist his attacks better. While they are gone though, Drakonnan, who was merely amassing his forces into a larger group, launches another attack on the eastern hills, lead by his high Djinni General Varax, and a Plasma dragon.
The Assault on Battleon
The plasma dragon is killed, and Varax flees, but as the player returns to Battleon, it is revealed to be in flames. Drakonnan launched an attack on Battleon as well, and it is too late to save the town. A small force of energy monsters is also helping Drakonnan's forces for unknown reasons. Demento is killed during this battle by Varax. The forces are faught back, and Varax is killed. Drakonnan attacks the player head on as a Boss. After Drakonnan is defeated, an Undead Akriloth appears and is also fought as the second boss. The Mysterious Necromancer revived him from ashes, as is clearly visible from his gray skin. Finally, once Akriloth falls, Drakonnas reveals himself. He was believed to be dead, but it is revealed that he was helping his brother with his energy creatures, and the Drakonnan killed in that war was really an animated armor of him Drakonnas made. Drakonnas is defeated, and he retreats, but Galanoth and many of his allies are taken hostage by Drakonnan.
The Ice Katana
Yulgar tells the player of the Ice Katana, a magic weapon which controls powers of ice and is able to even freeze monsters solid. Believing it can be forged from ice crystals in the far north near IceFall, the player journeys north to gather the crystals. The quest to gather the crystals was the first walk-around quest in the game. Eventually the katana is forged, and the final attack is launched on Drakonnan's volcanic fortress.
Assault on Drakonnan's Volcanic Fortress
Zorbak, a moglin necromancer who wishes to help the player, accompanies you into the fortress in the second walk-around quest. The player frees Galanoth, Smbdoll, and others from their holding cells as they go. Twig the moglin is met halfway through the dungeon to heal the player, and would return with the player to Battleon's ruins after the war ended. After de-activating the mega fire orbs powering the fortress, the treasury is unlocked, and the Ice Katana is freed. However, Artix, the last hostage of Drakonnan, has been transformed into a ShadowFire Knight, and attempts to kill the player. He is defeated, and reverts back to normal with some injuries.
Entering Drakonnan's throne room, the player defeats Drakonnan using the Ice Katana, and Drakonnan falls into a pit of Lava along with his throne. The victory is short lived, however. Zorbak came with the player because Drakonnan had his chair, and attempts to bargain with the dying Drakonnan to get it back. Unfortunately, he bargains with a mega fire orb, and Drakonnan eats it in a last ditch effort to survive. He transforms into UltraDrakonnan, a giant flaming demonic version of himself, and challenges the player one last time. Zorbak and the player kill him, and Zorbak opts to take his helmet as a chair instead. Players could buy Great Fire War t-shirts online to celebrate the victory.
The Dracomancers - Part 1: Cyrus
Dragons!
During peacetime after the fall of Drakonnan, a large force of dragons ravages the countryside. Galanoth, now an accomplished dragonslayer, rushes with his Order to exterminate them, but as they begin to retreat, Galanoth and his apprentice Zero-Hex are attacked. Zero-Hex escapes, but Galanoth is overpowered and taken away.
Galanoth vs. Cyrus
The dragons are followed, but it is merely a trap. As the player fights the army of dragons in the Dragonspine mountains, deep underground Galanoth is argueing with Lord Cyrus, high khan of the Dracomancers. Galanoth, in a fit of rage, attempts to cut him down, but the dragon blade is knocked from his hands. Galanoth attempts to use the Fire Dragon to attack Cyrus, but Cyrus persuades the dragon over to his side, and it badly burns Galanoth. The army of Battleon defeats the dragon army in the mountains, but has to return to Battleon to regroup, leaving Galanoth to Cyrus.
Zero-Hex the Traitor
The player, back in Battleon, is alone outside wondering what the recent events have meant. Suddenly, Battleon is attacked by dragons again. The player fights their way through 8 battles with different dragons, only to have Zero-Hex walk over to stand beside Cyrus. Questioning his motives, Zero-Hex says that Cyrus saved him when he was training in the Dragonspine mountains with Galanoth, and became lost. Cyrus tells the player that the Dracomancers, persecuted for centuries, are back, and stronger than ever. Zero-Hex defends Cyrus, but is killed for his treason. Cyrus, now eager to fight, transforms into a half-dragon monster and attacks. Once defeated, he sets Galanoth free and orders a truce between them on the grounds that no innocent member of their order, or dragonkind, be harmed without initial provocation.
The Carnax Saga: Present
The Drakel Raid
As the dracomancer war comes to an end, news arrives from Stonerule. The Drakel, a cross between humans and dragons, begin to emerge from their domed cities and attack. Hundreds of years ago, a great and terrible enemy forced them into hiding, but now they are leaving to try and find something to prevent the enemy from returning. They have arrived at Stonerule, and are attacking it and pillaging it for unknown reasons. As they are fought off, the ruins begin to shake, and a strange clock-like device emerges from the ground. Tathlin, Valencia, and Robina investigate it, and some Azru gems the Drakel tried to take are given out to the player. Unsure of what the monolith does, the player chases the Drakel back to their domed city. Commander Kragg, a high military leader of the Drakel, is questioned on it and is then thrown into the Pit by Valencia and Galanoth.
The Prophet Arrives
After returning to the Monolith, the player encounters alot of undead, as well as the Reaper. The reaper has apparently arrived early, and will return to "clean up" once something happens very soon.
The ruins are still shaking, and the magical monolith is now glowing. The player travels there and meets Riona Shadowgale, a prophet claiming to be a survivor of the Talados civilization, who were rumored to have been destroyed long ago by a great cataclysm. She tells of how a secret guild of sorcerors planned to control the lands with a creature of great power, but soon it grew far out of their control, creating the beast known as Carnax - in common language, "Great Scourge".
Riona attempts to explain, but for unknown reasons the Grim Reaper appears and approaches her. The player fights off the reaper, and Riona tells the player of the rock which Talados rested on that sunk into the sea when Carnax destroyed it. The rock may have the power to destroy Carnax. Riona promises to explain more later, and runs off.
The Prophet's Son
Weeks pass. Moon Called, a guardian in the Battleon Tower, tells the player to head to Mount Furrowauld to speak with a person in a red cloak. Riona had said she would send someone for the player, which sends the player to the mountain. There, Riona tells that Carnax was weakened by the ore deposits in Talados when it began to sink. The Drakel had unearthed some of these stones, and Riona plans to use them against Carnax.
She introduces her son, Danail, to the player, and shortly after Zorbak appears. He summons a small group of undead, and after they are defeated it is revealed that the reaper has a bounty on Riona - and infact, all of the surviving Taladosians - because they should all be dead already. Their children are not natives of Talados, however, and so are not targetted by the Reaper. Danail, feeling uneasy, asks if he and Riona can leave. As they walk off, the player remembers that Danail had a very strange look in his eyes.
Soon, Danail is left alone in Riona's makeshift home on Mount Furrowald. Carnax, using Danail's fear of him from Riona's stories, speaks to Danail, and takes hold using his mind. The scene switches back to Riona, talking to the player, telling that the monolith is called a Focus Nodule. It was keeping Carnax at bay, but now with Danail's mind to anchor himself with, the nodule is not enough. Riona, now crying, fears for Danail's safety, and runs back to the mountain to get him. The Reaper emerges again, and the player has to protect Riona by fighting them off.
Carnax Rises
The Focus Nodule is now glowing and shaking faster and faster. The player senses that something is going to happen soon. Riona, now back at the Nodule with Danail, is comforting him. The Focus Nodule explodes, and strange tentacles emerge from the ground. Once defeated, Carnax rises from the ground and attacks. The player has to fight several battles against the body parts of Carnax, and then once he's half dead, Jackel Sano and Warlic create an ice path to fight the upper body of Carnax.
Once the players depleted his 275,000,000 HP, the player would fight a boss battle against Carnax's head. Carnax is then weak enough to die, and Riona tells her son that she'll be back very soon. Riona runs towards Carnax, and uses the Azru Gems to fire a blast of energy at Carnax. The power this requires kills Riona, as well as Carnax, and Carnax falls to the ground. He says he is now free, and then closes his eyes and turns to stone.
The Prophet Returns
The player approaches the body of Carnax, and sees a ghostly figure on top of it. It is the ghost of Riona, and she asks the player to die, so that the player may save her from Death's Domain. Death will let the player free because they are early, and so the player has to lose a battle against a Stone Golem. Then, death will allow the player to search the area for Riona, giving vague clues as to wear she is. After searching the portals, Riona is found, and helps to completely eliminate Carnax by defeating his ghost in a giant hourglass. Riona is then freed, now in a light blue outfit, back in the realm of the living, and is reunited with Danail, concluding the present day Carnax Saga.
The Carnax Saga: Future
The Portal
Months after Riona's revival, a Portal opens in Battleon. The player enters, but when they come out, Battleon is gone. The player searches for others, and eventually fights a battle against an unseen enemy inside a portal. Confused, the player explores more and fights strange floating Drones. After the battle is won, the player has a flashback to Warlic talking to someone in the inn about portals. Soon it is realised that someone is trying to create portals through time, and the player fights another Drone. Then a portal opens, and they are sucked through. A strange floating creature tells the player things backwards, then the player is dumped in a strange place filled with scrap metal and robot parts.
There the player meets Maxwell and Morgan, and it is revealed that the player is now in the future. After leaving the strange place, Maxwell and Morgan accompany the player out, and the player fights a boss battle against a Junkbot. Maxwell, Morgan, and the player head to find a portal back to present day Battleon.
Spawn of Carnax
Upon returning to present day Battleon, the player finds that many monsters resembling Carnax have begun appearing and attacking all over the world in the regions of Battleon, StormFallen, and Lolosia.
Jessica Maxwell, an assassin from the future and Maxwell's half sister, Hollow Stoneforge, a descendent of Yulgar and cybernetic engineer, a Drone named 262, and the strange floating creature (Now revealed to be called Cor-Demi) have come through to present day Battleon as well, and could be enlisted to help the player fight the spawn.
After 2,000,000 spawn of Carnax are killed, the player ended up in StormFallen, and fought a boss battle against a C-Rex. Once the C-Rex is defeated, a portal opens to the Future, and the group jumps in.
The Hatch
The player is taken to the Hatch, the meeting place of the Order of Alpha, lead by Maxwell. There the player meets Anna Darkstone, a descendant of Riona Shadowgale who shares Riona's prophetic visions. Carnax's soul is imprisoned in the gem Anna wears, which appears to be an old Azru stone.
There it is learned that, in the future, the sorceror who created Carnax had travelled through time, and had learned much of the technology of the future. Using samples and DNA, the sorceror had created his own horde of Carnax spawn, sending them to the past. Now, in the future, he had created even more of them, using cybernetic technology to increase their power. The sorceror's name is Makkisar. Makkisar had been enslaved by Truth, a character who the player meets during random battles. Truth is an Annanuki, or Faceless, who's motives are unknown.
There, plans are made to kill Makkisar, ending the war in the Future and allowing time to continue properly. As the plans finish, Makkisar unleashes his latest creations.
Hordes of Makkisar
All of the remaining DNA of Carnax is replicated. Hundreds of spawn are made, and cybernetic warriors using his powers attack the remaining cities. Players faught a war to kill all the future carnax spawn, fighting through the poluted waters, junkyards, and ruined cities. Eventually they were lead to Makkisar, the last surviving Taladosian sorceror. Makkisar, fueled by Truth, attacks the player, while talking about how they wished to defend Talados with a great guardian. Carnax was born, but he was too difficult to control, and he killed Makkisar's colleagues. Makkisar escaped with his life, and a broken mind.
Once Makkisar's HP is depleted, a cutscene triggers where Makkisar makes a final attempt to live, drinking the Carnax DNA sample, and turning into a human-Carnax hybrid. Once Makkisar dies, the players are returned to present time, ending the future war. Truth leaves Makkisar's body, and searches for a new host.
The Dracomancers - Part 2: Bradakhan
The Return of Bradakhan
The dracomancers, now at peace with the dragonslayers, have opened their order to the player. However, Lord Cyrus, high Khan of the dracomancers, had many enemies. Indukhan was a lesser Khan of dracomancers, and his son Bradakhan always hated Cyrus for being better than his family. Grudgingly, Bradakhan had followed Cyrus, until a year before the dragon wars. At that time, Bradakhan dissapeared.
The player and Cyrus both hear news of a large force of dragons and dracomancers attacking Battleon and the plains. After fighting through the forces of dragons, Cyrus confronts the dracomancer responsible for their appearance - Bradakhan. Bradakhan explains to Cyrus that for so many years his family was humiliated by being less experienced than Cyrus' family. He had left and trained, learning how to steal the knowledge of other Dracomancers, and became extremely strong. Bradakhan is fought and defeated, but Bradakhan isnt quite ready to die.
Into the Void
Bradakhan, hoping to kill Cyrus, kidnaps his sister Sheila and heads into the Void, a place where lost souls and extremely powerful monsters have ended up through one way or another. Using his dracomancer abilities, he commands an army of Void Dragons to try and kill the player and Cyrus.
However, the void dragons are killed, and Bradakhan as well. Sheila is rescued and reunited with her brother, and Bradakhan's personal armory is raided. The Razorscale weapon is taken, and a nest of baby void dragon eggs is brought back to Battleon.
Rise of the Frost Kingdom
Guardianship
Guardianship is a "premium" version of AdventureQuest, which players can buy for a one-time fee. As AdventureQuest has grown, Artix Entertainment has raised the fee several times; as of 22 October 2006, Guardianship costs $19.95, which can be paid for using credit card, PayPal, or PayByCash. Players who have bought this premium version are called "Guardians," while those playing the free version are called "Adventurers."
This premium version offers players many benefits. It grants access to additional quests, events, wars and locations. Many weapons, armors, shields, pets and other items in the game are only available to Guardians. Besides starting with two health and manna potions (instead of one of each type for Adventurers), as well as being able to receive five potions at strategic points during quests from a potion bag. Guardians also have more powerful starting weapons, and can train up to level 10 in each class (instead of 5 for Adventurers). In addition, they can log in at any time, despite the server cap which limits the number of Adventurers that may play simultaneously.[1]
X-Guardian Boost
Introduced in October 2005, the X-Guardian Boost (or simply the X-Boost) grants players several benefits, including an extra 10% XP per battle, 10,000 free gold, 200 free Z-Tokens and more starting potions. It can be bought with Guardianship for an extra $5.00, and costs $9.95 for existing Guardians. Guardians who have bought the X-Boost are called X-Guardians. They start out with three health and mana potions (each).
Z-Tokens
Introduced in June 2006 to replace the former system of donating money for items, Z-Tokens are rare coins in AdventureQuest, which players (both Adventurers and Guardians) will occasionally find after winning battles. Guardians may also purchase Z-Tokens with real money, with various exchange rates, including $19.95 for 5,000 Z-Tokens.
Players may use Z-Tokens to buy weapons, shields, amour and pets which are generally more powerful than those bought with in-game gold. They may also purchase inventory slots with Z-Tokens (at the rate of 200 Z-Tokens per slot).[2]
Criticism
Server cap
There is a limit on the number of free players which can play simultaneously. The limit was fixed at 4,000 during the early days of AdventureQuest, but it currently fluctuates from 8,000 to over 19,000 according to time of day and server load. Once the limit is reached, only Guardians may log in, until sufficient players log out or the limit increases.
Because of the server cap, it can be difficult for free players to log in, especially because the server limit may occasionally decrease by nearly 50%, and all the available slots are usually taken moments after the server limit is increased.
Free players have tried various means to bypass the server cap. A web browser script that would immediately log a player in once it detected an available slot on the server was once available. In the past, there have been bugs which could be exploited by free players bypass the server cap, but these bugs have been fixed. Some fan sites offer server stats to give players a good idea of when to log in. Some free players, after successfully logging in, leave their computer on continuously to stay logged in.
Free accounts start out with 25 free logins that are used once every time that account logs into the game. AdventureQuest provides a survey that upon completion grants users another 24 hours of unlimited free logins.[3] Additionally, after confirming the account's e-mail address, they get 48 hours of unlimited free login time, to help them become familiar with the game. After all free logins are used up and the server cap hinders logging in, it is suggested by staff to play another game or pay to continue playing.[4]
Artix Entertainment defends the server cap as a way of controlling server load and covering the cost of running the game.[5] AdventureQuest has also added advertising to the homepage to allow more servers to be purchased.
Monotony and lack of features
AdventureQuest has been criticized for its repetitive game play, which primarily consists of killing monsters to gain experience and gold. There is little strategy involved in winning battles, and training takes a long time, often requiring the player to repeat tedious tasks. This criticism could also be applied to other RPGs. This primarily applies only to lower level players. Once you level, you still have the option of the repetitive play but there are many ways to make your character more advanced.
In addition, AdventureQuest has also been criticized for lacking basic features present in other RPGs. Artix Entertainment rebuts by reminding players that AdventureQuest is still in the testing stage and thus lacks many features, and that the game has weekly updates and is ever-changing. Originally intended to be a simple, single-player RPG, AdventureQuest has grown much faster than Artix anticipated, and rewriting the game engine to add extra features is not feasible.
Lack of in-game interaction
Being a single-player game, AdventureQuest provides no means of in-game interaction between players. This has been cited as a reason for its small market share in the online RPG genre. Several commonly-requested in-game interaction features, which Artix Entertainment has repeatedly stated will not be implemented, include:
- Player versus player combat. Some high-leveled players find the monsters too easy, boring or tedious, and wish to challenge other players. DragonFable has a system which allows one to challenge other players, but the characters of the other players are computer-controlled.
- Item trading. In the past, players were able to trade items with the approval of a staff member, but this feature was removed because the staff could not handle the backlog of requests.
- In-game messaging and friends/block lists. The forums are an avenue for players to meet and interact with other players, but players must register for a forum account. Some players counter this with the fact that AE has an official chat on the Caelestia IRC network.[6] The Caelestia Network is advertised on the AQ forums, and there is a specific Board dedicated to helping people get online. Caelestia itself also has a webportal (Java Based IRC) on their forums to assist people in accessing the AE chat rooms.[7]
X-Guardian Boost and Z-Tokens
The introduction of the X-Guardian Boost and Z-Tokens has been met with some controversy. Some Guardians are unhappy that despite Artix Entertainment's claims that Guardianship grants access to all features and future updates in AdventureQuest, they still have to pay for the X-Boost to enjoy everything. The X-Boost has been criticized for offering numerical benefits (such as 10,000 gold, 200 Z-Tokens, 10% more XP per battle and a maximum amount of potions to hold increased to 35) instead of useful features. Some regard the X-Boost and Z-Tokens as marketing ploys by Artix Entertainment to convince players to pay for in-game benefits, though many others think that it is necessary to keep the website running especially for adventurers.
Updates
While Artix Entertainment updates many times, many criticize the lack of major updates, with most updates being a simple addition to the amount of weapons, or items that cost "Z-tokens" and thus being very hard to obtain without paying for Z-tokens via the online store. Not only this, but many of these weapons can be simple clones of other weapons with higher level requirements and damage. When a "major" update is made, it is usually a class, or access to a new town or quest. This also creates the criticism of staff, as many say that the game updates frequently, and are then criticized of using it as an excuse. Updates usually happen every Thursday at 8 PM server time.
References
- ^ http://www.battleon.com/aq-guardian.asp?src=navbartext
- ^ http://www.battleon.com/aq-tokens.asp
- ^ http://www.battleon.com/survey/player.asp
- ^ http://forums2.battleon.com/f/fb.asp?m=6271596&key=
- ^ http://www.battleon.com/help/aq-accounts-serverfull.asp
- ^ http://www.caelestia.net
- ^ http://www.caelestia.net/chat.php
See also
External links
- BattleOn - Main site for AdventureQuest.
- DragonFable - Flash game parallel to AdventureQuest's plot.
- "Adventure Quest Interview" at IGN.com
- Gamezone.com