AdventureQuest Worlds

AdventureQuest Worlds (often shortened to AQ Worlds or simply AQW) is a browser-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released by Artix Entertainment in October 2008.

AdventureQuest Worlds
Developer(s)Artix Entertainment
Publisher(s)Artix Entertainment
EngineAdobe Flash
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows 
ReleaseJune 2, 2008 (Alpha)
August 18, 2008 (Beta)
October 10, 2008 (Live)
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Gameplay

Players are asked to choose from one of four "starting classes" (warrior, rogue, mage, or healer), each with different strengths and weaknesses. Leveling up lets characters learn new abilities and increase their attack power. Players have five different skills. Depending on their character's class; the ability that is common to all classes is the "auto-attack" ability. Individual abilities, deemed "passive" abilities, may be unlocked after the character reaches a certain Rank. Players. begin at Rank 1 and progress as they receive class points from defeating enemies; this may depend on the enemy's level and difficulty stars (1-5). Players gain experience and gold when enemies have been defeated. Players can also acquire other classes by gaining Reputation by completing quests in a certain location.[1]

AdventureQuest Worlds has events on special occasions. A new event is added to the game every other Friday. Some events are one time only while others are seasonal events that appear once every year. Often, participants in these events can procure event-specific items not available at any other time in the game. There is an anniversary on October 10 which enables the players to partake in the birthday-themed events and have access to the Underground Lab. Some events feature live events with guest stars like Korn, Voltaire, One-Eyed Doll, George Lowe, Paul and Storm, Jonathan Coulton, the cast of Ctrl+Alt+Del, Ayi Jihu, ArcAttack, They Might Be Giants, Andrew Huang, Mia J. Park, The Crüxshadows, Dreamers, and Michael Sinterniklaas as the voice of Deady.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

The game is set in a universe similar to those in AdventureQuest, DragonFable, and MechQuest. It was established that the Dragon of Time allowed the dragonslayer Galanoth to slay him which resulted in the hourglasses within the Dragon of Time's heart to shatter and the sands that represented the three worlds within each hourglass to merge resulting in the AdventureQuest Worlds universe being created. The goal of the game is to adventure through Lore, move on to higher levels, face the 13 Lords of Chaos, and fight Drakath: Champion of Chaos. As the story progresses, the player meets the Queen of Monsters who chose Drakath to be her Champion, and Malgor, the Queen's rival that wishes to end the constant cycle of war and conflict on Lore.

Plot

Prologue

The player character, known simply as 'Hero' arrives in the midst of a war between two factions, the Evil and the Good. Summoned by the Good army, the hero is tasked to aid in the battle against the undead led by Sepulchure, commander and ruler of Evil. In the town of Oaklore, undead forces have begun plaguing its residents. Among other soldiers, the hero faces off against the undead attacking Oaklore and makes their way to an elite Evil soldier known as the Dread Dragon deeper in battle.

Having defeated the Dread Dragon, the hero continues their journey to Swordhaven, capital of Lore where King Alteon, leader of the Good army and his remaining forces fend against another invasion by the undead. Relentless assaults by the undead allows Sepulchure and his elite group of undead to enter the castle and battle the king, Alteon. Drakath, later introduced as the Champion of Chaos, interrupts the personal combat and strikes the two away from each other infecting them with a sickness known as Chaorruption. Agitated by the sudden interruption, Sepulchure decides to attack Drakath in spite of his weakened state and fails as Drakath counters and eventually kills him. The hero and corrupted Alteon watching the scene unfold are spared by Drakath.

Sepulchure's death alerts his daughter Gravelyn. Now the new ruler of the Evil forces, the grieving empress swears to avenge her father's death by defeating Drakath. With a common enemy, this led to the truce between the Good and Evil empires.[8]

13 Lords of Chaos Saga

There are already signs of corruption in the nearby forest and marsh causing the player to capture the Chaorrupted Wolves, Chaorrupted Bear, and Chaos Spiders alongside some antidote-based plants to be studied. Drakath crowns and unleashes some of his 13 Lords of Chaos with their Chaos Beasts upon Lore, which the player has to defeat one by one. One of the Lords of Chaos, Ledgermayne, later rebels against Drakath and instead moves towards causing Lore's destruction. When the hero fights him, Drakath suddenly deals the finishing blow and reveals that he will be saving Alteon and the hero for last, before fleeing. In Bloodtusk Ravine, mass confusion and hysteria (partly due to the Chaos Lords Xing and Xang interfering) arises between the Horcs and the Trolls as it is revealed that one of the Lords of Chaos is among them and is sending Chaorrupted monsters to them.

It is soon revealed that the Troll Krellenos is the Lord of Chaos in question, but he is quickly killed by Khasaanda, who absorbs his Chaorruption and becomes the new Chaos Lord. Khasaanda, seeking vengeance, begins to hunt down Drakath. Drakath quickly shows up, and offers the hero the choice of either sparing Khasaanda to continue her goal to kill Drakath, or to defeat her due to being a Chaos Lord that could potentially disrupt Lore. Khasaanda then goes off to find Drakath herself, regardless of the choice made. The hero then ventures into the Span, where they meet the chronomancer Iadoa.

Iadoa has recently been crowned as a new Lord of Chaos, but he is trying to use his time to mentor the hero before he succumbs to the Chaorruption. Iadoa tells the story of Galanoth slaying the Eternal Dragon of Time to the hero, while motivating them to finally defeat Drakath. Iadoa ultimately fails to resist the Chaorruption, and is soon forced to be slain by the hero. After a period of time, Maximillian Lionfang kidnaps the hero's allies, viewing them to be against the forces of Good. Gravelyn and the hero then intervene and rescue them via leading an attack on his tower. Lionfang is ultimately defeated, but not before he is made into the eleventh Chaos Lord by Drakath. Lionfang then attacks Falguard, seeking the Tears of the Mother to end Chaos.

While he is briefly tricked into retrieving a fake replica, he soon retrieves the real vial of the Tears and throws it at Drakath. As the Champion of Chaos and not a mere Chaos Lord, Drakath shrugs it off. Lionfang, in a fit of fury, accuses the hero of lying and fights them. After the conflict, the hero soon discovers that Drakath plans to activate runes on the Chaos Portal upon the defeat of each Chaos Lord in order to free his master, the Queen of Monsters. Lionfang is then sent falling to his death. The hero then ventures into the Mirror World, where they learn that the Xang in Lore is, in fact, the Xang from the Mirror World, rendering both Xing and Xang evil and causing an imbalance. Right as Xing and Xang are about to merge into Xiang, the hero manages to send Lore's Xang through the portal, causing balance to return. The fusion is still successful, but during the final fight with Xiang, Xang takes over and attempts to help the hero, before Xing regains control. This ultimately ends with Xiang's defeat.

Meanwhile, in Swordhaven, Alteon begins to succumb to his own Chaorruption from the clash in the intro, and soon becomes the twelfth Lord of Chaos. Alteon then lays waste to Swordhaven, before he begs the hero to kill him to put an end to his destruction. The hero then ventures up to Mount Doomskull to confront Drakath once and for all, fighting off hordes of Chaorrupted monsters and even humans using the starter classes in the process. The seemingly final confrontation ends with Drakath being the victor, and he crowns the hero as the thirteenth and final Chaos Lord. The hero, driven mad by the Chaorruption, attacks various locations in Lore. They soon manage to awaken their Chaos Beast, the Eternal Dragon of Time.

Using some of its abilities, they summon all of the previous Chaos Beasts to lead Lore to its destruction. However, the hero becomes so mad with power that they ultimately decide to vanquish the Chaos Beasts they summoned and usurp Drakath. Drakath then reveals that the hero and the Eternal Dragon of Time are one and the same, before killing the hero. The hero, now trapped within Death's realm, makes a deal with Nulgath to defeat Death himself and thus become the new Death. Meanwhile, Gravelyn and the rest of the alliance lead an attack on Drakath's forces. With the deal's conditions fulfilled, the hero escapes and confronts Drakath for the final battle. During the final conflict, Drakath manages to kill the first Chaos Lord Escherion (who was turned into a frog) and Khasaanda, the last Chaos Lords that needed to be defeated in order to complete the ritual to summon the Queen of Monsters. Drakath is ultimately defeated, but is left alive by the hero within the Chaos Realm (and is later revealed to have escaped to fight the Queen's forces). The hero then ventures out of the portal, entering a world terrorized by the Queen.

Queen of Monsters: Ancient Evils saga

Now that the Queen of Monsters has been freed, she plans to raise each of the eight Elemental Titans that are scattered across the shattered continent of Drakonus. The Elemental Titans were created by the Elemental Avatars to represent them. As not all of the Elemental Titans were consent with their roles where they stepped on lesser creatures and fought dragons, the Elemental Avatars put the Elemental Titans to sleep in the different parts of Drakonus. The Queen of Monsters plans to use her minions to awaken all eight of the Elemental Titans so that a new era can begin. During the struggle with one of her generals, Tyndarius, Sepulchure’s spirit regenerates and possesses the fire dragon Akriloth’s body. After this fusion is defeated, his spirit leaves, with another fragment awakening within Gravelyn’s Doomblade. After Phedra: Elemental Titan of Fire and Gaiazor: Elemental Titan of Earth are awakened, a minion of the Queen of Monsters asks if they would awaken the Elemental Titan of Darkness. The Queen of Monsters dismisses that idea and states that they will take "another path,” which is later revealed to be the Queen’s army of Infernals stealing Celestial weaponry in order to make themselves more powerful. The Infernal army then invades Lore, ultimately forcing Gravelyn, the hero, and their allies to escape as both Shadowfall and Swordhaven are invaded.

Throne of Darkness saga

The Mysterious Stranger gathers Vaden the Death Knight, Xeight, Ziri the Sneevil Daemon, Drakel Warlord Pax, Pharaoh of the Black Hole Sun Sekt, and Queen Scarletta Tyrall at their castle lair to learn about their encounters with the players. Following the story of the sentient table Plank who mentioned how he, Dr. Dryden Darkwood, and their Trolluk servant Skudly had captured the players, the Mysterious Figure is seemingly revealed to be Dr. Dryden Darkwood as they tell the assembled villains that they have the hero in their dungeon. When the players defeat Dr. Darkwood and Skudly, they borrow Dr. Darkwood's hooded robe and pose as him in order to listen to the villains' story. Upon unmasking themselves, the players defeat the vengeful villains and return their cursed items to them in exchange that they listen to his proposition to help them against a greater darkness. The villains agree to the terms while Plank has an idea on who the threat is.

Book of Monsters saga

At the time when the players are fighting the Queen of Monsters' forces, a rift opens in the Neverglades as the Elder Monster called Extriki the Destroyer emerges and renders the surrounding areas toxic. When the players defeat, capture, and interrogate the toxic monster Zognax, it tells the players that Extriki and the monsters that came from the Rift thrive on toxic and can't survive in non-toxic location. In addition, Zognax states that Extriki is one of the Queen of Monsters' earlier children. With help from the Heart of the Grove from Brightoak, the players are able to weaken Extriki and slay it. Then the players deal with Kolyaban the Reshaper who is the Queen of Monsters' oldest daughter and the first Darkblood as she reshapes some creatures and the pet vendor Aria. Her appearance causes a Darkblood civil war where the players free Aria from Kolyaban's control and defeat Kolyaban who escapes. Aria, meanwhile, meets with the Avatar of Nature, who eventually grants her the ability to reshape herself as the Champion of Nature.

Shadows of War saga

After a period of months, another rift suddenly opens, with the hero being sent to investigate while storming the Queen of Monsters' lair. They immediately stumble upon Malgor and his Shadowflame army, the former of which reveals that the hero killed the Queen of Monsters as Malgor holds her head, but the hero is unable to recall these events. Malgor then offers the hero to join him in his goal to unify everyone into his forces and put an end to the cycle of war in Lore. Varga: Goddess of War intervenes and rescues the hero, before mentoring them on having them remember some of their abilities as the Eternal Dragon of Time they forgot. The hero then begins to gather allies that were previously working for Malgor’s army while fighting off hordes of his forces throughout Lore. After Malgor’s army corrupts some of both Dage the Evil and Nulgath's forces, he sets sights on Shadowfall. In the end of the conflict, Gravelyn discovers that Malgor is extremely weak to her Champion of Light powers as Malgor states that they will have to keep an eye on her. In Crownsreach, Drakath calls the hero after hearing a message from his former Chaos Lord, Xiang. Xiang was trapped within the Plane of Monsters once the Queen was summoned, and eventually returned to Lore after the Queen's death. Xing is initially reluctant to join Drakath after he suggests that they rejoin forces, but Xang encourages the hero and Drakath to find the Inverted Mirror within the mausoleum to split her and Xing apart. Once the hero manages to weaken Xiang enough, Drakath uses the mirror on her, resulting in them being split. The two then decide to join Drakath once more.

Reception

Kotaku's Mike Fahey praised the idea of using advertisements when the player died.[9] Pete Davison, from GamePro, also noted the advertisements at death, calling it an "interesting" idea.[10]

gollark: I only have 40 or so left, somehow.
gollark: I got a box of 100 perfectly good pens last year.
gollark: Who would *buy* them?
gollark: How did you get away with selling pens for *that* much?
gollark: These are distinguishable, right?

References
  1. "Classes". www.aq.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  2. "Artix Entertainment Announces April 15th Musical Event in AdventureQuest Worlds – Web Games News at IGN". Pc.ign.com. 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  3. "Artix Entertainment Releases Witty George Lowe Bites App for Android and iPhone – Wireless News at IGN". Wireless.ign.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  4. "AdventureQuest Worlds: Chaos Lord Live Event with Musical Guest One-Eyed Doll – Web Games News at IGN". Pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  5. "AdventureQuest Worlds Premieres Music Video and War for Halloween – Web Games News at IGN". Au.pc.ign.com. 2010-10-29. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  6. "AdventureQuest Worlds Celebrates Most Successful Friday the 13th Event – Web Games News at IGN". Au.pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  7. "AdventureQuest Worlds teams with Web comic Ctrl+Alt+Del – Web Games News at IGN". Pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  8. "AdventureQuest Worlds Gets Main Storyline". IGN. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  9. Mike Fahey (5 July 2011). "Death Is the Perfect Time for In-Game Advertising". Kotaku. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  10. Pete Davison (5 July 2011). "AdventureQuest Worlds Punishes Death with Advertising". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2011-11-30. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
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