AdventureQuest

Adventure Quest
Adventure Quest
	File:Aq-wallpaper-girlsofAQ.jpg
Developer(s)	Artix Entertainment
Platform(s)	Macromedia Flash Player
Release	2002
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single-player

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.

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) and 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. A third Artix Entertainment game, DragonFable, is set 5 years before adventure quest began. All three 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.[6]

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 try to escape. Before performing any of these activities, a player may change their character's weapon, shield, and armor. On a monster's turn, it may only attack, though some monsters have special attacks, such as healing. Under certain circumstances, a player may freeze or paralyze a monster, causing its next turn to attack to be skipped.

File:Aqfight.png

A battle in AdventureQuest

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 occasionally change their character's weapon, shield and armor according to the monster's defense modifiers.

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.

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 character's HP drops below zero, the character dies, and has to speak to a non-player character named 'Death' to return to town without any penalties. The death gets saved in the game's database though.

Lately along with many graphic updates, the game play has taken a slightly different turn, incorporating graphic cut scenes to move along the storyline.

Shops and equipment

File:Aqshop.png

A shop in AdventureQuest

There are seven types of equipment which increase a character's effectiveness in combat:

Weapons are used to attack and do damage on monsters.
Shields affect a character's defense modifier.
Armour, like shields, affect a character's defense modifier and also can give extra attacks.
Items such as healing potions.
Spells are an alternative method of attack.
Pets offer a bonus attack.
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 its effects are exemplified. This might take up some MP, and a turn.

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, while they may purchase storage space 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 equipment do not specialize in any element or more than one element.

Quests, events and challenges

File:Aqmap.png

The map of the AdventureQuest world.

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.

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 Frostvale, 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.

Stats

Characters have six stats which affect their success in combat:

File:Aqstat.PNG

A character's statistics

Strength (STR) increases the random damage of melee (and ranged) attacks, and the accuracy of melee attacks.
Dexterity (DEX) increases the random damage of ranged (and melee) 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 accuracy 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.

For each combat level a character gains, 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.

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 three 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.

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 $9.95 for 2000 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]

Other Artix games

In addition to AdventureQuest, Artix Entertainment has developed several other games, which only Guardians may play. ZardWars is a game similar to AdventureQuest, where the only monsters players can fight are "frogzards" (frog lizards). ArchKnight is a mini-game set several years before AdventureQuest. DragonFable, released on 26 July 2005, continues the storyline of ArchKnight. Recently, DragonFable was opened to non-Guardians, but players may purchase a Dragon Amulet, the DragonFable equivalent of Guardianship. Artix Entertainment is currently developing MechQuest, a new game where players control "mechs" (mechanized vehicles)and a series of mini-games to be released with a brand new website containing them. This website is www.ebilgames.com[1].

Criticism

Over the years, criticism has developed over AdventureQuest

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.

File:Aqlogin.PNG

Overloaded servers are often thought a problem with AdventureQuest

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.

Lack of free content

Most of the content, quests and updates are only available to Guardians; therefore, the free version of AdventureQuest is very limited. Some updates, such as X-Guardianship and Z-Tokens, entirely focus on new ways to pay for in-game content. The constant reminders to buy Guardianship are often perceived as a form of nagware, and these, combined with the server cap, lead some to perceive the free version of AdventureQuest as a free demo, instead of a free web RPG.

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:

Battles between players. 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. The existence of the chat not widely known however. Some chat room members prefer it this way.

X-Guardian Boost and Z-Tokens

The introduction of the X-Guardian Boost and Z-Tokens have 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 and 10% more XP per battle) 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. Thought many others thinks 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.

Story

Adventure Quest has had many ongoing story lines, some of which have been progressing for nearly three years. Updates often include updates to a current storyline, new monsters, new quests, and new equipment. Sometimes there can be long periods between updates in a storyline, however AdventureQuest has several story lines for just this very reason. Updates are known to be large and include large graphical updates to the game as well as new events in a storyline. Sometimes special guests show up to assist a storyline, such as from the future, but they often have a passing role in AdventureQuest's storyline. However, Much of these NPCs reappear in the IRC half. Few players are aware of the IRC half however. Well informed players know that all the wars are connected and not just singular events. Recently, there is a story line around the god named, The'Galin or "The Devourer" and his network.

Animation and Art

As every AdventureQuest character (except for of course enemy clones) is hand drawn and then digitally refined, it is hard for Artix Entertainment to create individual frames of animation, and thus many character animations are very unrealistic, and look amateurish. Also of note is that due to constant updating, many old enemies are left with very old art, and thus look very low quality. This, when combined with the small character animation, leads to a lower quality experience, with cut-scene animations having high quality character art that simply slides into view.