A Brief Look At AdventureQuest 3D

I recently sat down with Adam “Artix” Bohn and Cysero of Artix Entertainment for a tour through their upcoming cross-platform MMORPG, AdventureQuest 3D. The game takes influence from its predecessors while also working to resemble more of a traditional World of Warcraft-esque themepark MMORPG. However, the game also has many differences from the traditional themepark model.

AdventureQuest 3D allows players to switch between classes whenever they want, so long as they are outside of battle. At present, there are four classes: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Guardian. Other classes planned for the Open Beta release are the “Paladin, Necromancer, Ninja, and Dragon Slayer” classes. Upwards of 60 classes may make it into the game.

“You know how, in World of Warcraft, you have skill trees? What we did is, because leveling up the classes is really fun and you can switch between them at any time, we’re just going to take those variants of the classes and make them all their own unique class,” Bohn explains, “And because you can collect them, it’s kind of like switching between your skill trees at any time. You could have a Paladin, but you can also have an Undead Slayer, which is a very undead slaying-heavy variant of the Paladin.”

In the future, players will be able to purchase classes from their respective trainers. Every class but the Guardian will be able to be unlocked through gameplay. There will also be the option to unlock them faster using the game’s cash shop currency, but you will have to meet certain requirements.

Longtime fans of the AdventureQuest series will appreciate the “faithful recreation” of the iconic town of BattleOn that will serve as a hub. As it was described during the tour, the town will be where live events are hosted, some of which might “destroy [the] place” or turn the town into a warzone. The rest of the game will be a “giant, growing, amorphous tentacle monster-like blob that will continuously expand” outwards from BattleOn and “destroy people’s cell phones.”

Within that “amorphous tentacle monster-like blob,” there will be two types of dungeon. The first type, referred to as an “Area Dungeon,” is an instanced dungeon that can hold up to ten players. As its name might imply, it is simply an instanced area that has mobs interspersed throughout it and a boss at the end. All mobs will respawn, including the boss, making the boss of each Area Dungeon easy to farm.

One of the more recent additions to the game is the tutorial dungeon, an Area Dungeon in which players will be required to complete several basic quests before facing off against a boss called Gorthor the Warfiend. The tutorial also serves as a testbed for the game’s JRPG-esque dialogue system, featuring several characters on screen talking to each other while text appears at the bottom of the screen.

The second type of dungeon, the “Instance Dungeon,” is intended to be more than just a dungeon; Bohn describes it as an “adventure.” Each Instance Dungeon will feature several randomized areas, even going so far as to randomize the “objective and boss monster.” Players will be required to work through an Instance Dungeon’s areas one by one, each with its own unique goal. An area’s goal might be to “kill 10, or assemble something, or go find something, or kill each other, or rescue the princess.” Once completed, it will open the door to the next area. Once you pass through, you can never go back. The game will have systems in place to keep the entire party in one area.

The Instance Dungeons have several helpful, unique features. When you are killed, you will respawn at the beginning of the next area. Due to this design choice, party wipes will cause a dungeon reset, but conversely, only one person has to make it to the end of an area for all players to progress to the next one. Players will also be able to summon each other directly to them using an external link that can be shared via instant messaging.

While I was unable to try an Instance Dungeon out myself—the first one is still several weeks away from release—Bohn explained that the intention is that, after each area, parties may regroup, get a new goal for that room, and potentially have to change classes or gear. Perhaps you have to kill undead and need your undead gear. Perhaps you need someone with better jump gear in order to reach a height the rest of your party can’t. It sounds as if the intention is to ensure that the dungeon is constantly throwing new and unexpected challenges at players.

Furthermore, I was told that “most of the drops will probably end up being crafting materials.”  There are plans for a “heavy crafting element” that will result in players crafting most of their gear. There may be bosses that drop powerful gear, but “it will be more common that you’ll be looking for crafting [materials].”

Outside of dungeons and BattleOn, Bohn explains that there will be a wide world full of secrets to find. “Even if it doesn’t have any gameplay value, I want to add in just these kind of weird things to find everywhere,” he explains. He goes on to give the example of a clickable rock that is revealed to be a rock shop that carries rock candy.

Bohn discussed one upcoming feature that involved triggering a quest chain by sleeping at the inn. Depending on your level, different things might happen. Your sleep might be interrupted by an explosion “and then Melodia, the battle waitress, is waking you up, shaking you, and Yulgar is trying to hold back the door and there are like monsters breaking in and they’re like ‘they’re all over the place! The place is on fire! You’ve got to help us!’” Bohn explains, “and then you get up and what actually happens is a dungeon instance has started.” You will be able to solo it or invite friends. The dungeon will feature several waves in which you fight off smaller mobs before facing off against a boss while the smaller mobs cheer the boss on. It will then be revealed that the monsters had come after the battlemaid, effectively unlocking her personal storyline.

Near the end of the tour, Bohn explained several interesting features of the game software itself. Content updates can be introduced to the game as players are playing. Assets are streamed to the client as you come in contact with them in-game, allowing the initial download size to remain small. Additionally, the game client will self-clean, deleting data that goes unused for lengthy periods of time. For example, say you don’t visit a dungeon for a long period of time, the game client will automatically delete that dungeon’s assets. Should you want to visit it again, the assets will stream to your client as soon as you enter.

In terms of release dates, the game will be entering an Open Beta phase in July. The Open Beta will be exactly as it sounds—an actual Beta that is open to everyone.

There is a grand vision in place for AdventureQuest 3D. From what I gleaned from the tour, the overall goal is simply to create a lighthearted game that is fun for everyone, but also provides a world that feels alive, full, and—perhaps most importantly—rewarding. It’s not quite there yet, but the base is in place and you can see the game beginning to take form. I’m looking forward to seeing what Artix Entertainment molds the “amorphous tentacle monster-like blob” into.