AdventureQuest (also referred to by its website name BattleOn or simply as AQ) is an online single-player RPG developed by Artix Entertainment in 2002. It is implemented in Flash and uses vector graphics, some of which are animated. Guardians may also play ArchKnight, another Artix Entertainment game set a year before AdventureQuest, although it is discontinued. A third Artix Entertainment game, DragonFable, is set 5 years before AdventureQuest,and the fourth game is called MechQuest, set 5000 years in the past; the main question driving its plot is "What could cause a highly advanced civilization to fall into medieval times?" The Gamma release for MechQuest was on October 1st. All four of these games are set in Lore, a world 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. Now the name refers to the goddess Lorithia who created the world of Lore

As of 31 October 2007, www.battleon.com has an Alexa ranking of 927.

AdventureQuest was released on October 15, 2002. Guardianship was introduced on February 22, 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. By March 2007 the game's 30 millionth character was created, and by June 2007 the game had 35 million characters. By September 2007 the Game had over 40 Million Characters created. 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 July 26, 2005), Mechquest, ArchKnight and ZardWars.

Main Reference Source:

Gameplay

Much of AdventureQuest's game play revolves around fighting monsters. On the players turn they may attack, equip a weapon shield or armor, drink a potion, cast a spell, call a pet or equip a miscellaneous item. Changing armor, weapon or shield does not use up a turn but equipping certain items, changing pets or drinking a potion does. On an opponents's turn it may attack, though some monsters have special attacks such as healing. Pack monsters and a few other monsters can summon reinforcements, which doesn't take up a turn.

As players defeat monsters, they gain Experience Points (XP) and gold. The XP is used for leveling up your character for more Mana, Health, etc. The gold is used for buying stronger items.

A more in-depth Gameplay description under Combat Mechanics.

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 element 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 Void element. There are a few other "Hidden" elements that are not shown, but still exist (Confirmed by the KoO, the game's balancing team. Void is an example of such a hidden 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.

When a battle begins, either the player or the monster goes first mostly depending on whoever has the more Luck. When it is the monsters turn, they do their own attack that can inflict different damage and sometimes effect the player's own defenses. The player's turn then would come if it hasn't already. The player could then equip the appropriate armor, shield, etc. The battle would then go on with consecutive Monster then Player turns. The player can have numerous types of attacks depending on what armor is used or if they decide to use their magic attacks. These Magic attacks cost a player MP (Mana Points which is the base of all magic in AQ). Sometimes, the attacks could also vary on what weapon is used. The weapon, depending on what one you are using, can sometimes release its Special attack that does not cost the player MP or HP. The battle would then continue until a monster's HP drops below zero or if the players drops to zero. If the monster dies, 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, Drakel War Party, 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 is saved in the game's database.

Players may also inflict status effects on monsters such as Freezing and Paralysis using different weapons and other methods.

Skill Points

In an update near September of 2007, the green SP bar was added. This SP (Skill Points) bar is much like MP (Mana Points) but it works only with class armour abilities. The SP points for now only work with the three basic class armours: Fighter, Mage, and Rogue.

The amount of SP for a player starts at 50. The player then gains 5 points of SP every time he/she levels up. During a battle, the player starts with how ever many points he/she had at the end of the last battle although, if a player just logged in, you start with zero. Every turn in the battle, the player would gain SP every turn of their own until the bar would be full.

A further catch to having SP is the ability to escape from battle. There was escape before SP was enabled but no price was paid for escaping. The player would have to have enough SP to escape from a battle. The higher the monster's level, the more SP would be needed to escape.

Further more, if a player loses to a monster, their SP is drained back down to zero regardless of the player's level.

The Elements

While there are 8 primary elements (Earth, Wind, Water, Energy, Ice, Fire, Light, and Darkness) This game is balanced so there is no "better" or "best" element (with the exception of Void). The pattern of weaknesses typically, but not always, follows this guideline:Water attack > EnergyEnergy attack > WaterEarth attack > WindWind attack > EarthLight attack > DarknessDarkness attack > LightFire attack > IceIce attack > FireSometimes certain species will be weak to an extra element. For example, the monster "Undead Horse" has a light modifier of 120% and an Energy modifier of 130%. This is not very typical of undead, as most are weak against Fire as well as Light. There also exists another element, Void, previously known as Element X. Some weapons, when triggered, deal Void damage (such as the Dragon Blade), or in their special attacks (such as the Gauntlet of The'Galin), the vast majority of monsters in the game have a Void resistance of 100%, however, there are handful that have a lower modifier. Its symbol (?) is a question mark. There are other secret elements that certain monsters use but, they are not available to players.

Guests and Pets

The position in which battles take place, including guests.

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 Godmother. Pets do not always attack though.

Guests are the third party member a player can have. Guests are obtained during quests, wars, and can be summoned using Summon Spells, completing the "beasts of legend" challenge in the guardian tower and class skills. Some guests can inflict status effects, and a few can even trigger against some enemies. Guests attack rates are also affected by Charisma, unlike Galrick, Diviara or Giliara who attacks 100% of the time regardless of the player's Charisma amount. 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 ranged attacks, the accuracy of all types of attacks, and the ability to dodge 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, the random damage of pet attacks, 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 and increases chance slightly to block an attack. Though other than that, LUK does not affect your chances as much as 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.

There are three different stat trainers in the game. The first is Sir Lanceler. Sir Lanceler can increase all six stats but to a max of 75 points for each stat. Neberon the Mage can train you in intellect, charisma, and Luck. Grimweld the Warrior can train you in strength, dexterity, and endurance. Both Neberon and Grimweld can train each stat to a max of 200 points each. A good thing to note that unlike Sir Lancer, Neberon and Grimweld give specific scenarios in a fight to increase the stat (IE training Strength with Grimweld restricts you to only using the attack button)

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. The cost of training a stat does not increase each time you level up, rather it increases each time you train a stat.

Classes

Classes are special armors that require quests to gain skills. Each class has 10 skills, but adventurers can only access 5 out of 10 them. Many classes are organized into tiers, they are listed.

The classes are:

Base classes

A player can choose between one of the first three classes (which means you can't choose Scholar) when he/she creates his/her account:

Fighter, the first base class, trained by Blackhawke in the inn. Fighters (if chosen as first class) start with 5 Strength. Fighters regularly use Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity . A level 5 Fighter can become a Knight. They use the Fighter armor. First Tier.

Rogue , the second base class, trained by Valencia in Krovesport. Rogues (if chosen as first class) start with 5 Dexterity. Rogues regularly use Dexterity, Strength/Endurance and Intellect. A level 5 Rogue can become a Beastmaster. A Rogue, is regularly called a thief. They use the Rogue armor. First Tier.

Mage, the third base class, trained by Warlic in the Magic Shop. Mages (if chosen as first class) start with 5 Intellect. Mages regularly use Intellect, Charisma/Dexterity and Luck. A level 5 Mage can become a Wizard. A Mage can use all 8 elements, but they are weak attacks. They use the Mage robes. First Tier.

Scholar , the fourth and the newest base class, trained by Nel in Deren. Scholars regularly use Intellect, Charisma/Dexterity and Luck. They use the Scholar armor. First Tier.

Advanced Classes

Knight, the first advanced class, trained by Sir Tathlin in the Kingdom of Rennd, requiring level 5 Fighter class. A Knight use easy to move armors for mobility puposes, but some Knights use heavy armor, compensating what they lose in mobility to what they gain back in strength . A Knight must serve a king, and can choose what Elemental Realm to join: Black Knight use Darkness, Red Knights use Fire, Blue Knights use Ice, Green Knights use Earth . A player can't choose these though. Second Tier.

Beastmaster, the second advanced class, trained by Vephoma and Wandy in the Dark Jungle, requiring level 5 Rouge. A Beastmaster controls beast, animals and critters. Second Tier.

Wizard, the third advanced class, trained by Jackel Sano in the Ethereal Realm, requiring level 5 Mage. A Wizard have much more control over the elements than a Mage does . A wizard get special powers determined by their element : if controls ice can freeze , if controls wind can fly and paralyze . Second Tier.

Paladin, the forth advanced class, trained by Artix von Krieger in the Paladin order, requiring level 5 Mage and Fighter. A Paladin slays the undead and are the main enemies of Necromacers. A paladin regulary uses light wepons . Third Tier.

Pirate, the fifth advanced class, trained by Captain Rhubard in the Pirate's Cove, requiring level 5 Rogue and Fighter. A Pirate could be a mutineer (evil pirate) or can be just a sea adventurer though again, players can't choose these . Third Tier.

Necromancer, the sixth advanced class, trained by Obsidia in the Obsidia's lair, requiring level 5 Wizard. A Necromancer is regulary evil, but Obsidia is not. They have control over the undead realm, and can bring the dead to life . If a necromancer dies , he can become a lich , a undead necromancer , becoming stronger by sucking life from living beings . Third Tier.

Berserker, the seventh advanced class, trained by Eselgee in the Mountains, requiring level 5 Fighter. A Berserker have very much Strength, Endurance and Dexterity, and regulary they do not use spells. Second Tier.

Special Classes

Note: Special classes do not have tiers due to the fact they have no class requirements to join them and they are not used as a requirement of another class, however after the Sweep (a sweep through the game to update old code and balance items and monsters), they will be Tier 2.

Dragonslayer, is a special class, trained by Galanoth in Dragonstone, they were in war with the Dracomancers until a treaty was reached. They slay only evil and mean dragons .

Dracomancer, is a special class, trained by Lord Cyrus in the Dragonspine Mountains, they were in war with the Dragonslayers until a treaty was reached. They have control over dragons.

Ninja, is a special class, trained by Elizabeth at Mount Dajin. They are honorary warriors, atacking from the shadow, servants of the night .

Vampireslayer, is a special class, trained by Vampireslayer E in the Darkovia Forest. They hunt both vampires and werewolves, and sometimes undeads for fun .

Unreleased classes

Assassin Confirmed to be the next Third Tier class.

ShadowSlayer This is going to be the new name for Vampire Slayer.

Archmage

Martial artist

Ranger

Subraces

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 (if desired) by using the quest "The Cure" in Darkovia. The subraces are:Safiria, Queen of the vampires.

Vampire - Visit Queen Safiria in the Vampire's castle to gain this subrace. The guest is a Vampire Firebat. Vampires can Steal HP. The only way to cure your avatar of vampirism is to seek out a remedy in Darkovia, near the Vampire Castle, you may also fight her in Epic Quest 14 by clicking right until you see two doors, click the one on the right, you must fail the DEX Stat Roll to fight her. (Must be any subrace except for a vampire or werepyre)

Werewolf - Visit the Werewolf King in the Werewolf Lair to gain this subrace. The guest is the Brightwolf. Werewolves can regenerate HP. It is also possible to be a temporary werewolf. When fighting a werewolf (not a werewolf warrior or alpha werewolf), the notice Lycanthropy may come up. The players default armour is changed to Werewolf, and normal mechanics take over, as if the player was a Werewolf.

Werepyre - Race is rewarded for completing the The Secret quest in Darkovia Forest, the conclusion allowing the player to either become a Werepyre or fight Wolfwing, the ruler of Werepyres. (The battle being fixed against the player.) Werepyres do not have any of the special benefits of Vampires or Werewolves, such as a special guest, although they have a higher chance of performing a special attack and drains 10 hp from enemy.Also, you must be a Guardian in order to become a Werepyre.

Other subraces also exist but are unavailable to player characters at this time, like the DracoWolves and DracoVamps, whose leader is Nightbane. Although leader of these beings, Nightbane is considered a "Dracopyre" which is a part werewolf, part vampire and part dragon. Stated on the Official Forums , there will not be a "Dracopyre" race available to players at any time. In early 2007, there was war between Wolfwing and Nightbane which Nightbane eventually won. Each subrace has its own armor (Vamp, Lycan, and Werepyre Form respectively), which occasionally grants the player a more powerful attack, the chance of which increasing with the amount of quests done for the subrace ruler, to a maximum of 10 quests. (This is not available to Werepyres.)

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 present clans are Geoto(Earth), Aerodu(Wind), Nautica(Water), Dynami(Energy), Igneus(Fire), Glacius(Ice), Lucian(Light), and Nocturu(Darkness). The clan leaders in the same order are Geoto, Aerodu, Nautica, Dynamo, Igneox, Glaciar, Lucius, and Noctros. 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 until the war ends to join.The 8 clan leaders, Paxus and Negatus, Paxia on the Travel Map and Paxus Arena.

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. However, it should be noted that the Negatus statue is not available during a Clan Event.

Clan Mechanics

If you have joined a clan, you may enter their base. Every clan has its own shop which sells items of a specific 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 in computer controlled PvP 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.

These challenges are done in the Octo-Paxi Arena which is the on a little island on the south of Paxia. Most of the time it is a question mark because there aren't any current events. The latest event was the "Chaos among the Clans" event.

Alignment

In early January 2008 A new Alignment feature was added, similar to Dungeons and Dragons , allowing characters to pick whether they want to fight for unity or chaos and good or evil. These in-game desicions, for example in a war, would decide either you obtain Good Alignment rewards or Evil Alignment rewards. Also, the AE team released a Chaos/Unity Shield that would aid your stats based on how you choose.

Shops and Equipment

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

Weapons - They 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 typically frowned upon by higher levels who wish to utilize the full power of their multi-hit armors. They are classified to eight groups: fire, water, wind, ice, earth, energy, light, and darkness.

Shields - They affect a character's defense modifiers. Some have rewind abilities, that can heal you once. Some also have a trigger, which gives you an attack boost when you are fighting a certain type of monster.

Armor - Much 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. These determine the method of attack. i.e. Jumping at the monster, or multi hit.

Guests - These are people that come with events that they are much like pets, in that they attack as well and some have special attacks too, but you can only dismiss them my logging out or having another guest. Some Guardians say that you can have more than one.

Spells - These are an alternative method of attack, can summon things, and a few can heal. Casting a spell drains MP, as do quite a few class skills.

Pets - Pets offer a bonus attack, or may do other things such as heal or cause status effects.

Miscellaneous - These items 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 typically takes 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. Also "merchant items" are stored in this slot.These items are sold in varius stores, and there prices go up and down. One example is a duma sunstone. You may buy it at 130 gold, and an hour later sell it back for 160 gold. Its been officialy stated that there is a pattern to these items pirces.

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 (Earth, Wind, Water, Energy, Ice, Fire, Light, and Darkness), but some specialize in more than one element or have no element at all.

Quests, Events and Challenges

Map of Lore.

Besides random encounters, players can embark on quests. Quests are typically more challenging than random encounters because the character has to fight several monsters, and typically is not given the opportunity to heal in between battles. Some quests entail extra challenges, such as rolling a die and continuing only if a high enough 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 immediate reward and typically has a storyline. Some challenges like the Water Battle Chamber and the Haunted House have bosses though.

These are a list of the yearly events:

Snugglefest, happens on Valentine's Day.

Frostvale, happens on Christmas.

Mogloween, happens on Halloween.

Harvesting Festival, happens on Thanksgiving Day.

Grenwog Festival, happens on Easter.

Current Storyline

The present story line is an apocalyptic style. A large entity (called The'Galin or Devourer) is coming to LORE. Players must prepare by gathering the Elemental orbs as well as fighting off The'Galin's minions. Quite a bit of the story is found in-game, but if one wants the full story, many parts can be found on the forums or on AE's main online chat system IRC.

Currently Released Events

Started Jan. 24, 2008

Snugglefest 2008; Quest (Released Feb. 14, 2008)

Lolosia Reborn; New Town/Quest (Released Feb. 7, 2008)

New Devourer Chapter; Story/Quest (Released Jan. 31, 2008)

The Wizard Games; Quest (Released Jan. 31, 2008)

Ballyhoo

This feature was added to Adventure Quest mid to late 2007. A player can watch in-game advertisements for exchange for gold, temporary items, and, as of January 2008, a possible 10 Z-Tokens. A series of special misc. items called signs, taken from the movie The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, were released a few months after the release of Ballyhoo. These signs would appear in a shop after an ad and each week there would be a new sign added to the shop. If a person collected four signs, he/she could summon The Crystal Blade a powerful light weapon that is the only thing that can slay the Black Rider, the sort of "boss" of this special event. If a person collected all six, the blade would be much more powerful. Not only were the signs used for that, but they also affected the user's stats depending on what sign is used and how many you have in your current eight slots. The amount of ads you could watch a day has gone up and down. It started at 3 but eventually went up to 8 times a day. It is frequently changing. Many ads are shows that are coming onto Cartoon Network or sometimes commercials you see on television. Though the majority of ads are AE's own advertisements.

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, that 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 extra 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 mana 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.

Z-Tokens

Introduced in June 2006 to replace the former system of donating money for items, Z-Tokens (Zard 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:

2000 Z-Tokens for $9.95

5000 Z-Tokens for $19.95

7500 Z-Tokens for $29.95

10000 Z-Tokens for $39.90

15000 Z-Tokens for $59.90

Players may use Z-Tokens to buy shields, armour, and weapons - these combat items, tend to be more powerful than normal items, and can be bought with a much lower, reletive level. Other things you can buy include; player-owned housing, guards for that housing, and pets which are typically 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), or trade them for in-game gold.

Criticism

Server Cap

There is a limit on the number of free players that can play simultaneously. The limit was fixed at 4,000 during the early days of AdventureQuest, but it currently fluctuates from 10,000 to 30,000 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.Overloaded servers are a problem with AdventureQuest

Because of the server cap, it can be difficult for free players to log in, particularly because the server limit may occasionally decrease by nearly 50%, and all the available slots are typically 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 instantly 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. 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.

Artix Entertainment defends the server cap as a way of controlling server load and covering the cost of running the game. AdventureQuest recently introduced sponsored advertising to allow more servers to be purchased. The advertising is limited to a row of icons on the side of the homepage as to not interfere with the game.

Lack of Free Content

About 30% of the content, quests and updates are only available to Guardians; therefore, the free version of AdventureQuest is only slightly limited. Some updates, such as X-Guardianship and Z-Tokens, completely centre 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 as advertised.

Monotony and Lack of Features

AdventureQuest has been criticised for its repetitive gameplay, 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.

In addition, AdventureQuest has also been criticised for lacking basic features present in other RPGs. Artix Entertainment rebuts by reminding players that AdventureQuest is still in the testing stage andthereforelacks 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 frequently stated will not be implemented, include:

Player versus player. 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 characters (AI) by traveling to the Aeris Battlespire PVP arena. And Assault Mecha(PVP) found in Starcaptain's lounge as an Arcade in Mechquest.

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, however, players must register for a forum account.

AE has stated that Multiplayer Technology for all 3 of their games may soon be used, thereby allowing people to talk in game and on the forums, trade and PvP each other, however, AE is still asking people for their opinions. It was confirmed by Rolith to be possible for mechquest to be multiplayer after the starship release.

X-Boost Upgrade and Z-Tokens Controversy

The introduction of the X-Boost Upgrade and Z-Tokens have been met with some controversy. 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. It should be noted that Z-Tokens are available to Adventurers via random monster battles, though it is in minimal amounts (ranging from 2-9) and with a comparatively low chance each fight. This has been slightly alleviated recently with the house system which allows purchase of a house that grows in Z-Token resale value over time allowing you to gain interest on your Z-Tokens.