Artix Entertainment - A decaying mismanaged relic of Flash games

[Cheetahman]

How could you mention the ridiculous community, but not the Gollum of AQ himself?

(Unfortunately, most of the original posts have been pruned/deleted before anyone thought to archive them)

Do you like owning virtual items that other people can't get?
Do you like to spend tens of thousands of dollars on artificially scarce .swf files in 15-year old flash games?
Do you like to sit at your computer, refreshing a forum page over and over for 10 hours on end, to get a code for an exclusive item that only 10 people will have?
Do you like to break down in tears when popular demand means new items similar to older exclusive items are released?
Do you like to threaten to sue indie game developers for removing bugged content because that would make something you don't have be permanently unavailable to you?

If you do, you might be Ninjaty.
There are people who are attached to things they own, and there is a 20+ grown man who has meltdowns whenever rare (i.e. no longer available) virtual items are involved.

The most recent incident is one where the game dev gave away codes for an exclusive item. Ninjaty didn't get one, and he had a lot to say about it.

(This Zippleclopper fellow isn't really involved, but the original post in the quote got deleted.)
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It's pretty funny in context, but it only gets more bizarre when this incident from 3 years back comes to mind.
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He contacted lawyers about these virtual items. The threads are long gone, but this apparently wasn't the first time he's tried to sue over something like this, it was the third in four years.

I didn't even know he had a Twitter, so imagine my surprise when it shows up on Google and it's exactly what I expected it to be.
As a crazy fan who spends thousands of dollars, the devs are obviously reluctant to ban him. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop him from airing his grievances out on Twitter, where he's been muted by pretty much everyone on the dev team.
I am very sorry that these all go in reverse chronological order, because some of these are very long.

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One might wonder why someone might be like this, to which the following might give a clue.
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Eh, virtual items that because of ToS rules you don't even own are basically the same as humans.
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To be clear, you can't even trade between players, so the only value anything has is "you were online during a specific week nine years ago and spent $5".

 

[IceGray]

I didn't really follow Ninjaty enough to collect how much he acted like a hoarder. But Priest Hidan constantly nagging about the art sucking might be another close contender and the latter is more active on Twitter by comparison.

 

[BroccoliBrain]

Nobody's mentioned that one Flash animation with a rape scene? I was shocked whoever did the art didn't bother changing his style one bit, I thought AQWorlds had some 18+ content in it or something.
Edit: Double checked and it's just an animator guy who got a job at Artix Entertainment, not anyone in the OP

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

I remember AdventureQuest used to be big 14 years or so ago. I always wondered what happened to the company that made it. How the mighty have fallen.

 

[Cheetahman]

I didn't really follow Ninjaty enough to collect how much he acted like a hoarder. But Priest Hidan constantly nagging about the art sucking might be another close contender and the latter is more active on Twitter by comparison.

While not exactly lolcow content, a lot of the various factions link up in funny ways.
Ninjaty and Priest Hidan are both part of the exclusive old-item hoarder group, but Priest Hidan is funny because he's also part of the group that is militantly against anyone whose art resembles that of Nulgath/Miltonius*/Milton Pool, which is what his whining about bad art is about.

*The name change was allegedly because a kid googled the Miltonius zone and saw his pre-AQW pornographic content

Miltonius himself, while renowned for more or less creating the AQW art style, is funny because after he and Artix Ent parted ways, he eventually went back to making 18+ animations, but now also featuring AQW characters in ways Artix definitely doesn't appreciate.
The part I don't understand is who actually wants to see that, because I've had the misfortune of seeing how the way he draws humans got really gross and insect-y.

 

[IceGray]

I've privately thought that Milt's art strength is in making monsters. His humans aren't really up to snuff when it comes to NSFW.

Oishii's style was more appealing to me when it came to human and floofy characters.

 

[Cheetahman]

Spoiler: Cursed Milt content

The filename for this one is 457795_Story_Mode_Vote1_by_MiltoniusArts.gif, suggesting that people actually voted for this, and it won over other things?

 

[KookiesNKreem]

While not exactly lolcow content, a lot of the various factions link up in funny ways.
Ninjaty and Priest Hidan are both part of the exclusive old-item hoarder group, but Pr

*The name change was allegedly because a kid googled the Miltonius zone and saw his pre-AQW pornographic content

Miltonius himself, while renowned for more or less creating the AQW art style, is funny because after he and Artix Ent parted ways, he eventually went back to making 18+ animations, but now also featuring AQW characters in ways Artix definitely doesn't appreciate.
The part I don't understand is who actually wants to see that, because I've had the misfortune of seeing how the way he draws humans got really gross and insect-y.

If I recall correctly, they never changed the name of the zone. Looking it up, the name of Nulgaths area is still 'tercessuinotlim', and they appear to still reference his name on some runes on swords.

It's a shame to see the company tumble down a bit and pour everything into the sinking ship that is AQ3D- but as a former player, I will admit that they did do some good things for the time (pay once for infinite membership in the first game, etc.). But they really need to get it together and listen to their community if they ever want to return to form (except ninjaty and hidan). It's really a shame that such a nostalgic game group to many has taken such a hit.

 

[IceGray]

Back when the Lore games were still a thing I idly wondered what a 3D version would be like. I can say the current one doesn't really match my expectations. Though it was also soured by how their expansion didn't work out.

The abandonware period was the breaking point for me to no longer be a fan.

Btw, I would like this thread to be moved to games discussion.

 

[Burning Fanatic]

Back when the Lore games were still a thing I idly wondered what a 3D version would be like. I can say the current one doesn't really match my expectations. Though it was also soured by how their expansion didn't work out.

The abandonware period was the breaking point for me to no longer be a fan.

Btw, I would like this thread to be moved to games discussion.

Moved. Next time, feel free to ping me about it.

 

[Cheetahman]

While they've always had events with musicians (Voltaire, One-Eyed Doll, TMBG), starting in 2019, AQW and AQ3D have had really fancy cross-promotions with Korn, Alice in Chains, and Breaking Benjamin.
Can someone who listens to those bands give some insight? Are they also on slow creeping declines?
Teenager's hoarding simulator shouldn't have the same audience as bands older than the the players, should it?

 

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

Can someone who listens to those bands give some insight? Are they also on slow creeping declines?
Teenager's hoarding simulator shouldn't have the same audience as bands older than the the players, should it?

AFAIK Korn's been on a steady decline since the end of nu-metal's popularity. They have a loyal fanbase, an "old guard", but not many new fans.

Alice in Chains was one of the pioneers of grunge, with a much heavier sound than Nirvana. They released three very successful and influential albums between 1990 and 1995, then went on an extended hiatus. Layne Staley, the lead vocalist was a drug addict, and OD'd on speedball in 2002. They did release three more albums in 2009, 2013, and 2018, but I'd imagine they're still not the kind of band teens listen to. Neither the extended hiatus, nor Staley's death did the band any good.

TL;DR I don't think either of these bands are on a "slow, creeping decline", since only their core fans remain.

 

[IceGray]

Pardon the necro, though I bring something that might be of mild interest. Herosmash now no longer allows new character registration, and I have video proof of it in action.

If I had to guess why, AE probably didn't receive a favorable response from the trademark office despite fishing for activity (archive) back in May. Even got a favorable retweet out of it. But they still would rather spite what few fans remain and prevent anyone from checking it out.

This version has the URL listed so that it is less likely to be accused of being fake.

 

[Boobie Bomb]

Pardon the necro, though I bring something that might be of mild interest. Herosmash now no longer allows new character registration, and I have video proof of it in action.

If I had to guess why, AE probably didn't receive a favorable response from the trademark office despite fishing for activity (archive) back in May. Even got a favorable retweet out of it. But they still would rather spite what few fans remain and prevent anyone from checking it out.

This version has the URL listed so that it is less likely to be accused of being fake.
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What a fucking mess

 

[Slap47]

Adventure Quest, Dragon Quest and Mech Quest were fun. Probably won't ever play them again though.

They really fucked up in regards to exploiting this pandemic. OSRS exploded in popularity due to boomer unemployment. They should have done a re-release of the OG Adventure Quest or something.

I was one of the first players for Adventure Quest when I was like, 12. I was in the first 8,000 players of that game, and I think it up got like 30,000 if not more. I thought I recognized the Artix Entertainment name.

but aside from my trip down memory lane, unless Artix was using his games to lure in children, I don't much see the value of this thread.

Yeah, this companies history is pretty standard. Basically the same as Jagex without the selling out to China.

They created a popular free MMO+Flashgame that didn't take itself too seriously and attracted ungodly amounts of autism. They tried to create new versions of that game and failed. They tried to be a publisher and failed. They kept pushing their new game while their old shit remained their money maker.

That new 3D MMO seems to be doing well I guess.

 

[Red Sun]

I was fuckin' WAY into these games as a kid. I still play dragonfable on occassion, it was my favorite and the art is still beautiful. (Don't tell anyone, but as an adult I bought the 60 dollar doom knight armor in an admittedly foolhardy hope that it would help to encourage them to keep investing resources into their older games)

It really seems like the problems with AE came about when they expanded beyond their means and into more intensive MMO type projects. Their strength was absolutely in the single player experience, because they felt like such a small home-brewed development team making a game for themselves. It just so happened that other people could play too, if we wanted to.

Must not have put his games up on Armor Games or Mini-Clip, otherwise I would've heard of him before this thread. Damn I'm getting old.

AQ predated those, as far as I know. All of the "lore games" as they're called in the OP are really expansive for a flash game and wouldn't really have been appropriate for the flash game aggregation sites.

While they've always had events with musicians (Voltaire, One-Eyed Doll, TMBG), starting in 2019, AQW and AQ3D have had really fancy cross-promotions with Korn, Alice in Chains, and Breaking Benjamin.
Can someone who listens to those bands give some insight? Are they also on slow creeping declines?
Teenager's hoarding simulator shouldn't have the same audience as bands older than the the players, should it?

They were on slow creeping declines in the 2000's. They hit the bottom of the hill by 2010 and stayed there. I can't imagine anybody unironically listening to Korn today. I mean, they were always near-exclusively for edgy teenagers, but the interests of edgy teenagers rapidly shifted around that time, so their fan base grew up and wasn't replaced.

I don't know anything about Voltaire, but I remember they had a minigame based on Zorbak (I think?) and Voltaire which was awesome. It really captured the appropriate level of camp that you need to embrace when you're mixing fluffy cartoon people, necromancy, and edgy metal music.

As a Mechquest Star Captain I think I am legally obligated to argue against this thread.

No, stop, don't.

Since that's out of the way I always thought it was weird how DragonFable and Mechquest never really felt balanced out for a true finish. There isn't as much direction, and I think Mechquest is still stuck in 2015 or 16 in regards to whatever event was last.

I should try finding my sign in to see where I last left off.

Last I checked, dragonfable is still getting updates. They only have like 3 people working on it, but they're a good team and do an okay job. If it turns out that they've explicitly mothballed it like mechquest I'll honestly be pretty bummed. I used that game to teach my sister to read, man. The AE team created something viscerally special to me.

Edit: I checked, DF was last updated on July 10th. Tomix is still on the team too, which is awesome because he's the best artist AE ever stumbled upon. Even if his company-mandated self insert OC was an anime Mary sue, he earned it by drawing gud.

Also.

As time went on, the company's skeletons in the closet can't help coming out, despite the CEO's self insert being a paladin.

10/10, OP. Gave me a hearty chuckle.

 

[The Reaper]

Last I checked, dragonfable is still getting updates.

Last time I checked Mechquest for updates they was still stuff from the 2015 anniversary in the main square. DF recently had an update where you go into space to fight on space Dragons. Didn't make much sense to me from an MQ perspective especially when they had that other space based game too.

 

[Red Sun]

Last time I checked Mechquest for updates they was still stuff from the 2015 anniversary in the main square. DF recently had an update where you go into space to fight on space Dragons. Didn't make much sense to me from an MQ perspective especially when they had that other space based game too.

Yeah, mech quest was formally mothballed. I read a dev's log on it back then, it was basically like AE finally cut the funding to the extent that the only guy still working on content was practically a volunteer. Once he encountered real life issues (medical, I think?) he had to give it up.

edit: yeah, that's exactly what happened. The OP links the dev post I was talking about. It's actually a pretty fucking depressing read and I advise you not to check it.

 

[Cheetahman]

That new 3D MMO seems to be doing well I guess.

AQ3D is... not popular at all. Even Corona locking everybody down barely increased its player count.
Now, those numbers are probably inaccurate because there's a non-Steam way to play, but it's significantly less popular than AQW which almost certainly still pays most of the company.
They have a gacha-like system now of paying $100-400 USD for almost any item in-game, which is somehow still less predatory than actual gacha bullshit.

 

[Slap47]

AQ3D is... not popular at all. Even Corona locking everybody down barely increased its player count.
Now, those numbers are probably inaccurate because there's a non-Steam way to play, but it's significantly less popular than AQW which almost certainly still pays most of the company.
They have a gacha-like system now of paying $100-400 USD for almost any item in-game, which is somehow still less predatory than actual gacha bullshit.

Gotta love a game where every other announcement is some token package.

I would say it's doing pretty well for being a mobile game. I'd assume the overwhelming majority of players are not on Steam.