Friday Dev Report - Kraken Isles Release Date, Back Story & More Screenshots

[Samhayne]

Development of the Kraken Isles expansion is nearing completion. At this time we anticipate that the expansion will go live late next week! There is still a good bit of testing and final polish to be done, but we want to give an estimate so that fans can plan their game time accordingly.

To continue to whet your appetite for the Kraken Isles, here is a bit of the backstory:

The Aegir, or fish monster pirates, have been a scourge to the Kraken Isles and the Arlor coastline for as long as most can remember. Fortunately, they usually spend most of their time fighting each other, rather than plundering innocents, and so essentially kept themselves in check.

This has changed. The ruthless Captain Bloodhammer has managed to unite the Aegir under his Jolly Roger and now they are a threat to everyone on the Kraken Isles and main land Arlor! Their recent brazen attack on the coastal city of Windmoore is testament to their power. The heroes of Arlor must confront the Aegir and defeat Bloodhammer before it’s too late!

The adventure into the Kraken Isles will unfold the backstory of the Rogue playable class. As a daughter of the Kolga, a proud seafaring people, the Kraken Isles will reveal her exciting lineage and the struggles she had to conquer to become a legendary hero.

Here are a few more screenshots as well:

Aegir Pirates


Jungle Beach


The Mighty Blue Crab Boss


Paradise Port (aka A wretched hive of scum and villainy)


Shark Lieutenant


We are very excited to get the Kraken Isles in your hands to play! Have a great Double XP Weekend!

[Lady_Pebbles]

Very nice graphics! Will we have a new Story Token Quest from Bard there as well?

[Dragonrider023]

wooowooo

[GoodSyntax]

Looks terrific Sam! Kudo's to the art team - the beach textures look exceptionally rich!

Can't wait to get my hands on it!

Will this expansion introduce a new CTF map as well - it would be nice to have an airy beach environment for PvP.

[Vystirch]

Very nice graphics! Will we have a new Story Token Quest from Bard there as well?

Besides a new story token quest.... How about a new story token pet?

[Samhayne]

Besides a new story token quest.... How about a new story token pet?

Sorry, there is no "established" tavern in Paradise Port. Several have tried, but they usually only erupt into nightly bar brawls, or succumb to arson, theft or a combination thereof. There are places to whet your whistle, but none that have attracted the bards of Arlor.


As for CTF, while PvP is in beta the team doesn't want to dilute the number of maps being populated by splitting them up over multiple different instances. For right now, the current tombs PvP CTF map is the one.

[nikolai131]

looks GREAT ^_^ So excited xD

[Wizard_Mike]

Are those supposed to be octopus-men and jellyfish-men? Because they just look like skeletons and rook bandits with octopi and jellyfish jammed over their heads.

I'm all for reusing assets, but c'mon... First you give us demon "dogs" which are just the cat model with a new head and some other minor tweaks (the demon dogs still do the cat tricks and even make cat sounds!), and now you give us fish people that are even less "disguised" from their original forms than the demon dogs were?

I know you guys are a small team and are trying to get content out quickly, which I truly do appreciate and applaud you for. But cutting corners is still cutting corners and we're going to notice that kind of thing. I would rather wait another month for Kraken Isles if it meant the mobs looked a little more unique.

[hippl]

please, Sam n Company, introduce us new story token and hauntlet pets

[Samhayne]

Are those supposed to be octopus-men and jellyfish-men? Because they just look like skeletons and rook bandits with octopi and jellyfish jammed over their heads.

I'm all for reusing assets, but c'mon... First you give us demon "dogs" which are just the cat model with a new head and some other minor tweaks (the demon dogs still do the cat tricks and even make cat sounds!), and now you give us fish people that are even less "disguised" from their original forms than the demon dogs were?

I know you guys are a small team and are trying to get content out quickly, which I truly do appreciate and applaud you for. But cutting corners is still cutting corners and we're going to notice that kind of thing. I would rather wait another month for Kraken Isles if it meant the mobs looked a little more unique.

Hey Wizard_Mike,

Yup, you caught us. For us, it's not really cutting corners but making smart use of the assets we have and being mindful of device memory limitations. We're not building for only iPhone 5s or Nexus 7s, ya know? We would also rather get the Kraken Isles out and get underway on the next expansion and continue to grow the game.

Thanks in advance for your understanding!

[Lady_Pebbles]

How about an out post then like the one we already have? Bard can surely relax there and give some nice stories to tell. X)

[KarminMirage]

Super excited about this. I level capped today so I'm looking forward to this a lot.
Always like a pirate theme when it's done well and so far it's looking good

[Jcyee]

How about you convince a bard to hire some bodyguards

[Energizeric]

Hey Wizard_Mike,

Yup, you caught us. For us, it's not really cutting corners but making smart use of the assets we have and being mindful of device memory limitations. We're not building for only iPhone 5s or Nexus 7s, ya know? We would also rather get the Kraken Isles out and get underway on the next expansion and continue to grow the game.

Thanks in advance for your understanding!

I see no problem at all with this. The only time I have ever complained about them reusing artwork is when they kept using the same AO3 weapons and armor on later campaigns in PL. As long as they keep the gear fresh, I don't care if they reuse parts of the mobs in the dungeons.

[Extreme]

Very nice graphics! Will we have a new Story Token Quest from Bard there as well?

Agree

[Cartola]

some players can acess the new map? to test
or just the developers?

[McBain]

OMG. Blue. Crab.

[ExcitedPeterGriffinVoice] Gheeeeee! [/ExcitedPeterGriffinVoice]

[Wizard_Mike]

Hey Wizard_Mike,

Yup, you caught us. For us, it's not really cutting corners but making smart use of the assets we have and being mindful of device memory limitations. We're not building for only iPhone 5s or Nexus 7s, ya know? We would also rather get the Kraken Isles out and get underway on the next expansion and continue to grow the game.

Thanks in advance for your understanding!

I do understand. And like I said, I'm all for reusing assests. But couldn't you recolor the skin to blue or something? Right now, it just doesn't look like those heads belong to those bodies.

Heck, even just throwing in some spin about how some bad guy is mind controlling rooks and skeletons by jamming magical octopi and jellyfish on their heads would work for me.

I apologize if I'm just being nitpicky. It's just something bugs me, is all.

[Wiress]

I love the Rogue's story. Will the following cap raises tell the stories of warriors and mages? 'Cause I want to know how mages became blue.

I also like the boss in the last pic. So excited!

[Swede]

I love the Rogue's story. Will the following cap raises tell the stories of warriors and mages? 'Cause I want to know how mages became blue.

I also like the boss in the last pic. So excited!

Yes. We plan to visit all the player characters home lands and reveal their back stories.