Covering the Cover Art of my Novel's Cover

I'm excited for the whole Komikon on April 17. My ebook will be debuting. :)

I'm going to go all sentimental a bit, because writing and editing it (just ask my editor) has been one hell of a journey; but this post has nothing to do with writing, and instead we'll take on the "Dragon Wars" cover.

First, I thought a drawing of the Adventure Quest Worlds newbie area would be nice; and I also thought that putting in tendrils that popped out of the ground, which was symbolic of the inequitous system in-game, would be great, too. Notice that the title is still Quest Adventure.

But then I just thought it didn't fit the storyline, so I ultimately scrapped it.

Next, I tried to be more in-depth with my protagonist with regards to the cover art, as I did write the whole novel in the first person; so I came up with this:



And then I made one for a CD cover because I'd be selling it in ebook form, too:



But then it was all too plain now--the fonts weren't edgy, the colors were to monotonous, and it just didn't fit the novel. Plus the title was too close to the game's title and it made it seem like fanfiction and not fiction inspired by the game.

So, my editor and I came up with this:



And it's pretty kick-ass if I do say so myself.

Update and Plot Research

So my editor and I have been playing around with the idea of the book. I've change the title as it was too closely related to the name of the game. I changed the cover design, too. I'm selling previews of the completed book at the summer Komikon in the Philippines (at UP Diliman, Bahay ng Alumni, if you're an AQH reader from the Philippines and interested).

I was doing plot research and I thought to post this picture on the blog:

I haven't finished the Yokai quests just yet, so if you wanna help me and rendezvous somewhere during the weekend (I'm available anytime!) just give me a post here. :) This constitutes playing the game, which therefore nullifies my storm-out the other year because of the Bag Space thing, but I haven't made a comeback just yet. ;)

Adventure World: The Dragon Slayer's Heart Excerpts

Okay, so the e-novel I promised would be out by January is coming a bit late with the edits, as I am busy with other projects -- that's the bad news. The good news is that I've got excerpts ready for reading! In this copyrighted document, you will find the prologue and two chapters.

Before reading, please note three things: 1) I and this creative work are not associated with Artix Entertainment in any way whatsoever; 2) said work is under the sub-genre fan fiction, and might relate to the game in some ways; and 3) it is protected under MyFreeCopyright, and any infringements thereof shall be dealt with.



P.S. I changed the cover art. I figured since the story changed throughout the course of being written, I might as well change it as well!

P.P.S. Happy reading!

P.P.P.S. Remember: COPYRIGHT. If you're too stupid to understand what it is, then you're a grade below the readability level of this e-novel.

Adventure Worlds: The Dragon Slayer's Heart Excerpts

And before I forget, don't hesitate to tell your friends about this; maybe I can help out with the bagspace petition again. :)

AQW-inspired e-Novel

I knew this day would come...

AQW has been an important part of my life, and though I've really been hating what's been happening recently. (And yes, I'm well aware of another player's attempt at a more bagspace petition.) What are the chances they'd make it available for non-paying members, eh? Ah. But more importantly, what are the chances they won't make it available for non-paying members? You see, non-paying members are the reason AQW is what it is today; the game began for free. I'm not saying it should be, again; but what I'm getting at is that it should be enjoyable to all the players.

When I thought I wasn't enjoying the limited fantasy of the game, I opted to make my own fiction--and what better way to do it than through writing, right? I hated the lags. I hated the upgrade screen. And most of all, I hated the inventory space. The dragon just wasn't slay-able in a game like this.

But I'll tell you what I did like. Although, I am a writer, I fear the best way to describe it is through another's words (I hate plagiarism--all bloggers do): "Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." —G. K. Chesterton. From the epigram of Neil Gaiman's Coraline.

And so, it is with great pleasure that I announce the launching of my upcoming e-novel which will be downloadable (the first three chapters) for free by January next year. As of now, it is my WIP on NaNoWriMo, if you're all familiar with that. It is satiric at some parts. And I have used some of the people who have been--or still are--in my Friends List on AQW, and even those whom I have met elsewhere online. But you are all characters in my story. So, I'll give the creators of AQW this: they have inspired this masterpiece.



I dedicate it to all who play--and used to play--Adventure Quest Worlds. To all who have once been young of heart. To all who have once been trampled on by reality. To everyone who once read my blog. To the ones who have touched my heart. You will all be able to slay that dragon of yours.

-- Quest Adventure: The Dragon Slayer's Heart

AQW is Epic

Have any of you ever read Epic by Conor Kostick? If you haven't you should definitely read it; it resembles AQW and so many games of its like.

In the story, Epic is a computer game ... but it is also the center of society, such that it affected the way you lived, that if you lost, you lost everything; there was no 'respawn.' You couldn't play it just for fun; it wasn't just a game.

The protagonists eventually take down the game in the end, anyway; everything is back to the way it should be. The game ends.

What I'm getting at is that I have opted to throw in the towel for AQW. It's not that I haven't enjoyed it (I'm not saying that I recently have); it's just that it hasn't been much of a game for me; it has become more of a battle.

In the story, if you wanted some sort of resource, you had to battle Central Allocations, basically, the rulers of the world; If you lost to them, you lost everything.

I loved AQ; everyone does (and for most like myself, 'did'). It's the best game that I've ever played, but there hasn't been much space for it in my heart as it had for me in its, recently.

I'm leaving my inventory the way it is (full of memoirs from every pitstop in my journey), this blog at its peak, the petition open, and this journey abruptly unfinished. If I could give out gold and rares to everyone, I would; it's a waste to delete them, so they're staying put.

Adventure Quest Hero has been a quest, one to see if I could changed the world of gaming. I couldn't. Mission failed? No. I did -- in some ways. But fought as I might have, no rare in my inventory could stand the painful ice shards... Thanks to everyone who became part of my friends list -- and even to those whom I had no space for to add to said list. Thanks to everyone whom I joined in on trying to get the Broom of Doom or grinding up on XP or Rep, or farming for gold... Thanks to the AE staff.

So for the last time (unless Voltaire has a come-back and I'm his special guest)...

Battle on!

Petition continues!

The petition continues! If you click the above image, you'll be taken to a page where you can equip your twitter pic with a Twibbon for the cause of the petition. Also, I've taken the liberty of creating the Official AQH Twitter account, so you won't be inundated with writer posts from my original twitter account: AQH Twitter.

Petition working?

I've been busy alright, but that's not to say I haven't the time to check out the game every once in a while. If you've been paying close attention, the items that they've been releasing are either crappy for non-members or can only be bought via AC's. So what does that connote, dear readers? The petition might be working! And why is that? Rich players will now be buying more AC's, and the money that'll be pouring in at AE might just be used for more bagspace--or new servers, which we do not need at the moment.

I haven't sent any staff member the petition list, but that isn't to say that they haven't noticed our struggles. I will be adding more options for you guys to promote the petition. And that includes Twitter, finally.

Checking in--Again!

Okay, so I've been neglecting gaming for a while now. I see most of the fledgling blogs I've come to love have now bloomed into ones of notable proportions. You guys must be happy. That was how I felt when my blog reached its first 1000, and I'm happy with the near 25,000 I have; it's 1/4 of 100,000. Either it was the fact that I used to update frequently, the fact that I had great advertisement, or that I had many a witty quips that marked the growth of this blog. I'm just happy to have great readership now than I have months ago.

I will be back by vacation; don't worry. It's just that I can't juggle writing and gaming AND studies. By that time, all of you would already be stronger than I am, and I wold have to catch up. Let's hope they don't raise the level cap just yet. Wait for me!

There will be an update per month to assure everyone I am still alive and that I am not totally succumbed by the many projects that I am thrown. Keep on battling!

-AQH, Kuyerjudd