The Road So Far

Guardians of the KAWlaxy

The Road to KaW So Far

Disclaimer: The information in this thread has largely come from publically available sources. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the author.

This thread is aimed at the newer members of the KaWmunity who may be interested in how the game has evolved into what it is today. To those members - welcome to KaW! Stick around to see what crazy stuff comes next. Enjoy the exclusive ATA Q’n’A at the end!

I am hoping that the many veterans of KaW add info to this thread, as I have only been playing two and a half years. Many of the dates were triangulated by earliest forum appearance, so accuracy is limited. Much of this information will be old news to the veteran community (excluding the statements from ATA and the founders!). This is a work in progress, and will benefit from more community input!

A Thinking Ape was co-founded by Wilkins Chung, Kenshi Arasaki, and Eric Deip. Chung and Arasaki are computer scientists who had previously worked with Amazon.com, while Deip independently developed on the Facebook platform.

In 2008, the founders of A Thinking Ape (originally Tofu Labs) received as start-up grant from Y Combinator and three Silicon Valley angel investors. Y Combinator is an American investor company, of which Reddit was one of their start-ups. While working on a chat service, Chatterous, the founders noticed that users were discussing gaming strategy. They wanted to combine communications and gaming on a single social platform.

For the next year, ATA worked on releasing a single product. At last, in September 2009, Kingdoms at War was released to iOS.

In the beginning, builds were limited to the first two tiers, and 25 lands available in Lowlands. There were no clans (yet), nor mods (yet), no EB’s (yet), and all was primeval chaos. As there was no clan chat, players formed alliances with each other in forums.

For more information on the early years, including the OSW history, see GrammarUnicorns thread.

At this stage, KaW was still a small operation, with only the three founders. Despite humble beginnings, by 2010, KaW was listed as the eighth highest grossing app. Tier Three builds was introduced between 2009/2010.

Clans were introduced early in 2010, and system wars boomed for the first six months. Clans such as The Ethereal Order and The Hollow were among the first to experiment with plunder war income. Gold was generated by PVP actions (sometimes on inactive farms) until pwars became more prevalent.

The first ever All Stars War was run in September. Team Tyr, named after the god of single combat, rather ironically triumphed over Team Aries, named after the god of war. A month later in October, Tier Four was released. This was during the “Pwar Era” of KaW, where clans farmed OSFs for gold in 48hr plunder wars.

By 2011, with the introduction of Epic Battles, pwars were no longer necessary to make gold. Throughout this year, the epic battle series Calydor the Depraved, Z’uthmerak of Despair, Usaris the Troll King, Thorak the Destroyer, and Apherium in Exile were released. In March came the first land expansion into Highlands.

That same month, Japan was struck by magnitude 9.0 earthquake, which triggered a tsunami and nuclear meltdown which claimed 30,000 lives. ATA donated parts of its sales for disaster relief, raising over $33,000 in 48hrs.

In November, co-Founder Kenshi Arasaki won one of the first annual Future Entrepreneur Leaders Award (FuEL). This is available only to entrepreneurs under the age of 30, for their innovation, acumen, and community involvement. KaW was nominated for a Digi Award, which are a premier showcase of Canada’s international digital media companies, in the category of best mobile game.

ATA then limited whale spending, after noticing discontented comments about players buying their way up the leaderboard.

The 2nd All Stars War was based on a Sin’s theme: Team Wrath triumphed over Team Lust to become the 2nd ASW victors.

It was another award-studded year for the company, winning the UK Trade and Investment Global Adventure Competition, which allowed them to travel to the UK to forge business networks. The founders were also named as the Information Technology Entrepreneurs of the Year, in the 2012 Pacific Entrepreneur of the Year awards. KaW remained high on the top grossing app list. It was during this year that KaW expanded onto the Android market.

Throughout this year, (beginning in February) the epic battle series Hawthorn the Wretched, and Moutos the Malevolent were released. Earlier EB tiers were also enhanced, for example Apherium only had Haunt and NQ, to which FOD and COTD were added.

The first ever Summer War was run in June that year: home clan vs home clan. Last Rights eventually defeated Zaft Destiny, and won the Summer equip.

In August, Tier Five, with levels 1-3, had a staggered release into the Highlands. Shortly after in September was the 3rd All Stars War. The Harbingers of Doom were the victors, triumphing over the Harbingers of War.

November brought a drastic change in wars: the Estoc War open beta trials began. These were originally 4 hour wars with a minimum of 50 members who were automatically active in the war. The trials also had the 20% dtw mechanic removed, and the Knock-Out system introduced. The community vied to name the Red Paladin equipment.

The new year opened with the nerfing of the turtle build, whose DTW mechanism had allowed it to unfairly dominate the Estoc trials. Gamemakers were focused on adjusting the match-up formula. In March, the community enjoyed Season One of the Rancor Wars: intense 2hr battles, rewarded with mith, Estocs Edge, special equip, and Rancors Fury.

It was another year of awards for ATA, with Kenshi Arasaki nominated for the Gaming Insiders 30 (GI30) list of people expected to have the greatest impact on the gaming industry. ATA spread its influence further. After the devastating Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, KaWers raised $91,889 after exchange rates and fees for the relief effort. ATA topped off the donation to $100,000 USD.

In July, the third land, the Hoarfrost was unveiled, with Tier Six builds levels 1-3 having a staggered release. In September came Season Two of the Rancor Wars. Changes included introducing new hit ratios, locking BFE, 2hr wars, removing estoc edge loss when leaving clan, and lowering members to 26-29.

Around September, a promotion was ran with 2x gold and 2x item drops. From this event, players first experienced Haunting: the Escape. This soon became a permanent in-game feature for the price of $6 a seal.

Throughout this year, the epic battle series Scorpios the Deathstalker, Jorathe of Silver, and the Vanish Paladins (for mith recovery) were released. The first Event Hunt occurred that Halloween, where players sought to collect the most Fiendish Fangs. Then, the Rime Comet lit up KaW that December, prompting the migrating Moth Hunt. Top hunters were rewarded with the Icetail.

Early in 2014, Eric Deip was listed 12th on the inaugural 30 under 30 List by BCBusiness, for industry leadership and community altruism. ATA (and its backer, Y Combinator) had fundraised for the Immunity Project, with all proceeds going to researching a HIV vaccine. They raised $40,000.

The Rancor Wars Season Three began in January with further adjustments based on community feedback. KO times were randomised and war roster shrunk again to 20, with 1hr weekday wars and 2hr weekend wars.

Throughout this year, the epic battle series Scrag the Bloodless was introduced (with a cameo from Moutos) and had a staggered release. A few months later saw the release of levels 4 and 5 for T6.

In April, the Great Quetzal Hunt began. This incorporated the feedback poll of the Ice Moth Hunt. Boots, helms, and banners were the reward. In May, the community enjoyed the Dragon Melee hunt, which dropped some pretty awesome dragon chestplates.

Soon after, in June, the Blue Wolves won the 2014 All Stars War (which was a shame because the Pink Krakens had the best name). Victors have stars on their usernames to celebrate their triumph. That same month, KaWers experienced Time Trials for the first time, with the achievements listed on Clan profiles.

In July, KaWers battled the Lure of the Hive, collecting emerald hornets which turned into a swarm. The Hive Eb dropped a new element called Psion, which was used to enchant the three Hive Rings.

In August, the Blood Rains were instituted, which brought plunder bonuses to those clans who completed certain ebs within a defined, shorter space of time.

September brought the Battle of the Nomads, which was distinct from previous events, because it allowed the entire community to be involved in wars. Players would purchase Green Drifter or Purple Vagrant toxins for their arrows which was hedging on the randomly allotted Individual war teams. The prize? More arrows, which formed crossbow equip.

Kingdoms at War also celebrated its 5th anniversary in flamboyant style, with fireworks, crystals, badges, increased build refunds, triple mithril, and all that jazz. The Blood Rains, EB’s which gave % plunder bonuses, were also run throughout the year.

In August, Tier Five level 4 builds were released (to the chagrin of the newly HLBC). In November, the Great Bone Hunt: the Absolution of Souls, celebrated Halloween.

But what came next was something entirely different. Starfall: the Rush of the Shards brought the first official player versus player event, in which KaWers had to attack one another to win precious meteor shards. The Fortuna Sword was another innovation: it was dropped through PVP, boosted PVP plunder by 100%, created mith, and increased Shard payout. The sword could also be stolen by other players unless you cast an Astral Ward.

After this intense event came the Crux Crusades: In Cold Blood, with expanding rewards such as building tokens and plunder cruxes, in addition to tokens. We celebrated the end of 2014 with The Spirit of War: Merry Mischief, a relaxing event which gave all players Christmas stockings. It also allowed people to give their clanmates Spirit Plunder Sacks which dropped the legendary new banners.

The new year opened with the unveiling of the Abyss Wisp hunt, which encouraged players to scramble for wisps that would allow them safe passage through the underwater caverns to the fourth set of lands - the Abyss. On 21 January, the Abyss Lands, with Tier Seven - Level One, was released to all of those who had opened 15 Hoarfrost lands.

At the end of January, The Stone Emperors: Twin Paths to Glory was the first ever combined PVP and PVE event. This event catered to all playstyles, and rewarded with both PVP and PVE plunder spells (among the other rewards).

In early February, level two of tier seven was released, followed by level three at the end of February (to mixed reviews).

Early in March, the Sea-Witch of the Abyss (one part hag, one part crone, one part being, one part awesome), started meddling. The Sea-Witch event was PVE only, and also incorporated the Aquarian Cache, which dropped tribute jewels. That same month, In the Shadows brought the first ever spy banners (if we arent counting the Queztal one). You need to collect a variety of materials to upgrade this equip.

So there you have it! The Road to KaW as of ***March 2015***.

This thread will be updated throughout the year. Let me know what you think needs to be added or adjusted.

Finally, a massive thank you to all the moderators, developers, support, and community members who provided valuable information for this thread.

Happy KaWing!

~Daphnia

 

More from the Developers and Support:

No one picked up on the Scrag teaser :lol: