Thank You for Reading

Hey guys!

I’m hoping everyone is enjoying this time of giving thanks. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank anyone who reads this blog and anyone who supports KingsIsle’s community in general. Everyone is always so kind and generous and I’m proud to be a part of it. :)

In other news, the results from my last poll are in!

The question was “Which world had the best story line?” The results are as follows:

One vote for Wizard City

Zero votes for both Celestia and Grizzleheim

TWO votes for Marleybone!

My vote goes to Grizzleheim but that’s probably a bit biased as I am an ice wizard. :) I do love Marleybone as well though. I adore the Sherlock Holmes theme. I own the entire Sherlock Holmes collection and I love to catch the references as I journey through that world. And Wizard City is a classic. It’s the world where we first discover our powers as a wizard and our destiny to defeat Malistaire. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that it would be someone’s favorite.

The next poll is about something rather new and exciting.

“What is your opinion on shadow magic?”

I gave a few potential answers but if my suggestions do not express the excitement (or lack thereof) you have for shadow magic, then leave your own opinion in the comments below! :)

Again, thank you for reading this blog; I hope you enjoy it. And thank you KingsIsle for creating these wonderful games that we all share a passion in playing.

See ya in the game!

P.S. KI says thank you too but they say it in the form of free stuff! Be sure to check the launchers in Wizard101 and Pirate101 for KI’s thank you gifts! :)

Happy 5th Birthday Wizard101!

Hey everyone!

School has started… so during the week I won’t be as involved with the 101 games as I was during the summer. But this morning I checked my e-mail and found out it was Wizard101’s 5^th birthday!

I’m so excited! Why? Because I got some awesome presents!

So it looks like the presents that players receive depend on when they created their account. This made me very excited because I had created my account in July of 2009 which was less than a year since the game had been released! I had to wait to receive all my gifts though. So I patiently waited and when I checked back I found this in my gift box. (The hatching elixir was from something else)

 

 

A permanent mount!?!? How did they know I wanted a new mount? :) It looks really cool too! Mounts usually run anywhere from $10 to $30 in real world cash in the crowns shop and to get one for free!?!?

 

I did some research and found this page. Ta da! It looks like a very select group of players got these mounts which I think is cool!

 

 

I also received this very cool statue that shoots out confetti! :)

 

 

This statue also looks like it was only available to certain players while the rest got different versions of the same statue.

This is a very good day indeed my friends! Happy birthday Wizard101! May there be many more to come!

 

See ya in the game!

A Closer Look at Ryan's Make-A-Wish Vist and the August Producer's Letter

So band camp has started and my posts will become less frequent but I will continue to do my best and keep this blog as up to date as possible.

First off is a “more in-depth look at Ryan "The Relentless" Tucker's Make-a-Wish visit to KingsIsle to be an Honorary Producer for the day at KingsIsle Entertainment” –KI post on Facebook. Here is the link to the YouTube video. Ta da! Ryan looks so happy and near the end I was holding back tears. Words cannot express what a wonderful thing KingsIsle did for Ryan. Watch this video everyone, it is very touching and will make your day! :)

 

Second is the August producer’s letter.

 

Now here is my usual reaction to the monthly producer’s letter:

“Oh, another producer’s letter… Do I want to read it this month? I don’t know… Usually it just recaps everything and I already know all that happened this month…”

Well this month I read it and I’m glad I did!

 

Here are some quotes from the letter:

 

“Want to change up your ‘do? We’ve released some new Hairstyles! You can find even more new (but familiar) ones as rewards from boss duels, which will be coming soon to the Crown Shop! We’ve got lots of fun and funky ideas for future ones, so stay tuned if you’re looking for a particular style.”

I love the new hairstyle feature! I personally pay attention to the art and story of the game more than anything else so having hairstyles is a great addition! Also if you really read that quote, it says there are new hairstyles already! But they are only drops right now. I wonder which bosses drop them…

 

“New world themed furniture sets (there are more of these to come)!”

This new feature wiped out all of my wizard's banks and they are still recovering! :) It sounds like I need to start saving up again.

Near the end of the letter are some hints as to what is to come.

·         Our 5th birthday will bring a major flashback for our earliest players, but with a twist – not to mention a lot of fun for everyone.

·         Something new and spooky this way comes -->

·         What you find in the next major world after Azteca will rock Wizard101, and things will never be the same

That arrow at the end of the second bullet point? Yep it points to this picture.

It’s nice to see one of those “I wonder what’s in there” areas being used. :)

 

Here's a link to the producer's letter so you can read everything that our wonderful producer, Leah Ruben, had to day this month! Ta da!

Have a fantastic week everyone!

 

See ya in the game!

My Thoughts on Aquila

Hey everyone!

My thoughts on Aquila? It’s awesome! I have next to no negative things to say about this new expansion.

The artwork is awesome!

The storyline is awesome!

The rewards I’m sure are awesome! (If they ever drop for me) :)

Seeing tons of players in one area again with a single goal in mind is definitely awesome!

The hidden bosses are awesome!

Did I mention that the artwork is awesome?

Here are some screen shots I took over the past couple of days:

 



Here's what Halston Balestorm had to say to me when I logged on the morning of the update. The vice over for this was funny, he sounded very excited.

 

 

Here is the final boss battle in on Mount Olympus. Again, the artwork is amazing! :)

 

 

Personally the artwork in Atlantea isn't as fantastic but I was able to snap this neat picture at the end of the dungeon.

 

I'm not quite level 90 yet so Tartarus will have to wait for now but I have seen pictures and watched videos and the dungeon looks epic! 

 

The other updates such as deck renaming and item locking are very useful updates that I enjoy having. Remember that to use item lock you have to turn it on from the options tab in your spell book!

 

 

Are you enjoying the new update?

 

 

See ya in the game!



 

Poll Results and a New Poll

Hello everyone!

So the poll has closed and the results are in!

According to my data… Sun is the best astral school! Only one comment from a reader and they were in favor of the star school.

“I think Star is the best, because Sun is too mainstream, and there's a Star spell for everything.

Damage: Amplify

Accuracy: Infallible

Resistance: Fortify

Pips: School aura/Empowement*

Critical: Vengeance

Block: Conviction

Outgoing Healing: Mend

Spell Piercing: Infallible

Stun Resistance: Conviction

*not all school Auras give extra power pip chance.”

-Pirates in the Sky

 

Thanks for leaving a comment!

Personally I’m a fan of the sun school because of the increased damage cards.

I noticed that the Moon school got no votes! I can see why but I do have a few friends who like to use Polymorph Treant every now and then (very useful if there’s no life wizard in a group).

 

Ok! This next poll is a question that I like a lot.

Which world has the best story line? You don’t see your favorite storyline? Tell me what yours is in the comments below!

I look forward to seeing the poll results in a couple weeks!

 

See ya in the game!

On Your Mark, Get Set, Duel!

It is finally official... Aquila is now in the live realm!

Now I never got to experience the new content in the test realm but I've been looking at YouTube videos and have been reading other blogs and it sounds like we are in for loads of fun!

I'm not going to spend too much time on this post because the launcher just finished up on my computer. I'm going to go enjoy this new content and you should too! So what are we waiting for?

On you mark, get set, duel!

See ya in the game!

Wizard101 Story Chapter Three

Chapter 3 - Vanessa

 

           “Maria… Sophia? Time for dinner!” I called. No response. I hadn’t heard Maria throw a fit for half an hour so something was either very good or very bad. “Maria?” I tried again. I headed up the stairs. “Please tell me that you didn’t try to stuff your sister down the laundry chute again. I thought you two grew out of that kind of-”

 

            I expected something to be wrong, but not to this extent. The ladder that unfolds and leads into the attic was down and I saw a faint light coming from it. I climbed the ladder quickly and found a flashlight shining onto an empty cardboard box… and no girls.

 

            I picked up the flashlight and used it to search the attic for any evidence as to where my nieces were hiding. But once the light found my spell book open on the floor I knew the girls weren’t hiding at all.

 

            It had been years since I had let myself look at the yellowed pages of the spell book that Headmaster Ambrose had given me when I was my nieces’ age. The spiral on the front still glowed with the magic that enchanted the book. I flipped through the pages that still told me my school, level, health, accuracy, etc. When I flipped to the page that contained a map of Wizard City I saw that the commons button had been recently used as the timer was still counting down from sixty.

 

            Dread filled me. I closed my eyes and tried hard not to panic. I should have never of kept my spell book. Especially since I had two curious kids in my house. I waited for the timer to finish counting down to zero and without a moment’s hesitation I touched the commons button and felt myself plunge through the spiral.

 

            I landed on my feet with no problem. Like riding a bike I thought to myself. To say that something had changed would be an understatement. Of course things were just as bright and happy as they had been when I left but if you asked me there were at least twice as many kids and adults running around the commons. Wizard City had become popular. It wasn’t just that though. When I looked out across the pond I saw a new tunnel leading to who knows where. Before I could try to make out the words that were written above the tunnel I was almost run over by a lamb with a… was that a rickshaw?

 

            “Sorry!” The wizard who was in the rickshaw yelled back at me as he disappeared into the Ravenwood tunnel. What had happened around here when I was gone?

 

             Maria and Sofia were still my priority and thankfully Headmaster Ambrose’s office hadn’t seemed to have moved since I’d left. I made my way past shouting wizards and vendors who had spilled out from the Shopping District looking for some poor wizard to sell their cheap goods to (everyone knew that if they wanted to find anything good they went to the Bazaar). The noise was familiar and yet completely strange. The sounds of pet dragons and piggles reminded me of mid-day classes when our pets would get hungry and didn’t want to listen to Professor Greyrose drone on about the different types of snowflakes. But the increased noise threw me off. This wasn’t the home I had lived in for a year when I was a kid. When I approached the door to Headmaster Ambrose’s office I didn’t hesitate to open the door and much to my relief when I opened the door I found not only Headmaster Ambrose and my old ice professor but also Sofia and Maria.

 

             “Uh oh,” Maria said.

 

             “Vanessa?” Ambrose asked.

 

             “Sophia,” I sighed. “Why are you all wet?”

 

 

 

Another short chapter, sorry! Have a fantastic day!

 

See ya in the game!

Poll Results and No Aquila for Me

Hello everyone!

 

In my most recent poll I asked if you played Wizard101 with your real life friends and family. The results came back with the answer “I love to play with my family but my friends have no interest” having the majority of the votes. I was surprised that no one had both their friends and family playing the game. Personally though I just play with friends and whomever else I happen to meet in the spiral.

For the next poll question I’m wondering what the best astral school is and why? It’s always fun to hear the debates about which school is better. You can answer the second part of the question in the comments below. If I get comments from each point of view I’ll mention them in the results post and maybe then we can see which school is the best!

 

On to more depressing news. Vanessa or any of her relatives cannot venture into Aquila right now. My computer decided to be difficult and won’t download the test realm. :( Thankfully KI is looking for the root of the problem as we speak. Hopefully I can post about this new expansion in the near future, but right now all I can comment on is the update notes.

 

First is the featured update, Aquila. I’m really glad there isn’t another level cap raise so I don’t have to rush Vanessa through the rest of Azteca. It's not fun to play the game when your only goal is to rush through content only to be met with more content.

Second, new minions! I’m not sure how I feel about this. I was never a fan of minions in the first place so I wonder if these are supposed to be super sophisticated minions like the henchmen.

Third, you can now lock your items. Yay! This was never a huge problem for me but I know it was for a lot of wizards out there and so it’s nice to see that KI has a solution.

And now for my favorite update… You can name your decks! I’ve wanted something like this for a while now. I would always forget which deck was which, especially if it was a wizard I hadn’t played for a while. I’m also a fan a labeling so it’s nice that my decks can be a little more organized now. :)

There are also lots of miscellaneous updates including something that's going on in the Dragonspyre library...

 

I hope everyone had a fantastic week and enjoys the new expansion once it goes live!

See ya in the game!

It's My Wizardversary!

It's hard to believe that it's been exactly four years since I started playing Wizard101. Since then I've made so many different friends, made a blog, and have been able to enjoy the game along with literally millions of other players. :)

In other news I wanted to share some screen shots that I took that each have their own story.

PVP Tournaments

 

Here's the pic of the first pvp tournament that I watched. There was a lot of people. The next day I decided to try out tournaments for myself but there was a problem. What was the problem you ask?

Yeah, I'm supposed to be in that battle. My internet connection decided to disconnect right when the tournament started. On the bright side the other team was also down to two so it was a fair match (but my team still lost that round). Thankfully I was able to jump into the next round. :)

Unfortunately the other team had only two players so we won by a landslide and the same thing happened in the next round. Out fourth round we were put up against three other players and were beaten before we could say "oh no". That tournament landed my team and I in 6th place. I tried again a couple days later and was a bit luckier.

 

 

Yeah, we creamed the competition and got a boatload of arena tickets.

 



 

I believe the trophy could use a little work KI. I imagined it being a little... bigger. It's smaller than some of my gold bought trophies that I put no effort into getting and I don't know about the rest of you but I think the trophies (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) should be at least a little bit bigger than the crowns shop trophies. What do you think?

 

 

 

Hey look! It's Christina Icedreamer from Ravenwood Radio! Hey look! A random screenshot of Diego I had no intention of taking but there it is!

 

 

Other Screenshots

 

 

Here's a neat screen shot I took of Scarlet. I liked it so much that's its my wallpaper now. :)

 

*Gasp!* It's Vanessa's evil myth twin!

 

 

So I hope everyone is having a fantastic day and a fantastic summer! I'll be back soon to post some more helpful hints, thrilling stories, and epic screenshots. Until then I'll be eating the free cake I received from KI today.

 

 

Anyone want some?

 

 

See ya in the game!

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope all of you guys are enjoying this historic day in American history and are lucky enough to go out and enjoy some fireworks tonight!

Don’t forget to vote in the poll I put up!

Do you like to play Wizard101 with your real life friends and family?

Personally I play with a couple of my real life friends but other than that I play with all the other wizards in the spiral and make new friends every day.

Happy Fourth of July everyone and have a great day!

 

See ya in the game!

Hint from KI? (updated!)

Ok, so I was logging into Wizard about twenty minutes ago when I noticed a picture of a monster that I didn't recognize.

 

 

 

At fist I thought, maybe its a monster from Avalon that I didn't remember or maybe it's from Wysteria. The thing is the picture in the background doesn't look like either of those worlds as far as I remember. I haven't finished Azteca yet but I'm pretty sure that picture has nothing to do with Azteca.

 

Is this a picture from a world that I'm forgetting? If so, please tell me in the comments.

 

If it's not form any world that we know, then is this a hint from KI as to what is to come?

 

See ya in the game!

 

**UPDATE**

 

I found another one... and another one!

 

 

Now I really don't recognize them... KI what are you up to? (and I don't know about you but I hear the faint cries of my pirates shouting "Aquila! Aquila!")

 

See ya in the game!



Forgotten Knowledge – part one

Hey everyone! So I was leveling my balance wizard, Scarlet, in Celestia when I happened upon a forgotten bit of knowledge that brightened up my day! Over the next few weeks I kept picking up lost bits of knowledge that I either didn’t know about or had learned and then forgotten. I’m going to start posting these bits of knowledge so everyone can be smart and save some time and maybe even some money. I might also post things that can just keep you safe around the spiral.

 

#1. You can craft teleporters!

If you want a brand new shiny teleporter then you probably only think of the teleporters in the crowns shop but there is another option.

 

Teleporters in the crowns shop cost 2500 crowns each or 9995 for six of them. That’s about $5 a teleporter!

 

 

 

But if you go to Gearwise in the Celestia Base Camp you can buy a teleporter recipe for 26880 gold!

 

“Why is that better if you’re spending more money Vanessa?”  

I’ll tell you why! It’s because the gold is fake in-game money! When you spend $5 dollars on crowns to buy a teleporter it’s like taking a $5 bill out of your wallet and handing it to KingsIsle. But when you spend gold you are not taking anything out of your pocket. Granted, you do have to be the right crafting level and either have a subscription or pay with crowns to get to Celestia. But if you are a wizard who has the ability to do this I say take advantage of the opportunity to save money!

 

Keep checking back for more forgotten knowledge!

 

See ya in the game!

What do you like to do in Wizard101?

Hey everyone!

I hope everybody is taking up the opportunity to win some crowns and other goodies over on the official Wizard101 sites (there are also some contests on Pirate101 official sites as well).

 

I do not have a subscription at the moment and am leveling up some of my lower level alts such as my life wizard Sophia Lifeblood. She’s in that weird transition stage where she’s in between the worlds of Krokotopia and Marleybone. Side quests have seemed to last forever but she is finally on her last one and will finally be able to move on to Marleybone!

 

 

(Last string of side quests in Krokotopia for Sophia!)

 

 

 

While I’m in this stage of not being able to play through new(ish) content and barley being able to play through old content, I wondered what other people do in game that they really enjoy the most. Is it gardening (not so much for me, I believe it’s rather dangerous sometimes), or do you prefer leveling your pet (if you have the patience to do that for more than five minutes then I salute you sir or ma’am), or are you like me and questing is your wizards life? I put a poll up on the right hand side of this blog. Let it be known what you love to do in Wizard101! I didn't give what you like to do as an option? Then leave it in the comments, I'd love to hear from other players!

Have a fantastic day everyone!

See ya in the game!



Summer Break!

School is out for the summer in my city and I am ready for a summer filled with adventures with my friends in the spiral! There is so much to talk about today including things I've ever noticed before.

First off, I don't know about you but I do not think the first day of summer break should include cleaning your room. If you agree please leave a comment, I can not be the only one who thinks that.

Second, now that I'm not working on three to five page essays every night, I can work on my Wizard101 story as well as the Diary of Two-Faced Esmeralda Jackson over on my Pirate101 blog.

Third, there is something that I noticed today that I have never noticed before. Check out the stone symbols of the magic schools in Ravenwood.

 

 

They are all solid.

But when you reach the death stone it's all cracked.

 

 

This makes sense because Malistaire destroyed the death school when he went all berserk but I never noticed this little reference that KI slipped in. Have you ever noticed?

Last but certainly not least is all the contests that are going on for pet-a-palooza. Go out there and claim some prizes because these contests don't last forever! Some contests I'd like to point out:

 

Ditto is having a contest and all you have to do is talk about your pet, real or in game!

 

There is also a contest over at Paige's Page and it has similar rules to Ditto's contest.

 

Any other contests that are out there can be found on this page.

 

I also heard that Ravenwood Radio will be having some pretty awesome contests as well.

Good luck to everyone in winning some great prizes!

See ya in the game!

Show Off Your Ride!

There is an amazing contest that KI has on their facebook page. All you have to do is take a screenshot of your favorite mount. Remember this can be from either Pirate101 or Wizard101. Also remember to press CTRL+G so there isn’t anything in the way between your mount and your chances of winning some crowns!

Here’s my entry (it was actualy a picture that was already a couple days old but was perfect for this contest) I call it Dragon of Ice.

Hurry the contest ends on April 21 at 9:30 AM. Heres the link!

Good luck to everyone!

 

See ya in the game!

Four Words

So I’ve been gone for a while and when I say a while I mean three months. This is all due to four words: AP World History. Not. fun. So those four words also mean that I will be gone for a little while longer before I fully become a part of the 101 community again. But I will try my best to keep posting updates to my stories.

While I was looking around trying to find out what I missed I stumbled upon some update notes in Wizard 101. I don’t know how long they have been up but I am so excited for hairstyles! This has been a subject that I have paid close attention too ever since I ended up with three wizards with the same style and color of hair. I can’t wait! Unstitching also caught my attention as well. It will be very nice to have around.

There will also be a second age of PVP. I’ve never been one to PVP because of all the problems that occur in the arena but if things really do get fixed I may just pay a visit to Unicorn Way.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the 101 games in these past three months unlike I was able to do. Good luck to all in completing your next great adventure.

 

See ya in the game!

A Salute to J. Todd Coleman

           We haven’t completely lost J. Todd Coleman today but it sure feels like we have.

 

           When I first read the post on Facebook announcing that J. Todd Coleman was leaving KingsIsle I had to take a moment to think about what this could mean for the future. Will we notice when the updates haven’t been influenced by Mr. Coleman? I don’t have an answer. KingsIsle employs many people who work hard to improve the games Wizard101 and Pirate101 every day. I would imagine that it becomes hard to tell whose idea is whose after a while.

            It is clear though that Mr. Coleman was one of the great masterminds behind these games. Without him, none of us would be able to play and interact with our kids (or even our inner kid) the way we can today. I personally never even imagined I would play an MMO until I discovered Wizard101. Now families can share challenges, laughs, victories, and be a family (even if they are miles apart). J. Todd Coleman will be sincerely missed.

            On the bright side of things Mr. Coleman mentions many times that he will be wanting to explore new ideas and embark on new adventures. I look forward to whatever new ideas Mr. Coleman comes up with. I hope we hear from him soon.

 

See ya in the game.