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!