I'm Stormin' Into Stormriven

Hey Gang,

So last night, Diana and her questing buddy Blaine StormMender, Wolf IceHutner's brother, reached Stormriven! Hooray! Right now they're trying to beat up some Squidwards!

So yesterday I was talking with several people on Twitter, including Christina IceDreamer (@icywiz), Arlen DawnEyes (@arlendawneyes), Alric RavenSinger (@Alricravenwiz), and Paige MoonShade (@paigemoonshade). We were talking about reagents, and I suggested and idea that we should be able to "disencahnt" items, as Christina put it. Turns out, Christina IceDreamer thought of this idea long, long ago in one of her segements of Ravenwood Radio, so this idea has been around, obviously, for a while.

So what is, "disenchanting"? Disenchanting is when you have a reagent, for example, a Gold Pearl, and you break it down into it's componets, in this case, 15 Gold Pearls. Now say you need 108 pieces of Kelp, and you happen to find an Aether. Now, wouldn't it be easier to disenchant this item so you wound up with 15 pieces of Kelp? That would certainly be uber awesome! especialyl with things like Aethers, Golden Pearls, and Sun Stone. What do you guys think about disenchanting?

None of my other characters were really up to much yesterday. Even Mycin wasn't as avid about crafting. It's probably because of all the Sun Stone he needs, and the lack of enemies that drop it (I've heard that the people in the Science Center stopped dropping it, so I've been forced to the bosses in the Chancel :/). I did, however, record my segment for A2Z! I also offically entered my video for the contest, which includes a W101 inspired costume and some updated info! I'm really hoping I win. Chances are, though, I probably wont keep it xD. I'll probably give it to my mom.

Ok, so I gotta get going! I'll see you guys in the Spiral!

P.D.

Observing the Celestian Observatory

Hey Gang,

So I see my new intro is spreading a bit :) awesome!

Anyway, so Friday night's gaming night was awesome! I went to bed a little earlier than anticipated (about an hour xD) but I figure 3:00 in the morning wasn't so bad ;). Mycin, now after another few crafting sessions, has 2/2 Celestian Shields, 4/4 Celestian Sconces, 3/3 Celestian Tree Sprigs, 6/8 Star Chalices, and 0/7 Crystal Street Lamps. My next two items that I craft will be the last two Star Chalices, and then it's to the Street Lamps! I can't believe I'm almost done really. My next objective after completing this will be the Watchtower Hall. When I last looked at the recipe, the only thing I could do was this: "O. O".

Yeah, but I've definitely come a long way while collecting these reagents. I've grasped an understanding of how hard it is to craft an awesome item. It's really enlightened me, and I think I'm going to try to craft more things, such as the level 55 (or 60, I forget) decks that you can get from the Floating Lands. And I must thank Paige MoonShade; she had a post up on her blog that inspired me even more to craft this Celestian Observatory. She's really awesome.

Now, I would list some tips on collecting these reagents necessary for the Observatory, but I'm saving that for my next segment on the Ambrose 2 Zeke podcast! So stay tunned for when that's gonna release.

Ok, I really wish I could stay and jabber some more, but I gotta go do some house cleaning IRL. I'll see you guys!

P.D.

Tonight's Gonna Be A Game Night!

Hey Gang,

So I like saying "Hey Gang" better ... feels more homey /shrug. Tell me if you like it or not xD.

Sorry, that was kinda random. Anyway, I need a BIG gaming night! The Celestian Observatory should be coming out any day now, and I'm barley half way through crafting all the stuff! Some good nes is, I have 4 out of 4 of the Celestian Scones! W00t! Now to only get 5 more Star Chalices and to start crafting the Crystal Street Lamps and the Tree Sprigs. I feel like those last items are going to be the hardest to craft; the chalices require sunstone as well as the lamps, and the sprigs require a LOT of Gold Pearls! *quivers*

SO, I'm designating tonight as mega uber gaming night! W00t! Do you need gold or sunstone? WELL GUESS WHAT?! I DO TOO! If you'd like to farm with me tonight, by all means, leave a comment stating the time, realm, and area, or you could always find me on Twitter! I mainly looking to farm the Trial of the Spheres and some Aqua Bots in the Science Center. The Gold Pearls I need will just have to be obtained solo; I'm thinking runs for those @ around 12 A.M. EST and again @ 2 A.M.

But yeah; I could always use some extra help! Feel free to join me! Like I said, the best way to contact me would probably be by Twitter. I'll see you guys in the Spiral!

P.D.

Three Stars Fall Out of the Sky

Hey Gang,

So let's start out with some good news before we get into the kinda depressing news. Shall we begin?

Tonight was awesome in game! Mycin got the chance to farm with John SpiritShade from Ambrose 2 Zeke. Man, he is one awesomesauce Fromage! :D Anywho, on our first two tries, I got the two Celestian Shields I needed! YAY! Thanks so much SpiritShade! Now for some pictures!

Mycin and SpiritShade Facing Off Against CharmTooth...

Did Someone Call for Some Tofu Piggles and a King Parsley Sandwich?!

Mycin's Building Collection of Reagents Needed to Craft the Celestian Observatory...

So yep! That was an awesome time! Thanks John! You can check out his blog up there, where the link is...

So yeah, while we were in Celestia, two shining bright stars fell out of the sky. Well, one had fallen about a week ago, but another followed shortly behind it. These two wizards would be known as Dustin MoonCatcher and David TitanRider. Now, if you know anything about me, you'd know that the three of us are great friends! Dustin has done a lot of stuff for me, including publishing one of my stories on his IRL blog, doing interviews for this blog, etc. David was an extremely fun guy to be around, and he could always crack a joke. Not to mention Leesha who was forced to leave for a while as well. Leesha was really funny; haha, I remember when Valdus dressed up as Leesho, the male form of Leesha, for Halloween!

But due to recently IRL stuff, they both have been encountered with no choice but to quit the game, at least for now. So I purpose, in honor of Dustin, Leesha, and David, that we add them to the Celestian Constellation Collection:

I salute you, great wizards of the Spiral. From now until the end, good luck in ALL of your journies!

P.D.

Spending A Snow Day In A Tropical Jungle

Hey Everyone,

So I have a snow day today! YAY! Thank you gods of the snow. So last night I was up till midnight EST questing on Diana with Blaine. Boy are they busy bees! Last night they made it all the way to the Stellarium! W00t! Awesome job guys! Then, not to mention, they made it through half way of the Floating Land this morning, due to a tiny bit of help from Valdus GoldHorn! Man, they are working it!

Anyway, while I was questing this morning on a tropical island enjoying the luxuries of a snow day, the jungle got me thinking ... what if the Floating Land wasn't originally like this? What if it was originally part of a bigger ... um ... well, mainland. Do you see where I'm going with this?

If you do, you realize I'm talking new world material. What if this island was originally part of a Mayan jungle mainland with a whole bunch of platypus or platypi, or platypeople, or ... whatever (Awesome Phineas and Ferb reference! ;D). This jungle could be much, much, much, MUCH bigger than the Floating Lands. The commons could look something like a grassy clearing with Mayan temples towering the area. Forest could surround this opening too. They could have beach area, like the Floating Land, jungle areas, cave areas, and even some under water levels. Some dungeons could be ancient crypts, or even areas as well. Imagine seeing a Mummypus! O. O

Now, how would these two places have been separated? Well, it could have been naturally reasons; the magical pulls of the Spiral drifted the part of the mainland further and further away until it became it's own island. Or, it could have been due to evil forces that had an ancient war there. Or, it could have been the Celestians, wanting to observe the platypus natives in fewer numbers. Or it could have been why all lands were separated in the Spiral; the Titan War could have had its toll with this ancient Mayan civilization as well. All of these reasons seem to be pretty cool.

What would such a world be called though? To tell you the honest truth, I'm not the best at coming up with names for my worlds. I mean, Draculainia? You have to admit, that was pretty lame. If you would like me to through something out there, then maybe something like Magyia or Incotopia (Incas, get it?). I don't know, do you guys have any ideas? Readers?

As for any new magics, I don't think there'd be any. However, maybe some new skills, like fishing or something? Or another cool idea would be a skill called Rune Stones or Enchantments. These would be special spells used on your gear that give you certain boosts for certain lengths of time. Or maybe they can add a level for our pets instead of us? I don't know; just spit-balling here.

What are your ideas? I'd love to know!

PLOX!

P.D.

Update On My Game Time

Hey Everyone,

Well, I realize I haven't blogged in a while. I've had a busy weekend; I went to see Big Momma 3 at the movies (hilarious, great movie :D), then I had a MAJOR cleaning day on Saturday, and yesterday not only did I visit my cousin for his birthday, BUT I also got an iPhone 4!!!!! W000000t!!! I was and still am really excited! I had to pay for it, which makes me feel even better for it. While I probably should feel kinda stupid about paying $250 for a phone that's maybe gonna last 2 years, it was a great accomplishment for me; being able to feel like I bought myself something really nice (I usually buy really nice things for other people, like when I bought my sister an $150 GPS for her 17th birthday, and how this year for her birthday I wanna get us concert tickets). And today I might have to babysit my younger step brother. BUSY WEEKENDS!

Anyway, enough about my weekend. Let me get into what I'VE been doing in Wizard101 lately. Over the course of last week, I decided to level my Life alt, Diana GoldHorn. My friend, Blaine StormMender (brother of Wolf IceHunter, the infamous Socko) is leveling up with her! She recently beat Malistare, took care of the Grotto, and is now questing in the Star District. Cool beans! Also, Mycin has been to work crafting his Celestian Observatory! I recently (recently being this morning ;D) collected all of the Fire Blossoms, Acorns, and Aethers needed for the house! W00t! It is now time to hunt for pearls; White, Black, and Gold. I actually got to make THREE of the EIGHT required Star Chalices!

Look at that awesomeness! While I realize I'm a lot farther behind than many other people (hehe, that's an understatement), this was a pretty big accomplishment for me :D. I hope to continue my progress in making the items!

Well, that's really all I have for now. I'll see you guys around!

P.D.

The REAL Post For Today!

Hey Everyone,

So, sorry about that last post. Think of it more as a note to people who had doubts that I wasn't playing by the rules (and some of my readers did an awesome job explaining that the picture may have wound up the via something I posted).

So what's today's real topic? Today I wanna go over a post that The Friendly Necromancer posted! :D He's awesome, that guy! I really admire any parent that plays W101, or any video games for that matter! Imma try to persuade my friend to play tomorrow...

Anywho, the post was about this idea of "reincarnation" or "invigoration". The idea was that you could have a choice to re-level your character (also possibly costing extra money). However, the catch is that you can get more training points, redo the looks of your character, change your school, get special spells available only to these wizards, etc. So I tells Friendly, I says, "I'll write about my views on the post." And he says, "Awesome!" So, here we are.

What do I think?????

Well, I don't like the terms "invigorate" or "reincarnate". I think it would be pretty cool if they introduced it like this:

Merle Ambrose thinks that Malistare (or Morganthe, or whomever you'd like to insert) might be coming back with more evil plans (yes, Morganthe would have to be dead for this to work out). he offers to cast a time warping spell, sending you back to the past to see if there are any clues of his/her return. Now, what do I keep if I accept this quest? I get to keep all my items (including house, items in house, gear, pets, areas bought with crowns, etc.) I currently own. However, I loose my level and all current spells (well, except for the starter spells from your starter school).

Everything else would be subject to change; your face, hair, colors of robe, your school, your training point route; all much different (or the same if you'd like it to be that way)! Now, the past Ambrose actually knows of the future Ambrose's plan, and offers to teach you a few new spells here and there. This could possibly introduce the Temporal School! You would learn Temporal Spells from Ambrose along your journey. Also, Ambrose might call you over to his office for some new quests (that weren't in the original story line) that could involve you being your pet, getting a new Temporal spell; all exciting new stuff!

Then the next world would focus on the world of the temporal schools, were you finally complete your journey! Here you see Malistare (or Morganthe) do some evil wicked thing and a new villain is born! Idk, maybe the Friendly Necromancer can take this a step further? I think that would be a pretty cool sneak peek type of quest line for the NEXT story arch, don't you?

The badge you would get from this would be called, "Time Buster" or something along those lines. Maybe something cooler like, "Precursor [Insert School Here]". There would also be other changes; more training points, harder to obtain xp; stuffs like that, ya know?

Anyway, I need to make like a banana and split! I'll see ya!

P.D.

I'm NOT A Copier!

Hey Everyone,

I can't really post now, but I wanted to say something:

Yeah, those pictures in that video, THEY ARE NOT FROM GOOGLE PICTURES! I keep getting comments on my video saying they are from Google. Really? Are you honestly going to bag my video? Are you that ridiculous? That's low. I would never do that, and my readers know that I am highly against plagiarism. How dare you insult me by saying I took those pictures from somewhere else!

Yeah, sorry, that wasn't directed towards everyone, just the people that think I was some cheap scum-bag stealing pictures. See ya round!

P.D.

The Biggest Fan Contest.

Hey Everyone,

So I haven't really gotten the chance to play much. I've been so caught up in other things. SUCH AS THIS! KingsIsle is giving a LIFE TIME MEMBERSHIP AWAY! O. O! No way! It's really hard to get though. There are three ways to getting it, and I decided on the second (although I really wish I could do the first!). I'm making a video to send in. When I got home, I made a rough draft video. Imma post it (along with the commentary, for it is needed):

"Hello Viewers! Recently, KingsIsle Entertainment, a gaming company, has released a contest for their game, Wizard101. The contest can be found here:

https://www.wizard101.com/game/commun...

The contest requires the contestants to explain to KingsIsle entertainment why you are the biggest fan of Wizard101. Well, I KNOW I am the biggest fan of Wizard101. During this video, I will show you some footage that supports why I am the biggest fan of Wizard101. With each piece of footage, please refer to the commentary for details (since the video can only be 60 seconds long, I thought it might be a good idea to leave the explanations in the description). Here is the evidence:

First Piece of Footage -- My Characters (video): While leveling up a wizard from every school of magic is no easy task, I had a blast doing so. I now have 12 wizards in total, including 4 Legendary Wizards (Luke GoldHorn, Pyromancer; Mycin Stargem, Diviner; Noah GoldHorn, Conjurer; Valdus GoldHorn, Thaumaturge) and 3 GrandMaster Wizards (Patrick FrostHorn, Sorcerer; Diana GoldHorn, Theurgist; Gilroy SkullFlame, Necromancer). All of my characters are fully decked out in their Legendary or GrandMaster gear (depending on the level), and all of them have fully furnished housing as well. This is a great accomplishment that takes a vast amount of time.

Second Piece of Footage -- Wizard101 Posters (two pictures): Since the news release of Celestia, I have printed out posters of Wizard101 and posted them on the walls of my room (out of the Spiral of course). I have seven pictures of the following: Wizard City, Krokotopia, MarleyBone, The Hatchery, The Fire School Description, The Very First Celestia Picture (No silhouettes revealed), and lastly Grizzlehiem. Some of the posters (however not visable in the video) contain writing and notes on certain figures.

Third Piece of Footage -- Wizard101 Gift Cards (picture): As a die-hard fan of Wizard101, I have collected many gift cards for Wizard101. I have gotten two Epic Bundle Gift Cards (I actually gave the code on the back of one to a friend) as well as over 10 regular gift cards from places such as Rite Aid, Target, GameStop, etc.

Fourth Piece of Footage -- Two Epic Pets (two pictures): Over the course of my journeys, I have also taken the time to train my pets. I have trained many pets to many lengths, however I usually only train them to the Adult or Ancient phase of their lifetimes. I have trained two pets of mine to epic (my Helephant and my Fierce Hound), and I am proud to have reached such a goal.

Fifth Piece of Footage -- GrandMaster Gardener (picture): When the Gardening feature first came to the Spiral, I was very excited to try it out. I had a ton of fun with the new feature as I raised in the ranks to become one of the first wizards to reach GrandMaster Gardener.

Sixth Piece of Footage -- GrandMaster Crafter (picture): One of the hardest achievements to reach in Wizard101 is the rank of GrandMaster Crafter. After a very long and hard time through crafting, my Storm Character, Mycin StarGem, finally reached the rank of GrandMaster Crafter. He is currently working on getting the supplies for the Celestian Observatory.

Seventh Piece of Footage -- Active Role in Community (picture): As an avid and experienced gamer, I believe that the best way to learn and experience the game is to become an active role in the game's community. While I learn new things about other players and their advenutres, I also get to teach and share my stories as well. I have been blogging solely about Wizard101 for over a year, starting on Wizard101 Central and eventually packing my bags and moving to blogspot. My blog can be found at www.thepyromancersdigest.blogspot.com. I also started a Twitter account that is purely Wizard101, which is @LukeGoldHorn.

Another reason why I consider myself the biggest fan of Wizard101 is because of what I want to do with my future. When I get my degree in Game Design in a few years, I hope to work for KingsIsle, particularly Wizard101 if available. I wish good luck to all the other contestants, and may the biggest fan win! (The song in the video is, "A Day without 101," by The Friendly Necromancer. All rights reserved to The Friendly Necromancer)"

So what do you think? I know some people already read it, as it's been up for some time. It definitely needs some revisions, and I really need to think of more reasons why I'm the biggest fan of Wizard101. I think the whole inspiration for what I wanna do thing though is a biggie. Anyway, what would I do if I won? I was actually thinking of giving it to a friend of mine who wants to try the game out. Either that, giving it to my main account, or making a whole new account for it. I don't know ... what would you guys do?

P.D.

Welcome Back

Hello Wizards of the Spiral,

Welcome back to The Pyromancer's Digest! As you can see, I've made a change to the header (same great style, just updated). Now what better to post after two or three months of barely blogging? OF COURSE! Why don't I update you on all my great accomplishments since then?! Haha, sorry, didn't mean to sound snooty, just trying to sound big and tough.

Let's start out with Luke. A lot has gone on with him. He recently completed Celestia, got Efreet, and reach level 60 actually just 24 hours ago! Woo! Go Luke! Legendary Pyromancer! :D I wanna thank everyone for helping him along, especially Ben FrogStone! In case ya don't know him, you can check him out here at his youtube channel. He recently made this amazing video:

He's awesome :) You go Froggy!!!!

Next would come Mycin. He's been preparing for the CL Observatory. He's about half there of getting all the supplies (still a lot of pearls and gold pearls to get, *gulp*) Yeah, he still has a lot to go though.

I have a secret character that I would not like to disclose. I've mentioned his name before, and he is in my banner, but I don't want to mention him much. The reason being, when I had quit, it was nice to be able to play as someone without 50 trillion people whispering to you (ok, exaggeration, but you hopefully get the point). I will call him character X. X got to level 53, finished the Stellarium, and leveled my Fierce Hound to Epic! He now has the following talents:

Pip O' Plenty: Gives +4% Power Pips.

Spritely: Casts a Sprite spell at random (also known as puppy licks :) ).

Death Giver: Gives +5% Death Attack.

Feinting Spell: Gives (1) Feint Card (+70% attack trap to opponent, +30% attack trap to you).

So that is one awesome puppy :)

Diana recently beat DragonSpyre and is just starting Celestia! Awesome job to Diana! :)

And lastly, Valdus has made uber amounts of gold, so he will buy a new crowns house soon.

Thant's really all I have to report. Hopefully next time I post, it will actually be something useful xD. Remember: If you have any questions, comments, concerns, ideas; let me know! See ya guys!

P.D.

Here's the Deal

Hi Everyone,

So, everyone keeps telling me they miss my blog posts. I didn't know they impacted so many people in so many different ways. People keep asking me to blog, and well ... I don't know. I don't mean to sound egotistical, cause trust me, my blog is horrible. I don't know why some people like it. There are so many people with better blogs than my own; The Wandering Conjurer, Mythspent Youth, Two Headed Wizard, The Friendly Necromancer, The ShadowThistle School of Wizardry; all of them, much much better than mine.

So, here's what I purpose:

We'll see how many people want me to blog again. If the number is significant enough, I'll break my promise entirely and start blogging regularly. If the numbers are tied or not big enough, well, I keep my promise. Deal?

Over to the right you'll find a poll. I'll tally the votes soon.

I mean, on one hand, blogging was something I loved to do. But on the other hand, a promise is a promise, and if I break it, well ... I'm afraid people wont take what I say seriously. Do you see where I'm coming from? Anyway, good luck.

P.D.

The Dawn of a New Age

Hello Everyone,

Long time no see. I know, I know; I promised that I wouldn't post for a while, but I feel the need to cover the latest outbreak of news. Before I begin, however, I feel the need to apologize about my past post about the Crowns VS Sub. I realize now that it was necessary of KingsIsle to implement this into their game, and I'm no longer angry about it. Anywho, let's move on:

So, people are hearing all types of things. "People got banned because they were stacking items?", "People got banned for buying Mega Snack Packs?", "People got banned for selling their products from gardening?", "I heard over 10 million people got banned!". These are all rumors, and even moreover, lies. Here's what really happened (as quoted in a comment I made on a Central Blog):

"People were NOT banned because they had floating plant towers, rugs, items, etc. The reason some people were banned was because there was a strange glitch with the floating plants that let you harvest them many many times in such little time. Not only did these plants harvest so much, but they also gave off extremely rare prizes, mostly Mega Snacks. The problem that surfaced is, people pay real money for these. People were exploiting this glitch by farming these snacks by the hundreds. One player said he farmed well over 500 Mega Snacks, so he cheated KI of around $3,500. So now can people see why the had to resort to banning players? They were cheated out of a LOT of money. Also, they warned people that they would permanently be banned for exploiting in both one edition of a News Letter and in their Terms of Use. It was even more a disastrous exploit than with the wings or PvP. The people who were banned, while some great, truly deserved it. And @grant4323: Could you prove this? I highly doubt 10 million people were banned, considering that W101 has around 15 million players."

Please don't spread rumors (or for that matter, believe in them unless valid evidence supports the rumor), because trust me, seriously, it gets you no where (as I had to learn from a previous experience, and learning about rumors and how to handle them is NOT a fun experience for anyone involved). This was a high scale exploit, and KI was facing HUGE amounts of money loss. And they will continue to face money loss due to the fact that they had to banned subscribers for breaking their Terms of Use.

So not only did the exploiters make things bad by not letting us go to our homes for a while (or as Kevin BattleBlood so cleverly put it, "yellow-taping us from our houses,") however they also probably delayed any new updates to the game. Updates = $$$$$. Lack of $$$$$ = lack of updates. So we suffer twice.

As to exploiters that are coming out and apologizing, well ... I don't have pitty for you. HOWEVER, I do have a new-found respect for you. It's not hard to come out in front of everyone and say you were wrong; it's a hard task for anyone. Is it worth asking KI nicely for your account back at any cost (cost meaning muting, suspension, etc.)? I guess it's worth it, but you probably wont be shown any kindness. Not that I'd blame KI for not giving you your account back; you cheated them out of a ton of money.

What's the point of all this that's happened? Well:

1. If you see an exploit, instead of participating in it, report it. When KI eventually figures out (and trust me, they will), you'll only get in trouble for it.

2. How do you tell if it's an exploit? Well, something is probably an exploit if it:

A. Gets you a lot of x (x = money, experience, reagents, etc.) really fast.

B. If it gets you a money that costs real money for free (with the exception of item drops from enemies).

Follow those rules, and I can guarantee your account will not get suspended for taking advantage of KingsIsle. Thanks for listening, and sorry for yet again breaking my promise.

Luke GoldHorn