New York Comic Con Conclusion, Zafaria, and Food For Thought...

Hey Gang,

So it's been a while since I have posted on the blog (almost a month). I'm really sorry for the delay, and I'm going to try to post more often for a few personal reasons.

There's a ton to talk about today, so I best get started:

First, I should probably tell you how New York Comic Con ultimately went. Let me tell you; this event was definitely one I'll remember. I got to see a load of exclusive game footage, received a ton of exclusive items, and went to amazing exclusive panels (did I mention it was exclusive?). I also got to demo some great games including Star Wars: The Old Republic (let me tell you, this game looks amazing for all you Star Wars and MMO fans out there!), Halo Anniversary, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I even got to make my own Decipticon for Transformers Universe Online (his name is DeathShark)! I also got to meet a friend of mine for the first time, Paige Whisper (we meet through Wizard101). We had a great time running around New York City, and I think it definitely made our friendship stronger.

All in all, it was a great experience, and I'm extremely grateful to everyone who listened to me fan-girl over everything I saw as well as the people who granted me this insanely awesome privilege! I'll be sure to post some pictures in the bottom of the post!

In much more recent news, a BRAND NEW world has come upon Legendary Wizards! In case you didn't know (who didn't?), this new world is called Zafaria! You can find out all about the update notes here at the Game Updates page on the Wizard101 site in case you haven't seen them yet. Zafaria is an African and Indian inspired world that focuses on continuing the Celestia storyline, meaning that we're going to see more of the Umbra Queen. There are four main tribes in Zafaria; the Lions, the Zebras, the Elephants, and the Apes. Of course, there are a bunch of less important new monsters, such as the hyenas and the rhinos as well. The basic story behind Zafaria is finding a group of Wizards studying abroad in Zafaria and their teacher, Umlilo the Flameingo (that's right; Fire Flamingos!). In trying to find this group of missing students (most, if not all, modeled after community leaders ;D) you also get wrapped up in Baobob politics (pronounced: Bay-oh-bob), and things get ... messy.

For those of you that do not have access to the Test Realm, here are some pictures of Zafaria:

This is a picture of Valdus rescuing one of the students studying abroad in Zafaria. You save her after defeating the king of a certain Lion tribe. According to Cassandra GriffinDreamer, this student represents Fallon ShadowBlade! Awesome! :)

This is the Star School Teacher in a city called Zamuda in Zafaria, home to the Zebras. You can activate the pillar at level 64, however as we're about to see, you cannot learn it's spells until Level 66.

A risky new Star School spell, Beserk increases the amount of damage put on you by 40% to give you a +30% damage boost for four rounds. This spell is not available until level 66 and should only be practiced by brave wizards. ;)

Finally a new Star School spell that supports healing! EXACTLY what we've been asking for, KingsIsle (or at least me anyway)! Mend gives +20% healing for the four rounds (ok, so it's not MUCH of a boost, but hey, it's something :D).

This was an interesting picture I took in Stone Town, home of the Olyphants (A.K.A. Elephants). As you can see in the screenshot, the merchant talks about how she wants to visit "common" stops in the Spiral. Two of those worlds (Marleybone and MooShu) we already know. HOWEVER, if you look very closely, she mentions two worlds we've never EVER heard of before; Avalon and Polaris. I'll probably make another post soon to theorycraft on these two worlds, but my basic summary is this; Avalon is going to be a King Arthur themed world, and Polaris will be an Arctic theme (no, not like GrizzleHiem; think more Santa Clause, Polar Bears, and Penguins type of world). Just thought that was an interesting note to touch upon...

One of the towers where you fight a boss (not an actual tower; just a place where you fight a boss). I haven't gotten far enough into the story of Zafaria to talk about what this black stone is (and know my facts, that is), but it seems to be connected to Morganthe, and it also seems to corrupt people using it. Umlilo can also be seen in the photo. :)

This is a picture of the Sun School trainer in the Drum Jungle of Zafaria. You can activate the trainer by completing a quest at level 66. It should be noted that you also need to have access to the Drum Jungle to accept the quest.

One of the two new Sun School spells that shall replace Gargantuan in many decks. With +50 more damage, I'm sure it will be a valued tool to all "Transcended" Wizards ;).

Another picture in the Drum Jungle. This is of the Ape village which is deeply plagued by black stones mentioned above. This is one of my favorite areas of Zafaria (as you can see by my many pictures of it, haha!). I really like the Ape tribe and their village, and I think their history is very unique and interesting :)

This is the HUB of Zafaria, or in other terms the "commons" of Zafaria. It's called the Baobob Crossroads, and it really does look like a basic mixture of all the lands of Zafaria combined. It's a beautiful place :). That Zebra to the right, Inyanga WhiteStripes, is the "main quest-giver" so to speak (comparable to Edith Benchley).

The Savannah region of Zafaria. This land is mainly dominated by the Lions, although some Zebras live there as well. The Savannah is extremely pretty and the wildlife there is fantastic.

This is a dungeon you go through in a part of Stone Town. Again, you can see this reoccurring black rock that corrupts the different factions of Zafaria. The dungeon was extremely interesting, but be careful! A cheating boss lies in there, waiting for you to test him!

This is the Baobob Market, and its the first area you go through (other than the Baobob Crossroads, that is). This is where you can access Stone Town and the Drum Jungle. It's an interesting beginning taste to Zafaria.

Here's the crown of the Baobob Crossroads; this is where all the "action" happens. Here you can find the Library, Zeke and the Seamstress, student dorms, and even political scandals. Not only is this place beautiful, but it's also the center of all social life here in Zafaria.

Lastly, this is a look at the outside of Zamuda. You can see the amazing arching Zebra statues that guard the way into the cities. The flora and fauna are also amazingly beautiful as well. To the right, there's an amazing river. Truly beautiful. :)

~~~~~~~

Lastly, I wanted to touch on an issue that's been encroaching its way into many wizard's real lives:

For many of the twizards of the Spiral, this is their first year in High School or their last year in Middle School. Let's say Bob goes up to his friend Timmy at lunch time. Bob starts talking about this amazing new world in Wizard101 called Zafaria that just hit the Test Realm, but Timmy's not impressed. In fact, Timmy says Wizard101 is for little kids, and a game is only cool if it's rated 'T' or 'M'. So the big question here is; what does Bob do? Does he quit or does he stick up for the game?

Many people would say he should probably quit, because it's just a game after all, and Wizard101 IS in fact aimed at children. Besides, there are some really cool 'M' games, right? ALL the cool kids play 'M' games. There are tons of other games out there, and chances are, Bob's probably going to find another game that he feels just as passionately about.

What people fail to realize is that this problem is deeper than just quitting a game. It's more than giving up Wizard101 for a more "mature" game. The fact is, Bob is being faced with peer pressure. His friends are making fun of him for playing an 'E' game, because children can play 'E' games, which automatically makes him immature.

And, a personal note to all those people against 'E' rated games, PLEASE realize what 'E' stands for. 'E' does not stand for "Child" but for "Everyone". It's geared towards all ages, whether 6 or 66. This, by no means, means any person who plays 'E' games is immature, or a child, and they are just as much a gamer as another person who plays an 'M' rated game.

This is one reason why I really dislike the ESRB rating system. If people saw a game with less "Parental Warnings" versus one with more, there wouldn't be the huge gap of people that there are when it comes to 'E' v.s. 'M'. It's almost like labeling a game.

Maybe I'm just ranting. Anyway, I hope I got my point across to anyone that needed it. And if it wasn't clear; stand up for what you believe in. Tell your friends, family, or whomever it may be that criticizes you that the games you play don't reflect your maturity.Be passionate about what you play. I really hope that helps people. :)

On my final note, I MIGHT be going to PAX East in late April! I'm really excited, and I'll be sure to bring you more news as it comes...

See you in the Spiral!

P.D.

My Opinion of the Sunken Palace

Hey Gang,

So I know it's been a while since I blogged or made a video. You see, I've been moving, and school's coming up tomorrow, so I've been trying to enjoy my time in game as a casual player that also tweets a bunch. So what have I been up to? My latest project has been leveling my second Life alt, Oran FoeHammer. For those of you that don't follow me on Twitter, I made a goal to have Oran at Legendary by September 6th, 2011 (which is in fact tomorrow). I'm sad to say that I did NOT reach my goal. Oran is currently Level 55 and beginning the Floating Land questline. The only real play time I have left is tonight. With this new Sunken Palace (that I'm fixing up to talk about) begging me to decorate it, I'm fairly certain that Oran will not reach his intended goal.

Anyway, let's cut to the chase; my pros and cons of the Sunken Palace. I'll start with the outside, and work my way in. In case you're uniformed of the deets of this house, it runs your pocket for 10,000 Crowns or 100,000 Gold. I have also started decorating this house as well, so you will see furniture items (if you are looking for pictures of the house plain, I'd recommend checking YouTube or The Friendly Necromancer's Blog Roll):

Pros:

1. The Entrance: The entrance to this grand castle is amazing! Let me just point out that the street lamps and the bushes are housing items so I do not confuse anyone. It really looks like you're walking into a fish bowl! I love it! :)

2. Passage on the Side Leading to the Boat: I really like this passageway off the main entrance simply because it's simple. It cuts down traveling time and it blends into the scenery.

3. The Ship: For the sake of clarity, I'd like to point out that the boxes are housing items. I really like this piece in the house. It's what the player's have been asking for ever since last October, and it just adds to the fishbowl feel I described earlier. This is what I love about KingsIsle; they listen to their players.

4. The Marketplace: For clarity, the food carts and fountain are housing items and do not come with the house. I really like this area, but I couldn't find a good name for it, so I called it the Marketplace, however it can serve as a forum, courtyard, or other rooms.

5. The Walkway: For clarity, the wooden benches are my housing items. I really like this stone walkway at the entrance of the house. I've actually nicknamed it the Boardwalk (that's what I was going for with the wooden benches!).

6. Stairs to Master Bedroom with Sitting Area: I really like the spiral stairways leading up to the master bedroom because it adds class to it. I also really like the sitting area off to the right of the stairway.

7. Sitting Area: The chairs, the bookshelves, the fireplace, and the piano are all my housing items. I really like how there's a specific room to sit down and chat with your friends. I also really like the chandelier!

8. Guest Room: The best thing about this room is that it can be anything! You can make this into a sitting room, library, guest room, and much more! It has a lot of potential which makes it a great room for housing!

Cons:

1. The Cave: While some may like the cave (I'm actually in the process of turning this into a Dragon's lair), I find it to be really ... random. I don't know, it just seems out of place and alienated, and it doesn't have much potential.

2. The Ship: Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the ship! But do you see how the lights are on? I want to go IN the ship! How cool would it be to be able to go into an area that still had air in it?! I personally think that would be awesome.

3. The Toll Buildings: Again, don't get me wrong; the toll buildings are actually one of my favorite features of the house. However, I really want to be able to go inside! I want to see what it looks like in there! I feel like it'd be awesome!

4. The Pedestals (also, Water): This change follows the pattern of the last. All I want from this is to be able to place a statue on the pedestal. I think it would be amazing if I could place my statues there. Also, a little side note (it's a bit short to be an actual stand alone con), I think the water shouldn't be as murky. I understand that some people like it murky, but I feel that clear water like in Calypso's instance would be really cool!

5. The Water: I simply cannot stand all the water! Why, you ask? For two reasons: 1. Because I cannot place objects in the water, and 2. It takes up a TON of housing space! Either of the above (or both!) need to be fixed, because it gets to be a bit too much!

That's really all I can think of at the moment. I'm thinking of hosting a Christmas party at my Sunken Palace instead of a Halloween party at the Wizard's Watchtower, but there's penty of time until then, so I'll be sure to update you by the last week of October with a date and a time! I also wanted to take the time to say Happy Birthday Wizard101 and Christina IceDreamer! We have such a great community and game here, and I just wanted to say thanks to both of those important idols! I'll catch you guys later!

P.D.

Personal Opinions of Wysteria

Hey Gang,

This is just a quick post summarizing my feelings of Wysteria that I posted on a W101Central thread. I thought it would be neat to share my feelings about it on the blog. Here it is:

While I really enjoy the new world because its so much like Harry Potter (trust me, I'm an uber HP fan; just got my Elder Wand in the mail yesterday), it's hard to look like the good guy when saying that they should take this away. At the very least, they should make it known to the public that they have JKR's permission to do this (IF they have her permission to do this; she might not even know about it). Like I said, I'm a big fan of HP, and while I do enjoy all the new similarities, I think the new world should not be released for several reasons. The first is because I grew up with Harry Potter; I've been following his adventures since about 2003, if not before. It hurts when you see a rip off of something you loved dearly since you were little (although, IMO, if Warner Bros. had released a HP MMO, KI wouldn't have ever created Wysteria). It's a bit challenging to understand if your not in the same situation. The next reason is coming from the content. Even though the area in total costs less than $10, I feel it's not quite worth it to go through this area on all my wizards (7 Legendaries, one in each school). Take Celestia for example; obviously it was more expensive and massive then Wysteria, it had a lot more unique offerings such as useful gear and tons of experience. Pigswick really only offers a Pickswick Uniform Set (which doesn't have stats), The Spiral Cup Housing Item (ok, so that is pretty cool...), a Golden Piggle (who's stats aren't even good), and a wand (which is really good for level 20-30). My point is, it's not quite worth it for people who have 3+ Legendary Wizards to go through it over and over again.

I've heard people say different things such as, "KI should be sued!" and "I love it because it's like Harry Potter". I don't wish for KingsIsle to be sued, but I really think the new world makes a mockery of a great game and company. Even though it isn't the case, it makes KingsIsle look like they don't have any original ideas. It wasn't so bad before Wysteria, where it had a lot of differences from Harry Potter (however, compared on a general level, they were alike). The similarities of HP that come with Wysteria make W101 less unique. There's nothing wrong with a few references or suggestive hints, but when you're taking characters from a series (McGonagall, Umbridge, Draco Malfoy, Hogwats, and even Fleur Delacour) and making them animals that talk (Mrs. Dowager,Belladonna Crisp,Randolf SpellShine,PigsWig, and Nalia DuneStrider), well, you're not going to get my personal endorsements and support.

Hope you Enjoyed,

P.D.

Analysis of The Commons Courier

Hey Gang,

So this past Friday, the first episode of The Commons Courier was uploaded to YouTube (for the third time; there were a few technical difficulties the first two attempts). I just wanted to talk to you guys about the feedback I've been getting from all the viewers. To me, it's really important to share with you how I feel about anything I produce and share with the Wizard101 community. You can assure yourself that this is one of those times.

Let me just say that I never expected the turn-out of views and support that I got. I really didn't expect people to like The Commons Courier this much, and I was planning on stopping at around episode four or five because I didn't believe it would ever make it. However, you can know beyond a doubt that I plan to develop The Commons Courier until I simply can't stand it anymore.

I must say though, it was a lot more work than I expected. There were over 200 clips (attempts at correctly filming the segment) of bloopers. There were multiple technical hiccups when editing the episode. I had to scrounge up things to talk about. It was a lot of work. However, it goes to show you that with dedication comes success.

Anyway, I have a TON of cool stuff coming for you on The Commons Courier. On the next episode, I even have a special mystery guest! :) Also, please don't forget to submit your questions and Jackpot entries. Simply commenting on the post/video does not enter you; you must tell me you want to be entered for the weekly jackpot, along with a way I could contact you (please try to stray away from emails; I'd like to explore any other possible option before emails). Also, dont be afraid to enter! Every week, 5 codes are going to be given away, which means over 260 codes will be drawn! Please don't pause to enter because you'd like to give others a chance. There are enough codes for everyone. :)

On an unrelated closing note, I'm going to the premier of the last Harry Potter movie EVER! I know, so exciting right? And I'm going to the 3D premier, which means I get these:

I really am super excited! Harry Potter was my roll model way back in my early childhood (I think I lived up to him pretty well as a very successful Pyromancer of Ravenwood, don't you think?) I'm kinda sad to see the whole franchise come to a close (and not like, "Oh, the last book's coming out, but we're only on Movie 5." But more "The last book's been out for a while, and this is our last movie!") *tears* I'm happy to have gotten premier tickets though. I think I'll cry a river when seeing this movie.

Finite Incantatem!

P.D.

Commons Currier

Hey Gang,

Sorry I've been away so long; I was on a family vacation. Anyway, I have something exciting to share with you!

So remember when I had that poll waaaaay back in about May asking if I should start a vlog? Well, I kinda mutated that idea into a pre-recorded podcast! The show will be called The Commons Currier. Here's what I have so far:

1. News Segment: What would a podcast be without a news segment? Here I will just cover any news happening within the Spiral.

2. Community Portal: This segment will talk about any news going on around the community. This mainly includes certain contests that will be held by OFFICIAL blogs and fansites. The only reason why I say official is because I'd like to post these episodes on Wizard101 Central, and I cannot do that if I have links to unofficial sites in the description of the video.

3. Rush Hour: During this segment, I'll cover different tips on any career-like actiivities in Wizard101, such as crafting, gardening, housing, and pet training.

4. Questions: Obviously, here I will be asking any questions the show is given

While I'm really enjoying seeing this show come along, there are still a lot of things that need to be done. While I'm not accepting any segments from anyone nor am I going a co-host, I still need a TON of help, and I'd really be thankful for every ounce of support I get. Here's how you can help:

1. Spread the word! Tell your wizard friends about the show! Get the word out!

2. I need about two or three more segments, and I'm just about out of all my ideas (I do have quite a few, however, most of them are already being used). Simply comment below if you have an idea, or tweet @LukeGoldHorn on twitter.

3. I need to make some title images for the segments. If you wouldn't mind taking on one of these yourself, or if you have an idea, I'll certainly see if it can be done. If you want to make one, try to make it simple, yet awesome! Also, I ask that you use a picture editing website (GIMP, Photoshop, etc.) and not a simple screen shot. I'd like the image to be sorta original.

Again, I'm thankful for every ounce of support I have gotten, am getting, and will be getting in the future!

Have fun in the Spiral!

P.D.

The Wonders of a New World ... No, Not WinterTusk

Hey Gang,

Again, I'm sorry it's been a while. I've been so busy in game and IRL, that I'm just not finding time to post anymore. I promise I'll try a bit harder. Anyway, let's get started:

I'm only gonna talk about my personal news for a bit, because I have an opinion I'd like to share about a new "sneak peek". Gilroy has reached Jotun, but until I finish WinterTusk on all my characters, he sadly wont be going anywhere. Diana was my first character to finish GrizzleHiem! She gladly accepted her awesome Forest Lord pet, Taz! :)

Haha, I lost connection when I took the photo. But yes, that is Taz, and I LOVE his disco dance that he does! I also mixed him with Alric RavenSinger's Judgement pet, and Diana got quite an odd combination:

I think it's the Life Scarecrow, but it says Jade Egg, so that usually means it will have a Life body with Death colors. Very interesting...

I'm starting to think that it's impossible to get a Judgement Hybrid. While you can get an Astral Judgement (Life Judgement), you can't get a Judgement Forest Lord. Ir, it may not even be as wild as it seems; in the Test Realm, when I mixed my Phoenix with Paige MoonShade's Judgement, I got a Fire Wyvern. Do you see the pattern? It seems you get the build of your opposite school, however, it has your school colors. I find this very interesting and quite awesome.

Anyway, basically everything else is hectic. Luke and Cassandra GriffinDreamer are slowly going through WinterTusk, just finishing Austirlund. Patrick and Valdus who are working together got to the end of Austrilund and are going straight through the final parts. Other than that, nothing much has happened.

So let's get to the real backbone behind this post: the new "sneak peek". Check out this new video from KingsIsle:

See that one part when the guy says, "New mounts!"?

Here's a screenshot just in case you didn't:

Now there are a TON of theorycrafters thinking about this. The most popular thought seems to be that this is an expansion of Krokotopia. Please, listen to me, because when I say it, it doesn't seem like anyone hears me:

THIS

IS

NOT

EGYPTIAN!!!!!

While it's easy to confuse the two cultures, there are a few facts that point out that this is an entirely different culture, while the two are adjacent to each other when looking at Geography. First, the flying carpet. Flying carpets are not from Egypt. Flying carpets were believed to be the mounts of Arabian Wizards. Second would be the architecture. This area by no means has any resemblance to Egyptian architecture. Completely and unmistakably Arabian. Lastly is the landscape. While Egyptian and Arabian landscapes look similar, they are different. Arabian geography usually has more trees and oasises. Egypt is more barren.

That being said, I think it's evident that this will be a new world. For KingsIsle to mix two cultures, many who are from this culture would consider it highly offensive and rude. I'm really excited to see what's going to come of it. If that is a future house, I SO WANT IT!!

I'll see you guys later!

P.D.

My Birthday Spoils

Hey Gang,

So I've been up to a lot lately! I'm so sorry I haven't posted for almost a week! I know, I know; I'm not one to say sorry for not posting, but it's been almost a week! But it's true; I've been so busy lately! I have AP Gov finals coming up on Tuesday and my state Biology Test coming up on the 17th and 18th. On Friday, I went to an Usher concert! It was awesome! He really put on a great show, and I loved his tribute to Michael Jackson. Saturday I went to Six Flags and rode the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world TWO TIMES IN A ROW!!! It was so epic! I've got some funny pictures of me screaming on some rad roller coasters :). I also went to see Thor, which, by the way, was an amazing movie! Really good job to the cast; I enjoyed it! Today I spent the day with my mom and made her feel amazing special like she really is :). I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day, and Happy Mother's Day to all the Wizzy-Moms out there!

With some fun things, some bad things happened too. When I went to Six Flags, I got a Season Pass, but I lost it! D: It was horrible! So now I have to see if they found it and if not I have to pay for a new one (only costs like $20 for a replacement). Also, I lost something very near and dear to me. When I went to see Thor, I took my awesome watch off and put it on my lap because it started bothering my wrist. I forgot I took it off, so I dropped it and left it there. When I came back today to retrieve it, it turns out someone stole it because it wasn't where I was sitting. It's hard to part with it, because I got it as a Graduation/Confirmation present and it was a really nice watch. It's really tough, but I can't do anything about it, so I'm trying to deal with it.

Anyway, let's get into some Wizard101 news! The Test Realm was reset back on Friday, and I haven't been daring enough to try it again. I decided that I'd wait until it came to the Live Realm. I've also been working on getting all my brothers, sisters, and cousins out of GrizzleHiem! Diana, Mycin, Patrick, Noah, and Valdus are all out, and Gilroy's left being the Lame Duck! I'm hoping to have him through by the time WinterTusk comes out!

Speaking of WinterTusk, do you have enough Crowns to buy it (If you're a Crowns player)? At my family's Mother's Day party, my aunt and uncle gave me a $50 Visa giftcard as an early birthday present! So I got 30,000 Crowns, which gave me a surplus amount of Crowns! I bought myself a Swift Shark mount (Finally, right?!), and I also bought a friend that's new to the game a Starlight Pony. That left me with around 22,000 Crowns; just enough to buy WinterTusk on both of my accounts! I'm also gonna get another 13,000 Crowns sometime this week, so I'm getting really lucky with all these Crowns I'm getting!

I'm sorry this post was kinda news-dry, but there's not much going on right not in the Spiral with the exception of the excitement of WinterTusk. I also just want to say thank you for all the moms who play Wizard101. You help make this community a great place by coaching us in the right directions of being polite and having fun at the same time. I'm thankful for every mom, mine or not. Thanks for coaching all of us, and to those that do not have moms, I'm sure she's watching over you, especially on this day. :)

P.D.

From the Ashes a New Life is Born!

Hey Gang,

So today I "renew" may vows, so to speak. That's right, today is my first blogaversary! No, the header doesn't mean I'm leaving on this day. It means that a new me is here. Over my past year blogging, I've become an entirely new person, ITS and IRL.

Now, theoretically it isn't my REAL Wizaversary. I don't know when exactly my real one is, because I started it on Central. I'm pretty sure it was somewhere around February, but I use this date to celebrate. And I must say, it's been a heck of a year!

Please don't go into the archives and read my old posts! They're so bad! xD

Short post! Just felt like I should post in honor of my Blogaversary! (Nothing to talk about -,-)

P.D.

Blogaversary and New Secondary Schools?

Hey Gang,

I feel like the last post didn't really get into about how sorry I was for that Debbie Downer post. I'm not going to erase it, because even though I'm sorry and I want to start a new chapter, I believe that people should still be able to see my mess ups and mistakes. To me, it seems wrong to erase my mistakes and to try to make my blog look perfect without tarnish. So I'm sorry to everyone I offended, and like I said, I don't even really feel that way about half the things I said. I don't believe you should curse in Wizard101, and I don't hate people that are against it. I don't mind very protective wizards. They're all good and I said it out of anger. So I hope everyone forgives me. :)

So last night's event went ok. We had about 10 listeners in the chatroom, so everyone but one person went home with a prize. The Grand Prize, a Lava Spider, was won by Elite Wizard, otherwise known as Jasmine Smith. The three Second Prize Winners, who were Arlen DawnEyes, Elijah LightThief, ans Thomas DeathGem received one Hand of Doom Pack each. And the winners of the two codes from KI Free Games were Sorceress Miklai and Edward LifeGem. So congrats to them. I was really looking for a broader audience since I spammed the event everywhere saying that there were going to be prizes xD. I guess I didn't give enough time notice, so the next event I'll hold will be announced well in advanced. We're looking for a TON of people to come out for it! ^_^

My Blogaversary is coming up in two days too! Well, theoretically, I've been blogging for more than a year, because I used to have a blog on Central. On May 3rd, it will have been a year since I moved from Central to Blogspot :) I'm so excited! Maybe I'll have a contest or something; we'll just have to wait and see!

Anyway, onto in-game news, I haven't been up to much outside of GrizzleHiem. In three days, I've gotten three of my Wizards out of GrizzleHiem and eagerly waiting to enter WinterTusk. Valdus, Noah, and Patrick have all completed GrizzleHiem (along with Luke, of course :D), so I'm excited to get through WinterTusk on them! Mycin is currently in the middle of RavenScar (he should be finished GrizzleHiem by the end of the night), Diana is in the middle of Vigrid Roughland, and Gilroy is in the middle of Savarstaad Pass. I noticed that GrizzleHiem really isn't that long of a world to go through (with the exception of RavenScar; gosh that place is a pain).

Now that in-game news is out of the way, I wanted to drop some Science on you guys! Well ... I guess it's not really Science ... I guess it would be more Theoretical Science; aka theory-crafting in W101 :D.

So how many of you guys are Avatar: The Last Airbender fans?

...

Like, serious fans?

...

Ok! Well, I was thinking; you know who there's Waterbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Airbending? Well, as Icywiz stated many times before me, our schools of magic act very similar to this form of classing people. Now, you know how there's Sandbending and Lightningbending(?)? I'm not sure if that's what the art is called, but it's when they bend sand and lightning and that type of stuff. It was kinda like how the certain schools met each other. For example, a mix between Airbending and Earthbending would be Sandbending (I don't remember if that's correct, but it went something like that). Well, what if our schools mixed into new Secondary Schools?

But what would these schools be, Luke?

Well, let's take Ice and Fire; mix them together, and what do we get? Water. Now, some people might say, "But Storm's water!" This isn't true. Sure, they may have some spells that live in water, but Storm focuses more on electricity and storms. Notice that, while the Kraken and the Triton live in the water, they use the power of electricity to damage their opponents. Some I'm saying this; new school: Water! This school could be a utility school focusing on making battles more fluid; maybe even an attack spell here or there? An example of a Water Spell would be a reflective shield, which actually is a great history reference. Back in the old days when mirrors weren't that good, many civilizations had a mirror pool where you could see your reflection from the water. This spell is obviously not my original idea, as I got the spell from Friendly. This spell would reflect the same amount of damage that was dealt on you to your enemy. So, for example, if I was using Insane Bolt, it wouldn't matter if I hit myself, because the reflective shield would bounce it back to my enemy! How awesome is that?

Well, toss us some more of your ideas!

Ok! Well ... How about Storm and Life? What do you get when a Storm hits a forest? Not only do you get destruction, but you also get new life after the storm as well. Therefore, why don't these spells focus on effects that hurt the opponent first and heal the allies later? Sound impossible? How about reasonable? I like to call this the Climate School.

Here's another; Death and Myth. Myth only has one ultimate enemy; death. How is this so? Well, a Myth serves multiple purposes; mainly to explain events and to entertain those that hear them. If a Myth is no longer told or it is disproved, it "in theory" dies. So why don't we make spells from this school take damage away from previous turns. Spells could start out like, "Take away damage of opponent's last attack," and eventually go up to "Take away opponent's spell effect from team from last 3 rounds." That would be an amazingly powerful spell to weild! This could be called the History School.

I don't know; they're just ideas, and they could obviously use improvement. Tell me what you think! What mixes of schools would you like to see, and what spells would they use/be like?

Ok, back to GrizzleHiem! I'll see you soon!

P.D.

Finally Moving On To WinterTusk

Hey Gang,

So yesterday I actually didn't have to reformat the blog, so I'm hoping today stays the same way. Anyway, let's move on:

Now before I get into my opinions of the new updates, I just kinda want to talk abhout some news. My blogaversary is coming up soon (May 4th I think)! Am I doing anything for it? I might see if I can get a contest going, but with the new update coming out and with lack of support from KingsIsle for hosting, I don't think I'd be able to get out some prizes. I need all the crowns I can at the moment; I have to accounts to buy WinterTusk and Crab Alley on. On the brighter side of things, my AmEx card started working, so I bought 5,000 crowns last night, highering my Crowns number to a little under 12,000 Crowns. This however changed to a little under 10,000 Crowns because I had to buy Mirkholm Keep on Valdus. I'll have enough for a $25 order of Crowns soon though, so I should be able to buy all the new updates.

I've also been preparing for WinterTusk in the Live Realm. Last night, I started GrizzleHiem on Valdus and Noah, and I'm glad to report that I got them all the way to Helgrind Warren, or Jotun. For those of you that don't know what Jotun or Helgrind Warren is, it's a dungeon with a pretty tough boss (the boss being Jotun). The dungeon's very interesting; I remember going through it on Luke. It's sorta like a maze, if I recall. So I hope to have them finished GrizzleHiem by tonight, as the last real area they have left is RavenScar (even though this area is pretty long). My other characters are pretty far into GrizzleHiem as well; Patrick and Mycin are both in Mirkholm Keep (Patrick being more towards the end; Mycin only just started), Gilroy in the middle of Savarstaad Pass (he is leveling with Ben FrogStone's alt, Brittany) , and Diana who hasn't even started GrizzleHiem yet. When Valdus and Noah are finished, I'll probably get Mycin through, and I'll work on Gilroy when Ben's available for playing.

Other ways I've been preparing for WinterTusk is collecting reagents, such as Lilly Pads, Cat Tails, Frost Flowers, Grendel Weed, Ore, Diamonds, and other such things. The reason for this is because of the new gear coming out with WitnerTusk. There's a lot of great gear coming out for Legendary Wizards that you can craft, so I'd like to get that. They require a ton of LillyPads, so as I said, I'm collecting them :). I'm collecting Grendel Weed for Oran, as I want him to craft the GrizzleHiem house, which also requires a lot of Lilly Pads and Grendel Weed. But Oran is being put off in honor of WinterTusk and preparing for it.

In the Test Realm, my Phoenix pet hatched! I was very excited to get to training it, and it got some pretty awesome talents. The talents it manifested are FireBlade, Fire-Giver, Pip O' Plenty, and something else I can't quite remember. xD I submitted the info to the Petnome Project, so if you'd like to check it out there, it should be updated soon. When it got to Ancient, I hatched with Paige MoonShade's Judgement pet. She got a Radiant Egg (not school specific) that gave the new Judgement card, and I got something really odd. I got a Radiant Egg too (also not school specific) that gave the new Ice Wyvern card. It should have hatched by the time I get home, so I can't wait to check that out and update you guys on what I get.

Ok, so it seems I spent a lot of my time rambling to you about my personal news, leaving you about 20 minutes of my time to write about WinterTusk. I'll try to write as swiftly as I can:

1. Level 58 Pets: I've discussed this new feature with many members of the community. I feel almost that our wizards are ... devolving, so to speak. We're getting weaker spells that, honestly, are "half-new" as I like to call them, meaning that they're just an old spell revisited and revised. If I had to pick a favorite cosmetically, it'd be the Phoenix; it's just so cute! If I had to pick a favorite for it's stats, I'd pick the Judgement Pet; that thing gives some awesome talents! If I had to pick a favortie based on the card, it'd definitely be the Forest Lord. So, I guess what I'm saying is, if I mixed a Judgement with a Forest Lord and stole Homework in a Graveyard's idea of stitching pets (that was very funny actually; at the very moment I thought of stitching pets, HiaG had already posted the idea xD) to apply it to stitching the Forest Lord to the Phoenix, I'd be a happy panda. I really feel though that they should have been stronger; cosmetically, statistically, and car-wise.

2. New Spells: Again, I feel like we're devolving. KingsIsle is pulling a "Pokemon" as I like to say (sorry to all you pokemon fans, but what I am about to state is a fact). They're looking at old spells and saying, "How can we reamp this?", which is cool, don't get me wrong. But they're doing it with all the wrong spells. Honestly, the only new spells I like are Fuel (in fact, this seems to be the newest concept out of all the new spells, and even still it's kinda a used idea; putting three traps on an enemy), Legion, [Insert name of the new level 35 storm spell], and Insane Bolt. All the others I think are just not worth using. I never liked Link, I don't like Link, and I never will like Link; making it more powerful wont help. My advice: try again. We should be getting NEW powerful spells, not already used spells trying to be new. Again, good idea, but not so cool when in effect.

3. Crab Alley/ Water Works: I haven't gotten to try this yet. I'm waiting until the Live Realm to play this area, so I can't really give any opinon on it. I hear it's very cool though!

4. WinterTusk: I am very impressed with what KingsIsle has done with this new zone! The landscape is absolutely gorgeous, and the quest line was very intriguing. There are, in fact, TWO new cinematic cutscenes added to the game!: One being when you free GrandMother Raven from her prison, and Two being when you meet Ymir, the FrostGiant Titan of olde in the last dungeon of WinterTusk. GREAT JOB ON THIS PART KINGSISLE! As I said, the world is visually appealing, and the gear drops are great! I'm actually not sure what I think of the new gear that drops; all gear or almost all new gear now gives universal resist and a card. I though it was also kinda odd as to why they took out universal critical rating on gear; I figure it's to create a sort of balance for the Mastery Amulets. This gear sells great though, and I'm happy about that. I'm also hearing that people plan to do WinterTusk before Celestia due to the huge amounts of experience you get out of it. Well, I would stick by Celestia first, as it is a main world, and if you don't get Celestia done, you wont have access to the next new world!

I might add to this later in the day . See ya! Gotta go (and Melissa says bye xD)

P.D.

Something ... Not WinterTusk?

Hey Everyone,

Again, I apologize for the formatting. School computers. It will be reformated when I get home from school (around 3:15 EST), so come back then if this bothers you, but if it doesn't feel free to read it now.

Anyway, so before I get into WinterTusk, I just kinda wanted to share something with you.

Gee Luke, go ahead!

Really? You wouldn't mind?

Well, it really isn't that important to me, but I'll listen to you blather on about your miserable life.

Ok! So for the newer readers of my blog, I used to play the game with a great friend, her name was Paige Whisper. It's funny; if it werent for a lot of things (this blog, the Late Night Wizards Group, The Friendly Necromancer; and even Wizard101 if you want to take it that far), our friendship wouldn't have progressed as far as it did, let alone exist. We met in DragonSpyre when Mycin was on his way to GrandMaster. We both had great manners, and that's how we became friends. Then I was testing Late Night Radio, my old podcast that didn't even last a full episode, she helped me test it out.

So she got on Skype and we started talking on there. We became better friends, and things just sorta clicked. During the summer, we leveled some of our wizards together, which included Noah and Diana (her character's names were Kiley Dusk and Ryan RainCaller, who was in fact a girl). We took on a challenge together too; we wanted to see how fast we could level a wizard to Legendary in. It wound up only taking two weeks, and that was before Celestia came out (this all happened in about August).

Then Celestia came out in the beginning of October. We were extremely excited for it. But in a way, Celestia's what caused her to pass away from the Spiral. As excited as we were about it, she isn't one for change, really. In fact, she hates it. So with all the change that came with Celestia (as much as we're now used to it), she was uncomfortable to say the least. We rushed through it, burning out her life force of the Spiral. Looking back on it, I wish I had convinced her to prepare more in the Live realm rather than test it out. She might have stayed for a bit longer, then.

We made guides for people and the like. But part of me feels that her loss from the Spiral wasn't my fault. It was Celestia that helped, and for that I very much dislike it. I feel like that's what's stopping me from leveling Patrick. So by the time we had gotten through Celestia on the test Realm, she didn't want to do it again on the Live realm. It's way too grindy, I agree, but I feel like it's only because KingsIsle wanted to make it a long world. They wanted to keep us busy. But it would also get very repetitive, and after every time I go through my W101 soul feels weaker.

So, eventually, she stopped playing Wizard101. She stopped logging in as much. She stopped logging on to Skype. I got my iPhone, and they couldn't recover her cell number off my old phone. So now the only time I can see her is when I log on to my IRL Facebook, which I'm constantly deactivating because, well, I hate Facebook (by the way, if you've been trying to add me on Facebook, me being Luke GoldHorn and not my IRL profile, it's probably piled up with all my other requests. I check that Facebook maybe once every three or four months). But the thing is, our friendship goes beyond Wizard101. It's much more than that. We don't have much in common; I like in the country, she lives in the city; I'm a boy, she's a girl; she like Life School, I like Fire. But my point is, even if you have an infanite amount of differences with someone, one thing that you both like can bring you into a beautiful friendship that blossoms like an amazing spring flower that's colorful and bright.

Ok, so enough of that. I just felt like it should be shared with you guys. Yesterday, I finished up Jotungaard with Cassandra GriffinDreamer (more on that tomorrow), so it just reminded me of Paige. She may be coming back; I'm trying to convince her. But I just wanted to write a post dedicated to her.

In other news, as I stated, I finished WinterTusk! I really want to get into the Live Realm now and wipe out GrizzleHiem on my alternate characters so they're ready and set. I'll post my opinions on WinterTusk tomorrow and strategies on how to beat the dungeon tomorrow; the four final bosses (the sons of Ymir) cheat, and I have to say that I was quite impressed! I also saw Icywiz's banhammer in there! IT WAS HUGE! I also got my level 58 pet and my blogaversary is coming up this week!

So I gotta get going. I'll see you,

P.D.

The Ghost Post

Hey Gang,

Sorry about this post. Originally, in case I blogged while at school, I just wanted to post my pictures in a draft post, but then I accidentily pressed publish, and well all the pictures were only published! So I'm officially here to deliver my thoughts!

So unless you live in a black hole with no news whatsoever, you'd know that WinterTusk hit the Test Realms last night! W00t! Now what really shocked me was, theoretically, this is just GrizzleHiem. It's not a world by itself, in fact, it's just further into GH. So that was very interesting to learn! I'm going to use pictures to narrate most of my feelings for WinterTusk:

Oh my gosh! PINK GNOMES (sorry, meant lightish red xD)!!! Future pet, KI?

GrandMother Raven's Tree and the census of the town. Holy Claws that's awesome!

Wow! Just look at this new armor! Overpowered, much?

Yeah, this wasn't from a boss drop; it was a regular mob. No biggie, ya know..? xD

I had the amazing privilage of questing through WinterTusk with the amazing Cassandra GriffinDreamer! It was a ton of fun, yo! We were up till 12:30 last night xD.

Never ... Walking ... Into ... PvP ... AGAIN!

Me and Cass in front of a BEAUTIFUL landscape!

More questing with Cass....

SNOW WOOKIE!

Wow! The new Wild Bolt! Why do I feel like Insane Bolt will be overpowered?

Oh my gosh! *Says goodbye to all hopes of ever doing PvP again*

I'll say it a third time ... NO MORE PvP FOR ME!

This is a pretty rad wand! I WANT TO CRAFT IT!

New Staff I got from a boss xD too bad I don't remember who from. Stats down below...

...stats from staff above...

Awesome quest-required transformation! :D

So I have a TON of thoughts on WinterTusk that honestly need to wait until tomorrow. I'm too tired to post about it, and it's a mouthful, so expect to see a new post tomorrow or the day after regarding WinterTusk. I got my Phoenix pet though! More on that later though :P! See ya!

P.D.