Reminder of Christmas Party, Progress in Zafaria, and Gear Guide

Hey Gang,

So I know I'm not posting regularly (well, I haven't for a while now). I'd like to apologize for this; I've been really busy with two AP classes (for those of you who don't know what AP is, it stands for Advanced Placement and it's supposed to be equally difficult as a college course), I've also been conditioning for Tennis in the Spring (it's my first time playing a High School sport, and I'd like to make the Varsity team), AND I've been attempting (and failing) at keeping up with a collaborative gaming blog between Myself and four friends of mine. So as you can see, I'm pretty booked, and I haven't really had time to post much. Once Christmas break comes around, I'll try to post more often. I'll also be available more in the Spring because AP classes end earlier than  normal ones.

Anyway, I just wanted to remind you that I will be having a Christmas party! I posted about it back in September, but I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the upcoming event. Here's your official invitation!:

So I hope you all can make it to the party! I'm going to try my best to gather as much prizes as I can, however I might have to deliver some of them a bit later than at the actual party. I'll post more information about what realm you should meet the port bus (if you do not have me on your friend's list) and what time to attend. Hope to see you all there!

I also wanted to briefly update you on my progress in Zafaria. I finished Luke and Valdus about 24 hours after Zafaria came out (I wound up staying home sick that Friday, so I got to play all day, and then I stayed up till about 5 A.M. EST). So Luke and Valdus both have their Level 68 Spells AND are Transcended (one of the firsts, too :D). I also just got my Death Wizard, Gilroy SkullFlame to Level 70, and all he needs to do is enter Mirror Lake. I'm also currently running Patrick FrostHorn (my Balance Wizard) and Oran FoeHammer (my second Life Wizard) through Zafaria with Ryan RainCaller (a Storm Wizard), one of Paige Whisper's alternate characters. They are currently finishing the Savannah. I'll probably take Mycin StarGem (my Storm Wizard) through Zafaria next, (probably) followed by Diana GoldHorn (my first Life Wizard) and lastly Noah GoldHorn (my Myth Wizard).

So it seems I'm going through Zafaria really fast (or at least to me, anyway). I'm trying to finish somewhat early for several reasons, mainly because I know I'll get lazy and decide to put off leveling my wizards. I'd like to be prepared early for the next worlds that come at us (even if they aren't main worlds, which will probably be the case), and getting all the work done early is the best way to do just that. While some might think I'm going to get REALLY bored and start complaining, this isn't the case; I have SWTOR (Star Wars: The Old Republic) waiting for me December 20th (although I probably won't play it until around mid-January). I have so many games coming at me for Christmas, that I'll be occupied at LEAST until June. So that shouldn't be a problem.

I'd also like to bring your attention to a guide I'm currently creating. I know many of you who follow me on Twitter know I've been calling out for help, but I'd like to remind everyone who keeps up with me that I need your help completing this guide! The guide I'm constructing is on the Level 66 Rings and Athames and the Level 68 Hats, Robes, and Boots found in Zafaria (please only the ones either with Armor Pierce or the Alternatives, both are No Auction). If you wish to contribute, please reply on the guide with a picture, the boss (or enemy) you obtained it from, and the location; you can leave the rest up to me. I WILL credit everyone and anyone who contributes to the guide with the following information (please take note that the item must be undiscovered by someone else). You can find the guide by clicking here.

Anyway, I hope everyone's having fun in Zafaria and dying of anxiety for Christmas! As they say, it's the most wonderful time of the year, so be happy! :)

P.D.

The Siren Nerf: Should W101 Change Her Lyrics?

Hey Gang,

So I'm sure you've all heard about the Siren nerf in the Test Realm. There's a big controversy in the Wizard101 community about whether it should be nerfed or not. So, I'd like to post my opinion on the subject:



Old Siren Spell...



I think the main problem is we're not used to seeing Rank Nine spells, so our opinion on what exactly is an "overpowered" spell can be a bit warped sometimes. We're used to seeing Rank Seven and Eight spells, which (obviously) are not as powerful as the spells we're seeing now. However, I do believe the Siren spell is overpowered when compared to the spells of the other schools. Yes, Storm is supposed to be the glass cannon school. Yes, the other schools are supposed to be somewhat weaker when it comes to damage. But take a look at how the spell really changed:

New Siren Spell...

They only took away 35 damage. That's not much at all, and I know when a Storm Wizard or enemy hits me with that spell, it wont make much of a difference. But what I want to see changed is NOT the power. In fact, I think 915 was perfect as far as hit points goes. With 9 pip spells, you want to promote the use of them; in other words, it has to be worth all the preparation it took to get those pips. Leviathan, which is one rank below Siren, only does at least 100 more damage than the original Siren (ok, so that number's a bit off... but its a round about estimate). When an AoE (Area of Effect) does a little less damage and has another effect than its ancestor, it's doing it right.

I'd like to see one of its effects removed personally. I think it would be more beneficial to Storm if the "Remove Blade" effect was taken off, however I'd like to see the -50% accuracy effect taken off. Fire's really the only school that has an effect such as adding a high accuracy debuff, and I think it's a bit silly to take that unique feature away from Fire when we're so far into the game.

So really, what makes this spell overpowered? The fact that it has three effects AND does damage. I personally think there only needs to be two. Opinions?

P.D.

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.

The Commons Courier- Episode Three

Hey Gang,

Episode Three of The Commons Courier is here!

Hello withces and wizards of the Spiral, and welcome to Episode Three of The Commons Courier! After a semi-long break, I, Luke GoldHorn, am back to take you through this awesome Spiral we are graced with. Stay tuned as I talk about recent news in game, give PvP tips, interview Cassandra GriffonDreamer from Witchwarrior101, answer questions, and much more! Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to submit your entries to the Jackpot Segment and submit your questions!

***Jackpot Segment Winners***

1. NicholasLionRider

2. Senthose365

3. Ethansherr12

Thanks for entering, and the winners should receive a code by Sunday (8/14/11) latest!

The Commons Courier- Episode Two

I never posted Episode Two on my blog, so here it is:

***Transcription coming soon***

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.

My News Gland Is Shriveled

Hey Gang,

So there's absolutely NOTHING going on in Wizard101 right now. There really hasn't been anything new to talk about for a week or two, save the new Mega Bundle Giftcard. So, I'm just going to talk about random scrambled things I have on my mind that are Wizard101, Blog, or Game Related.

Recently I applied at my local GameStop. On Wednesday I went and tried to apply, but the guy who I talked to said that I might have to wait until I'm 17 (another year) because he wasn't sure if the manager was ok with hiring a 16 year old. It was an issue with M[ature] rated games. But I didn't understand why it would be an issue for the following reasons:

1. I can buy/do buy M rated games if I have an adult with me.

2. I do play some M rated games, so I'd be able to talk with the customer about my opinions on several M rated titles.

3. There was one foreseen issue that involves GameStop Employee Benefits. GameStop Employees may sign out one Used Game if it is currently not in demand and play it for one week. There are used rated M games. However, this could simply be solved by not letting me sign out M rated games, or by having my mom come in and telling them that she will allow me to play it. I probably wouldn't use this feature much anyway.

So I had to go in and speak with the manager on Friday. It was quite funny, because she didn't even ask me any questions regarding age when I handed the application to her. She just took it and said she'd give me a call and let me know, so I'm passionately waiting by my phone.

I've also been putting the finishing touches on my Sultan's Palace for the party. Everything is crafted and in place; now all I need to do is finish up with the gardening portion of my house. I can't believe it's in 12 days! That's less than two weeks away! Also, only one person has officially submitted their entry for the Randomly Selected Featured Wizard, and no one has even registered for the PvP Tournament yet! If you'd like to register and/or see the prizes I'm giving away, please go here.

I also now have 59 followers! While I don't like to sit here and talk about followers (because honestly I think it's quite superficial), I'd just like to point out that I'm only one away from sixty! :) So thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way, especially Diary of a Wizard, who was in fact my first follower! :)

That's really all I have to post about

Party Revisited and Making a Difference

Hey Gang,

So I'd like to start with the shorter news first and eventually move on to longer and more in depth news. The first thing I'd like to discuss with you today is KingsIsle and their "Official" Community Blog List. Recently, KingsIsle decided that even if you have bought your domain name from blogger, they wont accept it; in fact, if your blog is associated with blogger in any way, shape, or form, it will be rejected. That's the main reason for why I got rejected; because even though I bought my own domain, it's run on blogspot.

Let me first start off by saying that the whole "Official" thing in my opinion is overrated. If people like your blog, they'll come to it whether you're official or not. I mean, don't get me wrong; it feels a bit depressing when you aren't actually official, but it's ok to be "unofficial" too! :) Look at me; I'm unofficial, and I consider my blog somewhat successful. I mean, sure you don't get the free stuff and the sponsorship for contestants and awesome benefits like that, but it's ok.

Moving on from Official being overrated, I believe KingsIsle has actually accepted people who have purchased a domain name from blogger past 2009. I believe (however I may be mistaken) that these blogs belong to Issac MistHeart and Alia LotusPetal. Now these blogs are fantastic blogs, but is it fair to accept them but not The Pie-Loving Necromancer, The Saviors of the Spiral, or even me for that matter? We've all put money into our blogs that could have been spent on other things that we actually need just to be rejected? That seems way too harsh for me.

It's like if I said to KingsIsle: Look, you're game, it's pretty awesome. I realize you're an MMO since it's online, but I'm not going to consider it an MMO because you're associated with Disney and you're kid-friendly (Look, I realize at the moment that KingsIsle isn't associated with Disney currently, but hey, it looks like we're headed down that trail). I do think, however, that if our community comes together andn supports blogs like mine, the two others I mentioned, and any others that follow the rules and want to be official, that we can change what is. I mean, KingsIsle is a great company; when their players aren't happy, they fix the problem to benefit the player. I feel like if we had enough numbers, KingsIsle would accept blogs like ours. Also, I wanna thank Edward WinterGem who posted something along these lines and inspiring me to talk about this. Go and check out his blog!

Anyway, that half half of the post was just meant so I could express how I felt about the whole situation. I hope I did it in an appropriate manner.

Let's move on to a more fun topic; the new Mega Bundle! Now if you look at it, it is NOT Egyptian! It is more Arabic or Indian, and it does in fact look a lot like the palace from the movie Aladin. KingsIsle, I'd like to warn you now; tie off your strings with Disney now. They're like a black hole; they're gonna try to buy out Wizard101, and trust me, they're gonna offer a TON of cash, and you can't let this happen. If Wizard101 is handed over to Disney, it's going to be a hot mess. Move away while you still have a chance!

The house is really cool though. I really like the Genie who gives you wishes! I heard he has a possibility of giving Mega Snack Packs!!! AH! I REALLY like the Magic Carpet! I love the fact that it looks like I'm skate boarding. The gear, looks and stats, I wasn't real impressed with, but the Level 50 Flute Wand is pretty neat! The Snake in a Basket pet is pretty awesome too, but I haven't really had time to train mine yet.

WHAT?!?! Are you saying you got the Mega Bundle, Luke?!?!?

I did, in fact! When I figured out some GameStops were already selling them, I called my local GameStop, and what do ya know?! They had a huge stack of them sitting on the counter, so I begged my mom to drive me and get me one. I'm really thankful that she did. I couldn't enter my house the first day I got it, because there was some bug for Crowns players that said it was a Premium Area, however it wouldn't give you an option to buy it. The house is HUGE!

And guess what?! I am going to host MY Wizaversary in my new Massive Sultan's Palace! It's going to be awesome! Yesterday I finished the Red Carpet, and it looks amazing. There's still a few finishing touches I'd like to add to the outside, like candles around the moat encircled dueling ring and some flowers and cocoanut drinks around my oasis, but other than that, the outside is pretty much done with the other exception of a TON of gardening that's in store for me.

As I mentioned, I did find a way to float items on the new dueling circle, and it's a bit different than the MFP, so I'm going to put a video on YouTube later today showing you how to do that. I will be putting walls around the surrounding area so you can't get a sneek peak at my house. :P

I've been really defensive about who I let in the house lately because people keep trying to get glimpses of the house! I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to wait! The only people that have really seen it are Marcus BattleCrafter (once known as Wolf IceHunter, my neighbor), Paige MoonShade, Mary DreamShade, and Cassandra GriffinDreamer. They're all helping me design my house.

Anyway, so the inside it coming out pretty well. I just have a few things I wanna craft for the dance floor and some other things. I'm REALLY excited for the event! I'm gonna have to have a sound check a few days in advance to see if I can mute my mike yet play some itunes in the backround for the dance portion of the party so we actually have something to dance floor (yeah, there isn't really any interesting sound effects in the new house).

We also have some contests that will take place during the party! I will go through and explain all of the following contests (please note that the following contests currently have no set prize):

1. Fashion Contest- In this contest, you will be judged on your appearance to the party. I can obviously not do this alone, so the judges of this contest that will accompany me and my seat will be a featured guest (I still have to ask around) and the first person selected from the random generator to be a featured guest! I'm thinking about asking Fallon from Ravenwood Radio, so if she declines I'll be sure to update you! In order to be a judge, you do not need a headset and a mic, but you DO need a Skype so you can send me your winner! Everyone will automatically be entered in this contest!

2. PvP Tourney- There will be 14 spots in the PvP Tourney. This is a 2v2 Tourney, so bring a partner!

3. 5 Featured Guests- I've already talked about this one; if you enter this contest, you will be entered in a random drawing to be one in five people to be featured on the Red Carpet along with some famous Wizards that are attending the party. The first wizard drawn will also help me and another wizard with Fashion Judging. If you are a featured guest (by random draw), you cannot win the Fashion Contest, however you may enter the PvP Tourney. If you are a featured wizard (meaning you do not have to fill out an entry form because you are allowed on the Red Carpet), check UNDER the entry form at the List of Names.

You may only enter each contest ONCE! If I see someone has entered twice, ALL of their entries will be terminated. Again, I should have the pages for these soon. I'm thinking after the Red Carpet Event, I'll let the PvP teams gear up and be ready by 6:45 P.M. CST.

Ok, I gotta jet! Very long blog post! See ya!

P.D.

***EDIT:

New Release From KingsIsle and My Wizaversary!

Hey Gang,

So there's been a lot going on recently. Where shall we start? Well, maybe with the most exciting and community oriented news out there? Sounds good; KingsIsle said on Twitter that they were going to release some information about what we saw in the video for WinterTusk! Have no idea what I'm talking about? I'm talking about THIS:

That's right! It's that new picture we've all been talking about! Exciting, right? Everyone's anxious to know what it is, and while I'm sure KingsIsle not going to give us all the deets, I'm almost positive that they will reveal its purpose as well as maybe a new prequest for it. Whatever it is, I'm uber excited!

I also have an uber awesome announcement to make! My Wizaversary is coming up! W00t! Excitement! I decided that I will in fact have a Wizaversary Party. Here's your own personal invite! Check it:

For anyone that can't read it:

"You're Invited!

To Luke GoldHorn's Wizaversary

When: June 18th, 6:00 P.M. CST (Central Standard Time)

Where: Port Bus @ Fire Tower in Sunbird Area One

What: Wizaversary for Luke GoldHorn

Who: Luke GoldHorn Will Host the Party at His Massive Fantasy Palace

Dress Code: Anything Fit for a Party! Dress Nicely!

COME ON OUT FOR SOME PvP AND DANCING!"

I'm really really excited! Anyone who wants to come, feel free to join along in the celebration of summer and of me playing this game for two years! Be sure to look for Erica GoldHorn (Level 1 Death Wizard) when you get to the Fire tower! Why am I telling you this now? Because on June 17th when I make a blog post, I will be linking this post so you can find your way to my party! :)

Be sure to dress well and bring your PvP gear! PvP will happen later on in the party. Here's the schedule of what's to come:

6:15 P.M.-6:30 P.M. (or 6:45 P.M.): Red Carpet Event.

6:50 P.M.-8:30 P.M.: PvP/Hanging Out/Dancing.

8:30-Whenever: Dungeon Runs

Ok, so I'll explain what each of the parts mean on the schedule. The Red Carpet event is something I will be doing at the very beginning of the party. I'm going to set up a walkway at the party. First what will happen is this: everyone will port into a closed off section of the party. I will have certain wizards in a different section that leads directly to the Red Carpet. These wizards are Wizards that sign up to be on the Red Carpet. I will let 5 random wizards sign up to be featured on the carpet, and those 5 wizards will sign up to do that here.

So basically, if you want to be one of these wizards, comment below and I will put you in for a random drawing. I'm going to save other spots for known members of the community such as (if they desire to go) Kevin BattleBlood and TPC team (Fallon, Cassandra DragonHeart, and Ronan Dawn), The Ravenwood Radio Crew (Stephen SpiritCaller, Christina IceDreamer, Fallon (Already listed), and Ditto Wizard), Thomas LionBlood and Bailey SkyStaff, Paige MoonShade, Fallon DeathSlinger and Valdus SoulPyre, Fallon MoonGem, Alric RavenSinger, and possibly others! Again, the people featured on the Red Carpet will all depend on if they desire to go and if they don't mind being featured. If you were not listed above and are interested in being on the Red Carpet, please comment by May 31st and I will see to it that you are entered.

I'm going to see if I can Livestream the Red Carpet Event. I've been having some bad experiences with Livestream recently, so we'll see how this goes :).

Also, before I move on, please RSVP to the party in the comments below. I'd like to get a general number of the people attending. Ok, so next we have the actual party. This will probably continue to 8:30 P.M. or 9:00 P.M, whichever is fine. Maybe we can have some PvP commentating by Kevin BattleBlood and The Perfect Catch gang? Would be an awesome time! So yeah, that part is pretty self explanatory.

The last part I thought would be an interesting twist. Do you have a dungeon you've been itching to farm? Well hopefully this party will serve of use to you! If you so desire, I'd like to get everyone (who wishes to participate) to go out and farm a dungeon. So make sure you have a planned group or a planned dungeon that you want to make a run through! If you don't feel for this part of the party, you're welcome to stay and PvP or play games or something of the sort.

Again, you should be commenting if:

1. You're attending

2. If you're interested in entering the Red Carpet Feature

3. If you have any questions.

I understand this is very confusing, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! Thanks again and I really hope to see you there! I have a TON of decorating to do! :D

P.D.

P.S: Remember, all those times up there are Central Standard Time!

P.P.S: For those who are being featured, I'll need you to arrive roughly ten minutes before the party starts!

Curve-ball, Huh?

Hey Gang,

So this is more of a response/review of a fellow bloggers recent post, Isaac MisthHeart from That Pyromancer. No, I'm actually not complain about someone this time; this post was a great post by him and I think everyone should check it out! Go check it out here.

Anyway, so if you're too lazy to check out the post yourself or if you can't access it or even if you just don't like links, I'll give you a very basic summary of the post. But seriously, if you want the most out of this post and even Isaac's post, go check it out. So basically Isaac talks about his guesses about release dates and possible characters, and he even goes on to also say that this is obviously NOT Krokotopia. THANK ... YOU! At least there are some people who finally agree. Yes, BriskBreeze said that there was going to be another tower, and that it's next location is going to be in Krokotopia, we got that much. But look at this; we have a level 50 tower and a level 6o dungeon. Why in the world would they not wait for level 70 and make it more challenging; give the bosses more potential. You can also look at the architecture and geography. While Alric corrected me about deserts being barren (it was a general statement :P), they aren't as lush (I guess you could say) as Oasises. That being said, Saudi Arabia has is more of an Oasis/ lush area than Egypt. The only really green areas you'll find in Egypt are along the Nile and at the few oasises that they have.

So, we can safely assume that this is not an expansion of Krokotopia. The only way I could see this being an expansion is by them making a Saudi Arabian area of Krokotopia, which I don't see happening. It would cause a ton of tension between cultures. Anywho, but one thing Isaac suspects from KingsIsle is that they will throw us a "curve-ball" so to speak; they'll add something in that we've never seen up to this point of the game. So thinking of the Mastery Amulets and this post made me connect some points; what if we saw bosses that were two schools?

Confused? Stay with me; when you look at a boss, you see their name, correct? Now, when you look under their name, you see their school, right? Well, what if a boss was Fire and Myth? This would make it resistant to both the school of Fire and the school of Myth, however you could boost on them using Storm, Death, or Ice spells. This could lead to a bunch of different cheating bosses and interesting strategies. What do you think?

I have to get going, but before I leave, I figured I'd share some personal news with you guys. Not much to report on today; ran the Waterworks three times last night! The first was with the Twizard Panglou, Fallon from TPC and RR, and Angel WinterBreeze. We had some fun, and I got nothing but a Firestarter's Hood (which I already have) and 2 Mega Snacks. The second run was with all the same people except with Cassandra GriffinDreamer replacing Panglou. During that run, I got my Firestarter boots! :D woot! The last run was just me and Fallon, but we both used two accounts, and while Luke didn't get any gear, Valdus got his hat and his boots! Score! I'm looking forward to run it more; being with such talented wizards definitely put some new strategies in my brain. I also found out that Valdus's Ice Wyvern LOVES to Spritely, and honestly, I have no problem with that xD. I'm really hoping for Spritely on more of my Level 58 pets.

Gotta go now! Going out to lunch! Hope everyone is well!

P.D.

P.S: It's almost the weekened and almost summer vacation; be happy! :)

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.

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.

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.

New Necklaces and Purchasing Problems

Hey Gang,

So there was some maintence early this morning going on in the Spiral! KingsIsle has released the new necklaces (you know, the ones that let you use power pips for Schools that aren't your primary School?) to the live realm. They also released a bunny suit and the mini game kiosks that were in the test realm (these items used to only be obtainable via the $40 Gift Card or the Auction House if someone sold their one from the $40 card). KingsIsle also said that the maintainence was the last of their sessions were they were upgrading their software. Does anyone remember the last time we saw a message similar to this? About a month before Celestia went to the Test Realm, KingsIsle made similar regular maintences, saying that they were "upgrading the system," which is true. However, if this is the usual pattern for releasing a new world/ new content, I'd say that WinterTusk will be here by late May/ Early June. Yay! New content!

Also, I wanted to bring something to the attention of people recently buying Crowns or a Membership. Anyone using American Express Gift Cards (and possibly Credit Cards, I'm not sure) to purchase Crowns (or a Membership, again I'm not sure if it matters) will find difficulty purchasing the item. This is a temporary glitch, as I was informed by KingsIsle, and should be resolved shortly.

How do I know such a thing is occuring? Well, I have bought 2 $25 American Express Gift Cards within the past two weeks (as that is how I pay for things like Crowns and my URL). I've been trying to purchase the Crowns, and it just hasn't been working. I've called American Express and complained multiple times, but it wasn't until later that I realized that it wasn't quite their fault with what's been going on. If I made my payment for my URL with one, then it must be the Wizard101 site that's having problems. So I sent a ticket in to KingsIsle about it, and they are currently working on the issue. Supposedly there are other wizards who have been having this problem as well, so if you are one of those wizards, please let KingsIsle know! It will help everyone!

In other news, Wizard101 Central's Video of the week is up! I actually really like these videos, and I'm really looking forward to watching it when I get home.

There is no gaming news from me today, as I couldn't play much last night due to an ill-wanted meeting that i had to attend with a troll. Basically I had to go to a meeting with my sister and my mom about a college and let's just say that it wasn't too happy for me because there was someone that I didn't like at the meeting. I did the right thing though, and while it may be hard sometimes, it just goes to show that the best weapon you have is your conscience.

So look for some news tomorrow about Patrick! And who knows; maybe there will be some Spiral news for us! See ya later,

P.D.

**EDIT: The Amex (American Express) Gift Card bug will not happen to everyone; some people may have no problems with it.**

Winners of Mount Week and More Announcements!

Hey Gang,

So before I even start off, I'd like to say congrats to every winner of mount week! It sure was awesome, and I hope a lot of people came out with mounts or even some crowns codes, as I know that they were also given out too! If you haven't seen the winners of Friendly's contest, check it out here. I really like all of them, and I want to give a special shout-out to Alric RavenSinger for his entry! I know he really wanted to win that Moonlight Pony, and gosh darnit he earned it! That Cockatrice pet is certainly outstanding!

Anyway, if you didn't win any mounts, don't fear! KingsIsle has released news of Mount-a-palooza! What is Mount-a-palooza, you might ask? EVERY PERMANENT MOUNT IS ON SALE! W00t! You can now buy any permanent mount you want for a discounted price; some are even 50% off! They've also added the Starlight, Starshine, Sunshine, and Moonlight Ponies to the crown shop, so get them while you can! I don't know how much longer they'll stay for (the sale lasts for about 9 days, and we don't quite know if they'll leave with the sale), so get them while you can! I really wish I could get the Moonlight or SunShine ponies, as they are my favorite, but I have two problems:

1. With this darn American Express Giftcard I got (I pay for my crowns with gift cards), I have so many pending transactions, I can't buy any crowns! :( Darn American Express! I personally prefer Visa, but my local convenience store didn't have visa gift cards (so much for being convenient!).

2. Even if I didn't have all those pending transactions, I could only buy $15 worth of crowns (7,500) and I kinda wanted to save those (the only one I could afford anyway is the Starlight Pony, ands maybe the Starshine pony; I don't recall).

Anyway, I really hope these guys stay in the crowns shop, as I would buy each and every one of them! They're amazing!

Along with Mount-a-palooza, KingsIsle announced that Mounts would soon be able to roam free in our castles! Check it:

Now, there are many things that are amazing about this video, along with the roaming mounts! Many people have already stated what's interesting about the video, therefore, I will only briefly go over what's in it. What I really want to do is some speculating. Ready? Here we go:

1. The music. Is this WinterTusk music? It very much resembles GrizzleHiem music, but it's not exactly that.

2. The pets. So it looks like there are some new pets. These pets are a Humongofrog, a Scarecrow, and a Kraken.

3. The plants. If you pay close attention, you can tell that there are some new plants in the video, including a couch potato.

So that'd pretty much all I can find on that video. Let me know if there's anything I missed.

Let's focus on the pets, as that's really what is interesting me. The Scarecrow pet I think without a doubt is the new level 58 pet. I mean, it just seems obvious to me (however, I could be wrong). What do I think about it? I think it's very cool; kinda looks ... I don't know ... maybe just a tiny bit cartoonish? I mean, maybe it's just because it's short. I just didn't think that it resembled the spell Extremely well, but I still love it :)

Now what about the Kraken and Humongofrog pets? Well, I went into the Spiral and did some research:

Notice that they are both learned at the same level. My personal speculation is that KingsIsle is also going to start incorporating other school pets into the game. For example, I may now get a school pet at level 38, or 22. However, again, I could be wrong. Just some theorycrafting here :)

What do I think of such a thing? AWESOME! It would be really neat to see lower level school pets; I personally think that after you complete your tour of Ravenwood quest from Ambrose, he should give you a low level school pet as well. So, for example, Ice would get a Frost Beetle, Fire would get a Fire Cat, Death would get a Dark Sprite, the list goes on. These pets would also get cards and would be school specific.

Ok, well that's all I have for today. Feel free to add to anything as you wish in the comments! I'll see you soon!

P.D.

Wintertusk Announced! Theory-Crafters, We NEED You!

Hey Gang,

So yesterday, the amazing Ditto has given us ASTOUNDING news! KingsIsle has announced their next world; WinterTusk (otherwise known as Jotungaard or WT)!! Now, if you wanna see what it's all about, go check it out on Ditto's blog. I really just wanna post my ideas on what's going on. So, here it is - my thoughts and theories for the next world: Now, when being introduced to a new world, there's a huge question that comes to mind: Will this world be a side quest world, or will it be a main world? This world, by all means, looks to me like a side quest world, due to the major fact that they never released info on a level cap increase (however, this could happen within the next couple weeks). So don't get your hopes up yet. HOWEVER, take a look at this!:

Try to focus on that thing she has her hand around. That's right folks; it's a horn! Now, I'm pretty sure there's a folk tale lurking in the Spiral about a horn belonging to Grandmother Raven, sister of Bartleby. I can't remember at the moment, but I'll be sure to get back to you! I actually putting together a research group to investigate the matter! It is called the Order of the Horn, and if you would like to join the hunt, be sure to comment and/or request to join the group on DoaW ConnectX.

But yes, I think that Horn that GrandMother Raven is holding is Morganthe's next target. My theory is, due to Morganthe's prophecy ("...the horn will call..."), she would like to steal this horn from Granny Raven, causing something terrible to happen to the Spiral! Specifically, she wishes to awaken the Titans with the Horn, causing a second Titan War! How terrible would that be?! But imagine seeing this as well; what if there was a raid at the end of this story arch? Not exactly a raid in the fact that it might take a week to complete it. I'm talking more about 8-people battle circles, a ton of puzzles and task, and possibley even taking down some Titans! The dungeon would probably take a long time though; I'm thinking somewhere between 3-5 hours. Also, in case you can only play, say, two hours a night, they wont clear your progress for a few days (possibly weekly).

So it all leads back to that one question: Will this be a continuation of a side world only, OR will it ALSO tie a side world to the main story line? Again; our only clue that it may be a main quest world is that horn. Also, as I said, I need some research to back me up, so I'm gathering researchers from the group to go on an expidition through the Spiral and search for clues. I will be leading this expidition along with three other wizards. Everytime we find something that may be of importance, we'll pose it to some theorists and decide how exactly we want to use it. It's going to be a LOT of fun! Also, there will soon be another expidition (we still need a leader for this one, as I am not up to the task) to find runes and possible references hidden in quests to Jotungaard or anything else that may include Mother Raven or Morganthe's prophecy.

By the way, while we are on the matter ... what exactly is Morganthe's prophecy? "The Mirror will break, the Horn will call! From the shadows I stike, and the skies will fall!". Geesh, sounds ominous. So as I've said a billion times, I believe this horn she talks about is GrandMother Raven's Horn. But what exactly is the mirror? I have a theory that I don't whole-heartitly agree with. What if GrandMother Raven is the mirror? When the mirror breaks (meaning GrandMother Raven dies), Morganthe can sound her horn for the Titans? Sounds plausible. But what would the next three worlds be about? Well, there ARE three different types of titans: The Triton Titan(s), the Dragon Titan(s), and the Giant Titan(s). Now, we dont exactly know how many there are left, but we certainly know that there is still at least one Dragon Titan and one Triton Titan. Heck, we could witness Morganthe awaken a Frost Giant Titan at the end of Jotungaard.

But then another question arises; we've already been to DragonSpyre. We've already been to GrizzleHiem (and soon to be WinterTusk). We've already been to Celestia. How are they going to reinvent these characters into the story without making us go back to worlds we've already been to? Well, the way I see it, after WinterTusk, there will be three worlds left open for this arch. Instead of us traveling to the Titans, have the Titans travel to us! For example, the Triton Titan can travel to a world such as the Mayan world I purposed. He causes bad things to happen there, and we put him back to sleep somehow. See what I'm saying?

I also think that there's another part to Morganthe's prophecy that she's not telling us. The part, that is, that talks about us saving the Spiral. And wouldn't it be cool if, for the Dragon Titan, we were brought into a Utopia, kinda like how DragonSpyre was before the Dragon Titan got there? But this time, we could actually save it! It'd be sweet! :D

As to the skies falling part of the prophecy, maybe we'll meet the Celestians again at an observatory in the Spiral, and their doom will repeat itself.

Ok, I gotta get going. I'll see ya!

P.D.