#Blaugust Day 24 -- My Top Memorable Locations in #W101

Wizard101 . . . you're up!!  Obviously this is a game that is near and dear to my heart. I've logged thousands of hours between being in the game and penning thoughts about the game (and even more if you start counting my time behind the scenes at KingsIsle). I have to admit -- some of the first ten zones that came to my mind surprised me, but here they are . . . in the order they came to my mind.

(As long as I was taking screenshots, I thought I'd give you a few angles on them that you might have not seen before. :))

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Unicorn Way.

Actually, this is not surprising at all. HAHA! For many people this street and Triton Avenue *are* Wizard101, but when I think of Unicorn Way, I think of the excitement of starting up a new character.  There's the thought of "ok, here we go!" -- before you know it, you're earning your first healing spell, downing Lady Blackhope, and hanging out with Dorothy and friends.

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The Atheneum.

I used to spend a lot of time here collecting Stone for crafting.  Then the quest for Loremaster spells rubber banded me here again.  And now the fishing quests have rubber banded me back AGAIN. For being (largely) a non-combat zone, I sure do find myself spending a lot of time here!

I like it though. It's compact, interesting, and a nice staging area for things to come.  It's too bad the Dragonspyre Academy isn't used as interestingly as The Atheneum.

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Grand Chasm Past.

I really do think Dragonspyre is my favorite zone in Wizard101. I waited for it with excitement and when it dropped on us, it was amazing.  There were specific gear drops where had you go to different bosses to farm them to get your "best of dragonsyre" gear set. Remember Ironhawk's guides? I just loved Dragonspyre in general -- I may not have liked the formulaic zone layout, but I dug it just the same.

Grand Chasm Past had you porting through a time machine to see how the world was before the destruction of the Dragon Titan. In fact, outside of the BOXES event, I think this is the only time that's done.  Must be strong magic. I feel it!

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Big Ben.

Really it's just room after room of mobs, but I used to hit this place all the time with Kevin Battleblood. We liked all the free rank 5 snacks. :) Besting this tower with Angus was an experience I'll never forget (in fact, I'm exhausted just thinking about it).  Good times!

In general there's a lot to love in Marleybone.  That extended stay under the stars is pretty awesome.

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The Great Beast of Starfall Sea.

This has my vote for the coolest dungeon in Wizard101.  Again, when you boil it down, there's really not much to this zone. It's basically an interior and a battle circle on the beast's back.

Those that haven't made it to the second half of Khrysalis are in for a real treat. Make sure you read up on Duelist101's guide. I had an enormous amount of fun with this one.

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Cyclops Lane.

My mind and thoughts took me back to Wizard City next and the majesty of Cyclops Lane! I penned some fan fiction for Wizard101 that you can find on my blog here. I never finished it, but General Akillies was the center piece! Also the staging area for heading to Aquila and packed with some pretty decent fishing, it's a great zone, but watch out for those Minotaurs!

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Firecat Alley.

I think I actually liked the story behind Firecat Alley more than I liked the story behind Cyclops Lane. A Fire Elf Prince gone mad just sounds like a recipe for adventure. I also spent a lot of time in this zone collecting reagents.  I had a little path I'd run to pick up as much Red Mandrake as possible. There's also plenty of bosses in this zone as well, which makes it fun for return visits.

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Baobab Crossroads.

Zafaria has some super beautiful locations, and the hub of the zone was no exception. The treehouse qualities were nice, and it felt a bit like a hidden (and difficult) oasis to arrive at.

Hub zones *should* be relaxing and beautiful . . . that's Baobab Crossroads.

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Celestia Base Camp.

Speaking of World Hubs . . . how about Celestia's main area?! I love that you can fish in this pond now. Ever since finishing up the fishing quests in  Dragonspyre, it has me here just seeing what I can catch. I'm pretty sure we'll see some more fishing quests here if we're lucky.

Overall it's a nice, compact zone, that gets a lot done. A lot has been packed in here.  Even better for me are the memories of being one of the first to see the zone before it was released. I was a fan back then, not an employee and my reactions are priceless.

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Marleybone's Balloon Car ride from Digmoore Station.

Two words . . . Mister Personality.

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And there they are . . . the first ten zones that came to my mind when I thought about Wizard101. To be honest, I think I'm more intimidated to post these than any of the other posts because it means so much to me, and my choices felt so . . . flippant? random? I guess when it's a game as close to your heart, it would feel more fitting to do a TOP ten instead of a FIRST ten, but a lot of these would still probably line up. Strange that Azteca, Avalon, Krokotopia, Mooshu, nor any of Paige Moonshade's dorm rooms didn't end up on the list. ;)

I love this game and the greater community around it. It's been such an important part of my life the past seven years -- hard to believe we're going to celebrate that game anniversary soon!

Happy Dueling!

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This post is part of the Blaugust challenge -- Thanks to Belghast from Tales of the Aggronaut for hosting.