Sunday, February 28, 2010

Wandcast Episode 1 Available for Download!

Kestrel, David, and Dustin have put together a really fun podcast named . . . wait for it . . . Wandcast!

These guys (and gals . . . Kestrel from The Shadowthistle School of Wizardry hosts the show and Cassandra from Witchwarrior101 even makes a visit) put together a podcast that was really unique and didn't copy anyone's formula or style; it's just them having fun and talking about Wizard101. While I was listening to their podcast I would answer their trivia questions along with them and laughed at the "quarrelcast" between David and Dustin from Wizard101 Information. They're cousins, and that equals built in hilarity. Kestrel did a fine job of keeping the peace btw. :-)

There's also a guest segment from Blake Strongstone (aka the Super Necromancer) where he gives an entertaining idea for a new world in the spiral. I won't spoil his idea for you.

The only thing I found that could have been improved was a gap of silence from around 25 minutes to about 26 minutes that stretched a little longer than a minute and one of the stories seemed to be cut off a little bit. David's microphone seemed a little low as well, but I could still hear him. But it was great overall!

They mention at the end of their podcast that they are proud of what they had created, and I'd have to agree! Nice work guys. I hope it keeps getting better and better! It's great to see Wizard101 bloggers picking up the microphone and trying out the trail that was blazed by Ravenwood Radio. I'm sure there's more awesomeness on the horizon, and I can't wait to hear more and more podcasts like these in the future.

Happy Dueling!

Bailey and Molly Enter Dragonspyre!

So when my wife and I play this game together, I usually sit over on the hard kitchen chair playing on the laptop and I give up the nice cooshie computer chair and the nice computer with the wide screen to her. She is queen of the game when we play together. And I do this with such joy in my heart because it's awesome she's actually playing a videogame by my side.

To be quite honest, way back here when heck froze over, I had no idea that someday we'd be entering Dragonspyre together.

Bailey chucked out a firezilla card to end the Jade Oni.


And then before you know it, Cyrus had been defeated and Bailey was givin' a shout out to Molly in Dragonspyre, getting her free housing item and everything! GO GIRL!


Bailey is now level 42 and she has me singing her this song by the band level 42 . . . can't get it out of my head now actually . . . dang 80's.



LEVEL 42 WOOT! (I love how the guitar player pretty much just hangs out until the end where he gets to do his guitar solo LOL)

I'm so looking forward to defeating Malistaire by her side. :-) It's all about Bailey! She's amazing.

I LOVE YOU, WIFEY!

Happy Dueling!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Where are all the History Books?

Here's a question from Brian Eyestone:
I have been trying to locate the various "history books" (librarian quest). I searched all over Colossol Blvd to find the History of Ice book. Any tips for find this book as well as the other books of history?

Hey! There have already been a couple guides for this question on central, but I don't think I've ever answered it on my site here. So I made you a few maps to help you and anyone else that stumbles upon this site in the future!








So to answer your question, the History of Ice book is up in the Gobbler King Castle on Colossus Boulevard.

Happy Dueling!

Friday, February 26, 2010

What's the math behind stacking damage in Wizard101?

Math question from Wolf Dragonsteed/Blaine Bane, aka Geistreign (but I know him better as Dangermouse guy on Facebook ;p):

I was wondering if you knew about the way that blades and traps are calculated into an attack. I have read your post on Blade and Trap stacking, but I was wondering how exactly the mathematics is done. Are they all added at one time, then multiplied? i.e., (200 base attack) + (200)(0.20+0.30+0.25) = 350; or are they added some other way? Also, when is the item hit percentage added: before or after the blades and traps?

~~UPDATE TO POST~~

This is a very old thread and the program discussed below no longer works. However, there are a couple of other options that you have:

1- This is the damage calculator from Mercenaries for hire: https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=p2rrn5ca9497c89e54e57aa6be82c7a2f2ef2
2- This is a video of a downloadable exe program (a bit out of date) with links in the description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ2FOdgTGZk

~~CONTINUE WITH OLD POST~~


Have you ever checked out the Damage Calculator Website? This is an incredibly accurate site. Sometimes people will have it up as they play to check their math live. I'm going to use it to illustrate your math question.

In the picture below I'm showing you that I used a Wraith (500 base damage) with a deathblade (40%) and a feint (70%). This gives me an attack that does 1190 points of damage.



Now let's take that to Excel and see how the numbers work out with two different methods of calculating.



In the method of stacking percentages (the blue results) I'm adding up the percentages and then applying that to the base damage. So 500 times 110% plus the original base damage (or 500 times 210%). This does not give me the right damage number. (The formula in cell C5 = C2*(C3+C4)+C2)

In the method of stacking base damages (the yellow results), however, I am getting the right number. I'm calculating a new base damage for each percent. So 500 times 40% plus the original base damage gives a new base damage of 700. 700 times 70% plus the new base damage gives the correct damage amount of 1190. (The formula in cell D4 = (D3*C4)+D3)

The second part of your question is when is the item +damage% statistic added. That's added before you apply all the other blades and trap, but really it wouldn't matter when it was added since it's added as a line item (like it's an invisible trap). If you mix the order of the line items up, it still comes out to the same damage. (by the way, battle potions are figured into the item +damage% figure . . . it's not a separate line item, which is unfortunate . . . it'd make it even more amazing to have a battle potion up, dangit)



Hope that answers your question and didn't give anybody a headache!

Happy Dueling!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Should a Low Level Warlord Level Up? (and some pvp riffing)

I have a pvp question from David:
Hey Necro I've been reading your posts for sometime now and there are really amusing! Well probably you get this question over and over but I haven't had the time to look for an answer, well my question is I have a lvl 16 warlord and wanted to know if it is a good idea to lvl up I'm thinking to lvl 22 since I'm dueling wizards in lvl 40's and up and not getting any easier. Thanx for taking the time to read this!
Oh man . . . I'm so not the guy to ask pvp questions to! I'm probably the biggest pvp noob on the planet, but I think I might have an answer for you.

I was over at Central reading this thread and it has a direct quote from Professor Greyrose about pvp matching. This was enlightening since I had no idea how that pvp matching worked. Here's the quote:
The Ranked Player vs Player (PvP) matching system in Wizard101 is based on two very important factors: the Level of your Wizard character and the current PvP Rank of your Wizard character. The Level of your character is more important than the Rank, but your Rank is still a significant determining factor.

When you join a Ranked match, the system takes your information and tries to pair it up as closely as possible with other players who are currently waiting to compete. If no comparable players are waiting to compete, the system will widen the search. The longer you wait, the wider the search, and the bigger the difference between yourself and your opponent.

For matches of 2v2 or higher, the system will average out the determining factors for all the participants and attempt to match up players to the best teams and opponents that are available. The more players who are online and participating in the Player vs Player feature, the more closely the teams will be matched. When there are fewer players participating in the Player vs Player feature, the team members will be more varied and the differences between opponents will be larger.

I hope that helps our players understand a little better why not all the match-ups seem equitable . . .
Hmm, so it all comes down to time of day and a formula that figures in level and rank. Interesting.

You know, maybe one of my readers has a better answer for you, but I'm thinking if you're a warlord at level 16, then leveling will only bring you harder and harder opponents? But, really, wouldn't it be best to level to level 50 now with your warlord ranking so that you can even the playing field?

/shrug

You know what game's pvp I thought was fun? Guild Wars. What I loved about Guild Wars pvp was that ranking seemed pretty well matched. Level 20 is the max level in Guild Wars, so pretty much everybody was level 20. In Guild Wars you can only bring eight spells into the fight so you have to plan your strategy early and come up with a "build."

Now this wouldn't be anything to replace the current dueling system, but imagine applying this to Wizard101 . . . When you log on the screen to this alternate pvp, you are greeted with this interface:



Only spells from your spellbook would be allowed (no treasures). Then you assign point values to each card or perhaps you bend the rules so that shields only last one round or perhaps players have 10000 life, so no one is defeated and victors are declared on point values from card use, timing, and ending life value. /shrug Or maybe the game looks at your spellbook for you and then you randomly get 6 spells from your spellbook to play for the whole match. /double shrug

I'm just riffing here and it's not my job to invent any new kind of pvp game for Kingsisle, but here's the thing, think of all the countless card games that have been invented over the years around a simple deck of cards. Wouldn't it be cool to have more than one pvp option in Wizard101? Or if I was to ask that poetically, "Wouldn't it be cool to have more ways to duel?" Think of what a simple game Blackjack is, yet people constantly play it. Why shouldn't we get a version of blackjack for Wizard101 as an alternative to the current pvp? Something quick. Something repeatable. Something with a different strategy applied.

It would be kind of nice to have more pvp choices in the game we all love, wouldn't it?

Meh . . . I digressed big time there.

Anybody have a good recommendation for David on leveling when you're a level 16 Warlord? 22 seems to be the next logical step so you could open up the next tier of cards, but my thinking is why not just level all the way to the top now that you're a warlord?

Someone help a pvp noob like myself out, would ya?

Happy Dueling!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Ravenwood Radio 10 is tonight!

It's Wednesday, and that means tonight is Ravenwood Radio night! I can't wait, and I do believe I have a segment that will be playing tonight as well. Woots!

Also, (and this is way super dee dooper cool) Fred Howard, the Vice President of Marketing for Wizard101 (aka Watson from the game and the Wizard101.com forums) did an interview with Steve and Leesha of Ravenwood Radio, and it's going to be awesomesauce. This is your chance to be the first to listen. All you need to do is be in Ravenwood Radio's chat room tonight:

6pm Pacific
7pm Mountain
8pm Central
9pm Eastern



For those of you who have never been to the chat room at Ravenwood Radio on show night, it's usually packed with 40-60 people and the chat is flying off the screen. It's fun to try and keep up! (Who knows, because of this interview, their numbers could soar even higher tonight? I think there might be a limit to how many people can be in the chat room at once, so maybe get there a little early?) Somehow through all that chat, Wolf Redfist manages to moderate the chat to keep things pleasant.

I'm not sure if I'll be there or not, but I will try and especially since I'm excited to hear what Fred has to say! It was my pleasure to talk to him once before on the phone and a couple times over e-mail. Fred's a nice guy with an interesting look on marketing and Wizard101.

Steve and Leesha have also been saying they have prizes galore to give out, so hey! It might be really worth your time to show up if you're one of the lucky winners, eh?

It should be a great show!

Happy Dueling!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

What's the point of those potions? How do I use Henchmen?

Artur Greenvault (nice name!) has a question:
I was wondering if you bought a potion to become something else, would you be able to use your mount with it.? I would also like to know the real point of potions. I don't quite understand them.

POTIONS! I love potions. I've been earning a ton of potions lately from wizardblox. here's my current stockpile of potions I need to redeem.



To answer your first question, can you use your mount with a transformation potion?


Professor Diapermancer says, "No." Sorry. That would be super cool though to be a clockwork with batwings or a gobbler riding a lion. Maybe in the future? /shrug

To answer your second question, there are some pretty awesome potions for sale. Here's my big chart of potions I just made for ya:



So what you do is purchase a potion outside of combat and then you get a little icon down in the lower left section of your screen that's like a "buff icon." Buffs is a gamer term that came out back in the Everquest days. In Role Playing games there are certain classes that can give you a buff spell that increases your character's abilities. Everybody loves to have a buffer around because they make your character more powerful.

In Wizard101 our main "buffs" are blades and accuracy . . . everybody loves having a balance wizard around because they make us more powerful, and I also give a giggle when my life wizard dumps the +10% accuracy buff on the party.

These potions are in essence blades and accuracy buffs that are hidden on your character. If I use a major death battle elixir, then for the next hour every battle I get into (outside of pvp), it will be like I have an invisible +15% damage blade swirling above my head and an invisible +10% accuracy buff swirling around my head as well and these are giving me this extra benefit at no pip cost and taking no rounds . . . all it costs is crowns.

My favorite out of the bunch is the experience potion. I have yet to achieve a high enough wizardblox score to get one of those experience potions, but they are amazing. I talk a little bit about using an experience potion on this post. To me, those are the most addicting potions out there. LOVE THEM!

So the real point of potions? Potions are a shortcut. Period. You can play the entire game without them and they are completely optional, but dropping a major health potion when you're level 1 is pretty sweet. You're pretty much as tough as they get when you do that. You will have no fear of ol' rattlebones with your extra 500 health. BRING IT ON!

We all like to hit for big numbers too, right? Every little bit counts when you're going for a big hit record. My half a million hit? I wasn't using a damage elixir, but I wish I would have been. Next time I will be using one. ;-)

Hope that answers your question.

While I'm on the crowns shop anyway, I have another question to answer from Donna Spellthorn:
Hi Friendly, it's Dona SpellThorn; I have a question and I figured if anyone would know the answer you would. I really want to buy a henchman at the crowns store but I have a few questions about them. Once you buy them do they keep coming to battle with you? When I go to buy them they have a little lock next to them so I can't buy them, what does this mean? PLease tell me soon.

Ok, think of a henchman as a potion that you can use one time in battle. Where a potion gives you a boost for 30 minutes or an hour, a henchman is a side kick you purchase for one battle. They won't be coming back with you for each fight. That's why their cost is significantly lower than potions. Let's take a look at the prices and the look of the henchmen in the crown shop:



Like you noticed, these all have a little lock symbol by them at the moment. The reason for that is because I'm not in battle. I can't buy a henchman until I need it. So once I enter the battle circle, THEN the locks disappear and I can buy a one-use henchman to come help me.

Say there's a particular boss that is just kicking your hiney and you have no friends on your friends list to come help you. All you need to do is open up the crowns shop, drop the crowns to buy a henchman and they appear by your side ready to help you out.

Now, are the henchman the smartest of beasts out there? Not really.

*STORY TIME KIDS!*

One time I was helping a friend fight through Briskbreeze tower in a group of three. This was working pretty good until she dropped out and our group went down to two, but we were right there at the floor before Orrick. I got the bright idea that I wanted to try the fight anyway and instead use henchmen to fill the slots of the missing people. 50th life henchmen! Awesome! They'll heal me right up and everything will rock!

Did everything rock for Friendly kids?


That is correct Professor Diapermancer, the life henchmen I summoned were using the most ridiculous spells at all the wrong times. There was just no strategy to them. They were casting unicorn and bladed seraphs and using traps that just don't work on Orrick. What? It was like a level 30 life wizard in a level 50 shell. A level 50 life wizard would be dropping the Rebirth bomb on me. Word!

Those silly henchmen got themselves killed off and I had to summon some more and . . . and . . . and I still didn't win.

It was a sad day in Briskbreeze tower that day, but it all ended in the commons where some girl was trading cards for codes and life was back to normal again.

the end.

*end of story time*

So to sum it all up, Potions and Henchman are shortcuts that cost crowns.

Hope that answers your questions!

Happy Dueling!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Winged Mounts Drop Will be Adjusted!

Professor Greyrose nudged me to take a look at the following comment from the Wizard101.com forums:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seems many young Wizards are diligently looking for the new Winged Mounts on the high level bosses of the Spiral.

We've just discovered that they're not dropping at a high enough rate, and we will be adjusting this rate in the future.

Until then, give the poor bosses a break and continue with your adventures in the Spiral. We will let you know when the drop rate has been reset.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can see that from following this link here.

Good advice from our Community Manager. The drop rate on the wings is too low. It will be adjusted. (Note that all the other items are dropping just fine . . . it's the wings that need adjusting.)

On a side note, I have to say there was some interesting discussion going on in the previous post. Just remember that KI is trying to make things right (and I highly doubt a lot of people will be banned from this one exploit . . . it's the repeat offenders that should be worried). I also want to remind everyone that the bugs in this game are still really minuscule when you take a look at the big picture, yo. Wizard101 is a solid product that's a blast to play. Don't forget that! k? K!

I will be making another post here in the near future to address some of the comments that cropped up in that previous post . . . in the meantime, RELAX. Enjoy the game. Stop hunting for wings until the drop rate is adjusted, and be awesome like you always are. ya? ya!

*sends rainbows of good vibes out across the spiral*

*RELEASE THE GOOD!*

Happy Dueling!

The Price of Exploiting

This just came across the wire from Greyrose

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recently players found an exploit that allowed them to unfairly obtain the new winged mounts.

 

Players who participated in this exploit will have the items removed from their accounts. We will be recovering the item(s) and issuing a credit to the account equal to the gold amount paid. Players may experience disconnects while this inventory recall takes place. Players are welcome to re-purchase the item(s) according to the posted Crown pricing.

 

If you participated in this exploit, know that we will not tolerate abuse of the systems in place. Using exploits in game is a violation of the Terms of Use and continued exploitation may result in permanent account bans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oooo . . . exploiters, you’re lucky they didn’t keep your gold too.

 

There really is a difference between playing around with a glitch like floating furniture items and then getting some kind of actual advantage in game through a bug AKA Exploiting.  You don’t want me to bring out the exploit dog . . . the glitch dog was just ugly, the exploit dog is scary and mean . . . like an orthrus.

 

Jus’ Sayin’

 

Happy Dueling!

Where can you farm the new crown items?

You all are crown item crazy, you know that? I got three separate questions boom boom boom all in a row asking me pretty much the same thing:

First Blake asked:
Hey friendly me (BlakeStrongStone) and cassandra have been farming some bosses for those wings and just cant seem to get them I was wondering if you knew where excatly to get them.

Then Destiny Stormstone
Hi Friendly!! At wizard101.com, I saw that wings can be dropped from high level bosses. Do you know what bosses them? Many people told me that Lord Nightshade drops wings.

Then I got this from (I believe) Luke Goldflame:
do you know who drops most of the new crown gear?

Ok, so I don't have any secret inside knowledge on this subject, but I can tell you what I know.

This is the thread to watch over at Central for breaking information on where to farm the new stuff. If you click on that link, then what you'll see is that at this point it's mostly rumors.

PEOPLE! SCREENSHOT OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!

ahem, sorry about that.

Also from reading that thread you'll see a link to the Wizard101.com website, where our community manager doesn't cough up where the wings are, but where they are not:

https://www.wizard101.com/posts/list/15841.ftl#80286

:(

This actually led to this big let down thread. This thread makes me sad. How many times did *you* farm the jade oni?

You know, I thought it was at the Jade Oni's place too, and this confuses me since I had a friend of mine tell me he DID get wings off of the Jade Oni.

Well, I tell ya what. It's ok. People are farming everything and anything right now to get those wings. Is it possible after my friend's six-hour gaming stretch (yes, six hours in a row) he saw he had gotten the drop from another boss and thought it was the Jade Oni. /shrug So, I'm going to cut him some slack. No biggie. We're all humans. We all make mistakes.

Is it possible Kiersten Samwell is wrong? Well, she also is human, but she's one of those humans that has access to inside information. :-) I seriously doubt she's wrong (I've counted on her answers many many times). Either way, those threads would be the threads to watch.

When I hear "high level" bosses, my mind goes to one place . . . Malistaire, the Gurtoks, and Tumok Gravelbeard. I'd try there first before anything.

I'd also check all the bosses that drop level 50 gear, so Kraysys, Yeva Spiderkeeper, Viktor Snowcrusher, The Hoarder, Devora Shadowcrown, Boris Blackrock, Orin Grimcaster, Zora Steelwielder, Valeska Redwind, Property Master, Gallium Paladin, Avalanche, Giant Homonculous, Ivan Soulslinger, and Silver Sentinel . . . those guys.

Also remember this . . . those wings are a 10,000 crown item (currently on sale for 7,000 crowns). The drop rate on those is going to be very small. That's basically $20 real money. If you farm up the wings, you're either insanely lucky or you earned them. That's going to be a lot of hard work, on a game. just remember that.

Don't get too hung up on this, and if I get any breaking news, I'll let you know . . . until then . . .

Happy Dueling!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Is there an area for each wizard school in the spiral?

I got a question from someone using their mom's e-mail account by accident ;)
So, I wanted to know, Does every school have its own City or area dedicated to it? I'll do one for you and say Dragonspyre for fire.

hmm . . . ok well let's see . . . that's an interesting question, and I don't think it's very cut and dried. Some are more cut and dried than others.

I'd have to say my overall ranking for each world would be like this:
- Wizard City: Death (a good chunk of the bad guys are death)
----Firecat Alley: fire
----Cyclops Lane: myth
----Colossus Blvd: ice
----Triton Ave: storm (although there is a lot of death magic going on here)
- Krokotopia: fire (pyramid of the sun), ice (krokosphinx), and storm (temple of storms) (but the balance school is here and it's very sandy, so balance is represented here too)
- Marleybone: balance, storm (counterweights and gear heads), and spirit schools
- Moo Shu: life (and overall life look), balance, death, and fire (same as the types of onis)
- Dragonspyre: fire and death (and a bit of a mix throughout, example crystal crawlers = ice magic)
- Grizzleheim: has a "life look" but it's a true mix (except for Saavarstad Pass, which has mostly death bosses . . . and I'd say part of Ravenscar and the look of Nidavellir are ice)

So now, for the sake of trying to answer your question, I'm going to backwards categorize some of my more cut and dried choices:
Life: Moo Shu and Grizzleheim
Death: Wizard City, Saavarstad Pass, and Dragonspyre
Myth: Cyclops Lane
Balance: Marleybone and Krokotopia
Storm: Temple of Storms and Counterweights
Fire: Dragonspyre, Firecat Alley, and Pyramid of the Sun
Ice: Collossus Blvd, Krokosphinx, Ravenscar, and Nidavellir

. . . and that's about the best I can do with your question at 6:15 am on 21 February 2010. Whew, nice one!

Happy Dueling!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

What is this mysterious tent?

Here's a GREAT question from The King of Death:
Hey Friendly, here is my question for you. Where do you get the tent housing item that you can go into? I attached a picture of it.



Hmmmm . . . that's a good one.

*puts on detective cap*

Aha!


Notice the design on the tent there? It's of Marleybone origins!

Upon searching for all the tents available on my housing list (noting that I still need to add crafted furniture and Grizzleheim furniture to my list) and this is what I come up with:

Marleybone Grand Tent
Small Astral Tent
Small Starry Tent
Small Yellow Tent
Boat Tent

Ok, so the only one I don't know about is the Marleybone Grand Tent. LET'S GO FOR IT!

*loads up Kyle and Thomas*

*destroys Big Ben*

LOL, that Kyle is the luckiest sucker on the planet. He actually got the Marleybone Grand Tent (woot housing item of the day!). Ok, here's what that looks like:


Hmm, close, but that isn't the tent I'm looking for.

*runs around to the receipe vendors*

You know, I can't find a recipe for this tent either. /shrug

The closest looking tent I can come to in the game world is this tent in Krokotopia. That looks like the model of the tent I'm after.



*stumped*

*a week passes*

*e-mail to Greyrose*

Ok, Yes, this tent is in game. Yes, this is extremely rare. Yes, it comes from Kensington Park. Yes, you might also have a chance to get this during Halloween. Yes, I will leave it at that.

Happy Dueling!

Who won the war?

Here's an interesting lore question from Monica Swiftrider:
Hey! I was wondering: in the battle between the Tritons, Dragons, and Giants, who DID end up winning?

Ok, so this is kind of a convoluted story (as are most background stories) to how things got the way they are today in the spiral. As you go back through even our own world's history and look at conflicts, there's always two sides to every story, or in the spiral's case . . . three sides to every story! That's right, three!

(go grab some popcorn, this is going to be one of those LONG posts with a lot of reading)

There's a quest in Wizard City that you complete as a part of the Boris Tallstaff line of quests called The Trees. On this quest you go around jibba jabbering to all the trees in Ravenwood, and this is where the story of the giants, the tritons, and the dragons all unfolds. Here's what Bernie tells us about the war:
Our history is a fiery one, but worth remembering! The Dragons, ancient Titans of the First World, were the masters of Fire. The Dragons ruled the Land and wanted the Sky and Sea. But it was not to be. The Dragons' siblings, barbaric Giants and the greedy Tritons, fought against them. To defend themselves, the Dragons created the Magic of Pyromancy . . . but alas, it was not enough to save them.

So from what I'm reading there, the Dragons lost. Here's what Kelvin tells us about the war:
The history of Ice Magic, huh? It's simple. When the world was very young, the Giants ruled the skies. The Grandfather Tree created them, as well as the ruthless Dragons and the craven Tritons. The Giants built castles in the clouds above and used Ice Magic to battle the Dragons and the Tritons.

So Kelvin doesn't really admit any kind of defeat for the giants. Maybe they won? I don't really think so . . . I think not admitting defeat is kind of the way ice magic is by nature. Here's what Torrence has to say about the whole shebang:
Oh heavens, the history of Storm Magic? But it's such a sad tale. Well, if you insist . . . Tritons, the Lords of the Deep, created the Storm Arts to harness wind and rain, storm and sea. They used their Magic to battle their siblings, the devious Dragons and the craven Giants. But, sadly, it was not enough. They lost the War and their once noble Art was all but forgotten . . . until recently.

So, it reads like the Tritons also lost.

But is that it? Nah, Boris asks you to go talk to all the old men in Wizard City next, and Ambrose kind of gives us the real dirt on the war.
Ah, yes. The Spiral was born out of an ancient conflict. The three elder races could not stop fighting. The Giants, rulers of the Sky, stole water from the Sea to build their great castles of ice. The Tritons, rulers of the Sea, battered the Dragons' lands with endless storms. The Dragons, rulers of the Earth, summoned Fire to melt the castles of the Giants. The War broke the First World into fragments that spun out into the Cosmos. Those fragments became the Worlds of the Spiral.

So even though Ambrose doesn't really tell us who won the war, he does say that they broke the world in the process. He kind of also tries to illustrate the almost circular nature of the conflict: melting, washing, building. (note back to another question this week . . . boy erosion sure does sound like the magic of all these myth creatures doesn't it?)

Now, I've heard the theory that the dragons were attempting peace between the tritons and the giants, but I don't know, melting a giant's house doesn't really sound like peaceful negotiations to me, and even Bernie revealed the Dragons' true intentions, "The Dragons ruled the Land and wanted the Sky and Sea." It just wasn't so. And in fact, the Dragons were probably the most warlike of all three.

Regardless, this process of battering and building and melting broke the world. Bartleby shows us the true tragedy of the story with his quest text:
I am one of the oldest living creatures here. In the first world, there was only my sister, the Great Raven, and me. We were made just after the creator made the land and the sea and hung the stars in the sky. I sang the Dragons, Tritons, and Giants into existence, but my children began fighting each other, splintering the First World. In desperation, my sister and I began to fashion a Spiral. With her magic and my roots, we sent the Spiral out into the Cosmos to hold the shattering fragments together, forming the New World. Headmaster Ambrose discovered me here and founded Wizard City to help me guard the Spiral. I could tell you more, but right now my mind is getting a bit foggy. I must rest...

So in kind of a sad turn of events Bartleby made the three and then they friggen broke the whole shebang up with their war. I imagine that kind of ended things right there, you know? Now you no longer have one land mass or one sky or one sea to rule. Because by the time our characters enter the spiral, the giant land mass has fragmented and now you have many many land masses each with their own sky, sea, and land. I'm sure this fragmented the purpose of the war and destroyed their links between each other.

By the end of the story in Wizard101, what we find is that Malistaire is attempting to channel this old, ancient magic by awakening a giant dragon titan (note, not dragon "triton" . . . it's dragon "titan," or in other words, a giant dragon . . . you get to see his claws and giant eye as you battle Malistaire). So the dragon titan was obviously an agent of the dragons who was large enough to deal with the giants and pretty much anything else that would get in his way. The Dragon Titan was a leader of a great army of draconians who just laid the SMACK down on Dragonspyre. Luckily he was put to sleep (but not after almost completely wiping out dragonspyre), but you know, love-crazed Malistaire wanted to bring his wife back to life and was willing to awake the number one bad dude of the war to bring Sylvia back to life. Yeah, really bad idea . . . The Dragon Titan would not have forgotten the war . . . REALLY bad idea.

And that's where you come in . . . you needed to stop that, that's why Gamma and Ambrose searched the spiral to find you. That's why Gamma says, "When we learned Wizard City might be in danger, we began looking for a student with great potential." In the end, if it wasn't for you, that Dragon Titan would have brought holy heck to everything! Malistaire would not have been able to control the Dragon Titan, and Ambrose knew you could end up stopping Malistaire's evil and foolish plot.

whew.

I'm interested to see where the story leads us next. We've stopped Malistaire from harming Wizard City through awakening the Dragon Titan, which is what we were summoned from our own world to do. Now what? Doesn't it kind of seem like you would go back to your own world now? How will Celestia tie in this part of the story?

Perhaps you need to learn astral magic in order to send yourself back to your own world? Are Ambrose and Gamma only able to bring you into this world and not put you back to your own? Gamma says your world is a part of the spiral . . . where is "our door"? Is it in Celestia?

I guess we'll just have to wait to see what the story writers of Kingsisle have planned for us next!

Thanks for the question!

Happy Dueling!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Professor Diapermancer answers a couple questions

Well,

I'll just let the video do the talking . . .



Thanks Silverheart and Bailey for the questions!

/shrug

Happy Dueling!

Are the student teachers grandmasters?

Jessica Fairyheart got her query on fo' friendly:
Is Duncan GrimWater a Grandmaster? Because I recognize the wand. Same with Susie, Nolan, Mindy, Ceren, and Anna.

I've wondered that too! I mean, look at Nolan here . . .



THOMAS HAS AN IDEA FOR GOING UNDERCOVER!

*cue Mission Impossible music*



Check me out! LOL!



Meh, he has cooler gear than me though. It has awesome myth symbols and tentacles on it.



BUT HE DOESN'T HAVE WINGS YO!

You know, this actually led to some hilarity believe it or not. I was helping the newbies out.


workin' it. You know, I was workin' it so good, that I got a little somethin' somethin' that ol' Nolan will never get!


Just call me "Level up lips" YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYIN'! WOOT!

On a side note did you know you can get the quest for Nolan's staff any time you want? As long as you have a friend that can drag you to Dragonspyre and through the quest, you can do that quest at level 1.

yup . . . 12 drakes, 1 avalanche, 1 humonculous, and an ivan soulslinger later you will have the epic scepter of the ages (and probably a few levels and a bag full of loot to boot!) The only problem there is that you have to be level 45 to actually wield the Scepter of the Ages.

So, um, are the student teachers grandmasters? Mayesbe. They have to be at least level 45 . . . that's for sure!

Happy Dueling!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

*flap flap* *flap flap* *flap flap*

I'm going to be so tired by the end of today . . .

I woke up EXTRA early just to get a look at this stuff and buy my wings. HAHA! So much fun!

Here are the sale prices for today:



Yeah, you're going to want to buy this stuff when it's on sale. That probably means that the wings are going to be around 9,000 - 10,000 crowns when they aren't on sale. (They are +40% speed like the other mounts just fyi)

By the way, the new weapons are sick sick sick!


The wife is going to be so surprised when she logs in this morning and sees that I got her a little gift. :-) We'll call it a late Valentine's.

That hammer has a power pip on it and 5 cards . . . available to use at . . . wait for it . . . level 25!

But this weapon for us high level people here . . . the Cerulean Edge:



Yeah, that has a power pip and does 110 damage . . . making it the best sword in the game atm.



Interestingly enough, the weapon disappears when you talk. I'm not sure if I should call the glitch dog out on that or if it's working as intended . . . I'm temped to call out the glitch dog since your hand still looks like it's holding a weapon . . . and i just like the glitch dog so much . . . NAH, I'll cut 'em a break.

While I was running around this morning I ran into Edward Icespear and Cass . . . I let them know the true nature of how I got my newfound abilities:



Sadly, if you just want to try before you buy, the wings are not yet in zeke's shop . . . yet . . . I have a feeling they will be soon.



OH, and one more thing before I move on from this post . . .

That Ascendant Staff?



Yeah, that awesome looking thing there. (Alexandria looks so smarmy there, doesn't she? Holding this staff that she just looks like she has no business holding LOL.)

That thing there is a GAME CHANGER for level 1 - 25 characters (at which time they should switch to the hammer up there at the top of this post). It gives you a regular pip. I ain't kidding.



AMAZING! You use to not be able to get a pip boost like that until you were 30th level. THAT'S HUGE! HUGE! If you have this staff, the game just speeds up a little bit more for you. I'm just going to estimate here that that little pip right there is going to shave off about 45 seconds from each battle in krokotopia, digmoore station in Marleybone, and the post 5th level wizard city fights. Over time, that's going to save you a TON of time in the lower game. That staff should be the first piece of crown gear any new player gets HANDS DOWN! I'm actually kind of shocked about that staff. I kind of feel like passing out.

*breathes*

What are you doing still reading this? GO LOG ON!

Happy Dueling!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Holy Angel Wings Batman, it's a ROCKING update!

This just came across the newswire . . . you best log in early tomorrow so you can be the first to flap around with some new wings! Look how awesome these things are!


Oh I have to get some of those for Thomas to flap around in his new death house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New! New! New!
Starting in the early hours of February 18th, the SHOP will carry some new items!

New Mounts!
One of the most requested Mount additions has been a pair of wings, and we've got TWO for you to choose from: Seraph Wings and Bat Wings. Both types of wings can be purchased for either gender! These Mounts are only available to purchase from the Crowns Shop for Crowns, but they can also be found on high level bosses of the Spiral!




New Weapons
Sometimes a wand just doesn't make quite the statement you were going for, so here are three Epic Weapons: The Ascendant Staff, the Phosphorescent Maul and the Cerulean Edge! Like the new Mounts, these weapons are only available to purchase from the Crowns Shop for Crowns, but they can also be found on high level bosses of the Spiral!





New Outfits
Those of you who remember the old retired Crowns gear will rejoice, these two new Epic outfits are made up from very powerful items with crazy powerful stats and cards! These items DO have a level restriction on them, but any level Wizard can buy them! If you see a small lock icon on these items in the SHOP that only indicates you cannot WEAR the item now, but you can purchase it, and store it for later. Again, these items are only available to purchase from the Crowns Shop for Crowns, but they can also be found on high level bosses of the Spiral (the bosses drop the individual items, not the entire sets).



These high level additions are just the beginning of new items that will be introduced to the Crowns Shop, because a young Wizard must be prepared for things to come....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SQUEE!

And I quote . . . "because a young Wizard must be prepared for things to come..."

Oh, my happy duelers . . . this is AWESOME NEWS!

HAPPY DUELING!

What class is Roland Silverheart?

Gotz me a Q from Jason Thundershield:
I was going to the arena as usual. When i enter Unicorn Way something weird but cool happen. I turn into pet. It was cool so i went in circles. Anyways when i was about to enter arena i saw Roland SilverHeart the guy out side arena selling housing items, and i wonder what school he from? (my guess he fire cause he dress in red.) look at picture i took btw, you like my pet Smokey?


haha! Well with that pet Smokey he sure looks like a GM fire wizard! I think Roland actually has no wizard class and is instead a new class all by himself: English.


English wizards cast the stupify spell (take that Stephen Spiritcaller! *inside joke from Ravenwood Radio 9*)

You know, I'm starting to see these small reports of the "turn into your pet" glitches happening outside of housing. There's about 7 videos on youtube about how to turn into your pet inside housing, but I've yet to see anything about how to turn into your pet out in the other parts of the spiral. Does anybody know? Or is it just some random glitch?

COME HERE GLITCH COME HERE!



THAT'S A GOOD GLITCH! GOOD BOY!

Thanks for the glitch pic, Jason!

Happy Dueling!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

What's the creepy potion bottle glitch there?

Got a bug report here from the lovely Jessica Fairyheart:
This was some really weird glitch or something:

Notice the creepy empty potion bottle. I think it said something, but I was playing music at the time.

Hmm....


Ok, there are certain times when someone is completing a quest in the same area you are, where the game will trigger some kind of response on everyone's screen. This is the same as when the Great Mooddha was talking to Silverheart.

I can't remember the exact quest that involves the potion bottle you saw, but if I remember right it's a fire or ice wizard spell quest where you are asked to get a vial of icy water from the Entrance hall. Unfortunately, when you complete that portion of the quest, it broadcasts it to everybody in the area.

In that previous post about the Great Mooddha, I debated whether if it was a glitch or not, but on this particular one, I'm calling glitch. You shouldn't get this broadcast.

COME HERE GLITCH, COME HERE!


AWWWW, THAT'S A GOOD GLITCH! WHO'S A GOOD BOY!

Happy Dueling!

A thank you note for Friendly and . . . videos? facebook?

Hey! Got a nice note here from Natalie Moonblade:
Hello Friendly,

It's Natalie. Natalie Moonblade. You probably know em from over at Central. Well...I've decided to start a blog, and I want to say thank you. You were the one who inspired me to make my blog, to even write about Wizard101. Now, my days of pretending to have a blog on Microsoft word are over, and I've started a real blog. The first time I ever heard of Wizard101 blogs, yours was the first one I viewed. My blog is here: http://adventuresofnataliemoonblade.blogspot.com/
My blog is not much right now, but after I get used to using my blog, hopefully it will be a great one.

Go ahead and feature this e-mail on your blog. Maybe you'll inspire more people, I think you will.

So anyways, thank you, very much, for inspiring me.

Thanks Natalie for the kind note and you're welcome! I'm glad I could help you and I'm even more glad to hear that you've switched from journaling your adventures offline to journaling online with a blog.

I've linked to your site and added you to the bloggers club.

Well as long as I have you in the spotlight, on your site right now you have a post asking about how to advertise more about your website, and you ask this question:
Should I start a Youtube account? I think that would help a lot, but the only thing is...I don't have any Hypercam. Is it worth downloading? How about a Facebook?

Youtube videos are a great start to getting some exposure, but more importantly, you may discover a hidden talent for putting together a good video. It's one thing to record a video clip of something, but it's another to make it an awesome experience for the viewer.

I've never used Hypercam, but I have used Fraps and the X-fire video tool. I'm sold on X-fire. It's free. It's easy to use. There's no annoying label on the videos. There's no capture length limit. So, since it works so great for me, X-FIRE FTW!

You also mentioned using Facebook . . . you know, I should probably make a group page for The Friendly Necromancer over on Facebook, similar to how Wizard101 has a group page. I don't know though . . . I feel spread thin as it is. But if you have the time and commitment to do that, then more power to ya!

I actually do have a facebook entry for my character. Thomas Lionblood has no friends LOL. I made that page so I could help with the Dangerhound fan count. ;-)

I hardly ever log in though. /shrug

Anyway, thanks again for the note, and I wish you the best of luck with your blogging endeavors!

Happy Dueling!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Why is Storm the Opposite of Myth?

Interesting question from Cassandra G:
Hello yet again, blog buddy!
I have been thinking about this for a certain time.
We know that each school has its rival(Fire vs. Ice, Death vs. Life), but Myth vs. Storm is really a confusing rivalry.
Is there something in those classes that makes them enemies? Why do you think Weather Magic hates Mythical Magic?
Thx!
The answer you seek lies in one scientific term: erosion. (bonus points if you make it all the way through that video LOL)

GASP! Friendly, are you suggesting that Myth magic is really earth magic in disguise? Actually, I kind of am although the myth magic school is much more complex than simply earth magic because really the magic of earth is what is born from the earth, right? I mean, this planet we live on sure is beautiful, but the living things that crawl, fly, and jump upon the earth are its magic . . . so to speak.

When you get down to the nuts and bolts of it, Myth magic is very . . . EARTHY!
Example 1: The Cyclops bursts out of the ground scattering earth everywhere. He cracks the earth open with his hammer

Example 2: The humongofrog rises from the ground.

Example 3: An earthquake spell rumbles through the ground on the battle floor.

Example 4: The Orthrus comes out of a pit dug from the earth below.


Why you don't find any mention of this earthiness on the myth magic school's page on Wizard101.com is astounding to me. I feel like it's kind of an oversight that needs to be fixed! /headnod

I don't know if many of you have seen the movie Lord of the Rings, but I love the part where you see that the orcs and monsters that are kind of being born out of the earth or out of the mud, or as Tolkien put it, "Their hearts were of granite and their bodies deformed; foul their faces which smiled not, but their laugh that of the clash of metal . . ."

So, this is why I feel Myth magic is Storm magic's opposite. It's a difficult one though because Myth and Storm really do seem like just the odd ones out and so they had to make them opposites. But in the end, storms and water erode earth while the creatures of the earth fight against the effects of weather through shelter and innovation.

That's my official unofficial answer and I'm sticking to it!

Happy Dueling!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks Witch Warrior for my Valentine's Day card!


/BLUSH!

So ITS (that's an acroynym for "in the spiral" as coined by the #diarykids) I farmed up between 10,000 and 20,000 gold each for Iridian and Bailey (the wife's characters) for Valentine's Day. hehe. I might head back in and farm some more so Iridian can buy her Balance house. Bailey is a ways away from getting her house still . . . that might take a while (We'll see how much time I get here today ;))

And in the real world, every Valentine's Day I cook a special dinner for my wife. I make these Cheese Stuffed tomatoes that are really really yummy and they accompany some crab legs. Believe me, the tomatoes are so yummy that the crab legs are like an afterthought.

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day in and out of the spiral! Let me know what your plans are!

(/comfort to all the singles out there . . . may love find you this year!)

Happy Dueling!