Whew . . .
Can you believe we finally made it to the end? Any surprises for you at who the final characters are in this wallpaper?
Thanks for the fun KingsIsle! Glad I can finally have a complete picture for my desktop. :-)
Happy Dueling!
MMO and Gaming Blog from Tom Purdue. Its origins began in a journey through Wizard101 and grew to be much much more.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Check This Out! (Episode 5)
Here we go! It's the crazy feature where I show everybody the crazy stuff that people send me! Crazy cool stuff that is! I like exclamation points!!!!
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First up is a message from Luke Goldhorn (aka PD):
Nice guide! Click me!
~~~~~~~~~~
Next is a message from Liam:
That, sir, is the warehouse instance! Aka the Celestia Prequest that isn't really a pre-quest Tower.
~~~~~~~~~~
Here's a cool picture and note from Alric to my daughter Amber:
Just awesome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex Dragonblade sent me a note about his new clan AND his new blog!
Ok so here's the thread directing to Knoble Knights, you'll find some info there: http://www.wizard101central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112289&highlight.
And I was wondering if you could talk about my new blog: http://thesorcererssanctuary.blogspot.com/. I made my first blog post today, I hope to continue in the future.
Wow, nice logo there for the Knoble Knights.
Evel Knievel would have made the jump into the Knoble Knights! He was bad to the bone like that . . .
Best of luck with the new group, Alex!
~~~~~~~~~~
Next up is a crazy plea, request, etc. from one artur dragonstone:
haha! artur, I usually don't agree to stuff like this, but . . . ok!? WHY NOT!?
~~~~~~~~~~
This next one comes direct from Professor Greyrose! Check this out, she was just in a Massively article talking about a game she loves to play . . . Asheron's Call. (You may have read in her interview where she mentioned that before.)
Click me.
Here's a cut and paste of her section of the article:
Seriously, Professor Greyrose is full of so much win.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next up is a CRAZY picture from Eric W.:
Thanks for sharing!
~~~~~~~~~~~
And I have a couple things to share here.
1- Look at these old signatures of mine I found buried in e-mail. hehe. I used to make these for my guildmates back in the day when I was playing EQ. Finding these was a blast from the past.
2- Award winning chili recipe. I ain't kidding . . . this is the best chili ever. If you like to cook, I've won best chili at my work two times in a row with this recipe. Try it out! (I usually only do 2 pounds of each meat instead of 3 pounds, and I substitute cranberry juice for the wine.)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for all the e-mails!
Happy Dueling!
~~~~~~~~~~
First up is a message from Luke Goldhorn (aka PD):
Me and my friend made a guide to the Lounge Lizards in Celestia on Wizard101 Central. Would you mind checking it out and getting the word out? Thanks!WORD! OUT!
Nice guide! Click me!
~~~~~~~~~~
Next is a message from Liam:
Hey Friendly. Its Liam F. I found this tower in Marleybone and I have no clue what it is. Can you help?
That, sir, is the warehouse instance! Aka the Celestia Prequest that isn't really a pre-quest Tower.
~~~~~~~~~~
Here's a cool picture and note from Alric to my daughter Amber:
I just wanted to absolutely make sure Amber got this. I was going to wait until I released the final episode of FAAP but I thought it was only fair that she got it.Alric, she absolutely loved this. Thank you so much!
I also posted it on my blog if she wants to see it there I wrote a post about her and the other loyal fans of the comic.
Just awesome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex Dragonblade sent me a note about his new clan AND his new blog!
Ok so here's the thread directing to Knoble Knights, you'll find some info there: http://www.wizard101central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112289&highlight.
And I was wondering if you could talk about my new blog: http://thesorcererssanctuary.blogspot.com/. I made my first blog post today, I hope to continue in the future.
Wow, nice logo there for the Knoble Knights.
Evel Knievel would have made the jump into the Knoble Knights! He was bad to the bone like that . . .
Best of luck with the new group, Alex!
~~~~~~~~~~
Next up is a crazy plea, request, etc. from one artur dragonstone:
Hi friendly. I am artur dragonstone level 30 fire/death. I've gotten to the end of sunken city THREE TIMES NOW and every time i die right before we beat grub, and i'm serious, right when I die, we win. can you help? If you agree, I want you to rate my house (villa). This isn't for nothing, I found a new glitch with the pets, and I have a pet so rare, only 100 were given, but i won it in my early days on wiz 101, so i have the 101 one! I'd attach a picture, but i haven't gotten to one yet.
haha! artur, I usually don't agree to stuff like this, but . . . ok!? WHY NOT!?
~~~~~~~~~~
This next one comes direct from Professor Greyrose! Check this out, she was just in a Massively article talking about a game she loves to play . . . Asheron's Call. (You may have read in her interview where she mentioned that before.)
Click me.
Here's a cut and paste of her section of the article:
Kiersten "Ellen Ripley" Samwell (Wizard101 Community Manager)
For many, Asheron's Call was our first virtual world. Its wonder and scale were a source of awe. The world of Dereth felt infinitely expansive and at over 500 square miles of wide open, explorable landscape, it's massive compared to the instanced and segmented worlds of subsequent MMOs.
I remember a time when a Mattekar Robe was the most prized possession, a Mote was a coveted loot drop and it took entire guilds to get that Smoldering Atlan Stone in the dreaded Jahannan Vault.
Asheron's Call has always had a very strong, invested community. I'm the community manager for a successful MMO by KingsIsle Entertainment, and being a part of Asheron's Call all these years, at various levels, has taught me a great deal about the delicate dynamics of MMO communities.
Turbine never ceases to impress. The fact that they are able to get out an update every single month is staggering, particularly to those of us behind the scenes in the gaming industry. Each month the subscription fee is well earned, and that cannot be said of many other existing MMOs today. I started in beta and I still play to this day, almost a dozen years later. The players love the game because the developers love making the game. It shows in every detail, every beautiful vista, every intricate mystery and every one of those monthly updates.
For those of us who laughed as the white rabbit slaughtered us, or who ran naked Aerlinthe quests, Asheron's Call will always hold a special place in our hearts. Who can forget things like the Wi Flag and the floating vase in Nanto? Who didn't rely heavily on fansites like Maggie the Jackcat, Crossroads of Dereth and Kwip? While the days of 100-player dungeon raids are gone, there's still a magic there -- an ineffable call drawing us back to familiar areas, with the knowledge that there still remain areas unseen and undiscovered by even the most veteran player.
Asheron is still calling... I hear it... don't you?
Seriously, Professor Greyrose is full of so much win.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next up is a CRAZY picture from Eric W.:
I ported to my house will waited for CL and found my life minotaur doing something odd!That looks a lot like the concept art for the minotaur, but life style . .
Thanks for sharing!
~~~~~~~~~~~
And I have a couple things to share here.
1- Look at these old signatures of mine I found buried in e-mail. hehe. I used to make these for my guildmates back in the day when I was playing EQ. Finding these was a blast from the past.
2- Award winning chili recipe. I ain't kidding . . . this is the best chili ever. If you like to cook, I've won best chili at my work two times in a row with this recipe. Try it out! (I usually only do 2 pounds of each meat instead of 3 pounds, and I substitute cranberry juice for the wine.)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for all the e-mails!
Happy Dueling!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friendly's Selwyn Strats
Heya!
So, I've been somewhat silent on the blog here since Celestia came out. Well, I'd say that's a good thing. :-) That means I've been enjoying the game and doing that whole less talkee more playee thing.
I like it, and I have a lot of cool pictures to share . . . eventually.
Anyway, today I was finishing up the Stellarium and came upon a boss I remembered fighting on the Test Realm. It was a pretty fun fight (thus why I remembered it so well).
I decided to hit the record button and make a YouTube out of it where I could discuss a bit about how Selwyn Cheats. :-) I'm a necromancer, so of course, I soloed it. ;-)
Check it out!
If you have any more information on this fight that I might have left out, feel free to leave a comment.
Happy Dueling!
So, I've been somewhat silent on the blog here since Celestia came out. Well, I'd say that's a good thing. :-) That means I've been enjoying the game and doing that whole less talkee more playee thing.
I like it, and I have a lot of cool pictures to share . . . eventually.
Anyway, today I was finishing up the Stellarium and came upon a boss I remembered fighting on the Test Realm. It was a pretty fun fight (thus why I remembered it so well).
I decided to hit the record button and make a YouTube out of it where I could discuss a bit about how Selwyn Cheats. :-) I'm a necromancer, so of course, I soloed it. ;-)
Check it out!
If you have any more information on this fight that I might have left out, feel free to leave a comment.
Happy Dueling!
KIFREEGAMES.COM!!
New press release hot off the newswire!
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KINGSISLE ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES NEW MINIGAME WEBSITE KIFREEGAMES.COM
PLANO, TEXAS (October 29, 2010) – KingsIsle Entertainment has launched a new website which enables visitors to play some of the most popular minigames found in Wizard101. KIFreeGames.com will feature an assortment of free online games, providing Wizard101 fans the opportunity to play their favorite minigames using almost any modern Web browser connected to the Internet. Additionally, KIFreeGames.com will reward players with free game codes that they can redeem for items and gold in the Wizard101 universe.
“We’re always looking to bring fun new offerings to our community,” said Fred Howard, vice president of Marketing at KingsIsle Entertainment. “KIFreeGames.com is another great way for players to stay connected to the worlds of the Spiral.”
At launch, KIFreeGames.com features three of the most popular minigames from Wizard101 and more minigames are on the way. Games currently featured on KIFreeGames.com include the following favorites:
• Dueling Diego – Put your dueling skills to the test against the evil gobbler pirates and other tough enemies in Dueling Diego!
• Doodle Dug – Tunnel your way through the dirt and avoid trouble to collect gemstones in Doodle Dug!
• Sorcery Stones – Exercise your brain and perfect your reaction times to complete the crazy puzzles in Sorcery
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awesome! Go get those free codes and let me know if you get anything good! :)
Happy Dueling!
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KINGSISLE ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES NEW MINIGAME WEBSITE KIFREEGAMES.COM
PLANO, TEXAS (October 29, 2010) – KingsIsle Entertainment has launched a new website which enables visitors to play some of the most popular minigames found in Wizard101. KIFreeGames.com will feature an assortment of free online games, providing Wizard101 fans the opportunity to play their favorite minigames using almost any modern Web browser connected to the Internet. Additionally, KIFreeGames.com will reward players with free game codes that they can redeem for items and gold in the Wizard101 universe.
“We’re always looking to bring fun new offerings to our community,” said Fred Howard, vice president of Marketing at KingsIsle Entertainment. “KIFreeGames.com is another great way for players to stay connected to the worlds of the Spiral.”
At launch, KIFreeGames.com features three of the most popular minigames from Wizard101 and more minigames are on the way. Games currently featured on KIFreeGames.com include the following favorites:
• Dueling Diego – Put your dueling skills to the test against the evil gobbler pirates and other tough enemies in Dueling Diego!
• Doodle Dug – Tunnel your way through the dirt and avoid trouble to collect gemstones in Doodle Dug!
• Sorcery Stones – Exercise your brain and perfect your reaction times to complete the crazy puzzles in Sorcery
-----
awesome! Go get those free codes and let me know if you get anything good! :)
Happy Dueling!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
FW: Thank you from Wizard101!
This just came across the news wire! Go get your free Gobbler transformation potion! WOOTS!
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Thank you!
As a thank you for helping us reach 101 000 Facebook page 'likes', we're rewarding our entire community with a gift!
To claim your thank you gift, go to http://www.wizard101.com/promo and enter the word code gobblegobble - you will be rewarded with a Gobbler Transformation, just in time for Hallowe'en!
You can only redeem this code once per account. Hurry you only have until November 14th at midnight to receive the gift!
Haven't seen our Facebook page yet? Drop by and say hi, our official Facebook Page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/wizard101
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy Dueling!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Did it!
WHEW!
Last night we took the myth/death team to Malistaire's Lair! WOOT!
We barely made it about an hour before the servers went down last night. We were there to see the end of the world as we know it:
Pretty soon we'll have 10 grandmasters (The myth/death team is only level 48 or 49 right now). Wait, scratch that. Pretty soon we'll have 10 legendaries!
p.s. The servers are still down right now for me, but you should go check to see if they're up though!
CELESTIAAAAa, YEAH! word.
I think I'll have some pizza while I'm waiting:
WHIPCREAM POURING LIKE WATERFALLS!
Happy Dueling!
Last night we took the myth/death team to Malistaire's Lair! WOOT!
We barely made it about an hour before the servers went down last night. We were there to see the end of the world as we know it:
Pretty soon we'll have 10 grandmasters (The myth/death team is only level 48 or 49 right now). Wait, scratch that. Pretty soon we'll have 10 legendaries!
p.s. The servers are still down right now for me, but you should go check to see if they're up though!
CELESTIAAAAa, YEAH! word.
I think I'll have some pizza while I'm waiting:
WHIPCREAM POURING LIKE WATERFALLS!
Happy Dueling!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
That's the day Celestia will be released "if all goes well." Read about it in the October Update Notes.
You can also go read about that on The Sea Cucumber.
Hiiiiiii Kevin!
Oh yeah, and a bunch of other places too:
Ambrose2Zeke
Deathly Diviner
Diary of a Wizard
The Pyromancer's Digest
Fin and Quinn
The Two-Headed Wizard
. . . and I'm sure many more that I missed. :-)
Celestia is finally on its way! Almost seven months ago to the day we first learned that Celestia would be the next world. Remember how much fun we had dissecting this picture to try to get clues?
It was shortly after that, that I became aware of Kevin.
Hiiiiiii Kevin!
And then a month later we got our very first glimpse at the shadows of the Celestia Wallpaper.
Haha, so I'm thinking we'll finally get to see the rest of those characters here in the next couple of days. Here's what we have of the wallpaper currently:
The timing of those being revealed didn't quite work out how we thought it would be, did we? Pfffft, leave us fans to try and rely on such wacky things as math. No the date didn't turn out to be August 14th. It was a valiant effort though!
Remember when we first got a glimpse of this guy right here?
Yup, that prequest had us all spinning our heads for a while. Remember when Kevin beat the Warehouse on his first try?
Hiiiiiii Kevin!
That prequest had me singing too. It was awesome when the prequest finally went live three and a half months ago. It wasn't too much longer after that when the Ravenwood Radio Death Team had their fun with the warehouse.
I think one of my favorite theorycrafting posts to write up while waiting for Celestia to be released was this one involving theories about new Astral Magic spells. I got close on a couple of those! Especially Morph!
And at the end of it all, Celestia was on the test realm for 19 days! Dragonspyre spent only nine days on the test realm in total. Grizzleheim spent 13 days on the test realm.
Why did Celestia take so much longer? Well, this was a huge update as we all know ... Three new spell classes PLUS level 58 spells AS WELL AS a brand new world. Level 48 spells didn't go live with Dragonspyre. Could you imagine if level 58 spells weren't going live with Celestia? *shivers*
Well, that's enough looking back for me. What can I say, as a fan of the game, it's been a long time coming, and I'm super excited to see it released. It makes me wonder what world we'll see next. Any guesses? (sign me up for Shadow Weaver hive! Although I bet you we get a more 1-50 level world like Grizzleheim . . . Candyland anyone?)
Happy Dueling!
You can also go read about that on The Sea Cucumber.
Hiiiiiii Kevin!
Oh yeah, and a bunch of other places too:
Ambrose2Zeke
Deathly Diviner
Diary of a Wizard
The Pyromancer's Digest
Fin and Quinn
The Two-Headed Wizard
. . . and I'm sure many more that I missed. :-)
Celestia is finally on its way! Almost seven months ago to the day we first learned that Celestia would be the next world. Remember how much fun we had dissecting this picture to try to get clues?
It was shortly after that, that I became aware of Kevin.
Hiiiiiii Kevin!
And then a month later we got our very first glimpse at the shadows of the Celestia Wallpaper.
Haha, so I'm thinking we'll finally get to see the rest of those characters here in the next couple of days. Here's what we have of the wallpaper currently:
The timing of those being revealed didn't quite work out how we thought it would be, did we? Pfffft, leave us fans to try and rely on such wacky things as math. No the date didn't turn out to be August 14th. It was a valiant effort though!
Remember when we first got a glimpse of this guy right here?
Yup, that prequest had us all spinning our heads for a while. Remember when Kevin beat the Warehouse on his first try?
Hiiiiiii Kevin!
That prequest had me singing too. It was awesome when the prequest finally went live three and a half months ago. It wasn't too much longer after that when the Ravenwood Radio Death Team had their fun with the warehouse.
I think one of my favorite theorycrafting posts to write up while waiting for Celestia to be released was this one involving theories about new Astral Magic spells. I got close on a couple of those! Especially Morph!
And at the end of it all, Celestia was on the test realm for 19 days! Dragonspyre spent only nine days on the test realm in total. Grizzleheim spent 13 days on the test realm.
Why did Celestia take so much longer? Well, this was a huge update as we all know ... Three new spell classes PLUS level 58 spells AS WELL AS a brand new world. Level 48 spells didn't go live with Dragonspyre. Could you imagine if level 58 spells weren't going live with Celestia? *shivers*
Well, that's enough looking back for me. What can I say, as a fan of the game, it's been a long time coming, and I'm super excited to see it released. It makes me wonder what world we'll see next. Any guesses? (sign me up for Shadow Weaver hive! Although I bet you we get a more 1-50 level world like Grizzleheim . . . Candyland anyone?)
Happy Dueling!
Monday, October 25, 2010
A couple test realm questions--mounts and pets
Question from K K:
certainly!
There's a couple screenshots from the crown shop this morning on the test realm. So, 2000 crowns for rentals, 7500 crowns for small mounts, 12500 for large mounts, and 15000 crowns for the shark of awesomeness.
As goes without saying on the Test Realm . . . all things are subject to change.
Here's another test realm question. This one is from Liam! Heya Liam!
As far as I can tell, no. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. The only quest that seems to be netting a pet is the one where you activate the Lunarium portal.
It's a jellyfish pet!
Speaking of Jellyfishing. Whenever my wife and I see Kevin Battleblood online, we start saying "Hiiiii Keviiinnnnnn!" like we're Spongebob. He has no idea what we're doing or why, so I'm including this YouTube for everyone's reference.
I approve the Kevin Battleblood Jellyspotter's fan club.
Happy Dueling!
Could you tell me the prices of the permanent new Celestia mounts please?
certainly!
There's a couple screenshots from the crown shop this morning on the test realm. So, 2000 crowns for rentals, 7500 crowns for small mounts, 12500 for large mounts, and 15000 crowns for the shark of awesomeness.
As goes without saying on the Test Realm . . . all things are subject to change.
Here's another test realm question. This one is from Liam! Heya Liam!
Hey Friendly. It's Liam F. For the Level 58 Spells, are there pets? Oh and please post this because I want to advertise my new Wizard101Central book, Spell Binder! Please read I am still in construction.
As far as I can tell, no. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. The only quest that seems to be netting a pet is the one where you activate the Lunarium portal.
It's a jellyfish pet!
Speaking of Jellyfishing. Whenever my wife and I see Kevin Battleblood online, we start saying "Hiiiii Keviiinnnnnn!" like we're Spongebob. He has no idea what we're doing or why, so I'm including this YouTube for everyone's reference.
I approve the Kevin Battleblood Jellyspotter's fan club.
Happy Dueling!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
MAS QUESTIONS (*3) about that MFP!
It appears we are almost done with the questions about the Massive Fantasy Palace! Here's a few more:
For the price of $40, you're pretty much getting all you need to really get going with Wizard101: a cool mount, thee coolest house (which is also going to be awesome for holding parties of your own), a cool pet, awesome gear, nice weapon, an exclusive housing item, and a handful of crowns to get through some exclusive content. Buying those items separately would cost a lot more in the long run.
Now if you already own a mount, a house, a pet, good gear, and good weapons . . . well, the value for you goes down--At that point you're investing in "cool." None of it is really needed, but once you play the game with them, it's hard to imagine the game without them. That's kind of how the free-to-play model works in general with these games.
So it's really up to you as a player.
2 cents.
A number of top fan sites received one from what I understand. If your site has been on the "official fan site" list for a year or so, there's a good chance you got one (People like Tipa from West Karana, L.R. Jonte from Mythspent Youth, Jester and Olivia from Wizard101 Central, Leesha from Ravenwood Radio, Fallon from Diary of a Wizard, etc.). I'm humbled by the gift and to be numbered among those top fan sites. Thank you, KingsIsle!
Make sure you read that note before you redeem . . . choose wisely.
Hope that helps!
Happy Dueling!
Pegasus7 asks, "Hey I had a question. Is the card a worthwhile thing to get?"If you're a fan of Wizard101 and plan on being around for a while, yes. If you're just getting into the game, yes.
For the price of $40, you're pretty much getting all you need to really get going with Wizard101: a cool mount, thee coolest house (which is also going to be awesome for holding parties of your own), a cool pet, awesome gear, nice weapon, an exclusive housing item, and a handful of crowns to get through some exclusive content. Buying those items separately would cost a lot more in the long run.
Now if you already own a mount, a house, a pet, good gear, and good weapons . . . well, the value for you goes down--At that point you're investing in "cool." None of it is really needed, but once you play the game with them, it's hard to imagine the game without them. That's kind of how the free-to-play model works in general with these games.
So it's really up to you as a player.
2 cents.
Willzahk asks, "I have a question. If this card ships national on November 1st, how do you have one?"Honestly? Luck and hard work. KI gifted me and my family a couple codes and said, "surprise!" A reward for the hundreds and hundreds of hours over the past couple of years being The Friendly Necromancer I suppose. :-) And I totally appreciate it. (This isn't the first time KI has shown me generosity. Or even the second.)
A number of top fan sites received one from what I understand. If your site has been on the "official fan site" list for a year or so, there's a good chance you got one (People like Tipa from West Karana, L.R. Jonte from Mythspent Youth, Jester and Olivia from Wizard101 Central, Leesha from Ravenwood Radio, Fallon from Diary of a Wizard, etc.). I'm humbled by the gift and to be numbered among those top fan sites. Thank you, KingsIsle!
Next is a question from Nicholas Battleshard, "With the epic clothing set from the $39 gift card, I understand that you choose the stats based on your "power level". Now, I'm level 40. Say I get level 40 stats on my clothing set. When I turn level 50, can I upgrade the stats from level 40 gear to level 50 gear?"I don't think it works that way. (Notice I say "think"--things are always subject to change). When you redeem your prestigious gear, it gives you this dialog box.
Make sure you read that note before you redeem . . . choose wisely.
Hope that helps!
Happy Dueling!
About Me--The Friendly Necromancer
Hi,
I’ve been needing to update my "about me" for a long time now. Up until this point, the most you would know about me and my accomplishments was this, “I'm a dad (3 kids), a husband (lovely wife), an owner (love my dog), an avid player of Wizard101, a warcaster (Mytheon), a minstrel and a champion (LOTRO and I played drums in RL), a beastlord and a cleric (Everquest), a paladin (WoW), a sorcerer (DDO), a songwriter, a poet, a beatboxer, an editor, and a blogger.”
Yeah, that doesn’t tell you much other than I like to play MMOs and I’m “colorful,” so check this out if you have the time.
First, this post will tell you why I go by the handle Stingite. That catches you up to about two years ago as far as MMOs.
Now let's talk Wizard101 and The Friendly Necromancer . . .
I've been the featured blogger for Wizard101 over two years now. In the time since starting my blog I've written around 1,100 (and growing) posts about mostly Wizard101. Some call me the father (or grandfather) of Wizard101 blogging since I was the first blog to be entirely about Wizard101. Now there are well over 100 blogs (and growing) about Wizard101. They rock! I'm always interested in the efforts of other Wizard101 bloggers.
Over those two years my blog has changed and evolved. I started out mostly talking about my adventures as my family as I worked through this game. Since that time, I’ve had a lot of other things to write about.
I’ve done a few interviews with people like Nelson Everhart (creator of the music of Wizard101), J Todd Coleman (Ambrose), Kiersten Samwell (Professor Greyrose), and even a few talented fans of Wizard101.
When it became apparent that there were so many awesome fans of Wizard101 (and I couldn’t interview them all), I decided to start creating trading cards of fans where I could include the person's stats, likes, dislikes, and advice in a short paragraph format (a mini-interview of sorts). I made 40+ of these, and that was enough to complete a Wizard101 card game made out of some Wizard101 fans.
For a long time I was very interested in answering questions for people who could not find their answers anywhere else. I always tried to give people the best answer I could within the hour or two that I had before work to write about Wizard101. This amounted to around 200 questions before I got worn out with answering all those questions. I don’t envy KI’s customer support team. ;-) You may see me answering questions randomly still (if I’m feeling up to the task).
For a while I tried my noobie'ish hand at making comics and videos . . . basically anything I could try to mix my creativity with playing Wizard101. Eventually this led me to making music remixes from a few Wizard101 songs. I try to keep them all loaded up on Google Docs as well.
I’ve also been interested in helping the alternative Wizard101 community grow (Wizard101 Central is KING of all Wizard101 websites, but there are a lot of cool options out there for people who like to surf around--like My Diary of a Wizard). I am responsible for initiating a good portion of the early Dragonspyre information over on Wikia. I made a few posts trying to encourage my readers to participate and add to the information there. Many seemed to take on my call.
I was an early adopter with Ravenwood Radio and can now be heard on a number of their podcasts, with one of them featuring me as a guest with Stephen and Leesha (episode 5). Ravenwood Radio was the first Wizard101 podcast. It’s my pleasure to be associated with Ravenwood Radio. It’s a lot of fun (and I’ve met Leesha in real life now so ;p).
Probably my biggest claim to "fame" (if you can call it that) is from an idea to add your friend code to Halloween candy. This idea was featured in the game's patcher and my hits a day went from 1,500 to 11,000 a day while being featured in the patcher (it hovers around 2,000 hits a day now). I gained a lot of loyal readers at that time.
For a long time when housing came out I did a "housing item of the day" post over on my blog that featured an item and told where to get it and whose house I had found it at. You can still find these on my blog, but now I also have a long list of furniture items maintained in a Google Docs file for everyone to use. (see link up top, yo.)
Likewise, I also did a feature called “pet of the day” as we ramped up to the pet enhancements release. (and yeah, my skeletal pirate April fool's joke caused some fuss over at Central. hehe) There’s a long list of pets that I maintain on a Google Docs files as well. This has helped a lot of people find their perfect pet.
As far as my involvement over at Central, I'm a member of the Wizened Wizards. I'm also the person that asked for someone to take on the project of making maps of reagents. Evil Theurgists (Joseph) took that on. I helped where I could. My time and efforts are mostly concentrated on my blog here rather than on Central.
I guess I can also claim to have had some influence with the Petnome project. After seeing that all pets had a static set of talents (for the most part), I made the call to the community that someone needed to step up and lead people to unveiling those talents. Kevin Battleblood took that on. I helped where I could.
A few months before Celestia was released, I became a freelance writer for Beckett’s Massive Online Gamer Magazine as their top Wizard101 reporter. I write not only for MOG but for Beckett’s Fun Online Games. When articles are due, you see me get sparse around here. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun to work closely with the people at KingsIsle when I gather information.
If you stick around here long enough, you’ll probably see a raffle or two happen on my blog. I like to give away stuff when I can! KingsIsle has rewarded my efforts as a longstanding member of the community and vicariously let me reward my readers with gifts once in a while.
And finally, if you hang out here enough, you'll see me chatting about my wonderful family: Uber wife, Amber, Kyle, and Diapermancer.
It’s taken quite a bit to get to the point where I’m at now with this blog, and it’s definitely a labor of love. My site is ad free for the most part (there are ads that pop up if you search my site). I'm not really in this for the money . . . as I told my mother-in-law (Nanamancer) when she asked me why I went to this much effort for this game: It makes it more fun for me. Plus, I can’t help myself. I love to write about videogames, and Wizard101 is a great family MMO. The Wizard101 community rocks!
Thanks for your time, and, as always, my catch phrase:
Happy Dueling!
I’ve been needing to update my "about me" for a long time now. Up until this point, the most you would know about me and my accomplishments was this, “I'm a dad (3 kids), a husband (lovely wife), an owner (love my dog), an avid player of Wizard101, a warcaster (Mytheon), a minstrel and a champion (LOTRO and I played drums in RL), a beastlord and a cleric (Everquest), a paladin (WoW), a sorcerer (DDO), a songwriter, a poet, a beatboxer, an editor, and a blogger.”
Yeah, that doesn’t tell you much other than I like to play MMOs and I’m “colorful,” so check this out if you have the time.
First, this post will tell you why I go by the handle Stingite. That catches you up to about two years ago as far as MMOs.
Now let's talk Wizard101 and The Friendly Necromancer . . .
I've been the featured blogger for Wizard101 over two years now. In the time since starting my blog I've written around 1,100 (and growing) posts about mostly Wizard101. Some call me the father (or grandfather) of Wizard101 blogging since I was the first blog to be entirely about Wizard101. Now there are well over 100 blogs (and growing) about Wizard101. They rock! I'm always interested in the efforts of other Wizard101 bloggers.
Over those two years my blog has changed and evolved. I started out mostly talking about my adventures as my family as I worked through this game. Since that time, I’ve had a lot of other things to write about.
I’ve done a few interviews with people like Nelson Everhart (creator of the music of Wizard101), J Todd Coleman (Ambrose), Kiersten Samwell (Professor Greyrose), and even a few talented fans of Wizard101.
When it became apparent that there were so many awesome fans of Wizard101 (and I couldn’t interview them all), I decided to start creating trading cards of fans where I could include the person's stats, likes, dislikes, and advice in a short paragraph format (a mini-interview of sorts). I made 40+ of these, and that was enough to complete a Wizard101 card game made out of some Wizard101 fans.
For a long time I was very interested in answering questions for people who could not find their answers anywhere else. I always tried to give people the best answer I could within the hour or two that I had before work to write about Wizard101. This amounted to around 200 questions before I got worn out with answering all those questions. I don’t envy KI’s customer support team. ;-) You may see me answering questions randomly still (if I’m feeling up to the task).
For a while I tried my noobie'ish hand at making comics and videos . . . basically anything I could try to mix my creativity with playing Wizard101. Eventually this led me to making music remixes from a few Wizard101 songs. I try to keep them all loaded up on Google Docs as well.
I’ve also been interested in helping the alternative Wizard101 community grow (Wizard101 Central is KING of all Wizard101 websites, but there are a lot of cool options out there for people who like to surf around--like My Diary of a Wizard). I am responsible for initiating a good portion of the early Dragonspyre information over on Wikia. I made a few posts trying to encourage my readers to participate and add to the information there. Many seemed to take on my call.
I was an early adopter with Ravenwood Radio and can now be heard on a number of their podcasts, with one of them featuring me as a guest with Stephen and Leesha (episode 5). Ravenwood Radio was the first Wizard101 podcast. It’s my pleasure to be associated with Ravenwood Radio. It’s a lot of fun (and I’ve met Leesha in real life now so ;p).
Probably my biggest claim to "fame" (if you can call it that) is from an idea to add your friend code to Halloween candy. This idea was featured in the game's patcher and my hits a day went from 1,500 to 11,000 a day while being featured in the patcher (it hovers around 2,000 hits a day now). I gained a lot of loyal readers at that time.
For a long time when housing came out I did a "housing item of the day" post over on my blog that featured an item and told where to get it and whose house I had found it at. You can still find these on my blog, but now I also have a long list of furniture items maintained in a Google Docs file for everyone to use. (see link up top, yo.)
Likewise, I also did a feature called “pet of the day” as we ramped up to the pet enhancements release. (and yeah, my skeletal pirate April fool's joke caused some fuss over at Central. hehe) There’s a long list of pets that I maintain on a Google Docs files as well. This has helped a lot of people find their perfect pet.
As far as my involvement over at Central, I'm a member of the Wizened Wizards. I'm also the person that asked for someone to take on the project of making maps of reagents. Evil Theurgists (Joseph) took that on. I helped where I could. My time and efforts are mostly concentrated on my blog here rather than on Central.
I guess I can also claim to have had some influence with the Petnome project. After seeing that all pets had a static set of talents (for the most part), I made the call to the community that someone needed to step up and lead people to unveiling those talents. Kevin Battleblood took that on. I helped where I could.
A few months before Celestia was released, I became a freelance writer for Beckett’s Massive Online Gamer Magazine as their top Wizard101 reporter. I write not only for MOG but for Beckett’s Fun Online Games. When articles are due, you see me get sparse around here. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun to work closely with the people at KingsIsle when I gather information.
If you stick around here long enough, you’ll probably see a raffle or two happen on my blog. I like to give away stuff when I can! KingsIsle has rewarded my efforts as a longstanding member of the community and vicariously let me reward my readers with gifts once in a while.
And finally, if you hang out here enough, you'll see me chatting about my wonderful family: Uber wife, Amber, Kyle, and Diapermancer.
It’s taken quite a bit to get to the point where I’m at now with this blog, and it’s definitely a labor of love. My site is ad free for the most part (there are ads that pop up if you search my site). I'm not really in this for the money . . . as I told my mother-in-law (Nanamancer) when she asked me why I went to this much effort for this game: It makes it more fun for me. Plus, I can’t help myself. I love to write about videogames, and Wizard101 is a great family MMO. The Wizard101 community rocks!
Thanks for your time, and, as always, my catch phrase:
Happy Dueling!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Level 55 Celestia School Wands on Test
Well, even though I'm having a hard time finding play time, my friends aren't! I was able to snag Blaze Mistshard, Destiny Mistshard, and their friend Wolf Anvilbreaker to show me all of the level 55 Celestia School Wands from the Test Realm.
As always with the test realm, things are subject to change, and apparently these wands used to give players two power pips and now are back to giving us one. Aww! How about a power pip and one regular pip, KI? We'll split you the difference!
Check 'em out!
I love the look on the death staff! I can't wait to have one of those! Thanks for sharing Blaze, Destiny, and Wolf!
Happy Dueling!
As always with the test realm, things are subject to change, and apparently these wands used to give players two power pips and now are back to giving us one. Aww! How about a power pip and one regular pip, KI? We'll split you the difference!
Check 'em out!
I love the look on the death staff! I can't wait to have one of those! Thanks for sharing Blaze, Destiny, and Wolf!
Happy Dueling!
Even *more* *MORE* (*2!) Gamestop Double-Wide Card Questions
You have more MORE questions; I have more MORE answers!
It's funny you should ask that question. Fred Howard revealed that answer when he first showed me the Massive Fantasy Palace during my trip down to Kingsisle. I finally got permission to show this video clip to you all, so without further ado, Fred, running around in the Massive Fantasy Palace complete with my first reactions and Jason Winter's comedic interjections:
1-By the front stairway
2-At the bottom of the spiral staircase
3-Behind the throne and to the right
The secret passageways are my favorite thing about the inside. It's something that I was hoping to see more of in the school housing and especially the Death House. Kudos to KI on making them!
Happy Dueling!
Gorman asks, "How long will this gift card run for???" which happened to also be the same question Duncan Dragonblood had earlier in an e-mail to me.I asked Greyrose for you guys, and she said they are in the gift card lineup permanently now, but she added a note of caution for Santa Claus's elves, "expect them to be hard to find as we get closer to Xmas." Make those lists early . . . regardless if you've been naughty or nice.
Cassandra has a question, "Question: Also included in the card is the Additional Castle Space elixir. Is this a permanent elixir or does it last an hour?"It's permanent.
It's funny you should ask that question. Fred Howard revealed that answer when he first showed me the Massive Fantasy Palace during my trip down to Kingsisle. I finally got permission to show this video clip to you all, so without further ado, Fred, running around in the Massive Fantasy Palace complete with my first reactions and Jason Winter's comedic interjections:
Kellen sent me an e-mail and asks, "I heard that there were a bunch of secret passageways in the new house, and I was wondering if you could give a list of them. Thanks!"Thanks for asking that Kellen! It's something that at least 3 or 4 people caught me on in yesterday's video. LOL! As far as I can tell, there are two secret passageways in the house and one out of the way portal leading to an island in the sky.
1-By the front stairway
2-At the bottom of the spiral staircase
3-Behind the throne and to the right
The secret passageways are my favorite thing about the inside. It's something that I was hoping to see more of in the school housing and especially the Death House. Kudos to KI on making them!
Happy Dueling!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Even *more* Gamestop Double-Wide Card Questions
Ok, here are some questions and answers from yesterday's post:
You don't get any rank for battling here. You just battle here for the fun of it. Great for parties!
At your request, here's the video:
Happy Dueling!
Sierra asks, "Game Kiosk question: Can you change what game it plays, like changing the clothes on a mannequin?"Nope, and it didn't appear as though it was selectable when I got it. Great idea though! It just seemed random. I'm with you. I was kind of hoping for a potion motion game, but I'm finding a new love for skull riders. :-)
Venessa asks, "I HAVE A BIG QUESTION! i am raffling 2 of these prizes on my blog and a i need to no.... is it a card with many codes or just one if its just one plz give me a KI email adress! XD TY!"Sorry Venessa, it's just one code for everything, and I don't think KI could split up the rewards from the card. You may want to think of something else to raffle.
Seth Titanwhisper asks, "I heard there was a battle arena whats the whole thing around that?" Anon the asks after him, "Whats the battle circle in the background of the last picture for?"Yup, there is a battle circle INSIDE YOUR HOUSE! It rocks. It works exactly like the old battle circle before matched PVP was introduced into the game. You get split into teams as you run into the circle. One of my best memories from the old arena battle circle was an event I went to with the Wizened Wizards. Eight people put their backs the circle and ran backwards at the same time.
You don't get any rank for battling here. You just battle here for the fun of it. Great for parties!
Anon asks, "Does the pet give any spells (or will it when it lvls up) and how long does it take to hatch? P.S. Could you give us a tour of the house? I really want to see what it actually looks like, especially since I'm planning on buying the gift card."Well, I don't know if it'll give a card, but I got mine up to Adult and it did manifest spritely . . . although getting it to cast spritely has been more of a challenge.
At your request, here's the video:
Happy Dueling!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Gamestop Double-Wide Card Questions
Questions here from J about the new double-wide card at Gamestop:
Ok, let's see if I can answer these for you:
1) Verified. I emptied out all my potion bottles and went to my skull riders game for a screenshot.
Then I played a game of skull riders. And there it is! A full potion bottle.
2) Yup. 40% speed boost.
3) Kind of an interesting weapon since it has a hit of each type of spell class. Check it out!
4) Ok, this is interesting because when I first claimed these items I had to choose at what power level I wanted my new clothes to be at. I really wish I would have grabbed a screenshot of that screen, but I didn't. :( The stats and cards they give are different for each different power level. For instance, the clothes at level 5 give different cards than the clothes at level 50. I almost chose the clothes at level 45 power level because they had a trap or a blade I wanted, but the unique feint card, power nova, and shield card won me over.
Here are the stats for level 50 version of the epic gear in comparison to my grandmaster death gear.
I have no idea if they will add level 60 stats when Celestia goes live or not, but the look is the pvp gear look, which is definitely epic.
5) Yup! 250/250! (Although this castle is so huge it would be better if those numbers were higher)
Hope that helps you with your purchasing decision!
Happy Dueling!
Stats:
Gamestop $39 Double Card
GameStop $39 Prepaid Card here have been shipped to GameStop stores across the USA & should appear on shelves around November 1st!
This Double Card comes with:
a 1 Month Subscription at $9.95 or 5000 Crowns
Fantasy Palace Castle
Additional Castle Space Elixir*
Minigame Kiosk Housing Item
Gryphon Mount
Ancient Spear of Power
Epic Clothing Set
Mystery Dueling Pet
*If you already have three houses on your character, you must claim this elixir before you claim the Castle!
I have some questions on the following items, Friendly since you have one.
1) Housing Kiosk - Can you use it to refill your potions at home?
2) Griffin Mount - is this a 40% Speed boost?
3) Ancient Spear of Power - What is the Level / Stats on this?
4) Epic Clothing Set - How 'Epic'? What Level? What stats?
5) How many items can the Fantasy Palace Store inside and out? 250 / 250 like the Crown shop houses?
Ok, let's see if I can answer these for you:
1) Verified. I emptied out all my potion bottles and went to my skull riders game for a screenshot.
Then I played a game of skull riders. And there it is! A full potion bottle.
2) Yup. 40% speed boost.
3) Kind of an interesting weapon since it has a hit of each type of spell class. Check it out!
4) Ok, this is interesting because when I first claimed these items I had to choose at what power level I wanted my new clothes to be at. I really wish I would have grabbed a screenshot of that screen, but I didn't. :( The stats and cards they give are different for each different power level. For instance, the clothes at level 5 give different cards than the clothes at level 50. I almost chose the clothes at level 45 power level because they had a trap or a blade I wanted, but the unique feint card, power nova, and shield card won me over.
Here are the stats for level 50 version of the epic gear in comparison to my grandmaster death gear.
I have no idea if they will add level 60 stats when Celestia goes live or not, but the look is the pvp gear look, which is definitely epic.
5) Yup! 250/250! (Although this castle is so huge it would be better if those numbers were higher)
Hope that helps you with your purchasing decision!
Happy Dueling!
Remember Your Halloween Candy This Year!
Here's a refresher from last year for you: Don't forget that while you're handing out Halloween Treats, it could end up being a profitable idea to add your friend code on the candy!
Try it out! You never know. That might lead to some extra crowns for you and your family. :-)
Happy Dueling!
"Here's an idea! What if you printed out a bunch of stickers with your friend code web address and stuck them on your candy that your family passes out for Halloween? THEN, not only are you giving kids some candy, but you're giving them the chance to make some crowns and give you some crowns in the process.
In other words, put that sucker on a sucker!"
Try it out! You never know. That might lead to some extra crowns for you and your family. :-)
Happy Dueling!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
New Sidebar Voice App
I was just over at Maniac Magic and saw an app over on Myrna's sidebar I liked, and I had to steal it. I've been looking for a cool way to leave some voice messages on my blog and this looks to be a good one so far.
Scroll on down and look for the little bat fella wearing a wizard hat. That's totally me. (I'd upload a picture of said bat, but it appears that blogspot isn't allowing image uploads for the next couple of hours due to maintenance. *frown*)
It appears you can call a phone number, upload a file, record direct from your mic, or type a message. I opted for typing a message today. Why? 1) too early in the morning here. 2) computer voices both creep me out and make me laugh. :-)
I don't know how often I'll update that, but I just wanted to alert you to its presence. :-) NEW THING! *shiny*
BTW, did you all catch the word "shiny" at the end of some quest text in the District of Stars? I LOL'd about it! I'd post up a picture of the quest text, but once again, blogspot isn't allowing image uploads right now . . . dot dot dot.
Scroll on down and look for the little bat fella wearing a wizard hat. That's totally me. (I'd upload a picture of said bat, but it appears that blogspot isn't allowing image uploads for the next couple of hours due to maintenance. *frown*)
It appears you can call a phone number, upload a file, record direct from your mic, or type a message. I opted for typing a message today. Why? 1) too early in the morning here. 2) computer voices both creep me out and make me laugh. :-)
I don't know how often I'll update that, but I just wanted to alert you to its presence. :-) NEW THING! *shiny*
BTW, did you all catch the word "shiny" at the end of some quest text in the District of Stars? I LOL'd about it! I'd post up a picture of the quest text, but once again, blogspot isn't allowing image uploads right now . . . dot dot dot.
"At the end of the lecture, the Preceptor produces a small metal token for you. Shiny!"Happy Dueling!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Head Nod to DDO in Celestia
Heh. I ran into this puzzle on the Test Realm today:
Which instantly reminded me of the floor puzzles in Dungeons and Dragons Online:
haha! You find these floor puzzles scattered throughout the dungeons of DDO all the time. Last night my static DDO group encountered a very complex one where if the puzzle connected with certain points on the ground, monsters would jump us. Good times!
Nice head nod to DDO, KingsIsle!
Happy Dueling!
Which instantly reminded me of the floor puzzles in Dungeons and Dragons Online:
haha! You find these floor puzzles scattered throughout the dungeons of DDO all the time. Last night my static DDO group encountered a very complex one where if the puzzle connected with certain points on the ground, monsters would jump us. Good times!
Nice head nod to DDO, KingsIsle!
Happy Dueling!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Translations for Pictures in The District of Stars
I was running around a bit on the test realm the other day and captured screenshots of all the giant pictures on the walls in The District of Stars. I know that translating these little celestian words is kind of my deal the past couple of months, so I thought, "Why stop now?"
I don't think there's anything too mysterious about these translations at this point. But I am finding they kind of work in to the lore of Celestia, which I'm slowly (very slowly) unraveling.
Here you go! (Click to make those bigger.)
Hope that sparks some interest!
Happy Dueling!
I don't think there's anything too mysterious about these translations at this point. But I am finding they kind of work in to the lore of Celestia, which I'm slowly (very slowly) unraveling.
Here you go! (Click to make those bigger.)
Hope that sparks some interest!
Happy Dueling!