Oh my gosh this is burning hot news, and it looks like mystery codes are going fast. I was still able to claim one of the 1,000 codes at 5:51 pm Central, so you should definitely give this a shot!
Here's the link: click!
I haven't even logged in to see what my mystery reward was yet! LOL! I've seen reports of free Hoard Packs and even a FOG Unicorn. WOOT!
Best of luck and let me know what you scored!
Happy Dueling!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Krokomummy Spell -- Spell of the Week
Ahhh yes, the Krokomummy Spell. For the small price of three pips you'll get an awesome animation and 375 fire damage. It's a spell that's not often seen outside of Krokotopia. You can get the spell yourself either through Treasure Cards or the Krokomummy pet.
I asked the readers of The Friendly Necromancer to send me a picture of them casting this spell, and since this was our first attempt at a new feature, I have a little surprise for them. I'll be sending each of them a code for 1,000 crowns. Thanks so much for participating! Here's the screenshots. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Swordroll (aka Andrew Goldriver)
He adds: If you're wondering how you get the spell and cast in the same photo, take a look at the bottom of THIS post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Ronan DrakeBlade
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: The Pyro Ninjapig (aka Fred Summerflame)
He adds: Awesome blog you have. I have checked your blog everyday for new stuff once I found out about you. Thanks for being awesome and having this krokomummy pic-fest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Sadly, I also received a couple pictures from a fourth reader, but I couldn't get them to download on to my computer . . . but I'll ship him 1,000 crowns for his efforts anyway! If he can manage to get those to come through, I'll replace this note with his pictures. Thanks!)
AWESOME PICTURES FRIENDS!
Tune your browser again this way next week to see what spell will be next!
Happy Dueling!
I asked the readers of The Friendly Necromancer to send me a picture of them casting this spell, and since this was our first attempt at a new feature, I have a little surprise for them. I'll be sending each of them a code for 1,000 crowns. Thanks so much for participating! Here's the screenshots. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Swordroll (aka Andrew Goldriver)
He adds: If you're wondering how you get the spell and cast in the same photo, take a look at the bottom of THIS post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Ronan DrakeBlade
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: The Pyro Ninjapig (aka Fred Summerflame)
He adds: Awesome blog you have. I have checked your blog everyday for new stuff once I found out about you. Thanks for being awesome and having this krokomummy pic-fest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Sadly, I also received a couple pictures from a fourth reader, but I couldn't get them to download on to my computer . . . but I'll ship him 1,000 crowns for his efforts anyway! If he can manage to get those to come through, I'll replace this note with his pictures. Thanks!)
AWESOME PICTURES FRIENDS!
Tune your browser again this way next week to see what spell will be next!
Happy Dueling!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Wizard101 Goes to the Movies :)
This Wizard101 vid that came across Twitter yesterday from KingsIsle made me chuckle.
Nothing quite like Merle delivering famous movie lines. LOL. A little strange, but I'm going with it.
For those who may not know the movies these lines come from, here's a quick list in order of appearance:
1- Casablanca
2- Jazz Singer
3- Wizard of Oz
4- Dirty Dancing
5- King Kong
6- Forrest Gump
7- A Few Good Men
8- Dead Poets Society
9- Sherlock Holmes
10- Animal House
11- Jerry McGuire
12- Terminator
13- Scarface
14- The Sixth Sense
15- Frankenstein (woot +Klout!)
16- Titanic
17- Godfather
18- Dirty Harry
19- Sunset Blvd
20- Wizard of Oz (again)
21- Casablanca
22- James Bond
23- Jerry McGuire
24- Gone With the Wind
25- Abbott and Costello
26- Taxi Driver
Happy Dueling!
Nothing quite like Merle delivering famous movie lines. LOL. A little strange, but I'm going with it.
For those who may not know the movies these lines come from, here's a quick list in order of appearance:
1- Casablanca
2- Jazz Singer
3- Wizard of Oz
4- Dirty Dancing
5- King Kong
6- Forrest Gump
7- A Few Good Men
8- Dead Poets Society
9- Sherlock Holmes
10- Animal House
11- Jerry McGuire
12- Terminator
13- Scarface
14- The Sixth Sense
15- Frankenstein (woot +Klout!)
16- Titanic
17- Godfather
18- Dirty Harry
19- Sunset Blvd
20- Wizard of Oz (again)
21- Casablanca
22- James Bond
23- Jerry McGuire
24- Gone With the Wind
25- Abbott and Costello
26- Taxi Driver
Happy Dueling!
Spell of the week 1
Last week on Ravenwood Radio I made a plea for segment ideas and I've received a couple good ones back. One of those ideas (from Michael Hawk) actually sounded more fun to pursue over here on my blog. His suggestion was that I talk about a spell each week. I like that idea, but I'd like to make it more interactive here on the blog with my readers.
Let's try this and start with something a little off the beaten path, but not too hard to obtain . . .
Krokomummy treasure card spell!
So here's what I'd like you to do. Please email me a screenshot of yourself casting a Krokomummy spell by midnight tonight, and I will put it up on my blog tomorrow morning! (thefriendlynecromancer@gmail.com) Please include your Wizard Name in the e-mail.
Here's an example to get you thinking:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Thomas Lionblood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have fun with it, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.
SHOW ME THE KROKOMUMMY!
Happy Dueling!
Let's try this and start with something a little off the beaten path, but not too hard to obtain . . .
So here's what I'd like you to do. Please email me a screenshot of yourself casting a Krokomummy spell by midnight tonight, and I will put it up on my blog tomorrow morning! (thefriendlynecromancer@gmail.com) Please include your Wizard Name in the e-mail.
Here's an example to get you thinking:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Thomas Lionblood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have fun with it, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.
SHOW ME THE KROKOMUMMY!
Happy Dueling!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Recent Thoughts on Henchmen
Lately my thoughts keep turning to henchmen when I play. Quite simply I don't use them because I currently don't need to. It's super easy for me personally to fill a group with my four accounts. I have level 60 healers on a couple of different accounts. What I realize though is that I'm abnormal. Seriously. LOL.
Most people in Wizard101 are running only one account. When I ran through the test realm in Zafaria, I did this. I avoided loading multiple accounts. I wanted to experience what the game would be like solo as a necromancer. Truth is that there were a couple pinch points and henchmen came in handy in the Test realm. Case in point, the healing fight with Tim-Tim Snakeeye. I dropped those test realm crowns for three level 70 Life henchmen and suddenly the fight was cake. There was also a point in the Drum Jungle when a group of Myth casting spider monkeys were irritating me, and so I dropped the test realm crowns for three level 70 storm henchmen and burned through the fight.
Would I do that on the real realm? Nah. BUT, you know what would make me do something like that on the real realms of The Spiral? I think I know . . . let me explain.
Henchmen aren't a new idea in games. My first experience with them was in Guild Wars. In Guild Wars, all areas are tuned to group play. In every zone, you'll find a series of henchmen lining the walls just waiting to be hired out. I don't even think there's a cost for henchmen in Guild Wars . . . the only cost is that they will take a portion of your loot when you use them. That really isn't a problem. Once you select a henchmen to play with you, then tend to stick around in the group until you remove them. It isn't like you summon them for each fight like you do in Wizard101.
My second experience with henchmen is with Dungeons and Dragons online. In DDO, there's a cost to henchmen use and when you purchase them, you purchase them for an hour. Your first hireling will cost some platinum to hire out and you can only summon them at the entrance of an instance. Any additional henchmen you put in your party will cost DDO points (like crowns) and may be summoned at any time in an instance. You can have as many as five hirelings if you're soloing.
Their cost? Well, they all cost 40 DDO points or less. There really isn't price scaling like what was recently introduced in Wizard101. Of course, it's also capped for free to play players so you can't summon a hireling that is higher level than you. (I believe subscription players can summon hirelings that are up to two levels higher then you are.)
In DDO, if I finish an instance early, I still have the hireling sitting in my inventory with a timer on it. (Think mounts with a timer on it in Wizard101--they sit in your inventory with a timer until they expire).
If Wizard101's henchmen sat in your inventory for the span of an hour after purchase, and I could summon them and de-summon them from combat, I think people would buy them and use them all the time (especially at their current cost).
I do think you would have to allow for them to be de-summoned with a toggle button since that's one of the main gripes I currently hear with henchmen use (outside of locked instances). How many times have you seen friends port into a fight where henchmen are being used and feel disappointed they can't join the fun? We need the ability to de-summon henchmen to allow friends in if they show up to play with us.
What are your thoughts on how to improve henchmen? Have you experienced their use in other games and liked it more than how it's used in Wizard101?
To me, it's just simply not on par to have a one-use, one-fight Level 70 henchman cost as much as a Wyvern Hoard pack. Or maybe I'm wrong, what do you think?
Happy Dueling!
Most people in Wizard101 are running only one account. When I ran through the test realm in Zafaria, I did this. I avoided loading multiple accounts. I wanted to experience what the game would be like solo as a necromancer. Truth is that there were a couple pinch points and henchmen came in handy in the Test realm. Case in point, the healing fight with Tim-Tim Snakeeye. I dropped those test realm crowns for three level 70 Life henchmen and suddenly the fight was cake. There was also a point in the Drum Jungle when a group of Myth casting spider monkeys were irritating me, and so I dropped the test realm crowns for three level 70 storm henchmen and burned through the fight.
Would I do that on the real realm? Nah. BUT, you know what would make me do something like that on the real realms of The Spiral? I think I know . . . let me explain.
Henchmen aren't a new idea in games. My first experience with them was in Guild Wars. In Guild Wars, all areas are tuned to group play. In every zone, you'll find a series of henchmen lining the walls just waiting to be hired out. I don't even think there's a cost for henchmen in Guild Wars . . . the only cost is that they will take a portion of your loot when you use them. That really isn't a problem. Once you select a henchmen to play with you, then tend to stick around in the group until you remove them. It isn't like you summon them for each fight like you do in Wizard101.
My second experience with henchmen is with Dungeons and Dragons online. In DDO, there's a cost to henchmen use and when you purchase them, you purchase them for an hour. Your first hireling will cost some platinum to hire out and you can only summon them at the entrance of an instance. Any additional henchmen you put in your party will cost DDO points (like crowns) and may be summoned at any time in an instance. You can have as many as five hirelings if you're soloing.
Their cost? Well, they all cost 40 DDO points or less. There really isn't price scaling like what was recently introduced in Wizard101. Of course, it's also capped for free to play players so you can't summon a hireling that is higher level than you. (I believe subscription players can summon hirelings that are up to two levels higher then you are.)
In DDO, if I finish an instance early, I still have the hireling sitting in my inventory with a timer on it. (Think mounts with a timer on it in Wizard101--they sit in your inventory with a timer until they expire).
If Wizard101's henchmen sat in your inventory for the span of an hour after purchase, and I could summon them and de-summon them from combat, I think people would buy them and use them all the time (especially at their current cost).
I do think you would have to allow for them to be de-summoned with a toggle button since that's one of the main gripes I currently hear with henchmen use (outside of locked instances). How many times have you seen friends port into a fight where henchmen are being used and feel disappointed they can't join the fun? We need the ability to de-summon henchmen to allow friends in if they show up to play with us.
What are your thoughts on how to improve henchmen? Have you experienced their use in other games and liked it more than how it's used in Wizard101?
To me, it's just simply not on par to have a one-use, one-fight Level 70 henchman cost as much as a Wyvern Hoard pack. Or maybe I'm wrong, what do you think?
Happy Dueling!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiginv 2011!
Can I just repost last year's Thanksgiginv message? Ahh, I guess I gotta do something a little bit special, right? Why? Well, Thanksgiginv is the best time of year where students of Ravenwood gather together to say thanks for all the things that are Wizard101. SO HIT IT MAESTRO!
*cue music*
*cue spotlight*
*cue Frank Sinatra voice*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for pets and advance pets.
Thanks for safari student vignettes.
Thanks for derby and pvp!
Thanks for circles where we duel.
Thanks for awesome gobbler drool.
Thanks for reading blogs like me!
Thanks for Evil Magma Pea gardens.
Thanks for super Bazaar bargains.
Thanks for the Baobab Tree!
Thanks for Grandmother Raven.
Thanks for all the crowns I'm savin'.
Thanks for makin' Falmea a "she"!
Thanks for groupin up with buddies!
Thanks for cyclops minion huggies!
Thanks for that next world's Spiral Key!
Thanks for Malistaire and for Morganthe!
Thanks for chests that give a second chanth!
Thanks for the deep Celestian Sea!
Thanks for blue hair that's a mullet!
YES, thanks from the bottom of my turkey-stuffed gullettttttt . . .
Thanks!
Thanks!!!
Happy Thanksgiginvvvvvvvvvv!!!!
FROM YOUUUUUUUUU TOOOOOOOO MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
AND VICEEEE VERSEEEEEEEEEEe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*bows*
(Feel free to add your own verses in the comments! ;)))
Happy Thanksgiginv EVERYBODY!!!
*cue music*
*cue spotlight*
*cue Frank Sinatra voice*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for pets and advance pets.
Thanks for safari student vignettes.
Thanks for derby and pvp!
Thanks for circles where we duel.
Thanks for awesome gobbler drool.
Thanks for reading blogs like me!
Thanks for Evil Magma Pea gardens.
Thanks for super Bazaar bargains.
Thanks for the Baobab Tree!
Thanks for Grandmother Raven.
Thanks for all the crowns I'm savin'.
Thanks for makin' Falmea a "she"!
Thanks for groupin up with buddies!
Thanks for cyclops minion huggies!
Thanks for that next world's Spiral Key!
Thanks for Malistaire and for Morganthe!
Thanks for chests that give a second chanth!
Thanks for the deep Celestian Sea!
Thanks for blue hair that's a mullet!
YES, thanks from the bottom of my turkey-stuffed gullettttttt . . .
Thanks!
Thanks!!!
Happy Thanksgiginvvvvvvvvvv!!!!
FROM YOUUUUUUUUU TOOOOOOOO MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
AND VICEEEE VERSEEEEEEEEEEe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*bows*
(Feel free to add your own verses in the comments! ;)))
Happy Thanksgiginv EVERYBODY!!!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Loving the Armor Designs!
I know I'm a little late on this news, but have you all seen the designs that ended up winning the contest?
Those are so incredibly awesome! Wonder if that girl's bird costume design would come with a built in mount? I'm also wondering what the opposite gender of each of those might look like? Fun!
Click here to check out all the different designs (I wouldn't mind wearing any of those LOL). I'm hearing KingsIsle received an enormous amount of entries from Wizard101 fans. They had to use giant folder after giant folder after giant folder to keep them all cataloged in their fan art collection. Awesome.
I wonder if they'll ever break those out in the future to gain some inspiration from their fans if there was some kind of recurring theme? Hmmm!
Mannnnnnny wonderings!
Congrats to the winners!
Happy Dueling!
Those are so incredibly awesome! Wonder if that girl's bird costume design would come with a built in mount? I'm also wondering what the opposite gender of each of those might look like? Fun!
Click here to check out all the different designs (I wouldn't mind wearing any of those LOL). I'm hearing KingsIsle received an enormous amount of entries from Wizard101 fans. They had to use giant folder after giant folder after giant folder to keep them all cataloged in their fan art collection. Awesome.
I wonder if they'll ever break those out in the future to gain some inspiration from their fans if there was some kind of recurring theme? Hmmm!
Mannnnnnny wonderings!
Congrats to the winners!
Happy Dueling!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Looney Toons / Wizard101 Connection
I had a reader forward me this video a few weeks ago, and I got too busy to post it here, but this afternoon my kids surfed it on the Internet again, and I had to share.
Simply put . . . Daffy Duck and Celestia . . . There is your Looney Toons Wizard101 Connection! LOL! In the words of Daffy Duck, "I think you're going to enjoy this!"
"By the dim light of the dream realm's black sun, the Wizard climbs the frozen waterfall of Voldrini in search of Celestia, the guardian of infinite power.
When suddenly a terrible Garlon appears and attacks with ice!
. . . But the Wizard is undeterred.
The Garlon roars and unleashes the most sinister wind!
. . . But the wizard is undeterred.
The Garlon summons the stones of Prophynia!
. . . But the wizard is undeterred.
Calling upon the powers of the ancient, the wizard conjures a sacred fire and casts his foe into the molten maw of an insatiable Gort. Thanks, Gort.
Ahh, Celestia. I think you're going to enjoy this!"
Happy Dueling!
Simply put . . . Daffy Duck and Celestia . . . There is your Looney Toons Wizard101 Connection! LOL! In the words of Daffy Duck, "I think you're going to enjoy this!"
"By the dim light of the dream realm's black sun, the Wizard climbs the frozen waterfall of Voldrini in search of Celestia, the guardian of infinite power.
When suddenly a terrible Garlon appears and attacks with ice!
. . . But the Wizard is undeterred.
The Garlon roars and unleashes the most sinister wind!
. . . But the wizard is undeterred.
The Garlon summons the stones of Prophynia!
. . . But the wizard is undeterred.
Calling upon the powers of the ancient, the wizard conjures a sacred fire and casts his foe into the molten maw of an insatiable Gort. Thanks, Gort.
Ahh, Celestia. I think you're going to enjoy this!"
Happy Dueling!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Zafaria Going Live!!
Wizard101 shutdown at midnight last night as both the live realm and the test realm were closed for a ten hour period. The reason why was given on Wizard101's Facebook page: Zafaria be comin' today!
I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see the end of the game in the test realm, but like I said in my previous post, we've had some difficulties playing this last month due to real life things, but . . . I did get pretty far last night, and I'm happy to say that I made it into the drum jungle and dinged level 68.
WOOTS! Check out my Dr. Von's!
YOU MONKEY GET SHOCKED DEAD!
YOU WIZARD GET LIGHTNING BOLT HEAL!
ME FRANK! ME KILL STUFF!
I think that's my favorite part about the Dr. Von's spell is that I GET TALK LOUD DUMB MONSTER WHEN CAST! RAWR!
I reported a few bugs. One involving the Dr. Von's spell which was, when zoning back out of the Death School (after recently zoning into the Death School just after getting the Dr. Von's spell), Dr. Von's monster's visitation spot (which is directly outside the Death School) would flash back to life for a couple seconds. You could zone back into the Death School and then back out into Nightside and BAM! There's Frank again and again and again each time you zoned out. ACK! He's the monster that won't die . . . again!! ;)
So, anyway, the fight with The Hoarder wasn't much to write home about and it was a pretty simple battle.
PRISMED WRAITH KILL DEAD! HE NO CHEATING BOSS!
I think it was my old buddy Starsongsky that mentioned over Twitter how cool these class specific Bookshelves were inside The Hoarder's room in Dragonspyre. I'd have to agree!
KI Mark those down as a future crafted item, would ya? Those are great!
I love that one of the where-does-this-lead-to(?) doors of the spiral finally got used in Dragonspyre for the Hoarder fight. :)
Now it's time to do it all over again! ENGAGE LIVE REALM!
Hope to see you all transcended in the live realm soon! Can't wait to see all the buzz and excitement as people explore this new world. :) Those first few days and weeks when new stuff goes live is so much fun! Enjoy it!
Happy Dueling!
I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see the end of the game in the test realm, but like I said in my previous post, we've had some difficulties playing this last month due to real life things, but . . . I did get pretty far last night, and I'm happy to say that I made it into the drum jungle and dinged level 68.
WOOTS! Check out my Dr. Von's!
YOU MONKEY GET SHOCKED DEAD!
YOU WIZARD GET LIGHTNING BOLT HEAL!
ME FRANK! ME KILL STUFF!
I think that's my favorite part about the Dr. Von's spell is that I GET TALK LOUD DUMB MONSTER WHEN CAST! RAWR!
I reported a few bugs. One involving the Dr. Von's spell which was, when zoning back out of the Death School (after recently zoning into the Death School just after getting the Dr. Von's spell), Dr. Von's monster's visitation spot (which is directly outside the Death School) would flash back to life for a couple seconds. You could zone back into the Death School and then back out into Nightside and BAM! There's Frank again and again and again each time you zoned out. ACK! He's the monster that won't die . . . again!! ;)
So, anyway, the fight with The Hoarder wasn't much to write home about and it was a pretty simple battle.
PRISMED WRAITH KILL DEAD! HE NO CHEATING BOSS!
I think it was my old buddy Starsongsky that mentioned over Twitter how cool these class specific Bookshelves were inside The Hoarder's room in Dragonspyre. I'd have to agree!
KI Mark those down as a future crafted item, would ya? Those are great!
I love that one of the where-does-this-lead-to(?) doors of the spiral finally got used in Dragonspyre for the Hoarder fight. :)
Now it's time to do it all over again! ENGAGE LIVE REALM!
Hope to see you all transcended in the live realm soon! Can't wait to see all the buzz and excitement as people explore this new world. :) Those first few days and weeks when new stuff goes live is so much fun! Enjoy it!
Happy Dueling!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Greyhorn Mercenary Land
Well, I thought I'd just put up a quick post to let you all know where I am and what I'm doing. I'm currently Level 67 on the Test Realm and quickly approaching level 68 (only two bubbles away). Woot! Test cast of Dr. Von's monster coming up! Can't wait. :)
The road to Level 68 has been fun. There were a couple cheating bosses along the way, a trip to a zoo, magical wall paintings that recounted all of Zafaria's majestic past, and . . . a lot of greyhorn mercenaries. A lot ...
Yeah and funny enough, this morning when I logged off I got another quest to kill . . . You guessed it! Greyhorn mercenaries.
Well, that's one badge that shouldn't be too difficult to earn! :)
It's been kind of an insane week, y'all. One of our computers had a hard drive fail, and the Geek Squad at Best Buy was baffled. Needless to say, our family's gaming and computer use has been, um, restricted. I've got deadlines approaching, a death in the family, parent teacher conferences, and business crap woes . . . Not to unload on you all. I WILL PREVAIL!!
Sigh.
How's your bug finding going on the Test Realm? Good?
Happy Dueling!
The road to Level 68 has been fun. There were a couple cheating bosses along the way, a trip to a zoo, magical wall paintings that recounted all of Zafaria's majestic past, and . . . a lot of greyhorn mercenaries. A lot ...
Yeah and funny enough, this morning when I logged off I got another quest to kill . . . You guessed it! Greyhorn mercenaries.
Well, that's one badge that shouldn't be too difficult to earn! :)
It's been kind of an insane week, y'all. One of our computers had a hard drive fail, and the Geek Squad at Best Buy was baffled. Needless to say, our family's gaming and computer use has been, um, restricted. I've got deadlines approaching, a death in the family, parent teacher conferences, and business crap woes . . . Not to unload on you all. I WILL PREVAIL!!
Sigh.
How's your bug finding going on the Test Realm? Good?
Happy Dueling!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Test Realm Tweaking Zafaria
You asked for it, you got it . . . Zafaria is now a little bit tougher. Of course, this made some angry (I'm not sure I buy that "we fizzle more."), but the topic is still being debated. I was online for a little bit this morning and fought a couple battles and didn't really notice the changes.
It'd be nice to see what exactly got tweaked? From Kevin's vlog, it appears that mobs have more health and critical more often. He also adds that it might simply mean you shield more often and that fights will take a bit longer, which is basically what people were asking for . . . a little bit more of a challenge.
I hope that in the future that KI will look at increasing challenge in a more creative way. "Creative" though usually means "more time consuming." To quote myself:
The other change seems to be Level 70 henchmen got buffed and correspondingly became more expensive. Although I'm not sure if the price was just to discourage people from using them too much on the test realm, be carefully with the pricing, KI. If you raise that cost too much, people won't use them. Raising the difficulty of the world is great and will naturally make people look to henchmen more, but raising the cost of those henchmen at the same time might actually take money from your pocketbook. My gut is telling me that the cost of a hireling for one round should not equal the price of a hoard pack.
Also, what do you all think about the changes to Sirens and Dr. Von's Monster (no longer Dr. Katzenstein's Monster)? Looks like Sirens was nerfed a touch and Frankenstein is now adding a -25% healing debuff on the target. On the surface that seems like it could be useful in PvP. What do you think?
Thanks for reading and as always, let me know what I've forgotten or missed. It's appreciated. :)
Happy Dueling!
It'd be nice to see what exactly got tweaked? From Kevin's vlog, it appears that mobs have more health and critical more often. He also adds that it might simply mean you shield more often and that fights will take a bit longer, which is basically what people were asking for . . . a little bit more of a challenge.
I hope that in the future that KI will look at increasing challenge in a more creative way. "Creative" though usually means "more time consuming." To quote myself:
"And that's another question. How should KingsIsle make the fights more difficult if they do? I don't think it's as simple as adding 1,000 health to every mob. I think most of us would rather see a more interesting mechanic rather than just stacking health on the things we fight. Strange resists? Beserk on first round? More healing mobs? More but limited battle circle sizes? More difficult puzzles? What is it that could make this more interesting to the battle weary legendary wizards?"I have a sneaking suspicion that we're entirely too late in the game for many "interesting changes." You know?
The other change seems to be Level 70 henchmen got buffed and correspondingly became more expensive. Although I'm not sure if the price was just to discourage people from using them too much on the test realm, be carefully with the pricing, KI. If you raise that cost too much, people won't use them. Raising the difficulty of the world is great and will naturally make people look to henchmen more, but raising the cost of those henchmen at the same time might actually take money from your pocketbook. My gut is telling me that the cost of a hireling for one round should not equal the price of a hoard pack.
Also, what do you all think about the changes to Sirens and Dr. Von's Monster (no longer Dr. Katzenstein's Monster)? Looks like Sirens was nerfed a touch and Frankenstein is now adding a -25% healing debuff on the target. On the surface that seems like it could be useful in PvP. What do you think?
Thanks for reading and as always, let me know what I've forgotten or missed. It's appreciated. :)
Happy Dueling!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
FOG . . . er Game Strategyst Came in the Mail!
So "Fun Online Games" seems to be taking a step back and "Game Strategyst" seems to be taking a step forward for the name of this magazine. Previously the magazine was Fun Online Games with Game Strategyst and now it's the reverse: Game Strategyst with Fun Online Games. Either way, the most recent issue looks like this on the cover:
Awww! That's sad that Lego Universe is the cover story, and now it's going bye bye. My kids love that game! Lately, besides Super Hero Squad Online, that's been Diapermancer's goto game to play. PLAY IT WHILE YOU CAN SON! Lego Universe is going the way of the Dodo!
Parents, this might be a good issue for you to buy if your kids like video games!Pages 26-45 are covered page to page with recent videogame releases as a Holiday Gaming guide. You may want to throw those pages in front of your kids with a pen and have them circle the ones they want for when you craft that letter to Santa.
Inside that magazine you'll also find a great article about Zafaria from moi.
That's right! Zafaria! A far out Safari in Wizard101 written by The Friendly Necromancer. Yup, I knew all about zone names, introductory story plot, and Level 68 spells waaaaay before that awesome video from KI came out. I had to in order to write this story, but of course I couldn't say anything to you all without pre-approval from KingsIsle. (Take note budding game writers! It's called an "embargo," and it means you can't talk about pre-released material until the company's PR says "GO!")
These articles are always a little difficult to write because you're writing blind. KI spoon feeds you information and then through a series of questions and answers you fill in the blanks and start piecing together an article. A lot of coordination goes into articles about unreleased information, so a big thank you goes to KI's Marketing Department from me!
I'm glad that article made it out before Zafaria went live. Secretly I continue to hope that the magazine will hit the shelves early, and I will score a massive scoop . . . but that never happens anymore. Awww well. :) I think this will be a really solid article for people who haven't played Wizard101 for a while yet still read Game Strategyst. Hopefully we'll see a few of our old friends back online.
The code in the magazine this time is for a Candy Cane Wand, perfect for the holiday seasons. It comes with 6 copies of the Ice Shard spell, which does 50 ice damage when cast.
Thanks and Happy Dueling!
Awww! That's sad that Lego Universe is the cover story, and now it's going bye bye. My kids love that game! Lately, besides Super Hero Squad Online, that's been Diapermancer's goto game to play. PLAY IT WHILE YOU CAN SON! Lego Universe is going the way of the Dodo!
Parents, this might be a good issue for you to buy if your kids like video games!Pages 26-45 are covered page to page with recent videogame releases as a Holiday Gaming guide. You may want to throw those pages in front of your kids with a pen and have them circle the ones they want for when you craft that letter to Santa.
Inside that magazine you'll also find a great article about Zafaria from moi.
That's right! Zafaria! A far out Safari in Wizard101 written by The Friendly Necromancer. Yup, I knew all about zone names, introductory story plot, and Level 68 spells waaaaay before that awesome video from KI came out. I had to in order to write this story, but of course I couldn't say anything to you all without pre-approval from KingsIsle. (Take note budding game writers! It's called an "embargo," and it means you can't talk about pre-released material until the company's PR says "GO!")
These articles are always a little difficult to write because you're writing blind. KI spoon feeds you information and then through a series of questions and answers you fill in the blanks and start piecing together an article. A lot of coordination goes into articles about unreleased information, so a big thank you goes to KI's Marketing Department from me!
I'm glad that article made it out before Zafaria went live. Secretly I continue to hope that the magazine will hit the shelves early, and I will score a massive scoop . . . but that never happens anymore. Awww well. :) I think this will be a really solid article for people who haven't played Wizard101 for a while yet still read Game Strategyst. Hopefully we'll see a few of our old friends back online.
The code in the magazine this time is for a Candy Cane Wand, perfect for the holiday seasons. It comes with 6 copies of the Ice Shard spell, which does 50 ice damage when cast.
Thanks and Happy Dueling!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Wizard101 Shows Valor!
Wizard101 players got a nice surprise today as they logged in.
By clicking the "Redeem Shield of Valor" today, Wizard101 players were redirected to Wizard101.com where the code "Valor2011" was entered into the redemption block after being directed to log in.
"In recognition of all those who have served their countries, we offer you the opportunity to claim a Shield of Valor housing decoration item."
It's a very cool looking wall hanging. I've been saving my secret room in my Massive Fantasy Palace for something special, and I think i just found what it will be for. VALOR!
I didn't talk much about receiving the Valor sword for 2009 (because I was busy answering questions), but here's a link to my Veteran's day entry for 2010, which is when I received my statue.
Back in 2009, if you sent KingsIsle an e-mail with a note about a family member that was in the Armed Services, they sent you a code for a Valor sword. That promotion obviously has now ended. My father was in the Army. He never felt quite right about being recognized as a veteran since his experience in the Army was quite different than most. As a matter of fact, my dad was a pretty stellar basketball player and ended up as the Center on the Army basketball team during the Korean War. His tour of duty was spent playing basketball and going to school to become a pharmacist while, he felt, others were sent to die for their country on the battlefield.
But, I don't think he understood that his part in the war was one of building morale. At his funeral they sent him off with a 21-gun salute and handed my mother a flag that had been flown over this great country. He was a veteran, and continued to serve his country in local government positions throughout his life. I'm proud of him, and so this one's for you dad!
Happy Veteran's day from someone who also tries to build morale and silently does his part for the country. Thanks, dad!
Happy dueling!
By clicking the "Redeem Shield of Valor" today, Wizard101 players were redirected to Wizard101.com where the code "Valor2011" was entered into the redemption block after being directed to log in.
"In recognition of all those who have served their countries, we offer you the opportunity to claim a Shield of Valor housing decoration item."
It's a very cool looking wall hanging. I've been saving my secret room in my Massive Fantasy Palace for something special, and I think i just found what it will be for. VALOR!
I didn't talk much about receiving the Valor sword for 2009 (because I was busy answering questions), but here's a link to my Veteran's day entry for 2010, which is when I received my statue.
Back in 2009, if you sent KingsIsle an e-mail with a note about a family member that was in the Armed Services, they sent you a code for a Valor sword. That promotion obviously has now ended. My father was in the Army. He never felt quite right about being recognized as a veteran since his experience in the Army was quite different than most. As a matter of fact, my dad was a pretty stellar basketball player and ended up as the Center on the Army basketball team during the Korean War. His tour of duty was spent playing basketball and going to school to become a pharmacist while, he felt, others were sent to die for their country on the battlefield.
But, I don't think he understood that his part in the war was one of building morale. At his funeral they sent him off with a 21-gun salute and handed my mother a flag that had been flown over this great country. He was a veteran, and continued to serve his country in local government positions throughout his life. I'm proud of him, and so this one's for you dad!
Happy Veteran's day from someone who also tries to build morale and silently does his part for the country. Thanks, dad!
Happy dueling!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Zafaria Too Easy?
I've been seeing a couple of threads on central proclaiming that Zafaria is too easy: like this one (where at least 61 people agree) and this one (where a call is made to add 1000 health to all mobs and add more cheating bosses).
Personally I am sitting right below level 62. I kind of wanted to sit out for a bit and let the test realm die down from the madhouse that it was on day one. It's been really nice being able to find a battle circle and still group with people.
I can identify a little bit with the sentiment that the world is too easy, but then I also remember what Krokotopia was like. Do you remember playing through Krokotopia and encountering those 150 health manders after you had just been downing some rather difficult scarecrows (for your level) in the haunted cave? Eventually the difficulty of Krokotopia ramped up, but it never was horribly difficult.
Have I died in Zafaria? yeah, I took a defeat against Queen Tanei Ghostmane's 3 vs. 1 battle this morning in the Savannah right before posting this.
Will it stop me in my tracks over and over? Oh, not at all. I'll simply adjust my strategy a bit or bring an extra character with me. We have four accounts after all and people on our friends lists . . . the easiest way to beat something difficult is add another wizard, and perhaps that is why the difficulty seems meaningless to many?
Every fight in the test realm on the opening day (and day after) was most likely faced with 2-3 other wizards by your side. Then again, even with the Necromancer, who is designed to solo, I was feeling those first few mobs could have been a little tougher. Too be honest, you'd think KingsIsle would make things a little harder to upsell their hireling sales in the crownshop. ;)
I did keep thinking to myself, how in the world would Angus ever get through a world like this where mobs start with 3 power pips and cast right out of the gate . . . not giving many rounds to shield at all. I have no idea.
So, what do you all think after playing through Zafaria a bit . . . is it too easy? Should KingsIsle give us more of a challenge, even outside the boss fights?
And that's another question. How should KingsIsle make the fights more difficult if they do? I don't think it's as simple as adding 1,000 health to every mob. I think most of us would rather see a more interesting mechanic rather than just stacking health on the things we fight. Strange resists? Beserk on first round? More healing mobs? More but limited battle circle sizes? More difficult puzzles? What is it that could make this more interesting to the battle weary legendary wizards?
OR, does it not matter the difficulty? does it only matter that I play here with my friends and enjoy an "easy" (gotta put that in quotes because Angus is pooping his pants over how he'd survive without gear) challenge?
Let me know what you think!
Happy Dueling!
Personally I am sitting right below level 62. I kind of wanted to sit out for a bit and let the test realm die down from the madhouse that it was on day one. It's been really nice being able to find a battle circle and still group with people.
I can identify a little bit with the sentiment that the world is too easy, but then I also remember what Krokotopia was like. Do you remember playing through Krokotopia and encountering those 150 health manders after you had just been downing some rather difficult scarecrows (for your level) in the haunted cave? Eventually the difficulty of Krokotopia ramped up, but it never was horribly difficult.
Have I died in Zafaria? yeah, I took a defeat against Queen Tanei Ghostmane's 3 vs. 1 battle this morning in the Savannah right before posting this.
Will it stop me in my tracks over and over? Oh, not at all. I'll simply adjust my strategy a bit or bring an extra character with me. We have four accounts after all and people on our friends lists . . . the easiest way to beat something difficult is add another wizard, and perhaps that is why the difficulty seems meaningless to many?
Every fight in the test realm on the opening day (and day after) was most likely faced with 2-3 other wizards by your side. Then again, even with the Necromancer, who is designed to solo, I was feeling those first few mobs could have been a little tougher. Too be honest, you'd think KingsIsle would make things a little harder to upsell their hireling sales in the crownshop. ;)
I did keep thinking to myself, how in the world would Angus ever get through a world like this where mobs start with 3 power pips and cast right out of the gate . . . not giving many rounds to shield at all. I have no idea.
So, what do you all think after playing through Zafaria a bit . . . is it too easy? Should KingsIsle give us more of a challenge, even outside the boss fights?
And that's another question. How should KingsIsle make the fights more difficult if they do? I don't think it's as simple as adding 1,000 health to every mob. I think most of us would rather see a more interesting mechanic rather than just stacking health on the things we fight. Strange resists? Beserk on first round? More healing mobs? More but limited battle circle sizes? More difficult puzzles? What is it that could make this more interesting to the battle weary legendary wizards?
OR, does it not matter the difficulty? does it only matter that I play here with my friends and enjoy an "easy" (gotta put that in quotes because Angus is pooping his pants over how he'd survive without gear) challenge?
Let me know what you think!
Happy Dueling!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Zafaria Info from Test Realm EXPLODES! BOOM!
This is how Wizard101 fans operate . . . Less than 24 hours later after Zafaria has been released.
- All level 68 spells have been revealed (A couple Astrals too) (oh yeah, gardening spells too). (oh yeah even MORE astral spells)
- Leopard pet drop location confirmed and skink too. (as well as a confirmation that there is a lack of new school pets.)(also, petnomes for leopard and skink)(also, trying to discover all rewards for feeding pets your gear.)
- Level 70's title is not heroic, but "Transcended."
- There's an elephant transformation potion quest.
- How to beat Belloq's cheat.
- A video of all the new mounts in Zafaria.
- New wand with no level requirement in the crowns shop.
- There are a couple guides at work for Monkees locations: here's one.
WHEW. You all work very fast and furious.
Me? Well, there's no way I can keep up with all that. I'm content with watching from a distance and trying to throw out a joke or two. I did get some time playing with Uber Wife on the test realm last night though! We're finally on the same quest, but I'm pretty sure she's going to play some more today on the test realm without me while I'm at work. I'll catch up. :) Too be honest, it was extremely difficult to find an open slot in the battle circles on the test realm last night. Hopefully that will calm down over the next few days. I think we'll start to see even more information and hopefully more meaningful discussion about how our gameplay will change. Nathan Shadowblood is off to a good start.
Oh yeah, and all this talk this fast is aging me quickly:
I'm a lost student . . . with grey hair! :( KI! My hair is blue not grey! ;)
It's good to see everyone having fun with Zafaria. Remember though, it's not a race (well, anymore at least). We'll all be Transcended soon enough. :) How does it feel to you? Do you like the feel of the new world? Done any good bug reports?
Happy Dueling!
- All level 68 spells have been revealed (A couple Astrals too) (oh yeah, gardening spells too). (oh yeah even MORE astral spells)
- Leopard pet drop location confirmed and skink too. (as well as a confirmation that there is a lack of new school pets.)(also, petnomes for leopard and skink)(also, trying to discover all rewards for feeding pets your gear.)
- Level 70's title is not heroic, but "Transcended."
- There's an elephant transformation potion quest.
- How to beat Belloq's cheat.
- A video of all the new mounts in Zafaria.
- New wand with no level requirement in the crowns shop.
- There are a couple guides at work for Monkees locations: here's one.
WHEW. You all work very fast and furious.
Me? Well, there's no way I can keep up with all that. I'm content with watching from a distance and trying to throw out a joke or two. I did get some time playing with Uber Wife on the test realm last night though! We're finally on the same quest, but I'm pretty sure she's going to play some more today on the test realm without me while I'm at work. I'll catch up. :) Too be honest, it was extremely difficult to find an open slot in the battle circles on the test realm last night. Hopefully that will calm down over the next few days. I think we'll start to see even more information and hopefully more meaningful discussion about how our gameplay will change. Nathan Shadowblood is off to a good start.
Oh yeah, and all this talk this fast is aging me quickly:
I'm a lost student . . . with grey hair! :( KI! My hair is blue not grey! ;)
It's good to see everyone having fun with Zafaria. Remember though, it's not a race (well, anymore at least). We'll all be Transcended soon enough. :) How does it feel to you? Do you like the feel of the new world? Done any good bug reports?
Happy Dueling!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
FW: Wizard101 Test Realm is Online!
OH MY GOSH GO TEST IT! :)
-----Original Message-----
https://www.wizard101.com/game/update-notes/testrealm
Hurray!
~~~~~~~~~~~
HAPPY DUELING!!!!!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Friendly's Halloween MMO Wrap-up 2011
One thing that I love about MMOs and online games is that they all usually dress up for Halloween. :) They all seem to provide some kind of wacky and festive prize, and I loves me some prizes!
Here's a quick run down of a few of the games that I played during the Halloween season and got a little somethin' somethin' for it.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wizard101
The Spiral was once again alive with little ghosts floating all around Wizard City and pumpkins at every doorstep. The spooky cutouts were everywhere, and the Halloween towers were a good time for everyone. It's all packed up as of today, but it sure was fun while it lasted.
Just as a side note . . . my favorite quest for Halloween is blowing out pumpkins because I get to hear the narrator say "Halloween pumpkin" in an evil voice. I want to sample that and make a song out of it. HALLOWEEN PUMPKINNNNN!
Of course, the Nightmare packs and new crown shop pets made this an entirely different Halloweenfest than ever before. The nightmare packs felt totally handcrafted for The Friendly Necromancer. Thanks KingsIsle for making that pack! Tons of fun. From what I understand, those are going away from The Spiral in like a week. Get 'em while you can!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Dragon's Nest
There's a quest series in Dragon's Nest that you get from Irine in Canderock Pass where if you kill three pumpkin ducks and earned their "tickets" you can get a temporary Halloween pumpkin head for your character.
I played for a bit one night with Tipa from West Karana, and we leveled our clerics while hunting for these pumpkin ducks. It was a ton of fun. Thanks Tipa! We played enough that she could specialize her cleric as a paladin, and I could specialize my cleric as a priest. :) (That's 2/3rds of the MMO trifecta right there. ;))
There are other events in DN that you can do for Halloween, but this was the only one I participated in.
~~~~~~~~~~
Free Realms
The land of Free Realms was celebrating their Spooktacular event again this year. You can learn about all the new stuff in Spooktacular here. The bat ride over water is awesome. WATERSKI! Anyway, the city square of the Sanctuary area had a few quests you could complete from Halloween Harry (a skeleton named Harry is awesome). Since I've been back at leveling my soccer star profession (level 15!), I took the opportunity to go spook a few of the townies and receive their gifts. I love eating candy that turns you into a spider. :)
~~~~~~~~~~
Dungeons and Dragons Online
DDO was once again hosting the "Endless Night" festival. I spent an hour or so running around the Delera's Tomb area where a usually empty zone gets turned on its head as undead start spawning all over the place (lore note: That's because Mabar, the Plane of Night, manifests there--SPOOKY). Basically these undead drop items you can turn in for Motes of Night and buy yourself cool undead bane items . . . OR, if you're like me, 50 pumpkin grenades or so to throw at your friends to make them have a pumpkin head for 15 minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anything else?
No, not for me. Those were the only Halloween MMO events I attended this year. There were plenty other events . . . in fact you can check out a big list of them over on Massively. (Of course, Massively totally didn't care about finding Gary on Club Penguin this Halloween ;) Hope you had a chance to catch a couple of these! Did you get a chance to celebrate Halloween in another game besides Wizard101?
Happy Dueling!
Here's a quick run down of a few of the games that I played during the Halloween season and got a little somethin' somethin' for it.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wizard101
The Spiral was once again alive with little ghosts floating all around Wizard City and pumpkins at every doorstep. The spooky cutouts were everywhere, and the Halloween towers were a good time for everyone. It's all packed up as of today, but it sure was fun while it lasted.
Just as a side note . . . my favorite quest for Halloween is blowing out pumpkins because I get to hear the narrator say "Halloween pumpkin" in an evil voice. I want to sample that and make a song out of it. HALLOWEEN PUMPKINNNNN!
Of course, the Nightmare packs and new crown shop pets made this an entirely different Halloweenfest than ever before. The nightmare packs felt totally handcrafted for The Friendly Necromancer. Thanks KingsIsle for making that pack! Tons of fun. From what I understand, those are going away from The Spiral in like a week. Get 'em while you can!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Dragon's Nest
There's a quest series in Dragon's Nest that you get from Irine in Canderock Pass where if you kill three pumpkin ducks and earned their "tickets" you can get a temporary Halloween pumpkin head for your character.
I played for a bit one night with Tipa from West Karana, and we leveled our clerics while hunting for these pumpkin ducks. It was a ton of fun. Thanks Tipa! We played enough that she could specialize her cleric as a paladin, and I could specialize my cleric as a priest. :) (That's 2/3rds of the MMO trifecta right there. ;))
There are other events in DN that you can do for Halloween, but this was the only one I participated in.
~~~~~~~~~~
Free Realms
The land of Free Realms was celebrating their Spooktacular event again this year. You can learn about all the new stuff in Spooktacular here. The bat ride over water is awesome. WATERSKI! Anyway, the city square of the Sanctuary area had a few quests you could complete from Halloween Harry (a skeleton named Harry is awesome). Since I've been back at leveling my soccer star profession (level 15!), I took the opportunity to go spook a few of the townies and receive their gifts. I love eating candy that turns you into a spider. :)
~~~~~~~~~~
Dungeons and Dragons Online
DDO was once again hosting the "Endless Night" festival. I spent an hour or so running around the Delera's Tomb area where a usually empty zone gets turned on its head as undead start spawning all over the place (lore note: That's because Mabar, the Plane of Night, manifests there--SPOOKY). Basically these undead drop items you can turn in for Motes of Night and buy yourself cool undead bane items . . . OR, if you're like me, 50 pumpkin grenades or so to throw at your friends to make them have a pumpkin head for 15 minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anything else?
No, not for me. Those were the only Halloween MMO events I attended this year. There were plenty other events . . . in fact you can check out a big list of them over on Massively. (Of course, Massively totally didn't care about finding Gary on Club Penguin this Halloween ;) Hope you had a chance to catch a couple of these! Did you get a chance to celebrate Halloween in another game besides Wizard101?
Happy Dueling!
Zafaria news exploding!
Yup, it's starting to break all over the MMO news scene as KingsIsle officially announced the name of the new Wizard101 expansion today!
Everybody ready for Zafaria!? I AM! BRING IT MORGANTHE!!
~~~~~~~~~
1. IGN
2. Massively
3. Beckett
4. MMORPG
5. Wizard101's Newsletter
~~~~~~~~~
Everybody ready for Zafaria!? I AM! BRING IT MORGANTHE!!
~~~~~~~~~
1. IGN
2. Massively
3. Beckett
4. MMORPG
5. Wizard101's Newsletter
~~~~~~~~~
Happy Dueling!!