Liebsters have claws *pinch pinch*

Thanks to Soultamer for nominating me for a Liebster Award!

Without further ado . . . my ten answers:

1-If you had the choice of neither Coke nor Pepsi, what would you choose? (Bonus points if your answer isn't water)

So I've been asking my wife for a soda-making machine for a couple years now. I do this thing where I ask for something for my birthday, and then waffle about it, which makes her not want to buy it . . . but really deep down inside I'm hoping she throws caution to the wind and just buys me one?

Anyway, I would love to try a cola from a SodaStream Machine.  The starter kit is $100 at Target. :)

~~
2-What effects has blogging made on your life? Has it imprinted on more than your schedule?

Oh my . . . it changed it. I have my current job because I started blogging about Wizard101 all those years ago.  I'm pretty sure everyone knows that I haven't had the time to keep up with it lately. It's a pretty time-consuming task and a labor of love.

~~
3-Where I am, there's plenty of pollen - and it's making me sick! What's the weather like right now? How is it affecting you?

I don't know if I'm sick or if it's allergies. The symptoms seem about the same. Everyone in Austin complains about Cedar Fever from some time in November to some time in March.



~~
4-Would you rather your greatest struggle in life be made into a game, or your most recent nightmare? Describe your choice.

I'm hard pressed to remember a recent nightmare . . . most of the time when it happens it's just a muddy mess of worry. I hurt my arm last year when I was up wandering around late at night and tripped over a children's rocking chair in my path. That was like a living nightmare.  I hit the ground on my face, twisted my arm and leg . . . I couldn't even drive my stick shift for a couple days afterwards my arm hurt so badly.

I don't know how fun a game of avoiding obstacles in a dark living room would be?

~~
5-Now, pitch that game to me. What are the mechanics? Which genres would it fit? *shifty glare* Mac compatible?

Ok, so you're sitting in bed fighting back a worry meter. Tossing and turning to get rid of invading thoughts that threaten to chew your brain to mush, but doing so also risks causing the zombie sleep walk.  Once that worry meter caps out, BAM, you're up out of bed wandering in a familiar darkness. Obstacles are in your path as you wander to the couch looking to escape the humid heat and memories of invading thoughts. If you trip over something, game over. If you successfully get a glass of water and back to bed, you'll get a refresh on your worry meter and the process starts over and over until you reach the rainbow unicorn level.

High score wins . . . a rainbow unicorn level?

Genre? Permadeath Physics-based clicker? Could also simply be a level in Warioware?

Mac Compatible? Sure! Why not? As long as we're dreaming, let's go for it!

~~
6-Have you ever been frustrated to the point of 'keyboard smashing' when trying to write a blog post? What do you end up typing? Alternatively, what do you do when you're frustrated?

Not really. Instead I have post after post of unpublished blather that never gets seen beyond my own eyes.  If I'm frustrated, it'll likely come across in my post, and I'd rather not project that if possible.

~~
7-What's the most ambitious thing you've done in your life, according to you? How has that experience affected you?

I stand up in front of all KingsIsle employees every other week as a very small part in a big all-hands-on-deck type of meeting, and I let them know the fans of the game are cheering them on and what fun stuff is going on in the community. It's something I always dreamed of doing when on the other side . . . now it's a reality.

~~
8-You're trapped on a distant island with a console/accessories and ONE GAME. You do not have internet connection, but you somehow have sufficient power to have just enough battery life and hardware quality until you are saved. Which game, console, and accessories would you have on you?

Minecraft offline.  I find playing it to be incredibly soothing and a very methodical way to waste time. I will happily spend four hours chipping away at the bottom layer of the world in search of diamonds and not even miss the time.

~~
9-Zombie apocalypse has hit! You have six hours to get ready and go (or not)! Describe your game plan.

If watching H1Z1 livestreams has taught me anything, my greatest fear will be other people, not the zombies.  Also, blackberries, make-shift bows, backpacks, and motorcycle helmets go a long way to keeping you alive.

~~
10-What song is stuck in your head? Describe its merits.

This is going to sound incredibly self-absorbed, but I write music on the side, and one of my own tracks is in my head lately.  We have a self-imposed deadline to get it in its final version, polished, and ready for publication to iTunes in a month or so.  I need to rerecord the vocals and there's a few tracks that just aren't working right.  It doesn't have merits yet . . . and that's the beauty of it . . . of any unfinished song, really.  At some point we'll have to call it done and see what kind of wings it has.

~~

I'd now like to nominate Tish Tosh Tesh, Tipa from West Karana, Lionrider King, Questproquo, and Stephen Spiritcaller for a Liebster, and here are your ten questions from me:

1- You're suddenly very tiny and trapped in a giant salad bowl, what do you do?

2- What's your very first memory of playing video games? If you could lie about that question to make it sound more cool, which game would you choose instead?

3- What's your favorite comic book series? Why?

4- Most astounding food you've ever tasted?  Was it every bit as good the second time you tried it?

5- What's something you've lost in your life that you'll never get back. If you did find it, what would you do with it?

6- What theory, rule, or insight do you remember most from school? What made it stick in your head?

7- You want to make me a mix CD. What five songs (or artists if you can't name individual songs) would be essential to the mix?

8- What website do you use that you feel more people should know about?

9- If you were to take a week long trip to get away from everything and find some peace of mind, where would you go? Why?

10- What's the one game everybody should play? What feeling does it tap into for you?

~~

Happy Dueling!

The Avalon Song (Zafaria Remix by DJ Friendly)!

WAZZZZZZZ UPPPPPPPP?!?!?!

Sorry . . . I'm just excited because for the past few weeks I've been messing around with The Chez's Avalon Song. I emailed him after his song hit the world, and asked if I could remix his tune for fun, and he said YES!

I've now uploaded this remix to my Google Doc site where I keep all my remixes:

The Avalon Song (Zafaria Remix by DJ Friendly)

And, if you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to a few posts ago where I talk about the awesomeness that is The Avalon Song. I love the original, obviously, and I think it's really cool (and to be celebrated) whenever anyone in the community expresses themselves creatively like this. *round of applause for The Chez*

Anyway, I hope someone at least enjoys that remix as much as I had fun making it. :) hehe.

Happy Dueling!

THIS! . . . is EPIC! (Avalon Song)

Just in case you haven't seen this yet from The Chezz:



All the awards! YES! Nicely done, guys!

Happy Dueling

Test Realm Up! TAG YOU'RE IT!

KingsIsle opened up the Test Realm yesterday afternoon, and as to be expected, there has already been a lot of talk about it.

I don't have much more to add than what these fine bloggers have already said:

- Wizard101 Madness

- A Pyromancer Say

- Secrets of the Spiral

- The Unicornflower's Type - Great guide to Tag Stars here.

- Around the Spiral with Edward Lifegem

- Paige's Page

- Diana Wildheart: Guardian Theurgist's Journal - Talks about playing tag at Bailey's house yesterday.

- Valerian's School for Wayward Wizards - reminds us to train our pets while we're in the Test Realm.

The fine people at Central are also talking up a storm on the test realm forum: click. Seems like there's already talk of coordinating massive tag games here. :)

The Tag game is currently priced at 2000 crowns on the Test realm. That seems reasonable for the hours of fun people are reporting from this housing enhancement.


I can already imagine how this will redefine some people's decorating choices. hehe. BRING ON THE HOUSE MAZES! When derby was introduced into The Spiral, it seemed like a lot of people wanted to have derby races in their housing. I have to say this is BETTER than having a derby track for your house. Nicely done, KingsIsle!

Be sure to report those bugs and have a good time playing tag on the test realm. :)

Happy Dueling!

Metoo and Brittany? Definitely Ditto Fans.

So, I got an e-mail from a couple of Fabricated Americans the other day,

"Hi Frizendly!!! How's you? I'm Metoo, and I'm kind of shy, but my friend Brittany isn't! Anyway we're fans of Ditto Wizard and we know you know him from Ravenwood Radio and stuff. So do you think you could post this on your blog or something so he will see it? You could just forward it to him to if you don't want to but it would be cool if you would. PLEAZZEE! WE LOVE DITTO AND MS. NARRATOR!

-Metoo and Brittany Bell"

Hey! I think Ditto is pretty awesome too, so what the heck! This one's for you Ditto!



Happy Dueling!

Check this out! (Episode 10)

Heya!

I've had a few things come across my inbox that I'd like to share/address with you all. You know, stuff I think you should check out! (If you haven't already. :)) So, that means it's time for another CHECK . . . THIS . . . OUT!

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First up, it's a contest going on over on mywizard101site in conjunction with their podcast Spiral Live. Basically all you have to do is send them some fan art. Although it says, "send in your picture by this Friday December 9th." They are still looking for a couple of entries for that contest, which actually features a crown prize from me (among a few other prizes).

Word has it that they will be closing the contest this coming Friday (16 December), so if you want a chance at 1,000 crowns, send those "Spiral Live" related fan art pictures in to spirallivepodcast@gmail.com

Best of luck Spiral Live! It's tough starting up a new podcast, so I hope you do well and get a few more entries.

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

Ravenwood Radio 54 last week was a lot of fun. That episode has not yet been posted to their Itunes page, but keep an eye out there. Ravenwood Radio 54 also signals the MIGHTY RETURN of a Friendly Necromancer segment, and judging from the reactions in the chat room, it looked like it went over well.

I thought I'd go ahead and put my segment up on my google docs page for you all to download since there were a few people that asked for that. CHECK IT OUT!

Hope you enjoy my interview with a few of my pets, and thanks again Sierra Starsong for sending me in a segment idea. Feel free to e-mail segment ideas to thefriendlynecromancer@gmail.com.

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Next up is some awesome fan art I received from Esmee Nighteyes. Check this out!



Wow! Nicely done. She calls it my "congratulations for being in a Wizard101 commercial" gift! That's awesome.

Esmee also noted that as she was going through the Wizard101 Fan Art she noticed that a few of them were "retraces" or "recolors" of the Bleach and Ouran High School Host Club manga. And she asked if I considered that "fan art" or if that was in bad taste.

You know, I'm not 100 percent sure if that is or isn't fan art, and really isn't a question for me, but I'm sure Professor Greyrose would be interested in hearing about any particular issues of that nature. Probably the best course of action would be to send her an e-mail and point out the offending pictures that might be someone else's work.

I'm trying to think like if someone drew a more well known western character from Disney, but put them in a Wizard City outfit and environment, would they accept that? It's hard to tell.

Again, not my call, but THANKS FOR THIS FAN ART! I love it! I'll have to put it on my header for a week or two or something. It's pure awesome.

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Hunter Moonbreath sent me this e-mail:

"Hey friendly! You are epic. I was wondering. How do you beat enemies that are really hard? I have mannaged to make it through with some friends. So how do i do this by myself? Its hard when my friends arnt on. Also what do you do when your a fire wizard like me. I am also playing as my Death any suggestions? Hope i meet you in the Spiral! ~ Hunter MoonBreath"

Hey Hunter! NO YOU'RE EPIC! I once gave some suggestions for soloing towers in Dragonspyre as a fire wizard, perhaps that advice will help? Check that out!

In the end, it's all about deck construction and knowing what kind of spells your enemies are going to throw at you. Sometimes checking out the wiki on those really hard bosses will help give you a leg up on what to expect.

Best of luck!

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Next up is an e-mail from an anonymous wizard:

"I am writing this email for two reasons; one from your site i have seen you have amazing pets, and two you seem like the guy to ask when it comes to anything wizard101. My problem is that i have just begun to care about my pets and i am trying to raise them to have good talents, but so far i keep getting useless talents. I had a few questions that i was hoping you could answer. First does the value of the snack, i.e the number on the snack image, matter? I got a mega snack pack once and got epic talents to appear but after i ran out my pet started to get common talents, i assume there related but figured i would ask. Second does the school of the snack matter? I know that if they like/love the snack they will get more power but can i feed them a different school snack than there own school without affecting their talent outcome. And lastly to increase my pets pedigree do i have to keep hatching the same pet multiple time because i have tried to get a stronger pet from hatching but whenever i mix two pets the new pet gets a lower or average pedigree. Well thanks for your time sorry for the long email. And happy holidays."

Thanks for writing! No the value of the snack or megasnack has nothing to do with making epic talents manifest. Any appearances of that happening are simply . . . VOODOO! RUN!

Your pet's talents are determined upon creation. All snacks do is help unlock those talents faster. This is the reason why some people hit the test realm so hard when it comes out . . . they're trying to find out what talents their baby pets have so they don't have to waste their time in the real realm working up those pets with "real" money if their talents are garbage traits they don't want. Yup, it's a little sneaky.

Also, the class of the pet snack will not cause a certain talent to manifest. As was stated before, all snacks do is help unlock those talents faster. It makes no difference if you feed a death pet a life snack. Whatever talents were marked to manifest at birth, are the talents that will manifest.

The best way to raise a pet's pedigree is to mix it with a pet that has a higher pedigree and so on and so forth until you create a monster with all epic talents. It's a very time intensive endeavor. Pedigree is nice, but what you're really after are a few key traits.

Make sure you check out Petnome. There's a wealth of information over there.

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Luke Goldflame asks:

"In the Haunted Cave right near the bosses tower (I am blanking on his name) and it has a death school logo on it. It isn't open but I don't know what it is. Do you?"

Ahhh, this question has already been answered by Professor Diapermancer. Check it out.

(it doesn't lead anywhere . . . yet)

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

It's hard to miss (it is on the patcher after all), but I really want to catalog this one here. it's just that good. It's the behind the scenes look at the making of Zafaria.



LOL. I think my favorite part of this video is when J. Todd Coleman says, "It's the turn of the beak and it's the feet. This is so much better than Zafaria."

I think I could rewind that part over and over.

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

A co-worker of mine sent me off to check out this site: Draw a stickman. That's a fun time waster! I like the message at the end though.


Ahh! It's stickman Thomas Lionblood!

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



I'm Tom - "gamer dad" LOL!

I saw the commercial on TVLand last night and freaked out. We were watching Bonanza all night last night because of that. My real-life boss called me at 9:00 pm last night all excited because she had seen me on TV while watching the Investigative Discovery channel.

Word from Fred Howard is that the new commercial is airing on the following channels:

- Chiller
- CLOO (formerly Sleuth)
- Game Show Network
- Investigation Discovery
- Lifetime Movie Network
- TV Land

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

And that's all I have for today's Check this out! Thanks for all the e-mails and inspiration!

Happy Dueling!

The Week Wrap Up From Friendly

Drew Simon the other day (from the Frostbite blog) said in a comment, "Friendly, your lack of theorys convince me that. . . You already KNOW what's coming up in Wizard101!"

My response to that is . . . what's coming up for Wizard101 is more spending of your hard earned money on CROWNS!!!! ;) That's a given isn't it?

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Hey look! My Beckett's magazine came in the mail!


Nice 4-page Angus article in there for you all. :) The free code in there this time is a free Eye of The Bartleby pack. Hope you get a cool EotB Feint in that pack! :) The second page of the article even has a shnazzy picture of Todd Rogers on it. ;) The rest of the mag is packed full of MMO news, tips, and previews. Uber Wife found another game she wants to play with me called Salem. It's not even in closed beta yet. Thanks to Sean Kavanagh for his great write up!

As a compliment to my article (or vice versa how ever you look at it), there's a great 2-page WoW article titled "The flightpath less traveled" that details five unique ways to play through World of Warcraft (no pets, solo, exploration, fashionista, and pacifist). Good stuff!

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On the good news front, we managed to get our Wii back from the repair shop. yup, $40 later we have a working wii (its laser finally gave out from reading the fingerprints of many sticky-fingered children). Also on the good news front, we managed to dislodge the three gamecube games Diapermancer stuffed in the wii the very next day we received it back from the repair shop.

Here's a tip if you run into the problem of a jammed Wii full of gamecube games. Shake out/pull out what you can. Then, press the eject button and insert a blank CD-R that you don't mind ruining into the console as it's trying to eject your stuck disk. Turn off the Wii when you have the blank CD-R inserted about 90% of the way. Turn your wii back on and with any luck your jammed game will eject along with the CD-R. You may have to try this a few times to get it to work.

;)

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I've been frequenting my real-life facebook page lately posting about 80's videos. Since I usually defer my W101 buds to friend add my Thomas Lionblood character on Facebook instead of my real facebook, y'all been missing out on the fun!

Here's a sampling:

A formal dinner party is harried by strange noises coming from the attic. Soon the strange noises turn to absolute mayhem as the butler delivers a gift of rats on a silver platter to the table. A guitarist from the band above crashes through the ceiling and finishes his solo on the dinner table, completely expelling any shred of formality left behind. The butler and the eligible bachlorette from the dinner party have a startling transformation into the rockers that were inside them all the while.



With a snap or five of his fingers, Lionel and his underground group of synchronized dancers rescue a lonely woman in red after she falls short of the bride's prized bouquet at a Spanish wedding. Forget the alley way, motel corridor, coffee shop, or balcony. Although these are prized hiding spots, the red light district is Lionel's favorite. Could a bride be tempted so soon by Lionel’s forbidden love?



The scene begins in a club. Night after night, Kajagoogoo and the waitress with the really great hair always meet eyes, but unfortunately the unassuming yellow tank top isn't enough to bring forth her inner tiger--she's too shy shy.



:) Ahhh, the 80's. LOL

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In other news, Wizard101 is DESTROYING Free Realms in the unicorn poll. I maintain that they used the wrong unicorn for Free Realms. Seriously, I mean check me out on my unicorn ride.


The mane of the Free Realms unicorn MOUNT undulates the full spectrum of the rainbow and the hooves sparkle as you run. There's a glow from the horn that's awesome and guides your way at night.

I still think the Wizard101 unicorn would win . . . just because it's Wizard101, but that little runty Free Realms pet unicorn doesn't even stand a chance. LOL

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. . . as for an update on Angus. He's now through the Tower Archives and Plaza of Conquests and into The Grand Chasm. Check out this one shot kill from Angus on the Sea Lord.


BOOM 3,000+ over kill. :) That's the power of a treasure blade, stormblade, supercharge, treasure feint, storm trap, windstorm, storm prism, and a fully charged tempest.

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Matt Daley from BigWorld sent me a link to a World of Tanks related video that was filmed at GDCO featuring an interview with Chris Keeling from Wargaming.net. As a summation of this video . . . Chris talks a lot about the juxtaposition of realism vs. fun they've brought to the game's weapons. A good quote from the video is this, "It's a game first and foremost, and not a simulation. In World of Tanks for example, we don't want it to be super realistic, we want it to be super fun! You play with tanks from all nations mixed together because it's a good time."



Stephen Spiritcaller had a chance to talk with these people as well, and he highly recommends the game. I've played it and have it installed on my computer currently as well. As with most "shooter" games, I spend most of my time being the easy target, but it is a blast to play. To be honest, it was Uber Wife who even got me to try this game out! She really thought the guy from World of Tanks from last year's GDCO coverage was (to quote) "Charismatic." Give it a shot if you like this kind of stuff! :)

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OHMYGOSH I was on a LOTRO podcast. I explain all about my stint on the Liquid LOTRO podcast over on my LOTRO blog called "The Minstrel Magnet," which actually happens to be a much older blog than The Friendly Necromancer here. I just let it kind of sit and do nothing for many years. :)

The podcast features me and Christie (Icywiz) jamming about LOTRO. Hope you enjoy me slaughtering all those LOTRO names! :)

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Ye' old DDO static group (dubbed "Team Spode") has been busy farming the heck out of Gianthold trying to get flagged for one of the final instances in that zone. Every monday I put up a post about our exploits there. If it sounds like something you might be interested in, click.

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My Halloween light show is going good. The neighbors keep dropping by throughout the night to check it out. I'd love to grow it beyond what it is now, but it's costly. Maybe one of these days I can add on an extra row of scare poles with a pumpkin top. Not much about the show has changed from the previous years.

I have added a spider on the roof with a flood light that flashes on him and a small cemetery in the front. It's growing . . . albeit slowly. there's a great OCremix that I want to add to the show's lineup. If I ever grow this, I'm going to either add a Boo Ghost cutout or maybe a video screen showing a quick run through a spooky Mario dungeon. :)



Think you might have heard that in my Red Ghost video before. ;)

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Hope you're all having a great time as we get closer to Halloween! I've run through the entire Halloween quest series a couple times this year. Good stuff. What have you peeps been up to?

Besides work, that's really all I got . . . oh yeah, one last thing . . . BLACK PANTHER MOUNT IN CROWNS SHOP!!!!! :)

Happy dueling!

Stephen Spiritcaller, Icywiz, and Taliesinharps at GDCO

It's GDC season again in Ausin, Texas. You might remember my trip to GDC last year (if not, click here to see all the posts with my GDCO tag and scroll down a few posts). I've been wishing that I was there in GDC this year, but I'm not. Then again, I was sitting around the dinner table with my family last night and took a moment to realize that I was happy to be here as well. It was Taco Salad Tuesday after all! You know I'm loving a little Taco Salad on a Tuesday while chillin' with the fam!

Anyway, there are a few people down there in Austin that you might know. They're taking in all that Austin is and hanging out at GDC. Hanging out at GDC also means you'll probably get to see a random KingsIsle employee hanging out at GDC. That's good stuff for sure.

Stephen Spiritcaller of Ravenwood Radio is keeping a YouTube page about his trek to GDC, and i keep waiting for more information to come out of that. I'm sure we'll see more and more clips of him at GDC being uploaded over the next week. I'll definitely be watching.

You'll also want to be following Stephen's Twitter, Icywiz's Twitter, and Taliesinharps's twitter for more information.

There doesn't seem to be any real news from KingsIsle other than something big is on the horizon, of course, we can always expect there to be something big on the horizon with KingsIsle, so it's kind of non-news, but I'LL TAKE IT! Of other gossip-y news, from what I hear, Stephen and Leesha have now met in real-life thanks to the magic of GDC! I wish I could have been there to see that. :)

Here's to hoping KingsIsle wins an award at the award show tonight at 6:30 pm Central! I'm hoping one of those three twitter feeds linked above will be exploding with on-the-moment news. :)

Happy Dueling!

Random New Game Roundup (Realm of the Mad God, Glitch, and Dragon's Nest)

Heya all,

I took some time off from playing Angus and started messing around on a few new games. I thought I'd just make a post about it here because some of you may be interested in one of these games.

First up: Realm of the Mad God

Amber came home from school one day, fought her way to the computer, and loaded up Realm of the Mad God. We're all, whatttttTTTT? She's all, oh it's some dumb game where I can't even save my level. Instantly I shouted, "I want to try it!" Kyle copied me, "I want to try it!" Before you know it, we're unlocking new characters and rocking the world of said mad god.

Check out my dead level 20 warrior character:


He was awesome. Some guy came up to me and gave me some super awesome gear and before you know it, I'm level 20 attacking a cyclops god at max level.

Just so you know, my daughter was totally right about not being able to save your level. Realm of the Mad God is a permadeath game. Once your character dies, you have to start over, and that's ok, The point is to try and get your fame as high as possible before you die, but it's also to unlock other character classes by getting your character high level.

It's a flash-based, rogue-like crawler game that's fast paced and . . . believe it or not . . . an MMO. Just look at all these crazy peeps:


Grouping is done via just being in the vicinity of other players. You'll get exp for stuff other people kill and vice versa. Don't expect to get healed unless you're fighting something major. 1) Don't think there are a lot of priests out there. 2) You need to learn to keep weaving in and out of things aka DODGE!

My typical method for killing stuff is to run a large circle around monsters to round them up and slowly whittle them down. But my fighter was tough enough with his good gear that I could just go head to toe with monsters and beat them up without much pain.


This kind of fast action / old school vibe was perfect for me this past week. You should check this one out if you're looking for a change of pace. It's free-to-play and definitely has some addictive qualities. Of course, these prices for The Realm of the Mad God's version of crowns are ridiculous. Wow.


I just can't imagine spending 100 bucks on Realm of the Mad God, but to each their own.

~~~~~~~~

Second: Glitch

Glitch is a browser-based 2D MMO. It's hip right now, and to be honest that's probably the only reason I tried it out.


So far the game for me has been about squeezing chickens, nibbling pigs, and milking butterflies. I made it far enough down the animal training skill line so that now I have the ability to rename animals. In fact this morning I took it upon myself to rename all the pets on the Dofsan Vex street in the Alakol district to familiar Wizard101 names as a part of a quest:




I'm sure these will be changed by someone else in the near future. ;)

As I understand it, the real purpose of Glitch is to build up areas as a team. Here's a quote from Glitch's Wikipedia page:

"One of the most unique aspects of Glitch is that players can work together to build out each new street by cooperating on the completion of projects offered by a "Street Spirit." A project is made up of stages and numerous small tasks, some of which involve collecting (and sometimes even creating) quantities of items from throughout the world and returning them to the Street Spirit. Other tasks on projects involve the skills or labor of players to complete. Involvement in projects thus far have been fairly equitable as to the players level, allowing newbies as well as higher level players to participate in the projects together. At each stage of a project's completion, participating players get to vote in the direction that the street project will take, ultimately choosing the completed streets' attributes. Upon completion of the project, participating players are rewarded with valuable benefits. Unlike other massively multiplayer online games, Glitch's gameplay isn't centered on leveling up, it's about working together to achieve goals."

Maybe one of these days we can claim a street for Wizard101 and have a Glitch party. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~

Third: Dragon's Nest

Out of these three games, Dragon's Nest is the one I've spent the most time in recently. I was introduced to Dragon's Nest by Tipa from the West Karana blog. In fact, we've even grouped!


That's screenshot evidence right there that she's promised to adventure with me in a dungeon on the Abyss mode of difficulty. I'll be sure to hold her to it. :)

So . . . are you tired of slow-paced MMOs without much action in the combat? Wanna do combos and fight herds of monsters surrounding you ala the swarms in Diablo only with a 3D perspective? Duuuuude. Load up Dragon's Nest! It's a free-to-play that's a ton of fun and has that distinctive Asian MMO look.


Tipa's written more about this game, and her writing was good enough to sell me. Of course, I'm a fan of Tipa's game writing in general, so I'm biased. :)


Yarrr! I kill the minotaurrrr!

It's definitely the change of pace that I'm liking about Dragon's Nest more than anything, and you know what's awesome . . . Titles aren't just meaningless tags . . . they actually give you a boost to your character. Oh how I've wished for that for Wizard101.

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Thanks for reading, and I hope you get a chance to check out one or more of these games! Let me know what you think, and if you have a great game that you think I should check out, leave me a note in the comments below.

And as a final note (and pitch), I'm pretty sure most of you know about a few of my other game blogs that I keep, but if not, be sure to check these out . . . you may find some interest in one of them:

Stormreach Sentinel (DDO blog)
Guard and Defy (Rift blog)
Minstrel Magnet (LOTRO blog)
I AM STINGITE (other gaming)

Happy Dueling!

Wysteria Going Live and Teleporters!

I hope everyone had fun in the test realm. To those who went into the test realm and reported bugs, thank you! Thank you for helping to ensure our game is awesome. For the full list of updates being implemented into the game today, please check the patcher notes.

Definitely one of the coolest things bundled with this expansion are the new teleporters being introduced into the game. The community has already developed a number of great guides on their set up and use: Diana, John, Paige . . . I'm sure there are more . . .

I played around with them a bit too! I made my dorm room into a teleporter chamber leading to all my houses.


Then I put a teleporter in each house leading back to my dorm room. I think I may have to do something like that in the live realm as well.

Also coming to the spiral are two brand new houses! Luke Goldhorn gave a great run down on the Wizard's Watchtower house, and I liked this Slideshow of the Underwater Palace from Vanessa at The Diviner's Lane.

I think it's so awesome we have a sunken ship in our housing options now! That was totally something I wanted to happen ever since stepping into Calypso's area.

Hope you all enjoy this update! I think the level 25 people are going to love the break from Krokotopia to go play in Wysteria.

Happy Dueling!

Ravenwood Ball 2011 Redux

Bailey and I started yesterday off with a quick stop at Blaze Shadowhorn's pre-party where he had prepared a find and seek of scrolls around his house (awesome idea btw).


I left a little early though as I got a report from Cassandra Griffindreamer that people were chanting my name in her zone, and I needed to get there ASAP. It took me about 15 attempts to teleport to actually get into the full zone, but eventually I made it in to Fallon, Kevin Battleblood . . . and a ton of other wizards.


About 30 tries later, Bailey was able to join me in the same zone . . . along with a ton of other wizards.


It was crazy insane. Just a ton of people. I had cleared a number of spots on my friends list before the party, but they went so quickly that I wasn't able to add everyone who asked me to add them.

After some party madness, I was asked to port in for a group picture with some Ravenwood Radio regulars. You can find this on Facebook now.

There were so many people I would have liked to have met at the Ravenwood Ball that I missed. Did you know that Nelson Everhart was there? I also wanted to thank Autumn Ghostwalker for the really nice note she sent me . . . also sorry I wasn't able to run into her (unless I did and just didn't realize it). Also sorry that I didn't put 2 and 2 together and recognize Anthony Sparklecaster as a long time fan of the blog and add him.

Basically . . . I missed a lot of people.

I did manage to run into Tara Darkgem though! Tara is another long time reader of the blog, and she sent over a really nice note after the party with some screenshots. Thanks Tara! It was nice to meet you.


These events are a little overwhelming for me and Bailey, but it was fun while we were there! I felt bad for Bailey because she was on the laptop, which makes it hard to type and there's added lag. The kids were too hyper last night to make it too long of a stay. ;)

Anyway, Diary of a Wizard is a really great site, and I'm happy for Fallon Shadowblade for all her success. :) This was a great event for her. Keep up the good work!

One of these days I'll have to host a TFN party. :) It will be a mandatory requirement that everyone be in skeleton illusion and jump constantly. ;-) SKELETON JUMPER ATTACK!

Happy Dueling!

Prepping for Ravenwood Ball 2!

Are you guys getting psyched for the Ravenwood Ball? Most everyone has heard of this already, but in case you haven't: click! Fallon Shadowblade from Diary of a Wizard is hosting her two-year anniversary event! You can find more details on the link above, and you should definitely RSVP for the event on her website . . . but here's the basic details:

Time: June 25, 2011 from 6pm to 8pm
Location: Ravenwood - Vampire Realm/Area 1

Once that location starts massively overflowing, the party is going to filter out to different Massive Fantasy Palaces. A number of people are going to be hosting parties at their palaces to support the event. Check out this Youtube from Jacob Legendheart:



I'm telling you, last year this event was HUGE and a ton of fun. Bailey and I will definitely be there. It's the party to be at.

We've been trying to coordinate our outfits . . . mine's getting there but still needs some tweaking. ;-)


It's all about the robe--boots and hat subject to change. :)

So who all reading this blog post is going to be attending / hosting at the event? Let me know in the comments below!

See you there!

Happy Dueling!

Wintertusk Day 1

Bailey Skystaff and I got a chance to sit down and play through a bit of Wintertusk last night! WOOT! Of course, I was stuck on the crappy laptop with missing keys and horrible lag, but STILL, togetherness!

Here we are together with grandmother raven in her true form:


(I look so stretchy when it's Bailey taking the pictures! :p)

I was blown away when I finally heard "the voice" of Grandmother Raven and had a HUGE HUGE "AHA!" moment. That was such a nice touch by KI. Really well done. In fact that whole scene with Grandmother Raven was really well done. I do believe this particular "cut scene" mechanic we get there (i.e., with camera panning) is the third time we've had one of those in the whole game . . . the first time being the tutorial (thanks Tracy!), the second time being when Selena Gomez was still in the spiral, and finally, now, this Grandmother Raven cut scene, which is special and covered in awesomesauce.

Last night was all about besting Hrundle Fjord's beginning quests and wandering around in this nice little compact world.


Eventually we made our way over to see Austri in Austriland and accepted the quest to begin proving our worthiness for the jolly green giant.


By this time kids had stopped distracting themselves and began crawling over us needing some computer time of their own, so we called it a night . . . well, I did at least.

Bailey logged on later and got Kyle his Kraken pet. Apparently storm wizards can get their level 58 pet early in Wintertusk as long as they have a friend they can port to who can "get across the bridge."


Nice!

I picked up a cool pair of shoes for the evening and got my Dark Pact spell, which was awesome for helping blade up Bailey's attacks. I'm digging that spell.


I was hearing reports that people (and by people, I mean Alric Ravensinger) had finished up Wintertusk as early as 10 am yesterday. HAHAHA! Awesome.

How'd the rest of you fare?

OH, and btw . . . NICK JONAS WIZARD APPROVES OF THIS MESSAGE! You may now kiss his lips on your monitor while no one is looking:


I SAW THAT!

Happy Dueling!

Crafted Wands - Moonlight Ponies - Triple A game from Kingsisle?

Heya! I have few things I want to chat about today.

~~~~~~~~~

Edward sent me a link over to Central where one of the topics at hand is crafted wands. It's an interesting idea for how someone would go about custom crafting a wand of their own.

Personally I think the first order of action really should be the ability to stitch your wands, but this is all stuff we've talked about before.

~~~~~~~~~

I've had a couple questions about Moonlight Ponies crop up here and there. Basically the promotion to get a moonlight pony is now over. It involved subscribing to Beckett's Online Gamer Magazine during a certain promotional period. Most people read about it on Facebook or in their e-mail.

Hope you got yours!

~~~~~~~~

This last thing I have to share with you today is an interesting find on KingsIsle's website. If you take a look at their career's page, you'll see some of these longstanding jobs have a bit of a cosmetic wording change to them. (WHAT? You mean you guys don't haunt the career's page at KingsIsle's website? I guess I'm the only nerd out there who does that. *grin*)

To quote: "KingsIsle Entertainment is currently looking for a" (insert job title) "to work on an exciting new family-focused AAA MMO video game."

So, Triple A is an interesting video game term that's a bit esoteric in its meaning, but I gotta say that a Triple A game out of the door from KingsIsle would be amazing. It's a pretty bold statement that I can't wait to see come to fruition.

To me, Triple A from the get go like this means slick graphics, killer game play, huge budget, and high expectations from everyone (and the hardware to back it up). It seems like Wizard101 wasn't really meant to be the Triple A game it became. Wizard101 is Triple A now because it went BOOM!

If you've never read the Wizard101 Post-Mortem article, now would be a good time to catch up on it. Case in point, modular world building isn't building a Triple A game out the door. It's definitely part of the reason why Dragonspyre, Grizzleheim, and Celestia look so much better than the other worlds.

To add to all that, it's interesting to see that they are seeking a new producer with some heavy background experience. Those just don't come a dime a dozen. I'm interested to see who they add to their team (that availability has been up there for a couple months now btw).

So it's my belief that Wizard101 is going to be starting work on a new game (perhaps a third game?) where all the post-mortem issues of Wizard101 are addressed and perhaps they have a few new tricks up their sleeves with some new talent. I'd love to see a really visually stunning game from KingsIsle with moderately high graphics requirements. If I was to also draw an assumption, it would be that perhaps the second game is drawing closer? What do you think?

Either way, it looks like good things are just getting underway at KingsIsle!

Happy Dueling!

Quick Plug for Other Bloggers (while I'm super busy)

I've been really busy lately and fighting computer woes as well, so it's been a little difficult to make posts. I also need to start writing another article for Beckett's, so besides my highly entertaining Twitter posts about Ice Cream faces, I'm a little out of pocket lately.

I just want to make sure that you all continue to take a look at the huge list of Wizard101 bloggers off the the right over there *points to the right side of the screen and down eight side bars*. In the past week, there have been over sixty posts made. It's been a good week in the blogosphere!

Please try to go through that list and check out the things that catch your eye. Once you read one or two of these bloggers, you may find you like their attitude or insight, and they'd LOVE it if you'd follow their blog.

There's both old favorites and new voices in that blog roll, and if you haven't gone through them in a while, I suggest checking them out! You might even find me getting bonked on the head by Cassandra. ;-)

So while I may not be very vocal lately, Chillanthropist has been chatting up a blizzard. There are a lot of interesting voices joining in the chant out there. Check 'em out!

(Divertimento, há um blog brasileiro para qualquer um que ousa lê uma língua estrangeira!)

Give 'em a read and I hope you find something you like.

Happy Dueling!

Ditto at PAX 2011 (interview with Fred Howard)

I've just been watching Ditto's Interview with Fred Howard and a few of the other videos from Ditto as he heads to and arrives at PAX East. These videos from Ditto at PAX are just too good not to cross post-and share.

If you like these videos, be sure to drop by Ditto's blog and leave him some good comments. Also, follow his twitter and his YouTube channel.












LOL Fred almost said the "P" word. HAHAHA! Tsk tsk. Fred, it's "Fabricated American!" :)

Here's just a couple of quotes from the Fred Howard interview that you all might find interesting to discuss.

When asked about what the future holds for Wizard101, Fred responded:

". . . There's certainly new worlds on the horizon . . ."

and

". . . As our community continues to grow and give us such positive feedback we can continue to invest in expanding the Wizard101 world . . ."

When asked about what advice would you give a new blogger or someone who wanted to start a new website about Wizard101, Fred answered:

"There are a lot of neat and innovative ways to get involved with that [Wizard101 blogging and fan] community. It's a friendly community. Part of it is just going with your passion. I think part of it is working within the community to be helpful. Part of it is to do outreach to understand how a new blogger can help people, and really I think it's to have fun! One of our core tenants at KingsIsle is we have fun. we have fun building and making the games and we have fun with the community. I think if a new blogger keeps that concept of just having a good time and going with their passion, there's a lot of opportunities."

Awesome interview with Fred, Ditto! Thanks so much for posting these. It certainly feels like we're right there with you. Well done!

Happy Dueling!

Celestia Housing Test Realm Redux

YO,

So there has been a lot of information sharing going on across the Wizard101 information super-highway, and I just want to point out a few of those and maybe discuss them a smidge.

First up is Kevin Battleblood's well written blog post. Kevin talks about the changes in the test realm that he finds pertinent: Floating pots and plants, petnomes, stun block, and gardening towers.

In particular I feel for Kevin (and all of us) in regards to the bugged petnome numbers. It's confusing enough to try and analyze pet abilities through a community site like Petnome, but a broken (or bugged) counting system really messes up trying to track these things . . . especially when already dealing with different generations of pets. I really hope that gets fixed.

Although I really liked the idea of gardening towers and getting more bang for your energy globe out of building your garden up instead of out, I personally never had a garden tower, so I won't miss this. *comfort* to those who will. :/

I liked Pyromancer Jonathon's review of the new Celestia crafted house. Although Jonathan mentions this is now the second house to have a dueling circle, he doesn't mention that this is the first house to have a dueling circle that doesn't require the purchase of crowns! Uber wife tells me that one of our characters already has everything she needs to craft one! Awesome.


If you're looking for a good list of ingredients that you'll need for this, I again refer you over to Battleblood's place. (Uber wife was all psyched that she could help Kevin out with a small error on the list. *giggle*)

For me, I just can't get over how much I really REALLY wanted an underwater house for Celestia ala Calypso's sunken ship. It's what I was hoping for. Dangit.

Of additional note: Stellarium got dumbed down. My video here, is no longer applicable, and I may take it down soon. Don't worry, all the other cheating bosses in the game are still there and cheating.

There have been a number of interesting posts over on Wizard101 Central about the new changes.

- Fierce Hounds have different appearances. (click!)
- Polar Cat gift card only gives one dragonblade now. (click!)
- Efreet is now a charm-class debuff instead of a damage-class debuff. (click!)
- Guide to the bosses in the Hand of Doom pack. (click!)
- Orthrus animation has changed. (click!)
- Can't use Gargantuan on Efreet. (click!)
- The let down on the new side quest in Grizzleheim. (click!)

For me, it's all about the Hand of Doom pack this time around. I love the new boss minions. It's just SUCH a cool new addition to be able to summon up one of these to help you out. I'm not all together thrilled that I get five or six junk cards with each pack I buy, but I do like where these minion cards are headed.

You know what I liked about casting the Lord Nightshade minion? He started with three power pips and crit on his vampire spell. A minion with a chance to crit is awesome.


Thumbs up KI for this addition! Just . . . PLEASE, I don't want any more junk cards. If you lowered the cost and gave me one minion card and no junk cards, I'd be happy. If you upped the cost and give me seven minion cards and no junk cards, I'd be happy. I just think this current method of giving me one or two good cards and junk that I have to sell off feels . . . old school . . . and if you're going old school, then I need a stick of gum with each purchase. ;-)

AND FINALLY, one last note before I let you go . . . the Indiana-Jones-esque Boulder rolling trick with the new small Celestia house? Epic! Just make the boulder roll more often or upon cue! (Like when I trip a switch or something) :-)


Happy Dueling!

Stormforged Kitties Contest

Just a quick note that Mr. crazy cat himself, Kieran Stormcaller, is currently holding a contest where eventually you could win a $10 Wizard101 gift card.

He's asking for help coming up with funny T-shirt ideas. :-)

Hope you get some good ideas, Kieran!

Happy Dueling!

Fame At a Price -- Final Episode!

BEHOLD! The final comics in the fame at a price series from the amazing Alric Ravensinger!








Wraith followed by a feint trap critical hit firezilla combo for the win! *shivers* That Spaz guy really freaked me out, and way to go leader of the Wiz Hunters for pulling a Darth Vader Return of the Jedi at the end and distracting Spaz with a wand blast. XD

Thank you, Alric! My family loves these. I appreciate all the hard work you put into them. Humbled, in fact; thanks for spending all that time with us as the subject matter. You're awesome. :)

Happy dueling!

Game Report: Rowan and Isaiah Level 48 spell quest and GM Artisan on Thomas!

Uber wife and I decided last night to *finally* finish that lingering spell quest for Isaiah and Rowan.


So? Do you know the answer to Cyrus's question? Hmmm?

You Myth wizards do, right?

It's something to lure the Orthrus out to say hello, and that something happens to be the bone of a two-headed cat. Unfortunately you never get to see the two-headed cat though as Dworgyn just hands it over to you. I kind of wanted to fight a two-headed cat for that bone! :-) Oh well, beggars can't be choosers, and I was begging to get that quest DONE.

Anyway, since Rowan and I were simultaneously completing this quest, we got to see something even more rare than an Orthrus visitation. Behold the four-headed dog of awesomeness!


That's a lot of teeth to brush and noses to blow right there.

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Earlier in the night, Thomas finally decided to clear out that lingering GM Artisan quest from his quest log and crafted the seal of the seven seas.


You get a lot of gold for finishing that quest, but, um, well it wasn't nearly enough to cover the costs of sniping golden pearls in the bazaar. :)

I had missed that you could buy the Treant Polymorph cards from the Archivist, so I gotta give it up to Cassandra Griffindreamer for letting me know that you can buy them there. That saved a lot of time! No need to craft or even snipe those at all, just buy them from the Archivist. Yup!


WOOT, sporting the new GM Artisan badge with Cass, who looks strangly like an eagle wearing half of a wizard cap in this picture I might add.

Happy Dueling!