Something Fishy..

 Crafting and Gardening have seemingly always been a part of Wizard101 (5 and 3 1/2 years, respectively). It's a wonderful surprise, then, that a major new system has been introduced nearly six years into the game. It goes withot saying that I'm jumping at the bait for ... fishing!

  

As any friendly pelican will tell you, fishing is a pretty simple task while going through the motions. However, it takes a truly patient wizard to collect some of the more unique fishies out there. In fact, Swordroll and Kelsey Fireheart are already compiling a list of fish found from just outside Ambrose's Office to the distant wilds of Grizzleheim.

My personal reaction to the news was immediately thinking of Animal Crossing, a completely different game. There, going fishing is also an easy-to-grasp task, consisting of reeling in the fish at *just* the right time. The rarer the fish, the quicker the reaction time necessary. Wizard101 has taken a somewhat different path, though. For one thing, there are trained fishing spells (much like gardening), giving wizards better output at the cost of some energy. Naturally, there will be some complaints, with what little energy we have now surrounding three different tasks. But the whole purpose of fishing lies in giving wizards something more to do, and the community has been eel-ectric with excitement ;)

New fish species are still being revealed, which makes one wonder. What will be the ultimate prize out of this venture? In Animal Crossing, catching every fish is a big accomplishment, as the list goes beyond one hundred species. The fisher's bane there is the Coelacanth - in real life an extremely reclusive ancient fish that was once thought to be extinct since the dinosaurs. It can only be caught in certain conditions, and has a size very similar to that of the most common fish; the Sea Bass.

Kingsisle is following a similar track, putting forth the Dekoi, a sort of joke fish to frustrate everyone looking for something a little rarer. The description even says "find them wherever more impressive fish are hiding." But what will be our Coelacanth? So far, two particular fish have been giving wizards quite the fit - the Owl-Eyed Pike and Fish Sandwich. They're rare, but are found in Wizard City as part of Lucky Hookline's second quest. Thus, they're necessary to rank up in fishing (although word from the KI devs is that this will be fixed <--). Aside from those, not enough time has passed to gauge the rarity of many fish. Not all fishing holes have been thoroughly checked, and it is quite likely that not all fish have been discovered.

 

Last in the simple yet complex fishing spectacle, the obvious matter of luck comes into play. The school of the fish factors into it here - 'fire' bait is most likely to catch a fire-based fish, for example. Even when a perfect attempt (reel completely underwater) also occurs, the fish can still get away. A new elixir even supplements 25-50% more luck for an hour. Without the elixir, many wizards have experienced frustration, so going fishing may become a little easier before it goes live. Difficult or not, fishing does promise to be a lot of fun. Even if you're not an experienced crafter or gardener, it won't be hard to get your feet wet with fishing :P

 

No, Medusa, your gaze won't help me catch a Troll Trout.

Remember to look at the Update Notes for more instructions, including information about new housing crafting recipes! This is a great update for the busy crafter as well :)

Happy Angling!

Test Realm Notes: Shadow Queens & Shadow Magic

These things always seems to come out around October-November, don't they?

Nearly five years after Malistaire's *first* demise, it is now about time for Morganthe to face the same fate (hopefully..) in Khrysalis! 

Presumably, it is "so epic" that it will begin on an island, not on Khrysalis, and the final part will be released in "early 2014". Looks like they're borrowing J.K. Rowling's idea, but why not?

Of course, I'm not going to spoil any other parts for myself, so I'll just have to wait until Part 1 is live-released. But from what I have seen, I have a sense it will be somewhat similar to Dragonspyre, albeit with greenish skies. Hey, not bad. Nice way to go out for Morganthe.

...And what's this? Shadow Magic? Forbidden knowledge too dangerous for old Ambrose but not for a "wise mouse"? 

The prospect of unstable spells is intriguing - it's as if you're handling or dismantling a bomb that will either go off in your own face or the enemies face. Then, there's "backlash" when a Shadow Aura expires, like getting hit by the shrapnel you blew up your enemy with. This should be fun to try out.

If that's not enough, there are also 'Shadow Pips'. Whoa. Apparently, these things feel that they should ignore all basic combat concepts in the game. We've got a lot to learn.

On a simpler note, there are also new Housing updates! 

The prospect of wide open "Castle Tours" would be freaky in real life, especially if visitors felt a need to always visit your restroom. Thankfully, the Spiral is a whole lot less awkward.

A quick random house visit can be a delightful experience.. if you're safely away from the tornado.

Great idea and a great new addition to the Commons, overall. I opened up a couple of my own houses for visiting, hopefully I'll get some random visitors.

I wonder how many of Paige Moonshade and Cody Raventhorn's houses will be among the Top Rated? Hmm..

No more "dude what's that thing". Yes, please! 

MISC:

• Gardening: New levels! It's up to twenty, I presume. Also excited to see new spells, Barley, and Khrysalis plants. Too bad my highest gardener is just Level 11.

• Weaker creatures (Avalon, Azteca): Sweet, hope some of the bosses in particular have been toned down. Battles in Azteca can be really frustrating. Kingsisle actually did a similar thing with Dragonspyre way back in the day.

• Henchmen: As the level 90 henchmen were 400 crowns, now they are 300 - and the new level 95s are 400. Plus, the level 60 henchmen are now a 75 crown steal. Nice to have lower prices for a change.

• New badge: You can bet I'll be buying up all sorts of healing treasure cards on Tarlac once the opportunity arises.

• Mana bump: Less being conservative with marking spots, more teleportation fun! Yay!

-------------------------------------

That does it for the updates. Going through them, I was reminded of the fact that I haven't created an end-of-Azteca quest post yet. I'll get on that before the Khrysalis content comes out, so that should be the next blog post to expect. I might also re-upload some pictures to old posts still on this laptop in the coming weeks, before I get a new laptop. All of the old blog pictures got deleted after that Blogger fiasco I had several weeks ago. Annoying!

Lastly, here's the second trivia-question-for-crowns! Last post, I started a new tradition of a trivia question at the end of every post. If you comment, tweet or e-mail the answer first, you win a select prize! This week, it's 600 crowns worth of stuff - 2 Nightmare Packs, maybe?

I have also made the comments approval-based, so if you do enter by blog comment, please leave a Wizard101 TFC or your contact information (and ask your parents if you are under 13).

Formalities aside, here's the trivia question for this post:

Fill in the blank of the chant Morganthe says when she drains Mirror Lake -

"Ah-nahl nathrak

______________

Do-Hiel Dienveh."

I look forward to the correct, 600 crown answer!

Happy Testing!

Azteca - Underground + Celestial Calendar

Before my membership ran out in December, I managed to get some work done under the mountains of Azteca. Many of these pictures are 7 months old, but oh well.

As if panning for gold wasn't a dirty job already..

No plaque-fighting ingredients in that, buddy.

Minions who rival Zafarian bosses in health? Check...

Pitch Black Lake was a cool experience, a bit more varied than Lake Nimue, it's Avalon counterpart. Personally, I enjoy the underwater experience. A whole zone of underwater areas in the upcoming worlds would be fun - maybe a little lighter in atmosphere though, like Celestia. Possibly the areas getting deeper and deeper underwater as the quests progress? There's an idea for Kingsisle. Maybe turn our animal mounts into fish underwater? :P

 Tierra De Brea was also unique as an area with caves being mined. It was a bit dull for my tastes though, not much else to say about it.

Time for the Calendar spell :D

Very philosophical and biblical, I like it.

It's a very decent damage attack that's effectively 8-9 pips with the 'Steal 1 Pip' bonus. I like it, but I'm getting a little tired of relying on my outdated Humongofrog spell for an AoE (hit-all) attack on mobs. Hopefully the next big Myth spell will be an AoE, as the last four have all been attacks for one enemy (Orthrus, Medusa, Basilisk and Calendar). A 2-round Stun attack, DoT spell and Steal-pip bonus is great, but give me an AoE any day.

Transcendant Crafter! The Agave Leaves/Turquoise were a bit of a pain, but overall it was an easier quest IMO than the Zafaria crafting one.

When the midnight moon rises, a monster never seen before appears in the dark...

Werewyvern.

In other pet news, I still can't get a pet with 3 decent talents. It always stops at Spell Proof+Spritely+Selfish talent, but my day will come. One day.

Other than that, I'm training some pets in the Test Realm both for myself and Petnome. There are a large number of pets close to completion, so remember to help out Petnome by training incomplete pets in the Test Realm if possible.

I've got quite a bit of post material for once, and summer doesn't last forever, so expect more frequent posting for awhile. Plus, I have a small pet project/post I'm working on that I should have ready by August. Well, nothing major, but I'm enjoying it :P

Until next time,

Happy Questing!

Test Realm Notes: Myths, Minions & Miscellaneous

Are you ready for some new dungeons and.. stuff?!

According to the Update Notes, Aquila will be a "collection of zones within Wizard City" - like Crab Alley, just much larger and harder, it sounds. Or just a lot of places like the Waterworks. Or like Wysteria, but for higher level wizards? ..I'll stop the comparisons. Personally, I don't go into the Test Realm, but a lot of other bloggers and wizards from Twitter ('twizards') are supplying constant updates of the new content. My blogroll to the right of the screen there already has some recent posts from other bloggers about the content, in fact. I'll have to see for myself when the Aquila content comes out in several weeks, but for now I'll have to just give my first impressions of the Update Notes. Maybe if I go really fast and the Test Realm is really slow, I'll reach Aquila in Pirate101 before the content comes out in Wizard101. Just maybe.

These "Immortal Games" (hey, sounds like the Wysteria Tournament) are, as I quote from the Update Notes again, "an excellent test of determination, wit, and fortitude". Hopefully, this means there will be puzzles to go along with the combat, much like the Temple of Storms puzzles in Krokotopia, but harder. Or, maybe the battles will involve the complicated schemes of beings like those in the Warehouse or Briskbreeze Tower (I will always hold a grudge against Estrakir! hmph). There I go comparing stuff again - either way, I'm sure we'll encounter cheating bosses, one way or the other. As for where these zones are exactly, I'm guessing Cyclops Lane will be the entrance to these new dungeons. It fits very well. Enough theorycrafting for now, though, the content is already out and being tested.

As for the new minions -

The new Myth minion is 6 pips, as Talos was 5, I suppose.

Like the level 28 minion quest, these new school minions come as part of a quest, given by Balestrom. Hopefully, they'll play some more buffs and heals. Talos hitting away my traps in boss battles is annoying, but the Hex he uses can be very helpful. Higher damage attacks and more blades and traps would be optimal, in my opinion. Also, ability to critical/block wouldn't hurt. I'm excited to learn what the new minions can do, and whether they have any of the new abilities. I don't want my minions relegated to the back of my deck again, in other words. 

...Speaking of decks -

Woohoo!

Even though I don't PvP, this is really useful. I have 2 mob decks (one for myth enemies) and several boss decks which follow the same principle. Besides the Aquila content, this is definitely my favorite update. There aren't many names to choose from, of course, but they'll suffice. Other than that, there isn't much to comment on about this change, but it's a great addition that will clear up the game for anybody who uses multiple card decks.

Lastly, one can't forget the 

MISCELLANEOUS UPDATES: 

• Locks: Another very convenient update - the dreaded realization that you just sold an expensive item is all too common, and this update provides a decent solution to the problem. A post-it note to myself, if you will, that I shouldn't sell certain items.

• Silver Chests: Now available pretty much everywhere. I doubt the rewards for the WC/KT/MS chests will be large, but the wizards who come across them can get extra practice for those chests in later worlds with better rewards. Next up: Gold Chests? I wish :P

• Dragonspyre Library: Wait, what?!?

• Other: Many other minor solutions to minor problems, all of them particularly convenient.

Even though we've all had gripes with Kingsisle before, whether it be the Hoard packs or the PvP system, this Test Realm seems to be tackling minor problems that have been a problem for wizards for the last five years, and coming up with solutions that are more than satisfactory. Even though Aquila isn't even a world in Wizard101, the content promises to be exciting, and the next main world will likely be here before the year ends.

Unless developments take another sudden turn, I'll be back to post about my escapades in Azteca in another few days.

Happy Testing!

Celestia's Effect - More Hype = Awesom-er World?

Happy 2nd birthday, Celestia!

Back in 2010, the community waited anxiously from March 24th-October 27th, 7 perilous months all building up to the biggest world release yet, Celestia.

Now, a wizard today might ask - what took so long? After all, the time between worlds being released today is faster than that announcement/wait for one world.

Of course, Kingsisle had less staff then, but the prolonged wait wasn't all bad. The Advanced Pets update acted as a sort of distraction, maybe creating less of those I'll-Come-Back-When-Celestia-Comes-Out players. But when Celestia finally arrived, long-awaited "SQUEEs" of excitement arose from everywhere. I mean, look at my blog post on October 8th, 2010. Okay, I was a little less mature back then, but you get the point ;P. The fact that we were finally going to Celestia was huge. Ravenwood Radio held one of their after-parties the night before the live release, and a few of us stayed until the "maintenance" clock struck, happy to witness the final minutes of pre-Celestia Wizard101.

Celestia isn't my absolute favorite world, but it was definitely the most exciting. Wintertusk came out next Spring, a two month wait after Ditto's announcement, once again pretty exciting. Ever since, though, the worlds have come out of nowhere - Zafaria came out in the Test Realm about a week after it was announced (though there was a picture of elephants leaked that summer). We got a puzzle for Avalon, but, besides the long Test Realm, that wasn't a long wait either. I was surprised myself, as shown from my April 11th post -

"Really though, I'm surprised they've released one so soon after the puzzle.. wasn't ZF released just 5 months ago too?" 

Now it's been 6 months since Avalon, which isn't too bad. But now, where's the hype for Azteca? It was announced just hours before it hit the Test Realm. Is 7 months (Celestia), 7 days (Zafaria) or 7 hours (Azteca) more appealing? We'll have to go in-between for the majority opinion: 7 months is too long and 7 days too short.

In my opinion, Wintertusk's release was quite exciting, and would have been even more if it were a main world. So, 2 months wait is a suitable amount of time, but I'd advocate an even longer wait time - not 7 months though, as some element of impatience outdoes the wonderful effect of the world finally being released.

So, that narrows it down to 2-7 months. There is one more waiting period wizards faced, albeit the first - Dragonspyre. 4 months after Wizard101 opened, DS opened it's doors to conclude the Malistaire saga (or maybe not?!?). Besides the obvious "Malistaire stole the Dragonspyre key!" clue to the next world, DS didn't seem to have any announcement (I could be wrong) until the Test Realm opened its doors in January, 2009. 3-5 months seems to be an optimal amount of time between announcement and release without starting to alienate the now-millions of players. We may live in an increasingly hyper-attentive society, but the prospect of a new world does not leave the minds of players between the announcement and release.

I don't have any way to prove that 3-5 months is an optimal amount of time, but it's the best bet - especially if it's been at least 8-10 months since the last world. It probably won't happen, but this timetable would be a smart move for Kingsisle. I mean, Azteca looks awesome-with-Mooshu-bbq-sauce, but it's hard to get really excited over a world that goes from announcement to Test Realm in only a few hours.

So, let's celebrate Celestia with the ironic timing of Azteca - Alura, Arlen's little sister (not really, just a roleplay :P) , just got to level 48 (I'll supply the beginning of WT with Mycin/Orthrus pics next post), so Celestia is open for my 10th wizard!

Ah, welcoming words.

Even more welcoming words after the first battles of Celestia.

First cast of Orthrus! However, it was futile - my first two boss battles each took three attempts before emerging victorious. Tough being a level 48 Conjurer in Celestia.

FINALLY, DIE!

...

*ahem*

Well, this has been a nice post. Only X more days till Azteca......................................................................................................................................... :D

Happy Questing!

Well, That Was Fast.

Five hours ago, Kingsisle-fans alike leaped at the news of a new world to Wizard101.
Azteca.
Nice way to pull back some of your new P101 fans, KI!
Anyways, Azteca was not only just announced, it's already on the Test Realm. Apparently, any hint of hype for this world was skipped, but it still seems to be amazing judging by the few teasers on the press releases. Guess it'll be a couple weeks until I roll out the area-by-area posts again!

For now, it looks like I'll be straying away from Twitter and all to avoid spoilers. I managed to do it for Avalon, but it's definitely going to be extremely tough this time.

I was planning to make a post coinciding with the two-year anniversary of Celestia this coming Friday, also imposing some questions on how good hype is for a game (CL took 6 months between announcement and live release). I'll still be here to post that on Friday, but geez - what irony. Maybe this time around I'll manage to avoid spoilers on the new spells before I actually get them ;P

If taking a peek around the new world interests you, the Test Realm has opened. Try not to spoil it all for yourself, though! I'm starting to sound a little cynical, but really, I can't wait for this live release. Level 90, here I come!

Happy Questing!

Animals

There are quite a few animals in this post, so I figured I would put that as the title. It's also a Pink Floyd album, lol. The Death duo has advanced from the Village of Sorrow to the Labyrinth in the last 2 weeks (along with part of Grizzleheim), so they deserve screenshots this time!

This little piggy fell flat on his rear.











And this little elephant destroyed the other piggy.











It's always cool to catch the Tree of Life fruit after the Death Oni battle. Kinda puts it into perspective by having to defeat 3 streets of enemies just for one of the fruits, too.












And so, later on, the Grand Chasm Past. It is in the past and the Vault numbers are in the 1930s, so I thought I'd do a little showcase in black-and-white.









Enjoying the breeze ;)










The volcano, now with an ugly dragon gracing the top of it, used to be just like the Mooshu background ones. Even a little snow on the top. Imagine a little snow on the Dragon Titan.









As Dragonspyre isn't exactly my favorite world, I'm doing one area in GH and then one in DS for a change of scenery. GH is very pretty but can get boring. DS isn't very pretty and can get boring.









Enjoying a little Frostholm scenery. Hard tell what time of day it is in GH, definitely not as dark as MB, but more like a very early morning place. Part of what makes it pretty and graces Arlen's name (Dawneyes)

















New robe and wand time! And 2 more levels till Wraith..










So, as about everyone knows (but it still isn't displayed on the Launcher..) - Wizard101 Tag is out! I'm lovin' it. (This has nothing to do with you, McDonalds) A main strategy seems to be

a) Find a hideout (behind a tree, rock, cranny, etc.)

b) Take a useful star to use when an enemy finds your hideout and approaches

These are handy, and I've tried them (Found a good spot at Winterbreeze's house earlier and staked out there). But, you have to admit, it's usually more fun when you're running around. Of course, the chances of losing are enhanced, but the only reward for winning is bragging rights. In normal Tag, I like to hang around the Gobbler, as I tend to giggle when the "Beware: ______" thing changes 5 times in several seconds :P. Wildfire Tag is really fun too, though, and I'm glad they made that one. Seems worth the 2,000 crowns. Also, there are more music scrolls and other minor updates on the patch notes---woot! It says it's coming out "later this year" though. Could this be a celestian wait?

And, taking advantage of the Test Realm earlier today, I got lucky and got the final Foo Dog talent Petnome was missing. Those beasts covering their eyes like that is too cute ^.^ remember to check out the Petnome contest that comes with the completed Foo Dogs! Twelve 10k crowns prizes.. ooh.

And so, to wrap up, Cheryl+Chase have reached the Labyrinth and the Hall of Valor as of tonight. I reached the Labyrinth a few days ago and did Mirkholm Keep this past day or two. I did spend a lot of time playing Tag and hung at Ditto's party last night too though. Was in a one and a half hour battle most of the party that ended with a close victory. We were down 3v4 most of the fight but managed as the other team lost a player who had to go and we defeated their Life wizard. Of course, Paige was the last one standing :P. And, of course, Happy 2nd Wizzaversary, Ditto! Let's hear it for many more to come listening to your furry tales ;)

So.. let's see how far the Death Duo gets before the next post. Seems I'm going biweekly posts now, so I'll set a goal for completion of DS and GH by then.. we'll see! See you guys in March and have a good Leap Year, then :) you can always follow my Twitter feed for updates too.

Happy Questing!