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!

From Another Point Of View

I could use the excuse of school, laziness and computer issues, but lets face it: It wasn't a very active January, no? Still, we had the Raven's Hoard, Grub Guardian, and new transformations. This looks to be a more active February for me though, with the Death duo inching towards Dragonspyre..

Yes, now you're able to see cats in Celestia, wolves in Wizard City, manders in Dragonspyre.. you get the point. Pretty cool new transformations, but still just cosmetic. It should make for fun parties, though! As for the level 70 gear.. no power pip or accuracy %? The critical ratings and the fashion is very decent, but it's hard to go without those. So, as you can tell, overall opinion = not worth it. I do like the astral throwbacks a lot, though. I feel much older now, having had several pairs of that old astral gear from '08-'09.. ah, the old days..

So now we get into a little, say, psychology portion of the post. I *accidentally* got a family friend (in late elementary school years) hooked, now as a Level 33 Necromancer, I believe. So, I borrowed a few of his many screenshots (14/113 of them, to be exact.. yikes) and cropped them some for better pictures. Here are some of them, sort of through the view of a newbie to Wizard101.










The striking thing here is the Magma Man having 5 pips :o






Ah, he saw the midget bear. Of course.









Strangely-timed picture immediately following a storm hit.. head in the clouds much?












Treants in a cave..

Ever had a tent-flooding, Bristleback?








I dub thee lightning-breath.. :&

Do I see a gentle hint for a furniture item here? I've always wondered what those little school-decor-pool-thingies are. Future housing item? Pleeeeezzze?

Oh my Bartleby..












Delicate dragon mosaic - nice Wizard's Watchtower catch. Feels like a dragon church :P










Though this would be a menacing entrance for a churchgoer..







Which reminds me - Happy Chinese New Year! This year of the dragon ought to be interesting.










Uncomfortable close up, lol









BOOM.












And lastly, as well as oxymoronically, if thats a word. Snowman in Krokotopia!





And, onto the Death duo! Admittedly, I haven't covered them much on here, but I have made lots of progress. Skipping side-quests makes Marleybone pretty quick. And I dare say that's a nice reward for my 4th Big Ben run (2 spoiled by lost connection. Egk.)












What's with all the quests being questions? Don't think that's a great sign..






And, another well-deserved reward, this time for helping my Ice character Sophia finish the Trial of Spheres.. which I found out she had never done. Oops. After the Death duo, I'm really going to need crowns on that account for Zafaria, and I just found that Tavia hasn't finished the ToS also. Grrrr :P

I would of covered this project too, but I figured I'd start it after the Raven's Hoard pack came out and finished it about a week ago. Why another house crafting project? With all the new items from the Raven's Hoard plentiful in the Bazaar, I realized I could use this nice house. So, hours of TONS of reagent collecting and buying (all characters on the account making it are broke), success. *droops in exhaustion* Ok, that was worth it ^-^. Can't wait to decorate the house, though I still need an overall theme. My Dragon's Fjord on Tarlac (which I updated and is nearly finished) has a camping/cabin motel theme, and a big kitchen. So, I'm thinking Sophia's Watchtower Hall = battle theme, with quite a few hammers, trees, and frozen warriors dotting the landscape. Creepy. We'll see how it turns out, I'll work on it.. eventually ;P.

Well, since I'm sort of on the Hoards topic, I'm sure you've all seen Pack-a-Palooza out. As much as I want those pets and an ice wand (or axe, or bow.. whatever..) for Sophia, I have to hold out. My main account does have 2800 crowns, but must. save. Well, maybe just 3 to even it out around 2,000..*noooooooo*. Since everyone else seems to be giving their opinion on Hoards lately, mostly negative, I might as well give mine as it is---

• The packs aren't necessarily useless. You still get a lot of stuff, even if it's not what you want, you can sell it or what not. That being said..
• The Dragon's, Wyvern's and Nightmare Pack were enough. Now I audibly groan whenever a new pack comes out. Don't succumb to temptation too often.
• Solution: As others have pointed out - let major items from the Packs sell individually, so we don't have to keep risking it. Some people just want the mount or whatever, and they use up 40,000 (What is that, $50 or so?) crowns just to try to get this one item. Let it be a choice, basically. Also, no more packs. Keep the ones you have, but no more, please? From personal experience, it's a bit like taking advantage of kids---that family friend earlier has been spending most of his crowns on the latest Pack, thus setting him back on buying areas instead. He's had 50k crowns so far, only 2/5 (more or less) spent on areas.

Granted, my opinion was much different at the beginning: I mostly welcomed the first several Hoards, but I think their popularity is a bit like Hoover's 1928-1932 presidential ratings - good at first, but a very noticeable decline as time goes on, and more packs are released. (History lesson! Find out about Hoover's ratings yourself :P).

Well.. that's pretty much it. The Death Duo has gone well into Mooshu---I'll provide more screenshots from them next time! I'm probably forgetting something else too, but it's been a whole month, a lot has gone on :P. Hope everyone has a great February (and Super Bowl tomorrow!)

Happy Questing!