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!

Questing With A Vengeance

My old hiatus record was around a month, correct?
Well, triple that and I suppose I'm back. I have cookies.. I mean, excuses.
Semi-internet-less for a whole summer can get boring, and then there was the problem of me having my mom's e-mail to sign in for this blog, which I just fixed. Last but not least, there's high school. Woooo. But, I will get my own laptop soon.

On that note, not blogging doesn't mean not playing! (Though I know most of you are off doing P101 ;P)

Sophia demonstrates the capabilities of her arrow

Fun with anagrams! ;) 

Picture Godzilla at sunset. In a zoo.

Alura, Arlen's little sister, has been making a lot of progress as well.

Soloing Youkai for fun - with a little help from my monsters (Lady Gaga puns, really?)

And more help from.. that field with flowers in the center

Fun fact: Imps are terrible swimmers (plus their violins aren't waterproof)

My deck for the battle (with a little treasure card help on the Satyr)

Just the first of many double digit situations I would face in Dragonspyre. Keep in mind that without doing side quests, she's not even level 40 at this point. However, she isn't Angus Unicornpants, so that's a measly excuse :P

Yet another encounter of the beasts - and low health.

I know mandrakes are supposed to resemble humans, but this is ridiculous.

Okay, just a simple random shot. Who says Wizard101 isn't pretty?

This was interesting - I got into a battle with fire elephants while transformed into an elephant. Naturally, one of them used helephant. Didn't get the shot at the right time, but interesting photo op. 

Stopping for some munchies along the way.

Out of the Labyrinth, thanks to a little help from Mycin. I forgot the Stone rose, though. That's like remembering you forgot one important item from the store. Cursed roses.

A little more boss drama - this time won with help from a puppet minion (yeesh, only more level till level 45 gear)

And of course, the old tradition of confronting the apple tub. I wonder if bobbing counts as an assault charge?

On that note, Alura is now at Malistaire's Lair. I have to admit, I'm really looking forward to doing CL again for some reason. I suppose it's the nostalgia from two years ago. Only 10 days till the two year anniversary!

Hope everyone is progressing well in Pirate101. Don't forget Wizard101, though ;)

Happy Questing!