Creativity

Player versus Player. Ah those three little words that happen to cause so much grief and controversy. I used to be one of those "Why the heckhound would I ever do PvP" kind of people. But I have gotten more and more involved as most of you know. I play on a PvP team and I also am a Commander in 1v1 (although I must admit to being mostly motivated by the shiny robe). And when I'm playing with my friends or I'm playing against someone who is really good at the game and keeps me on my toes in an engaging battle, I really have a good time.

And then there is the other 80% of the time. It's full of name calling, and taunting, and uncreative strategies like blade stacking or spamming. It gets so frustrating that I find myself yelling insults at the screen that I wouldn't use if that person was playing me at chess or some other strategy based game. I also felt really so down after being beaten by blade stackers a few times in a row that I considered going out and grabbing a bunch of treasure card blades or only playing on my Myth wizard with a TON of earthquakes. But then I thought to myself, "No". Because that's not how I want to play the game. What I enjoy isn't just winning, it's playing a good match.

I also enjoy good sportsmanship. Which unfortunately is why I tend to keep my mouth closed most of the time. I also don't say "GG" every game, because often it isn't true. If you're calling me a noob or you're spamming me or blade stacking, or just being really obnoxious it wasn't a good game. I understand that saying "good game" is a polite gesture, but a polite gesture becomes an empty gesture when it has no meaning.

I encourage everyone to try PvP and to try new strategies. Find some friends to do it with you. Go to someone's house. Get a theme (but holidays are already taken, so sorry ^_~). Play with a odd assortment of schools. Say "this couldn't possibly work!" then go ahead and try anyways. Go for the original, not just the sure fire, because then you'll appreciate the true satisfaction of playing and winning. 

Good luck, and may the force be with you.

~Heather

The Times They are A-Changin': the community speaks

I have often spoken on the evils of the hoard packs. I spoke about the dragon's hoard and the wyvern's hoard, I spoke out against the nightmare pack, and then later about the kirin's hoard pack and pack-a-palooza. Well yesterday a new pack came out. The "Hoard of the Hydra" pack.
I'm not going to go through it all again, I've already said what I needed to say about the evil packs of evil. I'll just add that I found it disappointing to have such a junky lame pack (akin to the dragon pack of yore) after the really quite nice Emperor's Attic Pack, where most of the items were okay and auctionable (!).
 But it seems that people are starting to get really tired of the packs, not just me. The community is starting to speak out, so I'll let them do the talking:

@WizKathLight said: Wow. That new wand is just... wow. I am not amused. I something is THAT OP for PvP, and even PvE now, it shouldn't be pack-only.Wow. I love packs. The MooShu pack was great - fluff items, for fun. No game changing stats, just fun and play. This gear goes too far for me. I try to keep this feed positive, but I believe I will be taking a break from W101. I feel anger & disgust just thinking about the game now.

Please note that Katherine is a hardcore player and a member of the Merc4Hire team, and also one of the nicest canadian wizardesses I know. The chips are down people!

@KelseyFireheart said: I spent 30,000 crowns which made it 75 packs and no mount. #HydraPack #NotCool

The video makers have also thrown their hats in:

To me it's clear. The attitude towards these packs is shifting. I will be very interested to see what KI does to address this situation, if anything.
Be sure to contribute your feedback to KI, and to do so in a creative way (come up with new suggestions), often I see this making an impact in the game.
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION! Oh okay. That was too much wasn't it? Probably.

~Heather

We are not amused

Pack-a-palooza. Really? Okay, now let me move onto-- can't you people think of anything better to end in than 'somethingsomething-a-palooza'!? It's just getting old. And boring.

Also I would like to mention while I've paused for a rant, that I personally mentioned how I would like to see a Kirin mount in October whilst having a twitter conversation with my friend Connor Mistblade. We were theorizing about a new Mooshu themed gamestop card. I wanted Osaka Castle and a Kirin mount to boot. What do I get? A pack. Noooo, no, no. Fail KI. Just fail. If you were looking to gather ideas for your packs from the players you picked the wrong girl. I am so pleased that they decided to include the idea Connor and I were discussing, in the game, but they have sure lost a whole lot of potential money from me. I was hoping to spend at least $40 on this, and now I'm going to spend less than $5. I would love a Kirin mount so much. But I cannot afford to spend $40 worth of chances. I would like to know that it's there, and that I can have it.

As most of you know this blog and my Wizard101-ing is in semi-hibernation, although I am playing PvP with my team of good friends. It's been hard to keep up with Wizard101 and the community due to colds, schoolwork, and my other interests. And (it makes me sad to say) I don't feel I'm missing that much. Back in the old days, we were all still figuring things out. For me that was a much more interesting time, when it was really exciting to sit down and see what everyone was up to and learn more myself. I look forward to the rest of 2012, and I hope that KI will continue to produce a game like that. Maybe then I'll have more patience for annoying distractions like the packs of doom.


~Heather




edit to add: I don't claim that the kirin idea was mine alone. I'm sure other brilliant individuals suggested it as well. They also have been gypped. (Okay maybe not gypped. But certainly hard done by.)

Blame it on the Decongestants

That's right I have a intense head cold. I think it's starting to make me rather silly.

Behold the Uggs of the spiral.

I seriously thought about getting everyone Uggs--I mean Santa boots for Holiday gifts, but fortunately my friend talked me out of it.

 I have been working on my winter house Hogmanay Hall.

I have been crafting a few things...

I would give you more of a view, but since Wizard101 is down right now, extrapolate from this picture!

 I also went to Luke' s party. By the by, really nice inside Luke.

Where long PvPing ensued. 

Contrary to Fallon's belief, I have not been practicing with TPC without her knowledge.

I have however, been doing some ranked 1v1, I actually got to Veteran. Which is a big deal for me.

And I have been playing some team stuff in the practice arena, but more on that later.

So for now I shall say Happy Holidays! I didn't get you Uggs.

~Heather

What we do when you're not looking 2.0 or Gaga ooh-la-la!

Some of you probably know that I've been working on a killer PvP (WITH MASSIVE HELP FROM ONE DONNA SPELLTHORN! There I said it, are you happy now?) ring of my own for a while now. Today I finally made it public. 

It's not without it's flaws. Actually it has some major ones. But when I get some time to fuss with it (and some more ingredients for teleporters) I will be working on correcting it.

Thanks everyone for coming out to PvP! I hope you all had some fun.

Here's a behind the scene's look at the construction:

minion!

partners in crime

many minions!

minion go bye-bye.

~Heather

The Sporting Life

I've been watching a lot of PvP recently. And whether I've been supporting my friends, or just watching random matches I've noticed something. There are lot of bad sports out there. PvP is really the 'sport' of Wizard101. So why not treat it like the sport it is?

Okay as some of you might know, I am not a big sporty person at all. Once upon a time I thought 'March Madness' was football. (I know, I know. Please don't hurt me. I was young and foolish!) But something I have been taught and have learned over my life is the value of sportsmanship. Good sportsmanship that is.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines sportsmanship thus:

Sportsmanship: conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport.

Does that sound all that hard? Really now? Okay it kind of does, but trust me it's not.

The integrity of the game is everything. - Peter Ueberroth 

I think that there has already been a lot said about cheating and spamming in PvP by people much more experienced than myself, so I won't pretend like I've got that much more to add. Just, play nice. Don't abuse the system. It might be nice to win, but think about the cost. If your a spammer, nobody is really going to like you all that much. 

Sports do not build character. They reveal it. - Heywood Broun 

Don't accuse people. Of... well anything really. Saying it like it is, and accusing people of random bad stuff are different. Accusing people just antagonizes them and makes people generally feel bad. 

Fans don't boo nobodies. - Reggie Jackson

One thing I also have been noticing is the lack of respect of the fans/audience/spectators of PvP. Cheering on your friends is one thing, ragging on the opponents is another. It's not cricket old boy. 

Also chatting away like you're in the nearest Starbucks is really distracting to the players and it's disrespectful. I can speak from experience, when I was playing with KCK there was a lot of excess chatter that was very distracting. I mean have a good time, by all means! But if you want to discuss with your friend whether your outfit looks good for the up coming party you're both going to, try to whisper or group chat it. (I mean it was so bad I had to put people on my ignore list because I couldn't stand their chats running through my box all of the time.) 

Something else I've learned as a spectator, if you feel the need to remind someone of the rules, or you would like to point something out to them, generally instead of smacking down, it's more effective to state it cleverly. 

Victory is in the quality of competition and not the final score. - Mike Marshall

Winning isn't everything. Winning doesn't make you famous or popular. Playing cleverly does. 'Nuff said.

Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. - Mike Singletary

I think most of all PvP should be fun. I think that whether you're playing with old friends or new, it should be a great time to learn and challenge yourself to play the game better. To become the best player you can be! (This sounds soo... olympian.) 

I think sportsmanship is knowing that it is a game, that we are only as good as our opponents, and whether you win or lose, to always give 100 percent. - Sue Wicks

I think as both competitors and as spectators, we have to be advocates of good sports and fair play. Not like, go out and take down every team that is bad. Or get all preachy. Just do. Support people who play well. Whether they're your friends or not. If you play, play well. It's pretty simple when you think about it.

One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it. - Knute Rockne

So the point of this is really to remind everyone just like a little post-it note stuck to the edge of your computer screen. Play well. Be respectful as a spectator. Have fun. It's a game. Yes it's a challenge. But it's a game. 

~Heather

The Kettle Corn Killers

The last time we left our heroine, she was about to embark into the final frontier. This new and foreign land of Player versus Player was full of new and exciting challenges for our heroine and her friends.

***

As I approached the arena this morning, long before our match was going to take place I was nervous. Our team hadn't practiced. Would we preform well under pressure? Our line up was lacking a major offensive player. Sure we might live indefinitely but you have to kill the other team sometime! I personally hadn't played a 4v4 match since the fall, and I was second guessing my abilities. What about the other team? Would they play by the rules? I could see by their gear and by their attitude that they (contrary to their jocular name The "Noobs") knew their way around an arena. 

Well we all took a deep breath and plunged into a battle that might go down in the books as one of the most interesting and dynamic matches of all time on Wizard101. KBB and Cassandra DragonHeart (our hostess) kindly recored and commentated the match. 

I was so thrilled with how Paige, Ben, Angel and I worked together as a team (with NO practice (and some of us had very little experience in PvP) to boot!). And I was honored and truly delighted to hear such positive feedback on our plays. I was also just really grateful that we had such a very good team to go up against. They played very well and exceeded my expectations with good behavior. Even though they had annoying spritely pets. LOL.

I can't stress enough how grateful I am to my team mates for their exceptional playing today and for taking a risk and entering USWT with me. Because it was a risk. We met it head on. Bravo (and Brava Paige)!

I'd also like to thank Cassandra a lot because she presented a really great challenge (dipping my toe into PvP) in a very successful way. I was encouraged to try something new, and I was certain that I would learn new skills. Bonus! I even had fun.

Umm.... I forgot what I was saying. OH right! Thank you! Everyone who was involved. Thanks Hexy for shouting out "go heather and her frog!" Thanks John for believing that I'd do well in the tourney and helping me farm for gear in prep. Thanks to Donna for a seed that ended up giving me some very useful TCs! Thanks to everyone who came out and watched the match, and everyone who signed up for the tourney. Thanks to my team. And thanks be to Bartleby that I didn't make too many stupid mistakes, or press the wrong button! Hehe!

~Heather

The Final Frontier

As you may know, I'm not really a big PvP-er. 

But when Cassandra DragonHeart announced her PvP Tourney, it sounded like a good time, and a good environment to learn in. So after a little persuading, I set off to create a team. 

After some less than successful attempts, the ever gentlemanly Sir Winterbreeze volunteered to join me. 

I, of course, started thinking up names, and then struck upon Team Kettle Corn Killers in reference to Angel's habit of eating popcorn whenever something interesting happens. I quickly created a this little recruiting poster....

And boy. People sure want to be with you when you have a cool name! What's up with that? (That is my tip, by the way to people trying to scrounge up a team. Come up with a cool/wacky/grooevil (groovy + evil) name!)

So now I'm venturing where none of my wizards have gone before. Into the heart of PvP-Land. I think we'll make it back. Alive? Maybe. But definitely with new knowledge and hopefully with some new memories of spending time with my friends. 

All this sappy talk making you yearn to come and join us? Please do! Grab a team and (HURRY! submissions due tomorrow 7/12! ) submit it. Or just come and watch the matches. You can find all the details right here at Cassandra's blog: http://fromtheheartofadragon.blogspot.com/2011/07/watch-this-space-part-2.html?spref=tw
Also check out: "United We Stand -- Looking for a team?" on Diary of a Wizard™ ConnectX: http://ning.it/oiEgij

~Heather

Crafting Maniac

I had a really good time playing PvP last night. Before we got started, I got some tips (thank you Kevin) that really helped me out. 

I actually helped win a couple matches! Woot! New experience!

Will you be seeing me competing in the ranked matches anytime soon? Probably not. I don't really have a lot of time for the epic 4v4 warlord 6 hours battles. But I'll probably be jumping into the friendly MFP match a lot more. Which is good, because its another way for me to hang with my friends. :) And now I'm not freaking out about having a PvP ring in my house anymore. LOL!

In other news, crafting is going really well!

Here's what I've crafted so far, assembled in my dorm:

2 star icons, 2 sprig trees, 5 star chalices, 2 sconces.

Pretty good eh? Then I'll need to go get the 75k gold. Oof. That will be difficult. I'm really bad at saving gold. And I need a new super awesome farming spot, since I don't have one currently. 

So it looks like I've got some more work to do. Better get to it!

~Heather