Another Ring on the Pet Tree of Life

I was helping my friend try out Wizard101 the other day, moving some gear from other characters into the shared bank for her, when I started thinking about pets. It's really nice to have a powerful, stats enhanced, spritely every other minute kind of pet when you're playing as a level 3 in Unicorn Way. As I moved a pet into the shared bank for her it struck me how my love for all things Red Gobbler has permeated its way into my real life friends' and family's accounts. We really do have gobblers coming out of our ears. It's time that I clean up some of the more disastrous failed hatches, and just get over it and delete them already.
So as I was looking for pockets of gobblers scattered around a dozen shared banks and attics, I noticed how many different types of pets we actually had. From Aqua Dragons to Zombies, I counted them up, spread over my wizards I had over 135 different types of pets. That's a huge number! Particularly since I have multiples of most of those. But what I think is even cooler is that the pets I've collected are like the rings on a tree.

They span across the four years (my wizaversary was in March) I've played and tell the story of my relationship with Wizard101. I still have the my very first pet ever. It is a Unicorn pet named Queen Ellie. Actually the reason I decided to try Wizard101 was because you could have a UNICORN PET. Hello! That's awesome. Then there is the Krok pet Lord Winston I had for most of Krokotopia until I got my very first pet drop, Evil Snowman, in Marleybone. I recalled the hours I had farmed with friends (lots of them don't even play anymore) and the great times we had. This is taking a schmaltzy turn-- my point is, that I don't see some of the freaking awesome pets around anymore. Needless to say this makes me sad. So I encourage you-- yes you! To think about playing with some of the 'old school' pets. I mean, who doesn't want an epic SPUDF Ianthine Spectre, or Mustard Troll? Hmmm? Crazy people that's who!

You officially have my permission to ask your friends, random people, and me if they have any old school pets they'd be willing to hatch with. I also am totally willing to help out anyone who asks with some hatching assistance. Leave me a comment, or better yet sent me a tweet (@HeatherRavenWiz) and we can hopefully find a time and pet to hatch.

For you people who already have your Mega Death Cyclops. I virtually high-five you. You are awesome.

What's your favorite pet that you consider 'old school'?

~Heather

Hey, Where's Heather?

I can imagine walking down the streets of the spiral and bumping into one of my old friends. They say to me "Heather! Where have you been all this time?" And would say "well..." and probably break into some Phineas and Ferb style musical backstory review.
Well I decided not to try my hand at writing, directing, and animating a clip for you so I'll just tell you. I've been right here. Under the surface. It's like I've been in the conductive zone of the sun, just wandering around bouncing from one thing to another while slowly building up enough energy to write.
And I have decided it's good to write. Not just in 140 characters on twitter, or in long private conversations with friends, but on ye olde blog.
So, back to the story. Well mostly I have been leveling, I mentioned Heather got to level 80 right? Well she did that. And then I got her through the rest of Avalon. Then my friends helped me get One-In-A-Million, which I missed because my internet went down the instant I cast the spell. Apparently I made it because I have the badge. Yup.

Ooh she looks so tough.

Then I took my storm wizard, Kestrel, all the way through Avalon. So she's level 80 and all powerful.

Kestrel's new giant paper weight.

Then I kind of kicked around, without any particular motivation. All of my wizards were stuck in annoying areas (take my death, Lenora, for example. She gets to pick between Grizzlehiem and Celestia. Bleh!). So I turned to Star Trek Online (STO). I like STO but I kind of have no idea how anything works, so I push all of the buttons I can and hope I get shiny stuff. That's about it.

Me bossing around my Science officer Zog.

Me looking like I actually have control of this ship.

Hopefully I'm back into the swing of things. Hopefully my new strange beast will get spritely at epic and be Heather's first SPUD pet. Hopefully I won't blow up my starship. Again.

Hopefully,

~Heather

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

Ketchup

I've been catching up with my wizardly duties.

First I finished Avalon with Elijah and Ms. Dreamflower.

Then I spent 6 hours hanging out with John. We got really silly (as we do when left unsupervised). Then we went and did a million hit on General Greystone.

Thanks to John and Rylee!

I've been spending a lot of time lately hanging out in the Bazaar and the Hatchery. Those are the best places for outfit watching. All of that outfit hunting has prompted me to revive the street style project. I've revised the format, and now it's more shiny. Shiny is good.

A little slideshow for your view pleasure, the theme -- holiday items. 

Click to move the slideshow forward.

I also got a reader submission: This is from Edward Strongfist! 

Thanks Edward!

If you want to see more you can click over to the Street Style page:

Click this way!

~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

Here in Camelot

Avalon. I'm not going to go into much detail about the world, because I'm sure many others will be outlining it in great detail. And I'm a little bit tired, so all I'm gonna attempt is a first glimpse!

As many have mentioned, the world is based on Celtic legend and King Arthur. Camelot! What? You aren't familiar with the magical land of Camelot? Here's a musical description:

Here's another, slightly more realistic description:

I managed to jump on the test realm for a little bit with my friend John and Eli. Here's what we saw:

Well I think the test realm was a little glitchy. I kept holding my wand and my moose's ear at the same time. Oops! I kinda like it though.

This is what Avalon looks like when you first enter through the spiral door. So in other words, Stonehenge!

One of the first places that we went was "Abbey Road". Haha very funny. Beatles Crossing! (My favorite song on the album. Oh and you can see the lyrics in the description on Youtube for those of you who don't have them memorized.)

I don't really know what place this is because I haven't done any questing. I'm calling it the "rose hall". John and I were both drooling over the stained glass windows. They made me really happy because they reminded me of one of my favorite movies as a little girl, Beauty and the Beast.

Here you can see what I'm talking about:

(Hearing impaired wizards can get the text for this prologue in the description of the video. Click on over to YouTube.)

John pointed out that the ceiling of the Library was really awesome.

This door was the subject of much debate amongst us. It strongly reminds me of the West-gate into the mines of Moria in Fellowship of the Ring the first book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There is a hammer on that door as well. My best guess is that Gimli is trapped behind the door. Don't worry Gimli! We'll getcha out of there! Eventually...

It looks really pretty. It also looks like there might be a few Rings mentions. Kinda makes me want to reread my favorite book. Yeah in my "spare time"! Bwahahaha!

What I'm actually going to be doing in my spare time is finishing quests off on my wizards, and getting Victoria through Zafaria. Ugh. I'm not looking forward to the lions, but I do like to have wizards that can go to the shiny new places, so that's the price you pay I guess! I'm a little more excited now that I've actually seen Avalon.

I can't wait to see the level 78 pets too! I wonder what Myth will get...

~Heather

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

Home for the Holidays

After much bustle and hubbub, I've finally been able to get in some playing time for Wizard101.

Zafaria! I haven't finished it yet, but I have gotten up to level 70 and tried out my new spell Basilisk. Very cool. But I don't have a great understanding of DoTs yet so it'll take me a while to figure out how to use it effectively.

I've also been working on finishing up some houses I've been working on... Hopefully you'll get to see them really soon. And also I have more fun surprises coming up in the near future too! Stay tuned!

That's it for the status update. I hope you all are having a wonderful break, and I wish everyone luck on their finals!

~Heather

Déjà vu

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. 

Fool me three times?

...

INCONCEIVABLE!

("that word you keep using...") 

Introducing the Nightmare pack for Halloween. Lord help us now they're seasonal.

Hmm anyone else having Déjà vu?

"  ...I think adding a feature like this into the game is not .... healthy. If any of you can remember WAY back to when there was the big backlash over wishing wells (Here's a TFN post talking a little bit about it) well I was painfully reminded of that when DH packs came out. The only difference is the fixed price and the way they package it. Basically it's gambling. ...You aren't guaranteed anything but spending money. Who's the one winning? KI! Right. They want to make money, that's reasonable, they are a company and it's part of how you keep the game running. But there are alternatives. What they could do is have a DH or WH pack and then offer select items from the pack in the crowns shop so someone who just wanted that really cool sword, or bone dragon mount could get it. But of course at some expensive cost, so that the DH/WH packs would still be appealing. "Ooh I have a chance of getting something for only 399 crowns instead of 7,500! I guess I'll buy one!" But obviously they don't want to do that. They want to make as much money as possible with the DH/WH pack system. (I seriously hope they prove me wrong here.) Also did anyone else notice that they, just happened to not release it on the test realm, they saved that surprise for live? Are they so worried that they will get so much backlash that they won't even let people test this feature?

Well until something gives here there will be no more Wyvern's Hoard packs in Heatherville. Because as the old saying goes: "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." "

That was "On How KI Drives me Cukoo for Coco-Puffs Somedays" August 19th, 2011. (Is it just me, or are they increasing in frequency? Ruuuuuuun! They're multiplying!)
Okay. Unfortunately KI is just living up to my worst expectations. Not only did they add another new (seasonal! YIKES!) pack, they have not made anything available for straight up purchase. And once again they bypassed the test realm-- even though there was content up there that they realized as well!

As usual, we (ze #twizard community (twitter wizards)) exploded. There were split camps. I'm just going to adress some highlights from what was said there, because some of it is really interesting food for thought:

@witchwarrior said: @LukeGoldHorn I agree with you to a point. These packs would work better if they made them a little cheaper and less random.
<-- Alric pointed out that they are actually 100 crowns cheaper than the usual, and he did get a nightmare mount on the first try.

@AlricRavenWiz went on to say: @LukeGoldHorn It's only gambling when you don't have the will to stop. If you can't stop buying a pack then you can't stop playing the game.In part thats not only gambling crowns that gambling life and time for kids who become addicted. So should [there] be no more games?

<-- I rebutted: @AlricRavenwiz Gambling in Merriam-Webster as defined as: to bet on an uncertain outcome 2: to stake something on a contingency take a chance ... All of the hoard packs live up to that definition. ...I was just saying that "gambling" and "gambling addiction" are [two] different things and you *can* have one without the other.

For me this is disappointing. I remember us being pretty vocal about Wyvern Hoard Packs when they came out mid-August. I really love Wizard101 and I don't see how this feature enhances the game in a positive way. It just make people like me go "OH NOES!" and have heated debates about crazy things like gambling addictions. It's actually comical! Wow this a game and it's supposed to be fun! Good grief Charlie Brown. We all (yes KI too) need a bit of a reality check. New mantra-- Games are fun.

To end this on an upbeat: I don't have anything against people who buy the packs. Have fun! I hope you get all the awesome swag! (I cannot join yous since I have exactly one crown. Hehe.) I love you guys no matter what. Group tackle hugs!

So... what do you think the mystery pet that we're going to get will be? And what do you hope it will be?

~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