Monday, May 31, 2010

The polls are in...

Here are your new student teachers!
Congrats to all my friends and new student teachers! You guys rock!
You might notice that my name isn't on that list. And it's okay. I knew when I saw Ronan's name on the ballot that I was in for a hard race. I'm glad just to have survived! So right now I just want to say a BIG thank you to all the people who voted for me. You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for supporting me! The cookies are on me! :D

I met up this Ronan in game this morning. He named me assistant, and instructed us (myself and Cody) to kill Cyrus Drake and throw him in the lava.

It was a good way to release my dissapointment (just a little! :)) of not winning!

Next time Destiny and I will PWN! ;)
~Heather

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Ball

That ball was crazy. A ton people where there and we blocked up like three areas!
Then we moved to Fallon's house and things got a bit better.
As you can see the people who were there are stars.


~Heather

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Reminder! Ravenwood Ball TONIGHT!

Hey everyone! Just a reminder that the Ravenwood Ball is TONIGHT.
By the looks of Ravenwood right now this is gonna be huge! (If you see me and want to chat, please send me a group invite or whisper chat me. Otherwise I'll lose ya. :) )
Don't forget to log onto Ravenwood Radio to see a broadcast of the party!

Here's all the info if you didn't know already:


"As April fades into May, we have much to be thankful for and lots to celebrate! Next month we will celebrate our 1st birthday!! Thanks to all of you wonderful wizards, we have grown so much! When I started this website last year to chronicle my time playing this really cool wizard game with my kids, I never could have imagined the wonderful outcome. I am so honored to be a part of the most amazing community. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME.
To mark this milestone, I would like to announce the very first Ravenwood Ball! There will be dancing and massive amounts of pure silliness! I invite ALL nominees and current Student Teachers to attend. This will give us a chance to thank the current student teachers as they move on to more challenging roles in the Spiral and to help welcome the new nominees!


Date: Saturday – May 29, 2010
Time: 6PM Central (4pm PST) – until…?
Location: Ravenwood School of Magical Arts (of course!)
Realm: Vampire Area 1

Please dress accordingly! Break out your best party gear *forget the stats!* and bring your favorite pet! Campaigning IS allowed and welcomed. Tell us why we should vote for you next term!

Do you like goodies? I will be giving away a few special party favors. The prizes are top secret right now but let me assure you they are squee-worthy!"


I assure you it will be fabulous. Fallon's parties always are. Don't miss the social event of the season!

~Heather

Friday, May 28, 2010

More Pets

Another pet filled day.
First off my mustard troll hatched.
Then my new Frostzilla hatched.
Then we went farming some more.
First drop was Storm Snowman!
Next with help from Kevin BattleBlood, Heather EmeraldFlame and Fallon ShadowBlade I got a Sliverback Wildclaw!

Then last but not least, my Orthrus leveled up!
Now it may cast a myth spell! Cool.
So now I can hatch, Dustin has dibs.
Although I need some serious gold. Aprox 98,000.
Right now I have... 1,199.
This is gonna take a while.
~Heather

Follow Friday

Today's feeds are...

Twitter feed: @MWildthorn (You heard him talk about pets on Friendly's blog, on twitter you can hear him be totally brainy about pets all the time!)

Blog: Christo Skywalker's Journey (I met Christo on twitter, his is bran new blog!)

Central thread: The Reason Behind Removing Enchanted Treasure Cards

Have a good friday!
~Heather

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Farmville

No this post isn't going to be all about Farmville. ;)
Farming is what I've been doing though, a LOT of farming.
So far I have collected, 3 Myth Sprites, a Blue Banshee, a Mustard Troll,
and a Life Banshee!

I also got a pet with Victoria's arena tickets.
Sparky the storm elf!
More to come soon, but now... back to farming!
~Heather
P.S. I have a tip for you. Play pet mini-games in the morning before you go to School/Work. Then when you're gone, the pet energy can be filling up! :)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

I can see clearly now...

... The rain hasn't gone, actually it's pouring here. But my junky old monitor is! You see my monitor I was using broke down, so it was replaced with a old gross one, for the time being. But the new monitor came in the mail this morning and I can actually SEE things now!

So, pet update went live this morning eh?
Well I'll go check it out!
Be back in a bit!

~Heather

Friday, May 21, 2010

Follow Friday

This week's follow Friday blog feed is: The Awesome Sauce-erer! (Don't you just love that name!)

This week's twitter feed: @ReedGiantPetal (You may know him from Central. As "argent" or now "reed petal".)

I'm also going to add in a Wizard101 Central thread that I'm reading.

This week's thread: Lvl 48 Pet Combinations (Interesting stuff going on here!)

~Heather

History

Amber and Kestrel did it and I'm going to do it too!
Talking about my past.
Yep, it's been a long time.
Okay to begin at the beginning, I started playing by not playing. My friend was playing Wizard101 and I always seemed to end up over his shoulder, watching and remarking on how dumb it was.
"You could make a wizard too!" he told me. "Nah," I said, "It looks boring and addicting."
"You can have a unicorn pet," he said. "...really? Well... maybe I'll try..."
So I took the test and got a myth wizard. I named her Heather Raven.
So then I went all the way through the free trial areas and even though I wasn't convinced it was a great game I got a subscription.
After many battles with my two real life wizard pals (Death and Fire) we progressed to Krokotopia. We were enchanted by it's beauty and lore.
Then some more battles, we advanced to Marleybone. At first it was very cool because as you all know I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. But then it got really hard.
After some more grueling battles we traveled to Mooshu.
Which made me hungry for red bean moon cakes.
But I found Mooshu boring. So I plodded through mostly because my friends were nudging me too.
Then we hit Dragonspyre, which was by far the worst of all.
But we finally finished.
Then my friend who started it all (Death) deiced he was bored with wizard101 and stopped playing.
I was kinda bored too, now that I had "finished the game" what was there to do next?
Then a truly remarkable thing happened.
KI featured a blog post by The Friendly Necromancer on the log in page.
I looked at it for a few times before caving and clicking over.
I had no idea there was a community behind Wizard101!
I started reading his blog, I started reading Jessica's blog.
I was hooked and knew I had to write my own.
Just for myself, not thinking anyone would read it, I started logging my adventures of me and my Balance alt Victoria.
Here's my first screenshot ever.

I'm not going to step you through every important thing I've learned as a blogger but here are a few milestones:

Gosh I love Wizard101.
~Heather

Thursday, May 20, 2010

It's Getting Closer

Yay! KI has added a new character to the wallpaper! Celestia is getting closer!
:D
~Heather

Looking Good

Miss Nora is rockin' Wizard City!
Now she's level 7.
New look. New spell.
Awesome!
Heather/Nora

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

How to make Treasure Cards

We all like Treasure Cards right? They can be really useful and make a great gift.
Did you know you can make your own? (Yes, most of you probably do, but hey! Ya never know...)
Yes you can make your own treasure cards, they are called enchanted treasure cards.
To make a treasure card, first we have to go to the library.
Now you can pick up a couple different kinds of cards for treasure card making, (mainly "tough" and "keen eyes",) but today I'm just going to use Keen Eyes.
Okay now that we've bought some keen eyes, lets go to Unicorn way.
"Why Unicorn way?" you ask. Well you need to enter a battle to make a treasure card, and since Lost Souls in Unicorn Way are some of the easiest enemies in the game, it's best just to use them.
So now we have to set up our deck. Take all your treasure cards out of your deck, and put all your Keen Eyes in your treasure card slots.
Next, pick a few types of cards you want to make treasure cards out of and put them in your deck.


If you are going to use Keen Eyes to make treasure cards, you need to pick a card that has an accuracy under 100%.
Now jump into a battle.
Get rid of one card in your hand, and draw a treasure card.
Click on your keen eyes card.
See how the cards that can be made into treasure cards light up?
Click on one of those.
Now it's a treasure card, with increased stats!
Right click on it to put it away.
 
Continue doing this, till you run out of cards to enchant.
Now draw an extra Keen Eyes and pass.
Next turn you won't need to discard anything, just continue making treasure cards until you run out of cards to draw.
Then kill the Lost Soul with a wand card.
Now you have a nice bunch of newly minted treasure cards.
Don't forget to take them out of your treasure card slots and refill it with Keen Eyes before you hope into another battle!
Now that you have some treasure cards you can trade with other players!
But only for a short time I'm afraid. Because KI is removing the ability to trade enchanted treasure cards with other players, as part of the pet update.
I do NOT like that choice.
But I still plan on making and trading treasure cards while I can. :)
~Heather

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A Brief Note

I got into a play! Woot!
I will be rehearsing my on Saturday and Sundays in the morning through the afternoon, and Mondays and Tuesdays in the evenings. This means my playing time this summer is going to be somewhat limited. Don't worry if you don't see me on, or if I'm late for something. It just means I am working hard. :)

Okay now back to our regularly scheduled program...

~Heather

Monday, May 17, 2010

Hard Times

Times are hard. Yep, they are. I just realised, that this summer is going to be really different for me and a lot of other people. I can't/don't want to spend a lot of money this summer. I'm starting to think of Wizard101 as a real treat. But I'm not going to let that limit me, no sir! I made list of ten free things to do this summer for oodles of fun!
  1. Go to your local library. Your library is a never ending source of fun. It's full of books, music, videos, and games. My library system has tons of free activities for young people during the summer, check out your branch! You might find something really fun.
  2. Sleep. I love sleep, and I hope to catch up on a lot this summer! ;)
  3. Go to the park. Parks are amazing, and they can have lots of free events. Grab a Frisbee or a jump-rope, and go explore.
  4. Play in your backyard. (if you have one,) It's so good for you to be outside, so enjoy the wonders of your own backyard! Play with a soccer ball, dance to some music, or just read a book.
  5. Volunteer. It's a great way to help out. Animal shelters, libraries, parks, theatres, all need volunteers. I volunteer at a theatre and I get to see shows for free! It's a great way to learn a lot about an area you're interested in.
  6. Take a writing class at 826. I love my local 826! 826 provides free writing classes to young people, and they tutor writing too. They are fantastic and creative. To learn more and find your local 826 click here.
  7. Work in your garden. (again, if you have one,) Gardening is a great source of exercise. Plus you parents and neighbors will love you.
  8. Write a story. All you need is your imagination. I love to write.
  9. Read. It's so wonderful for you. Go to you're local library, or if you have a kindle, there are loads of free books and plays you can download. There is a ton of great literature available for free on the Internet. Broaden your mind! Together we can see into the future! Oh whoops... that's a movie.
  10. Go to a museum. Lots of museums have free entrance days. You can explore time itself by letting your mind roam through the ages, as you walk through the museum halls. Also it might be air conditioned!

Well, that's my list. Looks like a lot of fun to me! :)
~Heather

The Great Pet Giveaway!

Edward, The Pet Master, is having a really cool contest!
For more info click here.
I am totally entering, since my luck with the Gobbler contests has been... really bad.
And I'd really like a Green Cat Thug too!
~Heather

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Meet Nora

I made my new life wizard!
Meet Heather's little sis...
Nora Raven.
Nora is level 4.
Nora's powers are legendary.

Heather/Nora

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Cropping Screenshots with MS Paint

As I mentioned in my guide to taking great screenshots, you can crop photos in Microsoft Paint (MS paint for short).
It's super easy, and most PCs have MS paint. To see if your computer has MS paint, click on the Start Menu, then click on "all programs" then click on the folder called "acessories",  then click on "paint"!

When you want to crop a screenshot, go to whatever file the are stored in on your comupter, then right click on the photo. A menu will appear! On the menu move your mouse over to "open with", then click on "paint".
Look! Now your screenshot is in MS paint. Yay!

Okay now at the top left hand corner of the screen you'll see a little tool box, in that tool box are lots of icons. "Oooooh, shiney!" you are saying. Don't touch them!
Only need one tool to crop your screenshot that's the "select" tool. It's the box with the dotted lines at the top.
Select that tool. Now you can click an drag to make a little box apear in your picture.
Inside that box is what you're picture will look like after it's cropped, anything outside it will go away.
Now that you've selected what you want to crop, right click anywhere inside the selected area.
A menu will pop up and at the bottom, you will see "crop". Click on it.
And there you go! It's all cropped.
If you don't like the way it turned out, just press Control+Z. Undo! (I love that hot key. You can use it everywhere.)
When you're happy with your screenshot save it.
Do not forget to save!
Now you can do lots of really fun stuff like adding text, and layering!
But we'll save that for another day. :)
Kestrel/Heather

Friday, May 14, 2010

Follow Friday

So today is Follow Friday, and I'm going to feature one blog, and one twitter feed that I really enjoy reading. :)
This Friday's blog is: Paige's Page
I met up with Paige on the test realm.


This Friday's Twitter feed is: @FallonDeathWiz
Fallon is very nice and has some intresting thoughts on Wizard101.
(Oops, I don't have a good picture of Fallon.)

Go check out these awesome feeds!
~Heather

221b

You probably know this already, but I love Sherlock Holmes.
So when I saw the small Marleybone house, I fell in love with it too because it looks a lot like 221b Baker St., where the famous detective lives.
So I decided to get one on the test realm!
The decor is modest. Yet tastefully Edwardian.
Boy Sherlock sure does like his crafting.
Did you know that the real Baker St. in London is very close to Regent's Park?

Yup!
I love Marleybone....and hate it, all at the same time...
~Heather

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Happy Birthday

Hip hooray! Today is my Birthday!
Yep today I am one year older, gee that year went by fast.

I'm not quite sure yet if I'm going to do anything in-game...
Would you guys be up to a little party?
I'm having a cheesecake! I can not wait to eat it!!!
~Heather

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A Guide to Taking Great Screenshots

I've been thinking. ("Uh-oh! Here comes trouble!" Hey! Silence in the peanut gallery!) I have come to the understanding that I like blog with pictures. Lots of pictures! It's not exactly easy to take really nice pictures, so here's Victoria to tell you some tips and trick for taking really nice screenshots in Wizard101. (Senior bloggers you probably know this, but this one's for the younger crowd!) If you don't know how to take a screenshot, go here and KI will tell you all about it! (Click on "click here to learn how to take a screenshot")
As always, click to make the picture bigger.

Here's how to do that. Open up your spell book, click on "options", then click on "game play options", it's the little joystick. Now at the very top you'll see a option that says "overhead names" switch it to "none".
"But why?" you ask. I'll show you.
Here I am in the commons with the over head names on.
It looks really busy and cluttered.
Now I switch them off.
Same amount of people, but it's much nicer to look at.
But...
Here's the part that makes a really nice picture. When you're in game, press control and G. That's it, all the extra stuff around the edges like potion bottles, experience bar, crowns shop icon, will magically disappear.
A couple of things to keep in mind, it will also remove chat bubbles, quest dialog, and menu screens.
So here's a picture with Ctrl+G on.
It doesn't remove the overhead names so like you have to remove them manually.
After they're gone...
Nice and clean. Lovely screenshot.
When you're finished taking your screenshot, press Ctrl+G again to turn everything back on!

"Wha-wait! How do you take a screenshot so the camera is facing me?"
Easy just adjust the angle!
Just remember you have to keep holding down the mouse button when you take your picture! Other wise it will snap back to the default angle.
If you play full screen, this isn't an issue for you. But you may want to crop it to highlight a part of the screen, so it's good to know how to crop.
This is where things can vary from computer to computer. I have a Vista.
The program I use is called Windows Photo Gallery. Most photo editing programs have a crop function, look around a bit till you find yours. You can also crop on MS paint, click here for a guide on how to do that!
Okay here's a sample.
I took this on the test realm.
To crop, click "fix" then click "crop picture".
Now adjust the box to crop what you'd like.
Make it as big or as small as you want.
Then click "apply".
Now it's nice and cropped. If you don't like it you can press "undo" and try again.
You don't have to worry about saving it, it will do that automatically.
Okay now that you've cropped your screenshot, you'll probably want to save it. I recommend making a few folders just for your Wizard101 screenshots. I sort by Wizard (so I have folders for Heather, Victoria, Kestrel, and Lenora.) but you should organize it so you can find what you want, when you want it!

Updated to add this:
Shady asked... "How do you clear all the things and your chat bubble is showing? When I do control G, it clears out the bubbles but on the pictures it looks like your doing it and the bubble is showing? How do you do that?"
Well, unfortunately with Ctrl+G it will take away every thing, so we can't use that.
We have to do it the old fashioned way, by cropping!
First lets get rid of all the extra stuff in the screenshot.
Open up your spell book and go to "Options". Then click on "Gameplay Options", and at the bottom set quest helper to off.
Okay this is about all that we can take out of the screenshot without pressing Ctrl+G.
Now when you type in a message the chat log window pops up. Closing this will make things easier.
Pressing "O" instead of manually clicking it closed will make things faster, since the bubble will remain visible for only so long.
When you crop your screenshot make sure that the box isn't touching any of the potion bottles or your spell book. It will be a little akward, but with practice it becomes much easier.
Hope that helps! :)


Okay that's it, I think I've covered everything. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment!

And remember, "A picture's worth a thousand words." :)
Victoria/Heather