Let the Seeking Begin

Mark is Now! 618 Central is mark time

On the 8th Day of Christmas ...

the Mercenaries gave to me ....

a contest with the Cass'

Hide & Seek with a Twist

This contest will have an start time announced after 6 pm Central TODAY Wednesday Dec 21, 2011, so check back often!

There will be 8 Cass' hidden throughout the Spiral in Scarecrow realm, but there is a twist to this little Hide and Seek. Once the contest officially begins you have 10 minutes, and 10 minutes only, to find each Cass in their hiding spot. At the 10 minute mark another Cass will appear at a new location and the old Cass disappears! The clues are below, in order of how they are hidden. Once the start time is announced it is you to you — the questers – to keep an eye on the time!


In the land of Fiery rain
Once a great city now scorned and disdained
This Cass sits in crimson robes
Atop the mountain of greatest woes

Looking spiffy in purple and white
Another Cass waits just out of sight
Near a Palace of Green I hear
Tranquility whispers through a sow’s ear.

This Cass is different than the rest
Find and See, be my guest
Dressed in black and blue you'll find
In the schoolhouse covered in vines

In the land of Ice and Frost
This Cass seems to be a tad lost
Does she really belong,
Where Raven's first sung the Coven's song?

In a city this Cass stands
She brings ruin and death to evil bands
Look for her near GloomThorn’s Tower
As she works to lessen his power.

In the ancient swirling sands
This Cass is in her heart's land
She stares upon the age-old foes
Who brought about this lands woes

Bathed by the light of the setting sun
She wants to become the Transcended one
Working her way thru the old stone town
She will continue to bear down

Where the explorers sip some tea
You wont find mermais under this Sea
Crabs and eels and sharks abound
Underwater is where this Cass is found


Once you find Cass say this phrase using MENU chat. “Have you seen any acorns?” Cass will give you a reply, write down that reply! Each Cass will gives a different reply.

Send those 8 phrases, in order, via PM and tell me what school wizard said what phrase and in what world and the name of your wizard. All correct entries will be put into a random winner generator. If no one gets all of them correct, those with the highest amounts will be entered.

You have until midnight central time TONIGHT to PM your answers to me. Or you may email your entries to CassChristmasContest at gmail.com

Each Cass will be taking screenshots of the people who find her to make sure all entries are vaild.

And just what are the prizes you ask? That, my friends, is for YOU to decide. Cass is giving away up to 8000 crown in items from the Crown Shop, you heard me right, YOUR choice of items valued up to 8000 Crowns!

Good Luck! Have fun! Let the Seeking begin!

I can haz "Charmer"?

I would like you all to meet Charmer, my cat.  He is a "charmer" for sure!  I got him from the Humane Society in September of 2008.  I was in the "kitten pen" bent down looking at the ginger cats and petting them when all the sudden I felt a thud on my back and the feel of soft paws walking up my back as I stood up.  Next thing I know there is a black kitten rubbing his face on mine and saying meow in my ear.  Well my heart melted and Charmer found himself a new home.  :)

The reason I am blogging about my cat?  Well KI just made my day with the release of the Permanent Panther mount in the Crown Shop!  

 Now I can have my Charmer at home AND in the Spiral!  I am one happy wizard!

Until next time, be well!

Defeat ...

Defeat may be a stepping-stone or a stumbling block depending on whether your attitude is positive or negative.  Anon.

I ran across this quote today and it got me to thinking of many things.

First of all PvP came to mind. ;)  That doesn't surprise us all TOO much does it?
Once upon a time I saw PvP and those who were in the Arena as stumbling blocks to my enjoyment of Wizard101.  If I dared to set foot inside the doors Diego was guarding I was liable to be assaulted with an onslaught of badness -- language, attitude, you name it, it was there and I was outta there! so fast I would make the pixels on your head spin!

Things in the Arena have started to change, slowly, but change it has.  Defeat is no longer the end of the world for some people but instead is a learning experience.  And THAT my friends is a darn GOOD thing!  LEARNING how to deal with defeat is NEVER an easy thing, but we can't always all be winners.  LEARNING that you can overcome a strategy you thought was unbeatable, now THAT'S priceless.

The second thing that came to mind was KingsIsle.  Last year they were defeated in the GDCO Audience Choice award, but this year they emerged victorious!  Woot woot! Way to go KI!!  The were kind enough to "bribe" their audience, as League of Legends did the previous year ;)  I LIKE my Yellow Elf!  It is a FIRST generation pet after all!  I know many people are "complaining" that "it's a hybrid", it'd "nothing new", yadda yadda yadda.  Ya know what folks?  It's free! KI certainly didnt have to GIVE us anything.  They choose to award us with a free pet in honor of their winning.  I for one, think it's a very nice thing!  Now I just need to train it up and see if I want to make it an Uber pet!

Until next time, be well!

Inquiring minds want to know ...

is there any interest out there for another 4v4 Legendary tourney?  I sent this out via twitter and got 2 responses ... not quite enough for me to start planning.  So let me know you if are interested either via comment, email or a tweet!

PvP and Winston Churchill?

War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.  Winston Churchill


I ran across this quote while surfing the interwebz and it reminds me quite a bit of PvP.


TPC took part in Katherine Light's the More the Moneyer Midlevel Mayhem Tournament over the past few weeks.  One of the MANY reasons I haven't posted in a while, but we wont go there ;)


Katherine or (KK as I call her) was nice enough to drum up some prizes for participants based on things other than winning.  One of those was a Good Sportsmanship award that she gave in my honor.  Thanks KK!  And that is how the above quote by Winston Churchill and PvP merged in my mind.


Cassandra StarDreamer was the winner of this award, and to quote KK: She was kind to both teams and spectators before the match, and wished even her competitors good luck. After their team lost she complimented her opponents, wished them luck in the future, and was very happy just to have been able to play a clean, fun mid level match, whether her team won or lost.


And THAT is what makes a good sportsman and the quote SO appropriate.  PvP is a form of war against another team, but it doesn't mean you can't smile and have a good time while battling.  As y'all know my personal opinion of PvP changed quite a bit from when I first encountered Wizard101 to now.  I absolutely AND completely HATED PvP with a passion bordering on obsession!  It was not the thought of PvP, but the Trolls inhabiting the Arena that turned me away.  If more people had Cassandra StarDreamer's attitude I think many more would be willing to try their hand at PvP.


If you are a "hardened" Arena RAT or just a sometime player remember that we were all new to Wiz AND the Arena at one point and treat your opponents with respect.


Until next time,


Be well

United We Stand ... so far

Well, we got off to a rocky start but with this being a first time event these things WILL happen, and we use them as a learning experience.  We did only get 7 teams, not 16 so the matches are progressing quickly.  The standings:

The next matches are Saturday July 23rd, 2011.

Shadow Arcane will face off against SASSY
at 1 pm Eastern/12 noon Central/11 am Mountain/10 am Pacific.

The Narwhals will go against The "Noobs"
at 4 pm Eastern/3 pm Central/2 pm Mountain/1 pm Pacific.

Final Match to take place Sunday July 24th

3 pm Eastern/2 pm Central/1 pm Mountain/12 noon Pacific

All meetups will be in front of Diego in Vampire Realm 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the match.

United We Stand

The next match takes place TODAY -- Sunday July 17th 2011

5 pm EST

4 pm CST

3 pm MST

2 pm PST

This IS a change from the earlier stated time!

We will meet at Diego in VAMPIRE realm 15 minutes prior.

Good Luck to our last two remaining first round teams!

And We're Off!

Well we have our teams -- only 7 :( -- so the Tourney will be much smaller than we had anticipated, but we move forward and have fun, ah yeeaahhh!

A round of appaluse for all of our participants please!

The Teams:

Shadow Arcane
 Jacob ShadowSword (Necromancer)
Alexander LionHeart (Thaumaturge)
Devin StormSword (Diviner)
Ian LionShield (Conjurer)

Mercs for Honor (M4H)
Katherine LightWhisper (Thaumaturge)
John Shadow (Pyromancer)
Joshua WyrmGraden (Theurgist)
Zachary LegendForge (Conjurer)

Narwhals
Cody SoulMender (Thaumaturge)
Sophia (Diviner)
Destiny (Conjurer)
Paul LifeHammer(Theurgist)

The "Noobs"
Colin Petal (Theurgist)
Chris NightFlower (Sorcerer)
Luis DragonHeart (Pyromancer)
Chris (Thaumaturge)

Inferno Storm
Mason FireThorn (Pyromancer)
Jonathan EmeraldSwrd (Thaumaturge)
Blake Stone (Theurgist)
Jeremy EmeraldFlame (Diviner)

Kettle Corn Killers (KCK)
Heather Raven (Conjurer)
Angel WinterBreeze (Thaumaturge)
Benjamin FrogStone (Sorcerer)
Paige MoonShade (Theurgist)


SASSY
Alia NightEyes (Diviner)
Jasmine SpellCaster (Thaumaturge)
Sydney LifeStone (Theurgist)
Angel Stone (Sorcerer)

Since this is now a 7 team Tourney I went out to random.org and used thier number generator.  I have a spreadsheet showing in what order I received the team rosters and that is how this first round bye was created.  SASSY has been givin the bye, number 7 was generated.

The Brackets for the first matches, to take place Saturday July 16, 2011 and Sunday July 17, 2011 -- Practice Arena -- Vampire Realm:

Shadow Arcane versus Inferno Storm to take place  Saturday July 16th 1 PM Eastern/12 noon Central/11 Mountain/10 Pacific

Narwhals versus M4H to take place Sunday July 17th 1 pm Eastern/12 noon/11 Mountain/10 Pacific

KCK versus The "Noobs" to take place Saturday July 16th 3 pm Eastern/2 pm Central/1 pm Mountain/ 12 noon Pacific

Round 2 matches will take place next Saturday July 23rd, 2011.

BEST of LUCK to all participants!  and Thank you all for joining and helping us Rock the Arena with TRUE Arena RATs (Radically Awesome Teammates)!

DEEP THOUGHTS

And no I am not doing this Jack Handey style but some actual things that have been percolating through my brain for the last few weeks if not months.  This is probably going to be a pretty "dry" post, but I hope you will stick with it.

Let's start out with some things that caught my eye or attention in the past and are the reason for this post.

Glitches within the game being exploited:

• ranging from "minor", porting to someone as they move between zones and ending up in the clouds, or power leveling a wizard.
• to “medium”, the "Chancel" glitch which allowed you to port  an under level wizard into the instance and level them to Legendary without questing
• to "major", the "plant" glitch which apparently was allowing unlimited harvests of plants, leading to an overabundance of single school blades and mega snacks within the bazaar, this also lead the closing of housing for a short period of time while KI worked to straighten things out.

Areas of concern in the Arena:

• Blade Stackers, usually a team of Ice wizards, sometimes with a life wizard thrown in.  They use multiple blades upon a high resist, high health player allowing said player to OHKO all the wizards on the other side of the battle ring while taking a minimal amount of damage to themselves.
• Tempest Spammers, usually a team of Storm wizards with one Myth or Fire wizard.  Please see my previous post on the subject for more details.  
• Use of high level school pets by low level wizards.  I have experienced this one myself MANY times while I was doing low level PvP.  A wizard will come in at low level (anywhere from 1-25) with a school pet equipped (either level 48 or 58, or a hybrid) and proceed to use said pet to hit someone with a health pool that is not designed for that massive hit.  Now this is mostly confined to the level 58 school pets as the level 48 pet cards drop readily.
• One of the newest ones, a Legendary wizard starts a 2v2 match with a ZERO rank level 1 player and has that level 1 flee the duel.  Since the current matching system tries to "level" all wizards within a match it makes the 60/1 duo about a level 30 which is Magus.  Now if 2 Magus wizards are in the PvP queue and get this 60/1 pair they are facing a team that has Critical on their side, in addition (once again) to a larger health pool.  It may be 2 on 1 BUT they are going against a human player who can think, and not the game AI (Artificial Intelligence) which has a set number of spells it can use, though it seems to have an infinite number of cards.

Areas of concern throughout the Spiral:

• Inappropriate Language
• Inappropriate behavior
• Trolling
• Begging
• Oni-ism -- pretending to work for KI, or pretending to be a well known wizard
• Bullying

A lot of the above issues boil down to ONE thing : lack of Ethics.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Ethic as follows:

Definition of ETHIC

1

: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation

2

a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values <the present-day materialistic ethic> <an old-fashioned work ethic> <an elaborate ethics> <Christianethics> b : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group <professionalethics> c : a guiding philosophy d : a consciousness of moral importance <forge a conservation ethic>

3

a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness)<debated the ethics of human cloning>

The highlight is mine by the way :)

I find that one of the major issues we are all facing in the Spiral is this lack of Ethics.  The Ethic to do the right thing, a moral code of conduct.

Let’s go over my bullet points one by one

The “Minor” issues:  being in the clouds is no big deal, its not really something we do on purpose, it just “happens” ;)  It’s sort of fun too!  Power leveling only hurts you to a certain extent. You do not get the chance to earn the spells you are given for completing a Wizard City, or Krokotopia until you actually go there and DO it.  And once you do go there it takes FOREVER to level! Trust me, I know and learned the hard way.  Wont do that again.

The “Medium” issues;  Chancel glitch, I know many wizards who did take advantage of this glitch -- they could manage getting a wizard to Legendary in just a few hours of playtime.  But once again, they paid for it in the end -- they didn't have access to instances to farm without porting into them.  They ended up learning the hard way, cheating the system doesn't pay in the end, you still need to do the “real” work.

The “Major” issues:  The “Plant” glitch, this was plain and simple a gross MISUSE of the floating trick that KI was nice enough to leave in the game for our decorating enjoyment.  Once the first wizard discovered it they SHOULD have reported it to KI and NOT spread the word.  Instead, through lack of a moral code, they thought it was “ok” to basically STEAL from KI and say it was KI’s fault for not fixing it.  That is just a cop out my friends.  Do you go in and steal a friend’s television or computer because you know they didn't lock their door?  Or do you tell your friend the door is unlocked, I will watch your stuff until you get back?  Which friend would YOU rather have?  The one who has your back, or the one you cant even trust with one slim dime?

Areas of Concern throughout the Spiral:

KI has said they ALL of us are the moderators of the Spiral, it is our duty to report inappropriate language and behavior, harassment -- whether it be racial, sexual, bullying, impersonation.  Use your report button, but use it wisely!  Do NOT become a vigilante in your journeys throughout the Spiral.  Be sensible about the power KI Has given us, don’t abuse it!  Once again, it boils down to YOUR ethics.  Do what you think is morally right.  Try to set people on the correct path, but remember you cant FORCE them to take it, you can only guide them.

Arena Concerns (all rolled into one):

They Arena is an ever-morphing place, with each change in the game that KI institutes we see a change in the seemingly “unstoppable” teams.  Chain Stunning, Blade Stacking, Tempest Spamming, Chain Smoking -- they have all come into fashion as a means of “easy” victory, an easy way to gain rank and tickets.  But I ask you this -- does your moral compass think this is fair to the other team?  Do you think its right that one team gets NO chance to play a card against you?  What makes this “strategy” even worse is the attitude many bring with them -- “We are all powerful and you are NOOBS!”  TPC has faced this many, many times -- it was what were designed for after all -- to bring the fun and excitement of the Arena to ALL wizards.  The Arena is there for all wizards to face a THINKING opponent.  Computer AI can only go so far into teaching us strategy and tactics, it takes a human mind to overcome another.  If I play this card now, what will he do? Will he do X or Y or Z, or will he play something I never even considered?  These thought process are joy that the Arena can bring to every wizard.  They help all of us with many things -- analysis, theory crafting, statistics even!  The Arena should be a place to go to learn and grow and expand your self and your abilities.  Not to go there and feel awful about yourself.  Once again, allow your moral compass to guide you.  If you see someone and they are struggling, ask if they would like some tips if you feel you are able to offer them.  On the other hand if you are struggling and you see some one's play style you admire ASK them for tips, I bet they would be flattered to know that someone admires their ability!

Allow yourself to be THE best wizard you can be -- and allow others the same privilege.

Remember that ethics and a moral compass DO count in your playtime!

I hope you enjoy your journeys around the Spiral, I know I enjoy mine!

Watch this space -- part 2

4v4 PVP Tournament 

hosted by Perfect Catch member,

Cassandra Dragonheart

Single elimination

4v4 tournament

16 teams

One Victor

The rules are simple:

Must be level 58 or higher.

MUST be a team of mixed schools.…in other words, you must have 4 different schools on your team

I prefer that teams are members of the DoaW PVP party forum, but it’s not required.  (To become a member of the PVP forum, you must have an account or create an account on DoaW  – go to Groups on my.diaryofawizard.com and find the PVP Party Forum group – you can ask to join the group from that page)

Teams must submit their team name and roster in advance to UnitedWeStandTourney at gmail.com by July Tuesday, July 12. The email must include your teams name, the schools, and each members in-game name.

Once you submit your roster, you can’t change the members or their schools…so choose wisely. If more than 16 teams register teams will be chosen at random using random.org.

After each match, both teams must email proof of their win or loss to me at UnitedWeStandTourney at gmail.com.

All matches must take place in the practice arena, this will prevent a specific team line up. This is also so that all wizards have a chance to watch – it promotes the Arena more.  The only downfall is we can’t boot people for bad behavior….so be on your best behavior  Teams must also be on their best behavior.  They can lose their chance at advancement if behavior issues arise. Elimination can happen for bad sportsmanship!

The matches will take place on Saturday and Sunday afternoons between 1 pm and 5 pm Eastern, so PLEASE do not register if you cannot make this time frame!

The line ups will be posted on July 14 on the DoaW PVP Party Forum, right here  at http://fromtheheartofadragon.blogspot.com, Ravenwood Radio forum and my Twitter account @CassDragonHeart

The first matches will begin Saturday, July 16, 2011

First place team members will each receive - Couch Potato seeds, Dragon's Hoard pack and a code for 2500 Crowns.
Second place team member will each receive - Dragon's Hoard pack.


I am extending the deadline for registration until July 13, 2011 at Midnight CST! PLEASE have your rosters to me by that time!

Watch this space:

Upcoming contest, stay tuned for details!

Turmoil in the Spiral ... and on Twitter

The past few days have seen a burst of posts across the Blogoshere and a spate of tweets flying over the air and landing on the #Twizards.  Many of them only know what they are told are are "picking sides" based on one person's point of view, and this is VERY sad.  As we all know there are two sides to every story, but it appears that only one is being heard.  Someone is crying poor, pitiful me, people are picking on me.  They are pointing fingers and smearing the good name of others in the Spiral.  The thing is, those people getting pointed at know the truth, the whole truth.  We were there and heard/saw with our own ears/eyes the whole of the conversation.  We have put no twist on it to paint ourselves in a favorable light.  No one was called a troll, no one said anything derogatory to another.  It was a rational discussion but one person decided that her point of view was the ONLY point of view.  I believe you all know who Fallon and I are and can figure out who were we speaking to. Without further the ado, here are the screen shots of the conversation.

 You can click on these pictures and they will enlarge in another web page.  Press your "back" button to return.

Some of the conversation bleeds over into other pages, but it was required in order to get it all. Fallon and I are being painted as witches of the highest order, if that is what y'all would like to think of us based on one person's "statement of facts" I am sorry.  I do not condone people acting as this person has.  Fallon has been a guardian of children's safety on this game since DAY ONE.  Fallon was looking out for the emotional well being of the child in question.  Being subjected to the invective some players hurl at spamming teams is something no one should have to deal with, much less a child.  The adult in this scenario should have said NO firmly and left, suggested she play another school, any number of things.  Instead she decides that since she has had a "bad day" she will use this cheap tactic to make herself feel better.  There was no thought about the people on the other side of the battle.  How did they feel losing in 2-3 rounds?  What if THEY had a bad day also and just wanted to have some fun PvPing with friends in the Arena?  Does the good of ONE person override the good of the many?  She claimed that the other team could use any number of spells to defeat them.  It is possible to defeat a tempest spamming team, but only with A LOT of luck on your side.  I know TPC is working on a way for us to survive the onslaught, but many teams are abandoning the Arena.

Please, please don't allow one person to cloud your judgment of others.  There are always 2 sides to a story, and one picture IS worth 1000 words.

Hmm .. community would like to know about Spamming huh?

Let me fill y'all in a little bit -- now this involves some math so bear with me.  There are 2 4v4 teams facing each other -- one with mixed players from 4 different schools (Team A), the other consist of 3 storm players and either a myth or fire player(Team B).  Now Team A has all kinds of different spells in their decks -- shields, manipulations, attacks, heals, etc.  Team B only has Gargantuan Tempests for the Storm players (and maybe a Darkwind bubble) and SmokeScreen/Choke/Meteor (Garg'ed of course) for the Fire or Blinding Light/Frog/Treasure Smoke Screen for the Myth.  Team B gets first turn advantage -- VERY bad for the Team A.  Why you ask?  Here's the math:

A 4 pip (2 power pip) garg Tempest does 320 + 225 (or 250 if Treasure Card) base damage -- add in a 80-90% attack boost (which is VERY easy for Storm to achieve) that means somewhere between 981 - 1083 damage for ONE Storm wizard's attack -- not taking into account any resist of Team A.  Now 3 wizards on Team B are using this spell -- that means you are looking at 2943-3249 base damage.  The fire or myth on Team B then uses a Blinding Light/Choke or Smokescreen to prevent Team A from using any card they make have picked first turn.  So Team B hits for massive damage, and Team A is forced to pass after taking damage.

Team B then "spams" that Gargantuan Tempest again -- granted then now have only one pip, or a power pip now so damage is less.  The math for that hit, using same 80-90% attack boost:  549-627 damage PER Storm wizard using that "one pip Spam" Tempest.  Add in more damage for team A, the total damage they have taken so far you ask?  Somewhere between 4590 damage and 5130.  If you are a walking tower shield (have 50% resist) you only took 2295-2565 damage.  How many of us are walking Tower Shields?  I know I am not! And how many have the health globe to withstand that?  And don't forget that Myth or Fire Wiz -- they use Frog or Meteor in there somewhere to pour on more damage.

NO other spell can be spammed like Tempest can -- NONE.  There are no other XPip spells that are AoE (Area of Effect) attacks that hit ALL enemies -- NONE!

I would like to see ANY other wizard spam an AoE, its not possible.  You cannot Gargantuan a 4 pip spell that is elucidated, only one enchantment can be applied to each card.  

You cannot Spam any cards but small hits (1-2 pips) at all!  Only Storm can hit every round and be assured that they  will do damage to all enemies.

Now I ask you -- those that may have stuck around through the math -- do you REALLY find this fair to the people behind those pixels on the other side of the screen?  Do you really think THEY are having fun being Killed in 2 rounds and NOT being able to do anything about it?  I don't think so.

I hope this post will help open your eyes to just want us loyal Arena Rats call Spamming.

My version of Stormy Wiz ;)

Now that myth has reached Legendary, and I have gotten back in the groove of questing I have begun working on my LONG neglected Storm Wizard.

I made her a LONG time ago and she has been sitting in the classroom just IMpatiently waiting her turn out in the Wide Worlds of the Spiral.  Surprisingly I am enjoying my time questing on her.  I have to be careful as I am used to a MUCH larger health globe, but all in all it is fun.  I usually run around with King Bosco the Spinyfish, who has Storm Shot, May cast Storm Trap, Spritely and Storm Giver.  The pig up there is a reject from the Perfect Catch breeding program -- I needed to change my pet to enter PvP for the first time on this wiz.  I know, I know -- Stormy is level 40 and hasn't entered PvP yet you are asking? No she did not, I didn't feel a need to do low level PvP on her.  But now that she is in Ravenscar and almost ready to enter WinterTusk she NEEDS conviction! So I broke out a reject pig that has Spell proof and Spritely to let her withstand some hits and hit the Arena this evening (or last night I should say).

Did a total of 10 matches -- ended up with the following:

And let me tell you it was a weird trip getting there!  I would win one lose one, win one, lose one -- and was facing level 18 Warlords as a level 40 Private.  WEIRD Matchups for sure. I would gain 17 rank facing a private and lose 19 rank facing a Knight!  I had one opponent -- Brian Thunderpants, a Legendary Theurgist!  And those 2 matches were the weirdest of all!  He apparently goes into the Arena with no deck equipped in order to build up the confidence of wizards just starting PvP.  I understand what he is doing -- all he wanted me to say was "I can do this, I can win" -- was building confidence in wizards, but I think he was going about it the wrong way.  Losing on purpose in that manner doesn't build confidence, it just made me shake my head.  The funny thing is I don't talk during PvP and he just wanted me too SO badly!  My cheer squad, da Piplets, were there to tell him I would NOT talk during PvP.  That it's just something I don't do.  Wait, go back you ask -- cheer squad? and What's with the name?? da Piplets??  Yes, I had a cheer Squad -- here they are:

Ian IceBlade, Jeffrey (Jeffy) IceHunter and Michelle (Chel Chel) SilverShield are da Piplets.  They came up with Piplets as a name for white pips, and I certainly had a BUNCH in my PvP matches!  They made my time in the Arena VERY enjoyable and for that I heartily thank them!  They even wear white for the white piplets!  Pretty snazzy looking if you ask me!

So I now have the rank I need to get Conviction, just need the training point -- figures doesn't it?

Whatever you do, enjoy YOUR time in the Spiral, I know I enjoy mine!  Until next time, be well.

Pet Success!!!!

The Perfect Catch team has been working hard toward pet version 4.0 for the team.  The past few weeks we have been hatching like crazy .. and doing the farming that a massive amount of hatching requires!  I am sure we spent MILLIONS in gold to hatch these pets, and some Crowns in the bargain too.  But personally, I think MY pig was MORE than worth it!!!  Kevin asked that we name our pets "Patches", so I did, with a twist ;)  I just HAVE to be different!

3 "May Cast" talents plus 10% Spell Proof, not too shabby!

We are currently working on more pets after facing a ANOTHER tempest spammer team, check out this outcome:

and yes, that's a loss of 30 Rank points, 30!  That is just crazy and totally unacceptable! They killed us in 3 turns! Tempest, blinding light, tempest, smoke screen ... cheap strategy and totally cheap win but there is not much anyone can do about it until KI fixes the Arena.  And on top of it these players were Trolls, Arena Trolls -- making fun of us for losing to them and being just generally bad sports.  One of these players had a 90% attack boost, that's just OUTRAGEOUS!

Please KI look into fixing some of the issues we are facing in the Arena?  Thank you!

Trolls and Gobblers and Onis OH MY!!

I have some things to say about behavior and attitude among the denizens of the Spiral.  Time to get on my soapbox and let those of you who read this know MY thoughts of things happening lately.

I know many of you know what Trolls are in the blogoshpere.  Here is a definition from Urban Dictionary: One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.  Many of the Twizards (Twitter Wizards) also agree that trolls inhabit the common Areas of the Spiral.  People who are looking for a boy o friend, or "I need a girl", or they spam messages to fill up our chat boxes.  Y'all know the types.  The best way to deal with these trolls is humor and liberal use of the ignore button.  They really can't hurt us -- they are just annoying, and that's what they want to be! So don't give them the satifaction of knowing they bothered you.

Now Gobblers -- Gobblers are the darker side of Trolls.  All Gobblers are Trolls at heart, but not all Trolls are Gobblers ;)  Gobblers take the annoying factor and multiple it by at least 10.  The will use profanity, be vulgar, talk of subjects that do NOT belong within the confines of the Spiral.  If you want to be one of THOSE types please go find another game!  PLEASE use you report button for these people!!! The report button is your BEST friend in these situations!  Report them once, if they keep it up Ignore them.  If you are not a subscription player you do it the opposite way, Ignore THEN Report. Everyone can report, mechanics are just different.

Onto the Onis.  What you may ask is an Oni?  An Oni is THE very worst thing you can run across in the Spiral.  We all know how the Plague, Oni No Death, et all like to hide within an important personage within the Spiral and cause heartache and harm.  Well my version of an Oni is someone who impersonates a very well known player in order to cause them embarrassment, grief and heartache.  They are a million times worse than ANY Gobbler you may run across!  If you see one PLEASE spam your Report button, take screenshots, call your friends in to do the same.  These Onis  should have NO place in the Spiral to rest, hide or cause havoc.  They DO NOT BELONG among a community such as Wizard101 is -- family friendly. 

Please helps us rid the Spiral of the Oni!  Rise up and let them know their behavior is NOT acceptable and we will do whatever it takes to bring them down!

Myth wizzie

I have been faithfully working with my myth wizard now.  She has finished all of WinterTusk (except for Nastrond).  She managed to get both her Level 58 spell -- Medusa and her Humongofrog pet King Diesel on the same day! :D Yay mythie :D  Medusa quest wasn't too bad -- Talos is a Balance boss and he has a balance minion.  I made it Talos versus Talos (my minion!).  And let me tell you I LOVE the Talos spell!!!  He is an awesome minion.  He's rank 6 which means he can supposedly use up to 6 pip spells.  I have yet to see him use Earthquake, but he does uses frogs and minos!  Woot Woot!  His bag of tricks isn't too extensive apparently but with the 1000 point health pool he can last awhile even in WinterTusk :D

Now the pet spell gave me some issues let me tell ya! :(  I have 4 legendary wizard and ONLY the myth level 58 pet spell quest gave me a fit.  I died at least 5 times!  Was VERY aggravating, but perseverance pays off -- finally managed to save froggie egg :D  The boss is a myth boss, with an ice minion -- thank the Lord myth boosts off ice in CL/WT!  Did have one advantage, Medusa!  The boss  is stunnable -- so 'Dusa and Talos were very useful.  This boss doesn't have any rules like the level 58 spell quest, its just kill or be killed.  Eventually was successful :D  LOVE the froggie spell, a DoT for myth finally, costs 6 pips but WELL worth it!

The froggie gives me myth-shot (accuracy) and myth-giver (attack boost).  With the gear from Trial of Spheres I currently have 22% myth accuracy, which means I DON'T fizzle unless a mantle or smoke is played on me.  Something I am REALLY liking!  Not even my LIFE wiz has a better fizzle rate!

In addition to questing on mythie I managed to achieve GrandMaster Artisan also.  Since she is on my second account I REALLY needed a GMA on that one.  She is working on her GrandMaster Gardener Badge also, about 4 bars away from achieving it.  Once my current crop of deadly fly traps hits elder she will have it!

I have REALLY enjoyed playing my mythie, if you don't have a myth PLEASE try it!  You may be surprised at how much fun it can be!

Hope you are enjoying your adventures around the Spiral as much as I enjoy mine!  Until next time - be well!