Embracing Your Inner Noob in The Spiral

 
 When KingsIsle had it’s Look-Alike Day I had to start a brand new account to make my new wizard as my classroom has been full for 6 years. I was beyond enchanted revisiting the old stomping grounds of becoming a noob wizard. (My thanks to Kevin The Noob for stopping by to help illustrate my point).

  The very first time I went through the tutorial I was in sensory overload and at that point, I didn’t have a clue how to take a screenshot to keep some memories of all the beautiful works of art the artists at KingsIsle have created for us to introduce us to the wonders of the Spiral.

  When I created my other five wizards, I am sure that you were the same in that, I was in a hurry to get my new class going and just blew through the tutorial just to get done.  The wonderful developers of this fine game put a LOT of time and effort into the first thing a new wizard sees and learns and I thought it would be a fun idea to luxuriously enjoy the whole process and give it the attention it is due.

The memories came flooding back the 

second I saw this long forgotten scene

 
That wonderful feeling hearing the Headmaster of such a prestigious school say that I was the one they were looking for and that mysterious excitement when I first approached that life changing Book of Secrets.

 

  


Then the joys of all the choices of how my new wizard was going to look in her “Jammies” as I like to call them since it will always be your look when you are an older wizard and you take all your equipment off.  A brand new wizard with so many adventures ahead of her.

Introducing…….

  

Now the excitement begins as my charming little noob gets to see Wizard City for the very first time.

  Newest student ‘eh?  Ya can’t get any nooobier than this lol. I have a nice visit with the Headmaster and he can’t resist showing off just a bit.

Ohhh, SHINIES!  When do I get to learn to do that?

  In the midst of all these pleasantries something happened that I had completely forgotten about….Rain in Wizard City.  The Commons land of eternal sunshine is hit with an earthquake and the storm clouds descend.

Even in it’s scariness the lighting and beauty of the rain is just stunning.

Poor Gamma does his best to usher me
inside the tower to what is perceived safety.

We get our first glimpse of a
foe that will become very familiar to us.

I rush after Headmaster Ambrose and meet, for the first time, the wicked Malistaire. What a delightfully villainous looking wizard. He gave me those kind of butterflies you get at the top of the hill of a great rollercoaster.  He is such a rude fellow too.  I wonder if it runs in his family :D.

I settle down to watch a good wizard’s duel as I anticipate the Headmaster stepping in and taking care of things for me.  Well Ambrose had other ideas.

You want me to do WHAT?  I don’t even have a wand!

  There is nothing like that feeling of stepping into that magical circle for the very first time.  Even if it is the tutorial and you know you are perfectly safe, it is still quite a rush.

There is nothing so magical as your very first spell.

  At this point another forgotten tidbit surfaced as the Headmaster asks me to call him a fool.  I will have to consider if this is a rhetorical question or not.  I don’t want to wind up in detention the very first day I am here although Kevin The Noob assures me that it is quite nice in the detention dungeon.

  

My worries are set to rest as Malistaire steps in and does the dirty work for me. He seems quite good at rude snarkiness. Perhaps another family trait?

  

Chrissy Dawn Singer gets her first taste of Wizard Life (Pun totally intended)

The battle goes back and forth and I feel quite over matched as there are two of them attacking me and my life numbers are going down fast.  Then it happens, Ambrose gives me my very first healing spell.  

The way these screenshots caught the spell casting without a wand I am feeling a bit like I Dream Of Jeannie here :D

Oh DEAR! I do hope this isn’t going to become a pattern.

With the help of a healing unicorn, the battle is won and Headmaster Ambrose asks me to go to his office to complete my enrollment. Seems simple enough. Just sign some papers, right?  Um……..Not quite.

  

I accept his request for help and step outside his office to the beautiful Wizard city Commons.

 

It was really weird to see all the gates barred and I was such a noob that I wasn’t allowed ANYWHERE, lol.  Then I spotted another long forgotten part of this journey.  Along the sidewalk were magically sliding arrows that would show any noob wizard exactly where she needed to go.

  

I turned around in the now very sunny Wizard City and spied my first side quest. Good ol Zeke.

Being a card carrying questaholic I always pick up every quest I come across. Besides, Zeke’s quests give those very valuable training points and it is really fun trying to find where the developers hide them.  I just love running around, poking my nose into off the beaten path nooks and crannies to see what surprises may be waiting for me. In no time at all I have my first Smith located and Chrissy Dawn Singer hears that wonderful horn for the first time.

  




I then follow the sliding arrows and approach a very grumpy looking guard and give him my letter with Ambrose’s wax seal on it and I unlock my first gate.

I enter Unicorn Way and collect my first quest. It seems I need to defeat some Lost souls.

It is a scary moment for a little noob to approach her first bad guy all on her own.

  The battle begins with a lurch that throws my heart into my throat and I cast my very first Balance spell.

I have a real wand now so no more I Dream Of Jeannie stuff for this little noob.

  

Well, well, it seems that this Balance Noob can totally pack a wallop in spite of all the horror stories Kevin The Noob has been telling me about Unicorn Way. :D

  There is NOTHING quite like that first victory dance. I think I am gonna like this Wizard stuff.

A kindly Stork notifies me of my goals as I level up. Things look really fun and exciting from this point on.

I can DO this!   Next…………………………..

The adventures of the newest noob in the Spiral has begun. It is a lot of fun going through places I haven’t done quests in for ages and I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of shenanigans THIS Chrissy can get into. Come join me in the areas awash with noobs and we can revisit the good ol days together.

~Chrissy The Blesser



Thank you to Chrissy The Blesser for writing this guest blog post! There will be another one in the future! :D

KingsIsle Look-Alike Day!

Today is National Look-Alike Day!  In celebration, KingsIsle decided to make an awesome meet up on Pirate101 and Wizard101 but there was a catch!

On Wizard101, wizards were asked to make a Taylor Swift character:

It’s Look Alike Day! Make a 'Taylor Swift' character just like this & join us at 4pm CST in the Commons! pic.twitter.com/1bp7d5BOQB
— Wizard101 (@Wizard101) April 20, 2015

This meetup had a lot of people and was a lot of fun with the confusion of who is who.  There were Taylor Swifts everywhere! There were so many Taylor Swifts that the area was filled. Thanks to Chrissy The Blesser, I had to teleport about 10 times before I was finally able to get in!

On Pirate101, pirates were asked to make a Daniel Radcliffe character:

It’s Look Alike Day! Make a 'Daniel Radcliffe' character just like this & join us at 4:30pm CST in Avery's Court! pic.twitter.com/sCoIIiQKo0
— Pirate101 (@Pirate101) April 20, 2015

While there were fewer people, it was still a ton of fun with all the dancing Daniel Radcliffes (and the dancing Transport Golem mount)! Note to self: Take the time to make your new pirate well before the event or you will be forced to rush through it and end up choosing the wrong color like I did. If you look at the vine, you can easily spot an orange Daniel. That thing your Mom told you about not procrastinating? Well I guess she was right.

All in all, these were great meetups by KingsIsle and I hope to see many more.  I was even thinking of a Wizard101 Luke Skywalker meetup for if there is a next time! What would you like to see in the future?

I want to quickly thank Chrissy The Blesser for making the graphic for this post. It was last minute and very generous of her to do! Additionally, it's a great graphic!

Mount-A-Palooza Contest! [CLOSED]

As you many know, the Mount-A-Palooza is ending today!  With that, we are bringing a raffle.  We thought we would give you guys a break after all the difficult contests we have been doing.

We are giving away nine different Faithful Dragoness!  This is a retired mount.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Second Pirate101 Pillow Fight!

Tomorrow, April 4th, will be Pirate101's second Pillow Fight event! Starting at 12:01 a.m. CST, you will be tasked with hunting down as many pillows that you can find across Skull Island. The pirate who collects the most pillows by the end of the day will win awesome prizes!

The different types of pillows that you can find are:

• Embroidered Royal Pillow

• Royal Throw Pillow

• Embroidered Elegant Throw Pillow

• Embroidered Regal Pillow

While many creatures in Skull Island drop these items, we recommend fighting those who drop all four kinds of pillows - that way you're more likely to get one from each battle! Nim, Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah, and Fin Dorsal in Gullet are all good options here, but there are plenty of others! (You can find a full list over at the Pirate101 Central Wiki here).

Interested in what you can win? The grand prize winner will receive 60,000 Crowns, and ten runner ups will each get 10,000 Crowns! Remember that pillows are counted per character, not per account, so you should participate in the event on only one pirate for the best chance at winning.

You can view the results for the first Pillow Fight event on the KingsIsle Blog - 8,046 pillows were found throughout the day, and the grand prize winner collected 115 pillows!

Good luck, pirates, and may your backpacks be filled with pillows tomorrow!