Exclusive Pet at GENCON

Wizard101 and Beckett Media will be giving away an exclusive STORM SNOWMAN pet only at GEN CON from August 5 to the 8th. This new pet is said to be very rare and powerful!

You can be one of the few people to own the Storm Snowman pet.

GEN CON is also a great place for gamers to meet other gamers and get together. For more details on the exclusive pet item stop by the Beckett Media booth #1929. Plus, there will be all sorts of surprises and prizes you can win too!

Next Celestia Reveal

In all it's glory:

and in detail:

Part of the Lost Team? He looks like a "Beauford", to me. Definitely the blue collar sort

Yes, I'm still around. I feel bad, I know I've been rather absent lately. You can blame the "other" blog. I know I've missed out on great events, and just the general coolness that is the W101 community. Bear with me, I am watching, if not writing.

Be well.

Celestia just keeps getting bigger

Courtesy Prof Greyrose, the new Celestia Reveal:

And the new reveal is a (Marleybone?) Mechanic, and her pet/assistant. Possibly from the lost explorer's team?

"Pass me a crescent wrench, will ya, 'Gov?"

And *several* new reveal slots have opened up:

Just when you thought the reveals were coming to an end.

Yeah, the posting has been sparse.

Sorry for my lack of posting, lately. Fortunately there are, nowadays, a plethora of excellent bloggers to cover all aspects of W101. More often than not, it seems my posts aim for what *isn't* covered, and I'm fine with that. It allows me to be quirky and philosophical, while still ensuring our wonderful blog world gets all the info it wants. I truly appreciate each and every w101 blogger, from Friendly (Our Blogging Greatfather), to whoever blogs next.

It's given me some time to work on one of my *other* blogs.

Yeah, I have more than one. More than 2, actually, though one is now dead, (and it's not this one)

So, please indulge me this little bit of advertising, because I believe the w101 community to be bright, and readily informed, as well as constructively critical. (short version: " I really like you guys!" )

The *new one*, the one that really inspires me, is now up and running. C0dehexwitch.

 (Yeah, the witch is definitely Necromancer-inspired. )

The new blog is all about "Augmented Reality", so it's not necessarily W101 related. But it could be. Which is why I'm re-visiting a post from the Graveyard, today.

Just got a new comment today, regarding a post from this blog in 2009. Now with a new perspective, it seems more "do-able" than ever.

Eye of Judgement I'd love to see a Friendly Version. (no pressure, Mr. Lionblood.) ;P

Can you imagine if KI took Friendly's card deck, and made an AR game from it? Major 'cool' points.

Heck, they've even brought back the good ol' Rock 'em, Sock 'Em Robots:

Horrible commercial, great product Idea.

Even if this never comes to pass in W101, could we please, please have Home Dueling Circles for Lands and Castles?

Your thoughts?

Up from the depths...

30 diapers high
breathing fire
with cake in his eyes!

DiaperZilla! Happy First Birthday, Little 'mancer.

Next Celestia Reveal

In all it's glory:

In detail:

This guy looks like he's been through a lot.

"An Installation issue is a Critical issue"-Game Theory

One of the many things I love about KI, and W101, is the complete *lack* of installation problems. From the very start, installation and updates have been flawless. For that, KI, I am very grateful. Thank you.

I do a lot of Beta Testing, of various games. In this case "a lot" is applicable as in "The Titanic took in a lot of water". One of the games I'm (currently) testing is from a company that has 2 games in 'beta'.

'Game A' has a down loadable client that, upon extraction, requires you to modify several Windows Security protocols, (like Digital Signatures), to even install (*) The extraction process is run from the game's *web page*, and requires the user to manually adjust some Windows settings. You only learn this if you navigate through several pages of 'tech support forums'.
*note: Yes, changing Windows security settings is *very* risky, and should only be done by people who know EXACTLY* what they are doing. 9 times out of 10, a Security change puts your PC at risk, so try to avoid doing it.

'Game B' has a down loadable client that doesn't even get through extraction, citing a critical (and unidentified) error. There is no access to 'user support' on the game's forums unless you already have an in-game character created. so, if you can't install it, you can't get help for it.

Now both of these games are "F2P", and will eventually be cash-shop oriented, which got me to thinking. And after a quick search at Gamasutra, I couldn't find anything relevant, I thought I'd ask you for your opinion, (and maybe a poll).

Here's the question I'd like your opinion to:
"As an online gameplayer, how much tolerance do you have for game installation? How far are you willing to go to get access to a game you *really* wanna play? Do you toss it out after the first attempt? Three attempts? Do you go to the game's 'tech support' forums, or contact the game admins, themselves? "
I think you get the idea of what I'm asking. Please feel free to be as verbose as necessary, and include any perspective I may have missed.

Be well!

Celestia will be a "hot" destination. As in "Hot in the shade"

Well, took the plunge on Test Realm, and started the chain for The Celestia Spiral Key. Can you say "Briskbreeze, redux?". Yeah. The Archive Tower in Marleybone is "four people required" because "the bosses cheat". Fun, fun, fun.

I'll get to it....later.

Also, just 'cause I love crypto, some images:

Original Message from the Resonating Omni-ka-thingy.

The (re-assembled) "Stone of Mazzaeroth"

Which, coincidentally, is the W101 version of 

:

The Rosetta Stone 

(no, not the software you see sold in carts at the Mall.)

Read all about this historical artifact from our world.

And with the stone completed, the original resonating-ma-thingy message is:

The Umbra Queen? Sounds interesting... some etymology, perhaps?

(from wikipedia) :

Umbra

 

Umbra, penumbra and antumbra (click for larger)

 Example of umbra, penumbra and antumbra outside astronomy. (i.e. "shadowplay")

The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are the names given to three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source. For a point source only the umbra is cast.
These names are usually used when referring to the shadows cast by  celestial bodies (my emphasis)

Penumbra

The penumbra (from the Latin paenes "almost, nearly" and umbra "shadow") is the region in which only a portion of the light source is obscured by the occluding body. An observer in the penumbra experiences a partial eclipse.
An alternative definition is that the penumbra is the region where some or all of the light source is obscured (i.e., the umbra is a subset of the penumbra). For example, NASA's Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility defines that a body in the umbra is also in the penumbra.^[1]

Antumbra

The antumbra is the region from which the occluding body appears entirely contained within the disc of the light source. If an observer in the antumbra moves closer to the light source, the apparent size of the occulting body increases until it causes a full umbra. An observer in this region experiences an annular eclipse.

Hmmm "Antumbra Duskhunter"...kinda has a ring to it... Anyways, simple version :"Shadow Queen". I think I'd like to meet her. Perhaps for a spot of tea... I used to watch an anime-ish show called "The Mighty Orbots", (video) , and their main villian was "Umbra". Not a handsome chap, that one. (*shiver*)

All the pieces, the ever so slowly drop into place