After spending a couple of weeks soaking on the Wizard101 Test server, KingsIsle yesterday released the underwater-themed expansion to the wider world. By the time I logged in, there were already many wizards halfway through the run from level 50 to level 60, and every world and every zone of Celestia was filled with spells and wandfire and confused, dazed looking monsters with WTF? looks on their carapaced faces. ...
Picture, if you would, a pirate. What are the job qualifications for a pirate? Well, what qualities would best fit a life about ship? Nimbleness of foot? Ability to climb rigging in the harshest of winds? Perhaps not needing a lot of living space, since quarters below for pirates or seamen of any sort are little more than a bunk hung wherever there’s room. A ready wit, a keen mind, deadly with blade or blunderbuss? ...
Last week, we discovered that the out-of-phase life-sucking Devidians – the “blue ghosts” – had followed a comet into the Klingon-Federation neutral zone and were using the humanoids of the Alpha Quadrant as a tasty buffet. This week, Section 31 operative Franklin Drake ordered the Federation News Service to investigate the Ferengi-run Drozana station. One of Drake’s undercover operatives, posing as a Dabo girl, had triggered an emergency beacon and requested immediate withdrawal. Though dubious about anything to do with Section 31, we are, after all, Starfleet officers first and correspondents second, and must do our duty when called. ...
Have you ever wondered how the expansive, immersive virtual worlds in which we used to play and live turned into the slick, plastic pieces of disposable entertainment we have today? I was right there, yelling and screaming about it. Kids today. Get off my lawn. Why, back in my day, we… Here’s how I figured out it was me that ruined things. I was at Best Buy Sunday. I haven’t been in ages; they’ve moved everything around at my local store. As Lisana noted the other day, QR Codes are everywhere. I felt sorry I hadn’t brought my phone. ...
This is Mithraya, the final boss in the Trial of the Spheres. I’m not certain, when Celestia actually goes live, that the Trial of the Spheres will turn out to be the ultimate dungeon in the world, but it IS the one that drops all the level 58+ legendary armor. Putting traps on Mithraya is pointless; she just removes them. I’ve heard again and again that Celestia is very difficult. I heard on Twitter that some are pronouncing the short deck dead in Celestia. That is wrong on both counts. We fought Mithraya with three wizards – a level 50 life wizard, a level 50 balance wizard, and a level 58 (and again at 60) fire wizard. There was never any doubt that we would win. Sure, the bosses in the Trials CHEAT – all Celestia bosses do. Sure, they start out with six power pips. But they don’t pump out the damage the way the bosses in Briskbreeze or the Warehouse do. ...
While the rest of the group wasn’t looking, I nailed their boots to the floor. It’s the only way I can get people to stop moving long enough for a picture! We’re here just outside the room in which is hidden the Seal of Shan-To-Kor. We were sent to retrieve the Seal and upset the local hobgoblin tribe enough that they would stop attacking folks. A word about traps. ...
skirmish: a minor or preliminary conflict or dispute. It is said that four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man. The same can be said of a Bird of Prey under warp when the disruptor beams run hot. Hot as the blood of a warrior; hot of the blood of your enemies filling your cupped hands. Hot enough to tear a rip through the fabric of space itself and show what peers from it the heart of a true warrior. ...
The follow-up to Star Trek Online’s fantastic Breen arc begins this Saturday. This new five episode arc takes us back to the Neutral Zone to battle the Devidians, a ghostly, extra-dimensional race which feeds off the life energy of mortal critters. One of the story missions in the area had us closing the portals which allowed them entrance to the physical realm; they have once again managed to infect reality. A ghostly race for a spooky time of year! ...
Before I get started, wow, thanks KingsIsle for the stuff! I was shocked to find a code in my in-box this morning for a new house (a Fairy Palace!) and some other random items. Shocked, and overjoyed :) W101 truly does have the best community team – and the best community. I’m so excited to be so close to Celestia. Some of the people on the Test Realm have already completed all the Celestia quests (aside from, perhaps, defeating the Umbra Queen, the final boss). One wizard claimed to have completed the expansion in less than 24 hours, which seems a little… over-enthusiastic. Nonetheless, wizards with their special level 58 class spells are not uncommon in the Test server. Dedicated players have almost solved the collection quest (“Lounge Lizards” – in a nod, no doubt, to the satirical bluegrass group, “The Austin Lounge Lizards”). Some players have already settled in to start farming the high level gear. ...
Whatever else you say about the game, one thing you have to admit – Dungeons & Dragons Online has some really cool armor looks. My old Hobbesian Cleric eventually wore armor that really let out her inner half-orc. My drow rogue, Ophiga, got a nice set of +3 chain that is really amazing. EQ2 really missed the boat on armor – they started out with some really unique designs, but ended up with variations on textures. ...