Wizard101

Re: this message from Wizard 101, the extended downtime might possibly have something to do with pushing Grizzleheim to the test server, but who knows? Wizard101 Extended Maintenance Wizard101 the game will be offline for maintenance for an extended period of time. From 3am to 7am Central US time, on June 17 2009, Wizard101 the game will be offline. Players will not be able to log in. Players who are logged in at that time will be prompted to log out. ...

IGN has the scoop on Wizard 101’s next expansion, Grizzleheim. The article goes into a little detail about the three main clans of Grizzleheim, the war-like Bears, the cunning Wolves and the mystical Ravens. And as a tidbit, at the very end, it looks like Thomas was right on the money, as the article mentions that Grizzleheim goes live on Test today.

Yup, back in Florensia for a second try at it. Because, hey, be a pirate on the sea and an adventurer on the land, build your own ship, hire a (NPC) crew, two separate career paths, and it costs nuttin’. The cash shop only has some potions… I dunno how they make money in this game. The general chat is about what you’d expect, though. Big news today was that ex-EverQuest and Vanguard helmer Brad McQuaid was ending his self-imposed exile of idyllic days spent racing cars and playing games to jump back into the spotlight with his very own blog. Or did he? Genda believes the whole thing is a hoax, someone (possibly drummer Keith Sharward) just having a bit of fun. The actual Brad McQuaid doesn’t seem to have taken the steps of building up his LinkedIn profile in awhile, anyway. ...

Marissa Spiritcaller about five minutes before she became a smear on Lord Nightshade’s floor This was the weekend I didn’t do very much. My allergies had left me feeling drained, and I decided what I mostly needed to do was turn off the computer and go outside. To my balcony. I hauled out one of the wooden chairs I’d finished when the kids were little and read a book, guarded by the cat. I realized that this could be a better day if the old wooden chair was a lawn chair, and the book was a black raspberry ice cream cone from Friendly’s. A visit to Target and Friendly’s, and I was back in an hour, sitting on the lawn chair, eating some ice cream. ...

One of the most frustrating things in Wizard 101 is the inability to speak freely. Wizard 101 uses a “dictionary” chat system, which only allows words in that dictionary, and things like numbers, names of states or anything else that might be used to easily identify or locate someone, replaced with an ellipsis (…). ...

The “Amaryllis” edition stuff? Well, here it is, a warm Spring night, just started writing, and “ ” comes up on the playlist, and it just seemed to fit the mood so well… And re: the banner, well, Atlus’ newly revamped MMO import NeoSteam closed its Open Beta today to relaunch soon as a real live game. Rumor has it that characters from both the closed and open betas will carry through to the live game, so if you’ve a yen to play a fairly standard fantasy grinder with PvP and a light industrial flair, give it a shot. ...

Like I need an excuse to show off my home :) And though I love my little Marleybone manor, it doesn’t even come close to comparing with the marvelous work others have done on their homes. Every time I visit one, I feel like spending hours just peeking in room after room. ...

Just like pretty much everyone else, I bought Sims 3 and played it for awhile yesterday. I started off in a full family with two kids, a husband and me, and it didn’t go so well. I restarted living single and had plenty of time to myself, lots of chances to learn and have fun and relax, and never once felt hurried, and in all ways my life was better without a family. But at least I didn’t make my family the cast of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Yet. ...

Oh, speaking of Free Realms, the band that does the theme song “It’s Your World and Welcome To It”, the Dares, will be performing the song live at E3 AND on the Snowhill stage in game (on all servers, from what I understand) at 7PM EDT or 4 PM PDT. If you West Coasters are at work and can’t see it, we’ll let you know how it went because, like, we’re three hours ahead of you. In the FUTURE. ( not the actual song name) ...

Welcome to another Friday! Got plans for the weekend? I’m planning to take a short break from EVE Online and get caught up on a beta, Mabinogi, Wizard 101 and will reinstall EQ2 to see if that fixes the problems I’m having with it freezing on launch. Spinks starts us off with a long and detailed look at the power of story in MMOs, specifically, the plight of the Forsaken as they meet their maker in World of Warcraft’s Howling Fjord. Those Forsaken aren’t dead, they’re just pining for the fjords! ...