THIS is why Maplestory is better (mini-rant)

Come on, Karma! I need six more Amber! Don't force me to craft it! :(

Now, before you tar-and-feather me, let me just say that I am not trying to be selfish - I KNOW that at 2:05 PM, all the kids are still in school(elementary school hasn't let out for summer yet) and adults are usually at a JOB - one which I sorely need. (I'm on Welfare.)

But would it KILL for Karma to have one straggler like myself show up to help me farm the Gladiator for my Alpha and Omega Ring? *angry growl*

Oh well, I can always do the B.O.X.Es. - at least ten people are hovering around the Professor's Box since, unllike Tart, it won't be around forever. *sigh*

The Cat Who Predicted Doom and Gloom (sad rant)

I'm sure everyone has heard the news - KingsIsle just had a huge downsize of its staff:  For no reason determined, they laid off 40% of their staff, including most of its art branch and Leala, who had been joining the Friendly Necromancer in KI Live podcasts for the past two years.

That is an omen...

An ill omen. Whenever a company has a huge lay-off, it means that they are in serious financial trouble, they are not making the skills to pay the bills, and it's inevitable that such companies end up filing for bankruptcy and disappearing from the Earth.

KingsIsle is doomed to fail and, because of this, they'll have to shut down their servers and delete their MMOs programs for Wizard and Pirate, meaning that, just like what happened to Star Wars Galaxies years ago, they'll have a farewell party and then, the countdown to shutting down forever. Then they'll dissolve and sell the computers to pay off what debts they have before going their own separate ways.

Now, don't get wrong. I'm not trying to be pessimistic here. I'm just looking at the facts: KI have to do a big layoff that gutted them. You don't have to be an economics genius to know why this sort of thing happens:

1. They aren't making enough money to pay the salaries of the people they had to lay off.
2. They aren't getting enough new players, or players who are willing to play beyond Triton Avenue and thus spend Crowns or buy sub cards like me.
3. Bigger games that have been around longer(MapleStory, World of Warcraft) are stealing players from them with bigger temptations(MapleStory is free to explore and World of Warcraft just turned Free to Play with more places to adventure in).

If KingsIsle wants to get back the people they had to lay off, they need to start making more money and ASAP before it's too late. They've already gotten Phase 1 of the Bankruptcy Syndrome - a big lay off that guts their company in the core(they had to lay off their head of art!). They need to wake up and work fast to fix the syndrome before Phase 2 - forced downsizing of their products, like having to cancel Rise and Destroy and AlphaCat and having to double the prices of their Crowns purchases and drop sales altogether - occurs. Because if they don't, the final phase - complete bankruptcy and the end of their products - happens and we can kiss Wizard101, Pirate101 and anything connected to them goodbye. No Mirage, no third arc, and no more PvP or cute piggles. :(

Here are my suggestions. I am linking this to the Friendly Necromancer's post in hopes that he sends this post to the bigwigs and convinces them to take action fast! I do not want to see Wizard101 be shut down and cease to exist because of bad financial decisions, I love that game.

Tips to Make Players pay more and get more money without them knowing:

1. Wizard City is Free-to-Play: You edited Pirate101 so that the Traitor's Cave and a new area were free-to-play, giving more content. Do that with Wizard City! I know it's not easy to reprogram an area and you might lose some Crowns Areas but new players will not feel cheated. Right now, if I want to create a new Wizard and explore all of Wizard City, I have to buy a sub card because free-to-play is restricted to only Unicorn Way and Triton Avenue. At the very least, make Firecat Alley and Cyclops Lane free-to-play so new wizards can get the Savior of Three Streets badge and feel good about it. Colossus Boulevard, Crab Alley and Sunken City are optional areas and thus should cost Crowns because by the time a new player wants to explore those areas, they'll have been sold on the fun of Wizard101 and be a payer. As it is, if I were a new player, the instant I got barred by the Crowns Area screen after Triton Avenue, I'd say "screw this ****" and go back to MapleStory. :(
2. Skeleton Keys in the Crown Shop, more Key Bosses: You went in the right direction by adding the Divine Ra as a Wooden Key boss in Zan'ne's library, he is an easy fight(3000 HP, only a little more than Meowiarty, which most players will be at by then) that has few cheats and gives some really nice loot, including some rare permanent mounts. Do more of that - have a range of Key Bosses from the ridiculously easy(maybe a buffed-up Riverclaw in Triton Avenue with a Wood Key) to the insanely hard(well, not as hard as Omen Striborg, who is impossible to solo ;) ) for every rank of Wizard. Three new Key Bosses a year for a couple of years will be enough to whet new and old players. To make it easier to farm these guys - as that is what people will want - and keep them spending money on subs, make Keys available in the Crown Shop, but not cheap: 500 Crowns for each Wooden Key, 2000 Crowns for each Stone Key and 5000 Crowns for each Gold Key. Players love fighting bosses for loot and if they want to save time farming areas like Darkmoor, they WILL pay the money for the keys. That's what the average players want to do - they don't want to farm for keys, they pay to win. :)
3. Update More Frequently: I know your programming isn't as clean as MapleStory's and it takes longer, but don't leave us hanging without some progress reports. You don't have to be fancy, you can Tweet #Heywearegettingthere with some concept art.
4. More Events: I love The Lost Pages and the B.O.X.E.S. event and the new Daily Assignments are just great for pulling players in every day, but you need a little more. MapleStory has tons of holiday events. Wizard101 has its usual anniversary event and Halloween event every October but it could do with a Christmas event and an Easter Event, not just having a holiday vendor hanging out in the Shopping District that nobody cares about. I'll be glad to give some ideas your way if you are interested. These events make old players interested in the questing and they MIGHT decide to hop over to your Crowns Vendor and buy a souvenir or two. ;)
5. Reduced Crowns Areas and Contests: Finally, drop the price of your areas a bit. I know that means a small $$$ loss from the Crowns Players, but you're going to be adding new worlds and you can make up that amount in due time with more people joining in. Also, give contests where the Grand Prize is a one-month free membership. By giving away a free membership every so often, a lucky player will enjoy the benefits and realize that, hey, I'd better drop my life as a Crowns Player and buy a subscription FAST, how could I live without member benefits and the other stuff from being a member!

I hope KI reads this and gets some ideas for Mirage and future worlds... if they ever come. After that big lay-off I am not holding my breath for the new worlds to show up until the Holidays, if we ever celebrate the next birthday of Wizard and Pirate, considering how bleak things are looking. Please, KI, listen to your players and maybe your games will celebrate their 11th anniversary like MapleStory is doing. In fact, go play MapleStory and find out how it lived for so long. ;)

As for me, you still have a loyal player in me, who will pay and play to the end. Natalie Owlwraith and her friends will keep questing until we reach Polaris. ^_^

Nat's journey through Azteca continues (update)

Nat's been rather busy as of late - while I do have Pirate101 rebooted and got through to Jonah Town there, I have four Wizard101 accounts with one month of time so I decided to get Nat through Azteca... oh, and I got a rare teleport tapestry from fishing!

Sadly, no Amber yet, not even after a couple of runs through Tartarus and...

Oh YEAH, Nat's Promethean now so she has access to the last Aquila dungeon and the money maker for gear. However, she only got the lame armor and another Poseidon trident after two runs of Hades.

She did get the Blade of the Felled Titan after her first battle with Cronus, however. It now sports a +7% power pip opal,  +5% Death Pierce Onyx and +72 HP opal. :D

Thanks to a nice Prodigious Theurgist called Connor Lifehammer, who had a surplus of wood keys and was met in the Pagoda of Harmony, Nat faced Ra several times and got her dream pet, the Mummy Cat. It's now Teen now. ^_^

 

Nat's also completed the final Astral spell quest in Azteca(which is actually easy since the required boss is Balance with two Life minions, but you still have to be careful), and in midway through the Floating Mountains as of this post. I plan to spend the next two days getting her to Khrysalis.

Also, the Silver Chest games are becoming more worth it - TWO SUNSTONES!!! (She'll be helping Ethan Jadeblade get through Azteca once Blaze and Blue get there in their video co-op.)

I also replaced my speakers with headphones(which my dad donated) because my speakers have given up the ghost - they still work, but only 90% of the time now.

Ciao for now!

Putting this blog in the blender... for now

So as it is, Natalie's doing well - she's gotten to Zultun Dock and is progressing through Azteca.

I also bought her third house and decided to create a "Hall of Everywhere" for it just like Skelemystk did for his glitched Life House, which includes teleport tapestries to everywhere she needs to go...

And after some consideration, I made a decision not to spend my $ on the new Ratchet and Clank yet  instead, I decided to renew her account time as well as some others... for a new story. ;)

Also, I didn't mean to lie - Nat's still got a ton of Sunstones to collect if she ever wants Deer Knight.

Finally got to Azteca!

So Nat's journey to Polaris is reaching the home stretch - she's reached the end of Avalon, and the kid gloves have come off. Young Morganthe was causing a lot of struggle for her and Christina - I had to spend some money on a Life Henchfroudling to keep them alive - luckily he didn't do anything to trigger the chaotic Young Morganthe and her unpredictable cheats.

 

 

 

After that it was a matter of being crowned a Knight and wielding The Sword of Kings. Nat was well and ready to take on Azteca.

And finally she got the Sunstones for Deer Knight. She had been piggybacking off of Christina for Sunstones in this place but now she could enter and leave at will. But she also got to Level 84 so I used that energy to fish up some nice new wands at the Elephant Graveyard. ^_^

Hoping for Spirit Caller Drums but no luck.

Malistaire is put to bed

First things first...

Thanks for nuthin, Cy.

 I finally got someone through the rest of Darkmoor - Christina managed to squeak by Malistaire the Undying even though she had to flee five times and used all of her potions - mainly because something bad happened to the Theurgist with the group and he couldn't rejoin us. But all in all, I was happy as Christina, my support Sorcerer, finally got the Tier 1 Darkmoor hat(which she stitched immediately as it covered her face); I crafted the Khrysalis robe and used the recent Pet EXP benefit to get her pet up a bit so it would give more universal resist.

As for my current wizard, Natalie, she's finally reached the Crystal Caves, which means she's entering the endgame in Avalon. Thank goodness!

She also got two of these pets after farming for the Silver Ladle to advance the story. I thought these were rare. Anyways, she's reached the second skeleton key boss - she has two Stone Keys but I don't think I really want to use them on this boss even though I plan on having Natalie work a Fire Dragon setup when she reaches the Arcanum once we get Deer Knight crafted.

My thoughts on Wizard101 PvP

Having gone through Wizard101 PvP once, I have realized that the system needs to be reformed for the Fourth Age, or else nobody will want to play PvP except the scrubs and n00bs. Therefore, I suggest to KI the same sort of system Yu-Gi-Oh does with its game - include a forbidden list that prevents anyone from using certain spells. Also, add in the same system Pokemon uses with its tournaments - a tier list so only Wizards or a certain level can participate.

I know that sounds like oppression, but we can see how anarchial PvP becomes without these regulations set in stone. I have to be the devil's advocate on this - I got DESTROYED in my first tournament and only got in one hit in the four battles I took part in - all the other opponents were probably Prodigious wizards, I had no chance at all of winning. These rules would make PvP more enjoyable - the n00bs would have their own place to terrorize people and the casual PvPers would enjoy their own tier, segregated from the scrubs. [/rant]

Anyways, here is how I'd do this. This is my opinion and shouldn't be taken as fact. I know that in order to implement this PvP system would require a major update that would probably require shutting down the game for a week after months of planning. I'm not saying KI is lazy, but they have a lot on their plate. :(

Warning: Failure to comply to the rules will result in three warnings:
(1st warning) You are DQ'd and eliminated from the tournament as if you had dropped out.
(2nd warning) Not only are you DQ'd, you have to pay double the amount of Crowns for the next tournament and cannot do Ranked PvP for one month.
(Final warning) You are unable to participate in Tournaments or Ranked PvP until the next Age.

The next failure to comply will result in Diego insulting you and giving you PvP lock - you will no longer be allowed to participate in PvP and will be unable to enter the PvP arena in Unicorn Way with that wizard again. You may still use the Practice Ring in Avalon or in a house because those are Traditional PvP arenas - the old rules apply in those arenas and those arenas alone.

Also, you will be Marked - in other words, you will be put on investigation by a KI employee similar to a criminal on probation. If you show any aggressive behavior or language or do something cowardly like flee from a combat with allies in it, your account can and will be eliminated result in a permanent ban - you will never be able to play Wizard101 on that computer and all of your accounts will be liquidized. (Pretty tyrannical but if you act like a jerk in PvP, chances are you'll be a jerk in the game's quests and make life miserable for everyone who is trying to just go through the story.)

General Forbidden List:
The following spells are FORBIDDEN. They cannot be used in your main deck or side deck and your pet is not allow have a May Cast of them.

• Bad Juju

The following spells are LIMITED. You may only have a maximum of one copy of these spells in your Main Deck or Side Deck. Pets are allowed to May Cast them determined by Tier.

• Doom and Gloom
• Infection
• Mass Infection
• Conviction
• Stun Block

The following spells are SEMI-LIMITED: You may only have a maximum of two copies of these spells in your Main Deck or Side Deck. Pets are allowed to May Cast them determined by Tier.

• Any healing spells(this is mutually inclusive, so that means you can only have two healing spells in your deck and side deck no matter what - no doubling up on Helping Hands, Healing Current and Pixie!)
• Any stun spells(this is inclusive so you can't have two Chokes and two Stuns - this doesn't count spells that have a stun side effect; the reason I didn't restrict this is because the game will put a ton of stun shields on someone so even if you get Medus'd, unless they spam stuns, you will be okay and good to go).
• Empower
• Dark Pact
• Any spells which cost "X" pips to cast(Judgement, Tempest, etc)

For the tiers, the following rules must apply: Pets can only have May Cast talents as stated below - any pets that show May Cast ability outside of the tier will result in a DQ and a first warning. Also, side decks are restricted similarly. Also, all spells on the forbidden list must be obeyed.


Rank 1 PvP: Junior (Level 10-25 only)

• Only Wizards from Level 10 to Level 25 can participate.
• Pet healing is restricted to Spritely
• Pet May Cast is restricted to Weakness, Blades, Tower Shield and low-rank star spells like Fortify and Amplify.
• You can only have one Treasure Card of a spell above your current rank in your Side Deck
• Lore Spells are restricted to one per main deck and side deck (only one Deer Knight, etc.)

Rank 2 PvP: Intermediate (Level 26-50 only)

• Only Wizards from Level 26 to 50 can participate
• Pet healing is restricted to Spritely and Energizing Battery, and Unicorn (for 2v2 to 4v4)
• Pet May Cast in restricted to the above spells plus Steal Ward, Steal Charm, Conviction and Mend
• You can only have two Treasure Cards of a spell above your current in your Side Deck
• Lore Spells are restricted to two per main deck and side deck (Deer Knight, etc.)

 Rank 3 PvP: Senior (Level 51-75 only)

• Only Wizards from Level 51 to 75 can participate
• Pet healing is unrestricted
• Pet May Cast in restricted to the above spells plus Pierce, Disarm, any area bubbles and Berserk
• You can only have two Treasure Cards of a spell above your current in your Side Deck
• Lore Spells are unrestricted

Rank 4 PvP: Exalted (Level 76-95 only)

• Only Wizards from Level 76 to 95 can participate
• Pet healing is unrestricted
• Pet May Cast is unrestricted
• Side deck is unrestricted
• Lore Spells are unrestricted

Rank 5 PvP: Prodigious (Level 96+)

• Only Wizards or Level 96 or higher can participate
• Pet May Cast is unrestricted
• Side Deck is unrestricted

I think that if we had these systems, PvP would be more enjoyable and people wouldn't be whining about how bad Balance Wizards are - Sorcerer PvP would be nerfed so they couldn't spam Judgement all of the time, they'd be forced to use Spectral Blast, Gaze of Fate or Sabertooth to do damage, allowing the opponent to have a fighting chance.

Those are my two cents, please comment about it and tell me what you think. ;)