Reserve Roster

It's no secret that I enjoy PvP with the right group of people. The Headaches from the Holidays are fantastic, and the comedy combination of Bailey Skystaff, Heather Raven, Maria Moonblossom and I is stellar. Win or lose, we keep having a good time. It has come to my attention that not enough people actually enjoy PvP anymore because of the gaps between school power levels and resistances (and Ice is on top...in a big way). Some of the super-teams are just too super. Ranked isn't being played nearly as much. The Headaches' goal has never been to "win", I mean, we rarely even play ranked. We just want to have a good time with our friends.  And did I mention that we wear goofy costumes?! 

One of my friends offered to stand in for us if we ever needed a 4th person while someone was away. Another great friend mentioned wishing a 2nd team existed with our attitude. And that sparked the idea. Why not have a reserve roster of 4 people to stand in if someone was unavailable. Basically a team of 8 players who could all interchange roles. We could play anywhere from 2v2-4v4 with a HUGE array of teams. And since the goal is to have fun instead of just winning, changing characters wouldn't be a huge issue. This "Reserve Roster" if you will will be, in essence, its own complete team with a separate identity from our own. We would simply be "allied teams" and willing to play together on a whim or whenever any combination of the 4 of us are around. 

3 of the spots are taken up now, with only one remaining. There's no restriction on school (and if you have multiple wizards, that's cool too!). The only requirement is a good attitude and a willingness to make a holiday-related costume. Only one of each holiday can be represented, so Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and Halloween are already finished. Some suggestions include St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, The 4th of July (because we exist on the US server), and Earth Day. I'm open to further suggestions. Let me know via comment, email, or twitter if you're interested in filling the final spot! We'll start rallying those troops together once we get the 4th team member. 

Your Friend Always,

John Lifeglen

Cap'n Autumn's At It Again!

First, go read THIS.  Then, consider those as rules to blog by.  These are both important steps before we dive into things here.

These guidelines are an important piece of how to blog well. Specifically the one about keeping private disputes private. Nothing turns blog readers away faster than seeing rant posts at another person. If you need to rant about how [BossX] refuses to drop [HatY] for [Z] amount of time, go for it! Those are often the most colorful (and sometimes helpful!) posts for readers, because if they're having issues they know they aren't alone. If you need to sort out personal matters with someone, though, and it's not a friendly war going on (Friendly and Autumn, anyone?) you need to find their blog and track down contact information (not post rude comments on their posts).

Speaking of comments, it's often a good idea to keep your comments set to moderated. This way if any trolls decide to start posting, you can protect your readership. Having comments set to moderated also helps if you're running a contest where they submit entries via comment.

That's all I've got for today.  Sorry the posts are short, sweet, and so few and far between. There's just not a lot I talk about until things get rolling. Stick with me, because once this game takes off I'll be all kinds of all over it.

[John Lifeglen?]

--Originally posted at Through the Eyes of a Privateer pre-merge--

AVG Users Check Here!

Quick announcement for anyone using AVG. There was an update yesterday that installed the AVG Do Not Track interface in our browsers. After it installed, I couldn't view my countdowns anymore. If you are experiencing similar problems, please follow these simple steps!

1) Click AVG Do Not Track in the top right corner of your browser.

2) Deselect Widgetbox from the list.

3) Close your browser and reload Through the Eyes of a Sorcerer.

4) If problems persist, please let me know! HERE is a mailto all ready to go to help move things along.

--John Lifeglen

Wizaversary Bash 2012

So....Updates. Avalon was great. Had a lot of fun. Got my sword of Kings. Currently debating whether or not to craft some gear, as my pip chance will be absolutely abysmal without anything.

Now for the big announcement. I'm going to have to move my party. Something has come up here in reality and I just can't make the 19th anymore. While celebrating Through the Eyes of a Sorcerer's 2nd birthday with John Lifeglen's 3rd birthday (they happened on the same day, completely unintentionally. Odd how stuff happens, eh?) would be great, I just can't swing it. Family stuff has popped up all spur-of-the-moment like and threw a massive Monquistan wrench into things. I'll be editing the information where appropriate and shooting to reschedule sometime soon. Sorry. The tournament only had 2 interested players, though, so it's not a huge loss.

Your Friend Always,
John Lifeglen

PS. Made it a whole post without any of those super-weird interruptions. Woohoo!

Themes are Fun!

New header, new siggy on any forum I use, new avatar EVERYWHERE. Heck, even my Facebook and Google+ got makeovers. When I talked about "Branding Yourself" a few posts back, I meant it. Here you can see just how far that goes. This current set is for level 80. I don't *plan* to change anything again until about level 90...but plans can change. Also, if any of you can figure out what the theme is with this one you'll get +250 Awesome Points with me. To give you a hit, I'll show you my siggy.

That's in extra-large mode to make it easier on everyone. Even the font is directly related to the theme (note the broken "O"s). 

In other news, fans of Code Lyoko will be interested to know that I located a simulation game where you get to be Jeremie!  That's right, friends. You get to virtualize Aelita and the gang to stop XANA and save the world. Once you figure THIS out it goes super smoothly and it a lot of fun. And rumor has it XANA might be coming back...

>What in the name of sanity is that thing?

>It's a tangram. I solve tangrams now. Tangrams are cool. 

Weird. Hopefully nothing is going wonky with Blogger....I wonder if that's XANA back at work or something of a different nature. 

Your [Thematic] Friend Always,

John Lifeglen

Episode One Hundred and Forty Four: In Which John Lifeglen is an Archmage

Tonight I dinged the big 8-0 in the Crystal Caves. We're logging out right after talking to the [redacted] and defeating the [redacted] to [redacted] the [redacted]. We also turned in the Crows and the Tapestries. It's been a productive night so far. I think we're heading to bed and planning to finish up everything tomorrow at some point (when, I'm not so sure. Graduation parties to attend for friends and family!).

Just that brief update for everyone. Hope you all have a great weekend and hopefully I get around to writing more soon!

Your Friend Always,
John Lifeglen

Thomas Dings Support!

That title is reflective of the post The Friendly Necromancer just made, and he shared some FANTASTIC news! Clicky that linky to see more!

There are so many words I could use, but I'll keep with short with a hearty Congratulations, you'll go so far! I can't wait to see what is planned in Pirate101 and beyond. May the wind be always to your back and the sun ahead. Good luck with this new chapter in your story.

Your [Ecstatic] Friend Always,
John Lifeglen

Congratulations to the Friendly Witchdoctor!

For those of you who haven't heard, our fair skyways have a new CM (Community Manager). Thomas Lionblood, AKA the Friendly Witchdoctor (or The Friendly Necromancer, for those more familiar with Wizard101). Congratulations, Tom, and may much success and happiness come your way!

[John Lifeglen?]

--Originally posted at Through the Eyes of a Privateer, pre-merge--

NDA is No Joking Matter

Until we get to some Pirate101 content, this blog will be a journal of thoughts on related topics. Last night, someone divulged information. Just a couple of small details, yes, nothing ground-or-game-breaking, but information nonetheless. Anyone who has ever been involved in Alpha or many Closed Betas can tell you that NDA is not a joking matter. It's a legally binding contract and can have some serious repercussions.

Now, nobody involved in the Alpha for Pirate101 confirmed the information (nor could they, NDA again), so it could just be someone trying to sound important with no actual knowledge of the game. If they are involved in testing right now, they may not be for long if KingsIsle discovers what is going on.

My advice to any gamer who gets involved in a game during Alpha or Beta (if it's not open, at the very least) is to bite your tongue, shake your head no at everything saying "I can't tell you that, I'm under NDA", and hide under a rock until NDA is lifted if you think spoilers are going to be a problem. 

Not all games have an NDA, though. Games like The Missing Ink have been sharing updates for some time now and are in Open Alpha. Everyone is allowed to talk about it if they want to. Accounts can be created by virtually anyone. You'll know if there's NDA, as it is pushed a bit harder than the TOS. 

Have a great Tuesday, I'm off to work and finals. 

[John Lifeglen?]

--Originally from Through the Eyes of a Privateer, pre-merge--