Friendly Gave Me a Test, Now I give them a Quest

I would like to thank The Friendly Necromaner for digging my blog out from the grave to do a fun activity. Basically, he challenged me and a few other people to some questions, so bring it on!

1- You're suddenly very tiny and trapped in a giant salad bowl, what do you do?
This is interesting. I am very tiny in retrospect to what exactly? And the salad bowl is giant in retrospect to what? So is there like a giant salad bowl the size of a small building and I am the size of an ant? Man that is really unfair. I would honestly treat it like a jungle or something and eat away until I find some sort of light. But for the most part, panic and wonder why everything is so disproportionate.

2- What's your very first memory of playing video games? If you could lie about that question to make it sound more cool, which game would you choose instead?
This is a semi-difficult question because I have literally been playing games my entire life. Now, if you are talking about actual games, it would probably be like one of those child jumpstart games, those I played about about age 3. My first actual standard game is probably the Tarzan Action Game for PC.
Did I say Jumpstart...I mean I alpha tested Portal...yeah all of those cool story ideas, all me. All my recommendations...totally legit. 10/10.

3- What's your favorite comic book series? Why?
I actually don't read many comics (or really any) but if I were to base it off something I do like, it would probably be either Batman comics or Walking Dead. Really, it comes down to what they have produced from the comics that I really enjoy. I am a crazy TV junkie so Walking Dead is obviously up there, but Batman is also like a cult-classic now from the Arkham series, Gotham on TV and the Christopher Nolan movies. 

4- Most astounding food you've ever tasted? Was it every bit as good the second time you tried it?
The most astounding food I have every tasted is Ravioli Al Forno from a small Rhode Island restaurant, Italian Village. Really good, straight off the boat, Italian food. Amazing. Second time I had it, still really good, but not as good as the first experience.

5- What's something you've lost in your life that you'll never get back. If you did find it, what would you do with it?

                                  
There are probably a lot of things I have lost (mostly childhood items) but to this day I still have no idea where they are or where they went. My biggest memory is a lion Neopet stuffed animal (this is far before my "LionRiding" days) and I just never found it. Last thing I remember is leaving it my basement but for years, I couldn't find it again. If I did find it, I wouldn't really do anything but laugh and finally be relieved of a mystery that's happened for some odd 8-9 years now.

6- What theory, rule, or insight do you remember most from school? What made it stick in your head?
Still being in school (Junior in High School) I have a lot of useless stuff still fresh in my mind. Most of it is random facts cause my teachers hardly give any advice. I can't really make this a "wise" or "deep" answer, but probably just all of American history. Since I am studying for the AP US History exam, I pretty much NEED to know everything about all of American history. So that is sorta my mandatory study idea that has been drilled in my head. Either that or my italian conjugations:
Do, Dai, Da, Diamo, Date, Danno. Sto, stai, sta, stiamo, state, stanno.
7- You want to make me a mix CD. What five songs (or artists if you can't name individual songs) would be essential to the mix?
A mix CD? Couldn't I just make a soundcloud playlist? Nah but if I were to actually pick, it would just be a list of some of the world's best.
1. Just Can't Wait to Be King - Lion King (arguably the greatest Disney melody devised, even if it ripped off Under the Sea a bit...)
2. Get Lucky - Daft Punk (just a great song that got stuck in my head)
3. Game of Thrones Theme - Game of Thrones (just pure bliss for the greatest TV show at the moment)
4. When Can I See You Again? - Owl City (just another really happy, melodic tune)
5. Avalon Song - IAmTheChezz (cause I was in it :P)

8- What website do you use that you feel more people should know about?
A website everyone should know about...probably the Crowfall website honestly. I go on it every day now and I just REALLY want Mounts (lions) so people really need to invest in it. Please! Go do it! Also #LionRiderGarrison (need members).

9- If you were to take a week long trip to get away from everything and find some peace of mind, where would you go? Why?
A week long trip? Honestly, I would probably like to go to Africa. There is something that I just really like about the Savanna, the wildlife, the animals, the jungle. It's all nice. If I had to pick a specific spot, probably the Kenyan Savannah or South Africa. Also a lion or elephant sanctuary there might be cool.

10- What's the one game everybody should play? What feeling does it tap into for you?
As much as I love Wizard and Pirate101 I understand it isn't for everyone. Truthfully, I only played it so long because of nostalgia. Currently, I wish everyone would (invest) play Crowfall. It is exactly the game I have always wanted. Minecraft+Game of Thrones+MMO+J Todd Coleman=Best Game Ever! If we are going on games ALREADY out, Tak and the Power of Juju. It to me is still the best game ever made and it is completely overlooked. It may be a third party developer but it is completely unappreciated. Actually all the nickgames of the early 2000s were. They were grade A platformers that rival the well known ones like Banjo Kazooie and Jak and Daxter.

Well that's about it, I'd now like to nominate Justin ShadowBlade (DeathyWiz, seriously resurrect that thing, lately I've blogged more than you), Blaze Shadowhorn (Tales of the Spiral, or Games, or whatever you're on now), Tyler "The Chezz" Stevenson, cause why not, you have an extinct blog, Amber Rosepetal (you still around, we need to talk!) and Ambrose2Zeke for a Liebster, and here are your ten questions from me:

1. What is your favorite TV show of all time? Why? Why is it not Game of Thrones and or Breaking Bad?

2. What is your favorite soda flavor?

3. What is your favorite online media source? Blogging, Youtube, Twitter, Twitch, Myspace...(there is THAT guy), etc.


4. You playing Crowfall? If so what guild (if any) are you planning on playing in? Also what archetype and playstyle do you plan on (crafter or conquerer).

5. Pitch me a product and sell it. Or game if you prefer.

6. What is the first video/blogpost you have ever made.

7. Name your personal best "Game of the Decade" from 2010 onward.

8. You speak any other languages? Kinda works...like I "Kinda know Italian" or I "Kinda know what Obama says"

9. Devise a new game world for an MMO. I want name, description and creatures.

10. Do you like lions and riding them?

Thank you everyone and hope to read on!

My Rundown of the Pirate101 World Order

So a lot of people are making theories about the next Pirate101 worlds, now I have pretty much analyzed everything I could from concept to in game text so to me, this order of worlds I am about to tell you would make most sense. Everyone is correct in saying that Grizzleheim, Krokotopia, Polaris and Darkmoor are key, however, Grizzleheim will not be as big as people think. I begin my adventure where we left off, Aquila. So we have just obtained the Rosetta Stone, awesome now what was that language again...oh yes, Krokotopian. You see, Blind Mew states there are three languages in the Spiral, Aquilan Linear A, Aquilan Linear B (one is simple pirate's English) and Krokotopian. Obviously we know this isn't true as we have seen on several accounts, various languages from worlds including Grizzleheim, Zafaria, and Celestia. So where would we go to transcribe Krokotopian...you guessed, it, we are heading to AVALON! No, but seriously, the next major world we will visit will be Krokotopia. Now, Krokotopia has been around A WHILE. Seriously, Wizard101 had plans of expansion for Krok since 2009. Krokotopia has a very unique history that actually messes up the history put fourth in Wizard101. Sadly it seems, both Blind Mew and Artorius seem to butt heads with each other on what is cannon. Now Artorious has recently placed Mirage as a "world" however, as shown in the concept above, the original document name was 'KT_mirage_hub", meaning "Mirage" is the capital city of Krokotopia. Makes sense when you think about it right? Mirage is Middle-Eastern in theme, Krokotopia is Egyptian, why not merge them, they both have a similar culture and environment. KI does this all the time, MooShu is half Japan, half China, Polaris is to be half Russia, half France.

     Back to the premise. Next place we are heading off to in the story (which is CONFIRMED) is Valencia. I assume we will visit Valencia 3 total times each with a different skyway. We have already been there once and saw the destruction of isles by the armada but the next visit will be more...political. We will be introduced officially to Kane as well as his female counterpart (most likely named "Queen") and will be introduced to the lore and reign of King Casimir, the unicorn king of Valencia. Our third and final visit will not be for some time after oh say, 2 more worlds. Let's get into those specifically. The two worlds after Krokotopia to me are going to be Darkmoor and finally Polaris. Darkmoor I assume will have a role in finding our mom's map piece considering she is dead, might want to consult with the world of the undead. Obviously we might go for a different reason but I assume it is a fair guess. After we leave Darkmoor we will finally head off for Erika the Red's piece. Now instinctivly we would head to Grizzleheim and YOU, would be correct. We will ENTER Grizzleheim, I might even dare say we will dock, however, it will not be a full blown adventure world like Krokotopia, Aquila or Moo Shu. It will be a quick in and out, one skyway world that they may expand on. In fact, Grizzleheim won't be our ONLY skyway we cross through we will cross through...*DRUMROLL* Wizard City. The Marco Pollo map spells out the root to Polaris which is VERY far away in the spiral indeed. In fact I think I may be able to pinpoint the skyways in the spiral, the two missing Aquilan stormgates are Valencia and Krokotopia, and in order to get to Grizzlheim we cross through Wizard City. It will not be a dockable world but a simple skyway where we steer our ship around the mighty grandfather tree world and find our stormgate to GH. Once in GH we wish to go to Polaris, the final world before El Dorado. The reason for Polaris is because Erika the Red (being the nomatic viking all Grizzleheim citizens are) has fled to PL. Why? She knew a war would break out over her map piece and she knew she would be safer in the secluded world abandoned from civil war. Also I argue there is a direct coorelation between the Grizzlheim bears and Ices Bears of Polaris. 

Polaris is a beautiful and large world that I am sure will be amazing. In addition, is it a difficult assumption to presume Napoleguin will regain control of Polaris and provide us an army aligned with the allied forces of Gortez and Monquista, as well as the Marleybonian navy to defeat Kane once and for all? That's right my order of worlds is: Krokotopia, Darkmoor, (technically Grizzleheim and Wizard City for a short time) and finally Polaris. Ending with El Dorado of course. I cannot be certain any of this is correct but I was correct about Marleybone and Aquila (thanks to One Eyed Jack for hinting at it in a meeting with IAmTheChezz and myself before it's release). To me the details of the spiral are everywhere and it's little things like finding concept to find out that Mirage is in fact an area of Krokotopia and not an outright world. Which we have found to be the case in several other worlds, Nodor as a part of Grizzleheim, Weirwood being in Avalon, etc. I hope you all enjoyed reading and I will see you in the spiral. FOR THE GLORY OF MOTHER POLARIS!

Pirate101 American Revolution World?

     After digging through some old draft posts I stumbled across this post I made a while back for a collab project that never really worked out with some people in the community of an untitled world. Thought I would post it just for fun and maybe you guys like the idea of the revolution world, I have a ton of other ideas and concept pieces if you guys do so make sure to comment on your opinions. Enjoy.  

Hello, my name is Nicholas LionRider or Nicholas Kent for you pirates out there. My job for Theorycrafting101 was to focus on a few topics and one of which is a personal favorite is the idea of colonies. Now ever since the release of Marleybone in Pirate101 and as far back as Krokotopia in Wizard101, we have seen similarities between real life history and Kings Isle’s games. Kings Isle likes to take fun and exciting parts of actual history and give them a twist that makes the game both fun and educational. Since we have seen a lot of the UK (MB), Spain(MQ), Italy(VL) and even glimpses of French/Russian history with Polaris, why not touch on the origin of American history. Cool Ranch was a fun world and shared the western exploration side of America but not the roots of the Revolution and the birth of the original 13 colonies.

Prologue: My story line takes place some time after a few worlds. Gortez calls upon you with urgent news.

Gortez: Pirate, we need to speak. My army has grown ten fold since the last time we spoke. I adopted some mercenaries from the coasts of Zafaria. I am training them to become my elite generals. Although I have a army, my men require a navy in order to prevent the crown to be taken from me. Talk to Father Pizarro in the holy church located in Monquista city he will give you a start on where to find the strong navy I need.

Once you talk to father Pizarro, he explains the best area to go for ships is the land of ______.

Father Pizarro: Please! Please! Don’t harm me giant! What? You aren’t here to squish me like a bug? A navy? Gortez? I can give you that. The best ship builders in the entire spiral are the dogs of _______.

A puppet show begins: You see, 50 years ago today, the greatest explorer to ever live set sail on a quest that would change the spiral forever. Even Marco Pollo couldn’t compare. His name was Christopher Colobus. The bravest monquistador the world had ever known. Sent by the royal family, Colobus along with his skilled group of men sailed many days to find a new stormgate to Rajah, this did not happen. Halfway through the stormgate Colobus became horribly lost. It got worse from there. A hideous monster the size of a titan attacked the ships. Destroying two…and a half of them. When Colobus and his crew arrived at the new world they were greeted…not so friendly. They were ambushed by natives! Colobus and his remaining crew fought back and thus the new world was born! Word spread quickly throughout the spiral of this world. Everyone wanted a piece of the land, Valencia, Darkmoor, even Polaris! Marleybone had it’s own trouble cateering to the needs of the it’s people. Riots began and the queen sent a group of settlers to the new world to make a new home governed for themselves. The first colony was born, Lexiton Port. Later more colonies formed until there was over a dozen! That is where you must go pirate. Be warned however, the locals don’t take well to people who favor Marleybone…better carry a weapon at all times.
                               
Storyline: There are 13 colonies located in _____. Each is unique and above all else dangerous. The main story introduces you to many characters such as George Washingtalon, Benjamin Froglin, and Freezedrich von Snowben. All will aid you on your journey to making ____ a free world. By completing tasks in each colony you will get their respect and eventually will unite them to fight against Marleybone for their freedom. The war is a difficult one however the colonists are some of the best shots in the spiral. You will obtain many companions on your journey and bring back old allies such as Napoleguin to send Polarian troops to help _______. All this and more awaits you in  Book ___: Severered Colonies.
I am Nicholas Kent and I will see you guys next time!

What Wizard101 Should Do before Third Arc

K I just want to make this blog post as a theorist of the Wizard101 community specifically. As much as people say #twizards and #twirates (which again twitter users aren't the entire "community for either game) are the same, they aren't so this is for the hardcore Wizard fans not pirates or those who like both games. As a lot of people are quickly finding out, Wizard101 is losing it's fans and credit rapidly. Some loyal fans have stuck around but I have seen far too many friends of mine leave anywhere from 3 years ago to a month ago. As much as I may rant about some aspects about KI, they are still one of my favorite gaming companies of all time and I wouldn't continue to be playing them 6 years later if I didn't like them. Now time for the niddy-griddy. Why Wizard101 has had a decline in revenue. Through my research and consulting my friends I don't think it's only the community nor do I think "the content" is getting boring. I think it is the pre-existing bad aspects in the game that at the time seemed like it wasn't a big deal but without the already existing problems being fixed, slowly got worse. Think of it like a disease, it may start out as a common cold but unless treated it could get extremely bad. I think this sorta applies with Wizard101. The number one thing I see people requesting is content, am I wrong? Now although that works for some players what happens to the players that finish the new world or dungeon or whatever and then have nothing to do? But see that is the thing, you SHOULD have something to do. It's Wizard101 you can go gardening, crafting, pet training, PvPing-wait a second...Have you noticed something? All the activities KI has for the people who finish the game seem to be broken in a way. All these systems people complain are either boring or abused by other players and you know what, they are right. As much as KI tries to "tamper" with PvP to make it fair, it never works because people find ways to abuse other things in it. Things like jade gear and stuff have ruined it for people or the unfair matching of getting your level 10 to warlord because you are fighting new players. I myself can never get into PvP because I have people going "Ha! Noob! Look his pet doesn't have: fairy, sprite, both resists, fire giver and whatever. Cause no not everyone has the time or motivation to get the best gear from crafting or pet training because again, they are boring. Pet training is literally impossible without pet snacks (mega specifically) and crafting just get's annoying with the quests alone. I am not saying all these activities are bad just need an update. Same goes for worlds honestly, I think before we adventure into third arc, just spend a efw months making the Morganthe arc a little more fun (add rides like the Marleybone air ship, Krok boat or drake) they have proved they CAN still do it with the dragonfly in the Hive Bundle. So why not, the Morganthe arc is perfect for them! The elevator to floating land in CL, the boat rides in ZF, the ziplines in AZ! They are perfect for this mechanic. Also maybe add some improvements to things like Aquila so it isn't ONLY dungeons. That is a big complaint for me, W101 needs to act like P101 when it comes to fans. I get it the big names like Kelsey FireHeart and Johnny and stuff are high levels but they aren't your only fanbase. Make the game fun for ALL levels. This is why I think the worlds need an upgrade. You can give the high levels more content but unless you fix everything else that has problems in the here and now, you will be beaten out by your own brother game! Content and worlds are cool but remember to focus on making a fun game and not another 50 quests with a different theme. Pirate101 said it right out, you can take 6 worlds and keep revisiting them with different stories, not EVERY time do we need a new change of scenery. I merely propose this and to anyone who agrees with me it would be appreciated to comment or share this. I ask for a halt in world making for a short time after the Morganthe Arc is completed. Don't move straight into another arc just take a few months and try to fix and improve the mechanics already in the game so I don't need to look at the "best house in the spiral" with nothing in it but two dead plants. I have been Nicholas LionRider trying to help you for a better spiral

The Art behind the Video

    As the majority of you know, I am an avid artist in the community. So generally I wanted to throw in some actual art into my blog when and if I make posts. Today I have dedicated my post to talking about the art behind IAmTheChezz's new video, Wizard101 vs Spagoni (code named, Quizzy Wizzy). We have had this idea of questioning Tony Spagoni, Tyler's good friend about Wizard101 cause in reality, as active a player as Tyler is, Tony knows NOTHING about the game. It was very interesting hearing some of his answers. You can check the video out here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwI-AzEbTUY Now because this is about the art in the video, I will split apart the different pieces I did for the video. Enjoy -Nicholas LionRider

The Wizard Car: 

    -Probably the most difficult piece in the video and one of my most favorite pieces. It is more of a race car design but hey, it was fun making it. This is for the scene where Tony is asked what mounts there are in the game, and obviously other than the one mount (the slowpoke sloth) there is only Wizard Cars. Since there are no other 'Wizard Cars' to use from the world, I needed to design one my own.

Is Aquila what we really think it will be?

Now I am a long time believer that the images recently shown on the Wizard101 launcher are Aquila. Most people continue to say it is Empyrea. Now I will now state three facts to quickly prove they are either one in the same or Empyrea is merely a "Weirwood" of Aquila. A area of a world, however not the world itself.
Facts:
1. Both worlds seem to involve Eagles, look up both names and you will get images and links to various mythical eagle legends.
2. Sky Squids: We know as a fact Aquila has skysquids in their skyway (dang things killed my parents), and the first time we heard about Empyrea, was a quest about getting skysquid shipments into Wysteria.
3. Finally, both are from Greek mythology. Both derive from a background of Greece and their legends and stories. And from the look of the launcher, we seem to be seeing not only the Aquilan gods, but various Greek monsters, including the Hipocampus and Centaur.

   The main reason I made this post is a recent discovery I have found. I don't believe the Aquilan gods are normal birds, but a rare species of griffons. Griffons are mythical creatures that have the top half of a bird (typically eagle) with wings, and the bottom half of a lion. This would make sense that as wizards we would be able to see them. As pirates, although we know there are magical creatures in Aquila, we never go searching to find the gods and magic. Look closely at the bottom halves of each bird. Hades is a vulture, Hephaestus, a hawk, Athena, a owl, and Ares, an eagle but they all seem to have a cat like bottom. Hades, Hephaestus and
Ares all seem to have lower bodies that seem to fit the description of a lion, however, Athena, has the lower half of a snow leopard almost. I cannot be certain of which cat each has a lower half of, I just notice that each foot is a paw, and the males seem to have a strong muscular paw, while Athena (the only girl we have seen) has a slim paw much like that of a leopard, to match with the white (a snow leopard). Looking at the ingame statues in Pirate101, we can't see the different colorization do to them only being statues, however, in concept we can clearly see a difference. I just found this interesting but please comment below stating what you think about the gods, and Aquila in general. Until next time I will see you in the spiral!

Pirate101 Zafaria Part 1: The Bundle Approach

   Hello everyone! So I missed yesterday's post because I was trying to make this post as good as I possibly could. If you know anything about me and "The Chezz" it is, when we make content it is the best it possibly can. That is kinda an issue for us because we constantly try to outdue ourselves. Do to this trait, the post for yesterday was postponed until today. Without further ado, I present the, Captain Claw's Dangerous Hunt Bundle.

   Kings Isle could approach the Zafaria skyway idea several ways and this is one way I thought of they could try. So the main idea behind this bundle was to introduce a different kind of way of getting content out to the players. Now do to a small "leak" in the community yesterday on this bundle by some random person. Still not sure how they got it. However I was able to get some feedback on some topics but most made no sense.