Part 1: New Companions
Ahoy, Pirates! No, I didn't fall overboard, get mutinied or listen to one of Ratbeard's jokes, I was busy busy busy with end-of-semester chores and Christmas shopping (tons of work!). But now I'm back and ready to go over all that's happened.
December 17th marked the first day of new companions: Prince Yulefest and the Mistle Toad.
Both companions are Musketeers, but you should find their stats quite satisfactory.
Hurry and get yours today- these companions will only be in the Spiral until the end of the Yuletide season!
Both companions are Musketeers, but you should find their stats quite satisfactory.
Hurry and get yours today- these companions will only be in the Spiral until the end of the Yuletide season!
The Mistle Toad is small on armor, but big on damage. With a whopping 36 more damage than Prince Yuletide at level 65, his guy packs a punch. To make up for this lack of armor, he comes with an awesome ability: True Grit. This power gives the Mistle Toad a bonus chance to shoot the enemy when the enemy successfully hits.
Prince Yulefest doesn't hit for as much damage, but that's ok- he comes with Quick Adjust, letting him get another chance if the enemy dodges his attack the first time. With his already high accuracy, your Yuletide prince will be knocking out enemies in no time.
Part 2: Crowns Giveaway Overview
For the first time in history, KingsIsle has given away crowns absolutely for free! That's right, this has never happened before and is sure to be a very rare event. I'm sure you all got your crowns by now, and I bet you were all thrilled!
According to One-Eyed Jack, this is, indeed, a very rare event since they are unsure if they will ever do another crowns giveaway of such magnitude.
Interestingly enough, most people I knew got 250 crowns. A couple got 5,000 and even 10,000, but I didn't personally know anyone who got the maximum of 60,000 crowns. What does this mean? Well it's simply that KI was looking to do us a nice little favor- not give us a huge present (after all, I'm sure many of us will find Pirate101 cards under our trees and in our stockings tomorrow ;) ). So don't be too disappointed that you didn't get more crowns. Had a lot more people gotten 60,000 crowns, the sales of crowns bought through the site would have dropped too much. This is bad because the company needs to make enough money to keep all of their employees paid and happy. You wouldn't want your boss to tell you the company didn't make enough money and that a lot of you were getting laid off!
According to One-Eyed Jack, this is, indeed, a very rare event since they are unsure if they will ever do another crowns giveaway of such magnitude.
Interestingly enough, most people I knew got 250 crowns. A couple got 5,000 and even 10,000, but I didn't personally know anyone who got the maximum of 60,000 crowns. What does this mean? Well it's simply that KI was looking to do us a nice little favor- not give us a huge present (after all, I'm sure many of us will find Pirate101 cards under our trees and in our stockings tomorrow ;) ). So don't be too disappointed that you didn't get more crowns. Had a lot more people gotten 60,000 crowns, the sales of crowns bought through the site would have dropped too much. This is bad because the company needs to make enough money to keep all of their employees paid and happy. You wouldn't want your boss to tell you the company didn't make enough money and that a lot of you were getting laid off!
Part 3: The Blog Post Contest
As many of you will remember, I posted about the KI Blog contest. I decided it would be fun to enter, simply because I love blogging already and figured it would be a good opportunity to share why I love Pirate101. I hope all of you got your entries in, too! The contest ended on the 18th, six days ago, and the final winner was chosen today. While I was not among the winners, I am very happy with those who did win and felt they all deserved it very much. We have a wonderful community brimming with many different kinds of people, and it's very important that we embrace our diversity. These blog posts definitely promoted that idea. Congratulations, everyone!
I decided that I would like to share what I wrote with you, even though I wasn't chosen as a winner, so below is my blog post! This post is rather personal, but also very important to me, and I think that every one of my readers should get a chance to look at it. :) The theme was "what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year?"
I decided that I would like to share what I wrote with you, even though I wasn't chosen as a winner, so below is my blog post! This post is rather personal, but also very important to me, and I think that every one of my readers should get a chance to look at it. :) The theme was "what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year?"
Pirate101's Community Has Empowered Me
“Is this the boy's club?”
I shouted my bizarre question with carefree abandon as I made my way into the ball pit to join my four and five year-old peers. The smell of days-old bleaching treatments, forgotten chicken nuggets and perspiration couldn't deter me in my quest for social interaction through the rainbow of plastic indoor playground tubes.
The other ball pit occupants, who were, indeed, mostly boys, gave me a puzzled look but invited me in.
Unlike the memories of that time I spent in what feels like some other life, I don't remember when the anxiety started. But when it did, the world became a place full of judgement and unfriendliness. Making good, worthwhile friends was hard, and keeping them was even harder. I muddled through elementary and middle school, changing groups of friends nearly every year.
I began playing Wizard101 when the TV commercials made me give in to the temptation to play- I was instantly hooked. I enjoyed questing, going to new worlds and getting new mounts, but I still preferred to play by myself and avoided any contact with other players. Even when Pirate101 came out, I preferred to do in-game activities on my own.
“Did you know that Wizard101 has this really cool world based on norse mythology? It's super accurate and done really well.”
My parents never knew how to respond to my random, wizard and pirate-fueled interjections at the dinner table. I knew at that point that I needed a way to share my enthusiasm with those who could share it with me in return.
It wasn't until a few years later that I began blogging. If I wasn't willing to be popular at school, sporty or really good at my viola playing, I might as well do something where I could use the fleeting nature of social networking, step away from it if I wanted to and not feel pressured to socialize.
I tried idea after idea to get a site off the ground until the realization hit me: if I don't get involved in the community, how will anyone know my site exists? I got a Twitter account, followed a few big KingsIsle fan site names and used my Pirate101 Central account more often, but even then I felt like nobody really saw me. I wanted to get my name out there as effectively as possible while still maintaining a comfortable distance from anyone.
I put aside my fears of being rejected or ignored and began talking to the bloggers and their friends. I was still anxious and kept conversations short, but over time I was more enthusiastic to talk to them. It reflected in my blog posts as I finally settled on a Pirate101 fan site. I soon realized my enthusiasm had nothing to do with a growing blog, but with the people I was meeting and learning more about with each passing day.
I wake up every day eager to see what all my Wizard and Pirate friends are up to. I enjoy farming, questing, hatching and talking with them in both Pirate101 and Wizard101. Despite having never seen any of these friends in real life, I've noticed huge improvements in my mood, schoolwork and outlook on life. The human being has an amazing ability to share emotional connections with others they have never actually seen, and I feel so touched to get to experience this every day.
“Is this the boy's club?”
I shouted my bizarre question with carefree abandon as I made my way into the ball pit to join my four and five year-old peers. The smell of days-old bleaching treatments, forgotten chicken nuggets and perspiration couldn't deter me in my quest for social interaction through the rainbow of plastic indoor playground tubes.
The other ball pit occupants, who were, indeed, mostly boys, gave me a puzzled look but invited me in.
Unlike the memories of that time I spent in what feels like some other life, I don't remember when the anxiety started. But when it did, the world became a place full of judgement and unfriendliness. Making good, worthwhile friends was hard, and keeping them was even harder. I muddled through elementary and middle school, changing groups of friends nearly every year.
I began playing Wizard101 when the TV commercials made me give in to the temptation to play- I was instantly hooked. I enjoyed questing, going to new worlds and getting new mounts, but I still preferred to play by myself and avoided any contact with other players. Even when Pirate101 came out, I preferred to do in-game activities on my own.
“Did you know that Wizard101 has this really cool world based on norse mythology? It's super accurate and done really well.”
My parents never knew how to respond to my random, wizard and pirate-fueled interjections at the dinner table. I knew at that point that I needed a way to share my enthusiasm with those who could share it with me in return.
It wasn't until a few years later that I began blogging. If I wasn't willing to be popular at school, sporty or really good at my viola playing, I might as well do something where I could use the fleeting nature of social networking, step away from it if I wanted to and not feel pressured to socialize.
I tried idea after idea to get a site off the ground until the realization hit me: if I don't get involved in the community, how will anyone know my site exists? I got a Twitter account, followed a few big KingsIsle fan site names and used my Pirate101 Central account more often, but even then I felt like nobody really saw me. I wanted to get my name out there as effectively as possible while still maintaining a comfortable distance from anyone.
I put aside my fears of being rejected or ignored and began talking to the bloggers and their friends. I was still anxious and kept conversations short, but over time I was more enthusiastic to talk to them. It reflected in my blog posts as I finally settled on a Pirate101 fan site. I soon realized my enthusiasm had nothing to do with a growing blog, but with the people I was meeting and learning more about with each passing day.
I wake up every day eager to see what all my Wizard and Pirate friends are up to. I enjoy farming, questing, hatching and talking with them in both Pirate101 and Wizard101. Despite having never seen any of these friends in real life, I've noticed huge improvements in my mood, schoolwork and outlook on life. The human being has an amazing ability to share emotional connections with others they have never actually seen, and I feel so touched to get to experience this every day.
Now everybody, get into bed and get a good night's sleep, because Santa is coming tonight! I'll be taking a couple days off from blogging and playing to spend time with my family and relax after a very busy year, and I hope you get the chance to rest up, too.
If you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your holiday season, and if you don't celebrate any holidays this time of year, have a wonderful Wednesday and Thursday!
Happy Yuletide, Pirates!
If you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your holiday season, and if you don't celebrate any holidays this time of year, have a wonderful Wednesday and Thursday!
Happy Yuletide, Pirates!
P.S. Please enjoy with wonderful little song by the dreamy Frank Sinatra! Even if you don't celebrate, it's a very relaxing song and I recommend taking a listen (or three!).