What If...?: Survivor Mode

Happy Holidays, all!  Now that I'm done with finals and picking out my new classes for the Spring at the University, I'm ready to return to Wizard101-based activities!  I'll admit I've also been looking into a new game recently...which I'll have to share more about next time; it's called Cardmon Hero.

There was an exciting instance/dungeon in this game (one of many, actually) that required a different technique than the ones I used from Level 1 through 20.  Instead of standing around and casting spells like in most MMO-grinders, a solo player in Cardmon is required to run around this specific boss, because his hundred minions are all chasing you at the same time.  If I stood in one spot, they'd surround me, and I'd be taking 100 hits per second...  Ouch!  Thus, to combat from being surrounded (and to finish the instance in the time limit they allowed me), I had to summon my own minions and run circles around the mob, avoiding their attacks while letting my creatures knock them out one-by-one.  My creatures also had to stay within a certain range of me, or else they'd stop attacking; hence the circular path.  Slowly, the enemies diminished, and I could resume a stationary position to take out the boss next.

Having run around nearly 30 or 40 times, an idea sparked for me for Wizard101.  What if we had something similar to what other games call a "Survivor Mode"?  Now, the thought of a tower comes to mind, where you must extinguish a set number of monsters before you arrive at the boss (without the ability to freely refill potions and return to the instance).  That can be considered a type of "Survivor" style, but what I'm looking for is one that's a little more restrictive.  In other words, how about a battle that doesn't end until you slay a certain amount of creatures and a boss before you receive its rewards?

Imagine an old scroll unrolling to reveal a number in Shermlock font (bright red), indicating the number of Wooden Golems that must be destroyed before an upgraded, shinier Smogger appears.  Oh, he also cheats; you're not allowed to use single-target abilities on him (that goes for attacks, utility spells, etc.)  Something of that sort.

The challenge here is that short decks (Zerg/Blitz/Rush decks), usually built for a full team of wizards to end a battle quickly and effortlessly, become obsolete along with the strategy of building up a titanic attack that destroys everything in one hit.  Survivor Mode would require full decks of heals, shields, blades, globals, and, of course, Reshuffles.  In essence, you're no longer segregating different decks for different situations (short decks for farming, specially built decks for Storm bosses, etc.), but you're building an all-in-one deck...almost like a PvP deck, I suppose.

I'm certain that this is doable by KingsIsle.  In the Trial of Spheres, Tower of the Helephant, and Briskbreeze, we see bosses summoning allies for help, either as support or as distractions.  Even if you kill the first boss in the Trial of Spheres, there's a chance his minions will show up after his death, due to a structural rule within the coding.

Thus, let's have a counter in the corner of the screen that requires you to kill 100 Golems (that's 25 strong AOEs within your team) before Smogger 2.0 shows up, and you're allowed to keep your Pips, Health, and Mana from the last turn.  Deck Status stays the same, meaning discarded or used cards remain in the discard pile until Reshuffled.

Of course, there're slight flaws with how enjoyable Survivor Mode can be:  you might run into teammates who permanently AFK the entire time, or who don't have the right deck set-ups...but these are pretty general issues that can be found anywhere else.

So, what are your ideas to add, take away, or modify this proposed "Survivor Mode"?  Or, have you thought of something similar that's different in context or content?  Let me know down below!

Petnome Project: 2011 Holiday Contest

Holiday Contest!

Help us reveal the 20 abilities of the Yuletide Spirit beforeDecember 26, 2011 for a chance to win a Super Bundle!

PRIZE:

(Courtesy of our mysterious benefactor, once again!)

Rules:

• The information you submit MUST be on the FIRST GENERATION Yuletide Spirit.
• Yuletide Spirits created within the Hatchery are not eligible for data submission for this contest.
• You may submit information more than once, as long as there is new and relevant info regarding this pet.
• The Yuletide Spirit Petnome page will be updated ONCE, daily, at 12 AM PST, to ensure greater chances of winning for more people. 
• Once the 20th ability has been discovered, the contest will close, and the drawing will begin. 
• If the Yuletide Spirit is NOT completed by 12:00:00 AM Pacific Time on December 26, 2011, this contest is voided.
• Kevin Battleblood, Alric Ravensinger, SorceressMiklai, and Cassandra Dragonheart of the Petnome Team are NOT eligible to enter. 

How to Enter:

1.  Visit the Yuletide Spirit Pet Page.

2.  If you see at least one ability that the Petnome Page does not have revealed yet, click on "Click Here to Help Us Complete This Pet!" and make a valid photo submission.

3.  Once verified that you've discovered this hidden ability, we'll add your name to the Contributor List for EACH new discovery.

4.  Each time your name is listed, that counts as one Raffle Ticket that goes towards a drawing for the Super Bundle card.  Because more than one person may discover a non-revealed ability, there is a chance there may be more than a total of 20 Raffle Tickets.

The drawing will be recorded to YouTube.  Contestants will be entered (per Raffle ticket) into a list on Random.org, which will be randomized SIX (6) times, and the top name will be selected as the winner.

If there are any questions or concerns, please Contact Us here, with "Yuletide Spirit Contest" placed in the Subject Line.

How to Create an In-Game Christmas Tree

Hey, all!

Last year, my PVP team and I took this holiday photo in front of a tree that I made in December 2010.  This year, I'll take you behind-the-scenes so you can create one of your very own:

Happy Holidays!

What If...?: Fusion Magic

As cheating bosses -- and, potentially, mobs -- become more prevalent, teamwork and playing with a partner (or three) become even more valuable concepts to completing Wizard101 battles successfully.  Venturing with someone whose school matches yours increases your chances of supporting one another, since you can use the same Blades and Traps.  In fact, my Storm Wizard and a friend's Diviner were able to quest all the way to Malistaire after we received Tempest without needing to heal; we demolished the mobs before we took any damage.  Another beneficial -- and more effective -- tactic of teamwork is questing with someone that's the opposite of your school (Fire and Ice, Myth and Storm, Death and Life) to virtually eliminate the need for Prisms (or conversions).  Cassandra Hexthorn and I are able to fly through mob battles just by using our Rank 4 AOE and a few modifiers; she can handle the Ice creatures that I despise, while I wipe out the Fire-based enemies that resist her.  And, other than just ending battles faster, a variety of schools (especially in a full team) is the most optimal tool at anyone's disposal.  Without being able to synchronize effective combos, such as using Steal Ward or Pierce Train to break a cheater's 90% Tower Shield before a Fire or Storm attack is executed, duels can take a copious amount of time.  Let alone, as this game evolves, soloing isn't becoming any easier.  Heck, even the Rhino mount is advocating for increased social interaction!

When we look at the history of game-changing mechanics, there's a common theme to what these updates are focused on.  Critical and Block Ratings, Advanced Pets, Astral Magic, and Armor Piercing (coming soon with Zafaria) can all benefit a single player, whether or not they have teammates.  In other words, when my questing allies have logged off, all of these features (Critical, Pets, Astral, Piercing, etc.) are still available to me, and I'm not losing out on anything when my friends are offline.  It feels great to be able to play and not have to be dependent on matching schedules with someone else.

However, what if there was a game mechanic or feature that becomes an incentive (or a reward) for practicing teamwork and/or coordination between multiple schools?  Instead of four Storm Wizards being the most effective bulldozer to mow down normal mobs, why don't we introduce Fusion Magic, where a tertiary effect occurs when two or more specific schools lay out their spells in succession?

This idea is actually inspired from my Atlantica Online days and from contemplating how it'd feel to be a mob that was drenched in a fierce Tempest and suddenly frozen by a Blizzard follow-up attack.  In AO, when certain DoTs were stacked on top of one another, they'd produce an entirely new spell that would affect the targets in a unique fashion that couldn't be accomplished if the DoTs were cast separate of one another.  For example, if Break Down (visual effect of an earthquake, physical DoT) and Chaos Wind (a vortex of wind magic, elemental DoT) were played consecutively, the affected units are affected by a new spell called Destructive Wind.

If this were implemented into Wizard101, imagine all the different possibilities and outcomes that would follow:

• Let's say one mechanic would require a new spell called "Fusion," which is a pair of Universal Prisms, meaning any school will affect them.  Two Prisms are placed upon one target.
  
  To use "Fusion," two attacks of opposite schools must damage the target consecutively (one right after another, without any other school in between).  In other words once the Prisms are placed, a Fire-then-Ice or Ice-then-Fire combo must take place -- it can be on the same OR different turns (under the condition that no other school's spell uses up the second Prism).  Thus, DoTs like Fire Dragon and Snow Angel must be timed correctly, or else one of the ticks from one school will remove the second Prism, nullifying the "Fusion" spell.
  
  If a "Fusion" is used correctly, the following events can occur:
  
  If Fire Dragon followed after Snow Angel, for example, it'd create a spell/effect called "Steam Wall."
  
  (The Snow Angel  tick is removed, only to be replaced by a tick that's silver/grey.  This tick would not do any damage, but it will last for two rounds after it has been placed, and not allow the victim to cast any magic upon anyone else but themselves.  It is almost like a "blindness" effect, where self-target spells do not fizzle, but anything else that targets allies or enemies WILL fizzle.  Enemies and allies, however, can still target the afflicted creature/player.)
  
  If Snow Angel were to follow Fire Dragon, "Freezer Burn" would take place.
  
  (The Fire Dragon's tick is removed, replaced by a tick that's pearl white.  This tick would do very little Astral damage (50 per turn) for two rounds, and act as a Stun per tick.  Of course, if a Stun Shield is present, then a Stun is avoided while the shield is removed.  So, someone with 3 Stun Shields under Freezer Burn would have only 1 Stun Shield after the spell is exhausted.)
  
  
• Or, what if any school could "fuse" with any school (except with its own), and what if the order the spells were used in didn't matter, as long as they were casted consecutively?
  
  Death and Myth could fuse to create "Shattered Dreams," which removes all charms on the target, and adds a 10% Weakness spell for every unique* charm on them (*though Elemental and Spiritual blades consist of three different charms, they will be counted as one single charm, as a whole).
  
  Storm and Fire could fuse to create "Acid Rain," which creates a personal bubble around the target (similar to Star magic) for three rounds, which imbues an additional 15% Armor Piercing to any incoming attack.  Thus, if an attacker already has 20% Armor Piercing on their spell, this bubble will increase it to 35% Armor Piercing onto the victim.  (Of course, the victim could always play another Star Magic spell to cut off its normal duration!)

Keep in mind that the concept of fusing is NOT meant for increasing damage (Meteor's damage + Blizzard's damage != fusing), but it is meant for creating an effect with unique properties on a chosen target.  Thus, it's possible that Fusion Magic will result in lowered damage output (like removing a Snow Angel tick in the first example), but, as I've explained to Ronan when he feels uneasy about using his Nova when he's stacked with three different types of Weaknesses, spells don't always have to deal significant damage to be useful.  

For example, while I may lose my Snow Angel tick in the Steam Wall spell, a hypothetical boss will be unable to cast anything onto anyone but itself for two rounds.  That means we could nullify a cheat (instant-fizzle, per Steam Wall's effect) together.  

I do have my solo-happy friends in mind, however.  So, I'll reiterate that these Fusion spells are not required to beat certain bosses, but rather, to help cut down time and act as an optional, auxiliary mechanic (just like Gardening, where you don't have to utilize this feature to be able to fight Morganthe).  I just feel that it would be interesting to introduce a type of "chemistry" where reactions occur between two different "elements."  Thus, with the Mastery Amulet and/or a minion, Fusion magic can be achieved without another player, and there still exists the essence of "team strategy," timing, and combination spells.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this matter: whether you agree, disagree, or want to "fuse" your own ideas with mine, or make up some of your own spells using my prescribed system, please leave your responses down below!

Petnome's Pet Feeding List

Another tool/reference page the Petnome Project is providing and maintaining is a "library" of all the possible Pet Feeding rewards for certain items:  The Pet Feeding List.  If you need a quick way to access this without adding it to your favorites, just remember that you can find this over at the Petnome Project (one of the links at the top of the front page), or visit:

http://tinyurl.com/petfeedinglist

The link must be typed in verbatim to this, or else your browser will become lost in the interwebs!

If you'd like to help us out, please visit

http://tinyurl.com/petnomefeed