It was on January 25th, just last year when Todd J. Coleman announced he'd be leaving KingsIsle to pursue his own course. He had envisioned a new game, a game that will set high standards for future MMORPGs. And throughout the course of the year he's kept us updated with his progress. To the right of this paragraph you can see Coleman's "Mystery Artist" at work.
Just the other day Coleman released the teaser site of his new game. And featured right on it is the moto of ArtCraft which you can view right here:
Where did we go wrong?
There was a time when our industry took CHANCES. Our games didn’t have to appeal to everyone, and we didn’t judge ourselves solely on mass market success. With amusement park games, it’s impossible to lose. With sandbox games, it’s impossible to win. If you can’t win and you can’t lose, then. . .
What's the point of playing?
I don’t want to kill more rats, fill another experience point bar or collect another meaningless badge. I want to play a GAME, against PLAYERS where my actions, my decisions and my SKILL will determine if I win or lose. Allies. Enemies. Alliances. Betrayal. Risk. Conquest. To compete with
THOUSANDS of other players for a chance to claim the THRONE. Even if I lose, the experience won’t feel hollow. I don’t want another worthless trophy.
With the little link right above you can sign up for the Beta stage which will be here in only 63 days. So sign up, and Play2Crush! I hope to see you there!
In a world where game developers have been using the same format for a decade, two game developers set off to make a new game not like any other game.
Ok, enough with the cheesy prologue I made at 12:01 AM because I am so excited so let me get to the point and write the 4858 page summary on it now. Play2Crush is a new game, like it says in the title, that doesn't use the same format other games have been using for a decade. Play2Crush is made by 2 well known game developers, J Todd Coleman(Shadowbane, Wizard101, Pirate101) and Gordon Walton (Ultima Online, Star Wars: Galaxies, Star Wars: the Old Republic) who have combined. Well, I won't spoil the rest. I would read everything you can on the link down below under the group numbers for everyone on the blog has gotten accepted so far:
By now the majority of us, if not all know the ending words Old Cob had told us in Khrysalis. Two of those names we do not know much about, only the fact that there are giant speculations that The Broken Shores is that world floating around in the Spiral we see when going through some stormgates to other worlds in Pirate101. What about the Hidden Lands though? The only place we do not know of.
Hidden Lands
For a long time we have waited for a swamp world. We have wanted to know where Mr. Lincoln comes from, where frogs come from, what this "Out East" place the storks in Cool Ranch talk of. Well, we possibly know now, this isn't definite but this is my theory on the Hidden Lands.
Swamps are usually places were alligators and other animals lurk. Sometimes swamps are hidden by think fog so why not call a swamp themed world Hidden Lands? It just means the place is hard to get to. How it fits in with the story? Well, my guess is we come here to stop Old Cob from doing something shadow related. Maybe it is where we end him or somewhere in the middle or close to the end. It has something to do with shadow magic and we will possibly get shadow magic here.
Another idea is using the new shadow infused storm spell, Glowbug Squall, to help put this together. Just by looking at the image above we can tell this spell originates from a swamp environment and from the name of the spell. We can also see that this world is at night giving it a more mysterious and shadow look to it. What I don't understand is what the green smoke is in the picture but probably just the smoke of the world.
Conclusion
What do you all think about the new spell and the environment it casts off? Comment below "Shine bright like a diamond!" if you have read the whole post and thank you to Edward RubyRunner for letting me use this picture he took of the Glowbug Squall spell in action.
You may remember me from all the way back to the first post. Well, I'm back to cause trouble! >:D Joking about that, the real reason I am back is to just blog and what better than to blog about my favorite app right now, Celtic Heroes. I will still be doing Wizard101 and Pirate101 posts every now and then but I want to help broaden your horizons to more games but let's stop talking about that poop.
As you all know by now if you are on Twitter my name is Cass Lifeblossom. I have 6 pirates and wizards using only 3 of my pirates, Cass Underwood, a max level swashbuckler; Ryan Underwood, a witchdoctor in Cool Ranch, and my musketeer that just started his way into Valencia. On Wizard101 I use my main, Cass Lifeblossom, an Exalted Theurgist and Kyle, a Grandmaster Pyromancer in Celestia.
Whelp, byez I guess. I got nothing else to talk about. Be prepared for the first blog post of many for Celtic Heroes next weekend. If you finished reading comment: I have a pet monkey named Robert.
So as this weekend comes to a close I'm looking back at it with annoyance. I wasn't really productive at all and I completely forgot about this catering event that I wanted to do. So yea. I wanted to write something today so I decided to write out this short blog post.
Basically right now I'm listening to some music with a million things on my mind of things that I WOULD like to do but can't. While also waiting for this cool MOBA game Smite to finish updating. Once it does I think I'm going to try to get Nox or Nyx depending on how you've heard the name. She's a brand new character in the game and she seems really cool.
Anyways, aside from barely being productive I did write out a new blog post and brought two new members to the blog. So far Chase has written out his post and Cass should have his done soon (hopefully). I also updated the blog's header for November and there should be a new background up soon. (Again), Anyways. What did you guys/gals do this weekend and what are you looking forward to the most on the Test Realm?
(Ps): We're only 20 days away from the release of Pokemon OR/AS! :D
Saturday, November 1, 2014
~ With the Test Realm for Wizard101's Fall Update on the horizon KingsIsle has been delivering teasers to their community. Based on what we've seen makes it sort of hard to speculate as to what is to come. So far we've seen concept art for what looks like a Shaolin "Temple", a Mooshu (Or Grizzlehiem) "Boar Boss", a "Royal Hall" of Marleybone, and a collection of pieces of what we all assume to be Darkmoor. And this post will be dedicated to deducing these teasers and hopefully gathering speculations from others. ~
~ We're on our last week of October and KingsIsle is
spoiling us like crazy. Not only have they gifted us with these lovely
Halloween Fest quests and activities but they've been quite busy with
providing quite a few spoilers. Check out this latest post to learn
what's Hip n' Happening in the Spiral of Wizard101. ~
hroughout the years KingsIsle has created a wonderful set of games known as Wizard101 and Pirate101.
Both games take place in the scenic Spiral with a unique plot, a
collection of Worlds, and characters with a variety of personalities. In
fact, these games have become so popular amongst many that people are
begging for yet another game only two years after the release of
Pirate101. I've seen threads on the Forums and other places by different
authors all discussing ideas for a new game. Some which include
Ninja101, Fairy101, Knights101, etc. Each idea had something different
and cool about them that made even myself want KingsIsle to produce the
game. And so, I've dedicated today's post towards the topic of producing
a new game for the 101 series. The idea(s) you're about to see are all mine, somewhat. So. Without further ado I present to all of you. . . ~
~ With the release of the Five B.O.X.E.S. Event there was a lot of interesting history about
where the professors of Ravenwood came from and other little details.
However, I wasn't as interested in all of that once I stepped foot
inside Dimwood Vale.
Now here's the interesting thing. Dimwood Vale is very much like the
Darkmoor concept art that we've seen in the past. And not only that, but
inside the Cornu House there are pictures of Darkmoor hung about. And
the houses in them match the same design of Cornu House's exterior. So. After gathering a plethora of information I've decided to dedicate this next blog post to something rather important to us all. The Third Arc. and its Worlds in the making. Specifically Darkmoor.
Yes, yes. I know, Olde Cob never mentioned Darkmoor as a World he'd send his forces too upon departure from Khrysalis. But since when has there never been a surprise up KingsIsle's sleeve? ~
Did You Know?
Titled: DM_S4_TowerEntry, Drawn: by Scott Jones
~ Despite the little knowledge that we know of Darkmoor there is a decent amount of concept art upon which we can use to speculate. For instance, to the right of this paragraph there's a piece of Concept art that appears to showcase a Tower of some sort from Darkmoor. To see more pieces of art click here. ~
A Darker Perspective
~ Darkmoor; This World has been full of mystery and has constantly been imagined as to what it is like since we first came across it. In fact, even the Artist who drew Darkmoor had a few wild ideas on what Darkmoor should look like. If you're interested, see Swordroll's post here on the matter. Anyways. . .
As far as we're concerned it's a World haunted by the night, and its home to dark magic which seems like the perfect setting for a being such as Olde Cob, no? In fact, the Thunderbird from Cool Ranch even mentioned Darkmoor as being the "World of Shadows" and home to an "evil spirit from the Before Time." Which leaves me reasoning quite clear as to why we might visit Darkmoor. In fact Swordroll did a post on it. If you're interested, check it out here.
"He fled to the world of shadows: the skies of Darkmoor. Bill found and evil spirit from the Before Time, when there was no Spiral."
This "evil spirit from the Before Time" what could it be? It sounds a lot like Olde Cob. Perhaps in a different form because we know he was asleep. And we also know that it's possible for Greater Beings to take on different and multiple forms. The Storm Titan who sunk Celestia took on the form of a Triton. Tempus Stormfist if you remember.
There's also a chance that it could have been Olde Cob's offspring. But regardless we know that there's some connection between Darkmoor and the Before Time. ~
What can we expect to see in Darkmoor?
~ Well,
unless the Dworgyn's Ant Aunts found at Cornu House had moved there from Khrysalis I
can say we might find lots of Ants, perhaps Moles, Scarecrows, Crows, and even Bats and/or
Vampires. Plus I think we can expect Humans, and maybe Cats, specifically Black Cats. . . ~
How Darkmoor Might Fit Into The Scheme Of Things
~ Personally I believe that Darkmoor will be the middle World, a place where we or the Antagonist (In this case Olde Cob) go to retrieve their most essential item. In this case, either we or Olde Cob will travel to Darkmoor to learn more about Shadow Magic. Or perhaps a lost weapon of Light to defeat Olde Cob. Who knows, the possibilities are endless. ~
Until next time. . .
Sunday, October 5, 2014
That's right; Halloween is back
in the Spiral! And from now until the end of October you can experience
the spooky fun throughout the whole of Wizard City. And weather you're a
veteran player or a new player you'll be able to participate in this Season of Death Funfest. Plus, this year there's an all new activity for you to do.
FISHING! So if you're interested in hearing about some of the things in
store this October click the "Read More" button. . .
The release of Aquila brought with it the revolutionary new idea that an amulet could carry stats. No we're not talking just health, were talking full on resist, pierce, critical, and critical block. Of course you all know by now i am referring to the amulet of divine influence, which until the release of the second half of Khrysalis was the only amulet in the game which gave its user the unique ability to gain a stat advantage over other players in the Arena. With the release of the finale of the Morganthe saga, 7 new school specific stat amulets were added to the game, but are these amulets really worth the massive effort and luck it requires to obtain one? Kindly click "read more" to join the discussion!
Welcome guys, my first official blogHere at the Shadow Compendium
Ok so I already promised to take a look at life style so why
not?
Today’s life style will be CSR, for all those who do not
know what that is it stands for Customer service representative, now CSR for
what or Who exactly? What if there was a CSR that literally gives you living accommodation?
Or one that pays for you to live at work? Literally! well you’re in luck today
we shall be interviewing "John" and he is a Google CS rep. yes Google
will be our look today and for all intention purposes in my over the phone interview
he didn’t state his last name nor did he ask me to make direct references to
the companies polices or anything like that just to be clear, we shall be
focusing on the cool aspects of working for Google as a CSR however let me
state as well that will any job comes challenges and hard work, either as you
are or to get to the top.
So Google is probably one of the most influential companies
in the world, alongside Microsoft and a bunch of other names that we have
become familiar to, but what happens when you have a product of the company, a Google
tablet a Google phone or your Gmail isn't working good, what do you do? You
call Google of course. with ought a doubt Google reps probably get more perks
in working for the company than other job title out there, and to make it even
better the more responsibility you have the better the company takes care of
you, say for instance you’re a Google maps coder or manager for nexus, your
living styles would reflect that of an executive or higher, Google takes care
of their employees so well you literally barely spend that pay check and feel accomplished
at the end of the day.
Google started in 1998 on September 4th, by Larry Page and
Sergey Bring, they envisioned a place where all the worlds information could be
found in one place and not scattered across the globe, probably if they didn’t
have a dream like that we would still need to visit library to library searching
for the correct information you need for school projects or any new knowledge
what so ever. The company in itself has seen its fair share of criticisms for
its ground breaking ideas as collecting all the worlds’ information and storing
it one place for it to be accessible does raise the legal issue of copyright infringement;
however Google has made it work.
Google’s head quarts are in Mountain View, California, and
nicknamed the Googleplex. The original complex with 2 million square feet of
office space is the company's second largest square footage assemblage of
Google buildings (The largest Google building is the 2.9 million square foot
111 Eighth Avenue building in New York City which Google bought in 2010). Once
the 1.1 million square foot Bay View addition comes on line in 2015 the
Googleplex will be the largest collection of Google buildings with 3.1 million
square feet of space, yes huge isnt it? Imagine working at such a large place? Cool
isn’t it? Well there is a lot to discuss when it comes on to Google so here is
a nifty wiki page that you can view on the Googleplex. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googleplex).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google)
On September 1st, I interviewed a Google rep called
"John" I made him aware that I will be conducting an interview on
behalf of the Shadow Compendium blog, he has made specific notifications not to
mention him be full name, it was over the phone and I’ve called quite a few
times as a few has denied the interview. Please note as well guys the questions
asked are specifically aimed at the employees well being and metal state and
not a reflection on how good or bad the company is, "John" is also a
supervisor for the Nexus 7 product line Manufactured by the company I work for
"Asus"The interview took 35:45m and was very enlightening.
On requesting to speak with a supervisor after calling the Google
line I heard "hello my name is John and thank you for calling Google’s
Nexus 7 support line, how may I assist you?" In my mind I was like "I
hope you can" but then I explained my motives and john happily granted me
the interview, my first question to him was "how did you get your job? Was
it epic or a regular interview and stuff like that?" Johns answer was
"well it’s a bit boring but at the same time interesting, you see I was in
college at the time but my parents weren’t the riches people I know, and there
were a few complications, I was in medical school and as you know it’s
expensive and couldn’t pay for it in the end. I was 2 months away from being
kicked out when a friend of mine asked me if I would consider being a Google rep.
I replied with I’m a medical student and by far not good with technology, my
back was against the wall and money was needed so I took a chance" I interrupted
him and said "from that point on it must have worked out cause here you
are as a supervisor?" He laughed and said "I was in medical
school" and I was like "oh something life changing happened?" he
said "yes, I did get the job but there was a lot to learn, I soon spent
the next few months learning as much as I could from the wiser employees and
got so interested in it I dropped out of medical school, of course my parents weren’t
too happy but I felt it was a huge burden instead of an advantage, I decided to
go to IIT tech instead to learn computer engineering and information
technology. I finished the courses in less than 3 years and it was all thanks
to the overwhelming amount of information I learnt here from Google. currently I
restarted medical school, not as a main course of study but as a second choice"
I said to him that, that story wasn’t boring at all that it was amazing, to
think that Google changed your entire life enough to change your course of
study and the way you look at technology he said "the day I graduated from
IIT tech I was promoted" I genuinely felt happy for John as I know how
hard it must have been, so I asked "So working at Google makes you a lot
of money doesn’t it?" John laughed and said "not really, it’s all
about how you use the money, since working here I literally don’t have to buy
food or mostly anything, I save a lot" I laughed and said wait Google pays
for everything?" "Technically yes and they also gave me a part
scholarship so yeah" replied John, I was amazed.
I went on to ask Hey John
what are your dreams for the future? and he answered with one word
"Promotion" I smiled and basically I could tell John was extremely
happy and comfortable in the current job at Google, he didn’t seem stressed or
forced into a conversation, he was natural and collective and really a source
for motivation in my mind, he was smart and cooperative and really understood
what he was saying and even more, at the end of the conversation he suggested
that I Google or YouTube when perks employees get and that most of what I see
will be true.
In contrast I was mostly pleased in my interview with john, I
left feeling happy and accomplished, I shall leave some links at the bottom of
the page on Google including career links, but basically working at Google you
will be around technology a lot and a lot of cool people according to john, Not
much stress and your boss always gets you, it feels more like a theme park than
actual work and the company itself is a great place to be. You will always be
able to afford to eat well both in real food and knowledge. You will feel
wealthy and love to brag. So if you’re into technology or even not into techy
stuff and you are of age you can always visit Google for job postings, be
warned however you can be shipped off to foreign countries, which isn’t always
a bad thing. I myself would love to work at Google, every time I speak to a Google
rep which is like 10 or more times a day I can tell they are really happy with
the job, plus free food isn’t at all bad thing or maybe that just me.
To conclude I must say it’s really an enjoyable job and
weather you are young or old you can find a place at Google. Maybe not the job
of your dreams but who knows, maybe like john the company will change your
life. Always look closely at the opportunities you have and change them for the
better, life isn’t as bad and sometimes a little can be a lot. Thank you again
for reading my blog on Google CSR I really hope you enjoy it. You can share and
tweet this out as many times as you can, my name is Kyle for The Shadow
Compendium, and thank you again for reading.
NB: The videos used in this blog are solely for education purposes only and may not be reproduced or re-edited unless approved by the owner and sole proprietors without prior notification, I Kyle Taylor owns no part or in anyway owns any of the video material posted, violation can be prosecuted under law.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Since the announcement of Pokemon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire, or ORAS for short the Pokemon community has grown impatient for its release. And I am one of these people. And so, since the Shadow Compendium isn't limited to one set game I'd like to share with you my theories and hopes for ORAS and the future of Pokemon.
I apologize for the lack of posts as of late. I've been occupied with other things, but now I am back with a brand new post covering the updates of last week and this week. However, before I begin I'd like to cover something else. Please, follow along because this topic will require you, the reader's input.
~ Updates ~
During the few short months that I've worked on this blog I've become unsatisfied with its look. And since I struggle with making decisions I was hoping to ask you for your opinion on what you like about this blog and what you don't like about it. And how I could improve and/or change it. Now that that's over it's time to focus on the larger portion of this post. Wizard101's 6th Birthday Party celebration.
~ What's In Store ~
Until the 21st of September a select few items in the Crown Shoppe are on sale for 5000 Crowns. The following items that are on sale are:
Nightflame Pegasus Mount
Skyracer Pegasus Mount
Dual Dragonflyer Two Player Mount
Leopard Pet
Bronze Golem Pet
Sea Dragon Pet
Personally, I think this sale is great. Especially since you can buy three of the most expensive Mounts in game for 10$ instead of 25$.
Anyways, on the topic of the Crown Shoppe I'd like to inform you of some recent changes to it.
Recently it got a whole new look to make it more organized and I find it rather nice. Below are two screenshots from before and now. Check them out and if you're interested click thislink to see the other updates that recently hit the live realm.
As you can see there are less tabs which makes it less cluttered. And the cool thing about this set up is that when you scroll over one of them a set of smaller tabs pop up known as subcategories and they allow you to find a specific group of items. For example say I wanted to buy a Rental Mount. I'd scroll over the Mounts tab and a window would appear such as this one. And now all I have to do is click Rental Mounts and I'll be directed to a page full of only Rental Mounts.
~ Presents ~
As always KingsIsle has generously provided two presents for us to redeem. But in case you've missed the presents prior to this week I'll provide links to all of them.
Previous Birthday Gift
Current Birthday Gift
~ Birthday Contests ~
That's right, CONTESTS! However, this contest isn't held by us but KingsIsle themselves. The winner has a chance to receive 60,000 Crowns! Think of all the things you could buy with that! If you're interested click this link and check it out, and good luck to
all who enter!
~ Frost-Tastic Wallpapers ~
If you're not aware of them already I suggest you check them out. What am I talking about exactly? Why Frostcaller's wonderful wallpapers of course! So far he's created a Shadow, Astral, Life, Storm, and Balance wallpaper and with your help you can decide what he'll be making next using this poll here.
Conclusion:
During the weekend KingsIsle released a video of them doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. If you're interested in seeing it then check it out below.
Lastly, I have a question. As we all know Autumn is approaching and it's that time of year when KingsIsle releases all of the fun Halloween Quests. But the question is; do you think they'll add more to them this year apart from the ones we already have? And do you think that they'll update the Nightmare Packs and if so, what do you think will be inside them?
It was on January 25th, just last year when Todd J. Coleman announced he'd be leaving KingsIsle to pursue his own course. He had envisioned a new game, a game that will set high standards for future MMORPGs. And throughout the course of the year he's kept us updated with his progress. To the right of this paragraph you can see Coleman's "Mystery Artist" at work. 
Just the other day Coleman released the teaser site of his new game. And featured right on it is the moto of ArtCraft which you can view right here:
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