~ The Shadow Compendium ~

~ 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. ~

~ Concluding of a Spooktacular Month ~

~ October, what a month. When we first started it off we were teased with a little gif regarding the Professor which then led to the grand 5 B.O.X.E.S event. Soon after we were given a spooky surprise with the new Harrowing Nightmare Hoard Pack to accompany the original Nightmare Pack. Plus we also got the returning quests from Jack and his family as well as a fairly new quest from Dworgyn. Not to mention the all new Fish limited to this celebration only (so catch them while you can). But perhaps the most exciting news of all is the release of a new bundle which was obtainable from both the ExtraLife event and in some stores near you. (So check our your local Walmart when you can!) ~

~ Hrum... I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh...right! How could I forget? ~

~ All Aboard the Barkingham Express! ~

~ Have you ever considered riding a balloon car, or train travel, or maybe even traveling by BLIMP? If not then I suggest heading on over to Marleybone and purchasing a one-way ticket to the Fall Update.

That's right, within the next few weeks we can expect to see the Test Realm doors open up for us. As to what is to come that's all up to speculation. And to save you sometime I've gathered as much information as I can on what we can expect to see in the Fall Update. Lets check it out shall we? ~

~ Gary's Games ~

"I like Shock a Lock. I used to like it a lot. When I first started playing Wizard, I was excited to find a silver chest. Hey, I get to play Shock a Lock! After a few years: Oh, a silver chest, I guess I’ll play Shock a Lock. I started seeing how many extra pieces I could use in the puzzle and still win. But last year I started walking past silver chests. I’ve played Shock a Lock hundreds of times and I was done.
This got me thinking that we need more variety in silver chests. So I designed a new appropriately themed game that was completely different but took around the same time to win. In May, I took a day and a half off from working on fishing to write a playable prototype. Last month, new art, sound effects and music were made for it and I spent some time polishing it up.
I built a little more variety into this new game as well. The first three times you play it, the goal is the same, but after that the goal changes. See if you recognize some of the goals!
When the Fall Update hits the Test Realm, silver chests will all play the new game so y’all can test it. The plan is that when the Fall Update goes live, half the time silver chests will play Shock a Lock and half the time they’ll play the new game. I hope y’all like this new silver chest minigame!"

~ Gary Smith

~ Release the Test Realm, for the Vine! ~

~ This was just aired today on KingsIsle's own Vine Account. Apparently showcasing not just a new dance emote for us but something else too. It appears that we'll be getting a Marleybone expansion or a new Dungeon. Many are speculating that it's Barkingham Palace but who knows. And before I get to ahead of myself can we just talk about those graphics? They've definitely improved over the years which you can contrast with this next vine. ~

~ As you can see from this vine KingsIsle definitely has some plans to introduce new emotes to us. But is that all they plan to do? They tagged Raven Symone when airing this vine to Twitter which makes us wonder. Will she be collaborating with them like Selena Gomez and Nick Jonas did? ~

~ Bundles of Hidden Content ~

~ As I had stated above KingsIsle has recently released a new bundle. This bundle in general is Fishing related. Which has made some of us wonder; Will we ever see more Fishing related bundles or bundles dedicated to things such as Crafting or Gardening? I for sure want a bundle for Crafting with a pet with a new talent that I've created called "Pick Up". This talent would grant the pet the ability to pick up a random reagent native to the area every 10 minutes or so and place it in your backpack. ~

~ Anyways, the really interesting thing about this bundle isn't exactly the pet having Fishing related talents, or a new Fishing Retreat but the art of the card. What I'm referring too is hairstyle of the girl in the card. ~

~ As you can see her hairstyle is alien to us. It's not an available hairstyle to girls when they create their character nor is an option as a hairstyle that's purchasable from the Crown Shop which leads us to wonder if KingsIsle is finally going to put a shop in that random building in the Shopping District dedicated to allowing players to do what they've wanted to do for a long time. Re-Design their character! Or at least their hair anyways... ~

~ Aside from the Fishing bundle KingsIsle has managed to slip in yet another bundle into their October surprises. This bundle, all though not much is known about it, appears to be Gardening related. It comes with: ~

Botanical Gardens Estate with Aberrant Carnivorous Plant
Celestial Wolf Mount
Spirit of the Forest Pet
Evergreen Armor
Thornblade
1 Month or 5,000 Crowns

~ Sounds interesting, no? I know I'm most excited to check out the Botanical Gardens Estate and the pet since I've heard rumors it has a May Cast "Pixie" Gardening Talent. ~

~ However, just like last time the truly interesting thing about this bundle is actually the art of the card. Now this picture was taken by Wolf who discovered this in a catalog for Gamestop so the quality of the pictures isn't very good but it does suit my needs for this topic. As you can see the boy riding the Celestial Wolf Mount appears to be wearing glasses. An "accessory" as Pirates call it. So does that mean Wizards will be getting accessories too? I hope so, I'd especially love to see scarfs in game. ~

~ Things Get Wyrder ~

~ Before I end this blog post I want to point out something of interest that we may all enjoy. With the official release of the Fishing bundle came a picture of an unknown location that looks similar to the Wyrd. I've posted it below along with other hints as to what we can expect to see in the Fall Update. Until next time see ya in the Spiral! ~