News Galore

I've been so busy with school and Celestia I completely forgot about the blog so much has happened I feel its better to let Kingsisle do the talking this time!

01 December 2010 - Volume XXVIII         Welcome to the December 2010 Ravenwood Bulletin Newsletter! It's sure been a busy year for us here at Ravenwood; our pets have evolved, we grew over 10 million Wizards strong, we celebrated our second year of school, Selena Gomez visited the Spiral, new Schools of Magic were discovered, Wizards grew even stronger with new levels up to 60, and of course the whole new world of Celestia! There's more to come before we round the year out, so keep reading and dig in!
Gardening comes to the Spiral          Hello everyone! Professor Moolinda Wu here and I'm excited to tell you all about a new feature coming soon to the Spiral:Gardening! To get started on your path to a greener thumb, when this update is in the Live Game, come visit me in my classroom in Ravenwood if you are level 12 or higher. Students at Ravenwood can plant and grow amazing plants in their Dorms and Castles! Wizards of all schools can garden, so my hope is that every student will learn the joy of shepherding new life! A plant's journey of life begins as a seed. There are many types of seeds, each with a different destiny. With enough energy, you can prepare soil of your choice in your Castle (if you have one) or a planter in your dorm. Then you can place the seed into the readied soil. After a time, it will begin to grow. You can shepherd its growth through spells and other means of caring for it, creating an environment for it to thrive. To learn more about Gardening, see our Update Notes
Harold Argleston's Book of the Month Club         This is the December 2010 installment of my Book of the Month Club. These books have been suggested by a fellow Librarian from Earth, her name is Kit Ward-Crixell and she is a librarian in New Braunfels, Texas, USA. Here there be more dragons! This month we continue looking in to books that remind us of the world of Dragonspyre. Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George – The first in a series, Dragon Slippers introduces Creel, a feisty girl with a talent for sewing, and a world in which dragons are the good guys and try their best to stay out of the way of troublesome humans. George’s characters are terrifically drawn, especially the dragons, and the contrast between the kindly dragons and the not-so-kindly humans Creel encounters in her quest to make her living will impress kids who can understand irony. Look for this book in your school or local library and enjoy reading, young Wizards!
Fan Artwork         Do you like to draw!? We have an entire section of our website dedicated to the drawings that our players create and send to us! There is some truly amazing artwork, and we're so thrilled at the creativity our fans have shown! Click here to have a look through all the wonderful artwork, and then follow the directions to send us your own!	Rare Ice Elf Pet!         Rare Ice Elf Pet! This Ice Elf Pet is available with the redemption of a Gift Certificate purchased on the Wizard101 website. The lucky recipient of your Gift Certificate will receive a Winterborn Egg. Once that egg has hatched, it will become the rare Ice Elf! Visit our Gift page for more information!
Message from Mr Lincoln         Account Security Reminder from Mr Lincoln Seems that time again when I have to remind young Wizards to not give their passwords to anyone! Ever! Even to me. KingsIsle Employees will -never- ask for your password under any circumstances. This are a few simple steps to keep your Wizard101 account safe from the evil that people do. Keep your password secret. This may seem like the most basic common sense step, however it is the one most ignored. Your password is your Wizards. All the hard work that you put in to the characters that you play is gone when you give out your password. Keep your information up to date. If you registered for Wizard101 with a false or incorrect email, you cannot receive emails from us regarding your account security! Make sure the email address associated with your Wizard101 account is valid, and that you can receive email to that account. Don't fall for it. Websites and people that ask for your password with the promise of Crowns or levelling are just going to clean your account out. Again, your password is your Wizards. When you give your password away, you give your Wizards away too. Report suspected malicious activity. If you encounter a person or a website that asks for your password for any reason whatsoever, report it immediately. If this happens in game, use the REPORT button. If this happens outside of game, send an email tosupport@wizard101.com immediately.

A Gift for All! Tis the season of gift giving, and this year we have a special gift for you! Every account that logs in to Wizard101 the game between December 21st 2010 and January 1st 2011 will receive one Silent Nightcap gift! This hat looks different when worn by boys and girls, and you can place it in your Shared Bank for all your Wizards to try! Just look for the Silent Nightcap in the Gift window!

Please note: one per account, redeemed on login between the given dates. Look for this icon in game and click on it to claim your gift! Gardening comes to the Spiral          Hello everyone! Professor Moolinda Wu here and I'm excited to tell you all about a new feature in the Spiral: Gardening! To get started on your path to a greener thumb, come visit me in my classroom in Ravenwood if you are level 12 or higher. Students at Ravenwood can plant and grow amazing plants in their Dorms and Castles! Wizards of all schools can garden, so my hope is that every student will learn the joy of shepherding new life! A plant's journey of life begins as a seed. There are many types of seeds, each with a different destiny. With enough energy, you can prepare soil of your choice in your Castle (if you have one) or a planter in your dorm. Then you can place the seed into the readied soil. After a time, it will begin to grow. You can shepherd its growth through spells and other means of caring for it, creating an environment for it to thrive. After you've planted your seed, it starts to grow, from seed to seedling, young plant, mature plant to elder. You can use a number of helpful spells to usher it along as it grows, keeping it healthy and happy. Once you have planted a seedling, either in a plot or in a pot, it cannot be moved.   This is a seedling, the youngest phase of life for a plant. You will need Energy to plant a seed in a planter or the ground. After a seed is planted, you can use plant growth spells on it to help it flourish. Plants require some things to thrive and survive: water, sunshine, pollination, magic and even music.   This is a young plant, in its next stage of life after seedling. You can observe your plant's growth visually and you can use your mouse to highlight a plant to get more information about its status. You will some new spells to help you garden: The Plow spell allows you to remove a plant or dirt pile, if you wish to do so. The Revive spell allows you to transform a dead plant into a new seedling, ready to grow once more.    This is a mature plant, in the fullness of its growth. When a plant becomes mature, it can be harvested. You can harvest a plant by interacting with it. Each type of plant yields a different harvest: reagents, pet snacks, gold, treasure cards, or more seeds! You can harvest from a plant as long as it's in its mature stage of life. When a plant is in its mature stage that doesn’t mean that you can harvest it right away or that it’s continually harvestable. It means that once every day or so it will be harvestable so long as it’s in that mature state.   This is an elder plant, the final stage of a plant's life cycle. Many plants won't reach this stage! An elder plant can be harvested one final time, with much greater possible rewards. Once an elder plant is harvested, it disappears and cannot be revived. I'm sad to say that gardening isn't all nurturing and happiness. Plants endangered by some very real threats.   This plant is wilting. It will die before too long if it is not taken care of. Plants can die if their needs are not met, if they are in surrounded by things they dislike, or if they are killed by pests. Plants have likes and dislikes, things that encourage or discourage their growth. A plant's likes are things it enjoyes being near. These can include other types of plants or gardening items. A plant will flourish if it is near things that it likes, while things it dislikes will cause it to become unhealthy. An important part of gardening is learning how to arrange your plants, and create a healthy garden for them.   This plant is dead. Now all that can be done is to plow it over, or to revive it. The greatest threat to plants are pests. Pests can infest a plant and hinder its growth. If pests are not eliminated, eventually the plant will begin to wilt and die. When a plant is infested by pests, it cannot be harvested. To eliminate pests, you must use pest fighting spells. To eliminate a pest, the spell must be of high enough rank. You can purchase pest fighting spells from vendors throughout the Spiral, or even win them as treasures. It's a sorry state to see plants doing so poorly, but it's important to know what risks there are when gardening.         How do I Garden?           Where do I get Seeds? You can get seeds from gardening vendors throughout the Spiral. Farley is the gardening vendor in Wizard City's Golem Court, look for his cousins Marley, Charley and Harley in other worlds. You can also earn seeds as rewards through defeating enemies in magic duels, or get them in other ways. How do I Plant?   When you're ready to plant a seed in prepared soil or a planter, you must cast a seed planting spell. This places the chosen seed into the soil or planter,  where it can begin to grow. To prepare an area for planting outdoors in your Castle, you must cast a soil preparation spell. Soil preparation spells cost Energy. To garden in your dorm room or an indoor space in your Castle, you must buy a planter from the gardening vendor. There are different sizes and types of plants, but some types of plants cannot be planted indoors. Plants require attention to grow in the form of plant growing spells. All plants have needs that must be met, and plant growing spells fulfill those needs for a period of time. Plants needs include water, sunlight, pollination, music and magic. Plant growing spells cost Energy to cast, and are cast through the garden interface in your home.   Plants have likes & dislikes, conditions that can help them grow or hinder their development. A plant will grow faster if it is surrouned by things it likes, and it will grow slower if it is surrounded by things it dislikes.  You can learn what a plant likes or dislikes by using the Inspect spell on it. Plants go through several stages as they grow, from seed to seedling to young plant to mature plant to elder plant. Once a plant is mature, you can harvest it by interacting with it. A plant can be harvested repeatedly until it reaches the elder stage. Harvesting yields rewards such as reagents, pet snacks, gold, treasure cards or other seeds. When a plant reaches the elder stage, it can be harvested only one more time. This harvest will yield the greatest rewards. After this, the elder plant will disappear. Gardening Tools   Utility spells are useful for many aspects of gardening. The plow spell removes a targeted plant or dirt pile. The Inspect spell lets you look at a targeted plant's characteristics and progress. The Revive spell lets you turn a plant that has died into a young plant of the same type.    Pests Plants can sometimes suffer from pests. Pests are annoying critters that will cause it to wilt and die if they are not dealt with. To get rid of pests, you will need to cast the appropriate pest fighting spell. Different types of pests require different types of spells. Pests are ranked and require spells equal to or greater than their rank.    If you have a high enough gardening rank, you can cast pest prevention spells to keep pests away from your garden. You can buy pest fighting and pest prevention spells from certain trainers throughout the Spiral, you can buy them at the Crown shop or you can earn them through treasure rewards.  Each plant differs by how easy they are to garden, how long they take to grow and mature and how long they live. As you continue to garden you will earn gardening experience through successfully harvesting plants. There are 10 ranks of gardening:  Novice Neophyte Apprentice Initiate Intermediate Journeyman Expert Adept Master Grandmaster The types of seeds you can plant may be restricted, requiring a minimum gardening rank. Additionally, some kinds of gardening equipment and spells require minimum gardening rank to use.         Details, details, details...         Celestian Furniture Yes you read that correctly! Celestian Furniture has come to the Spiral, as well as recipes for furniture from our newest underwater world! Menu Chat New phrases have been added to Menu Chat, including a quick 'You're Welcome' for our very polite Wizards! No Trade Items No Trade and No Auction stats have been removed from many Celestia items. Pets Zombie pets will no longer be stuck swimming. The Myth Imp pet spell is now dispelling both Life and Death spells. The Seraph pet's card will no longer show damage to all enemies. Pets with 'May Cast Trap' will no longer be casting those traps on their owners! Energy Since your Energy is shared by both Pets & Gardening, Max Energy has been increased. Energy now begins at 40 at level 1, and increases by 1 at each even-numbered level. References to Pet Energy are now just "Energy". Quests The Final Countdown quest can now be completed by a solo player. There is no longer a timer to activate the power crystals and there is also no longer a timer for the two set of creatures that trigger the doors to be opened that are right before Malistaire's room. Crowns Shop When an item is on sale in the Crowns Shop, you will now see both the full price with a strikethrough and the sale price, so you can see how much you are saving. Polymorphs Players should no longer see their names change when they use a Polymorph spell. Treasure Cards Polymorph Treasure Cards now have level requirements and will not be received as rewards for duels. Spells Mildred Farseer has something interesting for you! Helping Hands will now heal on the first round, and resurrect fallen players. Travel Mounts can now be used in the Spiral Chambers of Marleybone and MooShu. Recipes Equipment, furniture, pet snack, treasure card and transmute recipes have been added to Celestia! Furniture Heavy Dining Table can be placed in more locations now. Reagents Sandstone and Sunstone can now be found on bosses in The Solar District and the Trial of the Spheres. Wow that was a lot good thing we can copy and paste! Anyway see ya in the spiral.