Santa Run 2020 - Saturday, December 19th

 Hello Wizards!

I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the Holiday Season. Last month I announced that we may be having a Santa Run, and today I'm happy to announce that we will have one. It'll be simple like the old days - by old days, I mean our very first Santa Run back in 2012. No activities, just celebrating the community and Christmas! Keep scrolling for more important information. 

When

Saturday, December 19th @ 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern

Where

The Commons, Greyrose Realm

Gear

Santa/Mrs. Claus Gear + Red & White

Everyone is more than welcome to attend. No Memberships or Mounts will be required to attend. The Run Path will be simple around the pond. I hope you can attend with us. I actually really wanted & needed to do this. Next year's events will be amazing. But in the meantime, let's end this with our annual Santa Run! Thank you all for your support and I do hope to see you there.

25 Days Of Christmas - Day 3 - My Favorite Things

 Hi there!

It's the 3rd of December which means it's time for another song! Today, I thought I'd share "My Favorite Things" from Julie Andrews! In the nine years, I've posted Christmas songs, I've never posted this. I thought I'd post it today since it really goes with the theme I want for this year. Enjoy!

25 Days Of Christmas - Day 2 - Love Is In Your Heart

 Hi there!

Happy December 2nd. I hope y'all are having a great start to December so far. Today, I wanted to share a cute song from The Search For Santa Paws, a family-friendly movie that was released in 2010. It's really cute, and I hope you enjoy listening to it. Here is "Love Is In Your Heart" by Brahm Wenger!

25 Days of Christmas - 2020 - Wonderful Dream

 Hello there!

It's been a year. Yes, that's right. It's officially the Christmas Season. That means it's time for me to start sharing my favorite Christmas songs! This year, I want to share more inspirational songs for everyone to listen to. Think of each song as a chapter of a larger story. Anyway, let's start 25 Days of Christmas 2020 with the first song - "Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)" by Melanie Thornton! 

Prayers For My Family + Santa Run In December?

 Hello Wizards,

Yesterday, I updated all of y'all on my mental health which has improved lately. But today, I wanted to update you on something going on in my personal life. Numerous family members have tested positive for the coronavirus. I was hoping to host a well-prepared Santa Run this year, but, at the moment it is looking highly unlikely for the well-prepared one. We may still have a simple one, like the old days! I'll certainly keep you updated over these next few weeks. But, at this time, I wanted to let all of you know what was going on with me. Yes, it may seem like one thing after another is happening - but we keep moving forward no matter what. Tomorrow is always a new day. Anyway, I hope all of you have an amazing day. Stay safe out there and please... know that the Coronavirus is real. It's very unfortunate, but I know people that have passed away from it. Continue to keep all of these people, their families, and the world, in your thoughts/prayers. Remember what you're thankful for this Holiday Season. 

An Update On My Mental Health

 Hello there,

I hope all of you are having a fantastic Thanksgiving week. Today, I wanted to give an update on my mental health - which declined over the past several months to a very low point (but not near where I've been well of a decade ago). 

God knows over the past several months, I've really declined. I'll say that I was (and still am) irritated with everything going on in this world. There is also a lot that makes me sad, like those who have lost family due to this pandemic, especially now around the Holidays. Losing family during this time is not easy at all. I'm very sorry to anyone in the community that has recently lost any family whether it's due to this pandemic or something else. You are in my thoughts and prayers. The entire world mourns with you during these sad times.

While many bad things going on in this world, I've been reminding myself of the many good things that also occur in our world. People have been brought together to create a cure for this virus. We see how important family & tradition is - we're human, we all forget the importance of both here and there. And most of all, as human beings, we will once again rise above any plague. These things, along with talking to someone, have helped me during a time I went through a partial mental breakdown. This partial breakdown has lasted for numerous months. But, I believe I can officially claim victory. My depression, for the first time in years, is finally on the decline again. And I'm proud to announce that here on my blog before I announce it anywhere else.

I'll certainly have bad days, as all people do. But, I've had many more good days as of late. I've also thought of a great idea that I think will unite the community. This idea will be way beyond me. It'll take a lot of work, but it'll be amazing in the end. I hope all of you will join me on this adventure. But in the meantime, we'll keep it to a minimum. I'm not going to promote anything at all. Anyway, I just wanted to give this update to everyone before Thanksgiving. I'm very thankful to my true friends/readers. I'll make up these past several years for all of the community. In time. Anyway, have a fantastic day! Thank you so much for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the Spiral.

A Transition To Happiness

 Hey there,

I hope all of you are doing well. I took a massive break from social media for a week and a half. While that may not seem like long - it was the longest break I've had in almost 10 years. I gotta say, I'm addicted. Something led to this much-needed break, though. 

I said it a few months ago, but I have been mentally unwell. I've had people use this to their advantage to make me a bad guy, even though I don't want to be a bad guy. However, many that I've had disagreements in the past have reached out to show their support. I truly appreciate that. With that, I want to say no matter how old you are, it's okay to be vulnerable, especially during a year like this. One thing I've done is continue to push forward despite the mistakes I've made. 

I'm done with people using my mental illness as a way to build themselves up. I've recently started a new medicine and I'm starting to feel more like myself again. I will continue working on myself. And I might have a Santa Run this year - but I'm going to mostly focus on my happiness. That means hanging around people I truly care about. I don't agree with 99% of the community. But I will always be here for people who need someone. I do hope you will be here for me during this crazy time. 

Now, I'm going to continue working on myself. And just letting everyone know, mentally, when it comes to life, I'm A-Okay! I love life... I mean, I'm a life wizard, after all. ;) My next step is to remove toxicity from my life. There are people in the community that uses people for their own advantage. I've seen it happen to numerous people in the community. I'm here to say, I'm no longer going to be used. Those days are officially over. It's time to start my transition to true happiness. The community made me happy at one point, and I believe it will again. 

I certainly have said I wanted to quit numerous times, but I come back. I don't want to be a "community leader". I want to be accepted as an individual in a place I was once accepted. Individuality isn't as popular as it once was. We need to change that. There needs to be one area in this crazy world where people can come to feel better. A place people can get away from politics, religion, etc. I'm no longer mentioning any of it ever again because we know what that got me into over the years - being judged by my cover. I'm going to continue working on my mental health, but in time, we, not I, will change the community for the better. 

Moving The Mirror For Positive Change

 Hello Wizards!

Long time no talk! I hope all of you have been staying healthy & safe during these past crazy few months. Today, I wanted to talk with the community about something that has been on my mind for quite some time - individuality.

Over the past several years, individuality has been looked down upon by a large portion of the community, and frankly, the world. The only way to be accepted by these types of people is if you put a mirror in front of them and talk about what they believe in. You may not move the mirror or talk as an individual. Overall, you have to be them, not yourself, to fit into this mirror world.

As many of you know, I've hosted in-game events with a group of amazing friends. We didn't share common political or religious beliefs. We did, however, share one common belief - bringing the community together. That one belief paved the road for years of in-game events for the community. These events didn't work out for the majority, but it did work out for everyone that shared this same common goal. All of the awesome people that attended our in-game events had numerous beliefs - but we all wanted to hang out in the game as friends. As a Community of people. All Unique.

As an individual, I have my own beliefs, that are clearly not popular among many in the community. But, I'm not here to be popular. As I've stated, my goal is to bring the community together. It took years, but it's nice to see that SpiralVision was no failure of bringing people who have different beliefs together for years. We're one of the most diverse groups of thinkers and people in this community. This is the type of diversity that will succeed both here and in the world. Let's move the mirror. Let's accept individuality. Let's change this community.

It's Scary - 10 Years Later

Hello Wizards!

I hope all of you are having an amazing weekend. Today, I thought I'd talk about something that has been on my mind for quite some time - a massive burnout. Well, a massive blogging burnout, at least. 

Over the past several years, I've seen bloggers that once were quite active in the community, disappear into their real life, one at a time. There are people I thought would be here longer than me that have already left the community. I'm not like many that move forward right away. I see the good things that people do to make this community inclusive and when they leave, it actually makes me sad.

For a while now, I've had blogger burnout. It's not because I don't like blogging, but it's because guides are not my thing. Interaction is - as you could tell from the events, streams, and now, Spiral News. There are times I want to make a blog post, and I know y'all still read my blog - thank you for that - but I don't feel like I did before. I don't know if it's because I've been blogging half or possibly 75% of the time many of you've been alive. 😂

Overall, I don't know where this blog will go in the future. But I do know that I'll do my best to continue trying my best to bring the community together - no matter the platform. Thank you all for giving me the change to do that over the past 10 years. And yes, I know this was a very random blog post. Thank you for reading! Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

Spiral News - Christmas In July Giveaway

Hello Wizards!

I hope you're having a wonderful start of a new week. Today, I wanted to share with all of you that Spiral News will be coming back (it seems that the past several weeks have involved numerous breaks). I've asked Kingsisle for support on an epic new giveaway for the next episode of Spiral News which will be a Christmas In July themed episode. 

You can join me on Saturday, July 25th for this new awesome new episode of Spiral News. I'm not going to tell you what exactly I'll be giving away since I'd rather you tune in live to see. I will say that you won't be disappointed. So, today I'm going to announce the time of this new episode!

Saturday, July 25th @ 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern

https://www.youtube.com/user/Edwardlifegem

Be sure to subscribe to the channel linked above for notification of when this new episode is live. I hope you'll be able to tune in live. I'll be talking with everyone who is able to in the live chat! Also... If you haven't already, be sure to check out the recent episode of Spiral News - where I'm giving away 3 UFO mounts. Thank you all for your support. I look forward to the future! 

A Note On Recent Happenings

Hey there!

Before I begin, this is a post on recent happenings. I will not mention any names or even go into what has happened since I've moved on. Instead, I'm going to share who I am as a person to the entire community - since many read my blog from various communities.

I've never stated my political beliefs here on my website, but I want to be real with all of you. I support our President, I love the United States, and I'm a Christian. I am also gay, I am a Democrat, and I support equality for all. I'll get into the type of equality I believe later on in this blog post. The first set of beliefs has gotten me into a whole heap of trouble with many. I understand I don't share the same belief set with the community as a whole and that's fine. But, let's get on to the purpose of this post.

I've always accepted those with different beliefs. One person, that I hope doesn't mind mentioning, is Autumn Dreamwalker. We've been friends for 10 years now. She knows me more than anyone in the community. She also knows that I respect her as a person even if we have differing beliefs. I'm sure she doesn't mind me saying this - hehe - but she does not support Trump. And I do. Guess what? She's gonna host a Halloween Run event with me in October and we're gonna stream the last dungeon of Azteca together. I definitely accept different opinions and beliefs. Another couple hundred are all of those that attend our events - I certainly know all of you have different beliefs, but still want to be friends with all of you.

Overall, I know that I'm not perfect. I just won't say it so much that I hate myself again. As a community, we have to recognize that there are people with different beliefs. I have different beliefs. And I am accepted here because I finally accepted myself for who I am. I'll do everything in my power to make sure all people are accepted here as well - even those I disagree with politically. That was, is, and will be the message I spread to this community until the game no longer exists (let's hope that's a century from now - haha). I'd like to invite everyone to our next event, the Halloween Run in October. If we can't unite the community as a whole, then we will unite together to share a REAL community for those that want true friends. The best of friends are those who think differently than you but still accept you. That is the message, we, as a community, will share here on out - that no matter what you believe, you are accepted & loved. Just like the fansite owners in 2009 & 2010, WE (all of us willing to) will bring that message back to this community. 

Spiral News Returns June 27th!

Hello Wizards!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. The past two weeks have been kinda crazy that I haven't been able to make a new episode of Spiral News. I wanted to make a blog post update to let you know that I'm not giving up on it. I actually have quite a few plans going forward! I hope you're able to tune in for all of those plans. Speaking of which... I have a new time for Spiral News episodes.

Saturdays @ 4pm Central / 5pm Eastern

www.youtube.com/channel/edwardlifegem

Each episode will premiere with a live chat (I hope you're able to join in on that). Also, every Spiral News episode involves a special giveaway. This upcoming episode, I'll be giving away a Celestial Mech Mount and a $10 W101 Gift Card to one lucky winner. Be sure to tune in for more information about how you can win these awesome prizes. For a little hint... This upcoming episode will be a LGBTQ+ centric episode. Anyway, I should get going. I have some more editing to do! Thank you all for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the Spiral.

Pride Run Event - Saturday, June 20th

Hello Wizards!

I hope you're having a wonderful start of your weekend. I asked wizards on Twitter what they thought about an Pride Run and many replied with great support. So, today (and yesterday - hehe), I'm officially announcing the next event, the Pride Run.

When

Saturday, June 20th @ 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern

www.twitch.tv/spiralvision

Where

The Commons, Greyrose Realm

Wear

Pride Colors & Your Favorite Colorful Mount

Pathway (Same Path As The Wizard Run)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugQ0VrAeW

Everyone is more than welcome to attend this in-game event. I will be streaming this event, but will not hot activities as we usually do - just consider this an old-fashioned event. The Run will begin exactly at 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern so be sure to line up on the bridge before that time. Share the link of this blog post with everyone so they know when/where to meetup + where to run. Thank you all so much for your support. We'll see you at the event. :D 

Spiral News - Episode 2 + Krok Gauntlet Giveaway

Hello Wizards!

It's Friday which means another episode of Spiral News has been released. This episode was packed with tons of news from around the spiral along with two new segments - a gameplay advice segment + a giveaway segment. This episode, I'm giving away a new Doomsday Krok Gauntlet. Every Friday, I'll announce a giveaway and shout out the winner of each giveaway announced in the previous episode. If you would like to keep updated on these weekly giveaways & weekly news - feel free to check out the recent episode of Spiral News by clicking on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEW-sXBIbf4

Community

Hi there!

Today, I am celebrating 10 years of Around The Spiral. When I created this website, I thought that maybe it would last a couple of years, several years at most. I would've never dreamed that this website would still be here 10 years after my first blog post! I never really mention what I'm proud of, but I'm certainly proud that my website has become the 3rd oldest still-active website in this community. And, I'm not even done yet.

Over the years, Around the Spiral has had its ups and downs since its creation in 2010. Sure, there may have been many chaotic moments here and there, but we've overcome those very strange moments and made it to a point I never thought we'd make it - a decade. Around The Spiral would've never made it this far without the support of my true friends here in this community. It's because of you that anything that this site provides continues to thrive whether it's my online safety tips or any in-game event that we host. I am so very thankful for each and every one of you! 

So, now let's travel back in time to 2010. On May 8th & May 9th of 2010, I was deciding on whether or not to create a website with an old friend, Mary Dreamshade of The Pie Loving Necromancer. The following day, May 10th, 2010, I decided to create the website. I called this website... wait for it... Wizard101! I know, I know. It's silly, but I had no idea what to call it. I've never been good at coming up with names for anything. Creating this site provided me a way to share all of my memories at the time from attending Diary of a Wizard's Ravenwood Ball to questing adventures. When I look back on the nearly 2,000 blog posts I've made since that time, there are some adventures that I don't even remember. While I don't remember these adventures, I am thankful I wrote them down at the time so I could still look back on them in the future. One day, I'll even look back on this blog post and be like... wow, that was so long ago, even though 2020 seems futuristic at the time. ;) 

Looking back, I am thankful for all of the support both you and Kingsisle has provided me to make this website the best it can be. Through thick and thin, y'all have continued to support this site and even make it the most popular it's been in 7 years even though I'm not making as many blog posts. I guess if you consider it, it really is the most popular year so far especially if I made as many blog posts as I did back in the day. I would literally wake up and make a blog post about something random in the game. But these were such fun times and while I might not make as many blog posts as I have in the past, I still have many special blog posts, events, and more planned for the future. There will certainly be a future here at Around The Spiral and I hope you stick around to see what I have planned. 

Everyone should go to www.wizard101.com right now and have one of the best times of your life! If you follow my advice, you will make many new friends and will never get tired of playing the game. Log into Wizard101 now and create a new wizard to have a lot of fun with the rest of the Wizard101 Community. This is somewhat poetic. My first blog post was labeled Wizard101. My 10-year blog post is labeled Community. The true community members that make this place such a fun place to be will always thrive now and forever. Thank you for helping this website make it to 10 years.  Feel free to read ALL of my Bloggerversary posts by clicking on the hyperlinks below. 

May 10th, 2010

May 10th, 2011

May 10th, 2012

May 10th, 2013

May 10th, 2014

May 10th, 2015

May 10th, 2016

May 10th, 2017

May 10th, 2018

May 10th, 2019

May 10th, 2020

I still can't thank you all enough for what you've done for me over the years. My main goal has been and always will be to bring this community together since the very beginning. I hope to continue to do that through this website and more as time progresses. You're great friends, a great family, and overall, a great community. One community. Now, let's see what the next 10 years will bring us! I have avoided making a throwback video because I'm saving that for the future. If Future Edward doesn't make a throwback video for his final blog post, you better cast one of the level 58 spells (or higher) on him! Thank you all for reading. Until next time, I'll see you AROUND THE SPIRAL. 10 MORE YEARS of...

Spiral News - Episode 1

Hello Wizards!

Long time, no talk. It's been a Century! Okay, maybe it hasn't, but I have taken a bit of a break from blogging. Today, I wanted to make a new blog post to share some news with y'all. Over the past few weeks, I have been preparing to grow my YouTube Channel, Edward Lifegem. I've created a few videos, including the start of a new series called, Spiral News.

Spiral News is a weekly series that will premiere each Friday on my YouTube Channel. This series will promote all of the important Wizard101 News stories of each week, along with a few other surprise segments that will be added as each episode premieres. All major news updates will be released right away. I have a lot more planned for this YouTube channel as well. If you would like to subscribe to my YouTube Channel, feel free to click on the link below. And just below the link, you can watch the first episode of Spiral News! Enjoy! 

https://www.youtube.com/user/Edwardlifegem

Wizard Run 2020: Saturday, May 30th

Hello Wizards!

Today, I'm happy to announce a new in-game event called The Wizard Run! This event will take place on Saturday, May 30th in The Commons, Greyrose Realm with tons of fun in-game activities & awesome surprises beginning at 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern on www.twitch.tv/spiralvision! Everyone is welcome to attend this event. Memberships aren't required to participate. Now, let's get to more information about this event, including an official schedule.

12pm Central / 1pm Eastern - Twitch Stream Begins / Pet Dance Party

www.twitch.tv/spiralvision

12:10pm Central / 1:10pm Eastern
Pet Derby (Your Favorite Teen Plus Pet)

12:30pm Central / 1:30pm Eastern

Hide & Seek

1:00pm Central / 2:00pm Eastern
Wizard Caroling Raid

1:30pm Central / 2:30pm Eastern

A Wizard Story

2:15pm Central / 3:15pm Eastern

A Very Special Surprise
(Watch Twitch Stream For Announcement)

2:45pm Central / 3:45pm Eastern

Line Up For Wizard Run

(1-Day Mounts Provided - Watch Video Guide Below For Run Path)

3:00pm Central / 4:00pm Eastern

The Wizard Run Begins - The Commons, Greyrose Realm

3:30pm Central / 4:30pm Eastern

Afterparties Begin

(Port Wizards Announced On Stream)

Not all Activities above (such as the Wizard Caroling Raid or Hide and Seek) will be in the Greyrose Realm. Remember to watch our Twitch Stream for directions on how to win any giveaway and realm changes. Keep in mind that the run will begin after the activities at 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern in the Greyrose Realm. And please be a good sport if you don't win a contest or giveaway - don't beg for prizes. Help us spread the word about this event by sharing this blog post with your friends and on your social media pages. Below you can get a reminder of this event by following the Event Page on Facebook or giving us a follow on Twitter. There's also a link to a page explaining more about our events. We hope to see you at this year's Wizard Run. Thank you all so much for your support. Let's continue this tradition together.

A Facebook Reminder - Event Page

https://www.facebook.com/events/227534265354740/

A Twitter Reminder - SpiralVision Twitter

https://twitter.com/thespiralvision

Learn More About Our Events

http://www.edwardlifegem.com/p/events.html

Opinion: Wizard City, Krokotopia, & Marleybone Should Be Free

Hello Wizards!

As you can tell by reading the title, you might think that this is going to be a controversial blog post. Rest assured, this is far from controversial since I'll be sharing my opinions in a constructive, not destructive, way. So let me start off straight-forward: I believe Kingsisle should make not one, not two, but three worlds free to the public.

Before I start telling you why I believe they should make the first three worlds free, I'd like to tell you that for about 10 years, I didn't agree with anyone that said they should make Wizard City free. It wasn't until this year that I started realizing that maybe they should start making the beginner worlds free. When Wizard101 first started, nobody really complained much about a Paywall because we had 5 main worlds and the first world was nearly half free. Today, we have a total of 13 main worlds - and several sides & dungeon instances. With that, we will have a new world soon and the level cap will most likely be increased to 140 levels.

There have already been new updates that are focused towards beginner players such as spell graphic updates (lower-tier spells - so far), game events, and even beginner storyline updates. While all of this is being updated, there should be something that brings a massive influx of players to the game to get a real start on the storyline - at least 30 levels of the storyline. I hope to see this one day in the near future. But let's talk about something else that I've briefly touched on at the beginning of this blog post. There is always a respectful way to share your opinions.

Many, at least today, complain. Things that could be easily fixed have massive backlash (overreaction). If we want to make the game, or really, anything, better, we should give Kingsisle constructive criticism. Telling them that they're a bad company does nothing but makes you look like you've just wandered out of Cyclops Lane for the first time ever. Let's continue giving Kingsisle our opinions, but do it in a respectful way. If people disagree with you, that's just fine. There will always be people in this life that disagree with you, but that doesn't make you or the person that disagrees with you wrong. I wanted to share my opinion in a constructive way - this can be done no matter what you believe in. This is the way to do it. Let's continue making this community the best place that it can be for everyone. Thank you all for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral. Feel free to share your opinions down below - whether you agree or disagree. :) 

Wizard101 - Strange Beast Pet Giveaway + Spring 2020 Update

Hello Wizards!

Edward Lifegem here. Welcome to my website! Today, I'm giving away 100 "Strange Beast Pets" to 100 different Wizards all at once in celebration of the new Spring Update - which has now been released to the live realm. Keep in mind that this code will run out quickly, so redeem it as soon as you can. Now.. I need to hush up and give away this code.

ATSWELPet2020

 Also, when you have a chance do check out the awesome new updates in Wizard101 - and spread the word to your friends about Wizard101. If it's been a while since you or they've played the game, you really should check out ALL of the updates that have been added over the past few years. You wouldn't believe how much this game has improved. If you would like more information about what has been added in the Spring Update, click on the link below! Thank you all for reading. Be sure to check back on this website for more fun giveaways, in-game events, and of course, random blog posts.

https://www.wizard101.com/game/community/update-notes/april2020

Idea: Enhancing Community Events

Hello Wizards!

Did you know that Kingsisle created a new Twitter Page called Wizard101Devs? On this new social media page, various Kingsisle developers ask for our feedback on numerous topics! So, today, I'll be answering one of their questions on this new blog post. Here's what they asked the community earlier today:

If there was one thing that would enhance general community gatherings in Wizard101, especially when you want to put on an event or contest of your own, what would it be? [Sparck]

— Wizard101Devs (@Wizard101Devs) April 20, 2020

As you see above, today's question was about enhancing community gatherings. If you know me, I always have more than one answer to questions like this. That's exactly why I decided to make a new blog post instead of replying to their tweet with many... many.. tweets! So, let's get started.

Party Realms - More Wizards In One Area
If you host an in-game event in Ravenwood, you may notice that there are a limited number of people allowed in one area. If you have a larger event, it's the same for any other location in the game. One thing I've wanted to see for a long time now has been the option to have an event where more people could be allowed in one certain area. A Party Realm would be different than any other realm where in-game events are hosted. It would be awesome to have decorations everywhere to show how different the party realm is to all other the other realms in the game. This would be a great way to let everyone that plays Wizard101 know that in-game events do take place. To make them family-friendly (which in-game events should be, ahem!), Hall Monitors could hang out in the realm(s) to make sure it doesn't get out of hand with trolls that wander in from Cyclops Lane.

More Lively Transformations - May I Have This Dance?
I'd also LOVE to see transformations (that can be bought for crowns or gold in the Crowns Shop) have options to do more things than they currently do. We can join battles and stuff, but why can't we dance? If Kingsisle could add anything, I would love to see them add this in the near future. You can make out tons of activities with transformations, so please, make it happen. I would love to see Paige Moonshade host a Transformation Dance Party during one of these Fansite Festivals! Overall, it would really be awesome to see any improvement in transformations to make them more event-friendly.

Bosses - Event Bosses That Everyone Can Farm
Over at SpiralVision, we've had boss farming activities during our events. While they haven't been major bosses like Malistaire or anything like that, I would love to see more bosses (specifically in free areas) that everyone can have a chance to farm. The best times to have events, currently, are during Halloween or Christmas since both Holidays have special towers/bosses. It would be awesome to see one year-around, maybe in the party realm that I mentioned. I don't think that it should be one boss and that's it. I think it should change depending on the time of year. Maybe these specific bosses could drop cute community event-themed pets, gear, etc. This would be yet another major thing that could enhance in-game events.

Overall, I'm one of many that love hosting in-game events. I'm sure any change that Kingsisle considers will help everyone out a lot. I'm looking forward to seeing what they will do to improve not only in-game events, but also the contests surrounding events that are hosted by the community. Anyway, that's all I have for y'all other than Family-Friendly Content Creators (event hosts, bloggers, YouTubers, streamers, artists) are the BEST in this community, BY FAR. Okay, now I'm done. Thank you all so much for reading this blog post. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

Wizard101 Tips - Reduce Game Lag

Hello Wizards!

Over the past several weeks, more and more wizards have been playing the game. More wizards = more game lag. It's never fun dealing with game lag when you want to quest, garden, or even doing something as simple as going fishing. I've decided to make a new blog post with some helpful tips to reduce some of that game lag.

Before I provide these tips, I want all of you to keep in mind that this won't fix your computer. There are many more steps you have to take to speed up your computer. I'll only be talking about things that you can do in-game to reduce lag when you're around a lot of wizards aka in a crowded or full realm. These tips may also help even if you're not in a full or crowded realm. With that, let's get started!

Video Options - Set To The Lowest Possible Options

One way to reduce a lot of lag is to set your graphics to the lowest settings possible. If you're running the game on a slower computer, the highest settings possible will increase your lag & game crashes. This really includes the advanced graphics settings option. The next time you log into the games, remember to set your video settings to the lowest settings. Texture Detail, UI Size, and Particles should all be set to the lowest settings to reduce game lag. Turning on Classic Mode will also help. Press the "ESC" key to access these settings. See the images below for an example of where you can set your settings the next time you play Wizard101.

Gameplay Options - Additional Steps To Reduce Lag

There are additional options that you can take to reduce some game lag. Next to the sound options, you can access the various gameplay options. There are numerous ways to additionally reduce game lag you experience. Two major steps to take is to turn off ALL overhead names and gameplay chat bubbles. Doing these two things (and other additional options which I'll display below) will do wonders for your gameplay. You can also reduce the chat size (just make sure you're able to read the chat - I've set mine to Medium - gameplay options 3. Below, you'll see where I usually set up my gameplay options every time I play Wizard101. 

Realm - Change To A Perfect Realm

Last, but certainly not least, remember to check your realm. If you're in a full realm while questing, it will increase your lag. Be sure to change to a perfect realm right when you log into the game. If you're at an in-game event, remember to follow all of the steps I've provided above so you have a better experience at any event you may attend. Slower computers may make events a little more difficult to attend without game crashes or major lag, but following the steps above might reduce that a bit. 

Taking all of these steps will help improve your experience in Wizard101. You may also close all applications outside of Wizard101 - such as your browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer), music players (Spotify, Pandora, etc.), and any other application that you're not using at the time. I truly hope these tips help a few of you reading this blog post. If you have any tips to share yourself, be sure to comment below. Thank you all for reading and I hope to see you in-game. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.