🥳 Happy 14th Birthday, Around The Spiral 🥳

Hi there!

Today marks 14 years since I created this website. A lot sure has happened over the past 14 years - from it taking me 8 years to become an official Wizard101 Fansite & Pirate101 Fansite, to no longer being one, to hosting dozens of in-game events, making YouTube videos, creating another website, and so on! The question is... what do I have planned for the future?

It's not a secret that the future certainly holds new in-game events. I'd like to promote them more and to a new audience. Our real world is very chaotic and divisive. Despite this, I want to offer the community a place to come to escape all of that.  There is a community within the Wizard101 community where everyone is welcome at our events regardless of their sexuality, political affiliation, religion, etc. 

I joined Wizard101 in 2009 to escape the real world for a bit each day. I'd like to provide that same escape to everyone here. If you want to hang out with a truly diverse and lovely group of people, I welcome you to attend our in-game events. I want to work with Kingsisle to bring our events to a much larger audience - not to promote my name, but to promote a truly diverse community.

One other thing I hope to do is to make new YouTube videos - specifically Spiral News Season 3. I've wanted to do that for quite some time and will look into it. Regardless, I'd like to share my opinions on the game. I promise I'm not a Kingsisle hater - per my nearly 15 years of playing their game and being involved in their community for nearly as long. I want to share my thoughts on how they can improve their game.

As of late, I've been very proud of Kingsisle - with their creation of Ravenwood Academy (releasing later this year), listening to players on PvE, and the generous gifts to the community through the Fansite Festival which celebrated its 10th year. There is much to appreciate. I've defended and criticized Kingsisle - that's what true fans do. A fake fan would only share hate or only share love about the game. 

Other than that, I'm happy to finally be back and provide more to the community than I have these past few years. It's been very tough. I've lost family and friends. My dad passed away from Covid this past September, but I thank Jesus, family, and friends for helping me get through this tough time. I've had my ups and downs, and sometimes so far down where I am where the Helephant appears from. 

My support system has helped me get through one of the toughest times in my life to do things I haven't done before. Kingsisle, Wizard101, Pirate101, and the community have been in a special place in my heart for nearly half of my life. Blogging certainly is of the past, but I'm using Around The Spiral to transcend blogging. 

I'd like to thank you all for 14 wonderful years of Around The Spiral. I hope we can have another 14 - but I'll be almost 45. Lol. I'm not going to rush time. Thank you all so much for your support. I hope to see you Around the Spiral. I also hope y'all will join us at this year's Pride Run event to meet our community within the community. 

Happy 13th Birthday, Around The Spiral!

 Hello Wizards!

You've read the title correctly.. Around the Spiral is officially a teenager! Now, don't worry I won't be going through the "teenage years" with a bad attitude. We all know that occurred several years ago! 🤣 Instead, I want to bring Around the Spiral to new heights and reach a wider audience than just here through my blog. Let's talk!

For years, I've made blog posts or created guides (my past project). I became burned out with blogging back in 2020. I took nearly a three year hiatus to focus on my mental health - which became a major problem from 2015 through the early 2020s. I've improved a lot, but still have work to do. One part of improving my mental health is doing things I enjoy - which is playing Wizard101 and Pirate101. 

These are hobbies. I don't look to be paid for it because I already have a career path that I'm enjoying. I'm happy for those that are able to work while playing these games or any games for that matter. That's a pretty cool job. What I'm hoping to do is build up Around the Spiral to get as many people to know that they are loved and respected in this community.

A true judgmental zone and safe space involves not judging people based on their sexuality, their race, their religion, who they vote for, etc. I'm not capable of changing the community on my own - it takes everyone to do that. I do hope this platform can be part of the change that shows everyone that no matter what they believe, they are welcome in this community. There are people that will agree to disagree. I'm not perfect, I've certainly had my moments - in the past. What I've always wanted, even during those imperfect moments was to make new friends that didn't judge me for who I am. I did judge others for judging me which was a major mistake on my end. 

We all know our world is crazy and a whole lot of bad is occurring. We don't have to ignore the bad, but we can share kindness because I'm a firm believer one kind action can go a long way. One thing I'm very excited about is a new program that I (and anyone) was able to join - Wizard101 Extra Credits. This program doesn't restrict us to only praise the game/team. I believe its purpose is to unite us to also share our love for the game. We can still share our thoughts on what we want changed. That's awesome!

In addition to posting about various topics each month for Extra Credits, I am also going to expand Around the Spiral to new platforms. I know about the leadership talks, but... for now, I'm excited to announce that Around the Spiral is officially on TikTok! It took me years to finally decide to start sharing content there. Anywhere from 0 to 1 million people may watch whatever videos I post on there. LOL. I'm acting silly ab out it, but I think it'll be fun to make different types of videos there. I've had many ideas in the past but never got to share them since I didn't have a TikTok. Now that I do, I hope you'll join me on there for a lot of fun stuff. It'll be slow postings at first, but as we progress through Summer - there will be many new uploads. I've embedded my first video at the bottom of this post if you'd like to check it out.

Overall, I want to try my best to make fun videos, posts, events, and more to help guide a focus on more fun stuff. Life is short. We should always make the best of it - which I hope to do during the teenage years of Around the Spiral. We WILL make it to 20. Imagine that... 20 years old... Goodness. 2033 better not rush here too fast. Anyway, I want to thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of my heart for all of the support you've shown me and this website over the past 13 years. I'm so thankful to call each and everyone of you my friends. Thank you for reading and here's to 13 more years of Around the Spiral. 

@aroundthespiral101 My FAVORITE Wizard101 Pet! #Wizard101ExtraCredits #Wizard101 #W101 ♬ original sound - aroundthespiral101

Be Positive!

Hi there,

So many things have changed over the past few months that you have to ask yourself.. how and why?! Today, I thought I'd make a blog post to say hello a few months after I announced that I would no longer be making blog posts. These are truly crazy times that we're living in, but it's not all doom & gloom. There are actually many things that we can look forward to doing during this brief period of time!

One major way I've got my mind off the stuff going on in real life has been logging into this awesome game named Wizard101. I don't know how many of you have heard of this amazing game, but it's kept my mind off the chaos going on offline. I've leveled my myth wizard, participated in gardening, pet leveling, and more, over the past few weeks. If you check the various realms in the game, you may have noticed that there are many others doing the same thing! I'm extremely thankful for Kingsisle's work to keep the game going during these times. Keep up the great work, Kingsisle, and stay safe!

One other thing that I've been doing that is listening to Christmas music. Christmas has always been a time of year that lifts my spirits. One day I was listening to a song that we played for quite a few Santa Run events and thought that it would be awesome and different to host a Santa Run event this Spring. So, I will be announcing more details about an upcoming Santa Run event within the next week! Keep an eye out for more information about this upcoming event. I'll be sure to host it during a time that most are able to attend. 

Overall, I wanted to make this blog post to let you all know that I've been thinking about you. I will continue to keep each and every one of you in my prayers. Please continue to stay safe by taking this virus seriously. Follow the CDC guidelines - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html - by washing your hands and avoiding close contact (especially in large groups of people). It's very important that you continue following these guidelines no matter where you live. We will get through this time. In the meantime, know that not everything is as it seems. It's not the end of the world, but we do have time to do things we normally don't do such as finding a new hobby, hanging out with our family a lot more, and overall, appreciating life more than we do when we're busy. Stay safe everyone and be positive! Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Hello!

Today, I wanted to announce something that I wasn't planning on announcing until after my website's 10th Birthday (which I still plan on celebrating - but that'll be my final blog post). After long thought, I've decided that it is time for me to move forward in life. That means, not being as active in the community.

Today I wanted to talk about what made me decide it was time for me to move on. Over the past several years, there has been a lot of craziness in the community. I've also involved myself in the dreaded word - drama. During these times, I said I wanted to leave, but never really left. That was because I felt there was more I wanted to do to try to bring the community together. Recently, I've determined that I have indeed done my part over the past 10 years to bring the community together through online safety, events, group questing, etc. 

I was recently watching The Abracadoodle Show - that was released 10 years ago last week by BasicWizards. I was reading through the comments and I read one that was posted 10 years ago. I kept reading "10 years ago" over and over again. I couldn't even believe that time flew by this quickly. After that, I started thinking about the things that I've done over the past nearly 11 years that I've played Wizard101. I've made so many great friends and while I've had friends come and go, I wouldn't change anything. 

I can't even begin to thank ALL of you enough for the amazing memories I've had in this community. Y'all helped me through so many difficult times in my life. Three of the times being the loss of three close family members. And two other times were times when I had severe depression & anxiety. I can say today that I'm a happier person than I was when I joined the community and game. So thank you all so much for helping me through all of the crazy times.

I truly love this community & the games that Kingsisle works on. I have no doubt in my mind that this community will continue to grow & unite as one. I hope it's your goal over the next 10 years to unite the community. Make it different than what this crazy world is currently like. That's really what got me so involved in the community in 2009. Now that it's 2020, I'll be focusing on being the best order filler that I can be, earning a business degree, living my life as a gay man (the shocking revelation or maybe not so shocking to all of you - haha), etc. By the way, I'm also visiting a beach for the first time this year! I'm so excited! I have so much to look forward to in life. And so do you. Continue supporting the game while you can AND please live your life. I love ALL of you. Until May 10th, 2020. I'll see you around the spiral. 

Welcome To 2020

Hello!

Happy New Year to each and every one of you! Today, I wanted to make a new blog post about the new year of 2020 and about the future of this website. This year marks a major milestone for this website as it will turn ten years old this upcoming May! With that, I have a lot planned for this website.

Over the past year, I've been lacking new blog posts here on my website. This year, I want that to change! Starting soon, I'd like to share more news, ideas, contests, and more, here on Around The Spiral. Like I said, this year is a very special year since Around The Spiral is officially turning 10 years old. Not only that, but I would also like to update my site to make it fit with the current times while also having that nostalgic late 2000s feel to it. There are so many things I'd like to do, but you'll just have to stick around to see them! 

With that, events will take place this year. I'd like to put work into making them feel more welcoming to the community. I'll need your help spreading the word about each event as we near each Holiday this upcoming year. So keep an eye out this year for new event announcements! Be sure to follow SpiralVision on Twitch (twitch.tv/spiralvision) and Twitter (twitter.com/thespiralvision) for stream and event updates! I hope you're able to join us this year as we continue our tradition of Holiday events (and a new type of event later this year - keep an eye out for more information; you won't want to miss it)!

Now, we can't forget about Pirate101 in 2020. I would like to make more Pirate101 posts and hopefully have a few Pirate101 events here and there! I don't know where or how we'll start, but I can assure you that I'll pay more attention to this wonderful game this year. Pirate101 is such an underrated game. If you haven't played Pirate101, please check it out. It's definitely an amazing game and deserves all of the attention that it can get. I'll certainly pay a lot more attention to Pirate101 this year whether it's streams, contests, etc. 

Overall, I would like to make this year a great year, not just for me, but for the community in general. I don't believe I was able to do that last year, so this year, I'm going to try my best to make your stay in the community an amazing one. The community truly means a lot to me and I will try my best to adapt to the current times, while also bringing back the nostalgic feeling of the late 2000s and early 2010s. I look forward to working with the community and Kingsisle to making this year an amazing year. Happy 2020 to each and every one of you. Now let's add that additional year to the blog archives! Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral. 

Happy 7th Birthday, Pirate101!

Ahoy Pirates!

Did you know that today is Pirate101's official 7th Birthday? Seven years ago, Kingsisle officially released Pirate101 to the public. I remember logging into the game with my new pirate and watching all of the new pirates join in. It was crazy to see so many people logging in all at once! But before I get into screenshots. I thought I'd a share a few of my favorite memories of the game!

One of my favorite memories was being able to participate in Pirate101 Beta. I have to say that it was definitely the coolest experience I had involving video games. It was the first time that I got to test out a game before the official release. One thing is that I had to keep silent and couldn't share any screenshots or videos. Towards the end of August of 2012, I finally got to release a few of my screenshots from my first pirate - Edward (a Buccaneer). You'll see a video above of those screenshots! So overall, I'd say Pirate101 Beta was definitely one of my favorite moments! 

One other thing that I really love about Pirate101 was the events! I remember attending so many great events and even hosting one here and there! Pirate events have always been different since we had pirate ships. With those, we got to participate in NXP Events where we'd earn nautical experience all at once with tons of pirates. I know you may see us hosting Wizard events, but the pirate events were always the most fun to host. While I can't pick one certain event, I will say that every Pirate event was a blast to attend. 

Anyway, I'd love to wish Pirate101 a very Happy 7th Birthday! Lucky Number 7! I'm happy to see the game still going & being updated to this day. Pirate is definitely an underrated game. There's so much possibility. I hope that possibility is one day discovered. Until then, let's eat cake & celebrate that we still have the game! Thank you all so much for reading this random Birthday post. And thank you, Kingsisle, for continuing to update the game, even if it isn't as much as you'd like to update it. Keep up the great work... P.S. ADD Friend Chat Channels in the game! 

KI Live: Pirate101's 7th Birthday

Ahoy Pirates!

Don't forget that a new episode of Kingsisle Live will air on Twitch on Thursday, September 26th. This month's Kingsisle Live will be centered around Pirate101's 7th Birthday - isn't it crazy that it's already nearly been 7 years since it's release to the public?! Maybe we'll get a glimpse of what's to come for Pirate101. Here's more information about when & where you can watch this upcoming stream!

Thursday, September 26th

4pm Central / 5pm Eastern

https://www.twitch.tv/kingsisleentertainment

Welcome to the 'Bers!

Hi there!

I hope all of you had an amazing August. I hate to say it, well not really, but I'm so glad August is over. The 'Bers has always been my favorite time of year! For me, as soon as September arrives, I start preparing for the Holiday Season - Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course, Christmas!

At the moment, I am mostly looking forward to Halloween - next month. It's crazy that Halloween is already so close! I actually added a Halloween Header to my blog last month to celebrate the Holiday Mashup - which I'm extremely far behind on, I promise I'll catch up on announcing winners of contests asap - and didn't take it down! Since Fall is quickly approaching, I've decided to leave it up through the end of next month. Speaking of Fall & Halloween, I know many of you look forward to the Halloween Run each year. We actually did a live poll in-game during the Holiday Mashup and the majority of you stated that your favorite Run was the Halloween Run. I really do appreciate that! 

I recently had another poll on the SpiralVision Twitter Account asking what day you like seeing us host events. The Majority of you (over 70%) voted for Saturday! I had no idea so many of you would rather see us host events on Saturdays, so we are definitely considering bringing the Run Events (and other events)  back to Saturdays! So keep an eye out for more information about those type of events. One thing that I want to work on this month is to brainstorm ideas for the events. We want to make them unique, but also a lot of fun. I look forward to hosting more events for this awesome community. I would like to thank those who stick by the events after so long. Even if you're unable to attend, your support for the events truly means the world to us. Thank you! 

Other than Wizard101 stuff, I am hoping to bring back Edward Cringle back to the Spiral very soon! My plan is to start streaming his adventures live on Twitch! I don't know when I'll be able to start live streaming, but do keep an eye out for an official announcement here on this blog. Some of you that have kept up with this character may be shocked to hear that I created this character nearly 7 years ago! Well... nearly meaning December of 2012. Edward Cringle Update Posts have been on the decline over the past few years, but they will return! I also plan to upload every questing adventure to YouTube to publish here on this website. I'm hoping to announce the first livestream towards the end of this month, so keep an eye out for more information! :D 

Anyway, that's all I have for you for this post, other than a piece of news that I forgot to share! Please keep an eye out this upcoming Friday (September 6th) for a new Wizard101 Blog Post. This post comes straight from my heart and I hope the community likes it. I do think you will, but we will see. If you don't, that's okay too. But my goal is to have the opposite effect. So do keep an eye out on this website and my blog's official Twitter Account, @AroundTheSpiral for this new blog post. Thank you all so much for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

Edward Cringle Returns In A Whole New Way!

Ahoy Pirates!

I am happy to announce that I am bringing back my Edward Cringle posts. This time around, I've decided that I wanted to make videos of it instead of making recap posts. We'll be starting off on a random quest in Mooshu, but I hope you enjoy the rest of my journey through Pirate101 starting at the end of Mooshu. :) Feel free to watch the video by clicking on the play button below.

Happy 9th Birthday, edwardlifegem.com!

Hi there!

Today's a very special day for this website because we're celebrating its 9th Birthday! Nine Years Ago, May 10th, 2010, I decided to create this website with Mary Dreamshade from "The Pie Loving Necromancer" to start blogging about a game that I love, Wizard101. Since then, we've made so many memories!

I created my website using the domain edwardwintergem.blogspot.com. My original purpose was to share my ice wizard, Edward Wintergem, adventures with everyone. This included farming for specific pets, attending events, and of course, questing! One specific topic that I would often blog about starting out in 2010 was the upcoming world of Celestia! Let's just say I couldn't wait to see this new world released to the public. Kingsisle would often hint at this world by releasing concept art & such, but waited awhile to officially release the world. I made a handful of blog posts about Celestia, but as soon as it was released, I started questing instead of blogging. Oops!

After leveling all six of my wizards at the time, I started paying more attention to reading blogs such as "The Friendly Necromancer" and attending events from another Official Fansite, "Diary of a Wizard". I was not as active in the community at the time and everyone who knew me knew that I was shy. As time progressed, I became less shy & more open. With that, I made many new friends! I also decided to start blogging again during the following year, 2011. I continued making many new Wizard101 blog posts throughout that year and through 2012. 

In early 2012, Kingsisle announced a new game called Pirate101. I knew that I wanted to blog about this game because I loved pirates and really, the first online game that I tried playing was Pirates of the Carribean Online. Although, I must say that it lagged quite a bit since my computer was blah! :P Anyway, Pirate looked amazing and I started making many posts about events & my questing adventures (Edward Cringle to be specific). At the current time of this blog post being published, I believe more than half of the posts made (currently standing at 1,807) are Pirate-related. GO Pirate!

It's 2019, nine years to the day after I created this website. I must say that it's been such a great adventure! As we head into my blog's decaversary, I hope to continue bringing the community together through new blog posts, events, and more. Thank you all for supporting this website whether you just started reading today or have been reading since day one! Let's continue this adventure together.  Feel free to read all of my current May 10th posts by clicking on the dates/links 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

To end this post, I made a short montage of most of the headers that I've used over the years! Some of you may think that I've used the current header (at the top of the blog) the entire time I've been here, but I've used various headers for this website over the past nine years. Anyway, I'll leave you all to watching the video below. Thank you all so much for reading this post & supporting this website.  Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral. Onwards to 10 years!

Kingsisle Live: Thursday, March 28th

Hi there!

Today I'm making a new blog post to remind everyone that this month's Kingsisle Live will take place on Thursday, March 28th. There is much to look forward to. The winners of the Spring Decorating Contest for both Wizard101 & Pirate101 will be announced towards the end of the stream! Kingsisle may also hint at some new content heading to the Wizard101 Test Realm very soon! Here's more information about when/where you can watch this week's Kingsisle Live:

Thursday, March 28th

4:00 pm Central / 5:00 pm Eastern

https://www.twitch.tv/kingsisleentertainment

Kingsisle Stream: Exploring The Spiral - Thursday, March 14th

Ahoy Pirates!

Our awesome community manager, Mathew Anderson, recently announced that he will be having a Pirate101-Only Livestream! You can catch this stream on the official KingsisleEntertainment Twitch channel. Word is he'll be questing in the game. So if you have a pirate that can help out, get them ready. :D Here's more information about this upcoming Pirate101 Stream:

Thursday, March 14th

3:30 pm Central / 4:30 pm Eastern

https://www.twitch.tv/kingsisleentertainment

Pirate101 Group Questing Returns March 14th - Cool Ranch

Ahoy Pirates!

It's been quite some time since I've made a new Pirate101 blog post. I hope all of you are doing well. Today I wanted to share with all of you that I am ready to return to making new Pirate101 blogs + return to streaming new pirate group quest streams!

Today, I thought I'd talk mostly about Pirate Group Questing! So far we made it through Skull Island, Monquista, and Valencia Part 1. We plan to start on the first quest in Cool Ranch - "Welcome to Cool Ranch!" I think it'll be a lot of fun questing with everyone who is able to quest with us. We hope you're able to stop by & chat and/or quest with us. Here's more information about our upcoming Pirate101 stream:

Thursday, March 14th

6:00 pm Central / 7:00 pm Eastern

Quest: "Welcome To Cool Ranch"

https://www.twitch.tv/spiralvision

I would like to thank all of you for your support on our streams whether it's for Wizard or Pirate. It truly means the world to us! I especially want to thank the pirates for waiting so long for our next stream. The year has been a crazy year, but things have finally slowed down enough for us to stream again! I look forward to progressing through each world & hopefully new worlds down the road. ;) Thank you all for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the skyways!

SpiralVision - A New Chapter

Hi there!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. My weekend, and really the past few weeks, have been extremely busy. Things have since slowed down which has now allowed me time to make new blog posts! Today I wanted to make a quick blog post to share a SpiralVision video with all of you! Click on the play button below to watch the video. Thank you all again for all of the support you've shown us! Let's continue making the community the best place to be. :)

The Next Chapter

Hello Wizards and Ahoy Pirates!

Today, I wanted to talk a bit about a new path I've decided to take. For years Around the Spiral has been an official fansite whether it was for Pirate101 (2012) or Wizard101 (2018). I appreciate all of the support that Kingsisle has shown this site and I will say right now that I'll continue to support Kingsisle as they continue to make all of their games the best that they can be.

I was not expecting to make a post about returning within a day after officially deciding that I would leave. I've received so many heartfelt messages from friends throughout the community. Autumn & I have officially decided that we will continue having events & streams. We would like to put whatever has happened behind us by moving forward to continue doing great things for the community. There will, however, be a change in how we promote events. Please keep that things have changed, so everything will be different. One way we've decided to move forward is promoting important event information by following SpiralVision on Twitter & Twitch, which you can find links below. You may also view upcoming events page by clicking on the "Events" tab above.

Twitter - @thespiralvision

Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/spiralvision

The accounts below will provide all important information that you need as we continue to progress through the year. I would also like to let everyone know that we will still have events throughout the year - such as the Bunny Run, Holiday Mashup, Halloween Run, and Santa Run - and potentially new Pirate101 Events. Please keep in mind that the events will be different from what they were since we no longer have official Kingsisle support. We still plan on making these events a lot of fun for everyone that is able to attend.

Other than codes & promotion - these events will still be what they always were. Our plan is to keep these events family-friendly, inclusive, and overall fun. I also want everyone to know that I still respect the hard work that Kingsisle puts into the games to make them better. Thank you again, Kingsisle, for giving me a chance to be an official fansite owner. Today, we're starting the next chapter. I hope all of you can join us for this new chapter. Thank you all so much for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

Join us on February 16th for a Friendship Event

http://www.edwardlifegem.com/2019/02/friendship-event.html

Friendship Event (Canceled)

Hi there!

A few days ago I announced that I was parting ways with Kingsisle & the community. Yesterday was one of the roughest days I've had in quite some time. While Wizard101 & Pirate101 are online games, I believe I've made the community a major part of my life.

I first joined this community when I was 16 years old. I will be turning 26 in July. I do have a life outside of the games & community, but this community was still a major part of my life. I've made friendships that have lasted nearly a decade. While it seems easy to leave all of that behind, it truly isn't, especially leaving on bad terms. I don't want to leave on bad terms with all of my friends who have supported this website, our events, and our streams. I would like to have one final event with all of you who truly support what we've done for the community. More information:

When

Saturday, February 16th 

3:00 pm Central / 4:00 pm Eastern

Where

The Commons, Greyrose Realm

I will not stream this event. I'd love to know some of your favorite community & in-game memories. I have so many fun & funny memories I'd love to share with all of you. You have no idea how much my life has changed (in a positive way) because of the kindness you have shown to me. If you aren't able to make it to this event, that's fine. I love all of you. Thank you so much for reading. 

Happy CMAD Day, Mathew Anderson!

Hi there!

Today is Community Manager Appreciation Day. I'd like to thank our community manager, Mathew Anderson, for all of his work over the past 6 months! He's already brought a lot of the community together in many different ways. Mathew has used social media to bring many in the community together to make new friends. I've definitely made new friends!

From Ravenwood Academy, Arcanum's Archives, and even to our events, we've all been given a platform to promote our events to bring the community together. On top of that, a lot of people have also been given a platform to promote their art, screenshots, blog posts, videos, and more! I appreciate all of the hard work that Mathew has put into bringing the community together. I look forward to seeing what he has planned this year. Happy, CMAD, Mathew! Keep up the great work! We appreciate having you in this wonderful community. :)

Wish Mathew A Happy CMAD On Twitter

https://twitter.com/MathewAnderson

Tag: Four Games I Enjoy Playing

Hi there!

There has been a tag going around in the #twizard community over the past few days. I was tagged by multiple friends & I'm supposed to respond with four games that I enjoy playing. I've decided to respond here with my four favorite games and talk about why I enjoy each game. I will tag four people at the end of this post.

Wizard101

I started playing Wizard101 back in July of 2009. I've come a long way playing this game. I remember having a lot of social anxiety when I started playing. Since then I've overcome my social anxiety and interact with many great friends in-game & in this community. I love everything about Wizard101 and it's very nostalgic. I have all schools (a few doubles) of different levels!

Pirate101

I started playing Pirate101 in early August of 2012 - during the final few days of Alpha. This game has an amazing story-line & is very funny. It is nice to see that this game is still around in 2019 & I hope Kingsisle adds a new world (specifically Polaris) soon. I enjoy this game & hope to get back into it a lot more this year to bring new events and streams to the awesome Pirate community.

Animal Cove 

I started playing Animal Cove when it was first publicly released last year. Animal Cove is a mobile game made by Kingsisle. While I haven't played too often of the past month or so, I plan on getting back to restoring all of the areas that Animal Cove has to offer. I believe I'm nearing level 100. I look forward to playing again this year & sharing my adventures on this website! 

Lord of the Rings Online

I started playing Lord of the Rings Online in February of 2018. I haven't been playing this game long, but the time I have played has been amazing. I was never that interested into Lord of the Rings until early last year. I started playing this game and became addicted. I currently have three different characters ranging from level 8, level 23, and level 70. This is definitely one of my favorite games!

Thanks to everyone that tagged me. I love these four games the most at the moment. I hope to try out more games this year, but these are definitely my favorites at this moment. Now... I would like to tag @MathewAnderson, @Jesters, @tonygaddisart, and @nathan_darkhorn to let us know what their four favorite games are. Don't forget to tag four others after you share your favorite games! :)

My Goals For SpiralVision

Hi there!

As many of you already know, we've recently changed the twitch channel "EdwardLifegem" to SpiralVision! We had a contest last year for the community to choose our new name to represent all of the community & the streams that we have. This new name really got me thinking about what I want the channel to be in 2019 & the years ahead. So today, I'm going to talk about a few goals that I have for this channel.

"The" Community-Themed Channel, Not 'A' Community-Themed Channel

One thing that I want our channel to be a part of is the community, not a community. When I joined the community in 2009, there were many different fansites. Although they were all different people with different opinions & views, together they were still part of the same community, not separate communities. Nearly a decade later, I'd love to follow what they started - which I believe really made the community boom (feel free to read my post: "A Growing Community: The Beginning"). 

This really ties into the inclusive & exclusive stream conversation. There are many streams outside of our community that are exclusive where you have to pay to feel like you're involved. I'd love to make SpiralVision the complete opposite of that to the point where people feel very welcomed at the events, group questing streams, and many more streams that we will have in the future. This is in no way saying that our streams are better than streams who may do this. It's an entire spiral of different opinions. Let's just say, we have a different vision. ;) 

Staying True To Ourselves

I love visiting the different streamers, to name one - WhiteTiger93. I look up to people like him for many different reasons. His channel is very nostalgic to me because he is a family-friendly YouTuber & Streamer. You may have noticed that I am a fan based on the event recap posts that feature his recap videos. As I said I look up to people like him & many other family-friendly YouTubers & Streamers in the community for putting the community first by staying true to themselves.

Staying true yourself means not changing who you are because of what others may or may not think of you. If you have to change who you are in order to fit into a group of people, that group is not for you. Once think about it, a group like that isn't for the people in that group. My main goal is to make SpiralVision a place where we can be ourselves. If you ever stop by the channel during an event or group questing stream, you'll hear some very random stuff from ASMR to favorite food conversations. I'd love to see SpiralVision continue on this pathway in 2019 & beyond. I mean because why not? :D

This year is going to be amazing as long as we stay true to ourselves. The only way we can make the year amazing together is to follow what I said above & have a positive outlook on the future. I am beyond thankful for each & everyone of you that have supported our streams. I know not all of you are able to make it to our streams but you do support them. You're the reason why the events exist & why any stream that we have on this channel occurs. To anyone that has supported the events & streams that we do - whether you're able to attend or not - thank you. Here's to an amazing 2019. Thank you all for reading. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.

Check Out SpiralVision

https://www.twitch.tv/spiralvision