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! 

Wizard101: The Creepier Carnival Bundle

Hello Wizards!

I'm sure most of you have already heard, but Kingsisle has released a new bundle at Gamestop just in time for Halloween. This new bundle is somewhat an upgrade (entirely new items) to the previous Creepy Carnival Bundle. You can buy the "Creepier Carnival Bundle" at Gamestop for only $29! I was lucky to get my hands on one recently for my myth wizard, Edward Gem. I must say that he is enjoying the carriage! I already have plans to use that mount for my group questing adventures! Anyway, if you would like more information about this bundle, feel free to click on the link below and/or watch the video. Thanks, Kingsisle, for an awesome new bundle!

Buy The Creepier Carnival Bundle

https://www.gamestop.com/video-games/pc/currency-subscriptions/products/wizard-101-creepier-carnival-bundle-digital-card/11097521.html

A Look Into The Future

Hello Wizards!

I hope you're having a wonderful week. Today I wanted to talk a little bit about something that I wasn't so sure of a few weeks ago - the future of the events. Many of you have asked me if we were going to have a Halloween Run this year, and I regret to tell you that will not have one this year. We are, however, going to have something else later this year!

I know it's super early, but I have some news to share with the #Wizard101 Community...... pic.twitter.com/ZtHrCEdl4u

— It's Edward, Edward Cullen x sparkles x (@EdwardLifegem) October 8, 2019

That's right! There will be a Santa Run this year. Something special about this year is that it's going to be our 5th Annual Santa Run. That means we've had a Santa Run for five Decembers in a row! It's so cool that these have gone on for so long. It is tough to have them, especially when people go. But one thing I need to keep in mind is that most of you that attend our events today have never attended. So you, like many others in the past, will get to experience community togetherness!

Nearly seven years ago, I thought it would be cool to host some sort of Santa Run in the commons. So I made a blog post, tweeted it out, and when the time came, several friends in the community showed up. We had fun only running around the commons. There were no pre-activities, no afterparty, no stream. It was just a moment for friends to hang out. I have a few key events like that, that truly are my favorites. I hope we reach many new friends that feel the same way about the community in our upcoming events. I'm going to consider this as a relaunch/reboot of the events. Especially since I'd like to change things up for next year's events. 

Nothing will ever be perfect, but I am hoping to do bring positivity to the community next year through various projects that I'll be working on. On top of that, we'll also host events (some new, some classic). But as we host new events, I ask all of you to spread the word about our events when we announce the dates! It would be fun to get the word out to like-minded peeps in the community. And if you've been with us since the beginning - thank you so much for your support. I know there are a few of you that have been with us for years. You have no idea how much that means to us that you still support our efforts. Anyway, I think that's all I have for today. I have a busy day, so I should really get started on some stuff in real life. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you at our 5th Annual Santa Run in December. More information about this event will be announced in late next month or early December! Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral. 

A Return Of Depression - A Ramble

Hi there,

Today I wanted to talk about something serious here on my website. Over the past several months, I've been lagging on quite a bit - real life and here in the community. I have tried doing everything I can to get important things done - such as announcing winners of contests and/or hosting events - but doing this stuff has been so much harder on me than anytime before.

Over the past several months, I've had something return that I didn't expect would ever return. Depression. I had depression before I joined this community and that is really what got me more involved in the community. I started playing Wizard in July of 2009, but I became more active in supporting community efforts in October of 2009 - ten years ago! Ten years ago, I joined the community as a 16-year old that needed time away from what was stressing me out offline. Wizard101 and its community was the place I chose to spend that time. Since that time, I've made many new friends that have come and gone. It's tough seeing so many friends here leave over a decade whether it's conflict or just a busy life. But, I'm thankful to have been able to make good memories during those times.

Today, I was questioning whether to tell everyone here why I've been different this year. Why I've been lagging behind on new blog posts, being involved in a conflict/drama within the community, etc. The truth is that I've put off accepting that my depression has been returning for well over a year now. It's made me question many things in real life and here in the community. I've questioned why I'm blogging, whether people were talking about me behind my back, and even if the events are something the community still likes. Heck, I went on to have an event, the Holiday Mashup, when I was going through one of the toughest times I've had. I can point out many negatives about this event. But instead, I'm going to use this post to point out positives.

One main positive thing about our recent Holiday Mashup event is the people that did support and/or attend the event. The ones that don't only point to contests are always the ones we try to work for. There are fewer in the community that appreciates the true intent of events (not just ours) and will only go if they have a chance of winning something. But when anyone supports/attends our events for the actual purpose of community involvement, it brightens up my day. I don't care if we had two people attend or support for that purpose. You brighten my day! I know not everyone is able to attend our events and I want to thank those that just spread the word about them. For a while now, I've thought about not having them anymore. But, those who truly support the events will be the reason they continue. Heck, even if there are 10 of us left. We'll do them for the sake of true community involvement/togetherness. 

I really don't know what the future holds for me. But I hope it's bright! I want to end this post to let you know that I am okay and that I hope to get back to my usual self eventually with the help that I am going to get in real life by talking to a professional. I have good days & bad days. Today is actually a halfway good/bad day. But I still have hope. Why? Well, first of all, I LOVE Life and I'm fighting depression. In all honesty, I couldn't say that before I joined the community. While I haven't been myself for a while now, I am going to try my best to do things that I have always wanted to do but had something in the back of my mind telling me that someone would think it was weird or pointless. I feel that if I break that shell, I will once again break this depression. I hope y'all will join me on this strange new journey. I hope to make new posts soon & get caught up on things I've been behind on for months. It might take a bit. But stick with me. Thank you for reading, everyone. Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral.  ~ Edward Lifegem 

I had to choose another random photo to add to this post... So here you go ;)