Cool Ranch Finished, Deacon is No More!

Ahoy, me hearties! It is I, Dead-Eye Dustin, the Gem of the Spiral! I have some wonderful news! I have finally finished my treasure hunting in the world known as Cool Ranch! It was quite an adventure, saving brides, defeating undead, and even finally destroying a very high ranked Armada general - Deacon. So you want me to tell you about my adventure, do you? Well of course I will!

Cool Ranch was a very long world. Compared to Monquista, I would say it is more than twice the size. It is extremely fun at the beginning- did anyone else feel like they were in a Looney Toons episode?- but by the end it does seem to drag on...

Despite its length, I did  have an incredible time! I had to break two future brides out of captivity! One of them looks a little familiar, eh? 

Look its Selena- er... SERENA! I had to save Serena from Banditoads to help prove that I was worthy to meet El Toro. And it proved to work! After convincing El Toro I had to rescue HIS bride as well, from a Marleybonian prision in Port Regal! 

Love at first sight, eh? I had to save Mustang Sally from the clutches of the Marleybonians while she was on a super secret mission! I won't spoil it for you, but we worked together to break an emperor out of that prison!

And then I had to defeat the head of the Banditoads, Santa Rana! El Toro and I broke directly into his palace and showed him who's in charge!

 

Eventually I sailed through the Haunted Skyways of Cool Ranch to find out where Captain Blood hid Marco Pollo's treasure! I was successful, but when I found the gold I was encountered by one of good friends- Deacon. This time he wasn't going to let me escape, so he joined his troops to defeat me! But boy, did I prove him wrong...

And that's the end of my Cool Ranch adventures... Where will I go next? Well, perhaps somewhere very familiar to some Wizards! Stay tuned for more on the next world!

Pirate101 Beta Key Raffle and New Video!

Ahoy pirates! The Pirate101 NDA has officially been lifted! You should now see lots of images, videos, and guides floating around the spiral! This is especially nice for those who were not lucky enough to get in beta. Now they can see what all the excitement is about, and not feel as "locked away" from the fun!

However, I'm sure most of you still want to play in the beta... So I'll be raffling off an extra key I won! That's right! You have ANOTHER chance to get into the Pirate101 Closed beta! All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter below! Also, please do not enter if you already have a beta key! The winners will be announced this Friday! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, I threw together a video quickly when the NDA was lifted. Expect more in the future!

New Pirate101 World - Cool Ranch! Also, new Skull Island Concept Art!

Ahoy mateys! Kingsisle has decided to let us get a sneak peak at another world in Pirate101; Cool Ranch!

Here is some background info straight from the Pirate101 website...

If there is a bright center to the Spiral, Cool Ranch is the realm it is farthest from. A stark, beautiful realm of rocky islands and seemingly endless skies, Cool Ranch is a land of desert, cactus, and tumbleweeds, a wild realm where civilization can be as fragile as a cool breeze.The proud Bison tribes and the nefarious Toads are the original natives of Cool Ranch - all of the frontier's other inhabitants came here from someplace else. The proud Stallions, distant cousins to the Unicorns of Valencia, came to Cool Ranch long ago and built missions and villages throughout the skyways, but their heyday is long over, and now only Santo Pollo remains. The most recent arrivals are the Chickens, Cranes, and other Fowl who came to Cool Ranch from parts unknown - they rarely talk about their homeland, describing it only as "Back East." A steady stream of bold and enterprising Birds has come to Cool Ranch, hoping to make a new beginning or escape a troubled past. Their skill at industry rivals Marleybone's: the Birds brought locomotives, steam engines, and other modern devices with them. Life has been hard for the new settlers, however: many of the new boom towns soon went bust, and the great railroads now stand empty. But the honest ranchers and townsfolk keep working: there's gold in them there mesas, and there's good money to be made herding the sleepy Buffaloons. The steady demand for refined food and other niceties has nurtured a bustling mercantile trade for ship captains willing to sail that far.

Cool Ranch is a land of legendary figures: heroes like the Chicken Rangers, Wild Bill Peacock, and the masked hero El Toro, fighting lawlessness and standing up for the humble settlers; but the wild frontier has also fostered terrible outlaws like Libirdy Valence, El Guapo, and the dreaded Duck With No Name. Smugglers and pirates have always been drawn to Cool Ranch - far from everyplace, the dusty realm is an ideal place to hide. Indeed, Captain Barnabus Blood, one of the most infamous pirates in the history of the Spiral, is said to have built a hidden stronghold somewhere in Skull Island before his well-deserved end. Blood's treasure has never been found...

Shiver me timbers! This new world sounds exciting, and will be quite an interesting adventure for a pirate! Here are some pictures of Cool Ranch!

Don't Forget the Skull Island Concept Art!

Here are some cool new concept art images Kingsisle has released of Skull Island!

The jungles of Skull Island hide many mysteries, including ancient ruins, abandoned countless years ago. Many Pirates and Monquistadors have braved these tombs and temples, combing them for gold and jade. Too many of them have not returned. Who raised the great pyramids and dug the vast subterranean labyrinths of Skull Island?

Ominous rumors have come to Puerto Mico from the nearby Isle of Doom. It is said the Monquistadors prying the gold form the ruined cities there have disturbed... something. Several Monkeys, near death and driven mad with fear, have staggered out of the jungles raving of ancient tombs opening, and the scaly horrors that emerged from them. Surely these are nothing more than fever dreams!

Captain Ahab, mayor and skipper of Jonah Town, is a friendly old bird. He's been the leader in Jonah Town for many years, and the welfare of his people (and the Whale) are his greatest concern. They say old Ahab can understand what the Whale is singing - on some nights, he stands in the prow of Jonah Town and sings back.

A wonder of the Skyways, the village of Jonah Town is built on the back of a great Sky Whale. The humble fisherfolk who live in Jonah Town make their living catching sky fish and clams from the Skyways, but most of each day's catch is fed to the Whale - bad things happen if he gets too hungry...

Monquistan literature if filled with examples of the heroic quest, where a Monquistador overcomes all odds to right a great wrong or do some impossible deed. Alas, in the real world, some Monquistadors become so obsessed with glory that nothing can turn them from their quest - not even death.

Oh gosh, every time Kingsisle makes it harder and harder to wait! Well, I'll see you pirates around the spiral soon!

New Pirate101 Concept Art: Monquista!

It seems I'm a little late to posting this, but it's better late then never! Kingsisle has released some new Pirate101 concept art of the world Monquista! Here's a little bit of info about Monquista...

Long an inconsequential, isolated backwater in the outer rim of the Spiral, Monquista recently became one of the preeminent powers in the Spiral, almost overnight, thanks to the massive infusion of gold and wealth its inhabitants pried from the ancient ruins in their colony of Skull Island. Monquista is home to a race of diminutive Monkeys, the Monquistans, who make up for their slight statures with massive egos and harsh tempers.

This looks like an extremely fun, comical, and artistic world to explore and journey through... Here are the new concept art images!

Every time Kingsisle releases something new to this game it makes me more and more anxious to play! That's probably what they want though, right? So far Monquista looks like it may be my favorite world since it seems colorful, fancy, comical, and looks like it could have a deep storyline! An underwater cave? A ritual inside a cavern? I can't wait to find out how all of this fits together into the story! 

Oh, and don't forget the monkeys.... err... Monquistans!

See you all soon!

New PvP Video and Pirate101 News!

Ahoy mateys! Today be a good day for some Pirate101 news! But before I get into that, I'd like to congratulate myself on achieving Knight status in PvP! Here's a little video of me winning the duel! It was a simple quick-join battle, as I'm still new to the whole "PvP" game.



Now, I know all of you don't really care that much about me, so here is the news on Pirate101 directly quoted from Pirates of the Spiral.

"Congratulations Pirate101 & Kingsisle!

I would like to congratulate P101 and Kingsisle for winning the best hybrid strategy award 
courtesy of RTSguru. You can see the article here on there site-
http://www.rtsguru.com/article/3225/RTSGuru.coms-Best-of-E3-2012-Awards.html

Secondly there is a new Pirate101 based video thanks to Dad Labs over on youtube.
During the video you get to see the UI of Pirate101, looks pretty awesome~

They also got to interview some of the lead designers of the game, definatly a must watch!

-Pirates of the Spiral

Well that is just fantastic! Congratulations Kingsisle for already winning an award on a game that hasn't even been released yet! I'm sure it is well deserved, and makes me want to play the game even more! And what about the game footage shown in the video from DadLabs? It looks like the User Interface (UI) is going to be fresh off the drawing board! I'm extremely excited! If you look at the circle in the bottom right corner it looks like Pirates will get to use some sort of a mini-map to guide them around. The circle on the left looks like it represents health... And it's currently at 279. Perhaps the health per level will be similar to Wizard101? Whatever the case, I'm sure Kingsisle has an extremely amazing game waiting for us to play! 


Check back often for more information, and I'll see you in beta!

Welcome to Gem of the Spiral!

Hello wizards and pirates alike! My name is Dustin, and I call myself the Gem of the Spiral! Why, you may ask? Well, that is a story worth telling...

Do you see all of my Wizards there? I've been a part of Wizard101 since day one, and Dustin Firegem was my Wizard since the beginning of it all. However, as time passed, staying as a pyromancer in Dragonspyre for weeks on end became very boring... So what did I do? Well, what most Wizards do when they get bored! I created my second Wizard.... Dustin Stormgem!

I felt so creative when I made the name! It was play on words based on my original Wizard! So, as the days went by, I had my second Grandmaster wizards... And then Celestia was released!

I leveled Firegem through all of Celestia, it was better then what I wanted for the new world. After becoming Legendary, I grew bored... I only leveled Stormgem through the Grotto until I decided to make another wizard...

And another...

And another,

And another!

Until I finally had a Wizard in all the elemental and spiritual schools of the spiral! My goal is to level all six of these Gems to the levelcap, which will become greater and greater in the coming years... Then I really will be The Gem of the Spiral.

And then something else happened...

Kingsisle announced their second game! And so my story continues here...

I will try my best to blog daily on Spiral happenings in both Wizard101 and Pirate101! So be sure to check my blog often! You should also check out my YouTube channel, GemoftheSpiral! I only have a few videos up right now, but expect full Pirate101 beta coverage and more Wizard101 videos as well!

See you around the Spiral!