Just goofing around…

Hi everybody, it’s Ditto… Well I’ve been really busy this week, but I’ve got a new video blog coming really soon! Until then though, a friend of mine took a video of me trying to blow up a balloon to the size of my head! I did pretty good – not sure I got it quite that big, it was tough work! I think it was probably the biggest I’ve ever blown up a balloon though – what do you think?

Also, I want to thank Jasmine Stormblood and Jordan Dreameyes and Boris Titancaster for all including me in really nice artwork for Ravenwood Radio! That was really nice and makes Ditto very happy! Thank you!!

July 31, 2010 | Categories: Fabricated American, Wizard 101 | Leave a comment

Safety First!!

I got a message on Facebook yesterday – someone who said they are a big fan, who really liked my videos and my Daring Adventures on Ravenwood Radio. He said that he had a present for me, that he would give me 1000 crowns because he was such a big fan!!

Now of course I was very excited about this – I just bought my beautiful house in game, which was very expensive, and I don’t have a lot of gold left. 1000 crowns, well that a lot of money, that would buy me a lot of nice things, right? And well, if he was a fan of my blog, it’s not so strange to think he might want to give me something nice, right?

Then he asked me some more questions. Like what my account information was in Wizard 101, so he could ‘get the crowns to me’. He also asked me where I lived in real life. He asked me how old I was. That’s when I realized that maybe he wasn’t trying to give me something nice at all. That’s when I knew that he was probably a bad person.

To be fair, maybe this person was really just a very nice person and was very curious about things and didn’t mean any harm – but I couldn’t possibly know that, and neither can you, so you have to be safe, because that’s a scary thing about the internet; people aren’t always who say say they are, and people who seem really nice can actually be pretty awful.

So, if someone who you meet online, in game, on Facebook, or whatever – even someone who has been talking to you or chatting with you for a while – asks you for any kind of personal information, like an account name or a password, or where you live, or your phone number, you need to be really careful. If you’re a younger person – as I know some of my readers are – you should really tell someone older, like a parent, etc… before you give out any kind of information like that. This isn’t just for younger kids, though – a lot of grownups have given out important information to ‘friends’ on the internet that got them into trouble as well, so everyone should be careful.

Just a little friendly advice from your furry neighborhood Fabricated American, because I think everybody who comes here and reads my blog and watches my videos and likes listening to my Daring Adventures is really great, and I appreciate every single one of you!!

July 28, 2010 | Categories: Fabricated American, Wizard 101 | 9 Comments

Grizzleheim – Wizard 101’s version of Australia?

OK, I have been exploring Grizzleheim for a little while now and I think I have it figured out. Sure it’s supposed to represent the proud and fierce viking warriors of the North, but in reality, they have modeled it more after Australia.

Why Australia, you ask? Surely the lush forests and streams don’t remind me of the great Australian outback or the limitless pristine shorelines around the Great Barrier Reef, do they? No, not at all. The topography and landscape of Grizzleheim looks nothing like Australia, and those noble bears inhabiting the deep green forests are pure Viking – or at least the furry cartoon bear version of the vikings…

So why Australia then? Because apparently in Grizzleheim, much like Australia, EVERYTHING WANTS TO KILL ME!!!!

I have never been so terrified just to walk out of the main inhabited area. I fully understand why they invented these nifty teleporters, because walking more than seven feet from the village will get you attacked, cooked, eaten, and digested by something out these in the woods before you can say ‘Sunbird’. It comes out more like ‘Sunbi—-argh!!!’

Even cute little flitting fairies just come right over and thump me across my furry orange head. It’s a crazy, crazy place that makes Krokotopia look like a vacation hotspot. Sure you’ve got your sand scorpions and evil Nirini warriors, but at least you know they’re coming!! In Grizzleheim you turn a corner and come up against some giant spider or long-taloned grendel or something else that just walks up and makes a snack out of you.

I admit, I am not brave – typically we monsters are not, ironically. Just look at Grover and ‘The Monster at the End of this Book‘ – spending the whole narrative afraid of himself…. and that’s pretty typical for us, really.

So I’m going to keep exploring Grizzleheim for a little while longer, all in the name of entertainment (since that’s where my ‘Daring Adventures’ are taking me lately… ) but I think I’ll be making more trips to the pet pavilion to calm my nerves…. And someone in town actually said ‘this is nothing, just wait until Jotun’… I wonder what that meant? Sounds bad in any case…

June 24, 2010 | Categories: Fabricated American, Wizard 101 | 2 Comments

A furry orange monster’s guide to casting Heck Hound

This could also be called ‘Fabricated Americans are bad at math’….

I got my Heck Hound spell recently and started using it. I understood that it was a very powerful damage over time spell – probably the most powerful in the game – but I wasn’t really getting hthe results out of it I had expected. I did some research and finally figured out why…

You see, when I read the card, it seemed pretty straight forward. It does 120 fire damage per pip for three rounds. Of course to me – I am a furry orange monster, after all – I was figuring 120 damage per pip per turn, and I was getting really confused when I was casting it with three or four pips and not seeing that kind of damage….

So now let’s talk about what the card REALLY does, ow that I finally figured it out… So if I cast the spell with only one pip, it will hit my opponent for 40 damage points per round for 3 rounds, totaling 120 points. The more pips you use the card with, the more damage you cause.

So, say I max out at 7 power pips, that’s really 14 pips. 14 x 120 = 1680 Total Damage over 3 rounds, which means 560 damage per round – that’s impressive! And if I add a fire blade to that spell, then it’s even MORE damage per round. That’s not a bad spell, assuming you can get it set up right. And assuming you actually understand math….

June 23, 2010 | Categories: Fabricated American, Wizard 101 | Leave a comment

Another unplanned delay between posts

I wanted to apologize for the time between this post and my last. Nothing bad happened, just, you know, ‘life’ – and let me tell you, the life of a Fabricated American is no less complex than regular people’s lives. Sometimes – like job hunting – it can be much more difficult. There’s still a lot of anti-Fabricated American prejudices out there in many industries. sure we’ve made huge strides in children’s television and stand-up comedy, but even in 2010 there are still a lot of industries that won’t take a Fabricated American job candidate seriously…

So as you might have guessed from the above mini-rant, this hiatus was due to me job hunting yet again. My roommate has dropped a few subtle hints lately, like ‘Get a job or I’ll turn you into a dishtowel’, which indicated that it was once again time to start looking for gainful employment. Thankfully, as of yesterday I have a new job with actual pay, working at the local public library reading to kids. Well, OK, it’s sweeping the floors and general custodial services MOST of the time, but I do an hour a day for Storytime… Granted it’s during my lunch break and so far no children have stayed to listen – I wonder if I should have started out with something a little easier than ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’? Hey, it’s a paycheck and my roommate is off my furry orange back, so I’m happy!

I would have done this as a video blog entry, but I’m at work now and they don’t have a camera, so I’ll have to put more video blogs together tonight after work. Also, the library BLOCKS Wizard 101! Can you believe that?!?! Unbelievable, I know. I’m curious what the over/under is for me getting fired again? Stay in school kids!!!

So speaking of Wizard 101, I am now well on my way to level 21 and then on to level 22 and Meteor Storm!! I really can’t wait! However I have a minor dilemma now – I’m in the middle of Krokotopia, in the Krokosphynx now, but Headmaster Ambrose wants to send me on a new mission to Grizzleheim! So do I drop Krok and go where Merle tells me, or do I keep focusing on Krok until I’m through, then hit the Grizzleheim tasks before Marelybone? What do other people do?

Finally, thanks everyone who sent me warm wishes and appreciation for my ‘Daring Adventures of Ditto’ radio drama, and thanks so much to Ravenwood Radio for playing them!! I have a great time doing them and I’m glad people are enjoying them – there’s definitely more coming. I do have to fire that narrator some day, though…

May 20, 2010 | Categories: Fabricated American, Wizard 101 | 2 Comments

Rain Rain go away….

So as many people probably know, the Easter part of the US (Where I live) has been getting heavy rains for what feels like a month… and I HATE having wet fur. It’s very uncomfortable. Just imagine having all your clothes wet and heavy on you, and not being able to take them off… it’s not fun, believe me!

Adding to the problems was an internet outage I’ve been dealing with thanks to all the rain – apparently networking equipment doesn’t like being underwater or something like that. Well, that’s all taken care of today and it looks like the rain has FINALLY stopped, so we can start drying out – I’ll be running the hair dryer most of the day if anyone needs me. After that I will be jumping into the wonderful Spiral – I’ve just started adventuring in Colossus boulevard now, that’s scary and exciting, and I’ve got the key to Krokotopia, but I haven’t used it yet – I want to make sure the camera is rolling on that one. Maybe I’ll do that tonight or tomorrow.

I’m SO excited to get to my next world, I really am! Krokoopia sounds amazing! I’ve got a few levels to go (6, I think) before I get my Meteor Strike spell – I’m wondering if I should wait until then before venturing to Krokotopia? I assume I’ll be fighting multiple enemies from this point on, I have to think that getting Meteor Strike will make that much easier for me. Any suggestions from other people who have been there?

March 31, 2010 | Categories: Fabricated American, Wizard 101 | 2 Comments

And apparently I made the official Fansites page!!

Now I feel extra bad for being away so long because I officially got added to the list of Wizard 101 fansites on Wizard101.com! This is a very exciting honor for a humble Fabricated American such as myself. I pledge to all my readers never again to let mundane things like a job or family keep me away from The spiral for extended periods any more… Thank you.

March 17, 2010 | Categories: Fabricated American, Wizard 101 | 1 Comment