Ditto the Monster looks at the world of family friendly online games from a Fabricated American perspective

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Ditto’s Weekly video bloggy-thingy…

So here it is, my weekly video bloggy thingy. First off I say hello to all the Wizard 101 people going to the online games conference – it would be so much fun to go and hang out there, since I am probably the only Fabricated American games blogger out there. I have decided I’m going to make my ‘what Ditto is playing’ article a weekly event, and find a few more smallish games to play and give updates on, as some of the games I play get kind of boring, they don’t change much. Also, I’m talking about Halloween!!!
So here it is, my weekly video bloggy thingy, I hope you enjoy!!

See you in the Spiral!!

PLOX!

This is Halloween, this is Halloween…

So it is once again my favorite time of year – I am a monster, after all, and we monsters do enjoy the Halloween season!! Of course I am GREATLY looking forward to all the Halloween fun in the Spiral, but I’m also bringing some of my love of Wizard 101 out of the Spiral and into my yard, as a Halloween display! Hey, if they can pull students and pop stars into the spiral, I can certainly pull out a young Pyromancer and a field guard!! There’s lots more to the display, too – we’re all still working on it and I’ll be sure to keep updating as we add things! There will eventually be some video too! So far I only have some daytime pictures – it all lights up at night, too – I’ll have pictures of that as well, it looks really good!

Happy Haunting!!!!

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My Current Games

I got some great feedback the last time I did this, so I’m going to do it again – it might become a weekly thing, I don’t know.

Wizard 101
First and foremost is, of course, my beloved Wizard 101. I’m now level 31, two bars away from 32, and deep in the heart of Marleybone! I’ve completed the Ironworks and I’m ready for Newgate Prison, but for now I’m focusing on the many, many side quests, because I’m really busy with other real life stuff and cant’ break out the video equipment as ofter to get fun play session videos.
And just so everyone is aware, Mashable is currently running voting for best online game – you can vote for Wizard 101 and show your support for this awesome game! And apparently you can vote daily!

Ditto and Madame Jasmine in Marleybone

Ditto and Madame Jasmine in Marleybone

Clone Wars Adventures
Well, I did get my real name, so I’m known as ‘Ditto Monster’ in-game, and I’ve been playing a lot of the mini games – which is pretty much all this is, a group of Clone Wars themed mini games. It’s well done and really entertaining, but I’ll admit, I’m a bit disappointed in how little you get to do for free – I’ve already gotten to max allowed ‘free’ level on a few of the mini games, and even when decorating my apartment the furniture vendors have furniture there that you can buy for in-game currency, but you’re not allowed to buy it unless you subscribe. Still, this has almost completely replaced my Shockwave addiction for fun and silly mini-games!

Ditto Monster in Clone Wars

Ditto Monster in Clone Wars

Backyard Monsters
OK I’m definitely still enjoying this daily distraction – I’ve gotten all my defensive towers up to max level and I’m currently building up my monstrous hordes to sweep across the landscape, bwahahaha!!! Oh, sorry, got carried away there. Anyway – still a cute and fun game, I think my focus will now be optimizing my defenses, kind of like a tower defense game with PVP elements…

My Back Yard in 'Backyard Monsters'

My Back Yard in 'Backyard Monsters'

Lord of the Rings Online
This game does keep impressing me. I’m just about to ding level 15, still exploring the depths of the frost-shrouded dwarven lands with my fearless hunter, Ditto. There is so much to do in this game I find I sometimes get a little overwhelmed, but the visuals and the amazing soundtrack always keep me engaged in the game world. I’m not sure I’ll be one of those ‘finish the whole game’ kind of players, as the scale of it seems far beyond what I’m used to, but I’ll certainly spend a bit of time every week exploring the gorgeous lands of Middle Earth…
One thing to note – unlike Wizard 101, you cant’ just hop between servers to meet people in LOTRO – the server you start a character on is the server they’re locked into unless you pay for a ‘premium service’ to move your character, so if any ‘twizards’ out there want to try out LOTRO and get together in-game, we should all decide on a single server and create characters there. I play on the Imladris server, character name Ditto, but I’m open to start a ‘twizards’ character on any server if people are interested.

Ditto the Dwarf in LOTRO

Ditto the Dwarf in LOTRO

School of Wizardry
I made level 120 and I’m a few days away from ‘finishing’ the game, meaning completing all the ‘lessons’ one time. After that I think it’s just about unlocking special badges and rewards… Yeah, I’m rapidly losing interest here…

I am looking to start trying a few new smaller games – nothing I need to devote a lot of time to, but something fun and entertaining. I’ll let you know what I find, but feel free to drop me suggestions too!! I love finding new games to try!

Ditto’s Video Blog – September 28

So here’s my weekly video blog, and I have a lot to talk about! Yes, hear Ditto sing the Fraggle Rock theme song (Sorry about that – Miss Narrator says I really shouldn’t sing…) and I discuss the ‘Elmo’ controversy – the first real Fabricated American news I get to talk about!!! Plus I talk about Wizard 101, naturally, and some other games I’m playing, like Clone Wars and Backyard Monsters! A fully packed video for this week, I hope everyone likes it!!

See you in The Spiral!!
PLOX!

Ditto saves Selena Gomez – Part 3

The final part of my epic adventures in Crab Alley, where I face the not-so-dreaded King Thermidor and rescue Selena Gomez! There is singing, dancing, Vogon poetry and mad Pyromancer’s skills!!!! You don’t want to miss it!