Merry Christmas to all! :)

Some of you are already celebrating this holiday. Others must wait until tomorrow. In either case, Merry Christmas! :)

Have lots of fun with your family on this very special day! :)

Until the next time...

- Winterfate

Made Jonin in Billy vs Snakeman today! :D

Well, it took me long enough, but now I'm a Jonin in the MMO Billy vs Snakeman. If this announcement means nothing to you, then it means you've never played it. :P

In a nutshell, it means that I've reached the second to possible highest rank for players in my same season. That isn't particularly hard, but it's still noteworthy. :P

Just a little post to keep this blog updated. I did promise to keep it updated after all. :)

Take care guys!

- Winterfate

P.S: You can scroll down my blog entries and find my referral link if you want to join. :P

Dragon Quest IV

Time to talk about an RPG that's not MMO. ;)

Dragon Quest IV was originally released for the Super Nintendo a long while ago (too lazy to check the exact year at the moment. :P). Now, Square Enix has remade it for the DS, and that's the version I'm playing now.

I'm only about 2 hours in, but up to now, it's looking like an awesome game.
The game itself is divided into chapters, and in each chapter you control a different character.

The combat system is standard fare for RPGs of the previous decade (turn-based, swords and magic, etc).

The difficulty of the game is a bit high, but in my opinion, we currently live in a world where games have gotten too easy, so it's refreshing to actually have to struggle for my wins. :)

That's about it from me for now. :)
Take care guys!
I'm going back to the game! :P

- Winterfate

My Estiah Dungeon - Notes after a few days

Well, my dungeon (Temple of Tides) was released around a week ago in Estiah, and the players enjoy it a lot. It's the first level 41 dungeon ever made for the game, so it fills what I thought was a crucial gap in end-game content. :)

The second fight of the dungeon is way too easy, but the first and third fights are pretty interesting. It's pretty cool to see players devise devious strategies to beat those fights. :)

Until the next time, take care guys!
Have fun!

-Winterfate

Estiah patch released today! :)

Hi guys!

Every so often, Estiah is patched, adding new features and fixing bugs in the system. This particular patch is noteworthy for two reasons:

1. There's a Christmas event now, where you can beat up a Santa Golem. I'll be trying it out tomorrow. :)

2. My very own dungeon has made it into the game. The devs of Estiah review player submissions at times and if they like them, they will add them into the game (after a healthy dose of beta testing by some of the veteran players of course.)

This is one of the few MMO's where you can feel like your opinion really matters.
That's all for now. :)

Estiah

Hello to all! :)

Estiah is another MMO I've been playing for quite a while now. I wrote several articles on it that are located at articleincome.com (that I can't seem to access at the moment, so I owe you for that). Basically, imagine having a deck of playing cards. Each card represents a piece of armor, a weapon, a potion, or a spell (or something else all together). It has classic RPG elements like Hit Points and Stats, but mixes them in with trading card game elements like the aforementioned deck (your maximum deck size is equal to your Spirit, which is a Stat).

If you're not into TCGs, then perhaps you won't like it. But, being an avid trading card game fan for over 5 years now, I have to say that it is extremely enjoyable. :)

If you want to join, I'll provide a link below. ;)

Play Estiah now! :)

Yes, that's a referral link. :P
The only thing I get is 3 points into a skill gained specifically through referring people to play the game. There has never been, and will never be a way for players to gain an advantage by paying or spamming referrals (the reward for leveling up the Mentoring skill is enough to make you feel satisfied to have done it, yet not enough to make you all powerful against players who don't refer others).

So whatcha waiting for? :P

Billy vs SNAKEMAN

Hi guys!

Well, considering I'm back, I should write a post related to a new MMO I've started playing recently.

Billy vs SNAKEMAN is an MMO game that's loosely based off of the Naruto anime and manga series. It parodies anime in general and has reference to many other TV series and videogames as well.

You can go on Missions, and some of them are parodies of common situations that you may or may not have seen on TV before. One that comes to mind is having to clean up a Ninja's house after he has thrown a party. Another one involves forcing down rations which supposedly taste terrible.

It's a pretty lighthearted game that has many minigames that open up as you level up and advance.

In my opinion, you should try it out for yourself though. Hearing me talk isn't a fair indicator of the game's quality. ;)

You can click the link below to join now! :)



Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

I'm back...I think. :)

I apologize to all for leaving this blog in disarray for so long, but college has eaten away at my time. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be back to talk about videogames and trading card games once again. :)

That's all from me for now. Take care and have fun!!

Duels Warstorm Article hits 3k views!

As the title says, exactly. :)

Thanks to all who have read my article! :D

The article is at: http://www.featuredarticles.com/a13381_1.html

Of Videogame Articles and Squidoo Lenses

I have an article that's pending over at articleincome.com for Heroes of Might and Magic 3. I'll let you all know once it clears. If it somehow gets rejected, you'll be reading it here. :P

Also, links to my Squidoo lenses:

http://www.squidoo.com/videogamemurmurings

http://www.squidoo.com/warstormingwinter

New Article over at articleincome.com!

Hi guys!

This time I wrote about KadoKado, a peculiar and unique casual MMO created by Motion Twin. Read the full article at: http://www.featuredarticles.com/a13399_1.html

Thanks in advance for reading! :)

New lens at Squidoo!

I created a new lens over at Squidoo dedicated to Duels Warstorm! :)

The link is: http://www.squidoo.com/warstormingwinter

Enjoy!

New Article over at articleincome.com!

Hi guys!

I wrote up a brief article on two videogame forums I am a member of. The link to the article is: http://www.featuredarticles.com/a13381_1.html

Thanks in advance for reading! :)

Duels Warstorm Article Hits 1000 Views!

Thanks to all who read my latest exclusive article over at articleincome.com! :)

I Twittered this achievement out to the internet. Follow me there!

http://www.twitter.com/Winterfate

Follow me to Twitter!

Hi guys! :)

I created an account yesterday on Twitter and now I'm Twitter-ing (or maybe it's Twitting?). Follow me and you'll see my latest updates to any of my websites or articles! :D

Anyways, here's the link to my profile on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/Winterfate

New ArticleIncome Exclusive Article!

Hi guys!

Just finished typing up a new videogame article for Article Income. If you've ever heard of Duels Warstorm or seen the ads for it, but have not been inclined to play it, go read my overview of it here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my articles as much as I enjoy writing them! :)

Estiah - Aleas or Eversweep?

The first article to this series can be found at articleincome.com.

The other articles can be found right here in this blog and also on articleincome.com! :)

So, you've beaten up the pirates eh? Got yourself a few Captain's Hats as well I suppose. It's time for you to move to another city. Aleas or Eversweep are the most logical choices given the dungeons they contain. Each dungeon is another part of the in-game tutorial. In Aleas you will be visiting Holy Grace Square to learn how to Protect your allies in battle by the usage of charms with Protect. In Eversweep, a cocky and arrogant summoner will teach you how to Focus your attacks on a single target.

---

Let's start with Aleas, just because I'm more partial to defensive strategies. ;)

The Level 4 Holy Grace Square consists of three levels. In the first level you will have three Sword Apprentice allies and will be facing four Sword Apprentices. Seeing as how each Sword Apprentice only has 25 HP, you should be okay as long as you hit them hard (preferably with magic as they use armor charms on occasion). Just hope your allies don't die too quickly and you'll easily win this battle.

The man training these apprentices is called Urus the Grace and he will step in to demonstrate Protect. In this second battle, it's highly unlikely that you'll lose considering that Urus will be using Challenging Blade and Flash of Light to protect you. At 130 HP, I'm almost certain that your three Sword Apprentice opponents won't be able to take him down. ;)

The final battle has Urus taking the other side, as you and two Sword Apprentices attempt to take him down. He adds several charms to his arsenal including Challenging Shout, which increases his next melee attack's damage by 18, which can be fatal if you don't have armor up. On that subject, bring a fair amount of armor along, since his magic attacks aren't nearly as deadly. Oh, and he still has 130 HP. :P

You may lose that last fight if you're level 4. But, if you've been following my articles in order, you should be level 5 and better equipped to take him down. It's not an easy fight, but it's doable.

He gives you a Protect Charm (7 armor, 7 ward, Protect: 4) if you win.

---

On to Eversweep.


The High Summoner's Study is a level 4 Dungeon in Eversweep where you will learn about Focus charms. They allow you to concentrate your attacks for the next few turns on a single enemy, which can be life-saving if you're facing multiple enemies at the same time.

The High Summoner in question is Leitz, and he has quite the attitude problem.
In the first battle, he will have you fight alongside three of his Weakened Shadow Imps facing off against four more Weakened Shadow Imps (all of the Imps have 35 HP).

All any of the Imps do is shoot a fireball that does 6 magic damage, so bring some Ward charms along and just hack and slash your way to victory...assuming of course, you don't get singled out and killed by the opposing Imps. Luck, as it were, always plays a part in this game.

After you win this first battle, Leitz will chastise you for "acting like a beast and giving out blows randomly" and join your side, along with one of his Imps, to teach you how to Focus. Once again you face off against 4 Imps, but Leitz' Focus charms will make this battle substantially easier than the last one. He himself stands at a hefty 140 HP, so it's unlikely that'll he die. I've never seen him go down in battle myself.

For the last battle, Leitz will claim that he "needs to practice for the Inachis Battle Tournament". Guess what? You're gonna help him. :P

You're allied with 2 Imps and are facing off against Leitz. He only has 115 HP this time around, but gains Mind Focus, which increases the power of his next magic attack by 20. Did I mention he can still target a specific foe? If he doesn't Focus one of the imps, you may be done for, since his subsequent attack will do massive damage (and that's assuming he doesn't power up multiple turns before attacking either.) Even so, this fight is probably easier than the boss fight in Aleas since you'll most likely win if you don't get focused.

He gives you the Bright Fire Charm (6 magic, Focus: 6) if you win.

---

If at any time you need additional help in any dungeon (oh oh, here it comes again :P), you should consult the Estiah Wiki (I always mention it don't I? :P).

Anyways, that's it for now. Thank you for reading, as always. Have fun!

New Lens at Squidoo.com!

Hi guys! :)

Just wanted to let you all know that I have a lens (what they call websites over there) at Squidoo.com now! It is also related to videogames, so you may want to check it out! :D

Click here to go there now!

I may edit this post later to talk about Squidoo.com, so stay tuned! :)

Estiah - Of River Pirates and Cumulation

The first article of the series can be found at this site.
The second article can be found there and here as well. ;)

So, you've beaten on the Inachis Sewers and its Rat God a few days eh? You're feeling stronger? Perhaps reached level 3 or even 4 since the last time I left you?

Well, the game is far, oh so very FAR from over. At this point, you can travel to other towns and clear the other low level dungeons now open to you. For the sake of this article though, I'm going to assume that you're staying in Inachis, training in the Arena, or gathering until you complete this dungeonl.

The Level 5 Dungeon in Inachis is called River's Edge and consists of two levels, which are intended to teach you about cumulative ward and armor. Cumulative properties such as cumulative armor stack, (as compared to your initial armor and ward charms that don't stack if used in quick succesion) making them more efficient. They tend to give less protection to compensate for the convenience.

Compared to the Sewers, this is relatively brief. Brief however, dear reader, hardly means easy. :P

The first fight pits you up against the 25 HP First Mate Sirop. He also uses an Extra Action charm. These allow you to take another turn and usually have an extra minor effect. In this case, his Pirate Glove gives him 3 armor (non-cumulative), 3 ward (cumulative) and Extra Action. He then uses Light Wand for 3 more cumulative ward and 4 magic damage to you. As you may suspect, using magic damage will result in failure, so stack enough melee damage to render his armor useless. To see if you have enough damage to win the day, subtract 3 damage from each melee charm in your setup and then add those values together. If they equal or surpass 25, then you're fine.

The second, boss fight places you against Captain Gaufre, who has 55 HP. He does the opposite of First Mate Sirop. His specialty is stacking armor to the point where your melee damage is effectively nil. So, go to your gear setup and swap out for magic. You're going to need a lot more magic damage to stop him though, as you can tell by his hefty HP total. Use the bolded tip above, replacing the word melee with magic and you should be fine...

...that is, assuming he doesn't go berserk on you and only you. You see, in this battle you have "help". I place help in quotation marks because Belge will probably do zero damage all battle. I always considered him a comic relief/meat shield anyways. :P

Anyways, Belge is backing you up. If the good old Cap'n attacks Belge, and you're set up correctly, you stand a decent chance of winning. If the Captain concentrates on you though, it may be over before it's even begun.

As usual, go take a look at the Estiah Wiki if you need additional help with this encounter. ;)

Until the next time, take care, have fun and thanks for reading! :D

Estiah - Starting Out

My first article related to the game is here.

After you create your character and sign in, you may be a bit lost as to what you need to do. Well, if you look at the top of the game screen, you will see various menu items. The first thing you should do is go find a job to get some stat points. To do that, find the menu item that says Jobless (in green) and click on it. You will then be taken to another screen that shows you a list of jobs, their stat payout and gold payout. You can click on the name of the job to see its requirements. Jobs that are grayed out are not available to you yet. Work as an Errand Boy (or Errand Girl if you're not a boy. :P). The game will notify you that your stats have increased by 1, your gold by 20, and your level by 1.

Yay! You're level 2...only 48 more levels to reach the level cap. :P
Now, look back at the top of the screen and find your character name, it should look something like this:

[characternamehere] (Lv.2)

Click there.

Now you're back at the screen you started at. You have 240 AP to start with, so let's go use some of them shall we?

Move your mouse cursor over the menu item that says Action 240 AP and you will see a dropdown menu. Go to the option that says [L.2] Inachis Sewers and click on it.

A few seconds later you will be ready to start your adventures. Read through the descriptions for each level at least once; the developers did a nice job of narration, if I may say so myself. ;)

This dungeon is pretty clear cut, since it is a tutorial dungeon and all. It's pretty hard to lose a battle here, so I'll just give you some general tips and notes:

• When you beat a level in a Dungeon, you will usually get skill experience in every charm used as well as some gold, items and charms.
• For now, equip any charm that drops since it's bound to be better than your starting equipment and you have some space to begin with. To equip a charm, move your cursor over your character name in the menu and find the Gear slots near the bottom of that menu. Once there just find the charm you want to equip in the list and add it to your deck setup.
  
• If you cannot see a charm in this menu that you won in battle, it probably means that you don't meet the requirements to use it yet.
  
• The Estiah Wiki (made and maintained by the players and fans of the game) is your study guide, as it were. Use it frequently. Use it well.
• For the boss of this dungeon, you need to deal a total of 60 damage. The boss itself doesn't attack (you'll see why once you reach him. :P), so take out armor if you need more space for weapons.

After having beat the boss of this dungeon, you can go participate in the Arena for a little extra cash, or just hold your AP until the dungeon resets, where you can repeat the process again. I recommend clearing it out 5 times, since that will give you the Sewer Cleaner skill, which nets you 500 gold (very useful this early).

That's about it for now! Take care, have fun, and thanks for reading! :D

Articleincome.com

This is my first blog here and I'm going to use it to announce a neat website. :)

Articleincome.com is a site that allows you to write articles and make a profit (via contextual advertising). I have already written 3 articles for this site, and will continue to do so. However, some articles I may decide to write for myself, in which case they will be here and not there, so check back every so often just in case. ;)

What will my articles be about? Videogames mostly, but it's really all up to my fickle temperament and how I feel a certain day, so you never know what to expect. :P

Take care and thanks for reading!

Click here to sign up now for free!

P.S: Almost forgot. Tell your friends! The more people sign up, the more articles there will be. :D