Interview with Stephen Spiritcaller
This past week, I was given the opportunity to interview a good friend and mentor of mine, Stephen Spiritcaller. We discussed how he got started in Wizard101, some of his secrets to hatching and to being a good necromancer, first thoughts on Pirate101 and some info on Ravenwood Radio and Pieces of Eight Radio. So what are we waiting for!? Let's dig in to yet another amazing interview!
Me: Hey Stephen! Thanks for agreeing to this interview. I really hope the viewers of ToTS enjoy what you say and learn from your helpful tips. To start off, when did you start playing Wizard101 and what drove you to create a wizard101 character?
Stephen: I started playing Wizard 101 in September of 2009. Leesha Darkheart had strongly recommended the game while making a guest appearance on another podcast I was recording at the time and I promised to give it a try.
Me: Your well-known podcasts Ravenwood Radio, Pieces of 8 and your blog, Spiritcallings are all unique in their own way. What encouraged or inspired you to start blogging and podcasting?
Me: Your well-known podcasts Ravenwood Radio, Pieces of 8 and your blog, Spiritcallings are all unique in their own way. What encouraged or inspired you to start blogging and podcasting?
Stephen: I was really inspired by a couple World of Warcraft podcasts - The Instance, Warcast and particularly Epic Dolls, which was hosted by Leesha Darkheart. Her podcast was very down-to-earth and "real", and it really did convince me that normal people could do this without really knowing a whole lot about the technical side of the show; you just needed to have something to say...and it helped to be entertaining.
I started blogging because there were topics I wanted to discuss that I felt required more than a brief segment on a podcast. And I wanted to encourage comments and feedback from the community. I really admire consistent Wizard101 and Pirate101 bloggers - particularly the ones who do not run official fansites and just do it for the love of the game.
Spiritcallings is kind of on a hiatus for the time being - I took a position writing for the website 'Vox Apocrypha' (at vox-apocrypha.com) and I really need to focus what writing energy I have there for the time being.
Me: (I checked it out and it looks really nice so far. Good luck!) Being the amazing pet-breeder you are, what are your secrets? Do you have any tips for people who want to hatch?
Stephen: LOL - I wish I was amazing! I think I'm actually kind of a mediocre pet breeder. Everything I know about pet breeding I learned by researching at Petnome and talking to the folks who run that site. The only tips I have are pretty simple ones: garden your brains out for Mega Snacks, bookmark Petnome and visit it often and don't take it too hard when a pet doesn't live up to your expectations. I can't tell you how many pets now just fly or run around my castles because they just didn't manifest the battle or derby talents I wanted.
Me: (LOL) Since you are a very high leveled Necromancer, do you have any tips or pointers for lower level Necromancers?
Stephen: I wish I was a high-leveled Necromancer! The truth is I'm still fighting my way through Avalon. (Hoping to change that this weekend - going to be streaming a massive Wiz101 grindfest!) Having played a Death wiz for a while though, I do have two big tips. One of them is easy - never leave a fight hurt. Whenever possible, finish a fight with some kind of drain (Vampire, Wraith, Scarecrow, Katz's Monster, etc.) to minimize your downtime. The other relates to group play - embrace a support role. Necromancers are AWESOME damage batteries for other harder-hitting schools (Death can really spice up a Storm or Balance wiz) with spells like Feint and Dark Pact. Be a team player and juice those folks up.
Me: (Your not alone.. I'm still in Zafaria Outskirts ;) What were your thoughts when you first heard about Pirate101? Now that we are a few days away from the public release, what are your thoughts about it now? What do you look forward to the most?
Stephen: I have to confess, I'm answering this question late seeing as P101 has been released for nearly a few weeks. When I first heard the name, I was skeptical. My first reaction was, "Great - so Wizard101 with a coat of pirate paint...that was the big news?" Then I got to see the trailer and read about the ships and the tactical combat and the new worlds and I quickly changed my tune. I've been involved with the game as a tester for a LONG time now, and I LOVE it. I hope I don't lose any cred by saying that, at least for now, I'm enjoying Pirate101 A LOT more than Wizard101. Seriously, I could run quests and go rage through enemy ships in broadside combat for hours and be very happy. I wish there were more hours in the day so I could play more!
Me: (Haha I bet we all had that initial reaction :) As we conclude this interview, do you have any secrets or upcoming info you could let the readers in on about Ravenwood Radio or Pieces of Eight Radio?
Me: (Haha I bet we all had that initial reaction :) As we conclude this interview, do you have any secrets or upcoming info you could let the readers in on about Ravenwood Radio or Pieces of Eight Radio?
Stephen: Let's see. We've talked about it some, but we've got A LOT of stuff to give away during the end of October and through November. Ravenwood Radio will continue to cover the developments in Azteca, and we plan to stream a lot of action over the next few weeks. P8R has a series of segments coming up over the next five episodes called 'From the Crow's Nest' in which we'll interview a player of note from each P101 class in hopes of learning some tips about each class. We'll actually do another set of those down the line (maybe next spring?) once more people have hit the level cap.
And I'd probably get myself in all kinds of trouble if I didn't give some times and dates, so here goes:
The next episode of Ravenwood Radio is at 8:45pm Central on Wednesday, November 7 atravenwoodradio.com, and the next episode of Pieces of Eight Radio is at 8:45pm Central on Thursday, November 1 at piecesofeightradio.com. Hope you'll check us out or listen to us on iTunes.
See y'all in class. ;)
Thank you for your time Stephen! Don't forget to go tune into the next episodes of Ravenwood Radio and Pieces of Eight Radio at the given times.
I hope you all enjoyed this interview and learned something valuable from it.
I hope you all enjoyed this interview and learned something valuable from it.
See you in the Spiral!
-Blaze
Sweet! Thanks for the tips! I'm sure it will come in handy sometime :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that :)
DeleteAwesome! I can't wait for RR tomorrow :D Halloween Special!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to check out ravenwoodradio.com for last minute contests and more :D
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