Wonderful Wysteria!

Before I go praising Kingsisle immensely for their wonderful work on the new paralell world Wysteria, which is currently up on the Test Realm, I'd like to note that my Extracurricular Activities Reviews, which I started a couple weeks ago, will be put up at my convienence, instead of adhering to a schedule of any kind, therefore allowing me to devote my time to (currently) two other, more meaningful projects, one which is W101 related and one which is not. I'd also like to apologize for the lack of posting over this past week. Still getting the hang of posting regularly.

At any rate, Wysteria is an absolutley fantastic world! Unlike Grizzleheim, which can feel a little skimpy or lacking at times, mainly in the way of story, KI has put together an amazing and intriguing storyline for Wysteria- from the wizard tournament, to the history and concept of Pigswick Academy, from the mystery of the Spiral Cup, to the problems on Pegasus Place and Tanglewood Way, from the snobbishness of many Wysterians, to defending Ravenwood's honor. Not to mention that we learn of the existence of two other worlds with magic schools- Weirwood and Mirage- which I imagine we may visit someday! I don't want to give too much away, but I must say I am thouroughly impressed!
Along with the story, the landscape of the world itself is fun and well put-together. It has a certain cozy feeling, particularly Pigswick Academy, which I appreciate. It seems to me as though the world is loosely based on Renaissance Italy- considering the design of the buildings, with balconies and terraces, and the fact that it is inhabited by the Pegasi- a piece of Greco-Roman folklore which would have likely been revived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In fact, when I looked up at one the buildings yesterday, I saw a balcony which reminded me of the famous line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: "But, hark! What soft light through yonder window breaks?!"

Definitely Renaissance Italy, although there is also a bit of a Spanish flare

I also looked at the map of Wysteria, and found that it does not, at this point, show the entire world. Could this mean KI is planning to add on to Wysteria in the future? It would certainly make sense. Imagine, when a character reaches level 25, that they go and do the current Wysteria storyline, along with Marleybone and Grizzleheim. Then, when they reach level 35, they go back, and do a second, unrelated storyline- essentialy a sequel. This continues throughout the character's advancement, with new adventures to be had in Wysteria every time a player reaches a level ending in 5, with the difficulty of each corresponding to the minimum level. The same is the case with Grizzleheim- each area opens up at a different level, regardless of where you are in the quest line. Hence, if you were to reach level 35, and then play exclusively in GH until you finished Mirkholm Keep, then you would be unable to continue to Nidavellir until you reached level 40- you would have to resume the main story. The same would be the case with Wysteria- the main differences being that each visit would not contribute to some larger story arc (or maybe KI could make that work) and that each area is created and released by KI one at a time, over time. This gives them more time to work on the story and the design of the new areas, creating not only better main quests, but more side quests. Therefore, some of the mistakes that were made with Grizzleheim are prevented- the story is ultimately more whole. It's funny, because when I first came to understand the concept of the paralell world, I thought KI would do well to create a second paralell world, before adding new chapters after Dragonspyre/Celestia.
Again, I am very impressed with Wysteria, and would like to heartily congratulate KI for a job well done! Here are a few shots I took of little pieces which I particularly liked.

That's Malistaire's scepter sitting in the middle window. What is it doing in Wysteria?

The Brunching Club (top left) is a spoof of a classic 80's comedy called The Breakfast Club.
I found that particularly entertaining.

The professor of Frost- Quentin Burble. I love that he is a gobbler!
Although, knowing the history of Pigswick, I'm not surprised.

And finally, my new favorite NPC is  Professor Velma Pepper! I was absolutely blow away when I realized how KI had decided to design her; she is the classic, quintessential steampunk chick- from the leather jacket and gloves, to the cool-looking electric device in her hand! She even has a pair of goggles hanging around her neck! Bravo, Kingsisle! We needed a cool steampunk NPC!

Notice the Resonating Omni-Audio Graph to her left

I am, I would gage, about halfway through the main story at this point- perhaps a little less- although I have seven different side quests at the moment which I want to attend to before continuing the main. I may get on the test realm tonight; however, at 9 EST, Kestrel Shadowthistle's Summer Blowout begins! I'm off to cut the grass now, but once I finish I'll be logging on to complete my Barbarian outfit, as it is a costume party. In other words, we have to dress as something we are not. I usually dress and act the part of gentleman, so I figured the opposite of that would either be a Barbarian or a slob, and with a wide range of Grizzleheim clothing to choose from, I knew Barbarian would be easier :)

Until then, Ponder on!