Cancer Walk 2011, PvP Talk, Housing101, Feedback Friday, and One Week to "Like"

Today we've got all sorts of things happening around the spiral from the 2011 Cancer walk to Feedback Friday!

It's time for the 2011 Wizard101 Cancer Walk, hosted by Evil Theurgist! This year, wizards will gather to walk together around the world of Wizard City to raise awareness of cancer and its challenges, show support for cancer victims, survivors, and families, and to allow members of the community to get involved and make a difference. The walk takes place today at 6:00 PM EST and will follow the following route:

If you participated in Evil Theurgist's Banner and/or Twitter Contests, you had a chance to win Epic and Mega Bundles as well as crowns. Don't worry, the prizes are gone yet, there's still an opportunity to be one of 25 wizards who submits a winning screenshot for the After Shots Contest. More information at http://eviltheurgists.blogspot.com/2011/08/cancer-walk-2011.html.

Prizes aside, online game or not, this is a real-world issue that members of the community have decided to raise awareness for. Are we directly saving lives by walking around Wizard City together? Not necessarily. The idea is to remind us all that sometimes it's about more than outdoing your friends and that you can make a difference, even if it's only letting other people know about the issue.

It's time for some PvP Talk! Today on this segment, I want to present a decision I'm making on my Balance character. Presently, my Balance does very well in PvE and in PvP. In PvP, he doesn't have any trouble against other schools, but he sometimes has a hard time against other Balance characters. With the two, it can really be a race-to-the-Judgement kind of battle. Now even if I decided to change it up, my opponent won't likely be so easily convinced that another path is the way to go. I can use weakness, sure, but when he or she places a Feint, I know it's nearing the end. Currently, I am using an amulet that gives a Balanceblade and Hex, which rules out the options of other amulets because these power-ups are so vital. I've come up with three possible solutions to my problem. 

I have about 7 training points, so I could get a hold of Feint and use the same offensive strategy as so many opponents do against me. Against non-Balance characters, this is almost like an automatic win, but against other Balance characters, presents a few problems. With both of us having Feint, it seems now like a race-to-the-Feint-plus-Judgement kind of battle, and I'm not always going first.

The other possibility is to train up to Tower Shield. I would have a couple of points left over for something else. Against other schools, this would hardly be effective, seeing as I already have Elemental and Spiritual Shield, so in 6 out of 7 cases, it isn't as useful as Feint. Against Balance, if used correctly, it could ruin the other person's setup and become my win, or they could just Hydra/wand it off and then Judge. Hmm...

The third possible solution is to get Unbalance. Getting Unbalance would be completely useless against schools other than Balance. Even then, I would likely have to be going first or be very fortunate to get him to cast his Judgement with Unbalance placed. In addition, this rules out Feint, but could still be used in unison with Tower Shield. The option seems to be this: Something widely effective that presents one problem against other Balance characters or two things hardly effective at all except against Balance characters that may or may not prove useful. 

I'll probably add easily found Cleanse Ward treasure cards to my deck to removed Feints that are placed on me. Because we both will have used one turn, the opponent essentially used 1 pip to place a 20% trap on himself. What should I do? Let me know via comment!

Ok, next up I'd like to introduce to you to Housing101! You can find a link to the website over in the Links area or find them on My Blog List. The site tells you all about Housing, everything from tips and tricks to showcases, and some impressive ones, might I add. The interesting part is that the newest author is me! The housing posts your see here on my blog will also be able to be found on this blog which is a collection of many house decorators, all in one place to help other wizards out! Check out the website for more information!

This week's Feedback Friday asks wizards, "Do you PvP?" Be sure to vote and respond at https://www.wizard101.com/posts/list/41245.ftl. The current results are as follows:

Yes, all the time! 33% [83]
Sometimes... 22% [54]
Once in awhile. 24% [60]
I tried it once, but haven't been back. 13% [32]
No dueling for me! 9% [22]

Now remember, "Liking" Swordroll's Blog on Facebook will automatically enter you into one drawing every week on Friday for one or more KI Free Games codes! Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook, it's easy, you can even do it via our sidebar! The drawing will happen for five weeks following the opening of the page and official rules can be found in the previous post! Thanks!

And that concludes today's post, but don't leave yet! Can you answer "YES" to the following questions?

1. Have I become a member of this blog?
2. Have I left a comment on this post?
3. Have I "Liked" Swordroll's Blog on Facebook?
4. Am I following Swordroll on Twitter?
5. Have I told my friends about everything above?

Anyone who can answer "YES" to these questions is in good shape!