Interview: Famous Autumn Walker

This week, I interviewed the Famous Autumn Walker from Secrets of the Spiral, a site that recently became official in Pirate101. I was able to talk to her through DMs on Twitter and met her in-game on Pirate101. It was pretty funny when I met her because my game loads slowly, so I just ended up running blindly in front of her.

(P.S. I think her staff takes too much attention from her awesome outfit!)

First thing's first, I want to congratulate you on being official.

Thank you so much! That really means a lot! :)

1) Did you start playing Pirate101 once it was released? Were you a beta player? What's your current level?

I was actually lucky enough to win a beta key from Paige Moonshade back in August 2012. So I was able to play during beta. And then once the game went live, of course I was right there playing still. My highest pirate is my Witchdoctor, who is currently level 59. I also have a level 27 Privateer, level 8 Swashbuckler, and a Buccaneer and Musketeer that are both level 5.

2) What's your favorite class and world in Pirate101?

My favorite class is Witchdoctor. However, I think all classes have great aspects and I would like to eventually have all 5 at max level. As for my favorite world, it's currently Marleybone. That may change once I get further into Aquila though.

3) Which world did you find difficult to quest in so far and why?

I think all the worlds have their own difficulties for the level you are supposed to be when you start questing in them. However, I have to say that once I got to the Haunted Skyway in Cool Ranch, I started having a lot of trouble with ship battles. And those troubles continued all the way through Mooshu. I finally realized just how important it is to keep your ships and ship equipment upgraded, and doing so helped a lot on Marleybone, and hopefully now in Aquila too. As far as hand to hand combat, I find that the more I play and get new strategies, the less trouble I have. Having said that, there is no doubt that Aquila will be a tough world. But I am looking forward to the challenge!

4) How did you start blogging and why?

When I first started playing Kingsisle games, I had no idea about the blogging community. Then one of my best friends, Edward Lifegem, told me about his blog. I started reading it and a few months later I realized I had been noticing stuff in game and thinking that it could be turned into a cool post. That's when I started my blog, way back in June 2011. There are 2 reasons I started blogging. The first was that it looked like a lot of fun.....And I was right about that one! The second is that I wanted to be able to help people with tips, advice and guides. I don't know how much I succeeded with the second one, but I like to think my guides have helped at least a few people!

5) Like every fan site, you had to work hard to get your site up to where you wanted it to be. A few bloggers would have a schedule or a routine. Do you have one? Or do you just go with the flow?

I honestly kind of just go with the flow. I do have certain goals I try to keep up with, for example, having at least one contest and event per month. And I have also been trying to post at least 3 times per week. But other than that, I mostly just blog when I feel like blogging, which is sometimes not as often as I would like! Not too long ago, I was making 2-4 blog posts per day, but that got to be kind of crazy. Mixing it up and not having a schedule is part of what keeps blogging an enjoyable hobby for me. And that's why some months you will see a lot going on with the site (updates, events, contests) and other months it's mostly just me posting about questing.

6) You recently went official. How did you find out? Did you get an email? Or was it from friends?

Actually, this is kind of a funny story. I had checked my email to see if I had heard back and I hadn't. So I logged onto Pirate101 to farm with a friend (Swordroll). After about 15 minutes, he was like "OMG You made official?!?!" At first I thought he was joking, but I had only told a couple of people I had even submitted my blog, so I knew he must be serious. He told me to go look at Twitter so I did. My Direct Messages and feed were both blowing with congrats! The first person who noticed and congratulated me was Edward Lifegem, then my friend Briana Dragonpants. Then....um.....I think pretty much the whole rest of the community lol. It was amazing! Everyone's support meant the world to me. I think I stared at the computer screen for like 2 whole minutes in complete shock before I even tweeted though :P Then I checked my email, and I had recieved the acceptance email from Tom (the community manager) about 4 minutes after I logged on to Pirate101. Nice timing :P

7) How does it feel to be official? Do you feel like you can let out a relieved sigh knowing that all your work has paid through? Are you excited? Or does it feel the same as being unofficial?

I think this is the hardest question to answer, because I can honestly say that I don't really know how I feel. I am definitely excited when I stop and think about it, but mostly it still doesn't seem real. I think I am still in shock. I am just the same Autumn who loves blogging, playing Pirate101, and being a part of the most amazing community ever, as I was before. So to answer your question, I guess I still feel the same, just with a little more excitement and responsibility :)

8) Do you have any advice for other bloggers?

My advice would be to blog about things you enjoy! I have had people ask me what they should blog about, and that is really hard to someone else. Blogging should be a fun hobby. Find an aspect of the game you love, and use that as a jumping off point. Someone could ask me to make a guide all about PvP, but I honestly don't enjoy PvPing much, and that would come through my writing. Another example: I always hear people say that organizing contests and events is a lot of work. I guess maybe it is, but this is something I love doing, so it doesn't seem like work to me at all. I have fun with it. So my advice is, if it's something you like and want to write about, it will make it more enjoyable for other people to read. Also, don't try to please everyone. It s impossible! It is more important to make sure you are having fun, and that you are happy with your blog.

Thanks for the interview! I had a lot of fun with it. And good lucky with your blog!

Thanks Autumn! I had fun too!

If you want to check out her blog, you can go to www.secretsofthespiral.com/ 

I'm hoping that I'd get some crowns soon so I can make a blog post about the new tourney feature. So, I guess I will need to wing my next few posts since I can't quest either (crowns player) Until next time!

My New Blog

Welcome to The Rainvault Chronicles! A blog where an average teenager like me plays Wizard101 and Pirate101 and blogs about the adventures I take and rants about the monsters I hate. My name is Ryan Rainvault but I am known as Stormy Ryan Lawson on Pirate101. Both my wizard and pirate are over level 10 but under level 20. Why? Because I'm a crowns player and I don't buy crowns very often.
But I'm not only going to write posts about my quests but also about the community. I'll post interviews, parties, perhaps I'll do teacher or blogger of the week, or just random news. I'm not the type to write fan-fictions, but if you own one or currently writing one and want it to be known, tweet me on Twitter. My twitter username is @RyanRainvault. I'll do contests every once in a while but I'll most likely can't.
My blog doesn't have much, maybe it's just the beginning. But I don't like lag so, you're welcome.

I started playing Wizard101 sometime in 2009, I think in July/August. I've been a level 10 for years until recently. It's not much though, I just leveled up 6 levels before running out of crowns. I'll most likely finish Pirate101 before Wizard101 because, hey, it's not everyday you get to be a crime-fighting Muskeeter with the hidden identity of a Diviner.

So, since it's my first post AND Father's Day, I'm pretty sure that allot of people won't be online today. So, I want to say Happy Father's Day to those Wizard101/Pirate101 dads who will most likely not be reading this until maybe months later.

That's basically it, just wanted to give you an introduction to my blog and about myself. I hope to commit and stick to this blog. I really want to make myself known in the community. :)