How To Guides

Here is where I will keep the collection of How To posts! Guides on little things that are really important that give detailed information. Things that people want to know about but are not universal enough or straightforward enough to make a guide. Obscure things or guides. So enjoy the treasure trove of knowledge with more to come!



How to Part 1: Crowd Control

How To Part 2: How to Farm the Bazaar Efficiently!
























How To Part 1: Crowd Control

Welcome to the first in a series of posts about how to do various things on Wizard101. These posts will mainly relate to social, parties, and other obscure challenges that players face but are not important enough to make a guide.

How To Part 1: Crowd Control.

You probably have too, but I have been to countless parties where the majority of it is spent trying to get the crowd to calm down. When trying to carry out a particular event at a party, everyone is always talking etc and it is just so frustrating to get everyone quiet! Then people start saying "quiet!" and people start responding and pretty soon it is total chaos! So how does a party host deal with this colossal dilemma? How do we have crowd control on Wizard101? Well there are many ways which I will show you!

Note: You can make a combination of these methods or use  them all

Method 1: Attention Grabber

You have 100s of wizards talking at once and only one host that needs to be heard (read.) So what do you do?
Well there are pros and cons to this but one method is to use text differentiators.
Make it a rule at the party that no one at all may use caps. If they do, they will be immediately kicked out from the party. 
Every time you want to have everyone listening at the same time, you use all caps. That way they know the only person using caps will be the host and something is important.

Pros: Very Easy for guests to distinguish you and listen.

Cons: Caps can get annoying and sometimes seem angry.

Method 2: Party Police

It is hard to make sure everyone at your party is following the rules, so recruit wizards who want to be a security guard for your party. Place them at stations around the house near the boundaries of bubble text (ability to read it from a distance). Whenever there is someone breaking the rules, they will whisper the name to you and you will kick them out.

Pros: Very effective way to keep order.

Cons: Hard to keep track of all the whispering and might make guests nervous.

Method 3: Be strict but polite.

At every party there are tons of people who are threatened to be kicked out but never are or port back. So what you do is first always have your ports off and (if you have police) make sure they keep an eye out for the guest if they come back after being kicked out.
Also, don't have warnings. Then you have to keep track of how many warnings each person has and that is a lot of work. 
So if someone breaks a rule, MAKE SURE TO TELL THEM THEY ARE BEING KICKED OUT AND BE SURE TO SAY WHY!!!!!, and then kick them out with no second chances.

Pros: Keeps order

Cons: Probably going to happen way too much and it is slightly mean.

Method 4: Rules

People are more likely to follow rules when there are more of them (online at least) as long as its not a "terms and agreements long" list.
So on your thread (this is all assuming this is a Wizard101central posted party. If not, adjust the methods to your liking) make sure to post rules and don't publish the thread until you have thought for a while and made sure there are no rules that you overlooked. If needed, edit the post to add more rules (there is a point where it is too much though, use your own judgement). Then somewhere in the middle of your list of rules (MAKE SURE IT BLENDS IN) put a sentence such as: "in the section of the form where it says random, type 756." or something along those lines. This way you know people read the rules by looking at their "RSVP" or party form (assuming you have one).

Pros: Makes sure everyone read the rules!

Cons: People might cheat by looking at previous posts but its unlikely. Also you might get less guests because they don't wanna read your rules. Again use your judgement for the amount of rules.

Feel free to adjust these methods or suggest ones! These are just some suggestions that you can incorporate to make your party more fun for everyone! Have fun!







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How To Post Part 2: How to Farm the Bazaar Efficiently!


Now I am sure that everyone has farmed the bazaar and has thought, well its not that hard, just farm right? Well there are many ways to do it, but how do you farm it in the most efficient way before someone else gets your item?
Well I am here to show you how.

This guide will be divided into the following sections:
1. Questions
2. Questions Specifics (only significant if you have a question or complication for section 1)
3. Strategies
4. Browsing
5. Final Personal Strategy


Questions:

First find out what strategy will work for you best on this bazaar visit by answering the following questions:
1. Are you looking for one or more specific items or just browsing?
2. If a specific item, does it start with A-K or L-P or Q-Z?
3. Are you looking for more than one specific item?
4. Are you open to other interesting finds along the way?
5. How fast of a reader are you? (less important but maximizes efficiency) (OPTIONAL)
6. Which category do you want to farm?
7. How fast is your internet connection?



Questions Specifics:

1. Let's say I am looking for The Great Spiral, then that would be a specific item. Maybe I am looking for The Great Spiral AND a Pagoda Brazier, those would also be specific items. Let's say I want to get music scrolls, that would be considered browsing. Maybe I don't care what I want and I just want something rare, that would also be browsing.

2. Let's say I am looking for The Great Spiral, that would fall under Q-Z. Let's say I am looking for both The Great Spiral AND a Pagoda Brazier, then I would answer that question with two answers: L-P and Q-Z.

3. Either Yes or No (see question 1 description).

4. This could either be if you are browsing or searching for a specific item/s. Let's say I am browsing for music scrolls, but I see as I am looking, a Pagoda Brazier! If I would want to stop and buy it, then the answer would be yes. But let's say I am browsing for music scrolls, I see a pagoda brazier, and I skip it because music scrolls are more important. Then the answer would be no.

5. This also has to do with processing speed. This question pertains to how quickly you can look at a single bazaar page and without pausing or looking closely, skip the page and be able to see any important items in your mind. This is mainly important if you answer "browsing" and/or "Yes" and/or "Yes" to questions 1, 3, and 4 respectively. Find out the answer to this question below under question 5 section.

6. Fairly simple. This question must have a definitive answer or you will be farming inefficiently and poorly/slowly.

7. This is a VITAL question! A fast internet connection is very important! Answer this question with the number of seconds it takes you to load the housing decorations category in the bazaar for the first time on one visit.  Less than 1 is most efficient. 1 is very efficient. 2 is moderately efficient. 3 and up is terrible.


Strategies:
Look at each bulleted section and incorporate the proper method into your final strategy

Note before we begin: Whenever you are asked to sort, due to the technical way the bazaar works, make sure you quickly move your mouse to the next location you have to click on to re-sort the items properly IMMEDIATELY AFTER you refresh the page.
  • Did you answer specific item/s to question 1?
  • If so, incorporate Question 2's method.
  • Also make sure you research the item on the Wizard101 Central Wiki so you know the specifics about it and if applicable, find out its exact name.
  • Did you answer browsing to question 1?
  • If so, this is part of your final strategy.
  • Scan read not locate read
  • In other words, scan over all the words of the items instead of looking for one specific entity.
  • Make sure your browsing answer is definitive, there is no in between "sort of looking for something" allowed.
  • Always sort the items by number in the bazaar with number 1 first and 100 last.
  • Also read the browsing strategy section near the end.
What did you answer for question 2?
  • If you answered question 2, this is part of your final strategy.
  • Depending on what alphabetical listing your item is in, it changes what you organize the list by.
  • If A-K Use alphabetical ascending order
  • If L-P there are two more questions you have have to ask, is the item rare (i.e. usually there might only be one that appears in the bazaar at a time.) if it is, then sort by item number. If the item is sold in loads, find out what the average price is and sort by price either ascending or descending depending on if it is high or low.
  • If Q-Z use alphabetical descending order.
Did you answer yes to question 3?
  • If so, this is part of your final strategy
  • If you answered yes, then apply all the questions to each of your items separately.
  • Next, decide which of the items is more important to pick up. For example, if there was one available of each item at a time and you could only buy one, which one would you pick?
  • Use the one you decided was more important for the organization question above. Then (if it is A-K or Q-Z for alphabetical) find out the less important item's usual page number. Then take that page number and find out how many average clicks it takes to scroll to that page from the more important page. Then after searching the more important page, quickly make your clicks so you can search the other page.
Did you answer no to question 3?
  • If so, do not incorporate this question into your final strategy.
Did you answer yes to question 4?

  • If so, this is part of your final strategy
  • This is a variation on the yes to question 3 strategy above
  • If you also answered yes to question 3: While you are scrolling to the less important page and/or the more important page, instead of speed clicking, just quickly scan read the items on each page. But DON'T look at the page numbers, just keep track of how many clicks you have made so far and don't waste time looking.
  • If you answered no to question 3: After incorporating question 2's strategy, the item you are looking for should be near the first few pages of the bazaar now. So after you finish quickly looking for your item on the page, then quickly (as quickly as you can go by your reading speed) scroll through the pages all the way to the end and search for any items. 
  • Eventually after farming for a while (especially in the decorations category), you will sort of have a conscious or unconscious mental picture or consistent image of what the standard common items are that are on each page. This will help you greatly once you can learn to be conscious of this picture and keep it in mind. Practice visualizing it  (BUT DO NOT GO TO THE BAZAAR WITH THE INTENTION OF LEARNING THE ITEMS! IT IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO THE STRATEGY!) and this way, you can look for anything out of the ordinary while you are scrolling pages so that you don't need to read everything on the page.
  • Also note that although answering yes to this question can be helpful to multitask while farming, in other words get more items you want that what you came for, despite that helpfulness, it DOES hinder the overall speed and thus effectiveness of your specific item farming (in the short run that is)
Find out your answer to question 5:
  • This question is optional
  • Ok so, the answer to this question is a rating between 1-10 1 being the slowest, 10 being the fastest.
  • Ok so before you read the passage below, read the instructions:
  • Time yourself (with a stopwatch!) from the point you PROCESS (in other words when you see the word and know what the word is. If you can't pinpoint this moment, change the words "process" in both places to "read") the first word to the time you PROCESS the last word. 
  • {!!!If you are unable to pinpoint the moments well enough of your word processing OR reading, then you may change the words "process" or "read" to the word "speak." This is not a very effective method unless you can speak EXTREMELY quickly AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS (important)}
  • DON'T LOOK AT THE PASSAGE BELOW YET!!!!!!!!! DO NOT LOOK AT THE PASSAGE BELOW YET!!!!!!!!!
  • DON'T LOOK AT THE PASSAGE BELOW UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE ABOVE!
  • Passage:
  • --START-- The interesting wizard jumped over the Great Hornocerus and landed on the ground. He brushed himself off after he got hurt and went on his way to his house. He arrived at his house and went past the Can of Gasoline, the Grand Piano, and his Worn Chair. He sat in his comfy Tiered Bed. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang and his friend Murphy waltzed in the house. "Hi there Tom!" he said, taking out a wand. "I have learned a new spell! It is the Frost Giant spell! I can summon a huge giant to damage the enemies!" The wizard was very proud of his new friend because he knew he had trouble learning new spells. So the two friends, Murphy and Tom, went to Dragonspyre to practice their new spells. --STOP--
  • Now to make sure you understood it, try (WITHOUT LOOKING) to explain what the passage was about. If you can, you did the exercise correctly, if you can't, take a break and do it again later.
  • So how did you do? Here are the time ratings:
  • 8-11.5 or fewer seconds: 10
  • 11.6-12.5 seconds: 9
  • 12.6 - 14 seconds: 8
  • 14.1 - 15.5 seconds: 7
  • 15.6 - 17 seconds: 6
  • 17.1 - 18 seconds: 5
  • 18.1 - 19 seconds: 4
  • 19.1 - 20 seconds: 3
  • 20.1 - 21 seconds: 2
  • 21.1 - 30 seconds: 1
  • 30+ seconds: take a break and try again later. If you can't get below 30 seconds, don't worry, you can still maximize your efficiency with the other strategies.
  • The higher your number is, the more effective the strategies will be.
  • This is just so you can get an idea of the task you are looking at.
Figure out your answer to question 6 and apply the strategies you learn:
  • Due to the technical way the bazaar works, make sure you quickly move your mouse to the next location you have to click on to re-sort the items properly IMMEDIATELY AFTER you refresh the page. (only if you are looking for a specific item).
  • ONLY LOOK IN ONE CATEGORY! IT GREATLY HINDERS YOUR SPEED TO CHECK MORE THAN ONE.
  • Some of the strategies in this section only apply to browsing or if you are open to interesting finds, BUT SOME OF IT ALWAYS APPLIES!
  • I will give you separate strategies for each category:
  • Equipment: Always position your mouse over the Usable check box so you can check it IMMEDIATELY AFTER you refresh and then position your mouse according to the first thing you need to click on to sort the items (according to question 2). Since there is the problem of being able to look at stats, you need to know the order of stats on items so you can know exactly what you want to look for and quickly move your mouse down the page. If you are checking for a specific item, disregard the last sentence. 
  • Plants, Wall Hangings, Floors and Wallpaper: Since there are usually not that many pages, this is a very efficient way to farm because it is quick. If you are just browsing make sure to sort by number in the bazaar. If you are browsing and want to look at the items' appearance, just make sure you have all the items loaded already so you can quickly look at each one.
  • Outdoor and Furniture: There are a fair amount of pages so you don't need to change anything in your strategy, it is fairly fast. Furniture is a little bit harder for browsing sometimes since the item names don't always really tell you what they look like. The same problem also goes for Outdoor. So your strategy is to know exactly what kind of thing you want so you can pick out the names that relate so you can quickly take a look at the appearance. Also make sure you sort by number in bazaar so you can pick things up quickly since you might be looking at appearance.
  • Decoration: This guide was written with this in mind so the same things apply exactly (not that you have to change it otherwise but this lets you know that it works best for decoration). There are a lot of pages here so question 2 is the most important one. It is difficult to check appearance quickly for anything in this category so my advice is to go on the Wizard101 central wiki, go to the list of housing decorations (don't worry there are not tons, no where near as many as you think) and click on whatever you would like to know the appearance of and cannot really infer what it is just in case you come across it.
  • Treasure Cards: I can't help you much here because I don't really ever farm for them. So my advice is to leave the guide the way it is and just imagine all the copies of items (from different packs) are the same thing so you don't slow down and worry about price.
  • Snacks and Reagents: VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT! If the reagent you are looking for is often really scarce in the bazaar, i.e. Aquamarine, Aether, Fire Blossom, Frozen Rose, Black Pearl, Pearl, Golden Pearl, Scrap Iron etc. In this case, NEVER EVER EVER use the buy more button! Someone else will get it in that time I guarantee it. If more than one appear in the bazaar, just quickly push buy and confirm again and again! WARNING: YOU MUST WAIT FOR THE CONFIRMATION TO APPEAR BEFORE YOU PRESS ENTER BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU NEED TO CLICK INSTEAD OF TYPE ENTER! My advice is always sort by alphabet. No reason but thats the way I do it. It is more important to only look for one specific item in this case.

Find out your answer to question 7:
  • This is a VITAL question! A fast internet connection is very important! Answer this question with the number of seconds it takes you to load the housing decorations category in the bazaar for the first time on one visit.  Less than 1 is most efficient. 1 is very efficient. 2 is moderately efficient. 3 and up is terrible.
  • Make sure there is no loading icon in the top of your screen because that can ruin the test.
  • If your internet rates as 3 or up, you can pretty much forget the strategies. Unless your item is fairly common or sold often, someone else will snatch it up quickly. You are better off just farming.

Browsing:
  • The issue with browsing is that you can do it many ways:
  • 1. Casually not caring if you snatch something or not, just wanna see what looks good.
  • 2. Speed browsing (as the guide above has been referring)
  • 3. Rarity browsing (as the guide above has been referring)
  • In number 2, you don't care what you get just as long as you snag something!
  • Number 3 is pretty much the same but you don't care as long as you snag something RARE!
  • Strategies for 2: All the suggested appropriate strategies above. This can often result after your farming trip to be disappointing. You will often end up with stuff you didn't even really want that much and wasted your hard earned gold on but only picked it up because it looked good. If you REALLY like the idea of strategy 2, by all means use that strategy the whole time, it can be very good sometimes too. But if you are not completely defiant to use no other strategy but this, then I suggest switching to strategy 3.
  • Strategies for 3: Always sort by rarity and use the appropriate strategies above.
  • Strategies for 2 and 3: If you find something you like or even might like, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY!  I have the tendency to say "Maybe I will find something I like better and I might miss my chance." What I don't think about is that I will lose my chance for this item too! So if you see something you like, don't hesitate for a moment because you shouldn't give up a chance for a good item for a chance for a better item because you never know if the better item is there.



Your Personal Final Strategy!

Now remember that you might need to redo this process each time you go to the bazaar. I know this is a  long and some will say overdone and unnecessary process but this is the best way to do it if you trying to farm hardcore and the best you possibly can. Those are really the only times you should do this guide's process again after the first time.
So now it is time to put all your hard work together!
Fill out this form:
Copy and paste the bullet points that apply to you under each section. Then tweak them yourself if you think an idea should be different or add something or remove something. Also make sure to condense the bullet point to only the vital information and make it succinct.

Question 1 bullets:

Question 2 bullets:

Question 3 bullets: 

Question 4 bullets:

Question 6 bullets:

Question 7 bullets:

Any extra info that you think would help your farming trip:

Circle one: First form fill out OR I have done this before [This way you know if this is a specific incident strategy or one that you could use and apply for many times]

[OPTIONAL] Now if you would like, create a step by step guide with strategies of a hypothetical (or your next) bazaar trip:
1.
2.
3.
etc.



Congratulations! You have created your own personal strategy for your next bazaar farming visit so that YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO GET THAT/THOSE ITEM/S!!!!!!
THE OTHER SHOPPERS WON'T STAND A CHANCE! REPEAT TO YOURSELF: I WILL GET IT FIRST! MOTIVATE YOURSELF AND DON'T GIVE UP IF YOU ARE ON A BAD STREAK OF MISSING ITEMS! YOU WILL GET IT EVENTUALLY!




......Of course if you really don't want to do all this... there is always farming......

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