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Wizard101 introduces iPhone minigame
We've gotten quite an infusion of side applications for mobile devices of late, but Wizard101 has released one that might set a somewhat dangerous new precedent. It's one thing to be able to surf your auctions or your character builds, but it's another to be able to earn gold and potions in-game through diligent play of the mobile app. But just such a thing is possible in the new WizardBlox app, for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. High scores give you access to in-game rewards, thereby making your goofing around between classes or during breaks at work all the more productive. In terms of gameplay, it's a fairly standard puzzle game format -- slide blocks around on the bottom, match three or more to destroy them, avoid crossing the top of the screen. It's based off the in-game minigame Sorcery Stones, so gameplay will be familiar for any Wizard101 fan. The official page doesn't give any information on how large the rewards that you can earn for the main game will be, so it's safe to bet they're not going to be enormous. Still, this means players on the go can do more than usual in the game... even when they're not in the game.
Wizard101 hosting holiday Twitter contest
One of the more family-oriented MMOs currently on the market, Wizard101, celebrates Valentine's Day via its annual Friendship Festival, a concept that some of us can enthusiastically get behind. Its approach has been heralded by the return of the vendor NPC Valentia Heartsong, selling special holiday items in exchange for the game's microtransaction currency, Crowns. But in an effort to get players feeling just a little bit more friendly, the game's staff is running a special contest to give away some of the holiday items for free. Every day until February 12th, the team will select one of their followers on Twitter at random, contact them via Twitter, and ask for their Wizard101 account name. That means that entering the contest is as simple as following the game @Wizard101. The prize is handed out at noon each day, which means there's still plenty of time for the game's players to get in on the fun and get a little something extra. And besides, following a game you enjoy on Twitter is good practice anyway. Fan of the holiday or not, it's hard not to like a friendly gesture such as this.
Wizard101 raises over $100,000 for charity
The holidays are over -- everyone can breathe a collective sigh of relief now -- but there are some gifts that keep on giving. Charitable donations always go up during the holidays, and with the rise of microtransaction stores, games are better able to get in on the generosity. Wizard101 was one of the many offering an in-game carrot for donating to charity, the tiger-striped Meowmodon mount. Aside from having an adorable name, it inspired enough players to purchase it that raised $126,000 for charity. The total amount received will be split evenly between Child's Play and the Austin Children's Shelter, to suppport both the worldwide community and the area surrounding the KingsIsle headquarters. The company seems quite pleased with the results, and it's a testament to both the community and the game that a free-to-play game could raise such a substantial sum for two excellent causes. The offiicial announcement can be found on the official Wizard101 site, to no great surprise. Congratulations to the players who took part, and we can only hope this effort will be repeated in the coming months -- free-to-play item malls donating to charity have certainly made an impact this holiday season, certain hiccups notwithstanding.
Buy a mount in Wizard101 for charity
Remember when you would try and convince your mother to get you something with the rallying cry that it would be educational? It didn't always work, but it was usually worth a try. Kids playing Wizard101 -- or adults looking to justify their latest impulse purchase to their spouse -- will be able to unleash a variant on that: "But it's for charity!" The Meowmodon mount, pictured above, has just been unveiled as the newest addition to the mount options in the game, but there's a twist: buying it sends no money to KingsIsle. It moves straight on to charity. Each time the mount is purchased, KingsIsle will donate the full cost of the mount, roughly $15 US, to two charities, the Austin Children's Shelter and the ever-popular Child's Play. Moreover, the mount will only be available between December 14th and January 5th of next year. The fact that it's a limited-time item makes it even more attractive to many parts of the gaming community, and it marks a Wizard101 player as having donated to worthy causes at one of the most important times of the year. So if you have any interest in owning it, by all means, head to the page with all the details, and remember that you don't have to feel even remotely bad about this impulse purchase.
Wizard101 releases December patch
Fast turnarounds are always nice. It's been a little over a week since we posted the first news about Wizard101's upcoming school-specific housing, and it's already moved from "upcoming" to "live." The December patch has just been released, and in addition to giving players the opportunity at having the literally hottest house around (among others), it brings a number of other improvements to the game's client. Most notable is the option to block chat from your opponents in PvP, a welcome feature to avoid the frequently non-stop boasting that seems to go hand-in-hand with the playstyle. It is an option that can be changed even in the middle of a duel, and while it's not game-defining it should be a welcome addition. Much of the meat of this update comes in the form of the team relentlessly hunting down bugs and squashing them, with a long list of prior bugs that are no more. The team even notes that some of the killed bugs are ones the majority of players didn't even know about. While the update is a little lighter on actual content compared to the last one, fewer bugs and a better all-around experience are nothing to sneeze at, not to mention some exceptionally nice new houses. Wizard101 players still have a few days until the main event, but they still got a nice early Christmas present.
Wizard101 school housing info and video
Wizard 101 isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's been doing quite well for itself and certainly delivers on the premise of letting players take on a wizard's role. Well... mostly, anyway. The player housiing has sadly been lacking options for some of the more eccentric wizards out there. After all, a nice townhouse is all well and good for some wizards, but what self-respecting fire wizard doesn't have a metal and stone deathtrap perched precariously over molten rock? Luckily for those players with similar tastes, the game will be adding seven new styles of housing in mid-December based on the seven schools of magic. Tipa at West Karana has an excellent galley of the houses available, complete with decorating tips for some of the more challenging house arrangements like the cramped underwater house for (you guessed it) the Water school. MMOQuests also has a brief video tour of the Death house, which looks like something straight out of The Nightmare Before Christmas. And speaking of Christmas, the houses are slated to be priced at either 100,000 gold or 10,000 Crowns, the latter of which comes out to about $20. Not a bad price for a gift for your favorite Wizard 101 player, when you get right down to it.
AGDC 2009: Wizard101 hits 5 million accounts, mounts coming, and more
If you're a fan of Wizard101, then you're in for a serious treat. Brent from VirginWorlds posted a video of Darren from Common Sense Gamer sitting down with a "gaggle" of people from KingsIsle Entertainment during AGDC. It seems that Darren had a nice long talk about the past, present, and future of Wizard101, and they were all too happy to give him lots of choice tidbits of information. While this video clocks in at almost a whopping 30 minutes, it covers a large amount of territory fans and curious onlookers alike will be interested in. The various topics touched on during the course of this interview include the news that Wizard101 has also crossed the 5 million account mark; the account structure and parental controls available in-game; some interesting tidbits about just who is playing; and even a look at the upcoming mounts that will be available for players in October. Also, be sure to check Common Sense Gamer for screenshots of those upcoming Wizard101 mounts. Looks like an exciting time to be a Wizard between all this information and the first birthday celebration going on now!
Wizard 101 celebrates their first birthday with a month of events
Most online games just do a single event for their birthday and then let it pass by. You might get an in-game item or two, but that's about it. But this isn't how Wizard 101 and Kingsisle Entertainment run things. No sir, they're doing a month full of events, and they want everyone to participate!This September is Wizard 101's first birthday and new events will be made available throughout the month. Right now, it seems that only two events (join their Facebook group for a in-game pet and a screenshot contest where you can win a poster signed by the development team and 10,000 in-game crowns) have been made available. Yet, there's still 2/3rds of a month left and 4 more events to unveil, so stay tuned to the Wizard 101 site for all of the information!And happy birthday Wizard 101!
Largest Wizard101 expansion launches today, introduces crafting system
The kid-centric MMO Wizard101 from KingsIsle Entertainment seems to be doing quite well for itself, having already gained millions of unique users since its launch last September. Wizard101 has gotten a steady stream of updates as well. In fact, today marks the game's largest expansion release to date, adding a new land called Grizzleheim with a Norse theme, and a Bazaar in Olde Town where players can buy and sell their wares. Perhaps the biggest addition to Wizard101 with today's expansion is a crafting system which will bring new gear into the game that spans the various schools of magic. Wizard101 players will be able to craft hundreds of items ranging from clothing to Treasure Cards. In addition to using crafting tables in their houses and dorm rooms, players can progress through five tiers of crafting advancement.
Norse themed expansion coming to Wizard 101
Summer is a time for expansions in Wizard101 as the game will be seeing the addition of Grizzleheim, a Norse themed area adding all sorts of new content. The biggest feature being added is probably the crafting, followed by a bazaar. However, players will also get the chance to meet three new tribal races: Viking Bears, Wolves, and Ravens.Yeah, you heard us, bears that are also vikings.KingsIsle Entertainment has also said they're adding plenty of new social feautres, although didn't elaborate much beyond that. So if you like snow, mountains, plenty of fir trees and vikings, we're sure you'll be happy exploring Grizzleheim -- which you can do right now on the game's test server! Thought you'd have to wait to check it out, didn't you? Well, as it turns out, you won't.
Wizard101 brings housing with May patch
Wizard101 has introduced housing into the game today with their latest May patch. This housing feature has been highly anticipated by the community and allows for your character to have up to three houses, plus your dorm room. These "Castles & Lands", as they're called, are available for players level 10 and above.In addition, this patch brings even more voice-overs to characters in Marleybone, MooShu and Dragonspyre. A new Mark & Recall feature lets you easily teleport around any points in the game, when pinged with special marks that cost a small amount of mana. Be sure to read the complete patch notes on Wizard101's site for more information, and definitely check out Tipa's review of all houses available.
Wizard101 hits 2 million unique user mark
The picture for massively multiplayer games aimed at a younger demographic is decidedly bright. Titles like Cartoon Network's FusionFall and Wizard101 from KingsIsle Entertainment have already attracted millions of players, though in the case of FusionFall, having your own TV network to promote it can't hurt those registered member numbers. Not to be outdone, the last word we had on the number of Wizard101 subscribers placed it at over 1 million accounts, but today's press announcement confirms the figure at double that initial estimate -- Wizard101 has now hit the 2 million unique user mark. That number is likely to grow with KingsIsle Entertainment's other announcement -- beginning today, Wizard101 prepaid gift cards can be found in 7-Eleven stores throughout the U.S., in $10 denominations.
KingsIsle's Todd Coleman on Wizard101: Finding the middle ground
How do you go from the hardcore hacking and slashing impact-PvP of Shadowbane to a turn-based card combat MMO featuring cow samurais named Sam-moorai? How does one create an experience that is more grown up than Club Penguin but more kid-friendly than Barrens chat? What do you get when you take Harry Potter, Yu-Gi-Oh, and early Final Fantasy and then mix them in a blender?The MMO Gamer asks these questions and more in an interview with Wizard101 Director, J. Todd Coleman; the man who conceptualized the original idea for the game on a note pad. The interview sheds light on how Wizard101 came to be, the free-to-play model, and potential directions the game may take in the future (e.g., player housing).Todd also tells us that reports of the game surpassing 1,000,000 players are outdated and that KingsIsle will be making an announcement soon to highlight their exponential growth since releasing six months ago. He claims that Wizard101 wouldn't have had nearly this much success if it was a $50 retail purchase and $15 per month subscription. About subscription-based MMOs he says, "...you're fighting a war of attrition the entire time. FTP is not like that, at least it hasn't been for us."
Wizard 101 announces new update
KingIsle Entertainment has announced its latest update to Wizard 101, its free to play MMO aimed at younger players that also has an option to subscribe or purchase access passes in order to unlock additional content. Wizard 101, which recently passed a million players, has been receiving frequent updates including a new PvP area and the addition of voice to many characters.Highlights of this update include new high end spells available for players when they reach level 48. There is one spell for each of the seven schools of magic in the game, which are available through a quest. Another welcome feature is the ability to buy back a character's training points using Crowns, the game's micro-transaction currency, to allow them to be reused on new spells, which allows players to correct any choices that they are not happy with and try out new ideas. There are also new rewards for PvP, including a new pet to collect, and the friends list has been expanded to allow you to mark friends as "best friends."
Wizard 101 to include voice overs, shared bank feature
The team over at Kingsisle Entertainment isn't sitting on their hands while Wizard 101 racks up over 1 million accounts. The most recent update to the game will be bringing a voice to the many characters of the Ravenwood School, as well as a new utility for those who play multiple characters.Voice overs for all of the characters in Wizard City and Krokotopia have been added as of March 16th, and the other areas of Marleybone, Moo Shu, and Dragonspyre will be soon to follow. These voice overs will be added to all of the quests, NPCs, cinematics, and boss encounters in the game, making everything a little bit more colorful.Players who play multiple characters will also love the new shared bank feature, which allows you to share one dorm room space amongst all of your characters. So, if you find something that would benefit one of your other five characters, worry no longer!
Theorycrafting in Wizard101
Apparently theorycrafting isn't just for hardcore RPGers anymore. Tipa of the West Karana blog put together an interesting primer on the hidden numbers behind kid-friendly (and adult too - don't be shy) MMO, Wizard101. Want to know what damage, accuracy or power pips are and which is better? Want to know what your ideal secondary magic school might be? Want to know how important mana or health is when choosing gear? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Tipa's "need to know" guide. You can even leave a question in her comment section if you don't find what you were looking for.And we're sure there will be a lot of questions since Wizard101 recently hit the one million player mark. Perhaps theorycrafting has become a bit more important in this casual-friendly game since they recently added the player arena, where wizards can engage in a fierce magical duels against each other. Competition usually encourages more strategic thinking and planning if you want to win, and this combat primer might help as well.
Get mystical with this Wizard101 combat primer
Maybe the casual friendly, Harry Potter inspired Wizard101 has caught your eye sometime in the past, but you weren't really sure what the game entailed. Well, in that case MMORPG.com has a good combat primer that'll help you get your wands in order, as it were. While the game doesn't demand deep, tactical thinking it isn't exactly a hack 'n slash title either -- so a little bit of help isn't out of the question. Plus, it's got a free-or-pay pricing structure as well.If you're wondering whether or not Wizard101 is a game worth a little investigation, we'll be the first to answer that yes, very much so! We've got both some early hands-on time with the game, as well as an interview we did shortly before it launched last September. And if you're looking for something short and sweet to convince you to take a look: turn-based card battle MMORPG.
Wizard101 gets first major expansion, Wizard Arena for PvP
The kid-friendly massively multiplayer online game Wizard101 saw some big changes yesterday. The introduction of the high level world "Dragonspyre" expands upon the existing storyline in Wizard101, bringing players into a haunted world where a militant society proficient in Fire Magic once lived. The other major addition to Wizard101 is the new PvP Wizard Arena. According to the latest press release from KingsIsle Entertainment: "Players can challenge each other in either Practice or Ranked duels, with up to four Wizards per team. Un-ranked practice duels, free for all Wizard101 players, allow players to jump into an automatically formed duel or set up their own team and choose opponents. In Ranked duels, a robust matchmaking service matches Wizard101 subscribers with similarly ranked Wizards, and the winners of each duel are awarded Arena Tickets, redeemable for unique loot." For the next few weeks, these Ranked duels will be a subscriber-only benefit. But in mid-February, Ranked duels will also open up for non-subscribers. As an added bonus, there are quarterly Wizard Arena seasons, and the top Duel Master will be named at the end of each Arena season.
The Daily Grind: How much free-to-play game coverage do you want?
In the last six months or so, Massively has refocused quite a bit since our early days. When we started out, we went really broad, trying to encompass every element of the MMO genre out there. We talked about everything from RuneScape to semi-obscure Korean imports, all the way up to Warhammer, World of Warcraft, and Lord of the Rings Online. In the last six months, though, we've primarily been focused on AAA titles. We primarily did it because we thought it was what you wanted to see, but in the last month or so we've seen signs your interests may be broader.Free-to-play games are constantly improving, formerly maligned Korean imports have seen a lot of development and localization love, and the microtransaction market is a moving target. Games like Atlantica Online, Runes of Magic, Wizard101, DOMO and Shaiya are increasingly showing up on our collective radars. What do you think about these games? Do you want to see more coverage of free-to-play games on Massively? What's your favorite free-to-play game that we really need to pay attention to? And if we do put more coverage of these games on the block, do you want to see things like patch notes or just the highlights/holiday announcements? Let us know!
A little more about Wizard101
There have been quite a few releases for magic-themed game Wizard101 of late as well as the preview of the first expansion. Enough so that WhatTheyPlay has posted an overview aimed at parents to explain the basis of the game and what they can expect if their kids play it. In a nutshell, Wizard101 is a world where players are students of magic. Combat relies on a trading card system and is turn-based. No one ever "dies" in the game. It's free to play in much the same way that Runescape is - meaning that many areas and quests are only available to paid accounts. The options are numerous in terms of membership levels depending upon what the players (or their parents) want to be able to do. For those parents worried about the community, they do discuss the limitations on communication and the average age of players (about 12). Then again, with family plan pricing available, parents could join their kids in the game and find out for themselves what it's all about.
