Spotlight on an Employee’s Wizard
Howdy fellow Wizards! I’m Gary Scott Smith, but you may know me in game as Duncan DayDreamer. On the forums I post as Arthur Wethersfield. I’m a game programmer that’s been working on Wizard101 for almost 5 years. I first started with player housing. Then I did mannequins, pets and mounts in housing, the maze game, gardening, housing games, wands on walls, housing music players, housing signs, housing teleporters, the Bric-a-Brac Elixir, the Additional Castle Elixir, buy more and sell more, spectator mode, playable musical instruments… and lots of other things!
I have a Wizard101 character that I’ve been playing since launch. As of this post, I’m level 81 and near the beginning of Azteca. My character’s primary school is Storm. With Storm, all fights are over quickly, one way or the other. I also have a level 51 character in Pirate101.
My focus at work is player housing, and other than questing, that’s my main aspect of playing Wizard101 as well. Since we added the Additional Castle Elixir I have been able to buy, acquire, or craft every house in the game – 32 at the moment! I’ve decorated most of them too.
For this blog post, I wanted to share my favorite house. Yes, I know that there are bigger and fancier houses… but I’ve always liked the Wooded Cottage. I enjoy the Wizard City sky in the background and the cottage’s cozy interior.
By the way, did you know that the unicorn that periodically appears in the grove was added before you could put pets in your houses? Now if you want, you can fill the house with unicorn pets and the unicorn that lives in the grove isn’t really necessary, but we’d never remove it!
I crafted the carousel at this house before gardening existed and farming Wintertusk made Black Pearls and Earthquake treasure cards easier to acquire. I sure spent a lot of time gathering Black Lotus in MooShu so I could craft that carousel!
I think it’s important for developers to play the games they work on, both to be familiar with the content and to thoroughly understand what works well and what doesn’t. For example, I implemented “buy more” and “sell more” features after slowly buying and selling reagents one by one… over and over! It made me wish there was a better way. I recently alphabetized the crafting recipes in our crafted recipe lists after hunting for one randomly listed recipe one too many times. For similar reasons, I like to know what players are saying about Wizard101. I read lots of blog posts; I scan our forums, the Wizard101Central forums and I listen to Ravenwood Radio.
The future is full of exciting things! See you in the spiral.
Gary Scott Smith
Senior Software Engineer II
KingsIsle Blog 
i have an idea for wizard 101 let players sell stuff to each other. lets say your forming and not getting any luck wizards can open up thier own little shop so that other players can pay with gold to buy that stuff on sale. so lets say i wanted a pink dandiloin i would just search it in the shop menue and see which wizards is saling it
There is already something very similar, but you cannot buy or sell directly. It’s called the bazaar, and it is located in Olde Town. Everything in stock was sold by another wizard, so that is a little more efficient than shopping around with several people. Also, everything there is cheaper than it would be at a traditional vendor (and if there is a lot of it, the price should be even lower.) While that is a good idea, it is already in place in a more efficient way.
yeah! thats the same idea i had. or we could trade items instead of just treasure cards. also we should be able to donate gold to other players.
omg that really a grate idea i always thinking about that in my head but don’t know where i should talk to
ya that would be cool
dude dude dude…. nah here is what ya do wizard101 employees should make a shop thing that you could buy in crown shop to put in your home you could let players come to your home and see what you are selling > individual shops.
I wish we could do this, but players would start hacking because there would be a reason; you can get all of their possesions and gold. 😦
so they could change it and make it so we have little back accounts with passwords so they can’t hack.
I would love that aspect. As a player, I quest and don’t pvp often, so when I want to craft something on my myth level 39 who has Mooshu I cant go to those exotic places like Celestia or Azteca to by the exotic reagents you can farm or buy in those worlds. However a level 90 could farm all the reagents I needed, spare me the work and the time!
I requested this in the test realm! 😀 Great idea
Thank you so much for everything you do for us! The wooded cottage was my first house and I was SO bummed when it came time to move out…but now that there are those wonderful Elixirs perhaps I’ll get another one soon 😀 We really appreciate all the great contributions you all make even the tiny ones that sometimes go unnoticed!
Thank you so much! You have helped a lot. 😀
Same Here
i love this game I want to be friends with you my name is Jennifer dunriver in the game
thanks a lot for making housing
i love wizard 101 because it gave me thirst for adventure in my life and it is easier to contact my friends from school. It is great of how much work you put into this game where the family can get together and have some fun, thanks for all you do!
i really agree with you because my first house was matter a fact my first house was a castle massive fantasy palace and I do not know what to do with it so I truly agree 🙂
I believe you just became my favorite employee at Kings Isle. Seems we have the same infatuation with housing and crafting, though I only have about a quarter of the houses you have established. Not to mention, housing and crafting is a welcomed break away from questing.
The mannequins have been my favorite things to craft but, sadly, I can only make one more of the female before being maxed. I’ve already maxed out on the male. (I like the fact that I can get my plethora of Crowns gear out of my banks and on display.)
I have immensely enjoyed decorating my various homes and proud of the end results with each one. I have but one question to ask of you. From your screen shots, I notice you have several vases with plants sprouting from them. Where in the Spiral did you get those! I would love to have some plant life in my homes that are contained in some of the fabulous vases available, but have been unable to find any, bought or crafted. Share your secret with me, please!
Anyways, thank you for giving all us Wizards something more, outside of questing, to do in this wonderful family based game.
I’m not a KI Employee, but I do know a thing or three about housing! The Potted Bobtail is available from Youkai or Oakheart in MooShu. Youkai also drops a very large potted tree thing. Potted Cattail drops from Oakheart. There’s a plant in a vase that matches the Cattail called a Potted Heartblossom from Nomoonaga. Many other more common plants exist, as they were quest rewards from Marleybone and Krokotopia. The bazaar usually sees most of these wonderful items pass through, if you have a quick clicker-finger!
Ooo! Thank you John! I’ll make note of those and start farming them and hope I don’t have to spend a lot of time and hope to get them!
Always wanted to thank the person who achieved the “buy more” and “sell more” reagents. Thank you, thank you! Of course, the other imaginative ideas and revamps are great for the game, but that was a genius fix in my opinion. 🙂
my wizard is michael michael ghost staff i wanna battle your character i am gonna be on friday all day realm banshee lets fight i love kill storm people haha this will be fun……..
i agree with sierra dreamwhisper she is a smart person even though i dont know her but she is still a smart person
i want to thank the person who made this game he is an awesome guy he is smart for making the houses and pets and decorations for houses and i think he make cool looking houses like my favorite the red barn farm i like how he put a tornado in the back and a tornado celler where the wizards can be safe and he is smart for making malistaire and making his life to ten thousand and i like how he made up to level 90 it would be cool if there was 100 levels but i like 90 levels to
you now what i am a level 19
I’m thrilled beyond belief to hear you listen to and enjoy the show. Thank you so much for creating this world for us – we all really appreciate it. 🙂 Cheers.
We met when you visited Austin GDC. I gave you a Wizard101 witches broom pen.
hi wizard101 i am a big fan and i hope new wizards have fun to:3
I think that wizards should be allowed to be trade items, example: say if I wanted the wyvern mount and my friend wanted the white stag mount we would be able to trade the item if we had the items, I would love if you could do it so please add it in KingsIsle! 🙂
I really think we should have a clothing wardrobe in our houses, It would be a great way to store, crown clothing. My backpack is so full, and i don’t want to sell my crown clothes.
I don’t play for a while and all my pets ran away!!!!
So, i was thinking that, let’s say if you had level 88 storm gear in your bag and your promethean storm friend had the level 88 death gear you wanted. Instead of just trading treasure cards, you should be able to trade gear, mounts, housing items, most definitely pets, and maybe houses as well. it would make the game a lot more fun, easier, and interesting.
can you please make an easy way to get crowns because i am so bored without crowns and membership i am starting to play other games since i think wizard101 is boring 😦 please make the crowns be at least 10,000 because the friend code thing only gives 500 😦
please could you give us a way of deleting recipes no longer wanted or need
From your blog it seems that you did not mention any involvement in PVP. We welcome the changes at the PVP side to make things fair, but one thing really bothers me regarding matching of wizards and would like to know what criteria you used to match them. For example, the matching of a low level 33 to a level 58 with high critical rating of 168, more than double the health (over 3000), and half the resistance (still over 25% which is enough to withstand any attack done by a low level wizard, seems unfair (not to mention not being able to go first). Perhaps explaining how the match is done would help us understand your reasoning behind it and reduce some grumpiness?
Other programmers and designers at Kingsisle focus on PVP. I don’t play very much PVP because I dislike losing.
loved it i wish i could meet you i need crowns and i could ask you for a code for crowns i am lvl 12 and cannot do my lvl 12 death quest
As a fellow crafter ( and also house collector) I will say thanks for the buy more and sell more feature. I love that one. It makes it so much easier, especially since I forget t sell my PB&J snacks until I have 999 of them ….can you imagine doing that without the ” Sell more ” feature?
the wooden cottage was one of my favorite houses on wizard101 until I saw the rest right now i’m in Marley bone and the wooden cottage is still my favorite but I like every house to
Hey My name is ryan hawk hunter I am so happy For You Duncan 😉 If You ever wanna find me I Might be in Zafaria Realm Wu
Hey I so Proud of You 🙂 wt level are you btw and have I met You before?
to let the hatching system cost lest
I think if a new wizard joins they could get like a low amount of crowns but can still get something. If they like what they can get they could buy more. Or like a bonus gift from the creators and workers saying enjoy your journey across desserts.Under the seas and much much more new wizard!
I just want to say Thank You for creating all these wonderful housing features. I was so happy when the Additional Castle Elixir was implemented. I was finally able to get all the houses that I wanted without having to pick and choose.
I must say that the Housing Features in Kingsisle’s games has to be the best that I have ever seen in any game that I have played. It is all so beautiful and easy to obtain with in-game gold. Overall I am completely impressed by all of it.
Thank you Mr. Gary for immersing yourself into the game. We all appreciate what you have brought to all of it. It is truly amazing!
I’m not sure how much influence you have on Pirate 101, but since you are into housing…. I thought it would be neat to incorporate housing into the various ships available. Maybe have a below decks area that you could decorate and store housing items.
Also, it would be neat if there were housing items based on the worlds of Aquila and Valencia in both Pirate 101 and Wizard 101, as well as new houses available in both games.
I ported Wizard’s housing system to Pirate but other programmers are taking care of it now.
Hi, i have always wanted to thank the people who invented the additional castle space elixir because i would have third houses, and they would all be full of pets! So with the addiltional castle space elixir I could finally fill up another house with pets. Thank you for the great Game guys!
I Just Hate It When People Ask TO Date… ITS A KIDS GAME FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
I loved reading your Bio. It helps to know who designs and thinks up all of the amazing things on Wizards. You certainly have improved a lot of the new functions that we have on our wizards. I too, like being able to put our weapons up for decoration. And thank you for making crafting a little bit easier. Maybe a transmute for Turquoise could be possible in the future…..lol
very nice i also crafted the carousel wish it played music maybe someday. can you work on a house just for pets like you did for plants red barn farm is great with 6 wizards its hard to keep track ty and keep programming your awesome
Gary, might you be inclined to consider flyouts/callouts for items such as wands on the walls and perhaps, if you’re feeling extremely generous, such for the pets placed in one’s house? It would immensely reduce the waste of good wands for newly-created characters by players with already well-established wizards in the game. The same would hold true with pets that you could, at a mouse-over check the stats and talents on. Give it some thought, please, and thanks for helping make the Wizard101 experience a great one with all your improvements 🙂
I hope u guys have don’t plan on ending wizard or pirate101 anytime soon they are so much fun I love them if u can make the lvls go to at least 210 please don’t end it anytime soon 😀
I just noticed I misspelled a couple of words on that
I have a level 42 storm wizard but i think i messed her up 😦 i never did side quests so i finished dragonspyre too early so now i can’t go to cl yet. but i have a level 18 fire wizard and now i’m gonna make a ice wizard. Thanks for all you do!
I have only been playing a year this month, but one of my greatest joys is buying the beautiful homes and palaces and decorating them. I sometimes just stand and look at my places I enjoy them so very much. If I could I would really live in one. My favorite is still the very first one I bought.
Everything about it is so peaceful and restful, and as you said, it is small and cozy. Thank you so very much for being a great programmer. Love them all.
Wow 32 houses? I though four was a lot! I love housing so much, and crafting is a very close second. Also, I seriously want to thank you for adding the Bric-a-Brac Elixir. My houses always get full, and I get tired of decorating for a while when I get full in a house. Now I can keep going!
I’m trying to get a better house like the life house because i’m a lvl twenty four right now, and I really need it I got the wooden cottage and the play house and i’m rich in game I just need help and people who say they will gift me any thing always say no I never said that but I love the game and thank you Kingslsle for the wonderful job you’ve done with the game!
It would be great if you can make a house that sits on the back of one of those giant turtles you know the ones with a forest on their back. Oh and one more thing, the telescope in the fire house the big one, it would be great if you made it were we could actually see through it or make a house that has that ( at least i think its the fire house :P) Thank You for reading this and i hope you use at least one of my ideas! 😀 Name in the game: Christina Sunwalker, Kelsey Storm, Christina Spritethief, and Christina Pixiecaster! TY 😀
can we create are own pets so they look like whatever we want
Thanks for eveything you did for wizard101 and pirate101 thanks!!!!
Hey I’m glad I finally got to meet the person who controlled Arthur he was my first teacher ever on wizard101 so this kind of makes me want to make another balance and do things different sure my balance is a pvp captain but still he can’t do crafting for some weird reason oh well. it’s fine And with the first comment by Paige D. Selling your stuff to other wizard is amazing instead from the bazaar you can sell directly to your friends not to some random dude.
Hello i am talon strong garden and i am a huge fan of wizard101 and things that we have wished is the ability to write numbers. Also when i get a job i wanna work for kingsisle.
Wow, those are 95% of my favorite features. New favorite employee 😛
Thank you for all you do! You have been such a big help in Wizard101! Keep creating!
I like Wizard101 and I am lvl 50 but some stuff is not cool on there though. I:
I love this! but can make us jump high again !!! please 😀
Hi i just wanted to let you guys know that i really love playing wizard 101. But i have always had a few ideas for the game one of which is that at the dyes and pet renaming shop in the wizard city shopping district along with being able to dye your clothes and rename pets you could also change your wizards name.Because i don’t know about other people but sometimes i have a level 40 character or something and then i get a way better idea for a name but i don’t wand delete my character and start all over again. See what i am getting at if we where able to change our names people would delete their characters as often.
I love to play wizard101, I am a level 12 with a boomsroom, dandlion, and a desparagis and I have seen you all over wizard city before thanks for adding gardening, housing, and decorations! I love them!!! I even have my own cottage but sadly can`t use it yet :*(.
P.S. Sorry for the spelling errors typing really fast. By-by!
Wow, you’ve been playing the game for a while. I am still learning some of the features Wizard101 has to offer, such as: Crafting, reagents, elixirs, etc…. Great experience so far. I’m glad to see you’re liking some of these features that you have helped create to make all these things possible to use. i was wondering (posted previously) if wizards could go to a shop to put things they would like to sell there, then if another wizard comes to the store, buys your item, it would spend their gold and you would receive the amount of gold that it sold for. Hope this helped 😀
I think that we should be able to use the minus two pips on some of the treasure cards so that we can use the higher count (8 or more) pips or allow us to get more then seven pips on our circle so when we get the eight pip or higher treasure cards like the genie, mammoth, etc. from winning a battle or feeding a pet they won’t take up the room for the treasure card(tc). Thx,
Sunbreeze23
I would love to see if we can trade our pets with our friends. like put a pet in their bank and they can put one in ours so we can trade. cause sometimes when we hatch we get some of the same pets.
i have one thing to say make it were we can go through have of the game and then have to have a membrship
Wooded cottage was my first house too, and even though it grew too small for me, it is still my favourite. I now occupy the Wizard’s Watchtower and enjoy it as well. I agree with Oscar Jean. Not necessarily set up a shop, but the option to trade items (of crown and gold value) to our friends or to simply make a trade, is a really good idea.
Thank you for reading my opinion, and you have my gratitude and respect for setting up the lovely houses on Wizard101. Even though i have no intention of buying another one, I love going through them, looking for designs, and hidden passageways. I think that there should be more secret rooms/passageways, because it’s honestly such a delight to find one, and it’s great to put stuff there that you think no one will see.
Thanks a lot!
Alura.
cool