One of our long-time friends in the community, Vanessa Mythdust, approached us with a simple question, “Since a derby leaderboard isn’t present, everyone has been pretty curious: What’s the highest derby rank in the game?” We decided to take that a step further for Vanessa and see exactly what other kinds of data we could gather together about her favorite pastime in Wizard101. Let’s take a closer look at what we were able to find out with the help of our Database wizards.
Those Speedy little Devils
We decided to take a cross-section from 2015 to see exactly what kinds of pets were being used in Derby these days. The results were interesting to see: The most popular pet being raced was the Dragon in first, Firecat second, and Unicorn in third out of all the hundreds of pets players own! Here’s the complete Top Ten popularity ranking we found:
- Dragon—10.79%
- Firecat—6.22%
- Unicorn—5.38%
- Cyclops—2.6%
- Stray Piggle—2.31%
- Polar Fox—1.75%
- Enchanted Armament—1.69%
- Bloodbat—1.43%
- Myth Sprite—1.39%
- Brown Spider—1.37%
Taking this even further, there is one pet in particular who shines above the rest as a Petathalon Olympian when looking at lifetime achievements . . . Mister Bandit the Myth Sprite. Watch out when you’re on the track with Mister Bandit! Mister Bandit has run almost 4,300 derbies over its lifetime. Runners up to Mister Bandit, are three speedy Heckhounds named Buddy (2,967 derbies run), Milo (1,882 derbies run), and Romeo (1,721 derbies run).
Take it to the Track Time
If you like to derby, our deeper data dives told us that the perfect time to head to the tracks is between 4:00pm and 8:00pm US Central time. Overall, this is the time most players hit the tracks with their pets. It’s definitely an after school activity. When you head there, be sure to take your Teen and Adult pets to race. By far, most races happen with Teen level pets (with Adult pets not too far behind).
Go for the Gold
As it turns out our player with the highest rank in derby is Vanessa Mythdust herself with a score of 6,225! This really isn’t surprising, however, as Vanessa is a long-time proponent of Pet Derby in Wizard101 and runs the Pet Derby Tournaments and Ladders over on Wizard101 Central . (She even schooled our Community Managers in a snowball race on KI Live)
If you haven’t tried out Derby in Wizard101, we suggest you give it a shot, and there’s a vibrant community of Derby enthusiasts who would love to have you among their ranks.
See you on the track, Vanessa!
Ahoy! We have a ton of talented Pirates in the way of the arrrrts in the Spiral! Each month we like to feature Pirate101 fan art and fan photo submissions through or official social media like Facebook and Pinterest. There are so many great creative works from all the amazing Pirate players. This month, we picked some of our favorites to show on the blog as well.
Want to submit something creative of your very own? If you are under 13 years of age, ask your parent or guardian for permission to send us your screenshot or work of fan art. If you would like to submit something, send the picture and your character name in an email to community@pirate101.com! Please attach no more than three images per email, and please limit total submissions to no more than nine screenshots or drawings in a month. Try to only submit your very best images!
We get it—video games can definitely be a distraction for kids, but did you know they can also be a powerful motivating force? By employing a few simple techniques, you can use your child’s favorite computer games to help motivate him or her to do homework, complete chores, treat others with respect and avoid fighting with siblings. Here are five tricks to help you use computer games as healthy rewards.
1. General Incentives for General Responsibilities
Games can be a great way to motivate children to complete their daily responsibilities, such as homework or making beds. Apply a more modern take on the “no TV until homework is done” approach that your parents used with you, and require homework or other tasks to be completed before your child gets to play his or her favorite computer games.
2. Extra Duties for Extra Time
As a general rule, your child’s daily game time should be limited. One technique parents have been using for years to get their kids to pitch in a little extra around the house involves allowing longer game time for extra duties, like taking out the trash or not fighting with siblings. Come up with a list of chores that match your child’s abilities, and assign a time reward for each one. Fun ideas could be “vacuum the stairs for 30 minutes of game time” or “wash the car for an hour of time.”
Photo by Lucélia Ribeiro
3. The Token Method
If you have trouble keeping track of how much game time your kids have earned, try out the token method. Your kids can use tokens that correspond to time value to “pay” you for time, so everyone always knows where they stand. You can use anything you like as tokens, but some fun choices include toy coins (such as the type party stores sell for pirate-themed parties), poker chips, bottle caps or, for different “denominations,” you could even use Monopoly money.
4. Mods or Expansions as Cumulative Rewards
Many games come with optional “mods” (modifications, often made by members of an online gaming community) or “expansions” (additional content, usually produced by the game company). These games add features, change the play environment or otherwise alter an existing game, keeping the player interested in an old favorite. As such, mods and expansions are great ways to offer cumulative rewards.
Wizard101 and Pirate101 offer Crowns as a way to unlock extra play zones and get new and unique items. With these Crowns, players can purchase cool pets or expand their gear collection, as some unique game items are only accessible by way of Crowns. In fact, Crowns work great as a reward system—if your child does chores for a week or even a month, he or she could earn a desired Crown, mod or expansion pack.
5. Surprise Rewards
You can use gaming as a surprise reward for spontaneous good behavior. If, for example, you see your younger child sharing without being prompted or your older child going out of his or her way to help a classmate, you could reward this with extra time on the computer.
Of course, choosing which way you reward your children is different for every family. But whether it’s a way to incentive chores or simply a way to let your kid know they’re doing a great job, using computer games as a reward can reap great benefits, for both you and your child.
April showers bring… May fan art! We love showing fan art submissions from our intensely creative Wizard101 community. Each month we like to feature Wizard101 fan art submissions through or official social media like Facebook and Pinterest.
We had many talented artists submit in the past few months, but here are some of our recent art favorites.
Want to submit something creative of your very own? If you are under 13 years of age, ask your parent or guardian for permission to send us your screenshot. If you would like to submit something, send the picture and your character name in an email to community@wizard.com! Please attach no more than three images per email, and please limit total submissions to no more than nine screenshots in a month. Try to only submit your very best images!
Before your child sets off on a magical adventure into the world of Wizard101, there are a few questions every parent should ask in order to ensure a safe and positive online gaming experience for their child.
- How can I be sure that my child isn’t chatting with strangers? One of our chat systems for younger players is a “Menu Chat” system that enables users to communicate with each other with the use of safe, preselected words and phrases in order to ensure that all exchanges are both safe and family-friendly. This option will be turned on by default if your account was identified as being under the age of 13.
- What steps can be taken to ensure that my child doesn’t charge money to my credit card? We have included a “Parental Controls” section on our website that enables you to restrict your child’s access to your credit card information. Simply choose a password that is only known to you, and your child will be prevented from making any online purchases without your permission.
- Are the Wizard101 message boards safe? You can rest easy knowing that we take your child’s online safety seriously. We have created message boards that are continuously monitored by our special team of moderators. Any inappropriate messages are either edited or deleted before they are ever posted.
- How can I be certain that my child’s online player name is appropriate? We provide all players with a pre-selected list of player names to choose from that are designed to reflect the personality of the user without being inappropriate or divulging private information.
- How is a Parent Account useful? Setting up a Parent Account will enable you to turn a variety of features and functions off or on, depending on the level of safety that is appropriate for your child.
- What is the Parent/Child Digital Consciousness Contract and how can it help keep my child safe? The Parental/Child Digital Consciousness Contract is an online tool that is designed to assist you in speaking to your child in order to establish awareness and enforce safe use of digital devices.
- What is cyberbullying and how can I be certain that my child is not becoming a victim when playing this free Wizard game? Cyberbullying refers to online bullying that occurs when messages or images are sent in order to embarrass or hurt the victim. For those under 13, it will be almost impossible to be bullied in game thanks to Menu Chat in Wizard101. Since all chat messages are pre-selected, you can rest assured that your child is protected from cyberbullying during his or her Wizard game experience. If your child has a more open form of chat, we have a special “Ignore” feature in game that can be used to silence bullies. Ultimately the best way (and the most fun way) to ensure your older child’s safety from cyberbullying in Wizard101 is to play the game with them and act as a guide that can intervene when needed.
- How can I be sure that my child is only being exposed to age-appropriate content? Wizard101 holds an Entertainment Software Rating Board rating of E10+, meaning it is deemed to be suitable for children and adults ages 10 and up. Additionally, we welcome you to try the game out for yourself so that you feel comfortable making a decision about whether or not it is appropriate for your child.
- What should I do if I suspect inappropriate interaction or behaviors while my child is playing this online Wizard game? Any suspicious activity should be reported to our Customer Support team immediately so the issue can be evaluated as quickly as possible. Please review our FAQ for more information on what is considered a reportable offense: https://www.wizard101.com/game/help-faq
- How can I learn more about keeping my child safe online? Below is a list of resources that are designed to provide you with more information and helpful tips in order to maximize the safety of your child’s online gaming experience.
KingsIsle Blog 