How many times have you crossed over to a new area in Wizard101 and thought, “Hmm, I wonder what the story is behind those two wizards on the transition screen?” To answer that question, we’re going to show you some really neat “Throwback Thursday” character concept art we found tucked away in our Lead Artist’s desk drawer!
Karl Holbert, Lead Artist for Wizard101 since 2010, has seen just about every piece of concept art since the dawn of Wizard101, and he was kind enough to show us a few gems from his treasure trove of unseen concept art, which has been passed down from Art Lead to Art Lead over time. In fact, the following Throwback Thursday pictures were actually scanned from an old spiral-bound book that contained information from a meeting held way back in 2005—a time when Wizard101 was just being dreamed up and Karl was just one of the team of artists working together to keep the look of the game in line.
Once upon a time, our wizards had a slightly different “proposed” look that eventually became the wizard characters we know and love today:
Do the poses in the top left corner of each of those character sheets look familiar? They should!
Even more shocking, could you imagine what playing Wizard101 would be like if your characters looked more the following concept art pieces? Wow!
Also in Karl’s book was this amazing drawing of a girl and her piggle visiting a dragon unicorn floating on a cloud!
The art style may be different, but it looks to us like her outfit eventually became the “Celestial Garment” style you can purchase from Eloise Merryweather in the Wizard City Commons!
We’re happy we could share these with you today, and let us know what you thought of our Throwback Thursday pictures. We’ve got some more gems to share . . . if we can sneak them off of Karl’s desk!
Did you know that May 12 is Limerick day? This unusual holiday celebrates the birthday of English artist, illustrator, author and poet Edward Lear, who was born in 1812. Lear is most famous for literary nonsense in poetry prose and limericks. Lear popularized limericks in his first Book of Nonsense in 1846.
A limerick is a humorous or silly poem written in five lines with the first, second and fifth line consisting of 7-10 syllables in rhyme. The third and fourth line have 5-7 syllables and also rhyme with each other.
We thought we would celebrate by writing fun limericks ourselves. Below are odes to the schools of magic in Wizard101!
There once was a Wizard of Ice
Who won in a tournament twice
Storm all cried “OP”
But then they won three
And it’s all just a roll of the dice
There once was a Wizard of Ice
Whose Professor was oh so nice
Liked to bake cookies
For all of her rookies
Always filled with sugar and spice
There once was a Wizard of Fire
Whose situation was quite dire
They did not collect
What they did expect
This quest was beginning to tire
There once was a Wizard of Fire
Her hair crackled like a pyre
So fiery and red
Flowing atop her head
Her lessons are sure to inspire
There once was a Wizard of Death
Who learned a lesson from Macbeth
It’s better to be chillin’
Than to be a villain
So always just take a deep breath
There once was a Wizard of Storm
Far more dangerous than the norm
He cast insane bolt
And got a good jolt
And ended up back in his dorm
There once was a Wizard of Life
Whose quest was quite filled with strife
Another boss to battle
Skeleton named of Rattle
Don’t doubt the power of Life
There once was a Wizard of Myth
Who would often start dueling with
A cast of earthquake
That would always break
The charms of poor Eric Redsmith
There once was a Wizard of Myth
Whose minions were not always herewith
No zero pip golems
In her house full of columns
But Malistaire just took the fifth
Image from Jaded Glaze at Wizard101 Central
There once was a Wizard of Balance
Whose spells had many talents
Could cast any school
Always the most cool
Others cried “Loremaster is unbalanced”
There once was a Wizard of Balance
Whose hawk mount had many talents
But a bug made it clear
Wizards floating far and near
We fixed it, so declaw your talons (sheesh)
What do you think? Can you write your own Wizard101 themed limerick?
Share yours in the comment section below!
One of our players’ favorite things to do while playing Wizard101 is to take cool screenshots! These fan photos show off tons of player creativity, epic battles and super cool items. Each month on the blog we try to focus a selection of our favorite Wizard101 game screenshots!
Want to see even more fan photos? Check out our Wizard101 Facebook page where we keep albums updated all the time!
If you would like to submit a picture, send the picture and your character name in an email to community@wizard101.com
Please attach no more than three images per email. If you are under 13 years of age, ask your parent or guardian for permission to send us your screenshot. Digitally altered images will not be published.
1. Don’t take candy from strangers.
2. Look both ways before you cross the street.
3. Be home when the streetlights turn on.
Chances are these were the precautions you were taught before you were sent out to play with your friends when you were a kid. Neighborhoods were full of people who knew each other, and your parents could typically trust that you were safe without being involved in your minute-to-minute activities. Then came the Internet…
When you were growing up, the Internet was as well. It started as a few sites used only by highly trained people and blossomed into a great source of information, entertainment, and communication accessed daily by millions. Currently, 93 percent of children use the Internet, spending an average of 9.2 hours (for 8-11 year olds) to 17 hours (for 12-15 year olds) surfing the Web each week. That’s quite a bit more than what you probably spent as a kid!
How can you protect your kids?
You teach your kids not to get into a stranger’s car and how to react if an unfamiliar person approaches them, but how are you supposed to teach them to navigate the online world? The key is being hands-on with your child’s online activities.
• Teach your kids how to keep their information private. They should never give out real names, addresses, phone numbers, the names of their schools, or other identifying information. Show them how easy it is to look someone up on the Internet, and talk about the various ways their personal information could be used to endanger them (i.e. strangers showing up in real life, identify theft, etc.).
• Show your children how to keep their passwords a secret. Teach them to never give out passwords or account information to anyone (except you!)—stress that this means online and in real life.
• Set boundaries. Establish a list of websites and games that are appropriate and let your kids know what is absolutely off-limits. If possible, keep computers and tablets in family areas so you can check in on your children. You can also install computer software to block certain websites or establish time restrictions.
• Play alongside your children. Using the Internet together will help them learn appropriate online behavior firsthand.
• Follow your kids’ social media accounts. If your children are using social media, it’s a good idea to “friend” or “follow” them. This will make you aware of how they are acting online, while keeping them on their best behavior.
Finally, don’t forget to simply talk to your kids! Once isn’t enough. Keeping up an ongoing conversation about their online activities will ensure they are practicing online safety. Remember, times have changed since you were a kid, so ensuring your children are the safest they can be, both online and in real life, is key to your family’s well-being.
Rain, rain, go away… Rainy days can be the pits, especially when the cold winter is over and you’re waiting for warm-weather fun to start. With the right amount of imagination and creativity, there are lots of fun things you can do indoors. Below are some fun indoor activities for the whole family to save you when it’s raining cats and dogs.
Play Wizard hide-and-seek
The greatest thing about hide-and- seek is that you can play it almost anywhere, with any number of people higher than one. This fun twist is a take on the popular game that makes “it” the Wizard and every other player a “magic spell”. Just like traditional hide-and-seek, the rules are simple: One person is “it” aka “the Wizard” and the other people (the magic spells) have to hide. The Wizard has to find the magic spell’s hiding places, and the first person to be found becomes The Wizard in the next round.
To play, choose a place to be your home base. You can pick something small (like your favorite chair), or something big (like a whole room). The person who is The Wizard stands at home base, covers his or her eyes, and counts (everyone should agree on what number The Wizard is counting to before you start to play). All the players except for The Wizard find places to hide. When he or she is done counting, the hunt is on!
Act out a game of charades, Pirate101 style
Charades is about getting other players to guess a word or phrase—like a movie title or a book—without actually saying anything. In this take on the game, everyone writes something from Pirate101 on a slip of paper and puts it in a bowl. Things written down could range from a pet, a world, a character, and more! One person then draws a piece of paper, reads what’s on it, and acts it out while the other players guess. When your word or phrase is being acted out, play fair and don’t yell out the answer! If you have a clock or a timer from another game, it’s a good idea to give each person a set amount of time to act things out.
Wiggle and dance, then FREEZE!
When you need to get your wiggles out after being cooped up inside, you can put on some music and play Freeze! All you need is something to listen to and people to play. Put one person in charge of the music while everyone else gets to dance. This person starts the music, and to the others must get moving—dance, wiggle, jump, skip… anything goes as long as you’re being safe. Then, the person with the music presses “Pause,” and everyone has to freeze. The most fun part of this game is that the players have to freeze in whatever position they were in when the music stopped! Anyone who keeps moving is out of the game. Keep doing this till only one person is left.
Play trivia games online
When you’re all worn out from hide-and-seek and Freeze, you can play some awesome games at FreeKIgames.com. There are tons of fun trivia games with all kinds of subjects, from movies and music to ballet, holidays, farm facts and much more. You can even win codes and free items for Wizard101 and Pirate101! With permission from your parents, get online and challenge your siblings on FreeKI Games.
With all these awesome indoor activities to choose from, rainy days don’t have to be boring.
KingsIsle Blog 
