Time for the third winner of the Birthday Celebration Blog Contest! Today Anna IronBlade, level 75 Myth Wizard, writes about spending quality time with her son playing Wizard101 in 2008.
My son Jon came to me wanting to play a game he had heard about called Wizard101 in 2008. He was only 8 years old, and I was seriously reluctant to allow him to be part of an MMO where he could have interactions with people from anywhere – and what those interactions would be. I relented after much begging (on his part) with the provision that I would also create a wizard and follow him around. We went to the website and took the test, carefully considering the answer to each question, weighing what was important to us and what made us happy. Headmaster Ambrose assessed our responses and sorted us into our schools. Jon’s wizard was Balance, mine was Myth.
I was amazed. I don’t know what I expected, but the characters were entertaining and the people I met were fun and helpful. Some were even parents like me. Unlike the Pokémon battles I was strong-armed into, it was wonderful together time with my young son that we both enjoyed. I loved wry, sarcastic Professor Cyrus. Jon learned spells from every school, begging for crowns to buy back training points more than once.
Wizard101 made him learn to spell, because if he couldn’t spell it he couldn’t say it. We did math, how much health did the monster have, and what spell was best? If we put our spells together, how many rounds? He learned how to be polite, take turns and to be a good sport when he didn’t get to kill the boss. Nice hit, good job. It was a team effort after all. Comparing our new spells, debating who was more powerful, teaming up for boss fights, we finally worked our way to the end of Dragonspyre and the biggest boss fight there was… Malistaire. Ten thousand health. Minions. A maze to work through before the final epic fight. We were Grandmasters. We had the coolest spells and pets available. It was like standing on top of the world.
Now Grandmaster is a small step on the way through many exciting and interesting worlds. We have mounts to run faster, our pets actually help us. We have quest helper to point the way. If you love someone’s pet, you can ask them to hatch and have one of your own. You can grow and care for plants in your home and are rewarded. You can even go fishing and spend some introspective time in the spiral. The game has grown and changed. I wouldn’t say I don’t enjoy it as much now as I did then, but there was something magical about that first year that I will cherish always. 2008, when we learned we could be Wizards.
It’s our second winner of the Birthday Celebration Blog Contest! Kenneth IceBlade, level 81 Ice Wizard, tells us all about his favorite year… 2010!
I’ve played Wizard101 for over 5 years now, and my favorite year in Wizard101 history was 2010. So many new features and were added and it was totally awesome! 2010 added so many things to make the game even more fun, and here’s why!
First off, one of the best updates of 2010 was PETS! Wizards from all around the Spiral get to meet up in Wizard City with their best and most beloved pets and make something new and adorable by hatching with another person! They became more than just cute little animals who followed you around. They became talented, extraordinary creatures to assist you. The talents system is REALLY useful, and I love it when my pets cast healing spells for me, especially when I’m in a jam with a tough boss. I love my pets so much! And of course, let’s not forget training them. The games in the Pet Pavilion were super relaxing, and gave us Wizards something to do other than study in Ravenwood or go off battling monsters in Grizzleheim. The whole Pet Pavilion is pure fun!
Another huge release: the lost, faraway world of Celestia! I was so excited about getting to be the first to fight through the new bosses and experience the new storyline and everyone couldn’t wait! Not only that, but Selena Gomez made a stop in Wizard City, and it was cool seeing a celebrity from real-life being in the Spiral.
The release of Celestia also gave three brand-new, phenomenal surprises, known as the Astral Schools. These schools are extremely useful to all the wizards of the Spiral and have definitely given us an extra power boost to our spells! But none of us forgot our original schools though; our professors caught our attention with new Rank 8 spells for all Ravenwood schools, an awesome new spell for a powerful, legendary wizard!
And the last major release of the year was Gardening, another great hobby that wizards still do and love today. I always love harvesting my plants and getting some nice reagents to help me craft some good gear. And there was nothing wrong with a little showing-off of your exotic plants from all over the spiral in your garden.
2010 wasn’t just about the releases and content for me, though. I made some of my best friends in 2010, and I still talk to most of them even after the four years that I met them. It was even more epic when we got to battle our way through the Trial of the Spheres and defeat Mithraya together. 2010 was an awesome year for me and I hope I get another year like this in 2015.
Overall, the new content was amazing, especially the release of hobbies in the game, giving wizards something to do in their free time and relax, to just chill out like an Ice Wizard. Let’s not give too much attention to just 2010, though. The years before and the years after both gave Wizard101 amazing parts of the game that made the Wizard101 experience one-of-a-kind. I look forward to the new releases of 2015, and I hope you do too. Thanks for reading!
Today we have our first winner of the Birthday Celebration Blog Contest! Andrew WildSword, level 91 Fire Wizard, tells us about his favorite year of Wizard101 – 2013!
2014 has been an amazing year for Wizard101. We’ve seen new features in Dungeon Recall and Team Up, an unforgettable ending of a saga, and a new concept of Fishing!
But, 2014 is just one of the awesome years of Wizard101. My favorite year of Wizard101 is 2013. In 2013, we saw content that took Spiral life to a new level. Let’s take a look!
April – Hairstyles and Unstitching!
Hairstyle made personalization of your wizard more fun. It gave us more freedom with how we want our wizards to look, because you have to dress to impress! Along with this update, we were given an unstitching update also. So, if you stitched your favorite hat to a hairstyle you’re bored with, just unstitch! Other updates to Wizard101 were PvP rating systems, PvP spectating, furniture sets and more. But, we couldn’t fit all of that into one blog. Let’s move on!
June – Tournaments!
Tournaments were a great addition with moving onto the second age of PvP. It enabled us to compete for prizes with or even against our friends and the fiercest competitors in the arena! It ushered us into new, more formal and powerful matches, in which it’s crucial to win. PvP was changed forever!
August – Aquila and Minions!
Aquila is one of my favorite updates in Wizard101 history. It introduced the legendary Gods and Goddesses, mysterious and powerful. First is Zeus, who isn’t going to use all his power on a mortal, but is still powerful and wise. He won’t let you win, but the rewards are worth it!
Second is the feared Poseidon, who won’t hold back – much. As a level 70 wizard who has transcended many forces in the Spiral, you should be able to take on almost anything, right? You’ll just have to see, testing your might against the force of the sea!
And, lastly, you face THREE powerful Gods. Yes, all of the sons of Cronus have banded together in the ultimate challenge. Sounds hard, right? Well, it’s not just them. You must go through the Death Satyr, the ever-feared Death Minotaur, the trial of Stheno, and Cerberus, a vicious guard dog. Oh, and the one I haven’t mentioned? Hades, the final son of Cronus. Hades is within the heart of Tartarus, and he isn’t one you defeat with ease. But, the rewards? The rewards are of unimaginable greatness and provide some of the best statistics in the game. Oh, and one more thing – Minons were added to help you in Aquila along with other updates, but let’s move on!
November – Khrysalis and Shadow Magic!
Khrysalis was a fantastic beginning to the end of the Morganthe saga! We immediately saw a new spell in the storyline in King Artorius, just one of many things we didn’t expect! Instantly, you see exciting things that everyone had been long awaiting. We were revealed the members of the Council of Light, who are on a quest to defeat the Umbra Queen before it’s too late. And, their greatest asset? You!
Shadow Magic was an update that would change battlel forever. There are pros and cons to Shadow Magic, each spell with its own. Shadow Shrike, feared by all you may face, along with Shadow Sentinel, and Shadow Seraph, useful for tanking hits and healing. Of course, there is the con of Backlash to these spells as well as their own cons, but that’s the risk of the forbidden magic.
So, you never know what to expect in the Spiral, and 2013 was that exactly. Perhaps we should be thinking the same of 2014, hmm?
This month we are celebrating the 6th anniversary of Wizard101 and it just so happens, my 5th anniversary as a Wizard101 player. So many things have changed since the early days of my adventure in the Spiral, and it has been quite the journey to watch it all unfold. In looking back over the years, I thought I’d highlight a year that was a favorite and one of the most formative for me as a Wizard101 player.
When I began as a newbie Death Wizard in 2009, the level cap was 50. I took my time exploring the various worlds of the Spiral and finally reached that elusive Grandmaster title in March of 2010. The journey was an exciting one and I’ll never forget how proud I was to finally get that last “ding!” with the help of my friends in the Spiral.
Shortly thereafter, the pet system in Wizard101 got the amazing overhaul known as the advanced pet system. What a game changer this was! Can you even remember back when pets were just decoration, rather than valuable assets in combat and skilled racers in the derby? Hatching pets was such a deep and involving system to learn, it launched its very own fan site in the Petnome Project.
That summer we began to get hints that a new world would be coming to the game with the early Celestia preview quests. The excitement and energy in the community was palpable! With each new peek at this underwater world, I anticipated its arrival even more. And that June, I got the special honor of being able to visit the KingsIsle studio and get my very first look at Celestia and the new villain Morganthe. Having the opportunity to bring that back with me to Ravenwood Radio and share with everyone all the exciting tidbits I’d learned was a blast!
Later that fall, when Celestia was released, I dived right in (pun intended)! Not only were the new areas beautiful and unlike anything else that I’d seen in Wizard101, the new Astral schools of magic and addition of Critical and Block were more game changers. Trying new strategies and using the Sun and Star school spells to defeat these new challenges was a learning experience to say the least!
Finally, in December of 2010, another new activity came to Wizard101 in Gardening. This added a whole new way to interact with your house, and with so many cute and funny plants to grow, it was delightful.
2010 was a big year for Wizard101 and a big year for me as a player as well. I will always think fondly of this time of my adventures in the Spiral. It’s hard to believe that Wizard101 has been with us for 6 years now and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Tell us your favorite year of Wizard101 and you could win 60,000 Crowns! To celebrate our Birthday, we’re having a 6th Birthday Celebration blog post contest. Any entry published to the KingsIsle Blog will be a winner, and you can view contest details and enter at Wizard101.com. * REMEMBER * You can only enter by viewing the contest page and e-mailing your entry. Entries submitted via the KingsIsle Blog comments will not be considered.
Ahoy, mateys!
Arrrgust was quite the month, don’t you think? We celebrated Shark Week, gave away lots of prizes with our fan site contests, introduced new Aquila furniture in the Crown shop, and held the Design Your Own Eyepatch contest. With so many clever and creative members of the Pirate101 community, we received over 1,100 designs for this contest. Narrowing down the entries for our judges to vote was a challenge! Once we’d narrowed the entries to only the best of the best, our team of KingsIsle judges, including members of the Pirate101 development team, voted on their favorite designs. After all of the votes were tallied, we determined our Grand Prize Winner, 5 Runners Up and 5 Honorable Mentions. We even had a tie on the 5th Honorable Mention, so one additional lucky Pirate got a prize!
And the winners are… (Drumroll please)
In a landslide, our judges’ favorite and Grand Prize winner is Dead-Eye Hunter’s octopus eyepatch!
Following closely behind are our 5 Runners Up:
- William Kidd’s Troggy tongue eyepatch
- Reckless Rebecca’s blue mask eyepatch
- Inky Keilani’s skeleton hand eyepatch
- Cowardly A. Devereaux’s shell eyepatch
- Autumn’s spiral and feather eyepatch
And last, but not least, are our Honorable Mentions:
- Clever Cori Mitchell’s green branches eyepatch
- Salty Flynn Gerald’s corn collage eyepatch
- Merciless Angel’s dragon eye eyepatch
- Alexandra Devereaux’s dragon gem eyepatch
- Christina’s feather eyepatch
- Sarah’s dragon face eyepatch
Congratulations to all of our winners and a big thank you to everyone who submitted eyepatch designs!
-Bonnie Anne
KingsIsle Blog 